Harry Potter and the Children of Slytherin ((Open!!!!))

Monica's hair began to writhe frantically as soon as the question escaped Quinn's lips, nervousness and panic filling her as she averted her eyes to the floor. What could she say? She seemed to already know what she was; did that mean she understood why she shouldn't have friends, or even be here?

Squeezing her eyes shut, she remembered the way the other girl had broke the gaze; Monica didn't know why, but the action had caused a tightening sensation within her chest and stomach, and she was overwhelmed by the urge to run away...it didn't matter where, just anywhere but there.

As she curled tighter into her shield, she weakly nodded her head.

"Well, thank you." She said, resigning to the compliment even though she didn't agree with it. Much like her mother had, she had already given into the fact that people weren't always friendly,and sometimes could be rather cruel, even if they didn't mean to be. She understood it, but it didn't upset her that much. She did sometimes wonder what it felt like to be considered "normal". She imagined it was quite boring.

"Hm, you're welcome," Andrew told her, looking away with a blush. That was the way with him. He would sometimes say something unexpectedly sweet and then he'd be too embarrassed to say anything for awhile. Quietly, he picked up his spoon to begin eating his porridge. He felt like something hot this morning.

Ken’s dark gaze fell on Lucas at his cry, but he held his annoyance in, instead turning his attention back to Rachel. Her cheeks were so red, though he could tell that she was fighting to keep her feelings under control.

“That really is the magic of Hogwarts, isn’t it?” he said. “People of all backgrounds can come together and unite as one inside of their Houses, and out.”

Alchemy made it down into the great hall and sat with all of her fellow Gryffindors. She helped herself to some food and began eating. She looked up at the windows and saw the post owls flying towards the school. A mixed feeling of dread and excitement filled her. Excitement because she would be getting letters from her parents, dread because of the news, which was almost never good.

----

Nikola's stomach clenched when she heard the first owls of the day. She didn't get the Prophet at school, but she knew a lot of people did around her, and so she would wait until she could borrow somebody else's.

((I hope this isn't considered godmodding or anything. If it is let me know and I'll change it as soon as possible.))

"Well, I thought so," Quinn replied. "I understand now why you seem to stay by yourself and there is aboslutely nothing wrong with that." Quinn looked back at Monica and smiled, though she probably couldn't see it She knew that Monica probably didn't want to unintentionally turn someone into stone.


"If ever you feel lonely though, you can talk to me if you want, even if at a distance." Then Quinn started walking out of the common room. "I'll see you later."

Andrew looked up unenthusiastically as an owl dropped the Daily Prophet in front of him. Silently, he slipped two Knuts into its pouch before watching it fly off. Honestly, he hated to pay for a newspaper with a bunch of lies and half-truths, but he did need to be aware of the times.

His face paled as he sat the newspaper down quietly. He passed the paper over to Luna, one of the headlines reading, HELEN SELWYN HIGGINS INCARCERATED IN AZKABAN PENDING INVESTIGATION; SACKED FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF MYSTERIES

"My mum really shouldn't have worked at the Ministry," he said weakly.

Nikola closed her eyes after seeing the headline. She carefully placed an arm on Andrew's shoulder, trying to comfort him. She used her other hand to roll the newspaper back up and tuck it away out of sight.
"This isn't right." She said to herself. She planned to talk to her parents about it sometime.

Monica jerked her head up as Quinn turned to leave, reaching her hand out as if to stop her before pulling back, "Yiá sou," she said, hurridly adding, "Efharistó polí." Holding her books to her chest, the young gorgon stood up; looking between the fireplace and Quinn, she tentatively followed.

She wasn't certain if she could accept the girl's offer, but at least she understood her reasons. If anything, maybe Quinn could be her friend...just maybe.

Quinn stopped and turned around when she heard Monica speak. "So I guess you're coming then.' Quinn smiled at Monica and stood beside her before leading her out the common room. "Do you by any chance speak English?"

"She married a Muggle. She's apolitical. There was no reason other than she came from Pure-blood family and the bullshit the Daily Prophet is probably spouting," he murmured, placing his hand on Nikola's.

He stood up, "I'm not hungry anymore. We should get to class. Herbology, right?"

She looked down.
"Yeah." She said quietly, picking up her things and following him. She was very upset, but she didn't want to push the matter any further than he wanted to talk about it. She knew that if he wanted to talk about it, he would talk to her, and so she would wait. Any doubts about the unfairness of the ministry were now erased. She hadn't known Mrs. Higgins personally, but from what she knew, she was a very nice woman.

Monica regarded the older girl carefully, silently averting her eyes to keep from staring as she nodded her head, "Yes, but I don't like it much." she admitted, preferring her native Greek, "Why?" inquired the young Gorgon, trying to avoid looking at Quinn's eyes.

"Alright, good. Your dad's always enthusiastic," he told her, heading out the hall with his books, attempting to give his friend a small smile. There was no need to worry her. Maybe, during break, he could write a letter to his dad. He was sure he was taking it as well as he was.

