I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING! EVERYTHING BELONGS TO JK ROWLING AND I AM JUST A FAITHFUL POTTERHEAD WHO LOVES WRITING FANFICTION!
Having said that, hello! This is not the first time I write an HP fic, but it is the first time I do so in English. Feel free to correct me in the reviews if I have grammatical or spelling mistakes!
This is a slow-burn romance story, rated M for later chapters. It will show the years (the first ones in passing, no more than two chapters per year) as the characters grow into themselves and all the relationships that will twist and tangle them together. I'm trying my best to remain faithful to the books, meaning most surnames of the students here are from the real HP books (Greengrass, McKinnon, Macmillan and so on).
While I will do my best to be faithful to the books, I won't tell you how this is going to end. I haven't decided yet about it, so it might be cannon or AU, I don't know yet. Take the chance, though ;)
Without further ado, I hope you enjoy! And like all starving authors here on FF, please leave a review so I won't die of famine! Pretty please?
Chapter One: Off to Hogwarts
First Year
There were many things Jade hadn't had the opportunity to wrap her head around yet. The fact she had a brand-new black owl was not one of them; she'd fallen in love with Iolanthe from the moment she'd laid her eyes on the owl at Diagon Alley, the magical shopping center her older brother, Sturgis, had taken her to purchase everything she needed for the upcoming year.
Iolanthe was now sitting in her silver cage, refusing Jade's constant attempts at making up. The owl had gotten used to freedom so much so that she became spoiled. Unfortunately, as Jade was now walking hurriedly with her brother along the many platforms of the King's Cross station, she couldn't allow the owl free.
"Bloody hell," Sturgis gasped now as they stopped before a brick wall between platforms 9 and 10, "thank God we're not late."
Jade regarded her older brother with a frown. They weren't on the correct platform; it was written in the letter nine-and-three-quarters. That in itself was odd enough to concern her; she'd been in train stations before, and never in her short eleven years of living had she known such a platform number existed.
Grabbing her hand, Sturgis gave his sister a big, wild smile. "Let's go!" he said loudly enough to make a few bypassers glance at him strangely. Before Jade could ask where exactly he wanted to go, he took her running into the brick wall.
Jade decided she didn't need to know what was going on in her mad brother's head that made him believe crashing into walls was necessary to get where they needed. She closed her eyes, held on to her cart, and clasped Sturgis's hand in her as strongly as she could. Just don't let us crash, she thought in slight panic.
However, they did not crash. Sturgis brought them to a stop and said, "Open your eyes, Jadie. We're here."
She did as told, and saw that they were on a completely different platform, with families all around them hugging kids who had owls or cats. Jade turned to her brother, her namesake eyes brimming with wonder.
A horn's blow signaled that the train was going to take off any minute now. Sturgis, realizing that, put his hands on his sister's shoulders and said, "Remember everything I told you, and most of all, have fun!"
Before Jade could respond, he helped her up into a surprisingly empty compartment, made sure her suitcase was safely tucked, and headed off the train. Jade looked through the window, saw him waving her goodbye, and waved dimly back. She felt strangely numb, especially when the train began moving and she was unable to see Sturgis anymore.
She settled back in her seat and took out her wand. Twelve inches, blackthorn and dragon heartstring, unyielding. That's what the wandmaker - Mr. Ollivander - back in Diagon Alley had said, anyway. Jade did not understand much about what Ollivander had meant by that, but that was the least of her worries. The fact that she held a wand in her hand was much more concerning. Everything about the world she'd been entrusted into was very concerning if she had to be honest with herself.
Sturgis was eight years older than Jade. Their parents, Rhiannon and Braden Podmore, had had difficulty conceiving, especially since Rhiannon had been led to believe she was infertile. However, she managed to produce both Sturgis and later Jade, despite the doctors' claims. Rhiannon had always said it was her sheer willpower that brought Sturgis and Jade into the world, despite the odds.
Things took a turn when Sturgis turned eleven and Jade was barely three. Jade did not remember anything from that time, obviously, but her parents had told her when she was older; her brother was a wizard. Her parents had been most disappointed by that predicament. They believed their bright boy would lead a different path in life, but unfortunately, things hadn't gone according to their plans.
