Only the Beginning
A/N: This short one-shot was written for the Diagon Alley II OC Collaboration event. The idea of the event was to showcase a number of the amazing original characters that our forum members have created. This one-shot explores a little about Lauren Potter (as I have interpreted her), Pureblood half-sister of James Potter and daughter of Marissa Devine and Charles Potter. She was created by the talented Sable Supernova and is featured in her fics 'How to Get by When We Are All Telling Lies,' 'Common Grounds,' 'Of Rhododendrons and Regulus Black,' as well as many others.
I hope I have done the character justice and that you enjoy this small snippet into her early life with the Devine clan. It may be a little more on the 'tell' and not 'show' side, so I apologise in advance for that, as well as for any SPaG. This will be beta'd soon; most likely before it goes onto the Diagon Alley II account. Oh, before I forget, please excuse the chess speak. I don't usually play, so I hope that at least some of it makes sense.
"Oh how I do love to ride a dragon over the mountains, oh how I do love to ride a –"
"No, no, no. How many times must I tell you, Cordelia, you are to begin with 'Twice around a cauldron we stir.' I will not have any of this… common… childish music. Now, sit your back straight and do not slouch. One, two, three."
Lauren looked up just in time to see her older sister quickly straighten her back as she sat on the rigid piano stool. Her long, silky blonde hair flowed down her back, swaying gently as the girl's body began to shake from the exertion on her small body. With trembling hands, the nine-year-old placed her stout fingers upon the bone keyboard and tentatively began to play the tune her mother had demanded she learn.
"Lauren, Lauren... Lauren! Hurry up, I want my turn," Imogen whined, jabbing the small girl at the top of her forearm.
Immediately, Lauren turned her attention back to the chess board in front of her. She focused her attention on the little black piece she intended to move, so that she did not accidentally shoot her eldest sister the scowl she wore on her face. In all the five years she had known the girl, Lauren thought that it was not worth getting into an argument with Imogen; not if she didn't want a number of small bruises on her thin arms. Besides, if her sister was going to be kind enough to continue to teach her how to play Wizard's Chess rather than get ready for school the next week, it wouldn't do to complain.
"Sorry, Genny, I'll go now. Erm, uh, I'll go… here?" Lauren said unsurely as she commanded the little pawn to move forward diagonally.
A small smile rose to her face as the pawn bowed to its white counterpart before jumping on top of it, sending it flying over the edge of the game board. Then, just a quickly, the pawn settled itself comfortably into its new position, awaiting the next move. She loved these pieces the best; not only were they the least violent of all the chess pieces, they were also cute, small and had a funny name. Unfortunately, her sister did not seem to share her love of pawns.
"You can't do that! That's not how you play the game!" Imogen whispered angrily, her blue eyes flashing.
Flinching, Lauren crawled back a few paces. Not daring to meet Imogen's gaze, she looked at the board, wondering what she could do to fix it. Imogen's pawn had not been broken, and although the pieces often refused to move by hand unless they were to be packed up, Lauren was sure she could put it back.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry, I'll fix it now, see?"
Lifting up the white pawn, she shooed away her own black piece and put it down. Looking up at Imogen, she could see the girl's lips were rising slightly underneath her scowl. Imogen nodded once stiffly, signalling for Lauren to try again. Before she could, however, her mother's shrill voice made both girls jump.
"Put it back where you had it, girl and stop acting so foolish. I find it disappointingly weak that you would show doubt in your actions. Confidence, I say, confidence and triumph are the marks of a true witch," Marissa snapped, eyes narrowed more fiercely than Imogen could ever hope to manage. Turning to her eldest daughter with a slight sneer, she continued, "stop that sulking, Imogen, I will not tolerate such silliness in this house, am I clear?"
"Yes, mother," Imogen said sullenly, ducking her head as the heat rose to her cheeks.
Marissa watched both of her daughters for a moment, lips pursed tightly. Lauren hastily fixed up the chess pieces and crossed her legs. She looked so sweet the way she sat quietly, awaiting her next turn, causing Marissa's eyes to further narrow. How she reminded her of the girls' father; unabashedly charming and always a disappointment.
"Lauren, back straight!" Marissa ordered, before turning back to Cordelia to reprimand her for stopping. "Again, this time with more feeling – use both hands, girl!"
Satisfied that their mother was no longer watching, Imogen resumed the game. Choosing one of the larger pieces, she shot Lauren another glare before moving it, "Knight to F4."
The horse-shaped piece slid first to the side, than forward, looming over Lauren's tower-looking piece. With a sharp slither, Imogen's knight withdrew its sword before bringing it down upon the tower with a sickening crunch. Small pieces of marble scattered around the board, spraying over many of Lauren's pieces.
Imogen smirked at Lauren, nodding her head towards the board. "Your turn."
