Hello! I've spent my quarantine time writing this and thought I'd share. This is ofc inspired by and based on J.K. Rowling's books. Please enjoy :)
It was supposed to be a very good day when Irene walked to her usual seat next to Regulus, smiling as she sat down. "Happy last start of term," he grumbled sarcastically. She followed his gaze, snorted, and started pouring her cereal. When Constance flew down to her, Irene quickly untied the letter from her parents and stroked the barn owl fondly. "Do you find out today?" asked Regulus cautiously. Irene nodded, but quickly hid the letter in her robes and returned her attention to the spectacle across the hall, remarking, "Seven years and they still outdo themselves in stupidity. What've they done today, snog McGonagall?" Regulus shook his head and absentmindedly chewed on his toast.
Across the hall, two Gryffindor seventh years were having a sword fight with their cooked sausages. Irene couldn't hide the smirk spreading across her face and raised her voice to speak to the others around her, "Potter and Black are at it again. Should we start a tip box for them, or is the attention enough for their super-egos?" Snickers came from the Slytherins as more heads turned to gaze at the charade.
To many outside their house, Irene and Regulus looked like siblings, or at least cousins: both had black hair, pale skin, slim builds and generally aristocratic features. However, while Regulus had blue eyes, Irene's eyes were a deep dark brown.
Regulus groaned and covered his face, "I can't believe I'm related to him." Irene frowned, "yes, it is quite a shame. At least he'll be burned off the family tree soon enough. Did you tell your mum about the last mudblood he slept with?" Regulus shook his head. "No, it doesn't seem fair. Besides, we agreed not to snitch on anything we do at school. Since Bella and Cissy left, there's no one to come running to the family about his idiocy except for me."
She sighed, "Ahhh, of course, that amount of leverage must be quite nice. Although, I think I can do you one better."
"Oh?" asked Regulus, looking at her curiously.
Irene flashed him a grin. "You see, I heard that both Potter and Black have high hopes of becoming aurors. Seeing as my family basically runs the department, imagine the damage if I let these kinds of… indecencies slip." Regulus chortled as she turned her attention back to the two boys. "I mean, really! They've got to see what that looks like!" She concentrated and flicked her wand at the two, causing yells to erupt throughout the great hall. The cooked sausages had swollen to grotesque sizes before promptly exploding their contents across a 2-meter radius. Several Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had gotten splashed, but the sixth and seventh year Gryffindors were furious, shouting at James Potter and Sirius Black. Regulus chuckled, "Excellent, let's see… Ten points to Slytherin for enforcing school rules as the perfect prefect you are."
Irene blew him a kiss and stood, "Thanks, Reg. Ten points to Slytherin for our other prefect awarding points to a student for good behavior. Come on, show's over." She and Regulus bowed to the applauding Slytherins around them. As they passed near the Gryffindor table, she called, "Nice look, boys." Sirius Black whipped around and snarled at her, "Always a pleasure, Moody. Tell me, what's it like disappointing your family every moment of your sad little life?" Irene smiled sweetly; he really was too daft to be in Hogwarts at all. "You tell me, Grey. Do you think your mother will wait to assassinate you when you graduate, or will she just hack off your head like the house elf you are?" Sirius fumed as the crowd of Slytherins that had followed her guffawed. Irene winked at him, turned, and followed Regulus to the dungeons. Regulus looked at her with an expression between amusement and disapproval. "Not that I don't enjoy your daily destruction of my beloved brother, but-"
"I know, I know! Since Dumbledore pulled a Peeves and made Potter head boy, they can take away our prefect privileges"
Regulus frowned, "Not just that. I saw them ganging up on some Slytherin fifth year yesterday after the feast, and they're getting vicious."
"Hmm, finally a challenge."
Regulus narrowed his eyes at her. "Irie, we all know how much you like besting whatever obstacle you can find, but an actual fight with the Maladroits could harm your reputation. These days, a lot of people worship the ground they walk on, especially the girls." Irene considered this, leaning against the cool stone wall. "Makes sense," she finally agreed.
Students began pouring into the potions classroom next to them. Irene looked down at her schedule. "I've got defense, you?"
"Charms," Regulus plastered on his poker smile. Irene did the same. "How fun," she drawled. "See you at dinner."
