Right next chapter here and ready to go! Enjoy!
Sorry for the delay, first I had exams, (Which I aced btw and am now off to Exeter University!! :D)
and then a family holiday but am now back and writing with a vengeance!
Sorry again
xxx
Daegana
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The next day Sarah woke up feeling awful, her dreams had been filled with the visions she had seen yesterday. She hadn't told anyone what she had seen hoping that she would have a chance to talk to Jareth and ask him about it before having to reveal anything to her friends.
Realising that if she wanted to actually make it to lessons that day she would have to hurry and get dressed she finally got up from her bed in the infirmary and checked out with Madam Pomfrey. Practically running from the Infirmary she made it all the way to the Griffindor Common room without meeting another student. Muttering the password (sacrament) she found herself in a deserted common room, this made the task of getting herself ready before lessons began far simpler.
She was dressed and heading to the dungeons in less than 5 minutes. Although with her stomach growling painfully against her ribs she wished she had had time for a bit of breakfast. She passed Fred and George as they headed out of the castle for Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. Only sparing enough time for a quick wave, returned by a dual salute, she carried on towards the dungeons.
Arriving at the dungeons she found Malfoy obviously engaged in a heated discussion with Harry. As she got nearer she began to hear what he was saying
"—all I am saying is that if I were as accident prone as you I wouldn't want someone like that around me"
"What the hell are you talking about Malfoy" Harry looked extremely pissed off by now and was one step away from punching Malfoy. That one step took the form of Hermione very determinedly holding onto the back of his robes.
"Well the subject of conversation arrives at last" Malfoy turned to look at Sarah, trademark smirk in place, and suddenly all thoughts of breakfast were gone, "Potty, you should know a little something about your newest member of your fan club"
"Oh really?" Harry was now feigning disinterest; but Sarah could see he was curious to know anything at all about her, just like everyone else. Sarah wished she knew what was coming, if she didn't know any better by now she would wish him away to the goblins right now. But she had no
idea how her friends would react to the Goblin King appearing in the School, which would probably not help matters.
"Sarah is a member of the Vindici" here a gasp went up from surrounding wizards. Harry still looked confused making Malfoy laugh coldly. "Let me guess, yet something else that dear Mr Potter doesn't know! The Vindici are a very powerful very old family. Very old allies of Slytherin and his heirs..."
The way Malfoy simply left that sentence hanging worried Sarah. The seemed to mean something to everyone else as they turned to look at her, instead of the confused stares she was expected she was being glared at by members of both houses.
"Shes going to kill us all" someone muttered; a Gryffindor Sarah suspected.
"Not us just Potter, why do you think she is friends with him; then she'll turn the school over to Him. It's Sirius Black all over again!" This came from further to the back
Sarah tried to smile, "I er don't know what you have heard, but I don't know what you are talking about. You see I grew up with muggles in America" Someone made a laughing noise and another snorted loudly.
"I mean it; I didn't know I was a witch until a few weeks ago!"
Things could have turned nasty then except the hook nosed teacher who seemed to be everywhere turned up and lead them into the classroom. Sarah found herself seated near the back of the room, with a noticeable gap forming around her as people tried to keep their distance.
The lesson itself was easy, Sarah had been taught the basics of potion making by her spirit teacher, however she did need to pay attention to her cauldron, Malfoy kept flicking ingredients towards it; every so often one would land in it and Sarah would have to modify the recipe to ensure the potion would work.
She decided that there would be no point in complaining to the professor, Malfoy would only try something so obvious if he thought he could get away with it. Frustrated Sarah flicked her wrist and sent a small crystal spinning towards Malfoy. This caused his fire to suddenly flare up and effectively ruin his potion. Sarah turned her grin into a grimace as the teacher swept an angry glare across the class. He especially focused on Harry seeming to think it was likely that Harry could have done that without moving from where he was.
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After potions Sarah was rushed out into a deserted classroom. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at her appraisingly, before sitting on desks opposite her.
Ron began first, "the Vindici, are a powerful dark family, and I mean really dark. No offense. But they were one of the first to go to His side and they went down fighting after He was defeated; never even tried to deny their involvement. I think one of your uncles is still alive, but he's in Azkaban for slaughtering muggles."
Sarah was shocked, "I am related to murderers?"
Hermione nodded stiffly, "I'm sorry that you had to find that out, no one likes hearing bad things about their families."
"I do have some questions, if that's ok?" Sarah ventured she wasn't sure how much they would be willing to tell her, and they might expect some answers in return...
All three nodded just once,
"First who is Him? Is he the wizard who must not be named? And if so how was he defeated?"
