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The hat sat on his head longer than the others, Thayer could see it debating between houses, before it finally bellowed out, "Gryffindor!" into the great hall. The Gryffindor's cheered, screaming their excitement at the news that they had The Boy Who Lived would be in their house.
Thayer had never known her father, she'd never had the chance. She wasn't even a year old when he had died in Godric's Hollow, after he murdered Lily and James Potter. Thayer understood both sides of that fight.
Her father was seeking power, and would kill anything that got in his way. The Potter's fought for good, their hearts against anything dark, and Voldemort held no light.
It wasn't Harry's fault. He'd simply survived. Thayer knew he didn't kill her father, it just wasn't possible. But for whatever reason, Harry had lived and Tom Riddle had vanished. Her mother had once followed behind him, her family of old pureblood heritage and under the belief that wizardry should be left to real wizards, not those born from muggles. She went with him eagerly, wanting acceptance and love.
But Voldemort knew nothing of love, and she learned that soon after.
He used her for easy pleasure, she was nothing more than a pretty face and easy relief. And when young Madeline Ross gave birth to her daughter, she grew to question everything she had ever known. She questioned the hate, and the death. She grew to fear the man she'd once thought she'd loved, but realized she only loved his name and his power. And then, all she could do was fear that power she'd once admired so much.
And then he was gone. Just, poof.
All thanks to a baby with messy black hair and the green eyes of his mother. And Madeline Ross was no longer afraid.
So young Thayer grew, and she was as stunning as her father had once been in his youth. Her beauty was astounding, and she'd learned early on how to us it to her advantage. A crinkle of her brow, a batting of her long lashes and a little pout on her full pink lips, and she had anything she wanted.
When she wanted, she could be normal. She could look like a scared little kid. She could be the shiny red apple of her mothers eye, but Thayer, even at eleven knew the truth.
She was her fathers daughter.
Almost as unhuman, and unloving. But Thayer could love, could be kind, and mean it. Usually it was all pretend, because if people could see how empty she truly was, they'd know what she was. Almost a copy of her father.
No one except her and her mother knew who her father really was. Her grandparents had passed away before she had even been alive, and left their only daughter everything.
Eventually Thayer was woken from her thoughts of self actualization when she heard the black haired witch call, "Ross, Thayer!" She carried herself forward with easy grace and hopped onto the stool fluidly. The old battered hat was dropped onto her head, and like so many of the other children, it fell right over her eyes.
It spoke in her head, reading her brain and speaking in a rough voice, it said, "Hmm, interesting. Talent, yes there's much talent in this head, and secrets too. Cunning... manipulative.. I know exactly where you belong." The hat paused then bellowed out for the entire hall to hear, "Slytherin!" The witch in emerald robes plucked the hat from her head as the Slytherin table exploded with cheers. Thayer plastered a smug smirk on her pretty face as she slipped down onto the bench.
"I'm Pansy, Pansy Parkinson." said a pug faced girl to her right. Her hair was dark, dark but not black, and dry instead of glossy.
"Thayer Ross." she answered, shaking the girls pudgy hand.
"My mother knows your mother." the girl said. Thayer nodded her head absently, "They went to Hogwarts together." Thayer looked at the girl and pretended to be interested.
"They were both in Slytherin, like us, weren't they?" she said.
"Yes, Slytherin runs in my family, it only takes purebloods." said Pansy proudly.
"The Dark Lord was in Slytherin." Pansy nodded eagerly, as if that was a great achievement. "He was a half blood." she said, in a bored voice as Pansy gaped at her like a fish. Thayer heard a distinctive snort from across the table when she said this and looked toward the noise. A pale boy sat there, two large ugly boys on either side of him. He looked at her as if she was a painting when he saw her face straight on, she felt her face pull into a smirk before he recovered and looking slightly dazed, like he didn't know what was going on for a moment. Thayer laughed. The boy shot her a glare, silver eyes piercing, and she widened her eyes, raising a slim dark brow. Then she did something odd.
She smiled. And it wasn't because she thought she had to, it was natural, involuntary, she simply couldn't help it. The boy smiled back and stuck his hand across the table, his smile turning into a dangerous smirk.
"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." he said as she took his hand. His skin, as pale as hers, felt warm on her always cold hand.
