Title: A sky, far, far away
Author: remind me to breathe a.k.a. Claire
E-Mail: clairestreber24.de
Rating: PG-13 (to be safe)
Pairing: none
Time: 1991, Harrys first year
Disclaimer: I own not a thing. Due to the fact that this story covers one of the years already written, the majority of the events and some of the dialogue comes straight from the book.
Thanks to: Healer Molly for the excellent (and helpful) beta
Chapter 1: If James had known..
"I saw Dudley and Harry at a shop. They appeared to be the same age and yet – they couldn't have been more different. The one behaved like a child should, full of naivety and carelessness; he acted as though he could rule the world. The other, even though he was smaller and a bit younger, seemed older beyond his years. He gave the impression of being tired, battle-weary, but in his eyes, I saw pride and strength of will. If I hadn't known better, I would never have believed they were related."
A passenger remembers, in "The Fate of the Chosen One"
A decade before Harry's first year at Hogwarts…
James rushed through the streets, his robes billowing in the wind. He was in another world, distracted by his thoughts. Everybody waved to him, hoping he would wave back. Their efforts were in vain. James hurried on, he didn't see them. He didn't see their phony smiles and their needy waving. He didn't see anything but her, and her eyes. Her beautiful green eyes.
Peter too could get lost in her eyes. And he did, every time she looked at him. She was everything to him, but she didn't know it. He thought this was for the best. If she ever found out, she would likely never speak to him again. She didn't know the effect she had on him. She didn't know that she was the only one for him, the only one who understood him. She had the same wish he did, the wish to scream and break away from all the expectations, the wish to hide under a desk and wait for the war to be over. She wasn't happy with James, Peter knew this for a fact. Yesterday, her eyes had been red and swollen from crying. Sometimes she seemed so forlorn. Of course, Peter knew that Lily understood the utter despair that he felt with every breath that he took. She felt the loneliness too, the awful loneliness. Peter smiled for the first time that day the moment he saw her. She looked at him and smiled back. His heart began beating faster; he wanted to run to her. Then he noticed the shadow behind him. His heart shattered when he realized that she was smiling at James.
(James and not him)
His eyes turned cold and he looked away. Someone called out his name and he turned around; it was Sirius. Peter smiled, though the smile didn't reach his eyes, but Sirius didn't notice. Of course he didn't. He was like all the rest of them, insincere, deceitful. However, Peter was just as deceitful.
He wondered why Lily loved James; they had nothing in common. Peter had always thought it was ironic how similar he and Lily were. She knew that Peter's friends made fun of him all the time and Peter knew that Lily's sister made fun of her. They should be together because they were equals. But she was too preoccupied with James to notice this.
(James and not him)
But it was James who was with her. He felt her pain, comforted her, probably better than Peter ever could. Peter wanted to forget about her, to escape from her for the rest of the day. His facade took over; he became detached and cold.
"My head is killing me,"he said. "I'm going to see Madame Pomfrey." They nodded and continued their conversation, barely glancing in his direction. They couldn't be bothered by what Peter had to say. They didn't notice the words he shouted into the Floo.
"Riddle Manor."
(James and not him)
He wanted to be free. Free from lies of a deceitful world, free from his so-called and their deceitful smiles. Most of all, he wanted to be free from Lily Evans-Potter, who had decided in favor of James.
(James and not him)
Voldemort and not her.
...back into the present..
"What if a Muggleborn, a Weasley, and the Boy-Who-Lived got sorted into Slytherin?" said Hermione.
"What?" asked Harry, startled.
"But Slytherins are evil!" Ron said.
"No, that's just another stereotype. If they were really evil, we wouldn't be able to be sorted into Slytherin because we're good people. Well, we think we're good at least. We don't do anything immoral at any rate. People aren't born wicked, they learn to be that way. Slytherins aren't evil, that's just their reputation," Hermione contradicted.
