Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
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The next morning, Caterina got up and got dressed in a whirlwind of nervous excitement, it was going to be her first day at Hogwarts! Learning new spells, potions and just being here with her brother, the two of them laughing and— her brother. The thought was sobering and suddenly, she felt nothing but anticipation. Would he care that she was in slytherin? Would he still love her? He had to, right? They were twins, they’d shared everything before, surely a bond that strong couldn’t be broken so easily.......Could it? She hoped not. Maybe he would be fine. Maybe he would be upset, but he’d get over it when he realized that she was still the same person. Maybe he’d realize that slytherin wasn’t so bad after all, in fact, everyone that she’d met had seemed perfectly nice and not at all like the cold heartless monsters she’d been told about growing up. Her parents would talk some sense into him if he didn’t see reason, surely. But—but they didn’t know. They were both in griffindor, and they’d beeen the ones to tell them stories about the slytherins who hexed and teased them when they went to Hogwarts. Suddenly, she felt an overwhelming anxiety. What if they hated her too? What if they no longer loved her? What if—
“Mmmm....Would you stop being so loud? I’m trying to sleep.....” Lithia said from where she snuggled further under the covers, interupting her panicky thoughts.
Caterina raised an eyebrow. “Well, it’s nearly time for breakfast, so if you don’t want to be late on your first day of school, you should get up now.”
Lithia rose groggily and relplied sleepily “ Alright, mum. No need to nag.”
Caterina just snorted. “Not a morning person, are you?”
“No, I’m not. I’d much rather stay up all night than wake up so early every morning.”
They got ready and were just about to walk up to the great hall when they met Jane on the way up, and invited her to come with them. They talked about quidditch—Lithia had never heard much about it, to Caterina and Janes’s astonishment— and they were in the middle of discussing how to scoring system worked when James walked by, not so much as glancing at Caterina. “James! Wait!” Stomach sinking, Caterina called after him, hoping that he maybe just hadn’t seen her, although she knew that this was very unlikely as they were the only ones in the corridor.
James turned around. “What do you want?” He said disinterestedly, but his cold stare said otherwise. Her heart sunk. So this was.....this was the extreme prejudice Jane has tried to tell her about. The prejudice that could drive apart the closest of siblings.
“I—I just wanted to apologize, I’m so sorry for whatever I did wrong, I didn’t mean to get sorted into Slytherin, James, please forgive me!” She said without taking a breath, staring at James desperately. But it seemed like the ingrained prejudice was too much for him to overcome, and he just turned around and walked away without a word. She stared after him, trying to reconcile him to the boy who had teased her and called her ‘Cat’ on the platform, but she couldn’t. It was as if her brother had become a completely different person, or as if—as if being sorted into Slytherin had made her a completely different person in his eyes. But he had to know that she was the same girl he’d loved and had fun with.......right?
“So that was interesting. Is he your brother?” Jane asked, sounding slightly concerned.
“Yes. He’s my twin, actually. We did everything together....” Caterina trailed off, still staring at where her brother had been mere moments ago.
“I’m sorry. But you should have to feel bad for being who you are.” Jane said, and after a short pause, Lithia said, “Well, we should start going into the great hall. After all, we wouldn’t want to be late on our fist day of school, would we?” She chirped slightly nervously, with a tentitive smile at Caterina. Caterina smiled back, and they headed towards the great hall without a word.
Breakfast also passed unremarkably, except when Caterina has noticed her brother joking and laughing with his new friends, and has stared at them, wishing she could be among them until Jane has tapped her on the shoulder and nodded towards her half eaten breakfast. Their first class was potions, and, with her luck, it was with the Griffindors. She was very excited about potions though, it seemed fun, and from what she read was also highly practical and hands on, which she liked. When she entered the classroom with Lithia, she realized that there was a very clear dividing line between the slytherins and griffindors, the only exception being some girl with red hair, who she would later know to be Lily, and a boy with short, greasy black hair, who she would later know to be Severus. James has sat down next to an aristocratic looking boy and in front of them sat the two they’d been laughing with at breakfast, a timid, mousy looking boy and a quiet boy with short brown hair. She tried to get James’s attention, but it seemed that he was hell bent on ignoring her, continuing to stare straight ahead even when she poked him in the back. Then Slughorn came in, and for the rest of potions, she tried to drown out her worried by focusing on slughorns speech about potion making. It almost worked. Her friends seemed to sense her agitation, and suggested a walk around the grounds during their 30 minute break, which certainly helped. That, and the fact that she didn’t see her brother any more that day.
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“Hey, Caterina. Wake up. It’s time for class.” Emilia said farm where she sat on their foot of her bed. Wait....when had she gotten into bed? The last thing she remembered was crying and staring at the ceiling thinking about her and James.....She must fallen asleep at some point, and Emilia had probably put the covers over her. She looked down. Yep, she was still in the same clothes she had worn the day before.
“Thanks for waking me up, I don’t even remember falling asleep.” Caterina said, getting out of bed.
“It’s a bit early, but I thought you might want to fly around the grounds to clear your head before class.” Emilia replied, already going back to her book.
Caterina smiled. Flying sounded splendid right now, to be able to get away, if only for a short while...that would indeed be lovely. Her friends knew her so well, she thought with a smile. “Thanks. That does sound perfect.” Emilia only hmmed, already caught up in her book. Yes, she thought as she thought back to yesterday’s rant. Flying sounded perfect today.
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