Forsaking Fate

Dealing with the Consequences

Chapter 7

Feeling her heart plummet, Destiny sat frozen to the stool in horror.

'No,' she thought desperately.

It wasn't so much that she had anything against the Slytherin house as that she knew her father and friends were going to freak out. Pulling the hat off of her head, she rose and, with her head held high, walked to the cheering table. As she walked past the Gryffindor table, she watched as Harry's face went from shocked to angry before turning away. Sitting in the first available seat, she stared down at the table top, completely motionless.

"You look as if the world's coming to an end," the boy next to her drawled in a lazy voice.

Raising her eyes, she found herself gazing into large pools of silver-gray.

"No," Destiny replied, "the world doesn't end for one individual."

"I suppose it doesn't." Holding out a graceful hand, he said, "Draco Malfoy, second year."

Smiling, beginning to feel that maybe things wouldn't be so bad, she reached out and took the proffered hand. "Destiny Black, first year."

*****

"Slytherin," Harry remarked numbly. "I can't believe she's a Slytherin."

"She seemed so nice," Hermione replied sadly, "even if she was a little quiet."

"So much for being friends with her," Ron said.

Confused, Hermione replied, "Harry can still be friends with her if he wants to."

"We're Gryffindors!" Ron exclaimed, affronted. "We cannot be friends with Slytherins! Right, Harry?"

Glancing from Destiny to his friends, he gave his reply.

*****

After Dumbledore gave his end of feast announcements, Destiny rose from the Slytherin table, still chatting away with Draco.

"Quidditch is the greatest sport ever," Draco announced enthusiastically. "I'm hoping to make the team this year."

"What position do you want to play?"

"I want to be a chaser but only the seeker position is open." Shrugging, he gave her an easy smile. "I guess I'll just have to try out for seeker."

"Good luck then."

Walking through the doors, she stopped when she saw Harry and his friends standing by the stairs talking.

"I'll be right back," she informed Draco. Walking over to the three, she smiled hesitantly. "Hi."

When the three turned to face her, she stepped back at the expressions on their faces. From Harry's face came an expression she had never thought would be directed at her: disgust.

"Um," she began, "I know you're angry, but the Sorting Hat-"

"The hat knew where you belonged," Harry cut in. "Only one kind of person ever ends up in Slytherin."

Shocked Destiny bit her lip and willed herself not to cry. Nodding slowly, she mumbled, "I see. Well then, I better be going."

Turning away, she swallowed the lump rising in her throat, raised her head proudly and walked back to where Draco was leaning against the wall.

"You alright?" Draco asked, never allowing the sneer to drop as he watched the Gryffindor's glare back at him.

"I'm fine. They're not worth being upset over." Following a group of older Slytherin's who were heading to the common room, she never looked back.

*****

Three weeks into the school year, Destiny sat on one of the big black leather couches in the common room reading the letters she had received from her parents and the Potter's.

Destiny,

Congratulations on making Slytherin. Enjoy the term. We'll see you this Christmas. Ignore your father; he'll come around.

Love,

Lily and James

The Potter's had been great about her making it into the enemy house and had written several times to assure her that they didn't mind and to apologize for their son's behavior. Her parents though had not taken it so well. Being a Gryffindor through and through, Sirius had written a very angry letter about disgracing the family. In return, Destiny had written a letter home saying that he was the disgrace for even caring about which house she was in. He hadn't written since. Julia on the other hand had written a falsely cheery letter, not even bothering to mention her fight with her father.

Even with having such a rocky start and having a great deal of people angry with her, Destiny found that she loved being a Slytherin.

Slytherins, known for being cruel and hostile, were actually regular, decent people once you got to know them. Their ambition was what distanced them from others and only close friends really knew each other well. Close friends were few and far between though and so far the only true ones Destiny had made were Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zambini.

Blaise, though a year ahead of her in school, was great fun to be around. Completely conceited, she had no tact what-so-ever and would say anything that came to mind. Already she was considered the beauty of Slytherin- not that there was any real competition considering that many of them were just plain ugly. (Should I take this paragraph out??)

