A/N: I certainly have been updating quite a bit lately! Here's a new story, companion to Tales of Hogwarts: Megan's story. The links to the character appearances are on my profile. Let the Slytherin Games begin!
OC Characters
Name: Annarose Malfoy
House: Slytherin
Wand: 10 ¾ inches, poplar, veela hair
Name: James Lee
House: Slytherin
Wand: 8 inches, larch, chimaera hair
Name: Jesse Lundy
House: Slytherin
Wand: 10 inches, ash, diricrawl feather
Name: Juliet Hansen
House: Slytherin
Wand: 11 inches, hazel, phoenix feather
Name: Lily Kennedy
House: Slytherin
Wand: 10 ¾ inches, hawthorn, puffskein fur
Name: Megan Abbott
House: Gryffindor
Wand: 11 inches, maple, unicorn tail hair
Name: Cathryn Lestrange
House: Slytherin
Wand: 9 inches, ebony, pogrebin hair
Name: Sidro Yaxley
House: Slytherin
Wand: 10 inches, oak, phoenix feather
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, only the OCs.
You have got to be kidding me. I didn't spend my whole life contradicting my whole family just for this to happen. My parents were bloody thrilled. My brother was appalled. For once in all our eleven years, I agreed with him. This is possibly the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Worse then the time when I met my Aunt Bellatrix, Uncle Rodolphus, and Cousin Cathryn, or Katie. Worse then when I'd heard about deaths caused by a thing named Lord Voldemort and his followers that were called Death Eaters. I refused to call Muggle-Borns Mudbloods after I'd heard my aunt and uncle discussing them with my cousin. It was even worse then the time I walked in on our house-elf punishing himself for my brother's amusement. In order to tell the story properly, though, I need to start at the beginning. 7:30 am, Malfoy Manor.
"Cassie," a voice singsonged in my ear. I groaned, and tried to swat it. "Now, now, none of that," came the dulcet tones of my brother's voice. Not. Stupid git. His tones couldn't be dulcet if they wrapped themselves in chocolate and sang lullabies.
"Go away," I moaned, putting my pillow over my head. Draco gave and exasperated sigh. Before I knew what was happening, he dragged the blankets off of me. All the way to the floor. Bad idea. I jumped out of bed, my brand new wand pointed directly at his chest. "Leave. Now." I made sure that I enunciated each syllable, putting a threatening edge to my voice. Draco backed away slowly, hands above his head in a gesture of surrender.
"You should be a Gryffindor, Cassie. God." He flung the words over his shoulder as he left my room. I think that they were supposed to be an insult, but they filled me with warmth, a new hope. I scarcely dared to imagine what it would be like. A house filled with muggle borns and blood traitors. People who wanted elf rights, not death to all muggles. A house that could help me to shake my family's legacy and make a name for myself. A house that would approve if I dated a muggle born or a blood traitor. Gryffindor was sounding better and better by each passing second.
I don't know how long I stood there, contemplating this. Five minutes? Ten? Time was something I needed, but I also didn't have much of it. See, Mum was calling me to breakfast already. Drat. I scrambled into a pale gold skirt and a red t-shirt. They made my cheeks bloom and my eyes grayer then ever. Mum wouldn't be pleased with my choices, but what could she do? Nothing. Nothing at all.
"Annarose Cassiopeia Malfoy! If you're not down here in one minute…." She didn't need to finish her sentence. I knew what she'd say. I raced out of my bedroom and down the hall. Down three flights of stairs, two corridors, and through the doorway to the dining room. Our family ate all of our meals here, although I would've been much happier eating in the kitchen. Mum had ordered me to eat in there a few weeks back, thinking that it was a punishment. Foolish woman. Stupid, stupid woman. She knew nothing. I decided to keep her that way. It made life much more interesting.
I finally arrived at my seat at the long table, breathless and flushed from running. Mother glanced up at the clock, lips pursed.
"Ten seconds to spare," she said disapprovingly. I only shrugged and sat down in my seat, preparing myself for twenty minutes of silence. Surprisingly, my mother turned to Draco and asked him a question in a sickly sweet, simpering voice.
"Are you excited for Hogwarts, sweetling?" I nearly choked on a bite of bacon. I mean, honestly, sweetling? Ridiculous.
