Ashley Haven was a quiet girl. She was small and slight, and unfortunately an orphan. She didn't like to talk about that though. From what she knew of houses before she arrived at Hogwarts, she thought without a doubt that she would be going to Hufflepuff. She tended to be carefree and kind, working hard at tasks given to her and somewhat of a pushover when it came down to it. That didn't mean she wasn't subject to any sort of irritation, though she tried not to take things to heart. Yes, she was irritated when her new friend Allie knocked their boat upside down and landed both of them in freezing water, but she forgave her pretty quickly and found the situation to be amusing, all things considered.
When the Sorting Hat placed her in Slytherin, she was more than surprised. She sat still on the stool, wondering if there had been a mistake, but as Professor McGonagall removed the hat from her head and restored her vision, she saw Slytherin table cheering loudly. Allie was also cheering. Ashley ignored her to the best of her ability, though she was unable to stop the embarrassed flush from colouring her pale cheeks. She sat beside a tall, older girl with violet eyes. The girl smiled at her with good nature and Ashley smiled back, still unsure of her house placement. The Sorting went on, placing Allie in Hufflepuff, and Professor Dumbledore gave a speech before dinner began.
"My name is Grancoster." The tall girl introduced herself as food appeared on the table. "Ruelle Grancoster."
"Ashley Haven." They shook hands, and Ashley noticed a shiny badge pinned to her robes.
"I don't recognize that name." Ruelle commented, though she had an easy smile.
"Er, I'm a halfblood." Ashley mumbled.
"Oh, okay. I thought maybe Malfoy had a younger sister, sorry." Ruelle responded. It was difficult to judge her feelings on the matter, which somewhat frustrated Ashley as she was generally very good at that sort of thing.
"Well, if Malfoy has a younger sister she's not me." Ashley said, poking her food with her fork and feeling slightly queasy.
Even as dinner wrapped up, she found it near impossible to figure out why she was in Slytherin. The prefects led them from the Great Hall to the dungeons, where their common room was located. One of the prefects spoke the password to the stone wall, which opened to reveal the Slytherin common room. It had expensive furniture and, despite its cold look, was comfortably warm. The lanterns and the windows looking out into the lake gave a green glow to the room. Ashley thought it was pretty cool, in spite of her confusion surrounding her house placement.
Older students lounged about the common room, some talking in hushed tones about things Ashley couldn't guess. She was shown to the dormitories along with the other first years. None of them seemed to want to speak to each other, tired from the feast as they were. Ashley sat on her bed, running her hands over the silk covers. A frown marred her face as she tried to make sense of her sorting.
Why Slytherin? Everyone knew Slytherin house was full of dark wizards. Slytherin was a dark wizard. You-Know-Who was in Slytherin. All of the Death Eaters came from Slytherin. It was the evil house. It prized blood purity. Everyone knew that. So why had she, a half-blood with a squib father, been placed there? Why had she, a witch with a wand so strongly against dark magic, been put in the Dark House? The questions bounced around in her head but she received no answers. Sleep was hard to come by that first night.
In the morning, the first year Slytherins gathered in the common room. The six Slytherin prefects stood in front of them, speaking amongst themselves. Ashley wondered why they were here, instead of going off to eat breakfast. She stood to the side, not speaking with anyone in the group. Would they judge her for being a half-blood? One of the prefects, the seventh year boy, took a brief moment to make a headcount. Satisfied, he cleared his throat.
"Now that all of you are here, I'd like to properly welcome you to Hogwarts. More specifically, I'd like to welcome you to Slytherin house." He said, his voice clear. "My name is Ares Parkinson, and I am one of your prefects." Parkinson gestured to the other prefects, who nodded at them. "If you get into a spot of trouble, come to one of us before you go to anyone else. We Slytherins need to stick together, as nobody else is going to try and defend us."
"Not even Professor Slughorn?" One of Ashley's roommates piped up.
"With him, it depends on the situation. You should be able to judge whether that's a good idea or not. You're Slytherins." Parkinson told them, and there was a murmur of pride. A pale blonde girl who looked like she could be Ashley's sister cleared her throat.
