The Renegade Slytherin
A/N: Third chapter, coming at you! Sorry it took so long to get it posted. First I misplaced it, then I found it, then I got writers block, then I had some of my friends read it over to see how they liked it, then I had to change it, because they kept complaining to me that " Harry would NEVER say something like that!" and I kept having to explain to them that it's a fanfic, therefore things don't have to be 100% accurate (....do they????), then I lost it again, then my sister told me that I had left it at a friends house, and I JUST got it back today, so I figured I'd better hurry up and type it. OK, enough of my rambling..by the way, sorry if Hermione is slowly getting out of character. Same goes for Harry. By the way again, I stand corrected. Apparently, Fred and George SHOULD be in this story, and Harry SHOULDN'T be the only member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team left....so kinda disregard that and let's say that they're in 6th year ok? That way he WOULD be Captain of the team, ok? Sorry! ^_^;;;
"Good morning, Harry!" someone said cheerfully.
Harry looked up from his breakfast to see Hermione and Ginny smiling at him.
"Good morning, girls," he said, smiling back.
"What, go good morning to me?" Ron asked, faking annoyance.
Hermione and Ginny glared at him, and he shrunk back into his seat. "Nevermind..."
"Looking forward to a great year, Harry?" Ginny asked.
"Most definatly..." Harry sighed, looking forlornly towards the Slytherin table.
Hermione followed his gaze and frowned. "Harry, it's great that you're not fawning over Cho anymore-"
"Cho, Cho who?" he said, distractedly.
"-and it's......great," she said through clenched teeth, "that you like someone new, but," and she put her hands on her hips here, "she's a Slytherin. You already know how Slytherins turn out, look at Malfoy. Why don't you focus on someone in your own house? Someone who already likes you," she said casually. Ginny suddenly turned and glared at her.
"Like...who?" Harry asked, taking a guess in his head.
"Like-"
"Mornin', my homies!"
They all turned to see Katherine strolling towards them. She wasn't exactly dressed traditionally though. She wasn't wearing a skirt like all the other girls, she was wearing slacks. That, and she wasn't wearing a bit of green on her at all. She was wearing Gryffindors colors, and a pin that said "Godsmack = ROOLZ".
(A/N: don't ask WHERE the hell that came from. One of my friends was BEGGING me to put that she liked Godsmack somewhere in the story....~_~;;;).
"Godsmack?" Ron asked, pointing at the pin.
"Homies?" Harry asked, as you sat down next to him.
"Yeah. Godsmack. Kick-ass band. But you probably have to be American to fully appreciate it," she said, addressing Ron.
"Homies. As in groupies, as in my posse, as in my friends," she said, answering Harry.
"Oh," Harry and Ron answered.
"Shouldn't you be over there at the Slytherin table?" Hermione asked pointedly.
"And why aren't you wearing Slytherin green and silver?" chimed in Ginny.
"Ha!" Katherine exclaimed suddenly, looking at Ginny. She pointed at her, and turned to Ron. "This one yours?"
"Ya. I have 2 others. Well, rather, 5 others," he said, shrugging. "That's Ginny."
Katherine put on the best british accent she could manage, and failed miserably. "Hullo there, Ginny! Absolutely CORKING to meet you!"
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Pleasure."
"Anywho," Kat said, turning to Hermione. "In answer to your question, I don't think so. They're all kinda weird. Nothing like me at all. All they talk about is how so-and-so is a Death Eater, and all this Dark Arts crap," she said shrugging. "And Gin, I'm not wearing green and stuff cause those colors look horrible on me. Red and yellow look better. Plus, I like youse guys better!" she ended grinning.
"Oh," Hermione said disappointedly.
Professor McGonagall then walked past and handed them their schedules. "Katherine, your uncle would have your schedule," she said before walking away.
"Speaking of Snape," Ron asked frowning at his schedule, "we have double Potions with the Slytherins AGAIN this year."
"Aw, that won't be so bad," Kat smiled, ruffling Harry and Ron's hair. "More time to hang out with you guys!"
Harry turned crimson, Ron turned a laugh into a coughing fit, and Hermione and Ginny glared.
"Hey Harry," Ron whispered, "we got Care of Magical Creatures with them, too."
"So?"
"Well, the way things are working out," Ron smirked,"the more you'll get to know her, and before you know it, you'll be able to see whether she dyes her hair or not."
Harry stared at him blankly. "Was that supposed to be a joke? Cause I don't get it."
Ron rolled his eyes. "You don't get out much, do you?" He whispered his meaning to Harry, who promptly exclaimed "Ron!" and turned redder than Ron and Ginny's hair put together, as Ron collapsed in laughter.
"You have spent WAY too much time with Fred and George...." Harry muttered, shaking his head.
"What's so funny?" the girls asked.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Harry exclaimed hurriedly, trying very hard not to look at Katherine. "ANYWAY, Kat, what's it like having Snape for an uncle?"
She crossed her arms and looked to the ceiling in thought. "Um....I don't know. Uncle Sev's real nice to me, so it's not too bad. Why, is he mean to you guys or something?"
All of their jaws dropped in disbelief.
"Are you kidding, our first year here Snape tried to kill Harry-"
"Ron, you're forgetting, that was Quirrel-"
"He's always giving us detention-"
"Correction, you and Harry-"
"For something we've never done-"
"Like paying attention in class-"
"Shutup Hermione!"
"I'm just getting the facts straight," she said, crossing her arms.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Mental, that one is. The point is, Snape doesn't exactly like us too much."