"Second, Sirius Black is that murderer who had the whole of London in turmoil, it was reported on the news, what did he do to you?"
"And finally why are you so eager to believe I am not out to kill you, not that I'm complaining or anything"
Harry obviously decided to field the questions, "He is Voldemort (Ron winced slightly at the mention of the name), a powerful wizard who returned from the dead last year. He killed my parents and gave me this scar. The story of his defeat is quite long, but short version is that my mum died to save me, so Voldemort could not kill me. But due to one thing or another that protection is gone now..."
"Sirius Black yes he is considered to be a mass murderer, he escaped from wizard prison last year; that's Azkaban by the way; but he is long gone by now"; Sarah got the distinct impression that she was not getting the full story about that but decided not to push her luck.
"And finally we don't know, you are a bit of a mystery to us. I mean you know some stuff but not others, and you speak gobbledegook. We don't know what to make of you, but you managed to piss Malfoy off so you can't be that bad."
Sarah felt a great weight lift, but it was all too good to be true.
"So how did you learn your magic? You mentioned that you already had magical background but you have been living with muggles how did you learn it?" Of course Hermione would pick up on that. "It's just that you know a bit about us but we know nothing about you, we need to know something so that we can trust you".
Sarah sighed inwardly, how much should she reveal? Hesitantly she began to speak, deciding an outright lie would be the safest method.
"My mother left her family and England behind when she met and fell in love with my father. He was a prominent businessman in America so she followed him. Of course he had no idea what she was giving up only telling him that she had disagreed with her family. Not long after giving birth to me my mother was found at home dead. Doctors examined her but found nothing to explain her death"
"So she wasn't murdered?" Harry supplied, "It was natural"
Sarah shook her head, "no they actually found nothing, it was as if her system had just shut down. They could never explain how a healthy 34 year old had just died. Some years later Dad married Karen, and I now have a half brother called Toby (now the lying begins). Last summer I noticed strange things happening around me (slightly true, if you call them slightly strange), and I found a letter from my mom explaining everything. Soon after I got my letter from Hogwarts"
"But the lessons?" Hermione questioned
"Oh yeah, I had an anima doctoris, which I think is a spirit teacher. They are handed down through families and I guess my mom prepared for the possibility that she would not be around to teach me." 'There' thought Sarah 'only partly a lie, not too bad. And they seem to have bought it; for now.'
"Ok so who's for lunch" Ron looked happy now that they were all square again; Sarah smiled and followed them out of the room. However just as she left she saw a goblin sitting on the edge of a table looking at her, as she watched he giggled that high pitched giggle they had perfected over the years and ran away.
Harry turned to see what she was looking at. "Hey you coming with?" Sarah turned and smiled, "yeah" Well if he wasn't going to mention the goblin she wasn't going to bring it up. Maybe they often popped into people's conversations uninvited. Shaking her head she closed the door and set off for the Great Hall.
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For the rest of the day Sarah spent her time making sure that her lessons had kept her up to date with her subjects. She had no problems in Charms or Transfiguration, performing on a par with Hermione in all respects. Although she could not tell if the bushy haired girl was pleased with the competition or resented it.
Harry and Ron she found far easier to get along with. She could joke with them and not worry about the consequences, but she found the easy going nature of the Weasley twins much for fun to be around. After dinner they settled down in the common room for the latest demonstration from the Weasley twins. They seemed to have taken a shine to Sarah and kept trying to persuade her to model the items they had for sale. She reluctantly decided to try the "newly modified" nosebleed nougat just to keep the first years from succumbing to their wily charms. Unfortunately this had the hitherto unknown side effect of changing her skin to the colour of a tomato and her hair to bright purple. After 10 minutes of her glaring at the twins and them chorusing "we'll fix it!" her reddish hue began to fade. Although her hair remained purple.
Harry and Ron could not help laughing to themselves, and even Hermione permitted a small giggle to pass her lips. Sarah could admit that she must make a funny sight; but she wasn't about to let the twins get away with it. So she shot them the death glare again to make sure that they had got the message.
"How can we make it up to you, oh marvellous Sarah?" They almost sang looking far too innocent for people who had just turned her into a purple and red freak.
"I want a lot of store credit! And you must bow every time you see me for a week!" The twin's response was to bow low and say in unison, "As you wish my queen" and so with a dramatic wave of her hand Sarah took herself off to bed; praying that the colour had washed out by morning. Otherwise she was going to be even more conspicuous than she already was.
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Soooooooooo... comments suggestions? Just press the little box and speak to me!! XD
Love yas loads my devoted readers; I will have some more Jareth later do not fret!