=.=

WALK THE LINE

Harry x OC

'for those that don't feel wanted.'


Chapter 14: The Return

Song Choice: Hogwarts Ambience


It was almost a tragedy when Sarah and Harry woke up the next morning.

Despite getting to spend most of the day together, and well into the afternoon, it was eventually time to send Harry back to the Weasley's. It was at this time that Sarah had her first visit to The Burrow. The house, while clearly belonging to a large, not well to do family, had an immense amount of charm to it that made Sarah look on in curiosity. She complimented Mrs. Weasley, finding the place fascinating. Maggie and her own house was rather small, with only their two small rooms and a half wall separating the kitchen and living room. The Burrow had so much character that Sarah couldn't stop taking it all in.

Even Ron's jab and commentary didn't get to Sarah, as she and Maggie spent the entire afternoon with the family. Sarah officially met Percy and Ginny, though Ginny seemed to be petrified anytime she looked up at Sarah. Ron sulked, wizening up to Sarah's clever use of his temper. Harry and the twins showed Sarah around the place, even offering to play quidditch together. It would be the most they could do ever, since Sarah would be on a different team come term, something Fred jabbed at any time they remembered she was a Slytherin.

Alas, the day eventually came to an end, and Sarah was forced to say goodbye to everyone. Molly Weasley offered for Sarah to stay, much to Ron's complaints, claiming that Ginny would have room for her. The little girl timidly nodded in agreement with her mum, but Maggie- knowing her child's limits, knew it was best to take her home to decompress. Witha heavy heart, Sarah said her goodbyes, lingering with Harry for a moment alone. Stiffly, she hugged him, ignoring how he laughed at her awkwardness to showing affection, but promised to write to her as soon as he woke the next morning.

Another week passed, and Sarah practiced with Cerus for Quidditch, wrote to Harry, and got started on all her reading. It would be a waste of time to skip the readings now, as there wasn't much else to do on the days she couldn't visit the Sallows. While organizing her bag, however, Sarah came across another book that she hadn't expected.

It was small, bound in black leather, and looked like a diary. There was an inscription on the back had a faded date of 194- something, and the brand was from a muggle store Sarah had visited once with Maggie when looking for drawing paper. Opening the book, Sarah could faintly see a name scratched into the first page. After that, however, it was entirely blank.

So what was it doing in her bag? Had she stolen someone else's book? She thought of the Malfoys, and the pile of books that crashed on top of Lucious Malfoy. Surely, he wouldn't be carrying around a muggle made book? What good would that do him? No, Sarah decided, it couldn't be his. She must've taken it from the owner by accident. Whoever had owned it, they clearly hadn't gotten far in their use. It was such a strange thing, to know this diary was decades old, and yet nothing more than a name was scratched into the front of the diary.

Sarah decided to keep it in her things, adding it to the pile of books. It would be good for making lists, if nothing else. The diary escaped her mind shortly after she began to read Lockharts books. They were dreadful, she decided, since most of them contained barely any information to the actual events in the title, and had more to do with preening of the man's ego. It took Sarah a horrifically long time to realize she had glazed over an entire page for over an hour, not actually reading them, before she forcibly went to another book. She prayed for a better story, but was woefully discouraged when nothing but more preening met her eyes.

By the first of September, Sarah was eager for something new to do in her otherwise monotonous routine. She missed Harry, and though there was constant communication between them both, it wasn't nearly the same as seeing the boy in the flesh.

Which was entirely why Sarah nearly had kittens when she couldn't find him on the Hogwarts Express.

She had anxiously said goodbye to Maggie, boarded the train, and waited patiently in a compartment, waiting for Harry to find her. When they began to move, she felt something was amiss, and went to find him instead. Sarah marched up and down the train, searching. She never found the short boy, but she did find Hermione with the same anxious expression as Sarah felt. Both realized that something had happened if neither boy was seen. They searched for Fred and George, but both boys were equally confused. They explained that the boys were the last to enter, and they hadn't seen them since.

