Can be read alone, but will make more sense when read with what I am calling the "Hogwarts Sage". To read them in order check out Sarah and the Wizarding World starting at Chapter 5 entitled, Hogwarts.
There may be mistakes in this chapter as there tends to be in all of them.
Sarah wasn't sure what it was about Grimmauld Place that made the hours seem to blend together, but she often had the strangest feeling she had been forgetting something important. It started off slow, and insignificant, as though waking from a dream you couldn't remember. Sarah figured it must have been the house, but when she went to speak her concerns she had completely forgotten what she had been worried about. She figured that it all had to do with how she was not at ease with the house she was occupying.
So, Sarah decided to familiarize herself with the house, as with any new place that one stays at, the best thing to do is find a spot to make your own, this way you become comfortable with your new surroundings. When Sarah wasn't helping to clean the house, she spent most of her free time in the library at Grimmauld Place, the quiet and books put her at ease far better than a gloomy dark bedroom. Ginny Weasley had taken to spending her time with Sarah, though the youngest Weasley had been hesitant at first. On occasion Tonks would visit, along with Sirius who would join and engage in conversation, as well as playfully banter with Sarah. Sarah had learned from the youngest Weasley that Sirius visiting the library was a new occurrence. When Sarah asked what she had meant, Ginny responded that Sirius had previously spent his most of his time with Buckbeak.
Still Sarah found that she spent a great deal of her time in the library answering questions that Ginny would ask. The most interesting topic Ginny found to question was Sarah's prior life in America. Sarah had been elusive about her life before Hogwarts, but one afternoon decided to indulge in the girl's curiosity.
"Let's see I attended school at Ilvermorny, I have family from different wizarding communities. My father's side has been in America for generations, and my grandfather attended Ilvermorny while my grandmother was taught privately in America. On my mother's side my grandfather attended Durmstrang, and my grandmother Beauxbatons, and I've had relatives who have attended Hogwarts. I almost attended Durmstrang myself." Sarah said matter-of-factly.
"But you're American, Durmstrang doesn't just let any witch in." Sirius said having been listening to their conversation, even though he had been pretending to be looking through a book.
"Grandfather liked to believe he had connections, which to be honest he does. I was surprised when I received a letter, besides with my mother's passing my grandfather would have preferred me closer to him. He would have even accepted me attending Beauxbatons, both mother and grandmother having gone there. I've heard grandfather's rant about that on many occasions, he was upset that mother didn't want to attend Durmstrang, but it would not have suited her."
"And it would have suited you?" Sarah turned and looked into the eyes of Sirius Black, there was a mischievous look about them. It was no secret that Drumstrang taught Dark Arts, even Sarah wondered at times how different she may have turned out had she attended.
"Perhaps," Sarah responded to Sirius, "seems we will never know." she finished with a small smile on her lips. "Anyway, grandfather had never been to fond that mother married my father and left for America. Father preferred me being closer to him, in the end I was allowed to go to Ilvermorny, but he did take me to get my first wand from Ollivander's."
"Is there not a wandmaker in America?" Asked Ginny.
"Oh, there is, but even father admits that Ollivander makes the best wands. They just, flow better than the American wands at times. After branching out to other parts of Europe, many of my family on my mother's side still prefer to use the wands from Ollivander's over any other."
"Do you have multiple wands Miss Kingsley?" Sirius asked.
"Maybe." Sarah answered flippantly.
"Your father must be very fond of you." Ginny stated, Sarah unconsciously glanced at Sirius, his eyes having not looked away from her, noticed the small action.
"Well, if he hadn't taken me, my grandfather would have, but father wouldn't stand for that."
"Sarah," Ginny spoke, "Why don't you go back to visit your father? It seems as though he misses you from all the letters you receive, even when they talk about him in the paper it seems as though he is always keen to mention you." Sarah couldn't help the annoyed look that crossed her face, or the sigh that escaped her lips.
"Alright I'm going to tell you something, but please don't let this be a conversation you share at Hogwarts. My father has been trying to marry me off, anything to help with his political career, he's doing fine on his own, but he likes me being home, more so to parade me around." Sarah heard Sirius shift, but she did not look in his direction.
"Don't you miss all the parties and attention?" Ginny asked.
"The parties are never what they are cracked up to be, the people are worse, and you get over the attention quickly." Sarah finished with an air of finality. Sirius voiced his agreement, and mentioned all the dinner parties he once had to attend. Ginny was skeptical at first, until Sirius reminded her that he was a member of the house of Black, and what being a member had once entailed.
