Sometimes introspection can be a good thing. You can discover things about yourself that will make you stronger, a better person. Dig to deeply and you can do more damage than good. I am not damaged, but I fear that I may become so in the not to distant future. They say that to see the future you must look to the past, what happens when you can't look at the past without wanting to destroy the future.
A feast to celebrate the mandatory sorting. As a first year it had seemed unnecessary, as a second year it was a chore. Severus wanted nothing more than to unpack the few things he had in his trunk and finish reading his text books. He took a seat as close to the doors as possible so he could leave as soon as he had finished eating.
"Hello Severus. Glad to be back at school again are we?" Lucius Malfoy asked as he sat down next to the boy he considered his protege.
"I will be, once this farce of a feast is over. There is no reason for anyone other than first years to have to witness the sorting hat and its ridiculous song."
"I thought complaining about being forced to watch Huffles and Gryffs being sorted was Lucius's job." Narcissa said rather drolly as she sat down on the other side of Lucius. After the announcement of their engagement last year Narcissa had begun emulating every thing Lucius did, even to the point of painstakingly spelling her hair blonde ringlets straight every day.
"Some aggravations are universal darling. Severus, who was the girl in your compartment on the train? I haven't seen her before." Lucius asked.
"Her name is Alectrona and she transferred from Beauxbatons along with her four siblings." he recited in a bored tone.
"Found a girlfriend have we Snape?" Andrea Bulstrode asked as she sat down across the table from Narcissa. "I guess there really is somebody for everyone."
Severus's patience was wearing thinner and thinner as his other housemates joined them at the table. The girls had gathered together and begun gossiping about what they had done over their school break, who had had the best parties and who was dating who. Why they had to giggle through it all he never would understand.
"It seems as if the Ravenclaws have a few new housemates." Nigellus Bulstrode remarked as he took the seat across from Lucius next to his younger sister. "And our own house as well apparently."
At that moment as their sisters sat down at the Ravenclaw table Alec and the twins sat down at Slytherin next to Severus. "Hello again."
"Do you live only to annoy me?" Severus asked closing his eyes and inhaling sharply. She had the entire table to sit at and she picked the seat beside him.
"No, it's just an added bonus. I thought the old man said we were going to be attending a feast?" Alec asked looking up and down the table.
"They subject us to the sorting of the first years before they stave off our starvation." Severus replied as he stared straight ahead at his friend Lance Wilkes as he sat down.
"How long does this normally take?" Alec asked glaring at Wilkes as he leering at her.
"About an hour sweetness, come on over here and I'll keep you entertained." Wilkes said patting the seat beside him. "I'm much better company than he is."
"She will not be sitting next to or doing anything with you." Alex said turning toward his sister and Wilkes as Anic continued chatting up the red head sitting next to him.
Only Severus seemed to notice the fact that they were gathering the attention of almost all the Slytherins and some of the Ravenclaws. School hadn't even started yet and there was already a fight brewing at the Slytherin table. Severus wanted the power and admiration of his housemates, not their laughter and derision.
"Why don't we let her decide. Do you want to sit between a malevolent bat and ogre boy here or would you rather come over here and snuggle up next to me. I promise you won't regret it." Wilkes reached across the table to run his fingers over the back of her hand.
Alex grabbed his hand and twisted it around as he stood up making Wilkes stand and hunch over the table. "Do not ever touch or speak to my sister like that ever again, or θα σας σκοτώσω."
"OK, ok ok. Aagh! I won't talk to your sister anymore, just let me go." Wilkes hissed in pain.
"Ο Alex τον άφησε να πάει! Let him go, he's just a stupid τσάντα τσαγιού. Let him go before you get us expelled again!" she pulled at his arm trying make him let go. "Alex! Don't be a fool! Let him go!"
"What do we have here? Mr. Xenos fighting already, term hasn't even begun yet." Professor Slughorn said as he walked up to the table.
"He has insulted my sisters honor!"
"Yes, well it isn't the first and it wont be the last time that Mr. Wilkes insults a young witches honor." Slughorn chuckled to himself. "He is somewhat of what the muggles call a 'Cassanova'."
"That does not excuse him!"
Suddenly the feast didn't seem as boring as usual. Severus settled in to watch the show.
This was not happening. Why couldn't her brother just leave well enough alone. Wilkes was just a stupid ass boy, he wasn't a threat to her or her honor. She might be twelve but she wasn't an idiot.
