A/N: Okay, welcome to my first story!! This is Safe Haven? I don't think so...This is based on my OC and her friends but willfeature some canon charcters! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the HP characters, they belong to Ms Rowling and some of the vampire mythology is based of the House of Night books.
~tiktak
Oh joy, another school year was about to begin! While Hogwarts was a safe haven to most students, I loathed it. Really, I don't see the attraction. Why would you want to stay cooped up in a castle with hundreds of other teenagers, forced to do extremely boring subjects, with even more boring teachers. I can't fathom how anyone actually enjoys it.
Yes, I know I sound like a typical angst-ridden teen but really, once you've been to Hogwarts as many time as I have, it gets extremely boring.
I guess you're wondering who I am, right? My name is Irene Isabel Marie Cooper. Known as Rene or Renie to my friends. I am 157 years old but stuck inside a 18 year old body. I grew up in New Jersey but have lived in England for quite a while now, although I have kept my American accent. I find it seperates me from the other students quite well. Not that I need anymore reason for them to think I'm different. As you've probably figured out by now, I am a vampire. I usually live with my friends and my sister, Robert Holmes, Claire Hamilton, Remus Black and Rachel Cooper. Every now and then, we decide to go to Hogwarts, for about three years, just to see how it's changed.
I am currently on my way to my 8th time at Hogwarts, this time as a transfer student from New Jersey. We usually have a cover story, for why there are so many of us transferring. This time, Rachel and I are sisters (which is the truth) and Claire is our cousin. Robert and Remus are her adopted brothers and their parents have died, so Rachel and I's parents have to look after them since we moved to England.
"Rene? Rene? Are you in there?" Rachel said, waving her hand infront of my face.
"Yeah?" I replied, blinking slightly as I came back to the real world.
My sister rolled her green eyes, identical to mine, as I looked at her, a bit dazed.
"We better change soon, we'll be at Hogwarts in half and hour," she said, looking at the boys.
"Okay, we get it, we're going!" Robert laughed, seeing Rachel's stare.
Robert and Remus shuffled out of the compartment quickly. I grinned at their obvious fright of my sister. While Rachel was mostly a sweet, kind girl (or rather, vampire) she could also be very vicious if you angered her.
"Do we have to go to Hogwarts? Can we not just sneak of to Hogsmeade and stay with Aberforth?" I pleaded uselessly.
I knew Rachel and Claire wouldn't agree, they never had, but I hoped maybe this time they would change their minds.
"Sweetie, we've been over this, if you don't want to go, don't go. But we do," Claire sighed, seeming exasperated with my begging.
"I'm not leaving you, you know that. I'll go, but only for you," I relented.
Rachel smiled as she pulled her shirt on. She knew I would never abandon them, despite my hatred of Hogwarts. I frowned slightly, disapointed that, yet again, I would be exiled there.
"Oh, stop moping, Irene. For all you know, things may be different this time. You need to be more optimistic!" she teased as we all finished changing.
She threw a Bertie Botts' Every Flavoured Bean in my direction and laughed as it hit my forehead.
"Hey!" I cried, laughing as more began flying through the air.
Soon there was an all out war but, all good things come to an end and we had no amunition left to fire. A knock came from the door and it opened to show Robert's black hair, hand covering his chocolate eyes.
"Are you decent?" he asked, grinning.
"Yeah, feel free to come in," Claire answered, turning her head towards the door.
It opened fully as Robert and Remus stepped inside, clad in their school uniforms. Rachel looked at Robert approvingly, her eyes scanning his form discreetly. I noticed a twinkle in her eye as he smiled at her.
Rachel and Robert had been together for 54 years now, a record within our little group. Claire had gone out with several other vampires that we met on our travels but eventually broke up with all of them, none having caught her attention enough to become her mate. I had always been on my own, never caring for a mate. Remus was the same, he prefered to be alone. His voice broke me out out of my reverie.
"So Irene, you're definitley coming this time?" he asked me.
"Yes, I'm coming. I couldn't leave you to deal with all those fangirls on your own," I joked.
