Chapter 1
Looking back, I was pretty sure ended the day that McGonagall put that musty Sorting Hat on my head. Here I was on my first day, sitting on a tiny wooden stool in front of several hundred classmates, trying to wipe the sweat off of my palms subtly onto my thighs, there wasn't anything in particular I was thinking about except trying not to make eye contact with any of the audience. I really wasn't even paying attention to what the Sorting Hat was saying, which in hindsight was a very large mistake. Suddenly the loud, nasally voice above boomed out "Slytherin!" I swear to Merlin my heart dropped into my stomach, never to return.
Scared out of my mind, I jumped and almost fell off of the stool in surprise, knocking the Sorting Hat askew and onto the flagstones. Moving the stool back into position and placing the hat apologetically in the midst of strained clapping, I did a restrained sprint off to the table on the far left. The distance seemed very long without the enthusiastic clapping that the other houses were rewarded. Even at 11, I wasn't stupid, I knew that this house wasn't particularly known for its kind and welcoming nature, and dejectedly resigned myself to several long years of loneliness. I took a seat on the sturdy wood bench, slightly away from the other students, across from a small skinny kid with a large nose and black hair that could have really used a good washing. I nodded politely out of habit, and he did the same, and then in unison we turned to watch the rest of the sorting. However, in the indirect way that my brain was so fond of, my attention was drawn to the Headmaster, sitting in the middle of the table, looking serene and in my personal opinion, rather wrinkly like a raisin.
Albus Dumbledore was wearing deep purple robes that swirled with iridescent colors like smoke in the night sky, bringing memories of bonfires with dad. Even if Theodore Reynolds was a wizard who worked at the Ministry of Magic, he insisted on starting the fires the muggle way after I taught him. I had gone to a Muggle summer camp with my friend Abigail one summer, and it was still the best summer of my life. Since then, Minnie and her father's love for muggle culture had only grown, even to the point where her mother was concerned for their mental health.
A loud clatter rudely bought me out of my thoughts, and I blearily looked around curiously to find that I had been so absorbed in memories I had missed the rest of the sorting, Dumbledore's speech, and arrival of the food that was now covering the table. Frustrated with myself I sighed, and turned towards my plate, filling it with food slowly, choosing carefully. I had just started eating a delicious chicken breast when I happened to make eye contact with the hook-nose boy sitting across from me.
My mouth was full of food when I said, "What?"
"You're really strange." The boy commented mildly. His voice was quiet but carried over the sounds of the other students chattering and the plates and silverware clattering.
Not particularly offended I raised my eyebrows, but continued eating before commenting, "Thank you." Assuming the conversation was over, I turned my attention back to the food, biting into the sausage pie that was calling my name.
We ate in silence for a while, before feeling slightly guilty for not responding with more interest, I finished the sausage pie, looked up and said, "My name is Minnie."
The boy nodded and replied, "Severus." I nodded, and said, "Hello Severus."
The silence resumed, and I was sure it was going to stay that way, but the boy broke the silence again, "Why are you in Slytherin?" His question made me pause uncertainly with a spoonful of mashed potatoes halfway in mouth and set the spoon back down.
Contemplatively I shrugged, "I don't know."
The boy's eyebrows rose slightly and he said with mild concern, "Didn't you listen when that ratty old hat was talking to you?"
I let out a strangled gasp and said, "Oh bollocks, was I supposed to? I was too stressed by everyone looking at me and I forgot to pay attention. I tend to space out at important moments. My dad calls it the obliterate zone." Throughout my impassioned rambling, Severus' thin eyebrows had been raising higher and higher, finally he replied with a slight sneer, "Generally people do, given that it decides the next 7 years of your life. What house were your parents in?"
"Didn't have one. They both went to Durmstrang." Severus nodded and once again our corner of the table fell silent. After a while, I noticed Severus's narrow eyes trained on a spot over my shoulder so being my nosy self I turned and immediately spotted a girl our age with bright red hair at the Gryffindor table.
"Is that your friend?" Severus started and flicked his eyes over to me, and I jerked my thumb over my shoulder to the girl. Small pink spots appeared on the boy's pale cheeks and he nodded.
