Hey, here's chapter 2 of Dear Lucy! See that button at the bottom of the page? The one that says 'review'? Click it, please! Sorry about the lateness of this chapter but my computer was being very stupid and wouldn't let me upload it. I'll try to get chapter three up a lot faster than this one.
P.S Until I can get my hands on the HP series this will mostly go by what happened in the movies.
Disclaimer: I'm not awesome enough to own this series.
Rain tapped the window of an upstairs bedroom in a house on Spinners End. A wireless played a slow love song by Celestina Warbeck, but the owner of the said wireless was not listening to the witch's song but pulling all sorts of magic and potion orientated books from shelves that covered her room. Suddenly, in the doorway of her room, a man bearing resemblance to her appeared. He knocked on the partially opened door and waited for permission for him to enter her room. "You may enter." Lucinda said to her father, more focused on pulling books she may need from her shelves than what her father had to say. "You know that after you get all of your school clothes and books, you will not have enough room in your trunk to fit all of those in?" Her father Severus asked her looking over her selection of books covering her bed. He recognized every title, having been there when each book had been purchased and approved of her taking each one to Hogwarts.
Severus moved his arms from behind his back to reveal that he was holding a small red and gold purse. "This was your mother's she used to use it a lot before..." He handed it to Lucinda, "It has an undetectable extension charm on it, so I believe you will find it useful for bringing your books to Hogwarts." Lucinda smiled and took the purse from her father. "Thank you so much! This is exactly what I needed for school." She took the purse from her father and inspected the purse more thoroughly. It was made from deep red satin and square, with a long gold chain for a strap.
Lucinda began to put the books that she had pulled from her book shelves into the small purse and to Lucinda's amazement they all fit inside. "We will be leaving for Diagon Alley in five minutes. Please do not forget anything." Severus turned and left Lucinda's room without another word. "Yes father." Lucinda mumbled wryly as soon as he left and began to gather the few things she would need in Diagon Alley; her Hogwarts letter that listed all required materials (which she had memorized the day it arrived), some pocket money and her good cloak. Lucinda made her way down the stairs to her father. He held out his arm, Lucinda grabbed onto it and they apparated out of sight.
Lucinda and her father made their way through the crowd in Diagon Alley going into the crowded shops and bought supplies here and there. The number of people in the Alley was quite large due to the proximity of the new school term. After finishing purchasing a cauldron, ink, quills and robes, Severus herded Lucinda into Flourish and Blotts for school books. "Find your school books, I must find a certain potion book for the seventh years…" Severus trailed off and went to search for said book leaving Lucinda to find her own textbooks.
While Lucinda was busy grabbing textbooks from shelves here and there, at the front of the shop a young boy near Lucinda's age with round wire glasses and a lightning bolt scar stepped through the doorway. He made his way over to the bookshelf where Lucinda stood picking out textbooks. Looking down at his list he selected a few titles himself before he couldn't seem to find a specific one. "Excuse me," He addressed Lucinda after noticing she was holding the very same textbook which he needed. She turned around to face him. "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you knew where the first year potions books are?" Lucinda looked at the boy; he was fully dressed in muggle clothes, no cloak or hat in sight, which meant to Lucinda that he was probably muggle born. "Oh, right here, on the top shelf," She reached on her toes to a shelf that was much taller than herself and pulled out the text book which the boy needed. "I had a bit of trouble finding them myself. I don't know what they were thinking putting these books so high, no first year would ever be able to see them all the way up there." She handed the book to the boy. "I'm Lucinda by the way." The boy took the book and it added to his pile of text books. "Oh, I'm Harry, Harry Potter." Lucinda tried to hide her surprise. "That's amazing; you know I have heard your story more than any other. It's quite the popular tale." Harry just said a shy, "O-okay. So, this is your first year too?" Lucinda smiled, "Well if it wasn't I wouldn't be buying all of these books, would I?" Harry felt embarrassed, "Oh, right." Lucinda chuckled under her breath, "But in answer to your question, yes it is my first year at Hogwarts. Well, I have all my books. Maybe I'll see you on the train?" Harry nodded, "Yeah, maybe." Lucinda turned and left, going to go find her father and pay for her textbooks while Harry continued shopping.
