Stardust

Chapter 4

The first day of autumn arrived, making Stella thrilled. Autumn and winter were her favorite seasons. The first day was a typical autumn day which she adored. It was early on Sunday morning when she got up, dressed an oversized hoodie and jeans, and walked out of her common room, careful not to wake anyone up.

She wandered through the empty halls, enjoying the peace and loneliness these halls were giving to her. She saw a group of Gryffindors gathered around a new announcement. She noticed a few of them and thought about not going to check it out when she saw the annoying redhead but brushed it off and glanced at the announcement.

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 7 o'clock on Sunday the 30th of September.

"Bummer!" said Harry. "I wish it was on Monday! Snape wouldn't have time to poison us all!"

Stella laughed with the rest of the group, "You are underestimating him, he would need less than ten minutes to kill us all," she said, causing people to turn their heads towards the voice, no one even noticed she was there.

"Is this real?" One of the twins asked, "A Slytherin going against the head of their house?" The other one finished and Stella rolled her eyes.

"I don't need to be a Gryffindor to see how big of an ass Snape is," she answered and read the rest of the announcement smiling when twins said, "I like this one!"

Students will assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast.

She nodded and walked away, continuing her journey on this rainy day. She reached the big windows near the garden where students used to relax after classes or during their free period. She watched the rain falling, making the soothing noise. After looking up at the sky and seeing big grey clouds, she smiled widely - autumn was really here. She loved the rain; she loved cold weather; she loved the smell of the grass after the rain, and she just loved the specific way air felt after the rain.

With the corner of her eye, she saw Dumbledore approaching her. She said nothing to greet him as he stood next to her and stared outside, enjoying the cold day as much as she did.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, the old wizard looked at her and smiled. "I know you love to read when it's raining, so I got you something," he said and gave her a book.

She looked down at a book about dragons and smiled widely. He never forgets things she shares with him. "Thank you, Alby!"

He smiled upon hearing the nickname she gave him when she was young. "How are you? How are your classes? Have you made any friends?" He asked all at once, sounding exactly like Stella's dad. She laughed lightly.

"I'm sure you know the answers to all those questions," she said and raised her eyebrow.

"Yes, I do, but I would like to hear it from you just to make sure."

"I am fine, I am doing great in classes - as you may have heard - and yeah, I have a lot of friends, actually."

"That's great! A lot of professors are delighted with you!"

"You know I'm amazing, did you really doubt that?" She asked, and he laughed with her.

"No, not really," he answered, smiling. "Are you excited for the Triwizard tournament?"

"Not really, I don't care. I'm just curious if I'll meet anyone interesting," she answered, and he rolled his eyes. The silence fell over them again. They just listened to the rain and enjoyed each other's company.