#ch: orla byrne

[daughter-of-melpomene]

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆… 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐄𝐑𝐀 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐀 𝐁𝐘𝐑𝐍𝐄

❝ Up until receiving her Hogwarts letter at age eleven, Orla hadn’t realized at all that her father was a wizard. Really, she hadn’t realized he was anything at all - she’d never met him, and her mam had never talked about him, except to tell Orla, when she’d asked about him at the tender age of six, that he was a “right thumpin’ bastard” who’d fled the second Orla’s mother had told him she was pregnant.

But now, eleven years later, a stern bespectacled woman was showing up in their little house in their little Irish village, informing them that Orla’s da had, in fact, been a wizard, which made Orla something called a “half-blood” and, more importantly, a witch. And then she was being whisked away to a magical hidden street filled with strange shops and getting spellbooks and a new cat and a bloody magic wand, and then only a few weeks later Orla was standing in a great castle in the Scottish highlands, putting a weird talking hat on her head and hearing it proclaim that she belonged in Hufflepuff, whatever that was.

Orla was pretty sure she’d never been as confused in her life at she was at the very start of her Hogwarts career. But then, in her very first class, she’d made friends with Gryffindors Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald, both of whom were something called Muggleborns and also new to this strange, amazing world, and it had gotten a little better. It had improved even more once the three girls had made friends with another girl named Marlene McKinnon, who had been raised by magical parents and could therefore answer any questions the others had, and who had also kicked an older boy who had insulted Mary where the sun didn’t shine, which in Orla’s opinion was just deadly.

And so it had gone. By this point, at the start of her fifth year, Orla is fairly sure she’s stopped being confused about the wizarding world. She’s learned a lot through experience and all the questions she’s asked Marlene and Sirius, another Gryffindor from a wizarding family whom she really likes even if Lily kind of hates his best mate, and now she’s fairly confident she’s done being confused. As the school year starts, she’s very much looking forward to spending time with her friends, little study parties with Sirius and his boyfriend Remus, and watching James Potter utterly fail at getting a date with Lily.

But then, at the very first Quidditch party of the year, Orla gets drunk and kisses Mary. Mary, her very best friend, who’s always been there for her and has had a million deep late-night chats with her and made Orla laugh when they compared Irish and Scottish slang. Mary, who Orla is just now starting to realize is gorgeous and funny and the dearest person ever… and who Orla has now taken to avoiding because she can’t look at her without remembering what her lips felt like through a booze-fueled haze.

Just when Orla thought she had everything in her life, it turns out the universe has seen fit to turn her life topsy-turvy once again. ❞

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