Disclaimers: Unfortunately, the characters don't belong to me, and never will. They belong to JK Rowling, and ever will.
The hope beyond
The new girl
It was a dark november morning. The girl in front of the old and shabby house in Spinner's End no. 4 had never been seen there
before. She and her mother had just moved in during the night. They had to leave Dover to come to the poor suburb of the small
industrial town. This girl was very pretty and most handsome. She had long brown curled hair an beautiful black eyes. Her
mother had set off to work about an hour ago. Most time she worked and was not at home to care for her daughter. So she
stood in front of the house and looked around, somewhat displaced. The boy two houses arow looked at her with interest.
Slowly she turned around and looked directly at him as though she had felt his view upon her. Hastily he vanished behind his
marbel window cutains. The girl smiled und went into the house. In two hours she would go to school here for the first time.
And as usual she would go there alone. Her mother had bought her a new bag as a sorry-I-can't-come-with-you-because-I-have-
to-earn-money-present. She stuffed some pencils in it, some sheets of paper and then she left her new home. She realized at
once that Spinner's End wasn't the best adress at all. All houses seemed to be shabby and wrecked down or even deserted. She
passed all of them, rounding a corner and passing into Mermer Street, where the elementary school was. The sun rose behind an
industrial tower an the colours it threw on the river were really beautiful. The river was at a high level and rushed past with
good speed. She liked the river. She just stepped into the school yard, when she heard someone cry in pain. Running fast into the
direction she thought the cries might have come from, she faced three tall boys. Two of them helt a thin, pale faced and black-
haired boy in their middle while the third boy hit him hard in the stomach. She recognized the boy behind the marbel window
curtains two houses arow immediately. His nose was already bleeding an he had closed his eyes in pain. The three boys turned
when they sounded the footsteps coming closer. "Just a girl!" one of them said. "Leave him be!" the girl shouted as loud as she
could. "Or you'll regret!" The boys smiled at her and let the pale boy fall to the ground, face-down. He did not move. "Let's try
that out!" One of them stormed towards the girl and tried to knock her out, but she stepped away and he fell to the ground with
a grunt. The second approached and the girl ducked under his hit and hit him instead with her fist. Her knuckles collided with
his head painfully, but she did not care. "Come on!" she said to the last one, but he saw his friend lying on the ground an dicided
to flee. She stepped toward the pale boy and knelt down on his side. "You alright?" she asked carefully and helped him to get up
to sit. He opend his eyes and stared at her. She rumanaged in her bag a while, than helt out a pretty pink handkerchief. "Your
nose is bleeding!" He just nodded and took it. "My name is Hazel." He just kept quiet. "Who are you?" He looked at her.
"Listen! Leave me just alone.Never help me again!" then he got to his feet an went away, leaving a confused Hazel. He wore old
and shabby clothes, his jacked was too big for him while his trousers were to short. His shirt was dirty and his hair unkempt.
But Hazel liked him. She got up, took her bag and followed him. "Wait!" she shouted after him in the school yard. She realized
once that all were staring at her and also at him. He looked terrified. He struck down his head and tried to escape, but she
caught up with him. "Will you please wait?" The other kids stared, then one shouted: "Snivellus! Did you give her money for
that?" Hazel froze. She ran for the girl that had shouted. She looked frightened. "Never call him Snivellus again. He needs not
paying money like you scum. Leave him!" then she stepped back and went to go into the building with the pale boy. He stopped.
"It's no good for you protecting me. Make other friends and don't care for me. You won't find friends when you help me. Get
away!" He looked at her and to his great surprise she smiled. "At least now I understand! I don't care for the others. I made my
decicion. I help you. What's your name?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Change your mind! Surely you don't want to be an
outcast!" A sad smile crossed her face. "I've always been an outcast. So why change? I got used to it…But if you don't want
me as a friend, I can't help…."
"You want to be my friend?" he nearly cried. "Yes. Of course. But only when you stop telling me off and give me your name
instead. That's normal amongst friends…" Tears ran down his face. "Severus. Severus Snape." she smiled. "No need to cry,
Severus. That's a beautiful name, you know." She followed him down the corridor. "And it's up to unusual. I like that. Mine is
too. Normal names mean normal people. Mother keeps telling me. I'm not common, I'm special. And so are you, I dare say."
Severus looked at her. "Do you really think that?" She nodded in ease. And with a funny look she told him: "I think mum's
right about that…. Fishy things sometimes happen around me, and I'm not quite sure whether it is me or not." He stopped,
thunderstruck. "What do you mean?" Suddenly she looked frightened. "Well, that is why I never had friends in Dover. I hope,
you are not scared because of that… I don't mean to make things happen, but they happen… I don't know why. I'm freaky…!"
But Severus did not seem to be scared. He seemed to be really pleased. "What things?"
"Well, odd things. When I didn't want to have my hair cut, it just grew new. Or once, I fell into a small lake. But instead of
drowning I could breath under water. It's amazing!" He looked around them two, though like being frightened to be overheard.
