It was honestly amazing how only one decision could change the course of your entire life. Kariama Mason wrote, blowing a lock of curling black hair out of her eyes. Especially one as seemingly innocuous as which house to be in.
Chapitre I
Leavings and New Beginnings
It was a Wednesday, and the train was leaving the station, the scarlet engine at the platform 9 and 3/4 tooting it's horn for the students to board. At that moment, one student would have given everything she owned to not get on that train. Kariama Mason, youngest daughter of the Mason clan of nine children, never wanted to go to a school. She wanted to stay at home with her tutors and read, leaving the world and it's cruelties outside the walls of her ancestral home.
Kariama's black hair blew around her face as she put her luggage on the train, the butler and the house elf holding her things tightly. She turned to them, her curly hair blowing furiously around her, making her look like an archangel of death, coming after prey. "I don't want to go." Her voice was soft, but had a strained edge to it. Her butler, with his eyes looking suspiciously moist, just held out his arms. Daris and Goddy, the only two creatures who ever cared about her were these people and they enfolded her in their embrace. Not her parents, not her sisters and brothers, not any familial attached member, but a servant and a supposedly substandard creature.
She fell into Daris' arms and Goddy clutched her leg, both of them shedding no few tears. The whistle sounded and Daris pulled away. He pulled out his handkerchief and dried her eyes with it, and then placed it in her hand.
"Use this, not your sleeve, play nice with the other children and don't tear your clothes, I won't be there to sew them up for you. If any of the children give you a hard time, sic that cousin that's marginally fond of you on them. The Malfoy's are always good for an interesting revenge spell." Goddy clung to her leg.
"Bite, don't hit, use that new stitch that I showed you, and mind your manners." Goddy said, stroking her leg with a long finger. "And claw," he added thoughtfully. "You may claw as well."
"Thank you...Both of you." Daris took her head in his hands and kissed the top of her head.
"Be safe." Daris said, pushing a lock of her hair away from her face.
"I will..." She said, rumpling Goddy's hair.
"Now scat." Daris said, giving her a light smack on the rear to get her going, just as he had done every day to get her to go out and play. She held her books tightly to her chest, put her chin in the air, and strode forward. She didn't let a speck of her fear show in her face. She entered the train, tugged slightly on her knee-highs and sat down. She was alone, one of the only ones that was so, having entered late because of her parents. Everyone else was standing or sitting in a circle of friends, the green ties with the green ties, scarlet with scarlet and the other two were mixed, not really staying separated. She had read about the four houses. Griffindors, loyal, strong, proud; Hufflepuff, slow, dependable, toilsome, Ravenclaw smart, intelligent, studious. And Slytherin, her ancestral house. Cunning, amoral, and utterly, utterly sinister.
Slytherin, where she belonged, but did not want to be. She was a child of the Great House of Mason, deserving all the capitals it could be given, one of the oldest houses of purebloods. Muggle haters and torturers galore. Politicians and murderers, lovers and haters and a long corrupt line of wizards that stretches back into the ages. Kari sighed.
She pulled her legs up onto the train benches and loosely linked her hands behind her knees, watching the other students with their games of Exploding snap and Wizard's chess. Eventually, bored out of her mind, she got up, slinging her bag over her chest, and tugging on her knee socks again. Honestly, how did one keep these dreadful things up? She sighed and wiggled her feet in her constricting shoes as she went from one end of the train to the other, searching for someone, anyone that she knew. Tears burned her eyes as she was swamped by a wave of loneliness and her footsteps quickened as she began to run, still looking desperately for someone she knew. She ran through the last door and slammed strait into a large wall.
She fell down, her legs slipped and she was on the ground, staring up at the ceiling.
It was a pretty ceiling.
"Ron!" A shocked female voice yelped, and a slim white hand came out of no where to help her to her feet. Kari took it and got to her feet, quickly rubbing the heels of her hands over her eyes to erase any trace that she had been crying.
"Are you alright?" A soft voice, a light baritone, and a pair of brown eyes filled with concern looked down at her. She looked up and for a moment, lost her voice.
He was a boy with the look of one that has grown into his gangliness, and long nose. He could just barely look out under his longish red hair that had a tendency to fall into his eyes. He had the lightly muscular build of a Quidditch player who worked out almost every day. Kari honestly was speechless, staring up at the six foot five boy in front of her.
