Piece of Pie

Kids were running between compartments, excited and happy to see each other. It made her feel like she was the only stranger. She tried to make herself small when a line of older boys rushed by through the corridor on the Hogwarts Express, they were laughing about something to do with Dungbombs. After they past she continued to tuck along with her school trunk and suitcase.

It was her first day at Hogwarts. She felt ill, she just wanted to go back to her parents, back to Glasgow and away from all these people who seemed to know each other and didn't care about her. But the train was slowly beginning to move. She had to find somewhere to sit.

Every compartment was filled with happy groups of friends, until she came upon compartment F6, where a lone boy sat. He was sitting Indian style in his seat, hunched over reading the latest Transfiguration Today. Dirty blonde hair draped his face, but she could see his sharp azure eyes and those rather thick dark eyebrows. Stacked on the seat next to him were textbooks, some she knew as required first-year books, but others she didn't recognize. On top of the stack of books was a white box tied with a red ribbon.

The white box and red ribbon looked pretty, and the boy looked nice enough. It was obvious he was alone too. She went inside.

The blonde boy looked up when she slid the door open. She was afraid that he might look at her with dislike or something, but he just nodded at her. "Hey," she said meekly.

"Do you need help?" his feet unfolded beneath him, ready to stand up if she needed him to. She shook her head, feeling shy but relieved that he was being nice. His accent was a little strange, definitely British, but mixed with something else. He got himself comfortable again, returning to his reading. After putting her things away, she sat down across from him.

It took her a while to smell the delicious scent of something in the air. She took a big whiff of it, loving it and desperate to know what it was.

"Oh, that's probably the pie." She frowned at him. He was blushing a little when he pointed to the white box on top of his books. "It's a blueberry pie, my mom made me take it with me."

"Wow, it smells great," she told him happily.

"You can have some," he told her and folded the page in the magazine.

"Oh no, I couldn't," she said modestly. But her stomach suddenly felt empty and starving. The boy took the box and untied the ribbon. As the box was opened, her mouth started to salivate from the intense aroma.

The boy neatly picked up a piece of the pie in a napkin for her. "It's okay, my mum wants me to share it," he explained, "She thinks it's the best way to make friends."

"It does help," she said before taking a bite.

"It's sort of stupid though," he gave a half-smirk, "I mean who carries around a blueberry pie on their first day?"

"But this is really good pie! I'm sure you'll make loads of friends." They laughed. "You're a first year too?" she asked. He nodded. "My name's Cho, by the way. Cho Chang."

"I'm Maxwell Love," he introduced himself.

"Love? Your surname's Love?" she grinned. He looked embarrassed.

"Yeah."

"I like it," she decided. "Maxwell Love has a nice ring to it."

"So does Cho Chang," he returned the compliment. She took another bite; it was one of the best things she's ever eaten! She was definitely going to help herself to another slice. "Do you know what house you want to be sorted in?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "All the houses are lovely, I think, except for Slytherin. My mom says the meanest people are always in Slytherin."

"They're the most ambitious ones," Maxwell said. "I read this article that took a poll of which House had the most popularity outside of Hogwarts. Slytherin was ranked the lowest, but the poll was taken in the mid-80's and the demographics of the sample group were totally biased."

"You sound like you'll be in Ravenclaw," Cho smiled.

"Really?" he seemed happy to hear her say this. "I wouldn't mind any house, except for Hufflepuff."

"What do have you against them?"

"They're rather bland or what, aren't they?" he gave a half-smirk again, but then became worried, "I didn't mean to offend, if you know, your parents or someone was in Hufflepuff."

"No, my father was in Ravenclaw and my mother, Gryffindor," she assured him. "And your parents?" she took the final bite of her piece of pie.

He shifted a little in his seat, hesitating and looking timid. "My parents never went to Hogwarts," Maxwell admitted. "I'm the first in our family."

This boy was a Muggleborn! Her father told her that for these past six years, more Muggleborns than ever were attending Hogwarts. She tried to recover from her oversight; she smiled cheerfully, "Well that must be exciting."

"Hopefully I won't be too far behind. I've been doing a lot of reading," he said quietly.

"I can see," she grinned. She looked at the textbooks; almost all of them had notes sticking out of its pages. "You've even taken notes?"

