Hey guys,
Just to let you know, some characters may seem a bit OOC (out-of-character), but that's because most of the story is going to be told from Ravens side of things so it's how she see the people, which is not necessarily how you know them.
Also thanks to my Beta reader Opal Redverne, without whom this story would be unreadable as my spelling and grammar is atrocious. If anyone needs a Beta ask her, she is amazing.
Please R&R (read-and-review) with your thoughts or constructive criticisms.
Now on with the story. ENJOY!
The Hogwarts express pulled into the platform a small distance away from the castle itself. Raven pulled her head off the glass, stood up, stretched lazily and rolled her neck to ease out the kink she developed from leaning against the window for the entire train journey. She turned around to say something to her brother when she realised he and his friends had gone and left the train without her.
Thanks for waiting bro. Raven thought as she picked up her luggage, dragged it out of the compartment and made her way off the train and onto the platform. Most people were already either in the carriages on their way to the school or at the school already, so she was one of the last out with only a few stragglers for company.
Raven ignored them, kept her head down and followed them towards the few remaining carriages. One rolled away, the people inside chattering loudly. Raven waited for the next one to stop; it was the last of the night and Raven thanked Merlin she managed to get there or she would have had to walk to the school and that did not sound like fun, especially in a strange place like this. Not to mention it was already past dusk and the only light came from the stars and the moon in the pitch black sky.
One of the other carriages stopped and Raven grabbed hold of the bar around the edge and made to get in. As she stepped up her sneakers slipped on the wet ground and she fell on her knees in a puddle, water seeping through her jeans, splashing small bits of mud up as she let go of her luggage. It sunk down into the wet dirt with a sickening squelching sound, making the ground around Raven dip. Before she could pull herself up a pale hand appeared before her face.
"Need a hand?" asked her benefactor. Raven wiped her hands on her trousers quickly, dismissing the dirt, to clean them of mud and silently put her hand in his (the voice made her presume it was a guy) and let him pull her up. Without a word of thanks she bent down and tried to wipe some of the mud from the knees of her jeans but only succeeded in smearing it around, widening the brown splotches on the dark fabric.
"Oh, fuck it!" she swore to herself, grabbed her trunk, yanked it out of the mud and yanked the dirty handle so the luggage dragged behind her. She got into the carriage this time without slipping and sat down on one of the benches inside.
Her helper also got in and sat opposite her. Without looking up Raven muttered a small 'thank you' while brushing some small flecks of mud off her indigo (and now brown speckled) hoodie.
"You alright?" she was asked.
"I'm fine." She replied shortly finally looking up at the guy. It was him. The guy from the platform. Raven turned away quickly, looking in the direction the carriage was going, trying to avoid his stare. He watched her intently for a few moments before leaning forward slightly.
"I'm Draco. What about you?" he casually asked, seemingly unfazed by the awkward atmosphere surrounding Raven. She didn't reply for a minute just sat there under his slate-grey stare. Raven didn't get on well with people in general, so having someone talk to her and actually expect a reply was a new thing, and not one Raven was entirely comfortable with. Raven tucked a stray curl behind her ear, trying to hide her nervousness before thinking, oh to hell with it, might as well get this over with, the ride will go quicker this way rather than just ignoring him.
Raven pulled the silver-threaded purple ribbon out of her pocket and proceeded to tie back her dark, loose ringlets into a tight ponytail, running her hands over it slowly to smooth down any bumpy bits.
Draco watched the movements with a strange scrutiny as if trying to judge what kind of person she was from that simple act alone. Yeah. Good luck with that. He knows nothing about me and I doubt he ever will, a voice in the back of Raven's head remarked snidely.
She looked up at him, giving nothing away in her expression and simply said "Raven". One word and all the awkward tension in the carriage seemed to disappear between the two almost-strangers. He smiled at her and it lit up his pale face. Raven couldn't help a small smile back.
Draco pushed his long platinum bangs off of his forehead as he said, "Nice name. It suits you."
Raven rolled her eyes at his comment as the carriage slowed to a stop and the gates around the school closed, sealing the protective charm around the entire campus. She pulled her luggage from under her seat and, lifting it with only minor difficulty, jumped out of the carriage, causing little bits of mud to splash up, making Draco recoil slightly to avoid being hit by the flying muck.
