Okie: well responses
Satine: I shall do my best to continue. And I am glad you find it original.
Luisa: as you wish.
Anonymous: you were not negative, you were simply pointing out things that I should have justified somehow. I appreciate sharp minds reading my stories. Oh and spot on with the portrait.
ER: thank you and I shall.
Zane Cobalt, the Muggle-Born Slytherin
Family
Zane caught up with Shelly later that week. "Shelly!" he called after her.
She started to speed up, but he got in front of her. "Shelly I am sorry. I didn't know fighting would upset you that much."
She wouldn't look him in the eye. "It's just . . ." she began.
"Just what?" he prompted.
"Well, you have to understand, my daddy isn't the man who gave my mum me. In fact, until I was seven, my daddy was Uncle Neville, just a friend of my mum's. You see, my dad . . . that is my real father . . . he used to beat around my mum. I hated it. She would do everything to hide the marks from her friends. Finally one day she told one of my uncles, I have bloody lot of them. My father never came home from work. My mum had a divorce pushed through, didn't even ask for child support or alimony. She just wanted away from him. I never saw him again, not after that day my mum told." Shelly had tears in her eyes. "After a year, Uncle Neville started coming around a lot. And then he asked my mum to marry him." She looked up with sort of a crooked smile. "That was the best day of my life; when I lay in bed listening to him pop the question. It wasn't hard to switch to calling him Daddy. He never hurt my mum ever. In fact there are times when I think he might be a little afraid of her. I guess he'd have to be when she has six older brothers."
"Six?"
"Yeah, I have three younger sisters, and . . ." she looked both ways as if some one might be listening in. "I have a little brother just started on the way."
"So that is why you hate fighting?" Zane asked. "Because it's what your father used to do to your mum?"
"Yeah, sounds stupid though, huh?"
Zane wrapped her in a light hug, "Not at all." He stepped back as he realized what he had been doing. He blushed and said, "er . . . well I cant promise I wont ever fight again . . . but I will try. Can I still duel?"
Shelly smiled and said, "Sure, hex and curse all you want, but no fists."
"So you aren't really a pureblood?" Zane inquired, remembering what Bellatrix had said on the train.
"Oh no. I am a pureblood, but my mum refuses to tell me who he was. she says that she doesn't want me trying to find him and getting hurt. But she says very certainly that he was a pureblood."
Zane considered this. "That's alright, I like ya even if you are a pureblood." He nudged her and gave her a wink. She laughed and put an arm around him. "So when's your next sister coming?"
"She'll be starting when we are in our third year. Her name is Alice. Then in our fourth year joins Hermione, I think you can guess who she is named for."
"Prof. Granger."
"Right 'O. lets see then . . . Molly will be starting when we are in our last year. And we should be graduated quite some time when my brother starts."
"That's a big family."
"That's nothing compared to my mum's. you have my Uncle Charlie, who works for Gringott's as a curse breaker, my Uncle Bill, who works with dragon's outside Shanghai, my Uncle Percy, who works as Deputy Head of Muggle Relations, just under my grandfather, my Uncles Fred and George, they own that prank business that Rachel was talking about, my Uncle Ron is an Auror but they say he has something still going on the side. Then my mum is the youngest. I have twelve cousins, who are sneaking up behind me now aren't they?"
Sure enough as she had been talking about her family a dozen students, all with fire red hair and Gryffindor robes had been sneaking up behind her. they lifted her up in a hug. The eldest was a seventh year girl. She eyed Zane warily. "This is a Slytherin you're hanging out with Shell."
"Come off it Patty. He is my friend. Besides, he is the Muggle-born the school is talking about. Shelly turned back to Zane and said, "Okay this is my cousin, Patil, named for her mother's maiden-name. She is the Gryffindor Head Girl. That is her sister Lavender," she pointed to a shorter girl, "She is in fifth year. They are my Uncle Ron's kids."
She pointed to a six very similar looking students, "Half of those are Uncle Fred's kids, the other half are Uncle George's." she began to point through them. "Lee, Frank, and Zonko are my Uncle Fred's. Tommy, Jean, and Aragass are Uncle George's. and no there is nothing wrong with your eyes. Both of my twin uncles had Triplets born two months apart. They are half of Gryffindor's fourth year class." Zane shook his head. Some of the names were weird.
She pointed to a pair of seventh years, "They are Sotum," a boy, "And Parcill," a girl. "They are uncle Percy's kids." Then a sixth year boy and a fifth year girl in the back and said, "Those are my Uncle Charlie's kids. He is Peter and she is Draca."
"Oiy," Zane said, "Just hearing about your family is tiring."
"Yeah," said Patil, "But a big family makes for a great haul at Christmas."
