The short Russian female leaned against a sturdy tree with a glare plastered on her pretty, pale face. She’d just arrived at the castle that morning and been sorted into Slytherin house within mere seconds. The hat that did the house choosing seemed almost reluctant to get too near her, yelling out the green and silver house before it had even made it properly above her head. She’d growled at the thing, finding it rather foolish, then stood and left the office with barely a word to the headmaster. This was definitely no Durmstrang, and she was definitely not at home.

Sibes had made her way down to the dungeons where she had been told her new ‘house’ was, presented the password, and slipped in to the empty commons and sleeping quarters. It seemed most, if not all, of the students were in classes. She’d managed to drop off her things and glare at her surroundings before she escaped to the castle grounds. Now it was the lunch hour, and she was outside it the cloudy day.

The girl had abandoned her black sweater, noting the much warmer temperatures of her new location. She missed her home. Standing there in a blood colored camisole and smooth black slacks, the girl leaned her head back and sniffed the air, allowing the animal within her rise to the surface a bit and read the scents. She smelled rain in the distance, along with something that reminded her of her own scent in her animagus form. That was curious. She’d have to investigate sometime soon.

Emerald eyes blinked open as a new smell accosted her senses. Human. Someone was approaching her. Sibes hadn’t thought anyone would come out with the sky looking so foreboding. She sneered at the approaching figure, her long black hair waving in the light breeze. “I was not looking for company,” she snarled, Russian accent making the words rather thick. Hopefully that might frighten the student away. If not, she might just use her claws to scare them.

Luna had exchanged her robes for a bright orange rain poncho and was wearing that over the rest of her uniform, skipping through the grass and humming to herself. She really didn't mind the rain like so many of the student did. She didn't understand how you could grow up in England, where it rained practically every day, and still be bothered with it by your teenage years.

It was a fine day, that promised a fine British rain, and she intended to enjoy it now that she had the time. Lunch wasn't all that important when you were as tiny as Luna, and if she needed food she would just call for one of the house elves. As long as there was no one else around to see the wires they moved around on, they were usually good for a sandwich or something that was easy to eat on the go and in between classes.

Besides, when the rain got really good, the giant squid put on such a nice show. He really did enjoy the rain on the top of the water just as much as the water underneath, and he was always such a ham. He would want someone to show off for, and as long as the rain started before classes began for the afternoon, she intended to be his audience. Even if not, she had Care of Magical Creatures right after lunch, and while it was her favorite lesson by far, the silly half-giant Hagrid seemed afraid of the rain or something and cancelled classes anytime it was too hard. Maybe rain became more dangerous when you were that much closer to the sky. Luna would have to look into it when she got a chance.

When she got down near the lake, she found that she must not have been the only one with the idea of watching the show. There was a girl who Luna had never seen before, who made such a puzzling contradiction that Luna knew she had to talk to her and find out why. She had such a pretty outside, but she also had the most negative energy that Luna had ever seen. It practically rolled off of her in great waves of hate.

Luna ignored the girl's speech entirely, accent and all, in favor of what she wanted to talk about. "You could be the prettiest girl in school, but your hate makes you ugly," she said matter of factly, backing it up with a nod so violent that her standard radish earrings shook with the effort. "And if you want to watch the giant squid put on his show, you'll need to actually face the lake before it starts raining. Unless you have eyes in the back of your head of course. Then you just need to move around the tree a little bit."

She couldn't help but offer a smile. It was in Luna's nature to think the best of everyone and want them to be their best. Maybe this girl couldn't help being the embodiment of evil and probably having eyes in the back of her head to better see her wicked deeds.

The Russian girl felt rage filling her veins at this ridiculous girl’s words. Ugly? She’d actually called Sibes Sidorova ugly?! That was just not right. Not right at all. “I should rip out your tongue so you can speak no more lies!” she hissed. The girl spoke about some giant squid, which made Sibes twitch with irritation. She didn’t like water, generally, and the lake was definitely not something she wanted to spend her time peering at.

