Thorns

The Marauders' Era

Chapter 3: Awakening


The following summer (before the start of second year)…

"Nice job, Contessa," Amalia shouted to her daughter over the sound of wind and crashing waves high above the cliffs.

Amalia smiled approvingly as Tessa tucked a quaffle under her arm and directed her broom in her mother's direction.

After her first year at Hogwarts, Tessa spent the summer with her mother training to try out for the Quidditch team at Hogwarts. Tessa worked hard and she knew she was good—especially being trained by her mother who played professionally a couple years after she graduated from Hogwarts.

Her mother hovered beyond the edge of a cliff with rocks and ocean below her, at the edge of their Belfast home. Tessa stared thoughtfully after her mother with her blonde hair tied back into a simple braid. She rarely saw her mother happier than in the moments she was on a broom playing Quidditch.

Tessa tossed the quaffle to her mother who skillfully swiveled her broom so the quaffle bounced once in the air before she caught it with one hand.

"Can we run the play one more time," asked Tessa, readjusting her long, medium brown hair that had come loose from its ponytail.

"Of course," Amalia laughed, tossing the quaffle into the air once before tucking it under her arm. "I think you'll be among the greatest chasers Slytherin will ever have."

"Says the woman who single-handedly scored 200 points during her first game," Tessa laughed. Amalia Rosier had set the highest record for points scored by one player with a quaffle at Hogwarts in over a century.

Amalia flew over to her daughter and both got into position to run the most recent play Tessa had been working on.

"Amalia! Contessa! Time to come down!"

Tessa looked to the ground below to see her father waving up at her and her mother, his dark brown hair being ruffled by the coastal breeze. Where Amalia was long, lithe, and graceful, Grant was stockier and muscular.

"Is something wrong," asked Tessa, confused as to why her father was home early. Usually he worked long hours and was away on business trips, so it was often Tessa and Amalia left to entertain themselves.

"No, dear," said Amalia, her voice oddly cool after being playful all afternoon. Already, she was lowering her broom to the ground, gracefully landing beside her husband, Grant Rosier.

Tessa's deep blue eyes narrowed fractionally as she too, lowered herself to the ground, tightly returning her father's smile. For the past few years, her negative feelings about her father had grown, especially since she had been at Hogwarts for the school year.

"You ladies have been out here for hours," Grant said as a way of greeting. Grant smiled at his only child, ruffling her hair. "Any longer out here, Contessa, your hair will turn blonde like your mothers!"

"I wouldn't mind," said Tessa. During the summer months, or whenever she spent long periods of time in the sun, Tessa's brunette hair gained blonde summer highlights. "Mum was helping me practice for the quidditch team, why did we have to stop?"

"It's getting dark," said Grant, ushering his wife and daughter toward their large home by the ocean. "Remember, we're arriving at King's Cross early tomorrow morning."

"Do we have to," Tessa groaned in protest. She was excited to see her friends from Hogwarts again, but her father had informed her they would be leaving twice as early as necessary.

"Yes we do, my dear, I'm afraid it's necessary."

"But why?"

"So we can catch up with old friends," Grant explained, opening the front door for his family. "Now, Contessa, run up and shower and pack your belongings."

"It's Tessa, Father," Tessa said through gritted teeth before marching upstairs to rinse off.

After she was freshly showers and dressed, Tessa surveyed her room, staring at her trunk, with her hands on her hips. A soft knock from her door interrupted her thoughts.

"Come in."

Amalia entered Tessa's room, her hair wet after her shower as well. "Are you all packed, sweetheart?"

"I think so," Tessa responded as her mom perched at the edge of her bed. She glanced at the empty owl crate in the corner of her room. "I do wonder what happened to Reginald though, he's been gone for 5 weeks."

"I'm so sorry, Tessa," said Amalia. "I know you loved that owl. You can take Humphries with you if you'd like."

"No, no, I just miss Reginald," said Tessa, fondly thinking of her beautiful black owl with a white stomach and yellow eyes. Humphries was the Rosier family owl. "I wonder if Sirius ever received my letter. He was the last person I sent Reginald to."