"I refuse to allow members of our prestigious House of Slytherin to reflect badly upon the rest of us. We expect you to attend your classes on time every day. You will have pride in your House and your heritage." Ashley hunched her shoulders. "You will not get lost like a common Gryffindor." She said, and Ashley hunched her shoulders even more, attempting to draw into herself like a frightened tortoise.
"But we don't know where our classes are." A first year boy said.
"And that is why we will be taking advantage of the weekend to show you around the castle after breakfast." Parkinson stated. "Now, we will be pairing you off. One prefect will be guiding each pair. As there are six of us and only ten of you, one pair will have two prefects."
"Your prefect will be responsible for showing you more useful shortcuts to get to classes on time, and will answer any questions you may have." The girl said. Ashley wondered what her name was. "You are free to eat breakfast amongst yourselves, but you are not to leave the Great Hall by yourself today."
With that, the prefects split off. Each pair consisted of one male and one female first year, as there were even numbers of them. The blonde prefect walked over to a boy Ashley recognized from the Sorting, but she was struggling to remember his name. The girl from last night, Ruelle Grancoster, approached her. She felt relieved, until the blonde prefect came over with the boy following. How would they react when they learned she was a half-blood? The groups dispersed around the common room, some leaving for the Great Hall and others not wanting to be caught up in a crowd leaving the room.
"My name is Narcissa Black, soon to be Malfoy." The blonde prefect introduced herself. She looked directly at Ashley as she said this, her gaze hard to read. "Seventh year." She added.
"And I'm Ruelle Grancoster. Sixth year." Ruelle said, more to the boy as she had already met Ashley. "Regulus Black?"
"Yes." He nodded. Ashley looked between the two Blacks, wondering if they were siblings or cousins. They looked at her expectantly.
"Er, my name is Ashley Haven." She said, wringing her fingers. Narcissa Black frowned.
"You bear a striking resemblance to my fiancé's family."
"What a strange coincidence." Ashley said carefully, wondering if she could hide her blood-status to avoid scrutiny.
"I don't recognize the names Haven or Grancoster." Regulus Black stated, his arms crossed. He looked relaxed, but Ashley had the sense he was incredibly guarded.
"My family is from France." Ruelle informed him. "My parents were the first ones to move to the United Kingdom, and it was well after 1930, so we aren't part of your Sacred Twenty-Eight." Narcissa Black nodded in confirmation. This seemed to satisfy her relative.
"And you?" He stared at Ashley, his piercing grey eyes unnerving. She looked to Ruelle, who fixed her with a calculating stare.
"My grandparents are from America." She said, keeping her voice even. "We aren't a big family, so it's not surprising you haven't heard of us."
"You are a pureblood though?" Narcissa Black narrowed her eyes.
"Of course." Ashley responded.
Ruelle didn't call her out on her lie, and for that she was grateful. Ashley wasn't sure how long she would be able to keep it up. Regulus Black asked the two prefects several questions about classes and teachers, then asked of the state of the Slytherin quidditch team. Ashley didn't pay attention to the quidditch-speak, instead whispering to Ruelle to inquire whether the two Blacks were siblings or cousins. She learned they were cousins and nodded.
Breakfast was a simple affair, and she waited to leave with her small group. Narcissa Black requested they call her Malfoy, to ease any confusion on who was meant to be addressed. Ashley supposed that made sense. Slytherins put great value on their surnames, so Regulus Black would prefer to be referred to by his family name by those he wasn't extremely close to. Malfoy was a prestigious family name, so the premature adoption of her fiancé's name wasn't unnatural. It wasn't as if it was a downgrade from being a Black. Having to call someone 'Malfoy' was more than a little uncomfortable for her though.
Ashley found all of the blood politics to be stifling in the moment. She was glad Ruelle was there to balance discussion of such things out, though she was unsure if that was done for her sake or if Ruelle found such things to be boring. She did seem the friendlier of the two prefects, and Ashley wished Malfoy and Black would go away so she could ask her questions without as intense a fear of her true blood status being found out.
