More characters! More plot (not really though)! More Klaroline (actually really though because I changed my mind and Klaus ended up in the chapter after all)! Updating from an awesome ski resort in Colorado. I want to stay here forever.
Chapter Two
"Just look for the Katherine in yellow!" Kol called after her as she forced her way through the crowd. Caroline turned around and gave him a grin of acknowledgment as Katherine smacked him across the back of his head.
Laughing to herself, Caroline continued searching for the prefects. Kol and Enzo seemed to have decided they were her new best friends, and had taken her under their wing. They hadn't given her much of a choice in the matter. Katherine had rolled her eyes and gone along with it reluctantly. Catching a glimpse of dark hair and a yellow tie, Caroline hurried over to the carriages. "Elena? Elena Gilbert?" The girl turned and Caroline was taken aback at her similarity to Katherine. Despite knowing they were identical, Katherine had spoken with such scorn of her sister that Caroline couldn't imagine an exact copy of her.
Elena smiled politely. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, sorry. I'm Caroline Forbes?"
Recognition dawned on Elena's face and she beamed at Caroline. "Oh, it's so nice to meet you. Here, come on, ride with us," she suggested, gesturing for Caroline to get into the carriage. She smiled back and did so. Inside were two handsome boys, one with redish-blonde curls in yellow and the other with dark hair in Gryffindor colors, and a pretty girl wearing blue and silver.
"Caroline, this is Matt Donovan, Stefan Salvatore, and Bonnie Bennett. Guys, this is Caroline Forbes - the one Ric told us about," Elena introduced as she climbed in after Caroline.
Caroline smiled awkwardly and gave them a little wave. The carriage lurched into motion and there was a long moment of silence while everyone tried to think of something to say. Finally, Caroline asked, "What will happen when we get to the castle? Do you know what I'm supposed to do?"
"Oh! Yes," Elena answered happily. "So, normally we'd all go to the start of year feast and see the first years be sorted, but instead I'll take you to the headmaster's office and after the first years are done - that might take a while, but I can wait with you if you want - you'll be sorted in private, and the Prefects of the house you're in will come get you."
"Okay," Caroline said.
"Do you know what classes you're taking?" Bonnie asked kindly, seeming to sense Caroline was at a loss.
"Yeah. Er, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, History of Magic, and Ancient Runes."
Bonnie smiled. "Oh, we probably have Ancient Runes together. Guess we won't know for sure until you get your house, though."
"Well, to be honest, I'm thinking it'll probably be Ravenclaw, so who knows. Maybe we'll be roomies."
"Ravenclaw?" Stefan asked, "But your dad was in Gryffindor, right?"
Caroline frowned, confused. "Well, yeah. Why? Does it matter?"
Matt smiled reassuringly. He had a sweet face. "Not really," he told her kindly. "It's just not uncommon for kids to be put in the same houses as their parents or siblings."
"But it definitely happens," Stefan added. "My older brother is in Slytherin, and so is Elena's sister, Katherine."
Caroline nodded. "Yeah, I met her." At the other students' surprised looks, she explained, "We sat in the same car on the train. I think every where else was full."
Elena wrinkled her nose. "Well, I'm sorry about her. I promise I'm nothing like her."
"Oh, she wasn't that bad," Caroline laughed. "Besides, Enzo and Kol were welcoming enough for her."
Elena looked concerned. "Kol Mikaelson?" At Caroline's confirmation, she looked even more disturbed. "Caroline, you should stay away from him. I'm not trying to scare you, but…. the Mikaelson's aren't good people."
"Are we talking about the same Kol Mikaelson here?" Caroline asked incredulously.
Bonnie gave her a sympathetic look. "It's just that his family is a little…. intense. You'd be better off steering clear of them. It's not like you'd even have much of a chance to hang out with them - they're all in Slytherin, and only Kol's in our year."
Caroline was about to demand a less cryptic explanation then the carriage came to a stop. Elena jumped up, clearly relieved. "Alright! Um, I should get you to Professor office. Got your things?" Caroline nodded and reluctantly said goodbye to the others.
She and Elena pushed their way to the castle. The entrance hall was packed, but as soon as they made it to the staircase, the halls were deserted. Caroline gaped around the huge corridors. "It's incredible," she said in awe.
Elena grinned at her. "Yeah, but it's a bitch to get around. I won't lie, you'll probably spend the next year just figuring out how not to get lost."
"I can imagine. This place it massive!"
"The moving staircases don't help much," Elena laughed, "but the portraits and the ghosts will normally help out if you get lost. Most of them, anyway. Left here."
