A/N: Hello! Welcome to my first multi-chapter piece…yay! This isn't an AU, but certain dates will be changed, and since the characters don't exist technically in the HP world, these are OCs, but I don't really consider them that. It will be a slow romance, and no romance will even appear until at least fifth year. So…enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Hogwarts or any of its characters.
"Dorea Ursula Black! Where are you? You get on down here, and you better be ready! It will not do for us to not be seen as punctual!" Violetta Black narrowed her eyes, speaking her words up the stairs.
"Coming Mother!" Dorea Black almost ran down the stairs, hoisting the pristine robes above her knees to speed her arrival, her long black hair flying behind her wildly.
"About time, and don't run. And put up your hair! You don't want to seem like a scoundrel. You are a Black, young lady… Remember that."
"Yes mother." Her voice touched with subtle sarcasm, she quickly tied her hair into a tight bun. Inside, she was buzzing. She finally got to go to Hogwarts and learn from the greatest teachers in Great Britain. She smiled and stepped out the door. Pollux and Cassiopeia were outside already standing upright, the Slytherin Crest adorned on their chests.
"Took your time." She rolled her eyes at Pollux's cold attitude, but quickly ceased as her mother walked out.
"Pollux, Cassiopeia, a word." She pulled them inside and turned into the living room out of sight. Dorea huffed, but waited. Once out, Pollux looked almost worried and Cassiopeias' jaw was clenched, but they both quickly reeled in their facial expressions, once again maintaining that cold attitude. She was aching to know what that was about, but knew better.
"Your father won't be there to see you off." Her mother's haughty expression broke, and Dorea was too interested to let it go.
"Why? He saw both Pollux and Cassiopeia off on their first year…"
"Work. Now, come on, we're almost late." Pollux took Dorea's hand, and her mother took Cassiopeia's.
Dorea grimaced as they apparated to King's Cross. She never thought apparition was pleasant, and even though she was almost used to it by now, the feeling of her eyes pushed into her skull were not the most wonderful thing. Not to mention the fact that she was unable to breathe. Platform Nine and Three Quarters was as busy as ever, but the atmosphere was tense and hushed. At least, it was with the Purebloods. An obvious mudblood ran past, wonder and excitement plastered all over the small girl's face, hauling the seemingly giant trunk to the train. Her mother, Pollux and Cassiopeia sniffed in disgust, almost in unison. Dorea didn't, as she could almost identify with the girl. As in, the excitement, as she of course would never identify with being worth nothing. Pollux and Cassiopeia nodded stiffly, walking gracefully over to their respective groups. Dorea's mother straightened out Dorea's robes and stepped back. She flicked her wand up, and Dorea's trunk soared upwards and into a carriage. A bell rang, signalling the train's near departure. Violetta once again nodded, this time smiling very slightly. Dorea reckoned that this was the closest she'd ever get to a "moment" with her mother. She climbed on to the train and nodded. The train doors closed, and she sat down carefully on the seat, carefully smoothing out her robes.
Reaching out into her trunk, she drew out a book Pollux had given her, some worthless rubbish about pureblood supremacy. Dorea thought all of it was entirely wholly repetitive and tedious, and the book harped on about how mudbloods should not be allowed in our world, how they tainted our culture. Even about how halfbloods were destroying our society. How? By making so there are no deformities or squibs in Pureblood families? How would anyone know more about our so-called precious "society" if we didn't experiment! The Black family had stayed "pure", and looked how that ended up. Her, with a worthless squib as a brother. She coughed in disgust and tossed it back into the trunk, snapping it closed. She took a deep breath in as the door slid open, revealing her older childhood "friend", Adelia Greengrass. The girl grimaced in the form of a smile and sat down opposite Dorea, crossing her legs and leaning back. Her grimaced smile became a smirk as Dorea felt a sense of dread. The predatory smile was sure going to be the death of her. Her eyes flicked nervously across, sensing no escape.
"So, is it true?" Adelia's voice was sickeningly sweet, grating on her nerves.
"Is what true?" Dorea's voice cracked slightly, and Adelia's smile stretched, teeth showing.
"About your father…" She leaned forward.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about…Why don't you ask Pollux? He'll probably know more." Despite her youth, she had been raised a Pureblood, and knew exactly why the Greengrass daughter decided to ask her. Pollux knew not to spur on any rumours about their family, but Dorea, a little eleven year old, might not. Of course, that was nonsense, as any good Black knows that family business was family business, but her curiosity was sparked.
Dorea decided not to say anything else, instead leaning back, mirroring the casual elegance of the older girl. There was a brightness to Greengrass's eyes that worried her, and Adelia suddenly got up and said in a voice covered with sugar,
"Have fun with your first year! It'll be great, I'm sure." With that, she walked from the carriage. Dorea put her head in her hands, sighing with annoyance. She sank into her seat with her eyes closed, hoping to get some rest before Hogwarts.