"Well isn't there anything you do miss?" Ginny asked hardly believing that Sarah could not miss any part of the fancy lifestyle she grew up with. Sirius sat silently in an armchair at the other end of the room the book he was holding in his lap was closed and completely ignored.
"I miss my brother." Sarah said softly, and thoughts of Toby with his blond hair, blue eyes, and happy voice came to her mind.
"You have a sibling Miss Kingsley?" Sirius asked, reminding Sarah that Sirius had spent the past 12 years in prison and most of this information was probably new to him.
"Yes, my half-brother. My father remarried when I was a teenager. We write to each other as often as we can, but it's hard knowing that I'm missing so much of his life."
"I don't think I would ever miss my brothers the way you miss your one, even if I were to be away from them for so long, and believe me I have been away from them at times."
"That's because you have so many, but I'm sure you would miss them at some point." Ginny gave a look that caused Sarah to laugh. "Then again everyone is different. Besides I can't remember ever wanting to be without my brother, taking this position was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make." Sarah said honestly, she felt a tingle in the back of her mind as though she had been forgetting something, but the thought was easily dismissed when Tonks came into the room to collect Sirius and her to join the meeting.
The three of them walked downstairs leaving Ginny in the library. Upon arriving at the door Sirius allowed Sarah to enter the room first. Most of the order members were already waiting, including Severus who sat on the other side of the table. Sarah moved around the table to sit next to him.
"Hello Snape." Sarah greeted as she sat down.
"Miss Kingsley." Severus replied. "Are you upset with me?" Coming from Severus the question startled Sarah, even if it had sounded indifferent.
"Of course not, why would you think that?"
"You tend only to use my surname when you are upset with me." Severus replied, glancing at her before turning his attention to something across the table.
"I didn't think you noticed." Sarah blushed. "No, I had thought you might appreciate me calling you Snape, but as I would hate to worry you I suppose I'll just stick to calling you Severus." Sarah smirked.
"Did you ever really need a reason before?" Sarah noticed that Severus was distracted, and turned to see Sirius glaring at him. It was then that Sarah realized that she might have offended the owner of the house. There had been two empty seats side by side, and she instead chose to walk around the table to sit next to a man that Sirius could not get along with. It had not been intentionally done, and Sarah hoped that Sirius would not take the situation personally.
"Alright everyone, let's begin this meeting." Moody growled, Tonks who had just finished speaking to Moody, had moved to sit in the empty chair next to Sirius that Sarah had left unoccupied.
With Harry's coming arrival everyone seemed to be bustling about even more than usual. Sarah soon found herself listening to the same argument for what seemed the hundredth time. She stared at a spot on the table in front of her as Molly and Sirius practically screamed at each other. She could see Severus, out of the corner of her eye, gently tapping his fingers on the table. He was obviously annoyed at how repetitive these meetings had become.
"He has every right to know what is going on." Sirius barked.
"He is too young, and he deserves to have a childhood, no matter how short of a childhood it maybe." Molly shouted back.
"Must we waste every meeting like this?" Snape mumbled.
"What's that Snivellus, you've something to say?" Sirius snapped, forcing Sarah out of her stupor. She looked across the table at Sirius and the thought crossed her mind that it might not have been best that Sirius had placed himself across from Severus. Severus shifted next to her but before he could do or say anything, as if on its own accord, Sarah's right hand reached over and placed itself on top of Severus's left hand that had been resting on the table. Sarah, who had turned her eyes back to the spot at the middle of the table, could feel everyone's attention on her. Though she had not intended to silence Severus in the way she had, she made no effort to remove her hand off his, and Severus seemed perhaps not to mind, for he ignored the hand that rested on top of his.
"Please, this is getting us nowhere. Dumbledore gave us an order and we have followed it. If Dumbledore doesn't want us telling Harry anything then we must be certain that there is a perfectly good explanation for it." Remus spoke, Sarah tried not to seem annoyed, this argument only ever leads them in circles. Even though Remus spoke of reason, it would always end with him siding with Sirius.
"What do you think Kingsley?" Sarah felt her eyes widen as she looked up at Sirius. "You have a younger brother, let's say he was in Harry's position, what would you do." Sirius's words had a bite to them, and his eyes bore into hers.
