A/N: Yay! I updated! And this chapter is long! JOY! Anyway, I know Ari is starting to seem like a real bitch and she seems like an even bigger one in chapter, but she will start being nicer to some people… eventually so stay with me! Please review, you know that lots of reviews means quicker updates!

Reviews:

Mine4Sirius: OMG! Constructive criticism! Thank you!

LilySkywalker3: hmmm... who's she gonna hook up with? Sorry, can't tell you yet, but all will be revealed soon!

Metamorphagusgirl: Thanks, you're so sweet!

Scared-of-mimes: Thanks, glad you liked it! You're a twin? Cool! I've always wanted a twin!

Rohan Bernett: hehe… glad you liked 'Fredrica and Georgina'

Gatermage: Well, here's your update! I'm glad you liked it!

SiriusSpikeLover: hmm… well I didn't exactly include them grovelling but there was indications of it! Review again!

Kaythara: Sorry, the twins don't go to school, they've finished remember? Read on and find out what happens to their 'condition.'

Slytherinsess: Okay, well British schools start in September but Australian schools start in late January / early Febuary. I'm making it so that she did most of her fifth year already but now she has to do it over again so she can be in her age group at Hogwarts. She'll be a little ahead of everybody else ;) Hope that explains it!

Reader4ever: yay for Arianna! I love it when people like my characters!

TheEgyptianSandQuill: Thanks, I'm glad you think they're good! Please review again!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP. There are some bits and pieces taken from PS in here and obviously, they're not mine.

Chapter 13 - Hogwarts

Arianna stared at herself in the mirror and grinned. She looked…well, maybe perfect wasn't the right word. In short, she was a mess. She was wearing her oldest and most faded pair of jeans that were ripped at the knees and a grubby blue t-shirt. Her dirty-blonde hair was crushed under a Brisbane Bronco's cap and there was a smudge of dirt on her cheek. This was the first step in her three-step plan to getting sent home. Step one – look horrible, step two – act horrible step three – be generally horrible. Arianna took one last look at her reflection before throwing herself backwards onto her bed. They weren't leaving for kings cross station for another hour and she was bored. She didn't really have anything to pack seeing as she'd only arrived two days ago and tormenting the other teenagers who lived in the house had gotten old after a while. POP. Arianna glanced up at Fred and George who had just apparated into her room for the third time that morning.

'You're looking lovely this morning most wonderful mistress Black.' Said one of them.

'I've already told you,' she replied in a bored voice, 'Flattery won't get you anywhere. You have to make it worth my while if you want me to undo that charm.'

'Well, as you may or may not have been told, when me and Fred finished Hogwarts last year, we opened a joke shop.' George informed her brightly.

'And,' continued Fred, 'We developed some rather interesting products that the students of Hogwarts used to drive certain teachers to the brink of insanity. We would be prepared to give you a few free samples in exchange for… uh… the pre-discussed services.' Arianna smirked.

'I can't recall. What were these services again?' both twins noticeably blushed.

'Getting rid of… these… these things!' exclaimed Fred, pointing at his chest.

'Let me see these little experiments of yours.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Ari! Come on, honey, we're leaving! We have to be at the train station on time!'

'Yeah, yeah, I'm coming…' Arianna reluctantly dragged her trunk down the front stairs. She reached the entrance hall to find everybody else already there, waiting.

'Geese, Black, being on time for once wouldn't kill you.' Muttered Ginny resentfully.

'A Black is never late, everyone else is simply early.' Ari replied smoothly, smirking at her. Ginny scowled at her but Ari ignored her and looked over to the corner of the room where Sirius was saying goodbye to Harry.

'See ya at Christmas, Harry.' Said Sirius, ruffling Harry's hair, 'make sure you owl me.' Harry smiled but then looked slightly worried.

'Speaking of owls, you haven't seen Hedwig around anywhere, have you? I can't find her anywhere!' Sirius shrugged.

'She's an owl. She'll just be flying around somewhere. She'll probably turn up once you get to Hogwarts.' Harry nodded.

'Yeah, probably. See you later, Sirius.' Once Harry had moved away to talk to Lupin, Ari moved over to her father.

'Hey, Sirius.' He smiled.

'Hey, kiddo. Excited about your first day at Hogwarts? Oh crap; listen to me! I sound old.' He shuddered on the last word and Ari laughed.

'That's because you are old!'

'Maybe, but I don't look a day over twenty.'

'It's a debatable issue.'

'Keep talking, I dare you…'

'And you have all these wrinkles…' Sirius looked horrified.

'Wrinkles! I do not have wrinkles!'

'Do so!'

'Do not!'

'Do so!'

'Do not!'

'Okay, let's just call them character lines.' Sirius smirked.