"It's okay, I know he's a lot bigger than most people are used to, I know. Ron, sit down, you're going to give the poor girl a heart attack." The girl had a large pile of bushy hair, even curlier than Kari's. Kari almost felt sorry for her except for she also had the same problem of hair that wanted to crawl off on it's own and have an independent existence. Her voice was slightly bossy and overbearing for someone as shy as Kari. "My name is Hermione Granger. I don't believe I remember you, which house are you in?" Kari's mouth opened and closed a few times without any sound.
"Hush Hermione, I think you're scaring her." The red head said, and a dark haired brooding boy stood up in the seat next to her.
"I think Ron's right for once." Ron stuck his tongue out at his friend, and Kari shrunk back. The black haired boy carried on, sticking out a hand. "My name's Harry Potter, what's yours?" He asked and she put her small hand in his.
"Kariama Mason, youngest daughter of the Mason clan." She said shaking his hand. Ron choked.
"The Mason clan?" He asked, the tips of his ears turning red. Hermione put a hand to her mouth and Harry looked confused.
"If you're talking about the one with enough money to buy a country and enough ego to fill an ocean, then yes. That Mason." Kari said, getting into her stride now that she had found friendly people. She wasn't that antisocial, just a little shy and unsure of herself.
"Ummmm..."The red color flushed from his ears to cross his cheeks and Hermione looked away. "I think your kind is two cars that way." He waved a hand opposite of where she had entered. "I'm Ron Weasley." Kari looked at him for a moment.
"Is my...kind...not supposed to mix with your family?" Kari asked, her dark eyes alight strangely.
"Ummm...no." Hermione piped up. "You should probably be up with the other Slytherins."
"Will I be a Slytherin?" She asked vaguely, and then refocused. "Do you think that talking to you will make my family angry?" She asked, reaching down to pull up a sock absently.
"Absolutely." Ron said, nodding his head sadly.
"Ok...Lets be friends then." She smiled brilliantly at him and sat down on a bench across from them. Harry, Hermione and Ron shared a close three-way glance.
"Are you a first year, because you look a little old to be eleven, but with the girls these days..." Harry trailed off, a misty eyed look on his face until Hermione kicked him. Ron rolled his eyes and cast a quick silencio spell.
"She was thirteen, but stop being a git about every girl who asks for your autograph, pedophile!" Hermione practically shrieked and Harry had the grace to at least blush.
"She was cute." He mumbled, turning a bright red.
"She was THIRTEEN!" Hermione shrieked, and Kari muffled a giggle. Ron turned to her and winked, then pulled a long-suffering look. Apparently this had been a topic of discussion for a long time.
"It was only three years!" Harry said, under his breath. Hermione inflated with rage.
"THREE YEARS IS A LONG TIME YOU PEDOPHILE!!!" She shrieked, advancing on Harry in a fit of riteous rage.
"Yeah, I mean, first that thing with Cho, a year older man, I mean come on...And now much younger women, like this girl..." Ron said, and Hermione nodded primly along with him. "Why don't you go out with someone who's you're own age, like say...." He paused for a moment for dramatic effect. Hermione was still nodding along with him. "Hey, you could go out with Hermione!" Hermione stopped nodding. They both turned to him.
"WHAT?!" They turned to look at each other with shocked faces. "EWWWWW! GROSSSS!" They both jumped away from each other and Ron collapsed next to Kari who was watching it all with wide eyes and chewing on a fingernail.
"See? It's wonderful when you know two people so well that when you say one thing, it gets them both to shut up." Hermione and Harry weren't listening, but rather going on rather detailed rants why they didn't want to go out with the other one. He flashed a grin at her and tossed his hair out of his eyes. "So. Why don't you want to get along with your family." Kari's grin faded and her eyes got a steely glint.
"They're sending me away." She said succinctly, kicking her foot against the bottom of the bench. "They're afraid that Lord Voldemort-" Ron and Hermione jumped at the use of his name, but Harry remained curiously still. "Will come and ask for our family's support and I will embarrass them. So they decided to send me where there are other nasty little children who have been raised the same as me where I can hopefully pick up some suitably nasty habits like pulling the wings off of flies and torturing small children." She said, the kicking of her feet increasing exponentially in rapidity and force.
"Ah. Don't get along with the Mum and Da huh?"
"I was raised by the butler and the house elf, I don't think that my parents ever came into the picture unless they wanted something from me."
"How dreadful!" Hermione cried, sitting down next to her. Harry sat on the bench opposite, stretching out his legs in front of him.
"Not entirely. I did have one cousin that I rather liked, he was quiet fun around the house." Kari said queitly, now picking at the chair's loose ends.
