Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing.
"Sweetie, we need to talk," said Alanna after she had finished her daughter's braids. "About what?" Jayce inquired, turning around on her bed so she would be facing her mother. "Well, you see dear. You might not be as accepted at Hogwarts as you would be with our friends"
"What do you mean?" Jayce said confused. "What I'm saying is that, because your father was working for the Cause, you might not be that well liked."
"Why would they not like me if they don't even know me?"
"Because people are like that way," her mother looked at Jayce and for just a moment they communicated silently. My father ruins everything, Jayce thought. She looked down, playing with her newly braided hair, she was contemplating whether or not going to school would be a wise choice or not. Why would she want to be around people that hated her? "What if you taught me magic!" she asked her mother excitedly.
"No honey, I'm too busy." Jayce seriously doubted this, her mother didn't have a job, or atleast a real one. Her mother like to call her occupation a socialite but Jayce thought it sounded like a professional way of saying, rich woman with no job or skills. "Oh and one more thing, you don't have to bring those dreadful sports bras to Hogwarts."
"WHAT?" Jayce yelled. There was no way in hell that she was not bringing them."Yes, you'll look stupid with a sports bra and proper robes. Really, it's for your own good." And with that Alanna got up from the bed and left her daughter there to fume. If she thinks I'm not bringing my sports bras then she has another thing coming.
"Whoops! Almost forgot, Accio!" her trunk popped open, and multiple bras flew across her room into her mother's hands. Jayce grabbed one of her pillows and screamed into it. This is great, just great! After I get made fun of for being a Death Eater then they can make fun of my chest too! Her eyes started to water, she didn't want to leave her home for some place that didn't even like her. Jayce couldn't even defend herself physically, she was 5"3' and had no muscle at all. She also hated confrontation, which caused people to take advantage of her. Like the dreadful Pansy Parkinson, they were the same age so they were supposed to be "best friends". Unfortunately, this led to Jayce spending every minute with Pansy when they attended social events. Pansy would bully Jayce by spilling punch all over her dress, making snarky comments about her hair, and point out the fact that Jayce's father wasn't there. "Where's your father, Jay Jay?" that dog would say with a sickly-sweet smile, already knowing the answer.
"Oh that's right! I'm so glad my father was smart enough not to get caught! I couldn't imagine the public humiliation of showing up at a party with no father." Jayce just wished that one time she could think of a smart retort to shut her up instead of just looking at her shoes in embarrassment. Atleast the tiny little win she had was that Draco belonged to her and not Pansy.
Draco was the most sought after male in the pureblood circle, everyone sucked up to the Malfoys so that their daughter could marry into the most distinguished and richest pureblooded family. Luckily for Jayce, her and her mother didn't have to suck up to the Malfoys to get them to like her. The family alliance was as strong as ever and no plotting parents could ruin it. So when Draco would just talk to Jayce and no other girls at the events, it practically killed Pansy! It made Jayce feel good inside and made those parties a little less insufferable.
"Well Brutus, are you ready for tomorrow" her owl cooed in agreement as she drifted into a deep sleep.
"Bye mum! I'll miss you!" Jayce was waving to her mother, who was dabbing at her eyes and waving back. "Remember Jayce! Be proud of who you are! Let no one walk over you!" The train started moving and Jayce started closing the window, she turned to Draco who was sitting right beside her. "Where are Crabbe and Goyle?"
"Probably lost or forgot the train left today." He said loftily. They talked casually about Quidditch, the weather, the four houses and who was going to be sorted in said houses.
"As long as I'm in Slytherin, I don't care who's in my house! Except for Muggle filth of course" Draco added quickly.
"I just hope there are nice people really…" Just then Pansy Parkinson barged in. "Oh Draco! How are you! I've been great! You look adorable by the way!" Draco smirked and propped his feet up, clearly he enjoyed the attention. Pansy then noticed Jayce, "Oh, hello Jay Jay, still wearing boy's clothes I see?" Jayce frowned at the horrible nickname Pansy loved using on her. Jayce shifted around nervously instead of making a witty rebuttal and instantly regretted it when she saw Pansy smile victoriously. Crabbe and Goyle eventually found their way to the compartment accompanied by Nott. Theodore gave her a small smile and sat down across from her. "Did you see Bulstrode? I swear she gets uglier every time I see her!" Pansy babbled. Jayce sighed and turned to the window seeing the beautiful countryside pass by, she stayed that way for the rest of the trip.
"Potter, Harry!" excited whispers surrounded Jayce as they saw the Boy Who Lived get sorted into Gryffindor. Jayce rolled her eyes, he had seen how he acted in front of Draco and he seemed a little to full of himself for her liking. She waited a few more minutes, and then came the R's.
"Rookwood, Jayce!" The old woman called out. She saw some older students and even some teachers glare at her, just as they did to her friends. Jayce remembered what her mother had said the night before, perhaps this is what her mother was talking about. She made the long walk up to the stool, she pushed past a tall, redheaded boy, who gave her a dirty look when she didn't say excuse me. The old woman looked down at her as Jayce sat on the stool, the old woman put the old hat on her head and it began talking to her. "Hmmmm…a Rookwood, such a noble family but not as noble anymore eh?" the Hat whispered into her ear. Just hurry up please, Jayce thought to herself. "Don't worry my dear, well let's see quiet, studious perhaps a Ravenclaw?" Jayce cringed in fear, how would she survive without her friends? "Oh my dear those are not your friends, but you do seem to understand that they will get you places, maybe you should be in Slytherin….Hmm….very difficult, you have your mother's kind heart but you share your father's wit and ruthlessness….how about, SLYTHERIN!"
