Brutal Sociality

Brutal Sociality

"Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends"

-The Sorting Hat, Page 118 of Philosopher's Stone

*~*~*

Chapter One: Enter the Spawn of the Devil

Pansy Parkinson was just today's Slytherin girl hanging on Draco Malfoy's arm. Everyone saw her that way. But she was so much more than that.

Her eyes were hard, bitter, and cruel. They were dark, nearly black eyes. You could see her suffering through those eyes. But no-one cared about Pansy Parkinson's suffering. She wasn't ever just noted as "Pansy." It was always "Draco Malfoy's Girl" or "Ephraim Parkinson's youngest daughter."

Pansy had three Slytherin sisters and a Slytherin brother. Her whole family was Slytherin. Being Sorted into Slytherin meant you had passed the Parkinson family's first test. But there were many more to come, oh yes.

Characydia Parkinson, Pansy's eldest sister, had already graduated from Hogwarts as Head Girl. Beautiful and seemingly brilliant, she was slated to become the Head of the Department of Mysteries after James Bode's retirement. So naturally, Characydia was the favourite daughter of Ephraim and Augury Parkinson. The Dark Mark tattoo on her arm only insured this.

Alexander Parkinson, the only son of the family, came next. Tall, handsome, and captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, he had also graduated, the year after Characydia, as Head Boy of Hogwarts. His arm also bore the mark of the Dark Lord.

Jadisse Parkinson was the next child of the Parkinsons. She was the tall, beautiful Quidditch Captain and Slytherin Prefect. She was exotic looking, with long, black hair and silvery eyes. No man could resist her spell. Jadisse had received the Dark Mark, like her other siblings, only a few months before.

Termestine Parkinson was four years older than Pansy. She was currently living in Russia, with the ballet. Termestine had been dancing since she was four years old, and had just scored the lead role in the Russian Ballet Corps' latest production. Termestine's arm may have been missing the Dark Mark for now, but the day when she received it would soon come.

Augury Parkinson, Pansy's mother, was beautiful and graceful. Everyone knew where Termestine got her dancing abilities from the second they saw Augury walk. She was like a wraith in her movements, nearly gliding over the ground as she walked. Like death...which she was. Augury Parkinson was a Death Eater.

Ephraim Parkinson was a brilliant man. He, like his wife and three eldest children, was a Death Eater, and a very loyal one at that. He had been Head Boy in his day at Hogwarts, and had been offered a teaching job there. Naturally, he turned it down for a more questionable career. No-one ever really knew what Ephraim Parkinson got up to.

That left Pansy. Short, awkward, and headstrong, she had no talent, other than thinking of stinging retorts. She was pretty, in a pinched, pug-like way. She couldn't fly a broom if her life depended on it, and her marks were nothing better than average. At the best of times, one might describe Pansy Parkinson as slightly moody. That was certainly the best case scenario, for she normally was a tempestuous storm of emotions.

^*^*^*^

Blaise Zabini, on the other hand, was determined to have her own legacy. She didn't appear as outgoing as most Slytherin girls, but then, she was so much more than most Slytherin girls.

Blaise's long, auburn hair curled in slight waves down to her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep, hazel colour. Her face was attractive, but she was certainly no ravishing beauty.

Blaise's mother and father were none other than Medea and Jason Lestrange. After Lord Voldemort fell for the first time at the hands of Harry Potter, Blaise's parents were imprisoned in Azkaban, along with Bartemius Crouch, who later died. Or so Blaise had been told. She had found out just last year that Bartemius Crouch had not, in fact, died, but escaped from Azkaban. She hoped her parents would do the same.

In the absence of Jason and Medea Lestrange, Blaise was raised by her grandmother, Ferran Zabini. Ferran was a ruthless woman in her mid-fifties, a columnist for the Daily Prophet.

Blaise had grown up with sons and daughters of the other Death Eaters. This group included Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Dephyn Nott, Gillian Moon, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Millicent Bulstrode. The son of Anders Avery, Tyren Rex Avery, had been several years older than Blaise, but she enjoyed him nonetheless.

Blaise had no siblings, but this didn't seem to bother her. When she was with her grandmother, Blaise was fairly introverted. Amidst her friends, however, Blaise had a cruel, dominating personality. She wasn't the tyrant of her group alone. Draco Malfoy, with his acidic personality, had controlled all of the males in the group, while Blaise was in charge of the females. Blaise became close with Gillian Moon, Dephyn Nott, and Pansy Parkinson. Soon, the little quartet had a close friendship.

Sighing, Blaise looked up a picture on her dresser. She could just make out the faces of her year of Slytherins. One big, unhappy, disjointed family...

^*^*^*^

Dephyn Nott was fairly attractive. With short, curly blonde hair and glittery blue eyes, who cared if she was as empty as Mother Hubbard's cupboards? That is to say, Dephyn Nott was no genius.

Her father talked nonsense about her; his perfect Dephyn who could Transfigure matches into needles in her sleep, who could brew a Forgetfulness Draught while reading Hogwarts, a History.

Consequently, Dephyn was always away, hiding, or occupied when her father's friends paid a call on their home. She could remember the first, and only, time she had spoken with Lucius Malfoy...

"Mr. Malfoy, meet my daughter, the lovely and brilliant Dephyn Nott," Mr. Nott had said.

"Ah, Miss Nott. So pleasant to meet you," Lucius replied in a cordial, but commanding tone, "Your father tells me you are already capable of animal Transfiguration!"

