Chapter 1 – The Raven

Harry Potter and its characters don't belong to me but to one brilliant JK Rowling.

A/N:

So here it is, my first attempt at writing a longer fic to HP. I don't know what I will make of it, I pretty much write down everything that comes to my mind and then sort it all out. Until today, I only now who the two main characters are… and the faint idea of a pairing, of course.

Enjoy.

Oh, and by the way, if anyone of you has pretty good knowledge of anything HP and is interesting in beta-ing this story, contact me ;-)

A black raven was flying through the usual Scottish morning mist. The bird's wings were a little bit longer than normal, his eyes intelligent, but cold and cruel. The whole animal seemed to be made of a dark, indefinable substance which gave the impression of being some kind of light. An eerie, slightly scary light.

The Raven – a Patronus, obviously – headed towards a huge castle with towers that looked like they were going to be destroyed by the soft breeze. But, after all, this was Hogwarts. Magic always made the impossible possible.

Behind one of the many windows near the dungeon area there already was the soft glow of a light. The Raven knew where he was going to, his wings carrying him to the right window without any hesitation.

Upstairs in one of the many towers, a chestnut haired girl was sitting on the windowsill of "her" window in the Gryffindor girl's dormitory, watching the strange bird disappearing behind the headmaster's window.

Hermione was confused. She had never read about black Patroni. This one wasn't only black, no, it also had scars all over its body. Now she was really curious, she would have liked to be able to sneak down into the dungeons using an Invisibility Cloak. But, unfortunately, that wasn't possible since Harry and Ron had taken it with them to hunt down the Horcruxes. So she just kept staring out at Hogwarts' Grounds.

Down in his quarters, Lucius Malfoy was intently listening to a message of the Dark Lord's right hand. About a week ago, Lucius had learned to accept Severus Snape taking what was once his place. It had been terrible – enduring several Cruciatus-Curses at the hands of his former friends had been both humiliating and extremely painful.

But at least Snape hadn't stolen his place as headmaster. Although Lucius would never admit it, he liked being at Hogwarts. Somehow, this was the closest thing to a home he had these days. Malfoy Manor had become Voldemort's head quarter. Since Draco was at Hogwarts, he only had to worry about Narcissa. The Dark Lord hadn't allowed her to follow him, saying he needed her at the manor. Lucius suspected it was to control him.

Sighing, he got to work. Snape's message had indeed contained something important. He and five other servants – Death Eaters – were going to arrive at Hogwarts that afternoon for a two weeks long stay. Lucius was a bit concerned about some of his students – especially the muggleborn ones. Not that his attitude towards them had suddenly changed, but as the headmaster, he needed to ensure the safety of every students, no matter who their parents were.

The student that troubled him most was a certain Hermione Granger. Every teacher only reported positive things, Lucius had his problems with her. She refused to participate in the new subject saying she didn't want to do Dark Magic spells.

He knew she was perfect at theory, she just… well, didn't use it.

Knowing Snape would certainly visit one of his lessons bothered Lucius slightly. He knew he had to get that Granger girl to participate if he didn't want to be punished again. Draco had told him she was sensible and smart, so she would probably understand that she needed to do it in order to protect herself from being tortured by Severus Snape. Not that he really cared about her, but that could become his only argument if she didn't fall for his tactic… Intimidating her could prove to be a success, but he wasn't sure.

With a silent groan, Lucius rose to his feet to get to breakfast before the majority of students arrived there. Hopefully, he would catch the Granger girl on his way back so he could talk to her. If not… well, he knew the password for the Gryffindor Tower…

TBC