Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs, anything you recognise belongs to the amazing J.K Rowling.
Enjoy!
Annie Black was a mischievous girl, that rarely took things seriously.
But, she was a girl of very little change.
Her waist length hair was always french braided equally on each side of her head. Her pale skin, which was considered ghost like to some, juxtaposed her bright, light cerulean blue eyes. There was always a little twinkle or shimmer within them whenever she did or found something funny. Her eyes were shielded by thick black curtains made from thin hairs that made up her eyelashes.
She was currently sitting in an empty compartment, asides from herself, on the Hogwarts Express, looking out the window toward the sea of students bidding farewell to their respective guardians. Annie wondered what it would be like at Hogwarts, as she was a first year and had yet to have the pleasure of seeing the grand castle for herself.
There was however, a part of her that didn't want to go, as she wasn't sure how people would react to her and the name she bore. That may have sounded conceited to the average human, but if you were a part of the wizarding community then you could very well guess why Annie had had such worries run through her mind. It was common, within the wizarding world, that people were judged by their last names and, not uncommonly either, their parents or ancestor's choices throughout life.
She had no doubt that she would be judged the same way, especially considering her last was in fact, Black.
Now, dear reader, if you are unaware of who the Blacks are, then I shall explain them to you now.
The Blacks were an elitist Pureblood family, and were originally known as The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. This was because the Blacks were one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, a group made up of twenty-eight families who were still 'truly pureblood' by the 1930s. Purebloods were witches and wizards that came from families that were all of 'magical blood'. Most purebloods believed they were superior to muggles and muggle-born witches and wizards, resulting in them choosing to side with Voldemort during the war.
Sirius Orion Black, although pureblood, was well up in the ranks of the Order of the Phoenix, he was also placed in Gryffindor during his school days, despite his entire family being in Slytherin. He was different from the rest of his family, he didn't believe in blood purity, and Annie was glad that her paternal Grandfather didn't believe in such ridiculous notions, no matter whether the rest of the Wizarding World knew it or not. Which they didn't, whenever somebody who didn't know the whole story hears the name Black, their mind tended to conjure up an image, warped by fear, of the notorious mass murderer Sirius Black.
He was in fact, not a mass murderer, but simply a man in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He had escaped Azkaban, the Wizarding prison, in 1993, and found Harry Potter, his godson, and explained his innocence. Harry then helped keep him hidden from the authorities for the best part of two years. During this time, Sirius had reunited with his high school sweetheart, Madeline Harper, that's when Annie's father, Reginald Black, had entered the world. Her father had then gone on to marry her mother, a muggle by the name of Phoebe Floyd and they went on to have a baby girl by the name of Anabella Black. She, just like her parents and grandparents before her, couldn't care less about blood purity.
Annie didn't know much about her parents, as sadly, they had died when she was a little girl, so she was left in the care of the Potters.
Suddenly, the compartment door opened to reveal James Sirius Potter Jr, her best mate and fellow mischief maker.
"Hey belle. Damn you walk fast." He said, plonking himself on the seat next to her and propped his feet up on her crossed legs.
He was the only person who didn't call her by her preferred nickname.
"You gotta be quick when I'm around Jimmy." She said, promptly pushing his legs off of her, resulting in him losing his balance and falling on his arse.
"Hey! What was that for!" He exclaimed, jumping up and brushing himself off.
"You know I don't like it when you call me that." She smirked. "So, I got payback."
"You know you love it." He said, mirroring her smirk. "Besides, what kind of best mate would I be if I didn't annoy you?"
"No, I don't. But I'm willing to over look it just this once, if you tell me what prank you said you'd planned, that needed to be kept a 'surprise'. She said, standing up and putting her hands on her hips.
James Sirius Potter, was eldest son of the Chosen One, otherwise known as Harry Potter. He and Annie had been best mates for as long as she could remember, they also lived together, resulting in them being inseparable. Everybody who knew them, knew that wherever they went, mischief wasn't very far behind. Their friends and family were constantly on the receiving end of their pranks, most of which ended with them in trouble with James's Mum, Ginny Potter. They were however, fully encouraged in their antics by James's Uncle George, much to his wife Angelina's dismay.