As Irene Moody strolled to her first class, she watched the students around her flit by. Alastor would be disappointed in her again. Saying "Mudblood," gloating, and altogether being - according to him – a "nasty little brat." Of course, Irene agreed with him. The nice, genuine girl that stayed with her parents and went on dangerous adventures with her older brother vanished the moment she stepped onto the train to Hogwarts. Although the Moodys were a pureblood family, they were moderates in their views on the traditions and politics so zealously expressed by most of the other families. They might not be as cuckoo as the Weasleys, but they didn't support the idea of pureblood supremacy either. Lorena and Edwin Moody had almost singlehandedly taken down many of Grindelwald's remaining followers for the past twenty years.
But, for Irene, survival in her circle demanded a different approach. Alastor would never understand. As a girl, Irene knew she would have to marry equal or better in order to retain any of her wealth and status. That meant she had to stay on good terms with the rest of the families. Her parents had explained this before her first year at Hogwarts. "Irene," her mother's voice rang in her head. "You are the key to our truce with the other families. The more pureblood wizards we capture, the more they hunger for some sort of vengeance. You need to show them we aren't against them." As such, they had been absolutely delighted with her placement in Slytherin. Irene, too, had been happy. The older students had doted on her and the other first years, training them in the rules of the house and the paths of success at Hogwarts. Slytherin house was a community that worshipped ambition and excellence above all, and it seemed impossible for Irene to see the appeal of the other houses.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt a hex whiz past her ear. She quickly cast a shield charm and walked into the defense classroom. Another spell came towards her, but the defense against the dark arts teacher, Professor Graves, flicked his wand and the spell boomeranged back to its caster. There was a yelp from just outside the classroom, and Irene smiled graciously at the annoyed professor. Sirius Black and James Potter entered the classroom, pinching their noses while swearing furiously. "Right," barked Graves, "Potter, Black, 10 points from Gryffindor each. Attacking another student on the first day of class, how despicable! Now, go to the hospital wing and hope that your classmates explain the homework to you because I won't. Out! Now!" Black and Potter grimaced and glared at Irene, who waved them goodbye.
The rivalry between Irene and the Marauders – who the Slytherins called the Maladroits after the French expression for clumsy and inept – had begun early on when it was clear that Irene was not her brother (who the boys had revered) and the boys were not the elite friends she had been hoping for.
Irene bounced up and down in her seat, rocking the boat enough for the other passengers, two boys, to turn around to look at her. "Sorry," Irene smiled nervously, "I'm just really excited to see it, you know?" The boys nodded eagerly. "I know! I've been waiting for ages to go here!" said the boy on the right, who had messy black hair and glasses. "Are you purebloods then?" asked the boy on the left, who was more gaunt and serious. Irene nodded, wondering how much of a deal being pureblood was going to be at Hogwarts. "I'm James Potter," said the boy on the right. "Sirius Black," said the one on the left. They looked at her expectantly. "Irene Moody"
Their eyes bulged. "You're a Moody? That's wicked! Do you know your brother Alastor Moody, is already top of the academy?" "Yes," replied Irene, wondering if they were joking. "I heard your parents got another dark wizard a few days ago. My dad also works for the ministry, so I'm sure he's met with them. Is it true they killed some dark wizard family and burned their house to the ground?" Irene glanced between them, "Huh?"
Sirius continued unperturbed, "How come all your family are aurors? Are you going to be an auror? Do they train you at home to kill people?"
Irene blanched. "Excuse me? Train to kill people? No, I don't want to be an auror! I'm eleven! Honestly, how dumb are you?"
The two boys had shrunk back in their seats and James muttered, "Calm down. I guess we didn't realize you're the boring one then," and they turned away from her. The rest of the boat ride was torture for Irene, despite the beautiful sight of the castle. By the time they reached the moat, James Potter and Sirius Black were best friends and Irene was embarrassed of her outburst. Any apologies that could have been made were compromised by the sorting.
