Something Wicked This Way Comes

[Ursula Black]

September 1st, 1868

Slytherin! Of course she had landed herself in Slytherin, where else was she going to go? She had been considerably less confident the moments leading up to when she sat down on the stool - what if she ended up in Hufflepuff? She'd sooner have thrown herself off the Astronomy tower. But no, Ursula was a Slytherin and proud to be so, even if it did mean she had to share the common room with her sister. However, she'd also be sharing it with her brother but he was far more tolerable than Benilda and so the two balanced out a little.

It wasn't long after the first years had been shown to their respective common rooms and Ursula had already got herself acquainted with the other Slytherin girls in her year and decided who was worth knowing and who wasn't so important to know. She had descended the stairs from the Slytherin common room with a piece of parchment, ink and a quill, prepared to write a letter to her parents. They would surely be proud of her for making Slytherin! She sat down at a table and got her writing equipment ready and had just began writing when she heard a familiar voice and turned around to look. "Hello, Brother," she greeted calmly, offering him a cordial smile.

  

[Orson Flint]

September 1868, Orson's fourth year, September Challenge

The Sorting Ceremony and feast had gone just as much as they had for the years leading up to this one. Orson supposed he should pay more attention since Ursula was being sorted this go around, but there was no doubt in his mind that she would join him in Slytherin. If she were anywhere other than that or Ravenclaw, he would have mocked her mercilessly.

It appeared however, that would not be necessary as he entered the Slytherin common room to see Ursula seated at one of the tables, ink and parchment before her. He smirked, waved to a couple of his mates and leaned casually against the table she was sitting at. "Surprised to see you here." He teased, though he knew full well she would be there. Orson had an unnatural fondness of getting a rise out of his sister, especially because it was so very easy.

  

[Ursula Black]

Ursula frowned. She wasn't very good at the whole teasing thing; she took herself far too seriously most of the time and she was painfully insecure. She wasn't quite smart enough to catch on that Orson was well aware of this and went out of his way to exploit it.

She put her quill to one side and tore herself away from her letter properly. "Well I wasn't going anywhere else, no matter what the Sorting Hat might've said!" she snapped defensively. She was convinced that had the hat wanted her elsewhere she would have demanded it put her in Slytherin regardless and have been appeased.

  

[Orson Flint]

"Hufflepuff wasn't to your liking then?" Orson continued lazily, knowing that would really get her going. Sometimes he wondered if she simply didn't realize he was teasing her or if she just wanted to argue with him. Either were likely options at this point. "You must be relieved then?" He added.

It wasn't very kind of him to tease her like this, he should play the big brother, making sure was all settled in and doing alright, but Ursula had never been one to need to be mollycoddled through anything; she was rather resilient and demanding and she got what she wanted. Like she'd said, she wasn't going anywhere else. Had the Sorting Hat decided on another house, Ursie would have bullied it into getting what she wanted.

  

[Ursula Black]

"Hufflepuff?!" she burst out in disgust. "Certainly not!" She was quickly growing more annoyed with him by the second. "And I'm not relieved because I was never worried for an instant I'd get put there." She huffed and stuck her chin upwards in an indignant gesture. "They probably only made me put the hat on out of courtesy because they already knew where I belonged." She grumpily folded her arms across her chest and glowered at her older brother.

"I bet the hat wanted to put you in Hufflepuff though, you even look like a badger!" Yes, she definitely preferred her cruel brother to her vile sister but she didn't particularly enjoy it when he was teasing her which was probably more often than not. He was different from Benilda though, he could get away with being mean to her where she couldn't.

  

[Orson Flint]

Orson chuckled and shook his head as she howled at him. Poor girl, would she ever learn to just walk away from them when they were being obnoxious. He'd learned to do it quite a bit ago, having lots of practice with both Benilda and Ursula. His younger sister would learn this most valuable skill eventually, hopefully anyway.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." He sounded at her and shook his head once more. "The Hat and I had a lovely discussion about the merits of Ravenclaw and Slytherin." Orson recanted. He had not been a Hat stall, but in the end, Slytherin had won out. He would have made a good Ravenclaw, but his ambition was a bit more pressing than simple knowledge. "You need to learn to relax." He dropped the teasing for a moment before she exploded.

  

[Ursula Black]

Ursula's scowl persisted as he continued still to mess with her. She was about to snap something childish and unpleasant at him but was thrown off by being told to relax. "Wha-? I'm perfectly relaxed!" She flushed with embarrassment; she realized now she had played right into his trap and now she looked stupid.

"You never have anything pleasant to say! You oughtn't to say anything at all, you know." She stuck her bottom lip out slightly in a pout, still frowning deeply at him but she was less irritable than she had been a split-second ago, now she was just very put out and somewhat embarrassed.

  

[Orson Flint]

Chuckling again, Orson simply shrugged. "The same could be said of you sweet sister." He reminded her. The Flints had never been known to be very warm and fuzzy, even among themselves. "Writing to mum?" He questioned, thinking they should just move on. He could continue to tease her and she could continue to get worked up until she stormed off and that wouldn't do. If she was writing home to their parents, he didn't necessarily need an addition of how poor of an older brother he could be when he wanted to.

