AN: Hey guys, so this is my first published fanfiction. I'm not sure if I'll finish it, I hope I will, but I get sidetracked easily. This takes place before the Marauders, so unfortunately there won't be many Harry Potter characters you'll recognize. This first chapter isn't very important to the plot, but it was something that kind of needed to be done.
As always, I own nothing of J.K. Rowling or C.S. Lewis.
At exactly 6:00, an eleven-year-old second year wakes up in her dark Slytherin dorm room. She sat up quietly; her eyes already adjusted to the darkness of the dungeons, and looked around at the four other second year roommates who were all a year older than she was. They were all still sleeping, their hair still perfect even after a nights long sleep. Figuring that there was no use trying to sleep when the others would wake within the next half our, she decided to take advantage of the hot water of the showers. On normal days, she was last to get a shower since she was the youngest, so normally her showers were always cold and unsatisfying after a long stressful day.
She walked through the dorm and into the bathroom quieter than a cat and grabbed her sack off one of the silver hooks lining the deep Slytherin green wall. In it were her toiletries and a fresh towel that the elves put in there every day. She took a long shower, and stood in the hot water until it began to get colder. She smiled as she got out and dried off, thinking of her sweet revenge on her fellow second years who thought they were so much better than her.
She was sitting on the black leather couch in the underwater common room brushing her dark red hair that fell to just below her shoulder blades when the first few people came walking out of their dorms.
"Good morning Jean," said a seventh year prefect whom she could never remember his name.
"Good morning. Ready for graduation?" She asked more out of politeness than actual curiosity.
"As ready as I'll ever be," he said with a forced smile. That was one thing that Jean had always admired about that boy, it was that no matter what happened, he would be there for anyone who needed a laugh or a smile or even a shoulder to cry on. She even considered him a Hufflepuff if she hadn't seen him arguing with some other students before.
"Hey Jean!" Her four roommates called as they walked through the dormitory door. They had obviously already showered and Jean could barely contain her smile when she saw their annoyed faces.
"Good morning," she said casually as she stuffed her hairbrush back into her bag, not looking them in the eyes so they couldn't see her happiness as they sat by her, shivering.
"Unfortunately it hasn't been such a good morning for us," their leader, Beth, said in her I'm-popular-and-I-know-it voice. "Someone used all of the hot water. I see you've been showered for a while haven't you?"
"Yes," she said simply as she stood up and went back into the bathroom to finish getting around. For twelve-year-olds, those girls really were evil, even for Slytherins.
She went to the only sink that wasn't being used by older witches, brushed her teeth and applied her small amount of makeup. After she put on her muggle outfit, since she didn't have classes today for the graduation ceremony, she braided her long bangs and pinned them to the back of her head with a jade and silver Slytherin crest pin. Her parents would prefer her to wear traditional witch's traveling cloaks for the train ride home, muggle clothes were much more comfortable.
She was happy that this dreadful year was finally over, for next year she wouldn't have to room with Beth and her bags from Hell. She would be moving on to fourth year next year instead of third year. Sometimes she was grateful that her parents taught her magic since age 7, especially during tests and exams, but she loathed it as well because she had to room with girls way older than her and her professors always asked her to demonstrate something.
She opened her trunk and saw all of her books that were stacked in it, surrounded by a few outfits that were tucked around them. She looked at the clock on the wall. It was 8:30 and she couldn't believe at how slow this day was going. The ceremonies started at 10:00 and there was nothing to do until then. She was tempted to take another shower, but she had already fixed her hair and makeup and she knew it would be freezing.
"You okay?" A girl asked from the doorway, making Jean almost jump out of her skin. She turned around and saw her only friend at Hogwarts, Rachel.
"Yeah I'm fine," she said, closing her trunk.
"We'll you shouldn't be," she said, looking over her friend. "Your hair's a mess. Either you've been in a fight, or there's something on your mind."