Jayce jumped off the stool and hurriedly took a seat at the Slytherin table. She was sitting next to a tall girl with long brown hair, who introduced herself as Daphne Greengrass. She seemed…okay, a little snobby perhaps. She and Pansy were already talking about the husband prospects and who had more money and whose family was better known. Another girl was Tracey Davis, who Jayce had only met a couple of times. She was very dim and vicious, and always insisted that her and Jayce should become best friends because their names rhymed. That made Jayce want to gag. After Blaise Zabini had been sorted, they dug in to the mountains of food. While eating, Jayce glanced over at the new kid, Zabini. He was tall with high cheek bones and brown slanted eyes. It was unusual that she did not know a fellow pureblood, since her mother had taught her all of the noble family trees. "So Blaise, right? Where are you from?" she asked politely. He looked over at her, once recognizing she was female, he quickly surveyed her. Feeling self-conscious, Jayce folded her arm across her chest. Once he was done, he spoke.
"I was born and raised in Italy with my mother but in the past year I've moved to Scotland" he had a slight Italian accent with regal undertones. He carried himself in a high manner, which strangely reminded her of Draco. "Is there anything else?" he asked snidely. Jayce quickly looked down at her plate in shame.
Jayce walked into her first Potions class on Friday, it seemed that she was the last Slytherin to arrive so she took a seat next to Nott. "Ugh I'm so not looking forward to this," She said to Nott. "It will be okay. I've looked at the textbook, it's really easy."
"I hope so, my mum said people usually inherit there parents magic abilities. Unfortunately for me neither of my parents particularly good at Potions,"
"Yeah, my dad said he was good at Potions but he wouldn't say how my mother was."
"Do you miss her?" She asked softly. "Of course I do, but you know what its like, only having one parent."
Jayce snorted, "Not really, he's still alive, it's just I've never met him in my life. Besides I want nothing to do with him!"
"You shouldn't say that Jayce, when he comes back it will be like he never left." Jayce looked at him questioningly, he knew just as everyone else that he was in Azkaban for life. She heard someone cough rather loudly, and faced forward. The Potions Master was a man named Snape, just as Draco had said he was her head of house. He was very creepy and angry looking, but it seemed to be true that he always favored Slytherins so maybe he wasn't too bad. He took roll call and started lecturing everyone about Potions, even picked on Harry Potter, much to the delight of Draco. The class went on without a hitch, well atleast for Jayce. Some fool had sent a boy to the Hospital Wing because he messed up his Potion and the Gryffindors had atleast lost 50 points. When Snape came over to her and Nott's table, he looked at their potion. He didn't make any sound and went on to the Pansy's and Malfoy's cauldron, who he praised there magnificent potion. Jayce looked over at Nott worriedly. "Don't worry," he said," he never directly gives approval"
"If you say so, but maybe we should stir a little faster."
"No, we're doing it correctly, now stop worrying."
After Potions had ended, Jayce walked out of the classroom and made the short walk to the Slytherin common room. She sat down and started her homework. It was quiet in the common room and perfect for studying. After a while or so, Pansy, Tracey and Daphne walked in, gossiping loudly about some Gryffindor girls. "Did you see Patil's bracelet? Those diamonds are so fake!"
"Or what about Brown's hair? So flat and oily!"
"Ha! What about Granger's? It's like a bush!" Over the week they had become a trio of sorts, making fun of other girls in their year, giggling at boys, and overall annoying Jayce. Since Jayce had rejected them the invitation into their group, she was a usual target. They looked around the common room to see who was there, when they saw her they made there way to where Jayce was sitting. "Jay Jay! It's nice to see you where girls clothes now! Although you may want to keep those knockers in check, you're starting to look like a common whore." Said Pansy. Jayce looked down, what they were saying was true, the school uniform required a skirt and a simple shirt as well as black robes but her chest loved to explode out of said shirt making her look more slutty then studious. Then Daphne butted in, "Really Jayce, you don't want some boy's parents thinking you're from bad breeding? Although…." Jayce was about to jump onto those idiot girls at this point. How dare they suggest that her mother didn't know how to raise her? Jayce gathered her things and left. She walked in the hallways thinking about how she should have handled that situation. Why couldn't she have a backbone and just stand up for herself? She made her way to the library and sat down and took out a piece of parchment and started writing. She wanted her mother to think she was having a good time but Jayce honestly couldn't write down anything particularly happy that had happened to her. She couldn't remember the last time she talked to Draco, he was enjoying his popularity and didn't have time for her. She hadn't made any new friends really, she and Nott were cordial but he was kind of a loner like her. Her classes were alright, her favorite was Charms. Flitwick had told her that she was one of the best students he had, which made her so happy.
"Mind if I sit here?" Jayce quickly looked up. Some boy who was tall with blonde hair had come to her table, judging by his clothes he was a Ravenclaw. Her cheeks turned red, he was so cute. "Sure, I'm Jayce Rookwood," she said with a smile.
"Oh so you're the Death Eater," Jayce frowned and started to gather her things, she didn't need to be judged by people who weren't even in her social circle. The boy, obviously seeing that she was upset, quickly said "Wait! That's not what I meant! Please stay! I'm sorry,"
"If you must know, yes my father was a Death Eater but that doesn't mean I'm one. So maybe next time before you judge someone, you should actually get to know the person," she finished gathering her things and left the idiotic boy. She went back to the Slytherin dormitories, and went up to the first year's girl's room. She laid down on her bed and started crying, luckily no one was in there to see her tears. She hated it here, all she wanted was to be home with her mum. She hated this school, she hated these people and she hated her life.