A Different Kind of Hero
1
"Blair Amity Dunstan!"
Ouch. The 'A' word.
"Coming, Mum!" I called back, checking over my reflection one last time. My lips pouted in disgust. How could I board the train to Hogwarts looking how I did? My recently-chopped-off brown hair hung at my shoulders in an unruly wave, even though I'd brushed it for ages the night before. Eyes? Still blue, but now puffy and a little red. Obviously, I hadn't had much sleep the night before.
"BLAIR!"
"SORRY!" I quickly picked up my trunk and a nearby cage that contained my white owl, Dia. She let out a mighty hoot, causing me to drop my trunk onto my big toe. "OW!" Dia cooed in reply, staring up at me with those bright amber eyes. "What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" I grumbled, rubbing my toe through my black shoe. She let out another hoot. "You're a shameful creature. Do you know that?" Before my mother could shout to me again, I grabbed my things again and hurried down the stairs of our tiny home.
"Took you long enough," Mum huffed. Dad, however, simply smiled. I returned it. Leave it to Dad to know how nervous I felt. "Come on, dear," Mum added, her tone softening. "We have to get to the train."
"Floo powder?" I guessed. Mum nodded. Rolling my eyes, I strolled over to the fireplace. "I hate traveling by floo," I muttered under my breath. No one heard.
"Incendio!" Dad waved his wand at the fireplace, causing a mighty flame to burst up. He threw a handful of black soot into them, which changed the color to a radiant green. "You first, dear," he nodded to Mum. She stepped into the fire with ease.
"Platform 9 ¾!" she called, disappearing the moment she had finished.
"Go on," Dad nudged me towards the flames.
"Ugh," I sighed, but obeyed. "Platform 9 ¾!"
Images spun before me, so fast I could barely make any of them out. Finally, my eyes settled on a dreary grey room that held a long red train. I hopped out of the fire, looking around in wonder at the place that was Platform 9 ¾. Finally, I caught Mum waving from nearby the train, my trunk tight in her hands. I ran quickly, receiving a loud screech from Dia. "Oh, can it," I growled.
Moments later, Dad stepped out of the fireplace that connected any wizarding home in the country to the train station and hurried over to say goodbye.
"Well," he began nervously.
"Bye," I smiled uncertainly.
Mum promptly burst into tears and threw her arms around me. "My little girl-off to Hogwarts!" she wailed.
"Ow! Mum, air, air!" I cried, desperately trying to break free. I gave Mum a quick squeeze, and then waved goodbye as I walked to the train. "I'll be fine," I added, referring to her constant whimpers of, "My baby's off in the real world…"
"We'll write," Dad promised, wrapping an arm around Mum's slender shoulders. I smiled at the two. Dad was a quirky, lanky man with graying brown hair and gentle blue eyes like my own. Mum had soft blonde hair and sharp brown eyes that could pierce your soul (or determine whether or not you were lying about eating cookies before dinner). I never thought I looked anything like either, but most people told me otherwise.
"Bye," I smiled one last time before hurrying into the doors of the train. Just in time, too, as they shut the moment after I boarded.
"Take your seats," a man at the front ordered those who were wandering about the entrance, including me. I quickly began to wander around the compartments, but every one of them was full.
Truthfully, I wasn't too worried about it. Hogwarts. I was going to Hogwarts! I had received my letter the day after my eleventh birthday, telling me I was a witch. Mum had only read the first line: Miss Dunstan, we are pleased to tell you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts, the school of witchcraft and wizardry before sobbing. Soon after, I learned that my best friend, Lily Evans had also received her letter. Unlike myself, Lily was muggle-born, so I was worried her parents might be upset and not let her attend.
Muggles? Non-magic folk, but of course! Surely you know that. Perhaps you're wondering why my parents, who are both wizards, knew the muggles? Mum and Dad had decided a ways back it would be 'healthy' for me to grow up surrounded by diffrent sorts of people. We'd settled outside of the town called London, where we met Lily and her parents.
However, her parents had been overjoyed, offering to take the two of us shopping for supplies and such. The two of us had giggled for hours on end about how much fun it would be to live in the dorm together (considering we were in the same house) and to learn about wizardry and magic.
I couldn't find Lily anywhere. And my trunk was becoming heavy. Finally, I spotted a compartment that only held a lanky boy with stringy black hair, a hooked nose, and pale skin. He was staring sadly out of the window, as though remembering something he had forgotten. "Um, hullo," I called softly. He looked up with a start. "D'you mind if I sit here?" The boy didn't exactly smile, but he nodded to the seat as though to tell me I could. I quickly took the seat across from him and put down my things. "I'm Blair," I added, smiling brightly. The boy looked over again. "Blair Dunstan."
"Severus," he said quietly. "Severus Snape."
His tone was so quiet and his expression so sad that I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad one. "Nice to meet you, Severus," I flashed another smile. To my absolute surprise, he returned it. A very tiny, barely there smile, but still a smile. "Is this your first year?"
"Yes," he admitted. "You?"
"Same," There was an awkward pause before I asked, "Which house do you think you'll end up in?"
"Dunno," Severus straightened up, facing me completely. I saw now that he had very dark brown eyes. They were intelligent and kind, yet clouded with sadness. "Anything would suit with me, I suppose. You?"
"Gryffindor," I answered immediately. It was the only option. Mum and Dad had both been in Gryffindor, as had the rest of our family. "It would be really nice," I added, deciding my previous comment sounded a bit cocky.
