It was late. Between you, your father, and the dark atmosphere of the house, the friendliest thing within a two mile radius was your owl named Rae, who wasn't very friendly at all. You knelt next to your father's armchair in front of the fireplace and said, "Father, I'm tired of arguing with you. I refuse to stay here alone once more. Please allow me to go to Hogwarts this year?" You had never wanted something so desperately in your life. You looked up at him with your charming green eyes, trying harder than you ever had before, and you were given your answer, though he spoke no words.
"Staying here is going to drive me to insanity, and you show no desire to do anything to prevent it." you said. He looked at you as if you had spoken in a foreign language. "I haven't a clue what you're talking about." He said, looking down once more to read the book in his lap. You pulled the book away from him and said, "You're so bleeding dense! I'm alone everyday, teaching myself out of these ruddy old books. Meanwhile, my father is at Hogwarts teaching other people's children. And these children, whom my father teaches, I'll never get to meet because I'm bloody kept in secret! Why can't I just-" You were interrupted mid-rant by a knock at the door.
Your father got up from the arm chair to greet the unexpected visitor. He was clearly grateful for an excuse to leave the conversation, but must have been very curious as to why someone would be visiting at this hour, being that your house was in the center of 23 acre field nowhere near town. Behind the door stood a tall man who wore a long grey beard and half-moon spectacles, which framed his startlingly blue eyes. The man smiled at your father and said, "Hello, Severus. Is Scarlet home?"
Your father, Severus Snape, was the Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was also Dumbledore's trusted friend, and a Death Eater. To the world he meant various things, but to you he meant the world.
You were introduced to Headmaster Dumbledore, and small talk was made between the two men. Your father was not usually the type to make small talk, unless he was trying to avoid one topic or another. Uninterested, you stared absentmindedly at the wall for a while.
After several minutes of not listening to the two men talk about various mundane topics such as the weather, your mind was brought back to the room. Dumbledore had at last spoken to you, but your mind had been elsewhere. "Pardon me?" you spoke quietly. Dumbledore looked at you, smiling, and said, "Scarlett, I believe it's time that you join Severus and I at Hogwarts." You gave a mixture of different looks at your father, varying from "he should've intervened years ago", to "I told you so".
"Hogwarts is the safest place imaginable, but even still, the word about you and your… family tree… would have gotten out, and eventually gotten back to Voldemort." Dumbledore said, expecting you to flinch at the name, "I thought it best to keep you in hiding for the past four years, for fear of him using you to control your father. But I think that perhaps it might be safer for you to be known and be with us than to be a secret at home." You resisted the urge to laugh. The Dark Lord already knew about you, and even knew you by name. But he did not know of your family tree in it's entirety, and he specifically did not know of your mother, who happened to be the very next subject on Dumbledore's agenda.
"Scarlett… you can tell Harry whenever you'd like, but be patient with his reaction when you do so. Understood?" Dumbledore asked. You looked at him, unsure of your feelings about having to deliver the news to the boy yourself, but said, "Yes sir, I understand."
You continued discussing business for another hour or two until your father looked at the clock. "Well, sir. It is well past three in the morning, and Scarlett and I have to make an unexpected trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow morning." He said, the corners of his lip twitching, the ghost of a smile playing across his face. Dumbledore grinned and said, "I will be going. Farewell, Severus. Goodnight, young Scarlett." And with that, Dumbledore left.
Two weeks had passed since your father and yourself had spoken with Dumbledore. The night after the meeting, you had gone to Diagon Alley and bought all of your school supplies. You'd packed your trunk a week and 6 days early, and you were left with nothing to do but wait. But now, September 1st had arrived and you were standing alone in Kings Cross. Your father had been at Hogwarts for a week now, but he'd left you directions as to how to get to Platform 9 ¾. You ran at full speed into a wall just as he'd told you, but all you did was smash your head against the bricks and fall to the ground. "That git!" you spat angrily, sitting on the concrete.
