Warning: Text from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and Pottermore is included. There's also a little bit of a time skip because I was honestly too lazy to write the rest of the sorting.

Padma Patil quietly observed the girl who lived, whispering with Hermione, as all the first years were led by the prefect to their dormitory. She had grown up hearing tales of the girl and her destruction of the dark lord ever since she was a child. To her, the girl who lived was almost a larger than life figure.

Meeting her in real life was…interesting.

For one, she didn't expect her to be so…girly. For some reason, she had this image in her head of a brash tomboy who would be pretty but ultimately she wouldn't care about her looks. Potter in real life didn't seem anything like that.

She was gorgeous but also clearly someone who put effort into their appearance to remain that way. Far from a tomboy, she had impeccable manners and many of the same unconsciously graceful movements as the wealthy purebloods. Most surprisingly, she revealed that she had been living in the muggle world.

The close friendship between her and the muggleborn Granger was also a point of interest. At first glance, the two girls didn't seem like that were much alike. Granger didn't have the same easy elegance and mysterious air that Potter had and was clearly intelligent if not a bit of a know it all. It was easy to pick her out for Ravenclaw. Potter didn't seem like an airhead but she also wouldn't have guessed that she would be sorted in the House of the Ravens from first glance. She would have guessed that practical matters and her outer appearance would be more suited for the girl then intellectual pursuits.

"Patil", a pleasant voice called from her right. She was startled out of her thoughts, quickly realizing that she had lost sight of the two girls that were now bracketing her on each side. She glanced at each of the girls, calmly greeting them in turn.

Meeting their eyes, there was a second where her instincts screamed at her. She felt like a trapped animal hunted by dangerous predators, but the moment passed and was forgotten about as Potter and Granger directed warm smiles at her.

"We saw you walking alone and decided to join you", Granger stated.

She waved her hand. "You didn't have to but I appreciate it none the less."

Potter turned curious green eyes on her (the color was even more eye catching up close) and quietly asked, "May I ask what you were pondering so deeply? Only if you don't mind sharing of course."

Well, she certainly couldn't tell them she had been analyzing Kali could she? Instead, she made up an excuse about wondering how the first day of classes would proceed.

"We're very much the same and both very excited" Hermione stated.

They made small talk as they walked towards their dormitory, Padma getting sleepier by the minute. She focused half of her attention on the conversation surrounding her and passively observed their surroundings.

"Oh dear, Hermione" came an amused voice beside her, "it appears as if we're boring Ms. Patil to sleep!"

That snapped Padma out of her daze, worried she was being rude. "Oh no, you aren't! I didn't mean to be so rude! I'm just tired and full of food. I'd like to go to sleep soon."

Potter gave her an amused little smile. "No worries. I was just teasing you. I'm very tired myself. I wonder how much longer we have to go? "

After climbing one more staircase, they came to a halt and Padma saw Hermione give a silent sigh of relief. The prefects turned around in front of a large wooden door with only a bronze knocker decorating its surface and introduced themselves.

Robert Hillard continued on: "Our dormitories are in turrets off the main tower; our four poster beds are covered in sky blue silk eiderdowns and the sound of the wind whistling around the windows is very relaxing. And once again: well done on becoming a member of the cleverest, quirkiest and most interesting house at Hogwarts."

The first years began applauding, eager to enter their new home.

Claire Edgewich, the female prefect, described how to access the tower. "To access the common room, you must answer a riddle given to you by the eagle knocker. If you are incorrect, you must wait until someone else gets the correct answer."

She demonstrated, lifting the knocker and rapping it against the door. From the knocker emerged a wise and commanding female voice with a clever riddle. "I am used to bat with, yet I never get a

hit. I am near a ball, yet it is never thrown. What am I?"

After a few moments, Edgewich answered, "Eyelashes".

"Correct. You may proceed". The door opened inward and displayed the common room. Hillard lead the group in.

The Ravenclaw common room was gorgeous. It was a wide, circular room with a midnight blue carpet, arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks, and a domed ceiling painted with stars. Comfortable tables and chairs filed the room and bookcases lined the walls. By the door, leading up to the dormitories, stood a tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw made of what appeared to be white marble.

"We'll have a meeting tomorrow night with Professor Flitwick and go over all the rules there. I know you all must be very tired so I'll lead you to your rooms for now."

Girls were directed to one side and boys to another. At the top of the staircase, they found their beds at last. Obviously too tired to talk much, the girls all pulled on their pajamas and fell deeply asleep.

*****Femme Fatale*****

"There, look!"

