a w k ward (kaia)

[sarabi]

Sarabi wandered the corridor aimlessly that Friday evening, the masses of students were at the staircases, as dinner had just finished for the night. Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were heading down to the basements and dungeons; Ravenclaws and her fellow Gryffindors heading to their respective towers. Sarabi yawned, but knew she would be up late that night, she wanted to finish her homework so that way Saturday and Sunday she would be free to do whatever pleased her, or at least not worry about falling behind if there were a Quidditch practice scheduled.

Her thoughts meandered back to the letter that Blaise had sent her that morning (she had never called him "dad" or "father" before, he didn't seem to mind her using his first name), the undertones were of awkwardness and obligation. Her mother had probably put him up to it. Sarabi frowned, she had not yet composed a reply, that would wait until Saturday. When she found herself facing a dead end in the corridor, Sarabi turned around, only to see...

[kaia]

Kaia was walking through the corridor when she spotted a familiar figure. She had been heading down to the basements to turn in for the night, but stopped when she spotted her sister. "Hey Sarabi," Kaia said with a smile as her sister turned around to face her. Since they were in different houses, they didn't see each other as much, but Kaia felt close to all of her siblings.

[sarabi]

"Hello, Kaia," said Sarabi, greeting one of her older sisters with a hug. Kaia was probably the sibling that Sarabi felt the least awkward around, but it was bound to generate some tension- especially since she had learned some more details about her past. It didn't feel good, knowing that she was the illegitimate product of an affair. Sarabi was determined to not let it get to her too much, but it would always be awkward, she didn't even look related to any of the Zabinis except for her mother.

[kaia]

Kaia smiled as she warmly embraced her sister. She could tell that Sarabi sometimes felt awkward around the other Zabini children because she wasn't Balise's daughter, but Kaia didn't blame her for it. It was their mother's mistake, not hers, and they were still sisters. "How are you?" Kaia asked once she released Sarabi.

[sarabi]

Sarabi shrugged, so far her life was neutral- it could be better, but it could also be a lot worse. But there was that one exciting bit of information this term... "I made the Quidditch team!" Sarabi said enthusiastically. She was going to be a chaser, she was just glad that there had been a vacancy, instead of having to compete against someone that had held the position multiple times.

[kaia]

Kaia grinned at the news, she knew that Sarabi had wanted to be on the Quidditch team. "Congratulations!" Kaia replied enthusiastically. "I knew you could do it!" She gave her sister another smile. "What position are you going to be playing?" Kaia asked. She hoped that whatever it was, Sarabi wanted to play that position.

[sarabi]

"Chaser," Sarabi responded without missing a beat. It was her best position, next to seeking, but she didn't want the competition to be as tough as a returning member. She had still had to compete against others for the chasing position, but the person that had filled it last term was a seventh year. Sarabi felt lucky, most people that got on teams were forth years or above, but she had out-performed a fifth year and a seventh year for the spot.

[kaia]

"Great job!" Kaia said with a grin, Sarabi loved Quidditch and Kaia was glad that her sister had gotten on the team. It was especially good because she was only a third year, which meant that she was talented and had many good years ahead of her. But Kaia was a chaser as well and she thought vaguely that she would have to play against her sister.

[sarabi]

"Thanks," said Sarabi, grinning a bit, finding it hard to not let her ego swell a little bit. For once in her life, she felt special, when she usually felt on the outside, unwanted. Sometimes her peers teased her, since it wasn't exactly hard to tell that Blaise wasn't her biological father. Hopefully now Sarabi might get some respect from them for holding a position on the Quidditch team. As long as she played well, and Gryffindor had a good season. It was only then that Sarabi realized she would be playing against Kaia that October.

[kaia]

"I guess we'll be playing against each other, then," Kaia commented after a moment. That would probably be interesting, and Kaia wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do about that. She didn't really want to go up against her sister, but she certainly wasn't going to go easy on her. Kaia supposed she would just let whatever happened, happen.

[sarabi]

Sarabi nodded, her hands finding a comfortable place shoved into the pockets of her robes. This generation had certainly messed up the Zabini tradition of being sorted into Slytherin, Hyperion had followed that route, but Kaia was Hufflepuff, Zahra was Ravenclaw, and she had been made a Gryffindor. "I guess so," said Sarabi, "I suppose this takes sibling rivalry to a new level." She added the last bit rather teasingly.

[kaia]

Kaia laughed at Sarabi's last comment. She supposed it was partially true, though, but Kaia wouldn't really see herself as competing against her sister. The competition to her was between the two houses. "I guess so," Kaia replied with a smile. She didn't quite know if she was supposed to go easy on her younger sister. Kaia didn't think so, but she certainly wouldn't purposefully try to hurt Sarabi or anything.

[sarabi]

"Well, siblings in differing houses play against each other all the time," said Sarabi, playing with her red hair, "you've played against Hyperion before." Her older half-brother was one of the lucky ones, he had been with the Slytherin team since his first year; and was now Quidditch captain. Sarabi could only hope she would one day be selected for the position, since she was the youngest one on the team she stood a chance if she could hold her spot for a few more years.

[kaia]

"Yeah, but he's a beater, so it's a bit different," Kaia replied with a slight shrug. "Although, I suppose he has had the opportunity to try to crush me with a bludger. So I guess that could've gone worse." She was glad that Hyperion wasn't one of the overly-competitive sorts that would use his advantage as Kaia's brother to beat her.

[sarabi]

"That's not how Hyperion plays," said Sarabi, beginning to shift her weight from one foot to the other. She didn't do too well standing in one place, or having to sit still for too long. OWL exams were going to kill her when she had to take them. But that was still a ways off. "I watch every game; I noticed he does more defensive beating, making sure bludgers don't hit his team, rather than trying to hit other people," Sarabi added. She didn't really hang out with her brother much, he seemed annoyed by her.