Chapter 1: Conscience
- September 1, 1976 -
"Bye, Darling!" Her mother's voice trailed off as the train sped up and it left the station. It was a wonder her mother had even gotten to take Sarah to board the train anyway, since she was usually almost always as busy as her father was.
Sarah nervously turned away from the window, and whisked her blonde hair out of her face. She would be starting at Hogwarts as a 6th year, but before that point, Sarah went to Beauxbatons. Of course, she was leaving behind several friends, but at least Hogwarts was closer to their London mansion. According to her parents, the Malfoy's, Sarah should finish her last years at Hogwarts, where they believed she would receive a better education.
Sarah walked along the compartment halls, looking for a seat. She stopped at one that wasn't full yet, noticing that all the members looked to be around her age.. There were two black haired twin girls, a girl with green eyes and bright red hair, and another girl with brown hair.
She slid open the compartment door and tried not to sound too awkward: "Hi…Um, can I sit with you?"
"Sure," they replied kindly. One of the twins with black hair did introductions. "I'm Zaria, and this is my sister Amanda." She pointed at the girl with red hair and green eyes. "This is Lily, and Bridget." They all looked up and smiled at her.
"Nice to meet you…I'm Sarah. Are you in your 6th years, too?" she asked, while sitting down on one of the red leather benches.
"Yeah, we're all 6th years here. Are you transferring this year or something?" The other twin, Amanda, had asked the question.
"My parents made me transfer from Beauxbatons," Sarah replied grimly.
"That sucks…But I'm sure you'll like Hogwarts," the girl called Bridget said.
"I'm sure I will if I get into Slytherin," Sarah sighed.
"Why, has your whole family been in Slytherin or something?" Zaria asked. "Oh! You must be Lucius' younger sister. He told us all last year that you would be transferring. I'm in Slytherin too, so he and I kind of knew each other."
"Yes, I'm his sister…Don't worry, we don't really agree on most things." Sarah saw the looks of hesitation coming from the others in the compartment at the mention of her brother. He knew how blood-prejudiced he could be. "What houses are the rest of you in?'
"Hufflepuff," said Amanda.
"Ravenclaw," said Bridget.
"Gryffindor," said Lily.
"Wow, well at least I'll have someone I know in my house no matter what I get into." Sarah smiled, trying to hide her surprise that four girls from four completely different houses could be close friends. Growing up in the Malfoy family casted a shadow of impossibility on such actions.
For the rest of the train ride, Sarah found herself having the time of her life. Could she have really found her niche already, on the very first day? She certainly hoped so…making friends had been so much harder at Beauxbaton's, where everyone seemed to prefer gossip over meaningful conversations.
Finally, the train arrived, and Sarah got her first glimpse of the magnificent castle.
"Well…I guess I'll see you guys later," she waved at them as they boarded the carriages and reluctantly followed the first years for the sorting. They all gave her strange looks once they reached the toasty entrance hall. She was short for her age, but still noticeably the odd one out with a developed chest and lips donning pink lipstick.
They began walking into the Great Hall, and Sarah nervously exchanged glances with Amanda, who was sitting at the Hufflepuff table on her left. Then she turned to face the Sorting Hat. Lucius had told her about the Sorting: they placed it on your head, and you went to the house table it told you to go to. Pretty simple.
The ceremony dragged on, and finally they were at the bottom half of the alphabet of last names. When the professor called, "Sarah Malfoy," she felt her face turn red.
Time seemed to freeze, as everyone began looking at her expectantly. The Sorting Hat mumbled in her ears, but she was too nervous to listen to what it was saying. Over at the Gryffindor table, she saw Lily, and some rowdy boys; four, including Sirius Black who she was apparently related to through her brother's marriage to Narcissa.
She sat for a few more moments, while the hat pondered. "I'll have to put you in…Slytherin!" Sarah sighed with relief, glad her turn was over and that her family would be proud of her house. She hurried over to sit by Zaria, as the hall applauded.
"Congrats," she smiled as Sarah sat down next to her.
"Yeah, welcome to Slytherin," a boy with brown hair and matching eyes said.
"Thanks…You have no idea how good it feels to get that over with," Sarah sighed.
"Oh Sarah, this is Jake Mulciber," she gestured to the brown-haired boy across the table. She continued, pointing at the boy next to Jake, "This is Martin Avery," she pointed again, at the spot next to Martin, "And that's Severus Snape."
Severus was the only one who didn't look up when Zaria introduced them. Sarah greeted the first two boys and they turned back to the sorting. She looked at Snape expectantly, and sighed, agitated that he still didn't look up.
Zaria whispered while the boys' backs were still turned, "Please don't mention that I talk to Martin to Lily or Bridget…"
"Why not?" Sarah asked.
"She thinks they're horrible people…Also, they're friends with Snape." Sarah must've had a puzzled expression on her face, because Zaria added, "I'll explain later."
Sarah nodded, still confused, but finally tuned into the headmaster's speech.
