Sansa Stark was practically bouncing as she walked with her family towards platform 9 3/4. Today she was finally leaving for her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had been dreaming of this moment for years, ever since her older brothers Robb and Jon both got their letters. Now she was finally going, her trunk was packed with brand new school robes, books, feather quills and her wand. It was perfect and she loved it, eleven inches, cherrywood, with a unicorn hair for its core. Whenever she held it she felt as if it was made just for her, and she knew it would work well for her whenever she was allowed to begin to try spells with it.
In her arms she carried a large grey cat. Lady was her name and it was a gift from her father. He had bought her when they visited Diagon Alley to get her school supplies. She never thought it was possible to love an animal the way she loved Lady, the cat was the perfect pet, much better than the old toad that her sister Arya had gotten and named after some warrior queen.
Thinking of Arya made her scowl. Her little sister had insisted on tagging along to see Sansa off to Hogwarts. She would not get her letter for another year still. Her parents had made Arya promise to be on her best behavior today so together the two sisters walked along through Kings Cross Station with the rest of the family. Her father Ned was pushing a large cart piled high with all the trunks containing the children's school things. Her mother Catelyn walked behind him, attempting to fix her brother Robbs hair with her pocket comb, much to his annoyance, while Jon and her fathers ward Theon laughed at him. Suddenly Arya shrieked out that she saw the platform and ran ahead. Sansa said a silent prayer to the seven that thankfully her younger brothers Bran and Rickon were left at home, so they could not embarrass her as well.
They were early, so apparently the barrier was closed. Arya kicked and banged on the pillar shouting until their father hushed her and reminded her about the muggles. Sansa was anxious and began to look around at the other travelers when suddenly she saw a group heading toward them that made her smile.
"Ned" came the big booming voice that belonged to Robert Baratheon. He was her fathers oldest and dearest friend. Last summer the two families had vacationed together and it was then that Sansa had met his eldest son Joffrey. Joffrey was gorgeous, like a handsome prince from a fairy tale. He had been quite charming and she had daydreamed about him ever since. She smiled shyly at him as he approached them walking alongside his mother Cersei. The Baratheons were a very rich and powerful family, and Sansa admired them very much.
As the two families greeted each other Joffrey hurried toward her side. "Hello Sansa." he said smiling. "I am so glad you finally get to come to Hogwarts. I have already told all my friends about you. They are anxious to meet you."
"They are?" She said excited. "I cant wait to meet everyone as well."
"As soon as the welcoming feast is over, I will take you to Slytherin common room and introduce you to everyone."
Sansa felt her smile fade. When she had met Joffrey last summer he had just gotten his Hogwarts letter and was getting ready for his first year. "You got sorted into Slytherin. I had not heard which house you were chosen into."
"Of course I did. All the old pureblood families get sorted into Slytherin. It is really the only house you want to be in. Your family is from the blood of the first men, I have no doubt you will be put in Slytherin as well."
"No she wont!" came a shout. Sansa turned to see Arya standing behind her glaring at Joffrey. "Sansa wants to be in Gryffindor. All the Starks are in Gryffindor."
"Arya be quiet!" Sansa snapped. Secretly she had been hoping that she would be chosen for Ravenclaw. She would like to be in the same house as her brothers or Joffrey, but Ravenclaw always sounded the best to her.
Joffrey scowled down at her sister. "Get lost brat, no one asked for your opinion." he snapped. Sansa was shocked, she had never heard Joffrey speak that way before. Arya stomped her foot and ran away. Taking a deep breath she decided to ignore it, she knew from experience if anyone could bring the worst out in someone it was Arya.
She changed the subject, telling him about Lady and lifting her up so he could pet her. He scratched behind her ears a moment before laughing. "I have a new pet as well." He turned and yelled. "Dog get over here." Confused, Sansa turned and looked for a dog, but she found herself face to face with the biggest boy she had ever seen. He was tall and muscular with long dark hair brushed over one side of his face. When he turned to greet Joffrey she saw it was covering horrible scars. She gasped in horror.
"This is Sandor Clegane, but everyone calls him the Hound." Joffrey said. "He is my personal guard."
"What do you need a guard for?" Sansa asked.