Being the house of purebloods, many of the students came from rich, stuffy families and it was a great entertainment for Destiny to hear about what other Wizarding families did and believed. Her own family was all about getting along with everyone but, Draco's family for instance, was about the rich purebloods being in charge and everyone else being lower than them.

Folding the letters up and shoving them into her bag, Destiny rose to her feet and left the common room to go for a walk. Reaching the Entrance Hall, she opted to explore the castle instead of out doors and headed for the staircase. After fifteen minutes of walking, she was completely lost.

"Great," she mumbled, turning around to try and retrace her steps.

Ten minutes later she sighed in defeat. Glancing around to make sure she was alone, she closed her eyes and gave a mental cry for help.

"Problems?" a kind voice asked.

"A few," she murmured, opening her eyes and smiling. "I seem to be slightly lost."

Laughing, Katherine motioned for her to follow. "You really shouldn't be wondering about alone."

"I can take care of myself," Destiny replied defiantly.

"Are you talking to yourself?" a voice suddenly asked from an open painting.

Jumping slightly, she turned to see Ron and Harry standing just inside the painting that obviously led into the Gryffindor common room.

Not receiving a reply, Ron continued. "Why are you here? Slytherins aren't supposed to be around here."

Frowning at his rudeness, she replied coolly, "I'm got lost."

"You got lost and just happened to end up in front of the entrance to Gryffindor tower?"

"Yes," she replied simply.

"You're lying," Ron snapped.

"Ron," Harry replied, placing a hand on his shoulder, "leave her alone." Turning back to his childhood friend, she said firmly, "I think you should go."

Nodding curtly, Destiny spun around and followed Katherine down the corridor and around the corner before leaning back against the wall.

"So much for forever friendship."

*****

The weeks passed quickly and fall soon became winter. In the Slytherin common room, Draco sat doing his potions homework when Destiny came in. With her hands behind her back, she came up and shoved snow down the back of his shirt. At his yelp of surprise, she laughed and danced back away from him.

"You brat!" he yelled, trying desperately to shake the snow out.

"Come outside with me!"

"I have to study."

"But Draco," she whined, "I leave for home in two days and this is the last chance we'll have to play!"

"I don't play," he replied stiffly.

"Oh, sure you do! I'll prove it to you when we get outside."

"I'm not going outside."

"Oh yes you are," she replied, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him to his feet causing his books to tumble to the floor. "You're to pale."

"Destiny-"

"Please?" she begged.

"Later," he relented.

"Well, I'm going out now."

Turning around, she ran out the entrance of the common room pulling on her gloves.

*****

An hour later, Draco finally sat aside his books and went outside to find Destiny. After wondering about for several minutes, he saw her throwing snowballs at a group of Gryffindors. Not far away the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were making their own snow forts to join the fight. Amused at Destiny's attempt to fight so many others on her own, he ran over to the snow wall she was behind, dodging flying snow all the way. Ducking down beside her, he grinned at her and began to pack snow together.

"I though you didn't play," she remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, you looked kind of pathetic by yourself so I decided to have mercy on you."

"Pathetic!" she shrieked, grabbing a handful of snow. "I'll show you pathetic!" Laughing, she tackled him and begun to try and force him to eat the snow.

*****

As the train pulled away from the station, Harry watched as Hogwarts shrank in the distance. Turning back to his friends, he grinned.

"What are you two going to do for Christmas?"

"My parents and I," Hermione replied, "are going to France."

"We're just staying home," Ron remarked. "Bill and Charlie are going to be there. What about you?"

Frowning, Harry began slowly, "My family always spends Christmas with the Blacks and Remus, so I'll be at my Godparents house most of the time."

Wrinkling her nose, Hermione asked, "So you have to spend the whole break with a Slytherin?"

"Yeah," he replied quietly.

*****

Arriving at Platform 9 ¾, Destiny dragged her book bag stuffed with everything that would fit off the train. Glancing about for her parents, she reluctantly headed to where they were standing with the Potters.

