Chapter Text
Historia stepped onto platform 9 and 3 quarters, her hand nervously gripped one of her luggage cases as she looked around. Her brother stood next to her, his head held high as he rested a hand on her back comfortingly. Their father couldn't come, as it was very well known he was a vampire and he was a prominent duke at that. Of course, he wanted to but his skin would turn to ash in a matter of seconds. So their family made do with him giving comforting words and affections before Historia and Draven left for Hogwarts.
Her mother- Historia wasn't sure why she wasn't there. Bellatrix Crimson-Black was a busy woman, after all, Historia couldn't blame her. So when she walked into the train station, without her parents, the stares from magic folk only pierced her harder. She flinched, leaning into her brother's touch.
"It's okay." He said through a smile, not letting others read his face or lips. "Walk in like you own the place. How our parents taught us." He reminded her.
Historia gave a nod, her expression conflicted. The sight of so many mudbloods around her made her feel uneasy, and a distasteful look briefly crossed her face before she quickly regained her composure and assumed a neutral expression. As they approached the train, she gazed up at the towering hunk of metal in awe. Having grown up in a vampire borough deep within the forbidden forest, she had never before laid eyes on a train. Her mouth fell open in amazement, but she quickly caught herself and closed it once again. The train stood tall and imposing, its impressive size and structure leaving her almost speechless.
As soon as she and her brother stepped onto the wide hallway, he scanned the bustling aisle of compartments, taking note of the excited chatter of the students. The air was filled with an infectious buzz of excitement as the young passengers made their way down the train, eagerly searching for their friends amidst the sea of faces. The well-decorated train was worn from years of use but Historia still felt herself excited beneath all the nervousness that consumed her.
"Would you like to sit with me and my friends, or Draco?" He asked, looking down at her with brotherly care.
"Probably with Draco." She quietly said, looking between the students who stared in mixed arrays of shock, disgust, and awe at them.
"Alright, I'll walk you there." Draven crooned, then leading her to the compartment where the Malfoy heir sat. It was painfully obvious that their cousin sat in the compartment as they made their way to it, as Slytherins almost seemed to guard it. After all he was the prince of Slytherin, I mean, what other house would he be sorted into? Gryffindor? In what life?
As Draven opened the door, a small smile appeared on her face. She thanked her brother before he bid farewell to the pair. Then she sat on the plush red velvet seats beside her cousin, Draco, who greeted her with a goofy smile and a side hug. They embraced each other for a moment, as they hadn't seen each other in quite some bit.
"It's amazing to see you, Tori." Draco said with a gleam in his gray eyes.
Historia didn't have many opportunities to interact with witches, wizards, or thank merlin muggle-borns, so she cherished the time she spent with her family. As fate would have it, she and Draco happened to be born in the same year, and they quickly became inseparable. They spent countless hours exploring the sprawling grounds of their families' estates, honing their magical skills, and sharing their hopes and dreams for the future. Despite their vastly different upbringings, they found common ground in their love for magic and their desire to make a difference in the world. With each passing day, their bond grew stronger, and they knew that they would always be there for each other, no matter what challenges lay ahead.
"Likewise." She grinned.
"Are you excited for this year?"
"Ah. Well- no."
"Why's that?"
As the girl passed by their compartment, a look of disapproval crossed her face. "Mudbloods," she muttered, her nose wrinkling at the scent of their impure blood. Historia couldn't help but shiver at the sight, feeling a sense of revulsion wash over her.
Draco let out a tsk. "Don't worry, Tori, you won't have to worry about them. Especially if I have anything to do with it." He paused thoughtfully. "And Especially if you get sorted into Slytherin."
"I hope I do, mother will be disappointed if I'm not." She responded, gripping her dark ruffled skirt with a defeated look on her face.
"Mine as well." Draco said, looking down at his slacks.
For eleven-year-olds, those two kids were well dressed
.