"That's Lily. She's my very best friend." We both watched silently as a tall boy with glasses leaned over to talk to Lily. Evidently, Lily was not impressed, because she rolled her eyes and moved further away from the boy. The boy with glasses looked over at another boy with long dark hair and smirked, nonplussed by the rejection. The interaction wasn't interesting to me anymore, so I turned back to face the front and saw Severus scowling at the boy. Great, he was jealous. I rolled my eyes, "Severus, she didn't seem interested, you don't need to get angry."
"I don't like that guy." I didn't comment any further, but it didn't take an idiot to predict that Severus would be saying something similar many times in the future. The rest of the meal was finished in relatively companionable silence, until the plates cleared and the prefects, a big hulking boy and a tall dark-haired girl with an underbite, started bringing the new students to their common room.
Severus was walking next to me as we were filing out of the Great Hall doors in the great wave of students, when my foot caught on something unseen and I tumbled to the ground, my ridiculously long hair falling over into my face and striking my knees on the flagstones. There was high pitched snickering behind me as I pushed myself off slowly off the ground. Normally I would have blamed the tripping on the fact that my mom had bought new shoes before I left that were a little too big, claiming that I would grow into them, or even the fact that my legs were probably a little too gangly for my body, but the laughing from behind indicated it was something else. Calmly brushing my hair back out of my face, she turned to see the boy with glasses from earlier and his long-haired friend smirking in a way that made my jaw clench in anger. Severus was standing of to the side, talking animatedly to Lily, evidently regaling his experiences being sorted and dinner, so I was on my own, which wasn't unusual. Luckily, muggle primary school had given me valuable experience in dealing with idiots, and this was no different.
"Did you need something? Is that why you tripped me?" I was trying to ignore the throbbing in my kneecaps, but it was distracting. The long-haired boy laughed and shook his head saying, "It was just a joke, Slytherin." He spat the last part out with unusual venom, and I wrinkled my freckled nose in response.
Frowning I asked, "Aren't jokes supposed to be funny?" The boy's piercing gray eyes stared back at me, as if suggesting it wasn't funny was completely ludicrous, and completely over the conversation, I rolled her eyes. Turning, I made eye contact with Severus, then motioned towards the door trying to hurry him out of the door. He waved goodbye to Lily and the two of us wordlessly followed the Slytherin prefects down to the common room.
To say I was nervous descending the stairs towards the common room was an understatement. I hadn't been quite sure what to expect from the castle, with no one I knew having any experience there, and the amount of winding hallways that were lined portraits and tapestries and suits of armor were making me sweat. It didn't help that they all looked the same either. Grabbing Severus's elbow, I leaned over and hissed, "Severus, I think I'm going to get lost." Severus rolled his eyes but started quietly pointing out distinctive paintings in each hallway to use as markers. The small group of students made their way further and further down into the belly of the castle, and the temperature dropped lower and lower.
They entered the Slytherin common room, and I immediately almost burst into tears when she I surveyed the dark, cold and formal room. The dark couches and the green tapestries hanging on the walls were embroidered with silver, glinting in the enormous fire that did little to light the room. Missing the sun and the warmth of my window filled home already, and not for the first time today I wished I hadn't come here.
The prefect, who introduced herself as Emma, directed myself and 5 other girls into the First-Year dormitory. The dormitory was just as dark as the common room and felt colder, with green hangings on each of the beds. Wandering over to the bed that had my trunk at the end of it and sat, running my slightly sweaty hands over the cool silk material. Something soft and warm brushed my arm and turned to see Mr. Tumnus, a calico cat who acted like a complete bastard to anyone who wasn't me, winding around waiting to be pet. Running hands through the thick fur absentmindedly, I was peacefully zoned out until I belatedly realized that there was a tall girl standing in front of me with a wonderfully nasty look.
Startled, I jumped and offered a polite smile, "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
The girl huffed out a sigh and said, "I just introduced myself. I'm Narcissa." Her voice was high and aristocratic and screamed a high-quality upbringing.
"Minnie, it's a pleasure to meet you." More out of habit than an actual wish to meet more people I stuck out my hand and Narcissa looked down her nose at it before reluctantly shaking it.
Another girl walked up as well, and I fought a sudden shiver that ran down my spine. The new girl's hair was dark and silky, like black ink flowing down her back, and it stood in stark contrast to Narcissa's silvery blonde locks.
