A/N: Firstly, I don't own anything but my own lovely OCs, the Rovigattis, Morecombs, Cromwells, etc. This is a little Pre-Series I'm doing for my BABY. This takes place before my oneshot Some Other Beginnings End, which leads into The Marauder's Beginnings, and on from there. Warning, this is an involved series! I've got plans for it to go all the way to Harry's grandchildren, and now I've extended it back in time to Olivia's parents, making this span five generations, starting at Hogwarts in the 1930s and ending at Hogwarts in the 2040s or maybe 2050s, I'd have to check my timeline. Yes, this is more than 100 years of material. As expected, that means there will be LOTS of stories, LOTS of chapters. I will try to make them able to be read independent of each other, but it never hurts to start at the beginning and read all the way through. This story will start in Olivia's mother's third year and I think I'll make it a long one, probably until she marries Olivia's father. You can figure out what happens from there. You'll get to see Tom Riddle as a schoolboy, as well as a bit of Abraxas Malfoy, Alphard Black, maybe even Sirius's parents. Peter and Walburga's extreme distaste for each other will be explained and I might even include the contents of my mysterious prophecy, once I figure out what I want it to say! Stay tuned, and lots of love! Cheers! – J
The year was 1939. Aindora Rogivatti was off for her third year of Hogwarts. She knew, by now, what to expect. Alphard Black, the Slytherin in her year, would pester her all through Herbology. Peter Cromwell, the Gryffindor fifth year would stare at her from his table in the Great Hall. Walburga, Alphard's older sister, would try to befriend Aindora all over again. Her best friends in Ravenclaw, Linda Werner, Vidya Vespa, and Aludra Walker, and their good friend in Hufflepuff, Orsolya Sutherland, would spend their time together studying and being generally silly. But there were two things this year that would make Hogwarts very, very different.
Firstly, as a third year student, Aindora would be taking classes of her choice for the first time. She and her friends had sat down and decided to take all of their classes together, even Orsolya, who whined quite a bit about Arithmancy. To balance it out, they agreed to take her choice, Divination. Aindora's father had laughed when she told him this, saying that she would likely like Divination more than she anticipated.
The other thing that made Aindora particularly excited for school this fall was that her baby sister, Eoladra, would be starting school. Everything with Eoladra was a production of epic proportions, but Aindora had enjoyed the sisterly Diagon Alley trip just the same. Now they were heading to the Hogwarts Express in King's Cross Station, September having dawned that morning. Their father walked through first with Eoladra, disappearing into the brick wall. Aindora walked swiftly at the barrier after them, alone.
Their mother had died when Aindora and Eoladra were very young, killed by a man who was convinced that she had been divinely ordained to be his wife. According to their father, their mother had suspected she would die young, but he never explained the statement. The late Mrs. Rovigatti had been a beautiful woman, resembling her daughters greatly. Eoladra's eyes were more of a blue-green, resembling their father's eyes, but Aindora was the exact picture of her mother at age thirteen.
Aindora led the way to the scarlet steam engine waiting for them on platform nine and three quarters. It was a beautiful train, certainly, but it had become such a familiar sight that Aindora didn't think of this as she climbed onto it and found her friends in a compartment near the middle, Linda, Vidya, Aludra, and Orsolya already passing around magazines and talking about their fabulous summers. The equally familiar sight brought a fond smile to Aindora's face as she sat down beside Aludra, glancing over her best friend's shoulder at the magazine across her lap.
"How was your summer, dear?" said Aludra, flicking Aindora on the nose. "Still practicing poor manners, I see."
Aindora laughed.
"It was lovely, dear. South of France. And now Elle is coming to Hogwarts! It's going to be great."
"Oh, that's right!" sighed Orsolya. "How is she doing? Do you have a guess what House she'll be in?"
"Likely Ravenclaw," said Aindora. "We're nearly all in Ravenclaw, you know, on my mother's side."