"I'm sure you'll fit right in here." He said on a more sincere note, thinking he probably should take it easy on Ursie. If they were going to share this space, they may as well be cordial at the very least. If he wasn't, she would make him miserable no doubt. "Have you met your roommates yet?" He inquired.

  

[Ursula Black]

Her expression softened somewhat as the conversation became more of a conversation and less of an exchange of sour remarks and taunts. "Papa, actually," she corrected flippantly. She didn't have a close relationship with her mother as other young girls might, in fact, she resented her mother for not seeming to care enough about her and instead focused on trying to win over the affection of her father.

Fit in? Of course she would fit in, how could she not? People would be lining up to be her friend! Or that's what she preferred to think, anyway. "I will. I've already made friends. Most of the girls in my dormitory are alright but I think one of them might be," she paused for a moment to lower her voice to a loud whisper, "poor."

  

[Orson Flint]

Crossing his arms casually across his chest, Orson probably should have realized she would write their father instead of their mother. Orson was, unfortunately, the one who got most of their mother's attention, though he did share it with Benilda. He wondered if Ursula knew how lucky she was not to get an abundance of attention from their mother.

"Oh Merlin forbid." Orson widened his eyes as if he cared about people being poor. In his few years here at school he'd come across a fair few people who were less-than-fortunate monetarily and nine times out of ten, they could either kick his ass, or were quite a bit smarter than he was. While he knew he should care about money and for all outward appearances he did, Orson tended not to count people out simply because of their financial situation. Even though there weren't many of them here in Slytherin, but Orson never completely disregarded them. Most of the time he simply ignored them, unless he had need of them.

"Do tell Father I said hello." He added after a moment.

  

[Ursula Black]

"Poor people carry diseases, you know. It's proven! I know a girl who accidentally got lost in muggle London and she met some poor people and she was sick with spattergroit for months and she nearly died! And they're not refined and very stupid, I'm not going to associate with her at all, she probably doesn't even wear stays! She probably dresses like a farm girl when she's not in school robes." She chortled at the idea.

"I shall, and I shall let him know you were too indolent to write him yourself." She raised her eyebrows at him haughtily. She would do just as she said too, he'd surely appreciate his youngest child more for caring enough to write to him her first day at Hogwarts.

  

[Orson Flint]

Laughing again, Orson could only shake his head at her yet again, skipping over the poor people story. Ursula really was a sheltered little creature. Neither one of them had been to muggle London, but he was pretty sure she was making that story up. Or somebody had told it to her and she blindly believed it. Either way it just proved to show how naive she was. He was not overly worldly either, but he did have three years of school behind him with people from various backgrounds, he wasn't quite so ignorant.

"Remember, I'm the heir, he doesn't expect such things out of me." It was a lovely place to be in their house. Oldest male, only male. He got special treatment even though he didn't want it. "Tell him what you like, but if he writes back he'll probably tell you not to bother me." He assumed anyway. Or Orson would get a letter telling him off for mistreating his little sister. Hopefully it would the former rather than the latter.

  

[Ursula Black]

Ursula was well aware who was the heir, she'd never be Orson in her parents' eyes but damn it if she didn't want to be better than Benilda to them. She had a disadvantage having been born after the other Flint child and thus losing a headstart but she just had to do everything better than her sister. She'd be better at magic, she'd be prettier and more popular and get a better husband and be richer. Yeah, Benilda wouldn't be so special then.

"Just because you're the heir, doesn't mean Papa doesn't care if you don't write to him. We might get another brother and you might get disinherited because you're not dedicated enough to the family." It was somewhat ridiculous and even more than unlikely but she said it anyway. "Anyway, you're my older brother, you're supposed to look after me because I might get lost or homesick and if I'm miserable it's all your fault."

  

[Orson Flint]

"Oh Ursula, some day you will learn." He sighed. Dedication to the family in the forms of letters home were the least of his problems. Orson needed up uphold family values, even if he didn't necessarily agree with them; he needed to make advantageous friends; he needed to secure a respectable wife in the future; he needed a job that would continue to enhance the family fortune; he did not have to write home to his parents every week. It was not a tradition he had started and dropped, it was something he'd never started in the first place. Sure he wrote home now and again and had done exactly what Ursula was doing no on his very first day at Hogwarts, but now it wasn't necessary.

"I would have to do a lot worse than that to get disinherited and after you why would they have any more children?" He quirked an eyebrow at her; she could take it how she wanted, a compliment or a sneer, either way. "If you're miserable it's your fault, I'll show you around, but you cant' be obnoxious about it. And if you pick a fight you're on your own because little ladies don't pick fights." Even verbal ones. "I'll be around Cherie, if you decide you need me. Tell father what you will, but give him my regards either way." He requested, pushing off the table slowly. "Good night, Ursula, don't murder anybody in their sleep, that is no way to start your schooling." He joked before wandering off to join his mates in another part of the common room.