Last two days of summer break
I hadn't seen Draco all summer. I've been too busy rereading every book I had on all we learned last year. Although, my father had been very busy visiting the Malfoys without me, I knew I wasn't alone. I had Zimsy, Haltak and Nusaeross. Every book I read, my raven was on the back of the chair. I was never left alone.
"Miss Snape, an owl has come to drop off a letter." Zimsy said, walking up to me.
She held a letter in her hand and was followed by an owl that I knew well.
"Murdock!" I exclaimed.
I put down my book and held out my arm. The owl flew over and landed on me.
"Is Goyle alright?" I asked the large bird.
The owl nodded slowly. I took the letter from Zimsy.
"You may go." I told her.
She nodded and scurried out of the lounge. I opened the letter.
Raven
You haven't written at all this summer. Are you alright? You can't still be mad about Gryffindor stealing our house cup, are you? Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to meet up some time before school starts back up again? Maybe meet in Diagon Alley for our new things for second year? If not, that's alright. I'll see you at school.
G. Goyle
I laughed at his letter and quickly found some parchment and ink to write back.
Dear Greggie,
I know I haven't written and I'm sorry about that. I've been cooped inside all summer rereading all we need to know. I haven't even gotten a letter saying what we need for this year. I know we need new things, but I'm not sure what. No, I'm not still mad about the Griffindors winning the house cup. It just makes me more determined to win and that just means that we need to be on our best behavior to win that cup this year. Sorry, I can't catch up before school. I know we go shopping the morning before the train leaves. I'm not sure what you have planned. I think we should just meet up at the platform. Wait right by the wall we enter through on the platform's side and Draco and I will see you there. Thank you for writing! I've been needing to connect with someone.
Raven
I laughed again when I wrote Greggie instead of Goyle. He hates being called Gregory, let alone Greggie.
"Go home and bring this to Goyle. It was great seeing you again, Murdock." I said, as I took the owl to the front door.
I watched as he flew off toward Goyle's house. Where that was, I had no clue, but it was somewhere up North. As I was about to close the door, another owl flew by and dropped a letter at my feet. I bent down and looked at the address.
Raven L. Snape
65 Spinner's End
Cokeworth, England
The letter was for me. I turned it over and saw the Hogwart's stamp on it. I quickly made my way back inside and opened the letter. Inside was a list of what we needed for this year.
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart
Whoever this "Gilderoy Lockhart" was, he must have had a lot to say in his many books. But if they were important, why weren't they in my father's rather large library? I knew every author in this library, but never once was there a single mention of "Gilderoy Lockhart". Not to mention how he had so much to say about one thing for seven books! If I were to ever meet this man, I'd call him "Good-for nothing Liar" instead of "Gilderoy Lockhart". There was no way he could have done all of that and written seven school books about them.
"Zimsy, I need you to pack my bags!" I called to my house elf.
"Right away, Miss Snape!" Zimsy called to me.
I got up from my chair and walked over to Nusaeross' cage.
"Come on, we're going to the Malfoy's" I told the Raven, opening his cage.
He willingly flew into the cage and let me lock him in. I got my green velvet cloak and wrapped it over my shoulders. I walked back over to Nusaeross and Zimsy appeared beside me with my trunk in her hand.
"Please take me to the Malfoy's." I told her.
She hesitated before nodding. I took the cage in one hand, while I took Zimsy's hand in my free hand. She held my trunk and before I knew it, we had apperated outside of the Manor.
"I need to go back now. I can do this on your own, right?" Zimsy asked me.
I nodded to her and watched her disappear back home. I moved closer to the door and knocked five times. The door quickly flew open and I saw Dobby standing behind it.
"Hello Dobby." I smiled at the elf.
"You have grown! Mr Draco will be very surprised!" Dobby smiled at me.
I laughed and took my trunk. I carried my things inside and placed them beside the door. I gave Dobby my cloak and I walked further inside the mansion.
"This place never changes." I sighed happily.
"I agree. Boring isn't it?" I heard a voice ask.
I felt like I recognised it, but it wasn't like any other voice I have heard before.