"Ah, yes. My genius master plan." He said, beaming, radiating giddiness.
He ruffled his long chocolate brown hair, and reached into his pocket. James was much like his Dad with his thick, black, wired glasses that lay crooked across his nose, but was a spitting image of his namesake and grandfather, James Potter Sr, with his hair being just as messy and unruly as his ancestor's had been. It was a common habit to see him running his hand through it, mussing it up even more, though in stead of it looking untidy, it looked natural paired with his prepubescent features.
They sat back down and after about a minute, when Annie was beginning to get bored watching him rifle through his trouser pocket, pulling out all manner of things, that made her wonder how on earth he fit all that into four little squares the size of a folded handkerchief, he'd found what he was looking for and exclaimed loudly.
"Ah ha! I found it!"
"Took you bloody long enough." Annie spoke, exasperated.
He ignored her comment and held out his hand, in it was the object that had previously been lost within the depths of his pocket. When Annie saw what was in the middle of his palm, her face contorted into a devious smirk.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked, giving her a knowing look.
"If you're thinking about pranking an unsuspecting student before we've even walked through the door?" She said, he nodded. "Then absolutely." Her face broke into a wide grin.
An hour had passed, when they had finally put their plan into motion. They just had to wait for one more thing.
Sure enough, the little old lady, whose name nobody ever seemed to know, stopped her trolley full of sweet treats, and popped her head through the compartment door.
"Anything from the trolley dears?" She asked, her smile as sweet as the sugary snacks she'd been selling to students for well over fifty years.
"Yes, please." Annie replied, as she got up and approached the elderly woman, James inconspicuously placed the box of boiled sweets in her hand. "Two chocolate frogs please."
The Trolley Lady, as everyone referred to her as, passed her the requested items in exchange for two galleons, whilst she wasn't looking, Annie slipped the box of joke sweets onto her trolley. It was so full, and there was so many different types of treats that nobody would notice the difference until it was eaten. The sweets had come from one of the joke boxes that, James had nicked, from his Uncle George's stash, he owned a popular joke shop in Diagon Alley.
Annie thanked the lady, closed the compartment door as the woman waddled off towards the next compartment, and sat back down next to James, handing him his chocolate frog.
Surprisingly, it didn't take long for their plan to take affect, as not even five minutes later there was a shriek of pure horror from a few compartments to the left.
This, in turn, caused both Annie and James to collapse on one another in a fit of giggles.
Annie wasn't entirely sure how long they were laughing as they listened in on the chaos and confusion they had caused, which was echoing from further down the carriage.
They had sobered up a bit by the time the compartment door opened again, Fred Weasley Jr standing in the doorway.
Fred Weasley Jr was James's cousin and his Uncle George's son. He was a second year and in Gryffindor.
"What have you two done?" He asked, skeptically.
"Oh nothing too rash, dear cousin." James managed to get out in between snorts.
"But if someone has boils-" Annie started, but was interrupted by James.
"All over their face we had-" James continued.
"Nothing to do with it!" They said together, unable to hold in their laughter any longer.
Annie was laughing so hard she had to grip her sides to stop herself from getting a stitch, and James seemed like he was struggling to breathe properly. This behaviour wasn't unknown to Fred as they had a tendency to finish each others sentences, which, in Fred's opinion, was both quite cool and slightly creepy.
"You two," Fred huffed, pointing a finger at them." are complete idiots."
"Thanks for the compliment mate." James said proudly, having recovered from his earlier breathlessness, he now had his arm around Annie's shoulder.
"Now, when you've stopped acting like fools," He said, with an air of authority. "I suggest you change into your robes, we'll be arriving soon."
With that, he turned on his heel and walked out the compartment, closing the door as he went.