Draco Malfoy was dressed in an impeccably tailored, expensive outfit that exuded the aura of old money. His dark gray slacks were perfectly fitted and complemented the button-up shirt that sat neatly on his frame. His appearance was a clear reflection of his family's status and wealth, and his sly smirk only added to the impression of his arrogance and entitled demeanor. However, Historia knew from personal experience that people often misconstrued the true nature of the Malfoy family. Contrary to popular belief, they were incredibly nice and hospitable. Nonetheless, Draco's appearance and demeanor still seemed to scream "evil, green, blood status" to those who didn't know any better.
Historia, though, was dressed rather differently. Her black ruffled skirt gracefully draped down to her mid-calf, matching perfectly with her dark long socks and Mary Jane's. The elegance of her outfit was enhanced by a dark turtleneck that wrapped comfortably around her body, giving her a sophisticated yet relaxed gothic look. The reasoning for her dark attire was that it was considered unlucky in vampire culture to wear white, some even say any light colors but that was quite a stretch in Historia's opinion.
The two cousins sat next to each other, enjoying the tranquility of the moment in a comfortable silence. Historia was delighted to have her cousin by her side, but couldn't help feeling a sense of sadness as she thought about her parents and younger sister, Diavelle. Despite her small size, Diavelle was an exceptionally intelligent and mischievous little bat, often causing trouble and frustrating her parents with her antics. The thought of being away from her family weighed heavily on Historia's heart.
Just then, Daphne Greengrass walked in followed by Blaize Zebini.
"Ah! My friends!" Draco beamed before standing up to greet them.
In true chivalrous pureblood fashion Blaize had opened the door for Daphne and she sent a smile his way before she and Blaze sat down in front of Draco and Historia.
"It's so good to see you two. This is my cousin, Historia."
As they approached, they greeted her, and she lifted her hand slightly in a feeble wave. Draco and Blaize engaged in conversation, which mainly revolved around the sport of Quidditch, a topic that Historia was not very familiar with. Meanwhile, Daphne fixed her gaze on Historia, waiting expectantly for her to initiate a conversation. However, Historia remained silent and sat awkwardly, occasionally glancing up at Daphne. The silence between them was palpable, and it seemed as though neither of them knew how to break it.
"So, have you heard about the band Weird Sisters? Have you SEEN their outfits at their most recent concert? Father had of course bought me tickets for the best seats in the house. I love their music and all but merlin zebra stripes do not go with leopard print." She laughed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh- yeah-" Historia tried to keep up with her, but she truly had no idea who she was talking about.
Apparently, Daphne could pick that up and so as the two other boys continued to rant about quidditch Daphne cleared her throat and sat in silence.
Then Daphne's saving grace walked in, Pansy Parkinson. A very well-dressed girl, along with another very well-dressed girl behind her.
Juniper Cosette.
While she and Pansy had been talking walking up to the compartment it was rather clear neither one of them did it out of genuine like for the other, and more so just the need to be pleasant. Pureblood solidarity and stuff.
So Pansy and Daphne sat next to each other and started into conversation about fashion and the latest pop culture. Along with any drama that could pop up between eleven-year-olds.
That left Juniper to look at Historia. Merlin Juniper had very pretty eyes, they were like nothing Historia had seen before. (Which was funny, because Historia had gold eyes. Something many witches and wizards had not not seen before.) Juniper eyes were- well- the color of Juniper leaves. A bright mint shade, if you will.
So Juniper made her way to sit next to Historia.
"Hello!" Juniper greeted, sheer happiness plastered on her face.
"Hello." Historia greeted, her face rather unimpressed. Not that she was unimpressed, she thought Juniper seemed genuine and looked very huggable.
"I like your earrings." Juniper complimented, gesturing to Historia's pointed ears.
Historia smiled, bringing her hand to her ears to clasp the earrings. They dangled down and were incredibly unique. In fact, her earrings were a rustic portrait of her grandmother surrounded by a small frame of copper. Unusual to the witch, but very pretty. Many vampires had pictures of relatives for jewelry, it wasn't uncommon at all where Historia was from but she didn't think she would inform Juniper of all that.
