The Lion and the Swan (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter i

 "Ugh," my younger brother said loudly, pointing to a large group of redheads, "look at all those kids! That family is already poor, they don't need more of a burden."

"Now, Blaise, I've already told you," my father warned, looking around Ollivander's to see if anyone had heard his son. He continued in a more hushed tone. "It isn't prudent to be so- er, open about our views. I couldn't agree more, but keep your voice down, or save it until later when we're not in mixed company."

I watched the large red-headed family a bit longer. They had with them one boy who looked older than me, two twins about my age, and a son and daughter who seemed younger, maybe Blaise's age. They seemed obviously poor, judging by their robes's tattered state.This family must be one of the blood-traitor familes my father had always scorned, probably the Weasleys, based on their vivid hair color. They were the only other family in the small shop, but seeing as there were seven of them, plus the three of us, it was quite cramped.

"Arthur?" I heard the mother, a rather squat and dumpy sort of woman, ask her balding, squirrely husband. "Take Percy to Madam Malkin's to pick up some school robes, and bring Ginny and Ron with you. It's too crowded in here."

The husband left, the older boy and younger two in tow, leaving the twins and their mother. A moment of awkward silence fell between us as my father and the Weasley woman made eye contact, then looked away haughtily. "Come, Blaise, we must get to Borgin and Burke's," my father said, making to exit.

"But, Father, I want a wand!" Blaise whined annoyingly, as only a nine-year old could.

"I've already told you, the Ministry doesn't allow children to have wands before school, even children as precocious as mine," my father said, leading Blaise towards the door and ruffling his hair affectionately. As he was crossing the threshold, he seemed to suddenly remember me. "Breyanna, get your wand then meet us at Borgin and Burke's," he said, without turning around.

I sighed heavily. My father had always favored my brother over me. I had always thought that it was because he was the baby of the family, but only this past year did I find out that it was because I was my father's illegitamate daughter from when he had cheated his wife, the woman who had raised me as my mother. My father blamed me for her leaving him; he held me responsible for some reason, even though he was the one who had cheated in the first place.

Father wouldn't tell me who my real mother was, but I suspected that she was Caucasian; my olive skin was much lighter than the rest of my family's, my hair less coarse and more brown than black, and my eyes were a curious shade of green.

Since my "mum" had left him about a year ago, Father hadn't been speaking to me very much. Things around the Zabini Manor have been quite terse, so I was glad to be going to Hogwarts for the first time this September. It would be wonderful to escape from my father's accusing glares.

"Are you all right, there, dear?" said the Weasley woman from across the shop. She must've heard me sigh.

Slightly disgusted that the filthy blood-traitor would even speak to me, I responded with a cold, "I'm fine, thank you very much." She looked slightly taken aback at my insolence, but kept quiet.

At that moment, Ollivander appeared out of one of the side doors, his oddly pale eyes glimmering. "Ah, yes, two more of the Weasleys. And the young Miss Zabini, I was wondering when you'd be arriving," he said, his voice quiet and eerie.

First, he picked out a short one and stubby one, but when I waved it, nothing happened. The two boys didn't seem to have any luck with theirs either. After a knobbly cedar wand, a thin pine wand, and a fat blackthorne, I started getting doubtful that I would ever find the perfect wand. The number of rejected boxes piled up beside me. Meanwhile, one of the twins, George, found his match after a few tries with a dragon heartstring and yew wand. The other, Fred, was still having difficulty. Ollivander placed a slender, dark wand into my hand, declaring it to be "oak, unicorn tail, eleven-and-a-quarter inches, very supple." At the same time, he placed an aspen and unicorn tail wand in Fred's hand.