I Solemnly Swear: Book 1

Thy Fair Lady

I groaned, dizzy from sleep and lack of food. The creaky bed squeaked beneath me with each halting movement. I got up and padded over to the dusty dresser that I haven't bothered to clean in the two weeks that I've been here. I grabbed a dark purple jumper and a pair of jeans that had holes in the knees and I threw my ratty blonde hair into a messy bun, not bothering nor caring how I looked. I paused, taking in my dingy room. It was a mess, my belongings scattered everywhere from me being too tired after doing small jobs, working for any of the shops I could each and every day. The mirror was cracked and the dresser was leaning dangerously to one side, The Leaky Cauldron obviously didn't pay as much attention to the rooms designated for their poorer residents. The Leaky Cauldron was also easily fooled by eleven-year-olds pretending to be fourteen.

I sighed, tired from worry, stress, and excitement; that and the fact that it was before ten a.m. and not even God himself should be awake at six in the morning. 

I carefully ran my hands over the letter that I was bringing to the owlery to be sent off to Hogwarts. I had to be up early to be sure that I wouldn't be seen by one of Voldemort's death munchers roaming around Diagon Alley. My hand was shaking when I had written it, leaving the letters that were once a gorgeous cursive, an unintelligible mess. I sighed, crumpling up the letter in my hands and throwing it into the trash bin, and began to rewrite the letter with grace. I finished the letter by signing my name, Cassiopeia Andarta Pratt, in neat cursive.

I looked over my name in disdain, having always hated it. My father had insisted that I was named after a star, Cassiopeia, and my mother had claimed that she would've died had I not been named after her favorite goddess of war, Andarta.

I checked the time, seeing that it was nearing seven at this point, and scrambled to pull on a pair of trainers, then ran out the door with my letter in hand. Pulling my hood up and ducking my head slightly, I ran down the alley. Reaching the post office, I yanked open the door and calmly walked up to the very tired looking man behind the front desk. I handed the man two sickles and told him it was to be sent to Hogwarts, before swiftly walking back out the door. I walked at a brisk pace back to my small room, thankfully no one noticed me.

Once I reached my room and I realized that I hadn't planned on doing any tasks for the shops today, I decided I was going to get all my school supplies. I changed into nicer clothes, let my hair down, and grabbed my small sack of coins. I was reading my school supplies list as I walked, not paying attention to what or who was in front of me. I ran into something hard and tall and felt my paper leave my hand and fall to the ground. When I looked down, I saw that I had knocked over a boy who had wavy black hair down to his chin and piercing grey eyes.

"Oh! Oh hell, I'm so sorry!" I quickly said, and reached out a hand to help him up.

He chuckled and took my hand, "It's fine, though I did fall quite hard on that."

I looked over to where he had pointed and realized he must've fallen on a rather large rock, my bum hurt just thinking about it and I winced in sympathy. Now that he was standing I realized he was a whole head taller than me and that he had rather nice features and a nice build. I flushed slightly at the thought and shook it off.

I held out my hand, for him to shake, "I'm Cassie, it's nice to meet you."

He grabbed it and replied confidently, "I'm Sirius Black, it's a true pleasure to meet thy fair lady." He bowed slightly and kissed my hand which made me jerk away and look up at him with widened eyes, only to realize he was smirking in a way that could only be described as mischievous.

Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Yes, well. I must be on my way, there are so many things on this list that I swear it will take me ages to get all that I need."

I was walking away before I realized that Sirius had kept up with my pace and was reading the list in my hand.

"Someone's rather nosey," I commented.

"You're going to Hogwarts too?" He asked, completely ignoring my remark.

"Yes, I can't wait to get there. I bet it's rather magical." I replied with a smirk at my pun.

Sirius looked quickly behind him towards what I believe to be his family, though they look like rather horrid people compared to Sirius. The look of confidence in his eyes had turned to one of slight nervousness looking back upon those people, but when he turned back to me he had put back on his mask of confidence and pride.

"I'll see you at the train then." Replying to me before giving me a quick wink and walking back towards his family.

I stood there waving slightly seeing as I hadn't gotten a chance to say goodbye, rather flustered with the audacity of the boy. Walking towards Madam Malkin's robe shop I came to the realization that if I were to stick to my plans of blending in, I would not be seeing Sirius Black on the train or at school very much. For some unknown reason, the thought saddened me slightly.

I shook off the odd emotion for someone I had only just met and went about my business.

Over the course of the day, I had gotten so many things, the most wonderful thing of them all being my wand. My wand was made of redwood and was 12 ¾ inches long, with a phoenix feather core, and had a rigid flexibility. With my wand I felt powerful, invincible, as if I could conquer anything; even Voldemort himself! I laughed for the first time in what felt like a year and stared at my wand in admiration. Thinking of all the mischief I could get into with spells, well, I could only smirk and imagine the outcomes.