I looked to where the voice had come from. On the stairs, there was a blond boy that I had missed all summer. I quickly walked up to him as he got to bottom of the stairs. I flung my arms around his torso, my face buried into his chest.
"You've grown." He laughed.
I looked up at him, smiling. His face had matured a little, his hair still slicked back with massive amounts of product. But his voice has changed and he's much taller.
"You've changed more than I have." I pointed out.
We let go of each other and made our way to the kitchen.
"Is my father here?" I asked him.
"Yeah, he's talking with my my parents." He told me.
"Do you know what about?" I asked.
Whatever it was, it must have been important, seeing as my father has hardly been home all summer.
"No clue, but I've learned to not pick and prod at things that aren't including me when it comes to my father." He said.
He jumped up onto the counter and pulled down the jar of cookies. He took one and offered it to me.
I laughed. Had he not learned anything? I don't eat sweets or baked goods or anything like that. They're highly addictive.
I walked over to the fruit bowl and took a green apple. Then I walked over to the counter and sat next to him.
"I don't understand you, Rave." He said to me.
I looked at him questioningly.
"All kids eat things like this! But you don't! What kind of childhood do you live in?" He asked.
"I have all the self control in the world when it comes to food. I know the dangers of sweets. If I don't eat them, I'm not in danger." I told him.
"Your loss." He shrugged and began to eat his cookie.
We talked about our summers and plans for this year. Draco's summer was much more eventful than mine. He got to fly and practice anything he could to prepare for quidditch this year. At least he could fly. I couldn't because of all the muggles I lived around.
"Do you want to practice? I have an extra broom." He asked.
I quickly nodded. I placed my apple core on the counter for an elf to get. I jumped off the counter with Draco and we walked outside to a large courtyard. We picked up a couple of brooms. My eyes landed on Draco's dark broomstick. The gold lettering at the head of the broom caught my eye.
"A Nimbus two thousand and one!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, my father wanted the best broom for the new quidditch seeker. He got six more for the rest of the team. With these, we can't lose." Draco smirked.
"Well, go ahead and show off!" I exclaimed.
We mounted the brooms and jumped off of the ground. The brooms lifted us off of the ground and we hovered for a minute.
"Go ahead!" I told him.
He smiled and leaned forward, speeding away faster than I've seen anyone fly before. He took sharp turns, zig-zagging, rolling, doing loopty loops. This boy better enjoy showing off to me while he had the chance, because I hate show-off's. This was an exception. He slowed down as he came back to me.
"Absolutely brilliant! Potter will want to quit quidditch after he sees these suckers." I told the blond boy.
"Just as we want him to do." He responded.
We sped off together, Draco always slightly in front of me. We flew around the house and the land it was placed on. With no muggles anywhere near where we were, we could fly as high as we wanted without being seen. I never realized how much I missed flying until I got back on a broom. When Draco and I touched down onto the ground, the sun had set and the sky was getting darker by the minute.
"Come on, your room is always prepared for a surprise visit." Draco said as we set our brooms down.
He took my hand and we walked through the house and up the stairs. We walked into the room across from Draco's.
"I'll get Dobby to get your things." He told me.
"Actually, I don't trust Dobby with my things. Especially with my bird." I told him.
I got up and ran down the stairs. I walked to the front door and grabbed my bird and my trunk. I carried them up to the stairs.
"RL?" I heard a woman call.
I turned to see Narcissa, followed by my father and Lucius.
"Hiya, Cissy!" I exclaimed.
"Lily, what are you doing here?" My father asked.
"Well, first, I got lonely. Then, I got a letter from Hogwarts about what we'll be needing for this year. A lot of books. Then, I thought that I'd like to go to the Manor because you were here and I didn't want to be alone anymore. So I packed my things, got Nusaeross in his cage and came here." I explained.
"And how?" My father asked.
"Zimsy apparated me here." I told him.
"We're leaving now." My father said, walking toward the door.
"No, I just got here. You can go, but I want to stay." I said, standing my ground.
"We are leaving." My father snapped.