"Who are you?" The girls voice was rough and her question was direct, and she asked in a way that made it seem like she would beat you up if the answer wasn't to her satisfaction. Fighting a sudden dry mouth, I repeated my previous answer and was not surprised to find that it was not the magical right answer. The girl rolled her eyes and told her haughtily that her name was Penelope. There were several moments of unbearably awkward silence when suddenly, before I could warn the two girls about my unfortunately psychotic cat, Penelope stuck a hand out in Mr. Tumnus's direction and almost lost a finger in the process.
Penelope swore loudly, she then pulled Narcissa away, muttering something about mingling with normal people. I was mildly offended, as Mr. Tumnus was a cat rather than a person, and judging him as a human was ridiculous. I belatedly realized that they were talking about me as the abnormal person and not my cat and I sighed, slumping backwards onto the bed. This was going to be a very long few years. My eyes drifted closed on their own, heavy after a day of traveling and changes, and I was asleep.
The next thing I realized I was waking up, still dressed in the robes from the night before, to the other girls in the dorm banging what I could only assume was every single trunk lid in existence. Rolling ungracefully of the four-poster bed I fell into a crumpled heap at the foot of the bed. Penelope was snickering behind my back and I essentially crawled half-heartedly towards the trunk, pulling out a clean uniform. Ten minutes later, still half-asleep, I stumbled out of the bathroom, pulling a brush through my straight , dreadfully boring brown hair.
I followed Narcissa, Penelope and a few other girls out of the Common Room and down the hallways to the Great Hall, staying a few feet behind them. None of them invited me to join their conversation, and from what little snippets I heard, they weren't terribly fascinating anyway, a lot of talking about Lucius Malfoy who to me looked like a frilly snake. We entered the enormous doorway that entered into the Great Hall and suddenly it was like a curtain of crimson had been dropped in front of my face and for a second, I thought I went blind. I sprang backwards, but not before the tips of my brand-new shoes had been covered in the stuff and the force of the drop had splattered crimson paint all over my robes.
The girls in front of me, however, had been much less fortunate. Shrieking like a banshee, Narcissa slid forward a few feet, drenched head to toe in red. Penelope and the others were in the same situation. Luckily for me, my clothes received the least amount of damage. Carefully skirting around the red puddle, my attention was directed to what sounded like howling coming from one side of the hall. Glancing over, I observed the same boys that had tripped me from the night before laughing hysterically. Clearly the culprits of this morning's prank as well, but this time they were apparently joined by a pudgy blonde boy, who was glancing over at the other two constantly to make sure they were still laughing together.
I scoffed, moving toward the Slytherin table and almost walked straight into a very angry and very red Narcissa and Penelope.
"How come you didn't get covered?" Penelope's tone was icy and accusing and my brain, which was not accustomed to dealing with confrontation, was immediately confused. It wasn't like the prank was my fault, but I had definitely done something wrong.
"I-I'm sorry?" The apology came out as a question and the two drenched girls scoffed in unison, then pushed me out of the way. Each push left a new stain on the black robes and a sinking feeling that I was losing my chances of being close with either one of them. I took my place at the table across from Severus and pulled a bowl filled with porridge towards me with a heavy sigh.
"What the bloody hell happened to your clothes?" I just shrugged, "Some idiots." Severus nodded and said, "Gryffindor?" Grunting my affirmation around a mouthful of porridge, the two of us ate in companionable silence.
After the dishes and food had vanished, Severus pushed a piece of parchment towards me that held our first-year schedules on it. Glancing over the writing, my already foul mood was pitched even further downward when I saw that Slytherin was paired with Gryffindor for classes. The first impression of the Gryffindor house wasn't favorable, and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck with them for the whole year. But the annoying voice in my head reasoned that it was unfair to assume everyone in the house was like that. Mother always told me that it was better to assume everyone was nice until proven guilty of being otherwise. I personally didn't take any stock in it but tried to attempt to do so just the same.
The first-year students finished their breakfast and were herded as one to their first class, Potions. When I entered, most of the chairs were full so I took a seat next to a random Gryffindor boy who looked like he could use a nap, or three. Trying to avoid conversation, I busied myself placing my parchment and quill in the exact center of the battered desk. Clearing his throat Professor Slughorn, sitting at the desk at the head of the class, rose and immediately reminded me so much of a blonde walrus that I started chortling loudly. Most of the classroom turned around and look at me and my traitorous face turned a beautiful shade of cherry red and I slid downwards in the seat as discreetly as I could. The boy sitting next to me snorted and scowling at his desk rather than his face directly, I slid even further downward, trying to take the attention off me as quickly as I could.
