Succulent Kiss Chapter 1: Prologue, a harry potter fanfic

Amethyst Fae Goldstring was panicky and nervous. That was a sentence that came up too frequently in her life. Panicky and nervous were two words that could best describe her. While seemingly self-assured on the outside, Amethyst was cracking on the inside. She wasn't ready for this. Maybe she should stay at home and be homeschooled. Was that allowed?

"Amethyst? Oi, are you listening to me?" said her cousin. Amethyst immediately snapped out of her trance.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What were you saying, Tonks?" Amethyst replied. Her older cousin groaned.

"I was saying that you just have to push your trolley and run straight through the wall. And then your parents and I will follow after you." Tonks answered.

"Are you sure this is safe, Nymphadora? How do we walk through a wall?" Amethyst's father, Louis, asked. The worry in Louis' voice made Amethyst think too hard. What if she ran into the wrong wall? Now, the only thing that was in her mind was her just running smack right into a wall.

"You'll be right, the wall always works. And please call me Tonks; it's a much better name than Nymphadora." Tonks said to her uncle. Louis laughed but still looked unsure.

"It's extremely safe, dear. I used to always go through it when I would send Ted off to school," soothed Adele, Amethyst's mother, as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you ready to go through the barrier?" questioned Adele. Amethyst nodded and pushed her trolley towards the wall. As she passed through it, she realized that she was no longer at the regular train station. The girl looked around in wonder as she observed the train station around her. There were many people bustling around her with trolleys and pets. She observed the people around her and she saw a boy showing his friends a tarantula and an old lady chastising a young boy. It was fun to think about how she would be going to school with all these interesting characters.

"Wotcher, Amethyst," said Tonks, suddenly appearing from the wall. "Move out of the way of the barrier." The muggleborn witch jostled her trolley through the crowd and made her way towards the train.

"I think it's time for you to get on the train. It's quarter to eleven and you need to be able to find a compartment," Adele told Amethyst. "So I guess this goodbye for now," Amethyst's mother engulfed her in a hug and held her tightly. "Take care of yourself and make some friends. And please do not get hurt. Ted used to always come back home with all sorts of injuries. Actually, now that I think about that was probably just him being extremely clumsy." The woman laughed softly and squeezed Amethyst even tighter.

"C'mon, Del. We need to say goodbye too," said Louis to his wife. Adele reluctantly let go of her daughter to let the others say goodbye."Have fun and do well in you clas-ACHOO!" Amethyst's father sneezed rather violently. "Sorry, there are so many owls here. My allergies are acting u-ACHOO! Try hard in your classes and please write to us as much as you can." Neither Amethyst nor Adele had the heart to tell him that all wizard mail was sent by owl. Louis hugged his daughter but unlike his wife, he did not try to nearly hug her to death.

Finally, it was time for Amethyst to say goodbye to her cousin.

"I'm gonna miss you, squirt. Please write to me as soon as you can. And if you're sorted into any house that's not Hufflepuff we will disown you," Tonks told Amethyst. The graveness in the Metamorphmagus' voice made Amethyst take her seriously. "I'm just joking," snorted Tonks, looking at Amethyst's panic-stricken face. "Any house should be proud to have you as one of its students." And with that, she hugged Amethyst lovingly.

"Mum, are you crying?" the young girl asked her mother who was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.

"Sorry, it's just that sending you off brings back all these memories of me sending Ted to Hogwarts. I would always cry and beg him to stay with me," replied Adele who then laughed and then leaned her head against her husband's shoulder but then regretted doing so because Louis sneezed yet again.

"I'm really going to miss you all and I promise to write to you!" Amethyst said to her parents. Amethyst grabbed Stanley, her potted plant that was sitting on her suitcase while Adele passed her her suitcase.

"Good luck," Tonks chirped.

"Thank you, I will definitely need it," Amethyst laughed. And with a final goodbye, she stepped onto a train. Now, this was a new territory for her. Where should she sit? What if she couldn't find a compartment to sit in? Amethyst walked down the aisle as she observed the people in the compartments. She then came to an empty compartment and decided to place her suitcase and plant away and stay there. Just as she was about to sit down, someone opened the compartment.

"Hi, I'm so sorry to bother you but could I sit here?" the girl asked tucking a strand of black hair into her bushy ponytail.

