Disclaimer: Sparkie and Thorn only, Maken still owned by Maken-Wood, more characters to be introduced in the next chapter. All other characters that you recognize are owned by JK Rowling
Author's Note: Chapter four! Woo! This chapter has a bit more humor cause Sparkie can talk! Anyways. Enjoy!
Chapter four
In the Alley
Thorn was sitting in her kitchen, reading the Daily Prophet, when a tawny owl swooped in and dropped a letter onto her breakfast. The crest was an "H" surrounded by a lion, a serpent, a raven, and a badger. Sparkie leapt out from under her bacon and chased the annoyed owl away.
Thorn picked up the letter and turned it over. She knew what it was, Severus had told her that it would be coming. She slowly opened it and read it to herself.
Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwamp, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Rose,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
As she was folding the parchment Severus came in. "Ah, your Hogwarts letter, I presume?"
"Yes," she stated. "So, Severus, when are we going to Diagon Alley?" Thorn had acquired the same slow, silky way of talking that her uncle had, and now she could pronounce her "R's."
"Right now, get your cloak," her uncle said as he took her letter and read over it.
"Accio cloak!" She said and the item came speeding towards her. She caught it and turned to Severus, who had a joyless smirk across his face.
"Enjoy being privileged enough to use magic when others your age can't?" She replied with a smirk of her own.
Thorn was now eleven. Her black hair fell down to the small of her back and her dark eyes had lost even more of the little emotion that they had held.
She wore classier robes then she had as a child and didn't have to wear long sleeves when she was without them. She always wore what she and Severus called the cover, even when she washed. It was a black glove that didn't cover her palm. At the top it connected to a silver serpent ring on her middle finger and covered the back of her hand, her wrist, and her forearm nearly to the elbow.
The cover had two purposes, but only one of them would be put into use in the near future. The main one was to hide her Dark Mark, which remained red. Its second use was to collect the blood that pored from her mark when the Dark Lord touched it, but that was only a precaution, after all, Voldemort wasn't in power.
As hard as it was to tell, Thorn had changed a lot since she had been three. What little emotion she had held slipped from her grasp and deep into her mind. Also, she could now speak to all reptiles, thanks to Sparkie. She had the largest vocabulary of anyone Severus knew and acted much older then she was.
Sparkie had also changed. He was a foot long, from nose to tail, and each of his wings was about a foot long too. So, needless to say, Sparkie had big wings and a small body. Also, he and Maken didn't get along as well as they had. The lizard had jealousy issues.
Thorn and Sparkie used floo powder to get to the alley. Sparkie insisted on going first by himself. Thorn sighed and let him try.
"I don't think this will work, Thorn," Severus muttered as Sparkie nearly fell into the floo powder jar.
Thorn sighed, "Nor do I, but we'll let the stubborn lizard try. He'll probably end up in Brazil." Severus quietly chuckled.
Sparkie climbed into the over large wizard fireplace, holding a little clawful of the grey powder. In his high pitched, lizard voice and language, he called, "Diagon Alley!" and threw the powder into the flame. He was engulfed in a roaring fire and disappeared.
"What did he say?" Severus asked after a moment of silence.
"In his language, Diagon Alley, in ours, only god knows. Let's just hope that he can fly to Diagon Alley from wherever he is."
Severus nodded, then he handed the pot to Thorn and said, "Well, if he's trying to find us, we might as well be there."
Thorn nodded and took a bit of floo powder and stepped into the fire place. "Diagon Alley!"
When she emerged from the spinning vortex of fireplaces, she was in Flourish and Blotts. She dusted herself off and heard a loud crack as Severus apperated next to her. "Have you found Sparkie?" he asked blandly.
She shook her head, then they heard an exclamation from somewhere in the street. "Sparkie! Go find Thorn!"
Then came the unmistakable babble from Sparkie, which only Thorn could understand, "I'm lost! I can't find her!" He sounded so pitiful.
Maken Wood closely followed his brother, Oliver, into the bookstore, looking rather annoyed, with a blue and red winged lizard attached to his robes. His dark brown hair fell past his ears and around his deep grey eyes.
Maken had changed remarkably as well. He was more mellowed out, and no longer obsessed with unicorns.
