It's not nice to have less reviews than you have chapters. So please review! At this point, I would like to comment that if I owned Harry Potter, I would be making money off of him, rather than posting here.
Yes, I know that Blaise is male. But I liked the idea of a female Blaise better, so live with it.
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Kestrel woke up automatically at eight o'clock, a trick learned from three years under the Moccasin's care. Up at eight, or nothing on your plate was one of the copious profusely annoying axioms she was forced to learn by rote while under foster care...
Deciding that the first day of classes was not a good time to dwell on former family, she heaved her self out of bed and made for the bathroom, which was really rather nice, with private stalls for every girl, and fuzzy, inch deep carpets in an unimaginable shade of green.
It was several minutes later when Kestrel made her way to the Great Hall, feeling much more refreshed and very optimistic. Today was when she would really start her new life, and nothing was going to screw it up.
And those chocolate chip pancakes looked simply scrumptious. They were nearly begging to be eaten.
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Ten minutes and five flapjacks afterward, Padma Patil walked into the Great Hall, looking lost in thought. As she passed the Slytherin table, Kestrel hailed her jovially.
"Hi, Padma. How're the Ravenclaws?" she asked, smiling broadly.
"Very good, thank you, Kestrel." Padma whispered in a barely audible voice, before speeding up to reach the Ravenclaw table.
"That's odd." commented Kestrel as Blaise sat down to her left, yawning hugely.
"Wh-what's odd?" questioned Blaise idly, yawning and reaching for sausages.
"Padma. I just asked her how she was doing, and she acted very strangely." Kestrel informed her, passing the ketchup to the third year across the way who had asked for it.
Blaise stopped shoveling pork down her mouth, took a tremendous swallow and sighed deeply. "I was afraid of this. It's starting already."
"What's starting?" inquired Kestrel impenitently
"The bias against Slytherins. More than likely, she mentioned you or me in passing, and heard a bunch of stories about evil Slytherins, or as she's a pureblood, grew up listening to them. You're fate was sealed the moment the hat shouted out your house." Blaise enlightened her.
"Oh." uttered Kestrel, who up until that moment had anticipated resistance from only the pureblood fanatics.
The was a few seconds uncomfortable silence.
"Well, that's just bull shit, and there is no way I'm going to put up with it." Kestrel announced, loading an English muffin with butter and popping it whole into her mouth.
"How're you going to do that?" queried Blaise
"Well," replied Kestrel, taking the schedule handed to her by McGonagall. "It looks like we have double Herbology with the Ravenclaws next. I think we need to talk with Padma."
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The tension in greenhouse one was nearly palpable. Padma and Mandy stood on the other side of the table where they were sorting herbs, Blaise and Kestrel on the other. Not much was being said, even along the lines of "So, what do you reckon this one is?"
After nearly twenty minutes of oppressive silence, Kestrel could stand it no longer.
"That's it, I can't take it anymore!" she shouted, throwing her hands up in defeat. "Look, I'm not evil, and she's not evil! Get over it!"
Both Padma and Mandy looked up, seemingly startled at her out burst.
"But you're in Slytherin! How can you not be evil?" retorted Mandy, after recovering slightly.
Kestrel let out a roar of frustration. "Please, don't tell me I need to give you the 'Not all Slytherins are evil' talk!"
Both girls gave her a blank stare. Kestrel sighed, annoyed. "Okay, apparently I do. Now listen closely. The characteristics of Slytherin house are ambitious and cautious. Not evil, deranged or twisted. For your information, Mad-Eye Moody, one of the greatest Aurors of all time, was in Slytherin."
"And Grindelwald was a Gryffindor, remember that too!" chimed in Blaise.
Both Mandy and Padma gasped in astonishment. "Is that even possible?" squeaked Padma, her eyes round with shock.
"Well you have to admit, you'd have to have some nerve to kill all those people." Blaise continued. "Besides, it was a family tradition, all the Grindelwalds before him were either in there or Ravenclaw."
"That... makes sense." conceded Mandy, nodding her head thoughtfully.