"Yeah, um, of course you can," Amethyst answered. The girl thanked her and tucked her suitcase away.

"I'm Rowan by the way; Rowan Avery," the girl introduced herself as she sat down in front of Amethyst. The muggleborn was glad that Rowan had decided to start a conversation. She had thought that they would've had to sit in awkward silence for all of the train ride.

"I'm Amethyst Goldstring. Are you a first year?" Amethyst inquired.

Rowan blushed, "Is it obvious?"

"Well, I figured that if this wasn't your first year at Hogwarts you would probably be sitting with your friends and not with someone you barely know," Amethyst answered.

"You've got a point. So I take it that this is your first year too?" questioned Rowan. Amethyst nodded and was about to say something but another person opened up the compartment door. This time it was a short boy who Amethyst recognized as the one who was being chastised by the old lady.

"Is there room for one more in here?" the boy asked. Rowan and Amethyst nodded and he took a seat next to the window. Suddenly, a knock comes from the window causing the two girls to jump in surprise. The boy hastily opens the window and Amethyst saw that it was the old lady from before.

"Neville, your toad!" the old lady yelled. For a lady who was quite small in stature the loud volume of her voice surprised Amethyst. The old lady passed the toad through the window and said, "Please do not lose him again. And make sure that your first year of Hogwarts is a good one,"

"I will, Gran," the boy replied.

"Good, I'll see you during the Christmas holidays,"

"Bye, Gran!" the boy bid is grandmother farewell and shut the window. He did this just on time because the train blew it's whistle and began to depart the station. Amethyst saw her parents and Tonks out the window and waved to them. She was really going to miss them. Even though Tonks had told her that Hogwarts was an amazing place she was still scared of what was going to happen there and Tonks had refused to tell her how students were sorted into houses so it would be a surprise for Amethyst.

"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Neville Longbottom," the boy told the two girls.

"Amethyst Goldstring," the brunette hair girl stated.

"Rowan Avery," said the other girl. On hearing the black girl's name, Neville looked rather taken aback.

"Avery? As in the Avery family?" Neville asked.

"If you're talking about the family that is commonly linked to You-Know-Who then yes; I'm from that family. But I'm not like the rest of them. I know what they did was wrong and I plan on staying as far away from that as I can," Rowan replied rather coolly. Tonks had told Amethyst about You-Know-Who and his cult of Death Eaters and how Voldemort was killed by the Boy Who Lived.

There was an awkward silence in the compartment so Amethyst decided to try and break the ice.

"Do either of you know what house you want to be sorted into?" she asked the two first years. This seemed to ease the tension in the compartment.

"I'd like to be in Slytherin or Ravenclaw. A lot of the most successful witches and wizards have been in those houses. And of course, Merlin himself was a Slytherin," Rowan answered

"Well, Gran always says that Gryffindor is the best house and my parents were in Gryffindor but I don't know what house I would fit into," said Neville, "What about you?"

"I think all the houses are quite nice so I would be proud to be in any of them," she replied.

The trio started to talk to each other and they all started to feel more at ease in each other's company. They traded stories of they're families and laughed at each other's jokes. Amethyst found out a lot about the two other students. She found out that Rowan adored everything to do with Quidditch and that she had an older brother who used to go to Hogwarts and she found out that Neville was a plant lover like herself and that he was an only child who lived with his grandmother.

Unexpectedly, Neville's toad leapt out of his hands and hopped out of the compartment.

"Trevor!" Neville called.

"Do you want any help looking for him?" Amethyst offered.

"No, thank you. I think I'll be fine," Neville told her and with that, he dashed out in search of his toad.

"Look at the time, we've got half an hour until we reach Hogwarts. We should change into our uniforms, there are changing rooms near the centre of the train," Rowan said. Amethyst grabbed her uniform from her trunk and the two girls made their way to the changing rooms.

After they changed, they slowly walked back to their compartment.

"What's your wand made of?" Rowan asked as she watched Amethyst inspecting her wand.

"Cherrywood, dragon heartstring and it's fourteen inches," replied Amethyst showing Rowan her wand. It was a rather long wand with a pinkish gold hue and a light purple stone at the top. "What's yours like?"

