Welcome Home [Evan, Luthan]

[MABRY FAYE SPARROW]

Mabry was determined that this year was going to be different. There was no real reason it shouldn’t be, after all. Everything had changed over the summer as far as she was concerned and she was going to make the most of it. For a very long time she had been working on the delicate and intricate magic that could turn her from human to animal. Months and years had passed where she worked tirelessly to achieve something she knew would benefit her more than most of the wand-waving hocus pocus that most of her professors insisted was important. Well, she had done some research of her own back in second year and discovered the art of Animagus was something she desperately desired. She told no one, for fear that if she failed they would know, and as her skill grew and her practise paid off, she kept it a secret. Eventually she would tell someone, most likely her two closest friends, but for now she was going to take advantage of her newly perfected skill.

The form she took was a cat. A sand cat, to be exact. It made her slightly larger and slightly more exotic than the standard domestic feline, but not so much that she couldn’t blend in around her home and, more importantly, around Hogwarts. She had put this to the test as soon as she could, on the Hogwarts Express. She had changed into her school robes before the train had left the platform at Kings Cross in London and had turned into her feline self before anyone else tried to join her in her cabin. Of course, once she was a cat she couldn’t chase them off in order of privacy, but she didn’t care. She had business to take care of.

She spent the first couple of hours stalking around the train, listening to any snippets of conversation that sounded even remotely interesting. Most wasn’t. She discovered who was dating who, who fancied who, what was rumoured to have happened to the Hufflepuff girl that vanished last year, who went where on holiday… There were a few conversations that she even rolled her cat-eyes at. Namely, when she discovered the pompous Sirius Black trying to charm a prefect, and the other Gryffindor freaks he calls his friends arguing about what girls they did or didn’t like. God help the poor idiots that end up with them, she thought to herself as her soft paws padded past their mildly interesting discussion and down towards where she knew the prefects would be. She knew - or at least, she hoped - that the prefects and heads would have some gossip or news she could feast on.

She had spent another hour trying to sneak into the meeting, but every time the door opened and she tried to dart in, someone shooed her out again. Disgruntled, she had to settle for following the prefects when they made their rounds and hoping they gave some hint as to what went on behind the cabin door. She even followed Luthan, one of her best friends, for a while until she though he might notice the big eared, fluffy, sand coloured cat that stalked him. She left him alone when he went into a cabin where she caught a glimpse of her other best friend, Evan, sitting inside. The door closed before she could squeeze in and her yowling (that lasted only a minute before she decided she was better than that) went ignored.

She spent the last few hours of the journey curled up on top of someone’s trunk just inside one of the doors, fluffy tail wrapped around her nose to keep to cold away. She didn’t exactly thing her whole plan through. Still, once the doors opened she made a dash for it and was able to run the entire way up to the castle unnoticed, overtaking all of the carriages and students so that by the time she reached the castle she was the first student there. Or, at the very least, one of the first. Mild panic started to sink in as she tried to figure out how she was going to get away with turning back into her human self without being noticed, and she turned either very brave or very stupid. In the Entrance Hall she could hear the first of the students approaching from outside, and could hear some professors settling in the Great Hall, and with no escape she had to transform while she still had the chance…

When the first few students leaked through the doors they found one solitary Slytherin running her fingers through her auburn hair, tousling it up, with an expression of mild disinterest on her young features.

Mabry pushed the doors to the Entrance Hall open and let herself in (inadvertently leading the entire student body behind her). Some of the professors looked up when the doors open, but most turned back to their conversations as though they weren’t interrupted at all. She found her usual spot three quarters of the way up the Slytherin table, and sat down with and easy, straight-backed grace, and watched the rest of the students file in and take their seats too. Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs… the primary colours that offended her happiness. “Freaks,” she muttered to herself as a pair of Hufflepuff fifth year boys looked at her and attempted to smile. How sweet. She rolled her eyes and propped her chin up on her closed fists, elbows on the table.