Then Sparkie caught sight of Thorn and, to Maken's great relief, flew to her, leaving the brothers alone. "Thorn!" the winged reptile chattered, "I got lost!"
"Sparkie," Thorn said quietly, "You were bound to get lost. You can't speak human."
Sparkie nodded an agreement and they saw Maken come up to them, Oliver behind him. "Thorn!" he exclaimed. Sparkie glared at him.
"Maken," Thorn nodded in acknowledgement. Maken was too used to this to think anything different.
Oliver smiled and said, "Hello Professor Snape, Thorn."
Severus smiled his usual, joyless way, and said, "Ah, Mr. Wood, did you do that report on swelling solutions?"
Oliver nodded quickly, "Yes, sir."
Severus tilted his head slightly to the side and raised his eyebrows, "All three feet of it?" he crossed his arms over his chest.
Oliver glanced to his brother, then back to the Potions Master and said, "Yes, sir."
Severus continued to watch him for a moment then turned to his niece, "Well, come on, we have to get your books."
Thorn, Maken, and Oliver followed the professor to the desk and they got their books. Thorn got a few extra, seeing as she read an awful lot.
Maken and Oliver walked around with Thorn, Severus, and Sparkie for the day. They went to the stationary shop, and the potions shop, where Thorn bought a huge supply of potions ingredience and vials.
After they had everything but wands and owls the small, oddly matched group went to Olivanders. When they entered the shop it was empty, save for an elderly man standing on a ladder in the corner.
He glanced down at them as they entered and smiled. "Ah, Severus Snape, I remember your wand. Ebony wood, unicorn hair, fifteen inches, excellent for defenses, yes, I remember." He nodded and climbed down from his ladder. "A very good wand."
Severus nodded and said, "Yes, now, this young boy, Maken Wood, needs a wand."
As Mr. Olivander's eyes wandered over Maken, Thorn saw him shudder. Mr. Olivander could be a bit creepy. "Ah, yes, I have just the thing." He disappeared into the back of the shop and returned minuets later, holding a slender wand in his fragile hands. "Here, try this."
Maken took the light wood into his hand and held it out. Nothing happened. Mr. Olivander snatched it back and went to get another.
About an hour later they still hadn't found a wand. Oliver sat slumped in one of the chairs, prodding the arm with mounting boredom. Severus was standing against the wall, staring at the floor in deep thought. Thorn was trying to shush Sparkie, who was complaining rather loudly about how long this was taking. Thorn was grateful that she was the only one that could understand him.
They were all startled to their scenes when Mr. Olivander yelled, "Ah hah!" and the wand Maken was holding shot out gold and red sparks.
Mr. Olivander took the wand back and put it in its box. "Maple, holding a single phoenix tail feather, fifteen inches long." He handed the box to an exasperated Maken. "This wand will be best in Transfiguration."
Maken took his box and his brother paid, "Thanks."
Mr. Olivander smiled then looked to Thorn. "And you, you're a first year as well? Let me find you a wand."
"That won't be necessary, Olivander," Severus stated as the wand maker began to walk to the back of his shop.
He turned around. "What's that? Does she not need a wand?"
Severus shook his head. "She has one. Her mother's, my sister's."
Olivander's eyes widened, Oliver shifted uncomfortably. Maken looked a bit confused. Why in the world would it be such a big deal?
After a long, awkward silence, Mr. Olivander said, "Dark ebony, dragon heart string, fourteen inches. An excellent dueling wand, and produces powerful curses. The wand... the very same wand that..." he broke off and looked at Thorn as if he had just realized who she was.
Thorn, who had been watching with unblinking eyes, said, "Yes, the very same."
Mr. Olivander stared at her for a moment longer then nodded. "I see, it served your mother well, let us hope it will do the same for you."
They left the wand shop without a word. Maken was rather confused. "What was that about?" he asked Thorn, who was staring at the ground, her left hand up to her neck, holding her medallion, her robes' sleeve falling to her elbow, exposing her arm cover.
She looked up to him. "Nothing," she stated simply, her eyes showing nothing to betray her thoughts.