“You’re a bit early for the storm, though,” she mentioned. The scent of the storm was still rather far off, which was why the petite girl had yet to find her way inside of the castle. She didn’t look forward to actually getting rained on. “Now, I’ll give you one chance to take back that ugly comment before I dig my claws into your pretty little face.”

Sibes flexed her fingers, growling at the girl before her. She was hungry for blood, especially after being so insulted. She imagined if something similar had been said to her at Durmstrang. There would have been a duel and dark arts would have been involved. Somehow, she got the feeling that wouldn’t fly here at Hogwarts. Oh, how she missed her old school.

Why had her father gotten himself into so much trouble? Sibes wished he could have left her there. She wondered what the man had even done, and what trouble she might be in because of it. So much was happening that she couldn’t control, and it bothered her. She could feel her nails biting into her palms as she clenched her fists, willing herself not to attack someone on her first day at this new school. Soon, the blood would flow, and she might calm once the scent reached her nose.

Lies? As far as Luna knew, she had never told a lie in her entire life. Why was this strange evil woman accusing her of telling lies and threatening to harm her? Luna really didn’t understand the way people’s minds worked, and there was certainly no asking Harry or Ginny for help in this situation. This angry girl seemed likely to tear her throat out before she got the chance.

Maybe she could figure out why the girl was so angry and work her through it, making the girl happy and saving her own throat. The trouble was, she didn’t really know of any creatures that could make anyone this angry for no good reason. Either Luna was missing something or there were two different things that were working together to make this girl more evil than she was old enough to get at her age and to endanger the entire student body.

“Do you have some kind of curse upon you that makes you so angry?” Luna was doubtful of this one, but she didn’t really have a better idea. “I know my face isn’t the source of your problems, but I suppose I could cover it up if it would make you feel better. It’s such a shame that you’re so angry. You have such a nice figure.”

Luna fell into something of a tortured silence. She really wanted to help this girl. She also didn’t want her face clawed off. She just had no idea what she could do to make things better for both of them. She would have to owl her father and ask him to look into creatures that could cause this kind of anger and darkness in a girl barely older than Luna was herself so that she would be more prepared if she ever ran across it in the future.

Sibes tilted her head at the blonde girl before her. She was very strange. The Russian was about to take a swipe at the girl’s face for the curse comment when she stopped and listened to the rest of her words. Had the girl just complimented her figure? Sibes was more used to sarcastic remarks about her protruding ribs and hip bones. She felt a small smile curl upon her blood colored lips, though she was still rather weary about this strange specimen.

”You are a very strange girl, aren’t you?” she mused aloud, thinking of how there would never be someone so innocent and odd at Durmstrang. This girl would never survive in that atmosphere. ”I suppose you shouldn’t cover that pretty face of yours, though. It would be a shame to hide it…”

Her hand flashed forward and she grabbed the girl’s small wrist, her claws touching the soft skin, but not piercing it. The threat was there, however. If the girl tried to jerk away, Sibes would draw blood. There was no question about that. The Russian put a little pressure on the girl’s wrist, giving it a tug toward her. She willed the blonde to come closer as she peered into the big blue eyes. ”If you sense such darkness, why do you wander so near?”

This continued to get stranger and stranger. Luna would have to be as careful as she could be if she was going to help this girl and help herself. She really had no idea why the girl was smiling. She hadn’t thought in the past that any smile could be a bad thing, but then last spring she had seen the mad smile of the Lestrange woman when she killed that happy man that Harry seemed so fond of. Luna really hoped that this wasn’t one of those smiles.

“Many people call me strange,” Luna allowed diplomatically. She didn’t feel like she was strange, but then maybe no one did. She felt a blush creep up, which was something that she was entirely unfamiliar with. “My face isn’t pretty,” she said quietly. “It’s plain and everyone makes fun of the way I look when they think I can’t hear.”

Luna shook herself mentally. It did no good to dwell on how mean the people were when she could do nothing to fix them. This reverie almost caused her to miss the clawed hand flashing out at her. Thankfully her instinct was to relax, as it probably saved her flesh from serious damage that would be a terrible pain to heal.

