With the first year of my Hogwarts Mystery fic completed, I thought that I'd venture further into the Harry Potter archive and fully commit myself to writing a fully-fledged fanfic. So far all I've written for Harry Potter has been for Hogwarts Mystery - which you should also check out. I'm in the middle stages of planning this fic like I tend to do whenever I write one and it currently stands at 18 chapters planned with more to come. I'll say how many chapters it has for sure once I've completely planned it.

If the summary isn't any indication, this is a fic that primarily focuses on my OC, Ursa Malfoy who is Draco's older sister. She's three years older than him meaning that she is in her Fourth Year when the story starts. I had originally intended for her to be four years older than Draco before I decided to make her three years older than him. For the most part, more than half of the story focuses on Ursa and her friendship with Hermione since it goes into the events of each year up until their Fourth Year when Ursa graduates. Anything in the Dramione development will be subtle until Ursa is out of the picture at Hogwarts, so it's definitely slow-burn.

Usually my stories follow an update schedule, but this one is most likely going to be updated spontaneously whenever I feel like writing for it or if you guys leave me a lot of reviews ;). It'll basically be slow-burn Dramione from Ursa's perspective, including after she graduates Hogwarts. This first chapter is basically an outline of Ursa's life up until everything starts happening to give you the main idea of everything. I hope that you guys enjoy reading Little Bear and let me know what you think.

Black Sheep

As a Malfoy, Ursa was subjected to plenty of expectations in her life. She was a pureblood, expected to uphold those values that have been around for centuries. Above everything else, Ursa was a Malfoy, daughter of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, two members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight belonging to the Malfoy and Black House respectively. Because of that, Ursa was expected to be the perfect pureblood daughter that her parents wanted her to be, only that wasn't who she was. She was Ursa, someone who didn't force herself to be what anyone wanted her to be.

It was that kind of attitude that put a wedge between Ursa and her parents, most notably her father. From as young as she could understand, Ursa knew that he resented her because she hadn't been born a boy to carry on as his heir. It was something that he had brought up plenty of times to use against her, constantly saying how disappointed he had been when he saw that she was a girl and that he'd even wanted to abandon Ursa and tell everyone that she'd died. But her mother had put her foot down and refused to give up her daughter.

When it came to Ursa's relationship with her mother, Ursa knew that her mother cared about her. Narcissa Malfoy was definitely your typical subservient pureblood wife so when it came to her husband berating their daughter, she always allowed it to happen. Only afterwards she would reassure Ursa that she had her mothers love, and Ursa knew that she was being honest and although Ursa loved her mother, it hurt her to know that Narcissa wouldn't stand up for her in the face of her husband.

Then there's the fact that Ursa was sorted into Ravenclaw, breaking the century-long tradition of all Malfoy's being sorted into Slytherin. Ursa could still remember the howler that her father had sent upon discovering where she had been sorted, and the embarrassment that had followed. Despite that, Ursa was a proud Ravenclaw and three years later, she was confident that the Sorting Hat had made the right decision for her, just like it had made the right decision for her younger brother, Draco.

Three years after she was born, her parents had another child and this time her fathers wish had been granted in having a boy. When it came to her parents, Ursa knew that her father favoured Draco over her and although her mother never said it, Ursa knew that she preferred her, simply because she was a girl. Narcissa spoiled her, just like Lucius spoiled Draco. Only the difference was that Draco was spoiled a little too much, which was what had allowed her brother to grow into a pompous, spoiled brat.

Although they were siblings, there really wasn't that much that Ursa had in common with her younger brother other than the fact that they were related. Draco was nothing like her, their father had moulded him into the perfect heir and Ursa wouldn't be surprised if he ended up giving it to Draco over her, not that she even wanted her fathers fortune. Just like Draco took after their father, Ursa took after their mother – looks wise, that is. Ursa was practically a carbon copy of Narcissa, with her blonde hair and blue eyes while her facial structure came from her father. Everything else made Ursa her own person, since unlike her brother, Ursa chose to form her own beliefs based on what she saw and experienced, not how she was expected to think.