"Not really notes, just you know, some things I want to test out once I get settled," he said and picked up one of the books, flipping to the first marked page. "Like here I want to try this cleaning spell, could you imagine how much time you'd save with that?"

"Are you excited about taking Flying Lessons?"

His enthusiasm faltered, "Sure. Maybe we'll learn how to enchant broomsticks too, that would be really useful."

"How about Quidditch? I can't wait to watch the games, Hogwarts has always had brilliant teams."

"Quidditch seems rather… stupid."

"What? How could you say that!" she was flabbergasted.

"All you need is a Seeker, everyone else on the pitch is obsolete," Maxwell tried not to offend, but he was being honest.

"A Seeker does finish the game, but he doesn't necessarily win the game," she tried to make him see reason. "Everyone is important, Chasers, Beaters and the Keeper have to coordinate-"

"Yeah but the Seeker earns on average 15 times as many points as Chasers do per game," Maxwell informed her. Cho felt her face get hot. This boy was annoying her, how could he deny the brilliance that was Quidditch! "Sorry, but the game's completely unbalanced."

"You're strange, Maxwell Love," Cho shook her head, sighing. "But you bring amazing pie, so I can't really hate you."

Maxwell laughed. "I'll write my mum and tell her that."

Cho titled her head and asked, "Where are you from? You talk a bit funny."

"Oh, huh, well, my mum's American, but I grew up in Manchester," he told her. "I live there now, my entire life, except for some holiday trips to the States."

"That's cool, I've always wanted to go to America," Cho beamed.

"And you're Scottish?"

"Well, my parents are from Chinese descent, but I live in Glasgow," she nodded.

"Yeah, you sound a bit funny too," he gave his half-smirk a third time.

The two of them continued to make conversation. Cho didn't need to buy anything from the snack cart when it came by. She had the blueberry pie to keep her satisfied.

X
X

Itching to Sting

Arriving at Hogwarts, Corvus Blackstone was finally allowed to use his wand. It was made of ivy, 13 ½" long with a core of phoenix feather. He twirled it between his fingers, golden sparks shooting out. Without knowing how to explain it, he felt the urge to try out a Stinging Hex. He'd read about it and he'd waited long enough.

He was filing into the Entrance Hall antechamber with the rest of the first years. His grey eyes looked around for a potential target. He couldn't just cast a Stinging Hex, it wouldn't mean anything if it weren't done in a duel. Whenever you do magic, it has to be meant.

"What House do you want to be in?" he asked a boy beside him. The boy had light, feathery blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Slytherin," he replied without hesitating. He had a mischievous spark behind his eyes. Corvus felt an immediate kinship with him.

"Me too." He offered his hand, "My name's Corvus Blackstone."

"Louis Vaisey."

Corvus nudged the person next to him, a boy with olive skin and spiky black hair who Corvus had already made friends with on the Hogwarts Express. "He does too."

The other boy nodded. "I'm Anwar Rajan."

"Hey you," Corvus used a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean from the bag he bought on the school train to throw at a boy nearby who was speaking to a group of other boys. He didn't appreciate the interruption. "What House do you want to be in?"

The boy held his head a little higher. "I'm going to be in Gryffindor."

Anwar made a derisive noise. "What's your problem?" the Gryffindor-to-be demanded.

"Like I'm going to tell you," Anwar retorted.

"I'm sure he's just thinking the same thing as me," interrupted Corvus calmly.

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"That it will be amusing to see where a Troll like you ends up," he said. "I mean you'll be the first ever to attend Hogwarts, won't you? Your mother must be proud."

Louis laughed, and didn't hesitate to join in, "Yeah, did she shed a few tears when she saw you off at the station?"

Corvus gave his fellow Slytherin-to-be an appreciative nod.

"Shut up about my mum!"

"Yes, I much rather discuss you being a troll," Corvus continued. "Though the story of your mother giving birth to a troll would be fascinating as well, I'm sure."

The boy viciously grabbed his wand out of the pocket of his robes, but somehow he managed to drop it in the process. As it clattered to the floor, Corvus and his friends sniggered loudly.

"Oh, you probably should leave that there," Corvus sneered when the other boy went to pick up his wand. "We'll be called in for the Sorting any minute now, besides you don't want to duel me. You'll hurt yourself."

