The train station was crowded with anxiously excited first years, returning students, and their relatives. One such first year was excited beyond belief, and terribly frightened to leave her mother alone for forever (or at least until Christmas break, but that was forever when your mother is the only important person in your life). The very chunky girl was sitting on a bench with her mother, both sharing a moment before the girl was forced to board the Hogwarts Express.
"Be nice to everyone you meet, but if they are rude then you can be my sarcastic little girl. I hope you make some friends, cherie, I know you haven't interacted with kids your age since you your siblings died." At her mother's forlorn look, Morticia patted her knee supportively. "I want you to be strong, and obey the rules when you can. If anyone messes with you, and I know that they will, you have my permission to use physical retaliation if they pull their wands on you or make to harm you. I will, of course pretend to be disappointed when I receive the letter saying that you got into a muggle brawl."
"Of course. I know that you support my decisions, as long as they are wise." She assured her mother. "I'm planning on getting a compartment with some other first years, so it shouldn't be too hard. Difficult, but manageable."
"My smart girl. I love you so much, I can't believe how quickly you're growing up." Lunera said as she hugged her daughter. "I'm going to miss you so much."
"I'll miss you too, momma." Morticia said as she carefully tightened the hug, it would leave her guilt ridden if she accidentally bruised her mother again.
"Now, I have one last bit of advice and a present before you get on the train. The advice is more what I want you to do since you'll be away from home and in possible danger. I want you to build up your strength and body, you need to be in top condition to out run people and know how to throw a punch or kick an important part of the anatomy. I already packed your sensei's work out book into your trunk, and it's not your present." Lunera said at the dejected look on her daughter's face. Reaching behind her she pulled out her Morticia's favorite Fluffle. "I'm giving you a pet for getting into your father's old school. You know how to take care of it since you help me breed them, and this one was looking so sad when you went to pack and said it couldn't come with you."
"You're giving me Pluto?" Morticia held the little ball of black fluff gently, sturdy creatures Fluffles might be but that was nothing when she could dust a rock in her hand.
"Yes. Now get on the train before I don't let you." She said with a sad laugh, gently nudging her daughter along.
"Bye, momma, I love you." Morticia kissed her mother on the cheek and dragged her trunk into the train, Lunera yelling that she loved her too, looking for a compartment with only first years. There was a compartment with three boys in it, one was obviously a werewolf, and the other two looked like they were related to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. She bypassed this one, they would make fun of her and it would get nasty pretty quickly. The next one she came across that was ideal had a pretty little red head and a boy with a rather large nose and shiny black hair, almost greasy in appearance. They looked pretty friendly, or at least the girl did, and she was sure she could keep things civil between them. Then again, she had pretty horrible people skills when it came to people she just met.
"Hello, may I sit with you two?" she asked after knocking on the cabin door. The girl answered for them both, a cheerful yes despite the boy's scowl. "Thank you. I'm Morticia Butler, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Don't fuck this up, don't fuck this up, kept running through her mind. Be kind, courteous, polite, and humble. Just as momma always says, 'kill them with kindness.'
"Hello, I'm Lily Evens and this is Severus Snape! It's nice to meet you as well. Oh, do you need help with your trunk?" Lily asked when she saw the large trunk just behind Morticia.
"No, thank you. I've got it." She pulled out her wand, poplar wood with a Phoenix feather core and 14 ½ inches, and levitated the trunk onto the luggage rack. She would have done it by hand but the rack was too high and she did not want to stand on the seats in front of these two.
"You already know how to use your wand?" Lily asked excitedly, her green eyes glittering just so.
"Um, yes. Mother let me practice with hers before I got mine. She and my grandma were very strict about what I could do. Nothing dangerous every happened, thankfully, and mine works better for me than hers did." Morticia was sure she sounded like a pureblood just then, and felt herself flush slightly. "I could show you, if you want."
"That sounds lovely, doesn't it, Severus?" the red head asked excitedly.
"Are you a pureblood?" the gruff question came from Severus. He eyed Morticia with suspicion, flinching when Lily whacked him upside the head.
"Er, yes. Is that important?" the ravenette asked nervously. This might be the first time she saw a situation where blood prejudice went the other way.
"Muggleborn," he gestured to Lily before doing the same to himself. "Halfblood."