It was because of this that Ursa found real friends in Ravenclaw, not people who were afraid of her like other people were just because she was a Malfoy. Ursa's closest friends were from Ravenclaw, though she did have other friends from the different houses. Her best friend and roommate, Tessa Hayes was a halfblood. The two had met after being sorted and had been friends ever since. Other than Tessa, Ursa didn't really have anyone that she considered a best friend. Sure, there were people that she called friends or exchanged pleasantries with, but Tessa was the only person that she would consider a best friend and Ursa was grateful for their friendship.

As a Ravenclaw, Ursa was very diligent when it came to her studies. Ursa excelled in Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures and Potions. And although she did well in the other subjects that she took, those were easily her favourites. In the lead up to her Fifth Year, Ursa was aiming to be the Ravenclaw Prefect for her year. She liked to think that she was in pretty good contention for the esteemed position, since there were only so many other people in her year that could keep up with her.

Truthfully, Ursa didn't feel like a real Ravenclaw sometimes. Sure, she got good grades and could be witty when the time called for it. But Ursa only focused so much on getting grades because she knew that it was the only way that her father would notice her or even give her respect. That's where her Slytherin ambition came from, since Ursa wanted to do anything to make her parents proud. Anything except preach their bigoted and outdated beliefs, that is.

In the early months of her Fourth Year, Ursa continued as if everything was normal, only things at Hogwarts were anything but normal now that Harry Potter was among them. As soon as Ursa started Hogwarts, she knew that she would end up having Harry Potter around at some stage. She had watched as the boy had been sorted into Gryffindor, Slytherins rival house and based on what Ursa had heard, he was already friends with Ron Weasley, the youngest of the Weasley boys.

When it came to her family's bitter feud with the Weasleys, Ursa took no part in it. Anytime her father and the Weasley patriarch were in the same room, Ursa always went anywhere else to avoid whatever scuffle that would undoubtedly happen between them. There was bad blood between the Malfoys and the Weasleys, but Ursa didn't care. Despite that, she had befriended Charlie Weasley when he was still at Hogwarts with her. He had initially been wary of her because of her surname, but Ursa eventually won him around.

Along with Charlie, Ursa also befriended her ostracised cousin, Nymphadora Tonks. One of the main reasons why Ursa had been so excited to go to Hogwarts was to finally have the chance to meet her cousin who she never got the chance to meet due to her aunt, Andromeda Black running off and marrying a muggleborn. Funnily enough, Ursa didn't even have to seek out her cousin since Nymphadora (or Tonks as Ursa learned that she preferred) had come to comfort her after Ursa had been publicly humiliated by her fathers howler when he found out that she had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Their friendship had been kept a secret and it was because of her friendship with her cousin that Ursa eventually won Charlie around, and Ursa had been sad that she would be going to Hogwarts without them now that they had graduated. She still kept in touch with Charlie now that he was off playing with dragons in Romania as well as Tonks who was training to be an Auror.

Now Ursa was left at Hogwarts without them, but she knew that she would survive. She didn't face as many issues as she used to by being a Malfoy in Ravenclaw. Ironically, the people who gave Ursa the most grief for her house were the Slytherins. They always used to mock her for being a Malfoy in Ravenclaw, but Ursa was proud of that. She was proud to be breaking tradition, and she planned on breaking plenty of traditions in the future that would make her father's blood boil.

With her brother now at Hogwarts, Ursa had been concerned about how Draco would treat others due to the teachings that he learned from their father. To Ursa's dismay, Draco looked down upon anyone who wasn't a pureblood Slytherin. Word had quickly spread to Ursa about how Draco had offered his hand in friendship to Harry Potter, only to be shot down. Since then Ursa had been keeping her ears open for anything related to her brother, since she certainly couldn't just approach Draco and ask how he was doing. Whenever Ursa saw her brother around Hogwarts, she would give him a smile while he would sneer in return.

