CHAPTER 1
Santana Lopez had lost the thread of her friends' conversation a while ago. She was aware that they were talking…..at least that their lips were moving, but she wasn't paying attention.
No, Santana was recovering from another one of her daydreams, the ones about him.
"What do you think Santana?" With a small jolt she turned her face in the direction of the person asking the question. Jesse St. James, fellow Slytherin and boyfriend, or, lets face it, her future fiance.
"Excuse me. What?" She asked, pretending she had simply misheard, even though it was obvious she wasn't paying attention.
"About who you think is going to be the new DADA professor?" Piped in the third person in the train compartment. This one her best friend, also a Slytherin (of course) , Rachel Berry.
"Well I know professor Snapes' been after the job for years, and he'd be absolutely brilliant. But knowing Dumbledore. The new professor would be something ridiculous like a werewolf, or some sort of freaky frog lady." she replied with a shudder.
Even before she said it, she knew it wasn't fooling anyone. From the corner of her eyes she saw Jesse with an annoyed expression on his face. However, it quickly dissipated as soon as Rachel asked him what classes he's enrolled in. As humble and eloquently as possible, he went into detail about owl level classes that he's taking, and how they would help him reach his goal, the future minister of magic. Jesse was ambitious, even by Slytherin standards. Santana could tell from the look in his eyes that he was waiting to impress them with this seemingly impromptu speech. She could also tell from the look on Rachel's face that it was working.
Santana turned her head and went back to feigning interest in the scenery passing by outside the Hogwarts Express. She knew that she should've felt guilty for not paying attention to Jesse. After all she was his girlfriend, not Rachel. Even though it was apparent to the both of them, and to every Slytherin in their year, that he and Rachel got along and had much more in common than she and him ever had.
But to Slytherins, that all made perfect sense, it was separating that didn't. They were both the same age, purebloods, wealthy, and from two very old, very powerful families. Which translated to Santana and Jesse being promised to each other from practically in the womb.
Their relationship didn't consist of making out by the common room fire or silly romantic dates at Hogsmeade. No, any physical affection shared would be done as discreetly and privately as possible. In public, they would always be known as a single unit. Both were the Slytherin prefects, and had exceptional marks in all classes. They were the perfect Slytherin couple.
Distantly she heard Rachel's musical giggling caused by something Jesse said. An unwanted twinge of jealousy suddenly enters her. Not for Jesse, but for Rachel.
Rachel was a pureblood, but her family was nowhere near as noble or as wealthy as Santana's. Which meant that Rachel was under none of the same pressures that Santana went through everyday. In fact, her dream was to become a performer.
Santana imagined what would happen if she ever tried telling her parents she wanted to live her life performing in front of people for money, and almost laughed. She was entering her 6th year at Hogwarts, which meant she had only two short years before the inevitable happened. She'd graduate, but would never get a job, working was supposedly beneath such a noble lady. She would enter pureblood high society, and go through the intricate and exhausting ritual of furthering her family's name.
But what Santana Lopez dreaded the most about graduation was not having tea with annoying old ladies. What she worried about, and what a select few Slytherins also worried about, was much more terrifying. It was the dirty little secret that no one at Hogwarts ever talked about, but it had crossed everyone's mind at one point or another.
Which families were loyal to the Dark Lo- No! She was not gonna go there. Her stomach was twisting itself in knots just thinking about it.
She couldn't help it though, contemplations about her future would inevitably lead to the question. In the past she figured out that pre-occupying her time with fantasies of him was the only way of escaping that line of thought.
A gentle nudge on her shoulder and a "Santana?" snapped her back to reality. It was Jesse.
"Huh" she answered lamely.
"The train stopped, we're at the castle and you just sat there frozen. Rachel was worried, but I told her to go on ahead. Are you okay?" This time his expression wasn't annoyance by her distracted behavior, she could see that he was genuinly concerned.
It was then that her earlier train of thought suddenly slammed into her. Oh Jesse, poor Jesse, Jesse whom she had known forever and was in the same boat as her, Jesse whom she didn't love romantically but still cared for deeply, Jesse who wanted to become minister of magic. Would there even be a Minstry if He came into power?
The expression on her face must have alarmed him because he started going on about how she should lie down and he would get Madam Pomfrey.
Quickly, she schooled her face to a more natural expression and pulls out the silver star-jeweled compact mirror she inherited from her grandmother . "Don't worry about it, I was just concerned about how I looked" she said as she pretended to touch up her makeup.
"You look as beautiful as you always do." Was his immediate response, and she knew it wasn't a compliment but a mere statement of fact.
