My Brother Is the Slytherin Snob...!

Bea hauls her owl into the cart, setting the beautiful creature on the seat next to her. She smiles, anticipating the upcoming year. The door opens, and Melanie, her neon hair glowing, walks in.

“Bea! You’re already here! How did you manage to get away from your parents?”

Bea laughs. “Easy. I distracted them with Draco. He is their favorite, you know.”

Mel gives her best friend a bittersweet smile, before breaking out into a grin.

"Merlin's Beard, Bea, you won't believe what happened over the summer!"

Mel immediately breaks out into a detailed description of her summer, including an incident with one of the rather more well-known of the Peters siblings. Bea laughs along, occasionally adding in a story of her own. Mel is in one of her more interesting stories when Bryan walks in.

“Sup?”

Mel and Bea look up, slightly dazed at being pulled out of their conversation. The two look at each other, a mischievous grin spreading over their faces. With a nod, they tackle their friend into the hallway.

“BRYAN!!!” The two girls scream. The ambushed boy looks up at the ceiling, use to this behavior from his best friends.

Draco walks by at that precise moment. With a snort, he makes his presence known. Mel and Bea quickly get off Bryan, who stands behind the two, his piercing eyes daring Draco to make a wrong move.

“Can’t you three get a room?”

“Already got one, Draco.” Mel spits back at him.

“Oh? You mean this one?” He points to the cart they usually sit in. “Sorry. Crabbe and Goyle wish to have a cart of their own, and we happened to see this empty one right here, so they're claiming it. Right, boys?”

The two buffoons move as to take over the cart, their hulking bodies more bumbling that walking over.

Bryan silently steps into the doorway of the cart. Neither muscular nor buff, the royal kid commands the space around him in a way that is truly frightening. The two goons hesitate, looking at their leader for guidance. Draco steps up to the challenge. He's a few inches shorter than Bryan, but able to at least look him in the eye decently. The two boys have a showdown before Draco gives up, feeling the train start its long journey towards Hogwarts.

“Come on Crabbe, Goyal. Let’s fine some place not overrun by freaks.”

Draco spins and begins walking away, his back straight and his minions following faithfully.

“I am so glad you two are not like those!” Bea looks at her two best friends. She gives each a hug, before Bryan ushers them into the cart and closes it behind them. Now safely behind the glass, Mel and Bea easily pick up their conversation form earlier. Bryan plays with his snake bites, staring uneasily outside the window as the trees pass by in a blur.

Mel turns towards him.
"Bryan, is everything alright?" She asks, her voice full of worry. The dark-skinned teen looks over at her with midnight black eyes. A smile lights up his face.

"Yeah. Just thinking about how different things are becoming."

A gloomy atmosphere settles down over the trio as their memories flood in, each lost in their own nostalgia.

"Things really are going to be different... Who knows what's going to happen."

Mel and Bryan turn to Bea, their faces speaking of the same concern and dread. Mel puts her hand in the middle of the cart, a determined look on her face.

"Well, no matter what, we need to stick together, ok?!"

The other two can't help but place their hands on top of hers. After a count of three, they shout, 'Bloody Freaks!' and break out into small chuckles. The mood lightened, the three start discussing their plans for the upcoming year.

School comes into view just as they come around the bend. Being in the back, the three hear the “ooh”s and “aah”s before the castle became visible. Bea sighs. Mel squeals. Even Bryan lets a smile of relief show. To the three of them, Hogwarts is home. It’s a place where they can escape from the pressure of being high-class purebloods and just be themselves.

Taking her owl with her, Bea steps into a carriage. Mel and Bryan climb in behind her. Mel begins to chatter aimlessly as the thresrals take them to the only place they’ll ever call home. All three of them can see the beautiful horses. Bea especially has taken a liking to them. She spends hours in their presence, coming with meat to feed them. They’re so gentle, so graceful.

Along with everyone above first year, the trio files into the Great Hall. Sitting at the end of the Slytherine table, they begin chattering while waiting impatiently for the food to arrive.

“They looked like a scared-y bunch.” Mel states while twirling a strand of hair.

Bea smiles. “I think that most of them will be in either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. Some looked pretty smart. Although, there are always quite a few Gryffindor every year. Maybe we’ll get some Slytherine. Do you know of any pureblood families whose kids are 11?”

