Summary: Salene Snape transfers to Hogwarts after she runs away from her parents. Immediately, she catches the eye of Sirius Black. However, she refuses to like him because of his immaturity and...she doesn't want to just be another one of his one week flings. When Professor Carter, the DADA professor, finds out Durmstrang didn't teach defense, she assigns Black to tutor her, because he is the best student. And that is when it all begins. It would be easier, of course, if her cousin Severus wasn't breathing down her neck all the time. In this chapter, Harry, Hermione, and Ron try to find out what happened between Sirius and Salene.
Pairings: SB/OC RL/SS JP/LE
Feedback: ALL feedback is appreciated, as long as it is not needless flames. Those you can keep to yourself.
Rating/Warnings: This is M (R) for language, romance, and torture. The romance in this story, however, does not pass a light PG-13, if that. Mainly you have to watch out for language and torture/abuse.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: I posted the prologue looking for a beta on a different site and then posted the prologue here a few hours later. I realized I could be suspected of copying the prologue (though why anyone would want to steal it is beyond me) and decided to post the first chapter. I could've still stolen it, but...
Chapter One:
Salene regarded her cousin calmly while gently patting her bun to make sure it was in place. "Durmstrang provided much better transportation," she said, looking around the compartment and noticing the door beginning to open. She smirked faintly and decided to allow Severus to be tortured in whatever way the three boys in the doorway were planning.
"Don't change the subject. We were discussing serious-" His words were cut off sharply.
"Aw, Snivellus, I didn't know you gossiped," the boy in the middle teased, tossing his head slightly to flip his hair out of his face. His gray eyes flashed challengingly as they ran over Salene. "Who's the girlfriend?"
"The cousin," she corrected, a touch of disdain evident in her tone. "You should know Severus can't get a girlfriend." The other boys laughed, and Severus elbowed her harshly, face rapidly darkening from it's usual pale to a flush. "Salene Snape," she added, offering her hand and wondering if any of them would accept it. She was surprised, to say the least, at what the boy did.
He gently took her hand and brought it to his mouth, stopping when his lips were just about to brush her hand, the proper way to 'kiss' a lady's hand. He released his hold and smirked. "Pleasure to meet you. Name's Black, Sirius Black." In an instant, Severus was on his feet, his fist wrapped tightly around the neck of Black's robes. He jerked him forward threateningly, their faces few inches apart.
"Leave my cousin alone, Black," he snarled. He only then seemed to notice the wand aimed at him and released his hold on Black with a sharp jerk, causing him to stumble backwards.
"Now Snivellus," the boy on the right taunted, "is that any way to treat us? We came all the way from the front of the train to talk to you, and all you do is threaten us." He dragged a hand through his already rumpled hair and smirked, cinnamon eyes flashing. He was the shortest of the bunch, but only by an inch or so. The boy on the left glanced at him, looking as though he very much wanted to roll his eyes, and be somewhere else. "I'm James Potter, by the way," the second boy added with an air of self importance.
"The arrogant prat who never shuts up," added a feminine voice from behind the three. Potter whirled around, suddenly smiling nervously.
"Evans! How was your summer?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious, suddenly reaching up to flatten his hair.
"Fine, thank you," she answered distractedly, eyeing his hands oddly. "I'm Head Girl this year, and I won't tolerate you three picking on Severus. It disrupts the working environment and-"
"And you're trying to impress him," Black snickered, causing her to glare violently. "Besides, Snivellus made Head Boy, he can tell us off himself."
"Well...he hasn't so far, and I don't want a fight to break out-"
"He manhandled us, and we never put a finger on him," Black interrupted once more, voice rising in a mock dramatic way.
"Big words this year," 'Evans' snapped, and jerked him back by the neck of his robes.
"Why does everyone do that to me?" he asked to no one in particular. Potter followed them, looking slightly jealous, but the third boy paused. He had shaggy hair the shade of maple syrup, and hazel-amber eyes that gave away he was a werewolf at once, at least to Salene. It was not common knowledge that werewolves, and only werewolves, sported amber eyes and always dark hair. If you were born with light hair and then was bit, it went dark overnight.
"Yes, Lupin?" Severus asked, looking considerably calmer after the two had left.
"I was just wondering..." he trailed off hesitantly and Severus nodded. Lupin, apparently, stepped in and shut the compartment door behind him. Then he took out his wand and cast several protective and silencing charms before doing something that made Salene slip from her seat to the floor in a faint.
Lupin sat in Severus's lap, looped his arms around his neck, and kissed him solidly.
"You could have told me about that earlier," she suggested to Severus, as she stepped off the train, collected. He simply shook his head, and she began to follow him down the row of thestral-drawn carriages when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Indignant at being touched, she whirled around and reflexively whipped out her wand. Albus Dumbledore, who she recognized immediately, chuckled and gently lowered her wand with one hand. In the other, he held a faded and patched wizard's hat. "What's that?" she asked warily, watching the gathering crowd out of the corner of her eye. Black was pushing his way to the front.
"This is the Sorting Hat. I will place it upon your head, and your new house will be announced," Professor Dumbledore answered, smiling and half lifting the hat.
"I have to put that on my head?" she asked cautiously and he nodded. "No, I refuse it. Millions upon millions of heads have worn that hat. It's probably full of lice and grease and sweat-" She broke off abruptly as the headmaster reached up and gently set the hat down. She bit down hard on her lip to avoid the shriek that wanted to escape. She was unusually...particular about cleanliness.