Therefore, the Podmore couple had laid all their hopes on their daughter. But, when Jade turned seven, strange things had begun happening around her. She was flying one day when she had simply wanted to do so; and when Lindsey, a girl who used to bully her in elementary school, called her ugly, she wanted Lindsey to be ugly instead, thus Lindsey's face resembled a pizza no more than a few minutes later.
Her parents did not believe her when she'd told them about those strange occurrences. When Sturgis had come home for the summer holidays the year it all began, though, he told her their parents were simply in denial, and that Jade was most likely a witch.
She hadn't believed him, not even when strange things kept on happening. But then the Headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry arrived on her parents' doorstep, and Sturgis had been proven right, causing Rhianon and Braden another heartbreak and reject reality.
Simply meaning, they refused to accompany Jade to King's Cross, just as they had refused when Sturgis had first left, leaving Jade's brother to take a few days off his internship at the Ministry of Magic to make sure his younger sister would get everything she needed from Diagon Alley and make it on time to catch the Hogwarts Express.
Sturgis had expected Jade to cry. He'd told her it would be all right to do so, and that he'd wept when their parents refused to accept what he truly was. But Jade did not cry. Not when her parents sent her on a train alone to London a few days ago from their home in Liverpool. Not when she found herself sleeping on Sturgis's sofa in his tiny apartment. And not when they hadn't come to tell her goodbye.
Jade put her wand back and turned to stare at the rapidly-changing landscape outside. She should've wondered about life at Hogwarts, about whether she would be in her brother's House, called Hufflepuff - he'd told her about the four Houses a couple of days ago - and about making friends, perhaps. But Jade did not find herself interested in that at all. She was still numb, and her mind was blank. She couldn't think of anything.
Her compartment door slid open, causing Jade to jerk in surprise. She whipped her head to see a girl about her age entering, closing the door hurriedly, and settling on the seat before her. Jade noted that the girl was already wearing her school robes, and that she was also very pretty, reminding Jade of the popular girls in her former school, with soft blonde hair and light blue eyes. Jade couldn't help being jealous; while the girl's hair was all shiny and perfect, Jade's was a heavy mass of mousy-brown curls, and she certainly wasn't as pretty as the girl was.
The girl looked over at Jade and her eyes widened. Jade realized then that the girl mustn't have noticed that the compartment was occupied. For Jade's surprise, the girl gave her a small smile. "Hi," she said simply.
Jade was not used to pretty girls telling her "hi". Lindsey had never even talked to her back in her former school… unless she was in the mood to verbally punch her favorite punching bag. Suspicious of the girl's motives, Jade nonetheless responded with a reluctant "Hi" back.
The girl's smile grew, and it seemed friendly. "I'm Celine," she said, "Celine Greengrass. I'm sorry for entering uninvited," she added, her cheeks flushing, "I was trying to avoid someone, so I hope you may forgive me."
Celine was overly polite in Jade's opinion, but she found that she didn't mind, even if it was a tad pompous of her to speak in that manner. "Don't worry about it," Jade retorted.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Celine opened her mouth to say something but the compartment door was pushed open, cutting her off. Jade turned to see who was intruding upon them now when she saw a boy who was a couple or so years older standing there, glowering at the blonde girl. Jade had expected Celine to glower back - she would have if the roles were reversed - but to her surprise, Celine cowered away from him instead.
The boy threw a filthy look at Jade. "Green eyes, dark hair, average... " he said in a voice Jade found rather alarming. Then he returned his glare to Celine and snarled, "You prefer sharing a compartment with a Mudblood?"
Jade realized a few things just then. The first was that, upon closer inspection, the boy looked very similar to Celine. In fact, he must've been her older brother, considering they had the exact same blue eyes and pretty features. The only difference was that the boy's hair was chestnut-brown instead of blonde. The second was that he was the one Celine had been hiding from. The third, and most weird of it all, was that he had insulted her in a certain way - she didn't know what "Mudblood" meant, but it didn't sound like flattery - when he didn't even know her at all.
"Pierre," Celine pleaded, "please…"
Pierre did not seem interested in what Celine had to say. He grabbed her hand, flinging her to her feet, and sent another glare at Jade. "Do not even think of talking to my sister, Mudblood," he growled, "your kind are not even worthy to clean our shoes. Make sure to remember that." He spat on the floor. "Filth."
And the two were gone, the door shutting behind their fading forms.
Jade's numbness broke. She stared outside at the peaceful landscape and felt the tears welling in her eyes. She did not stop them; instead, like Sturgis had suggested, she embraced them all.