"Can your parents do those things alike?" he asked her in a wispher. She shook her head. "I don't think so. Well I don't know
my father, I just have a picture of him. But my Mum never did anything like me. I'm quite sure of that, otherwise we would
have come here. We could have stay in Dover." They walked along the corridor, heads still together, Hazel's bag lolling around
her feet. "Why?" Severus looked straight into her eyes. "You must be a muggle-born witch then." She seemed to be perplexed.
"To call me a witch isn't what I expected…"
"No!" her hurried to answer her angry look. "There is nothing wrong with it. You won't be scared if I tell you now, I hope. You
will remain my friend, won't you?" Hazel simply nooded and seemed very eager to know what Severus wanted to tell her. Once
more he looked around. "My Mum's a witch, too. And I'm a wizard. It's true! When I turn eleven I'll go to Hogwarts, a school
for witches and wizards. And I suppose you'll be going, too. I'm pretty sure you are a witch." She had stopped walking while he
told her that secret, and now she stood, open-mouthed and bewildered looking, in front of him. For a second he thought that she
would be scared and leave him, as so many others before, but she remained where she was. "You're serious? No joke, is that?"
Severus shook his head and smiled. "Tell me more!" But just in this moment the school bell rang and they were to get to their
classroom. Hazel blinked and next second she looked hurried. "I'm supposed to be at the headmasters!" she backed her bag.
"You come after school, will you? Come to me and we'll keep on talking. I've got so many questions… Will you?" She looked
in his eyes which were so very alike to her own. "I've never been invited so far…" he said happily. "I'll wait for you. But what
will your mother say?" Hazel set off. "She won't be at home. Busy, you kown. At work. See you later, Severus….Bye!"
She waved and smiled and vanished behind some other kids. He couldn't belive he found a friend. And she was a witch. She was
like him. Finally. He had always known. This was the first day in his life that he was really happy. Even the shoutings behind his
back didn't anoy him anymore. Hazel was his friend! And she wouldn't leave him. Somehow he knew. But it mad him feel sad
that she would be an outcast, ike him and just because of him. He sometimes wished that he could be just like the other kids,
with new clothes and a nice and cosy home. But he wasn't at all. He knew he looked awful, but what should he do about that?
He had tried to hex his colthes, but it didn't work well, he had set his shirt on fire and his mother had shouted at him for nearly
an hour. Not to talk of his father. He had hit him until his nose started bleeding. Then he had left his mother and him to have a
drink in the pub. Things went completely wrong at home… There was one other girl in class with him, that wasn't that bad and
insulting. Though he liked her, but they were not really friends and she sometimes talked to him. He thought that she felt pity
for him, he hated that.
"'lo Severus!" she whispered as she walked along his table. A vague smile passed her lips. "Hi, Sarah!" he geated back. She
slipped onto a chair two rows behind him, the girl next to her looked frurious. "Why do you talk to him, Sarah? He's such a git,
look how he's dressed today… his trousers are to short. You are all greasy now!" They kept saying this. When somebody talked
to him in a friendly way, they all became greasy. Well, Hazel hadn't cared. Not yet. She had not complained about his hair nor
his clothes. That was normally the first thing people did after they had a look at him.
He looked to the door the whole morning, hoping that Hazel would enter. He was sitting in the first bench. Alone. Nobody
wanted to sit next to him, and non of the teachers seemed to want to change that or even cared. He was strange in their eyes.
Finally Hazel entered the room when there were just five minutes to go. "Who are you, darling?" Hazel smiled at him. "Hazel
Hope, Miss. The Headmistress told me to attend this class. I just came here with my mother from Dover. It's my first day…"
Miss Gallow nodded encouragingly. "Fine, Hazel, dear. Where to place you? Look, just in the third bench next to Justin. What
about?" The Justin-boy nodded hopefully for Hazel was pretty. "Miss, what about the front bench? I'll just sit here." And she
placed her things next to Severus, his face blushed and he smiled widely. The teacher looked stunned. The class started shouting
"Snivellus greased her!" Hazel jumped back to her feet and turned. Her faced was in a violent colour of pink as she did so.
Sarah was the only one who was not shouting. "You will all shut up!" She bend his head to Severus. "Do you happen to know a
spell to force them to silence?" "It's Silencio, but don't!" But Hazel had already faced the class again and whispered:
"Silencio!" and suddenly there was silence. "I tell you not to insult Severus again. You shall regret. All understand?" and
without waiting for an answer she turned and sat down next to Severus. "You are right. I am a witch. And I'm happy." They
both smiled. The bell rang. They got up and left their room. Muttering and whispering followed them down the corridor. Sarah
smiled at them. "First day off after five minutes. I had to wait for the headmistress very long. It's nice that we are in one class
together. Do you want to come home with me? We just have to do the lunch alone. Or do you want to eat at home?"
"I don't get lunch at home. I'd like to come with you, I'm starving." They set off together for Spinner's End.