Chapter One

Hajime's POV

Today was September 1st, the day I left for Hogwarts. It was a dream come true. Both of my parents had gone to this school, and had given me all sorts of advice on it. In front of me lies the Hogwarts Express. The station is packed with witches and wizards sending their teary-eyed kids off to Hogwarts. My father was with me as well, but neither of us were teary-eyed. I knew about all of this already, and one of the biggest things I knew was not to have your classmates see you teary-eyed as their first impression of you.

Both of my parents were Slytherins, and they expected me to be one as well. I was fairly certain I would get in, but there was one issue. I wasn't really sure I wanted to be a Slytherin. My parents had spoken about it with passion, but the more I heard them talk about it, the less I wanted to be a part of it. I was a pureblood, which would make survival there easier, but it seemed like it might be difficult nonetheless.

I've met a lot of the purebloods in my grade, many of which claim they will be in Slytherin. Most of them I believe, besides Aoi Asahina, who's parents are convinced she's a snake but I'm not so sure. She seems too nice and trusting to be a snake. She strikes me as more of a Hufflepuff. Others, however, are Slytherins through and through. Those like Byakuya Togami. And he's one of the reasons why I'm not so sure I want to be a Slytherin. He is an utter jerk, and I don't want to have to be around him for more than a half an hour at a time. Even the thirty minutes occasionally manages to make me question my will to live.

And then there's the people like Nagito Komaeda, who just simply creep me out. He is so self deprecating even though he's a pureblood and the heir to a huge family fortune. He lives in a giant mansion on an island slightly off of Britain, yet he acts as if he is as poor as your average mudblood. On top of that, he just has this strange glint in his eyes. Sometimes I feel like he's planning my death as I talk to him. The main problem with him was that our parents were close friends, so we were also forced to become friends. Even if he called us friends, I would never call our relationship a friendship.

I'd say one of the most irritating purebloods I've ever spoken two is Draco Malfoy. He constantly claims that he will be the best Slytherin ever, not letting even a minute go by without mentioning his status as a Malfoy. Even though his family has a history of being Slytherin, I somehow can't see him in that house. He is so dramatic and petty I see him almost as a Gryffindor, although he would kill me if he heard me say that out loud.

Another thing that's been on my mind is how the famed Harry Potter is in our grade. Harry Potter is a sensitive subject in my house. My mother was a devoted Death Eater, but my father was not. While my mother was a devoted member of the inner circle, my father wasn't even marked. This was a subject of huge controversy in the pureblood Death Eater circles. My mother's devotion was typically enough to draw suspicion away from my father, but extremely loyal members like Bellatrix Lestrange was known for vocalizing her suspicion towards my father. As his son, I knew that my father was far from a traitor. He was a supporter of the Dark Lord's cause, he just didn't want to get marked in case of an event where Death Eaters were tried for their crimes.

And turns out, he was right. My mother was sentenced to Azkaban after the Dark Lord's downfall while my dad got away scot free. In fact, he still holds his high up position in the Ministry of Magic. Deep down I have this deep hatred for Harry Potter, since he indirectly forced my mom away from me. I loved my mom, and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive Potter for that. Even so, I know that he was an infant when he "killed" the Dark Lord so he had no idea what he was doing. I also know that it would be good for me socially to become friends with Potter.

In the end, Potter is a difficult person for me to have a definitive opinion on. I figure that if I get to know him, I'll be able to actually judge him rather than making an opinion based on actions he had no control over.

These thoughts swirling in my head, I say goodbye to my father and head onto the train. I pass by many compartments before finally finding one that's empty. I sat down and pulled out a book. It was on dark curses. My mother had bought it for me just before she was sentenced to Azkaban. She had told me that it was important to start learning the dark arts at a young age because I needed to be able to fight for the Dark Lord when he eventually returned. I hadn't looked at it for a while since I had been skimming over the school textbooks for first year. About 20 minutes into the trip another boy entered the compartment.

I looked up to see a boy with wide green eyes and light brown hair. He had a sweatshirt and jeans on, meaning he was most likely either a halfblood or a mudblood. He sat down and leaned over to introduce himself.

"Hi, my name's Makoto Naegi. Sorry I had to barge in like that but I was alone in a compartment and got kind of lonely. What's your name?"

"My name is Hajime Hinata."

His eyes widened slightly when he heard my name. I recognized his last name, although it definitely wasn't a pureblooded name, so he was a halfblood.