"It's like that with the Slytherins. We get gits in that house that really shouldn't be in there, like Malfoy." Kestrel picked up, glaring to where Malfoy and three of his cronies were puzzling over a packet of red seeds.
Mandy and Padma shared glances, and then solemnly stuck out their hands. Blaise and Kestrel shook them just as gravely, before breaking out into identical grins.
"Now we get to tell you all about our incredible adventure we had last night." And with those words, Kestrel launched into her tale of the ambush.
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As the Slytherins had the afternoons free on Mondays, Blaise and Kestrel went to go visit Hagrid, something about which Blaise was rather worried about.
"I mean, what if he gets angry, I mean, he's ginormous! He could probably crush us with one finger!"
"Blaise, calm down." Said Kestrel sternly "Hagrid is about as likely to crush us as Dumbledore is to ride a unicycle around the Great Hall in a pink tutu."
Blaise snorted. "You really have some nasty mental images in there, Kes." she muttered, slapping Kestrel on the head.
"Yeah, well, sick imagination and all that." concurred Kestrel, rubbing her head where Blaise had hit her before knocking on Hagrid's enormous door. "Oh, and by the way, ginormous is NOT a word."
"Kestrel! Nice ta see yer! An' who's this?" he said, squinting down at Blaise, who was staring up at Hagrid with shock of an astronomical proportion.
"This is Blaise Zambini, a girl from my year." Kestrel introduced "Blaise, this is Hagrid."
"I noticed." wheezed Blaise faintly
"Well, why don't yer come inside, I have some tea you all can have." Hagrid said, looking slightly puzzled at Blaise's behavior. As she scooted apprehensively inside, Hagrid leaned down low and whisper to Kestrel. "What's up with 'er?"
"She just wasn't quiet aware that you were so tall." Kestrel smiled, stepping into Hagrid's hut.
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"He was nice." commented Blaise as they left Hagrid's hut some two hours later, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes. "I don't think much of his cooking though."
"Neither do I, to tell the truth." replied Kestrel, looking down at her watch. "Crap, is that the time! We'd better get started on our homework."
"What for?" questioned Blaise, glance at her own wrist for the time. "It's only 3:32."
"Yes well, seeing that certain people are unable to make any sense past 10:00, and it'll take at least two hours to finish all this homework, I think it's best to start now." Kestrel retorted, corners of her mouth twitching.
"Hey, I do not!" Exclaimed Blaise indignantly.
"The fact that you automatically assumed it was you does lend to the fact." Kestrel grinned
Blaise pouted all the way back to the library.
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"Um, Kestrel?" a voice asked tentatively.
Kestrel looked up from the Charms homework that she was doing, to see Hermione standing tentatively on the other side of the table.
"Hey, Hermione, have a seat." Kestrel said, moving a rather large book entitled Useful Herbs of Britain, off the seat next to her. "How was your first day?"
"Wonderful. Have you had transfiguration yet?" Kestrel shook her head. "I had it this afternoon. I was able to get my match completely silver before the end of the lesson."
"I have transfiguration tomorrow, first thing." Kestrel said. Just then Blaise plopped down to Kestrel's right, dropping the book she was holding with a loud thud.
"I found it!" exclaimed Blaise triumphantly, causing several people at the next table over to glare at her. "The wand movement isn't jab-flick, it's flick-jab! No wonder I didn't get the Sparkling Spell right!"
"Told ya so." smirked Kestrel. Blaise stuck out her tongue, and then noticed Hermione, who was have a relatively fake sounding coughing fit behind her hand. "Who're you?"
"Hermione Granger. We were on the boat together." Hermione reported matter-of-factly.
"Oh, that's right. How's it like in the lion's den?" Blaise replied, unfazed.
"Okay I guess. Pretty much everyone leaves me alone." Hermione informed them, drooping slightly.
"Sounds lonely." commented Blaise sympathetically
"And I thought Slytherins were supposed to be the lone wolves." Kestrel remarked, trying, and failing, to turn it into a joke.
