Sunshine, Daisies and Butter Mellow
A/N: This is the first time I've tried to write a story about the future Harry Potter characters (you know, their kids and so on) so I dunno how it'll turn out. But I hope you all like it! It follows on rather closely from the books, and everything that happened did happen – I'm not changing anything major only the end of the seventh book – you'll see. It isn't too bad but things have to be done when you have your own character! X'). Also I'll have a lot of my own characters in here (just because Hogwarts needs teachers!) so yeah, I own them, please don't steal (:
Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than the characters you don't recognise from the Harry Potter series and the plot, that all belongs to J.K. Rowling *loveee*
Chapter One
It was a very good summer, which was surprising. It had been terribly cold and wet that year, all the way until the middle of June! Though now it was July, and everyone was out enjoying the holidays. Rae Williams was one of them. She lived in a quiet place in Derbyshire (though it was practically in Yorkshire) and was just getting by. Her family wasn't that well off, you could say, so her home was shabby and what she got was minimal, but that's what made her appreciate life. Lying on her back on her front garden, she felt the cool grass brush against her skin and wondered what secondary school was like. She was eleven years old already, as her birthday was in January, but had no friends and was often called 'too mature for her age'. Rae didn't believe it, she was very carefree and young when you got to know her, but she knew that somewhere in her life, something had caused a part of her to grow up, and that part was the one that gave her the most pain.
"Rayven, dinner's ready!" her mother called from the kitchen window. Rae groaned at the use of her full name, she much preferred to be called Rae, even though Rayven was a cool name. Slinking into the cramped, threadbare kitchen, Rae grabbed the tray with her dinner on it and headed up to her room. It was the only place that she liked in the house, the only place that was really well kept. It was clean (albeit a bit messy) and personalised to the maximum. On one wall were posters of film stars and magazine and newspaper cuttings, movie posters, a calendar, photographs of her and her family, drawings and other things she held dearly, like concert tickets, cinema tickets, bus and train tickets that held good memories and things like that. That surrounded her bed, which was practically covered by stuffed animals, and beside that was a bedside table/bookcase which housed DVDs, games and an assortment of notebooks and ornaments, then the rest of the walls were hidden by chests of drawers crammed with clothes, books, folders and school things. On top of these drawers were more ornaments, figurines, some more teddies and random junk she'd collected throughout the years. Rae was like that; she liked to collect things – anything.
Sitting on her bed, she thought more about the upcoming year. She was going to the local comprehensive. Most people from her primary school was going there but new people would be coming, too, so maybe she'd finally find friends. It was doubtful; people just didn't want to get to know her for some reason. Maybe it was because she wasn't rich like the rest of them. Beginning to lazily eat, her eyes glanced at the calendar. Three more days to go.
*
"Rayven, are you awake? There's a letter here for you. I've only just found it when I started up the hoover and Rufus ran off. He was hiding it," her mother rapped on her bedroom door. Rae moaned loudly to clearly signify that it was too early in the morning and she was having a good sleep. But curious about the letter, she unlocked her bedroom door and opened it to take the letter and return to bed.
It was quite heavy, made of some sort of pale yellowish parchment and had a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms. Rae looked closely at the four animals shown; a lion, a badger, an eagle and a snake all surrounding a large letter 'H'. She looked once more at the address, and noticed that there wasn't a stamp. How odd. Then she tore it open carelessly and pulled out two pieces of the same heavy parchment. She opened the first one, it was a letter.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Lumere Odswald
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Williams,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Sadie Stirrawit
Deputy Headmistress
Rae stared at the letter for a few minutes, her brow furrowed. What the hell? Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? International Confederation of Wizards? What in the world was going on?! Curious for more, she unfolded the second piece of parchment and read on:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Uniform
First year students will require:
Three sets of plain work robes (black)
One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags
Set books
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
Rae blinked a couple of times. Whoever was playing this prank was serious. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed, better tell mother. Just then, her mother shouted her. Good timing. Shrugging on her dressing gown, Rae picked up the letters and envelope and headed downstairs, to her surprise, there was a strange man standing in the living room. Rae's mother looked a little bewildered, her hands were clasped together in front of her and she was fidgeting a lot, her hair looked as if it had been run through with her hands a lot and her eyes were a little wide. Rae suddenly made a connection between the strange letters and the strange man. He turned to her.
