CHAPITRE ONE:
"Mum," Raven called to her dozing mother. "Mum, Lily's coming over. She and I are going out to buy our school things today with dad, all right?"
Raven Sinistra and her mum were in the living room of her stepfather's glorious Yorkshire manor. Raven's mother, dozing restlessly on one of the many sofas of the Tohpps Manor, gave a disdainful, "Mmmhmmm…." In reply to her daughter's statement.
Raven sighed, giving up all other attempts to communicate with the only other being in the house, turned and left the room.
Once up two flights of spiraling staircases and reaching her bedroom, she threw her wardrobe open and grabbed a change of clothes: wide, extremely baggy, olive green twill trousers that buttoned at the hips; and a close-fitting, black muscle tank.
After dressing, she swung her thick, black hair (A/N: loving this detail…you'll soon hate me for it) back, and slid her fingers through it, pulling it into a tight ponytail, set at the base of her head. She shoved her feet into black, knee-high boots. They were, strangely enough, one of her most prized possessions. The bots were army-like, with massive treds on the soles, and tiny silver hooks all the way up either side of the tongues where the laces clung. Her father had given them to her when she had turned eight, but he'd enchanted them, so they kept growing as she grew, and they'd always fit (A/N: wish mine'd do that….)
Raven's dad, Artemis Sinistra, was a wizard, and so being was the reason Raven was only allowed to visit him during holidays and a very few other assorted occasions. Raven's mother, Miriam, was a squib, but refused to believe she had anything to do with the magical world. She lived as a Muggle, brought her daughter up a Muggle, and pretended the magical world really didn't exist.
When Artemis broke the news of his being a wizard to his wife, she left him, taking a seven-year-old Raven with her.
Raven bolted down the spiral staircases, through a few silent corridors, and passing many closed rooms, out onto the wild grass hill upon which, this house stood. She strode to the edge of this low hill, and set her hands on her hips, breathing deeply. The air was unusually cool for August, though it felt very refreshing after so many hours inside that silent, miserable house.
Her thoughts wandered as she looked out at the lonely green-purple of the hills, which bore an amazing resemblance to her summer-holidays. Lonely. She couldn't wait to talk to Lily again. Lily Evans and she had been best friends since their first day at the Muggle boarding school, but hadn't been able to see each other this summer, due to Lily's relatives visiting her and her family for the best portion of the summer.
At ease to her mind, Raven wondered what life would be like at Hogwarts. She knew well that her father was a wizard, whatever the hell her mum said to contradict it. Raven sent loads of letters to him, asking loads of questions about magic and spells and things he'd learned and people he'd met…. She couldn't help it. She was most fascinated by it all, and now, she was finally going to take part in it herself - much to the shock and frustration of her mother.
To cap it all, Lily had gotten an acceptance letter from Hogwarts. So, Raven's father offered to take the two girls to Diagon Alley to grab the supplies they'd need for school.