CHAPTER ONE
It has been a whole summer now that I have been living under the roof of Malfoy Manor. A whole summer since I last saw the angelic face of my little sister, Sasha, looking up at me. A whole summer since hugging my mother goodnight for the last time. A whole summer since kissing my father on the cheek to bid him a good day at work. A whole summer since my life was turned upside down.
I have been faring relatively well. My rehabilitation from my traumatic event has seemed to be coming along with the help of my newfound cousins. Though they seem to be cold hearted in nature, they were more than helpful in settling me in from Russian Pureblood Society to Britain Pureblood Society. My seventeenth birthday came and went in this time with no fuss as I was in no way to celebrate anything.
The day-to-day here seems to be relatively similar to what I am accustomed to. In my country, my family was the first line Pureblood family in Russia's Wizarding society. We were the leaders, the heads of all things magical. Our blood was the most clean and divine of any around us, and we were treated as such. I was referred to as a Princess, and though we were somewhat royalty, it never affected my family much.
My sister and I grew up learning magic from the comfort of our palace with the world's finest tutors. I was always rather skilled in magic, and had the potential to take my fathers place as head of the family one day. Unlike Britain's Pureblood Society, a woman held equal power as a man where I come from, and being the eldest I would have been next in line to lead our people.
Though unknown to me, before the attack on my family there had been some unrest amongst the magical people of Russia. Those with lesser blood were more often treated as the working class of the country. They were not persecuted by any means; they were just lower on the totem pole than those of half blood or pure blood and one usually married and procreated among their station. As it would have it, these lesser blood wizards and witches decided it was time to rebel the status quo and the best place to start was the head of all the magical political power in the country. That happened to be my father, and with it they took my mother and sister and had intended to take me too. Needless to say these people ruined my life.
So here I sit, in my new bedroom in the west wing of Malfoy Manor- a rather big estate though not as large as my palace across the ocean. I sit by the bay window, staring outside at the gardens. It is an unusually sunny and bright morning for Britain and the birds are chirping beautiful songs. I take it all in as I sit with my cup of tea that was just handed to me by the house elf, Dobby. When I thanked him for the cup he seemed utterly shocked. I cannot say that I am surprised to assume he is poorly treated among this family. A small tap at the door pulls me out of my musings.
The voice of Eva Malfoy, Abraxas' wife, comes through the decadent wooden door, "Dear, we are going to be heading into town for Lucius' school supplies and we will be needing some for you as well, join us?"
Ah, school supplies. I was told that I would be attending a Wizarding school for my last year of education- a foreign concept to me since I have only ever learned from my home. But as I have no power here, I am left to the devices of the family playing host to me, and therefore I will be thrown into whatever their norms are. And their norm is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
I lightly jog over to the door to open it for Mrs. Malfoy. She is dressed to the nines, as always. I have yet to ever see a single hair out of place on this woman. She is the epitome of a pureblood female. A strong wife, doting mother, good listener, she seemed to have it all.
"I would love to Mrs. Malfoy," I say as I open the door further to let her in. Luckily I have already been dressed for hours, as I do not sleep well these days. "How will I know what to purchase?"
"Oh dear, we will go based off of my sons list. Since it is year 7, there is hardly anything other than schoolbooks you should require. However, we will need to get you fitted for your uniforms." She says as she looks intently at the list she has in her hands, "and owl as well, if you do not already have one."
In all of the chaos that ensued last spring, my owl had found me here in England. By some grace, I was able to at least keep one thing that was mine from home.
"I have an owl, Kazimir. He found me a short time after I arrived here," I say with a slight smile.
"Oh how wonderful!" Mrs. Malfoy exclaims, "well dear we will be leaving in half an hour, we will meet in the atrium of the manor to Floo." I give her a nod of the head as she takes her leave back out the door.
Though already dressed, I take the next half hour to look over myself in the mirror. This would be my first outing in the main town here. They call it Diagon Alley. Sounds almost dingy compared to what I am used to, but I don't linger on that thought long. My looks nearly scream that I am in part related to the Malfoy's. Everyone in my family had long blonde hair as well. I have green eyes, the same as my mothers. I am on the shorter side but always fit, as was costumed to be as a pseudo royal. I brush my hair out as it falls down my shoulders, ending somewhere in my middle back. I have not made any attempts to cut it since after leaving Russia and still haven't felt the need to.
