Hello, everyone! First of all, if this seems familiar to you, it was already posted. However, the series was put on hold. During that time, things changed as I was writing that effected what was already posted. Therefore, I had to start the series over completely. I hope you enjoy it, and this time there will be no holds.
If you're new, welcome! I hope you fall in love with Ravenfire Ashe as well. This series will span over the course of all seven books/(eight) movies, but it will follow Raven through them during her time at Hogwarts.
Once again, I hope you enjoy. Here is Ravenfire Ashe: First Year.
Chapter One
When the letter from Hogwarts arrived at Ashe manor, no one in my family was surprised…or proud for that matter. I was the daughter of the Ashes, an old wizarding family almost as prominent as the Malfoys. In fact, the Malfoys and the Ashes had been close friends for as long as anyone could remember. Draco, who'd grown up beside me and had been my best friend since birth, would be in the same year as me.
Both of us were very excited.
Malfoy manor was quite literally my second home. I could come and go as I pleased, and the Malfoys always treated me like a family member. More so than they even did Draco. And more so than my family did me. The Malfoys were always there for me when my own parents were not. In fact, I'd even taken up the silly habit of calling Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy 'Mum' and 'Daddy'.
Even though the Malfoys were far from a perfect family, they were a godsend from my own.
Lucius and Narcissa's marriage was devoid of passion, but at least they did not constantly argue like my mother and father. And while Draco was often bullied by his father, at least he wasn't beaten senseless by him as I sometimes was by mine. The Malfoys became my escape. My sanctuary. And my parents never had a problem with it.
The less they saw of me, the better.
I suppose I might be giving the wrong impression. My mother loved me, and it was obvious when she was with me. It was just that she was pretty absent in my life. If she wasn't needed, she would have no problem leaving me by myself or with the Malfoys. She spent a great deal of her time in her make-shift potions lab. It had been her dream to become a professional potioneer, but since we were so wealthy, my father told her that getting a job wasn't needed.
I had a sneaky suspicion that he was a tad more forceful about it since my mother never did pursue her lifelong dream. Besides, my father was quite violent in nature.
But I didn't need Mother or Father when I had the Malfoys.
"Hey!" Draco greeted, pulling me from my thoughts. I had just arrived in Diagon Alley, but he was already exiting Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
"Hi," I replied with a smile, "Where are your parents?"
"Father's next-door, buying my books, and Mother's up the street, looking at wands. Have you gotten your wand yet?"
"No, I just got here."
"You have money with you, right?"
I nodded, playing with the sickles and galleons in my pocket.
"In that case, I'm sure we can go around and get your things with you," Draco told me as we passed a shop that had several children crowded around the window.
"Wow!" I gasped when I caught a glimpse of the new Nimbus 2000 through the glass.
"I was talking to some kid as I was being fitted for robes, and I said that I would try to get Father to buy me my own broomstick this year. I bet he could buy you one too."
"I can buy my own," I defended.
"I know that," snapped Draco, "I just meant as a birthday present. It was only your birthday a few days ago."
"Thanks, but my parents don't want me to have one yet."
"Then we'll buy your familiar."
"I have no problem buying my own animal."
"We didn't get you anything for your birthday."
"Your family threw the party! I should be offering to buy your animal."
Every year, Draco and I had a summer party for both of our birthdays since they were so close together. His was at the beginning of June, and mine was at the end of July. The Ashes and the Malfoys alternated years that they would be planning, holding, catering, and paying for the party. And whoever threw the birthday party didn't have to throw the Christmas party.
"Hello, Raven," Narcissa greeted as Draco and I entered Olivander's.
"Mummy," I replied, smiling and receiving a hug as Draco walked over to the front counter.
"How are you, dear?" she asked, "Are your parents not here?"
I shook my head as she moved a stay hair out of my face.
"Pity. I love your parents dearly, but there are certain things they should not be absent for. I would have assumed that your mother would have made it at least."
"They probably just figured that you and Lucius would be here. Besides, Mother is working on a new potion."
Narcissa nodded, "Ah, I see!"
"Ten inches," Draco announced, brandishing his new wand in the air proudly as he returned to us, "Hawthorne and unicorn hair. Go get yours, Raven."