"You think you're something special?" the boy hissed.

Corvus shrugged.

"Well you know what? I think you need to be shut up!"

"Do you?"

"I'm not afraid of you!"

"Of course you're not, I mean if you're bound for Gryffindor…"

"That's right! I'll take you on any day!"

"How about today then?"

This startled the boy. "Today?"

"Oh sorry, I meant tonight."

"Tonight?"

"You don't understand English?" leered Louis.

Anwar turned to Corvus, "Maybe you should switch to Troll."

"SHUT UP!"

He had terrible timing, because McGonagall just returned to the antechamber, she was shocked to hear the boy scream so terribly. It would be the first of many times that Corvus saw her lips go dangerously thin.

"Young man, you will behave yourself!" she said sternly. Corvus stuffed the bag of sweets back in his pocket. Louis and Anwar politely folded their hands behind their backs. Surprisingly, the other boy didn't try to tell McGonagall about them, he only glared at them. They queued up along the walls of the Great Hall and awaited their Sorting. As fate would have it Corvus, Louis and Anwar were sorted in Slytherin while the other boy, whose name was Gilligan Curtis, was placed in Gryffindor. McGonagall gave him a pointed look as he left to join her House's table.

After dinner, Corvus snaked through the crowded hall to catch up with Curtis. He told him to meet him at midnight in the Trophy hall and that night they dueled. It was kind of a let down. Curtis was complete rubbish. The Gryffindor probably thought that like him, Corvus wouldn't know proper hexes. You should never underestimate your opponent.

Corvus's Stinging Hex worked quite well. It sent Curtis into a frantic mess and he wailed like a baby.

Then in the blink of an eye it was over, Filch caught them and Corvus was given his first detention.

X
X

Scouting

It was three-thirty in the afternoon on a Thursday, the day and time when the Slytherin first years would have their first flying lesson. They were scheduled to learn with Hufflepuff, but of course Anna wasn't interested in them. She had a legacy to preserve as captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team.

"I got the tea, Anna," Marcus Flint offered her the cup as he joined her on the castle's front steps. As she was a seventh year and was only doing three NEWT level courses, she had plenty of free periods, which meant more time could be dedicated to Quidditch. Marcus Flint on the other hand was skipping History of Magic.

"I said no crème, but never mind," she said. She shoved the cup back into his hands, "And it's not for me, you dolt, it's for you."

Flint's cheeks went a little red. Obviously she knew he had a crush on her. While Claire adored the attention from the boys, Anna found it to be a hassle as a Quidditch player. While at Hogwarts she'd let her light blonde hair grow out to shoulder length. She also had a small mole above the corner of her mouth that boys seemed to like a lot. Anna understood she was the prettiest girl on the pitch every game, but she'd taught everyone never to underestimate her for it.

"Come on," she sighed exasperatedly. She led the way onto the grounds. It was an alright day to fly, a little cloudy and the breeze was almost on the strong side. But she was confident a good flyer would be fine in such weather. They marched down the sloping lawns towards a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest.

"And did you bring parchment and a quill?" she asked, seeing none on him. She muttered darkly under breath as she took out the supplies herself from her bag. "Marcus, you seriously need to be taking names. You can't afford being lazy, Slytherin is losing a lot of good players with my year graduating."

"Yeah, I don't reckon we can ever replace you, Anna, you're the best Keeper in Hogwarts," he said shyly. If he'd tried a line like that during practice, she'd order him to do thirty laps.

"Drink the tea, Marcus," she told him. "They're starting."

Anna remembered the process. Twenty broomsticks were lying in neat lines on the ground. All the nervous looking first years were standing beside a broomstick. Madam Hooch stood at the front. She ordered them to stick out their right hands over the broom and say;

"UP!" Anna heard them shout. As she expected only a few of the brooms jumped into their flyer's hand. She was very pleased to note that her brother's had been one of them.

"Louis Vaisey," she dictated to Flint. He had to juggle drinking his tea and writing down names, he barely managed. "That girl… Something Brazda… Corvus Blackstone… who's that girl?"