Sometimes Ursa was angry at how her father had manipulated Draco into being just like him. Then there were times when Ursa was disappointed that her brother had allowed himself to be manipulated and unable to form his own opinions, which wasn't how Ursa had grown up. She had made the choice to form her own opinions based on peoples actions rather than their bloodline, and since her father had already poisoned his mind, that was the catalyst for her now fragile relationship with her brother. All they had in common was their blood, and that saddened Ursa. Part of her felt like her father had done his best to cause a rift between them just to spite her because she wasn't the child that he wanted, and Ursa hated that.

With Hallowe'en quickly approaching, Ursa was spending her time helping decorate the Great Hall for the annual feast that occurred. Anytime that Hogwarts was done up was Ursa's favourite times, since as breathtaking as the castle was, it often felt boring seeing the same thing every day. Ursa had just finished carving into her pumpkin when Tessa approached her to help out.

"Guess what I just heard earlier," Tessa said.

"What?" Ursa wondered.

"Okay, so I was walking by the corridor and I over heard Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle talking," Tessa replied.

Ursa narrowed her eyes, "Aren't they Draco's friends?"

Tessa scoffed, "More like his cronies."

"What did you hear?" Ursa asked.

"So apparently, Draco challenged Harry Potter to a duel cause he's a petty boy and seems to have some issues with him. Crabbe was gonna be his second and Ron Weasley was Potters. Only your brother never showed, Filch did," Tessa explained.

"Ah, I see," Ursa mumbled as realisation dawned on her. "He challenged Potter to a duel knowing where he would be so that the boy would get in trouble."

"Exactly, only he and Weasley somehow managed to get out of trouble. They were talking about how cranky Draco's been since he saw that they were still alive and weren't expelled," Tessa said.

"Well, my little brother needs to learn that when you do clownery, this is what happens," Ursa remarked.

"Your brother also seems to do bullying very well," Tessa stated.

Ursa grimaced, "I know. There's not much I can do about that."

"Your brother has been particularly harsh towards a Gryffindor First Year, Hermione Granger," Tessa added.

"Hermione? That's an unusual name," Ursa commented.

"I've heard that she's a bossy know-it-all. At least, that's how I heard Ron Weasley complaining about her. She's also a muggleborn," Tessa supplied.

"That would also explain Draco's bullying towards her," Ursa muttered.

"I've heard him talking quite viciously about her and I've seen him bullying her on several occasions. Someone should wash that boys mouth with soap," Tessa remarked.

"Why would you wash your mouth with soap? That would be disgusting," Ursa pointed out.

Tessa giggled, "It's a muggle saying. It's what you say to someone with foul language."

"Draco definitely has a load of that," Ursa muttered.

"I still can't believe that you two are related," Tessa commented.

"Me neither," Ursa muttered.

There were definitely times when Ursa felt that she and Draco were hardly like siblings, particularly when their behaviour was challenged. Ursa could recall seeing one Gryffindor girl with bushy hair rustling about the castle with her hands full of books, which definitely matched the description of Hermione Granger. There were even a few times when Ursa had seen the other girl crying, and Ursa hated to think that her brother could be the cause of those tears. If only Draco wasn't such a daddy's boy and had a mind of his own, maybe then he wouldn't be as much as a prick as he was.

Having that thought, Ursa decided then and there that she would make it her mission to seek out Hermione Granger and protect her from her brothers bigoted hatred. Maybe by doing so, it would make Draco realise that spewing hatred and ridiculing people just because they didn't have 'pure' blood wasn't okay. It wasn't okay, and it would never be okay in Ursa's mind. She just had to make Draco see that too.

Doing so would definitely be a challenge, but Ursa Narcissa Malfoy had never been one to back down from a challenge.

So I get that this chapter didn't have any Draco or Hermione, but that was to give you a little more of an insight to Ursa's background and in particular, her relationship with her family which will be important as the story progresses. Since the Black family tradition is to name their children after stars, I searched up star names to find the right one for Ursa. At first, I wasn't really satisfied with the name but when I found out that Ursa actually borders the Draco constellation, I thought that it was the perfect fit. As for the name of the story, it was originally Eagles Bear but then I decided to change it to Little Bear, since that's basically what her name means.