He stepped carefully out of the carriage and walked around the mud with an unexpected grace. Raven, uncaring of the dirt seeing as she was already splattered with it, walked straight through it, not bothering to avoid any of it. Draco let out a small laugh as she trudged along next to him as they headed into the castle and towards the great hall.
They walked quietly next to each other, as a comfortable silence hung in the air. Raven matched pace with Draco and was surprised at how familiar he already seemed. Neither spoke; there was no need. Words would have destroyed the safe feeling they were both experiencing. They were almost strangers but that didn't seem to matter to either of them.
They reached to great hall and Draco left Raven to go sit at the Slytherin table where his house mates had saved him a seat. Raven walked towards the front of the hall, towards her imminent sorting. This isn't going to end well, she thought as she walked between the long tables running the length of the hall.
As she walked ever closer to the hat, Raven heard the whispers start amongst the students.
"Look at her!" came from one end of the hall.
"What's she wearing?" another whispered to a nearby friend, but Raven heard it all.
"She almost looks like a boy dressed like that."
"Yeah and all that mud on her clothes. Not very ladylike is she."
And on it went, following Raven through the room until the room was practically buzzing with conversation by the time she finally reached the stool set at the front of the hall with the sorting hat sat upon it, moving slightly as she watched. The odd snicker sounded through the comments of the other students. Raven gritted her teeth and blocked out the comments, not letting them get to her, or at least she tried to. It was nothing she wasn't used to. The girls at Beauxbatons had been no different, only they tended to say it to her face not behind her back.
Raven sat on the stool as the professor she presumed to be Headmaster (he sat in the middle of the professors table and looked rather old) tapped a spoon against his crystal goblet, the ring echoing through the grand hall signalling for all to be silent. The chatter died down and the hat was placed upon Raven's head.
Raven looked at her feet and ignored the hats jabbering about her suitability of different houses before it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" Weak applause came from the Gryffindor table as she hopped off the stool and walked over to the table. She shoved her trunk under the table, but before she sat down Raven looked at the faces of her new 'house mates'. None of them looked pleased to have her in their house. Well, no one except her brother, who looked smug, Raven glared at him. He laughed behind his hand, and Raven snapped. Reaching beneath the table, she snatched her trunk and roughly pulled it up, not caring that she jogged the table. She took one last look at her so-called 'house mates'. High-up, snotty nosed boys and girls who only cared about looks and success. Disgusting. Raven turned from the table and stalked out of the hall, leaving the looks, the whispers, the sniggers behind.
"Miss Potter! Miss Potter! Return to your seat! At once!" she heard one of the female professors call after her, but Raven kept walking until she could no longer hear the old bat screeching. Raven wandered aimlessly through the corridors of the school, not knowing where she was going, trying to forget the looks people had given her in the hall – disgust, disdain, shock that someone like her would end up in their house.
Raven dropped her trunk and leaned against the corridor's wall, resting her forehead against the cool stone. The anger she had felt in the hall began to boil in Ravens blood, her breathing grew ragged and her heart sped up. Control Raven! Keep control! Don't let them get to you! A part of her said, trying to calm her down to no effect. They look down on me, when they deck themselves out in glory, pretending to be better than others just because they're in this house instead of that one. They look at the world through rose tinted glasses, with their idealistic views, prejudice and hatred. What good will your looks do in the future? They think that I want to be here? They can keep their goddamned houses and house mates and stupid, ridiculous, pompous attitudes This school's full of fucking bastards. In an attempt to vent her anger and calm herself down Raven turned to the nearest wall and slammed her fist into it with as much force as she could muster. The old bricks dented and brick dust floated down to settle on her mud covered sneakers.
"Wow. This kitten's got claws!" a voice said behind her. Raven turned and swung wildly at the person behind her. A platinum head ducked at the last second, the blow ruffling his hair. Draco straightened up, smoothed back his hair and looked warily at Raven in case she took another shot. And she wanted to. How she wanted to. He was part of this, this stupid analytical school, pretending he's better than others, wearing snotty robes. Raven felt the vicious urge to beat this boy in front of her, to slam and break him, but suppressed the urge. Slowly unclenching her fist Raven felt blood trickle between her fingers and drip off of the ends of her shredded knuckles.