"Or anyone from Gryffindor Tower, for that matter," Harry pointed out.
"That's a shame....." Katherine said. "Hey! I know! Maybe I can talk to him, get him to be nicer!"
Hermione snorted.
"Thanks, but no thanks," Ron replied.
"Unless your goal is to get us killed, I wouldn't suggest it," Harry said sheepishly.
"Wouldn't suggest what, Potter, holding a Weasley up for ransom?" a voice drawled behind them.
Katherine turned around in her seat and pointed at Malfoy. "I like this kid. He's very creative with his insults."
Draco beamed. "Good morning, Kat."
"Good morning, Drac!" she said cheerfully.
Malfoy glared at Harry and his friends. "Morning," he said coldly.
Hermione crossed her arms again, Ron gave him a cold stare, Ginny stared, Harry acknowledged Draco's presence. "Malfoy," he said coldly.
A moment of silent tension passed between the two, before Kat said "Well, love to stay and chat boys, but I'ma get to class. Potions first, I understand. C'yall later!" she said getting up.
Harry and Draco stopped staring daggers at each other long enough to say "Bye Katherine!" cheerily in her direction.
Malfoy pushed some hair out of his face before saying "I don't have time to hang out with the likes of you. I have a class to go to."
He leaned closer to Harry. "And a certain girl to win," he hissed, then turned and stalked out of the Great Hall. "Oh Katherine! Wait up!" he called.
Harry frowned angrily at Draco's retreating figure. "What IS it with that guy?!" he exclaimed.
He grabbed his stuff, yelled over his shoulder "Going to class, see you there!" and tore out of the Great Hall at breakneck speed.
Apparently, Malfoy and Katherine had been walking very fast, because Harry never met up with them in the hall. Reaching the dungeons, though, he saw them leaning against the wall outside Snape's classroom.
"..And so, with my last bit of strength," Malfoy was saying dramatically, " I reached out and grabbed the Triwizards Cup, thus winning the Triwizard Tournament," he finished, bowing his head.
"Wow, that's pretty tight," said Katherine in amazement.
"Malfoy, that right there was a bunch of crap," Harry exclaimed as he got nearer. "You weren't even in the Tournament, I was. You didn't grab the cup, Cedric and I-"
He stopped mid-sentence, remembering the painful events from 4th year that he had been trying so hard to forget.
"Something wrong, Harry?" Kat asked, a look of concern on her face.
"Just remembering something that happened two years ago," he replied softly.
"Oh Lord, here we go....." Malfoy muttered, rolling his eyes.
She looked at Harry encouragingly, so he sighed and continued.
"Um, one of my......well, I guess you could call him a friend," he started, really in his head thinking of Cedric more along the lines of a rival, " um....we were both in the Tournament, and we reached the cup, but it was actually a port key to Voldermort. And Voldermort killed him in order to get him out of the way so he could kill me," he finished, his voice cracking a bit at the end.
Kat must have felt sorry for him, cause she gave him a big hug. He was a bit surprised, but he couldn't help grinning at the pissed look on Malfoy's face. His grin faded, however, as he saw a very ticked looking Hermione come around the corner, as she marched past them, nose in the air, and straight into the newly opened classroom. Ron was right behind her, and shrugged.
"Harry, I-I never knew," she said, letting go of him. "I'm very sorry." Harry nodded.
"And YOU," she said, whirling around and facing Draco, who looked very taken aback, "You just don't go around stealing other peoples' sad stories, yo! It's just something you don't do, you got me?" she said menacingly.
Malfoy actually took a step back. "Yes ma'am," he said sheepishly.
"Straight up, Drac, I forgive you," she said with a grin. "Let's get inside before we're late."
"After you," both boys said, bowing her into the classroom. Her having gone in, they rushed to the doorway.
"Get out of the way Potter!" hissed Draco, who was trying to shove Harry away from him so he could get in the classroom.
"You get out of the way!" Harry said, agrivatedly. "It's your fault we're stuck in the door anyway!"
"Is not!"
"Is so!"
"Is not!"
"Would you boys be so kind so as to get out of my doorway and SIT DOWN?!"
Both boys turned their heads to see Professor Snape behind them, arms crossed, and glaring.
"Well?"
They shot an angry look at each other, then moved slowly out of the doorway.
"Thank you. And 10 points from Gryffindor for holding the class up," he sneered, and stalked into the classroom.
"What?! I wasn't the only one in the door, you know!" Harry said angrily.
"I have a feeling you started it, Potter. Now have a seat, before I take more points off," Snape replied, eyes narrowed.
Malfoy smirked at him, but quickly stopped when he saw that Harry wasn't paying attention. He was looking for Katherine.
"Harry! Drac! Over here!"
Kat was waving to them from the back of the classroom.
Harry and Draco rushed over, and conveniently positioned themselves on either side of her.
Hermione and Ron were seated in front of them, along with Neville, Seamus, and Dean.
Snape stood in front of the class and took roll. When he got to Katherine's name, she cheerfully exclaimed-
"Present, Uncle Sev!"
He grimaced a bit, then glared at the Slytherins who were snickering.
He finished calling roll, then glanced at the class.
"As you all know, we have a new student," Snape sneered at the class. "She's my niece, so I expect you to treat her with respect. Do I make myself clear?"
Everyone nodded, and Katherine beamed in the back.
"Uncle Sev, you didn't have to do that! I know everyone would have been nice to me anyway. See?" she said, hauling Draco and Harry out of their seats. "I've made 2 new friends already! Oh yeah, and Ron and Hermione," she added, pointing at them.
