AN: I don't own Harry Potter or Once upon a Time, merely borrowing both for creative purpose.
AN2: While story is placed within the Harry Potter Universe and SOME characters from HP will appear, but not many and if only with small roles, everyone else however does (usually) belong to Storybrooke or the Enchanted Forest. Story start's out Pre-Swan Queen, it however will happened eventually :) Also this is my first Swan Queen Fic ever, please be gentle with me. And last but not least, thanks a lot to my two Beta's Katie and .
AN3: I'll bow to everyone who can place the Dumbledore Quote I used as title! :)
Curiosity is not a Sin.
Bright green eyes scanned the Great Hall, memorizing as much as they could. Floating candles, ghosts, and the enchanted ceiling mirrored the night's sky. It was almost too much to process. Faces started to blur together whilst the soundscape grew in intensity with each passing second. Still, the smile remained on her lips, only faltering slightly as the surrounding noises died down.
The Sorting Hat.
As long as she could remember, she had craved this moment, had yearned to find out if she, like both her parents, belonged into Gryffindor, or maybe another of the four houses - Ravenclaw, perhaps? Her anxiety grew with each name Professor McGonagall read off the parchment, until eventually "Emma Swan" echoed through the hall. Carefully, feeling the pressure of countless eyes traveling across her back, she walked towards the old looking hat. Her blonde curls bounced on her shoulders with each step. She wouldn't be sorted into Slytherin, – that much she knew – not with her father being a Muggle-born and her mother cutting all connections to her pureblood ancestors, including their name.
Swallowing the growing lump in her throat, she sat down and waited for the Professor to place the hat upon her head, closing her eyes the second she felt its faint pressure surrounding her ears. A White! a voice mumbled within her thoughts.
"Not White; Swan," she corrected, suddenly fearing the Sorting Head would decide to place her within Slytherin.
A name won't change your heritage, Child, the voice continued warmly. Thus I see, that's nothing you are comfortable with, is it?
Emma kept her mind blank, choosing to ignore the memories she had from her grandparents.
I see, were the next words she heard rolling through her mind before a now familiar voice shouted "Gryffindor!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd in front of her, causing the newest Gryffindor member to open her eyes. She knew that most knew about the tragedy around her family and the name White, and yet she hadn't expected this much sympathy. All tension forgotten, Emma jumped off the chair feeling a warm smile grow across her cheeks. With a combination of awe and embarrassment she let her eyes wander along the grinning faces as she made her way towards the table of her house.
The smile died on her lips the moment her gaze reached Slytherin's table. Nothing but anger-filled ignorance mixed with tempered death glares were being sent her way. They hated her, unable to understand her mother's reasons for doing what she did. Tearing her eyes away from her hateful peers, she silently thanked the Sorting Hat for placing her in Gryffindor alongside friends rather than among the spitting images of the enemies she had grown up in fear of.
The festivities following the Sorting Ceremony blurred together, too much food, too many smiling faces. "August?" she asked a third year sitting across from her. His father was a close friend of her parents, and the two of them had grown up like siblings.
"Yeah?" he managed to respond around a mouth full of mashed potatoes.
"Do you think you could show me the Owlery? I want to write Mom and Dad."
August nodded enthusiastically between gulps of pumpkin juice, understanding Emma's need to tell her parents the exciting news.
Mere moments later, she found herself following August's quick steps. Lost deeply in her thoughts, mentally pre-writing the letter to her parents, the young Gryffindor didn't see the black robe paired with a Slytherin-green scarf moving towards her down the stairs until it was too late and she crashed into a slightly taller body.
"Watch your step!" a cold voice snapped before Emma found herself being pushed back, landing roughly on her back.
"Hey!" she huffed angrily, scrambling to a seated position only to be greeted with cold brown eyes staring down at her.
"Look, it's the Swan girl!" a female voice exclaimed, causing a dangerous glint to turn brown eyes black. Stepping down the two steps she had been up when Emma had crashed into her, the Slytherin slightly bent over, now towering directly above Emma. "I see you already found your place," she spoke calmly, the cold smile never leaving her lips. "You'd do better to remember it," she continued, something like satisfaction crossing her features before she straightened up and disappeared followed by a laughing blonde, never leaving Emma the chance to even think of a retort.