"I'm- I'm certain that Dumbledore will know what to do, once we arrive." Hermione said, noticing the furious expression in Sarah's gaze. She closed her eyes, counted to five, and then was back to her usual blank expression. Sarah nodded, gesturing to the compartments behind her. She returned to the one she had before and sat, saying nothing. Hermione awkwardly followed her, sitting across from the silent Slytherin who stared blankly out the window. The frizzy haired witch bit her lip, wanting to speak, but as she got the nerve to open her mouth, their compartment door opened.

Sarah's eyes snapped to the door, but was woefully dismayed to find two people she didn't know standing in the way.

"Mind if we pop in? Everywhere else is full." A timid boy asked, eyes darting to the floor when he saw Sarah's expression. Hermione wasn't sure what to say, but Sarah nodded once in reply before looking out the window again. It surprised Hermione, but she supposed rejecting the two would be rude at this point.

Hermione watched the timid boy step in and sit beside her. He looked between her own and Sarah's shoes, too afraid to look the blonde in the eye. His freckled face and weather-beaten skin complimented his reddish-blonde curled hair, but it did nothing to hide the pink at the tips of his ears. The boy looked nervous to be there, and Hermione had a feeling it had everything to do with the Slytherin girl sitting across from them.

The other, however, did not look like a relative, which Hermione initially presumed. This girl looked short, and had a nasty aura about her as well. Her long chocolate brown hair was swept into a messy bun, with wisps of her bangs framing her pale face. Her icy blue eyes, however, were startling to look at. Especially because a scar, similar to a scratch, sliced across her left cheek.

"Nice ta meet ya," the girl said. Both Hermione and Sarah were surprised to hear a Canadian accent. Sarah looked at the girl, but her eyes gave nothing away to her surprise as the Canadian raised her chin a little higher. "I'm Maria Winters, transferred from Ilvermorny."

Despite saying that, Sarah could hear the faintest accent in her voice, something akin to Irish but not quite as prominent. When nothing more was offered, Sarah nodded.

"Sarah Williams." She greeted, expecting nothing more and giving nothing in return. Maria looked reserved, despite her forwardness, like she wanted to beat them to the punchline. Sarah could respect that, deciding to only give what was given, making the brunette nod back at her in greeting. Hermione found the exchange to be a bit odd, and yet both of the girls across from her looked at each other with a faint understanding.

"Rolf Scamander." The boy said softly. Sarah's eyes went to his. He reminded her of Neville, except much less plump and far more weather beaten. The name Scamander rung bells in Sarah's head, before she realized. The name had been on a textbook in the Sallow's home. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them . A book detailing many fantastic creatures of the wizarding community. Maggie had assured her that it would be part of a class elective in the coming years. Sarah nodded politely, as did Maria, but Hermione was far more invested in the boy.

"You're Rolf Scamander? I've been curious if any of Newton Scamander's family would be at Hogwarts! My name is Hermione Granger, pleasure!" Hermione said quickly. Rolf gave a short chuckle, nodding.

"Yes, yes I know who you are." He said quietly, smiling a little. Sarah noticed he looked far more comfortable speaking with her. "You're the top scoring witch of our year."

Hermione turned red, unused to the compliments. Rolf attempted to look at Sarah, but in meeting her eyes, he froze up, looking down again. Perhaps on a better day he might've had a bit more success, but Sarah was rather morose, frustrated with Harry and Ron vanishing. She wouldn't mind a year without Weasley, but if it meant Harry was in trouble...

Hermione almost went off on another tangent of talking, chatting away about the textbook in question, when the compartment door slammed open again. Malfoy appeared, his two lackeys- Crabbe and Goyle- taking up so much space they couldn't fit into the compartment. Malfoy's eyes surveyed the four.

"So it must be true. Harry Potter isn't coming back to Hogwarts," Malfoy's pale eyes raced over Sarah, whose temper was quickly souring once more. "Otherwise his girlfriends wouldn't be sitting here with strangers."

"Ye sound jealous there, b'y." Maria piped in, crossing one leg over the other. Draco's eyes snapped to her, a sneer on his face.

