Unyielding Heart (A Sirius Black FanFic)

Chapter 1

Sunlight glared into the girl's room, warming the blanket of the small girl. Birds started chirping to sound the arrival of morning.

Beep. Beep.

The alarm clock next to Sapphire Waters went off like crazy. Snapping open her eyes, the girl woke up in a flash, causing some part in herbed to hurt due to the fast movement of her stiffened joints. She had pale skin and wavy, chestnut hair. Her blue eyes were electrifying and there was a glint of midnight blue in them. Wincing slightly in pain, Sapphire brushed her hair behind her ears, revealing soft freckles that dotted her cheeks. She was breathtaking, if anyone was being honest, but her shyness caused everyone to scorn at her, leaving her self-confidence lower than before. She brushed her teeth and washed her face, then dressed in jeans with a simple white blouse. Tying her hair back into a ponytail, Sapphire rushed down the staircase from the attic and went to the kitchen.

"You! Girl! I want my usual!" Richard, her father, growled at her. "Me too!" Valerie, his wife, screeched. "And me." Caitlin, her only sister, said, glaring daggers at her. "Yes, Father, Mother, Sister." Sapphire whispered before going to do as she was told to. Suddenly, an owl swooped in and held out its leg to Sapphire. Forgetting her duties for a moment, Sapphire untied the letter. However, before she could open it, a rough hand snatched it out of her hands. "Go to work. I believe this is mine." Richard snarled. "But it has my name on it!" Sapphire protested "Go to work now!" He snarled again. "But-" Sapphire was cut off by a hard slap on her cheek. "GO!" Her father and mother yelled in unison. Eyes wide, her hand flew to her cheek, caressing the reddened spot where a mark was already forming. Whimpering, Sapphire stumbled back into the kitchen and started cooking. 

When Sapphire was serving the breakfast, she heard a small commotion issuing from the living room. Her stalking skills were quite useful as now, she crept up and hid behind the sofa, listening. "Rubbish." She heard her father say. "RUBBISH!" He roared again. "Magic? Hogwarts? Diagon Alley? All of this. RUBBISH!" Richard shouted, his face red with anger. He stomped out of the room, followed by her shocked-looking mother and a snickering sister. Quietly, Sapphire snuck out of the living room and called, "Father! Mother! Sister! Breakfast is ready." After a few violent thumps overhead, the bedroom door that belonged to her parents crashed open and her father came tearing down. Her mother and sister emerged from the study room. Doing sister's homework again. When I have to work and do all my homework, she gets the luxury of sitting around, doing nothing and getting mother to do it for her. Sapphire thought bitterly. Her family had sat down now and she was scowling at the wall. "Girl!" Her father said. Sapphire swung to face him, a fake smile plastered across her face. "Yes, Father?" She asked, mustering all the politeness she could. "We've decided that that letter is a joke and we have burned it." "What?!" Sapphire half-shouted, unable to hold back the outburst. "Be polite to your father!" Her mother sneered with a scolding gaze aimed at her. "I'm sorry. But why?" Sapphire hissed through gritted teeth. Her father shot her a death glare but she was used to it and brushed it off quickly. "We burned it. Now go to your room!" Richard repeated, fuming. Steam seemed to issue from his ears and eyes.

Not bothering with a "Yes, Father." or a proper saying before dismissal, Sapphire stomped up to the attic. If the school was really as her father says, a boring school, then it may be her way out of this living hell. And learning magic didn't seem so bad. Sighing, she continued her day to serve her family. But with a frosty ring that even her parents were afraid of.

The next morning, more owls arrived with the same letter. Richard burned the letters but they just kept coming. Sapphire saw her chance. One day, she quickly stuffed a letter into her pocket before her father could burn the rest. "Owls! Owls! OWLS! All of you useless lumps of feathers! OUT!!!!" Richard shouted, shooing away all the owls. "Who wants to talk to your so badly? Is it your boyfriend? Oh, wait! You don't have a boyfriend because you're a loser and you're so ugly and fat!" Caitlin sniggered. Her face still red, Sapphire raced up into the attic. She locked the door and flopped down on the bed. Gently, she pulled out the scroll and began to read.