"Well, . . . er I'll um," Zane had become very uncomfortable with the topic. "I'll see ya around."
He began to head off. Shelly bid her family good bye and caught up. "Are you okay?"
He faked a laugh rather badly and said, "I pity the guy who tries to date you or your sisters, he'll have half of Gryffindor on him."
"what is this about? You freaked out when Patty spoke. Do you not like her?"
He turned back. And then heaved a sigh. "It was what she said, about Christmas."
"She was kidding. . ."
"No that isn't the problem. I . . . my family, we're atheisists. My parents refuse to teach me about other religions."
Shelly stared at him. "So you don't celebrate anything but birthdays?"
"Yeah I guess." He shifted.
They didn't mention anything about it again. Months seemed to blur together. before they knew it, it was the start of Holidays. Rachel was headed home, and Lo-Ith and Shelly were staying behind. Zane had written home and told is parents he would stay at school and catch up on homework. His parents didn't even write back.
It was Christmas Eve. There were five other students staying at Hogwart's, not one of the others was a Slytherin. Prof. McGonagall and Granger were eating at the staff table. Prof. Granger gave Zane a light nod as he walked in to the Great Hall. It was evening. The bewitched ceiling showed the night sky lightly snowing. Given the few students present, they had slimmed things down to one table. As Shelly sat down, Zane noticed she had brought a rather thick book with her.
"Don't you know its rude to read at the table," he joked, knowing she did it at least twice a week.
"Not if you're sharing with every one," she quipped. She stood up, and in an uncharacteristically bold fashion called out, "Is there anyone here who isn't Christian?"
Not a soul raised their hand. She then called out, "Would anyone object to a reading of the First Noel before dinner?" Again no one said a word. Zane watched transfixed. She told of Joseph and Mary who were to be wed. Then she spoke of Mary's visit from an angel, who told her she would bear the child of god. He heard of Joseph's disbelief until he too was visited by an angel. Then he heard of their return to his home town of Bethlehem, and of their stay in a stable. He heard of how the baby was born and placed in a manger. The he heard of the sheppards being called by another angel to come and pay tribute to the baby. Then the tale of three kings, who were guided by a star to where the infant lay, and how those kings bowed down before what was apparently the son of a carpenter, and presented him with the finest gifts. They he heard of Herod and the plan to kill the baby. He heard of Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus' flight into the desert. She concluded by saying "This is the word of the lord."
Everyone save Zane responded, "Thanks be to god."
That was the first time he had heard the story of Jesus' birth. He thought. He thought a lot that night. It was the first time he was able to think in the Slytherin common room. Of course the entrance painting didn't make it easy.
The next morning he awoke to find two owls on the end of is bed. Nevermore was on her perch beside him. Then at the foot of his bed, he found for the first time, presents. He picked one up and opened it. It was from Sherry, there were three books inside, the Bible, the Torah, and the Koran. The note said, "you aren't what you don't choose to be. Make your own choice."
The next was from Lo-Ith, it was a small bag of chocolate frogs, he had started colleting the cards. The problem was he kept getting Dumbledore's and Salazar Slytherin's.
Rachel gave him a book entitled, "Curses and Jinxes you shouldn't know, but ought to." It was of course a WWW product.
Then the last package was from Prof. Granger. It was book entitled "A first year's guide to Hogwart's." when he opened the book, a blank piece of parchment fell out. written in the margin of the map page were the words, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The note she had left separately said, "This belonged to my fiancé. I think you can find a few good uses for it. Please try to only bend the rules, not break."
As he held the blank parchment he looked at the message in the margin with puzzlement. He spoke, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good?' what does that mean?" but before he could inquire further, he noticed that the parchment was beginning to change. Curly letters appeared and a map appeared in the center. The top began:
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Proudly Present;
The Marauder's Map of Hogwart's.
Then he noticed that there were things moving about on the map. He looked at them. Each was labeled. Among others there was H. Granger, L.I. Voluth, and M. McGonagall. Then he kept looking. He notice that almost everyone was accounted for, with the exception of the grounds keeper and games keeper, Mr. Rigel White. But in his apartment was a dog shaped figure labeled P. Foot, and a human shaped figure Labeled R. Lupin. "Probably has visitors," he thought. "How do I clear this?" he wondered aloud.
Suddenly below the map words began to appear, "Messr. Prongs suggests you tap the map with your wand,:
Then more, "And Messr. Padfoot reminds Messr. Prongs to that you are going to need to say, 'Mischief Managed.'
Again, in a different name, "Messr. Moony would like to welcome the newest user of the Marauders' Map.
Then a fourth, "Messr. Wormtail hopes that the new user has as many adventures as our previous user, the one who called himself Messr. Prongs Jr. Or at least as much fun as our user before him, Messr. Weasly and Weasly."