"Well well well...The potty, the weasle and the hedgehog. How absolutely ecstatic we are to- Kari!" Draco Malfoy had thrown open the door and now was stopped, looking white with shock. Crabbe and Goyle were looming behind him and when they stepped forward, pleased smiles crept over thier faces. Kari smiled and jumped up, and Draco held out his arms.
"Draco! They threw me out to go to school!" She fell into his arms and he gave her a quick hug.
"How dreadful. Now you have to spend time with me. I shall ever be depressed." Draco said with a cheerful voice and then looked over at the other three and turned sour again. "But whatever are you doing in their company? They are much beneath you." Malfoy looked down at the three as they all got wearily to their feet. They were getting tired of Malfoy. Kari blinked.
"Actually their fun. And we're standing on the same floor, so how can they be beneath me?" Kari asked with an impish smile. Draco's face turned into a thundercloud, but Kari didn't seem worried. "Hullo Vincent," She jumped to give him a hug. He blushed a bright red, and patted her on the back, and she moved on to give Goyle the same treatment. "Hullo Gregory!" She turned to the three Griffindors. "These three are the only good thing about the entire first part of my life." Harry, Ron and Hermione were looking at her in shock that she could bear to touch those things. Then she dropped the bomb.
"Come and say hello!" she said, her eyes glowing with happiness. She had found her friends.
"Ummm...." Said Ron, trying to think of a way to break it to her gently that there was a better chance of hell freezing over than him and his friends saying a civil hello to Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. When no one volunteered, she prodded Malfoy. Malfoy gave her a look that clearly read 'No-way,-nuh-uh-not-even-if-you-set-my-knickers-on-fire-but-maybe-if-you-messed-up-my-hair', but she ignored it and kicked him in the shins.
"I'll tell your mother that you're passionately in love with Crabbe if you don't." Crabbe choked, but Malfoy's eyes misted over.
"You are such a Slytherin, using blackmail already! I've taught you so well. I was fearing that you would go into Ravenclaw after all." Malfoy said, wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye and then remembered who his audience was and sneered.
"Maaaaalfoyyyy..." Kari uttered in a soft, but threatening voice. Crabbe and Goyle laughed slowly at their friend's discomfort. Malfoy sighed and shook his head, muttering something under his breath relating to having to take a dozen showers to ever get clean again.
"Alright, but only for you. Hullo Weasley-"
"His name's Ron."
"-Don't push your luck, Weasley it stays. And top of the morning to you, Granger, you're beauty sets my heart a flutter and sets my netheregions all tingly like you're bushy hair that seems to be-"
"Stop it Malfoy." Draco blinked innocently at her.
"I tell only the truth. And Harry, should I address you and your scar as two people, and if two, can I call it Bob?"
"Malfoy..."Kari said, then her expression grew thoughtful. "Rhinestones." She said smiling mischievously. Draco struggled with shock as it was imbred into the Malfoy's not to be shocked, but Crabbe and Goyle started laughing again. Malfoy sighed again.
"Good morning have a nice day now I'm getting out of here before she starts talking about things she has no right to and I am disgraced forever. "Malfoy blew all that out in a rush and then backpedaled out of the room. They could hear him say as he left, 'I swear she had forgotten that. Bloody unfair really...'
All three Griffindors were looking at her suspiciously. Kari scuffed her foot against the carpet and didn't look up into their accusatory eyes. "Draco is the only cousin who actually liked me, so we spent a lot of time together."
"He's a git." Ron said coldly, blowing his red hair out of his eyes.
"He's not so bad, once you get to know him." Kari said, looking hopeful.
"We've known him since he was eleven, I doubt that he gets better. The best we have to hope for is for him not to call insults at you across the room." Hermione said, patiently exasperated.
"That's how you tell he likes you is he starts picking on you." Kari said absently, plunking down with her book bag in front of her. Hermione looked at with interest.
"What do you have in there?" Hermione asked, her eyes imperceptively widening as her booklust was awakened. Kari peered inside.
"Ummm... Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, Most Potente Potions, and Hogwarts; A history."
"You've read, Hogwarts: A history?" Hermione asked, looking almost shocked. Kari focused in on her.
"I figured that everyone else would know a lot about Hogwarts and I'd kinda be left in the dark so I've been doing a little light reading." At this remark, Harry and Ron exchanged a glance over her head as she pulled the heavy tome out of the spelled sack. Daris had made it for her and spelled it so that it didn't weigh any heavier than five pounds, no matter how much she put in it, and size didn't matter either. As long as she could fit a little bit of it in there, it was shrunk immediately into a miniature size and kept in stasis. Hermione laughed.