"Nothing really, but after all that business with 'You Know Who' a few years back, my mother says we can not be too careful. We are of course the richest wizard family around now so my mother thought it best if I had protection. My Dog is the biggest and scariest around."
"You really shouldn't call him a dog, it isn't very polite." Sansa said frowning.
"Who cares." Joffrey snarled at her. "The Cleganes are POOR, and half-bloods at best. My family is doing him a favor by taking care of him. Come on lets take a walk until the barrier is open." He offered her his arm, so Sansa shifted Lady in her arms and let him lead her down the station. They walked a few steps before she glanced back to see that Sandor seemed to be silently following behind them. "Dog you stay behind! You are frightening my lady." Joffrey snarled when he saw her looking back at him.
They walked for a few minutes getting farther and farther away from their families. Sansa began to get nervous. "Maybe we should go back, we don't want to be late for the train." she began.
"Relax Sansa. You are with me. I will take care of you." he said smiling. She tried to relax but she was still very anxious. Suddenly they heard laughter up ahead, and as they passed another stone pillar she saw Arya playing with a young boy about her age. He was chasing her around in circles both of them brandishing sticks around pretending they had wands. When Arya saw them she stopped and the boy bumped into her knocking her to the ground.
Sansa hurried to her sisters side. "Arya! That boy is a muggle!" she whispered as she helped her to her feet.
"I don't care. This is my new friend Mycah. He is much better to play with than your stupid Joffrey." she spit out hatefully.
"Arya!" Sansa began to scold her for being rude, but before she could say anymore she saw Joffrey advancing on the muggle boy.
"So a filthy muggle thinks he is good enough to play with a witch. Pick up your wand boy and lets have a duel?"
"My wand?" the boy asked confused. "Its just a stick. We were just pretending."
Joffrey pulled out his wand and began to mumble a curse. Sansa was trembling in fear when suddenly Lady leapt out of her arms and scratched Joffrey on the arm. He screamed and turned to glare at her.
"That stupid cat scratched me. Look I am bleeding! Where did it go, Ill kill it. " He shouted. He pointed his wand at Lady. Sansa began to cry she was so afraid that he would hurt her cat, so without thinking she slapped him across the face as hard as she could.
He reached up and held his cheek. "You will pay for that!" He snarled at her. Sansa backed up away from him quickly as he began to raise his wand at her.
"Joffrey Baratheon! What in the seven Hells!" Roberts voice echoed throughout the train station. Joffreys father marched up and took the boy by the arm. "Wand out in public, muggles everywhere, just wait until I tell your mother." Sansa saw Sandor and her father walking toward them. As they passed Robert whispered something to Sandor and he nodded before continuing toward them.
The muggle boy was still standing there in shock. Sandor walked up to him and pulled his hair away from his face snarling at him. "You should run away now boy." Mycah screamed and took off running calling for his mother.
Arya began to kick Sandors legs. "Why did you do that! He was my friend! I hate you! I hate you!" she screamed. Her father grabbed her and lifted her in his arms trying to calm her.
"The train is here, you better hurry Sansa. The boys are already boarded. Your mother was worried sick." her father said trying to talk over her screaming sister.
Sansa began to cry and looked around the station. "I cant find Lady. She ran off. Please Father, I cant leave her."
"Lets get you on the train and I will come back and look for her. You don't want to miss the train now." Sansa wiped the tears from her cheeks as she followed her father and her sulking sister back to platform 9 3/4. She followed them through the magical barrier and found herself face to face with the beautiful Hogwarts express.
Her mother was waiting and she hugged her tightly. Suddenly Sansa felt extremely homesick and lost, but she was still excited for the adventures that awaited her. She kissed her mother on the cheek and waved one last time as she boarded the train.
Kids ran up and down the halls of the train greeting old friends and going in and out of different cars. She searched for her brothers or Theon but saw no one that she recognized. Finally she saw an empty car so opening the door she slipped inside and sank down on the seat and began to cry. A few minutes later the train lurched to a start and she scrambled toward the window hoping for one last look at her family, but the train had already passed them by. She leaned her face against the cool glass watching the people wave until the train left the station behind.
She looked up when she heard the door to her compartment open. She shrieked in delight when she saw Sandor standing in the doorway holding a ruffled and very scared looking Lady. She jumped up and took the cat from his arms. "Thank you! Oh Thank you so very much for finding her." She nuzzled her beloved pet on the head and held her tight.