Once the time had passed and I felt confident in my looks I made my way down the corridor toward the atrium. I become startled as one of the large doors swiftly opens and I run into the body stepping out of it. I make a very unladylike "oomf" as we collide.
"Miss Petrovsky," Lucius says with a snide chuckle, "Shouldn't you mind where you walk?" He's looking down at me now as our bodies are in very close contact. I quickly step back and straighten out my dress.
"I glare up at him, "Shouldn't you mind your bad attitude?" I make my move past him then as he follows, stepping into line with me.
"Oh, Katarina, we are going to have so much fun at school together this year." He says with another laugh.
Lucius as I have had our disagreements while I have been living in his home. Though he very much reminds me of every pureblood man that I have ever met, he is by far more pompous- a quality that I find difficult to see past.
"Only if you don't make it a habit of running me over." To this, he laughs again and we meet his mother only steps after.
"Ah, children. Shall we?" She motions toward the Floo and within seconds we end up in a rather old looking shop. Shelves of books are lining the walls; tables stacked of texts that seem miles high are covering the floors. I am amazed at the enormity of the place, as most of my books growing up were just handed to me; I never had much reason to go shopping. There are people over all ages, shapes, and sizes, everywhere. I nearly lose the Malfoy's only minutes after we arrived. Lucius grabs my elbow and leads me away from the bustle so I do not get lost.
Once we are away from the crowd he hands me a list of what I need, "Grab what is on the list and meet back here afterwards." I nod, and move. I feel a sense of excitement with the independence I am given. Never before have I been given the liberty to be on my own like this in a public place.
After finding nearly all of my books I make my way to the section labeled "Potions" and start skimming every cover to find my volume. Just as I finally lay eyes on it, I see that there is only one copy left. I reach for the text, only to see that there is another hand reaching in at the same time to swipe it. A dark haired boy who seems to be about my age scoops the book up with a smirk at me. The smirk reminds me of the pompousness of my relative.
"Gotta be faster than that, kid." He says with a wink at me before turning to leave.
"Hey! I had that first and it's the only copy left!" I yell after him, not letting him get away so easy. He seems thrown off by my Russian accent and he turns around. He sees me standing there, staring daggers at him with my hands on my hips.
He seems confused as he looks at me, then looks down to the book in his hands and then back to me again. "And why exactly would you need a copy of Potions Excellence for the 7th Year Student?"
"Because," I made a step toward him to grab the book out of his hands and he swipes it back toward the back of his head so I can't, "obviously, I am taking the class this year and am required to bring that book with me!" I childishly jump for the book again.
He is significantly taller than me so it is not hard for him to win this battle. "At Hogwarts?" He asks while I finally stop jumping after the book and resign to standing there with my arms crossed.
"Again, obviously." I snarkily say while maintaining my glare.
"Who the heck is this guy? Thinking he can behave this way? Is there no chivalry in the world of this Diagon Alley place?
"Well its not damn obvious to me since I have been going there since I was eleven and have never seen you there before!" He then crosses his arm across his chest too, giving me an intense stare. He's clearly trying to figure me out.
"I moved here this summer, it's a long story, none of your business anyway," I look down at my feet, and say with a shake of my head, "I start there this fall for my seventh year."
He gives me another arrogant smirk and slowly nods; "Well it looks like this year just got way more interesting." I take the second of his distraction to try to grab the book but again he evades my advances.
We both look behind the boy to where another voice shouts "What's taking you so long Sirius, lets get the hell out of here. I need a drink." This second boy with short brown hair and glasses gets the attention of my new enemy, apparently called Sirius. What a dumb name.
"I'm comin', Prongs." He shouts back while still looking down into my eyes with that painfully annoying smirk.
"Well, kid, it's been fun. I'll see ya around," he winks at me before turning around to meet up with his friend. How the hell does this guy even have a friend?
"I really hope not!" I yell after him. To that he lets out another laugh and continues on his way, leaving me there aggravated and without a book for 7th year potions.
"And then he just swiped the bookem essentially/em out of my hands and he refused to give it to me!" I am recounting my experience to my cousin, "The nerve of that guy." I shake my head in annoyance as I say this.
We had just entered Twilfit and Tattings, the place where uniforms are sold. I feel uneasy about the idea of a uniform and from the look of the display in the window, I was correct to feel unsure. Black wool and grey skirts…everywhere.