Fred, much to his father's dismay, was more like his Uncle Percy than his Dad. He was named after Fred Weasley Sr, George's deceased twin brother. He was however, nothing like his namesake had been, he preferred books over pranks and was always trying to put Annie and James in line. Despite being only a year older than them he behaved older than his age, he had high marks in school and was often praised for his mature outlook on life at just twelve years old. He was very much like the rest of his family when it came to his bright red hair, a tell tale sign that he's a Weasley.
Once Annie and James had changed into their robes, the compartment door slide open for the third time, this time revealing Dominique and Lucy Weasley, two more of James's cousins and Annie's female best friends.
"Oh thank god, we found you!" Dominique exclaimed, sitting down by the window opposite Annie.
"You alright Dom?" James asked.
"Oh, you had to ask didn't you." Lucy muttered, taking the seat next to Dom.
"No. I am not alright." She sighed. "We have just spent practically the entire train ride sat with Victoire and her friends, while they gossiped about who's dating who and gushed over Teddy's big proclamation of love."
"Hold on, Teddy's what?" Annie questioned, curiously.
"Yeah, apparently, Teddy came to say goodbye to Vic and ended up professing his love for her and then he kissed her, asking her to be his girlfriend." Lucy answered.
"I knew it!" James exclaimed, jumping up from his seat. "I knew I'd caught them snogging!"
"Excuse me? When did you catch them snogging, and why didn't you tell me?" Annie said in a mock offended tone, putting her handed over her heart for dramatic effect.
"Earlier, before I got on the train. I was looking for you actually, when I saw Teddy's hair and thought that he'd said he couldn't make it, so I went to say goodbye to him, but when I turned the corner, he and Vic were in a rather compromising position." He said, speaking at several words per second, trying to get it all out in one breath.
"So it is true then." Dom sat up from where she was slumped against the seat with wide eyes, Lucy looked indifferent to this piece of, supposedly, new information.
"Why would Vic say it if it wasn't?" Lucy questioned, confused, seemingly now a little more invested in the conversation.
"I don't know, I guess I just didn't really believe it. I mean everybody knows that they've been dancing around their feelings for years, but I never thought he'd ever actually have the guts to do something about it." She said, justifying herself.
"Fair point, Teddy never has been very good with girls." James agreed.
At this, all three girls turned their heads towards James, their eyebrows raised and their arms folded in perfect synchronization, in a way only women could do.
"And how would you know?" Annie asked. "You've never even spoken to a girl who wasn't me, or related to you."
"I don't, I was just saying that he'd never been one to talk to girls." He replied, hands raised in surrender.
Although he'd never admit it out loud, James was often intimidated by his female cousins and Annie, especially when they did things like that. Thankfully, he'd never been on their bad side, but he'd seen what happened to people who were, and lets just say James would rather stay on their good side.
"Yeah, but that was because he was so smitten with my sister to notice any other girls." Dom said.
"It's sweet though. Falling in love with someone you've been best friends with your whole life." Lucy said, dreamily.
Lucy Weasley, did not at all, take after her parents. She didn't like the idea of five page essays or having a stick up her arse. She preferred to focus more on singing and music. Her entire life she'd been fascinated with music and she loved the way it sounded, how it made her feel as though she could achieve anything. She could play a great many instrument, but her favourite had always been the piano. She didn't care much for sticking to the rules either, she often helped aid Annie and James in their antics. She was a quiet and shy around people she didn't know but when with her friends, she felt like she could be herself. Like most of her family she had orange hair, but with a brown tint, making it more auburn and copper like, that curled slightly and reached just past her shoulders. She was a petite little thing, due to the fact she was born prematurely and suffered a minor heart defect, which she took potions for twice a day. Her small stature tended to make her the butt of very many jokes about her size from her cousins.
