The Very Beginning - Killing Butterflies
Pairing: (H. Potter x Black! reader)
"I think he's brilliant," the boy said coldly.
"Do you?" Draco said, jeering. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"
"They're dead."
Your mouth opened once again in shock before shutting. You were torn between apologising to the boy for bringing it up, or telling him to join the club.
OR: in which you and the boy who lived have a less than fairy tale beginning
Series Summary: (Y/n) Black - the one and only heiress to the noble house of Black - who also happens to be the daughter of the infamous Regulus Arcturus Black (and the niece of the notorious criminal Sirius Black).
But despite the titles, rules and expectations that befall you, there are only two things that you long for, at which you will not cease to achieve: Firstly, to fill in the big shoes left behind by your late father. And secondly, burn the butterflies that flutter within your stomach in the presence of Harry Potter (who happens to be the sworn enemy of, perhaps, your entire family).
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The sharp noise of a hand rapping upon your bedroom door at an ungodly hour is how your day had begun. You jolted awake, harshly rubbing your eyes and scowling at the sound that had forced you up.
As your eyes began to unblur and focus, a voice called out from beyond your room. You didn't catch that they said, though.
Grumbling, you tossed your blanket aside and grudgingly walked to open the door to your bedroom.
Cracking open the door, you expected to see Dobby, the Malfoy's house elf, bidding you a good morning and handing you a cup of water.
To your surprise, however, outside was Draco Malfoy, your distant second cousin (something along those lines, you'd never really been fussed enough to check). He was still in his nightwear. His hair was slicked, as always, and he had been tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for you to emerge from your room.
"Finally, there you are," he rolled his eyes, but he didn't bother to mask the excitement that was stretching across his face rapidly. "Guess what the owl just dropped off?"
He didn't wait for you to guess, as he just brandished two thick, yellowish letters toward you.
Your eyes widened as you registered the words scrawled on top of the envelope.
Ms (First Initial). Black
Skipping over the last few words of the address, you felt far more awake. "The Hogwarts letters have arrived?"
You felt a grin quickly cross your face and without a second thought you raced off to the dining hall with Draco hot on your trail.
"Narcissa! Lucius! Can you believe it?!" You beamed at them, skidding to a halt at the entrance of the room. Beside you, Draco nodded his head profusely.
Narcissa gave you both a gentle smile, and Lucius gave a grunt in acknowledgement, not glancing up from his newspaper.
Draco handed you your letter and you pulled out the parchment inside.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand. Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl no later than 31 July.
You clutched the letter tightly in your hands and grinned once again.
Lucius eyed both you and Draco before saying "I don't see why you both are so excited. I mean, it's obvious you two were going to get in to Hogwarts from the moment you were born."
Draco's joyful stance deflated slightly, taking on a more poised composure. He nodded again, but far more solemnly as he mirrored his father's expression of casual disinterest.
Narcissa patted Lucius's hand lightly. "I'm just glad that you decided against having either of them sent to Durmstrang," she said, referencing the cause of their heated argument just days ago.
He lifted his chin up before sniffing. "I still think it would be a better choice than Hogwarts and all the mudbloods they'll be exposed to. Not only to mention the more respectable curriculum!"
"Let's not get back into this again, Lucius."
Lucius sighed and returned to his paper, drawing a long sip from his cup of tea.
Interjecting into the conversation, you asked "when will we be able to get our stuff for Hogwarts?"
"Yeah, I want to get my wand," added Draco, turning his nose upwards. "I also want to check out the new model for the Nimbus line."
"Well," began Narcissa. "Your father and I have quite a bit of work for the Minstry that we have to get completed before the months ends, but I do suppose we can pop down to Diagon Alley on the 31st to grab your new school equipment."
You and Draco both nodded at her words and with a satisfied look on her face, she said "alright, wonderful. Now the two of you get dressed whilst I send the owl to Hogwarts with your answers. I will send Dobby up when he finishes preparing breakfast."