Rowan pulled her wand out of her robe pocket "Laurelwood, unicorn hair and eleven inches," The wand was either black or an extremely dark brown colour but the top of it had been carved into a swirl shape and was gold.

They continued talking about wands when they got back to the compartment but stopped when Neville came back holding his toad.

"Oh good, you found your toad!" exclaimed Rowan.

"Yeah, I found him on the window of a compartment," Neville puffed. He was somewhat out of breath from looking around the train for Trevor. Luckily, he had had the help of a nice but extremely bossy girl who insisted on helping him or he might not have found his toad.

"You should go and change; we'll be there soon," Amethyst told him.

"That's a good idea," replied Neville who quickly grabbed his uniform and left the compartment.

When he returned, the train came to a halting stop.

"We're here," Amethyst whispered. She was extremely nervous yet very excited at the same time. "Do we bring our trunks with us?"

Rowan shook her head, "No, we leave all our stuff here and they'll be brought to the castle,"

Amethyst whispered a quick goodbye to Stanley and exited the compartment with the other two and then stepped out of the train. Amethyst was about to ask where they needed to but then a booming voice answered her question.

"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" The source of this voice came from a gigantic man with a very bushy beard.

The gigantic man lead the group of bumbling first years up a slender and precipitous stony path. With the darkness around the path it reminded Amethyst of a possible crime scene from the thriller films she would stay up watching late at night.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec. Jus' round this bend here," the bearded man called.

The curious first year all gasped in wonder. The path opened up to a dark and daunting lake but it was the castle that sat regally upon the mountain.

To call it magical would be an understatement. With turrets and towers, the castle reminded Amethyst of something from fairytales. It gave her goosebumps to look at it in its full glory against the backdrop of the many stars in the sky.

"No more'n four to a boat!" called the hairy man as he pointed to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. The first years jostled their way into the boats and Amethyst found herself in a boat with Neville and Rowan. The fleet smoothly drifted on as if they were mere paper boats in a bathtub. No one said a single word as they were much too engrossed in taking in the majestic castle.

Then, something grabbed Amethyst's hand that was placed on the edge of the boat and tried to pull her into the water. Amethyst attempted to tug her hand away from what seemed to be a reddish-purple coloured tentacle. The tentacle pulled her so hard that it almost tipped the entire boat. Rowan and Neville realized what was happening and rushed over to help her. The both of them grabbed her and with big pull the tentacle release it's grip on her arm and made the three of them fall back.

"What was that?" Amethyst whispered.

"It's the Giant Squid; it lives in the lake all year round," Rowan answered. All year round? Amethyst would definitely try to avoid the lake from now on.

"Heads down!" yelled the large man who was sitting in a boat at the front of the fleet. All the first immediately ducked their heads down as they passed through a curtain of ivy and were taken through what seemed to be an underground tunnel. They soon reached the end of the passage and they all stepped out of the boats and onto the rock and pebble-filled ground.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" the big hairy man asked Neville.

"Trevor!" Neville cried in joy.

"How do you keep losing him?" I questioned. Neville simply shrugged.

The man leads us up a large flight of stones steps to an enormous and grand door. He raised a fist which was probably the size of my head and knocked three times on the door.

The door opened to reveal a serious looking witch wearing emerald robes. Amethyst remembered her as Professor McGonagall, the witch that had come to explain Hogwarts to her muggle family. McGonagall opened up the to let the first years through the overwhelmingly large entrance hall that was so big it most likely could've held her house inside of it. McGonagall brought the anxious group of students into an empty chamber and started to explain how the four houses worked.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." The Hogwarts professor looked around at the students in disdain for they were anything but neat and tidy looking.

As McGonagall left the room what looked like 100 ghosts but in reality was probably only about twenty drifted in through a wall. Amethyst screamed in fright as she saw the translucent stark white figures above her.

"Move along now," said McGonagall's sharp voice as she returned to the room. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." She ordered the first years into a line and everyone did for it seemed that they all got the idea that the woman was not someone to mess with. She took them through the large double doors to another hall.

Amethyst couldn't even find the words to describe this hall. It was simply enchanting to look at the hundreds of thousands of candles floating mid-air. There seemed to be no ceiling as the stars shone like jewels above them.

Her thoughts were interrupted by McGonagall placing a ragged hat on a stool but it was what the hat did that startled her.