All the Slytherins stared at their newest Slytherin in shock.
Snape raised his eyebrow slightly and said "That's.....very good Katherine, but we have a lesson to get through, so...."
"Ah, don't say anymore, Unc, I read you. Peace out," she said, and sat down, dragging Harry and Draco back into their seats.
Professor Snape shook his head and proceeded with the lesson.
"We'll be taking a test today to see if you all studied over the summer," he sneered, grinning evilly at the class. "Get out a quill, we will begin now."
He passed out the tests, and everyone started.
Harry barely knew any of the answers, but Kat looked to be flying through the test.
Probably comes from having a Potions master for and uncle, he thought.
Half an hour later, Snape collected the test and stood in front of the room, eyes glinting maliciously.
"Well then. Let's see how you did."
He took the first test. "'Name the cloning potion that you need a bit of the person you want to clone in order for it to work.' Mr. Longbottom, the 'Dollie Sheep Clone' potion is incorrect, five points from Gryffindor."
Neville shrunk in his seat.
He took another test. "'Wolfsbane potion helps what'. Mr. Thomas, 'warts' would be wrong. Five points from Gryffindor."
Dean shrugged and said "Not a bad guess, I think." Seamus nodded in approval.
He picked up another test. "Ah, Mr. Potter, 'To counteract a swelling solution you would use....' a deflating draft..."Snape's face fell as he saw that he got it right. Kat gave Harry a thumbs up, and Hermione smiled at him.
He picked up yet another. "Katherine. I expect it to be right, which it probably is. ' What is a Bezoar used for'".
He looked at the answer and did a doubletake. ".......42?" He looked at her from across the room. "Katherine, 42?"
She nodded vigorously. "Uh-huh. 42 is the universal answer for everything. Says so in "Hitch-hikers Guide to the Universe. Good book, yo. You should read it."
Snape looked at her in amazement. Hermione turned around in her seat and shot a skeptical glance in her direction.
"Let's try again," Snape said, shaking his head. "A Pepper-up Potion is used to...?"
"Add flavor to soup?" she guessed.
Snape raised an eyebrow. "No....how about this one then...Name the ingredients of a Polyjuice Potion."
"Sugar and Spice, and everything-"
"No."
"No?" she asked, tilting her head.
"What is the key ingredient to an invisibility potion?"
"Inviso juice!" she said, happily.
Snape looked hopelessly at his niece and sighed. "Who founded Slytherin House?!" he asked.
"Salamander Slytherin!" she exclaimed confidently.
The Slytherins looked at her in horror.
The Gryffindors stared in amazement. There wasn't a Slytherin alive who didn't know at LEAST who founded Slytherin House. THEY even knew.
Hermione shook her head. Harry looked stunned, and Malfoy looked like Christmas had been canceled. Neville however, looked quite pleased. "Finally, someone who knows less than me in Potions!" he whispered. Ron smiled weakly at him.
After a long silence, Pansy Parkinson exclaimed "You stink at Potions, I hear you're not interested in Dark Arts, you hang out with Gryffindors, you're decked out in Gryffindor colors, AND you don't even know who founded Slytherin House. What kind of a Slytherin are you?!"
Katherine jumped onto the table (Harry and Draco instinctively jumped back), spun around, gave the class a peace sign and winked.
"One of a kind. Just call me the Renegade Slytherin!"
Class went by rather slow, and ended with Katherine melting 5 more cauldrons than Neville had his first week.
Needless to say, Neville was ecstatic.
"Could you believe? I'm actually better at Potions than someone!" he told Ron and Hermione as they walked down the hall.
"That IS rather surprising," Ron thought out loud. "She is in Slytherin afterall."
"I like her," Neville informed them. "Maybe I can tutor her?"
"Don't bother, it seems as though she's already found 2," Hermione said stiffly, shooting a glance behind her at Harry, Draco, and Katherine. "I'm going to class...." and she stormed off.
"What's wrong with Hermione?" Neville asked, confused.
"I don't know, but I might have an idea. Don't worry about it, I'll tell you later," Ron said, shaking his head.
Meanwhile behind them,
"Kat, you never told me you stunk at Potions!" Harry said.
"I told you I wasn't right for Slytherin, dude," she shrugged.
"What you need, is a tutor," Malfoy explained.
"Hmm...not a bad idea, Drac," she said, thinking it over.
Harry saw through his plan immediately, and quickly said "Um, someone who really knows the material."
"Someone who actually passes the tests," Malfoy countered.
"Someone who's not a bigheaded git who's teacher's pet!" Harry shot back.
"Someone who's not trying insanely hard to get a girl!"
"Someone who can actually GET a girl!"
Harry and Draco looked like they could have tore each to pieces right then, and Kat said "You've both got good points. I know who's perfect for the job."
Draco struck a casual pose, and Harry looked to the sky confidently, shoving his bangs out of his face.
Kat turned around and yelled "Yo Ron! You're my new Potions tutor!"
"O....k..." he yelled back. He shrugged at Neville, and continued walking.
Harry and Draco shared a look of shock, but recovered quickly. "Oh yeah, Ron, excellent choice!"
"Couldn't have chose better, unless you chose me," Malfoy said, putting on the fakest smile he could manage.
"Sweet. Well, I'ma bounce, I gotta get to my next class. Muggle Studies. Later!" she said, winked at the guys, turned, and walked off.