Severus put a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to whisper to her, "No one your own age knows about it, Thorn, not even Maken, don't worry."
She looked up to him and nodded. She had figured they wouldn't. With Harry Potter surviving Voldemort not even a year earlier, her murders had been quite over looked, yet it would still be hard for her to make friends. She now used occlumency without thinking about it, like a natural thing to her. And it wasn't like not making friends was a bad thing, in fact, it's what she wanted.
They reached their final destination, the pet store. Severus turned to Thorn and said, "I need to go to Gringots, when you're done wait here, I'll be right back. And please, don't get anything, exotic."
Thorn gave an empty laugh, "Don't worry, I won't." Severus smirked then strode down the alley and out of sight.
Oliver sighed in relief and said, "I'll be right back, gotta go look at the Quidditch shop." Then he, too, left Maken and Thorn.
Maken turned to his friend and said, "Exotic? What does he mean?"
Thorn smirked, "I have a few pets back home that aren't very common."
Maken looked at her and smiled, "Oh really? What are they?"
Thorn rubbed Sparkie's head and said, "Well, Talon's a Hippogriff, Feather's a Pegasus --really rare they are-- and guess what Shooter is, Maken." She smiled to him as best she could.
He raised his eyebrows, "What?"
She laughed hollowly and said, "A unicorn."
Maken laughed loudly as they entered the shop. "Seriously? A unicorn? That's funny."
Thorn nodded and looked around at the animals in the cages, "Yes, I thought it was amusing myself." She stopped in front of a cage in the back. There was a young, black owl in this one. "Um, sir?" she asked the shopkeeper. "How much is this owl?"
The man stopped dead and said quietly, "Folks 'ere tink dat dat dere owl is cursed, dey say dat she's been seen all round da wo'ld, waitin for folks to die!"
Thorn nodded, "That's interesting, but that didn't answer my question. How much does she cost?"
The man seemed a bit dumbfounded. "Ya mean ya wan' to buy 'er?" Thorn nodded. "Well, blimey, das amazin'! She's tree sickles."
Thorn took out her money pouch and set the coins on the table. The worker, however, refused to get the owl out of the cage, so Thorn had to do it herself. She put the wonderful bird into a cage that came with her and turned to find Maken, who was admiring a white bird near the counter.
"She's beautiful..." she heard him whisper as she got closer.
"You like her?" Thorn asked, rather unnecessarily.
"Yes I do!" he said in a barely audible voice. "She's beautiful!" he turned to his friend and said, "I think I'll get her!"
Thorn nodded. "Go ahead."
After they had bought the white owl they headed out. They sat on a bench outside of the owl shop and waited outside for Severus and Oliver to return. Then Maken said, "What are you naming your owl?"
Thorn glanced to him, then back to the beautiful bird in front of her. She heard Sparkie make a sound of disdain and thought to him, Sparkie! Don't get jealous! He didn't respond.
"Midnight," she finally concluded. "Like the color of her feathers. And yours?"
Maken's brow furrowed in thought, then he said, "She'll be Wind. What d'you think?"
Thorn nodded. "That's a good name for an owl."
"Okay, uh... Wand, wand... where do I get that?" The two glanced up to see a boy about their age looking at his Hogwarts letter, carrying everything he needed except a wand and an owl if he wanted one. He had light brown hair that was spiked, the tips of the spikes were blue.
Maken set Wind down on the bench and walked over to the kid. Thorn watched them for a while, then turned to Sparkie, who was giving Midnight the death stare. Midnight, in returned, glared at him with dangerous eyes.
"Sparkie!" she hissed, "What is wrong with you?" She picked up the lizard by his tail and brought him to eye level with her. "No one is taking your place!"
Sparkie crossed his little arms and turned his head away in a pout, still being held upside-down by his friend. She sighed and set him down, and he crawled into her robes pocket without a word.
Then Maken came back, sat back down. "Did you help him?" Thorn asked.
Maken nodded, "He needed help finding Olivander's."
"What was his name?" Thorn asked as Midnight ruffled her feathers.
"Uh, I didn't ask," he stated as he stood, for Oliver was on his way back.
"Did you get everything you needed?" he asked as he got close enough for them to hear him. Maken nodded, "All right, let's get going." He began to walk away.