"Sirius Black?"

"Yes, Mum, Sirius Black," confirmed Tessa, sitting next to her mom, resting her head on her shoulder. Over the summer, Tessa had grown a couple inches, although she was shy of her mother's height.

"I think you might be fond of him, dear."

"Sirius? No, mum, no," Tessa snorted and laughed at the thought. Amalia simply arched a pale eyebrow, amused by her daughter's reaction.

"He's an arrogant toad, he's rude, and all he ever does is insult Slytherin every chance he gets. I still don't understand why I'm still friends with him."

"They say the ones who make us most angry are the ones who we love most deeply," teased Amalia.

"Is that why you and Father argue so much, because you love each other?"

Amalia regarded her daughter with keen interest. "You're quite observant, Contessa."

"Father says I got that from you," said Tessa. "Also, I hear you guys fight at night."

"Perhaps," answered Amalia answered with a sigh. "Yes, I still love your father," said Amalia, "and I'm sorry you hear us fighting. There are just some things we currently aren't agreeing on."

"Like what?"

Amalia lifted her head from her daughters, her deep blue eyes staring into her daughters'.

"Tessa," Amalia started with a heavy sigh. "There are things in this world…powers and magic that you haven't even begun to understand."

"I'm not a baby, Mum, I understand things just fine," Tessa rolled her eyes.

"I know you're not a baby, but it's every mother's wish that her children stay babies for as long as possible." Amalia smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind Tessa's ear. Tessa noted her mother's smile did not reach her eyes.

"Tessa, you're entering a world where I fear you will be forced to grow up faster that I would have ever wished for you. You will make friends and you will lose friends. As your mother, I want to protect you from it all but—"

"I can protect myself," said Tessa. "And I can take care of you too. I'm strong and I've always gotten good marks in school."

"You will become a very powerful witch, Tessa," said Amalia with conviction. "And I will teach you everything I know in time. Until then, be wise. Be careful, and always think for yourself. You have a good head and a good heart."

Tessa was silent for a moment, processing her mother's words. She wasn't quite sure what her mother was talking about. "Is this why we're going to Platform 9 and ¾'s tomorrow? Because of Father's friends?"

"Yes."

Tessa nodded, knowing that was the end of the conversation.

X

That morning at Platform 9 and ¾'s was foggy as the Rosier family arrived early. Tessa pulled her jacket tighter around her body to keep the chill away. Along with her family, the Goyle, Greengrass, Nott, and Parkinson families had arrived early as well. In the distance, she heard the sound of a cart being pushed toward her family.

"Tessa!"

"Narcissa!" Tessa smiled as she greeted her friend. Over the year, she had come to genuinely like Narcissa Black; after she learned to be careful of what information she shared with her.

Narcissa smiled and pulled Tessa into a hug, air kissing both of her cheeks. From the fog emerged more of the Black family, including Sirius Black.

Tessa smiled upon seeing Sirius; she hadn't seen him all summer. He seemed to have grown taller, and his dark hair had gotten longer, brushing his collar. As always, he had his perpetual scowl around his family. As he glanced around his eyes stopped on Tessa and his scowl disappeared before breaking into a lopsided half smile.

"Oh, that's Sirius. He's rather cute," said Amalia in a voice that only Tessa could hear.

"MUM!" Tessa glared at her mother who simply laughed.

"Long time no see, Tess—"

"REGINALD!"

On top of Sirius' trunk that he had on a transportation cart, was an owl crate with her beloved owl.

"Yes, it's good to see your handsome face too, Sirius," Sirius said in a mock imitation of Tessa's voice.

Tessa glared at him. "You kidnapped my owl!"

"I did no such thing!"

"You had him for five weeks. How is that not kidnapping!? You should be put in Azkaban for this crime." Tessa took the cage Reginald was in and put it on her trunk.

Her father coughed behind her. Tessa looked up to meet her father's disapproving look at her commotion, but Tessa didn't care in that moment. For the entire summer she didn't have to be careful of her words or worry about mistrustful people. She wanted to savor the moments of peace for as long as possible, even if it meant earning the annoyed looks from the prominent families.