"Ross, Thayer Ross." she said, her smirk just as dangerous.
From then on, the two were inseparable. Where one went, the other wasn't far behind. From first year, to their second and all through their third, Draco and Thayer bonded over their pessimism. She cheered at his Quidditch games, and laughed at his mean jokes, as he did at hers.
In their fourth year, the Triwizard Tournament was held at Hogwarts. Thayer sat in the Slytherin common room, curled up by the cackling fire as she sipped a mug of hot chocolate and read her favourite childhood tales from Beetle the Bard. Draco walked in from the boys dormitories and collapsed onto the couch beside her. She didn't look up from her book, she knew how much it would annoy him. She could practically feel his eyes narrow, he gave her knee a little shove with his foot and she made a show of slowly looking up at him with a careful roll of her dark eyes.
"What?" she asked.
"The Yule ball is next week." he said in his usual bored drawl, but there was an edge to it that made her interest peek.
"Yes, I am aware. You do realize we attend the same school yes?" she asked sarcastically. "It's all Pansy can yammer on about, she really wants you to go with her." Malfoy sniggered. "That is exactly what I tried not to do." she said pointedly, looking back down at her book.
"Are you going?" he asked.
"To what?" she asked offhandedly, still reading. He moved quickly, wiping the book from her hands and tossing it to the floor.
"Hey!" she exclaimed angrily, but he ignored her.
"Are you going to the ball?" he asked. She rolled her eyes,
"Yes. You know Pansy and I went shopping for dresses in Hogsmeade. It took ages to find one she could fit in and not look completely ghastly in." She sipped her drink again and glanced at her book on the floor.
"Has anyone asked you?" asked Draco. Her dark gaze turned playful as she turned to face him properly, glossy hair flicking as she turned.
"Cedric Diggory." she said with a laugh. Draco's silvery eyes lost some of their light, and he tried not to look disappointed. He wanted to say something mean about Diggory, but after him making such a spectacle with the pins, he didn't think he could get away with it. "Can you believe it?" she laughed again.
"You'll be on the arm of a Champion, the one who'll probably win. That's great." he was hating this conversation more and more. Her nose wrinkled in distaste.
"Wait, you think I said yes?" she wasn't laughing anymore, "Are you as stupid as Pansy or are you joking?" he looked confused and she gasped exaggeratedly, "Merlin's beard! You're not joking! Draco, he's in Hufflepuff. Could you imagine? Me with a Hufflepuff? If he was in Ravenclaw sure, even Gryffindor, but not bloody Hufflepuff!" She was full on belly laughing now.
"He's in Hufflepuff but he's still in the tournament." he said in defense of himself as she recovered from her giggles.
"Well, no. I said no." she said finally. "Well I just told him I was going with someone else, like you said, he's still in the tournament, I don't think it wise to get on his bad side."
"So who are you going with now?" he asked.
"No one. I heard Blaise was thinking of asking me, maybe I'll go with him or something. I don't really care." she shrugged. To Thayer, the whole idea of a ball was stupid. Unity. She scoffed at the thought.
"We could go together." he said, looking uncharacteristically anxious. For once she was speechless. Her large dark eyes wide and her mouth gaped slightly open. She snapped it shut and narrowed her eyes, finding herself.
"Why would you want to do that?" she asked. And then he did something even more odd, he blushed. His high pale cheeks tinged pink and he shot a glare at his feet.
"I don't want to go with Pansy, and it'd look dreadful to go alone." answered Draco. She looked at him and pursed her lips, biting the inside of her cheek as she thought.
"Okay, I don't like Blaise much anyway." she bent down and retrieved her book and began to read once more. Draco sat there wondering what he was supposed to do. When he finally decided to go back to the dorms, he stood and she grabbed his arm. "My dress is silver, make sure your tie matches." And with that, she dismissed him again as she looked back down at her book without another word.
Winter had fallen across the Hogwarts grounds and Christmas day had finally arrived.
Thayer sat in her dorm, laying flat on her back as the other girls hurried around getting ready. Pansy glared at her from across the room when she shot Thayer couldn't see. Thayer lifted her wand and casually shot sparks at Pansy's feet, causing her to jump back in shock, eliciting a little yelp.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready?" Pansy sneered. Thayer rolled her eyes.