"Halfblood?"

"Uh, yeah. I know you, your...nevermind."

I knew what he was going to say, although I was thankful that he had the decency to not actually say it out loud. We chatted lightly for a couple minutes before falling into silence. I pulled the book back out. I saw his eyes focus in on the title before drawing away without a word. It was quite a while before anyone else walked into our compartment.

"Hey, have any of you guys seen my cat, he's black wi-Hajime!"

I looked up in surprise. I hadn't seen any cats, but whoever had just come in knew me. I looked up and felt a pit form in my stomach. It was Nagito. Out of all the people who I really didn't want to have to talk to on the train, Nagito was pretty high up there. Naegi looked up as well, most likely curious to see who had just walked in and recognized the Death Eater's kid.

"Hello Nagito."

I saw his smile widen as I recognized his existence. I made my eyes as icy as possible, but there was no point now. I had acknowledged him, which meant he wouldn't leave until he had to. Nagito sat down right next to me and started chatting about mundane stuff. He knew he was annoying, but it's not like I could force him to go, and he knew that. Our families were known allies, it would quickly get around if it became known that the heirs disliked each other. Or at least one of the heirs disliked the other. Sometimes I could swear that Nagito honestly wanted to be my friend and just had no idea how to go around it.

We kept a mundane conversation as Naegi not-so-surreptitiously watched from over the cover of his book. He was obviously curious as to what a conversation between two Death Eater kids would be like. I coudn't blame him. I eventually got tired of Nagito's way of playing with words, and started up a conversation with Naegi.

After a while there was an awkard three way conversation going with all of us. Naegi was clearly uncomfortable being an actual part of the conversation, and was obviously off put by Nagito's precense. He could probably sense the creepy nature the heir had. I would've done anything to have Nagito gone, but he was a part of the conversation now and I had to include him. The conversation lasted for a while before yet another person barged into the compartment.

A skinny boy with bright green eyes and dark hair walked in, holding a black cat with yellow eyes. He greeted Nagito, giving him what was apperantly his missing cat. Right as the boy was about to leave, he absentmindedly pushed his hair out of his eyes, revealing a lightning scar. My eyes widened and I felt the low burn of anger in my gut.

"That's an interesting scar you have there. What's your name?"

I tried to put ice in my voice, but it was all I could do to keep back the hatred. I knew what the scar was, and I knew who this boy was. This was Harry James Potter, the famed "Boy Who Lived" and I wasn't about to let him get away.

"O-oh um I'm Harry Potter. This is the, uh, the lightning scar, you know?"

He was clearly slightly taken aback by the icy tone in my voice, and I felt a vicious satisfaction seeing him get nervous. Even so, there was a voice in my head telling me that I had to stop letting my anger show.

"Yes, I know. Could I ask you a few questions?"

I took the ice out, but didn't add any kindness just yet. I didn't want him afraid, but I didn't want him too comfortable. I saw his stance relax slightly as he sat down next to Naegi. He clearly didn't want anything to do with Nagito, and I couldn't blame him. Naegi was clearly the most inviting-looking of us three.

Nagito immediately saw his chance and started talking to Potter before I could. I felt disgust in my stomach as I saw him completely change his mannerisms in real time. He went from his real self, a creepy, uncaring, self-loathing prat, to a calm and nice average boy. To his credit, I saw a confused look make it's way onto Naegi's face as he studied Nagito. Perhaps he wasn't as stupid as he looked.

Potter looked clearly calmer as he went into a casual conversation with Nagito. I was left to the side seething, while Naegi was left confused at Nagito's sudden personality change. Listening in was the only thing I could do, so that's what I did. Potter talked for a long time as Nagito asked him question after question. I learned that he had grown up with his Muggle relatives and just learned about Hogwarts a couple days ago. I found myself disgusted at the thought of the famous Harry Potter being raised by muggles. No matter how many personal vendettas I may have against him, no witch or wizard deserves to be raised by muggles.

On top of that, the way he spoke about the muggles was really strange. He paused in strange areas, clearly trying to hold back specific information. He didn't seem like he was outright lying, but he was definitely withholding a lot of information. I got a strange feeling from him, almost like he was terrified of us but he was trying to trick us at the same time. I wondered if he recognized our last names when we introduced ourselves. There was no widening of his eyes, no telltale sign that he recognized them, but I wasn't sure. He was either a very talented actor or he was simply nervous and uneducated.

