Welcome to The Slytherings :) This is a story about a group of three Slytherins who are in their 6th year at Hogwarts while HP&co are in 4th year. Mature for language and (homo)sexuality;) mainly femslash, so if you don't like it, don't read it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hogwarts or any of the characters you can recognize, but all the other ones have sprouted from my own imagination:)
Enjoy&tell me what you think:D
I stared out the window of the Hogwarts Express forlornly, despite the raucous laughter and commotion in my compartment. Mathis and Dar had invited several other Slytherins I was vaguely acquainted with to join in on a Wizard's Chess tourney with Chocolate Frogs and Pumpkin Pasties provided by a pool of sickles and knuts. I'd always been a little too good at chess for my best friends, so they kindly excluded me from the tourney insisting they would make it up to me in Divination homework. It was more than enough incentive for me, considering how illogical the class was in the first place.
So I sat in the corner and ran my fingers through my reddish brown hair, wishing I had a Butterbeer to calm my nerves. I snacked on a chocolate frog, keeping the wriggling treat sternly in my grasp as I watched the countryside disappear behind the train. Cows and horses munched on grass like the lazy animals they were, having no idea how much honed—or perhaps not-so-honed—power was on the train they watched troll past.
A dark, beautiful face suddenly appeared in the mirror, smiling shyly and my reflection. Her hair was long and a darker shade of brown than her skin and made her green eyes glow even brighter. Ryan.
"What're you looking at, Lorne?" Ryan Quince asked me as she placed her delicate chin on my shoulder.
Quince and I had never talked too much over the six years we had spent together at Hogwarts, even though we had most classes together and even lived a mere two or three beds away from each other in the dormitory. She had her own group of gossipy, pretentious friends, and I had my guy-friends who I played Quidditch and pranked Gryffindors with. I was never sure what she thought of me, but she seemed friendly enough when we did talk. And she was so beautiful that when we did talk, I had a habit of making a fool of myself anyways.
"Muggle life. It's oddly calming around all this…'fun'," I joked as I motioned to the intense game of chess Mathis had waged with Dar.
"I can get that," the dark beauty cringed as a beheaded Knight bounced off the window and to the floor.
I shifted my body to see her more clearly. Ryan's forest green turtleneck and grey pants fit her well, accentuating all that puberty had graced her with. Beside her, I felt rather unimpressive, seeing how I was mostly shapeless and rather disappointingly endowed. My button up shirt and dark jeans only helped further the fact that I looked like a toothpick with shaggy hair. With Ryan's striking beauty so close, I felt like I should have worn a nicer shirt and brushed my hair again.
"Have you played a game yet?"
Ryan shook her head. "I've never understood chess, but the boys invited the rest of my compartment so I had to come. Have you?"
I chuckled. "No, I've been excluded from this tourney."
Ryan's green eyes widened in surprise. "Why would they do that? They're your best mates!"
"They know I can beat them in a heartbeat, is all," I told her with a shrug. Her mates were crowded around my friends' match, oohing and ahhing as pawns smashed one another. They all seemed so very artificial…plain. Beautiful, of course, but…boring. Not like Ryan. There was something about the girl that stirred something in Lorne. She couldn't place the feeling, but it was most certainly nice.
"So you're good at chess? I can hardly stand it. It's a bit dull, I think."
I shrugged. "It can be, but so can a lot of things. I think Ancient Runes class is a snoozer, but you think it's fascinating, right?"
Quince nodded. "Good point…why haven't we ever talked like this before, Lorne?"
"I dunno." I felt lame. That was all I could come up with. There was no philosophical, deductive reasoning I could dish out to impress her.
Ryan's hand was suddenly on my forearm, her warmth hitting my arm like fireworks. "I know. It's weird. We've lived, like, beside each other for years but never even…"
"Ryan! We gotta go change; we're almost at the school. C'mon!" One of Ryan's friends, Liza, told her hurriedly, grabbing Ryan by the arm and frantically dragging her out of the compartment.
"Oof! Fine! Fine! I'll talk to you later, Lorne," Ryan said with a smile as she disappeared into the hallway.
Mathis turned to me and winked. "Get some, Lore!"
His words shocked me, causing my head to smack back against the window. "What?!"
"You're obviously crushing on Ryan, Lorne," Dar told me, giving me a gentle nudge on the arm.
"Huh?! No way, guys. I'm not gay," I assured them, feeling my heart twist inside my chest.