"No! I think that I can choose to be here. I can't go against your orders once, while you miss almost all of my birthdays? I can't see how that's fair." I told him.
"Its alright, Severus. She can stay until our trip to Diagon Alley." Narcissa said, breaking the tension.
My father huffed and nodded. Not a second later, he disapparated.
"Thank you, Cissy. I'm going to my room. Good night." I smiled.
"Good night, my dear." She nodded.
"Good night, Lucius." I said and walked up the stairs with my things.
I walked to my room and placed my trunk at the end of my bed. I placed the cage in a corner and opened the door. The raven flew out of the cage.
"Neat bird. I'm surprised you're allowed such a bird at Hogwarts." Draco said, sitting on my bed.
"So am I, but I guess me being the Potion Master's daughter, I have some exceptions."
He shrugged. I sat next to the boy.
"I can't believe I'm going to be the same age as first years, but I will be in second year." I sighed.
"And you are because you're special." He said, looking down at me.
I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder.
"You know, I never actually wished you a happy birthday." He said, jumping up.
"Thanks. A couple months off, but that's alright." I smiled.
Draco quickly ran out my room and ran into his.
"Nusaeross." I whispered, holding out my arm.
The raven flew over and landed on my arm. I stroked his back.
"You're extraordinary. You know that? You're better than an owl." I told the bird.
"Extremely smart, adorable, can talk to birds and have them understand? I've got the best friend in the world." Draco's voice came from the door.
I looked over at him and smiled. He walked over and sat next to me again.
"Step down, Nusaeross." I said to the bird.
He hopped off of my arm and landed on the pillow on the other side of me.
"Cool." Draco whispered.
He looked down at his pocket as he took out a box. It was green velvet, the same as my cloak. He handed it to me.
"Happy belated birthday." He said, handing the box to me.
I took the box and opened it. I gasped at the sight. Inside was a beautiful necklace. It had an emerald teardrop charm.
"Draco! It's beautiful!" I exclaimed, "But really, you shouldn't have spent so much on a birthday present. Especially for me."
He scoffed, "You know money doesn't matter when it comes to you. A special girl gets a special present." He smiled.
I couldn't help but smile and wrap my arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer.
"You're the best friend anyone could ever ask for." I said quietly to him.
We broke the hug and Draco helped me put the necklace on. When it was on, I turned to face him.
"It's beautiful on you. Emeralds suit you." He complemented.
I giggled at his complement.
"Thank you. I still can't believe you did this." I told him.
"Well, it's enchanted to stay like that forever so you never have to take it off. It doesn't rust, the silver doesn't change, water doesn't ruin it, the emeralds and diamonds will never fall out. Anything you might worry about won't happen. Thank Merlin for magic." He explained.
I laughed and stood up.
"Well, I need to get to bed. If you don't mind leaving so I can get changed." I told him.
He sighed and left the room, closing the door behind him. Leaving me alone. I got my night gown from my trunk and put it on.
"Nusaeross." I said to my raven, wrapping my arm in an old shirt I use when I have bare arms.
The bird flew over and landed on my arm. With the bird, I walked out of my room and across the hall. I knocked five times on Draco's door. The boy answered and I saw that he had changed too. He wore black silk pyjama's like he would always wear.
"Do you need help getting that product out of your hair?" I offered.
"I was going to have my mother help me." He said back.
"Oh, shut it and get to your bathroom." I sighed and pushed him back into his room.
Nusaeross flew off of my arm. I dragged Draco to his bathroom.
"Head over the tub." I ordered as I sat on the toilet lid.
I turned the water on and got it warm. Draco took his night shirt off and stuck his head over the bath and I began to wash out the product. With some shampoo and combing his hair with my fingers, the product was gone. I turned off the water and got a towel.
"Sit up straight." I ordered.
He did as I said and began to towel dry his hair. I could see his silvery-blue eyes looking into mine as I dried his blond hair. A smile formed on my face. I pulled the towel away from his hair. I looked at his eyes.
"What?" I asked.
He smiled, "You're adorable." He said.
"Oh, you! Don't make me blush!" I joked, punching his shoulder lightly.