[EVAN CADDOCK ROSIER]

[/i] be escorted there by a house elf. But ever since then Evan had made the trip alone, and he didn't really mind. It's not as if he wanted his parents to go out of their way to spend time with him. That would have been rather irritating, As cold and unfeeling as they were toward him, he was toward them. It was a good relationship, in Evan's opinion, and he wouldn't have changed it. He didn't need love and warmth in his home. He needed cold money and every material thing his calculating little mind came up with. And that's exactly what he got. His parents had made it clear that that was their arrangement, and Evan had stuck to it gladly ever since he could comprehend it.

Once Evan boarded the train, he searched through the compartments for familiar faces - perhaps Mabry had already gotten a seat, and she was one of the only people he would be able to stand for the entire train ride. Her and Luth, but Evan knew that Luth would be attending to whatever Prefect duties he had. Evan almost snorted aloud at the though. Prefect. He was glad he didn't have that position. Besides the fact that Luth was perfect for that particular office, what with him being... well, severe was the only word Evan could think of... but besides that, Evan didn't have the respect for authority that being a Prefect required. There were only two authorities he cared about: one was his father, and the other was the Dark Lord. No one else mattered, to be truthful. And to be a Prefect, Evan imagined, you would have to be a good little girl or boy, with a healthy amount of respect for authority. Put simply, Evan just didn't fit the bill. That and he imagined it would be a rather boring job after a while. And Evan had much better things to spend his time on.

Evan walked the length of the train, but none of the compartments he looked in to held a familiar face. So instead of waiting around for some company, Evan settled into an empty compartment near the middle of the train and closed the door, and hopefully that was enough of a hint that he didn't want anyone else in there with him. If that didn't work, surely a venemous glare from him to anyone who opened the door would do well enough. And if anything, Evan had created a reputation for himself as an, for lack of a better term, asshole; surely that guaranteed that anyone who had already spent a year inside Hogwarts' walls would know to steer clear. Just as Evan liked it.

The train ride itself was painless, for the most part. At one point Evan got more than annoyed at the yowling of some imbecile's cat in one of the closest compartments. He had half a mind to stalk out of his own compartment and hiss at whoever it was to shut their animal up, but he couldn't be arsed. Fortunately for all parties involved the sound stopped after a moment or two, and Evan was able to go back to his rather peaceful train ride.

It wasn't too long before the train arrived at Hogsmeade Station, and Evan climbed - with more grace than most others - into one of the horseless carriages with a few other Sytherins in their fifth year. They all seemed far too excited to have Evan in their carriage, really, and each of them asked him at least once how his holidays had been. Evan found himself shifting back into his role at Hogwarts - a role model for all younger Slytherins, who never ceased trying to get into his good graces; a popular young man in his group of peers; a person to avoid to all others. The sixth year allowed himself a grin at the thought. Sometimes he forgot how much he liked it at Hogwarts - despite all of the Mudbloods and half-bloods and Muggle-lovers that infested the place. What he liked was the position of power he held. He was a Slytherin, he was a Pureblood, and he was rich beyond all imagination. How could he be anything but powerful?

Making his way through the giant doors of the Great Hall, Evan scanned the Slytherin table and felt his grin return when he spotted the red head of Mabry Sparrow. He made a bee-line toward her and slipped into the seat beside her, raising an eyebrow at the expression on her face. "You look so very thrilled to be back," Evan said, a characteristic and somewhat mocking laugh in his voice. That was just the way he spoke to Mabry; never too serious, always teasing. Well, until she decided to get angry with him, which she was wont to do. Then his tone changed to a fully mocking one, sometimes laced with contempt that always managed to disappear in record time. At least where she was concerned. "If I ask you how your holiday was do you promise not to be too long-winded with your answer?" And then, remembering himself, Evan continued. "Oh, wait, Luth isn't here yet," he said, and glanced over his shoulder at the door. "I don't feel like hearing the same story twice, so you'll have to wait until he arrives."[/size][/ul]

[LUTHAN AURELIUS TALINTHORPE]

The train ride had been rather uneventful. Being a Prefect had its advantages, but having to sit in the designated Prefects carriage was not one of them. Still, it could have been worse. Instead of the physically ailing Lupin, the Gryffindor representative could have been the insufferable Black, or his equally inept pseudo-brother Potter. Luckily, they had needed to do little more than to exchange some pleasantries before going about their business of patrolling the corridors of the train. Now, Luthan didn't abuse his power by using it inappropriately, he was more a believer in threatening people with it, and making them live in fear. Thus, he had spent most of his train ride visiting various students from the younger grades, turning on his charm-tap and winning over the more promising ones, while making himself known as some sort demonic prefect to those he was certain would end up in Hufflepuff.