I hated lying to them. I shouldn't have had to lie to them, especially since Dar had already come out of the closet.
"Whatever. Let's get changed, then. God forbid we wear anything comfortable."
My Prefect badge sat right on top of my books, and it shone next to the dark, sewn on Slytherin patch on my school robes. Even after a year in the position I still wasn't sure why exactly I got it, but I wasn't about to step down, not with the perks.
"And there God as we know her stands," Mathis joked, motioning at me. "May we bring you cheeses?"
"A suitable bribe," I agreed. "No detentions for you, peon!"
"Bless you, kind lady, bless you!" Mathis proclaimed, sending us all into a fit of foolish laughter.
Dar calmed down enough to finish spiking his vibrant purple hair and ushered me and Mathis out to the carriages. The lanterns were bright with fire, lighting the upperclassmen's path to the carriages. The Thestrals huffed and scuffed the ground impatiently as the students boarded in groups of four. Dar, Mathis and I climbed into an unoccupied carriage, passing by a group of obnoxiously famous Gryffindors on the way.
"Faggot!" the obnoxious red head swore at me.
Mathis launched toward the Weasley, fists bared. I was used to this and reacted immediately, grabbing Math by the shoulders and dragging him back. Mathis and Dar had been friends since first year, and he was super defensive of Dar ever since he came out.
"Get over it, homophobe. I'd never kiss you," Dar spat, pulling Mathis away.
I sneered at the three of them as we climbed into the carriage. "Harry fucking Potter and his motley crew of idiots…always stepping on everyone just because they think they're 'saviors of the school'. Shite. You know, that doesn't goddamn excuse acting like gits to every Slytherin."
"I know," Mathis growled. Asshats."
Dar was about to speak when Ryan appeared in the doorway. "Is there room for one more in here? My friends' carriage is full…unless I'm interrupting something," she said, apprehensively leaning out of the carriage.
"It's fine, come on in. We were just talking about what gits Harry Potter and his buffoon friends are," Dar explained welcomingly.
"Oh," Ryan said, her nose wrinkling as she sat beside me. "They really are. 'Cept for Hermione that is; she's pretty, uh, pretty."
Dar smiled knowingly as the carriage began to move. "You're gay, huh?"
"Through and through," Ryan grinned, stretching out a bit on the cushion so her knee knocked against mine. "But don't mention it to anyone; I haven't come out officially."
I stared at her confident smile in shock. She was so open and proud of herself. How could she be? How could Dar be? I couldn't understand them. I knew I didn't like guys how Dar did, but girls transfixed and amazed me. The way their hips sway as they walk, and the way their hair just flows…I knew I was gay, but I could never, ever be as proud about myself as Dar and, evidently, Ryan. Ryan who was beautiful and friendly and smart and…
Her hand was on my knee. Hand. On my knee. Whoa.
"You alright, Lorne? You looked kinda lost. Have you forgotten what gay means? Do I need to remind you?" The sexual implication in her words caught in my throat and I squirmed.
"I'm, uh, fine. Just the Thestrals were, uh, yeah," I mumbled. "And I know what gay means."
"You can see the Thestrals?" Ryan asked, glancing out the window at what must have been air to her eyes.
"Yeah," I told her shortly, shoving my hands deep into my pockets. I wished I couldn't.
"Anyway, um, anyone see the first years yet?" Mathis asked.
"I saw a few, but they looked lame, like Hufflepuffs or Gryffindors," Dar scoffed, brushing something off his pant leg.
"Shame," Ryan sighed. "It's always fun to mentor the fresh meat."
"I know, right? Did you hear that the upperclassmen in Gryffindor bewitch their first years' shoe laces so every time they walk into the common room, they have to hop around and up the stairs?" Dar said, crossing his arms and leaning back angrily.
"What bigots. Houses are supposed to be families, not a Quidditch team," Ryan huffed with a roll of her eyes
"Hey!" Mathis and I snapped up."
"Whoops, sorry," Ryan chuckled with a blush, touching my hand briefly. "No offense."
"It's fine…how was your summer?" I asked her, shivering from the heat in her hand.
"Fabulous, really. I told my parents that I'm gay, and they took me on a trip to southern Greece to celebrate. Turns out they'd known for years and were just waiting for me to buck up and tell them," she laughed. "How about you?"
"I went to Sweden and learned Latin from my aunt. Then I came home and found out Dumbledore assigned me Prefect. And here I am," I shrugged.
