Chapter 1: Expectations

Her back was beginning to itch again, but she knew better than to scratch at it. The No-Maj tattoo artist whom she'd gone to had warned her about the possibility of drawing out the ink if she scratched it, but Christ on a cracker it was starting to become too much. She knew if she moved her arm back to even tap it with her nails that it would draw attention, so instead she leaned back in her desk chair, arms above her head, and swiveled her shoulders like she was trying to get out a particularly stiff cramp, strategically rubbing her back against the dress shirt she had on for school. A whole new problem arose from doing that movement.

"Ah, Miss Boot, do you have a question?" her Arithmancy professor asked. Everyone in the class turned to face her, expecting a typical question about why math mattered outside of No-Maj schools who expected half their students to be 'engineers' or 'accountants', whatever that meant. Instead she brought her arms back down to her lap, shook her head and tried not to look like she hadn't just been as mentally far from the present situation as she had actually been. "Then please refrain from drawing unnecessary attention to yourself, it distracts the rest of the class."

Blank-faced and unblinking she stared back at the professor until he returned his attention to the lesson at hand. She whispered a quick itch relief incantation to quell the rest that she couldn't quite get with her odd movement, and leaned forward against her desk trying to look engaged until class ended.

At the ring of the clock tower bell, Katerina shot out of her seat, scooped everything off her desk and into her bag, and rushed out of the class before the professor could question her again about her disruptive behavior. Third time this week she'd been noted as a distraction, and it was only Tuesday. As she headed down the corridor toward the main hall for lunch, a sudden slap to her back caused a pain to shoot through her shoulders, resulting in her drawing her wand to point it under the chin of her unfortunate attacker. Why she hasn't felt him coming she tried not to dwell on.

"Whoa! Whoa, Kate, I'm sorry. I totally forgot about your… injury," said Nathan Lee, hands held up in surrender as the tip of her wand jabbed painfully into his Adam's apple. Glaring at him for a second, Katerina removed her wand, watching him swallow as she put it back inside her robes pocket.

"It's fine, Nate. I was struggling with the itching anyway and that sort of helped," she replied, turning with him to continue toward the main hall. Truth be told it did help, but it also meant the area in question was now probably bright red, and would likely be more irritated when the stinging finally wore off.

"Any big plans for the summer?" Nate asked as the two sat down at their house's table, a few other Horned Serpent students dotting the immediate area eating lunch or exchanging notes before finals began.

Katerina shrugged, looking at the food magically appearing before them before deciding on a chicken sandwich. "Hopefully travel a bit. Benny and I had a plan to go to this nice No-Maj resort in Florida with our parents, but my dad backed out because of work, as usual," she noted, rolling her eyes. "And my mom is never sure until right before a vacation if she can go or not. I might take him anyway, just so we can do something fun."

"I'm up for some fun! What are we talking about?" inquired a bright-eyed Annie Lee, Nate's sister, as she took a seat across from Katerina.

"Kate's summer plans that don't involve us, again," Nate quipped. Katerina rolled her eyes again, a motion that she found she couldn't physically feel due to how often she did it in Nate's presence, and took another bite of her sandwich to avoid answering.

"Oh, Nate, you know it's not personal. Katie loves us and we all know it," Annie defended, winking at Katerina before taking a sandwich for herself.

"Yeah, yeah. Well maybe when she's not off galavanting with hot, half-naked No-Maj men in Florida, she'll actually spend time with us again," said Nate, quickly dodging a backhanded slap from Katerina in the process.

"I'm throwing a party for my birthday if that makes you feel better." Annie and Nate's eyes both widened at that announcement, staring at her in disbelief while she focused much too intently on finishing her sandwich. "What?" Katerina finally says with a huff, looking back and forth between the two. When neither replied right away she said, "I'm turning 16 for fuck's sake. You think I wouldn't throw a party? Even a small one?"

Annie was the first to reply. "Katie, your birthday is in less than a month and we're just now finding out about this?!"

Another eye roll. "I didn't want it to be THAT much of a big deal. Benny and I aren't leaving for Florida until July, so I figured I'd do something for it this year."

In truth, it wasn't like Katerina at all to throw a birthday party. Because it falls on June 20, every few years her birthday landed on Midsummer, the summer solstice celebration, meaning it was often overlooked due to pureblood ceremonies. But turning 16 means she became courting age, and she'd be expected to start thinking seriously about life post-Ilvermorny; namely marriage and kids, regardless of her desires for university and independence.

"Oh you 'figured you'd do something,'" Nate finally said, making air quotes in the process. "You're going to be 16, Kate. That's a big step and you know it."

"I know! Which is why I thought 'hey, maybe I should have a small get together for it.' I don't want a massive party. My birthday actually falls on Midsummer this year so it's likely most people already have plans. But…" she trailed off with a small shrug, not wanting to look her friends directly in the eye.

"But your family expects it of you," Annie finished her thought, exhaling loudly. Both the Lees and the Boots were purebloods. Katerina knew this time could come.

Her mother, Helena Fawley, was a powerful witch in her own right. Descended from the House of Fawley, one of the famous (or infamous, depending on where one stands) of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, and one of the few families who had strong ties to both England, and the beginnings of America. Helena had attended Hogwarts in her childhood, rising through the ranks in Slytherin, challenging expectations of her to marry into a prominent English pureblood family when she decided to move to America in order to go to law school and work for MACUSA. It was there that she met Christophero Boot.

Christophero was an American pureblood, if not more famous than Helena for being the direct 5-times great grandson of Chadwick Boot, the adopted son of the founder of Ilvermorny, Isolt Sayer. Christophero was a simple congress employee at the time, eventually landing a job with the International Confederation of Wizards as a congressional liaison between wizarding countries, but as soon as Helena walked passed him in the halls of the congress building, he knew she was the one for him. A girl hadn't been born to the Boot family in nigh on 400 years from what Christophero could tell based on magical family records, but Katerina had been the change those particular pureblood families so sorely needed.

"Are you sure this is what you want, Kate?" Nate asked. Katerina shook the nerves off, looking at her friend and smiling nervously.

"Not like I have much of a choice, right?"