Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other characters from any other books I may use. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, as everyone here knows.
Author's Note: I deleted all of my previous stories and am trying to start over. I appreciate any reviews, good, bad or otherwise! If there's anything you don't like, or you think I got wrong, please LET ME KNOW!
Chapter One
"Catherine, honey, you have mail!" her mother called. She came running down the stairs.
"Who's it from, Mom? I never get mail," she asked curiously.
"Well, you'll never know until you open it," her mother commented dryly. Sarcasm was a common thing in the Boleyn household. Both mother and daughter had an excellent sense of humor, so they both appreciated jokes, innuendos, and the occasional poke at the other when she made a mistake. There was never any malice involved; it was just something they did for fun.
One of the things that they always joked about was her mother's height. Catherine was about a foot taller than she was, and everyone always mistook each for the other. The odd thing was, they did not even look the same. Catherine had dark brown eyes and black hair, while her mother had blonde hair and blue eyes.
Elizabeth, Catherine's mother, was secretly excited and sad at the same time. The letter had the Hogwarts seal on it, and she had a fairly good idea of what that letter contained, since She had gone to a meeting with Dumbledore last week to enroll Catherine at Hogwarts. They had moved from America to England after her third year at a wizarding school in California. She had thought about sending her daughter to Durmstrang, but she had heard too many stories about dark magic being performed there. Overall, Hogwarts sounded so much more promising.
While Elizabeth had been thinking, Catherine had already opened the letter and was jumping up and down with excitement. "I got in! I got in!" she kept repeating.
"Well, I'm so glad, darling. I was fairly certain you would, as Professor Dumbledore assured me that it shouldn't be a problem, but that he had to talk to his staff and the Board of Directors."
"Thanks for not sending me to Durmstrang. I'm sure I would've hated it there."
"So, I assume you want to get your books now." Her daughter was a bookworm and was always started her reading over the summer once she got her book list.
"Of course, Mom. I want to be ahead on my first day!"
"Well, let's go; Cat, after you change your clothes." Cat was her mother's favorite nickname for her only daughter. Catherine rushed upstairs. After her daughter left, her mother took a moment to compose herself. She was worried about Catherine finding out about her father. She didn't tell her daughter, but the real reason they left was because the headmaster at Cat's old school had found out somehow about her father. His exact words were "I don't want that devil's spawn here. Get her out." She took her daughter to England, because she knew that the headmaster here already knew about her father. The downside was: so did everyone else. It is possible that everyone had forgotten him by now, thought her mother. It had been many years, and her father had always played a more "behind-the-scenes" role. Her thoughts were interrupted by Catherine's feet pounding down the stairs.
"Are you ready?" Elizabeth asked.
"Absolutely, Mom!" They each took a handful of powder from a pot labeled "floo powder" and threw it into the fireplace, shouting "Diagon Alley". They landed in the Leaky Cauldron.
"So, where do you want to start?" her mother asked.
They left the Apothecary, their last stop for the day, laden with packages. Elizabeth and Catherine stopped for a moment to rest. Catherine sat down on the ground, heedless of dirt. She looked around, taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells. Suddenly, she took notice of a man striding down the sidewalk.
"Mom, who's that guy in black?"
"Oh my! That's Professor Snape. He'll be your potions teacher at school." He caught Catherine staring at him and headed over.
"Good evening, Lady Elizabeth," he said in a deep, resonant voice.
"Good evening, Professor Snape. I'd like to introduce my daughter, Catherine Boleyn." Snape nodded at her in acknowledgement.
"Wait! Your name sounds familiar. You wrote that piece in Potions Monthly, right?" Catherine asked, excitedly.
"That's right." He arched an eyebrow. This girl had read his article? He was slightly surprised. He hadn't thought that a girl of her age would be interested in such things. "You take after your father," he said.
"Really? How?" she asked excitedly. Her mother refused to talk about her father, and she had no idea why. Now she had a chance to find out something about him. Catherine missed the glare that her mother shot at Professor Snape.
"He just meant that your father was interested in potions. I'm so sorry, Professor, but we were just on our way to dinner. Please, excuse us." Quickly, Lady Elizabeth picked up their packages and hurried Elizabeth down the street. Catherine looked back once and caught Snape looking at her in the strangest way. Then, her mother hurried her away.
"So, where do you want to go for dinner?"
"I was thinking chicken. Do you know of any good places?" Catherine asked. She was still wondering about her mother's strange behavior, but she didn't bring it up.
"There's this new place in muggle London. One of my co-workers mentioned it and said it was good. You want to try it?"
"Yeah, sounds like a great idea. Maybe we should send all our packages back to our house, though, so the Muggles won't see our magical items.
"You're right, dear. I completely forgot. I've been so absentminded lately." Elizabeth waved her wand, and the packages disappeared into the ether. Then, Catherine's mother took her hand, and they vanished with a pop.
Elsewhere:
The cemetery was dark and shadowy. In it, two figures stood talking.
"Ssssooo, what does she know?" a voice hissed.
"N-n-nothing, my Lord," said a figure, cowering in the night. The other figure seemed pleased with the news.
"Good. Begin Phase One," he ordered his servant.
"Right away, my Lord." Then, the master disappeared into the night.