Trailing behind Elena, Caroline continued to stare, wide eyed. She felt eleven again, entering the world of magic for the first time. Whitmore housed many muggle-borns and half-bloods, and as a result it was incredibly similar to an ordinary all-girls boarding school, albeit with magic. Hogwarts, a looming castle somewhere in an unfamiliar country, surrounded by a forest and filled with moving staircases and ghosts, its students separated by personality, seemed much more like a place for budding witches and wizards.
They'd reached a pair of stone gargoyles, and Elena murmured something to them that Caroline didn't catch, causing them to swing open. The two girls made their way up the winding stairs inside and reached a large wooden door.
"Professor Lockwood's down at the feast," Elena explained. "We're supposed to just go in."
The office was big and tastefully decorated in elegant dark furniture and gorgeous magical artifacts behind glass. "Do you want me to wait with you?" Elena asked.
Caroline shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Go down to the feast," she told the brunette with a smile.
"If you're sure." Elena glanced back at her when she reached the door. "By the way, good luck with the sorting," she told Caroline before leaving.
The sorting. Caroline had read about it in Hogwarts; A History. Four houses, named after the four founders. Gryffindors were impulsive, brave, and their devotion to their loved ones was legendary. They also had a bitter rivalry with the Slytherins, who were clever, ambitious, and had a rather unfortunate reputation for the Dark Arts. Hufflepuffs valued loyalty, kindness and hard work.
Ravenclaw seemed the most likely option for her. Intelligent, organized and creative? Caroline in three words.
Caroline looked around the room she was now alone in. On the desk was a picture of what she assumed was Professor Lockwood standing with a handsome dark haired boy in Gryffindor colors. Her son? Other than that, there were no personal effects in the room. Caroline had just wandered over to one of the display cases when the door opened.
Professor Lockwood gave her a quick, professional smile. "I apologize for the wait. It's nice to meet you, Caroline. Your father is a close friend of mine."
"Nice to meet you too."
"Do you know how this works?" Lockwood asked, holding up the battered grey hat in her hands.
Caroline nodded. "I put that on, and it looks in my head and decides what house I'll be best in."
"Whenever you're ready," Professor Lockwood told Caroline, handing her the hat.
Taking a deep breath, Caroline sat down and put it on. There was a long moment of silence, then; Hmmm... A Forbes, are you?
Caroline nearly jumped out of her skin. "It talks?!" she exclaimed. In her head, she heard the hat chuckle.
Oh! You're an interesting one. Very brave - you've had to be, losing your mother. Poor thing... Loyal, oh yes, but perhaps not the kindest at times. Maybe not Hufflepuff then. Clever, though. Ambitious too. Quite cunning, rather hot-tempered…. Oh, I know where you belong. A Forbes not in Gryffindor, I never thought I'd see the day.
"SLYTHERIN!"
oOo
Elijah Mikaelson was nothing like his brother. He wore an impeccable gray suit under his perfectly tailored robes and was the epitome of politeness. He was also super intimidating. Caroline trailed behind him in awkward silence the entire way to the Slytherin dorms, having run out of stuff to say after, "This way, Miss Forbes," and her, "Thanks."
Caroline lost count of the amount of stairs they went down before they finally reached an entrance in the dungeons. "The password is superbia," Elijah said, causing the door to spring open. He lead her through a short passage ending in a large room, decorated in shades of green, grey, and black. Glowing orbs sat on tables, and the ceiling was strung with glittering white twinkle lights. Teens in green ties milled about, but most of them seemed to be congregated in one corner, laughing and talking chaotically over music. Caroline nearly bust out laughing when she saw Katherine dancing on a low table, hands above her head and hips swaying, entirely oblivious to the teacher behind her.
Beside Caroline, Elijah let out a frustrated sigh, and Caroline almost thought she heard him mutter an exasperated, "Katerina," under his breath before raising his voice slightly to be heard over the music. "I think that's quite enough, Miss Gilbert."
Katherine spun around, gracefully stepping off the table as she did so. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair fell into her face, but she didn't look the least bit ashamed in herself. Instead she smiled and cooed innocently, "Enough of what, Professor Mikaelson?" Then she noticed Caroline. "Don't tell me you got sorted in here," she said incredulously.
Caroline flashed her a smile. "Miss me?"
Katherine rolled her eyes. "Congratulations," she called over her shoulder, "you've managed to corrupt someone to the dark side during a single train ride."
Out of nowhere, Kol appeared by Katherine. When he saw Caroline his face lit up. "Darling! Don't tell me you've been exiled to the den of snakes."