He laughed. He stood up and held his hand out to me. I took it and he pulled me up. It had now dawned on me how much he actually has grown. He wasn't just a head taller than me. He was more like two heads. This made me wonder if I had grown, like Draco said I had.
"Well, I'm off to bed." I said, breaking the silence between us.
He nodded and we walked out of his bedroom.
"Nusaeross!" I called to the raven, dozing on Draco's bed.
The bird looked over at me. He looked from one side of the room to the other. This was his way of shaking his head at me.
"Don't you say no to me, mister!" I scolded.
He quickly looked from one side of the room to the other.
"Nusaeross, don't make me come over there and get you." I warned.
The bird began to doze off again.
"You stupid raven!" I exclaimed walking over and swooping the bird into my arms.
I said good night to Draco as I marched the bird over to my room. I threw the bird in his cage and closed the door. I locked it and walked over to my bed and crawled under the covers. Usually Nusaeross would sleep with me, but he didn't deserve it tonight. I quickly managed to fall asleep without the sleeping drought tonight. But I knew that this meant that I would have those dreams again.
Those eyes looked at me. Every time I didn't drink the sleeping drought, they were the first eyes I saw. One blue and one black. They belonged to the same person, but I didn't know who.
"You'll learn the truth this year, Raven. The real truth." The hoarse whisper rang in my head.
"Don't you crave the truth? The truth your father has been hiding?" The voice whispered.
"You're being lied to!" The voice yelled, all while the black and blue eyes blinked at me.
This tore me out of my sleep.
***
Before there was a large crowd in the book shop, Draco and I purchased our school books. But when I heard there was a book signing, followed by the name of the author, I had to see what was going on. Draco and I walked into Flourish and Blotts. As we approached the store, I saw that there was, in fact, a book signing inside now. "Gilderoy Lockhart". The author of all but one of the books on our list was signing his "Autobiography."
"Come, follow me." I told Draco.
We walked inside the book store and walked to the second level so we could see what was going on below.
"Gilderoy Lockhart!" Someone announced.
A man with golden wavy hair, in blue robes, walked out. Everyone clapped for the author.
"Excuse me, let me by madam, excuse me little girl, this is for the Daily Prophet." A journalist with a camera exclaimed, pushing through the crowd.
He took one picture of the author before Lockhart called out Potter in the crowd. I looked over at Draco, making a gagging sound. He scoffed and looked back at the scene below us. Potter was pulled through the crowd and thrown at Lockhart. Another picture was taken of the two. My hands gripped the railing in front of me as hard as they could.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is," Lockhart said to the crowd, "when young Harry stepped into Flourish and Blotts this morning to purchase my autobiography, Magical Me-"
He was interrupted by applause from the crowd.
"Which incidentally is currently celebrating its twenty-seventh week atop the Daily Prophet bestsellers list, he had no idea that he would, in fact, be leaving with my entire collected works," He paused, "free of charge."
The crowd applauded again. The book signing began. Potter gave the stack of books to a woman with red hair. I presumed it was the Weasels' mother. Draco walked over to the stairs. He grabbed a book and opened it. He quickly tore a page out of it and stuffed it into his pocket. He looked over at Potter and approached him. I followed closely beside him.
"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" Draco spat.
Draco and I stood in front of Potter and his weasel friend, as well as the Weasel twins and a little girl, most likely the Weasels' younger sister.
"Famous Harry Potter! Can't even go into a book shop without making the front page!" Draco scoffed.
"Leave him alone." The little red head girl said, trying to look intimidating.
It was pathetic.
"Oh look, Potter! Got yourself a girlfriend!" Draco smiled.
"I wouldn't be the one talking. That a new necklace? Surely your father wouldn't get you one that expensive. Who else would get you something like that? Malfoy?" Potter snapped looking between Draco and me.
I took a step forward, not afraid of punching him square in the nose. I hoped I'd break his glasses. But before I could, Draco grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.
"Do not talk to or about Raven like that, you disrespectful-" Draco snapped before a silver snake head dropped onto his shoulder.