If it was the second one, that raised more questions. As the "savior" of the Wizarding World, how was it that he knew so little? Was it possible that he had spent his entire life in the presence of uneducated muggles, learning aboslutely nothing of the Wizarding World? Who would do something like that, and why? With his status, it would make far more sense to introduce him to the world at a young age, and let him learn who is friends were and who his enemies were. It would be stupid to send him to Hogwarts without at least a baseline knowledge of who would want to help him and who would want to hurt him.

For instance, he was talking to Nagito as if he was just your everyday wizard on the train. Was it possible that he didn't recognize the last name Komaeda? How could Harry Potter himself not know the name of the son one of his greatest enemies? Was it even possible he was this uneducated? I found myself almost pitying the boy, wondering if I should teach him in some way. If I'm right about his level of knowledge, then it was simply sad how little he knows. Part of me knew that it was helpful for the Death Eater cause if Harry Potter was stupid and knew nothing, but there was another part of me that pitied the boy and wished to teach him at least the most basic of things. And if I did teach him, that meant that one of the most powerful young wizards in the world owed me a serious debt.

As the converstaion with Nagito and Potter died down, I decided to join in. I asked Potter a series of questions, some of them vaguely pertaining to the Wizarding World. After my questioning I knew I was right. No one had told Potter anything. Or if they had, they had told him little, and withheld a huge amount of information. He didn't even know what traits the four houses were known for. After a moment of consideration, I decided.

"Potter, you clearly know next to nothing about the Wizarding World. I would be willing to teach you, but I want something in return."

There it was. If I could get him to agree to this, and I was pretty sure I could, I was set. If I could get him to agree to this, my family could become more powerful than ever before, and when my mother got out of Azkaban, she would be so pleased with me. I knew my father would be incredibly grateful if I could just get Potter to agree. With a more educated wizard it would be impossible, but with Potter, it just might work.

"What do you want?"

"I wish to make an alliance between House Potter and House Hinata."

Nagito looked shocked as his face whipped towards mine. I took cruel pleasure seeing the stupid heir look so surprised. It had been years since I had gotten such an expression out of him. He slowly looked away after a moment, smiling to himself. I knew that he was thinking that I was about to make a fool of myself, but I knew otherwise. Nagito hadn't been paying attention when Potter and I were talking, he didn't know the level of oblivion that Potter had.

"I accept." Potter had paused before accepting, but not for very long. He accepted with a wide smile on his face, and it was incredibly difficult to keep my smile kind and not mocking.

I saw Nagito stiffen out of the corner of my eye, feeling the same satisfaction as before. I knew he didn't want to make the same mistake as before, but I also knew that he was most likely even more shocked than hearing me ask for the alliance in the first place. I kept my face mostly blank with a small smile on it, making sure that Potter didn't feel the need to back out. It took a few minutes, but I made up the documents, had Potter sign it, and then let out a satisfied sigh.

For the rest of the train ride, I taught Potter the basics of the Wizarding World. During the time I was able to teach him about Hogwarts and the Wizarding social hierarchy. I also started telling him about the Potter's status and history, but the train stopped while I was part way through talking about it. Nagito had gone the rest of the ride going between reading, eating, and sleeping, the way most of the students ride the train. He had been surprisingly quiet. Naegi had listened in on most of the lessons, when he wasn't listening in he was either reading or eating.

When the train stopped, Potter got up, thanked me for the lessons, and then left to meet up with his other friends. I assured him that they would continue. Naegi awkwardly got up, said his goodbyes, and then left. Nagito and I were left. As soon Naegi left, I saw Nagito switch out of his "nice guy" persona.

"Hajime, what the hell was that."

"I was making friends, what's wrong with that?"

"Your definition of "making friends" differs from mine. Hajime, I'm serious. You can't just make an alliance with House Potter."

"Oh really? Just because it hurts your pride to see my family gain more power than yours doesn't mean I can't do it. You would've taken advantage of him too, if you had seen the chance. Sad that you didn't see it, really."

I saw a spark of anger in his eyes, and that's when I knew I had to shut up. I really did not want to make Nagito angry. There had been multiple occasions where I'd seen murder in his eyes, and they were always after I'd mocked or angered him. Alliance with House Potter or no, I was afraid Nagito might kill me straight up, no complications with politics. He'd kill me, and what scared me was that sometimes he seemed cunning and insane enough to get away with it.