Later, after the feast, Zaria walked with Sarah to the common room. Sarah had begun shivering once they hit the dungeon, and didn't stop until they got to the common room. It wasn't the luxury of Beauxbatons, but Sarah had to admit that the common room was pretty impressive with the huge stone fireplace on one wall and the many talking portraits that lined the others.
They walked up the stairs into the girl's dorms, and Sarah went over to the bed where her trunks had been set.
After unpacking all her belongings, and being introduced to Maggie Parkinson and Lillie Smith, Sarah brought up the conversation Zaria began at dinner. "So fill me in about the whole 'Snape' fiasco."
"Well first…I think it's really nice that you don't care about blood status or anything like that. I mean, I know how the Malfoy family is…""
Sarah didn't really know what to say to the comment. "Well we aren't all horrible. Maybe just the majority."
Zaria laughed. "So on with the story…After O.W.L.'s last year, Snape was sitting in the grass looking over the test, and Lily, Amanda, and I were all cooling off in the lake. James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black- I'm sure you'll meet them eventually- were all sitting under the birch tree. James was apparently getting bored, so they went over and started casting all these spells on Severus, trying to show off to everyone, as usual. Lily had been friends with him since they were nine, so we got out of the water and Lily started yelling at James. He's been trying to go out with her for centuries, so of course, he said that he'd leave Severus alone if she went out with him. She refused, calling him names which I won't mention, and eventually got James to leave him alone anyway. But instead of being appreciative, all Severus said was 'I don't need help from filthy Mudbloods like you,'
Zaria finally stopped to catch her breath. "And she's still mad at him to this day…I'm pretty sure he's over her, since he hasn't apologized since the end of last year. She's always hated Martin and Jake too, for literally no reason! I mean they might pick on some first years from time to time, but who doesn't? That's what I call unfair…I mean, Martin's just so cute-"
"Okay, got it, Zaria. Don't talk to Snape, Avery, or Mulciber while Lily's around."
"Don't talk to Snape at all! He's just rude…I mean you saw how he totally blew you off at dinner for no reason." Zaria scoffed. Sarah smirked then nodded, and they both decided to turn in for the night.
The next morning, Sarah got up early, ready to see what classes at Hogwarts were like. She changed into her robes after taking a shower and curling her hair, and walked down up to the Great Hall for breakfast. She headed toward the Slytherin table, and sat down next to Maggie, whom she'd met the previous night.
"Morning," she greeted her.
"Hi…ugh, don't eat the french toast…it's horrible," Maggie replied.
Sarah appreciated the heads up, and reached for a piece of toast instead. She looked up from putting raspberry jam on it to see Jake, Martin, and Severus sitting down across from them. They all looked half asleep, and Snape still didn't even glance at her as he sat down. She tried to at least make eye contact with him, but couldn't because of his long hair being in the way. Frustrated, she wondered why he wouldn't look at her. Then again, why should she care? If all of Lily's friends were supposed to ignore him anyway, she shouldn't give a damn about him at all.
"Good morning," Jake said groggily, and took his schedule from the Head Boy that was passing them out.
She looked at hers when it was passed over to her. She had potions first. Sarah was suddenly excited about going to classes. Potions was her favorite subject back at Beauxbatons. Sarah had become so occupied looking at her schedule, she barely noticed Zaria sitting down next to her.
"So, what've we got first?" she peered over onto Sarah's schedule, while pouring herself a little coffee. "Potions…That'll be a drag," she sighed. "Slughorn always chooses partners for us like we're in pre-school."
A half hour later, they stepped into a musty classroom back in the dungeons. They took their seats at the desks, and Sarah sat next to Zaria, hoping she would get someone decent as a partner.
The professor strode into the classroom and gave a little speech about how great it was to be back from summer vacation, even though pretty much everyone else in the class was thinking the exact opposite.
As he did roll call, he gradually started moving students to new spots. Zaria got moved to sit by Avery, and Sarah gave her a knowing smile, which was returned. Finally, the teacher said her name, and after it followed, "Malfoy, you can sit in the desk behind you next to Snape."
This time, it wasn't a knowing smile she gave Zaria. It was more of a concerned frown. She sighed and sat down next to Snape, who once again, didn't acknowledge her. Why did it bother her? There were plenty of other guys that looked at her-she caught Mulciber staring at her during breakfast. She chanced a look at him. What was it about him that was so intriguing? Was it the way his hair gently fell onto his skin at just the right angle, the deep brown eyes, or was it the fact that she actually met a guy who didn't lust after her the moment he laid eyes on her.
They began working on that day's potion, and saw him writing little notes in his textbook. "You'll get in trouble when you return it if you write in it," she said.
"That's really none of your business though, isn't it?" He spoke for the first time, and the sound of his deep, matured voice captured her.
"I suppose not," she said carefully. He continued making the potion and scribbled in his book. "Wow, you're pretty good at this…Oh wait! Did you forget the pygmy hairs?"
He turned a deep shade of scarlet. "I would have remembered eventually."
She giggled and gazed at him out of the corner of her eye. 'I'm not falling for him, I'm not falling for him' she told herself. But somewhere in the back of her mind, she swore she heard a sarcastic voice saying, 'Right…you just keep telling yourself that.'