"Thank you! I like you’re-" Historia made eye contact with Juniper. "Eyes." She decided on.
"Thank you, I got them from my grandma." Juniper jokes, her eyes squinting from her light chuckle.
"I also got my earrings from my grandma," Historia stated with her lips slightly turned up into a smile.
The sound of a loud thunk and the screeching of gears echoed from the train before it finally started moving. As the train chugged away, carrying the first-year students to their first day at Hogwarts, Historia felt a sense of excitement and anticipation. Despite the nervousness that came with starting at a new school, she was happy to have made a decent acquaintance on the train and was determined to make her family proud with her academic achievements.
The conversation on the train ride was pleasant enough. They talked about potions. Historia loved potions because it was the same thing every time and in every language. They talked about their families a bit, Historia noticed she was much more proud of her heritage than Juniper was and Historia just couldn't quite understand why Juniper wasn't proud of being a pureblood.
She was eager to get to know the purebloods and become hopefully friends with them. After all, Historia had very little contact with anyone other than her family and vampires and her mother made sure to remind her that she was to make herself on the best terms possible with everyone there. Her mother also made sure to remind Historia not to fraternize with mudbloods at all but her mother didn't have to tell her twice.
Don't get Historia wrong. She didn't think mudbloods were lower than her. She just- got an uneasy feeling when she thought about them. Which leads to a pit in her stomach which leads to nausea and an overall.. .. unpleasant experience. So when they arrived at the station near Hogwarts and mudbloods surrounded her, her skin crawled and she stuck by her blonde cousin's side. Historia peered around for her brother, and Draven was over by his group of friends so she found comfort in knowing where he was. It almost looked like he wasn't a vampire, what with all the wizards around him being so chummy. Historia was glad he had such nice friends, who were very rowdy but to each his own.
All the first years were guided off to a boating dock where the first years were ushered to board a boat. Historia sat on a boat with Draco who was kind enough to offer her a hand as they boarded the rickety boat. So off they went to Hogwarts. The biggest school in all of Britain and a school which Historia was terrified to enter. Stepped onto the school grounds along with the other first years and they went up the stairs from the underground dock before making their way to the front of the great hall.
The deputy headmistress stood in front of two tall wooden doors. She began to go over stuff Historia already expected so she began to revel in the castle. Less English architecture was included in the castle she grew up with, it had been heavily built with Roman features. She had been to the Malfoy manor and whatnot plenty of times but they did not compare to the mass of this castle.
As She walked into Hogwarts, she couldn't help but be awestruck by its grandeur. The tall, elegant pillars that held up the ceiling above seemed to stretch towards the sky, adorned with intricate carvings and symbols. The windows were enormous, allowing the dusk natural light to flood in and illuminate the impressive stone walls. It was a true masterpiece of architecture, every inch of it exuding an air of magic and wonder.
Then, something caught her attention. Draco had left her side and was off talking to some boy with circular glasses. She peeked over some tall girls and walked over to take station by Goyle. After all, Malfoy was not only her cousin but a dear friend so whatever was going on she was sure he was right. (Even if he wasn't, she would surely take his side no matter what.)
"It's true then, what they're saying on the train," Draco said with a sly smile, looking at Crabbe, Goyle, and Historia for backup. "Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts!" He said with an overly happy voice, mocking the boy.
His face went back to a serious one. "This is Crabbe," He leaned his head over to Crabbe.
"And this is Goyle and Historia." He leaned his head over the other way to point out the other two.
"And I'm Draco Malfoy." Draco almost puffed up his chest, proudly stating his name and showing off his high status.
A snicker came from a ginger boy. His hair was almost the same colors as Draven's, except Draven's was a dirtier orange color. Historia was not one for confrontation, instead, she violently avoided it- but this was her cousin's honor. He was a safe space for her and she did not like people treating him like whatever this boy was thinking of treating him like.
"Do you think his name is funny?" She almost sounded genuinely curious, except for the look that appeared on her pale face. Her sharp fangs almost formed a snarl.