She put her knees up to her chest, and let herself cry quietly over everything that happened - her parents' sudden neglect, a stranger spitting at her feet and throwing unknown insults without knowing who she was and based only on what he saw…
And that's how she had spent the rest of ride to Hogwarts.
Dressed in her robes, her eyes bloodshot from crying nonstop for several hours straight, Jade found herself sitting in a small boat, sailing toward the huge castle that was Hogwarts. She shared the boat with three other year-mates, but none of them perked her interest, not even as they talked about what was to come soon. Jade had learned her first lesson about the society of the magical world: do not engage. The brief encounter with Celine and Pierre was enough to dissuade her from attempting to chat up the other kids.
She did not want to be called Mudblood again. Or spat on, for that matter.
Once the boats reached the school's shore, Jade and the rest of the first-years were led inside the castle and were required to wait outside a door that led to what was called the Great Hall.
After a few minutes, a woman appeared. She was stern-looking, wearing an emerald robe and her hair pulled into a tight bun. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, told the nervous first-years about the Sorting Ceremony, and made them follow her into the Great Hall.
Despite her bad state, Jade couldn't help but notice the ceiling of the Hall. It reflected the weather outside - slightly cloudy as of right then - perfectly. It must've been magic, she thought. But her wonder ebbed when she suddenly realized that, in all rashness of the past few days, Sturgis had barely told her anything about the castle. Even when he had still attended Hogwarts, Sturgis didn't talk a lot about the school.
She felt alone. More alone than she had ever felt in her entire life. She'd never had a lot of friends - only one who hadn't stuck around in the end - but she'd had her parents. Now, her parents were gone and she was all on her own. No Sturgis, no Rhiannon and Braden, and no friends at all.
"Abbott, Rachel!"
Jade snapped out of her ruminations at the call. The Sorting was starting. A small girl sat down near Professor McGonagall, who put a worn-out hat on her head. The Sorting Hat, the Professor had called it.
In a few short seconds, the Hat yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Jade had never seen Hats yelling before, but she guessed it was to be expected. This whole place was magic, after all.
The girl - Rachel - took the Hat off and ran toward the cheering yellow table, which occupants were greeting her into their folds.
Jade was trying to remember what Sturgis had told her about the four Houses. He said that Slytherin was off-limits to them - she did not remember the reason, though- and that she shouldn't want to be Sorted there anyway. So when the next one to be called - "Avery, Malcolm!" - and was Sorted into Slytherin, she looked at the clapping table of green and silver and saw that they did not look like the most appealing people in the school.
The Sorting continued. Black, Sirius was the first to be Sorted into Gryffindor, but after a few more names, Evans, Lily joined him. Jade barely listened after that until she heard, "Greengrass, Celine!"
Her eyes snapped to the podium. Celine, as nervous as the rest of the first-years, took the seat. The Hat fell upon her head, and it took its time. Then, to Jade's surprise, it called, "SLYTHERIN!"
Celine seemed resigned as she took the Hat off. At the Slytherin table, Jade saw Pierre clapping the loudest, enfolding his sister in his arms with a smug smirk. Celine did not return the hug.
A few more names were called. Jade did not listen again. But when her name was announced - "Podmore, Jade!" - she was startled. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and took the much-dreaded seat. She fidgeted, seeing and feeling everyone's eyes on her when the Hat suddenly obscured her vision.
"Ah… Not a weak mind, I see."
Jade stiffened. A voice was whispering right into her ear. It took her a precious moment to realize it was the Hat itself.
"You have potential," the Hat continued, "talent as well… not a hard-worker, but not a pure-blood… Hufflepuff, perhaps? No, your heart is too cold… Slytherin would have been the best for you… Alas, you are Muggle-born… So where to put you?"
Jade's heart did not feel so cold as its pounds were loud enough to reach her eardrums.
"Ravenclaw will take too much, while Hufflepuff will give too many, so that leaves… GRYFFINDOR!"
The Hat was removed from her head. In a slight daze, Jade made her way to the cheering table with the lion crest and sat down near another first year. Her heart was still pounding fast and loud in her chest, as though trying to get out of her body. Her face, she knew, had gone white as a sheet. She was not aware of the others beings Sorted. She was not aware at all to anything that happened around her. All she could hear was the Hat's words as they carved themselves onto her very soul.