"I'm fine, really. Thanks Rachel," she said as Rachel sat on her bed and patted next to it to make her sit. She sat down and she began to take out her pin and braids.
"I'm gonna miss you," Jean said as Rachel braided green crystals into her hair then pulled her braided bangs back into her Slytherin pin again.
"I know, but we'll see each other again, and you're a strong girl, you will be just fine," Rachel said as she kissed Jean on her forehead. Rachel was the big sister Jean never had. "Now let's go downstairs and get ready to go to the Great Hall, okay?" She asked, smiling at Jean.
They made their way to the Great Hall and took their seats at the Slytherin table. They sat in silence, Rachel rubbing Jean's back as the Great Hall filled with students around them. The hall was overflowing once the parents began to arrive. Witches and wizards and young children stood down the aisles and even out in the Entrance Hall. Jean supposed there must've been at least a thousand people in attendance, but everyone became immediately silent when Professor Dippet stood and cleared his throat at the front of the hall.
Normally, students wouldn't attend unless they knew someone graduating, so a lot of parents were sitting at tables, which looked rather odd to Jean.
"Witches, wizards and others," Professor Dippet began in a strong voice behind his stand in front of the staff table. "We welcome you today for the graduation of class 1940." He continued with stories that he had from his very first year as headmaster. Jean began to doze off, but wasn't able to sleep for right as she was nodding off, Dippet begun calling names.
As the first student walked up to graduate, Jean watched carefully. She was interested in how the wizarding world graduated since she had only seen one muggle graduation.
"Rachel Arnold of Slytherin," Professor Dippet called out. Jean gave her hand a slight squeeze as Rachel took a deep breath and stood up.
She walked up to the front of the hall and shook Professor Dippet's hand before he gave her her diploma. When he did so, a bright light flashed and her green Hogwarts uniform changed back to black like they were before she was Sorted in first year. She then shook every professor's hand, even hugging some, while Dippet called more students up to the front. Rachel was escorted through a door in the side of the hall and once it shut, Jean finally broke down. She realized that she didn't even get to say goodbye to her best friend.
She ran from the hall and out into the courtyard. She cried for only a moment. Pull yourself together. Quit crying, she thought to herself. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and pulled her bag off the ground from where she dropped it. She withdrew her wand from it and muttered a complex spell, an undetectable extension charm.
"Accio trunk," she whispered, pointing her wand towards the front doors of the school. The trunk came rushing towards her at full speed and slammed into her, knocking her back onto the ground. "Dammit!" She gasped while she coughed and tried to catch her breath. "I really need to practice that one."
She shoved her trunk into her bag, with much failure and very little success. Finally, she slung her slightly heavy bag over her shoulder and apparated into the upstairs bathroom of her family's house.
Her mother heard the loud pop from the downstairs library where she was reading a novel. She walked upstairs, wand drawn, listening for another sound. She turned the corner and saw Jean walking out of the bathroom.
"Mum!" Jean ran towards her mother, dropping her bag along the way, and embraced her in such a tight hug that neither of them moved, but both of them cried, happy to finally see each other again. It didn't take Jean long to notice that something was missing though.
"Where is he? Where's Dad?" She whispered, preparing for the worst. Her mother couldn't speak and refused to look into her daughter's eyes as a tear fell from her eye. She didn't have to tell Jean, she already knew. She knew her father was a muggle, which meant he was drafted and was forced to fight in the war. She thought back to the last time she saw him.
"I'm so proud of you," he had said with the biggest smile on his face, right before she got on the train to go to Hogwarts at the beginning of the year. She had skipped first year with her knowledge, her mother's teaching, and her father's encouragement. They had hugged as the final warning whistle blew and she ran onto the train. She had waved back at him from a window before the smoke clouded her sight of her father. She never saw him again.
She looked back into her mother's eyes, nodded to show that she understood, and then the two of them began to unpack her things.
AN: Thanks for reading the first chapter! Please review with any ideas or constructive criticism. I'm working on the second chapter, and that's when things will pick up a little more!