Both Mel and Bryan shake their heads. The first years come in and Mel and Bea start betting who’ll end up where. They’re doing pretty good until they accidentally send a Griffey over to Ravenclaw. Then, from there, they fail miserably. Laughing hysterically as the final first year takes his place among Gryffinndor, though they had accidentally classified him as Hufflepuff, neither notice Professor Dumbledore standing at the podium until Bryan taps their shoulders. The hall quiets down gradually and everyone waits for the professor to speak.

Once he’s done, the food arrives and the three dig in. Never a heavy eater, Bea is the first one done. She watches with an amused expression as her best friends eat as though they'd never eaten a day in their lives. Though, they probably didn't eat as much as they should have over the summer. The parties their parents throw always have such horrible food.

After spending a few hours in the Great Hall, the three head off to the common room, looking for a little peace and quiet. Although none of them really want to be there, all three of them find themselves in the Slytherin house. It's easier sometimes to just give in to their parents rather than fight. Besides, they found each other, and who could ask for better friends?

In the common room, the three occupy a large, comfortable couch in front of the green fire.

Bea groans. "I just remembered something. Mother took away my broom.... I'm not sure if it made it to Hogwarts or not." She bites back a moan, closing her eyes against the dread filling her.
Bryan pats her hand. "It's alright. I'll lend you mine. Plus, we could always sneak back to your place and get it."

"Oh, oh, oh! Bea! We sooooo need to go back and pick up your always-changing nail polish, because I know you didn't bring it with you!" Mel adds.

Bea laughs. "You're right, Mel, I didn't. How did you know?"

The two girls smirk at each other. Bryan pats their heads before standing. "C'mon you two. We need to get some sleep. Everyone else has already headed up to bed."

The girls stand, Bea yawning and Mel stretching. With a nod, they start off in their separate directions, Bryan towards the boys and Bea and Mel towards the girls dorms.

“Be careful you two.” Bryan adds, pausing at the bottom of the stares.

Mel snorts. “What? You think some axe-murderer is going to pop out of one of the girls’ rooms? Or are you worried about us tripping?”

Mel and Bea smile at him. Bryan, unfazed, stares seriously back.

“You know what I’m talking about.”

Their smiles fade and the girls return Bryan's gaze. This year, everything’s going to be different. They’re all 16 now. Things are changing, whether for the better or worst, they can’t tell yet. But they do know something. Voldomort is out there, planning, scheming, and they’re going to end up getting involved. If they aren’t careful, something serious could happen.

Mel and Bea give Bryan a final nod before the three head off to bed.

Bea's the only one awake still. According to her alarm clock, it's 4:32 am. She can't sleep. Thoughts of what their future holds, of all the pain and suffering, of her past and he friend's pasts, they run through her head until they morph together and she can no longer separate one story from the other. Running her hands through her hair, Bea realizes that she isn't going to be able to get any sleep tonight. She slips out of bed and showers, hoping that she won't reveal her sleepless night when the others wake.

5:28 blinks red in the darkness. With a sigh, Bea disables her alarm and tiptoes out of the room. Once the door is closed silently behind her, Bea checks her jeans for her wand. Knowing it's secure, she quietly pads down the stairs and into the common room. A familiar head of platinum hair greets her vision. Upon closer inspection, Bea sees that her brother is asleep on the couch, his arm thrown over his eyes in an attempt to block out the light. She smiles, despite her usual outward hatred towards him. Pulling the blanket up more around his body, she leaves him sleeping close to the fire, his gentle breathing all that's disturbing the silence, and makes her way to Bryan's room.

She's sure it's been at least half an hour, but Bea can't tell, because she has no way of knowing the time, and waiting always seems longer in quiet places. The problem is, Bea can't make up her mind of whether she should knock, quietly call his name, or just walk in. With another sigh, she opts for the last one, and quickly slips into the boys' room. The pitch black is only broken by the clocks on their nightstands. 5:47 flashes at her. Bea easily spots her friend, his piercings shining briefly in the light. As silently as she can, she tiptoes over to his bead and shakes him. His black eyes open immediately and find her blue ones.

"Is everything alright?" He asks in a hushed tone.

Bea gives him a reassuring smile and nod. A silence envelopes them before Bryan moves over and holds the blanket open for her. Shyly, Bea slips under the blankets and snuggles up to her friend. His strong arms envelop her and she inhales his familiar scent. Mel and Bea picked up a rather bad habit of crawling into Bryan's bed when they were scared or couldn't sleep. Bea slowly slips off into a blissfully dreamless sleep before the alarm rings at 8:00 am.