It started to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuff are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin, you'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

All the students and professors clapped at the end of his song and it tipped it's pointed top to the tables as if it were bowing to them.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment."When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A small girl walked up to the hat and placed it on her head. A couple seconds passed until the yelled,

"Hufflepuff!"

What must have been the Hufflepuff table clapped and cheered as the first sorted student made her way towards the table.

"Avery, Rowan!" McGonagall said. Rowan stepped out from behind Amethyst and walked nervously towards the stool and sat down. She placed the pointed hat on top of her head and gulped.

"Slytherin!"

Amethyst could see Rowan give a sigh of relief and smiled as she walked to the cheering table of silver and green-clad students. The sorting went on like this for awhile until Amethyst's name was called out after newly sorted Ravenclaw, Anthony Goldstein.

"Goldstring, Amethyst!" called McGonagall. Amethyst's heart was beating hard against her chest. She sat down on the stool and placed the hat on her head and it drooped down to cover her eyes.

"Hmmm," the Sorting Hat mused, "You seem like a good character. You've got a good amount of brains in this head and it looks like you're quite ambitious about your future. But what's this? You seem to have some undiscovered courage and that holds quite a lot of potential. It better be... Gryffindor!"

Amethyst grinned while the Gryffindor table cheered and applauded her. The sorting continued and was uneventful apart from Neville forgetting to remove the hat after being sorted into Gryffindor and turning a bright red as went to sit down next to Amethyst and then everyone including Amethyst's interest was piqued when Potter, Harry was called. The name sent whispers down the hall for everyone knew who he was. Harry Potter was eventually sorted into Gryffindor and Amethyst knew that the house wouldn't be too peaceful with him in her house.

Finally, the last student was sorted into Slytherin and Albus Dumbledore stood up in front of the entire school.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are, Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

Amethyst was confused at hearing such an odd speech but no else seemed bothered so Amethyst simply just moved on from it and set her eyes on the mountains of food. She had been so busy thinking about other things that she had forgotten how hungry she was. She immediately tucked into the food around her.

She didn't speak much to the people around her apart from discussing classes with Neville who she was beginning to take a liking to. Soon, the food around began to disappear and Dumbledore stood up yet again. Amethyst braced herself for him to say something that sounded like a quote from the Mad Hatter but instead, Dumbledore started to say something that made sense.

"Ahern - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

The headmaster said the last sentence so gravely that Amethyst was not sure if it was a joke. And even if it was, not that many people laughed.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore as he gave a small flick with his wand and glittering gold ribbon came out-out and twirled itself into words. Tonks hadn't told her about any school song. Amethyst hated singing for she was extremely tone deaf. "Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

The entire school started singing the song out of time and out of tune which made Amethyst smile. When almost everyone had finished they still had to wait for two red-haired twins from Gryffindor who sang the school song to the tune of a sad funeral march.

After the two had finished, Dumbledore bid the student farewell and sent them all to bed. A prefect named Percy told all the first years to follow him out the hall and up a marble staircase. Maybe it was the droopiness in her eyelids that made her disorientated but to Amethyst, the way to the dorms seemed quite difficult as Percy had had to lead them through all these sliding panels and tapestries.

Amethyst was basically half asleep until an odd little man swooped down near her head.

"Go away, Peeves or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" Percy growled at the weird flying creature. Peeves flew away but not before he dropped the walking sticks on top of poor Neville. Percy continued to bring the students along until they met a painting of a woman in a silky dress.

"Password?" the woman asked.

"Caput Draconis," replied Percy and the portrait swung out to reveal a hole in the wall. All the student's clambered their way into the hole. The Gryffindor common room looked extremely comfortable with its warm fire and it's soft velvet sofas.

Percy showed the first years the direction to their dorms but Amethyst wasn't paying attention. Her eyes slowly shut and she accidentally stumbled into Neville who was next to her.

"Sorry, I really need some sleep," she yawned.

"Same with me. Night, Amethyst," Neville replied.

"Goodnight, Neville," said Amethyst. As she began to walk to the dorms she was stopped by Neville's voice,

"Uh, Amethyst? The girls' dorms are the other way,"

"Oh right, thanks." Amethyst proceeded to walk in the other direction.

They would have much to talk about in the morning.