"She didn't want to come to me at first, she was scared, but I have always had a way with animals." He said scratching the cat on the head for a moment before he turned and began to leave.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"Figured you would want the compartment to yourself." he mumbled shyly.
"No please stay." she smiled at him. "I wanted to say how sorry I am for how horrible my sister treated you."
"Don't get your feathers all ruffled up Little Bird. No need to chirp your apologies. " Sandor shrugged. "Was just doing my job, Mr Baratheon asked me to get rid of the muggle before he caused anymore trouble." He sat down on the seat opposite her. They sat in silence for a few minutes watching the countryside pass them by.
"What house are you in?" Sansa finally asked shyly.
"Slytherin." he said. She frowned sadly so he continued. "I honestly thought I would be in Hufflepuff. I mean I know that no one wants to be a stupid Hufflepuff, but our family crest has words about loyalty and our colors are yellow and black. I always felt like it suited me better than Slytherin, but that is where the sorting hat put me. Probably because my brother was already there."
"I know how you feel, my whole family is in Gryffindor, but I have never felt brave or courageous like them. Thats Arya not me. I hope to be in Ravenclaw actually."
They were interrupted by a plump witch wheeling a cart filled with sweets. Sansa jumped up and began to browse the selection. "Oh lemoncakes those are my favorite!" She exclaimed and pulled her coin purse out of her pocket and began to count the coins inside.
"Ill take three chocolate frogs, two licorice wands and some lemoncakes for the lady." Sandor said pulling out a gold galleon and handing it to the witch. She smiled at him and handed him some change and their purchases before moving along to the next compartment.
"You didn't need to buy my sweets." Sansa said.
"Because I am poor right." He said. "I heard what Joffrey said before."
Sansa looked up at him sadly. "I am sorry, I did not mean to offend you."
He sat down and opened a chocolate frog. "Last year they held a dueling tournament. My brother made it all the way to the finals against Loras Tyrell. Loras beat him, knocked him right on his ass. My brother tried to curse him when his back was turned. Tried to use the Cruciatus curse too, one of the unforgivable ones. I saw him and stopped him, deflected the curse. Loras gave me the prize money. Said I deserved it more than him. Forty gold galleons."
"Wow." Sansa said in awe. "That is amazing."
"What is more amazing is my brother got suspended for trying to use an unforgivable curse. He had already been in a lot of trouble, bullying the muggle born students and stuff. He left school and I haven't seen him since. It was the best day of my life."
"Are you not sad to be separated from your family?" Sansa asked.
"Not at all. I hate my brother. When I was seven he caught me playing with his Quidditch broom. He took me under his arm and into the kitchen where my mom had some potions brewing and held my face into the flames. I remember the potion exploding and my face melting as I screamed. My parents took me to St. Mungos but after months and dozens of spells and potions this was as best as they could heal me."
Sansa felt tears filling her eyes. "He sounds like a monster." she said wiping her eyes.
"Don't waste your tears on me. Lets talk about something better. Tell me about your family. Your little sister seems quite the wild wolf."
She laughed and began to tell him all about her brothers and sisters. They talked for hours as the train crossed the countryside bringing them closer and closer toward Hogwarts. When they felt the train began to slow they knew they were getting close to their destination. Sansa reached over and took his hand. He looked surprised and almost pulled away. "I am glad that you are my first friend at Hogwarts Sandor." He relaxed a bit and smiled shyly at her.
"I am glad we are friends too Little Bird." Sansa smiled at his use of a pet name for her.
As they exited the train, Sansa heard a loud voice shouting. "First years! Over here First years." She turned to say goodbye to Sandor.
"I'll see you at the feast." he assured her. "And don't worry about which house you get sorted into. I am sure whichever house the sorting hat picks for you will be lucky to have you." She smiled as she watched him walk away toward the horseless drawn carriages that the older students were boarding.
That night after the sorting hat declared her for Ravenclaw, Sansa smiled and walked toward an empty spot at the table. Across the aisle was the Sytherin table and Sandor. He winked at her as she took a seat across from him. She knew in her heart that no matter where she went in life from this moment on, that Sandor Clegane would never be far behind.