"And a good thing, too," said Aludra with a bright smile, "or who would I have to talk with late at night when I haven't finished my work?"
Then the door slid open and in walked none other than Gryffindor Peter Cromwell, one of those rich pureblood boys from a good family with all the right connections and all the right skills. Orsolya barely bit back a sigh, and even Aindora had admitted that he was handsome, but never to his face. Egos as large as his ought not to be stroked.
"They made you a prefect, Cromwell?" she said with a derisive tone. "Who did you have to bribe for that?"
He simply smiled and pushed out his chest where his badge was, shining with a gloating air on his robes.
"Nobody, Rovigatti," he drawled in a self-satisfied tone. "They chose me off my merits, of which I have many. Would you like to know what they are?"
"Well I can tell you what they aren't," snorted Aludra.
"How about you just leave us alone for once, Peter, please?" Aindora said with a giggle, hoping he would actually do as she asked for once so they didn't have to embarrass the poor boy. But Peter Cromwell never learned.
"Aw, Aindora," he sighed, "I know you really want me to stay. Why don't you just say so and stop messing with my poor heart?"
Her eyes darkened and her face grew serious and she snapped, "Out, Cromwell. Now."
To her surprise, he left, looking a bit like a kicked dog as he backed out of their compartment and slid the door closed.
"Wow," muttered Orsolya. "That's new."
"What is?" Aindora asked, causally, checking in fingernails.
"I think he's in love with you," Vidya said with a small sigh. "You get all the good-looking ones, Dora."
"But I don't want all the good-looking ones," Aindora protested. "Truly, you can have them. I just want to be left alone. I mean, for Merlin's sake, I'm just a child. Hasn't he got girls his own age who are impressed with him enough to follow him around like sick puppy dogs?"
The other girls exchanged knowing looks, except for Aludra, who despised Peter Cromwell more than anyone else they knew. It wasn't anything he'd done, exactly, but more the fact that he wouldn't leave them alone. He was only marginally more annoying than – ah, speak of the devil…
"Alphard," Orsolya said with a little giggle as the ungodly attractive Slytherin slid into their compartment, closing the door swiftly behind him.
"Ladies," he said smoothly, squeezing into the seat beside Aindora. "How are you, Baby Bird?"
That was what he had called her since their first year at Hogwarts, because she was in Ravenclaw, which had the symbol of an eagle. Somehow, Alphard managed to make that regal bird seem so much less majestic when he made such silly nicknames. Aindora had tried refusing to respond to it, hoping he would give it up, but it turned out that Alphard Black was the most stubborn person on the face of the planet, except perhaps Peter Cromwell. Eventually, she had to give in and start responding to it, or he would have driven her insane.
"What do you want, Alphard?" Aindora said, still examining her nails, not bothering to look up at him.
"I need a place to hide out for a bit," he said, slightly sheepishly.
"Who did you shag and leave this time?" Aludra asked with a smirk.
"Nobody, I hope," Alphard said with a shudder. "I'm hiding from my sister."
A collective shudder then went through the compartment. Nobody at Hogwarts was more universally hated and feared than Walburga Black, tyrant of Slytherin House. Some said she was insane. Some said she was just vicious, but all agreed that getting on her bad side was far from a descent idea.
"What did you do?" Orsolya said, eyes wide.
"Well, Puff," he said, winking at her roguishly, "I sneezed."
Aindora and Aludra both smacked him.
"All right, all right," he laughed. "No, I believe the words I said were used to say she was an ugly hag…"
"What did you say?"
"I said, 'Stop being such an ugly hag.'"
Even Aindora and Aludra had to laugh at that. He stayed with them the rest of the way to Hogwarts, telling jokes, flirting inappropriately, and buying them all obscene amounts of sweets when the trolley came around.
"Sorting!" he cried, hoping up when the train came to a stop. "Isn't your little sister being Sorted tonight, Baby Bird?"
Aindora clicked her tongue angrily at the nickname, but nodded.
