Hello and Welcome, to my first long Harry Potter fanfiction :) … I've been into HP for YEARS (we're talking like 10+ years here) but I've never really bothered to delve into the world real deep until now… so hopefully I don't fail too miserably :)
FAIR WARNING: this story is MOSTLY about OCs… it's supposed to be about some of Harry's years at Hogwarts through the perspective of other students who attend… if you hate OCs with a burning passion, I am sorry to hear it… I promise you there are no Mary-sues or special-weird-ass-chosen-ones-with-super-ultra-mecha-powers!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter and its respective canon characters… if I did I'd be VERY rich and Harry and Hermione would've been a canon couple .:insert hearts here:.
….
"Sometimes I think that I'm jealous of my brother. He's attractive, smart, witty, funny, charming, outgoing, loved by nearly everybody around him, and just damn near perfect. Sometimes I seriously think that I admire him, like I might actually wish I was more like him…"
A warm hand slapped her hard on the back and grinned at her from nearly half-a-foot above. "Oi, Matt! Still sulking, I see… try smiling won't you? You're so much prettier that way!"
"But then I remember that he's a massive prick," Matilda, often referred to as Matt by her schoolmates, much to her annoyance, sniggered. She turned her dark grey eyes upward to glare at the intruder, her 'darling' older brother, the prick. His light brown hair fell in soft waves across his forehead and his startling light grey eyes, far prettier than hers, glittered brightly at her. He was too good looking for his own good.
"H-hi Euan…" came the timid voice of Matt's best friend, the ever love-sick Risa, from behind the two of them. Her dark hair, tied up into a little pony-tail, swayed slightly as she shook with excitement. "How are you? Did you have a nice summer?" she managed to stutter out, after she'd recovered from staring.
"Marvelous Ris, thanks! Missed my darling sister, of course, but spending the summer abroad is always a real treat! " He winked at her and she turned a brilliant shade of red. "And how've you been? Still annoying Matt, I see!" He smirked at his sister and she glared back.
"Leave her alone Euan, she doesn't understand that you're just teasing." Sure enough Risa had begun to stutter quietly to herself about how she hoped she wasn't a burden to Matt and that if she wasn't wanted she would leave at once. "Oh for god's sake Risa, if I wanted you to go, you know me well enough to know that I'd have told you so… ages ago."
'You know me well enough'… it wasn't really a stirring endorsement of their friendship, to say such a thing; anybody who'd ever even seen Matt knew that if she didn't want you around, she'd voice it immediately, friend or not.
"Well I've got charms in a few minutes so I'd better be off, don't want to get into trouble after we've only been back for two days," Euan smirked at his sister again and gave Risa a quick wink, to which she responded with her usual shade of bright red, and turned to leave.
"You've never been in trouble a day in your life Euan, you're too big a kiss-ass," she sneered to his backside.
"Matilda! You shouldn't curse like that; a teacher might hear you…" Risa stared at her wide-eyed.
"Oh please, like I give a damn."
Euan had turned back around. "Seriously Matt, that language is unbecoming, you'll never get a boyfriend that way." Another wink.
"Get lost, asshole."
"As you wish, princess." He waved at the two of them and turned again, heading off towards Flitwick's classroom.
Risa sighed dramatically and watched the retreating back, "You're so lucky Matilda, to be related to somebody like him…"
"Oh calm down, stupid, he's really not that great…"
"Not that great? Your brother is one of the most brilliant students in his year! He's a prefect, he's handsome, and he's so unbelievably talented… your brother is amazing!"
"Oh please, stop worshiping him and go to class…"
"But Matilda you were just talking about how sometimes you're jealous of him… how you wish you were more like that…"
"And I believe I ended that conversation by making it quite clear that those thoughts last about as long as Euan's attention span!" Matt snapped angrily, regretting her earlier admiration. She'd probably gone senile about him while he was away for the summer… almost allowing herself to forget how much she didn't care for him.
"He's an idiot, a prick, and a conceited jerk, not to mention he's way too old for you Ris! He's three years above us!" She scoffed at her idiot friend and continued rambling, "There are plenty of people far more intelligent than that git, he's not remotely talented, there are far better looking, not to mention younger, boys to be interested in, and deep down he's just a little slime ball…"
She fumed bitterly and stopped for a quick breath. She looked over at Risa, who didn't seem to be listening to a single word she had just said. "What on earth do you see in that awful face of his, anyway?"
She never did get an answer, Risa seemed to busy fantasizing about all the things she saw in that face, and all the things she might like to do to that face. Matt shuddered at the imagery and forced it out of her head.