"Yes, put me in Azkaban for fixing your bird's wing." Sirius rolled his eyes.

Tessa looked through the cage and noticed Reginald's left wing was wrapped in white gauze.

"Oh, Reginald," Tessa cooed.

"Reginald?" Sirius raised an eyebrow at his name. "I thought he'd have a cooler name for such a nice owl."

"Reginald is a fine name," Tessa defended, opening the cage and holding out her arm for Reginald to come out. Tessa gently stroked his feathers, watching as he blinked his great yellow eyes.

"Reginald, you've gotten fat," Tessa observed fondly. Sirius had joined Tessa and also stroked the bird's feathers.

"What happened to him," asked Tessa.

"I'm not sure, but he arrived at my mother's house, and I noticed he was flying rather funny. I inspected him, and it turned out that his wing was fractured. He didn't like me poking at his feathers though." Sirius held out his hand, and Tessa noticed there was a scar on his finger where Reginald must have bitten him. Reginald was prone to biting new people, or biting when he was particularly hungry.

"You patched up his wing," asked Tessa, carefully placing Reginald back in his cage.

"Yes, and I had Krecher, the family house elf, send you a letter, letting you know I would take care of Reginald until I either saw you, or trusted that he could fly on his own. It seems Krecher chose to not listen to me again."

Tessa smiled, glancing up at Sirius who now stood taller than her. Without warning she wrapped her arms around him. "It's good to see you, Sirius. Thank you for taking care of Reginald."

After a second, Sirius patted Tessa's back before he became aware of Grant Rosier's defensive look. Naturally, Sirius then put his arms tightly around Tessa, pulling her close. He smiled as he noted Tessa's mother putting a hand on her husband's arm, as though to restrain him.

Tessa felt her cheeks flush as she pulled away, willing her heart to stop racing. She wondered where the sudden affection from Sirius had come from.

"No, summer was not going that great, no I did not plan on trying out for quidditch at Hogwarts, as quidditch is James' sport, and yes, visiting you in Belfast would have been fun; anything would have been more fun than staying at home."

Tessa raised an eyebrow at Sirius who laughed. "I'm just responding to your letter you sent a while ago."

Sirius glanced around, noticing that more families had arrived—all of which were prominent families part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight; twenty-eight pureblood wizarding families, all of them in Slytheirn.

"Tess," said Sirius in a low voice. "D'you find it strange that it's all Slytherin families here early?" Sirius noted the look on Tessa's face at the mention of Slytherins. "I'm not saying it as an insult, just…look."

Tessa looked around the train station. More families had started filtering in, but it was still primarily Slytherins. Hogwarts students milled around, catching up from summer holiday, and the families of the students seemed to stand together to observe interactions.

Tessa noticed her mother was in a deep conversation with Sirius' mother. Walburga Black seemed to be talking rapidly about a topic important to her, and Amalia Rosier seemed to nod along, not fully listening. Tessa made eye contact with her mother who winked at her.

"It is strange," Tessa conceded, feeling Sirius' anxiety. "I don't understand."

"I do," said Sirius, his voice low and angry. "I know exactly what this is."

"Sirius…"

"I'll tell you later, Tess," Sirius promised. "Too many of the wrong people could overhear. For now though," Sirius broke into a grin, "I see James Potter. I'll see you around, Rosier."

X

The Hogwarts Expressed was at full speed two hours later. Tessa chose to share a compartment with Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter.

Sirius, ever the dramatic one, lamented to Remus and Peter about how long and boring his summer was aside from the bright moments when he was allowed to spend time with the Potters.

"You're trying out for the quidditch team this year too," Tessa asked James.

"Yeah, as a chaser. I've been training all summer."

"Me too," Tessa said excitedly. "I hope I make it., my mum has been helping me train all summer. She played for the Holyhead Harpies for a couple years before I was born, and she was brilliant."

"I thought she looked familiar," James nodded. "I think I have a card with her stats somewhere at home." James let out a low whistle and ran his hand through his perpetually messy hair. "She was brilliant," he agreed. He then cast a long-look at Tessa. "Good luck on the team though. I heard Slytherins are vicious when they play—not an insult!"

