The New Laws

[Jesse Aksel]

By Word Of Madam Driscoll:


Students, do not forget that if you have not submitted a form yet to my office to register your blood origin, please do so before the month is out. These are not simply school rules but new national laws enacted by our minister which must be carried out. Don't think of detention as your punishment, remember that serious legal action can be an effect if you don't complete this cause.


Secondly, don't forget students, that if your new dress requirements include an arm band it must be worn at all times. No exceptions.


Last but not least, there has been a change in class scheduling. All students of lesser blood purity will now be attending classes different periods than their classmates. Students with blood purity of half or more will be in our "A" level classes; all others will be attending our new "B" level classes.


Everyone, don't forget to study hard! Midterms will be coming up even faster than you realize. Take care and good luck!

Jesse tried to hide his disdainful look as he nailed the new announcement to the wall outside the dining hall. Although a pure blood, it disgusted him to see students having to walk the halls with those arm bands. It was as if they were being branded inferior and some of the students really took advantage of that. He had tried to stem the behavior in his classroom, but apparently now even the classes would be separated. He gave a sigh as he began to walk away solemnly. He was beginning to worry where all of this was going.

[Serenity Oliveira]

Today was a typical day for Slytherin's most sophisticated princess. She had woken up and taken a half hour shower; she had to have plenty of time to clean every lock of her notoriously immaculate hair and every inch of her sinfully soft tan skin. Combing and drying her hair, putting on a perfectly coordinated outfit, brushing her teeth, and applying just enough makeup to bring out her naturally beautiful features followed in that exact order. A minimal spritz of enticing perfume would conclude the routine before Serenity Oliveira would deem herself ready to step into the spotlight. Not that she had to do all this just to impress the simplistic, single-minded animals that were her classmates. Serenity knew that she was naturally beautiful and could still awe her pathetic peers even if she had only worn a dirty potato sack...not that she would ever wear such a revolting thing.

Speaking of revolting things! Serenity's superior gaze swept over the students that brushed past her. A touch of disgust was displayed in her expression as she showed her obvious disdain of her classmates. Really, this school was going to the dogs. She would have transferred to Beauxbatons soon after her arrival had it not been for Conor.

A flash of something unfamiliar caught Serenity and pulled her from her thoughts. Her curiosity peeked when she saw a few students with peculiar armbands. There seemed to be something of interest up ahead, because the students were gathering around the noticeboard outside the dining hall. Since she wasn't the center of attention, Serenity obviously wanted to know what could be more fascinating than herself. Seeing a muscly Slytherin push past the milling students, Serenity took her chance and stayed behind him so that she arrived safely in front of the crowd without having to wrestle her way through.

What had brought the students to the noticeboard brought a smirk to the young woman's lips. Looks like the Ministry was finally doing something right! She wouldn't have to attend class with those worthless mutts anymore. She would be among her blood equals from now on. Thank Morgana!

Her day now officially made perfect, Serenity turned a smug expression on the many looks of dismay scattered amongst the pleased smirks of a few of her fellow Slytherins.

"Looks like Hogwarts has finally come to its senses. They should have done this years ago," she announced to the crowd, earning snickers and agreeable nods from a majority of her housemates.

[Anisia Vidar]

The contents of Anisia Vidar's stomach swirled in a sickening fashion as she read the words that Professor Aksel had posted up upon the board outside the dining hall. Bold and clear, they dictated that the new ministers laws would be reaching to even here in Hogwarts. She found herself worrying about the outside world. Had Danail been forced to register the pack? Was her son in danger, being a half-human, half-werewolf, half-blood? She wore no arm band. She did not classify herself as a blood traitor. She was a human girl in love with a wonderful man. There was nothing wrong with that!

Anger filled the girl's light blue eyes as voices prickled behind her, commenting on whether this new rule was great or horrid. Her hands were clenched in fists, shaking down near the pockets of her nice jeans. The violet tank top made her blond hair shine. There on her throat, to complete her look, was a golden locket that Danail had gotten for her. Inside was a picture of both her mate and her son. She looked beautiful, but she didn't care, she wasn't going for the cute blond look. She didn't want attention. She wanted to know that her family was safe. She needed to find Betony. Her cousin would have probably had recent contact with Danail.