Harry blinked a couple of times; he swore he had seen rose petals blowing in the wind behind her. (A/N: you know, like in those animes when the pretty girl walks away and the scene freezes and it looks like a painting and rose petals blow past on a pretty gust of wind. No? Ok then, NEVERMIND.........).
He turned to see Malfoy walking away, shaking his head.
"Where are you going?"
"To lie down, I'm seeing rose petals and I don't know why...." he muttered, and headed back towards the dungeons.
Lunch time rolled around, and Hermione stormed into the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table in a huff.
"I can't BELIEVE that girl!"
Harry looked up from his homework. "Who, Kat?"
"Yes, Kat!"
"Why, what did she do?" he asked skeptically.
"Well, we took a test in Muggle Studies, and she aced it!"
"Wouldn't that generally be a good thing?"
"No! Because she got the exact same as me! NOBODY ever gets the same as me!"
"Hermione," Harry chuckled a bit, "You can't always be the best at everything, you know. You have to give others a chance, too."
"AND," she exclaimed, "we had an assignment over the summer, an essay, and do you know what?!"
"What?" asked Ron as he walked up.
"She got a higher grade than me!!" she cried angrily.
"What?" Ron asked, confused.
Harry filled Ron in on what he had missed, sounding very happy on how well Kat was doing.
"Well, that would make sense, considering her dad is a muggle," Ron shrugged.
Harry gaped at him. "How-how'd you know that?"
He shrugged again. "She told me. After she announced that I was her new Potions teacher."
"By the way, what's with that? Since when am I good at Potions?" Ron asked, sitting down.
"I don't know, but here comes your pupil now," Hermione muttered.
Kat was skipping (literally) towards them, her hair now in long pigtails down her back. She was still wearing what she was wearing this morning, but was wearing sandals instead. She also had a pair of headphones on her head.
"Hullo, Kat!" said Ron in greeting.
"Hey!" she answered, smiling at him. She turned to Harry and grinned.
"Sup Harry?"
"N-nothing really," he stammered. "Congrats on the test in Muggle Studies."
"Ah, it was nothing," she said with a wave of her hand. "It's one of my best subjects. No hard feelings, eh Hermione?" she joked, shoving her playfully.
Hermione smiled weakly, then went back to glaring at her book.
Kat took a seat. She sat quietly, bobbing her head.
"Hey Kat, what's that?" Ron asked, indicating the headphones on her head.
"A CD player, Weasel, don't you know anything?" came a drawling voice.
"Sod off, Malfoy," Harry said, rolling his eyes.
Draco ignored him and turned his attention to Kat. "Might I ask what you're listening to?"
"And may I ask," Hermione cut in, "how you got a muggle artifact into Hogwarts, because as I understand-"
"You can't get muggle electronics in? Yeah, I know. But this isn't a muggle thing. Special wizarding one. Muggle music, wizarding object," Katherine explained.
"Oh," Hermione scowled, and went back to glaring at her book again.
"Wanna listen?" she asked Draco and Harry.
They nodded eagerly, and she placed a headphone on each of their heads.
They listened for a bit, then Harry said "Who are those guys?" Then he added, "They ARE guys, right?"
She laughed a bit and said, "Yeah, they're guys. That's N'SYNC."
"In who?" asked Malfoy.
"N'SYNC. Huge muggle group in the states," she said. My personal faves are Lance and Joey," she added dreamily.
Harry processed this in his mind, and nodded slowly. Then-
"Um, Ron, tell Trelawney I won't be in class today, though, knowing her, she'll probably say she already knew that..." Harry said.
"Why?" Ron asked taking a bit of his lunch.
"Got something to work on..." he answered. "See you guys later," he added, and left, almost running into Ginny ("Sorry Gin!" "S'ok!").
"Kat, tell McGonagall I might be late," Draco muttered, then headed off in the direction Harry had run (him, also, almost running into Ginny ("Out of my way, Weasley!" "Excuse me! Geez...")).
She approached the table, then seeing that Kat was there, turned around, and walked to the other end of the table to talk to Colin Creevey.
"Hm. Wonder why they were in such a hurry?" Katherine commented to no one in particular.
"To get away from you," Hermione grumbled.
"What?"
"Huh? Nothing...." Hermione saved quickly.
Kat shrugged. "I'ma go talk to Uncle Sev. Tell him that I got a Potions tutor. Coming Ron?" she asked.
"Sure, you go on, I'll catch up," he said.
She nodded, waved bye, and took off.
Ron turned to Hermione. "Hermione, is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong, what gave you that idea?" she snapped distractedly.
"Well, for starters, I never mentioned it but you've been reading the same page for 5 minutes now, AND the book is upside down."
Hermione flushed, and turned the book right side up.
"I'm going out on a limb, here. Do you not like Kat? Because every time she's around, you seem really cold and distant," Ron asked.
Hermione didn't answer.
"You jealous or something?"
"Now why would I be jealous of HER?!" she asked peevishly.
"Maybe because Harry's been paying more attention to her lately than to you? That, and maybe you're jealous because he fancies her as opposed to you? Just a guess," he shrugged.
Hermione closed her eyes and frowned. She shut her book, stood up, faced Ron and said "In a word..yes," and walked out of the Great Hall.
DAMN, finally done with this retched chapter! I had SUCH hideous writers block trying to write this. That was WAY too freaking long...~_~;;.Don't worry, Hermione won't be heart broken the WHOLE story....just most of it. I have a plan, just go with me on this, ok? Read and Review, and I'll work on the 4th chapter. Later.
