Summary: Leora Black has always been able to think through even the toughest of situations, but when the wizarding world becomes divided, whose side will she stand on? Thank her stars she has a certain potions prodigy to guide her through, but is he the one helping her or is it the other way around?

Pairing: SnapexOC

Disclaimer: JKR owns all the characters accept for a few OC's of my own creation!

I figured girls often fancy being named after stars, something so bright, shinning above the world, offering hope to those that look upon them. Then there were the times where you might be lucky enough to find that star falling from the sky and if you make a wish, someone will grant it. However if one were to ask me how I felt about being named after a star, I'd say my wish was never granted.

August 15, 1972

They were fighting again, something I thought I would be more than accustomed to by this time in my life.

Here I was eleven years old, and I couldn't even begin describe what being loved felt like. I was a witch, a witch born into a family that was so old fashioned in thinking they should've been wrinkled. My parents are what is known as 'pureblood', meaning that both my grandparents had some sort of magic in them and therefore their children were born magical as well.

Now to my family, and many pureblood families out there, being pureblood meant that we were supposed to be better than everyone, something that had been drilled into our ears since we were able to hear. Yet, every day I found myself questioning these ideals, something that landed my elder brother in trouble far too often.

I was not an only child by any means, in fact I had two brothers, one very outspoken and the other very much worried about upsetting the family role. Sirius was what my mother had labeled her problem child and for some reason I had yet to figure out why.

Sirius was going into his second year at Hogwarts and I'll never forget when the letter was sent home that he had been sorted into Gryffindor. I thought my mother was going to have a heart attack, and father just yelled in fits of rage for weeks to come about how he was a disgrace to the Black family, and that he should be trying harder to fit in with our kind.

I loved Sirius, and found that no matter what he did, I could never see the wrong in it that my parents could. However Sirius would never be the prodigal son like Regulus, for he was the light in our father's eye.

Regulus is older than me. Of course only by seven minutes, but he made a point of rubbing it in my face any chance he got. I always had to giggle at the fact that he and Sirius were mistaken for the twins of the family. They looked very much alike, and it was no surprise that women would hang off of them at all of the parties we went to.

Even though they were similar though, they were two very different brothers. I never found Regulus challenging our parents, or trying to get on their bad side. He was very accepting when they requested something of him –almost too much so-, but I'm certain he simply wanted to make a good impression on our father, something Sirius had not managed to do.

Then there was me, the daughter of the black house. The young girl who was neither here nor there when it came to knowing who she was or what she stood for. Of course I knew not to upset my parents, but they're was the odd occasion when even I had spoken out against them, earning myself a high five from Sirius and a look of disappointment from my twin.

I had been raised to be the perfect model pureblood princess. Eat this way, dress this way, walk this way, only associate with those who are of pureblood lineage.

I had seen the way pureblood people act, stuck up, deceitful, even sinister at times, and all I could think of was how much I didn't see myself being like them.

I was pulled from my reverie as my door flew open and my brother barged in, shaking his head and crumpling the piece of parchment in his hand.

"Can you believe they're fighting again?" He asked exasperated and I rolled my eyes snatching the letter from his hands.

"You really want me to answer that Reg?"

He chuckled and sat on the edge of my bed a smirk etched onto his face.

"Guess not."

"Thought so…"

I figured he would make to leave, but made no hint towards doing so as I opened my letter. Of course I had no doubts that this was what I had been waiting for, arriving a little late mind you, but here nonetheless.

"Well Leo?"

I smacked his shoulder as he hissed in pain, adding more animation to it than necessary.

"You know better than to call me that Reggie darling…" I growled out (something that my mother would've frowned upon, due to the unladylike-ness of it all).

"Okay enough with the hitting! What does it say? Are you in? Do they not want you? Are you secretly hiding the fact you're a squib?"

I raised my hand to swat him again, but he quickly dodged my attack awaiting my answer.

"I'm accepted."

Regulus gave me a full grin and hugged me –something he did not do too often- and then came the question I was waiting for.

"Which house do you suppose we'll be in?"

His voice was a whisper and I shrugged.

I knew that deep down Reg was secretly worried that he was going to be sorted into Gryffindor and in doing so end up displeasing our father. Of course I really didn't understand what was so bad about that. All the houses possessed amazing qualities about them, and to be sorted into any house at all would be a great honor. Yet to those in the pureblood society, there was only one proper choice for a house…Slytherin.

Every Black family member that had ever had the pleasure of going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been sorted into the house of the serpent, the house belonging to one of the biggest pureblood enthusiasts that ever lived, Salazar Slytherin. In fact up until Sirius, being sorted into Slytherin had been something that was expected, but now, I wasn't sure what to expect.