It was a relief when lunch rolled around. They had been shown to all of the first year classes; the common way as well as the shortcuts to take if one was running late (or just wanted to avoid people). There was so much to remember, with trick steps, walls that looked like doors, doors that looked like walls… It was overwhelming, and she hoped she would get time to familiarize herself with the castle more. At least the sights nearing the Great Hall were vaguely familiar. She could probably find her way back down to the common room from there if she focused.
Allie came to speak with her at lunch. She was comforted by her friend's appearance, but she also paradoxically felt more stressed by her showing up. A fifth year named Wilkes insulted the redhead for her resemblance to the Weasley family ('blood-traitors', if the whispers she overheard were true). Ashley felt a little bad for not defending her, but she didn't think going that route would have helped anything so she instead suggested she leave. The other Slytherins eyed her strangely and she tried her best to look put off by the experience.
Ruelle watched the exchange from a little ways down the table with curious violet eyes. Ashley didn't notice, and upon finishing her lunch she scampered off to find a more secluded area of the castle. She needed to think. The tour the two prefect girls had given was of little help as all sense of direction fled her scattered memory, and she found herself unsure of where she was. Was she on the fifth floor or the seventh? She paced, trying to dissipate her stress as she wished she could find someplace to just think and figure out how she was going to get back to the common room from where she was. She wasn't entirely sure why she opened the door to her right, but she was glad she did.
The room itself was simple, with several bookshelves and a comfortable looking armchair. There was a large map on the wall, and every book was about Hogwarts, Slytherin, or blood purity. Ashley blinked, inspecting the map first. It had a dotted line drawn, and after a moment she realized it was a map of Hogwarts, and the line seemed to lead… directly to the Slytherin common room! She grinned before turning her attention to the books. It would be good to plan her next course of action before returning to her house mates.
She had already put two conflicting pieces of information out there. Malfoy and Black believed her to be a pureblood from a foreign family. Ruelle knew she was a halfblood, and Allie knew her father was a squib. Ashley stiffened, her eyes widening. Allie knew she wasn't a pureblood. What if the other girl said something? She didn't exactly seem like the best at keeping secrets… especially ones she didn't even know were supposed to be secrets! Ashley would have to find her again as soon as possible, out of hearing range from everyone else. She sank into the armchair with a book on pureblood families.
If Ashley was going to pretend she was a pureblood, she would need to know what all purebloods were expected to know. While it was true she knew of the Malfoys (urgh) and the Blacks, she wasn't conscious of every pureblooded family out there. The book she'd picked out was clearly biased, but then that was important- a good thing even. She would need to know which families were considered 'blood traitors' and which were the most powerful according to extreme blood purists. The Malfoys and Blacks, certainly, but it wouldn't hurt to stay on Parkinson's good side. The book even briefly went over the subject of New Purebloods- magic folk who had not had a muggle (or muggleborn) in their family tree in four generations. These New Pureblood families were only placed just above blood traitors in terms of family respect. By the time she'd skimmed over the most important bits of each family's status, she felt just a little more confident.
Inside the book was a pamphlet with different family trees. It wasn't crafted by the same author, and Ashley glanced at them. She spotted Regulus and Sirius Black on their family tree. Sirius Black… She'd heard whispers about him. Best to stay away, if the rumors had even an inkling of truth. He and James Potter were some of the main antagonists of Slytherin house. The charts were full and unbiased, with the inclusion of even those disowned. She looked at the Malfoy family tree, spotting a certain 'Caine Malfoy' and frowned. Disowned for being a squib. Ashley stopped looking at the pamphlet, redirecting her thoughts.
