Thanks for checking out my story! This is my first HP story that I had written many moons ago lol
As with my other stories, I do not own any of the Harry Potter series, though I wish I owned Severus Snape! HMMMMMM Allen Rickman hehe okay, okay he could be my father, but, I can only fantasize :)
Enjoy and please review.
CHAPTER 1
THE BEGINNING
Many years ago, a girl who was thirteen lived with her parents in the United States. Her name is Katrina. She is a tall, slim, young girl, with long flowing brown hair, and radiant blue eyes.
She hated living with her parents. They, like Katrina, are witches and wizards. The reason she hated living with them, is that her parents made her , and her siblings learn the Dark Arts. In the States, young witches and wizards did not only learn to defend themselves, but also how to use certain curses on others. Katrina's parents had gone so deep into the Dark Arts, that they forced Katrina to do these things she did not wish to do. And, Every time she refused to do something terrible, her parents would punish her and send her to her room.
There had been a time in which Katrina had been sent to her room after being punished yet again. Katrina sat in there, by the lit of the fireplace, and gazed into the flames, seeing things she had never seen before. She had been taught how to do this at her school, but never thought she'd mastered it.
As she watched the flames, she had seen herself packing her bags, leaving the country. Katrina had seen a sign in her vision that said 'London', and she presumed that it would be London, England. She wondered how she would be getting there with very little money. But, as she watched, she had seen herself getting on a plane with no problem at all. She thought about how she would get on this plane with all of her luggage, and not pay for stowing aboard. She then realized that her father owned an invisibility cloak, and then went on to plan how she would get it out of their attic where it had been stored long ago.
A few nights later, she had gotten up as if going to the bathroom, and quietly went into the attic and found her father's invisibility cloak, and storied it into her trunk for when she would be leaving.
August had arrived, as Katrina finished her preparations for running away from her parents. The second week she decided she had had enough after being punished again. She grabbed what she could-her wand, her cloak, robes, some Muggle clothing, and her books. She had stashed away some money she hand, and took off in the middle of the night. She had gotten on a plane that went straight to the airport in London.
After arriving in England, she left the airport, and started walking for what seemed like hours, finally arriving in the heart of London. She had seen people who were oddly dressed in Muggle clothing entering a building which looked abandoned. She had followed a small group of them inside, and as she entered, she noticed witches and wizards all around her. She sat at the bar drinking Butterbeer for a while and the barkeep finally spoke to her.
"Will you be needing a room tonight, or are you just waiting for your parents?" Tome the barkeep asked.
"Oh, yes, sir. I will be needing a room. I am here by myself. Oh, and, sir, could you tell me if there is a wizarding school here, and how I could get in touch with the witch or wizard in charge? Katrina asked politely.
"Why yes. The school is Hogwarts, and the Headmaster is Albus Dumbledore. You can send him an owl in the morning. Then I will show you how to get to Diagon Alley. But, for now I think you should retire for the evening. I will send you some soup to your room to eat shortly." Tom told her.
Katrina followed Tom to her room, and found a big bed to sleep in as well as many other extraordinary things. Morning came, and as Tom promised, he had shown her how to get to Diagon Alley, and he told her where to go and get an owl to send to the Headmaster.
A week went by after Katrina had sent the letter. Finally the owl returned with a letter from Hogwarts, saying she had been accepted to 'Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry'. Along with her acceptance, she had found a piece of parchment telling her what books she would need. She had also seen a ticket and information on how to get on the Hogwarts express to start her term on the first of September.
Excitement filled her, as she ran down the stairs, through the bar, and came face to face with the brick wall that held Diagon Alley on the other side. She tapped her wand in the exact fashion she had done numerous times the week prior to, and set off to get her books. When she returned to The Leaky Cauldron, she quickly went to her room, slammed the door and started in on the book that she was most fascinated by; Potions.
Days before she was to part on the train to Hogwarts, she sat in the pub with her nose buried in her potions book for the umpteenth time while she ate.
She felt the presence of someone, and thinking it was Tom, she ignored him until she heard an unfamiliar voice. "My, my." The stranger said. "What is so intriguing about this Potions book?"
Katrina looked up, seeing a man with greasy shoulder length black hair, and very dark, yet dangerous eyes. She smiled anyway. "I was just looking to see how complex the potions will be this year." She looked back at the book, delicately touching the pages as if it were something so precious to her she would die without it. "I've just been reading some of them, and writing in it corrections that the author had written incorrectly, sir."
This man pulled out a chair beside her, looking questioningly at her. "You are correcting mistakes the writer of this fine book has made?"
"Yes, sir." her smile never faltered. "I'm sorry, sir. My name is Katrina." She held out her hand as a gesture of pleasantries. "Might I ask yours, sir?"
"Snape. Severus Snape." He answered extending his hand to grasp hers. "I will be your Professor for this class. Now, may I have your surname?"
With that, her smile faltered, and she looked down shameful at her book. "I-I'm sorry. I just don't want that name to follow me here, sir."
"Acceptable, for now." He said not harsh toward her. "Where are your parents? I would very much like to meet them."
She chanced a look at him, and as she thought, he was looking directly at her. She knew she had to answer, doing just so. "They aren't here, sir. And hopefully never will be." She did not know why, but she felt like she had to tell him that.
Noticing she was very uncomfortable with this, he changed the subject. "What is it you have scribbled down here?" He never released his hand from hers.
She smiled again, answering, "The directions say to stir twice clockwise, and four times counter clockwise. It-it just isn't right." She let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, sir. It's just that…how can you make this potion the right way when you have to stir it twice one way, then four times another? It just doesn't add up right to me." She looked down at their hands still touching. She had noticed something she had never noticed before. When she would shake hands with another witch or wizard nothing usually happened. Their hands glowed ever so slightly, and she was not sure if he had noticed.
