Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Guys, this is AU. Includes OC's, OOC-ness, and does not follow the plot line of PoA very much. Yea, it takes place during Harry's third year, but I boosted the time period so it takes place in 2005. Cuz I wanted to. And full credit goes to my friend Shannon for Saria's hair, Harry's obsession and inspiring and/or completely coming up with some of the dialog. This is a bit far-fetched, as few thirteen-year-old boys are as evil as I've made Blaise Zabini, but who cares? Yeah, it's very different than in the books and movies. But what other fanfic has three insane teenage Slytherin girls, an Asia-obsessed Harry Potter, a punk Draco Malfoy, computers in the dorms and working electronic devices on the school grounds, AND a plot to boot? Not many.
It was my first year at Hogwarts. My family had just moved from America to England when I was twelve, and on my thirteenth birthday, which had barely any party, just my parents and brother giving me presents and cake, I received an odd letter on parchment in the mail. And here I was, on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, dragging a heavy trunk and an overweight tabby cat onto the Hogwarts Express. To say I was nervous would be an understatement, especially as I was coming in three years late. I would be going into third year. I was wearing a My Chemical Romance T-shirt, a black skirt, green leggings, black fishnet stockings and gloves, and cheap imitation black Converse, with mismatched skull shoelaces. I had short, dark brown hair that was highlighted red, and glasses.
"Stimpy," I said, addressing my cat as the train started to move, "this might be difficult." The compartments were nearly full. I groaned inwardly. I was not the best at introducing myself. Suddenly, I was knocked into the wall by a dark-haired, pale-faced boy looking about my own age as he passed me.
"Watch where you're going," he snarled.
"You hit into me," I felt the need to say, before common sense kicked in. This guy was quite a bit bigger than me.
"You want to make something out of it, you filthy little mudblood?"
"Mudblood?" I asked, totally bewildered. "What the hell is-"
"You can always tell a mudblood, especially when they ask what one is," he said. "Let me fill you in, here. Mudbloods don't stand with Slytherins. So unless you know to mouth off to your own sort and not to your betters, you may as well get off the train."
"My betters?" I demanded indignantly, completely forgetting that I'd quit karate for a reason; because I was bad at it. "Get some manners and maybe I'd consider you an equal!"
"You're the one who needs some manners, Mudblood," he spat. "You obviously don't know who I am."
"Nor can I honestly say that I care," I lashed back. "Now if you would move - I need to find a seat."
Instead of moving, he started seized my upper arms.
"Get the FUCK off!" I yelped. He ignored me. His fingers dug into my arms.
"My name is Blaise Zabini, but I wouldn't expect filth like you to know about us. My family is indirectly descended from Slytherin himsel-"
"Shove off her, Zabini!"
Zabini whipped around. A blond guy with a pale, pointed face was walking up to where Zabini was keeping me held in place, and a girl was right next to him with a look of utter hatred on her face. They were both wearing robes, but they both had Converse. The girl had droopy pigtails in her dark brown hair that would not look out of place on a Tim Burton character, and a thick silver chain around her neck, from which hung a huge blue stone shaped kind of like a heart, but not quite.
"I'd back out of this if I were you, Malfoy," said Zabini. "You don't want to be defending riffraff like this."
"Was that a threat or some nice, friendly advice?" asked the dark-haired girl angrily, with an American accent like mine.
"It's whatever you want it to be, you blood traitor. I don't know who's worse, you and Malfoy, or Little Miss Mudblood here."
"If I may interrupt," I said in a would-be fierce voice, except the words shook. I brought my knee up as hard as I could between his legs and he bent over in pain, letting go of my arms. I shoved past him, my legs wobbly from knowing what could have just happened. "You freak."
"Watch yourself, Mudblood," Zabini said, standing up and a sneaky look that said it's only a matter of time on his pained face. "Next time you talk back to your betters, I doubt Malfoy and McCartney will be around to protect you." He glared at me in the eye and walked away.
"Protect me?" I snarled at his retreating back. "I would've KILLED you with my bare hands if you tried anything on me, freak!"
"You okay?" asked the girl.
"Yeah, fine... guy's a jerk. You know him?"
She made a face. "Yeah. Unfortunately. I'm Saria McCartney, and this is Draco Malfoy."
"Liana Curtis. I like the way your hair is, do you by any chance watch Tim Burton movies?"
"Yeah! That was where I got the idea for it. What's your favorite Tim Burton movie?"
"I think Nightmare Before Christmas. Corpse Bride was good too, though."
"I liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
"Oh. I still have to see that one."
"Do you? It was great! I have the DVD, if you want to watch it. I brought my portable DVD player."
"You have a portable DVD player?"
"Sure do! You ever seen Titanic?"
"No."
"No? Well, we'll fix that."
"Oh, God," said Draco, his eyes rolling upwards. "Please don't, Saria, you're a fan enough for the whole school."
She grinned. "You can never have too many Titanic fans, Draco."
I laughed. "Or Lord of the Rings, or Phantom of the Opera."
"Great movies! I remember Harry did the best Gollum impression with that BoA CD last year, remember, Draco?"
"Great Christmas party!" he in his drawling voice. I must have looked confused, because he added, "Our friend Harry is sort of obsessed with BoA, the infamous J-Pop singer-"
"-who is now hated by most of the school because Harry is so obsessed with her," finished Saria. They both laughed.
"You have a place to sit, Liana?" asked Draco. I shook my head.