"Yeah, I'm guessing she'll be Ravenclaw," she said. "Most of my mum's family has been."
"She'd better not be in Slytherin," Aludra said softly, "or Gryffindor. Imagine if Cromwell or Black latched onto her."
Eoladra was a lot like Aindora in many ways, and they were the best of friends, but Eoladra basked in attention. The surest way to get her to do something was to make her feel like the center of the universe if she did it. If a boy like Cromwell or Black showed her the least bit of attention, it would be like the creation of a monster.
"I heard that," Alphard said with a click of his tongue. "Why can't you just be nice to me, Aludra?"
"Perhaps because you're you, Black," Aludra replied coolly.
"And you say that like it's a bad thing," he said jovially. "Could you at least refrain from comparing me to Cromwell? It's a painful comparison. I would like to think he doesn't merit such a compliment."
Aindora and Aludra rolled their eyes, but Orsolya tittered her agreement, fluttering her eyelashes. What was it about Alphard Black that made perfectly intelligent girls act like complete idiots?
"Toss me a chocolate frog, eh, Baby Bird?"
Turning up her nose regally, Aindora said, "If you insist on calling me that ridiculous name, Black, you can get up and get it yourself."
He pouted pathetically and said, "Baby, please–"
"That didn't help your case," she snapped harshly. "If you're so capable compared to Cromwell, then man up and prove it."
Alphard smirked proudly and said, "Certainly. Now or later?"
She groaned. How could he have such assurance that one day she was going to be interested in him in any way? Why were he and Cromwell both so sure of themselves? Aindora knew, of course, that part of the problem was the fact that their parents had effectively raised them under the assumptions that as the male heirs to their vast family fortunes, and attractive ones at that, they would have whatever they wanted in life, and it was their birthright. The problem was, both boys assumed that Aindora was their birthright, which led to some awkward confrontations. As if she would ever be interested in either of them.
"I meant get your own chocolate, Black. Excuse me, I'm going to get some air. His ego is flooding out all of the oxygen in the compartment."
Aindora primly got to her feet, walking purposefully down the corridor. With any luck, Aludra would be yelling at Alphard and he wouldn't have the opportunity to try to follow her and "apologize". His apologies always turned into him attempting to steal a kiss.
What she didn't notice was that she had wandered unknowingly into Slytherin territory, something which a Slytherin seventh year boy who glowered down at her reminded her of harshly by blasting her backward down the corridor.
Aindora could hear her skull make a sick crunching sound as she hit the wall of the corridor, and she saw a blurry figure stand over her.
"Rovigatti?" said a voice she knew was Peter Cromwell. "Damn it, who did this? I'll rip you limb from limb!"
"Ow," was all she could manage, and she could feel a pair of strong arms wrap around her, but she was too disoriented to care.
"Go get Slughorn," the voice of Peter Cromwell snapped. "She's fractured her skull and I don't have the skill to fix this."
"Hurts," she moaned, and one of the hands smoothed some hair out of her face.
"I know, Rovigatti. It's going to be okay, all right? Do you remember who did this to you?"
"No," she moaned. "No. Hurts."
"Out of the way, out of the way! Peter, m'boy! What happened here? Oh, goodness, you were quite right, that's a nasty crack. All right, out of the way, Peter."
"Sir, are you sure you don't want me to… to hold her head in place or something? I feel a bit pointless…"
"All right, all right, now Aindora, this might tickle just a bit. Hold her very still, Peter. Very still…. That's it."
Aindora could feel a strange, tickling sensation and Professor Slughorn ordered Peter to hold her head tighter as she tried to squirm away from his wand. She whimpered slightly, but the pain was subsiding, she realized, and that was a good thing.
"Now, you'll have to clean up the blood, of course, but–"
"Thank you sir," Peter said quickly. "I can manage her from here. I'm sure you have things much more important to take care of than simple matters such as this." Professor Slughorn chuckled and went off on his way. "Rovigatti, how are you feeling?"