The summer child was about to walk away when a lovely and sharp voice cut into her ears. Annie stopped, blinking, as she took in those words she had just heard. Someone thought this was great, and should have been done years ago.

Annie whipped around, anger written all over her young face. "Oh so you think this is so great, Oliveira, then why don't you just go ahead and leave school to go praise the minister himself? I'm sure you'd make a lovely mistress for the man. Since he's sooo fond of purity, you'd be perfect. Or no wait," Annie put a finger to her lips, acting like she'd just remembered something amazing, "I forgot, you're saving everything for Conor Dearest. Too bad he wasn't so keen on waiting for you. Is that a requirement for you stuck up families? The men have to be sluts and the girls have to be prudes? Its always seemed that way to me. Of course my father is a lord in Russia, not main Europe, maybe its just different customs that he only ever loved my mother and my mother him." She stepped forward, moving so that she could match gaze with the older girl. "Please, could you educate me on this 'purer than pure' culture that you've got going on in Portugal and Ireland?"

Bitch. Annie wasn't going to let anyone put down her friends, and in all reality and secrecy, her family.

[Serenity Oliveira]

Serenity loved it when her housemates agreed with her. She had only been back for a few weeks, and already she was well respected amongst her housemates. None of them knew of her disease, and she planned on keeping it that way. Some of the more pathetic girls in her house who didn't have as much money as the Oliveira's cooed and raced to agree with Serenity's every word. Social standing was everything in the Slytherin world. ...

Which was why this Russian little bitch was going to burn in Serenity's patented form of purgatory for insulting her in public. She turned slowly, using that momentary pause to relax her clenched jaw. The usual gold specks in her eyes had fled in her irritation, leaving only the almost black brown color. Instead of lashing out, Serenity tilted her head slightly and delicately brushed a strand of her silky hair away from her eyes. She examined her immaculate nails as she spoke.

"Unlike you, Vidar, I don't need a man to take care of me. I have my own money should I ever need to support myself. And I don't need the minister's approval of my purity. I know I'm perfect," Serenity replied in an unaffected voice. Her gaze flicked up from her nails to zero in on Anisia. With a languidness that showed the crowd how unimportant the Russian girl was, Serenity walked over to the girl until she was only a foot away.

"If I were you, puta, I would look at your own family tree. From what I hear, your father wasn't faithful either. In fact, I heard he was quite the promiscuous man.

As for my betrothed, I accept that he was with other women before me. At least he'll have experience. As for me... I would rather finish my schooling and then start a family as opposed to getting knocked up by some flea-bitten mongrel when you're not even of age."

[Anisia Vidar]

Having grown up trained not to let anyone's words affect her, Annie hid her shock when Serenity referred to her as 'Vidar'. Annie wasn't sure which one of her friends had slipped out her secret, but Annie would deny it to the fullest extent. She raised a brow, acting all the part surprised by Serenity's words. "I'm not sure if you're so high off your own self worth that you've become forgetful, but my name is Yurik. As for my mother and father, my father so loved my mother that even in her death he has never so much as kissed another woman. They meant the world to one another." There had been no arranged marriage for her parents. Dimitri, although the only son of a rich young lord, had fallen in love with the orphan girl and wanted a life with her. They had married and sadly, Lily Yurik died giving birth to their first and only child. That had been the end for physical or romantic relationships for Dimitri. "I wouldn't expect you to understand such an eternal type of love though - I know having compassion for someone is a hard concept for people such as yourself."

Refusing to be intimidated, Annie stepped forward to meet Serenity's advance. They were practically toe to toe. Annie smiled sweetly, still playing nice. "Conor may be your betrothed, but how long do you expect a man such as he to stay faithful? Did he, by any chance, mention to you that he met up with Mari the other day and carried her books for her?"