"Red hair, and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley." Draco visibly cringed before laughing at the boy who looked not so put together.
Draco turned his head back to Harry. "You'll soon find that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort." Draco explained turning back to Harry. He truly wanted to help the dumb boy and Historia smiled at the kindness her cousin offered.
"I can help you there." Draco extended his hand out, offering an alliance to the brown-headed boy.
Harry thought for a moment. "I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." Harry rebutted, not taking the boy's hand. With that Draco tsked and turned away and Historia scurried after him mouth agape.
They then entered the great hall. The students all turned their eyes to the group of first-year students, most of them laughing to themselves as the first-years looked around in awe. Historia not being all too impressed by a mere room, looked around for her brother again. Then she noticed an eager red-eyed 4th year waving at her, then giving her a thumbs up when she spotted him. She returned a fangy smile to him, trying to subdue her anxieties by focusing on her brother.
Then an old man stepped up to the podium in front of the 1st years. Dumbledore, she recognized him. Historia shrunk down. She had heard nothing but horrible things about him from her beloved mother so she was not ready to hear what he had to say.
"I have a few start-of-term notices I wish to announce. The first years, please note that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students."
Historia looked back up, unclenching her fists. Why would students not be able to go to the dark forest? The only hostile creatures there were spiders and dark mongrels, and sure, they could get big but at the very least older students would do fine. The main creatures you would find there were elves, centaurs, and vampires, none of which would hurt a magical person unprovoked. That did not make sense, she had handled herself fine on her own in the forest growing up. Surely Dumbledore was misinformed. Alas, the old man continued.
"Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you."
Well, that was sure comforting to an anxiety-riddled eleven-year-old Historia who right about now looked mortified. Then the sorting hat ceremony started. Unimportant students filled up one by one for their houses to be called as Historia felt dread shoot for her body. Oh Merlin, she would have to go in front of the whole school. Did the sorting hat read all her thoughts? What if she thought about something weird? What if she thought Gryffindor-like thoughts? These thoughts did not help soothe her anxieties.
Historia took a moment. What would Achilles Crimson-Black, her father, tell her to do? He would tell her to count to calm herself down.
So Historia closed her eyes.
1..
2……
17…
Hermione Granger was called.
26..
38.. Draco Malfoy was called.
Distracted, Historia looked up. Her cousin confidently walked up. She worried for the boy, she knew Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narscissa would be severely upset if he was sorted into any house other house than Slytherin. So her nerves lit up- but were quickly calmed when the hat merely tapped his head before “SLYTHERIN” was called loudly.
Dread settled back into Historia's body and her palms began to sweat. Where was she counting from again? 28? Who knows, she would just start over.
1…
13..
22…
38…
48..
51..
Many students filtered up and then were seated. Then her name was called up. Her stomach dropped as students cleared their way for her and straight ahead sat the sorting hat. She paused frightened before she took the first step. The short path seemed to stretch a million miles long before she sat on the uncomfortable seat.
Crimson. The last name of the vampirian royal family that ruled across Europe and even had reach in North America.
Black. The infamous pureblood family known for producing many remarkable pureblood wizards
Historia had to support two family names that she needed to uphold.
The students almost seemed to stare into her soul. Nobody had any sort of disinterest on their face like they would for most of the first years. (They only cared and would cheer if someone was put into their house, Historia noticed.) So when many people either had sheer disgust or genuine engrossment in what she was doing, she felt so small.
"Ahh quite the nervous one." Pointed out the tattered hat. Historia squeaked. Thanks for announcing that, Sorting Hat.
Wait.
What was Historia thinking? Her brother said to make her family proud. So that's what she would do. She lifted her head and straightened her shoulders with a determined look.
"Oh no no. You yearn to impress your family.. but doubtful thoughts plague your young mind." The sorting house thought for a second and Historia waited for its response.
"I see." The sorting hat mumbled.
Historia wondered- should she tell him she wanted to be in Slytherin? If she did, would that mean anything if she was only put in there because she asked? She couldn't ask, as she would feel guilty for the rest of her years here if she weren't truly fitting of the house's reputation. For the ambition loyal and cunning. Though she needn't worry for much longer.