"We're insulting Slytherins," asked Sirius with interest.

"No," said Tessa sharply.

"He's right you know," said Remus in his quiet voice. Tessa was rather fond of Remus. She noticed he was a quiet counter for James and Sirius, although he was the more cautious and seemingly responsible one, Tessa knew he had a rebellious streak as well, she liked it. But there was something about Remus' pale face that Tessa wanted to understand.

"No offense to your house," continued Remus, "but Slytherin has a reputation of being brutal during play even going so far as to purposely injuring their opponents to win a game."

"A win's a win."

Tessa was met with the blank looks from the four boys. Peter seemed to tremble slightly looking at her; Tessa didn't care if she frightened Peter—she didn't care for him much to begin with.

"I know, I know," sighed Tessa, "spoken like a Slytherin." Tucking her long hair behind her ear, she smiled. "They may have that reputation, but that isn't me. I'll do whatever it takes to win, but not at the expense of another person." Tessa glanced at James and smiled. "So if we meet on the field, you can guarantee I will be one less person you have to worry about…unless you have the quaffle."

"Same to you, Rosier," said James with a smirk. In some ways, Tessa reminded him of Sirius; he liked Tessa's spunk.

Tessa left the boys' compartment before continuing on to greet friends. She spent a few minutes with some Slytherin girls in her year and then spent a few minutes with Lily and Severus. Somehow, the two of them managed to snag a compartment to themselves. Initially, Tessa's friendship with Lily was through Severus, but toward the end of their first year, Tessa and Lily became good friends on their own, bonding over similar tastes in books and a weakness for strolls around the lake when it was warm. Soon though, Tessa left the cart as Severus began to give her a look telling her she was no longer welcome—it seemed his unrequited crush on the witch with red hair had only gotten stronger.

Finally, Tessa joined the compartment she started in—one with Narcissa, Lucius, Loretta, Sirius' younger brother Regulus, and now, Edgar Nott, a third-year Slytherin.

"So nice of you to join us again," Narcissa joked. Lucius Malfoy's arm was draped over her shoulder, it had seemed they became a couple over the summer, much to Narcissa's happiness.

"I needed to make my rounds," said Tessa, sitting across from Edgar and next to Regulus.

"Tessa, I'm sure you've met Edgar Nott before," said Lucius in a smooth voice. "He's currently on the Slytherin quidditch team as a beater."

Narcissa and Lucius shared a private, knowing look. Over the summer after Narcissa and Lucius became a couple, she asked if he knew of anyone for Tessa, it was troubling to her how well Sirius and Tessa got along. Sirius, Narcissa decided, was an unchanging blood-traitor, and Narcissa refused to let Tessa follow the same path.

Tessa glanced at Edgar Nott who smiled at her, extending a hand. For a third year, he was tall, taller than Sirius. His light brown hair was slicked down and parted to the left, and his clear blue eyes never seemed to miss a thing. He smiled at Tessa in a way that made her stomach flutter as he shook her hand.

"We've talked before," said Edgar. "What position are you trying out for?"

"C-chaser," said Tessa, unsure of where her voice went as Edgar's clear blue eyes watched her, amused.

"You seem like you'll be a good chaser," said Edgar. "If you make the team, I'll make sure nothing gets to you."

"Er, thanks," said Tessa, looking at her feet, hoping no one noticed the heat rise to her face. Tessa resisted the urge to bolt back to the compartment with the other Slytherin girls or the compartment with Sirius.

Sirius…

Tessa stole a glance at Regulus who watched her curiously, she wondered if he would tell Sirius about this; with a sigh, Tessa resigned herself to a long ride to Hogwarts.


Author's Note: This story is prone to grammatical errors as I don't tediously edit. FUTURE REFERENCE: you are likely to see major time skips in this story because it will continue on to the First Wizarding War.

Author's Note PART 2: Next chapter won't be up for a few days-I have a paper due for class. Thanks for understanding!

In the mean time, I love your feedback! :)

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