Since then, it had been six years of argument and competition. Unfortunately, that competition was made even fiercer by Lily Evans, a muggleborn Gryffindor, and Severus Snape, another Slytherin who doted on Evans's every word. Irene had never been able to understand it. There was no question to the girl's intelligence – Irene respected her immensely for her ability and knowledge – but her manner was nauseating. Jumping up and down to answer every single question in a frenzy of explanations taken directly from the textbook; it annoyed Irene to no end. This year seemed to be no different. After a short introduction on the course, the Professor began his lecture on shield charms, where Evans grew increasingly manic in her need for approval. Irene leaned back and, bored with the material she had already mastered over the summer, began practicing her occlumency.
"Now, what is the greatest advantage and disadvantage of the simple shield charm?" Evans's hand shot up in the air, as usual. Irene rolled her eyes, then smiled when the Professor turned to her. "Ms. Moody, if I'm not mistaken, you just performed a simple shield charm in response to Mr. Black and Mr. Potter. Would you like to answer this question, as you seem so well versed in the practice of this spell?"
Irene wanted to laugh at him. This Professor probably thought he was slick, calling on her because of her family's legendary auror-ability. It would have surprised her, if it hadn't been for the past six Defense professors that had also done the exact same thing on their first day. Still, it did make her happy to see Evans shakily lower her hand. "Of course, Professor. The greatest advantage of a shield charm is that it will defend against most spells, so you don't need to know what the attacker cast to be able to defend. The greatest disadvantage is that it is therefore the obvious thing to do, so an attacker that intends to do serious harm will use a spell that a simple shield charm cannot protect against." The Professor nodded, satisfied, and returned to the anxieties of Ms. Evans.
Irene gazed lazily at that flaming red hair, wondering what the best spell would be to set it on fire without anyone knowing she had cast it. The bell rang before she could decide, and the students packed up their things to head to their next class. She looked around carefully before exiting the classroom and walking to History of Magic, which was thankfully with Ravenclaws, a house that she could at least talk to.
After History of Magic, Arithmancy, and Charms, Irene excitedly made her way to the library. As few students were using it this early in the term, there were many available spots, but she quickly snuck among the shelves to her favorite spot hidden deep within the restricted section. After finishing her outline for her Defense and History essays, she sighed and finally pulled out the letter. There was no use putting it off. This was it. She had been waiting six years for this letter. Shakily, she pried it open and began to read. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt suddenly ill. Her parents had to be joking!
The bell chimed, and she hastily gathered her books and jogged to the Great Hall. She deftly accio'd a sandwich and ate it on her way to McGonagall's classroom. Tensing at the red and gold robes in front of her, Irene quickly scourgified her face and hands before walking towards the entrance. She relaxed when she realized it was just Remus Lupin, a tall boy with sandy blond hair and a sickly complexion who happened to be the only half-decent Maladroit. "Lupin," she said curtly, "nice summer?" Lupin shifted in place a bit, looking down at her with a frown, "I guess so, you?" Irene bit back a smirk.
"I suppose so. Give my best to the brawns." She side-stepped him and entered the classroom, sitting down next to her best friend (aside from Regulus), Carmen Alverez, a short tan Spanish beauty with luscious dark brown curls and startling golden eyes.
"Where were you in defense? Evans was orgasming every 10 seconds again, it was nauseating." Carmen giggled and looked over at Evans, who was bent low over her book, muttering quietly. "Perdon, I was in the hospital wing because of cramps." Irene whistled, "on the first day of class? That's rough, amiga." Carmen smiled, "hey, I'm not complaining. Black and Potter came in just as I was leaving, bleeding liters out of their noses. What hex did you use on them?" Irene raised her eyebrows, "How do you know it was me?" Carmen rolled her eyes. "Irieee, those boys aren't subtle things. 'Merlin's soggy left tit, I'm going to kill that brat. Ohhh Moody is the worst, blah blah blah'" she mimicked a baby's voice, "Speak of the devils."
Irene turned and laughed as she saw the Maladroits enter. Black and Potter glared daggers at her, but she and Carmen just giggled and turned their attention to where McGonagall was writing on the board.
As McGonagall began lecturing them on NEWT exams, Irene finally let herself return to the afront preoccupying her. Sneaking a glance, she wondered whether he, too, had gotten the news.