"SLYTHERIN," the hat shouted, the word echoing in the vast openness. Professor Dumbledore reached up and plucked the hat from her head, where she immediately placed the tip and cast the strongest cleaning charm she knew.
"Disgusting," Salene muttered as Severus walked up, eyebrows risen comically. "Can I help you?"
"I would have placed you for Gryffindor," he said tonelessly, but she saw the teasing in his eyes. "Valiant, courageous...foolish, stubborn..." She rolled her eyes and shoved him, albeit gently.
"Yes, and you belong in Hufflepuff," she retorted. His lip curled in disgust.
"Those thumb-sucking brats?" She smiled and patted his shoulder in a supposedly comforting manner.
"So that's why your thumb is always wet," she mock whispered. He scowled and grabbed her arm before pushing the diminished crowd aside and boarding the first available carriage.
"What is he doing now?" Severus hissed under his breath, and Salene looked up from her conversation with a sixth year. Black was leading Potter and Lupin over to the Slytherin table, smirking directly at her. She glowered in return, and almost slouched in an attempt to not be noticed. However, her childhood lessons mattered more than unwanted attention, and her spine remained straight.
"Sirius, what's your problem?" a boy remarkably resembling Black demanded, standing up and two hulking gorillas followed after a few seconds of rapid chewing and swallowing. Black rolled his eyes and shook his head, ignoring him firmly.
"Don't mind me, Regulus. I was just staring at Salene across the Hall and decided to get a closer look," he said with a 'charming' grin at her. She found an unexpected blush rising, but managed to scoff anyway. He pouted in a childish manner; folding his arms over his chest and thrusting his lower lip out, his eyes going wide. She snorted and turned her attention back to her plate, very much aware of his presence as he sat across from her and touched the tip of his shoe to hers, his robes gently brushing hers. She was rather appalled when tendrils of fiery pleasure sparked in her leg, and the warmth eventually spread and settled in her stomach uncomfortably. It was puzzling, and irritating, that he was barely touching her, but he elicited a strong reaction.
"Black, I told you to leave my cousin alone," Severus snarled, eyes glittering dangerously. "I suggest you take my advice right - this - instant." He emphasized the last three words, with a pause in between each, and stood.
"I'm not a child, Severus," she said lightly, gently laying her fingertips on her cousin's forearm. "I know enough to protect myself." Severus's face twisted with a rush of emotions before clearing and he sat down heavily, a trace of a scowl still lingering on his face. He began to eat with silent anger, stabbing either his fork or knife savagely into his plate.
"How touching," Potter mocked. "Snivellus cares for someone that's not a paid whore."
"James!" Black barked, and Potter looked for a fraction of a second like he was going to apologize. Severus whipped out his wand, but before he could curse them his wand sent a platter of food crashing into them both.
The entire Hall fell silent momentarily at the disturbance until a Gryffindor stood and yelled, hands cupped around his face, "Food fight!" Already Salene was seeing Gryffindor stupidity at its finest. But she barely had time to dwell on it before the Great Hall erupted in laughs and screams as food was flung everywhere, splattering on anyone and everyone. She grimaced, disgusted, as a fistful of mashed potatoes whirled harmlessly by her face. Then peas, which hit her but rolled intact down her arms and back...but some went down he shirt and she shuddered at the slimy quality.
'Merlin, this is so disgusting, Merlin help, please - gross!' The same words ran through her head as she ducked under the table, as if it was her own personal mantra to live by and she needed it memorized. Luckily, Slytherin table was closest to the doors and so she began to crawl, shuddering in disgust at the dirt clinging to the heel of her hands, as well as her knees. Then someone interrupted her by bending and scooping her up and dashing out of the Great Hall. The doors shut heavily behind them, and she was gently set down, though an arm was still wrapped around her waist. "You looked like you were going to pass out." Black smiled, an honest smile, and dragged his hands through his hair to pull it out of his face. He pulled his wand out and a cast a cleansing charm on her, and then himself.
"You made it worse by touching me," she told him with a shiver of disgust. His smile faded and a dark look briefly flashed in his face. He leaned against the wall and folded his arms over his chest, surveying her with a tilted head.
"Why do you hate me so much? You don't know me."
"That's the thing," Salene answered. "I do know you, at least well enough to decide if I like you. I know you flirt with one girl, and snog another one the next day. I know you make fun of everyone who you consider below you, and I know you're prejudiced against Slytherins. I know you're the ring leader of Gryffindor, and you expect everyone to worship you."
He was looking directly into her eyes, and her stomach was twisting, but she tried not to let it effect her. "I also know," she continued, in a slightly calmer voice, ignoring him, "that you think you're better than Severus. And that alone makes me dislike you, because Severus is as good as my best friend." Black was silent for a moment, considering this.
"How about we're friends, then?" he offered, sticking his hand out and meeting her eyes. She almost refused, after his blatant disregarding of her words. She had given him reasons for not liking him, and she had meant at all and not just romantically. Then again, he was funny sometimes, and the year would be a lot more bearable if she wasn't insulting and shoving Black at every turn. And the look on Severus's face would be priceless - she loved her cousin but it was so much fun to bug him.
She smiled vaguely and gently shook his hand. "Sure." He grinned and pulled her into the Great Hall without releasing her hand.