Lucius is shaking his head as we enter the store, "You really shouldn't let people embarrass you in public like that. You're representing the Malfoy's now, you need to maintain composure."
"Oh I'd like to see you keep composure while someone disrespects you that way!" I whisper shout as we are again among a crowd.
"Alright fine, anyway it matters not," he again leads me through the store to get exactly where we need to be, "Professor Slughorn and I are quite close," he says shoving his 7th year potions book into my tote, "Here, take mine. He will no doubt give me copy once I get there."
Wow, a kind gesture from Lucius? Must be a cold day in Hell.
"Thank you." I say somewhat warily. I bet I'll pay for this kind gesture one day- he wont let me forget it.
"Eva Malfoy, one of my favorite customers!" screeches a woman at least three (maybe even four) times my age. She is dressed in an apron with pockets full of measuring equipment and fabric scissors.
"Mrs. LeMour, wonderful to see you again," Mrs. Malfoy replies, then gesturing toward my cousin and I, "and I am sure you remember my son, Lucius. And this here is our cousin, Miss Katarina Petrovsky." I nod my head in hello, not overly interested in making acquaintance at the moment.
"Petrovsky? As in the Russian family?" Mrs. LeMour asks Mrs. Malfoy as if I am not standing right next to her. Rude.
Mrs. Malfoy raises her eyebrows at the questions and responds, "You'd be correct."
"A very powerful family from what I hear, a tragedy what happened to them. My condolences," The seamstress looks to me with a sullen expression. Again I nod in thanks, not willing to say anymore on the subject.
The rest of the uniform fitting goes on without incident. I am placed into a grey wool skirt, stockings, a white button down with a sweater vest and tie. This is hands down the most heinous ensemble I have ever been forced to wear. It makes me sick to think that I will need to wear this outfit all day, every day, for a whole year.
"Now, dear, the color of the tie will be determined by your house, but knowing your family you can bank on green," Mrs. LeMour states with excitement, "will undoubtedly make those eyes pop!"
I look at her confused, "My what?"
Mrs. Malfoy cuts in, "Your house, dear. Hogwarts students are sorted into four houses, each of which is named after a founder of the school. Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. Slytherin is the only one you need worry about, as our family has been placed there for centuries; only the most noble are placed there."
"If you are sorted anywhere else you can consider yourself a social pariah in our community from that point on," Lucius states nonchalantly as he flips through the contents of a quidditch magazine.
No pressure there I guess…
What felt like hours later we were finally on our way out of the clothing store and back on the streets of the town. We went to a few more locations to pick up odds and ends and I made a stop at Gingotts to ensure all of my money from Russia had been relocated here. Seeing as there was no issue with that we were just about ready to Floo back to the Manor.
Before we make it to the Floo we are stopped by a woman walking towards us, hugging Mrs. Malfoy in greeting. This woman introduces herself as Walburga Black; apparently she is another pureblood wife in the same circle as the Malfoy's. We are introduced and I sense that the last name of this woman is familiar which is only confirmed when she says, "So Mr. Malfoy, should we be expecting an engagement this fall between you and my perfect niece?"
Ah, yes. Narcissa Black, the poor soul that will be marrying my cousin one day. Not that she seems to mind, as she is constantly falling all over him whenever they are in the same room.
"It is not too far off, I can assure you." Lucius states with a curt nod, clearly not one for romantic talk.
Walburga squeals in excitement, "You all must join us for our end of the summer dinner party, it will be the perfect send off for our darling children."
"We would not miss it for anything!" Mrs. Malfoy clasps her hands together with a smile on her face.
We then part ways after what seemed like a lifetime of conversation regarding this dinner party. My whole life seems to be one dinner party after the next. I had hoped Id be spared from events such as these once I moved to Britain but evidently I was wrong.
I could not be happier as we finally Floo back to the Manor. I am longing for a cup of tea and my bed for a long nap.
The day has long worn on me. I hang my new articles in my closet and start looking through the materials I had gotten for my studies. I wonder how much of the material that I will be learning this year was already taught to me in my homeschool. I pick up one book in particular, Potions Excellence for the 7th Year Student. Looking at the book reminds me of my altercation earlier. I shove the book back into the tote and lay in my bed trying to forget the debacle, but one thing is on my mind as I fall asleep- the piercing grey eyes of the dark haired boy from the bookshop.