"Where"

"Next to the girl with bushy hair"

"Did you see her face? So pretty."

"Did you see her scar?"

Kali walked on, paying no mind to the attention she was receiving, focusing on finding her classes with Hermione. Whispers had followed her the moment she has set foot from the common room. People lined up outside classrooms, standing on the tip of their toes to get a look at her, or doubled back in the corridors to stare again.

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot, but it was also great fun discovering what everything could do. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Kali was sure the coats of armor could walk. She loved Hogwarts.

The ghosts were also quite interesting. She would have to corner one of them one day and ask the questions she was dying to know the answer to.

And then there was Argus Filch. He was incredibly annoying and quite disgusting. Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.

Proving to once again go against the norm, Kali actually liked Mors. Norris. In their few encounters, Mrs. Norris was almost docile and allowed Kali to pet her gently before she quickly got annoyed and shook her off. Other students in the area were amazed. Perhaps Mrs. Norris could feel the high regard Kali held for animals, higher than for some human beings.

Once you managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for.

Astrology and Herbology were only mildly interesting to Kali but, after having class with Neville and the rest of the Hufflepuffs, it appeared that he really enjoyed the class so Kali made sure to pay close attention. She wanted to know more about this subject her little teddy bear loved so that he had someone to enjoy it with. It would tie him to her even more tightly.

Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Kali's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. Kali thought Flitwick was extremely adorable and very intelligent. She really enjoyed his class.

Professor McGonagall was again different. Kali had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

Kali instantly began wondering how she could get around the rules. It was practically like McGonagall challenged her to do so.

Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione and Kali had made any difference to their matches.

The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Terry Boot asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather.

Friday was an important day for Kali and Hermione. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without Kali getting them lost in an attempt to explore even once.

"What have we got today?" Kali asked Hermione as she poured sugar on his porridge.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Hermione. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them- we'll be able to see if it's true."

A slow, almost cruel smile spread across Kali's lips. "Lovely. This may be interesting."

Just then, the mail arrived. Kali had gotten used to this by now, but it had given her a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.

Hedwig hadn't brought her anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble her ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls.

This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Kali's plate. One trim eyebrow rose in interest. She tore it open at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl:

Dear Kali (and Hermione),

I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I knew your parents and Hermione said to send any mail directly to you. I want to hear all about you all's first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.

Hagrid

Turning her gaze to Hermione who merely stared back with a smile and shrugged, she borrowed Hermione's quill, scribbled Yes, please, see you later on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again.

The potions lesson was completely awful.

At the start-of-term banquet, Kali had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked her and was amused by it. By the end of the first Potions lesson, she knew she'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Kali - he hated her.

Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls. Kali found the entire atmosphere remarkable. Snape was really dedicated to this very creepy aesthetic he wanted to give off.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Kali's name.

"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Kali Potter. Our new - celebrity."

Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Kali merely glanced over her shoulder, and when she connected eyes with Malfoy, they stared for a long moment as the sniggering tapered off. With one last mocking wink, she turned back around.

Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had y caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. Kali and Padma exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead. Kali laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, only using the barest amount of pressure, and Hermione slowly sank back into her seat with an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. Sometimes she still got a bit overeager.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Well aware that this was not something learned in first year potions, Kali couldn't resist mocking him a little.

"A sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death if I'm not mistaken" She paused and then gave a sarcastic "…sir".

Snape's lips curled into a sneer.

"Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

This was something they learned in first year, but not until almost the very end.

Hermione's hand had shot into the air beside her. Keeping a small smile on her face, knowing Snape would interpret it as arrogance, Kali answered, "A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons…sir."

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

That was enough. She knew the answers to all the questions because she found potions fascinating and read everything she could get her hands on but she tired of this power play. How dare he attempt this kind of intimidation tactic! Besides being a frankly insulting method to use on her, (did he really think this would force her to cower) it was disgustingly unprofessional. If a teacher was willing to behave this way on the very first day of class, what kind of learning environment would this be for everyone?

She tilted her head and ignored his last question, instead saying: "Professor, I've prepared for this class as adequately as I could have. I've read the first year potions book more than once. Your questions are not first year material. If I knew all the answers to your questions, I wouldn't need to be in a first year potions course, would I?"

A few people laughed; Snape, however, was not pleased.

"For your information, Potter, monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Ravenclaw House for your cheek, Potter."

Kali was almost ready to let it go but she had to let him know what she thought of such deplorable behavior. This was not acceptable behavior for someone that called themselves an educator.

