1 Chapter 1: The Story begins...

Olivander's, despite how many young witches and wizards visited it every year, was dark and musty.

Any other witch or wizard might have turned their nose up at the sight of the dusty old shop, but not Olivia. She loved places like that. Not so much dusty, but quiet.

If she could spend the rest of her life in a quiet library surrounded by knowledge, completely alone with herself and her thoughts she'd be in heaven.

Unfortunately, this wasn't an option. Especially not with her parents around.

To say they were social people would be an understatement. With her father working in the ministry of magic he knew basically everyone. Which made trips to Diagon Alley take forever because he always found someone he knew and through force of habit would strike up conversation.

It came as no surprise to Olivia when he told her that he had once been apart of the Hufflepuff house.

After wandering about the shop for what felt like ages Olivia set off on her journey back to the front of the shop. As she walked she allowed herself to be drawn into the adults conversation, mostly to her fathers forever cheery voice.

"...well if they didn't work me hard I don't know what I'd do with myself." And the statement was as true as it came. Her father worked around the clock for the ministry, always busy, he had a bad habit of not being able to sit still. But the habit could be forgiven as he always made time for family.

"Well as long as your happy Daniel." Olivander chuckled to himself pausing when Olivia rounded the corner. Eyes set on her as she sidled up to her her father. His hand instinctively moved to sit atop her head of dark curls. "And this would be...?"

"My apologies. Olivander, this is my daughter Olivia." Her father smiled brightly ruffling her hair affectionately. Her bright green eyes took in the older man as he did the same in return.

"Well," he said finally, "Olivia. Come to get your wand have you?" He enquired. And despite the fact that she knew this question was rhetorical she nodded lightly. She found adults responded better when she went along with their questions even if they held no purpose.

As if he had sensed her thoughts he offered her a smile. "Well, there'll be no need to stay quiet. I'm quite familiar with what your like young lady. Your father tells me you've got quite the proper mouth." He added his eyes never leaving her own.

She glanced at her father as if asking permission. He nodded and she turned to face the older man. "Yes sir. I'm here to purchase a wand. Is there a particularly complicated process to get one's wand? My brother was quite vague on the details." Unconsciously her head had tilted a little to the left, a sign of confusion and curiosity.

Olivander smiled and to Olivia's relief did not dwell on her properness, but moved on as if her speech was perfectly normal for a child of her age. Which she knew it was not.

"No, no complicated processes here. All you have to do is hold the wand and the wand will choose." He explained gesturing to the many shelves of wands around them. "Because here at Olivander's the wand chooses the wizard."

"How does it do that?" She asked innocently as her gaze wandered across where he had gestured.

"You ask good questions Miss Portman, but unfortunately I am unsure of the answer myself." He shook his head apologetically. "Magic is a peculiar thing, it works in it own mysterious ways." Olivia watched his eyes and upon finding sincerity there, nodded along thoughtfully.

With that Olivander disappeared into the shelving, returning moments later carrying a long pale pink box. Upon reaching her he gently opened the box revealing a long oak wand that looked quite plain with the exception of the handle. The handle that had intricate designs of doves and various leaves carved into it.

"An elegant wand for an elegant lady. Go on. Take it and give it a little swish and flick." Oliviander coaxed her and she gently put her inside the box slipping her fingers around the smooth wood of the wand. Carefully she lifted the wand and pointed it at a small pile of books on nearby chair.

As instructed she gave it a small swish and flick and instantly the books from the chair fell with a loud bang. Olivander gently took the wand from her hand. "Apparently we need something stronger rather than elegant." He commented and disappeared into the shelves again.

Olivia watched as her father bent down and picked up the books before gently placing them back on the chair. Seeing her watching him he smiled and gave her a thumbs up. His encouragement wasn't really required, she wasn't worried she wouldn't find a wand, but his kind gesture eased any nerves she had.

"This one might be more your style." Olivander explained as he emerged from the shelves with another long box. This one was colored black with silver lining its edges. He opened it to reveal an ivory colored wand with wave like indentations on its handle.

Again she took the wand and pointed it at the books. However, before she could move it she felt a breeze push her hair from her face and she felt the wand grow warm in her hand.