"Emma?" August peaked curiously around a corner, surprised to see his friend sitting at the bottom of the stairs. "What happened?"
Ignoring his question, the blonde got up, brushing dust from her robes. "Who was that?"
It took a moment for the older Gryffindor to catch on but eventually he responded "The Slytherin?"
Emma only nodded, urging him on to continue.
"That was Regina Mills," he stated, his eyes turning cold. "Did she push you off the stairs?"
"No," Emma responded without thinking. "Well yes, she did. But I crashed into her, so…" she trailed off, her eyes following the direction Regina had taken.
"Emma, Regina is no one you want to be around. Did she say anything to you?"
Emma's response was to shake her head, not daring to tell August of Regina's words.
"Alright, just try to avoid her. It's for the best."
This time the young Gryffindor noddedand started to climb the stairs again, trying to focus on her steps rather than her thoughts as she did so.
An hour later, Emma Swan found herself wrapped in her duvet, sitting on top of her bed in the Gryffindor Dormitory she shared with three other girls, Ruby, Aurora and Cinderella all three already fast asleep, unlike Emma, who couldn't shake the Slytherin from her mind.
She had grown up with her parents painting all those seated around the Slytherin's table as their sworn enemies, as those they regarded as the evil ones. The only purebloods that considered themselves as superior whom Emma had met were her grandparents, people they had long lost contact to. She had met them only briefly once or twice but that had been enough to show her that they especially regarded Muggle-borns like her father as beneath them, unworthy of even their acknowledgement, let alone magic. But that alone didn't make them evil, did it? There must be more to it. What other reason would her parents have to cloak everything surrounding her older brother's death?
"A Gryffindor, you say?" a gleeful voice asked. "Should have expected that."
"Of course, Mother. What else? Just like her parents." The raven-haired girl huddled on one of the huge armchairs in front of the fireplace with a blanket draped around her lithe frame. "And she is just as clumsy as her father," she added.
"But Regina, Darling. What did you expect?" her mother's voice continued laughingly. "He wants you to watch her, to observe what she's up to."
Anger flashed across Regina's features when her eyes finally find her mothers face, hovering within the flames.
"Mother!" she gasped, sounding dangerous and low. "I won't follow that scum around the School premises!"
"That's not up for discussion" her mother responded calmly. "Besides, if you please him with your reports back to us, he just might to decide to rethink our last agreement regarding your teaching."
"Dark Magic?" the young Slytherin asked, her dark eyes sparkling with excitement. "He'll start to teach me?" Awe was clearly evident in her voice. Her mother remained silent, watching her daughter closely, knowing with the promise of the Dark One teaching her, her daughter would agree to anything. "Fine. I shall see what the Swan girl is up to," she conceded. "Why is she so important anyways?" she huffed, having heard her mother discussing the Swans and especially Emma frequently.
"That's not important at the present time," her mother brushed her off, clearly dismissing the topic.
"Well, tell him I'll send Hades once every week."
An approving smile graced her mother's features. "Very good, my dear. I shall be waiting for it," the older woman stated before her face vanished from the flames.
"Good night to you too, Mother," Regina whispered into the silence with a glint of sadness crossing her otherwise calm face.
"Regina, wait!" Abigail called after her the next morning, unable to keep up with Regina's hurried pace. "Why are you in such a hurry?" she huffed once she caught up with the dark haired Slytherin.
"None of your concern. I'll meet you in the Great Hall for breakfast," she shot back coldly before she turned the next corner. She quickly disappeared into the labyrinth of Hogwarts dungeons, leaving her blonde friend stunned behind. Reaching her destination quickly and without her friend stumbling along behind her, Regina burst through the doors of the Library, determined to gain any existing piece of knowledge on Emma Swan. She would find out just why the young Gryffindor was of so much importance to her mother and the Dark One, if it was the last thing she did.
Reviews are Welcome :)