Maken sighed, "Well, see ya later, Thorn!" he said as he ran to catch up with his brother.
"Good bye." About fifteen minuets later Severus returned.
"Ready?" he asked her.
"Yes," she replied and they headed back to Flourish and Blotts.
Back at their home, Thorn sat against one of the trees surrounding her house, reading over her school books. Sparkie was on her shoulder, glaring up at Midnight who was perched upon a branch above them.
Thorn was reading through her transfiguration book when a shadow covered her. She looked up to see the beautiful grey form of Feather standing above her. The Pegasus's wings were folded at her sides, so they seemed small, but in reality they were huge to carry her weight.
She neighed and gently ran her head against Thorn's shoulder. Thorn smiled and stood up. She stroked the Pegasus's neck and rubbed her forehead. Then they heard a whinny from somewhere to their left.
Shooter came speeding out of the woods and right to Thorn, his long, silver mane flowing behind him as he reared up onto his hind legs and neighed.
Thorn rolled her eyes a bit, then whispered to Feather, "I think he's showing off." Feather threw back her head and snorted.
Then the black hippogriff, Talon, came forward. He called to Shooter, most likely mocking him. Thorn noticed that Shooter had a thing for Feather, and that Talon mocked him for it.
Shooter walked to Thorn and Feather, ignoring Talon, and neighed lowly. Talon came up to her too. "I don't know," Thorn said after a moment, "What we're going to do. When I go to school, I don't know where you'll be going."
"They'll be going with you, Thorn." She turned around. Severus was standing in the doorway. "I've asked Professor Dumbledore, and he says that they can stay in the forbidden forest. We can't have them here alone."
Thorn nodded, "Ah, I see, okay." She followed him back inside.
Severus looked up to her. He was reading the daily prophet in his chair, and she was in hers, reading the book One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, or, she seemed to be, but the professor noticed that her eyes were not moving, and she seemed to be thinking. "Is something bothering you, Thorn?"
She looked up to him, her eyes troubled. Finally, she said, "Severus, I'm in danger, aren't I?"
Severus watched her, "What makes you think that?"
She looked down to the floor and sighed. "Remember the night that I killed them?" She had never talked about that night before, and neither of them knew how to take it.
After a long silence, Severus said, "Yes, I do. Why?"
She sighed. "I was never asleep, I heard the Prophecy. I'm in danger, aren't I? That's why I use occlumency, that's why I was taught the curses, that's why, wherever I go, I'm not alone."
Severus stared at her. "You were awake?" She nodded, "Ah, I see." He sighed, "I don't know, Thorn. I don't know what's going to happen."
She sighed. "That's why I cursed myself, when I was six," she suddenly stated, "Because I knew that something bad was going to happen."
Severus nodded. "I can't believe that you remember that."
Thorn shrugged, "When you don't have emotions to block the way, your memory improves. I remember everything from when I got this," she gestured to her Dark Mark.
"Ah," her uncle said quietly. "You were so young, it amazes me. Are you afraid of what the future brings?"
Thorn shook her head firmly. "No, I do not fear death, pain, danger. Fear is an emotion that I refuse to admit to."
"You must fear something," Severus insisted.
Thorn thought about it, then said, "If I do, it is one thing, loosing the only family I have. I don't want to loose anymore of my family." She shook her head, "That would be the end of me."
Severus nodded. "You'll never loose me, Thorn, I won't let anyone kill me."
She sighed, "'She shall bring death to those closest to her.' It is said that I will," she whispered. "I wouldn't be able to live if I killed you."
Severus sighed. "You won't kill me."
"How can you be so sure?" she asked quietly, Sparkie looked in on them from Thorn's room, "No one ever suspected that I would kill Severa and Romulus, but it happened."
"Thorn, I know that you won't. You can't. You were young. You wouldn't be able to now, your heart won't allow it. You said it yourself, your one fear is to loose me, why would you do it yourself?"
She sighed. "I don't know." Then she stood and Sparkie flew to her shoulder. "I should go to bed, I have to get on the Hogwarts express tomorrow. Good night."
"Night, Thorn," Severus said as she walked into her room.