31th, July, 1991 - Approximately thirty days later.
"Mistress Malfoy requests that you show up downstairs to leave for Diagon Alley, Miss Black," chirped the house elf in front of you, Dobby. He was a dopey little thing, but you found him to be earnest and sweet. His large green eyes ogled at you and you swore that they got larger every time you saw them.
You crinkled your nose, trying your best to ignore the feeling of apprehension that settled in your stomach. You'd be travelling by floo powder, and while you did agree it was one of the best ways to get from one place to another, the journey itself was rather... tumultuous.
Dobby squeaked at your expression. "Dobby is sorry, Miss Black. B-but Mistress Malfoy said that she did want extra time to pick up supplies...!"
If you had been any other person in the Manor, you'd have slapped Dobby off of you and given him a severe punishment for making such a comment. But, thankfully, you weren't and instead you just gave him a slightly awkward thumbs up.
"Ah, that's fine, Dobby, I was just thinking of something else. But don't get troubled by it."
Nodding at Dobby in goodbye you grabbed your bag and hurried down the stairs to the fireplace. You were greeted by three disgruntled faces.
"Now that (Y/n) has finally arrived," said Lucius, throwing you a pointed look. "Let's get going."
One by one, you each grabbed a handful of the powder, threw it into the fire, stepped into it, crying out "Diagon Alley!" and were then suddenly sent through a series of fireplaces before tumbling out of the fireplace inside of the Leaky Cauldron. After being tossed out of the floo network, you leaned on the wall, gasping for air, dusting off your robes that were now caked in soot.
Tom, the barman, widened his eyes at the presence of you and the Malfoy family, but there was little time to gauge his reaction. You all strode through the pub to the small out room.
Tapping his wand on a brick on the wand, Lucius revealed a whole new addition to the drab setting of the Leaky Cauldron. Not that it was anything astounding to you, though.
Narcissa placed her hands on the shoulders of Draco and you, getting your attention. "Now," she said. "Lucius will go and handle your book list and stationery supplies and I will go to Eeylops Owl Emporium to pick out owls for the two of you. In the meanwhile, you two go to Madam Malkin's and get your robes sorted out. We will meet up by Ollivander's once all of this is completed."
"Wait, no," said Draco frowning. "I want to see the brooms first."
"Okay, then," Narcissa compromised. "We'll meet up by Quality Quidditch Supplies and then go to Ollivander's."
She then proceeded to clap her hands together and shoo you both away.
As soon as the both of you were at of earshot, Draco turned to you and mumbled "Don't you think that mother does that a lot? She gets all bossy and and commanding out of nowhere?"
You looked at him and then nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I suppose she does." He seemed pleased with your answer, and that was that apparently.
When two of you had entered Madam Malkin's shop (Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions), a rather squat woman greeted you at the door and then ushered you to the back of the shop and onto the footstools.
Two more witches bustled toward the two of you. "Hogwarts, am I right dearies?" asked one of them.
"Yes," you said, answering her question.
The shop fell into a silence as the witch attending to you slipped a long, black robe over you and began diligently pinning the fabric to your frame.
You tried your best not to wince whenever she accidently stuck a pin into you, instead resorting to scowling at a corner of the room. It sapped a lot of your willpower, though, and your scowl was steadily growing into glaring at the poor mannequin at the window.
A few minutes later, a rather scrawny boy with tousled black hair and glasses entered into the shop.
He was nothing too impressive, you noted, but on closer inspection you did realise that his eyes were the most brilliant, vivid shade of green. It put your own eyes to shame, really.
The boy stood on the stool next to Draco and Madam Malkin began fixing up a robe for him too.
"Hullo," said Draco immediately, "Hogwarts, too?"
"Yes," said the boy, who did look quite nervous. But it wasn't unusual, most people looked nervous when they spoke to one of the Malfoys.
"Us too," drawled Draco, tilting his head casually towards you.
You dipped your head in hello, and he too quickly (and with much awkwardness, mind you) reciprocated the gesture.