It was always his piercing grey eyes that caught her off guard. Sirius Black was calmly staring at her, murder clearly on his mind. Irene wondered whether she would be breaking pureblood law by murdering the person they had arranged her to marry. Maybe, there was an exception for when your future husband-to-be was a blood traitor and embarrassment to the wizarding world? Irene glanced quickly at McGonagall, checking that she was preoccupied with Evans's ministrations, before returning to Black, who, to her great confusion, looked as though Christmas had come early. Before she could react, a dungbomb exploded over her head.
No, thought Irene dryly as she coughed and gasped for air, today was not a good day.
Casting a bubble head charm, she turned to Black and sent hex after hex towards him. He deflected them almost lazily, until Irene silently cast a stunning spell at him and he toppled onto the floor, knocking his head against Pettigrew's desk.
"That is ENOUGH!" Professor McGonagall was beside herself. "Enervate." Sirius groaned and slowly got up from the floor. Professor McGonagall continued angrily, "50 points from Gryffindor and Slytherin and a week of detention! Now, get out of my class and go to the hospital wing." Irene began to protest, but McGonagall pointed her finger at the door and snarled, "NOW!"
Irene angrily packed up her things and stormed out of the classroom. She heard Black following her more slowly.
As the hospital wing was only a floor above, Irene hoped Black wouldn't try to catch up to her during the walk. Hoping seemed to be useless, however, because she was halfway up the stairs when a tripping jinx caused her to fall into a trick step. She hissed in pain as she crashed onto the hard marble and clung at the railing to avoid falling even further. A harsh laugh came from the demon below her and she glared at him. To her horror, she saw that her wand had fallen down the steps and rolled to stop right in front of him. Irene grasped the railing even more tightly and slowly heaved herself upright, thankful for all the physical training Alastor had put her through over the summer. She adjusted her skirt and turned to regard Black. "Give me my wand."
Black twirled the wand lazily around his fingers. "Why should I do that?"
Irene sighed and began to walk slowly down the stairs. "I'll heal your head so you won't have to go crying to Pomfrey for the second time today. Might add some extra brain cells if you're lucky." There was blood running down the side of his face and seeping into his shirt.
As Black considered this, Irene drew closer, gazing at him calmly. Then he flashed her a smile, pointed his own wand at the gash, muttered "Episkey," and side stepped her. Irene was quicker, though, and, jabbing her heal into his left foot, snatched her wand from his grasp. He backed away, wincing in pain.
"Looks like you'll still need to go to the hospital wing," sighed Irene dramatically. Black muttered something and she flew back and crashed into a portrait of three warlocks. She groaned and got up slowly, leaning against the wall of the corridor. They regarded each other, breathing heavily.
"So, you found out?"
"Obviously"
"I don't know, Grey, I always knew you wanted to kill me."
"I'm surprised you're not already crying to mummy and daddy."
"Well, no one wants to marry a blood traitor."
Sirius snarled at her, "You make me sick."
Irene smiled dazedly, "Likewise."
The bell chimed and students began to flood the corridor. Many stopped and stared.
"Iriee! What happened?" Carmen ran to her, concern on her face, as the Maladroits surrounded Black. "Don't worry, I'm fine," Irene assured her, "See you after divination." She shooed Carmen away and glided down to the dungeons.
Alone in her dormitory, Irene began her letter to her parents. By the time Carmen and the other Slytherin girls arrived, she was surrounded by scrunched up pieces of parchment and in the midst of tying her letter to Constance.
"And? Who'd you get?" asked Evette Goyle, a slightly larger girl with blue eyes and short curly light brown hair. The other girls, Natashia Zabini and Cassandra Pike, giggled uncontrollably. Irene grimaced, "Guess."
"Well," said Evette, "I got Jasper, Cassandra got Edward, and Natashia got Augustus." Irene wanted to scream. Avery, Mulciber, and Rookwood were all wealthy pureblood families, but, more importantly, they weren't blood traitors. "But Severus and Dominic are both half, so," Evette continued, "Who'd you get?"
"Black"
Gasps. "What? No way," said Cassandra, "Regulus is a sixth year."
"No," Irene said slowly, "Not Regulus."
There was a sudden silence as the girls all stared at her.
"Seven hells," whispered Carmen.
"Yes," whispered Irene, "I've been arranged to marry Sirius Black."
Ahhh! I hope you liked it! Please review and let me know what you think (and yes, I know that this trope is very very cheesy, (and I love cheese) but be patient: there is a bigger plot afoot.