“Whoa,” she muttered, taking a couple of steps in towards the girl to relieve some of the pressure she was suddenly under. Still, the other girl seemed more interested now, not like she was trying to rip Luna to pieces. She just had to speak carefully. “I believe that everyone has the potential to be good if they want to,” she said, thought she sensed that this probably wasn’t the best thing to say. “I also honestly find you really interesting. I hope you won’t find that creepy like others do and use it as an excuse to harm me.”

A growl tore through her pretty throat at the blonde’s words. Why would she let others treat her this way? ”If people talk about you, you should make it so they cannot talk,” she said wickedly, her emerald eyes gleaming in the dull light of the cloudy day. She could think of many ways to take away the ability to talk, but her favorite involved her claws and tongues.

Still pulling the girl closer to her, Sibes leaned in and licked a line along the blonde’s cheek, purring lightly as she tasted her fear. ”Everyone has the potential to be bad as well, pretty thing. You should give it a try some time…” Her lips had been right next to the girl’s ear as she purred those words to the blonde. Sibes then licked her lips and rested her chin on the other girl’s shoulder, drawing lazy circles along the girl’s arm with her claws.

”I find you rather interesting as well, and many people find me creepy. Such words are… crude.” Sibes didn’t know what to think of the timid girl, really. She thought the girl should stick up for herself more. Being strange was not a bad thing. Taking verbal blows from people, however, was always a bad thing. If anyone spoke so brazenly about Sibes, she would tear out their tongue to teach them a lesson. If anyone gestured at her, she’d bite their finger. Perhaps a dark curse or two sent at their face as well. No one ever dared to push her buttons after a couple examples of her revenge.

Perhaps she could teach this younger girl how to gain some respect… and perhaps she could teach her how to deal out the consequences when disrespected.

Luna tilted her head confusedly at the other girl’s words, feeling her arm move against the claws as her body did, though thankfully not enough that it broke the skin or caused her anything more than the mild discomfort she had already been feeling anyway. Something about her powerfully drew Luna, which was very strange since almost everything she said went against what Luna knew and believed.

“I suppose that’s true. Galleons do have two sides after all,” she said warily. “I just don’t think I’m capable of being violent, or even forceful enough to stand up to that kind of person,” she added, her tone getting a little bit defeated at the end.

She cut herself off abruptly as the dark girl licked the side of her face. Was she trying to make out with Luna? The blonde had no idea how these things worked. This was added to as the clawed hand partially released her arm, only to begin moving on its surface, adding a tingle through most of her body, while changing the element of danger that surrounded the situation somehow.

Luna was practically shaking with confusion, adrenaline, and Merlin knew what else by this point. She seized onto the girl’s last comment with the scholarly hunger natural to a Ravenclaw, hoping that would help defuse the situation and bring it back to something close to normal. “Crude is the right word for the situation.” She nodded again, moving her body slightly as she did so and causing extra pressure on her arm again. If she kept doing this she would be the one to spill her own blood in all of this. “Most people just aren’t enlightened enough to really see the world around them, don’t you think?”

”Indeed,” she purred in the girl’s ear, chin moving lightly on her soft shoulder. This girl was an interesting creature, though far too innocent for her own good. Her self-doubt was so thick, Sibes was sure she could slice it with her claws if she so desired. This really would not work at all for what the pale Slytherin had in mind for the younger girl, and so she was determined to rectify it. This girl would learn more about herself this year than she ever thought she might know. About that, Sibes was determined.

Continuing to purr deep in her throat, the dangerous female let her nails keep up the gentle patterns on the blonde’s arm. With all the twitching and tensing she was doing, the girl had best be careful. Sibes wasn’t so eager to spill this toy’s blood, but she would happily taste it all the same. The Russian inhaled her companion’s scent, her nose bumping the skin behind the girl’s ear. She smelled sweet, innocent, with a slight tang of fear. This was good. Sibes would be concerned if someone so… light in nature was not a bit scared in such a situation.