A/N: Third chapter, coming at you! Sorry it took so long to get it posted. First I misplaced it, then I found it, then I got writers block, then I had some of my friends read it over to see how they liked it, then I had to change it, because they kept complaining to me that " Harry would NEVER say something like that!" and I kept having to explain to them that it's a fanfic, therefore things don't have to be 100% accurate (....do they????), then I lost it again, then my sister told me that I had left it at a friends house, and I JUST got it back today, so I figured I'd better hurry up and type it. OK, enough of my rambling..by the way, sorry if Hermione is slowly getting out of character. Same goes for Harry. By the way again, I stand corrected. Apparently, Fred and George SHOULD be in this story, and Harry SHOULDN'T be the only member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team left....so kinda disregard that and let's say that they're in 6th year ok? That way he WOULD be Captain of the team, ok? Sorry! ^_^;;;
"Good morning, Harry!" someone said cheerfully.
Harry looked up from his breakfast to see Hermione and Ginny smiling at him.
"Good morning, girls," he said, smiling back.
"What, go good morning to me?" Ron asked, faking annoyance.
Hermione and Ginny glared at him, and he shrunk back into his seat. "Nevermind..."
"Looking forward to a great year, Harry?" Ginny asked.
"Most definatly..." Harry sighed, looking forlornly towards the Slytherin table.
Hermione followed his gaze and frowned. "Harry, it's great that you're not fawning over Cho anymore-"
"Cho, Cho who?" he said, distractedly.
"-and it's......great," she said through clenched teeth, "that you like someone new, but," and she put her hands on her hips here, "she's a Slytherin. You already know how Slytherins turn out, look at Malfoy. Why don't you focus on someone in your own house? Someone who already likes you," she said casually. Ginny suddenly turned and glared at her.
"Like...who?" Harry asked, taking a guess in his head.
"Like-"
"Mornin', my homies!"
They all turned to see Katherine strolling towards them. She wasn't exactly dressed traditionally though. She wasn't wearing a skirt like all the other girls, she was wearing slacks. That, and she wasn't wearing a bit of green on her at all. She was wearing Gryffindors colors, and a pin that said "Godsmack = ROOLZ".
(A/N: don't ask WHERE the hell that came from. One of my friends was BEGGING me to put that she liked Godsmack somewhere in the story....~_~;;;).
"Godsmack?" Ron asked, pointing at the pin.
"Homies?" Harry asked, as you sat down next to him.
"Yeah. Godsmack. Kick-ass band. But you probably have to be American to fully appreciate it," she said, addressing Ron.
"Homies. As in groupies, as in my posse, as in my friends," she said, answering Harry.
"Oh," Harry and Ron answered.
"Shouldn't you be over there at the Slytherin table?" Hermione asked pointedly.
"And why aren't you wearing Slytherin green and silver?" chimed in Ginny.
"Ha!" Katherine exclaimed suddenly, looking at Ginny. She pointed at her, and turned to Ron. "This one yours?"
"Ya. I have 2 others. Well, rather, 5 others," he said, shrugging. "That's Ginny."
Katherine put on the best british accent she could manage, and failed miserably. "Hullo there, Ginny! Absolutely CORKING to meet you!"
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Pleasure."
"Anywho," Kat said, turning to Hermione. "In answer to your question, I don't think so. They're all kinda weird. Nothing like me at all. All they talk about is how so-and-so is a Death Eater, and all this Dark Arts crap," she said shrugging. "And Gin, I'm not wearing green and stuff cause those colors look horrible on me. Red and yellow look better. Plus, I like youse guys better!" she ended grinning.
"Oh," Hermione said disappointedly.
Professor McGonagall then walked past and handed them their schedules. "Katherine, your uncle would have your schedule," she said before walking away.
"Speaking of Snape," Ron asked frowning at his schedule, "we have double Potions with the Slytherins AGAIN this year."
"Aw, that won't be so bad," Kat smiled, ruffling Harry and Ron's hair. "More time to hang out with you guys!"
Harry turned crimson, Ron turned a laugh into a coughing fit, and Hermione and Ginny glared.
"Hey Harry," Ron whispered, "we got Care of Magical Creatures with them, too."
"So?"
"Well, the way things are working out," Ron smirked,"the more you'll get to know her, and before you know it, you'll be able to see whether she dyes her hair or not."
Harry stared at him blankly. "Was that supposed to be a joke? Cause I don't get it."
Ron rolled his eyes. "You don't get out much, do you?" He whispered his meaning to Harry, who promptly exclaimed "Ron!" and turned redder than Ron and Ginny's hair put together, as Ron collapsed in laughter.
"You have spent WAY too much time with Fred and George...." Harry muttered, shaking his head.
"What's so funny?" the girls asked.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Harry exclaimed hurriedly, trying very hard not to look at Katherine. "ANYWAY, Kat, what's it like having Snape for an uncle?"
She crossed her arms and looked to the ceiling in thought. "Um....I don't know. Uncle Sev's real nice to me, so it's not too bad. Why, is he mean to you guys or something?"
All of their jaws dropped in disbelief.
"Are you kidding, our first year here Snape tried to kill Harry-"
"Ron, you're forgetting, that was Quirrel-"
"He's always giving us detention-"
"Correction, you and Harry-"
"For something we've never done-"
"Like paying attention in class-"
"Shutup Hermione!"
"I'm just getting the facts straight," she said, crossing her arms.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Mental, that one is. The point is, Snape doesn't exactly like us too much."