CRASH!
Her restful thinking was unfortunately interrupted by a loud crash in the corridor. She huffed and got up, walking towards the door, but stopped in her tracks as a figure she assumed was male, sank against her door. Some older students crowded around the boy, jeering. She rolled her eyes. Idiots.
The boy got up slowly, leaning against the door. He coughed and limped away. For a moment she considered chasing after him, but dismissed the thought. Whatever trouble he got into, it's his business. He was probably an arrogant boy who put his nose into someone else's business, it was hardly her fault. She sighed, closed her eyes, and prayed that she could get some rest before Hogwarts.
She was woken from her rest by a bell toll. Ten minutes to Hogwarts, she thought giddily. Redoing her hair, she struggled to calm her inner thoughts. Dorea tried to calm her breaths, her head buzzing with excitement. She wondered what the teachers were like, what house she would get into. Her excitement crashed like that vase being knocked off. (Incidentally, she wondered, would the Bullstrodes ever truly forgive her? She was seven at the time!) It was well known (and expected) that all Blacks were Slytherin. (Apart from him, but no one ever talked about that.) And as much as her mother, father and older siblings may deny, Dorea Black was not cunning. Ambitious maybe, but cunning? No. As the train lurched to a halt with the excitement running out and the dread seeping in, Dorea got up swiftly, composed herself and walked out of the carriage and into the train hallway. Flocks of students swept about, knocking into each other with hastened apologies to the older students and glares to the younger. Though drawing herself up, holding her head high, she felt impossibly small. Finally out of the train with minimal fuss, she searched for a stout, fairly short man. This was apparently "Ogg", the gamekeeper. What was he, a barbarian? Being pushed by the crowd, she eventually found a young man with a neatly trimmed beard. As Dorea approached said man, a very small boy, only looking eight or nine bumped into her. She turned around, dark eyes narrowing down on the boy. He sneered at her. She felt outrage, didn't he know who she was? Dorea dismissed him as a mudblood.
"Dorea!" Leo, the younger brother of Adelia walked gracefully towards her. "Sure is nice to see a friendly face." She smiled through her teeth, probably not at all convincing. To be honest, she didn't really mind the younger Greengrass, but as a boy of lower social and financial status than she, he of course was grabbing for higher status than he held at the current moment. This meant that he bent backwards to please her and convince everyone that he was friends with the Blacks. Disgusting, was this how the next patriarch of the Greengrasses supposed to act? She plastered on a smile.
"Leo! How…nice… to see you." He raised his eyebrows, obviously seeing through her transparent façade.
"Yes, quite. How goes your family? Is your father well?" What was with that, Dorea wondered. What had her father done to incite the Greengrasses interest? To some more naïve than her, it would've been an innocent question, but she was always told "Coincidences rarely happen", and it was true. She looked at her "friend" stony-faced.
"Well."
"Good, as well… being a patriarch of the Blacks mustn't be…easy."
"No, I assume not."
"Not that you would…uh…know."
"No, I guess I wouldn't."
"I hope I caused no offense, Dorea."
"No harm done, Leo." She practically snarled his name. When in these last few months did he grow a spine? No matter.
"I just meant-"
"I know perfectly well what you meant. Leo." And she did. Despite being a Black, as a woman, all she was 'good' for was being married off-and probably to her cousin. Despite being proud of her family, she could never understand why she had to marry her cousin- to keep the line 'pure' apparently. It was rubbish, the lot of it.
While Dorea was talking, the group of first years grew. She scanned the group, and found her cousin, Charis. She breathed a sigh of relief and with a smile to Leo, she passed through the group to Charis, who was in the middle of conversation with a boy- Crouch, wasn't it?
"Why hello Charis, and…?"
"Oh, this is Caspar." He inclined his head towards her. "Dorea, how is Aunt Violetta?"
"Call her that to her face, and she might just throw a crucio your way. She's well. Well, as well as she can be with a stick up her-"
"Dorea!" Charis admonished, blushing. Caspar let out a laugh, and quickly covered his mouth, attempting to hide his amusement. Hiding her embarrassment, Charis gestured to the boats.
"What? We have to get in those dingy things?" Dorea let out. Ogg glared at her fiercely, and she averted her gaze in shame.
"But really! They look ready to fall apart! What kind of charms do you put on these things? What dictates the weight limit? What-"Charis cut her off with a look.