Running her other fingers through the curly blonde locks while her nails continued their designs, Sibes twirled a bit of golden hair around a pale digit, smiling devilishly. ”I think your own logical mind might surprise you, pretty pet. You’ll see how easily the line between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ can blur. Things aren’t always… black and white… At least not to those who are…” Sibes stopped mid-sentence to move along the girl’s side, leaning in quickly and easily to place a light kiss upon the blonde’s lips. ”Enlightened.”

Slowly pulling her hand away from the girl’s arm, Sibes turned her back to the younger witch and began her slow walk toward the castle. She deliberately kept a deliciously slow pace, hoping to tempt her new… friend into joining her.

Luna stood in complete shock, mouth slightly open in a rather stupid looking gape. The dark haired girl had actually kissed her!

Not only had Luna never been kissed before in a romantic way, she had not been kissed at all since her mother died several years before. Her father was not exactly the kissing type, and their relationship did not leave room for that kind of thing anyway. It was his job, Xenophilius said, to bring her up as the best young woman she could be, not to be her friend and show her love and friendship whether she deserved it or not.

How did one react to a kiss that was given in a romantic manner, not in the manner or a family member making heartfelt goodbyes?

By the time all of this made its way through Luna's head, the older girl was almost out of sight, even as slowly as she was walking toward the castle. She hurried after her, poncho fanning out behind her, earrings swinging dangerously around her head. When she got up behind her, she tapped the girl on the shoulder twice, rather more forcefully than she actually intended, and then waited until her face came back into view.

"Why?"

For a few moments, Sibes actually thought her stunt was going to go unanswered. She had made her way nearly out of the blonde’s sight before she heard the girl running up behind her. Her eyes grew large as the girl prodded her, but she managed to swallow the growl before it escaped from her throat. It wouldn’t suit her purposes to scare the innocent thing away now.

”Why not?” she asked as she turned to face the blonde again. The scent of rain was heavy on the air, and Sibes knew they were soon going to get soaked if they didn’t make their way inside. ”One of the great things about life is that there isn’t always a reason for things. Sometimes they just… happen.”

Sibes looked at the girl with great interest dancing in her green orbs. She wondered where this whole encounter might lead them. So far it seemed the girl was at least intrigued by the Russian, but that didn’t necessarily mean things would progress the way Sibes wanted them to. If she was honest, she didn’t really know exactly how she wanted them to progress. At least her first day at this new school wasn’t a complete bore. Thunder in the distance made her eager for the blonde to decide whether she was entering the castle with the Russan or not. Sibes hated getting caught in the rain.

Now Luna was a little bit angry. She had asked for a reason, something that made her worthy of the kiss she had received, and instead she had gotten some vague non-answer generality. Her anger bubbled to the surface quickly, surely showing on her face, but then she pushed it back down. Father said that getting angry only led to accidents.

Before she could decide how to handle the situation without getting angry, a loud clap of thunder interrupted her thoughts. She had grown up with England's general sogginess, but that didn't mean she was foolish enough to stand outside when the occasional thunderstorm rolled through. It was time to head inside and figure out how much time she still had to kill before her next class.

She threw her shoulder into the other girl as she walked past, not hard enough to knock herself out of control, but enough to send a message. Probably not what had been meant when she was told to embrace the bad within herself, but still, the girl had asked for it. Asked for it and probably not even felt it as small as Luna was.

The blonde had knocked into her and while Sibes barely felt it, it still happened, and it still bothered her. She’d given the girl a taste of her blood colored lips and she got shoved in return? Talk about rude. Rather than grabbing the girl or drawing her blood as Sibes was sorely tempted to do, she let her go. Her emerald eyes watched the blonde retreat into the castle, while her claws twitched at her sides.

She would have to run into the girl again soon. That shouldn’t be too hard though. It wasn’t like Sibes had any intention of staying put with the snakes, and it seemed likely that her new friend liked to explore as well. For now, the rain was starting to fall and it was time for the Russian to take shelter from the storm. Perhaps she could go find a fun place inside to call her own.