Chapter Seven: A Whole New Day

A/N: So, it's been a while. Yeah. Sorry about that. But hey! At least it's not been a year, right? This chapter annoyed me greatly. I started out with the list of the things, I wanted to happen in this chapter but it just took off so I had to re-write almost completely to make it fit with my timeline.

Oh, and another thing! I got myself a tumblr now (tashaleway), so if you want to follow my updates or ask questions that I'm actually going to answer, then you can find me there!

Karkat woke up early in his bed in the Slytherin dorms, drew back the curtains and was met with a faintly familiar face. The red-eyed boy from yesterday. Caliban or something.

"Good morning?" Karkat remembered how he'd blown up yesterday, and wanted to at least pretend to be somewhat polite. It wouldn't do to make too many enemies. That could wait until next year.

Caliban-whatever took that as an invitation and stepped closer.

"I believe that we got on the wrong foot yesterday. And I wished to remedy that. As I mentioned last evening, we Slytherins must stand together. The rest of the school looks down on us, and we must not show any weaknesses, especially not amongst ourselves. So, I would like to offer my hand, maybe not in friendship, but as allies. You need one, don't you?" Caliban-whatever held out his hand in invitation. Karkat didn't like the gleam in the other boy's eyes, but he didn't really have a choice, did he? Karkat was sure, if he didn't accept, he would be thrown to the wolves. Better be one of them, than their food.

He shook the offered hand and his headache lifted a bit.

~naknaknak~

The first day of school was crap. It usually was anywhere else, but Karkat was pretty sure that the first day was supposed to be a way of gently introducing to the classes, get to know each other and the teacher, and then perhaps get a plan on the different subjects. Hogwarts had obviously never heard of that. When they arrived at the classrooms, they were told to sit down, find their books, told what was expected of them, a quick explanation what the class was about, and then they jumped straight into it! They were supposed to try and transfigure a match into a needle in their first transfiguration class, for fucks sake!

Karkat had never been taught at a public school before, no he had always been home-schooled along with Kankri. Speaking of Kankri, it seemed like the world was trying its damned hardest for them not to meet up. When Karkat had woken up that morning he had decided he would have a talk with his brother and make sure they were still alright. But when he had arrived at the Great Hall for breakfast, he learned that Kankri had already eaten and left for his first classes. Karkat had then tried to follow and meet up before classes started, but the annoying kid, John had apparently spotted him and chatted him up all morning, right before classes had begun. Great.

And now he was here; in Transfiguration. Unable to focus, out of mind, worrying about what his brother would say to him later. Oh, and he had gained a new chatterbox of a follower. Mr-Sunglasses-Inside stole the seat next to Karkat as soon as he could and had not shut up since. One would think that the teacher would put a stop to it, but the kid had a gift of whispering so low that only Karkat could hear him. On top of that, the kid made sure to only speak when someone was writing something down, so the scratching of quills against parchment would mute him out. So, fuck that guy.

"Hey, so what did you get for question 14? I got 257," the guy would whisper. Karkat stared at him incredulously.

"This isn't bloody math, you absolute shitclusterfuck! It's not even an exam and we got fucking Transfiguration!" Karkat whispered as low as he could, trying to calm down and not get a detention. "What in the shitty world are you thinking?! Or is your lack of brain the reason you walk with those wall-fuckers called glasses? 'Cause that would explain everything about you!"

And then the guy would just smirk and snort and return to his notes. Karkat fucking hated him.

Even worse; as soon classes ended, Sir Sunglasses the Worst would follow him around and comment on every. Single. Thing.

"Hey, any idea why the Gryffindors hates us? I mean, I understand they're jealous, because… well, look at us! We're awesome, but still, they always sneer and growl at us. Do they think they're lions or what? Hey! Does that mean we should hiss at them? That would be fun, even though, everyone would think we're furries, or, ew, copycats, yeah, scratch that idea! What about-"

"Can you PLEASE shut your dumbass piehole for just ONE second?! Every word out of your mouth is another nail in my skull, and I feel pretty crucified here! No, I'm beyond that! I'm beyond dead, I'm beyond saving! You can't even play a pretty little song to the lord of the underworld to save me now! It's too late! And even if you went so far and saved me, you would still have to guide me back to the living world, without looking back at me, and EVEN IF YOU WOULD HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THAT, I WOULD RATHER RUN BACK TO GET TORTURED EVEN MORE THAN LISTEN YO ANOTHER WORD FROM YOU! SO PLEASE JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU BRAIN-DEAD DUMB-FUCKING-"

"KARKAT VANTAS! DETENTION!"