On his way out of Flourish and Blotts through a window at the front of the store he saw Hagrid talking to a man dressed in black. Though by the time he reached the door the man had gone. "Hagrid, if you don't mine me asking, who was that man you were talking to?" Hagrid just waved it off, "Oh, that was just a Hogwarts's professor; you'll meet him soon enough. Now, what else on that list do you need?" Harry and Hagrid continued on through Diagon Alley, thoughts of Lucinda and the man dressed in black fading.
While Harry and Hagrid continued their shopping, Lucinda and Severus were leaving Diagon Alley having purchased everything they needed. "You will never guess who I met at Flourish and Blotts, father." Severus held out his arm and they apparated back to their home. "Harry Potter," Severus stiffened at the mention of that name as he tried to suppress the memory of finding James and Lily Potter dead all those years ago. "How interesting." Severus said, making sure no unnecessary emotions slipped out. "Well, I think it will be quite the experience to attend school with him. How many people do you know have survived the killing curse?" As soon as the words left Lucinda's mouth she regretted them, her mother had been killed with that particular curse. She could tell how much they upset her father. She wanted to apologize, but knew that would only make it worse. Instead, she dropped the subject and headed upstairs-it was best to cut conversations like that with her father very short.
Lucinda climbed the stairs, a cloud of fatigue around her. When she reached her room, she flopped down onto her bed. Looking at her dresser she examined from the black wand that she had proudly placed front and centre just days ago. She loved her wand, having inherited it from her mother. Having finished her sulking, she began to pack all of her school things into her trunk. The wand was the last thing she needed to pack. Picking it up, Lucinda inspected it like she always did. 14 inches long made from blackthorn with a unicorn hair core, but Lucinda's favourite part of it was the handle where the wand maker had taken the time painstakingly carve delicate roses around the top and base of the handle. It made her miss her mother to think of her starting her own first year with this wand; taking the same train, going to the same school and learning the same things. Lucinda reached around her neck to grab the thin chain that held up a silver locket. Taking the silver oval in her hands Lucinda opened it to reveal a picture of her mother and father looking proudly at the small baby her mother was holding. She wished that her mother never died so that life could go back to what it was in the picture, hardly perfect (there was a war going on after all) but better than it is now where certain things can't even be mentioned lest they stir up a memory of her. Wiping the few tears that had managed to slide down her cheeks, Lucinda began to get ready for bed revelling in the fact that in a few shorts weeks she would be on her way to Hogwarts on the legendary scarlet Hogwarts Express.
The train station was crowded with twice as many muggles as there were witches and wizards on Lucinda's recent trip to Diagon Alley. Manoeuvring her trolley through the crowds toward the barrier that leads to platform 9 ¾, Lucinda tried to ignore her old nanny who was escorting her to the train that day seeing as her father had left for Hogwarts days earlier. "Now, Lucinda are you certain that you have everything you need in your trunk, all your school clothes, books and pocket money?" Mrs. Barnaby fussed over Lucinda, "Yes, yes and yes. Don't worry; I made sure I have everything that I will need." Lucinda answered, used to her nanny's constant worrying. "The express leaves in twenty minutes which will certainly give you enough time to load your trunk and get on the train." Lucinda rolled her eyes at their earliness as they continued through the crowd and through the barrier. After loading her trunk onto the train and found she was one of the first people to arrive at the train station (aside from another first year who had introduced himself as Neville Longbottom) and she said goodbye to Mrs. Barnaby.