I left the compartment, feeling Nagito's burning eyes follow me out. I didn't really have any people who I wanted to hang out with, so I stood slightly away from the other people. I looked around carefully, noticing the people that I did know. I saw Byakuya Togami talking with Sonia Nevermind and Draco Malfoy. I knew Sonia, she was a good friend of mine. She was from overseas, a princess where she comes from. I felt upset seeing her talk with Togami and Malfoy. She was incredibly nice, a caring and forgiving person, who didn't deserve to be with people like that.

I saw Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu talking with Peko Pekoyama. This was expected. Although Peko was a mudblood, she had been taken in by the Kuzuryu family, so everyone knew not to mess with her. She was also rumored to be incredibly dangerous with a muggle sword.

I saw Aoi Asahina talking with a very well built girl who I didn't recognize. I saw Sayaka Maizono and Leon Kuwata talking, but that was no surprise. They were very close friends since their families were close, similar to my relationship with Nagito. Whenever I saw them at parties they were always chatting with each other and perhaps a couple other people, rarely were they seen apart. Some people theorized that they were in an arranged marriage, but there was no proof of that besides the fact that they were often seen together.

My parents had not set up an arranged marriage, but my father wished for me to marry Kyoko Kirigiri. I had met her many times before. She was very cold at first, but slightly nicer once you got to know her. She was incredibly smart, which was possibly why my father liked her. My mother wanted me to marry Pansy Parkinson, but I didn't want to, and my father didn't want me to either. She was kind of stupid, although she was nice to people she deemed worthy.

We eventually all got on the boats that led over to Hogwarts. Nagito waved to me from his boat, but I walked away, pretending not to notice. I got in a boat with Togami and Malfoy. I could tell that Togami was annoyed, but was dealing with it because of Malfoy's status.

I stayed silent for a whie, opting to look out over the lake and take in it's beauty. I was almost feeling relaxed when Malfoy interrupted my moment. He started up a conversation with me, forcing Togami into it as well. I couldn't very well refuse, similarly to Nagito. We talked for a while in the typical pureblooded fashion, with words that had double meanings, and seemingly casual sentences that meant much darker meanings. To be honest, I hated it almost all of the time. Especially with Togami, since he was so ridiculously good at it.

When we arrived at the castle, it was all I could do not to sigh. I was so sick of the presence of the two stuck up purebloods. They were almost worse than Nagito...almost. While Professer McGonagall talked about the houses, I started to look around me again. I saw Malfoy, Potter, Weasley, and another girl talking loudly. I ignored them. I saw that Togami had gone to speak with the older Greengrass sister, Kuzuryu, and Pekoyama. I was going to look around more, but I was cut off as we were ushered inside the Great Hall.

I saw the Sorting Hat sitting on top of a stool, and heard the confused whispers of the mudbloods around me. The hat sang its song and McGonagall started to call out names.

"Abbot, Hannah"

"HUFFLEPUFF"

The names started fading since there were many who I either didn't recognize or didn't care to know what house they got into.

"Hinata, Hajime"

I walked up to the podium and McGonagall let the hat down on my head.

'Oh, very smart I see. A pureblood raised by a very powerful witch and a very intelligent wizard. You're resourceful and ambitious, but...you don't wish to be a Slytherin? Strange for your family. Perhaps Ravenclaw, you're very smart. Not Hufflepuff, but you have a certain bravery in you...Gryffindor? Oh you're also pretty cunning I see, I see. Well, sorry kid' "SLYTHERIN"

I knew it was coming, but I was still a little disappointed. I walked to the Slytherin table as they cheered, but it was easy to see that the rest of the hall was almost silent. There were a few claps from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but almost none from Gryffindor. I guess it made sense, my mother had hurt the families of many of those people sitting at that table.

I stopped paying attention for a while, letting my eyes roam around the giant room instead. I lifted my head up the hat again when I heard Malfoy's name.

"Malfoy, Draco"

"SLYTHERIN"

Ugh. I guess the Malfoy genes run too strong.

"Komaeda, Nagito"

"SLYTHERIN"

I knew it was coming but that didn't make it any less painful to see him walk over to me with a smile on his face and sit down right next to me.

"Kirigiri, Kyoko"

"RAVENCLAW"

She was incredibly smart, so I suppose ravenclaw is a fitting spot, although I'm going to miss not having someone who I at least slightly get along with in Slytherin.