Satine: I shall do my best to continue. And I am glad you find it original.
Luisa: as you wish.
Anonymous: you were not negative, you were simply pointing out things that I should have justified somehow. I appreciate sharp minds reading my stories. Oh and spot on with the portrait.
ER: thank you and I shall.
Zane Cobalt, the Muggle-Born Slytherin
Family
Zane caught up with Shelly later that week. "Shelly!" he called after her.
She started to speed up, but he got in front of her. "Shelly I am sorry. I didn't know fighting would upset you that much."
She wouldn't look him in the eye. "It's just . . ." she began.
"Just what?" he prompted.
"Well, you have to understand, my daddy isn't the man who gave my mum me. In fact, until I was seven, my daddy was Uncle Neville, just a friend of my mum's. You see, my dad . . . that is my real father . . . he used to beat around my mum. I hated it. She would do everything to hide the marks from her friends. Finally one day she told one of my uncles, I have bloody lot of them. My father never came home from work. My mum had a divorce pushed through, didn't even ask for child support or alimony. She just wanted away from him. I never saw him again, not after that day my mum told." Shelly had tears in her eyes. "After a year, Uncle Neville started coming around a lot. And then he asked my mum to marry him." She looked up with sort of a crooked smile. "That was the best day of my life; when I lay in bed listening to him pop the question. It wasn't hard to switch to calling him Daddy. He never hurt my mum ever. In fact there are times when I think he might be a little afraid of her. I guess he'd have to be when she has six older brothers."
"Six?"
"Yeah, I have three younger sisters, and . . ." she looked both ways as if some one might be listening in. "I have a little brother just started on the way."
"So that is why you hate fighting?" Zane asked. "Because it's what your father used to do to your mum?"
"Yeah, sounds stupid though, huh?"
Zane wrapped her in a light hug, "Not at all." He stepped back as he realized what he had been doing. He blushed and said, "er . . . well I cant promise I wont ever fight again . . . but I will try. Can I still duel?"
Shelly smiled and said, "Sure, hex and curse all you want, but no fists."
"So you aren't really a pureblood?" Zane inquired, remembering what Bellatrix had said on the train.
"Oh no. I am a pureblood, but my mum refuses to tell me who he was. she says that she doesn't want me trying to find him and getting hurt. But she says very certainly that he was a pureblood."
Zane considered this. "That's alright, I like ya even if you are a pureblood." He nudged her and gave her a wink. She laughed and put an arm around him. "So when's your next sister coming?"
"She'll be starting when we are in our third year. Her name is Alice. Then in our fourth year joins Hermione, I think you can guess who she is named for."
"Prof. Granger."
"Right 'O. lets see then . . . Molly will be starting when we are in our last year. And we should be graduated quite some time when my brother starts."
"That's a big family."
"That's nothing compared to my mum's. you have my Uncle Charlie, who works for Gringott's as a curse breaker, my Uncle Bill, who works with dragon's outside Shanghai, my Uncle Percy, who works as Deputy Head of Muggle Relations, just under my grandfather, my Uncles Fred and George, they own that prank business that Rachel was talking about, my Uncle Ron is an Auror but they say he has something still going on the side. Then my mum is the youngest. I have twelve cousins, who are sneaking up behind me now aren't they?"
Sure enough as she had been talking about her family a dozen students, all with fire red hair and Gryffindor robes had been sneaking up behind her. they lifted her up in a hug. The eldest was a seventh year girl. She eyed Zane warily. "This is a Slytherin you're hanging out with Shell."
"Come off it Patty. He is my friend. Besides, he is the Muggle-born the school is talking about. Shelly turned back to Zane and said, "Okay this is my cousin, Patil, named for her mother's maiden-name. She is the Gryffindor Head Girl. That is her sister Lavender," she pointed to a shorter girl, "She is in fifth year. They are my Uncle Ron's kids."
She pointed to a six very similar looking students, "Half of those are Uncle Fred's kids, the other half are Uncle George's." she began to point through them. "Lee, Frank, and Zonko are my Uncle Fred's. Tommy, Jean, and Aragass are Uncle George's. and no there is nothing wrong with your eyes. Both of my twin uncles had Triplets born two months apart. They are half of Gryffindor's fourth year class." Zane shook his head. Some of the names were weird.
She pointed to a pair of seventh years, "They are Sotum," a boy, "And Parcill," a girl. "They are uncle Percy's kids." Then a sixth year boy and a fifth year girl in the back and said, "Those are my Uncle Charlie's kids. He is Peter and she is Draca."
"Oiy," Zane said, "Just hearing about your family is tiring."
"Yeah," said Patil, "But a big family makes for a great haul at Christmas."