"Or anyone from Gryffindor Tower, for that matter," Harry pointed out.
"That's a shame....." Katherine said. "Hey! I know! Maybe I can talk to him, get him to be nicer!"
Hermione snorted.
"Thanks, but no thanks," Ron replied.
"Unless your goal is to get us killed, I wouldn't suggest it," Harry said sheepishly.
"Wouldn't suggest what, Potter, holding a Weasley up for ransom?" a voice drawled behind them.
Katherine turned around in her seat and pointed at Malfoy. "I like this kid. He's very creative with his insults."
Draco beamed. "Good morning, Kat."
"Good morning, Drac!" she said cheerfully.
Malfoy glared at Harry and his friends. "Morning," he said coldly.
Hermione crossed her arms again, Ron gave him a cold stare, Ginny stared, Harry acknowledged Draco's presence. "Malfoy," he said coldly.
A moment of silent tension passed between the two, before Kat said "Well, love to stay and chat boys, but I'ma get to class. Potions first, I understand. C'yall later!" she said getting up.
Harry and Draco stopped staring daggers at each other long enough to say "Bye Katherine!" cheerily in her direction.
Malfoy pushed some hair out of his face before saying "I don't have time to hang out with the likes of you. I have a class to go to."
He leaned closer to Harry. "And a certain girl to win," he hissed, then turned and stalked out of the Great Hall. "Oh Katherine! Wait up!" he called.
Harry frowned angrily at Draco's retreating figure. "What IS it with that guy?!" he exclaimed.
He grabbed his stuff, yelled over his shoulder "Going to class, see you there!" and tore out of the Great Hall at breakneck speed.
Apparently, Malfoy and Katherine had been walking very fast, because Harry never met up with them in the hall. Reaching the dungeons, though, he saw them leaning against the wall outside Snape's classroom.
"..And so, with my last bit of strength," Malfoy was saying dramatically, " I reached out and grabbed the Triwizards Cup, thus winning the Triwizard Tournament," he finished, bowing his head.
"Wow, that's pretty tight," said Katherine in amazement.
"Malfoy, that right there was a bunch of crap," Harry exclaimed as he got nearer. "You weren't even in the Tournament, I was. You didn't grab the cup, Cedric and I-"
He stopped mid-sentence, remembering the painful events from 4th year that he had been trying so hard to forget.
"Something wrong, Harry?" Kat asked, a look of concern on her face.
"Just remembering something that happened two years ago," he replied softly.
"Oh Lord, here we go....." Malfoy muttered, rolling his eyes.
She looked at Harry encouragingly, so he sighed and continued.
"Um, one of my......well, I guess you could call him a friend," he started, really in his head thinking of Cedric more along the lines of a rival, " um....we were both in the Tournament, and we reached the cup, but it was actually a port key to Voldermort. And Voldermort killed him in order to get him out of the way so he could kill me," he finished, his voice cracking a bit at the end.
Kat must have felt sorry for him, cause she gave him a big hug. He was a bit surprised, but he couldn't help grinning at the pissed look on Malfoy's face. His grin faded, however, as he saw a very ticked looking Hermione come around the corner, as she marched past them, nose in the air, and straight into the newly opened classroom. Ron was right behind her, and shrugged.
"Harry, I-I never knew," she said, letting go of him. "I'm very sorry." Harry nodded.
"And YOU," she said, whirling around and facing Draco, who looked very taken aback, "You just don't go around stealing other peoples' sad stories, yo! It's just something you don't do, you got me?" she said menacingly.
Malfoy actually took a step back. "Yes ma'am," he said sheepishly.
"Straight up, Drac, I forgive you," she said with a grin. "Let's get inside before we're late."
"After you," both boys said, bowing her into the classroom. Her having gone in, they rushed to the doorway.
"Get out of the way Potter!" hissed Draco, who was trying to shove Harry away from him so he could get in the classroom.
"You get out of the way!" Harry said, agrivatedly. "It's your fault we're stuck in the door anyway!"
"Is not!"
"Is so!"
"Is not!"
"Would you boys be so kind so as to get out of my doorway and SIT DOWN?!"
Both boys turned their heads to see Professor Snape behind them, arms crossed, and glaring.
"Well?"
They shot an angry look at each other, then moved slowly out of the doorway.
"Thank you. And 10 points from Gryffindor for holding the class up," he sneered, and stalked into the classroom.
"What?! I wasn't the only one in the door, you know!" Harry said angrily.
"I have a feeling you started it, Potter. Now have a seat, before I take more points off," Snape replied, eyes narrowed.
Malfoy smirked at him, but quickly stopped when he saw that Harry wasn't paying attention. He was looking for Katherine.
"Harry! Drac! Over here!"
Kat was waving to them from the back of the classroom.
Harry and Draco rushed over, and conveniently positioned themselves on either side of her.
Hermione and Ron were seated in front of them, along with Neville, Seamus, and Dean.
Snape stood in front of the class and took roll. When he got to Katherine's name, she cheerfully exclaimed-
"Present, Uncle Sev!"
He grimaced a bit, then glared at the Slytherins who were snickering.
He finished calling roll, then glanced at the class.
"As you all know, we have a new student," Snape sneered at the class. "She's my niece, so I expect you to treat her with respect. Do I make myself clear?"
Everyone nodded, and Katherine beamed in the back.
"Uncle Sev, you didn't have to do that! I know everyone would have been nice to me anyway. See?" she said, hauling Draco and Harry out of their seats. "I've made 2 new friends already! Oh yeah, and Ron and Hermione," she added, pointing at them.
