Snake Eyes

Chapter One: Raven Wing

"Look like the innocent flow'r, but be the serpent under't"

Raven Wing walked casually through the barrier between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross Station, London, England. Europe. Across the Atlantic Ocean and many, many miles North of the ancesteral homes of her people, the Cherokee. She raised one hand and ran it over the eagle's feather braided in her hair. Her father, Eagle Scream, and her mother, Moon's Dark, hugged her each in turn.

"Do not let these English people disgrace you, daughter," her father said solemnly, resting his hand on her head. Her mother said nothing, but enveloped her into a tight hug. "Remember the ways of our people, even here, so far from home," Eagle Scream continued.

"I will, father. I will. These people and their ways will not change your daughter," she replied. The casual observer would have said that the Cherokee couple felt nothing, and that their fifteen-year-old daughter was only mildly concerned, not so nervous she was shaking in her moccasins. The casual observer would be wrong. Raven Wing, like her parents, was determined to show these English that they were not weak.

Raven picked up her suitcases and loaded them on the back of the train. She then picked up the cage containing her owl, Silent Wing, and walked into a compartment with a smile and a wave at her parents.

Trouble was, the compartment was already occupied. By a certain Slytherin. A Slytherin by the name of Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy.

Raven didn't know about Harry Potter and Draco's long-standing rivalry. She didn't even know much about Voldemort's reign. All she knew was that she was suddenly face to face with the first Englishman she had been close enough to talk to.

"Hello," she said pleasently, nodding her head briefly. Her face betrayed no emotion at all.

Draco Malfoy sneered. He sneered, and Raven knew immediately that this person was not someone she wanted to talk to. She nodded her head at him again, politely, and began to move on the the next compartment.

A hand caught her arm. She narrowed her eyes at the blonde-headed boy and tried to jerk away, only to observe cooly that the boy was stronger than he looked. She turned, and froze as the power of his gaze found her. His eyes held hers, she was unable to break away, unable to move. Icy claws gripped her heart, as if the great Stormbird had sunk his talons into her.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice vacant of anything. Even hate, which wouldn't have unsettled Raven quite so much as void, nothingness. Emotionless, Draco sat down on the bench, dragging her down beside him. His gaze was broken, and she regained the power to breathe, she had felt like she had lost it. Silent Wing's cage fell to the floor of the compartment, and the owl screeched in protest.

"Release my arm," Raven replied curtly, disguising the tremor of unease she felt. Draco sneered and let go of her deerskin-clad arm. she tugged her sleeve back to it's proper position, her face still a cool, indifferent mask. "My name is Raven Wing, of the Cherokee. Who are you?" she asked, keeping her tone flat.

"Draco Malfoy," he answered with another sneer.

"Good. Now we are aquainted. I will take my leave of you now," she responded, her tone clipped.

"I think not," he answered. "Why are you here? The Cherokee live in America."

"Observant. I am here because my parents wished for me to go to another school. The one in America was not good for me. The people there did not respect our culture." ignoring his order, she stood, picking Silent Wing up off the floor. She slid open the door of the compartment and left.

The next compartment contained none other than Harry Potter and company. They smiled and told her to sit. She did so gladly.

"My parents told me to find you," she said to Hermione, after giving her name to the others. "They said you would know I was coming."

"They were right," the brunette answered. "My parents told me you'd be coming here. Was the school in America not... tolerant?"

"Not at all. They called me a land theif and a leech. I told them to buzz off. It is a phrase I picked up from school." She smiled only after the others laughed.

"Well cousin, it's certainly a pleasure to see you here," Hermione said.

"You're her cousin?" Ron asked, looking back and forth between them, trying to see any resemblance. Pale, frizzy-haired Hermione Granger and tan, black-haired Raven.

"We are distantly related. I do not know how far apart we really are," Raven told him with a smile. Mentally, she was giving both of them Cherokee names. She had done the same with Hermione years before. She was Owl Eyes, because she seemed to take in everything around her.

Ron, Raven thought, will be Fire Hair. That was easy. His bright red hair was like nothing Raven had ever seen.

Harry though. What would Harry be named? She would have to think on that.

"So, Owl Eyes, do you know of a boy named Draco?"

Draco. He was another easy one. Snake Eyes. His eyes held her like those of a swaying snake, every ready to bite.

"Oh dear, did he stop you on your way here? He's... unpleasent." the other girl responded.

"He's a filthy, evil git and you know it," Ron said heatedly.

Harry ignored this. "Owl Eyes?" he inquired.

"Raven can't pronounce my name. She gave me a Cherokee name, one she can say," Hermione explained.

"It has nothing to do with me not being able to say your name, Hemyown," Raven said. "I give one to everyone I meet."

"What's mine?" Ron said eagerly.

"Fire Hair, redheaded boy," Raven replied with some amusement. Ron sat back, looking thoughtful.

"And mine?" Harry asked, his tone amused.

"I do not yet know. I will tell you soon," the Cherokee girl said.