With a flip of her hair, Anisia only mentioned Danail in passing. "As for my boyfriend, despite rumors, he had I do not have a child. I don't think I would be this thin and in school if I had. Also, he's only twenty and works for my uncle. That's how I met him. So back off. Danny isn't even anything serious. I'd rather spend my youth dating then have my marriage arranged to a drone who only knows how to fuck whores."

[Athens Masters]

When Athens had gotten up this morning it had not been with a cheerful outlook on life. She had grudgingly pulled herself from the warm comfort of her bed and showered. Sleep had clung to her for as long as it could, but now she had to face the morning. It was easy enough to tell that the youngest Masters child was not a morning person, she would sleep through just about anything and was liable to throw an object of some sort at anyone who deemed that she should wake up. For that reason she was left alone by her dorm mates until they were safely headed downstairs for breakfast. This morning, however, they had chosen to ignore the usual morning rules and force Athens to conciseness with the increasingly loud chattering until she had finally gotten up. It was mainly for this reason that Athens even made it to the main hall before breakfast was almost over with.

It was easy to tell that there was some kind of commotion going on near the door to the great hall, a crowd had gathered and a few students were glaring at each other. Another thing caught Athens' attention, on the edges of the crowd there were a few students with arm bands on. Curiosity pulled Athens towards the uneasy crowd and she wound her way through the crowd until she could see the notice on the board. As her eyes took in the information she could feel her stomach tightening, a sure sign on anger. Her father, before he had died, had been against this type of thing. In fact that he been his political platform. Her older brother, Paris, had been bitten by a werewolf years ago, just barely escaping with his life, and he was harmless. He in fact had spent years working for werewolf rights. It was disgusting to see something like this happen. Separating kids just because they were unlucky enough to be born into a family that someone had deemed unworthy.

Athens began to move away when a Slytherin seventh year declared that this was a good thing. Athens was just about to retort back when another Slytherin girl angrily voiced her opinion against Serenity. If Athens wasn't mistaken, the girl was Anisia Yurik who seemed to keep her head down most of the time and was seemingly close friends with Kali Cian, a Gryffindor sixth year. "You might want to brush up on your facts, Oliveira, before you insult someone." Athens finally butted in, her own temper on a short fuse. "Besides, Yurik has a good point there."

[Sebastian Cairo]

Sebastian had been at the library that morning, double checking his work for Potions. He skipped breakfast, just grabbing a bit of toast from the Dining Hall before Charms. Unfortunately, a large crowd had gathered right outside the doors, blocking the entire hallway. First years were desperately trying to see past any of the taller students. A very large Hufflepuff pushed him out of the way hysterically and Sebastian was seriously considering jinxing someone when he spotted the notice. He moved closer to read it, his gaze darkening.

The Cairos were one of the old pure families left in Britain, his parents had already proclaimed allegiance to the Minister, calling him "sensible". He had nothing to worry about. Still...he had developed an annoying, nagging thing that Athens called a conscience. As much as he remained indifferent, he didn't like some of the new laws and attitudes emerging. He wasn't going to storm the Ministry and lead a rebellion, but it was enough to bother him.

To be honest, the Minister's actions seemed a little extreme. Not that he ever admitted it, but his eldest sister was in Azkaban for torturing Muggleborns and Muggles and he suspected his brother was following her example. But now the Minister was taking steps that practically applauded her actions. He had come to terms with the fact that he was never going to be a true Cairo like they were and it was almost as if someone was throwing that in his face.

He sighed and began to move away from the announcement to head towards Charms when he heard Serenity Oliveira make a rude comment and Anisia Yurik retort. He had expected his housemates to cheer on the Minister and was mildly surprised at Yurik's response. Sebastian didn't know her well, but he had never thought of her as a Slytherin really. Serenity Oliveira was another story...he could put up with her boyfriend, but she irritated him more than he would have expected. Perhaps her absence had prevented him from developing an apathy about her.

He was about to leave anyway, as catfights weren't exactly his form of entertainment, when he heard a third, very familiar voice speak up. Sebastian groaned inwardly, turning to see Athens snap at Oliveira. He should have known she'd get involved. But really? Couldn't life ever be simple?