"Now don't go bringing Sarah's brother into this." Molly retorted. Sarah was at a loss, and she nearly jumped when she felt Severus run his thumb over her fingers. Sirius had moved his eyes down at the motion. Sarah hadn't even noticed that her hand had moved from simply resting on top of Severus's to grasping his hand. With his movement his thumb now held onto her fingers and now would seem as though they were almost holding hands. Regardless Sarah seemed to find her words.
"Toby and Harry are completely different people." Sarah stated causing Sirius to look back up at her. "Toby is younger, and I agree with Molly, he wouldn't need that stress." Sarah glanced at Molly who gave a satisfied smile. "However, I wouldn't keep him completely in the dark either. If he couldn't come to me with his worries, who would he go to? And what kind of danger could he get himself into then? I can't say what is right or wrong, you both have proven valid points, but the one thing we can all agree on is Harry's safety, which is why we are gathered here, and using this time while we are all together to argue about who's right or wrong isn't helping anyone. We all have important things we need to go over so we can be completely prepared for what's to come." Sarah finished slowly moving her hand back onto her lap. Severus then continued with his light tapping on the table as though the incident had never occurred.
"Well then..." At this point Moody took over the conversation, since the reveal of the Moody imposter, the real Moody never made Sarah feel uncomfortable. Molly and Sirius both had gone quiet for the remainder of the meeting, but each time Sarah looked up she noticed Sirius hardly moved his eyes away from her. She tried not to squirm each time she noticed him, but the rest of the meeting was taxing.
When the meeting finally came to an end and everyone stood Sarah felt herself being lead out of the room with a guiding hand. Suddenly she found herself alone with Severus at the entrance of the house. Sarah was just about to say something to excuse her actions about holding his hand, when Severus moved in close to her and spoke in hushed tones.
"There is much to be said and not enough time, I ask you stay silent and do not interrupt me. I have been in conference with Dumbledore and Moody, where it has been suggested that you leave back to America before the start of the new school year." He said rapidly.
"What, why?" Was all Sarah was able to get out in her sudden confusion, Severus held up a hand and continued talking.
"As you stated it may not be best to leave one in the dark, and I felt the need to pass along information to you. Try as you might to stay out of the public eye, you have been noticed." Sarah looked at Severus as though she had no idea what he was talking about which only lead him to roll his eyes at her. "Just because you are not in America doesn't make you any less of who you are, and the daughter on the newly elected MACUSA President is a person of power, no matter what country you are in. There has been some talk about recruiting you."
"So, I'm just supposed to up and leave?" Severus looked at Sarah in a way that she could not explain.
"Your safety is a priority, things are not going to get any easier, and diplomatically speaking, there is no need to bring another country into this."
"What would you call last year's tournament?" Sarah scoffed. Before Severus could say anything else he looked passed her, then straightened up and stepped away from her. He looked once more into Sarah's eyes, and though he did not say anything Sarah understood, it was a repeat of the warning, she should leave the place that she had started to make home. Severus closed the door behind him and Sarah both heard the approaching footsteps and felt the pair of eyes on her. She turned to see Sirius standing close to her in the narrow hallway.
A/N: Hello, I know I said that there would be Jareth, and I really wanted to add him, but this "chapter" just wouldn't end, so I decided to split it up a bit, so that way I can really dedicate enough time for His Majesty's return. There is so much I want to say, but I don't want to give anything away.
Moving on, in this chapter Sarah is finally starting to lose her grip on which world is her reality. We have more of her back story, growing up as a witch, attending Ilvermorny (where she was able to select a wand, but as she states her Ollivander wand is the one she favors as an adult), being the daughter of the newly elected American Wizarding President, yeah who saw that coming hehehe. We also get Sarah's thoughts on the situation with Harry. Really how could anyone think that by ignoring a problem (or person) the situation (or worries) will just go away, but I guess that's kind of the point. It's always good to know that someone is there to help, or listen. We also have some jealous Sirius, and Snape (being Snape). And Sarah not really knowing what's going on, only that the Dark side wants to recruit her and there are plans being made about her without her consent.
On a good note I have some different ideas running through my head, another continuation of Sarah meeting Harry. A lot of life has happened over my "hiatus", and although I would love to jump right in and post story after story, I just don't work that way. I like to write for fun, but it doesn't always happen as quickly as I like, and then I always get anxious about posting chapters that I feel aren't up to par, honestly I get all nervous whenever I get an email saying someone left a comment because I worry it might not be good. But it's ok I know I can't please everyone no matter how hard I try, and I appreciate all of you that take your time to read anything I post.
But please be patient with me, thank you for sticking with my stories, and as always Happy Readings.