"Of course, Mum," Draco replied innocently, like a porcelain angel. Oh, he makes me want to hex that smirk right off of his face! Of course, I don't know magic yet, but that's just a minor complication. Conceited little berk. I bet that if I hit him his face would crack. Pig. Ferret. Actually, I like that last one. Describes the arrogant little weasel perfectly.
"Annarose," my mother said, apparently having decided to pick on me now. She had an expectant look on her face. I plastered an angelic expression on my own.
"Could you repeat that?" I asked sweetly. Mother gave an exasperated sigh.
"Are you finished packing?" she snapped. I nodded.
"Nearly." Mother scowled, then pointed at the stairs. I shoved my chair back and exited the dining hall, fuming. How dare she! I've been planning this day, my escape from this hellhole for months! I can't believe she had the nerve to treat me like I was some sort of house elf. Oh, well. At least Dad likes me.
I reached my room and slammed the door behind me so hard that the room shook. On my bed was my wand, right where I'd left it after threatening Draco earlier. I walked over and picked it up, running my fingers along the smooth poplar surface. My wand was 10 ¾ inches, with poplar wood and a core of veela hair. Ollivander had told me that poplar was the wood of the royals. My poor brother, and his hawthorn wand, and his family magic. Not.
I made a quick survey of my room, making sure that I left nothing behind that Mother would rummage through. Clothes? Check. Books? Check. My photo? Not yet. I crossed the room and picked up the photo from where it stood on my nightstand. This photo went everywhere with me. In it, I was perched on a branch of a willow tree. Next to and behind me was a pair of red headed, freckle-faced twins. They were identical, except for their eyes. The one behind me had blue eyes, and the one next to me that looked like he was trying to push me off the branch had brown eyes. I remembered that they were a couple of years older than me. They would be thirteen this year, probably, seeing as I was eleven, and had been since the beginning of July. I bet they'll be at Hogwarts this year. I hoped so.
"Annarose!" my mother yelled. "We're leaving!" Wow, she doesn't waste any time, does she? I carefully placed my picture in my trunk, and closed the lid. Then I grabbed it in one hand and my wand in my other hand. Before I could leave my room, Kinky the house elf apparated in.
"Mistress says I have to take Miss Rose's trunk, so I do," she squeaked. I handed it over reluctantly.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" I asked concernedly. Kinky smiled, snapped her fingers, and both she and the trunk disappeared with a crack. I opened my door and walked downstairs clutching my wand, wishing that Kinky would've taken me with her. As it was, I was going to be late, and Mother was going to be furious.
"Annarose!" She scolded shrilly when I reached the front entrance. I bowed my head, my straight blond hair falling in my face to hide my twinkling gray eyes. I'd just get in more trouble if my mother saw me laughing.
"I apologize, Mother," I murmured. "I will do better next time."
"See that you do," she snapped. Then she turned and walked out the door, Draco and I following obediently. We stopped about ten yards from the house. Next to us was a big tree, at least twenty feet high, and about five feet in diameter. Kinky and our other House Elf Dobby stood in front of it, looking tiny in comparison. "Take the twins to King's Cross," Mother ordered the elves in a tone that was not to be disobeyed. Draco looked as surprised as I didn't feel.
"You mean you're not coming with us?" He asked in a tiny voice.
"No," Mother said softly. This day just kept getting better and better. Mother stooped, gave us each a kiss on the forehead, and walked back to the house without a backwards glance. Good riddance. I turned back to our house elves.
"Lets go." Dobby took Draco's hand, and Kinky took mine. They each stood on a trunk, snapped their fingers, and disapparated. We landed on the platform safely. I clenched my teeth, trying and succeeding not to vomit. Draco wasn't so lucky. Dobby snapped his fingers, and our luggage vanished, onto the train, I think. The next thing I knew, Kinky had taken my hand again. I looked down at her, and her tennis ball like eyes were brimming with tears.
"If Miss needs Kinky at Hogwarts," she said softly. "All Miss needs to do is ask." The simple gesture brought tears to my own eyes, and I squeezed her hand.
"I will, Kinky," I promised. She smiled, let go of my hand, and disappeared with Dobby. "Come on, Draco," I said in a choked voice. "Let's board the train." Draco took one look at me, and then ran off. I stood there, not quite sure what to do.