All the Slytherins stared at their newest Slytherin in shock.
Snape raised his eyebrow slightly and said "That's.....very good Katherine, but we have a lesson to get through, so...."
"Ah, don't say anymore, Unc, I read you. Peace out," she said, and sat down, dragging Harry and Draco back into their seats.
Professor Snape shook his head and proceeded with the lesson.
"We'll be taking a test today to see if you all studied over the summer," he sneered, grinning evilly at the class. "Get out a quill, we will begin now."
He passed out the tests, and everyone started.
Harry barely knew any of the answers, but Kat looked to be flying through the test.
Probably comes from having a Potions master for and uncle, he thought.
Half an hour later, Snape collected the test and stood in front of the room, eyes glinting maliciously.
"Well then. Let's see how you did."
He took the first test. "'Name the cloning potion that you need a bit of the person you want to clone in order for it to work.' Mr. Longbottom, the 'Dollie Sheep Clone' potion is incorrect, five points from Gryffindor."
Neville shrunk in his seat.
He took another test. "'Wolfsbane potion helps what'. Mr. Thomas, 'warts' would be wrong. Five points from Gryffindor."
Dean shrugged and said "Not a bad guess, I think." Seamus nodded in approval.
He picked up another test. "Ah, Mr. Potter, 'To counteract a swelling solution you would use....' a deflating draft..."Snape's face fell as he saw that he got it right. Kat gave Harry a thumbs up, and Hermione smiled at him.
He picked up yet another. "Katherine. I expect it to be right, which it probably is. ' What is a Bezoar used for'".
He looked at the answer and did a doubletake. ".......42?" He looked at her from across the room. "Katherine, 42?"
She nodded vigorously. "Uh-huh. 42 is the universal answer for everything. Says so in "Hitch-hikers Guide to the Universe. Good book, yo. You should read it."
Snape looked at her in amazement. Hermione turned around in her seat and shot a skeptical glance in her direction.
"Let's try again," Snape said, shaking his head. "A Pepper-up Potion is used to...?"
"Add flavor to soup?" she guessed.
Snape raised an eyebrow. "No....how about this one then...Name the ingredients of a Polyjuice Potion."
"Sugar and Spice, and everything-"
"No."
"No?" she asked, tilting her head.
"What is the key ingredient to an invisibility potion?"
"Inviso juice!" she said, happily.
Snape looked hopelessly at his niece and sighed. "Who founded Slytherin House?!" he asked.
"Salamander Slytherin!" she exclaimed confidently.
The Slytherins looked at her in horror.
The Gryffindors stared in amazement. There wasn't a Slytherin alive who didn't know at LEAST who founded Slytherin House. THEY even knew.
Hermione shook her head. Harry looked stunned, and Malfoy looked like Christmas had been canceled. Neville however, looked quite pleased. "Finally, someone who knows less than me in Potions!" he whispered. Ron smiled weakly at him.
After a long silence, Pansy Parkinson exclaimed "You stink at Potions, I hear you're not interested in Dark Arts, you hang out with Gryffindors, you're decked out in Gryffindor colors, AND you don't even know who founded Slytherin House. What kind of a Slytherin are you?!"
Katherine jumped onto the table (Harry and Draco instinctively jumped back), spun around, gave the class a peace sign and winked.
"One of a kind. Just call me the Renegade Slytherin!"
Class went by rather slow, and ended with Katherine melting 5 more cauldrons than Neville had his first week.
Needless to say, Neville was ecstatic.
"Could you believe? I'm actually better at Potions than someone!" he told Ron and Hermione as they walked down the hall.
"That IS rather surprising," Ron thought out loud. "She is in Slytherin afterall."
"I like her," Neville informed them. "Maybe I can tutor her?"
"Don't bother, it seems as though she's already found 2," Hermione said stiffly, shooting a glance behind her at Harry, Draco, and Katherine. "I'm going to class...." and she stormed off.
"What's wrong with Hermione?" Neville asked, confused.
"I don't know, but I might have an idea. Don't worry about it, I'll tell you later," Ron said, shaking his head.
Meanwhile behind them,
"Kat, you never told me you stunk at Potions!" Harry said.
"I told you I wasn't right for Slytherin, dude," she shrugged.
"What you need, is a tutor," Malfoy explained.
"Hmm...not a bad idea, Drac," she said, thinking it over.
Harry saw through his plan immediately, and quickly said "Um, someone who really knows the material."
"Someone who actually passes the tests," Malfoy countered.
"Someone who's not a bigheaded git who's teacher's pet!" Harry shot back.
"Someone who's not trying insanely hard to get a girl!"
"Someone who can actually GET a girl!"
Harry and Draco looked like they could have tore each to pieces right then, and Kat said "You've both got good points. I know who's perfect for the job."
Draco struck a casual pose, and Harry looked to the sky confidently, shoving his bangs out of his face.
Kat turned around and yelled "Yo Ron! You're my new Potions tutor!"
"O....k..." he yelled back. He shrugged at Neville, and continued walking.
Harry and Draco shared a look of shock, but recovered quickly. "Oh yeah, Ron, excellent choice!"
"Couldn't have chose better, unless you chose me," Malfoy said, putting on the fakest smile he could manage.
"Sweet. Well, I'ma bounce, I gotta get to my next class. Muggle Studies. Later!" she said, winked at the guys, turned, and walked off.