"Shut it." He snapped. "This school really is going to rubbish if they're letting even the dogs in."

At his words, Maria stiffened, a furious look in her eyes. Malfoy, ignoring Maria's rage, looked at Sarah, ready to taunt some more, but today wasn't a good day to try. As Malfoy opened his mouth, Sarah cut him off.

"Get. Out ."

Her words went off with a command, and at break-neck speed, Malfoy was tossed backwards into the aisle. Crabbe and Goyle toppled on top of him. The four didn't get to see much of what was happening, as the door slammed shut shortly after, then locked with a resounding click .

The compartment was dead quiet, as everything sunk in. Sarah turned to stare out the window, ignoring the looks all three gave her. Maria was the first to let it go, opting to pull out a book and beginning to read, she said nothing about the events that just occurred. Rolf glanced at Sarah, but then turned his gaze to Hermione.

"Is... Is Harry alright?" Rolf asked softly. Sarah didn't react, and so Hermione answered him quietly.

"We don't know." She admitted. Rolf glanced at Sarah again, then at the firmness of her gaze out the window, and could almost feel the worry rolling off of her.

"That was brilliant, by the way." Rolf mentioned, eyes darting to the floor when Sarah looked at him. Then he added quietly. "Always wanted to put Malfoy in his place."

Her mood, while still tense, softened slightly. She could appreciate the observation regardless. However, the longer Sarah stared, the more she realized that something was moving around in his pocket. It continued to move, until small green leaves began to stick out. Rolf, absently, pushed them back in gently.

"Is that-" Sarah paused; eyes zeroed in on Rolf's pocket. He spooked, not realizing she had been looking at him still. "Is that a Bowtruckle?"

Rolf flushed, but under the scrutiny of all three girls, he relented. Fishing the small creature from his pocket, Rolf produced a small, twig-like creature. It squeaked, chirping a few times while the small creature- no bigger than Sarah's palm- took in its surroundings.

"This is Pickett the... the fourth." He stammered, but a little grin made it onto his face. It chirped happily at its designation. Hermione was surprised, having never seen a Bowtruckle in person, while Maria remained quiet as she returned to her book. Sarah had expected the small Bowtruckle to be terrified when it saw her, almost expected it to flee on sight. However, it looked at her like any other, calm and easy. Rolf watched as her eyes softened a little bit further.

"Would you like to hold him?"

Sarah's eyes met Rolf's, and this time he didn't look away. She noticed that his eyes were a lovely hazel, with flecks of gold in them. Sarah nodded, and the duo reached for each other. Pickett IV sniffed Sarah's hand, poked it once, then- to her amazement- he leaped across the gap and landing gleefully on her palm. She froze, not sure if she should move or not. Rolf couldn't keep the small grin off his face as he rested his hand back at his side.

"He doesn't like many people, admittedly." Rolf revealed, watching as Sarah held the Bowtruckle carefully close to her chest. She looked fascinated by the small twig-like creature, eyes brimming with light. Hermione offered to take him, but unlike the time with Sarah, the Bowtruckle refused, gripping furiously to Sarah's sleeve to the point that he almost knocked himself off her arm. Rolf chuckled, before apologizing for Pickett's behaviour. Pickett spent the better part of the train ride with Sarah, keeping her attention, with the blonde asking the odd question, or for clarification when she was unsure what Pickett was doing. The little beast had climbed onto her shoulder, making a snug bed in the collar of her shirt. Rolf was- initially- apologetic, as he'd never seen him do that sort of this before. But Sarah didn't mind, in fact she found it almost soothing.

When Pickett returned to Rolf, it was with the smallest bit of reluctance. The Bowtruckle cried, patted Sarah's hand, and then leapt back to Rolf, eyeing Sarah the entire time.

"He thinks you're his tree." Rolf explained, and for a split second he could've sworn Sarah's mouth twitched into a smile. It was the most charming thing he'd ever seen.