"Naegi, Makoto"

"GRYFFINDOR"

There's no surprise.

"Togami, Byakuya"

"SLYTHERIN"

He didn't sit down right next to me, but I couldn't stop the dark pit forming in my stomach. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to be around Nagito and Togami all the time, I hated them. Looking around the table, I saw the masks of many people I recognized. I saw Kuzuryu, Parkinson, Togami, Zabini, Greengrass, and many others. There were a few that I didn't recognize, but everyone had one thing in common. They all had icy cold masks. And, of course, I was among them.

There was one girl, however, who stuck out like a sore thumb. She wore a Japanese kimono in bright colors. She must've been a transfer student. She looked very young and had very childlike ponytails. She had a mask on, but it wasn't a cold one. She looked as if she was absolutely furious with the world. She kept staring at Headmaster Dumbledore with a burning hatred in her eyes. She kept quiet and didn't speak to anyone during the meal.

During the meal I was once again forced to speak with Nagito and the other snakes in a close vicinity. I mostly talked with Nagito and Zabini. I liked Zabini, at least I liked him more than a lot of the other purebloods. He was calmer and less of a manipulating-you-with-every-word kind of guy.

I listened in on two of the girls who I didn't recognize as they introduced themselves. The girl with short black hair and red eyes was Celestia Ludenberg. The girl with flowing pink ponytails was Junko Enoshima. Dinner finished, and we all headed down towards the dungeons. I didn't talk to anyone along the way.

My dorm room had Nagito, Zabini, Togami, and Malfoy in it. Just my luck. I knew I was screwed the moment I opened the door to the room and heard Nagito cheerfully greet me. I swear he knew exactly how much that grated on my nerves. Looking at my other dorm mates, I realized that this year would be interesting, if not anything else. The Zabini's and the Togami's did not get along. It was similar to the way the Malfoy's and the Weasley's didn't get along, but for very different reasons. No one really knew why they hated each other so much, but as soon as I entered the room I felt the icy animosity thickening the air every second.

I lay down on my bed even though it was midday. I reached down into my suitcase, and pulled out the notebook I had in it. I pulled the curtains around my bed. I started to write into the notebook.

Hi mom, I'm at Hogwarts now. I was sorted into Slytherin, and I'm sharing a dorm room with Nagito, Zabini, Togami, and Malfoy

That's great news.

I have even better news.

Yes?

I managed to create an alliance with the Potter heir. There is now an alliance between House Hinata and House Potter

How?

The Potter heir has been uninformed in the ways of the Wizarding World. I managed to get him to agree to let me teach him our ways in return for an alliance.

That is amazing news dear, just make sure you have it all written down so it's official.

Don't worry, I already wrote up the documents and he's signed them.

I'm constantly amazed by what you can do Hajime. Even though I can't see you physically, I can't wait for the day when I can come home and see everything you've done.

Thanks mom. I've got to go now, I'll talk to you later.

Alright, bye Hajime

I closed the notebook and brought it up to my chest. I felt tears threatening to prick at my eyes, but I kept them down. I wasn't about to let any of my roommates hear me cry on the first day at Hogwarts. That could ruin my reputation, and that wasn't something I was going to let happen. It was amazing whenever I could talk with my mother, I missed her so much. Even though talking with her over the notebook wasn't the same, it was still something. It was a connection between us.

I eventually stowed the book away in my suitcase once again and opted to just lay on my obed and think. I always left her fairly quickly because I couldn't stand the thought of her getting caught. My mom had gone to so much trouble to make the notebooks, if she got caught that would be horrible. The spell on the notebooks was very dangerous and it was created with very dark blood magic. The interesting thing about the notebooks was that they didn't have to be on the person physically. That's how my mom snuck it into Azkaban.

To summon the book you have to draw out a complicated rune on the floor and then let a drop of your blood touch it. That would summon the book. After that, the words written in that book would appear in it's sister notebook. The notebooks could either be kept on someone's person at all times, or they could draw the rune to summon it and draw the banishing rune to get rid of it. That's what my mom did. I just kept the notebook in a secret compartment in my suitcase. It was a magical suitcase, so it required my magical signature to open. That was good. It would be absolutely distastrous if anyone else found that notebook.

