Sorting such a typical Gryffindor into Slytherin? Perhaps the Sorting Hat had gone senile.
—From Young Snape's Diary
Eliana was easy to notice in a crowd. Not because she was rather pretty, but because she was so loud.
Especially when you shared a first-year boat that held only four people, then walked with her all the way to Hogwarts Castle.
The black-haired, black-eyed girl looked much like him, but her personality could not have been more different. She was outgoing, lively, and endlessly chatty. In less than three minutes, Snape had learned her entire life story without saying a word himself.
She had spent her childhood believing she was an orphan, living at London Hope House Orphanage. At ten, she had been found by the once-noble but now fallen House of White. She had lived with them for a year, and at eleven, she had come to Hogwarts.
"So now I'm Eliana White. But honestly, I liked the surname I picked for myself better. I used to call myself Ritchie. Rich, get it? Doesn't that sound wonderful?"
Eliana looked around with shining eyes, seeking agreement.
Kindhearted Lily studied her expression, then nodded hesitantly. Trying to encourage the girl, whose story sounded miserable even if she did not seem to think so herself, Lily said, "Yes, I think you're amazing too."
Eliana immediately looked smug. She tipped her chin high, like a self-satisfied black cat.
Snape, who had kept his head down and remained silent, frowned in disapproval. To him, growing up in an orphanage was the sort of humiliating past anyone would try to hide once their fortunes improved.
He could not understand why someone would foolishly expose her own weakness. No one would truly pity her. They would only think of ways to use that weakness to devour her