"Yes of course I do, but you're a guy so you wouldn't understand. For the people who haven't seen me all summer, I have to be absolutely perfect when I walk through those doors for the first time." She stated, and was surprised that it wasn't a complete lie.
Now that Jesse understood.
"Sure, I'll wait outside and explain to Rachel you're fine." he informed her giving her a peck on the forehead as he left.
Santana sighed and looked into the small mirror. "Come on Lopez, the sorting hasn't even begun and already you're having a nervous breakdown." it taunted as she shuts the compact.
A moment later as she walked through the aisles of the Hogwarts Express, she took it as a good sign that no one had annoyed her yet. Even the first year, who had fallen asleep on the train and bumped into her rushing to get out, she let go without so much as a threat.
Suddenly, laughter echoed around the now mostly empty train. Up the aisle she sees that it came from Tina Cohen-Chang, a Ravenclaw prefect.
As she got closer she could see that the Ravenclaw had wrapped her arms around someone else and was currently pulling as hard as she could. Her partner looked like he was trying to extract something from the overhead compartment. Without looking at the person's face she already figured out who it was just from his height. Finn Hudson.
Obviously, Chang had some trouble getting a carry-on from the overhead compartment. While Finn, lumbering buffoon that he was, had offered to help and gotten stuck. She must've seen him struggling and tried to help by yanking him out, until the whole arrangement ultimately dissolved into one big giggle fest between the two of them.
They must've thought they looked so cute.
Santana's good mood evaporated as fast as it came.
It was pissing her off. These people were about to be 6 years just like her and they didn't even think of magic to resolve the situation. She knew that Chang was a half-blood and that Finn was muggleborn, but that was no excuse. What was the point of letting their lot learn magic if they weren't going to use it properly.
She should have just kept on walking but the sudden urge to disturb their cozy mood was too strong. Nothing particularly clever came to mind. So she did the first thing she could think of.
She shoved Chang. Hard.
Now that was a sight worth losing your head over. Chang went down on her ass, followed by Finn, followed by all of her things spilling out.
She looked down at her handiwork with a smirk. The Ravenclaw had her mouth wide open, too shocked to even move. Finn was the first to recover. He got up and then helped the girl to her feet.
"What the hell was that?" Chang exclaimed as soon as she found her voice.
"It's simple, Cohen-Chang was it? You two were in me way." she drawled out trying to sound bored with the situation.
"So? What kind of logic is that? You can't just go around shoving people for no reason. Tell me Lopez. What have I ever done to you?" she stated.
Santana narrowed her eyes on Finn's hand still clutching Chang's arm. She followed it up and met is face. He was giving her his I-hate-you-why-don't-you-go-drown-in-two-feet-of-water face.
"Oh Hudson, is that really you? I heard a rumor this summer, that Hagrid married a Hippogriff, and the only other malformed half-giant they could find was living in his shack." She sneered watching his face, waiting for a reaction.
"Whatever, why don't you just go find a small child to frighten" He grounded out scowling at her.
"Wait, that was it? You're not Slytherins, but come on, give me something to work with." She mocked, but they had already turned away picking up Chang's belongings.
This was no fun. Any Slytherin first year could come up with a better insult. Hell, even a Gryffindor would never back down without having the last word. These two were content to ignore her and get on with their business.
"Yeah well keep talking Hudson, maybe you'll say something intelligent by accident." She muttered stalking past them, feeling slightly embarrassed, but not knowing why.
Right as she was about to un-board the train, Santana chanced a glance back at the pair. They had gathered all of Chang's things, and she was thanking him. Finn had offered to help carry her stuff, while giving her his trademark dimpled half-smirk. The smile that pretty much everyone at Hogwarts got, everyone except for her that was.
She hears her name being shouted from outside, and followed the unmistakable voice to it's owner, Rachel Berry. Who was currently jumping up and down and waving at her from a carriage. She could only see the back of Jesse head from here, but she was positive he looked like a prince riding to his castle.
She couldn't help the comparisons between Jesse and Finn that came after. Where Jesse was refined and intelligent in every aspect , Finn was crude and almost childlike. Wherever Jesse went, heads turned and they immediately knew that this young man was going to be a great wizard someday. Wherever Finn went, one glance and people became worried he'd hit his head on the lighting fixtures. It was obvious who was better.
Just stop obsessing over Hudson, she told herself furiously. It was no use.
Dammit! She hated him. She hated him for being so tall, so carefree, so different from Jesse. But,oh…she wanted him. She knew it was wrong. She was a pureblood, he was a muggleborn.
But she just couldn't help herself.