Prologue
Prologue
1st of September, 1991
It’s been 13 years, 8 months, and 15 days since they broke off over a planned engagement
Severus had been sitting at the long table in the great hall like every other first day of the year at Hogwarts. He saw those annoying little 11-year-olds walk in again, by now he could sort them in their houses by the way they walk in. He was looking around in the group when he spotted a certain blonde-haired boy. (let's ignore harry for the sake of this fanfic :)) When he locked eyes with the boy Severus couldn’t believe his own eyes, that was Narcissa’s child... His Narcissa... she mentioned she had a child once in the many letters she wrote him, they stopped arriving 5 years ago. And this child was probably the reason why. He shook his head as he looked at Dumbledore, not listening to the annual speech while he was promising himself to not let this child get in the way of his life.
1st of September, 1972
The first years were getting sorted again like each year. But in the group of 11-year-olds, there were 2 kids, a girl, and a boy, who were clinging to each other. The boy, whose hair was as black as an onyx crystal and eyes as grey as a few other people in the great hall, was holding the hand of a girl, with blonde hair carefully held up with a black bow with the same eyes as the boy next to her. If you didn’t know better you’d say they were siblings.
There were 3 pairs of eyes glued to the duo, eyes the same as theirs. 2 pairs looking as proud as they could, and the last pair, disappointed. Guilt. Sadness. They were the eyes of Sirius Orion Black. Looking at his little brother and their cousin.
From the other side of the room, where the other 2 pairs of eyes came from, there was another pair of eyes that started looking at the duo. But these eyes weren’t grey, they were black, almost the same color as his hair. But Severus wasn’t interested in the boy, he had heard about him before. It was Regulus Arcturus Black. Severus his eyes were glued to the girl at this point, he waited for Dumbledore to finish his speech so he could find out her name.
After a while the names started to be called, and hers was one of the first “Narcissa Black” was called, and there she went, she let go of Regulus his hand and walked over to the stool, she still looked very nervous as she avoided eye contact with everyone around her, even her family. As the hat had been placed on her head it started talking “A Black I see? Fond of protecting your family. But also fierce. Must be a Slytherin!”
she looked less nervous as she was sorted into Slytherin, known for being cunning and ambitious. The blonde girl was immediately greeted by her two older sisters. Andromeda, a fifth year, sitting next to Bellatrix, a fourth year.
Narcissa took her seat next to them as Regulus his name got called out. The hat didn’t say much, he only mumbled some things about bloodlines and families before sorting the boy into Slytherin. It didn’t take long before he sat down next to Narcissa, they both seemed glad about the outcome of the sorting ceremony.
Narcissa was looking around at some other first years, still avoiding eye contact with all of them. But as she looked at the other people at the Slytherin table she failed. The girl looked directly into the eyes of Severus Snape. It didn’t take that long, barely a second later she already looked back at her hands which she had hidden under the table while she fidgeted with her skirt.
After dinner, they were dismissed to go and explore their common rooms, Narcissa and Regulus followed Andromeda, who explained basic things, like rules, how to get in, where they sleep, etc. After a while, she finally let the duo alone and they sat down on a couch somewhere far away from the others. They hadn’t said much to each other, or anyone really, since they even got on the train. It was pure silence, a kind of silence you could connect with anxiety, fear, and angst. After a while of sitting in silence, Regulus finally said something “We’re here..” were the words that came out of his mouth “We made it..” Narcissa answered in response with a small smile on her face. On the other side of the room, Severus had settled with a book. But he wasn’t focussed on his words about potions, but more on Regulus and Narcissa. For no particular reason.