"I know, I know. I feel like I'm the only one in the whole of Gryffindor who doesn't have friends inside the house." Hermione moaned miserably.
"Well at least you don't have enemies." answered Blaise darkly. Hermione's head snapped up.
"What?!?!?!" she cried, earning their table yet another glare from the table across the way.
"Kestrel don't tell me it's Malfoy."
"Yep." countered Kestrel cheerfully. "Him, and Parkinson, and Crabbe, and Goyle, and Bullstrode."
"And most likely Nott and Morag too." added Blaise, who sounded contrastingly lethargic.
"And let me guess, you got into a fight." she moaned.
"Well, fight isn't exactly the right term..."started Blaise slowly
"... being caught in an ambush is probably more accurate." completed Kestrel, tensing for Hermione's reaction.
Hermione groaned loudly, burying her head in her hands. "I'm surprised you're still here." she grumbled
"So are we." Blaise informed Hermione darkly. "But we just have detention with Snape tonight."
"Cleaning out caldrons can't be all that bad, can it?" Kestrel said optimistically, forcing a smile.
Hermione shook her head wearily. "I just hope Professor Snape isn't in a bad mood. I've heard he can turn really nasty."
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They reported to Professor Snape's office directly after dinner, not wanting to run into Malfoy and give him another opportunity to cause trouble. As a result, they were nearly five minutes early, although as Blaise pointed out, it wasn't as though that could lower Snape's opinion of them.
"At least punctuality isn't a foreign virtue to you." muttered the potions master as he swept into the office three minutes later. "You'll be cleaning those caldrons tonight, while Mr. Malfoy and his party will be alphabetizing potions ingredients."
"Yes, sir." both Blaise and Kestrel chimed.
They worked in silence for several minutes before Malfoy and company swaggered in, acting for all the world as though it was perfectly fine to waltz in nearly ten minutes late.
"You're late, Mr. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Miss Parkinson and Bullstrode." Snape admonished icily. "Do it again and I'll be forced to give you another detention."
"But sir!" protested Malfoy, looking shocked.
"Yes?" inquired Snape.
"Really, I mean..." he trailed off, quailing under Snape's bemused stare.
"You will be alphabetizing potion supplies today, while..." but he got no farther, as Malfoy had let out a vehement exclamation of disbelief. Snape turned his glare on full throttle, but Malfoy didn't notice.
"Sir! This is servant stuff! And I'm a Malfoy!" remonstrated Malfoy.
"And you find this task too...menial... for your liking?" questioned Snape
"Yes, exactly." nodded Malfoy fervently.
"Then you will clean caldrons with Miss Cascara and Miss Zambini." he declared. Malfoy's jaw dropped, and Kestrel grinned in spite of herself, having paused her sluicing to watch the event, as had Blaise.
"Does anyone else have any, objections?" inquired Snape. Silence reigned.
"Good." Snape glided back to his desk, turning his back on Malfoy, who looked as though he was going to argue further. Clearly recognizing defeat, however, he trudged over the mountain of caldrons where Blaise and Kestrel had resumed their work.
"I'm going to kill you for this." he snarled, snatching away the brush Blaise was reaching for. She frowned and selected another one.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I have plans for the next 136 years, you'll have to wait until then." Kestrel retorted, scrubbing her caldron with renewed vigor.
Malfoy smirked slightly, and then replied slyly. "I'm prepared to take you up on the offer of a wizard's duel. You do know what one is, right? Are you sure you haven't just heard of it?"
"Of course she has." Blaise proclaimed, turning her back to the self were the potions ingredients were being organized. "I'm her second, who's yours?"
Malfoy glanced at his cronies, sizing them up. "Crabbe. Meet in the trophy room at midnight, it's always unlocked."
"Why would we do that?" asked Kestrel, eyebrow raised. "So we can go through all the trouble of sneaking out of the Slytherin dungeon and make our way to the trophy room, only to find Filch there?"
Malfoy's jaw dropped, as did his scrubbing brush. Kestrel smirked triumphantly as he spluttered wildly.