"Did your man desert you at the altar?" came a somewhat familiar voice from behind me. I whirled around in surprise. Two red headed boys were standing there. They were identical, except for their eyes. One had dark brown eyes that looked like melted chocolate. The other had beautiful dark blue eyes that sparkled like a lake in the afternoon sun. I gulped. They were identical, except for their eyes. Sure, and didn't I remember thinking those very words this morning while looking at my picture.
"No," I said, finally finding my voice. "But my brother ditched me on this platform, so…" I trailed off, rolling my eyes with the practiced ease of a professional. The twins exchanged glances.
"Follow us," they said, perfectly in unison. Did they count down so that they'd speak at the same time, or did they have some sort of glitch in their brain, a mental connection of some sort? I nodded in agreement, and made to follow them, but then the brown-eyed twin asked a question that made my throat close.
"Where are your parents?" He asked. My eyes started filling.
"They're-" the other twin shook his head, interrupting me.
"Have you lost your pathetic mind, Forge?" He inquired in an innocent tone. Then he turned to me and said, "You don't have to answer Billy No Mates over here if you don't want to.
"I know that," I retorted. "If I didn't want to answer him, would I still be here talking to you?"
"Yes," The blue-eyed twin shot back. "Because I'm the good looking twin." We broke into peals of laughter that subsided after a few moments. The brown-eyed twin looked at me expectantly. I took a deep breath.
"My parents didn't come," I confessed. The twin's eyes grew wide, but they held their tongues. "Dad had work, and Mum…" My voice trailed off again, my tears threatening to overflow. The blue-eyed twin gave me an awkward one-armed hug and punched his twin with his free hand.
"And that is why we don't ask personal questions on the first meeting," he admonished. Then, taking a look at my face, he added, "We save them 'til the third or fourth. Fifth, even. Come on, you can sit with us." I gave him a shaky smile. He seemed to be waiting for a response. I then threw my arms around him. He acted somewhat surprised, but then hugged me back. It felt foreign and strange. No one had ever let me hug them before, or hugged me. I pulled back uneasily.
"I- I'm sorry," I stammered. He looked puzzled.
"What for? Hugging me?" when I nodded, he just grinned. "C'mon, amateur," he said, taking my hand easily. "Let's go find a compartment before the train leaves without us." His twin offered me his arm.
"Allow me to escort you, my lady," he said faux-gallantly. I put a hand on his arm, keeping the other in the first twin's hand. Then they led me onto the scarlet engine.
I followed the twins down the length of the train to a compartment at the very back. The first twin slid open the door and ushered me inside.
"By the way," he said, blue eyes twinkling. "The name's Fred. Third year, Gryffindor." He didn't offer a last name. The other twin followed us into the compartment, frowning.
"But I thought that I was Fred today," he complained. Fred gave a patient sigh, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You are Fred on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays," he reminded his twin. The other boy nodded.
"You're right," he agreed. "But you're George tomorrow, correct?" Fred nodded.
"Right you are, Georgiekins."
"I'm George," George said suddenly, turning to me. "But I didn't catch your name."
"That's because I didn't give it," I retorted. "But I'm Annarose Malfoy, First Year." Both twins stared at me. I clapped a hand over my mouth.
"Blimey," whispered Fred in an awestruck voice. "After all these years." My hand flew to my neck. In addition to the picture in my trunk, I had one more relic from my past friendship. A locket was fastened around my neck. It was tarnished, the original gold paint wearing off, but you could still read the initials that had been emblazoned on it. AFG. Inside were two pictures. On one side was a picture of seven-year-old me holding my very first real broomstick. On the other side was a picture of a pair of ten-year-old twins. Twins that I hadn't seen since I moved to my current house. The day I left, they came over to my house. They gave me the locket, and made me promise to never take it off. I've never taken it off since. Not once. I looked up to see Fred and George talking amongst themselves in low tones. I raised an eyebrow at them, and George pulled and exploding snap deck out of his pocket. Dangerous place to keep it, if you think about it.
"C'mon," he said quickly. "Let's play." And we did. We'd played seven games, me winning five of them, and were in the middle of our eighth when the door opened. A sandy haired boy stood there, probably a lost first year. I gave him a little wave, and he blushed furiously.
"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U and I together," he blurted out, blushing even harder. Cheesy pick up lines make me sick. Whatever house I'm in, he better hope he's not in it, or I'm going to make his life hell. I smiled sweetly at him.