"I don't need to try hard to look good, somethings just come naturally." she answered in a bored voice.
"You're so conceited." Pansy accused, hands on her chubby hips.
"Careful pot, someone might notice your resemblance to the kettle." she said pointedly. Pansy scoffed and turned back towards her mirror, bushing pink on her cheeks. Thayer glanced toward the clock and rolled her eyes once more, groaning as she stood. She only had an hour, she should get dressed. She waved her wand and her trunk popped open, a long silver gown shimmered as it emerged. She laid it on her bed and pulled out her silver heels, and sat them at the foot.
"That's gorgeous." said Rachel, a slim girl with shoulder length brown hair and a rather large nose.
"Isn't it?" Thayer said with a smile, because it truly was. Thayer pulled her curtains down around her bed and climbed in. She slipped on her dress and hopped back out, waving her wand to pull the curtains back up. The dress fell over her like water, shimmering down to her feet. She swooped her glossy hair back into an elegant up-do at the back of her head, from her trunk she pulled an emerald encrusted hair comb and pinned her hair into place. She swiped black onto her eyelashes and sheer gloss onto her lips and pulled her final piece from her trunk, a large emerald pendant hung from a white gold chain. She pulled it around her neck and clasped it and turned toward the mirror and looked at her reflection.
At fourteen she had a woman's body, standing at 5'4". She had captured the image she was going for, Slytherin princess. Every inch represented her house, from her clever grin to her powerful stance, and her glorious house colours. The clock chimed the hour and she slipped on her shoes,and grabbed her wand. She paused awkwardly, where could she put it? She growled, frustrated, and plopped it into her trunk, then slammed it shut.
"Ready?" she asked plump girl stood with an even uglier look than usual on her face, her dress was maroon and hid her uneven curves well, bark brow hair was pulled into a tight bun at the top of her head and her pudgy arms were crossed.
"Yes."
"Who are you going with again?" Thayer asked with an evil grin. Pansy huffed, and stomped out of the dormitory, leaving Thayer laughing in her wake. She followed eventually when she recovered from her fit. She emerged with a grin she was trying desperately to hide, biting her plump bottom lip as she entered the common room. She saw a head of pale blond hair standing before the fire, other boys all around him chatting. She took a step forward and her heel clicked against the stone loudly, causing all the heads in the room to turn to her. She stared back and smirked wickedly.
"Goyle? Are you even listening to me?" said Malfoy in an agitated voice. He nudged his lackey in his meaty arm, but Goyle continued to stare at the girl in the shiny dress dumbly. "Goyle?" said Malfoy again, confused. He followed his line of sight and fell silent like the rest. She smirked even more wickedly as she walked toward him.
"Boys." she said as she walked past them and came to stand in front of Draco. "You should tell your friends it's rude to stare," she whispered loudly as she tip toed up, her breath warm against his ear. She pulled back, and he stared at her mutely, his eyes running the length of her dress and back up again slowly. "But apparently that'd be quite hypocritical of you."
He looked handsome in his dress robes, crisp black with a silver tie, matching her dress.
"You're stunning." he said.
"You're handsome." she whispered, not wanting to get caught being sappy. "Can we please go, I'm feeling grossly girly and Blaise has been staring at my arse this entire time." she whispered again. Draco shot a glare at Zabini, who was in fact staring at her behind.
"Of course." he offered her an arm and she took it gracefully. As they walked she felt his eyes on her face. She turned her head slightly and said,
"If you keep watching me, you're going to walk into a pillar." she said.
"What, I'm not-" he cursed as his toe stubbed against stone, his straight nose brushing against the cool rock. She snorted an unladylike laugh and his cheeks flushed. "Sorry." he muttered. She laughed again.
When they entered the hall, it was as if they'd stepped into a winter wonderland.
"I think the champions are coming in," she said quietly, and then the large doors opened and the couples walked in. "Good lord." she whispered. "That's Potter's mudblood with Viktor Krum!" She choked on a laugh. "She sure does clean up nicely though, don't you think?" she asked.