As with all vampires, the five of us were beautiful. Rachel and I had light green eyes and red-brown hair and complemented eachother perfectly. Robert was extremely gorgeous with his black messy hair, chocolate brown eyes and perfectly muscled arms. Claire was also very beautiful, but maybe more discreetly than Rachel and I. She had sea-blue eyes and dark brown hair that cut off just before her shoulders. Remus was probably the most beautiful of us all (at least, I thought he was). He had sandy blonde hair that was slightly longer than Robert's and sparkling brown eyes.
As the train began to slow down, we all fetched our suitcases from above us and began to head out into the hallway. Already it was packed with students preparing to get off the train.
'Oh God' I moaned inside my head, wishing I was back in New Jersey.
We did visit there often, as it was Rachel and I's home town. I missed it already, despite us only returning from there less than a week ago. We shoved our way through the crowd, albeit carefully so we did not hurt the humans.
The train stopped completely and the doors opened to show the platform. Students pushed to get out and finally, we all stepped out into Hogsmeade. I breathed in the fresh air with a sigh of relief. I may be good at keeping my control but being so close to so many bodies full of blood was hard. I smiled at some nervous looking first years. They were practically trembling. Well, I suppose they had a right to be scared, with a man as large as Hagrid calling for all the first years. They walked over to him carefully and widened their eyes once they saw how they were going to get up to the castle. They all gazed in awe at Hogwarts, all their fear seeming to disappear for a few short seconds. I felt pity for them, as it was obviously their first time so far away from home.
"Rene? You coming?" Remus asked from behind me.
I turned and he pointed to the carriages pulled by the Thestrals. Robert, Claire and Rachel had already got on one and were waiting for us to join them. I had been watching the first years so intently that I hadn't noticed that they had gone.
"Yeah," I replied, smiling at him and hurrying to the carriage.
I sat next to Claire, with Remus on my other side. I watched as the Thestrals began to pull the carriage up the path towards the castle. I was the only one of my friends, apart from Rachel, who could see them. Our father had commited suicide infront of us, shortly after our mother died in childbirth.
We were all unusually silent on the ride, so much that it was almost irritating. Even Robert, who was the most talkative of us all, was quiet. I sniffed the air, trying to find any scent that would have unnerved the others. I found nothing. There was no scent of werewolves or giants although there was a slight smell of centaur but that was expected at Hogwarts. I frowned, wondering why my friends were so quiet. Perhaps it was anticipation or excitement. I knew that they were all eager to be here, so really, they should have been babbling on about how much fun this year would be.
"Do you feel that?" Rachel finally spoke, breaking the silence.
"What?" Robert asked, obviously concerned.
"I'm not sure. Like, something's not right," she said vaguely.
"I'm not sure I know what you mean," I admitted.
"I'm not sure either," she began, "It's just, it feels like something's 's something here that's not right,"
"I feel it too," Claire whispered, "There's a....presence here that shouldn't be. Something very bad,"
Remus and I looked at eachother worriedly. We knew when Claire said something like that, there was cause to be anxious. Claire had a...gift for predicting the unknown. She was not psychic, as most who knew about her gift believed. She only had feelings, or at the most, small visions.
"Are you sure? It's not just becasue of what Rachel said?" Robert queried.
"No, I'm sure. Something is definitely not right," Claire confirmed, looking slightly scared.
The carriage came to a halt and we all looked up. In front of us, in all it's glory, stood Hogwarts castle. Remus stepped of the carriage first and helped me down. Robert, Rachel and Claire followed and we all began to walk to wards the entrance to the castle. Professor McGonagall was supposed to meet us and take us to get sorted before all the first years. Of course, she knew we were all vampires. Most of the teachers did, and those who didn't would soon find out anyway.
The professor came around the corner towards us and smiled. She always did like us.
"Rachel, Robert, Irene, Remus, Claire," she acknowledged all five of us, "It's good to see you all again,"
"Likewise, Professor McGonagall," I replied politely.
"Well, let's get you all sorted then," she said, urging us into a room.
I sighed and walked towards it, about to get sorted for the 8th time.
A/N: Well, that's the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! By the way, Remus is not Remus Lupin. He is a relative of Sirius Black's who was changed.
Please review, you have no idea how much it modivates me!!