While she wasn't a pureblood herself, her delicate physique and paleness from her father's side made her easily pass as one. She could use this to her advantage. Ashley returned the book to its place and stood in front of the bookshelf, eyebrows furrowed. Masquerading as a pureblood would grant her safety from in-house isolation for the time being, but how long could she keep it up? How long before she got sick of hiding? She didn't believe any of the blood purist agenda, so she wasn't about to be throwing herself into that role, but she didn't want to be seen as a blood traitor as that would give her just as much trouble as being a half-blood. Perhaps even more trouble. She would have to muffle her true beliefs and try to put herself in the grey-area like the Slughorn family.
Ashley let out an aggressive sound of frustration. This was stupid! Why couldn't she just be in any other house? If she'd been in Hufflepuff like she'd been expecting, nobody would care about her blood-status. And she would've already had a friend. Her shoulders slumped and she ran her hand along the spine of a deep, emerald green book. Yes, being in Hufflepuff would've made her life a lot easier. But then… the Hat had said she had a great opportunity if she played her cards right… Could she get the other Slytherins to consider a more tolerant stance on blood purity? Ashley pulled a book on Slytherin house out and returned to the armchair.
What was a Slytherin really? Her older adoptive brother hadn't gone to Hogwarts. She didn't have any experience with the house; only snippets she'd overheard, paranoid fear of the war that had started only two years prior. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The Death Eaters. Only bad wizards came from Slytherin, yes, that was the belief. The effects of the war reflected poorly on Slytherin house's reputation in the eyes of outsiders.
But Ashley knew she wasn't a bad person. Yet, she was in Slytherin. So, what exactly was a Slytherin? She skimmed over a list of famous Slytherins found at the back of the book, pausing at Merlin's name. Interesting. Ashley dropped the book to check if the shelf had one on Merlin, finding that it conveniently did. She read that for a while before realizing she'd been distracted and returning to the one on her house. Merlin was interesting, yes, but she could read about him some other time. She needed to decide how she would act before she went to dinner. Ashley looked up and found a conveniently placed placed clock on the wall. She had about an hour left.
The ambition, cunning, resourcefulness… None of it sounded bad. She'd even seen the fraternity the book covered in her brief time spent at Hogwarts. This book, unlike the one on pureblood families, was entirely unbiased. There was a simple telling of facts and history, and even the history was fascinating. The pervasive stance on blood purity in the eyes of many Slytherins had started with Salazar Slytherin himself, with his wish to keep Hogwarts free of muggleborn students. Ashley had known about this already, but it was only now that she received the context of his beliefs. With the muggles violent persecution and hunting of wizards in his time, it only made sense to be mistrustful of muggleborn students. So much time had passed that it made no sense for the belief to persevere (especially with the statute of secrecy in place), but she understood why Salazar Slytherin himself had adopted and maintained those views.
Ashley was so lost in the layers of history behind Slytherin house that she almost forgot to go to dinner. When she sat down at her house table, she chose to take a seat beside a strong looking girl she recognized as one of her dorm-mates. Her heart hammered in her chest, wondering if she was really capable of keeping up this pureblood charade. Her dorm-mate smiled in a friendly manner, holding out a hand to shake. Ashley did so, more out of politeness than a wish to be her friends. She hoped the other girl couldn't feel how clammy she was and the strong handshake almost felt like it was crushing her fingers.
"You're in my dorm, right?" She asked.
"Er, yes, I-I think so. What's your name?" Ashley was impressed the other girl could hear her over the noise of the Great Hall. She wasn't speaking very loudly.
"Lucinda Talkalot." She answered, and Ashley had to force herself not to laugh at the name. "I'm a pureblood." She said, though Ashley was certain she must be a New Pureblood as her name certainly wasn't part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Ashley was starting to wish she'd chosen to pose as a New Pureblood instead of a foreign one, but it was already too late for that.
"Ashley Haven. My- my grandparents are from America." Ashley responded.
She felt the need to place that information out there before any questions were shot at her own name. She supposed Talkalot felt the same. Her dorm-mate started talking about quidditch, saying she was determined to snag the spot of team captain as soon as she could. Apparently somebody named Emma Vanity was the current Slytherin captain. Ashley didn't really care about quidditch, knowing she was too frail to play the sport, but she feigned interest as she didn't want to be rude to one of the people she was living with. Dinner was much more pleasant than breakfast and lunch had been. She could already feel the solidarity being built between her housemates.