Draco rolled his eyes and he stepped aside. We walked a few steps up the stairs beside us.
"Now, now you two, play nicely." Lucius' voice hummed, "Mr. Potter, Lucius Malfoy. We meet at last." He introduced himself.
As the two shook hands, Lucius pulled Potter closer.
"Forgive me," He excused himself as he pulled the hair away from Potter's scar, "Your scar is legend as, of course, the wizard who gave it to you."
"Voldemort killed my parents," Potter said, stepping away from Lucius, "He was nothing more than a murderer."
My blood boiled at the sound of this rubbish. The dark Lord was the Greatest Wizard of all time. I was going to intervene, but it seemed as though Draco knew I was going to and grabbed my wrist again, stopping me from doing so.
"You must be very brave to mention his name," Lucius told him, "or very foolish." He smirked.
"Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself." Granger piped up, joining the group.
She glared at Lucius. Such disrespect for her superiors. Lucius looked over at her, almost surprised to see her.
"And you must be- Miss Granger." Lucius said, looking at the two of us for confirmation.
We both gave a quick nod.
"Yes, Draco's told me all about you, and your parents." Lucius said to her.
The two looked over at a muggle couple. They shouldn't be here. They shouldn't even know of the wizarding world. It wasn't how it should be!
"Muggles, are they?" Lucius asked, looking back at the glaring girl.
He quickly changed his gaze to the Weasels.
"Let's see, red hair, vacant expressions," He took a book from the little girl's cauldron, "Tatty, secondhand book. You must be the Weasleys." He said to the group of red heads.
An older man walked up to the group of kids, suggesting their move to outside. Lucius, however, began address the man, Weasley Senior, or Arthur. They began discussing Weasley's small pay for the time he spends at work and how he was a disgrace to the name 'wizard' if you don't get paid well for it.
"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of 'wizard', Malfoy." Father Weasel said.
"Clearly," Lucius agreed, "associating with muggles." He shook his head.
Lucius placed the book back in the small girl's cauldron.
"I thought your family could sink no lower. I'll see you at work." Lucius said and left the shop.
Draco and I walked up to the group of kids.
"See you at school." He sneered.
I knew that if I said something to them, I wouldn't be able to stop, so all I did was give my most unfriendly glare at all of them, flipped my hair as I turned and follow the Malfoys. I turned the corner, and stopped so I could still hear what they were going to say about that scene. I wasn't stupid, I knew they would talk.
"Who was that girl?" The little Weaselette asked.
"That was Raven Snape." Potter sighed.
"Snape? As in, Severus Snape? The professor?" Father Weasel asked.
"Yeah. She's awful. Worse than Malfoy. She's triple of Malfoy." Potter told them.
"How much do you want to bet that she supports you-know-who?" Ron Weasley asked nervously.
"If that isn't bad enough, she's incredibly smart. She's Ginny's age and she's going into second year. A dark witch who is smart, that isn't a good mix for us." Granger told them.
"Why wasn't she wearing a Hogwarts cloak like you guys?" The girl asked.
"I hear people suggest it's from different people. Some say the Malfoys, her father, voldemort. No one actually knows though. One day she didn't have it, the next she did." Potter said
"Rave, are you coming?" Draco called.
I sighed and nodded, walking out of hearing range from the book store.
"How rude," I snapped, catching up to Draco, "talking behind my back."
We continued to walk down the street. When we got to the end of the street, our things in hand, we disapparated to an alley by the train station. We got our things on trolleys and made our way inside the station.
"Come on!" I said, speed walking my way to the platform.
"We have ten minutes, relax." Draco told me.
"I'm not worried about time. It's these muggles! They're everywhere!" I snapped.
We walked down to platforms nine and ten.
"Go on, Draco." Narcissa said to him.
He nodded and ran though the wall. Once he was gone, I followed him. I showed up on the other side of the platform, now on platform nine and three-quarters. I quickly looked around to see if Goyle was where I said I'd meet him. Sure enough, there was a tall boy with the same face I knew last year.
"Goyle!" I exclaimed, pushing my trolley toward him.