"And we have a match!" Olivander smiled. "I had a feeling this wand might be the one for you. It's made of Holly with a unicorn hair core, almost the exact same wand as your aunt. You remind me of when she was in here buying her first wand."

He needn't elaborate on which aunt he was talking about. Although she had three aunts, all of them on her mothers side, she was always told she portrayed similar traits to her aunt Velma. Her mother's eldest sister. A woman she had never met, or at least never remembered meeting.

"We always said she has a bit of her aunt Velma in her." Her father chuckled and squeezed her shoulder affectionately. A proud smile sat unobscured on his face. The transaction was over in a matter of minutes and what felt like mere seconds her and her father exited the shop out into the bustling alley.

"Talk about nostalgia." Her father sighed and smiled. "I remember when my dad took me to get my first wand." He looked down the street as if seeing something there that Olivia just couldn't see. She imagined him to be remembering what it was like when he was a boy.

"But I'm glad I could come with you to get your wand." He lovingly pulled her to his side and she begrudgingly let him embrace her. Making a face when he squeezed to hard and him laughing at her 'funny' expression.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next job was to get her textbooks. They wasted no time getting from Olivander's to Florist and Blotts, the door of the shop gave them a cheerful tinkling as they entered.

Unlike the last shop this one was bright with windows lining the walls letting the light spill inside. The books, like the windows lined the walls and the shelving throughout the shop. A handful of people milled around the shop on the hunt for textbooks or for something to read.

Immediately her father crossed over to the desk clerk, greeting him warmly as he approached, and Olivia took her booklist and set to work on finding her textbooks.

Occasionally, while searching for books she'd look up to see where her father was. She found he had a bad habit of disappearing when he saw someone he knew and wanted to talk to, often without informing her.

On her third check up she noticed that her father was talking with a man with long blonde hair who was wearing crisp, clean cut robes.

Olivia was not unfamiliar with Lucius Malfoy. He worked alongside her father and she had been introduced to him before. On occasion, he would have dinner with them, usually after he and her father had some kind of success at work.

As she dropped her gaze back to her search, a boy about her age, wearing dark clothes, his platinum blonde hair slicked back in a business like style appeared beside her.

"Hello." He addressed her formally and she paused mid-search to meet his gaze. "Draco Malfoy," he produced his hand "and you are?"

Olivia took a moment to absorb this new information. This boy was no doubt Lucius Malfoy's son, his last name had only confirmed this for her. His formal gestures and clothes all screamed rich pure blood. A trait he had no doubt picked up from his father.

Remembering her manners she raised her hand to meet his own and shook it, causing him to smile. "Olivia Portman." She replied before moving back to her search. Surprisingly, he didn't take it as a sign to leave. Instead he stayed and continued their conversation.

"So your starting your first year at Hogwarts too? What house are you hoping to get into? I'm definitely going to be a Slytherin." He began rapid firing questions and Olivia was quickly reminded why she avoided conversation in the first place.

"Yes," she answered as she added another book to her pile. "This will be my first year. As for my house, I'm unsure." She hoped this answer would be enough to satisfy his curiosity.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

"Well your a pure blood aren't you?" He asked and she silently cringed at the word.

She'd been taught from a young age that it wasn't polite or really socially acceptable to talk about your linage. Especially when it came to pure bloods and muggle borns. Conversations usually turned quite sour when it was mentioned.

She swallowed before answering, "I am. Why?" She managed to keep her face neutral to hide the hatred she had for this particular conversation.

"Perfect. That means your chance of being in Slytherin is even better." He informed her, she could almost see his ego growing before her very eyes.

As he spoke she continued to pile the books from her list. And boy could he talk. She remained quiet, letting him speak and nodding and shaking her head where appropriate.

As she placed the last book into her basket she turned to face the blonde boy as he concluded his story about a run in with a muggle.

"...muggles really are that stupid. Them and their filthy mudbloods should just keep to themselves." He spat venomously.

Olivia sighed in relief that he had finally stopped talking. "Well..." she took a moment to grab her books before adding, "as much as I'd like to listen to another one of your rants I really must go." She turned to leave taking a few steps before stopping to look back at him. "And by the way, for future reference, I recommend you don't discuss such controversial topics with the next person you meet. It really is a terrible conversation starter."