I lay there for a while as my dorm mates talked. I was about to drift off into sleep when Nagito opened my curtains. He flung them open with a smile on his face, saying

"Heyyyy Hajime. Malfoy wants Zabini, us two, and a couple others to go down to the courtyard." He then whispered into my ear, "He says it's for playing marbles but I think it's so he can go see Potter, I'm pretty sure Malfoy's got feelings."

Nagito was way too close for comfort, and I really didn't want to hear him talk about how Malfoy had feelings for Potter so I got up quickly and left the room, following the sound of Malfoy's loud voice down in the main area.

When I got down to where Malfoy was I saw that there were a number of other people there. Malfoy had gathered up Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Greengrass, Zabini, Nott, and Bulstrode. Nagito and I joined the group. After a while of Malfoy talking, we left the dungeons and went to the courtyard. I was finally left alone, as Nagito chatted with Nott. The courtyard was bustling with all sorts of people. A group of Gryffindors was being incredibly loud near the lake, there was a large gathering of Hufflepuffs circled around something, and a small group of Ravenclaws seated on a bench, quietly talking. One of them was reading a huge book and ignoring the rest of the group, which I found slightly funny. She had long brown braids and huge circular glasses.

Malfoy led the group down a path towards an open area where marbles was played. There was already a group of Gryffindors playing marbles as we walked down. We sat down and the game of marbles commenced. As expected, about half way through Malfoy got up to talk to the Gryffindor group. He strode over with Crabbe and Goyle at his back. He started talking to them, and even at a distance I could tell that it was the condescending nonsense he was always saying to people he viewed as "beneath" him.

I could see Potter, Weasley, Longbottom, that one girl that those two were with before the sorting, and one other he did not know. The last boy had bright pink hair and wore his tie very loosely. I looked at the girl more closely now, seeing that she had unruly brown hair, and dark brown skin.

I looked away, deciding that it would be more fun to play marbles than look at Malfoy bully a group of Gryffindors. After the game was over, the group started to casually chat. I looked around, saw that no one was paying attention to what I was doing, and quietly got up and left. I looked around for that one ravenclaw girl who was reading the book, and saw she had moved to a bench. I walked up to her and said a clipped, formal greeting before I could stop myself. I had meant to be more casual, but the extended time with Nagito, Togami, and the like had left me slightly on edge. She looked up, a slight blush on her face but an angry look in her eyes.

"I'm Toko Fukawa, now please leave me alone, I'm trying to read."

I felt a slight shock, almost no one heard my introduction and then spoke to me in that way. Sometimes it was the other way around, but people typically weren't stupid enough to try and make me angry. I know that I'm not a particularly intimidating person, but my family name is enough to make someone shut up when I tell them to. I felt a bit of anger at the casual and disrespectful way that she spoke to me. I wasn't typically someone to get all arrogant, but she was pissing me off.

"Excuse me? Do you know who I am?"

"No, and why should I care?"

"I'm Hajime Hinata, and you better remember it. I've far more power than you could ever dream of you filthy little mudblood and you better remember that. I don't like being spoken to so disrespectfully."

I regretted it as soon as it came out of my mouth. I realized that I sounded like Malfoy when I said that. I sounded just like those arrogant, dramatic, pureblooded prats that took up most of my house. I was about to take it back and apologize when I saw that the girl was completely flushed. She had both her hands clutching her heart and she was rocking back and forth.

I was about to ask her what was wrong when she got up suddenly. She clutched both of my hands in her own and looked up at me, her eyes dark with lust.

"I've finally found you, my white knight."

I had no idea how to respond to that at all. She was clearly enraptured with me, but I had no idea why. I also had no idea why her personality had changed so suddenly like that. One moment she was quiet and uncaring, the next she was obsessive and lustful.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why, you, of course! You're my white knight, master."

I turned away, slightly disgusted at her behaivor and incredibly weirded out by being called master by this girl I had just met. I didn't understand her mannerisms at all and really wanted to leave.

"I'm sorry if I'm disgusting to you, master. I'll do whatever you want. I'll scrub myself for hours so I'm clean enough for you."

I was so disturbed at that point, I didn't know what to do. Should I give her an order? She's not a house elf or a slave, but she's practically asking for one. Should I just tell her to go away? Maybe giving a difficult order would send her away for a while so I can get my thoughts together. I should probably do it in some condescending way so she'll actually do what I say, since it seems like that's what she wants me to do.