"Question later. Just get in the boat." Dorea sighed and climbed in with as much dignity as she could muster. Charis and Caspar followed, as well as…Leo. The boats set across the lake, and as they turned the corner, (Speaking of that, she must ask how they determine the trajectory, adding factors such as wind, tide and the like.) all collectively gasped as they saw Hogwarts for the first time. Dorea quickly hid her amazement, but she just couldn't help it. It was a sight to behold. As the castle drew closer, looming above their heads, Dorea broke out into a smile. It was so beautiful.
The boats washed onto the shore, and Dorea got out with grace, unlike several others, tripping over their robes and falling onto their faces. It was sad, yet quite funny at the same time. It was odd how seeing other people in pain was comical. They gathered at the door. Ogg slipped inside, which was strange, considering how…large he was. The door opened and they walked slowly inside the small entrance room, their footsteps echoing on the marble floor.
"Hello young children!" They were met by a man with bright auburn hair and a beard to match. His eyes twinkled jovially under spectacles and his dark blue robes clashed brilliantly with his hair.
"I am Professor Dumbledore, the Transfiguration Professor and the Deputy Headmaster here at Hogwarts. I hope you all have a brilliant seven years at Hogwarts." His eyes fixated on the small boy from earlier, smiling. "Indeed, I hope you come to think of Hogwarts as your home- away-from-home in time." Dorea raised her eyebrow. Pollux had warned her of the…'upbeat' personality of the Deputy, but this was not what she had expected.
"I am also the Head of the Gryffindor House. For those who don't know, the houses are… well, if Hogwarts is your home, then your house is your family. There are four houses…" Dorea stopped paying attention at that moment. She knew about the houses, she didn't need to be told twice!
The dread of earlier started seeping back in, as all the business about Leo and the Greengrasses intent had put a hold on her earlier misery. But it was all coming back now. She didn't want to disappoint her family, but…
"And now you will be sorted into your houses. Form a single line here, and when your name is called out, just sit on that stool and put on the hat. Simple, right? Yes, of course it is simple! Have fun at Hogwarts!" And with that, Professor Dumbledore reached for a scroll (where did he get that from?) and strode casually into the hall.
"Well he's certainly…interesting."
"Yes…yes he is."
All the first years hustled into the Great Hall, but momentarily stopped when inside. The golden arches around the hall stretched into the ceiling, a picture of a starry night sky. In the middle, four tables stood, and on them students stared at them intently. It made Dorea uncomfortable, all the looks.
"Abbott, Elizabeth!" A tall girl with blonde hair walked over, putting the hat on. It was so large that it covered her eyes. For a few moments, the Hall was silent, and then the brim of the hat opened and the hat cried,
"GRYFFINDOR!" The girl smiled a breath of relief and strode over to the table on the far right which had erupted in cheers.
"Anderson, William!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Baker, Elias!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Black, Charis!" Charis stepped out with all the grace and elegance that she held. Dorea subconsciously held her breath, as the hat was placed on her cousin's head. The few moments of silence were tense.
"SLYTHERIN!" The table in the far left clapped politely, welcoming its new member. Her sister, Callidora, smiled and left a place for her. Charis took up her offer and sat down.
"Black, Dorea!" Dorea, her heart hammering away, walked forwards. Her hands were shaking, and she drew them into fists to stop them. She sat on the stool, placing the hat over her head, and suddenly, the world was encased in darkness.
"Hello, young lady."
What? It's in my head?
"Yes, don't be afraid, I'm just here to sort you. Not to spill your darkest secrets."
Yes, and?
"You seem to have unrealistic expectations of yourself."
What has that got to do with anything?
"It's got to do with everything, young lady. I know where exactly to put you."
Where?
Silence…then…
"RAVENCLAW" She stood up and walked to the table to the right of Slytherin. Charis smiled at her encouragingly while the Ravenclaw table clapped for their new member. She sat at the end, as no other first years had been sorted into Ravenclaw yet.
The night went on, with the table filling up around her, not really paying attention, until one particular sorting which caught her-and everyone else's attention.
"Riddle, Tom" The small boy who had sneered at her walked up to the stool, jamming the hat onto his head. Once again, silence filled the hall…
"SLYTHERIN!" The hall was filled with silence. No one clapped as he sat down on the very end of the table, ignoring all else. She had dismissed him as a mudblood. After all, he didn't know her, and Riddle isn't exactly a Wizarding name…so what possessed the sorting hat to place him in Slytherin? She almost felt sorry for the boy, he would be eaten alive.
An old man stood up from the golden chair in the middle of the teachers table.
"And now, we shall eat!" With a wave of his hand, he sat down and a feast appeared on the table. After moments of silence as they ate, one of the first year Ravenclaws, she couldn't remember his name, leaned in.
"Well, the first Black in several decades to not be sorted in Slytherin! Do you feel special?"
"Would it surprise you if I said not particularly?"
"It wouldn't surprise me!" One of the girls added, smiling. "Come on, lighten up."