"How, what, but, who?" he fumed, unable to form a coherent sentence.
"That's one of the oldest tricks in the book, right up there throwing sand in your opponents eyes." Kestrel sneered. "So instead, Friday, midnight, Slytherin Common Room. Chicken out, and you have to wear 'McGonagall is Sexy' plastered to your forehead for a week. Any spellwork done by anyone but the duelers and their seconds will result in immediate disqualification. Agreed?"
"But, what if there are people in there?" Malfoy whined desperately.
"I thought you had nearly the whole of Slytherin afraid of your father's wrath. Surely there something you can do." commented Kestrel. Malfoy's face tinged pink.
"Agreed." he spat, and went back to scrubbing his caldron in stuffy silence, smoldering.
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It was nearly eight o'clock when the potions Professor decided that they had had enough, even though only a quarter of the potions ingredients where on the shelves, and a good chunk of the caldrons remained. So they all left, all except Kestrel, and Malfoy.
"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Cascara, stay here." he ordered. "I have something to say to you. Separately, so please wait outside Miss Cascara."
Kestrel stepped outside, bewildered and concerned. Did he overhear their conversation about the wizard's duel?
She waited outside pacing, before she decided to take drastic action. Pressing her ear against the door, she was delighted when the conversation wafted into her ears.
"...surprised in you Draco, I would have thought you of all be able to realize what that means." the potions master's voice drifted through the door, no longer icy.
"I think I do. I'm just...slightly shocked, that's all." the tones of the Malfoy air spoke, sounding as arrogant as ever. "I thought Dumbledore held you in high esteem."
"He has grown more suspicious of me ever since the break-in at Gringotts." Snape replied. "Now, I believe curfew ends in five minutes, so I suggest that you get moving." There was a scrapping of chairs, and Kestrel hurriedly removed her ear from the door and walked several paces down the corridor, just as the door opened and Malfoy walked down the hallway, the now-familiar smirk displayed proudly on his face.
"Miss Cascara, if you please." the Death Eater Spy said silkily, still seated in his office.
Kestrel hesitantly walked into the office once more, head swimming with the overheard conversation. What did Snape mean? Was Dumbledore or someone else watching them during detention.
"Have a seat." the potions professor said, indicating a chair opposite from him. Kestrel sat.
"Now, Miss Cascara, I want to know how you knew how to fight like you did last night." Snape said dangerously.
"What?" Kestrel questioned, disorientated. Why in earth was Snape asking about that?
"I want to know how you managed to produce a shielding charm, three stunners, and a disarming spell on your first day at school, when you have no wizarding background." rephrased Snape.
"Well, I knew the incantations from books I read, and I just used them." replied Kestrel, still confused.
"So you mean to tell me that you just spoke the incantations, and the spells worked?" inquired the professor incredulously. Kestrel nodded, mystified, and very much wrong-footed. "I see." said Snape, although he seemed a bit disconcerted. "Miss Cascara, would you mind taking this quill and vanishing it? The incantation is Evanesco."
"I know sir." replied Kestrel, taking her wand out of her pocket and tapping the quill. "Evanesco." The quill evaporated.
"Very well." whispered Snape staring at the place the quill had been a moment before. "You may leave. If anybody asks why you are out so late, tell them it's my fault."
Kestrel left the office at top speed, anxious to converse with Blaise and still very baffled. Which was probably a mistake. If she had stick around, she might have found out some very interesting stuff.
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As Kestrel made her hasty exit, Dumbledore materialized behind Snape, frowning thoughtfully.
"It does appear that we were right, Severus." Dumbledore stated. "She does take after her father."
"Which one?" asked Snape, interestedly.
"Either, I suppose." Dumbledore replied noncommittally. "And her mother is in their to, I suppose."
"They certainly look alike." commented Snape, grading a fifth year's homework. "Her ears are a bit less pointy, and her hair more brown, but nearly everything else..." his voice trailed off.
"Anyway, this has been very informative. Thank you for allowing me to watch, Severus." Dumbledore said, making for the door.
"Anytime, headmaster." responded Snape
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