"Better," she muttered, barely realizing that he was petting her hair still, nor that she was leaning into his touch. "I think I ought to see Madam Pomfrey when I get back, though. I don't trust Slughorn as a Healer much."
"Nor do I," Peter said with a laugh, "but he was the only option on the train. I didn't want to put your skull together wrong or something. Come on, I'm going to clean you up a bit, all right?"
"M'kay," she muttered, allowing him to work his wand and fingers through her hair, siphoning the blood away. To the sensitive skin of her scalp, it felt especially nice. She nearly shivered, wondering how it was that his fingers could feel so good….
No. Aindora was not going to be so easily seduced. She told herself firmly that Peter Cromwell was a selfish, egotistical, obnoxious cow and she wasn't going to be persuaded otherwise.
So why was he being so caring, selfless, and sweet to her? Because it was her? Would he have done the same for anyone else?
"Baby Bird, what happened?"
Aindora groaned. The last person she wanted to see was Alphard. Any Slytherin would have been bad, but Alphard and Peter… well, it was enough to drive anyone a bit mad.
"Nobody invited you, Black," Peter spat.
"Out of my way, Cromwell," Alphard snarled. "She needs capable hands to care for her, not your insensitive frying pans."
"Boys–"
"Well, perhaps you ought to tell your Slytherin cronies to hex her again," Peter taunted. "Slughorn already healed her. I'm afraid there are only menial tasks left, nothing worthy of your noble station."
"I'm warning you, Cromwell," Alphard hissed, drawing his wand. "Back away from my girl."
"Now, both of you–"
"I'm sure she'd sooner date a pig than you, Black."
"Speak for yourself, Cromwell. She's disgusted by you."
"Shut up, the pair of you!" she shrieked, causing her head to spin as she tried to sit up. Peter caught her, but she brushed him away, leaning against the wall. "Shut up, please."
Alphard kneeled beside her, looking genuinely concerned and Aindora felt a rush of affection for him.
No. No, absolutely not. There would be no rushes of affection for either of those two idiots. It absolutely wasn't going to happen.
"Black," she whimpered. He puffed up importantly and if she were only feeling better she would have smacked him hard across his pretty face. "Black, go and get me Aludra. Stop looking so important. I'm sending you because Cromwell's supporting my weight and I don't think it would be a good idea for him to let go of me."
Aindora couldn't see Peter's face, but she suspected that it was equally self-important. But in that moment, she could hardly bring herself to care. She wanted to cling to him and let him feel a bit self-important, if only the world would stop spinning.
Aludra hurried over, Alphard not far behind her and she muttered, "Well, never thought I'd see this sight. My best friend wrapped up in the arms of Peter Cromwell."
"Shut up," Aindora snapped. "The train is spinning and I need someone to take me back to my seat. And it's not going to be either of these two idiots, all right?"
"Yeah," Aludra said, ignoring the indignant sounds of the boys. "All right, up you get."
Aludra hoisted Aindora up in her arms, sticking her tongue out as she supported her back to their compartment.
"Well," Aludra said humorlessly, "I hope the next time you get annoyed with Alphard you'll let me hex him instead of storming off."
"Absolutely," Aindora moaned. "Just hurry up."
"And Cromwell? Can I hex Cromwell too?"
"Ye- Wait. You used Black's first name and Cromwell's surname. What is going through your head, Aludra?"
"What? Nothing. Nothing at all. I don't know what you're talking about."
Aindora groaned.
"Please tell me Black's not gotten to you too. I don't want to be the only holdout."
"Hardly," Aludra said sarcastically. "Still, it's ironic, isn't it, since you're the only girl in our group Black's got any real interest in?"
"Oh, so funny," Aindora hissed. "I can hardly breathe for laughing."
But they made it back to their compartment and allowed the girls to dote on Aindora as she recovered from her fall for the rest of the train ride.