"Well, that's dull compared to mine," Mathis laughed. "I went to Scotland and learned to ride a dragon."
"I had sex," Dar piped up.
The carriage went quiet, and Mathis's jaw dropped. "You did what?!"
"Not what," Dar said smugly. "Who."
"And?" Ryan asked slowly.
"Viktor Krum."
"Whoa," Ryan and I breathed.
Mathis squirmed next to his best friend and ruffled his head of bright blond hair. "Didn't it, uh…hurt?"
Dar shook his hand indifferently. "A little, but only at the beginning. Then it got really great," he grinned.
"Wow. I never guessed he was gay," Ryan commented thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "Though, I can see it now."
"Yeah," I agreed, feeling very out of place. Of the four people in the carriage, I was the only one who had never been kissed, or made out, or done anything sexual. I was too scared to let any girl in. It was too much of a risk.
"Ah, there she is," Dar sighed. "Good ol' Hogwarts. There better be some damned good food waiting for me in there," he said cheerily as the carriage slowed.
The boys got out first, stretching in the warm evening air. I hopped out of the carriage effortlessly and turned to see Ryan nervously glancing down at the grass.
"Here," I said as I offered my hand to her. "You won't fall."
She smiled graciously and took my hand, jumping to the ground without incident. "Thanks. I've got to go meet my friends. I'll, er, see you later tonight, then?"
I scratched the back of my neck nervously. "Um, uh, sure, I guess."
"Great. Just don't give me detention if I can't find you till late," she said with a laugh and a wink before walking off to her gaggle of friends.
"Wow," I breathed. A smile wormed its way onto my face as I joined my friends
Dar laughed and slugged me on the shoulder. "Looks like shop's open for Lorney, huh?"
"Shut up, man," I laughed, slugging him back. "Let's just go get some food before I have to give you idiots detention."
"Aw! What for?!" Mathis cried.
"Hassling a prefect, that's what for," I mocked. "Now come on."
We turned to the humongous stone structure we called school and walked inside. Barely ten steps in, the head of Slytherin House, Severus Snape, walked up to me and my friends.
In the slick, mysterious voice the students of his House admired, Snap said, "Miss Owster, follow me to the Headmaster's office."
Exchanging odd looks with my friends, I followed Snape apprehensively, unsure why Dumbledore would need to see me on the eve of the semester. The halls were the same as ever, chock of stone and lanterns to guide the way in the evening. After living her for five whole years, these walls were more like home than my own.
"Congratulations on your position, Lorne," Snape commented as we walked, glancing back with his expressionless eyes.
I frowned. "What position, sir? What's this about?"
"You'll see."
It was pointless to press him further, so I walked silently beside him towards the gargoyles outside Dumbledore's office. Snape muttered the password, which sounded something vaguely familiar to 'brittlebutter'. We made our way up the stairs quickly, and as we went, I heard my stomach growl angrily.
"You will eat soon enough, Miss Owster," Dumbledore's grizzled voice insisted. "See if you can manage to wait for what I have to tell you."
"Alright, sir," I laughed, taking a seat in front of the Headmaster's ornate desk. I petted the handsome phoenix sitting on the wood. "Hello, Fawkes."
"Now, Lorne, I assume you knew Miss Gloria Ingle, in the year above you."
"Well, yeah, of course. What about her?"
Dumbledore picked up a quill and began scratching at a piece of parchment. "She has found other areas of…interest and left her education here unfinished. Unfortunately, she was to be Head Girl of Slytherin House, and now that position is empty. Seeing how you are the only one to fill her spot, you are being, as they say in muggle word, 'promoted'," Dumbledore said with a light smile.
"W-what?" I asked, completely taken aback. "I'm Head Girl?"
"Indeed. Here is your badge and on this piece of parchment is this week's House password, your duties for the year and the password for you private room."
"Wow. Wow. Er, thank you, sir. I'll do my best," I told him, taking the items gratefully. This was unexpected…and amazing. Privacy. For two years. Sweet.
"Now. Off to dinner. I am famished. It must have been at least forty minutes since my last chocolate frog," Dumbledore muttered, rising from his chair and disappearing with a crackle.
"Wow," I mumbled.
"Indeed," Snape said softly. "Come, dinner."
There we go:) Hope you liked it! More is on it's way. Reviews? They'd be great! Check my profile for my deviant page where I'm going to be posting the drawings that inspired the characters.
~writingwrox