Noticing that she was looking at their hands, still clasped together, he reluctantly pulled away. "Have you been doing this…" he said now pointing to the page of the book that had been opened, "…to all of the other pages?"
She looked up at him, answering, "Yes, sir."
Smiling slightly, he noticed the time. "I would like to see the corrections you have made, Katrina, but, I am running a bit short on time. I would very much like to read your side notes when you get to Hogwarts." As he looked at her, she smiled again.
"Yes, sir! When would you like to meet?" She asked as her smile radiated from her.
He stood, and so did she. "We shall decide that when I see you in my class." He noticed she held out her hand again, in which he took. "It was my pleasure meeting you, Miss Katrina." He lifted her hand to kiss the back of it.
"And it was my pleasure meeting you, Professor Snape." She curtsied, as a small bit of laughter escaped his lips.
"Until we meet in three days time." Snape said as he pulled away from her. "I will patiently be awaiting your presence at the school to go over your notes."
He headed for the fireplace, grabbing some floo powder for his departure, when she replied, "And I will hurriedly scribble notes for you to go over, Professor." Her smile was genuine. She already liked Professor Snape, even before she entered the castle.
That night, she went into her room thinking about what all of her teachers would be like, how strict they would be, and how the entire school would be run. She knew that when she arrived there, she was to meet with the Headmaster to be placed in a house. She was not quite certain what that meant, since going to school in the States, she was only placed in a room, some what like a prison cell.
The only Professor she had met ran through her mind. She wondered how he taught, how he graded, and how he treated his students.
Finally, the day came for her to board the train, but was uncertain where to go, until she came across people who were disappearing through a brick pillar. Katrina decided she would try this as well, walking straight through and entering platform nine and three-quarters. As she looked to her right, she had noticed the most beautiful train. It must have been The Hogwarts Express, she thought to herself. She boarded, finding herself a compartment, sitting by herself the whole time until a woman with a food trolley came strolling by.
After some time being on the train, the train had finally stopped in Hogsmeade. Katrina had exited the train with the rest of the students and heard a voice calling for first years. Katrina looked around, and saw the half giant Reubeus Hagrid not far from her.
Walking up to him she said, "Excuse me, but could you tell me where I might find Professor Dumbledore? My name is Katrina."
"Ahh, right. Professor Dumbledore be waitin fer ya in the castle. Take one o' these carriages here up ter the castle. The Professor be waitin fer ya up there." Hagrid said and walked off bellowing for the first years to follow him.
She found a carriage, and boarded wit ha few students she had thought to be other fourth years like herself, and took off toward the castle in the horseless carriage. She was looking out the carriage window noticing how beautiful Hogwarts looked lit up in the night.
As they arrived, Katrina entered the castle, surveyed her surroundings, and followed the other students inside. She surveyed her surroundings as she entered, looking for the Headmaster, finding him after a few minutes.
"Excuse me, sir, would you happen to be Professor Dumbledore?" She asked as she approached him.
"Why yes I am. You must be our new student, Katrina." Professor Dumbledore said. "If you would please follow me, I will take you to my office to meet with the Heads of House." And he gestured her to walk with him to his office. Upon entering, Katrina had seen all the Heads of House, and was wondering why they were all there. "If you all would kindly pull up a chair…and Severus, would you pull one up for our new student, Katrina." Professor Dumbledore asked as he made his way to his desk. "Now, we will be needing to sort Katrina into one of the Houses and I Did not think that we should put Katrina in front of the whole school and place the sorting hat on her head. And that would make her a first year to the sorting hat, and I do not think that Katrina would like to go and relive the past three years of her schooling. Now, Katrina, how would you like for us to sort you?"
As Professor Dumbledore spoke, Katrina only watched Professor Snape with a smile. He also returned the smile, but as soon as Dumbledore asked her, she turned to him and asked, "Sort me, sir?"
"Yes. If you were to have put the sorting hat on your head, it would select a House for you to live in during your schooling." Dumbledore explained.
"Well, sir. I don't wish to put anyone out." She spoke. "If by chance there is an extra bed available, I will go there."
"Very well." Dumbledore said. "Is there any empty beds in any of the fourth year rooms?" He questioned the Heads of house.
A few minutes passed, when Professor Snape spoke. "I believe I do, Headmaster." He was still watching Katrina as he spoke, even though she was not watching him. She intrigued him.
"Wonderful! Katrina, you will be in the Slytherin house!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "We will have your things ready for you by the start of term. Now, if you will all kindly exit my office, we shall go to the Great Hall for the start of school feast!" Everyone rose from their seats, exiting Dumbledore's office.
Walking down the circular staircase from the Headmasters office, Katrina waited for the others to show her the way to the Great Hall. Professor Snape had touched the middle of her back, escorting her to where they needed to go. "Why is it you come to England for, Katrina?" Snape asked as they walked.
"Change I suppose." She answered even though he knew there was more to the story. "If I may, Professor." She looked up at him, "How is a student punished if something is done wrong?"
"You are not punished for making mistakes during classes." Snape answered, but to clarify he went on. "Take for instance in my Potions class. If you blunder your potion, you will receive a zero."
"You mean, if I do mess up my potion, I do not get tortured?"
"you will be punished only if you are out of line, or use you wand on another student anywhere in this castle." Snape said as he watched Katrina's smile broaden. "Here we are. I will show you to your table, and you can get to acquainted with the other Slytherins."
"Thank you, sir, but I usually don't talk to the students. People my age think I'm a bit different to put it nicely." She said still smiling. "Thank you again for showing me the way here."