"…Fuck…"

~naknaknaknaknaknaknak~

Karkat hated his life. It was nothing new, but today had to be the worst of all. First, he hadn't been able to talk to Kankri at all because of the dumbass classes. Second, the classes themselves. They were horrible. Or maybe it was just Karkat. Whatever. Third, he hadn't had a chance to talk to Kanaya, the only sane person at this castle of insanity. Fourth, he had gotten himself some kind of a stalker. Or perhaps his own personal chatterbox, who got Karkat thrown into detention. Thanks, pal! Fifth, the detention itself, which was another thing that made it impossible to talk with his brother. Sixth, his companion at the detention; the blabbermouth himself! How awesome was that?! Apparently the idiot had tried to skate down the handrails of the stairs. He luckily got stopped before he got himself injured, but he ultimately landed himself in detention alongside Karkat. So yeah, his life was the worst.

Karkat tried to concentrate on a very stubborn piece of slimy and smelly potion in the cauldron he was cleaning. Meanwhile, Dave Strider; Ultimate Worst Person Ever, saw this as an opportunity to keep on talking.

"-and it was so cool! I would totally make it, of course, nothing can harm a Strider. Too bad the teacher was there, but I'm probably gonna try again tomorrow, wanna join? You can film me- wait… oh yeah, phones doesn't work here. Dammit! Oh well… hey! We can see what they are hiding behind the forbidden door! That'd be so epic! We can have bragging rights, and if we die, we at least left here in the most cool way ever! Unless of course the only reason it's locked, is because the room is full of deadly poison, then it wouldn't be as cool, I don't know about you, but if I ever die, it should only be because I did something very cool-"

"Like trying to fucking murder yourself by skating down the stairs?"

"Yeah. Something like that. Thanks, Kitkat, I knew you'd get me."

"Kitkat?! Don't fucking call me that, you spewing magpie! My name's Karkat, not that you will ever need it, because our conversation ends here! Never talk to me again!" Karkat yelled. That would probably have prompted another detention, but for once, Karkat was lucky, and the seventh-year student had left the room five minutes prior to fetch their homework so they could work on it until the detention would be over in half an hour.

Those thirty minutes couldn't pass soon enough.

"Karkat?"

"Kaaarkaaaat"

Kaaaaaaaaaaaarkiiiittyyy"

"Kitkat?"

"Karkles"

"Karkat, are you ignoring me?"

"If you ignore me for much longer, I'll DIE! I need attention to live!" and with that dramatic speech, Dave toppled over the cauldron he was cleaning, getting sticky, black goo on his robes. Karkat still ignored him. Dave would give up eventually. But unfortunately for Karkat, he didn't know his housemate that well. And he had no idea how far Dave would go to get what he wanted.

It was silent for a few blessed moments.

"You killed me, Kitkat… My blood is on your hands… now…" Dave whispered and gave a final death rattle and mistakenly sticking his tongue out. And thereby accidentally touching the dirty cauldron. He flinched back with a scream that made Karkat burst out laughing. The first time he'd laughed in weeks. It felt good. And to imagine it was the pest, Dave, that made him do it.

His head hurt

Dave shot him a relieved smile, not that it was noticed by the laughing kid. Dave was happy. He'd been worried he wouldn't gain any friends, as he was pretty hard to get along with, and while Karkat had seemed like an unappreciable guy, he'd already heard some nasty rumors about the guy, both in Diagon Alley and on the train. And these rumors hadn't lessened a bit, since their arrival at the school. Getting sorted into the same House as Karkat had been a sign to Dave to immediately befriend the guy. Dave knew from personal experience that nobody wanted to talk to, let alone, befriend the weird guy, that everyone was gossiping about.

It had taken hours, and the short, angry kid already hated Dave, but now it seemed that Karkat could potentially warm up to him. Maybe. Yeah… Maybe…

He hoped.

~naknaknak~

After the detention, they headed to the common room together, in higher spirits, joking around. That was, until they met one, Rose Lalonde.

A/N: I imagine that most of you would recognize what I was referencing in Karkat's little rant, but if there's an unlucky soul that either don't know it, or if I was not that great in writing it, I'll let you know that it's the Greek myth about Orpheus who lost his wife (Eurydice), and traveled to the underworld to get her back. Most people already know this myth so I'm not gonna blab on about it. Cheers! (I also quickly want to mention that again, the way Karkat is thinking about the different houses are merely a by-product of his upbringing and rumors he's heard. I, the author don't think that way. So, when Karkat associates Slytherins with wolves, that's just because he's a dramatic child that believes everything Kankri told him and from what Karkat can tell how Caliborn acts.

Over and out - TL!