Dominique Weasley, was unlike her family, as she sported wavy, strawberry blonde hair that usually hung loose down the middle of her back. She was eccentric and rather dramatic at times. She wasn't very subtle when trying to hint at things and didn't, in most peoples opinion, know the meaning of the words 'shut up'. She had a passion for art. She liked to paint, draw, bake, anything that involved creating things, she was interested in. Once, she even made her own mini go kart, with the help from her Dad. She almost always had some sort of paint or ink dotting her hands. She too didn't care much for the rules and also helped plan and carry out pranks on poor, unsuspecting members of her family. She was a cheerful optimistic girl, but she could be feisty and ruthless when needed. One thing to keep in mind, is you don't ever call her Dominique, not unless you have a death wish.
"Lucy, you're such a sap." Dom said, smiling and playfully shoving her cousin.
"I take it that the girl walking around with boils on her face is thanks to you two." Lucy asked, changing the subject.
Annie and James shared a look, smirking at each other.
"Why on earth would you think that Lucy?" Annie questioned, innocently.
Dom snorted and rolled her eyes, resuming her original position, slumped against the back of the seat.
"Well, did you?" She asked again.
"Of course they did. Only Annie and James would dare cause trouble before we've even got to Hogwarts." Dom said in a matter of fact tone.
"It was quite funny though." Lucy said, a small smile on her lips.
"Yeah, it was bloody hilarious." Dom said.
"That's what we thought-" James started.
"But dear Freddie felt different." Annie finished.
"Ugh, Fred's such a buzzkill." Dom complained.
"Yeah, he does tend to get us into trouble when we do 'something we shouldn't be doing'." Lucy said, mocking Fred's voice awfully.
They all laughed at this.
About half an hour later, the train came to a halt, looking out the window, Annie could see that they had arrived at Hogsmeade Station.
The four of them exited the compartment and made their way off the train and onto the platform. Everywhere you looked, there was a gaggle of students, greeting friends and exchanging hugs. There was one group that was larger than the rest. It seemed to contain the smallest of all the children here, all looking up in awe at the giant man in front of them. Annie knew this man to be Hagrid, and old friend of the Potters, although she had never met him, he had been described to her and she thought he seemed like a man with a rather large heart with an equally large bushy beard.
"Hagrid!" James shouted, drawing the giants attention towards them, and unfortunately for Annie, right in her ear.
"Dude!" She exclaimed, putting a hand over her right ear, the one that took the brunt of the attack.
"What?" He asked, looking from her ear to her face and back again, a look of confusion on his face.
"You shouted that in my ear you twit." She replied.
"Oh, sorry." He said, turning his attention back to the giant that they were now stood in front of, amongst the large group of what Annie guessed to be first years.
"James, m'boy, how 're ye?" The giant asked, his voice thick and accented, but where he came from Annie couldn't place.
"I'm good thanks Hagrid." He answered, rather enthusiastically.
"Lucy, Dominique, I didn't see ya there. How 're ye?" The giant spoke to the girls, having only just realised that they were behind them.
Dom scowled at the use of her full name.
"We're good thanks Hagrid. What about you?" Lucy answered kindly, elbowing Dom and giving her a look.
"I'm doin' a'right." He replied. "An' who might you be?" He asked, turning towards Annie.
"This is Anabella." James answered, deliberately not saying her last name due to the amount of attention they already had from onlookers, all curious to see if there really were more Weasley children attending Hogwarts.
"Why 'ello Anabella, I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper o' the keys and grounds o' Hogwarts." He said, flashing Annie a smile.
"It's Annie, actually," She said, giving James a pointed look. "and it's a pleasure to meet you Hagrid."
"Well, it's been lovely ta see ye, but I've got ta get ye lot to the school." He spoke, turning his attention towards the rest of the first years and bellowing. "First years! First years, follow me!"
They did exactly as he said and followed him to a floating dock, it led to a group of small, wooden, rowing boats. On them, hung, bright golden lights, which Annie realised were lanterns.
"'Right, four ta a boat." Hagrid announced, watching everybody scatter and rush in order to get there first.
Annie, James, Dom and Lucy found themselves a boat and sat down, Lucy and Dom next to the lantern, and James and Annie opposite them. Once Hagrid had gotten into his own boat, they were off, the start of their Hogwarts journey was so close that Annie could practically smell the fresh parchment, musky old classrooms and deliciously tasting food.