Draco looked at Granger and felt revulsion, but, he had to admit, not as much as usual. Her hair wasn't as bushy and her eyes seemed brighter. He caught a look at his date from the corner of his gray eyes and took her in. Her beauty couldn't be outdone, she was the brightest vision in the ballroom. "She's alright I suppose." The music started and they watched with the rest of the crowd as the four couples danced. They laughed together meanly as Potter and his date, who's name neither of them knew, tripped through their waltz. Others began to join on the dance floor and Draco got a nervous knot in his belly. He coughed, feeling nervous, and wishing he could just feel like his normal self. "Would you like to dance." A little smile appeared on her face and she nodded. He took her hand and led her onto the dance floor, he took her waist hesitantly, and she rolled her eyes, taking his hand and pulling herself closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, he felt his cheeks heat at her closeness.
"Why are you so nervous?" she asked, her voice unusually kind. He stumbled on his words, and she stopped him, much to his thanks, "It's just a face you know." she said quietly. "I use it to my advantage, I like getting what I want. But sometimes, I don't want people to do everything they can to please me. I don't want you to. You're my only real friend, one of the only people I actually like. You've been jittery all night, just be yourself. You already know I like you Draco, there's no need to be nervous." her words sounded odd even to her. She meant them completely, but she wasn't used to being sweet. He smiled softly and pulled her closer, and they danced as if they were the only two in the room.
She was in a black room.
There were no windows and no doors, and though there was light to show her the four black walls, the black floor she stood on and the black ceiling, she didn't know where it was coming from.
"Hello?" she called into the emptiness. She heard something shuffle behind her, and turned quickly, but was met with nothing but the dark wall. She reached down to where she usually kept her wand, but found that she was dressed not in her school robes, but in her emerald nightgown. Not pockets. No wand.
For the first time she felt powerless. A hard, foreign lump, formed in her throat and her full lower lip wobbled uneasily as fear crept into her belly and twisted painfully like a knife. "Hello?" she called, her voice croaking. She heard the sound of a robe wiping through the air and another shuffle of feet and she wiped around again, stumbling on her sock clad feet. "Whoever you are, you're going to be sorry." she threatened pitifully.
"I highly doubt that." said an icy voice from behind her. Chills crept up her spine, and a sheen of sweat formed on her brow. She turned on her heel slowly and was met with blood red eyes. He was tall and lean, dressed in black robes that blended in with their surroundings, giving her the appearance of a floating head with a thin neck. He looked like a snake, slits for nostrils and a thin lipped smile. He was terrifying.
"W-Who are you? Where am I?" Thayer demanded shakily.
"I couldn't visit you at your school, so I decided on your dreams. Rather dark, don't you think darling? You must have a very dark mind." he said with an evil grin.
"How do I leave? I don't want to be here anymore." she said.
"You can leave whenever you want. This is your dream. But you won't leave, not yet. You need to know who I am. Why I'm here. You can't stand the curiosity." she shuddered. He was right.
"Who are you?" she asked again.
"Your father, I would have thought you'd have guessed that by now. Severus tells me you're a very bright young girl."
"Snape? W-wait. You're my dad? That means you're, you're... But mother told me you.." she trailed off into her own thoughts.
"I was gone, for awhile. But I've returned, and my Death Eaters have returned to me. And I am going to take over the entire ministry, and the world. And you, my only child, will have great power. You'll want for nothing." he stepped closer to her and she stood her ground. She wouldn't be afraid.
"What do you want from me?" she whispered.
"I don't want anything from you. I want to give you what I never had, what my mother deprived me off and what my filthy muggle father could have never offered."
"And what's that?"
"Power. I had to find it on my own, which is a terrible burden to place on a child." he circled her slowly. "You're much like me. Well, how I used to be. Beauty is power. But there can be so much more."
"No offense, but I don't want to look like you do now." he chuckled.
"No, you'll never have to. My power is enough for us both."
"They'll never let me attend Hogwarts again if the ministry finds out I'm your daughter." she said.
"I don't intend on letting anyone know. My Death Eaters, you'll have power over them. They do my biding, and they'll do yours too. Eagerly. You've got the pretty face of ruler." he said darkly.
"What's in it for you?" she asked.
"I am your parent. Your father. I'm doing what is right. What mine never did. I'm guiding you to perfection." Her mind was slowly becoming fuzzy, and her ears pounded. His voice getting far away.
"How will I find you again?" she asked. She was waking.
"I will find you."
And then, she was gone.
Again guys,
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Lots of love, Clary.