It was a tearful goodbye, at least for Mrs. Barnaby, who was dabbing her eyes with a silk handkerchief. "I've known you since you were only two years old. How much you've grown, oh, I can't believe it's your first year at Hogwarts already." Lucinda gave her a hug, "I'll write you when I get there." Mrs. Barnaby checked her watch. "Oh, I have to go. Goodbye Lucinda, make sure to visit during your summer, I want to hear all about your time at Hogwarts." She waved and walked off the platform. Lucinda turned to go find a place to sit on the train, choosing an empty compartment she sat down and pulled a book from her purse. 'A Complete Book of Spells'was going to be the train ride entertainment. After ten minutes of uninterrupted reading, except for the sounds of more and more people entering the train.
Hearing the compartment door open, Lucinda looked up from her book to see someone she had met weeks prior to that day- Harry Potter. "Do you mind if I sit here?" Lucinda nodded, "Certainly Harry." He sat on the bench opposite to her. "What house do you think you'll be placed in?" Harry seemed confused, "House?" Lucinda realized how little he knew about Hogwarts. "Oh, there are four houses Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor and when you arrive at Hogwarts you get sorted into one the four houses. You remain in that house during your entire time at school. I want to be in Slytherin, how about you?" Harry shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I'll find out when we get to school. What's that book you're reading?" Harry and Lucinda talked about the book she had been reading for the next several minutes until a red haired boy opened the compartment door and asked if he could sit with them.
Sitting beside Harry he began to introduce himself, "I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley." Harry nodded, "I'm Harry, Harry Potter." Ron looked very shocked and excited, much more than Lucinda had when she had first met Harry. "So it's true then? Do you have the-the…" Ron stuttered excitedly. "The scar?" He whispered, Harry nodded and pulled his hair back to reveal the lightning shaped scar that he had since he was a baby. "Wicked." Even Lucinda thought the sight of his scar was awesome, a sign that he had survived but it made Lucinda the slightest bit jealous, why had hesurvived and her mother hadn't? Pushing the thought away Lucinda introduced herself, "I'm Lucinda, by the way." Just as she introduced herself, the trolley rolled up beside their compartment offering all manner of sweets. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" The gray haired lady asked poking her head into their compartment. "No thanks, I'm all set." Ron said holding up a bag of something unidentifiable to Lucinda. "No thank you, I don't like sweets very much." Lucinda answered politely. Harry, seeing Ron's disdain, bought the whole lot of chocolate and sweets.
"I cannot believe you bought all those sweets. With all that sugar you both won't sleep for weeks." Ron rolled his eyes. "Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans?" Harry asked holding up the box. "Those are actually pretty good, unless you get one of the gross flavours like earwax or dirt." Ron nodded, "My brother George swears he got a bogey flavoured one once." Harry immediately spat out the bean he was currently eating. Looking through the window Lucinda grabbed her purse which had her robes for that day tucked inside. "I'm going to go change into my robes; I suggest you do the same we'll be arriving soon." Turning on her heal, Lucinda left the compartment to find a place to change into her robes. She passed a girl with bushy hair who was going from compartment to compartment looking for something. "Excuse me, but you haven't seen a toad anywhere have you? A boy named Neville has lost one." Lucinda shook her head, "Sorry no. Do you know where I could change into my robes?" Pointing down the aisle she said instructed Lucinda to go to the lavatories at the end of the aisle. After thanking the girl she left to change into her robes. Quickly walking down the aisle, Lucinda entered the room and changed into her robes.