"My name is Abel Moreau, I am the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but by the looks of things you've already read the letter," he glanced down at the parchment in Rae's hand. She swallowed, her throat was dry but she didn't say anything to the man. Her eyes took in his appearance; he was rather tall and slender, with a young, gentle face and bright blue eyes. His hair was a glossy brown and was short but some strands fell over his eyes in a bit of a messy but stylish fashion. He wore a plain black suit with a white shirt and black tie; his shoes were recently polished and shone brilliantly. But even though he had this rich-businessman-like appearance, there was something weird about him and now Rae knew what it was… the nutter thought he was a wizard!
"I can see you look as if you don't believe me and think it is a prank," he continued with a little chuckle, "but I assure you, it is not. I have come today to help you get your things for the new term and fill you in on everything you have missed. Although I was a little shocked to hear you've only just received your letter, due to your dog," he glanced down at the white sheepdog Rufus, who was sitting by his feet, staring at him intently. "But maybe things are better this way that I got to talk to you straight away." Rae took in a breath and let it out, closing her eyes for a second. She didn't know what to do.
"What's going on? Is this some sort of prank? There's no such thing as wizards, and I definitely can't be a witch. I'm normal, as magic-less as they get, and my whole family is, too, right mum?" she looked at her mother for help but received none. It seemed to be that her mother was hiding something from her. The eleven year old girl watched as her mother collapsed into the armchair and sighed, finally looking up at her daughter.
"I'm sorry I never told you, but we swore to keep it a secret. Ever since… well, ever since he died and none of his family on that side could be found, well… we thought it didn't need mentioning. But… you have a relative that… is a… a wizard. The wizard blood doesn't flow through your veins, so you didn't get it there but… you're related, still…" Her head fell into her hands for a while before she could continue, "my father, when my mother died, married again. We didn't know for a while, but she was a witch. They had a son together, and he's my half-brother, which would make him your uncle. Though I didn't know him for a while because I decided to live with some other relatives, me and my father had an argument when he started seeing this other woman… I was only very young and couldn't handle seeing it. He… he died nineteen years ago, just about…"
"What was his name?" Rae asked a little distantly, wondering how a secret like this could have been kept for so long.
"Severus Snape."
Abel Moreau lowered his eyes, but no one noticed, everything was happening very suddenly. But then, he began talking, feeling that things needed to move. "Well… there is no cause for disbelief, now, Miss Williams. You will get help with money because you haven't any Wizarding family left, however, your relatives haven't completely left you out," Rae looked at him wonderingly, and so did her mother. "The Snapes had a strong inclination to believe a child with magical blood would appear in the family somewhere. But they also knew that it may be when none of them could be around to help, so they began building a fund for your support. There's quite a bit in there, but for a girl only just starting Hogwarts, the Headmaster believed that you may need a bit of help with income as you won't be working in the Wizarding world for quite some time."
Rae felt a surge of appreciation flow through her when she heard that, so her family didn't even know her yet they started to help her, years and years before she was born! She pouted a little; she wished her mother had been one of those people who had children before they were old! Then she may have had a chance to meet her uncle… maybe he would have been able to see that she was a witch and could have taught her everything about this strange new world. Thousands of questions burned inside her head, but the thing that took priority was going with this man and finding out what a real live wand looked like!
Chapter Two Preview:
"Ah, I'm sorry, here let me help you," a boy said. Rae opened her eyes, one of the books about Wizarding History was open and a picture of a young boy was looking right at her, he was laughing. Rae's eyes widened – photographs moved?! But then she remembered the boy and turned to face him. Wait… she looked at the book, and the boy, then the book and then she noticed she'd knocked everything out of his hands too!
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, here let me pick these up! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to, I'm sorry!" she picked all of his things up and handed them to him, "I can't believe I ran into a famous person and knocked everything onto the floor, I'm sorry!" the boy looked at her a little oddly, his bright green eyes sparkling brightly and his mouth twitching into a smile. Suddenly, a much taller, older version of the boy came hurrying up behind him.
"Albus what's going on?" he asked. Rae almost fainted, the boy called Albus laughed.
"I'm not the famous one; my dad is. He's Harry Potter."
A/N: So, what do you all think? Thoughts on the first chapter would be really appreciated ;)