"Does it really matter where we're sorted? After all, I'm pretty sure the surprise of it all was over and done with Sirius."

"Valid point sis, very valid indeed."

"So was there more to this visit, or was the sole reason you barged into my room based upon the fact that deep down you were worried that I was a squib?"

"Well Sis, Siri and I did have our doubts…Ouch! Did you really have to that?"

"Do you really have to be an ignorant toe-rag!"

"Fair enough!"

We both laughed at our antics before a third party member joined us, looking angry and hurt, something that had become a regular expression on his face.

"Glad to see you two having fun."

Sirius was usually a comedic genius and seeing him looking so distraught was almost unnerving.

"What did you do to make them angry this time?" Reg asked tactlessly. "Tell father that Gryffindor is the most amazing house at Hogwarts?"

Sirius's eyes seemed to brighten a little and he smirked. "Nah, that one got old real fast, I told him not to expect any letters from me, because I had no desire speaking to a stuck up old git like him."

"Real mature brother," I stated as he placed his arm over my shoulder. "Picking fights with the hand that feeds you is not a good choice."

"It may not be a good choice, but it is definitely worth galleons in entertainment."

Sirius and Regulus began laughing and I couldn't help but join them in the infectious sound.

"All right you two, best get out of here before they throw a fit, Mother said something about going to Diagon Alley early tomorrow to get our supplies," I told them, secretly excited at the prospect of getting my very own wand. (Having put up with Sirius' bragging for over a year now)

"Oh yes Diagon Alley! I am hoping to meet up with my friend James there, something I'm sure will anger mother dearly."

And there was the sinister part to every Black family member, slowly seeping through Sirius' words.

"Who's James?"

"Seriously Reg! Do you just turn your ears off whenever it conveniences you? Sirius has been talking about James Potter since he returned from school. He even mentioned others, ummm…Lupin and Peter! Does it seriously not ring a bell?"

"No it Siriusly doesn't!"

I tossed my pillow at him and pointed at my door.

"Out quickly! Both of you before I catch whatever it is that makes you both so darn weird!"

"Aw Leo, we're related! You've definitely already got it!"

"Out!"

I watched as they both stood from my bed and left the room. With their backs turned it was hard to tell who was who, other than the height difference.

I put on my sleeping robes and sat down in front of my mirror. Yes indeed it was hard to tell that Regulus and I once shared the same spot in our mother for nine months. He had the dark hair and eyes that were seen in the Black men for many generations.

I strayed in looks a little from the traditional black or blonde hair that usually accompanied those in my family. My hair was a deep chestnut brown with specks of red hidden throughout it, mid length with a slight wave to it (no doubt from the Prewett side of my family). My skin was quite pale but not a blemish to be found as of yet, thank Merlin. Yet my eyes were neither dark nor light, they were an amber color, something not seen in many generations of my family, but something my Mother said was a beautiful trait.

I was not amazingly thin, but I was not overweight . I found myself quite plain and regular to be honest, there was not a whole lot about me that stood out, but whenever we were forced to attend parties held by the Malfoy's or the Crabbe's I found my brothers watching the men around me like hawks.

I pulled the brush through my hair a few times before smiling contently and crawling into bed. Tomorrow would be Diagon Alley, and I couldn't wait.

August 16, 1972

Crowded.

That was the first and only word that came to mind as we stepped through the brick wall behind the Leaky Cauldron (a popular spot known to all magical folk).

"Better bring your jaw back up! You look like you're trying to swallow the street!"

I glared a Sirius and stuck close to him and Reg.

"First wands," Mother stated returning her nose to where it belonged…high in the air. "Sirius feel free to go off on your own, you should have more than enough there, but please try and stay within the correct group."

I was pretty sure my brother only heard the first part of that sentence before he ran off grinning like a mad man.

"Quickly, quickly! We mustn't dawdle."

Ollivander's was the best wand shop in all of London, so much so that everyone in our family and other families as well had gotten their wands from him for countless generations.

The shop itself was extremely dingy and cluttered, and I was happy that I would not have to search for my wand alone. If that were the case, I would find myself here for countless years no doubt. A short man with hair that was sticking out in all directions made his way from the back room with a cough.

"Ah, the young Black twins have finally arrived. It's great to see you again Walburga," He stated and my mother smiled even though I thought she was attempting to hide her disgust.

"Charmed as always Ollivander."

"Now who would like to go first?" He asked looking between my twin and I. "How about young miss Black?"