As he had patrolled the corridors, he had felt the odd sensation of having someone watching him, and although he had inconspicuously checked many a time, there had been no one. Merely a cat. What reason would a house cat have to follow him? He wasn't a particularly avid animal lover, nor did he own any cats of his own, so that sense of familiarity could not be felt. There were times when his hand had strayed to the inside of his robes, where his wand was kept, and he had contemplated practising some of his magic on the cat. Pets should not have been allowed to roam freely on the train, anyway. Their owners had the responsibility of taking care of it.

Arriving at Hogwarts, Luthan again was whisked off to attend a brief meeting, where he was given the delightful role of leading all the new Slytherins to the common room later. How delightful. He was half-expecting them to want him to spoonfeed them as well. Slytherins were an independent breed, and the idea of having to help them along so much did not sit well with the sixth year. He'd made it through these last six years of his education with minimal guidance, so was it so necessary that he help these new kids along? They came here to learn, and in Slytherin, you learnt by being forced to do things on your own.

After assuring McGonagall that he would do his utmost to help out the newcomers to his House, Luthan was finally given leave to join his fellow students in the Great Hall. He made his way to his seat expertly, the crowd seemingly parting before him as he moved.

"Evan, Mabry, good evening to you both. I'm flattered you would wait for me," he commented drily, with a small smile at his best friends. "I suppose the rumours of your self-centredness do not hold entirely true after all, Evan." Their little group was almost the royal party of the Slytherins, although there were other small circles that could claim a similar position, but Slytherin, being a House of such finesse and grandeur, was bound to have many of these.

[MABRY FAYE SPARROW]

There was always something infectious about the way Evan grinned at Mabry when he saw her. It was -without getting soft - one of the better things that usually happened in her day. She, as a Slytherin and as one third of the the Evan/Luthan/Mabry trio, was more used to having people look at her with distain, distress or just plain fear. So when something as light and almost ‘gentle’ as a grin was sent her way it was always a nice welcome. Though she’d never admit to such. She noticed his grin this time out of the corner of her eye and turned her head to watch him walk the whole way down to where she was sitting at the table. She did smile back, but it wasn’t as broad and as such, was probably a good deal warmer than Evan’s had been. And the way he laughed? Marlin, she missed that over the summer. Whether his laugh was directed at her or someone else, it was something she had gotten used to over the years and when she went for so many weeks without hearing it, when she finally did it brought a glimmer of satisfaction to her eyes.

She had opened her mouth to answer him about her holidays, and froze with her cheeks puffed out, mid-sigh, when Evan told her to wait. She had to admit, he had a point. She no more wanted to answer his question twice than he wanted to hear it. Mabry wasn’t much of a talker unless if paid off in her favour in the end. She had a way with words, but no fondness for them. Shrugging her shoulders in mild boredom, she crossed her legs under the table and sat up straight with the grace that came naturally to her when she allowed it. She didn’t have long to wait before they were joined by Luthan and his superior attitude.

“Wait for you?” Mabry answered in a light, bored tone. “Luthan, we just didn’t want to waste the energy of welcoming each other back when we’d have to do it again once you arrived. It’s not by choice that we wait for your late self. It’s just… preservation of energy that we’ll no doubt need later on. If you know what I mean.” Mabry never really made it obvious which of her suggestive comments or innuendos were just that, or rather more innocent. It was part of her ‘shock factor’, you could call it, that she could easily tell a professor to go fuck the headmaster in such a way that the immediate reception was of mild agreement… until what she actually said was realised, by which time it was too late to pull her on it.

Straightening the cuff of her robes (because there were still some ruffled creases from her hurried transformation) she sent a lazy glance to Evan. “Anyway, as you asked, and in a truly shortened version, my summer was… uneventful. Is that short enough for you?”

