Time to Change

Dean looked at his parents for a moment. He hated this idea. It was stupid and awful and just a bad idea. His parents were juggles, they would have no way to defend themselves if this person chose to try and do something. Running through different spells in his head, he tried to come up with one that would make his parents invisible or something like that. Running his fingers over his hair, he sighed again. "This is a bad idea," he stated his opinion for what must have been the thousandth time. "Dean!" his mother scolded and he sighed again, "We are going to help this young girl. She is misguided and needs our support," his mother said and Dean mouthed the words along with her, having heard them a hundred times. A knock at the door, had everyone on their feet. Great, he thought as he watched his father walk over and open the door. His dad opened it and he crossed his arms and waited.

---

Kara sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in front of her. Today was the day that Zabini was supposed to come. She shuddered as she thought about him. He was like every other Slytherin, teasing and making fun of the Gryffindor kids but he...he was different. Everyone else, she could read and figure out. She could never figure him out and it freaked him out. She ran her fingers through her hair and took a shuddering breath. What was she going to do now that they were going to be sharing a house, she thought in desperation. She touched the end of her braid and looked out the window and her eyes widened. There were three men walking toward her house and by the looks of it, the middle one was Zabini. What were they doing here! Her parents weren't going to be home for another hour and they weren't supposed to be here for another three. Crap, she thought as she stood and went to the door.

While Natasha wasn't as harsh as her parents, she wasn't exactly thrilled about being sent to live with muggles. She knew one of the people in the house she was being sent to - the son, Dean, who was in her year a Hogwarts - was a wizard, and that Dean's mom and step father, and siblings, were all muggles. She didn't exactly think it was fair that she was being sent to live with muggles, when other people in her situation got sent to live with actual magical families. She let out a sigh as she reached up and knocked on the door. She was supposed to be dropped off by some guy with a name she couldn't pronounce, but he never showed up. Instead she went alone. When the door opened, she did her best to smile. She wasn't a completely awful person, after all. Sure, her parents were Death Eaters, but that didn't mean she was one. She may have been forced to fight on the bad guys side, but she never killed anyone and she wouldn't partake in torturing or anything like that either. "Uh, hello," she said, her halfhearted fake smile on her lips. "I'm Natasha."

---

"First of all, we're early," Blaise said in a bored tone as his escorts knocked on the door in front of them. He was thankful he wasn't being stuck with muggles, but he wasn't exactly thrilled about this entire thing. He was a fully grown person. He didn't need to be housed up with some do-good family. He didn't know why they didn't just lock him up like everyone else. Sure, he hadn't actually killed anyone, but he had kind of agreed with what they were doing. He had been friends with Malfoy, after all. They'd talk about what Voldemort was doing all the time. Malfoy always seemed more into it than Blaise had been, but Blaise wasn't against it, either. Blaise was about to open his mouth to continue his thought, but a young girl, probably his age, opened the door. She looked familiar, but vaguely. She probably went to school with him, but he wasn't really sure. "Are your parents home?" one of Blaise's escorts, or as he called them, babysitters, asked.

Dean watched as his father opened the door to reveal a young woman standing on their doorstep. He recognized her from school and ran his fingers through his hair. She definitely wasn't someone that he wanted anywhere near his family but she also wasn't someone like Malfoy. Pushing himself away from the counter, he walked into the hallway and watched as his parents invited her in and took her into the living room. "How was your trip Natasha?" His mother asked before smiling at her and offering her something to drink. Dean continued to watch silently as his parents spoke to her. He had made them put the other kids upstairs were at least they would be safe from some spells if it came to that. "This is our oldest son Dean," his mother motioned for him to come in and he stepped forward. "Hello," he did curtly before ducking, narrowly avoiding his mother's attempt at swatting his head. He couldn't help the grin that broke out on his face.

---

Kara looked at the big guy who spoke to her, tall dark and annoying, before shaking her head. "You weren't supposed to be here for another three hours," she stayed the obvious and felt a light blush cover her cheeks. She looked at the three of them before sighing and stepping aside. "Please come in," she said in a deadpan tone that spoke volumes for how much she didn't want them to take the invitation. "We will leave the not here but we must be off," said TDA's partner and she have a smile. "Of course," she said. Great she thought, alone with poison. She faked a smile at Blaze before motioning for him to come in. "Your room is down the hall, last door on your left," she gestured with her hand before walking over and sitting back down at the table. Her hands trembled in her lap as she tried to calm down her nerves. She hated him being here, she thought.

"It wasn't bad," Natasha replied politely, taking the drinko . It really wasn't much of a trip. She took a train to the station nearest the Thomas' house, then walked here. Her and the other students that were in the relocation program had somehow put an anti apparation spell on them, so she had to travel the old fashioned way. She smiled slightly when Dean's mom took a swing at him. She stood slightly awkwardly in their living room, looking from person to person, not really knowing what to do. "You... erm... you have a very nice home. Thanks for letting me stay here." She really wasn't thankful she was staying here at all, but she didn't want to make it harder on herself if she didn't have to.