When they arrived at Hogwarts, Sarah and Hermione immediately went to McGonagall about Harry and Ron. The Professor told them that something would most certainly be done about it, and assured them both to head to their house tables for now. Sarah wasn't settled in the least, and with Cerus poking fun in her ear, she found it incredibly hard to relax. At least she didn't have to suffer the train ride home with him, as he and Selene were able to walk from Hogsmeade. It was only made worse when she noticed the preening peacock known as Gilderoy Lockhart sitting at the head table, but a surprisingly empty seat was also noticed.

Where was Professor Snape?

At one point, McGonagall and Dumbledore vanished as well. Sarah worried, thinking it might be a terrible sign that something had gone wrong with Harry... and Ron. She could hardly touch her food, despite the comely smells wafting from the table, she only picked at her food as chatter wound up from both sides of her. Once the feast was over, Sarah anxiously rose to her feet, wanting to speaking with the headmaster about Harry. However, McGonagall headed her off, stopping her from approaching the head table.

"Ms. Williams," the professor began, halting Sarah in her tracks. The prim and proper professor of Gryffindor was always a fair but strict woman, and as such Sarah had a stiff respect for her as well. "Since you are not in Gryffindor, you will likely not hear, but both Potter and Weasley have arrived safely on the grounds."

Sarah's eyes melted into relief for a single, brief second, then they hardened again into cold fury. It surprised McGonagall.

"Thank you, professor. If I may ask, what did those two do?" She asked carefully, keeping her voice level. Fury ran through Sarah now that Harry was safe. Why was he here? How had he gotten here? Why did he not board the train? McGonagall pursed her lips, but Sarah could see the hints of exasperation on her face.

"I think it best for you to hear from them, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Off to your dorms now." She said shortly, walking away. Sarah glanced up to where Cerus was waiting for her. Her mouth was a thin line as they walked. Cerus chuckled.

"Never thought I'd see the day you were genuinely angry at Potter. Bit of a lover's spat, hm?" Sarah's glare halted the teasing, but Cerus could see not all the anger was directed at him. "Only joking. Honestly, what did he do that you're so livid?"

"He didn't board the train," Sarah explained, stepping around some first years gawking at the stairs. "I just- what on earth happened?"

"Ah, so you were worried. Typical. Such a mother hen you like to be." Cerus chuckled. It made Sarah shiver, but she only huffed. She had been worried. What if the Dursley's had gotten hold of him? Or something evil had grabbed in the middle of King's Cross? Sarah didn't want to picture it, but she was beginning to understand the bullheadedness of Gryffindors when she had considered flying her broom back to London to find Harry. If he was locked in the Dursley's, she'd free him at any cost.


"I'm beginning to realize there will never be any normal moments with you around." Sarah sipped her tea quietly.

Harry huffed in his seat next to her. The morning of their first day of classes started out with Sarah and Harry reuniting in the Great Hall for breakfast. Like they had the previous year, Sarah had woken at the crack of dawn to come down and have a quiet breakfast. It would become normal for Sarah to enjoy her meals alone, as she preferred the earlier hour than Harry, but the first day felt something of a tradition. The duo caught each other up on things, Harry explaining his adventure in the flying car- and his near expulsion- before they traded schedules and found the only classes they shared this semester were potions Monday morning, and Defense Against the dark Arts on Wednesdays together.

Harry mentioned his detention, which Sarah thought was rather soft considering the circumstances, and taunted her was a favourite still amongst the teachers. Well, all but Snape. That man seemed to enjoy bullying children. Harry, who was still partially asleep as he chewed on his toast, nodded slowly.

"It could be worse. At least there's not an evil wizard after me," Harry mumbled as he took another bite of toast. "... This week."

"Yes, very kind of him to stay out in hiding while we start our school year." Sarah said flatly. Her eyes glanced out to the hall, where students had begun to pour in for breakfast. Harry nodded.

"I'd say he cares about our education, Sar." He reached for a boiled egg as Sarah side-eyed him. Her mind went back to their schedules laid side by side.

"We won't get much time this year together," she looked from the papers, to her friend. "Even less if I manage to make the quidditch team."