Dorea glared, and the girl leaned back, reaching for the turkey.
"Elladora Bones."
"What?"
"My name." Dorea scowled. Before she had a moment to talk back, the Headmaster (Dippet, as she remembered?) stood up to talk. The loud noise in the hall quietened down.
"We have reached the end of the night, and it is time for you to settle down to be up and ready for the first day of classes tomorrow. Prefects, make sure to lead the first years of each house to their dormitories. Thank you, and Goodnight."
All at once, every student got out of their seats and the noise once again erupted to a near deafening level. A boy with mousey hair and an upturned nose waded against the waves of students to get to the first years.
"Alright first-years, follow me." And with that, Dorea and the other first years followed the prefect up staircases and staircases until they were at a beautiful painting of an eagle.
"To get into Ravenclaw Tower is simple: Answer the riddle. You-" He pointed at the boy from earlier, "Have a go." He gestured towards the painting. The boy, who she learnt was named Damian, stood in front of the eagle.
A soft voice filled the air. "The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?" Dorea frowned. The more you take…the more you take… Damian opened his eyes and smiled.
"Footsteps." The portrait swung open to reveal a beautiful circular room. The first years climbed into the common room. In the middle, in front of the spiralling staircases, was a beautiful golden statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. Looking up, Dorea noticed that the ceiling also reflected the starry night sky.
"Listen, I know you are all tired, but the Head of House, Professor Prewett wants to say a couple of rules." A tall man with long hair and shining eyes, not unlike Professor Dumbledore's, stepped forward and nodded to the prefect.
"Hello young children, and welcome to Ravenclaw. You are obviously tired, and I will not deprive you mind of rest, but I have to mention one thing." His demeanour changed, growing more serious. "There are many kinds of wisdom, be it academic, creativity or plain knowledge. But I have seen something throughout the years that I may finally address. Knowledge is not competitive. Knowledge comes in all forms, and those with a different kind of knowledge and wisdom than you are not less of a person. Above all, companionship and trust is the greatest form of wisdom. Ambition can thrive in this house, but not if it comes in the way of your companions throughout these seven years. Remember that." He smiled. "I hope you can have a happy time here, in your academic studies and beyond. And one last note, breakfast is at six thirty, so don't be late. Good night." Dorea frowned. That was an 'interesting' speech. Companionship meant nothing in her eyes, as everyone apart from her family was out to get family secrets, or climb up the social ladder. When had companionship ever done anything? She was brought out of her reverie by the female prefect gesturing to follow her up the right side of the staircase.
Up the stairs were rooms and rooms, Dorea wondered how they fit all of them up in this tiny tower, she'd ask Professor Prewett later. The prefect gestured to a room with a plaque labelled "first years". She stood in shock. No way was she supposed to share a room with five girls! Two of them she suspected were mudbloods, or maybe halfbloods. This was unbecoming of her status. Dorea then realised she had been glaring at a door for around twenty seconds. Well, if they didn't think she was crazy before…
"Come on, Dorea, wasn't it?" One of the girls smiled, pointing to the bed furthest from the door, next to the window. "That's yours. If you wanted any other, sorry. We could debate it if you really want to, but right now, I just want to sleep." Dorea rolled her eyes and drew the curtains around her bed to get changed. When she was in her pyjamas, she drew the curtains back, and saw all the girls looking at her expectantly.
"What?"
"We just thought, we didn't exactly know everyone's names, so we just going to tell each other, before we go to bed." Bones smiled, as Dorea sighed and sat down on her bed.
"Well? Go on…" The first girl in the bed nearest to the door smiled.
"I'm Irlene. Irlene Williiams." So a mudblood then, or at least a half-blood."
"Elladora Bones, but you already knew that."
"Lucretia McLaggen, if you wanted to know." Dorea raised an eyebrow, she thought all of that family were brutes with no brains, but there can always be exceptions.
"Joan Philips." Another mudblood.
"And I'm Melania McMillan." Dorea frowned. She knew a Melania McMillan, and she's married to her cousin with a six year old daughter. At Dorea's frown, she clarified.
"I was named after my aunt. You probably know her." Dorea nodded. Everyone looked at her.
"Dorea Black, if you didn't know." Her cold tone didn't faze the girls. She just sighed, drew her curtains shut and entered the world of sleep.
End of Chee-apter 1! Hope you enjoyed, and sorry if the ending was rushed…The next chapter will be slightly different, as I will only be focusing on some moments- I think up until Christmas. I should have first year done in a couple more chapters, hopefully. When will it be updated? Dunno, as school is starting again and I won't have as much time…sorry. Update time will be erratic and I will really only update when I have a fully finished chapter-no cutting corners for you guys!
Whovian and Proud