Going back to the compartment, she saw the girl she had seen earlier who had asked her about a toad entering the compartment. Just as she entered the room, the girl preformed a spell on Harry's glasses. Taking off his glasses Harry inspected the lenses, which were in perfect condition. "Holy Cricket, you're Harry Potter! I'm Hermione Granger." Looking at Ron Hermione asked him with displeasure "And you are?" Ron smiled, "Ron Weasley." He answered with his mouth full of sweets. "Pleasure." Hermione said and quickly turned to Lucinda. "I'm Lucinda." Hermione turned to the two boys, "You should change into your robes, I expect we'll be arriving soon. The two boys stood and made their way out of the compartment. "Where did you learn that spell?" Lucinda asked Hermione, "Standard Book of Spells, Year One." Lucinda nodded, "I knew it sounded familiar. But I do find that for learning how to preform spells and not just have to incantation A Complete Books of Spellsis much better." The girls continued to talk about spell books until the train stopped at Hogsmeade station. Heading the call for all first years, Hermione and Lucinda stepped off the train to follow a very tall and large man Lucinda knew as Hagrid, the game keeper, to the boats.
Hogwarts was beautiful at night; the windows of the castle were all alight with candles creating a perfect reflection on the Black Lake. Gasps went around the boats as the new students gazed in wonder at beauty of the place where they would spend a great majority of the next seven years. After stepping off the boats the group was herded up the staircase that lead to the great hall. Heads whipped from side to side trying to take the beauty and enormity of the castle in. Lucinda first looked around at the castle, and then pushed her way through the crowd so to find her new friends whom she had seen near the front of the group. She made it very close to Harry and Ron before an older witch, one of the school's professors, stopped them at the top of the stairs. "Welcome to Hogwarts. Now in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates but before you can take your seats you must be sorted into your houses. There are four houses they are: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Now while you are here your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points and any rule breakings will you lose you points. At the end of the year the house with the most point will win the house cup." Just as she finished giving her miniature speech, a boy (whom Lucinda recognized as Neville Longbottom) dove for a toad that was sitting on the steps. The professor gave him a look and he mumbled a half-hearted, "Sorry." And went back to his place in the crowd. "The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily." The professor left and the talking ensued. Lucinda started to make her way over to Harry and Ron when she noticed Draco Malfoy talking to them. Quickening her pace she was right behind Malfoy just as he was insulting Ron. "Red hair, hand me down robes. You must be a Weasley." Lucinda rolled her eyes, "Oh please Draco. You should hardly be the one to judge about family." Malfoy turned to face her, "Lucinda," Malfoy said with a hint of disgust, "How's your mother?" Lucinda resisted the urge to punch him in the face, "I believe she is fine. How's your aunt doing? Still enjoying her cell?" Malfoy was about to say something back to her when the professor tapped him on the shoulder. The sorting ceremony was about to begin.
Filing in a two by two line into the Great Hall the first looked all round at the bewitched sky having never seen anything as magnificent as the well named Great Hall. Filling up the space at the front of the four long tables, the professor began called everyone to attention to Professor Dumbledore announce regular start of term notices. Right after the professor explained what would happen during sorting and then began to call names up to be sorted. "Hermione Granger." Lucinda looked on at Hermione as she walked a bit nervously up to the stool. Hoping for the best Lucinda smiled at her, wishing her a silent 'good luck.' After hearing the Sorting Hat mumble for a few seconds he finally decided Gryffindor for her. Feeling a bit unhappy about the probability of her not being in the same houses as her new found friends Lucinda tuned out the sorting ceremony until she heard names she recognized. When Draco was called up Lucinda knew immediately he would get Slytherin, so instead of paying attention to the sorting she shifted her attention to her father who was looking her way. Smiling at him, she saw him raise an eyebrow the slightest bit probably telling her to pay attention. Instead she looked over at Harry who was rubbing his scar like it was hurting or something. She would have to ask him about that later.