---

"Right," Blaise said with a nod. He headed down the hall where she'd indicated, dropping his bag onto the floor. His wand, like some of the other people in the program, had a tracer on it, so the Ministry could track what spells he casted. Anything suspicious and they'd show up. He let out a sigh as he flicked his wand to unpack his stuff into the dresser that was in the room. It only took a few seconds. He returned his wand back to his pocket and headed back out of the room, towards where Kara was. "D'you have anything to eat?" Blaise asked expectantly.

Dean straightened up quickly at her words and the smile fell from his lips. "We both know you don't want to be here so don't lie to me or my family," he said with a glare in her direction. He looked at his parents for a moment and he sighed softly. "Mom, Dad, could you leave the room for a moment?" he asked. He heard them about to protest and he looked at them. They nodded and left. Turning to look at her, he glared for a moment. "Listen, this is what is going to happen. You were forced onto us. We didn't ask for you and my parents will be nice to you but we don't want you here either. You hurt my family or so much as look at them wrong and I promise you, you will wish that you were make in whatever slime hole that you crawled out of...got it?" he said as he watched her closely.

---

Kara looked up when he walked into the kitchen and she motioned around. "Sure plenty but you can bet your sweet ass that I will not be getting it for you," she said as she ran her fingers through her hair before picking up her bowl and walking over to the sink. Washing her dish out, she set it on the drying rack before looking over at him for a moment. She looked out the window and pleaded for her parents to come home. Blaise was making her more and more uncomfortable and not because she was scared of him. Something about him, drew her to him. Looking away, she ran her fingers through her hair and headed toward her room.

Natasha's expression immediately hardened when Dean went at her. "Back off, Thomas," she said through gritted teeth. "If you keep that promise you'll be just as bad as me." She was going to attempt to play nice, but if he wanted to be like this, she wasn't going to be rainbows and sunshine. "I don't actually have any intention of hurting your family, and just because I didn't asked to get forced onto you guys doesn't mean I can't be grateful that they agreed to let me stay here. You don't know me, so why don't you do us both a favor and get the hell out of my face before I make you." She knew she was small and didn't look intimidating, but she could stand her ground. She wasn't one of the unfortunate kids under spell surveillance, so if she did hex him, it wouldn't be a problem until he got around to reporting it.

---

"I was just going to ask where I could get some, relax," Blaise muttered, holding up his hands in a surrender kind of pose. Great, he was housed with a high strung little thing. He headed over to the fridge and opened it up, feeling slightly uneasy with her in the kitchen as he was digging through her fridge. He gave his head a little shake as he pulled out an apple from one of the vegetable drawers at the bottom the the fridge and stood up, taking a bite. When he turned and shut the fridge, she was leaving the kitchen. "Nice talking," Blaise said quietly, leaning against the counter. This was pretty much how he expected it to go, so he wasn't really surprised or upset that she'd been a little rude and then left.

Thomas scoffed at her. "I'm not threatening you for the fun of it. I am dead serious. You touch my family and I will end you," he said as he turned and left the living room. Walking upstairs, he told his siblings once again to stay as far away from her as possible. He ran his fingers through his hair as e cast a couple spells. On would allow him to know where she was in the house at all times, the other was a spell detector so that he would know any of the spells that were cast in the house. Protective measures, he told himself. The war had made him paranoid. He had managed to keep his family safe until now an due wasn't about to let anyone change that. Walking back downstairs, he watched as his arenas led her to the spare room that she would be staying in.

---

Kara glanced over her shoulder at him and saw him leaning against he counter, eating an apple. She sighed softly and ran her fingers through her hair before heading to her room. She changed quickly into a tee shirt and a pair of running shorts and sneakers. Walking back into the living room, she sat down on the couch and looked over at the clock. Her parents should be home soon, she thought as she rolled her shoulders, in an attempt to get rid of the tension. Why here? she thought, right because her parents wanted to help someone. But they hadn't fought in the war, she had. She had seen the devastation and the pain it had caused. A shiver ran through her spine as the images came back to haunt her.

@ fortune teller
(Hey, are we still doing this?)

[sure! sorry ]

"Such a lovely young man," Natasha grumbled. She turned and sat down on the couch that was behind her, folding her arms over her chest. This was going to be living hell, she decided. She didn't think it was going to be that bad, but if she had Mr. Tall, Dark, and Annoying As Fuck on her 24/7, she wasn't going to enjoy herself. She'd probably just leave, eventually. She was an adult. She didn't really have to be there. She could leave at any time. The Order wouldn't be happy, but she could do it. They probably wouldn't be happy with Dean and his family if she did, either. That was a perk.

---

Blaise waited for Kara to come back downstairs and settle in the living room before he moved from his spot. He put the core of the apple he'd eaten in the garbage before moving to the living room. He stayed in the door frame, leaning against it and crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not going to hurt you, y'know. You don't have to be scared. I'm under surveillance. Even if I wanted to, the Order would be here before I could get a spell off. The most I could do without them finding out is shout." He didn't really care if she was uncomfortable, but he didn't want to get the order even more on his ass. If he was nice, they'd probably lift the tracer on his wand, right?