Nikola smiled.
"Yeah, he loves his teaching job." She told him. It would make her feel better to get to class. She was quite good at Herbology as well, having grown up helping her father take care of the less dangerous plants as a child. She was still concerned for her friend, but she didn't want him to worry about her being upset, so she put on a happy face.

----

Alchemy stood up from the Gryffindor table, seeing as no meaningful conversation had arisen from her being there, and decided to make her way to Charms.

"It's just I couldn't understand some of what you were saying earlier," Quinn said, feeling slightly ashamed for not knowing to speak any other language besides English and a little bit of Irish. Quinn walked down the halls and staircases. "May I ask where you are from?"

Monica regarded the older girl shyly, uncertain how to respond. Deciding to be relatively vague, "Greece," she uttered, tucking her wings back behind her. As they folded against her back, she retrieved her books from her robes, "A small island in the Aegean sea."

Glancing away from Quinn as they turned into an adjourning hallway to the Ravenclaw's entrance, "I haven't been in England long. I don't like it either; It's too cold." she commented quietly, a slight chill gripping her as the warmth of the fireplace left her.

"I see," replied Quinn, "Greece is a beautiful island, and fascinating creatures." Quinn walked with Monica into the Great Hall.

"I'm from Ireland," said Quinn, "Well, I was born in England but I had to live in Ireland. It's also very beautiful there, very simple in landscape. Lots of mischief there though." Quinn told Monica, remembering some things she did when she was younger with Ash.

~*~ Ash~*~
Ash walked through the Great Hall and sat at her table. She wasn't looking forward to the classes, as usual, well except for maybe a few. In reality, Ash was just a little tired, with staying up late over the summer. She ate her breakfast, not really up to socializing with anyone. As Ash finished, she stood up and grabbed her books and decided to go over to the Ravenclaw, maybe to sit with her sister until she would got to class. She noticed Quinn entering the Hall, with the new first year. Ash quickly made her way toward them.

"I've never seen anyone else scold someone for injuring a Devil's Snare," he told her with a slight grin as they headed towards the greenhouses.

"How could one even go about injuring a Devil's Snare on a cloudy day?" She asked him teasingly.
"I believe that must be some kind of world record." She smiled, he had a black thumb, there was no doubt about that.

Casey Jewels wrote:

(I lost my post. *sob* So have this shorter post instead.)

Kami squeezed her eyes tighter shut, as if that could somehow make Alissa go away. But still the words hung in the air, demanding that she say or do something. Did she want Kingsley to come here? No... She wasn't a coward. Cowards were weaklings, and she wasn't that, was she?

Abruptly, she pulled the covers down and slid out of bed. She walked towards her trunk, careful not to even glance in Alissa's direction. "Go away," she muttered. "I'm up." And she was trembling, which was the last thing she wanted the strange girl to notice.

Alissa blinked in surprise, but shrugged. "Alright. I can help you get ready, then, f you feel up to it. If that's alright with you, Kami."

((I apologize for not moving this forward as I should have been. I will do so now. A mini-time skip will occur to put the kids in their first class of the day, soon enough. I will be posting the class schedules tomorrow, when I have more time.))

((Here are the schedules! Just for the sake of making things easier, I'll just list the first classes by school year, and not include which year houses have which first year class, since I believe each class has only two groups of students from one of the four houses.

CLASS SCHEDULES:

First Years: DADA

Second Years: Transfiguration

Third Years: Care of Magical Creatures

Fourth Years: Potions

Fifth Years: Herbology

Sixth Years: Magical History

Seventh Years: Magical Theory))

Kami had politely (well, maybe politely wasn't the right word), declined Alissa's offer to help her, and so her appearance was maybe a little wild as she stepped inside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom a few minutes behind Alissa--having secretly followed the other girl all of the way here.

Her hair stuck up in odd places, her robe wasn't put on quite straight, and her feet were bare, making no noise on the cool floor as she slunk towards the back of the classroom. Her eyes didn't quite meet Kingsley's, as if afraid that he would scold her in front of the entire class for her appearance. But she didn't care.

Monica had been ready to correct Quinn when she saw another girl approach them. Sitting in the back of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, she turned the events over in her mind and still wasn't certain why she was suddenly overcome with the urge to run...she just had.

Trying to catch her breath, her nose caught a peculiar scent as it wafted into the classroom. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, trying to discern what it was when she noticed it was getting stronger. Her eyes opened sharply as she cut her gaze towards the door as a wild looking girl hurried in, quietly making her way over to Monica as she sat down.

Monica tilted her head slightly as she brought her wings up defensively; she should have recognized the girl's scent, as it was quite unique from everyone else. Her hair began to writhe as her heart sped up from the close proximity.

Maybe the other girl didn't notice she was already sitting here? Maybe...

Her jade-green eyes focused on the girl next to her, she ducked her head behind her wings, waiting for...something, anything, should she have to run.

"It's not my fault," Andrew argued with an indignant expression, "I needed a little light cut one of its leaves off like the Professor said."

(Um, we're in fifth year and were already heading for Herbology, Magus.)