I nodded unsure of what to say and approached his desk. He asked me which was my wand arm and I held out my left hand (another area on which Reg and I differed, since he was dominant with his right hand).

The wand maker began to pull box after box off the shelves muttering as he did so.

"No this won't do….this isn't quite right…uh huh!" Finally he pulled off a box and inside was a wand about nine inches in length. "Here we have it! Blackthorn wood, 9 and three quarter inches, with a core made of unicorn hair."

He held out the wand to me and I looked at my mother who made a motion as to say 'get on with it'. The minute it touched my hands I felt as though we were connected and a smile made its way onto my face.

"Ah yes, definitely the right fit! Well, go on! Give it a flick!"

I gulped choosing to ignore the amusement on Regulus' face and swished the wand like I was told too. The boxes that were all messed up from Ollivander's look through carefully reorganized themselves.

"It appears as though the wand has a knack for repairing things out of place Miss Black," he stated like he was trying to tell me more than that.

Soon enough though, I was happy to be out of the limelight as Reg's turn came forward. It was relatively the same experience as mine, only he appeared far less nervous, lucky bugger. His wand was made from mahogany and had a core made from thestrals hair. Ollivander couldn't help but to comment on how opposite our wands are, and this of course seemed odd to him since we were twins. However, Reg and I had never truly been the same person even before we were born.

"Madam Malkin's next you two! And none of the pish-posh robes either! I want the best for my children."

The truth was she wanted us to look better than everyone. So I chose to ignore the price tags on the robes as we got fitted, I was however not lucky enough to ignore the prat that made his way through the door.

"Ah, Walburga it is a pleasure as always," Abraxas Malfoy stated while kissing my mother's hand.

"Indeed Abaraxas it has been far too long since we have lost gotten together."

I moved closer to Regulus as the eyes of the young man standing by his father seemed to be locked on me.

Lucius Malfoy was one of those people you learned not to trust. A sweet talker like his father, he would bed any girl foolish enough to get close, frankly he wasn't my type, and he was far too old for me, even if he was the perfect example of who someone like me should marry.

"Lucius it is your last year this year is it not?" Mother asked as his eyes finally left mine to focus on her.

"It is Mrs. Black. I am afraid to say it will be my last year as prefect as well," he stated winking at me.

I rolled my eyes and luckily no one seemed to notice.

"It will be nice to have someone guide them in the right direction once they reach the school though," Mother stated. "You never know who might suck them in…"

"Indeed, is it true that your eldest son was sorted into-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Reg stated. "But would Leora and I be able to move to the Apothecary and Flourish and Blotts?"

My mother nodded and I let out a sigh of relief. "Why don't you take Lucius with you?"

And so we did, much to my dismay.

"Ooh look at this!" I cried pulling more stuff off the shelves as Lucius looked to be not amused and Reg just looked freaked out.

"And you called us weird. Who would've thought my sister to want to hang out in a place that sells dead animal and bug parts to brew into concoctions….weirdo."

"Why don't you and Malfoy go ahead then, we're supposed to meet Sirius at Fortescue's in about an hour anyway," I told him muttering the last part to myself… "besides he's starting to creep me out."

"Sounds good! Let's leave her be Lucius, maybe you can fill me in on Slytherin house…"

I heard their voices die off, and was happier than ever that my twin was able to pick up on the tension that was around.

I had always been fascinated by potions and was more than excited to start that class. I wasn't sure what it was about the subject I found so interesting, but I had taken the time to read through Sirius' old books just so that I could stay ahead of my peers.

I grabbed a few more vials, some of which wasn't even needed for first year, but seemed to interest me anyways and made to turn around.

"Hey!"

I blinked as I hit something hard, that very something turned out to be a boy.

This boy was about a head taller than me. He had straight black hair that seemed to be a little greasy but it added a sort of model look to it. His eyes were a dark brown almost black and they seemed to look beyond my own, and then there was his nose, which was a little big for his face, but added a sense of character.

I finally noticed his expression and decided to act like the pureblood witch I was trained to be.

"My apologies Mr.?"

"Sev-Severus…" He mumbled out through a cough. Apparently I had caught him off guard.

"Well then Severus, I apologize," I told him with a smile and soon he was joined by another girl. A red head who appeared to be the same age as him.

I could tell from their items that they were my seniors at the school I just didn't know how much by.

"There you are Sev! I was looking all over for you- oh!"

She looked between the boy and I and then smiled.

"Hello there! My name is Lily Evans, I don't think we've met!"

"Nice to meet you Miss Evans," I told her with a genuine smile. "I was just getting acquainted with Severus here after I managed to bump into him on accident."

"I see, well then first year at Hogwarts?"

