So sorry for taking so long to update this! I hit a huge wall of writer's block. I'm currently writing the next chapter, so hopefully (but no promises because I'm terrible like that) the next one will be out soon. Hope you enjoy!
The next morning, Carina was the first one awake in her room. She got ready as she normally would-took a shower, brushed her teeth, got dressed and hurried out of the dorms into the common room. She almost made it out of the common room without being spotted by anyone, but she wasn't that lucky. Just as she was about to leave, her name was called out.
Stopping right in her tracks, she turned to see who called for her. Adrian. "You do realize today is a Saturday, right?" he asked mockingly as he strutted towards her. "Classes don't start until Monday."
She bristled at his words, not because she had believed it was Monday, she knew better. It was because she preferred to be alone and didn't want to listen to pointless accusations by someone she barely knows. "A girl can't be hungry?" she countered, crossing her arms over her chest.
Adrian cocked an unimpressed eyebrow. "Of course you can, but you're only leaving this early because you don't want to be followed." Carina clenched her jaw but didn't reply. "We may not have talked much, but I know enough about you to know you wouldn't allow your privacy to be invaded by others so easily."
Carina mimicked his expression, vaguely sizing him up. "Then why are you here?" she inquired with a bored voice.
"What Miles said last night wasn't wrong, and you know it," Adrian replied. "Slytherins need to stick together."
In the time they had gotten to that point, another had the time to go to the common room as well. "Are you two going to breakfast? I'm starved!" Cassius exclaimed, hurrying over to the other first years.
The young Lestrange looked between the two boys before settling on Adrian. "Fine." At her forced word, Carina turned on her heel and flitted out the door, the boys rushing after her. She ignored them the whole way to the Great Hall, keeping her head high and eyes forward. Adrian and Cassius chatted lively on the way. Together, the three Slytherins ignored the condescending looks from members of the other houses.
Students entered and exited the Great Hall, breakfast on a Saturday not being a huge deal. A few students glared as the three first years walked in and took a seat at the Slytherin table, but it didn't faze them.
Certain ginger-haired twins frowned as Carina entered the hall followed by two Slytherin oafs. George looked to his brother as the girl took a seat. "You don't think she's a Lestrange and Slytherin through and through?" he quietly asked, making sure not to be overheard by other Gryffindors.
Fred didn't take his eyes off the girl. "I hope not," he breathed out. Perking up, Fred turned abruptly to George. "Guess we'll have to find out, Georgie." George beamed in response. "But first, we'll have to separate her from the goons."
"How are we supposed to do that?" George asked. "I've got a feeling that they won't let her out of their sight."
Fred thought for a moment. "How do you feel about kidnapping?"
George's eyebrows creased as he gazed at his brother. "Really, Freddie?"
"What?"
George simply laughed at his twin. "Do you have a plan?"
"I do," Fred stated. The other Weasley looked at him with disbelief. Not shocked disbelief, but he was rather silently asking, "Really?" His brother understood. Fred waved his hands a little. "I do!" He paused. "But we'll have to wait until classes startup."
"Your plans suck."
Fred frowned. "Do you have anything better?"
George's head drooped a little. "No."
"Then shut up."
The exchange went unnoticed by Carina who sat and ate quietly with Adrian and Cassius. She found the two annoying but the company was appreciated. The young girl wasn't quite sure if she'd prefer to eat alone, but that could be because she hadn't been taunted yet. She'd only know for sure once she eats alone, but not on the first day at Hogwarts. Carina was tired and bored. She didn't feel like getting angry.
Once the three finished eating, they decided to explore the castle. It was nearly empty. Very few students were walking around. Muggleborns shied away from the three Slytherins, just like their friends had told them to do. Carina grew irritated while the boys became arrogant, but what could she do? It was her duty to act as the perfect Slytherin and pureblood that her family and house expected her to be.
On Monday, Carina shouldered her bag and met with Adrian and Cassius at the door to the common room. All three young Slytherins were dressed in their uniforms and ready for the day, but the only one actually wanting to learn was Carina. A few minutes after sitting at the table, Professor Snape walked by and handed them their schedules without a word.
"I'm already not excited for class," Cassius mumbled as they ate their food and looked over their schedules. As first-years, they all had the same schedule.
First-class Monday morning was Potions. Just what everyone was waiting for, a class with Professor Snape. The young Gryffindor first-years were already warned about Snape's attitude towards the Gryffindor house. Especially since Slytherins and Gryffindors had the period together.
Adrian rolled his eyes. "It's the first bloody day," he pointed out.
"I know," Cassius groaned. "At least we'll be with Snape."
"But even then, it's Snape first thing in the morning on Mondays," Adrian continued. "How is that desirable, even with him as our head of house?"