"I was looking for one when Zabini crashed into me," I replied.
"Want to sit with us? There's only one other guy in our compartment, and we're waiting for our friend Kaitlyn to come back from the drivers' compartment," said Saria.
"Sure - thanks." I grabbed my trunk and followed Draco and Saria as they walked down the train and into another compartment.
"Hey, Shane," said Draco, sliding open the door. A guy with tanned skin and pure black hair, with a few streaks of green, was sitting in the compartment. He was also wearing robes, but like Saria and Draco, he was wearing Converse, and was reading Death and the Arrow, by Chris Priestley.
"Hey, guys," said the guy. He had an American accent as well. "Who's the new girl?"
"This is Liana Curtis - Liana, meet Shane Richards."
Shane dog-eared his book and put it down, smiling at me. God, he was handsome. "Nice to meet you, Liana. How'd you manage the misfortune to meet the most nauseating couple in the school?"
"Yeah, you're my best friend too, Shane," said Saria sarcastically.
"Some freak called Zabini was giving me some trouble and they helped me out," I replied, lifting my trunk into the luggage hold. I let Stimpy out of his carrier and sat down close to the door. "Thanks."
"Hey, Zabini had it coming," said Draco. "Shane's still got the bruises from the last time he talked to him."
"Bruises?" I asked, alarmed.
"Apparently, 'filthy mudbloods' need to be banged around," said Shane, shrugging.
"He calls you that too?'
"Yep."
"What does it mean?"
"It's an insult to someone who's Muggleborn," said Saria. "Wizards and witches who don't have Muggles in their heritage call themselves 'purebloods'-"
"Me and Saria," put in Draco.
"-and if they're real jerks, they call Muggleborn witches and wizards 'mudbloods.' It's supposed to mean dirty blood."
"Me." Shane raised his hand. "My parents are Muggles. And yours, too?'
"Yeah. I was just confused, they call Muggleborn witches and wizards 'mutts' or 'half-breeds.' Actually, quite a few words, but this is the first time I've heard of 'mudblood.'"
"Hm. You like My Chemical Romance?"
"Yeah, they're like, the best band in the world."
"No!" exclaimed Saria. "What about Aerosmith and Flogging Molly?"
"MCR are better!" Shane and I said at the same time. We met each other's eyes and grinned. Oh...my...god.
"No, they're really not. Ugh, what is taking Kaitlyn so damn long?" Saria stood up. "I'm going to go find her."
"Find who?" asked a blond girl with glasses, coming into the compartment. Along with Saria and Shane, Kaitlyn was also speaking with an American accent. She wasn't wearing her robes, instead wearing a yellow cami and orange pants.
"Look, guys, I found Kaitlyn!"
The blond girl, now known to me as Kaitlyn, laughed and held out a fist. She and Saria punched their fists together, saying, "Wonder Twins, activate!"
Draco shook his head and Shane laughed. I smiled.
"Who's the MCR fan?" asked Kaitlyn, nodding towards my shirt.
"Liana Curtis," I said.
"I'm Kaitlyn Churchill. Are you new?"
"Yeah. Just moved from America. I'd been going to the Salem School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but then my family moved to London, and here I am."
We started talking animatedly about school, myself asking questions about Hogwarts and the other four answering and talking about the things that should be avoided, suck as a trick stair on the way to the Slytherin common room, if I was in Slytherin, and the four houses, their founders, and the kinds of people in them. Shane, Saria, Draco and Kaitlyn were all in Slytherin. A plump witch pushing a trolley came past and we all bought candy. Eventually, the two boys were kicked out so Kaitlyn and I could change into our robes. When we let them back in, they were laughing about something.
"What's funny?" asked Kaitlyn.
"N-nothing," choked Draco, wiping his eyes. Shane was doubled over in laughter. Kaitlyn raised an eyebrow.
"Draco, come here." Still wiping tears of laughter away, he walked over to her. Kaitlyn slapped his face twice, and poked him in the stomach, singing "Pillsbury dough boy! HEE-HEE!"
"What the hell?" I felt compelled to ask Saria. She shrugged.
"That's Kaitlyn for you," Saria replied. I smiled, laughing slightly.
"DAMMIT, KAITLYN, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LEARN THAT I HATE THAT?" demanded Draco, causing Shane to fall to the floor, clutching his sides hysterically. "Shut up, Shane."
The train stopped short, and Shane rolled over and hit the wall.
"We can't be at the school already," said Saria, going back into our compartment and looking out of the window. "Uh-oh..."
"What is it?" I asked.
"I think it's a dementor," she said quietly.
"Everyone grab some of that chocolate we bought!" said Draco, and we rushed back into the compartment. Even though they had never had one at Salem, I knew what dementors were, and what they did. It passed our compartment, taking all the warmth and happiness with it, and went straight down the train. I forced my numb fingers to push a piece of the chocolate up to my mouth, and as soon as I tasted it, I felt warmer. (A/N: I didn't want to even bother with the dementoid scene, so sorry if it sucked!)
"Well, that sucked," said Saria cheerfully, popping a piece of chocolate into her mouth. I ate another bite, and felt some worth return to the world.
"It did, didn't it?" agreed Kaitlyn. "I think one of the teachers is getting rid of it, so we should be on our way soon."
As she spoke, the train began to move again.
"First Zabini and now this," I said, shaking my head. "I'm off to a beautiful start at Hogwarts!"
"Well, you've got us," said Saria, and I grinned.
"Yeah, I suppose I do."