Miranda Hathaway sat at the Slytherin table sandwiched between an annoying third year facing the opposite direction, and Adell. Adell was a bit funny. Not the 'Ha ha' funny, but the 'wonder what's inside her head funny. Not that Miranda had any problems with her, but she didn't quite understand why Regulus brought her into their fold. There had just been three of them since the christmas of third year. They were the only third years that were invited to Professor Slughorn's christmas party. So of course they banded together on that one miserable evening and stuck together since. They were all fairly different, but their dynamic worked.
Regulus was undoubtably the star of the group. As the Slytherin seeker, it was unquestionable. But he shook off all the opportunities to be that boy. He had enough to deal with being the favored Black son. So when it came to large groups and parties, he wasn't the hog of the limelight, just respected, and included if he wanted to be.
Nathaniel Zambini was the outspoken one. He had very strong and educated ideas, it was just coincidence that just happened to mesh with the pureblood standards. He planned on going into politics, and no could argue that he wouldn't do wonderfully. He did most of the talking for the group, and he was more social than the rest of them, but a part of their little group as much as her or Regulus.
And Miranda? She was... the girl. But they didn't judge her by that. They respected her solemn attitude and ability to just will things to go her way. She quietly kept them in check and balanced out their testosterone levels when they got "puerile," as she liked to say. Miranda got perfect marks and was never short of admirers, even if she wasn't the whore of their year (Dorcus Meadows, ravenclaw), or the flighty temptress (Velvet Parkinson, slytherin.)
So all three of them together were the 'cool kids,' not to be confused with the drunken mob. (although possessed a large amount of power as well.) Others respected them and could only watch as they silently and subtly passed judgement.
So why bring Adell among them? She was the mousy, the unseen, the one that was failing transfiguration! When she casually asked Regulus about it he casually replied that she was "going to be something important in the future." Miranda didn't quite understand what that meant, but let it slide When Regulus said things like that it was better to just forget about them. He was odd like that.
But she still couldn't understand what was important about her. At the moment she was staring at something unseen, and then clapping when the people around her did, signaling another snake was sitting among them. Adell looked so young, but so very, very old. It was weird.
But Miranda knew that Adell wasn't all mousy and harmless like she let on. Everyone knew about what happened last year, even if they had almost forgotten, or no longer cared. She had stood up to the Marauders to help Severus Snape, (the unpopular genius that none of the slytherins messed with because he was probably going to be important in the war) and then undergone their wrath as a consequence. In Gryffindor, that kind of display of bravery would have made her instantly popular. But this wasn't Gryffindor. In Slytherin, people just thought she was weird.
More clapping brought Miranda out of her deep thought. She didn't especially care about Adell, but wouldn't mind taking her under her wing. Adell was strange, very strange, and Miranda was eager to see what other oddities would emerge from the shadows.
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Hmf. Nathaniel Zambini sat impatiently next to Regulus. It always felt like the first night lasted forever. Most people liked to linger and talk with their old friends, but not him. He was a busy man. Well, he was admittedly fifteen, but still busy. He just wanted to go to his dorm and sleep. Sleep was good. "Early to bed, and early to rise," as he liked to say. Four thirty was when he usually got up. Regulus didn't understand it, but there was something great about getting up before everyone else. The silent darkness of the castle, the misty coolness of the grounds in the morning, it was amazing.
Of course, as a student he technically wasn't supposed to be outside alone until five thirty (unless he got a signed note.) , but, pish posh, what was one hour anyway? No one ever saw him, and if someone did, they didn't care. So Nathaniel Spent a good hour running around the quiditch pitch and doing sit-ups. If there was one thing he liked, it was control. And control over your own body was an important part. That was something that quite a lot of Slytherins knew. Nobody really noticed, but fat Slytherins are very rare. Slytherins like control, and they are good at it.
Even now, Most of the Slytherins were almost done eating, and patiently awaiting dessert, while all the other houses were happily tucking in. His eyes ran across the hall nervously, finally resting on one person; Adell Sanctamonia. She was really a strange case of humanity. Strange, quiet, afraid. But unlike most of the people like her, she didn't wear her heart on her sleeve. Sure she had a perpetually frightened look on her face, but there was something lurking under the surface of those eyes, and he intended to find out what.