'Haha! I win… I think…'

'Yeah… Oh! By the way, Potters owl, she wouldn't happen to be a snowy owl, about so big, would she?' Sirius looked at her suspiciously.

'Yeah… why?'

'Oh, um… I heard that he couldn't find her and I saw her yesterday morning.'

Okay, she thought, not a complete lie…

'Alright, I'll see you at Christmas, Kiddo.'

'Bye, Sirius.' He scowled.

'Aren't you gonna call me dad or something?' he asked her. She shook her head.

'Nope.'

'Well… I'll see you later, kiddo.' He reached out to ruffle her hair but she stopped him.

'Never,' she said, 'touch my hair. I happen to like it the way it is. Not all messed up and gross like Potter's.' Sirius grinned.

'Good point. See ya later.'

Arianna walked over to where her mother was talking with Mrs. Weasley.

'Hey mum, Molly. Are we leaving soon?' Anna nodded.

'Yeah, seeing as the train leaves in ten minutes, that would be a good idea. I've got the port-key. You wanna round everybody up, Molly?' Mrs. Weasley nodded quickly.

'You're going to miss the train! Everybody over here now!'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Arianna slid open another compartment door.

She asked, 'Can I sit here?' and sat down before waiting for an answer. The people in the compartment all stared at her without saying anything. Eventually, one of them spoke.

'What is your name? I'm Draco Malfoy.' Arianna looked up and scowled at the pale boy with gelled blonde hair.

'Malfoy. So you're the wonderful cousin I've been just dying to meet.' She said sarcastically, 'Arianna Black.' Malfoy and the other Slytherin's eyes widened.

'Black? As in Sirius Black?' Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her.

'Could be.' Malfoy was getting very annoyed by this point.

'Who is your father?' he demanded.

She grinned evilly at him. 'And why, pray tell me, should I tell you?' He glared at her.

'Because I find it in my best interests to know! now tell me!'

'No. I already said we were cousins. Second cousins, once removed, if it helps. Surely you can't be so dumb as to not know by now.' The two goons on either side of Malfoy cracked their knuckles threateningly at her, but she ignored them.

'You are Sirius Black's daughter!' said Malfoy triumphantly. She nodded slowly at him.

'That's very clever of you. Now can you spell moron? M-O-R-O-N.' He glared at her.

'You have an accent! What country are you from?' he demanded.

'Can you spell Australia? A-U-S-T-'

'Shut up!' He yelled. Arianna smirked.

'Good comeback, Malfoy, that was almost as good as your dear cousin Lorena's comebacks.' His eyes narrowed.

'You know my cousin? How?'

'One of life's little mysteries isn't it. Now if you don't mind, I think I'll switch compartments. I don't find your presence as wonderful as you seem to find mine.'

Arianna jumped up and stalked out of the compartment, slamming the door behind her. She hadn't exactly been nice to the Slytherins, but she had kept her temper, and that was an accomplishment.

Arianna walked down the hallway to the very last compartment. She had to sit in this one whether it was occupied or not. All of the others were either full or had some people in it she didn't want to be anywhere near. Funny how Potter and his friends managed to spread themselves along the train. She slid open the compartment door. It was empty apart from two girls.

'I'm Arianna Black. Can I sit here?' One of the girls nodded, wrinkling her nose slightly at Arianna's appearance.

'Uh… sure. I'm Parvati and this is Lavender. Are you new this year?'

'Umm… yeah. I'm not a permanent student though. I'll be gone by Christmas.' She added quickly. Lavender nodded.

'Okay, well we're sixth years. What year are you going into?'

'Fifth, I think. I was in year ten at my school in Australia, but its different here.'

The girls chatted for a bit longer, but Ari made sure that she never made herself seem too friendly. She DID NOT want to fit in with any clique whatsoever, least of all whichever one these two seemed to be in. Lavender seemed to be a bit ditzy, and Parvati, who did seem to be pretty intelligent, also seemed a bit controlling. After they had been talking for a few more minutes, Lavender turned and whispered something to Parvati, whose eyes lit up.

'Um… Arianna… we were wondering…' began Parvati.

'What?' said Ari suspiciously.

'Wellyou'reveryprettyandwewonderedifwecouldgiveyouamakeover!' blurted out Lavender. Ari raised an eyebrow at the girl.

'Come again?'

'Can we give you a makeover?' Replied Parvati before Lavender could say anything else, 'You really are very pretty but it doesn't look like you put much thought into your… um… outfit choices this morning.' Arianna glared at her.

'What's wrong with my clothes?' she snapped.

'Well… they're just a bit… old…' said Parvati uncomfortably. Arianna was just considering leaving the compartment and sitting in the hallway, when there was a knock on the compartment door.

'Come in.' said Lavender quickly. The door slid open to reveal Ron Weasley, looking very uncomfortable, and clutching a piece of parchment.