A girl, who appeared to be your age, was walking unusually fast through the crowd. In her rush, she didn't seem to be paying too awful much attention to where she was going, when she nearly tripped over you. She turned around and began to apologize saying, "I'm so sorry! Are you alright? And if I may ask, what are you doing on the ground?" She extended her hand to you and helped you up. You noticed that she looked very studious, like she dreaded every moment that she wasn't reading. You frowned and said, "I'm okay. And as far as being on the ground, I was trying to… Um, I just lost control of my cart of luggage. Really, I'm fine though."
The girl looked at you, then at your trunk and owl cage, and then back to you. "Platform 9 ¾?" she asked, "It's the barrier between platforms 9 and 10." She smiled. You sighed deeply, anger and adoration for your father building as you said, "Ah, I see. My father told me that it was the wall next to the restrooms nearest Platform 9." She grimaced humorously and then you both let out a laugh. "Your father sounds… um, lovely." she said, "Well, my name is Hermoine Granger." You paused and thought for a moment, contemplating whether or not you should say your last name. Would being a Professor's daughter going to make people accept you any more? "My name is Scarlett. It's lovely to meet you." you said.
As Hermoine and yourself ran through the barrier, you saw that most of the students were already on board the enormous red steam engine. "Would you like to join some others and myself in a compartment?" she asked, "My friend Ron and I have prefect duties, so we won't be there for the first half an hour or so, but I'll make sure to introduce you to the others." You hadn't been around a teenager in over four years, and from what you'd heard from your father, they were terrible beings. Why then, you wondered, was this one so very nice? "I'd love to! Thank you so much." you said.
A few moments later Hermoine and yourself were about halfway to the back of the train, when a tall, thin, red-headed boy began to shout from a few feet ahead. "Hermoine, where were you?" he asked, "You're late! You're never late. I thought you were in trouble!" She ignored everything that he had just spoken, and said, "Ron, this is Scarlett. She's new, and she's going to ride in our compartment." He turned slightly, noticing me for the first time. "Hello, it's nice to meet you." he said quickly before turning back to Hermoine and said, "Listen, they want to see you. Now! Scarlett, we'll be seeing you in around half an hour back at the compartment." Hermoine looked at you apologetically. "It's compartment 3A." She said, "Will you be able to find it okay?" You nodded your head and smiled, as they walked away to the prefect's compartment.
Twenty minutes later you were still walking up and down the length of the train, searching for compartment 3A. Though your wanderings were not completely unproductive, for you'd met a few more friendly students along the way, such as a young lady named Luna Lovegood, with whom you discussed tiny creatures living within your heads called Wrackspurts. A few minutes into the conversation you'd remembered that you needed to find Hermoine and Ron, so you said goodbye. As turned around to walk the entire length of the train once more, you bumped into someone. "You'd better watch where you're walking or else-"
You interrupted, "Excuse me? No. You need to watch your own path, you…" You'd stopped talking when you saw his attempt at an inconspicuous once-over. This made you suddenly feel terribly self conscious, though you had no reason to be. You had inherited your mother's piercing green eyes and your father's black hair, which was cut just above shoulder-length. And honestly, you'd had the curves of a grown woman since the age of 12. You laughed quietly at your own insecurities and smiled. "My apologies, miss. My name is Draco Malfoy." he said, in a curious sounding voice. The name sounded very familiar to you, though you could not remember where you'd heard it before. You were smiling as you said, "Oh, it's alright. My name is Scarlett."
After a brief silence he looked at you, angrily, but with a hint of admiration, and said, "So, what were you about to call me?" You gave him a smirk and said to him, "Insufferable git." Much to your surprise, he smiled. "That's not very nice." he said, "I like your confidence, Scarlett. Would you like to accompany some friends and myself in a compartment for the remainder of the ride?" You took a moment to think it over, as you were unsure of what to do. But suddenly it came to your mind why his name had sounded so very familiar. Your father had always spoken very highly of the boy, the son of a Death Eater. "I'd enjoy that very much, thank you."
Draco showed you to the compartment in which there sat two boys and one pug-faced, bitter looking girl. You looked at the compartment number, and whispered, "3B". Hermoine, Ron, and their other friends were right next door. You battled with yourself over whether to go see them, or stay with Draco. Though Hermoine had been so much nicer, Draco hadn't been vicious to you, and when you were around him you'd felt a strange sense of comfort that you could not explain. He gestured towards to door, encouraging you to walk through, and you entered.