Pushing a bouncing second year out of the way, he grabbed Athens by the arm, saying quietly but very pointedly, "We'll be late for Charms." He did not want her to be in the middle of some crazy duel, knowing very well that the Gryffindor had a short temper and was very sensitive about certain topics. And he didn't want to be hexed attempting to get her away from said crazy duel, as he was fairly sure he would always be pulling her out of trouble for the rest of his life.

[Serenity Oliveira]

Serenity's inner fire nearly burned through her skin when Anisia said that she would never know love. She knew love! She did! She had Conor, and Conor was everything to her! This insolent girl knew nothing! As much as she wanted to backhand the girl, Serenity kept her control on a short leash. She would ruin her reputation if she acted out at such ill-thought out insults.

"Do us all a favor and swallow your tongue, Masters," she snapped, allowing only that momentary slip of edge into her normally cool vocals.

"And your last name is no longer Yurik. You're mated to a werewolf," Serenity replied, a smug smirk settling across her lips. "Did you really think you could trust your pathetic friends with such a huge secret? Especially after your beau showed up at the dance... honestly you should have had a little more discretion." Serenity's words were practically purred as she divulged Anisia Vidar's big secret.

It hadn't taken much to figure out that the girl's secret. Serenity had her sources, and it didn't help Anisia that one of her friends had barely hesitated to sing like a songbird about such juicy information.

But the comment about Mari stung. A slight wince escaped her controlled expressions, betraying a moment of insecurity. Was Conor playing Serenity for a fool? Was she going to have to deal with "the other woman" when she married her betrothed? She wouldn't blame him if he had a mistress once he found out about her own secret. What man would want an imperfect woman to be the mother of his child?

"You know nothing of my relationship with Conor, and you know nothing about his intentions you repulsive slag," Serenity hissed, her pride and surety wounded.

Where was Conor? Why wasn't he at her side defending her? Was he with Mari? Was she alone again?

[Conor O'Reilly]

Annie just had to keep doing what her father and uncle Vladimir had always told her. Keep a cool head. Keep a cool head. Let nothing betray your face. Keep a cool head. Mind clear, thoughts unclouded by fear. She let out a sigh and rubbed a temple, "I am truly growing tired of all these idiotic rumors. Want to know why idiots even think that way? Yes, my adoptive uncle is a werewolf lord. Yes, my boyfriend who is about four and a half years older than me works for my uncle. But that is because my uncle's best friend owns a bar and Danny works helping Uncle with shipments and such. Uncle isn't biased against humans. There is no rule that someone must be a werewolf to help out. So do us all a favor and get your bloody facts straight before you open you filthy mouth!"

--------

"You know actually, Madam Vidar, I kissed that mouth quite recently and I assure you it is anything but filthy." The man of question appeared on the scene, a bemused smirk on his face. He wore a black dress shirt tucked into tan slacks. The few first buttons undone, sleeves rolled up, he was looking his classy part while still having some of his own attitude. He wrapped an arm around Serenity's shoulders and pulled her close to him, swooping her back for a moment to give her a passionate greeting with his lips. "Mornin' babe," he whispered fondly to her, and then stood erect once more to appraise this little girl before him.

"Masters, you'd do well to listen to your friend Cairo. He's the brains out of the two of you." The hand which Conor had draped over Serenity began to trace soft circles on her shoulder, caressing the skin there. "You know Annie, for somewhere who never really got to know me, you sure peg me off as a less than chivalrous man pretty quickly." He shrugged, pondering that for a moment. "I suppose there might be some truth to those statements, but at least I never suck so long as to interbreed two different species. Do you know what that makes you, sweet little Annie?" His smirk only widened and his eyes seemed to glow with the joy of bringing someone else down. "That makes you a blood traitor. Worse than the mud bloods, worse than the squibs, because you would dare to taint perfection. My sins," he indicated himself by touching his chest with his free hand, "will send me to the second layer of Hell - the spot reserved for the lustful. But traitors, they go to the ninth, the deepest layer of hell, because their sin is far worse than any other which could be committed."