"My father's next door buying my books and Mother's up the street looking at owls," continued Draco. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully Father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."
"First-years can't have brooms because they want to make sure we know how to play properly first," you reminded him in a jabbing tone.
He shrugged. "Have you got your own broom?" he asked the boy.
"Play Quidditch at all?" Draco pressed on, despite the other boy's clipped answers.
"I do - Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree."
"Do you know what house you'll get into?" you questioned him, causing the boy's head to swivel from Draco to you.
"Er, no." he said sheepishly.
"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they?" said Draco, "but I know I'll be in Slytherin..."
You smirked slightly and nodded at that.
"...All our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?'
The boy mumbled "mmm," and you raised your eyebrow curiously at him. The boy looked very clueless to the words that Draco had been spewing out. It made you wonder if maybe this was the first time he had heard them.
With a furrowed brow, you wondered if that was because - maybe - he was a mudblood.
"I say, look at that man!" Draco cried out suddenly.
A man of considerable height stood outside the window. He grinned at the scrawny boy and gestured towards the two large ice-creams he hand in his hands. With his scruffy, untamed mass of hair you seriously wondered if he was a giant. But even with his great size, he was too small to be one. Maybe he was a giant that suffered from an extreme case of dwarfism. He was tall, sure, but was probably still only the size of a regular giant's ring finger.
"That's Hagrid," the boy answered properly for the first time. "He works at Hogwarts."
Your mouth widened into a 'oh.' You had heard of the Hogwarts gamekeeper through Lucius, who was a school governor.
"I've heard of him," you supplied. "He's like the maid there, isn't he? A savage drunkard?"
The boy gave you a less than displeased look, but Draco agreed with you. "I hear he lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and again he gets drunk, tries to do magic and ends up setting fire to his bed."
"I think he's brilliant," the boy said coldly.
"Do you?" Draco said, jeering. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"
Your mouth opened once again in shock before shutting. You were torn between apologising to the boy for bringing it up, or telling him to join the club.
Luckily, though, Draco handled it for you.
"Oh, sorry." he said, but you were certain even that Hagrid man could tell he didn't sound too sorry. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"
"They were a witch and a wizard, if that's what you mean."
Guess he wasn't a muggle-born after all. Perhaps he was just a really slow pure-blooded boy? He should've been familiar with all the wizarding terms, even if he hadn't been raised by his parents. How weird, you thought.
"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you?" continued Draco. Merlin, that boy just kept on talking. "They're just not not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname anyway?"
Madam Malkin though, before the boy could answer, announced he was done and free to go. The boy quickly hopped down form his footstool and gathered his new robes.
"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said Draco, bading him goodbye.
When the boy had left, Draco began speaking to you. "You're awfully quiet. Where's your usual blabbermouth?"
You scowled deeply at him. "Nevermind that. We arrived before him, why does he get to leave first?"
"Oh, sorry about that dears," said your witch, straightened up and pulling the robe off you. "Female robes just take a few minutes extra and I figured you'd want to leave with your friend."
"Okay," you said simply, but you frowned at her anyways. For good measures.
You dug into your bag and handed her enough Galleons to cover the price of both sets of robes.
You and Draco left the store and immediately headed (basically sprinted) towards Quality Quidditch Supplies.
You wished you could say something interesting happened there before Narcissa and Lucius had arrived, but really, it was just Draco's nose pressed up against the glass of the shop whilst you stood next to him, admiring the broom in a much more dignified manner.
Your guardians, upon their arrival, wasted no time in dallying and the four of you made your way to Ollivander's for your wands.
The store was rather slim and its sign Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC had begun to peel off. Regardless of its poor appearance, to an old wizarding family like yours, you knew that the wands there were nothing short of the best.
The wide, watery gray eyes of the store's owner were the first thing that you saw when you entered.
"Hello, Ollivander," said Lucius, almost politely.