"That is true, it's just another prejudice. If they were truly evil, all of them would be expelled. Plus, how can a eleven-year old possibly be evil?" Harry said.
"This would be a brilliant chess move; an unknown strategy. The opponent won't know what hit him," Ron murmured. "But how will we make sure we get sorted into Slytherin?"
"Well, the Slytherins are cunning, strategic, and loyal friends. Whatever the sorting rituals are, we will have to argue that we fit those criteria," Hermione said.
"So, we're going to do this?" Harry asked.
"Let's shock the world!" Ron said, grinning.
The toad Hermione had been searching for earlier was long forgotten. From that moment forward, the three of them were friends. You can't experience some things without coming friends. Working to change society's ideas is certainly one of those things.
"Mum is going to kill me," Ron lamented. "All the rest of my family has been in Gryffindor House."
"This won't be the only hardship we'll face from our decision. We will be outcasts, watched and hated by everybody. We will only have each other," Hermione said.
"They should hate us. I'd rather die being proud of myself, being who I want to be, rather than live a lie!" Harry snorted.
"You've read too many books by freedom fighters. They won't kill us," Hermione said.
"Not yet," Ron added.
"Drama queen," Hermione said with a smile.
"I'm afraid that everyone will find out that I don't know anything about magic," Harry said.
"You don't have to worry about meeting any expectations if you're sorted into Slytherin. People will assume you know some things already," Hermione reassured him.
"We, I mean, kids that grow up in magical families don't know that much more than the Muggleborns when they start at Hogwarts, I've heard. The only thing I probably know more about is wizarding traditions and that kind of stuff," Ron added.
"Still, it would be wise if we prepared ourselves somewhat," Harry said. "It would make me feel better."
"I agree. That's why I memorized all our schoolbooks already," said Hermione.
"You what?" Ron and Harry asked in unison, staring at Hermione disbelievingly.
"I thought it would come in handy," Hermione said. "Besides, I love learning."
Harry smiled, amazed by his new friend's intelligence. "Listen, I have an idea. Ron knows about the magical world, traditions, etc. He told me earlier that he's good at chess, so I would guess he's good with strategy too. Hermione, you seem to be good with books and learning. I have money, knowledge of Muggles that only adults should have, and my name. What if we share our talents, you know, teach each other?"
"Sounds like a win-win situation to me," Hermione said.
"I don't know what a win-win situation is, but that sounded like a true Slytherin's plan. I'm in," said Ron.
"Good, I suggest we start right away. We'll have to change everything about ourselves, starting with the way we look. Ron, you'll need a new wand too, it'll work better for you. We'll send Ollivander an owl straight away. We'll also need new clothes, something of our own design," Harry mused.
"Black," Hermione said.
"What?"
"Black, it's the most refined color and it would look good on all of us. We'll buy black robes, notebooks, book bags.."
"Just black?" Ron asked.
"No, we'll use plain silver for anything metal and then use one other color to set a contrast. Let's use the color of our eyes, that's green for Harry, blue for Ron, and hazel for me," Hermione said.
"Brilliant," Ron whispered.
"It's a great idea; it's plain, yet noble, stylish," Harry said. "We can order everything from catalogs."
"How will we get the order though?" Hermione asked.
"It'll arrive once we put Harry's Gringotts key on the form," Ron answered. "How much money do we have?"
"No limits," said Harry grinned.
"Cool. This is something I've always wanted to do," Ron said with a gleam in his eye.
"Someday, we'll have to sort through your investments, Harry. You could be supporting some corrupt ministry without even knowing it," Hermione said.
"We'll have time for that later. First, we have to set up a vault at Gringotts for us. We don't worry about how much we spend on these things, there's so much money," Harry said.
"Are you sure your parents would have wanted you to do this? I mean, your family worked hard for this money," Ron said. He had trouble imagining that money wasn't an issue.
"If my aunt and uncle knew that I have money, they would just take it away. I'm sure my mum and dad would want me to spend their money for a good cause, rather than have my relatives who abused me get a hold of it."