Carina smirked lightly at their complaints as she took a bite of bacon and shook her head lightly. Potions, Herbology, Charms, and Transfiguration; that was a typical Monday for first-year Slytherins. Herbology was going to suck, as Carina wasn't a big fan of plants, but she was ready to get it over with.
As they were leaving the table to head to their first class of the school year, Carina made eye contact with certain red-headed twins before she quickly looked away and carried on her course out of the Great Hall.
The Weasley twins frowned a little. They hadn't seen her on Sunday, but they could tell that the girl had planned on never speaking to them again. What they couldn't determine was whether it was a prejudice that she had learned from her home life or if it was in order to not become a target. They doubted it was the former. If it was a prejudice passed on from the Malfoys, she wouldn't have spoken to them on the train.
The boys quickly ate and found their way to the Potions classroom in the dungeons. Despite their interest in creating potions, they knew they would hate the class. Arthur Weasley was never exactly quiet about his dislike of Severus Snape, or anything for that matter.
Carina, Adrian, and Cassius sat to the side of the large, square classroom. Carina was on the very end, closest to one of the walls of ingredients, not wanting to be front and center or hiding in the back. Adrian was her table partner, thankfully, since Cassius was as bright as nox.
Carina froze the moment she heard the twins enter. She hesitated as she pulled her notebook out of her bag, but quickly overcame being a deer in the headlights. She placed her notebook in front of her, along with her quill and ink, straightening her things as the Weasley twins and Lee sat right behind her, Adrian, and Cassius.
Adrian wasn't happy as he glanced back at the three Gryffindors. "Bloody brilliant," Adrian muttered, scowling at his own notebook.
"Just ignore them," Carina whispered as Lee and George laughed at something Fred said.
"I'd rather curse them into oblivion," Adrian retorted.
Carina rolled her eyes. "Do you even know any curses?" she asked.
Adrian scoffed. "Don't tempt me."
"Tempt what?" Cassius cut in dumbly, looking overly confused. Both Carina and Adrian turned their heads towards him with blank stares. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You are certainly something, mate," Adrian told him. Right after, the potion classroom doors slammed open, in walking Professor Severus Snape.
The first class was uneventful. It was after classes where things got interesting. Carina walked a few steps behind Adrian and Cassius as they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch. As they made their way passed an empty classroom, Carina was grabbed by her arm and pulled inside. She immediately pulled her wand out and pointed it at the person who grabbed her.
"Fred?" she asked, staring into the eyes of the redhead as he held his hands up in hopes she wouldn't hex him. Carina glanced behind her and saw George at the door. "What the bloody hell do you two want?"
"We just wanna talk," Fred said slowly, eyeing her wand still. Carina begrudgingly put her wand back into her robe pocket. George stood next to his brother, Fred having put his hands down.
"I expect you have a good explanation for dragging me in here." The young Slytherin eyed the two Gryffindors, staring them down.
The twins glanced at each other. "Uh, well," George started. "We were wondering-"
"How are you doing?" Fred asked, awkwardly. Both Weasleys looked way too uncomfortable for their own good at that moment. Carina answered with a blank stare, not buying their nonchalant question. "All right, why are you acting different around them?"
She knew who the twins meant by "them". Carina messed with her bag strap. "You-you wouldn't understand."
"And what wouldn't we understand?" George prodded.
"If you really believed all that blood purity nonsense, you wouldn't have gotten anywhere near us on the train," Fred said, crossing his arms over his chest. "So what's really going on?"
She glanced at the door of the classroom. "I can't be seen talking to you two," she muttered softly.
"But why?" Fred continued. "Because you're in Slytherin? Because you're a Lestrange?"
"Yes." Carina's blunt answer surprised both boys. "Don't you get it? I have to act a certain way, hang out with specific people, and be the perfect Slytherin." Her voice grew more forceful. "If I am seen with you two, befriending you two, I'll be disowned, and you'll be targets. Don't do that to yourselves. Gryffindor and Slytherin have a long-standing feud, don't give them any reason to hex you."
George and Fred smirked simultaneously. "You can't get rid of us that easily," Fred said.
"You know what I've always loved, Fred?" George asked, looking at his twin.
"What's that, Georgie?"
"Doing things in secret," George replied. "I mean, does mum really know everything we've gotten away with?"
Fred's smile grew bigger, more mischevious if that was possible. "You've got a point there."
Carina shook her head. "You two are insane," she pointed out. "I'm leaving. And if you two knew what was good for you, you'd leave me alone." With that, the young Slytherin left the classroom, slamming the door as she went. The Weasley twins were left alone in the classroom, unsure of what to do next.