"SLYTHERIN!!" And suddenly her mind was cleared of any worry as she happily got up, almost dropping the hat then and there and skipping over to the table that cheered for her. Draven was the first to shoot up, hollering praises for her. She flushed out of embarrassment but felt such gratitude as she sat down next to Draco and he patted her back.
After noncomitedly chatting among the first-year Slytherins they were off to the common room. The school was big, and unlike her home where she just had to stay in one portion of the castle, Historia quickly came to realize she would have to walk around the whole school every day. She let out a groan before quickly gaining composure and she hopped down the stairs to the dungeon along the head of the house, Severus Snape who pointed out landmarks along the way.
Once they made it to a large wall, Severus in a rather clear voice, made an example of entering the password.
"PUREBLOOD" He announced, making sure the first year's students understood the password.
Just then, a gold snake rose up from the stone hovering far above Historia's height to reveal a dark door with designs carved into its rustic wood. The head of house let the students filter into the common room leaving them to get to their dorms and explore. Historia hopped down the stairs to the room with tall ceilings and a green ambiance. She peered to the left, she saw long floor-to-ceiling windows with the great lake on the other side.
Historia ran over to the large window gazing up at the murky waters. She could see fish swimming all around the water. Schools tried not to cross paths with other schools and Historia found some peace in watching the drama unfold in fishland. Historia sat down in front of the windows, her legs tucked between her arms. She stared into the water for a bit, finally being able to calm herself after being constantly talked too and being surrounded by so much stuff the past few hours.
“Boo!”
Historia squeaked and quickly turned around only to see her brother with a menacing grin. She rose to her feet and stood looking up at him with a deep frown. He only laughed in response.
“You're mean!” Historia whined quietly, not wanting to have attention drawn to her.
“Sorry, I had to!” He chuckled then composed himself back to his normal laid-back attitude with a sly grin resting on his face.
“Whatcha doin'?” he asked, peering behind her at the large window. “Looking for mermaids?” He asked sincerely.
“What?” Historia's mouth fell open, then her shock quickly changed to a look of excitement and eagerness. She turned her head around and ran over to the windows, turning around to place her small hands on the cool glass. “There are mermaids?”
“Oh! Yeah! Totally!” He responded, happy to tell his little sister this exciting information. “They don't come out that often but once in a while they'll come say hi.”
“Ill have to keep my eye out.” She squinted her eyes as if doing so would make them appear right in front of her.
Her brother hummed in agreement. “Have you met your dormmates yet?”
“Not yet. I'm honestly avoiding doing that.” Historia answered bashfully.
“Oh you scaredy-cat, so you haven't even unpacked? What about Malphas?” Draven had an over-exaggerated look of shock on her face.
Malphas was Historia's pet bird. Historia had been beating herself up every moment she had not gone over to her dorm to let her pet Raven out but she was so scared. These were going to be girls she spent the rest of her days here with. What if they were mudbloods? What would she do then? What if they were superstitious and biased towards vampires? What if they were just generally mean? Oh did her legs tremble at the thought. Apparently, Draven picked this up, so he gently put his hand on her shoulder. He always knew how to calm her down.
“Hey hey, it's okay Tori. C'mon, we can head over that way together.” He gingerly guided his younger sister through the common room. Most of which she was yet to even look at. There was no time for exploration when she could procrastinate by looking at fish.
Suddenly they made it over to a few steps and Draven suddenly stopped. “This is where I have to stop.”
“Why?” she asked nervously.
“Boys can't cross stairs to girls' dorms.” He explained ruffling her hair.
Historia bit her lip with her sharp canines. She could do this. Why was walking a few steps so hard? Why did so many dumb things stress the young girl out so much? She didn't know, or especially care what with the task right in front of her.
“Right. I can do this!” She said with false confidence.
With that, she took the few steps up the stairs before turning to her brother one last time, giving him one last look and then making her way down the curved hall.