"That's alright, these two have been here for six years and they still don't believe that you can't enter Hogwarts with a broom. " Kari frowned.
"But Hogwarts: A history clearly states that on page 1099 that all brooms are subject to the blocking charm on the gates and walls that make it impossible to ride a broomstick on to the premises." Ron and Harry's eyebrows shot up, but Hermione merely looked pleased.
"However it does say that the headmaster can remove the blocking charm in cases of emergancy on page 1134."
"Are you sure you're not going to be a Ravenclaw?" Ron asked, looking suprised, cutting their discussion short.
"I don't know." Kari said, looking worried.
"Ah well, whatever happens, happens." Harry said, sitting down and going back to brooding.
They spent the rest of the ride playing exploding snap until Ron and Hermione had to go for the Prefects meeting. They had skivved off patrolling the corridors and stayed and kept him company instead. Harry and Kari sat in an almost uncomfortable silence for a moment and Harry was opening his mouth to say something when Ginny burst in with Neville.
"Harry! How was your summer?" She asked, beaming up at him. She looked around and her face dropped a little as she saw the pretty black haired girl.
"Good, erm great." Harry said absently, noticing Ginny's attention of the new girl. Kari was reading Hogwarts: A History while it was spread over her knees, but she had looked up when the bright haired girl entered. "Ginny, this is Kari, Kari, this is Ginny. She's Ron's little sister." He nodded towards the plump boy who came with her. "And this is Neville." Kari dropped into a little curtsey.
"I'm pleased to meet you." She said, and Ginny looked as though she was trying not to smile. Neville put down the plant that he was carrying around and gave her his hand.
"Neville Longbottom." He said, and Kari put her small hand into his. Her eyes grew wide.
"Longbottom?" She asked clasping his hand warmly. "I'm sorry. You look just like your mum." Neville looked at her in shock for a moment and then nodded his head. When he spoke again, his voice was strained.
"Thank you." He gave her a slight smile and she smiled back, sitting back down. Kari went back to reading Howarts, A History and Harry rolled his eyes. She reminded him a lot of Hermione, bushy hair, incredibly nerdy but in a good way...Then he turned to Ginny. Bright, but not too intelligent, easy on the eyes, a smart mouth and a mischievous grin that had come from hanging out with Fred and George for so long. They all settled down to playing Exploding Snap when the train pulled up at Hogwarts.
"Oy! You there." It was Lee Jordan, a seventh year, and Fred and George's best friend. He came rushing up and grabbed the back of Kari's robes. She stopped and looked back with a curious look on her face. "Hagrid says Dumbledore tells you to take the carriages in, but to go directly to Professor McGonagell so she can sort you into your house in private." Kari smiled at him and pulled her robes strait. If it were anyone else, her actions would have seemed impossibly rude, but it just seemed as though she had meant to do that all along instead.
"Ok." She said and climbed into the carriage with Harry, Ginny and Neville. Hermione and Ron rushed up later to climb in at the last moment, chattering away with Harry as they planned what was to happen that year. The carriages stopped in front of Hogwarts and they all piled out and Ron, who was in front of her, bowed roguishly and offered a hand. Kari giggled and accepted it as he helped her out of the carriage. Hermione and Harry followed after them, exchanging an odd glance.
"Kariama?" McGonagall's clipped voice rang out over the hubbub and Kari looked up.
"That's me." Kari said, putting up a trembling hand.
"Come this way." McGonagall strode off, and Kari looked anxiously at her friends.
"Go on." Ron said, flapping his hands at her and she ran a little to catch up to the teacher.
"Each of the Four Houses have their own merits, and based on those merits, it is decided where you will be placed." McGonagall said briskly, holding the door open for her. Kari scampered into the room and there was a hat sitting on a stool. "Come quickly now, Dumbledore is saying the announcements instead of Sorting first because he needs the hat." Kari sat down carefully on the stool, and McGonagall, without any ceremony at all, dumped the hat on her head.
Interesting. The hat mumbled in her ear. She jumped and gave a little squeak, almost falling off of the stool. Brains, yes, intelligence, yes, ooohhh a nice lack of solid morals, a little lacking in common sense, oh well, better make it...
Not- Kari started.
"SLYTHERIN!"
-that...
oh well...