"Ok then, if I'm going to have some mudblood girl for a companion, she's at least got to be intelligent. Go study every single one of your textbooks until you know everything. I also want you to do what you said, and wash yourself until you're clean enough for me. Only come back to me when you think you're worthy of my presence."

It physically hurt me to say some of that, but I knew that I had to say it like that if I wanted her to actually go away. There was a possibility there was another way, but I was so sick of everything that I just wanted everything irritating and difficult to just go away. If I had to act like some stuck up pureblood arse to get that, then it wasn't so bad. I watched her run away, flush hot on her cheeks as she sprinted back towards the castle. I sat down on the bench she was originally at and resisted the urge to place my head in my hands. The courtyard was pretty, even though it was loud and filled with a bunch of yelling students.

I really didn't want to talk to anyone. That last experience was enough. I wouldn't be upset if I never saw that girl again. I lay there in the sun, basking in the relative calm. I knew it wouldn't last long, but I wanted to enjoy it while I could. I sat there for a while before someone talked to me. It was Sonia Nevermind, the pureblooded princess. She sat down next to me, quiet for a while before starting up a conversation. We chatted casually for a little bit, apperantly she had gotten in Ravenclaw. I wasn't surprised. She was very smart and she knew an incredible amount on dark magic, which wasn't something you would guess from looking at her.

I had seen her have very involved conversations with my mother and dark spells, often discussing runes at a level that I couldn't understand at all. Runes were super difficult, and I was surprised Sonia understood them at all. I knew a few basic ones, but that was because my mom was really into them. Eventually we started chatting about dark magic, and I began to talk about the book on dark curses that I had been reading on the train. I pulled it out of my bag and Sonia eagerly looked at it. Her eyes skimmed the pages quickly as she nodded every once in a while.

She said "This looks like a very good book. Did your mother recommend this?" I nodded.

"I can tell, your mother had a keen eye for finding good books. She once found me a very interesting one on black magic. It talked about some of the most obscure spells in that field, and although I couldn't perform any of them, it was incredibly informative."

Our conversation on dark magic continued. I liked Sonia. She was nice, even if some of her interests were a bit darker. She was smart, sweet, and very interesting. She also had many fond memories of my mom, which was a nice change from everyone else's opinions on my mom.

Most people said my mom was a "killer" and a "evil bitch" and "deserved to rot in Azkaban" but I knew better. My mom may have supported the Dark Lord, but she was a really nice person. I saw that, and Sonia saw it as well. She saw a side of my mom which most people didn't see. They saw her for the incredibly intelligent and passionate woman that she was. My mom was a genius. She was intelligent, brave, powerful, and cunning. She once duelled Bellatrix Lestrange, and won. She was amazing, and I wanted to make her proud.

She always said that I constantly made her proud, but one day I was going to do something, and she would be amazed. I didn't know what it was going to be, but one day I was going to make my mom be truly proud of me. When I was younger I was convinced that I would become a powerful member of the Dark Lord's inner circle but now he's been defeated, so I'm not sure anymore. I realized that I had gone silent, I pulled myself out of my inner monologue to talk to Sonia again.

"You off in your little dream world again Hajime?"

I laughed lightly and nodded. She wasn't wrong, Sonia had known me for a long time. I often pulled myself out of the world around me and consumed myself with my inner thoughts. It was a technique I had learned to do after being around so many people I disliked. I would often put myself into my own little world, ignoring people like Malfoy and Togami. I only liked to come out of my protective shell to talk to people like Sonia and Zabini. They were nicer, and I didn't mind their presence. They were smart enough to not act like a Weasley, but knew better than to act like Malfoy either. I respected that.

Sonia eventually respectfully bade me goodbye and left to meet up with the other members of her group. Looking at the group I saw a mixed group of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. I saw Cedric Diggory, Aoi Asahina, and two other Ravenclaw girls I did not recognize. One of them had long purple hair and the other had short brown hair. I suppose I was right about Asahina. I had expected she would be either a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor. Her parents must be furious.

I was left alone once again. I saw the group of Slytherins that I had come down here with get up and leave. I noticed Nagito and Zabini looking for me for a few seconds, but I pulled my hood down and buried my face in a book. They quickly gave up and jogged to catch up with the rest of the group. I let out a sigh and took my hood off. I would go back to the dorms on my own time. The more I could avoid my house the better. I knew Nagito wouldn't let me become a loner, so I wasn't worried about that. He "liked" me too much for that.