Harry's eyes widened. "That's right! You can try out this year!" His excited settled as he remembered he and Sarah would be rivals. "It'll be nice to see you play, even if it's for Slytherin."

"Maybe I'll be Seeker and get to defeat the great Harry Potter." Sarah's sly voice made Harry shiver, but he rolled his eyes at the comment. Before Harry could reply, they both watched as across the hall Ron Weasley received a howler. The shrill cry from the letter was so loud that it broadcasted clear as day across the hall to where the duo sat. Harry could feel the taunt on Sarah's lips about Ron, but he decided to try and begin on the right foot with them this year.

"Don't start." He pleaded. Sarah snorted, but then relented with a sideways smirk.


It was an odd thought, Sarah realized, that she almost missed the pungent smell of garlic in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. It may have had something to do with the fact that Sarah almost missed learning from Quirrell as well.

Gilderoy Lockhart had to be the worst professor Sarah had ever seen. She left that class with more questions than answers- and no, she wasn't concerned whether he preferred periwinkle or lilac coloured robes! What she had been concerned with, however, was the fact that- other than helping Harry and Hermione catch the pixies that Lockhart set on the class, Sarah hadn't learned a single spell on her first day. At least Quirrell had mentioned a few defensive spells, but no- this felt like a bad omen waiting to come true.

She found Cerus later that evening in the Great Hall, looking equally as irritated, looking livid as he tried to keep an easy look on his face. But Sarah had begun to learn the telltale signs of irritation on her friend's face. Soon the duo found themselves in the Undercroft for the first time that year.

"There's thick, and then there's Lockhart." Cerus grumbled as he hit a pile of barrels with Confringo successfully. Sarah leaned against one of the pillars, a frown on her lips. "I mean honestly, at least he set the pixies loose for your class! We had to repair all the damages and listen to him read out loud one of his books!"

"Professor Binns is more entertaining." Sarah admitted, flicking her wand to mutter Reparo under her breath. The barrels reformed for Cerus to strike again. The tall boy turned to look at her, his freckles more prominent in the low candlelight.

"I think we're on our own this year, Williams." Cerus confessed. Sarah raised a brow, prompting the boy to continue. "If that's the start of the year, I fear what sort of teachings we'll truly be getting in this school. I mean, Dad even said how difficult it was to get a good teacher these days."

Sarah had to agree. Quirrell may have been better at teaching, but even he had not done much for them in the long run. Last year Sarah had learned more magic from McGonagall in Transfiguration and Flitwick in Charms than she had even learned from Quirrell. She feared this year would be no different. Arguably, Defense should've been their primary worry, particularly due to a certain dark wizard that may appear once again.

"What do you propose?" Sarah asked, tilting her head to the side. Cerus smirked, gesturing to his bag by another pillar. He accio 'd the bag to himself, fishing through it momentarily, then procured a book.

"My great grandfather, Sebastian- you've met him, right? Anyway, he told me how in his time, there were a few spell books he would study from. He said it wasn't all useful magic, but it was what he set out to learn in the first place." Cerus held open a large spellbook. It looked decrepit, as though it would fall apart in his hands, a bit of dust shook off of it as Cerus flipped a page. Hesitantly, Sarah stepped closer. Much of the language in it looked confusing, it was not all in modern English. However, each area seemed to be separated by different spells and lists that could be potentially describing them.

"This is beyond old, Cerus." Sarah said lowly. Cerus grinned, beaming down at her.

"I know, which means we would be learning spells not many others may even know of!" Sarah had to admit, she liked the idea of knowing something that even a pure-blood like Malfoy didn't. If the teachers didn't know the spells, could they really be in trouble for learning any of it? It almost felt exciting to her.

"We'll have to translate." Sarah began, looking down at the book once more, turning a page while Cerus adjusted the book for better viewing. The writing on the pages perplexed Sarah, and she questioned what the book actually held. "These look more like ruins than words."

"You're correct. Ancient magic, ancient ruins." Cerus handed her the book. It dropped heavily into her hands as Cerus fished into his bag for another book. "Lucky for us, I've taken Ancient Ruins as an elective."