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Regulus was happy to be back. No, he was ecstatic. Home was a dreary continuum of being rich, acting like you were rich, and impressing other rich people. He hated it. Hated it. It was so... stuffy. Now that Sirius was... disowned. He was shocked. He had known his brother was the black sheep, (or white sheep as it was) but he never thought it would come to that. Sirius always said he would run away, but he never did. Not till now. Regulus had to stand there and look all stoic while his mother blasted his brother of the family tree. It wasn't fair. But that was pureblood life.
He hated his brother. This should have been his job. And then he could have just worried about getting a respectable job and not doing anything stupid. It should be Sirius going to all the parties, to (gross,) get married, and to (grosser,) have kids. (The very thought of marriage made him wince.) And Regulus then wouldn't have to worry about following the Dark Lord. He was a supporter, of course, he full-heartedly believed in "The Cause." He was just waiting for the dark Lord's followers to rise and cleanse the filth out of this school. But Regulus wasn't a fighter. Well, he could be. In theory. He could fight and fight and fight. But could he kill? He didn't know. If only Sirius hadn't gone and got sorted into Gryffindor. If only he didn't act like one. Sirius was the fighter. He could have followed the Dark Lord and become a Death Eater no sweat. He could easily kill. But Sirus had a strange concept of nobility. So now Regulus was heir.. He had to try extra hard, because his mother was so hard to impress. Although, Adell had made it look easy.
That was strange. So despite her tentative nature, she had looked his mother, the most fearsome creature on the planet, in the eye, unflinching. And passed the test. That was good. Adell was so weird. But whatever other people saw in her, he saw something else. He had feelings some times. He used to call them his "Slytherin instincts" because they usually told him to work harder, or run away. But now they were telling him that Adell was important. That, if groomed, she could be impressive. And looking her over, he saw that it was true. She had it all underneath, something that could be wielded as a weapon: potential. She had gobs and gobs of potential. She could easily become the best pureblood woman you could imagine. She just had to develop her attitude to match her lineage. He could see it, years from now, people would go to the usual pure blood gatherings. People would leave the party and think, "Wow. Adell Sanctamonia. I wish I had been nicer to her in school. She's obviously has all the power of persuasion now." Regulus realized that Nathaniel and Miranda would thank him once they were out of school. At this moment, Adell was like very low priced stock. But he predicted her rocket to the top. He was investing all three of them while the price was low. Adell had quite a future ahead of her, and he planned on cashing in.
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Adell was confused. Not just like the average, "I'll pretend I know what you're talking about" confused. She was seriously confused. She had excepted that Regulus had invited her to sit in their compartment... twice. And she excepted that he had called her a "friend." But it was still a lot to take in. Her world had been suddenly turned upside-down.
"Why are you so upset about this? Isn't this what you wanted? To be noticed? To be one of the flowering slytherins gracing the halls of Hogwarts? You're there." Adell looked around her uncertainly. Was this what she wanted? Was this friendship? Was she almost there? There? Were they just messing with her? She had no previous friendships to tell if this was the real thing... how could she tell? She had a nasty feeling that they were either using her, or planning something for her... something not very nice. She looked at them, why would they want her friendship?
Especially Miranda... she was so intimidating. Her high cheekbones and dark hair gave her look of indifference. Se looked a few years older than she was, like a seventh year being forced to repeat fifth. It would explain her bored look. Adell noticed that she was wearing a light coat of make up. Adell swallowed. She had never considered putting on blush. Her cheeks burned. She couldn't act like a little kid anymore. She was fifteen. she needed to learn to act like a lady. Ew. She sounded like her mum.
But it was true. To be a successful human being she needed to learn to act like a normal person. With all the trimmings. But what did she want? Was there anything in life she actually wanted? Her eyes seemed to be possessed by some higher force as they guided to a certain boy...
She was so pathetic.