Raven is a Snake

Forth Year

The holidays were rather weird, she may not have known Cedric, but he'd been a student with the rest of them, and the times she had ran into him the huddle puff had always been nice. She didn't know how to deal with a death of a fellow student so she just sort of tried to push it away. Raven just focused on her homework and trying to figure out what she wanted to focus on more. She knew she wanted to get a potions mastery, call it competitive but her father was one of the youngest potion masters and she felt the need to show she could do just as well and she did enjoy potions. She just didn't think it was something she wanted to do itself. She enjoyed charms, but that was a broad subject, so that didn't help much, so she study she looked over books charms, defends, potions, herbology. And cycled between them until the school year started once more.

So the year started and the opening feast was the same as usual, a new teacher introduced. Professor Umbridge was a well, interesting looking women. It seemed many others agreed and it wasn't just because of her horrific compulsive need to wear pink. So lessons started. She enjoyed most of them and then she had defense and we'll, it was hell to be honest. She instantly clashed with the pink lady who was fighting the devil for their throne it seemed. She attempted to make her make her change her hair and eyes and in general style of act to make Raven 'look like a good normal young lady' which isn't something she agreed with so she asked, as the other snakes laughed, if she was going to teach her ' Like a good qualified Professor, like the Werewolf that was here two years ago.'  Which gained her a detention during the first lesson, she thought it was worth it for the look of horror and disgust that the teacher gained and the impressed reaction from the class.

She didn't like her detentions. She wasn't 100% sure it had been worth the words  Not that they stopped her talking back. Which confused most of the other teachers, she was rather good in lessons usually, McGonagall was the most disapproving. But it simply made her start standing up more for the other Slytherin's or Hufflepuff's they had been paired with for the class, especially after finding out the detentions. She made sure the pink devil never had a chance to give another student a detention.

She started wearing longer sleeves glad for once her father seemed far to busy to notice this year, one of the Ravenclaws decided to bring her to the secret meetings that had started later in the year and she nodded as they told her quietly that there wasn't other Slytherin's there and swapped to her blue tie and changed their hair to the black she usually did years before and followed them into the meetings seeing recognition from Ron and Hermione but also the trust from the brunette and she held back the smile as she joined the group and got handed a coin from Hermione on her way out with a 'Be careful not to loose it.' She stayed with them trained with them and didn't notice anything going wrong until the meeting was crashed and she was serving detention as a Ravenclaw who didn't actually exist and she suddenly worried more for the care and safety of the other students because Umbridge certainly didn't have any care for them.

Her father noticed the wounds on her hand this time, she'd basically fell through his door hand bleeding the lines had almost made it up to the scars from Lupin and Snape, again carefully washed the cuts giving her a small pain potion and applying a healing balm over the lines to help them heal as she fell asleep leaning against him. He simply took her to her room and allowed her to sleep. She slept fitfully feeling each different letter digging into her arm over and over again.

Dumbledore was gone and she was in charge so Raven finds Fred and George, and asks what they're plan was and asks to help them make it bigger she smiled as she watches it unfold. She likes the twins, they're fun, relaxed and know exactly what they want that's the easiest kind of person to deal with, she hated seeing them leave though she did send them an owl wishing them luck with the shop they'd planned to open.
After that she stuck to the library reading new spells to cover the new cuts and scars over her arms and smaller healing spell that she used to help the younger students heal their own scars and cuts to make it less painful for them. After those few days and working the spell to cover her spells she decided to pull out more Medical magic books from the shelves of the library and the potions linked to the medical field.

The school year ended and she heard of the battle at the ministry and mourned for her half-brothers and God father's loss even if she never really got a chance to talk or get to know Sirius herself. She sent her sorrows to Remus told him to take care of himself and wishing she could help. She knew she wouldn't really be much help but she could talk and be someone who was there, if he needed it. Hopefully that was something.

Rather then her usual messing around and just doing potions and her homework over the holidays she decided to throw herself into studying. Magic and Muggle medicine going to the closest library to take out books on biology and medicine, taking a first aid course that she saw was being held, her father seemed amused and happy to see her doing something though he did roll his eyes at her starting study for Muggle grades at the same time but helped her, when he had time from his own work, to get her GCSEs levels started next year that she'd need to get the qualifications she'd learned she would need. And as he told her he had it fixed so she could take them at the begining of the next summer if she thought she could study well enough for then. She gave an excited grin and threw her arms around him thanking him easily. Pressing a kiss to his cheek before he had a chance to push her back with an exasperated smile and eyeroll and explaining he needed to get back to his potions and she continued to grin as he left before going back to her books.