As they entered the great hall Draco left Raven to go sit at the Slytherin table as she walked towards Professor McGonagall and the sorting hat. He watched her carefully as she walked, hearing the murmurs start at his table with the 6th years.
"What is she wearing?" Pansy Parkinson asked the other girls sitting around her further up the table in her nasal, petty voice.
Daphne and Astoria Greengrass shrugged "She looks like a boy." One of the sisters said quietly.
Draco heard similar conversations start up all around the hall, some quiet and some criticising boldly and loudly. He knew that these whispers and comments would be feeding the rumour mill for the next year. He felt sorry for the girl. When he looked at Raven again he noted the frustration, almost hidden behind the mask she'd made her face into, trying to seem, to all the world, unaffected by the comments, as if they just rolled past her ears without her hearing them. He knew the trick well; he used it all the time at the manor when dealing with his father.
He watched the sorting and the walk to the Gryffindor table. He saw her shoulders tense and was surprised when she turned and walked out of the hall.
"Miss Potter! Miss Potter! Return to your seat! At once!" McGonagall shouted after Raven as she left the hall without a word. The angered Professor made to follow the girl as she disappeared from sight round a corner, but was stopped by Dumbledore.
The chatter started up again throughout the hall and, using the distraction to his advantage, Draco slipped out of the hall unnoticed and started off after the pissed off Gryffindor. He would have lost her if not for the muddy footprints trailing down the corridors.
He caught up to her, trunk at her feet, just as she turned to a nearby wall and punched it with a look of sheer anger on her face, the wall denting under the force of the blow, a small cloud of brick dust floating down onto the floor.
"Wow, this kitten's got claws!" Draco said in an effort to get her attention. It worked. Raven turned quickly, her ponytail flaring out as she spun, and without warning swung at Draco. He managed to duck, barely avoiding being punched in the face (again, after Granger in the 3rd year). After a few seconds she visibly relaxed and unclenched her fist. Draco stood up slowly, righted his hair and looked at Ravens hand, noting the blood dripping from her knuckles.
Raven looked down at her hand, blood slowly flowing from the wounds on her knuckles, the shredded skin hanging off in small strips. Raven, strangely, didn't feel any pain, just looked at the wounds and noted the damage absently as if looking at someone else's hand.
"Let's get to Madame Pomfrey. I'm sure she still in the gr..." Draco stopped mid-sentence when Raven slowly brought her hand to her face and began to gently lick the wounds, stemming the flow of blood, leaving only the broken skin to deal with.
When all the blood was gone Raven blinked few times as she dropped her hand to her side and looked up at Draco, but not before her eyes cleared fully.
Draco thought he saw wrong, but he swore when she looked at him her pupils had been small vertical slits, her violet irises practically glowing.
"Holy shit! What are you?" Draco asked, horror written across his pale face. Raven's eyes widened as she realised what she had done. She turned her head sharply as she heard people approaching a few corridors down and tried to make a run for it. She jogged down the corridor hoping he wouldn't follow. Unfortunately things weren't going her way tonight as he grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, any chance of escape blocked by Draco's body as he pinned her with his weight.
"Let me go." Raven said through gritted teeth, pushing at his shoulders to make him move away, but Draco stayed firm giving her no leverage.
"Tell me what you are. You're not human." Draco demanded leaning in further until their faces were only centimetres apart, meaning only Raven would be able to hear if anyone else had been around. "I said, tell me what the fuck you are!"
Raven calmed her breathing and forced her heart rate to slow. To phase out now would only mean more trouble.
"Ok." Raven consented. "But not here, not when other people are near."
Draco looked at her confused for a moment before letting her go as students started to file into the corridor. He took her wrist and led them to a door at the end of the corridor they were currently standing in. The door lead them to the astronomy tower; no-one would be there this late in the evening Draco was sure. This new girl interested him; he wanted to know more about her and was adamant to get some answers. He carefully opened the door to avoid it creaking and drawing attention to them, ushered her inside and followed silently.
When they reached the top platform he leaned against a nearby wall and waited for Raven to explain exactly what was happening.
"Go on." He prompted her.
Raven let out a slow breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Is it really that hard to tell someone what you are? His reaction can't be that bad. A part of her brain said. Raven looked over the side of the tower at the trees below, not wanting to look at Draco as she confessed, "I'm a Shifter. A…Shape-shifter."