"Hey, I wonder if I pushed you in the water whether the giant squid would eat you?" James questioned, looking over the edge of the boat and down into the water, to see if he could see Hogwarts's resident sea creature.
"Nice to know you care for me Jimmy." Annie replied, her voice thick with sarcasm.
"No seriously, I want to know if-"
But Annie wasn't listening. She was too mesmerised by the sight before her to be bothered by what James was wondering aloud about. Dom and Lucy had too noticed the picturesque view that had just presented itself. When James had finally realised that no one was listening and saw where their attention was, he too took in the beauty that was Hogwarts's exterior under darkness.
The large castle sat in a divot in between two grass mountains, the sheer size of it was big enough to fit the entire English wizarding population. Lights were on in all parts of the castle, but there was a row of lots of long, thin windows where most of the light was emanating from. Annie could feel the strong, enticing pull of pure magic running through her veins. The light was reflected in the lake, the calm, tranquil waters glisten with excitement.
The closer they got to the castle, the more the mood shifted from awe to anticipation. Annie certainly felt overwhelmed, and a tad bit nervous.
They docked at the edge of the water, and climbed out the boats onto solid, dry land. Hagrid turned towards the chattering crowd, smiling down on us, a look of nostalgia upon his rugged face.
"Well, this is where I leave ya,and in the capable 'ands 'a Professa' McGonagall no less." Just as he'd said this, a tall, slender, elder woman, with silvery, silky hair done up in a low, tight bun, deep green dress robes and a black pointy hat sat atop her head, appeared coming to stand next to Hagrid.
"Thank you Hagrid." She said, inclining her head at the giant, taking this as a sign for him to take his leave, he turned to bid the crowd goodbye.
"Goodbye, enjoy ya time here." He said, sending a wink in Annie and James's direction and walked away, his large footsteps fading along with the silhouette of his big burly body.
"Now, if you wold be so kind as to follow me." The professor asked, her tone polite, yet authoritative.
They followed the willowy woman into a grand entrance hall with enormous oak doors which had, most likely hand carved, intricate designs engraved into the withered wood.
"Now, as I'm sure most of you know, there are four houses at Hogwarts. Gryffindor. Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw. And Slytherin." A few people booed at the last house, some smirked proudly. " While you're here, your house will be like your family. You will also have the chance to earn house points but should it be necessary those points can be taken away, remember they all go towards which house is awarded the house cup at the end of the year. You will wait here until we are ready for you." Once she'd finished her speech, she turned and walked swiftly away, leaving in her wake, a group of eleven year olds who were in even more awe than they had been ten minutes ago.
For some reason, within the short space of time they had known her, Annie had developed a great respect for her new professor, though she wasn't quite sure why. Maybe, it was because of the way she held herself, or the tone of her voice, strict, knowledgeable, with a great deal of wisdom. Or maybe it was her eyes, cold and steely in the outside she was, but her eyes held much knowledge and had seen a great deal many things, things she'd learned from and things she'd learned to forget. She was a woman hardened by the brutality of battle. The muggles really had it right when they said that eyes were windows to the soul.
"Hey, what house do you hope to be in?" Lucy asked the rest of them.
"Gryffindor, for sure." Answered James.
"Not bothered." Replied Dom.
"What about you Annie?" Lucy directed her question towards Annie.
"I'd love to be in Gryffindor, like my Grandad was." She smiled.
If Annie was being honest with herself, which she wasn't, she was actually rather frightened about her sorting. The minute her name was called her identity would no longer be a secret and everyday from that moment on she would be known as Annie Black, Granddaughter of the, supposed, notorious mass murderer Sirius Black, instead of just plain old Annie.
James, having picked up on the change in her mood, nudged her elbow with his and whispered.
"You'll be okay. And if anyone says anything, I'll kick their sorry arses."
"I know, thanks." She said, smiling at him, though it was a sad one.