The courtyard was fairly empty by then. There were two students chatting by the lake, one Slytherin and one Ravenclaw. On closer inspection I saw that one strange Slytherin girl from the feast and another red-haired Ravenclaw who I didn't know. There was only one other group on the courtyard. It was the group of students that Malfoy had been bullying. They had moved from the marbles over to the field, but it was still the same people. I was growing slightly bored by that point, so I decided to introduce myself to Potter's group. I already knew him, and no Slytherins beside that strange loner were here to judge me, and she wasn't even glancing in my direction.

As I walked over, I saw Weasley nervously whisper in Potter's ear. I knew what he was saying, even if he couldn't hear. Weasley knew who I was, even if Potter didn't. Weasley was probably guessing that I was here to bully them as Malfoy had done. I didn't particularly like any of the Weasleys, but I wasn't about to go out of my way to bully them, as many of the other members of my house would've done.

I walked up, giving Potter a nod and a short greeting. I carefully sat down slightly outside the circle, introducing myself to the group politely. I saw Weasley's nervous eyes watching me as I introduced myself to everyone. I saw Longbottom watching me as well, although it wasn't as obvious as Weasley. He clearly knew who I was as well. I learned that the boy with pink hair was Kazuichi Soda and the girl was Hermione Granger. All of them were Gryffindors. As I didn't recognize either of their names, they were either half blood or mudblood.

I started a casual conversation with Granger, Soda, and Potter. Weasley and Longbottom watched me carefully, but didn't say anything for a few minutes. Longbottom eventually decided that I wasn't there to bully them, and he joined in. It took Weasley a bit longer to join, but Potter eventually invited me to a spot between him and Weasley, and I gratefully took it. When I was seated directly next to him, Weasley had no choice but to join in without risking looking awkward.

It was an open conversation with Potter, Granger, and Soda, but it was far more guarded with Weasley and Longbottom. I hated that. Even if Weasley was a blood traitor, apparently his family had still educated him. I was irritated by that because it wouldn't be good for Potter to be friends with people who knew my family's nature. He didn't seem too close to Longbottom, but he seemed to be a little too friendly with Weasley. One of them would eventually tell them, and knowing Gryffindors it wouldn't be too long. Although Potter would have some difficulty taking back the alliance now, it wouldn't do for Potter to publicly dislike me with the alliance intact.

I just hope that Potter is trusting enough to dismiss my family's alliances and still regard me as a good person. It was a bit far fetched to hope for, but it was pretty much the only chance I had now. It wasn't like I could just tell Potter to stop being friends with Weasley and Longbottom. And even if I had, someone would eventually tell him who his enemies were.

Eventually the courtyard got darker, and I excused myself to head to the dungeons. Everyone was already in the dorm room when I got there. Nagito was lying on his bed, seemingly asleep already. Togami was reading a book and Zabini was practicing spells. Malfoy was organizing his nightstand. I wanted to take a shower. I felt dirty after my interaction with that strange Ravenclaw girl. The shower felt cold and refreshing, about the only enjoyable thing that had happened in this dorm room so far.

That night, I lay in my bed restless. I couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened. After an hour of not being able to sleep, I got out of bed and walked down to the main area. When I was down there, I found that transfer girl. I had asked Zabini what her name was, and he had told me that she was Hiyoko Saionji, a halfblood. She sat sulking on one of the arm chairs. It looked huge next to her tiny frame. I awkwardly sat down across from the girl. It was a while before she noticed me.

"What're you doing awake?" Her voice was angry and clipped.

"I could ask the same to you."

"I can't sleep."

"Neither can I. Any reason why?" She looked at me with angry eyes and stared at me for a second before responding.

"I hate it here." I felt a little bit of surprise, but didn't let it show. It wasn't exactly a shocker that the girl who looked furious the whole feast disliked where she had been sorted.

"Ah. Are you a transfer student? I saw you wearing a kimono during the feast."

"No, I'm a dancer. I don't want to talk to any of you stupid stuck-ups right now, so please leave me to hell alone." I felt a flash of anger, but I was too tired to act on it.

I got up quietly and bade her goodnight, but she didn't respond. She just gave me an angry glare before looking away. I walked back up to my dorm room, actually feeling slightly more tired after that interaction. I suppose I could always count on human interaction to drain the will to live right out of me. I lay down on my bed again, and it was only a couple minutes before I fell asleep.