Unimpressed with how slow the Hall was filling, Mabry yawned wide and deliberate, before turning to Luthan who had taken the seat directly across from them [[OOC; I hope that’s alright?]]. Absently scratching the inside of her arm, she was about to ask him something when an over zealous second year plonked himself down right beside her blond friend. She didn’t know whether to laugh or chase him off, but it made her wonder if this was going to be a regular thing now that Luthan was a prefect. Were they set to spend every breakfast, lunch and dinner fending off fan girls who think his hair is oh-so-shiny.

“Oh, look,” she said, tilting her head to the side as her dark eyes stared straight at the young boy who dared to join them. “A new toy.” The venom in her words was subtle, but obvious enough that the kid’s smile was replaced by a look of horror before he inched away from the seat beside Luthan, and kept sliding down the bench until there was a good ten feet of empty space between them. To say the least, it was amusing, and Mabry couldn’t help but laugh darkly at just how easy it was to put the fear of Slytherin into some people.

“So, how were your holidays?” she asked them both, in a lighter mood than before.

[EVAN CADDOCK ROSIER]

[/size][/ul]

[LUTHAN AURELIUS TALINTHORPE]

Luthan smiled at Mabry's feeble attempt to puncture his ego. It was an impossible task and she knew it. While the common perception was that an over-inflated ego was easier to break, Luthan could testify that the opposite was in fact true. His self-confidence and self-importance was unrivalled, even amongst the Slytherin males in whom such traits were most prominent already, and his smile was a reminder to his friends of this fact.

It was that smile, so sincere and winning, that often won over so many of the staff and so many of the younger students, that earned the prefect his pristine reputation. But anyone who knew him as well as these two did would not be silly enough to assume that much. As his smile widened, his eyes closed, giving the illusion that he was laughing heartily. It was one of his gifts that he could pull an expression like this while saying or doing the cruellest of things.

"You should know by now that attempts to hide your admiration are futile, Mabry." It was only with his close friends that Luthan would even consider making half-joking comments such as these. In the company of others, his interactions were all strictly business-like, and to hear the Slytherin joke was unheard of.

At Evan's words, he gave a small chuckle, or really, more like a single 'heh'. "My apologies, then, Evan. I suppose I am still not quite at the point where I can simply pinpoint your finest traits, being such elusive things."

Uneventful? Well, that was a rather boring summary. Conciseness was one thing, but lack of information did not make it acceptable. He was about to insist on some elaboration, but his dear friend Evan interrupted, startling them all with his brilliant attention span.

Their little conversation was cut short when one of the younger students, some cretin that Luthan recognised as a second year, decided to seat himself next to his much-admired prefect. Despite being surprised, the sixth year didn't show it, raising an eyebrow, letting Mabry work her magic with the little darling. "Now, now, play nice with the munchkins. I do need to maintain the appearance that I care about these idiots, and it becomes slightly more difficult to do that when they are constantly chased away by the Wicked Witch and the Demon King," he commented, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hands, propped up by his elbows. The truth was that he was glad that he had his friends to deal with those kids for him. As a prefect, he couldn't exactly openly be malicious to them, at least, not to his own Slytherins. To those from other Houses, he had no qualms about establishing his reputation as a man who was not to be crossed.

As the conversation drifted back to the topic of their summer activities, Luthan once again smiled at Evan's declaration of his ever-decreasing attention span. "Is that so...? I suppose that would mean that I should indeed try to keep my answer short, for the benefit of your ailing attention span." As Luthan's mental clock chimed, he leaned back in his chair, taking a more comfortable position. "Well, now that our friend has lost the ability to continue listening to me, I guess it would be time to go into the details of how my holidays were in fact superior to his. We were hosting a noble family from India, and it was an interesting experience. Father was conducting some business with the Indian Ministry, and we were their hosts and guides for a few days. They were most extravagant with their spending, even leaving us with a number of exotic items, a few of which I am looking forward to experimenting with. They are unique potions ingredients that would never be found here in Britain, and are supposed to be considerably more potent."