"Professor, it is your job as an educator to teach us what we must know, not ridicule us for what we do not. Your job is to encourage a thirst for further knowledge. It is not to intimidate students into stunting their growth and self-confidence. I, we all, came here to learn. If you cannot do what your position requires of you, perhaps the headmaster should go about finding someone else who can."

Snape's expression was apoplectic. "DETENTION POTTER! For daring to threaten a professor. Tonight in the dungeons."

Kali's express curved into something faintly pleasant. Her acid green eyes, somehow greener than even Lily's, glinted at the threat of a challenge.

"That was far from a threat, Professor. Honestly, I would never! But if you insist on detention for a friendly piece of advice, I will of course accept." She watched Snape fume for a couple seconds before adding, "Now, if we're done with this subject, it would be lovely if this period could actually be spent learning some of the material."

"Detention again Potter. For daring to demand anything of a professor, one of your betters."

Kali refused to even deign to give him a response. Ignoring the thrum of anger that vibrated through her, she settled a bored and disinterested expression on her face that silently encouraged him to get on with it.

He wanted to talk about being her better? Well she would show him. He would experience some of the consequences that came with crossing her and she was going to enjoy every second of it.

*****Femme Fatale*****

Severus waited patiently for Potter to for her detention. How dare she disrespect his authority that way? He would enjoy slowly tormenting the girl until she learned who her superiors were.

The girl walked in, hair pin straight and streaming over her shoulders. She seemed to be amused for some reason and it infuriated him. He swept out of the shadows and approached the girl.

"For this detention, you will be pickling rat brain. Enjoy."

Sweeping past the girl and into his office with a smirk, a voice following behind him stopped him.

"Before we do that, there is a matter I'd like to discuss."

Turning around and sitting in his chair, he prepared to scold the dunderhead for failing to follow directions.

Once his eyes met her, however, he was frozen, failing to get even one word out of his mouth.

Her hair was red now. Not just any kind of red, the same fiery, vibrant red that Lily had been known for. With her hair this color, Potter looked incredibly similar to Lily at 11. For one silly moment, he actually thought it was her.

"I just want to ask why you hate me so much?

Snape couldn't speak and sat in silence as she waited for an answer.

"Can't speak? Let me guess then. It must something to do with my parents. I've noticed that despite the vilification of my father, you have never once said anything negative about my mother so I asked around. It was quite enlightening. So here's what I have to say to you:"

Snap was horrified yet mesmerized. The mini Lily clone (that he knew was Kali but she looked so much like his beloved Lily) moved closer to him, nearly close enough for them to share breath, and gently stroked his cheek. Her eyes dark and glinting malevolently.

"There's a reason my mother chose James Potter in the end and left you alone and bitter. It's because you're pathetic. You could never compare to handsome and popular Potter and you knew that, you've always known that."

She had a firm grip of his chin now. He jerked his head out of her grasp but didn't move away.

"I bet you felt sick when I was born. He got the girl and now he had the family you always wanted. How you must have rejoiced when you learned that he had died."

The girl leaned even closer, practically draping herself over him to whisper in his ear. He was frozen, fighting within himself as to what he should do. Part of him wanted to shove her away and part of him, the part that never quite stopped yearning for Lily, wanted to hold her close and pretend despite the hateful and yet hauntingly accurate things she whispered in his ear. She was all that was left of Lily and had somehow turned herself into a replica of the girl he loved so fiercely.

"That must be why you hate me so much. I am a combination of all the things you want most in the world and yet will never, ever, have. Power, beauty, respect, Lily," she purred. "You have none of that and the want has turned you bitter. Bitter enough to bully schoolchildren to make yourself feel marginally better. Children hate you but then again, Severus Snape, is there anyone who hates you more than you hate yourself?"

"You should be lucky that Lily passed before she could see how utterly disgusting you are, how small and black your heart has become. I am living proof of all of your mistakes, all of your failures. I am living proof that James Potter was always the better choice."

At those words, he found the strength to push her back and hiss, "How dare you?"

The girl merely picked herself off the floor, weirdly solemn. "It's not too late to change your ways, Severus Snape. You could make Lily proud of you once again."

Snape raised his voice, "GET OUT, GET OUT OF MY SIGHT RIGHT NOW".

The girl watched him for a moment more before she began smirking again. Potter shook her head and the red leeched out into the nether, returning to the familiar curly black. She didn't bother talking to him again, merely watching him as she gathered her things. He knew he wasn't showing any emotions on his face and yet she seemed to know that her words had done exactly as she wished.

Giving him one last sweet smile, one that would have appeared genuine if he didn't know any better, she said, "Goodnight, professor. Sweet dreams."