I nodded as I crossed the small space to Olivander.
"Ravenfire Rose Ashe," he drawled, already pulling out several boxes, "I remember the very wands I sold your parents. Both elm…just like Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy's."
The old man lifted his chin to gesture behind me at Narcissa and her husband, who'd just entered the shop. I turned around as he dropped the pile of text books into Draco's arms. I smiled at him before turning back to Olivander.
"Each has a different core, though, so I'll start you with a few different elm ones like I did with Draco."
I looked behind me again to see Draco whisper something to his mother before giving me a mischievous grin. Narcissa passed the message onto Lucius before leaving with Draco. I rolled my eyes and turned back once more to Olivander as Lucius moved to stand behind me.
Within the span of about five minutes, he watched as I tried elm wands with cores of phoenix feathers, unicorn hair, Veela hair, Kneazle whisker, dittany stalk, Kelpie mane, thestral tail hair, troll whisker, and coral. I knew none of them were right for me even before I tried them out. They felt like any other stick I might find outside. I never felt that magical attraction until Olivander gave me the last wand of elm.
"Thirteen inches, elm, dragon heartstring," the wand-seller said, handing me a brown wand with leaves swirling around the shaft and a red bulb at the bottom, "The core is the same as my own wand, renowned author Gilderoy Lockhart's, Professor McGonagall's, and I'm sure you've heard of Bellatrix Lestrange."
I'd never met Narcissa's sister, at least not that I remembered. She'd been put in Azkaban prison soon after I was born, but I'd heard plenty of stories about her. She'd been put on a pedestal by so many people that I could regard her with nothing less than idolization and admiration.
"Not to mention my own," Lucius chimed in, "In fact, the wood is the same too, as you've been told. The only difference between my wand and the one you're holding is that mine's eighteen inches long, which would be one of the longest ever recorded."
"Yes," Olivander agreed, "I still remember selling it to your ancestor, Brutus. It's a special thing indeed when a wand continues to live through the bloodline instead of dying with the wizard."
The conversation intrigued me, but I was eager to find which wand would be mine. And even more eager to find out where Draco had gone. I picked the beautiful wand out of the box. Predictably, everything about the wand was perfect. It felt right in every way possible, and apparently the two other men saw it also.
It felt as if the wand had been specifically tailored to match me. It was as though it was waiting for me to pick it up ever since it was made.
"I guess I'll wrap this one up then," Olivander commented, taking my gorgeous, new wand away from me. After thanking him and paying him, I turned toward Lucius.
"Daddy," I giggled my greeting and threw my arms around him. He rolled his eyes and didn't hug me back, but I noticed his slight smirk.
"I missed you," I continued dramatically, snuggling into his warm chest, "I haven't seen you since-."
"Yesterday," he interjected dryly as I stepped away.
"An entire twenty-four hours!"
"More like ten, as you left late last night. And you were sleeping for about eight of those hours."
I shrugged and chuckled lightly before turning serious.
"Where'd Draco go?"
"Can't tell you."
Olivander returned from the back of his shop with my wrapped up wand. I nodded in gratitude before following Mr. Malfoy outside.
At eleven years old, I was at normal height, weight, and shape for my age group. I looked like any other eleven-year-old, I noticed as I caught glimpses of myself in shop windows Lucius and I were passing. I had shoulder-length, brown hair and bright, green eyes. Nothing physically set me apart from any other kid in Diagon Alley. It didn't matter that I was a pure blood, that I was rich, or even that my wand was more beautiful than any I'd ever seen before. None of that mattered to me. The only thing that made me different on the outside was the cuts and bruises covered by my black jeans and cloak.
I sighed and continued walking. Along the way, we met up with Draco, who was poorly concealing something big behind his back. Narcissa walked next to him, carrying his books and his new eagle owl in a cage.
"What do you have?" I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Happy birthday!" he exclaimed, pulling the cage out from behind his back. In it was the most beautiful black and white horned owl I'd ever seen. My mouth dropped open as Draco handed me the cage. Then I started laughing.
"I hate you," I chuckled.
"You're welcome."