pure ; james potter [marauders era]

o n e ;

[ september 1st, 1971 ]

Octavia and her parents made it to platform 9¾ about ten minutes before the train was due to arrive. They waited, like everyone else, to the side of the platform as they talked to their child about expectations and rules.

Octavia was the only one to notice all the uneasy looks the other families were giving hers. It made her a bit anxious, not wanting other families to instantly assume she too had the beliefs and morals of her parents.

"Octavia." Mrs Knight snapped, bringing her daughter out of a trance. Octavia looked up to notice her parents walking over to another family. Pure bloods, obviously. Probably great friends with her family. "Hello, Orion and Walburga, lovely to see you again. Is this little Sirius, here?"

"Yes," Orion nods, placing his hand on Sirius' shoulder, something that made Sirius flinch slightly. No one seemed to notice this, though. "And I suppose this is Octavia? We've heard lots of good things about you." His eyes locked with intimidated girl, and out of pure anxiety, she didn't seem to notice the Hogwarts Express pull up.

The two families passed Sirius and Octavia their bags, saying their goodbyes to their children as they adjusted the grip they had on their luggage. "I expect you to sit with him on the way there." Mrs Knight whispered in her daughters ear. Without any hugs or kisses goodbye, the Black and Knight parents turned their backs on their children and went back through the wall, and towards home.

Sirius and Octavia hopped into the train together in silence, both too nervous to say anything to each other. They found an empty compartment and placed their luggage above their heads, keeping their pets on their seats with them. Octavia had a black cat with green eyes called Jinx whereas Sirius had an owl with brown feathers.

They sat down and looked at everything and anything but each other. When Octavia noticed Sirius staring outside the window, she took a moment to observe him. He had long, black hair and a strong jawline. His eyes and lips were large and he had clear, pale skin. He was absolutely stunning.

Her eyes lingered down and she saw some blue, purple and green marks hidden underneath his clothes. Were they bruises? Did his family hurt him too? I mean, that would explain their cold looks towards him and how, like her family, they didn't kiss or properly say goodbye to their son.

The train finally took off, and both Octavia and Sirius noticed all the first years (and some older kids) waving off their parents, some with tears in their eyes. Both pure-bloods felt a clench in their chest as they knew their parents couldn't care less.

Sirius too, took a moment to study Octavia's face. She had long brown hair that he assumed was naturally straight, dark blue eyes and the whitest teeth which complemented her perfect smile. Her eyes met his for a split second, causing him to quickly look away as slight coloring flooded his cheeks. She was gorgeous.

A knock on the compartment door startled both eleven year olds, and he could here Octavia faintly call out, "Come in."

A boy their age, Octavia guessed, walked into the room with a bag, an owl and three books. "Would it be okay if I sat here?" He asked, "All the other compartments are full."

"Of course." Sirius nodded politely. Octavia was beyond surprised. Even though they didn't know the boys blood status, they knew he wasn't a pure-blood. Yet, Sirius was still polite to him and let him sit down. This gave Octavia hope that he was like her and couldn't care less about family traditions.

Without thinking, Octavia spat out "What are your thoughts on pure-bloods, Sirius?"

"I- um, well, I don't know." He scratched the back of his neck and his face was flushed. "I guess I don't care about any of it."

"Me neither." Octavia agreed quickly, trying to comfort the boy who was obviously scared. "I hate it all and I hate my family."

"Me too! I hate my family and their expectations of me. I want to run away from them, when I'm older."

The two talked for ages and came to like each other as neither of them had ever met another 'blood-traitor' before. They learnt that both of their parents where abusive and morally incorrect. They quickly found comfort in each other and once they were finished talking, they apologized to the other boy in the carriage who had disregarded his books and gone pale.

They made conversation with him and learnt that his name was Remus John Lupin. Remus had short, dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and scars trailing both down and across his face. This made Octavia and Sirius curious, but neither of them asked about the scars in fear of insulting their new-found friend. Nevertheless, Octavia couldn't let that cloud how undeniably attractive he was. On top of that, his personality was great; he was nice and incredibly smart. On the other hand, Sirius seemed sassy and mischievous.

Octavia knew that these boys were kind-hearted and the people she wanted to associate with.

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"Black, Sirius." Professor McGonagall called, eagerly searching the crowd for the first year. She loved the sorting, it was the first milestone of every young witch and wizard here at Hogwarts. "Gryffindor!"

Sirius made his way happily towards the red and golden table, shooting both Octavia and Remus a bright smile. Although, something in his eyes made Octavia think that he wasn't entirely content with that choice. Not long after Octavia heard her name being called.

Octavia walked up and thanked Professor McGonagall once the sorting hat was placed on her head. Octavia visually jumped when she heard an unexpected voice whisper in her ear. "Hm, I haven't sorted a Knight in a long time... Not since you're parents at least. You're smart, that's for certain, a strong Ravenclaw trait. Your whole family were in Slytherin, though. It's where they expect you to be, I presume."

Octavia gulped slightly at the thought of her family. Did she really want to follow in their footsteps? To be like them? "But in saying that, something tells me they don't quite have your allegiance. Better be... GRYFFINDOR!"

Octavia visibly paled, her parents would not be happy with this. But she couldn't help but notice the smile on her face grow wider and brighter with every step she took towards her table. She sat down next to Sirius and hugged him, grateful to be with him. Not long after, Remus was also sorted into Gryffindor and he sat himself next to Octavia.

The infamous feast started and Octavia grew to love her house. She met Lily Evans, a muggleborn girl with fiery red hair, Mary MacDonald, Marlene McKinnon and Alice Fortescue, all of which were in her year level and house. She was also introduced to two boys, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew by Sirius.

James was incredibly handsome. He was a bespectacled boy with disheveled black hair and beautiful hazel eyes. Octavia couldn't help but blush slightly once he caught her staring for too long. Not that he minded, though, he too was caught off guard by her physical appearance and was not disappointed when her personality reflected the beauty within.

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published [9/1/2017]