I stopped the trolley and left it while I walked up to Goyle and hugged him.
"Glad to see you, too." He laughed.
I let go of him and walked up to the train to give my trunk and bird to the staff. Once my stuff was on the train, Goyle and I looked for the Malfoy's. We pushed past anyone in our way. This included a girl with black hair who was about my height, wearing a blue velvet cloak.
"Watch it, pathetic first year." I snapped, not looking at her.
"Excuse you!" She called to me with a strange accent rolling off her tongue.
I ignored her and walked towards the trio of blonds.
"Are we ready to get on the train?" I asked Draco.
"Yeah." He nodded.
He hugged Narcissa and waved to Lucius. Goyle joined us as we made our way toward the train and boarded. Quickly, we went to find a place to sit. We found a compartment with Crabbe, Blaise Zabini and Parkinson.
"There's our favourite Snape!" Parkinson exclaimed.
"Shut it, Parkinson. I don't need you babying me." I snapped at her.
"Did you notice-" Zabini started before Parkinson elbowed his side.
"Not now, Blaise, we don't have anything for her to throw or flip over. We don't want to risk her breaking a door or a nose." Parkinson yapped at him.
I looked at them, totally confused.
"Did I notice what? Tell me." I asked.
No one answered.
"What was it?" Draco asked.
I looked up to see him just as confused as I was.
"Her!" Blaise exclaimed, pointing at the girl I ran into earlier.
I looked at her passing the compartment, but all I got was her back.
"She has a nice cloak. Perhaps, a blue version of mine. I don't see the trouble." I said, looking back at Blaise.
"You'll see." He mumbled.
The train whistle blew and we set off. The train ride was much like last year. The trolley passed every half hour, each time everyone getting something to eat, but me. I starved. When the sun began to set, I went to get changed into my Slytherin robes. When I came back, it seemed like everyone had the same idea, one by one leaving to get changed. Another half hour went by. Soon there was a knock at the door of our apartment. A blonde girl with funny glasses opened the door. She took off the glasses and looked at all of us.
"Excuse me," her soft voice said, "have you seen a girl named Auzilen? Second year, black hair, heterochromia, American, she was wearing a blue cloak? I'm giving her a tour of the school, but I can't seem to find her." She asked us.
"Black hair, blue velvet cloak? She went farther into the train." I said, pointing to the way she went before the train began moving.
"Oh, thank you, Raven. I'm Luna. Luna Lovegood." She smiled.
"How do you know my name?" I asked her.
"Everyone knows you. You're Professor Snape's daughter. And we're the same year. We have a couple classes together." She said.
"Oh well, this Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe, Zabini and Parkinson." I introduced her.
"It was nice meeting you all, but I must be off." She said, putting her glasses back on.
She took a final look around the compartment. She took her glasses off one last time, looking at Blaise.
"You're quite unfocused about what's going on around you. You should think more happy thoughts; to keep the Wrackspurts away." Luna told him.
"Thanks for the suggestion, Lovegood. You should go find Auzilen. Bye!" I said, closing the compartment door.
She nodded and walked the direction I told her to go in.
I laughed as I sat down.
"What a wack job! I have never heard of Wrackspurts in my life. You'd think if you read enough books, you'd hear of such a creature, but I think she's just making stuff up." I scoffed.
Everyone agreed with me. I rested my head on Draco's shoulder and slept for the last half hour. I wasn't asleep enough for the voice to haunt me, but enough to pass the time. I woke up when the train lurched to a stop and we all had to get off. In our group, we left the train and walked to carriages, instead of boats. I guess the boats were only for first years. When we got to the school, I was welcomed by the unchanged structure around us. We all walked up to the Great Hall and got to our house tables. The Great Hall was filled with chatter. The Great Hall doors opened again. A bunch of first years followed close behind Professor McGonagall. The sorting began. Only now did I recognise long,black hair from the group of first years.
"Is that the Auzilen girl?" I asked the group of around me.
"That's her." Blaise nodded.
I still didn't see the problem with her. She was just an American, second year, transfer student. That's all she was, until she was called.