"C'mon, stupid, or we'll be late for class too. You've got herbology, miles away, and I've got to get down to my first transfiguration lesson. I am not in the mood to deal with an angry McGonagall."
….
It was becoming increasingly hard for Matt to focus on her latest potions essay with all the unnecessary commotion in the Slytherin Common room.
That git, Draco Malfoy, was telling the entire house, yet again, about how the famous Harry Potter had fainted on the train. He was pretending to swoon, probably practicing for the next time he saw Potter and his friends, not that he hadn't already used this to insult Potter a number of times already. At breakfast the first day of classes (about a week and a half ago) he had first used it… he'd barely ceased since… it was getting increasingly old and increasingly annoying.
Pansy Parkinson gave another one of her stupid giggles and her friend Daphne Greengrass chuckled appreciatively from behind her. They both goggled at Malfoy, the stupid git. He was only a 3rd year and he acted like the ruler of the whole damn Slytherin lot. Matt grabbed her bags angrily, trying to send her displeasure in waves towards Malfoy before she left, and headed off to the library, where Risa was likely already sitting.
Matilda wasn't exactly the stereotypical Slytherin, then again the word 'stereotypical' did imply a stereotype, and when were those ever accurate? Sure she had Slytherin traits; the sorting hat did place her in Slytherin for a reason, after all. She was cunning, terribly ambitious, snide, rude, and had a tendency towards mean remarks, however there was one common 'Slytherin misconception' that she flat out refused to take part in.
She saw no need to run around hating every Gryffindor automatically, simply because they had the misfortune to be sorted into the house of pompous dickheads. To the contrary she actually found it fairly annoying that some people couldn't just shut their damn trap about the Gryffindors. Sure some of them deserved it, like that stupid Colin Creevey kid… damn was that boy annoying… All he did was carry that stupid camera around, ramble on and on about his dad the milkman (like he should be proud of that profession, ha), and obsess over Potter. He was annoying, she had no problem disliking him… but that stupid Draco Malfoy and his band of stupid apes (how they managed to pass any of their classes was positively beyond her, though the whole school did get a free ride last year after the whole Chamber of Secrets incident) they pissed her off the most.
He just could not shut up! It was so irksome to listen to his jibes at that Potter boy time after time. Sure Potter was famous for something that he couldn't even remember, and he did seem to constantly be playing the part of the 'lucky hero'… maybe he was a git, how should she know? she'd never actually met the guy… but still, Malfoy himself couldn't possibly be considered anything but a slimy git, perhaps even more so than her stupid brother, so how could he really have any right to talk? It just annoyed her to know end to imagine his smug, pale, little face insulting Potter everywhere he went…
"What an idiot," she spat as she sat down next to Risa, who looked up from her own essay, one for transfiguration. She looked bewildered for a moment but then realization hit her and she nodded, returning to her work. There were only two people that Matt could possibly be referring to: her brother, Euan, who was already in the library himself, nowhere near her… and… Risa sighed heavily at the thought, "Malfoy."
"He's doing nothing but bringing down his own name, ruining the decency of his family's history by acting like a smug little prick. He's being dishonorable and disgraceful, and actually I think that it's rather sickening to think that he believes his silly little remarks to actually be clever."
"So you've said Matilda, many times…" Risa faltered slightly, passing Matt a sideways glance, hoping she hadn't offended her too much. Matt always tried to find a reasonable argument for her dislike of Malfoy… it never worked; Risa could tell it was just plain dislike, no reason needed.
"I just wish he's shut the fuck up!"
"Matilda!"
"What?"
Risa scowled at her, with her usual reproachful face, that really just looked more cute than chide, really. "Honestly Matilda, we're only 12, how can you stand to curse like that?"
Matt grabbed a book of the shelf to help her write her essay and responded nonchalantly, "Easy Ris, I just don't think about it."
"Well maybe you should consider it every once in a while…" she offered, flushing slightly at the look on Matt's face.
"Shut up and focus on your homework; you still have 10 inches left to go… I thought all Ravenclaws were supposed to be incredibly brilliant…"
"Everybody knows you're way smarter than I am Matilda, besides I'm… well…" Risa turned bright red and Matt stole an angry glance at her brother several feet away, studying (loudly) with his friends in the library.
"Distracted," Matt finished for her. She paused a moment and eyed Euan's group of friends warily, "What on earth happened to that Towler kid?" Matt winced and looked disapprovingly on the 5th year Gryffindor, covered in some sort of strange boils. It was quite repulsive, especially considering he was normally quite handsome, actually.
"I heard those Weasley twins, Fred and George, I think… put Bulbadox powder into his pajamas… or something like that."
"Well he looks horrid."