When Ron was called up she slipped into his place beside Harry. "He'll get Gryffindor, I just know it." Lucinda commented to Harry, whose eyes were fixed on his friend. Just as the hat called out Gryffindor Lucinda nodded. "I knew it." Looking at the professor she actually paid attention when she called up Harry. The hall broke out into mass whispering about Harry, the Boy Who Lived, being placed in what house. Lucinda listened to the hat's side of the conversation with Harry who, as it seemed, did not want to be placed into Slytherin. After a few seconds the hat had decided. "Gryffindor!" It called and the entire Gryffindor table broke into applause. There was still much whispering going on as the professor called out Lucinda's name. "Lucinda Snape." Those who did hear however whispered more, Snape, as in Professor Snape? The potions master? How could she be related to himof all people? As calmly as she could Lucinda walked up to the stool and sat down trying to relax as much as possible when the Hat was placed on her head. "Hmm…Brilliant mind, just like your father. Ah, but very daring…I know just where you belong. Gryffindor!" Lucinda's heart dropped to the floor. All her life she wanted to be in Slytherin like her mother and father had been in, only to have that stupid hat crush her dreams.
Not letting her emotions show she quickly made her way over to the Gryffindor table and sat down beside Hermione. Tuning the rest of the sorting out but clapping when she gained a new house member Lucinda had whispered conversations with some of the older Gryffindors. She found out that the professor who was calling out names was Professor McGonagall whom she had heard about from her father. Just as the sorting was finished once again Professor McGonagall gained everyone's attention so the headmaster Professor Dumbledore could announce the beginning of the feast. Talk went around the table fast and soon Harry was asking one of Ron's brothers Percy about a certain Professor. "Say Percy, who's that teacher over there talking to Professor Quirrel?" Percy looked over to the teachers' table. "Oh, that's Professor Snape head of Slytherin house." Harry looked over at the professor again, "What's he teach?" This time Lucinda answered. "Potions, but it's no secret that he's been trying to snag the Dark Arts position for years." Ron turned to look at said professor. "He seems a bit dodgy, doesn't he?" Lucinda glared at Ron, "And he's also my father." Conversation near them quieted as the other students realized a child of one of their professors was in their midst. Not knowing what to say Ron mumbled a weak, "Sorry." Lucinda pushed down the feelings of being offended and accepted his apology, "It's alright, you didn't know." When all she really wanted to do was make him feel more ashamed of what he said but her politeness got the best of her. The conversations between Lucinda and Ron, however few before, now ceased due to obvious reasons.
Just as Lucinda was finishing her meal the ghosts of the school decided to make their appearance, Nearly Headless Nick popped up in the middle of the tables scaring Ron then scared him again by taking his head off. Lucinda chuckled a bit at this and continued eating. At the end of the meal when they were being escorted to their dorms by the house prefects Lucinda couldn't help but stare at the immense amount of staircases and paintings in that part of the castle. She waved at some of the paintings and discussed the history of certain paintings with Hermione. Walking further down a corridor they came to the portrait of the Fat Lady, Percy one of their house's prefects said the password and the painting swung open to reveal a grand common room. "Welcome to the Gryffindor common room. The boy's dormitory is upstairs and down to your left; girl's the same on your right. You'll find all of your belongings have already been brought up." Climbing the stairs to the dormitory, Lucinda felt an air of excitement wash over her and the rest of her group tomorrow was their first day of lessons and it was going to be very, very amazing.
After looking over the things that had been left for her and all the other girls she saw that on her bed someone had left an owl cage containing a tan tyto owl. Hermione, whose bed was beside her own, was the first to comment on it. "Beautiful owl, what is his or her name?" Lucinda looked around the cage, "I don't know, I don't have an owl." Hermione picked up a piece of parchment near the owl's cage. "This looks like it might go with the owl." Hermione said offering it to Lucinda. Taking the piece of paper she immediately recognized the writing as her fathers'. To Lucinda, it's about time you have an owl of your own. This one's name is Taran. Please be good to him. –Father. "So, where's the owl from?" Hermione asked as she got ready for bed. "My father, he thinks it will be good for me to have an owl of my own." Lucinda also began to get ready for bed while talking to Hermione and the other roommates of hers. Most conversations were focused around backgrounds and the next day's lessons. Lucinda was as excited as the rest of the girls in her room, tomorrow was the day she had been dreaming about since she was a small child-her first day of lessons at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.