Sarah looked over his shoulder at the second book, which held miles of glyphs, runic text, and symbols translated into modern day English. Peaking back at the ancient book in her hands, she quickly realized it would be a while before they translated the words in the book. A month? Maybe more? They wouldn't learn anything sitting here, however.

"Where'd Sebastian get such a book?" Sarah asked out loud.

"Dunno, he told me it belonged to Hogwarts. Said he found it in a study long ago. Among other books." Cerus admitted. It intrigued Sarah, a part of her brain wondering if perhaps the castle had more secrets for them to discover beyond the Undercroft. It was all getting quite exciting for their first full day back at Hogwarts.

"We best get started." Cerus said just above her ear. She looked up at him to see a glimmer in his eye. It only grew when Sarah gave a lopsided smirk back at her. It was already late when they began. They didn't translate much in the short time they had that evening, but Cerus decided to leave his Ancient Ruins translations book in the Undercroft with the spellbook. That way either of them could work on the pages between classes.

As they left for the night, Cerus and Sarah walked back to their common room while avoiding any wandering Prefects. Once inside, they stopped by the fireplace. Cerus tugged on her robes to get her attention. When she looked up at him, however, he snuck a glance around. They weren't alone, but the Sallow boy was looking particularly secretive about what he was about to say. So, he used his height to his advantage, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"Make a list of anything you want to learn, we can focus on those spells first." He stood up straight and briskly walked away after that. Sarah frowned, not sure why he needed to whisper that sort of thing in her ear. The fire felt hot, heating her skin and sending a shiver down her spine when she stepped away from it. Cerus was a bit odd sometimes, at least in Sarah's eyes. She swept it under the rug though; agreeing with him that a list wouldn't be a bad idea.

Back in her room, Sarah prepared for bed, enjoying a hot shower with her sweet Jasmine shampoo as she eased any tension she felt from the day. Once finished, Sarah returned to her room to find her bunk-mates asleep. None of her things had been touched yet, which was a blessing considering the hassle Sarah had last year, and so she quietly went to her bed and drew the curtains around her. Shut in the darkness, Sarah procured the diary she had mistakenly stolen at Flourish and Blotts, along with a self-inking quill Maggie had given her for her birthday.

She used her thumb to rapidly flip through the pages, smelling the old parchment as it blew her hair gently, then turned back to the first page. Sarah thought for a moment, nibbling on her lower lip, then began to write a list of ideas on the page.

Spells that block unfriendly spells

Spells that send an enemy flying

Spells that-

She stopped writing, trying to articulate her thoughts in her head, when- right before her eyes- her writing disappeared. Sarah blinked, then blinked again, before realizing that there was something else to the small diary she had picked up. Her quill touched the page, drawing a long line across the worn parchment. It vanished, sinking into the pages as though it had never been there in the first place.

Sarah made to lift the book, to flip through the pages and see if the ink had marked another page, when careful, delicate writing surfaced from the worn parchment. It was rather neat writing, carefully drawing onto the page as Sarah stared. She was so shocked, than she almost didn't read the words in front of her.

Hello? Is someone there?


I don't think I ever put Sarah's exact birthday down, it's always been 'around Harry's' in my notes. but I suppose it is on July 29th, and there's a reason why for it which we'll learn later. Anywho, hope you guys liked this chapter. I really wanted to set things in motion right off the hop. We have some major deviations from the canon now, that will have some- ahem- interesting effects. We also met my two favourite characters! Maria and Rolf! I have been searching left and right for more info on Rolf, but can only find that he's 'like Newt in appearance and personality' in any source. Anyway, here's my boy! I love Newt as a character too, and was super excited to hear about his great grandson.

Oh, about Maria, if any of y'all have heard of a Newfie accent, that's essentially Maria. I have only been to Newfoundland once, but the accent is a memorable one. If you don't know, it has Irish origins! think of it as Canadian Irish. I really like Maria, but we won't learn much about her until next book! Anywho, thank you for reading!

Anyway, cheers.

Iland Girl.