"Maybe," he shrugged. Dia let out a loud hoot, causing him to jump. I held back a giggle.
"Dia, mind your manners," I playfully scolded my owl.
"Dia?" Severus repeated.
"Mhm," I fished an owl treat out of my robes and stuck it through the bars of Dia's cage. "She's the greatest." Dia cooed as she finished her biscuit, but I noticed she was eyeing Severus uncertainly. Weird... she normally only did that to the meaner sort of people. But this lad didn't seem mean... only afraid. "Were your parents excited when you got your letter?" I tried another feeble attempt at making conversation with the quiet boy.
"Not really," Severus went quiet again, pausing before adding, "I don't know. Were they?" He looked back out the window, slumping down in his seat. I had no clue what to do. This boy was so shy and sad that it stopped my train of thought... although that train didn't set off very often.
"Um…" I stalled, racking my brain for ideas. But I didn't have to think long, as at that moment the door to our compartment swung open.
"Blair!" a familiar voice exclaimed. I turned to find a red-haired girl with soft green eyes and a surprised smile on her face in the doorway.
"Lily!" I cried, jumping up to throw my arms around her. We hugged for a long time before I noticed the boy behind her. He had untidy jet-black hair and glasses over his sharp hazel eyes.
"Hi," he flashed a brilliant smile. "I'm James Potter. You're Lily's friend, right?"
"Yeah," I nodded, parting from my almost-sister.
"My best," Lily corrected. "Blair, this is James. We just met earlier." I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Severus slumped down even farther in his seat, hiding behind his stringy black hair. James peered over my shoulder, grinning at Severus.
"Hullo, Snively," he said mischievously. Severus said nothing, staying quiet where he sat.
"Well, c'mon!" Lily reached for Dia and picked up her cage. "We've got seats with James' other friends."
"Um, okay," I started to lift my trunk, but James swooshed past me and grabbed it.
"Allow me," he smiled in a gentlemanly way. I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks, quickly glancing to Severus to hide it. But my smile turned into a frown as I noticed James stomp hard on the other's foot as he left. "Whoops, so sorry," he smirked at my newfound companion, who said nothing.
"Well, uh, see you, Severus," I called softly over my shoulder as Lily closed the door behind us. He didn't even look up.
"Well, how've you enjoyed your ride so far?" Lily questioned as we made our way down the train.
"Must've been awful," James rolled his eyes. "She rode with Snively for a good two hours. Remember?"
Two hours? That was all? Wow, it had certainly felt like days in his presence.
"Oh, come off it, James," Lily rolled her green eyes. She turned to face me, sighing before she added, "He's been talking awfully mean about that boy for the past part of the ride. Really, I don't see what the big deal is. Did you think he was odd, Blair?"
"Go on, tell her, Blair," James nodded at me. I hesitated.
"Well, um..." but before I could answer, we paused in front of a door, which Lily opened to reveal three new strangers.
"Hullo, boys," James grinned before nodding to me. "This is Blair."
"Hi," I raised up a hand and waved uncertainly.
"Hey, Blair," an extremely handsome boy with grey eyes and short black hair was the first to greet me. "I'm Sirius."
"Nice to meet you," I held back a blush. My eyes traveled to a slightly chubby boy with thin, colorless hair and watery eyes.
"Peter," he introduced himself. I smiled and then spotted another in the corner of their seat. He was watching me in earnest, his soft amber eyes seeming almost… wolflike. This one had light brown hair and a strange air of mystery about him, although I didn't even know his name.
"My name's Remus," he flashed a grin. "Nice to meet you."
I waved once more before studying the compartment closely, trying to make sure there were no more strangers to greet. But before my eyes could finish their journey, I found myself wedged between Lily and the Remus boy, my head filled with confusion. Everyone began to chat merrily, laughing and scolding all at once. I made out words such as, "Git," "Bloody strange, that," "Nervous," "Must be mad," but I wasn't really paying attention. Staring out the window, I began to wonder about that boy, Severus, again. He was weird. Really weird. But in a way that made me want to understand why.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I glanced at Remus. He was smiling, listening as the others talked, but never seemed to add in any of his own words. In a way, he reminded me of Severus… outcast.
"Hi," I blurted out before I could stop myself. He jumped slightly in his seat, then turned his face to meet mine.
"Uh, hi," a barely-there smile appeared on his face.
"So, are you excited?" What was I doing? Ugh, this guy was going to think I was insane!
"Huh? Oh, for school?" Remus' eyes lit up. "Yeah, it sounds great. I think it'll be a lot of fun."
"Yeah," I nodded. Okay, this was a good sign. Maybe he didn't think I was completely mad… "What house do you think you'll be in? Ravenclaw, Slytherin?"
"Anything but," he snorted, his amber eyes flashing. "Slytherin… never was a wizard gone bad that wasn't in Slytherin." He turned back to the window, and I knew I had hit a wrong button. Great.
Slumping down in my seat, I glanced at Lily. James was bragging to her about how he had already 'cast a spell to make a feather levitate". My friend's eyes were flashing; he was obviously getting on her nerves. Remus looked back to James, shaking his head. "Yeah, right."
"It's true!" James insisted.
"Liar,"
"What's your problem?"
Remus was silent. I guess James had annoyed him too.
At least I wasn't the only one.
R&R's greatly appreciated.
Always,
Elle