Seeing his quite dumbfounded and confused stare she scoffed and muttered "git" to herself, purposefully raising the volume of her voice so that he would hear her insult.

After the blow had been dealt she made her way to the front of the shop. In her wake Draco looked angrily after her. How dare she call him a git. This being the only part of her speech that resonated with him...as it was the only part he understood.

He had half a mind to tell his father what she had done. Let her feel the wrath of a Malfoy. But the thought of telling his father that a girl insulted him was much too embarrassing. So frustratedly he turned and disappeared in between the shelves of the shop.

"Found all your books princess?" Her father asked as she emerged from the bookshelves carrying an armful of books. She hummed a yes in response.

"You remember Mr Malfoy don't you, Olivia?" Mt Portman asked as she put her books down on the counter.

Olivia looked to the tall, blonde haired man that looked down to her curiously. "Yes. Hello, Mr Malfoy. It's been awhile since your last visit." She replied monotonously.

"Yes, Miss Portman, It has been a while. I see you've grown taller since I last saw you." He commented flashing her a small polite smile.

She nodded understandingly.

"Just a moment," Lucius pardoned himself as he turned to face the bookshelves. "Draco! Come here, I want to introduce you to someone."

Draco emerged from the bookshelves a moment later with only one of the books on the first years booklist tucked under his arm.

Amateur, Olivia thought to herself at his lack of effort to even look for his own books.

"Miss Portman," Lucius began as he pulled his son to his side. "I'd like you to meet my son, Draco. Draco this is Mr Portman's daughter, Olivia." He gestured back and forth between them as he gave introductions.

"Hello Draco." Olivia offered her hand to shake. Despite having been already acquainted and deciding that Draco Malfoy was not worth a moment of her time, she remained polite.

Draco on the other hand did not share these sentiments. And stood his ground refusing to offer his own hand.

Seeing his son's hesitation, Lucius elbowed him slightly in warning to be polite.

Draco stifled his surprise at his fathers actions and forced himself to take up her hand. "A pleasure," he managed to ground out through his teeth.

"I'm glad the two of you finally get to meet." Mr Portman added cheerfully, oblivious to the fact that neither of them were happy about seeing each other.

"That will be 30 gold galleons" the witch behind the counter interrupted after sorting through the books on the counter.

Mr Portman smiled at the witch behind the counter as he produced the coins from his pocket "ah yes. Here you go."

The witch took the coins nodding appreciatively before leaving to deal with other customers.

"I suppose we should get going princess." He smiled turning to look at his daughter who was grabbing the pile of books off the counter. "Do you need any help?"

"No thank you father." She answered nonchalantly before looking to Lucius and his son. "It was nice meeting you, Draco" she addressed the younger blonde first, her words not matching her thoughts. Draco huffed quietly in disbelief, averting his eyes from his father's icy glare.

"And it was a pleasure seeing you again Mr Malfoy." She nodded politely towards the older blonde, who offered a small bow in return.

Mr Portman smiled at his daughter before turning his attention to his friend. "We'll have to catch up again sometime soon Lucius, if I don't get moving now I might get myself into trouble." He joked as he shook Lucius's hand.

"Yes, agreed. There is still a few things Draco and I still need to acquire." Lucius nodded in agreement. "I'll see you back at the ministry."

"Of course."

With that Olivia managed to finally get her father out of the bookstore before he could find someone else to get lost in conversation with.

"Alright princess, where to next?" Her father asked taking the books from her, despite her protests that she could carry it herself.

But fighting her fathers kindness was a losing battle. So she eventually caved and let her father take all the books from her arms.

She looked around the bustling alley her eyes coming to rest on the sign for the Owl Emporium.

"Shouldn't we be meeting up with Jacob?"

Mr Portman followed his daughters gaze to the Owl Emporium chuckling to himself. "Ah yes that's right. I don't know what I'd do without you princess."

She didn't need to answer this statement, it was definitely rhetorical, and it was not the first time her father had said it.

Her father's mind tended to wander and he would more often than not forget things which Olivia took upon herself to remind him of.

"Alright off to the Owl Emporium!" Her father announced cheerfully as he led the way.

"Yes father."