"Yes, yes! My Dephyn, she was top of the Transfiguration class last year," her father had quickly informed Lucius. Dephyn's eyes became huge as her father rambled.

"Ah...at only thirteen years of age. So, do show me a bit, Miss Nott!" Lucius sneered eagerly. He looked into Dephyn's eyes with his large, silver ones. He knew that every word Dephyn's father had spoken was a complete lie.

Dephyn pulled her wand out of her robes. Nervously, she swallowed. Her father would be furious, he'd lock her in the attic for weeks!

"F-Fearvert..." she stuttered, pointing her wand at the Kneazle roaming the floor in front of her. The Kneazle, consequently, staggered for a moment, then stood statue-still. Seconds later, it fell on the floor dead with a soft 'whumph.'

As Lucius Malfoy began to speak again, Dephyn saw her father's eyes grow very small, so small, in fact, that they looked like Knuts in his pale face. "Clearly, Mr. Nott, your daughter is a prodigy. With skills like that, I shan't worry that she will become the Headgirl of Hogwarts!"

Mr. Nott began spluttering angrily, but Lucius Malfoy continued on, "No, I would, however, worry about the sanity of the professors at that Filthy, Muggle-Loving School! Honestly, passing a child as ignorant as she?" Lucius sneered malevolently.

"Mister Malfoy, I advise you to get out of my home, or I will become very angry. I am not a pleasant person when I am angry!" Mr. Nott shouted.

Lucius Malfoy sniggered. "Ahem, Mister Nott. I advise you to stop reading those Muggle Comic Books. It is quite an uncivilized habit."

"Leave my home this instant, Malfoy!" screamed Mr. Nott. Lucius, seeing a furious, manic glint in his eyes, obeyed. Dephyn was taking the opportunity to do likewise when she heard her father's angry voice call out.

"I don't think so, young lady! I have a bone to pick with you, child!" her father yelled after her retreating form. His words were ignored. Dephyn had already locked herself in the attic, for the first time voluntarily.

That night, she cried herself to sleep. Her father's voice penetrated her door, but she only heard snatches of what he said.

"You disgrace me, daughter! You have dishonoured my name! If your mother were alive to see you behave in this manner...I shudder to think..."

^*^*^*^

Gillian Moon could be described as beautiful...by a hag's standards. Her intellect rivalled even Hermione Granger's, but she wasn't a very self-praising person; Gillian rarely spoke of her various intellectual accolades and awards.

But she was Slytherin, through and through. None could make a cunning retort like she. The Moon family consisted of two girls and two boys, and they were constantly arguing. They argued over nearly anything that could be debated, even the status of Celestina Warbeck. Both boys seemed to think she was taken, while the girls believed she was single.

Quinnar Moon, Gillian's older sister, was fairly normal. She was strikingly pretty, with long, straight blonde hair that cascaded to her mid-back. Her eyes were a deep blue, like the Mediterranean Sea and her tall, willowy figure attracted most boys. Her grades at Hogwarts had been most unsatisfactory, but Quinnar didn't need good grades to be a model for Magicrombie and Witch, which was her current employment agency.

Christian Moon was two years older than Gillian, and in her opinion (and in the opinion of every girl at Hogwarts) he was perfect. Christian was tall, handsome, intelligent, and a Chaser on and Captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Christian was Gillian's role model, she tried to make her Hogwarts years similar to his. This task was no mean feat, for Gillian had neither good looks nor Quidditch talent.

Phillip Moon was the next child in the Moon family. Philip was perhaps the most Slytherin one in his family; he delighted in subtly belittling his classmates and making himself look superior to others. He was constantly saying how unintelligent he was in comparison to Christian, but this was entirely un-true, because everyone knew that Phillip Moon was an intelligent boy. Eventually, Phillip mortally offended another Slytherin girl in his year, who proceeded to break his nose. Most everyone at Hogwarts had come to despise Phillip for his arrogance.

Gillian was the last child of Advarynn and Alexander Moon. She was, undoubtedly, the least satisfactory, as well. While she might have been just as intelligent as her older brothers, Gillian had neither striking looks nor athletic ability. And, of course, she fit in perfectly with her year of Slytherin girls. All misfits, rejects, or angry girls, they were truly the dynasty of hatred.

But Gillian had other things on her mind. At the moment, she was focused on finding another cure for her acne, besides Bubotuber Pus. The stuff was repugnant, honestly. It smelled, it burned, and it was not as effective as everyone said. Gillian had been using it, but her skin looked the same: as though a million tiny chiggers had burrowed into it.

Gillian's parents were avid Death Eaters. They had even dragged Gillian along to the Death Eater Youth Group meetings in her pre-Hogwarts days. After the first few meetings, Gillian grew quite attached to the DEYG, as she affectionately called it. It was where she met her three best friends: Dephyn Nott, Blaise Zabini, and Pansy Parkinson.

^*^*^*^

So, the four girls bonded. Eventually, they became the female terrors of Hogwarts. If a non-Slytherin saw any of them in the halls, he or she strictly avoided them. But it was fine with them. They were truly the tempests of Hogwarts, if you ever spoke to them, you could almost guarantee an insult.

Four girls, four different destinies. Four lives, free to ruin, throw away, or succeed in. There was no starting over in this game. Once you had thrown your lots in with a side, you were on that side. No questions asked.

~*Finis Chapter One*~