Harry blinked a couple of times; he swore he had seen rose petals blowing in the wind behind her. (A/N: you know, like in those animes when the pretty girl walks away and the scene freezes and it looks like a painting and rose petals blow past on a pretty gust of wind. No? Ok then, NEVERMIND.........).
He turned to see Malfoy walking away, shaking his head.
"Where are you going?"
"To lie down, I'm seeing rose petals and I don't know why...." he muttered, and headed back towards the dungeons.
Lunch time rolled around, and Hermione stormed into the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table in a huff.
"I can't BELIEVE that girl!"
Harry looked up from his homework. "Who, Kat?"
"Yes, Kat!"
"Why, what did she do?" he asked skeptically.
"Well, we took a test in Muggle Studies, and she aced it!"
"Wouldn't that generally be a good thing?"
"No! Because she got the exact same as me! NOBODY ever gets the same as me!"
"Hermione," Harry chuckled a bit, "You can't always be the best at everything, you know. You have to give others a chance, too."
"AND," she exclaimed, "we had an assignment over the summer, an essay, and do you know what?!"
"What?" asked Ron as he walked up.
"She got a higher grade than me!!" she cried angrily.
"What?" Ron asked, confused.
Harry filled Ron in on what he had missed, sounding very happy on how well Kat was doing.
"Well, that would make sense, considering her dad is a muggle," Ron shrugged.
Harry gaped at him. "How-how'd you know that?"
He shrugged again. "She told me. After she announced that I was her new Potions teacher."
"By the way, what's with that? Since when am I good at Potions?" Ron asked, sitting down.
"I don't know, but here comes your pupil now," Hermione muttered.
Kat was skipping (literally) towards them, her hair now in long pigtails down her back. She was still wearing what she was wearing this morning, but was wearing sandals instead. She also had a pair of headphones on her head.
"Hullo, Kat!" said Ron in greeting.
"Hey!" she answered, smiling at him. She turned to Harry and grinned.
"Sup Harry?"
"N-nothing really," he stammered. "Congrats on the test in Muggle Studies."
"Ah, it was nothing," she said with a wave of her hand. "It's one of my best subjects. No hard feelings, eh Hermione?" she joked, shoving her playfully.
Hermione smiled weakly, then went back to glaring at her book.
Kat took a seat. She sat quietly, bobbing her head.
"Hey Kat, what's that?" Ron asked, indicating the headphones on her head.
"A CD player, Weasel, don't you know anything?" came a drawling voice.
"Sod off, Malfoy," Harry said, rolling his eyes.
Draco ignored him and turned his attention to Kat. "Might I ask what you're listening to?"
"And may I ask," Hermione cut in, "how you got a muggle artifact into Hogwarts, because as I understand-"
"You can't get muggle electronics in? Yeah, I know. But this isn't a muggle thing. Special wizarding one. Muggle music, wizarding object," Katherine explained.
"Oh," Hermione scowled, and went back to glaring at her book again.
"Wanna listen?" she asked Draco and Harry.
They nodded eagerly, and she placed a headphone on each of their heads.
They listened for a bit, then Harry said "Who are those guys?" Then he added, "They ARE guys, right?"
She laughed a bit and said, "Yeah, they're guys. That's N'SYNC."
"In who?" asked Malfoy.
"N'SYNC. Huge muggle group in the states," she said. My personal faves are Lance and Joey," she added dreamily.
Harry processed this in his mind, and nodded slowly. Then-
"Um, Ron, tell Trelawney I won't be in class today, though, knowing her, she'll probably say she already knew that..." Harry said.
"Why?" Ron asked taking a bit of his lunch.
"Got something to work on..." he answered. "See you guys later," he added, and left, almost running into Ginny ("Sorry Gin!" "S'ok!").
"Kat, tell McGonagall I might be late," Draco muttered, then headed off in the direction Harry had run (him, also, almost running into Ginny ("Out of my way, Weasley!" "Excuse me! Geez...")).
She approached the table, then seeing that Kat was there, turned around, and walked to the other end of the table to talk to Colin Creevey.
"Hm. Wonder why they were in such a hurry?" Katherine commented to no one in particular.
"To get away from you," Hermione grumbled.
"What?"
"Huh? Nothing...." Hermione saved quickly.
Kat shrugged. "I'ma go talk to Uncle Sev. Tell him that I got a Potions tutor. Coming Ron?" she asked.
"Sure, you go on, I'll catch up," he said.
She nodded, waved bye, and took off.
Ron turned to Hermione. "Hermione, is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong, what gave you that idea?" she snapped distractedly.
"Well, for starters, I never mentioned it but you've been reading the same page for 5 minutes now, AND the book is upside down."
Hermione flushed, and turned the book right side up.
"I'm going out on a limb, here. Do you not like Kat? Because every time she's around, you seem really cold and distant," Ron asked.
Hermione didn't answer.
"You jealous or something?"
"Now why would I be jealous of HER?!" she asked peevishly.
"Maybe because Harry's been paying more attention to her lately than to you? That, and maybe you're jealous because he fancies her as opposed to you? Just a guess," he shrugged.
Hermione closed her eyes and frowned. She shut her book, stood up, faced Ron and said "In a word..yes," and walked out of the Great Hall.
DAMN, finally done with this retched chapter! I had SUCH hideous writers block trying to write this. That was WAY too freaking long...~_~;;.Don't worry, Hermione won't be heart broken the WHOLE story....just most of it. I have a plan, just go with me on this, ok? Read and Review, and I'll work on the 4th chapter. Later.