After this statement, they remained silent for a long time.
"You know, we're going to need more appropriate pets," Hermione pointed out.
Scabbers let out a horrified squeak and Ron grabbed him. "We should keep him though. We could use him to test some of our potions on," Hermione said.
Scabbers tried to escape, but Ron kept a tight grip on him.
"I'm afraid he'll have to stay in Hedwig's cage. You don't like him that much, do you?" asked Harry.
"No, not really. He's just a hand-me-down anyway," Ron said.
"OK, that's settled. How about having a bat as a pet?" Harry asked.
"Sounds interesting…I would like that, or maybe even a spider," said Hermione.
"A spider? Hell, no!" exclaimed Ron.
"Are you afraid of spiders, Ron? There is a simple therapy for that, you know," Hermione said, smiling.
"Whatever, let's just go with the bats, OK?"
"I'm in," said Hermione.
"Me too," Harry said, grinning.
"I already have the perfect names for our bats: Augaue, Antiope, and Arachne."
"A- what?" Ron asked, perplexed.
"Yours, Harry, will be called Augaue. It means noblity, a fighter. Yours, Ron, will be called Arachne. Arachne was a mortal who won a contest against a goddess. Nobody believed she would be able to do this. Plus, Arachne means spider in Latin. I'll call mine Antiope, that name means 'much knowledge,'" Hermione said.
"Arachne – sounds good to me," said Ron.
"Those are great names, Hermione. It's cool that all of the names start with the same letter."
"It's a stylistic device called alliteration. Plus, it does sound cool," Hermione said with a sly grin.
"Speaking of bats, I've heard that one of the teachers at Hogwarts looks like an overgrown bat. His name is Snape, he's the Head of the Slytherin house, and he teaches Potions. I've heard he can be a real jerk," Ron informed them.
"In that case, we should know something about potions, don't you think? Hermione, care to give us an introduction into the fine art of potion brewing?" asked Harry.
"Sure!" Hermione said happily.
"Could we lock the compartment door first? I'm not in the mood for interruptions," Ron said.
Hermione smiled and launched into her lesson. "Well, I have read about this potion…"
Hermione told them everything she knew about potions, which turned out to be quite a bit. After a while, the three students decided to take a short break. They sat in silence, looking out the compartment window, thinking about their plan and their new home. Harry was the first to speak.
"I have another idea; just hear me out on this. We'll have thirty hours a week of lessons and we're awake at least 100 hours a week. That means that we will have 70 hours left over. Calculate 90 minutes a day for eating and showering, which leaves 60 hours that are unused. If we spend those 60 hours learning on our own, by the end of this year, we could have acquired another two years of schooling and we would be at a third year level. Plus, if you study on your own, you learn at a faster rate so we could get to a fourth year level if we really work at it. If we could just find a spell to expand our memory, we could possibly get as high as a fifth year level!"
Ron looked dumbfounded. "That's insane, Harry."
"Maybe. But giving up a year of your life seems like a small price to pay for a life of unfair treatment," Harry said.
"Now who's the Drama queen? Alright, I'm in," Ron said.
Hours later, the Hogwarts Express pulled up to its final destination. Shortly before arriving, Hermione had straightened her hair and Ron and Harry had slicked back their hair with McLissy's Charming Beauty Balm. All three of them had taken on a different appearance than they had had when they stepped on the train earlier that day.
"You never have a second chance to make a first impression," Hermione said while wiping away some dirt from Ron's nose.
The three Slytherin wannabes (who by now knew where to find a Bezoar) wrapped their black robes tightly around themselves. Harry had said earlier that they would have to figure out how to make their robes billow in the wind, he thought it would look impressive. What Harry didn't know then was that twenty years ago, little Severus Snape had had the very same thought. They looked upon their new home for the first time. Without a word, they looked at each other; their shining eyes betraying their calm faces.
Then, a blond, pale-faced boy approached them.
"My name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