"Why hello to you too, Mr. Malfoy," he said softly. His face was wrinkled and elderly. "What a wonderful family you have there."
His gaze seemed to grow distant before he snapped his eyes suddenly back to Lucius. "Elm with dragon heartstring core, sturdy and thirteen inches long, am I right? And for your lovely wife here, another elm wood too, twelve and a half inches but with a unicorn hair core. Springy, no?"
You shivered a bit at the man's piercing stare and his freakishly sharp memory.
"Well then," he fixed his eyes now on you and Draco. "What arms are your wand arms?"
Draco held out his right arm and you obediently stuck out your [dominant arm]. He then began to measure the lengths between your fingertips and elbow.
"Hm, I see," he said, nodding his head seriously once he had finished. He suddenly dashed to the shelves and scanned through them. Taking out two boxes, he handed the first to Draco ("Dragon heartstring, cedar wood, bendy, ten inches") and the other to you ("pine wood, phoenix feather, nine and three quarters").
He didn't say anything else and just observed you and Draco closely as you both waved the wands around in the air.
Needless to say, when all of the windows and lamps shattered within seconds, it was just a tad bit obvious that these wands were not to be.
Ollivander tutted and turned around again. He didn't look that upset however. He bustled to the back of the shop and pulled out a few more boxes. Waving the next few wands had no better effect than the first ones.
Ollivander suddenly gasped, as though an idea had just sprung up into his head, and using his own wand, summoned a box from the top shelves.
Handing it delicately to you, he murmured, "ten and a half inches. Cypress wood, unicorn hair core and pliant."
Taking the wand into your hand, you raised it above your head and waved it. A tingly, warm feeling suddenly flooded through your body, and with it, a spectacular shower of sparks emerged from the wand.
Ollivander looked delighted and exclaimed a few words of praise. Narcissa was smiling widely and even Lucius looked somewhat pleased.
"They do say that cypress wands pick only the most noblest of wizards!" cried Ollivander, his grey eyes positively shining. "It's no surprise that one it would pick was the heiress to the house of Black!"
Draco glared at you, his frown reappearing from frustration. He had yet to find a wand that would choose him. He grabbed another box from Ollivander's table.
He ended up trying out quite a few more wands before he came across a wand that picked him. Honestly, you were surprised that there was a wand out there that tolerated the boy enough to be stuck for the rest of his life. You didn't pay attention to it was made of but knew it also contained a unicorn hair core like yours.
You were instead admiring your wand, turning it over in your fingers. An intricate vine-like pattern weaved up from the wand's base and smoothed itself out near its middle. Despite all of the crevices formed from its spiralling trail, it still managed to fit your fingers perfectly. It was quite a beauty.
Lucius handed Ollivander fourteen Galleons and Ollivander bowed at the four of you as you left.
"All that's left is the apothecary's," you said.
All of you headed towards the said shop and you took the time to look at the owls Narcissa had picked up for you and Draco.
For Draco, she had somehow gotten an eagle owl (even though the Owl Emporium did not sell them). He looked particularly smug with his newly acquired wand and owl.
And for you, Narcissa had gotten a large tawny owl who was blinking at you with its massive eyes. You cooed at it, and smirked when it hooted back.
You later named him Castor. You quite liked the name, which was as a star in the Gemini constellation. It was also, you believed, the name of a distant relative who had died of dragon pox some time ago.
You handed the owl a letter addressed to 12 Grimmauld Place. It was a note to Kreacher, informing him of your acceptance to Hogwarts and a request to send back one of his sandwiches in his reply.
Waving the owl off, you couldn't quench the growing excitement inside of you. In just a few weeks, you'd be on the Hogwarts Express on your way to becoming a Hogwarts student, and eventually a fully fledged witch.
Who would've guessed what happened to you before then?
Thank you so much for sticking till the 1st (technically 2nd) chapter!! 💓💗💛
You didn't speak to Draco for two days because you got mad at him for "copying your wand's core" and gave him a lecture on at least trying to be original.