"Alex, shut up and sit down! My honor is intact and will stay that way, now back off!"
Alex let Wilkes arm go. "Alectrona, he insulted you, he treated you like a common whore!"
"No, he's just a stupid boy who's all talk and probably can't even get it up. Nothing about what he did insulted me." Alec pulled her brother down onto the bench beside her.
"There, see everything is fine. Now everyone can watch the sorting and attend the feast. Mr. Xenos come see me in my office after you unpack." Slughorn said smiling as he walked off to the staff table.
Wilkes rubbed his shoulder glaring at Alec and Alex. "Great, now I'm going to be known as the bitch with the homicidal older brother. Not that I really care what people think of me but not being ostracised immediately would have been nice."Alec just wanted to put her head down on the table and go to sleep, back home in Patras it was almost midnight. Her head ached and she could feel her brother seething beside her. This night was definitely going down as one of the most memorable of her life.
"Does chaos follow you everywhere or does it come naturally?" Severus asked dryly.
"Is raising your eyebrow to inhuman heights an ability you were born with or did you practice in front of the mirror every day?" Alec shot back. "I thought you were through asking questions."
Severus just glared at her with contempt.
"What, no quick little comeback or snarky remark? Chaos may follow me around but at least I have an interesting life. What have you done lately besides read your school books before you even get to school? You look down on me because my brother defended me from the lame ass advances of your classmate, I'll admit he may have been a bit over the top, but at least we're loyal to each other. No one here stood up for your friend when my brother had him bent over the table except for your professor.Yeah, my life is chaotic and unpredictable but at least it's fun and, thanks to my wonderfully over-protective brothers, relatively safe." even though she was hissing and whispering all of this to Severus as the first years were being sorted all Slytherin eyes were on the two of them. Malfoy eyed them calculatingly, as if trying to assess their worth to him while Cissy and Andrea openly stared at her in horror.
Severus' face set into an unreadable mask as he stared intently at the table.
"Did I hit a nerve? Maybe next time you'll think about what you're about to say before you open your mouth." Alec sneered at Severus.
"Yes I do believe you did hit a nerve." Lucius said looking over Severus at Alec. "You are wrong though, we are loyal to our housemates, when they deserve it. If your stupid enough to act like Wilkes and not expect repercussions eventually you will screw up and cross someone in your house, we'll defend you against Huffles, Gryffs and Ravenclaws but you're on your own against other Slytherins."
"Interesting 'practices' you have here." Alex spoke over his sister. "You take care of your own in front of others, but you do not suffer the fools amongst you."
"A rather simplified version, but yes it does suffice. I wouldn't worry about Slughorn if I were you, just boost his ego and bring him something rich to eat if you have it." Sylvestor Nott advised as he joined the conversation.
Alec and Severus continued to glare at one another as they seethed inside.
How can you go from thinking you hated someone with every fiber of your being to loving them more than your own self. I would have given my life for his in a heartbeat, no matter what the consequences of my action would have been. Would Harry have been found and killed? I wouldn't have cared, I still don't care if the boy-who-couldn't-follow-the-rules won or lost. Nothing about what he did for the wizarding world made my life any better.
"How dare she! Just because she wished to spend her time on the train daydreaming out the the window did not mean that everyone must engage in frivolous activities." Severus was so mad he could hear the blood pounding in his ears. "What right did this bitch have to judge him?"
"Rich?" Alex asked confused.
"He loves handmade Swiss chocolates, I got to re-do my draught of living death last year after I gave him a box that my mother had sent me." Andrea volunteered. "If it's a rare, expensive or elite food Slughorn will damn near worship it. He gets some kind of weird power trip off of people bringing him things of worth."
"Will a bottle of Mavrodaphni suffice?"
"Mavrodaphni? Black grape wizarding wine, Slughorn would find a way for you to retake your N.E.W.T.s for a bottle of Mavrodaphni." Nott laughed. "How the hell did you get a bottle into Hogwarts?"
"It is our family's wine."
Of course their family raised one of the most highly sought after wizarding wine in the world. Severus would have liked nothing better than to light her blonde hair on fire with one of the floating candles. However, at that moment Dumbledore finnished his speech and called the feast. Severus grabbed a piece of lamb off the platter in front of him and the bowl of candied yams to his right. He was determined to eat as quickly as possible so he could escape to the dormitories.