"Yes it does look rather bad, doesn't it? Shame he's usually not that bad to look at…"
"You know Ris, considering how much you get on my case about inappropriate 12 year old behavior… you've got quite the taste for older men… they're 15…" Risa turned another bright shade of maroon and returned to 'focusing' on her essay for McGonagall.
"Oi, Matt!" The headache set in almost instantly, his voice usually did that.
"What do you want, you nuisance?"
"Just to visit my baby sister," Euan smirked brightly at her, kneeled down beside her, and ruffled her long brown hair. "I do miss you sometimes, how's life down in the dungeons with all the gloomy little buggers?"
"Keep your voice down idiot, we're in a library." He continued to grin at her. She rolled her eyes and glared. "I'm fine, how's the tower of Gryffindorks?"
"Wow, real clever Matt, never heard that one before," he smirked at her and she sighed warily. "We're quite Fabulous, if you must know. Everyone's trying to keep up with their work and what not, it is O.W.L. year for us and we're already swamped with loads of work, not even two weeks in! Patricia has already started growing faint, I can't imagine when we get closer to the exams themselves…" He laughed and Patricia Stimpson looked up from her paper, one eyebrow arched high on her forehead.
He smiled at her and waved, then continued on, "Most people are trying not to freak out over these dementors all over the place too, on top of the whole Sirius Black issue, poor Clara's in a right state about it…" He nodded his head back towards the second girl in his little group, Clara Murphy, her curly blonde hair bouncing about as her head bobbed around, almost as if to music nobody else could hear, totally oblivious to Euan's comments. "Doesn't look it, I know," he chuckled at the expression on Matt's face.
"Did you notice Kenneth? The Weasley boys messed him up real bad… they're claiming he just got too stressed over his O.W.L.'s!" He laughed quite heartily, Patricia even giggled a little, and Kenneth Towler looked up angrily from his book, "Shut up Euan, you toss-pot."
Euan simply laughed harder. "Toss pot? How come you never call me a toss pot, Matt?" Matt glared at him.
"How can you laugh at him, he looks ridiculous." Another glare from Kenneth, Patricia went back to her work, perhaps sensing a rising storm, and Clara had stopped bouncing her head and watched the lot of them with an interested expression.
"Th-that… I mean what the Weasley's did…I mean that… that's awful!" Risa inserted, blushing furiously at Euan, who smiled at her.
"You're such a sweetie, Ris! How'd Matt get such a good-natured girl like you to follow her around?" She turned, if it was possible, an even darker shade of red, and began muttering again about how if Matt asked she'd leave.
"Leave her be Euan…" Matt sighed, closing the book she'd been trying to use for her potions homework. "I do believe you've managed to insult every single one of your friends…now do me the honor of leaving mine alone," she narrowed her eyes at him and he just smiled at her, as did Patricia and Clara (Kenneth was continuing to glare at the lot of them, the boils matching the now deep shade of red on his face), they all knew he didn't mean any of it.
Matt was struck quite suddenly with inspiration, here was the one group of Gryffindors who would tell her anything she wanted to know, without any bias towards her as a Slytherin. She wasn't quite sure why she suddenly cared, since the rumors and jokes had been flying for nearly two weeks now, but she actually was fairly curious… "Is it true that Potter really fainted, by the way? When the dementors came onto the train?"
"Fraid so… though I can't say I blame the poor guy, they're some right nasty little beasts… I hate them too, myself, and I can't wait 'till Dumbledore kicks 'em out for good!" He nodded defiantly, as though he had settled the matter and Matt couldn't help smiling as both Risa and Clara looked on admiringly, both Patricia and Kenneth having returned to their work now.
"Why do you ask?" He looked at her curiously, and she rolled her eyes.
"Curiosity, I suppose… that Malfoy git wouldn't shut up about it, just wondered if it was actually true or just another one of his stupid rumors."
She looked up with a highly arched brow when Euan broke into a small fit of laughter. "What?" she asked defiantly.
"Nothing, Matt, nothing. I just never thought you'd meet a person that you would hate more than me… I should sent Malfoy some flowers," he smirked at her horrified expression, her eyes narrowing to the point where he wouldn't be surprised if she could no longer see him. She slammed the book back onto the shelf, ignored the sudden protest from the librarian, and stormed out of the library, muttering angrily about how nowhere was safe in this entire school, if a person wanted to get any sort of studying done.
Well there you have it, Chapter 1… an introduction to moody Matt, love sick Risa, prat Euan, and ditzy Clara…. (everybody else, including Patricia and Kenneth, are canon)… I hope you enjoy and I intend to update soon…
To clear up any confusion this takes place during Harry Potter's 3rd year at Hogwarts (Matt and Risa's 2nd year, Euan and Clara's 5th year)