Slughorn's voice called out, "Miss Reynolds, is something the matter?" Groaning internally, I stood and took a deep breath, then did what I was truly talented at. I carefully switched my posture from one of guilt to embarrassment. It required a slight downturn of my shoulders, rather than a hunch inward, and feet that were narrower together. Even the body language had to match with the words and the face.
"I'm very sorry Professor Slughorn," I said, schooling my features into a careful mask of regret, "I was just feeling a bit homesick and teared up." It wasn't a flattering portrayal in any way, but the pity card always worked the best in new and unfamiliar situations, especially with authority figures. Lying was a skill I had honed and perfected over the last several years at Muggle elementary school but tried to not use it too often, simply because it was more work and a harder thought process.
Unsurprisingly, Professor Slughorn bought it, and he nodded sympathetically, his walrus moustache wobbling along. "Of course, Miss Reynolds, that is very common here in the first few weeks. Nothing to be ashamed about. You may sit down."
I sat down and fought back a smirk. Even if I knew lying was wrong there was so much satisfaction in a successful story. The boy next to me looked over curiously, but then the lesson started and he both focused on Slughorn. The lesson went quickly, and I truly enjoyed every minute of it. Potions was the same as cooking, and cooking was one of my favorite things to do, spending hours in the kitchen with Abigail after school, making new treats to take home to my dad.
After the lesson, while I was packing up my quill and parchment, the sandy haired boy tapped on my arm. "That was some good acting, by the way." I swear my heart squeezed a little in defeat, but I managed to maintain a blank expression.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said primly, letting a bit of indignation bleed into the tone and started to move along the aisle out of the classroom.
The boy stepped in front of me again and said, "I'm Remus Lupin."
"Good for you Remus Lupin. Now if you'll excuse me." I huffed and moved around him again and at first, he didn't follow, but then turned with me as I passed and began walking next to me. We were just in the doorway when the long-haired moron who had tripped me earlier entered the classroom again.
"There you are Remus, James and I had wondered where you'd wandered off to." The boy's gaze landed on my body, seemingly not recognizing her as the girl he had tripped less than 24 hours earlier. "Remus, you should hurry up, you might get paint on your robes." He winked at me and I scowled, angrily scuffing my red marked shoes along the concrete.
"Okay Sirius, I'll be along shortly. I'll see you later Miss Reynolds." I nodded awkwardly and then the two of them were gone, leaving me alone and wondering if I could ever find a way to tolerate Sirius. Somehow, I doubted it.
The rest of the classes went as well as could be expected. Transfiguration almost made me burst into tears, only because Professor McGonagall was one of the scariest people I had ever seen. The severe witch had glared at my face over her glasses while calling attendance and I felt like she was going to melt. Sinking down so far into the seat my butt was hanging off the edge, I cowered behind other classmates and sprinted out of the classroom as soon as we were dismissed with my book bag trailing behind me like a flag. That was one class I could tell I would never look forward to.
By the time I sat back down for dinner, I was completely exhausted. Severus was nowhere to be seen, so I started eating without him. Eventually I noticed him sitting with Lily over at the Gryffindor table and I sighed. He got lucky coming to Hogwarts with a friend already in place, I was starting from scratch. Realizing I had been glaring over at the Gryffindor table for some time now, I started slightly and looked around, only to meet the very amused eyes of Remus Lupin from earlier. He seemed to have noticed my glare and found it amusing. I stared at him with a pointedly blank look and then cast my eyes back down to my food and scarfed the rest of it down.
A commotion from the other side of the Great Hall was getting louder and louder, so finally I raised my head to see half of the crimson and gold bannered table in distress. Students were fanning their mouths and faces, which were bright red, and pushing bowls of food away from them. I had no idea what was happening, and from the looks of it, neither did most of the students there, until I glanced down my own table to see telltale smirks on a few of the faces, including Penelope and Narcissa. They must have spiced the soup or some other dumb revenge scheme. I felt sorry for them, but then I glanced down at my ruined shoes and realized that I didn't feel as bad as I did before. I glanced back up and saw that Sirius Black was staring over at me with a look of vengeance that honestly was underwhelming, either that or I was just too tired to be afraid. So, I just smiled at him and then kept eating, unbothered.
Please let me know what you think of the beginning of this story! Comment if you have any suggestions! Thank you so much!
kath