"Okay . . . I don't see a problem. It's not like I would make fun of you for something you can't control."
"What does that mean? Is it key that I'm muggleborn and Severus is a halfblood?" Lily asked with confusion written on her face.
"Only to blood supremists. Most of them are located in Slytherin, but can be in other houses." Morticia paused for a moment, rubbing the back of her head. "You mainly have to look out for them calling you a . . . a mudblood. They are worthless scum on the shoes of society if they call you that. Tell me and I'll take care of it. My mother is connected pretty highly since our family name is actually Wolfden."
"You're a Wolfden?! I thought that you were a Butler?" Severus exclaimed, startling Lily. Obviously he was a quiet boy if that scared her. "But, the Wolfdens' moved to America, forty years ago. If you really are one, that makes you the most prestigious family in the UK!"
"Whoa, really?!" There was sparkles in Lily's eyes, a very pretty green. Her eyes made a person think of emeralds or, if the light hit just right, a killing curse.
"Ah, yeah. Grandmother moved mother and father to American, since it was safer . . . it wasn't, not really." Gretel Agatha Butler, Morticia's grandmother, had kept them from aging too much with her Philosopher's Stone. Her father was the first to go, then her grandmother and siblings. Pulling herself from the darkness that permeated her soul, she continued. "We took a new name, to try to blend in. That didn't work, since mother had a French accent and father had a British one."
"Oh, how awful!" cried Lily.
"Indeed." was Snape's reply. He acted indifferent but the crease in his brow said otherwise.
"So, what is it like, not having magic around you constantly? It sounds very strange, although mother makes me clean without it and tells our house-elf to leave my room alone because cleaning my own mess will build character." It did, but then she was fifteen years old. Fucking stone, making her go through this hormonal bullshit longer. Honestly, de-aging was very unpleasant, and she was fat again! Totally not cool. But, she did know plenty of spells, jinxes, curses, enchantments, potions, and hexes. Along with wandless magic, needing a wand was utter bullshit, and she would teach that to her new friends, if they stayed her friends.
"What's a house-elf?" Evens asked.
"Well, house-elves . . . um, how do I explain what a house-elf is?" she pauses for a moment, thinking. "Have you read Hogwarts, A History?"
"Yes! I'm nearly done with it." Lily says, Severus just looking on.
"Well, Hogwarts has many house-elves. They mostly work in the kitchen, but they also clean the common rooms of each house, and whatever the caretaker can't handle. It's somewhat like the story The Cobbler." They both gave her a blank look. "They do work quietly and out of sight, being unobtrusive and meek in the face of their masters. They work for no pay, just the magic of their master to keep them alive, and they wear togas that look like pillowcases to show the signs of their slavery. If their master gives them clothes, then the house-elf is free, the house-elves take it as a mark of being unwanted and a burden to the people they serve. When a house-elf perceives that it has done something wrong, it punishes itself brutally. The only way to make them stop is to order them not to punish themselves."
"They sound like such oppressed creatures." Lily said, tears in her beautiful eyes. Morticia had a feeling that her kid would inherit those eyes and be deadly with them. "Is there anything we can do for them?"
"Not at this point-" the train lurched, almost sending them to the floor of the cabin, Snape actually did end up on the floor. When the train was in a consistent motion, meaning it wasn't jerking anymore, Morticia pulled the boy to his feet by his shoulders. Needless to say, Severus was surprised. "Are you okay? That looked like it hurt."
"I'm fine." He said while rolling his shoulders, wincing when he reached up to touch them. It made Morticia feel guilty, she didn't like to accidentally hurt people. "How did you do that?"
"Ah, well, I'm at least ten times stronger than the average adult." But only for the moment, she would grow to at least fifty times stronger. Lifting muggle cars was slightly difficult, only because they were bulky. Morticia didn't have the best balance, particularly when she was fat.
"Really?" Lily asked, curiosity coloring her tone. "Is it just you, or could your family do that as well?"
"Grandma could, my mother can't, and my siblings didn't live long enough to show signs of it." Her poor brother and sisters, they would have been great people.
"Could you pick me up?" Lily asked, complete with puppy eyes. Morticia couldn't resist those.
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"Strawberry poison, faster than a kiss, deadly bliss."