The remainder of the game continued in a similar fashion, with pieces of both Lauren's and Imogen's side disappearing into clouds of marble dust. At one point, Lauren was caught on the cheek with a piece of her own knight's shattered sword, causing a few, small droplets of blood to appear. She hadn't said anything, and had simply wiped it away with her sleeve for fear of reigniting her sister's temper and attracting their mother's attention again. In fact, she had found that apart from the searing pain on her face, she was enjoying herself. Cordelia was playing well, filling the large sitting room with soothing, classical notes.
"Bishop to, erm, bishop to D8," Imogen commanded, watching closely as her bishop moved across the board slowly. Glancing up at Lauren to see if she was watching, Imogen placed a large smile on her face. "Check."
Sighing, Lauren wracked her brain for a way out. Her most important piece, so Imogen continued to insist, was surrounded in different places by Imogen's pieces. She wasn't quite sure where the different ones were supposed to move from here, let alone which one posed the biggest threat. It didn't really matter to her, though, for she thought the king piece was rather a coward, often whimpering when one of the white pieces came too close. Surely her king should've been fierce like her queen, who was often bossy and frequently shouted out orders to Lauren?
Scanning the board carefully and ignoring the king's quivering pleas of 'help me, child, help me!' Lauren tried to find a remaining piece of hers that could help. All she had left besides her queen and king was a single pawn, a bishop and her second knight. The pawn, as much as she loved it, was far too useless at the moment as it sat stuck in front of the queen at the far end of the board. The bishop, too, appeared a lost cause, for it could only move across the white squares. Only the knight could move, yet Lauren wasn't one hundred per cent certain of the exact movements it could make.
Deciding it best to take a chance on it as Imogen huffed loudly, Lauren cautiously began to move it. "Erm, knight… knight you might go to, erm, to, to-"
"Oh, do hurry up, will you?" Imogen interrupted.
Her voice sounded strange and when Lauren looked up, she could see that her eyes were nervously darting back and forth from the knight, Lauren's king, and Imogen's queen. Lauren knew that the knight was supposed to move in a funny 'L' shape and, focusing on the queen, wondered if perhaps her knight could take over the queen. Judging by the way Imogen licked her lips and was muttering very quietly under her breath, she guessed that she was probably right.
"Alright, knight to B5," Lauren began, looking up at Imogen.
Her older sister was shaking her head slowly, her eyes wide with fear as the knight galloped forward slowly. Her knuckles were pressed into the folds of her long robes, turning white against the thick, purple material. The more Lauren looked, the more she thought she could see the beginnings of tears swelling in the corner of Imogen's eyes.
Not able to stand another row with Imogen, let alone upset her, Lauren quickly stuttered out a correction, "Uh, I mean, to, to, to B7." Though grumbling audibly, her knight thankfully began to turn the opposite direction.
Smiling at Imogen, Lauren waited for the girl to take her next turn. To her utmost surprise, however, Imogen looked quickly at their mother before snarling at Lauren.
"You idiot, what a stupid move! You know you could've taken my queen and saved yourself," Imogen spoke, her tone icy, "don't be such a fool. Mother has told you that triumph is important, silly girl."
Blinking slowly, finding that it was now her eyes that tears were pricking, Lauren opened and closed her mouth. No words would come out of her mouth. When they finally did, Imogen never relinquishing her glower, they came out as no more than a shaky whisper.
"But, but, Genny, I- I just- I wanted you to win."
"Ha! I don't need your help winning! I don't need your help anywhere. Merlin, how can you even hope to succeed in life by letting everyone walk all over you?" Imogen laughed nastily as she glanced at her mother quickly for approval.
"But Genny, I was just being ni-"
Both girls jumped as a loud rumble echoed throughout the room, cutting off Lauren's apology. Cordelia gasped almost as loudly, squeaking as she tried to remain upright on the stool across the room. Her mother had slammed her fists hard down upon the keys and was now glaring at the girls on the floor.
"Girls, enough! How do you expect me to have any hope of improving Cordelia's poor piano skills when you two are constantly arguing? Imogen, why don't you go and make yourself useful for once? Go prepare for school or something, go on. I shan't need to see you until it is time for dinner. Now go, get out of my sight."
Imogen turned her red face to Lauren, her pupils darkening so that her blue eyes looked black.
"This is your entire fault, idiot!" she spat, before standing up abruptly and upturning the board. Turning on her heel, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door on the way out.
Tears now spilling freely from her eyes, Lauren quietly began to pick up the fallen pieces as they demanded her attention – including an indignant queen, who shouted various insults she didn't really know the meaning of – drawing it away from the door. Carefully, tenderly, she placed them back into the carved wooden box and scooped up the dust particles, not owning a wand nor knowing the spell to repair them.
Her mother and sister soon went back to practicing the piano, playing an uplifting French ballad as she put in the chess board and replaced the lid. Small splashes of water hit the polished, dark cover as she snapped the bronze lock into place, realising that this was probably be the last time she would ever play with her sister again.