"Well, . . . er I'll um," Zane had become very uncomfortable with the topic. "I'll see ya around."
He began to head off. Shelly bid her family good bye and caught up. "Are you okay?"
He faked a laugh rather badly and said, "I pity the guy who tries to date you or your sisters, he'll have half of Gryffindor on him."
"what is this about? You freaked out when Patty spoke. Do you not like her?"
He turned back. And then heaved a sigh. "It was what she said, about Christmas."
"She was kidding. . ."
"No that isn't the problem. I . . . my family, we're atheisists. My parents refuse to teach me about other religions."
Shelly stared at him. "So you don't celebrate anything but birthdays?"
"Yeah I guess." He shifted.
They didn't mention anything about it again. Months seemed to blur together. before they knew it, it was the start of Holidays. Rachel was headed home, and Lo-Ith and Shelly were staying behind. Zane had written home and told is parents he would stay at school and catch up on homework. His parents didn't even write back.
It was Christmas Eve. There were five other students staying at Hogwart's, not one of the others was a Slytherin. Prof. McGonagall and Granger were eating at the staff table. Prof. Granger gave Zane a light nod as he walked in to the Great Hall. It was evening. The bewitched ceiling showed the night sky lightly snowing. Given the few students present, they had slimmed things down to one table. As Shelly sat down, Zane noticed she had brought a rather thick book with her.
"Don't you know its rude to read at the table," he joked, knowing she did it at least twice a week.
"Not if you're sharing with every one," she quipped. She stood up, and in an uncharacteristically bold fashion called out, "Is there anyone here who isn't Christian?"
Not a soul raised their hand. She then called out, "Would anyone object to a reading of the First Noel before dinner?" Again no one said a word. Zane watched transfixed. She told of Joseph and Mary who were to be wed. Then she spoke of Mary's visit from an angel, who told her she would bear the child of god. He heard of Joseph's disbelief until he too was visited by an angel. Then he heard of their return to his home town of Bethlehem, and of their stay in a stable. He heard of how the baby was born and placed in a manger. The he heard of the sheppards being called by another angel to come and pay tribute to the baby. Then the tale of three kings, who were guided by a star to where the infant lay, and how those kings bowed down before what was apparently the son of a carpenter, and presented him with the finest gifts. They he heard of Herod and the plan to kill the baby. He heard of Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus' flight into the desert. She concluded by saying "This is the word of the lord."
Everyone save Zane responded, "Thanks be to god."
That was the first time he had heard the story of Jesus' birth. He thought. He thought a lot that night. It was the first time he was able to think in the Slytherin common room. Of course the entrance painting didn't make it easy.
The next morning he awoke to find two owls on the end of is bed. Nevermore was on her perch beside him. Then at the foot of his bed, he found for the first time, presents. He picked one up and opened it. It was from Sherry, there were three books inside, the Bible, the Torah, and the Koran. The note said, "you aren't what you don't choose to be. Make your own choice."
The next was from Lo-Ith, it was a small bag of chocolate frogs, he had started colleting the cards. The problem was he kept getting Dumbledore's and Salazar Slytherin's.
Rachel gave him a book entitled, "Curses and Jinxes you shouldn't know, but ought to." It was of course a WWW product.
Then the last package was from Prof. Granger. It was book entitled "A first year's guide to Hogwart's." when he opened the book, a blank piece of parchment fell out. written in the margin of the map page were the words, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The note she had left separately said, "This belonged to my fiancé. I think you can find a few good uses for it. Please try to only bend the rules, not break."
As he held the blank parchment he looked at the message in the margin with puzzlement. He spoke, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good?' what does that mean?" but before he could inquire further, he noticed that the parchment was beginning to change. Curly letters appeared and a map appeared in the center. The top began:
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Proudly Present;
The Marauder's Map of Hogwart's.
Then he noticed that there were things moving about on the map. He looked at them. Each was labeled. Among others there was H. Granger, L.I. Voluth, and M. McGonagall. Then he kept looking. He notice that almost everyone was accounted for, with the exception of the grounds keeper and games keeper, Mr. Rigel White. But in his apartment was a dog shaped figure labeled P. Foot, and a human shaped figure Labeled R. Lupin. "Probably has visitors," he thought. "How do I clear this?" he wondered aloud.
Suddenly below the map words began to appear, "Messr. Prongs suggests you tap the map with your wand,:
Then more, "And Messr. Padfoot reminds Messr. Prongs to that you are going to need to say, 'Mischief Managed.'
Again, in a different name, "Messr. Moony would like to welcome the newest user of the Marauders' Map.
Then a fourth, "Messr. Wormtail hopes that the new user has as many adventures as our previous user, the one who called himself Messr. Prongs Jr. Or at least as much fun as our user before him, Messr. Weasly and Weasly."