He looked up. "Huh…"

"Bryony Pettings, I think. We'll speak to her later in the commons," she said. "Louis's always showed potential as a Chaser. That Bryony girl has the looks of a Seeker, keep an eye on her because it's Higgs last year next year."

"And Brazda?"

"Maybe another Chaser? Of course there'll be the second years and third years to consider too, they might surprise you in the try-outs," she told him. "Are you finished with the tea?"

"Almost," he quickly downed the rest of it.

"Now, I don't know for sure if you'll be named captain," she said carefully, "But Snape pretty much said so last night when I asked him. It's either you or Montague, who I've already told and I'm telling you too, Miles Bletchley should be picked for Keeper, unless by some freak chance someone better comes along in try-outs we don't know about."

"All done," he held the cup out for her. She frowned.

"Did you hear what I said?"

He nodded vigorously, "Yes, Anna, Miles Bletchley for Keeper."

She took the teacup to study Flint's tealeaves. "Oh dear…"

"What?" Flint said panicked.

"You were thinking only about next year's Quidditch season, right?"

"Yes, why? What's the matter?"

"Well… I should go consult with Professor Trelawney to be sure," she said thoughtfully. "Divination is the most difficult of all magical arts, sometimes you need someone else's gaze to lead you."

Holding the teacup as steadily as possible she slowly made her way back to the castle. Marcus Flint was torn between staying and watching the first years and going with her. Anna of course made the decision for him, shouting over her shoulder back at him, "Stay and study!"

X
X

Pretzel's Story Time

Jeremy Petzold was hurrying through the aisles of towering bookshelves. He was in the library, a week into his very first term at Hogwarts. He paused to look round at a few nearby desks. He was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet. It was absolutely paramount he finds his fifth roommate and brings him back to the Slytherin commons.

"… it's not that bad, no one's asked me about it or what…"

"If you just ask Professor Dumbledore –"

"No, I told you, that would be stupid," Jeremy knew that voice, that accent – it was Maxwell Love, the roommate he was looking for. He didn't even comprehend what his fellow Slytherin was saying; his own mission was too urgent to eavesdrop!

He peered round the corner of another bookshelf. He found Max sitting at a table with Cho Chang, both of them had stacks of reading material beside them. They both saw Jeremy at once, and their mouths clamped shut.

"Max!" he hissed and waved him over. Max whispered something quickly to Cho before calmly walking over to Jeremy.

"What?"

"You have to come to the dungeons, now," he said excitedly. His face was lit up like a Christmas tree. His black beady eyes twinkled practically. But no matter how much excitement he exuded, Maxwell Love remained uninterested.

"I'm studying."

"Rubbish, leave it! The seventh years want all the first-years in the commons in like two minutes," he explained, his voice well above a whisper. Max's azure eyes shifted, looking for Madam Pince who was surely going to appear. "They're going to tell us the real history of Slytherin – the history that dirty rag of a hat didn't sing about, because he was too afraid I bet."

There was a slight squeaking noise passing through the aisles, approaching them. As someone who didn't spend a lot of voluntary time in the library, Jeremy didn't heed this sign. Max on the other hand knew it was one of Madam Pince's shoes that made the faint sound.

"Jeremy, you should lower your voice…"

"Can you imagine it? These stories have been past down from generations of Slytherins, and now we're being granted it," he talked over him. "This is what Slytherin is all about, preservation, honor –"

"SHHH!"

Jeremy flinched as Madam Pince swooped in a surprise attack. Her parchment-like skin was flushed and her shriveled face twisted in a nasty scowl, "This is a library not a – not a playground for rowdy boys."

"I – I'm sorry," he whimpered. It was usual for most students to become petrified by the underfed vulture that guarded the library.

"If you're not here for books, leave immediately."

"Y-yes ma'am."

Like a dog sent home with his tail between his legs, Jeremy tried to get out as quickly as he could without running. He was still feeling the sting of utter humiliation when he got to the first floor.

"Jeremy! Wait up!"

He turned around. Maxwell Love was running after him, his book bag packed to the rim with his books. Jeremy smiled at him, "You're coming?"

"Couldn't miss it, right?"

X
X

Certain Measure of Pride

As per usual, Snape sat at the staff table for dinner. He scanned the Great Hall as students slowly filled the tables. Professor Sprout took the seat next to him. She looked uncharacteristically sour.