Just then, the heavy doors in front of them opened to reveal a large dining hall with four long, thin tables with benches full of students of all ages on either side. At the end of the room was another long table, except this one was displayed horizontally in front of them and was only occupied on one side, by the teachers of Hogwarts. The ceiling was bewitched to mirror the night sky that was currently blanketing the outside world, the stars shone brightly, as they would if they were stood outside. Floating candles just above the students, bobbed up and down causing a constant flickering glow to settle over the room.
The younger children walked on into the beautiful space, looking around with gaping mouths and wide eyes, whilst whispers passed between students about the newest arrivals to their school's ranks.
Once they'd reached the professors table, they stopped, awaiting their next instructions.
Professor McGonagall rose from her seat in the large, gold, throne like chair she'd been sitting in and reached for a scroll of parchment before making her way over to a rather unstable looking bar stool. Placed upon the stool, was a shabby looking old hat, and in Annie's opinion, looked as though it hadn't been washed in years. The professor unrolled the parchment speaking to the group of new students in front of her.
"When I call your name, you will come up and sit upon this stool and I shall place this hat atop your head and you will be sorted into your house." She took a long, deep, probing breath before continuing. "Avery, Maisie."
A small, petite girl with dirty blonde pig tails made her way up to the professor, sitting on the stool as the hat was placed on her head.
It took about a minute before the hat shouted.
"Ravenclaw!"
The girl looked giddy as she bounded over to the table where the most clapping and cheering was coming from.
Little did Annie know, she was next. So when her name was called, the entire room went silent all except for the erratic beat of her heart that, to Annie, was so loud she thought she might go deaf. Dom and Lucy gave her a reassuring look each and James gave her hand a gentle squeeze, reminding her that he was still there and that she wasn't alone.
Reluctantly, she made her way up towards the stool and placed herself on it, desperately trying to ignore the various looks she was getting from the entire student body and even some of the faculty. The looks were that of curiosity and some were, unfortunately, filled with nothing but hatred for the offspring of an, alleged, murderer. Professor McGonagall put the hat on her head and for a seconded she panicked when nothing happened, until a voice inside her head made her jump.
"Very interesting, you're a Black."
"Yes, I am. I'm sorry, but who are you?" She questioned, curious as to who this new mysterious voice in her head was.
"Why, I'm the sorting hat that is currently sat upon your head." It replied.
"Right, and why are you talking to me, in my head?" She asked, still confused.
"I'm here to determine what house you belong in. Do you by any chance, have a preference?" It asked.
She thought about what she'd said earlier about wanting to be in Gryffindor because her Granddad was then decided she didn't care as long as she didn't end up in Slytherin, she told the hat as much.
"Well, you do fit into all houses but I know just where to put you-"
"Gryffindor!"
The rest of his sentence was announced aloud to the rest of the school resulting in a stunned silence, which was quickly remedied by none other than Victoire Weasley, Dom's Sister, clapping and cheering. This then encouraged the rest of the Weasley clan including, James, Dom and Lucy to join in, soon the entire hall was filled with the sounds of cheering and claps as Annie made her way over to the Gryffindor table.
Later on, when everybody had been sorted, the buzz about the mysterious Black girl had died down and everybody was now solely focused on the delicious feast in front of them.
Opposite Annie, James was wolfing down his Shepard's Pie, he had been placed in Gryffindor along with Dom and Lucy, who were on either side of her, munching happily on whatever food they had piled their plates with.
As she sat there, Annie didn't feel the anxiousness that she had previously, but instead, was extremely happy to where she was, with her best friends. It was then that she decided that no matter what her last name was, she was never going to let it stop her from doing what she wanted in life.
That there was the start of Annie Blacks unpredictable tale.
AN:
Hi guys. So this was just an idea I had that I couldn't not write down. So as always constructive criticism is welcomed. I hope you're all staying safe during these times. Remember to R&R! Until next time. Happy reading!
Sincerely,
Purpleslytherin xx