"Destiny!" her mother called, rushing forward to wrap her arms around her daughter. Relieved that her mother wasn't angry about her sorting, she hugged her back tightly. Stepping back, she smiled at her father. Giving her a stiff smile, he hugged her and stepped away. Frowning at his sudden lack of affection, she turned to the Potters.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Potter!"

"Hello Destiny," Lily replied, hugging the small child. "Congratulations on being sorted into Slytherin."

"Thanks, I..."

Trailing off, she watched silently as Harry approached.

"Harry!" Lily cried, rushing forward to hug her son.

Hugging her back, Harry glanced at Destiny, causing hope to flicker within her, before dying out as he turned his back on her. In that instant, Destiny felt what little hope remained dwindle and die.

*****

The holidays were horrible. Having his parents be best friends with the Blacks meant that not only were they constantly over, but so were their children. At first Harry felt bad for ignoring his childhood friend just because she was in a different house, but quickly stopped worrying as he worked to avoid her. Every time he was in the same room as her, she would watch him with unblinking eyes, her face completely expressionless. By the time that the day came to return to Hogwarts, Harry was more than happy to board the train.

"Now," Lily said, smoothing Harry's hair, "you make sure to keep an eye on Destiny, all right? No more of this silliness because she's in a different house, am I understood?"

"Yeah, Mom, sure."

Nodding, she hugged Destiny and pushed them both towards the train. Once upon it, Destiny turned and, without a word, walked away in the opposite direction of him.

*****

As the year passed, Harry gradually saw less and less of Destiny until only at meal time could he catch a glimpse of her. As the end of the year exams finally arrived, Harry hurried to the library, determined to study between each test.

Entering the library, Harry looked from crowded table to crowded table trying to find an empty seat. Spotting one, he walked over and sat down. Glancing around to see who else was sharing the table, he groaned. Sitting across from him was Draco Malfoy.

Scowling at him over a stack of books, Draco drawled, "What do you want?"

"Well, it's a library." Harry rolled his eyes. "Go figure why I brought books to study."

Giving him a nasty look, Draco turned back to his books.

Deciding to ignore him, Harry opened his notes and began to review. Several minutes later, another student flopped into a chair across the table from him and began to whisper excitedly to the blond Slytherin.

Annoyed, Harry snapped, "Do you mind? I'm trying to study," before glancing up.

Sitting across from him was none other than Destiny Black.

Giving him an appraising look, she forced out a smile. "How are you, Harry?"

Frowning at her, he gave a clipped, "Fine."

Biting her lip, she tried again. "Are you looking forward to summer?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Um, do you know if our families will be going on any vacations together?"

Giving a shrug, he didn't reply.

"I don't think we'll be going anywhere," she rambled. "With Voldemort stepping up his attacks, it probably isn't safe. Our families will probably hang out a lot though."

"Doesn't mean that we're going to be hanging out with each other."

Flushing, she lowered her head. "Oh, right. Well then... I, I better go. You know exams to take and all."

Grabbing her bag, she practically ran for the door.

Draco, having sat silently through the exchange, now sat staring with an unreadable expression.

"What are you looking at?" Harry snapped.

Narrowing his eyes, Draco ignored him.

"If you've got something to say, Malfoy, then just say it."

Looking up from where he had been stuffing his things in his bag, he gave him a steady stare. "You don't deserve her."

"Deserve her? I don't want her!"

"Destiny is the best friend you'll ever find and you're throwing it away on a stupid house rivalry."

Folding his arms, Harry replied stubbornly, "I know what kind of person goes into Slytherin and I want nothing to do with them."

Picking up the bag, Draco put it on his back before speaking. "You're going to regret this decision one day and then you're going to hate yourself."

Turning, Draco walked away without another word. Mystified, Harry just watched him go.

Walking out of the stacks with an armful of books, Hermione looked in the direction that Draco had just gone.

"What was that all about?"

Shaking his head, Harry said with amazement, "For a moment there, Malfoy almost seemed like a human that cared."