"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put F and U together," I told him. Ah, but I do love a good comeback. That one was a little old, but to be fair, so was his line. The poor boy stuttered and apology and ran off. I turned back to the game, feeling slightly guilty. Fred and George were snickering.
"What?" I asked, glancing up. They were positively giggling by now.
"The look on that bloke's face!" Fred cackled. I cracked a small grin. Maybe it had been a little funny. Then the cards exploded in George's face making Fred and I howl with laughter.
The train jerked to a stop. All three of us were flung on top of one another. I blushed when I saw that I had fallen on top of Fred. He just smiled and helped me to my feet.
"Come on," George said, opening the door. "You have to go up in the boats. We'll see you later, yeah?" I nodded, waving to the twins as the crowd swallowed them up. A big hairy man was calling from farther down the platform.
"Firs' years! Righ' this way!" I made my way over to him.
"Hi," I said, my voice quavering embarrassingly.
"Well, hello there! Wha's your name? Mine's Hagrid," the man said in a vaguely familiar accent.
"I'm Annarose. Annarose Malfoy." Hagrid grinned broadly.
"Oh, so yer the little girl that yer family shut an' locked up in a close'." I smiled weakly.
"That sounds about right." Hagrid pointed to the little boats that dotted the lakeshore.
"Yer gonna ride up in these," He told me. I smiled and waved to him, the climbed into the boat nearest to me. A pretty girl with curly brown hair and brown eyes soon joined me. She gave me a shy smile. I returned it. We passed most of the ride in silence. The first time either of us spoke was when we caught our first glimpse of Hogwarts.
"Wow," I gasped. She nodded. We passed the short remainder of the ride in total silence. Before long, our boat bumped into a dock at the other side of the lake. I climbed out of our boat, closely followed by the dark haired girl. We followed the others into the Entrance Hall, where a witch named Professor McGonagall made a long speech. After that ordeal, she led us into the Great Hall. She began to call us up to a stool to try on the Sorting Hat in alphabetical order. First, there was a pair of twins, the Abbotts. One went to Gryffindor, the other to Hufflepuff, living proof that twins don't always end up in the same house. Later, I found out that the girl I'd met was named Juliet Hansen. She was sorted into Slytherin, and looked furious about it. It was evident that she had wanted to be anywhere but there. Several more people were sorted into Slytherin, but only three of them stood out. The first was a fragile looking girl named Lily Kennedy with unforgettable dark red hair and big green eyes. Next came James Lee, a tall boy with broad shoulders, dark brown hair, and blue eyes. Last was Jesse Lundy, who was almost identical to James except for his hair, which was much lighter. My name was called right after Jesse.
"Malfoy, Annarose!" I clenched my fists as I walked up to the stool, willing myself not to get sick in front of everyone. I sat down on the stool and put the hat on. It was far too big, and slipped down over my eyes. I stared at the dark interior of the hat.
"Hm," said a little voice in my head. "A Malfoy? One that wants to be in Gryffindor?" The rest passed as a blur. All I remember is that I sat up there far longer then anyone else, arguing with the bloody hat. It wore me down eventually and I gave in.
"Fine," I thought. "See if I care."
"Slytherin!" The thing yelled triumphantly. I yanked it off and slapped it down on the stool. Then I began to walk over to the Slytherin table, my back ramrod straight and my head high, just like Mother had taught me. I hadn't even reached the table before Draco caught up with me. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me over to a secluded spot at the farthest end of the table.
"What went wrong?" he hissed once we were seated.
"I don't know," I whispered back. "The bloody hat told me to make a difference in my house, then screamed Slytherin." I then proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the meal.
"First years, follow me," a prefect ordered once we were finished eating. All of us ickle, insignificant firsties stood up and followed the blighter out of the Great Hall.
"Hey," whispered a voice at my shoulder. I turned, and saw Lily Kennedy standing there. Behind her were Juliet Hansen, James Lee, and Jesse Lundy. They all waved shyly at me. I waved back, equally as shyly. "You must be Draco Malfoy's sister," Lily said excitedly. I could see Jesse Lundy looking disgruntled.
"Yes," I said carefully. I'd learned at a young age to be careful when talking about my family, because people would either want to meet them or kill them. Jesse's frown grew deeper when he heard my response. Lily didn't seem to notice.
"Can I meet him?" she asked, smiling brightly. Oh, so she's the meeting type. The kind that meets my family and never wants to leave. Jesse glared at me, as if daring me to say yes.