Talkalot moved to sit with other students as she overheard them speaking of quidditch as well, and Ashley kicked her feet back and forth, feeling relieved. Upon finishing her meal, she followed an older student back to the Slytherin common room and tried her best to pay attention to her surroundings. If there was one trip she should be able to make with her eyes closed, it was the way to and from the Great Hall and Slytherin common room. She sat on a couch in the common room, despite her wish to simply head to her dorms. Ruelle sat beside her.
"Your Weasley-looking friend seems nice." She commented, daintily crossing her long legs. Ashley felt tiny sitting next to her.
"Her name is Allie." Ashley said.
"I know." Ruelle smiled. "My brother was showing her to the library when I met her."
"You have a brother?" Ashley blinked, racking her brain to try and remember if she'd noticed a sort of male Ruelle amongst her fellow Slytherins.
"Yes, he's in Hufflepuff."
"Oh." Ashley wasn't sure why she expected him to be in the same house as his sister.
"You wouldn't guess we were related unless you payed attention to our eyes though. The violet runs in the family." Ruelle said offhandedly. She glanced around before dropping her voice. "I'll keep your secret. You seem like a nice kid, so I hope you don't give me any reason to out you."
"Th-thank you." Ashley stammered.
For a moment she thought Ruelle had somehow found out about her vaguely bisexual status before she remembered wizards didn't give a single hoot about that sort of thing, and there was no way she would've known about that anyways. The tall girl was obviously talking about her blood status. Her threat was oddly friendly, and while Ashley knew she was serious about the secret being a potential form of blackmail, she also knew Ruelle was genuine in her wish to stay on friendly terms with her. Their conversation started up once more as Ruelle changed the subject to that of classes, and it was as if she hadn't said anything mildly threatening in the first place. Ashley decided that was just the sort of thing one should expect from Slytherin house. It wasn't as uncomfortable as she'd been expecting.
Word Count: 3,775
Hey, sorry, I know it's been forever since I updated. As you've most certainly noticed, this chapter switched point of views. I plan on having a 'protagonist' for each house; Allie for Hufflepuff (and the primary protagonist), John for Gryffindor, Ashley for Slytherin (she's my irl friend's OC), and I'm not sure about the Ravenclaw. There probably won't be a huge number of Gryffindor chapters considering the fact that John is the protagonist of my main fic, but you never know. As it stands, Allie's chapters are mostly going to be humorous, and Ashley's chapters will be a bit more political (because politics are FUN in the HP universe). Having a representative for each house will allow me to show all the OCs off more easily as well! Including Ruelle wouldn't have been as easy had I not written this chapter. While it's true Allie met her brother Kieran, it's a lot easier for Ashley to get closer to her because she's her prefect!
This story isn't really supposed to be plot based, so the chapters won't be connected by anything other than perhaps the timeline. One chapter may be about Allie trying to sneak a dragon egg into the castle and failing (which results in a detention with Hagrid in the forbidden forest), and the next might be about the blood tensions going on with the wizarding war ravaging the countryside. You never know!
Anyways, more OCs are definitely welcome. There currently aren't any Hufflepuffs in Allie's year aside from Dirk Cresswell (which isn't a huge problem because Allie is all over the place and doesn't need to only be friends with her dorm-mates) but still.
I'm not sure at all when the next chapter will be up because this story isn't a priority to me. John's fic (the main series and what this fic is a spinoff of) has a more structured plot and is planned out, so that will easily be updated more frequently than this.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter; it was fun and challenging to write! It would mean a lot to me if you can leave a review and I LOVE talking to people about my works! Anyways, I love you all, see you next time!
Manakete's Guest Review Corner:
PGW: THIS FIC IS AMAZING! I AWAIT MORE CHAPTERS! BTW, I REALLY LOVE ALLIE.
Manakete: Thank you! Allie is really fun to write because she's Chaotic haha. I'm sorry it took so long to update :'D