It was damp, dark and cold. It was also horribly decorated in stiff looking black leather couches and poker straight green velvet chairs. Hopefully her dormitory would be more comfortable. Alex followed the flow of girls down the hallway to the left. Watching the prefects drop the first years off at their room she made the logical conclusion and walked into the next door on the right.
"Who are you?" a petite red haired girl asked from across the room.
"My name is Alectrona Xenos. Is this the second year dormitory?"
"Yes, that's your bed over there. I wondered if anyone was going to replace Portia." she pointed to a bed on the far side of the room. "The elves already brought your trunk down."
"Tegan!" two brunettes called out as they burst into the room. "Where have you been all summer?! Who is that?" they said stopping short. Not only were they identical but they spoke in time with each other.
"Her name is Alectrona. Alectrona these two are Aubrey and Audrey Haberfield, I'm Tegan Semple."
"Where is Edith?" Aubrey asked.
"Probably off in some corner sucking face with Carell." Audrey made gagging noises after hearing this.
"You're the one with cute brother who tried to break Lance's arm aren't you." Tegan said as she unpacked her trunk and put away her things.
"Unfortunately that would be a yes." Alec closed her eyes and sighed as she remembered the confrontation.
"What did he do this time?" the twins asked giggling.
"He asked me to sit next to him and insinuated that we could be more than friends, so my brother 'defended my honor' and got himself detention on our first night here." Alec wasn't sure if she was going to like the twins, they seemed at bit to light-headed, but the girl Tegan seemed alright.
"So, do you like Snape or something?" Audrey asked coming to sit on Alec's bed.
"Who is Snape?" Alec asked as she placed her skirts into her wardrobe drawer.
"He's the guy you sat next to at dinner and asked all those questions before your brother got all macho." Audrey said with the ever present giggles.
"Oh, him. I had to sit with him on the train because all of the other compartments were full. I sat down because I recognised him and thought he might be able to answer my questions, I didn't think he would be such a prick." Alec finnished putting away her things and closed her wardrobe.
"That's Snape for you. He doesn't talk a whole lot and when he does it's usually to cut someone down." Tegan said from the other side of her bed which was directly across from Alec's next to the door.
"Girls!" a willowy blonde called out as she walked into the room. "How was your summer? Who the hell are you? Where's Portia?"
"Maybe if you would remember to send an owl or two you'd know. Portia's father was promoted to British Ambassador to the South American Ministry of Magic. Her parents transferred her to Escuela de la Magia, to try and show that they supported them and all that crap. She sent us all owls about it." Tegan told her.
"I guess I was in Belgrade on holiday then. I had all my post held back home, I'm sure its in my trunk somewhere. Who is she?"
"She's new, her name is Alectrona."
"Does she not know how to talk? Hello! Earth to the little midget." Edith sneered at Alec.
"Oh I can talk alright. I just refuse to have to explain myself to idiots." Alec replied, maybe Hogwarts wasn't so different from Beauxbatons after all. The girls were just as vain and stupid here as they were in France. She noticed that the twins weren't giggling anymore but staring at her in awe while Tegan smirked and the bitch fumed. Everything was going to be ok, maybe not all happiness and sunshine, but it would be ok.
Looking back at ourselves we were just scared little children trying to grow up being raised by parents that didn't care about us as long as we didn't damage the family name. I see their graves in my mind, I remember how they died. Some were killed by Aurors who were so sure that they were right and just in their actions. No one wants to admit that the 'good' guys killed people without questions the same as the Death Eaters did, they just had the ability to manipulate the circumstances afterwards to avoid going to Azkaban.
I got all my translations from Babelfish. If any of them are wrong please let me know so I can fix them.
θα σας σκοτώσω!- I will kill you!
Ο Alex τον άφησε να πάει!- Alex let him go!
τσάντα τσαγιού- tea bag. I found this online as a derogatory term for a British person.
Escuela de la Magia- School of Magic. I couldn't think of anything else to call it.
Mavrodaphni is a Greek wine produced in Patras Greece by the Achaia-Clauss winery, it is a preferred wine of the Greek Orthodox church for Holy Communion.
I apologize for the amount of time between updates, I have been babysitting three twentysomthings getting drunk every night since the seventh and I don't foresee a stop until school starts back up. So until the Celtic twins and Cajun Wonder decide to grow up and act like adults updates may be few and far between.