'Ron!' Said Lavender brightly, 'What are you doing here?' Ron eyed her uncomfortably.

'Um, I need to give this to Black.' He thrust the piece of parchment into Arianna's hands and walked quickly out of the room.

Lavender's face fell, and she looked at Arianna with new-found contempt.

'Well, what are you waiting for?' she spat, 'Aren't you going to open the letter from your boyfriend?' Despite herself, Ari almost laughed.

'Boyfriend? Him? Ha! As if! He's probably gone and whined to some teacher and gotten me a detention or something!' Lavender looked slightly happier, but still slightly suspicious.

'Why don't you open it then?'

'Fine, I will!' Arianna unfolded the parchment and read the message inside.

Miss Black,

I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C.

Sincerely, Professor H.E.F Slughorn

'See!' she shoved the note in Lavenders face, 'Hardly a love note from my boyfriend, hey?' She leaned back and stuffed the note in her pocket. Grabbing her wand out of her pocket and lazily started zapping at a fly that was buzzing around their compartment.

'Well?' demanded Lavender, 'Aren't you going to go?' Arianna snorted in a very un-ladylike fashion.

'Yeah, right. I'm going to get chummy with the teachers! There's a good idea!'

'But you'll get in trouble!'

'Meh.' ZAP. Arianna's jet of light finally hit the buzzing fly and it fell, stunned, right into Parvati's lap. She let out a high-pitched squeal.

'Ahh! Get it off me! Why did you do that? Uh, get out of here!' Arianna grudgingly rose to her feet and left the compartment.

Not exactly making tons of friends, she thought to herself and smiled. She would be out of here in two weeks.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT THE HELL UP?' Arianna glared at all the young children who were surrounding her. Ever since she'd been forced to get in the stupid little boats with them they had annoyed her incessantly. They were so… twitchy. This wasn't exactly what she wanted to be doing at the moment. She could have been at home, terrorizing Malfoy with her friends, but no. She had to be stuck in a stupid, smelly castle with a bunch of twitchy first years. That woman, McGonagall had said that they would soon be sorted into their houses. All the 11 year olds had been going on about wrestling a troll or vanquishing vampires or some other ridiculous idea. Ari didn't particularly care, as long as it was over quickly and she wasn't put in Slytherin.

'MISS BLACK! THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!' Arianna looked up to see McGonagall standing in the doorway and looking furious.

'You have no right to take your anger out on these first years.' Arianna glared at her, but said nothing.

'We are ready for you in the Great Hall.' Said McGonagall. Still glaring at Arianna, she turned and led the first years and sixth year into the great hall.

It was lit by thousands of candles floating in mid-air over four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were loaded with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Arianna gasped. She had to admit, this was far more spectacular than the Mess hall they had at Holcroft. Professor McGonagall placed a stool on the ground and put a ripped and dirty hat down on top of it. Ari stared at it amusedly. What an old hat, she thought. She vaguely noticed that everyone, teachers and students alike were staring at the hat expectantly. Arianna stared at it too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing:

'Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

the sorting hat can't see,

so try me on and I will tell you

where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor

where dwell the brave of heart,

Their daring, nerve and chivalry

Set Gryffindor's apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those paitent Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin,

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I am a Thinking cap!

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

'This year,' McGonagall announced to the school, 'we have a transfer student from Australia. To avoid confusion with the first years, she will be sorted first. Black, Arianna!' Incessant muttering broke out as Ari walked over to the stool, but she could only catch snippets of it.

'-as in Sirius Black?'

'-thought they were all gone-'

'-murderer-' Ari's cheeks flushed red as she sat down on the stool and placed the hat on her head. They don't know what they're talking about, she thought.

'Yes, I'm sure they don't, but where to put you?' replied a voice in her head that was not her own, 'Hmmm… there is loyalty… perhaps Hufflepuff? No… It doesn't fit… Intelligent? Yes but Ravenclaw is not for you… Slytherin… now that one fits… yes… I think I'll put you in-'

'NO!' Ari screeched out loud. She could here the muttering growing louder now.

Not Slytherin, Not Slytherin!

'Not Slytherin, eh? Well in that case, better be GRYFFINDOR!' The hat shrieked the last word aloud. There was a stunned silence in the hall. Arianna took the hat off her head and was about to walk to the Gryffindor table when she realised she didn't know which one it was. She looked miserably around the hall, but no-one looked willing to help her. Then she heard the sound of clapping. She whirled around to face the staff table that was behind her and saw Dumbledore on his feet and clapping. Following Dumbledore's lead, most of the other teachers jumped to their feet and started applauding as well. Reluctantly, the rest of the hall started applauding as well. Dumbledore caught her eye and pointed towards the table on the far right. Shooting the old man a grateful smile, Arianna made her way over to the Gryffindor table.