"Eddie Coster's tongue is still shriveled up like dry fruit," she said. "His parents weren't pleased, at all, Severus. He's missed half a semester already, completely bed-ridden the poor lad."

"His skin's stopped peeling off," he replied. "That's good news."

"Not good enough. His parents want whoever is responsible to get punished, I can't blame them. That was a horrible curse."

"Indeed it was," he calmly drank from his glass of pumpkin juice. The Head of Slytherin looked over to his House's table. His black eyes glanced over the faces of his students until he got to the middle of the table, where a particular group of first years sat. There were five of them.

Sprout followed his gaze, "I trust you'll make time to investigate your house a little more carefully, Severus? This hasn't been the first incident."

"No, it hasn't. Nor has any of these incidents been linked to anyone in Slytherin."

"No point in playing dumb, Severus, we know what they call themselves –"

"That name could be a diversion."

"Or it could be their way of showing off."

He tried not to smile. As ridiculous as it sounds, Snape held a certain measure of pride for this infamous group. This group that had as of yet escaped discovery. This group that had the power to bed-rid anyone in a split second, should they try and betray them.

"Salazar's Salesmen," she shook her head as she spoke their name. "It's only a matter of time before they get themselves caught."

Snape doubted that. If they really were Slytherins, they would never get caught.

X
X

Handsome Spring Day

Exam week had ended, several sixth and seventh years were enjoying the lovely spring weather outside. Claude lay back on the grass by the lake's bank, his head in the lap of Maggie Gardens – arguably the most attractive sixth year.

Anna and Claire were also outside by the lake. After graduating Anna was going to try out as Keeper for the Holyhead Harpies. Of course she was going to try out for other teams as well, but the Holyhead Harpies was her top choice. To prepare for the tryout she'd forced the Slytherin Quidditch team to train with her.

Claire came to watch with a group of her girlfriends, they sat underneath the beech tree with a bowl of fresh strawberries they got from the kitchens.

"But I'm a Seeker," Terence Higgs nearly whined. His face was wet with sweat. The sun was beating down on them relentlessly.

"Yes, well, Higgs, I'm still captain of this team," Anna reminded him sharply. Claire and her friends giggled.

"Terry, I never knew you threw like a girl," she smirked. The rest of the team chuckled while Terence Higgs blushed.

"Is Higgs dating Claire?" asked Maggie, watching the group on their broomsticks. Claude laughed.

"He's still in the 'begging like a dog' stages of that," he replied. She smiled down at him, petting his sandy blonde hair fondly. She always noted how light seemed to dance across his dark blue eyes.

"Just think, this time next year, we'll be done with everything," she said. "Isn't that a scary thought?"

He was quiet, his eyes tracking the Quaffle as it was passed from Flint to Montague before there was an attempt of a goal. Anna blocked it effortlessly, she shouted at them to pick up the tempo.

"Where do you think we'll be next year?" Maggie continued asking, curling a strand of his hair round her small finger. "We're going to have to decide what our future plans are you know… start thinking about settling down…"

He sat up suddenly, nearly causing Maggie to gasp. It took a lot of restraint not to reach out for him again. He looked over his shoulder at her, lips pulled into his usual teasing smirk. "It's hot."

She blinked. What – what was he saying?

Without another word he pulled off his robe, then the shirt underneath. Maggie nearly choked. What was he doing? Claude tossed his robe aside and looked at Maggie again, his hair eschewed… he looked wild.

"This is better," he said. She hardly heard him though; she was too taken aback as she noticed him leaning in to her. His eyes slowly shut, his lips searched for hers…

WHACK!

There was an explosion of laughter. The Quidditch team was practically rolling in mid-air on their brooms, overcome by hilarity. Claude reached to touch the back of his head, it was stinging with pain. Someone had hurled the Quaffle at him.

"How's that for throwing like a girl, Vaisey?" Terence Higgs asked smugly, addressing Claire. She was trying not to smile back at the Seeker.

"What Claude really needs is someone to dump a bucket of cold water on him," said Anna. "Lets get the Quaffle going again, boys."

...

...

Okay so this filler chapter idea really got BIG quick, so I decided it be best split them up into two chapters, the next one will be posted in a few minutes...

enjoy R&R!