I nodded and then felt a little embarrassed. Was it really that obvious.

"Well we're second years so maybe we will see each other on the train!"

"Of course," I replied politely noticing the clock was ticking by quickly. "However I had better be going, I'm supposed to meet my brother's for ice cream."

She nodded and Severus just seemed to stare at me. It was different from how Lucius stared at me, and I found myself almost enjoying it.

"Alright! See you in a few weeks…?"

"Leora," I said walking towards the counter where I placed down a few galleons to pay for my supplies.

Needless to say my brother's did not look pleased when I showed up only five minutes late. I expected them to be alone, but there was a boy next to Sirius I had not yet met, and to my enjoyment, Lucius was nowhere in sight.

"Before you freak out, I got distracted by all those amazing products at the apothecary," I said with a dreamy look in my eye.

Reg looked uncomfortable, and Siri and the boy next to him let out a laugh.

"I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you yet," I told him sitting next to Reg.

This boy had untidy hair that was jet black. He had a simple face and wore glasses, but other than that he seemed like every other boy out there.

"Leo meet James Potter, my best bud and prankster friend, Potter meet my baby sister Leo!"

"Nice to meet you James, although I suggest you take my advice and do not call me Leo ever again!"

He nodded obviously hearing the ferocity in my voice. However he got a bemused expression upon his face a few seconds afterwards.

"Are you all named after stars?"

"A sick family joke really," Reg muttered.

"Ya its a little weird, and normally the men of the family are the only ones with star names, but little Leo here," he earned a smack for that one. "Was thought to be a little man before she was born, so the name Leo was picked for her after Leonis, one of the stars in the Leo constellation just like Regulus, what a surprise it was when she came out a girl."

This of course caused snickers amongst the group and I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks for that enlightening story big brother," I muttered. "Did you get my books?"

I needed a change of subject desperately and luckily for the second time today Reg came to my rescue.

"All brand new copies of our first year texts," he told me showing me two of each book. "I could've used your help carrying all of these you know."

"Oh stop your whining," I told him with a smile.

We all had a bowl of ice cream and I found that James and Sirius had a lot in common. They told us of what to expect once we got to Hogwarts and how the house rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor was at an all-time high. I watched as Reg tensed when this was mentioned. When we finally finished eating and everyone was finished with the conversation we made our way back to the Leaky Cauldron where we were expected to floo home.

"A little weird that one is," Reg stated as we walked towards the pub.

"Who? Potter?" I asked and he nodded causing Sirius to glare at him.

"No wonder Mother gets mad at you for hanging out with him. His family is filled with blood traitors," Regulus stated and I stepped between the two of them knowing that my twin had just taken this a step to far.

"Knock it off," I stated but apparently it did no good.

"How dare you Reg!"

"How dare I? Come on Sirius! You're consorting with the enemy just to get a rise out of mother and father! Well I'm sick of it! I'm sick of all the yelling and fighting! Why can't you just be in Slytherin like the rest of us!"

"How dare I Reg? Do you seriously believe all this pureblood bullshit they force into your heads!" Sirius growled causing me to wince. "I'm bloody happy that I was sorted into Gryffindor so I won't have to deal with all you nosy pureblood types! And I suggest you never talk about my best mate and his family like that again!"

Regulus quickly floo'd through the fireplace leaving Sirius and I to talk for a few minutes.

"He's starting to believe them. He always was their favorite little follower."

"Come on Siri! He's your brother! One of you is going to have to apologize sooner rather than later and you know it!"

"Oh come on Leora, he was out of line and you know it," he stated. "I honestly hope he gets sorted into Slytherin so I won't have to see his nasty pureblood mug anywhere!"

"You don't really mean that," I told him softly. Unsure why this was happening? They had both been fine yesterday and today it was like a whole new air was felt amongst my family.

"I hope for your sake that you never end up like them," Sirius told me as right before I floo'd home.

Part of me hoping that he was right, and that I didn't end up like the rest of my family.

The house was particularly quiet other than the mutterings of Kreacher who was busy dusting something. I hauled my belongings upstairs and found a new trunk open on my bed.

Somehow I knew that this year would change everything in my life, and in a few weeks the house I would be sorted into would decide my fate. Yet none of this was in my mind as I laid my head on my pillow, for all I could think about was the dark eyes of the boy I had met in the apothecary's.

(A/N: So there you have it people. Meet Leora, one of my fav characters to ever write by the way!. Also that bit about most of the men in the Black family being named after stars appeard to be true except for a few great aunts. Let me know what you think, I already have quite a few chapters kicked out for this story already XD)