"It seems so," Caroline said, amused at Kol's enthusiasm at seeing someone he'd only met a few hours ago.
Kol kissed her on the cheek and hooked his arm through hers. "You can go now, brother," he addressed Elijah. "We'll take good care of Caroline."
Elijah looked sceptical, but left at Caroline's reassurance. Several students gave her curious glances, but when Enzo saw her, he got up on Katherine's recently vacated table. "Everybody, meet Caroline Forbes. Let's give her a proper Slytherin welcome, shall we?"
The next thing Caroline knew, she was sprawled across a couch in the middle of the room with Enzo, a cup of butterbeer in her hand and the party surrounding her. The mood was infectious, and soon she was laughing along with everyone else.
"So…. what exactly are we celebrating?" she asked.
"The start of school," Enzo informed her. "And your arrival, of course," he added with a grin.
"Of course," she agreed. "Any excuse for a party." Taking a sip of her drink she asked, "So who is everybody?"
"Well, there's Kol's sister Rebekah - the blonde there, with the posse clinging to her every word. Um…. Klaus was over there earlier, I don't see him anymore, but that's Marcel and Damon. Marcel's the one on the right," he said, gesturing to two handsome boys leaning against the wall. Marcel kept stealing looks at Rebekah. "By the stairs is Sophie Deveraux - she's in our year - and her little sister Davina."
At that moment, Kol and Katherine reappeared, squeezing in next to them. "Fun as it's been," Katherine announced, "I'm getting to the point where I want to slap most of these people, and I need my beauty sleep.' Glancing at Caroline, she sighed and said, "Come on, then. I suppose I'll have to show you which dorm is ours."
"Wow, thanks," Caroline said sarcastically. Saying her goodnights to the boys, she and Katherine weaved their way through the crowd. The stairs spiraled, like most of the staircases in the school, but instead of going up, they sunk straight into the ground. Down, down the girls went, until they reached a door. Katherine pushed the door open and Caroline's jaw dropped.
The dormitory was circular, decorated and lit the same way as the common room. There were three canopy beds, each with a bedside table and a wardrobe by it. But the room's defining feature was the ceiling. It was a glass dome in the lake. Moonlight cut through the water, illuminating the room with an eerie silver light. Fish darted by, shiny glints in the dark.
"The bed closest the the door is yours," Katherine told Caroline."Your stuff should already here. Make sure to close the curtains around your bed unless you want to be woken up as soon as the sun comes up." Caroline started to thank the other girl, but she'd already pranced into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
oOo
Caroline was trapped in a stair.
Her first class of the day was History of Magic, which Kol, Enzo, and Katherine didn't take, which meant Caroline had to find her own way there. Clearly, she'd taken a wrong turn somewhere, because she was in a deserted corridor with her foot stuck in a trick step at just the right angle to twist her ankle I'd she tried to pull it out herself.
Looking down at the stairs in front of her, she saw her things scattered everywhere. Even after she got out, it was going to take forever to gather everything up. Caroline felt tears of frustration prick her eyes and she quickly blinked them back. No, you are not going to cry. Not here.
"Are you... crying?" The voice said crying as if it were something foreign and distasteful.
Caroline whirled around, forgetting she couldn't actually whirl around, and fell, hard and awkwardly. Embarrassed, she shoved her hair out of her face angrily and snapped, "No, I am not crying. But thanks for your concern," she added sarcastically.
"Would you like some help, love?" the voice asked, sounding amused.
"If you wouldn't mind," Caroline replied icily. She started when she felt hands on her hips. The boy behind her laughed.
"You know, sweetheart, plenty of girls would be happy to have my hands on them."
Caroline scoffed. "Just help me out of here."
Once she was free, Caroline turned to look at her rescuer. He was about her age, maybe a little older. He wore Slytherin colors but Caroline didn't recognize him from the night before or breakfast that morning. "Thanks," she said grudgingly. "I'm Caroline."
His dimples contrasted the devilish glint in his eyes. "Klaus Mikaelson. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Kol's brother." Of course. "The arrogance and unwanted pet names should have made it obvious."
Klaus' smile just widened. "I'd hurry, love. You're going to be late." With that, he strolled off. Caroline watched, outraged, as he walked right over her things still on the floor.
Ten minutes later, Caroline arrived outside the History of Magic classroom, flushed and out of breath. She tried to enter the room quietly, but everyone turned to look at her anyway. The professor gave her a disapproving look. "There was a trick stair," she muttered.
"Five points from Slytherin. Go sit down."
As she hurried to the back of the room, Caroline did her best to disappear. It didn't work.