Trust me girl, that's where you belong. Those people are likely to foster what is growing inside of you, rather than squelch it like the Ravenclaws will. The hat said, it's voice stern. Now give me back to McGonagall and she and I will have a little chat. For the moment, go to the Slytherin comman room, but tell any Griffindor that you're a Ravenclaw. Stay out of the mealtimes and keep playing with Harry and them. Dumbledore has something up his sleeve and it would be a pity to ruin it. Kari's hands were shaking when the hat finally fell silent, and she handed it back to McGonagall who was watching her with piercing eyes. She took the hat off and handed it to McGonagall who left her and walked briskly towards the Great Hall once again. Kari trailed afterward and then paused as she remembered the hat's words.
"Are you lost dearie?" One of the paintings asked, it was a nice lady in aqua silk. "The Great Hall is strait down this hall through the big double doors." The lady nodded her head towards the doors down the hall.
"Ummm, I've been told to skip the feast and to go strait to the Slytherin comman room, can you tell me where that is?" Kari asked, tugging on one of her knee socks in agitation.
"Oh." The lady said thoughtfully. She then brightened. "Follow me." She took off through the picture frames and Kari had to run to keep up. She really wasn't paying attention to where she was going as long as she kept that aqua silk in front of her. Pretty soon she was at a stone wall in between two portraits of imposing men who looked down on her. The girl in the aqua silk winked at her and then both her and the man on the right vanished. Kari looked at the door for a moment and then pushed on the wall.
A door opened in the middle of the wall, and green and firelight spilled out into the hall. The fire looked comforting after the roils of the day and she collapsed in front of it. After a moment, she got back up and looked up the staircase labled girls. She dragged herself up the steps, up and into the room labeled 5th years. On her bed she found a sealed envelope and dinner, with as much food as she probably would have eaten downstairs, and her trunks were stowed at the end of her bed. After pulling out Hogwarts, A History to read while she ate, Kari fell upon her food, wishing she could have eaten in the Great Hall. Just as she was finishing up, there were footsteps on the stairs and her plate and goblet vanished.
When the door opened, there were four girls standing there looking very surprised.
"Erm. Hello, my name is Kariama Mason, and I'm new to Hogwarts." Kari said quietly, looking down at her hands. The girls looked at each other in shock. A Mason? Here? One of the girls recovered and stuck her hand out.
"My name's Saraina Graeth, but everyone calls me Sarai." Kari took it and the next girl held out her hand.
"My name's Myriam Himble." Kari shook that one as well.
"Mine's Alyssa Roy," The third one only nodded as she was changing into her night clothes.
"And I'm Brangienne Wynne." The last girl was laying out her clothes for tomorrow, her uniform looking exceptionally crisp. Immediately after the formalities were out of the way, the girls settled down to gossip.
"Did you see Draco? I swear, he becomes more handsome every year!" Brangienne squealed, jumping onto her bed. Myriam leapt into hers as well.
"I know! And Harry, Gryffindor that he is, is looking rather delicious. And Ron, I know his family's like, dirt poor, but really. I'm almost willing to put up with that for those shoulders. Can you imagine what it'd be like to have his arms around you? What do you think?" All the girls turned to Kari expectantly.
"Well, Draco's my cousin..." She said quietly. "And I like Harry's eyes, but there's just something about Ron. I don't know what it is..." She trailed off, her eyes misty. The other four girls shared a glance.
"Ooooo...Sounds like somebody had a cruuuuuuuuuushhhh..." The girls squealed, all of them jumping onto Kari's bed. Myriam's eyes were glowing. "Spill, all the juicy gossip."
"Well," Kari considered for a moment. "I was on the train and I wasn't paying attention to where I was and I ran into him. I bounced on the floor and then spent the rest of the ride with him, Hermione and Harry." The girls' faces fell.
"Yuck Hermione." Brangienne said, making a face.
"I think it's completely unfair that she gets both of those gorgeous boys all to herself." Sarai complained.
"Share the wealth I say." Alyssa stuck her nose in the air and Sarai hit her with a pillow.
"Oh like you'd ever share." Myriam retorted.
"Neither of them like Hermione that way." Kari's soft voice made them stop.
"Seriously?" Asked Sarai.
"Ummm I don't think so." Kari said, playing with the fringe on her pillow. That set off a round of squeals.
"Can you imagine the looks on the Gryffindor's faces if one of us goes out with Harry?" Alyssa said, breathless.
"Not to mention what Hermione would do!" Brangienne crowed, a evil grin on her face. Footsteps sounded on the stairs.
"Whoops lights out." Myriam said and they all dove for their respective beds. The footsteps paused outside of their room and then carried on. By the time they had vanished completely, all five girls were fast asleep.