Dear Ms Waters,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We hope that you will enjoy your visit and await your owl by the end of the week.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

(A/N: I'm too lazy to do the list and the whole letter. Sorry!)

Sapphire's eyes widened. Of course she wanted to go! So the next day, Sapphire waited for the owls and gave one of them a letter addressed to the deputy headmistress. Minerva McGonagall, her name was. But I'll never get my school stuff. Sapphire sighed, defeatedly. But she was wrong, as usual.

Ding dong. Ding dong. The doorbell rang. "Open the door, girl!" Valerie screamed from the study. Rushing to the door, Sapphire opened the door and peered out in astonishment. There, dressed in robes and with a pointed hat, was a witch. Her dirty blonde hair had curls in it, her grey eyes glittered and she was holding a wooden stick. No. A wand. Sapphire corrected herself. "Hello, I'm Amelia White, Herbology professor at Hogwarts. I take it that you're Ms Sapphire Waters?" She said in a bubbly voice. Sapphire nodded, as her voice failed her and her throat was dry. "Girl! Who is it?" Richard shouted from his bedroom. A scent of smoke floated to Sapphire's nose as she wrinkled her nose. Richard was smoking, as usual. Just as Sapphire was going to reply, Caitlin walked past and looked out in horror. "Daddy! Loser brought a stranger to our house!" She screamed, her unusually brown eyes wide. Richard skipped a few steps on the way down only to fall flat on his face when he saw what Caitlin meant. "Hello, Mr. Waters. I'm Amelia White, let's talk about my side of the world now, shall we?" Amelia asked, inviting herself in as Richard scrambled up. Sapphire hurried to the kitchen to brew some tea but the witch laughed. "We'll have none of that, my dear." She waved her wand and a steaming pot of tea appeared in front of Sapphire and Richard. "Sit, Sapphire, dear." She said, motioning to the chair beside the one she was sitting on. Richard sat himself on the one opposite Sapphire and Amelia.

"Professor White?" Sapphire asked tentatively. "Call me Amelia unless we're at school." Amelia laughed. Sapphire summed up a small smile. As the Waters started to hear Amelia's tale, Amelia would use her wand to prove her point. At the end, Amelia said, "Sapphire, as you have accepted the place at Hogwarts, you will pack your bags tonight and we will go to Diagon Alley the day after tomorrow. After that, you have a place with my in the Leaky Cauldron until the last day of the summer holiday. Your family will accompany you to the Hogwarts express as I have to go to the Professor's compartment. How do you like that?" Amelia whipped around to smile at the 11 year-old girl. The corners of her cherry lips pulled up into a wide smile. "Definitely." She replied. "Then it's settled. Good day to you, Mr and Mrs Waters." Amelia grinned before disapperating right in front of their eyes.

"You what?" Richard roared after she left. "You accepted their scholarship without our permission and didn't confront us about that?" Richard snarled, towering over his daughter, his breath quickening from shock to anger. "I did, so?" Sapphire shot back, resulted with another hard slap on her right cheek. She cried out in pain and fled to her room. There was nothing they can do about this so get on with it! Sapphire mentally chided herself. Maybe this could be a new chapter of her life. Maybe. Just maybe, her life could get better.

Hey guys! I hope you liked this! Now let me clear a few things. If the words are normal, like no bold, Italic or underlined, it's the story (If that even makes sense). If it's in bold, it's the Authors Note, if it's Italic, it's the character's thoughts and if it's underlined, it's a POV change. Hope you all enjoyed this! I'm going to skip Diagon Alley and go straight to Platform 9 3/4 next chapter!

Αντίο!

Katrina C. Heathers (Howler)