The Half-Blood Princess

Chapter 8- False Identity

As the weeks turned into months, and the months turned into years, Sabrina became used to her new life.
At school she played a dark character, a pure-blooded Slytherin, like the rest of her house.
It was only when around Lily that Sabrina could drop her guard and be nice once again.
Things at home didn't improve, although Severus and Sabrina learnt how to make a copy of their wands which they could give to their father to lock away, while keeping their real wands hidden. Which made them feel slightly safer, because they could carry their wands at all times.

The one person Sabrina felt happiest around was Regulus. And as the years went by, their friendship turned into something more.
There was no big change in their relationship, or event that led them to becoming more than friends.
One day they just looked at each other in a certain way, and they both knew that they were no longer friends, but lovers.

Regulus was a Black, which got him a certain amount of attention, especially from teachers like Slughorn.
But he was not an exceptional student. Like Sabrina, he was merely above average.
Despite her love for Regulus, Sabrina could never bring herself to like Sirius, because of his treatment of Severus.
The group of Gryffindor boys, often referred to as the Marauders, were the most popular people in the school. But Sabrina thought they were all prats, since they continued to bully her brother.
Although they wouldn't do anything to Severus in front of Sabrina, she always heard about the things they had done behind her back.

At first the Marauders treatment of Severus confused Sabrina. But over time she figured out why they treated him so bad.
It was clear to everyone that James Potter had a crush on Lily, but she didn't return his feelings. So James took his anger out on the other boy who liked Lily, which was Severus.
Sabrina had always known that her brother liked Lily, and she hoped he would grow out of it, but it didn't look like Severus was going to grow out of his crush that easily.

****
"I've got a question for you" announced Regulus one evening in December, during their 3rd year.
"Unless it's about Ancient Runes, I'm not interested" mumbled Sabrina, who hadn't even lifted her head out of her book to reply.
She had seriously regretted choosing Ancient Runes as one of her 3rd year options, as it was a lot harder than she had thought it was going to be.
Sabrina was just grateful that her second subject, Care of magical creatures, wasn't as challenging.
"It's about Christmas" admitted Regulus.

Sabrina sighed and pushed her book back across the desk, "What about Christmas?".
"I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to my parents Christmas party" revealed Regulus.
"You want me to what?" Questioned Sabrina.
"Every year my parents throw this stupid Christmas party on Christmas Eve, and they invite all their pure-blood friends. And I was wondering if you wanted to come with me and meet my family".

"In case you had forgotten, I'm not a pure-blood" Sabrina said quietly.
"I know" replied Regulus.
"And do your parents know this?" Asked Sabrina.
"Not exactly"
"What have you told them?"
"They think your surname is Prince, which is a pure-blood name. And they are anxious to meet the girl I spend so much time with"
"Well, I'm not that thrilled about getting to meet them. I mean, what if they don't like me?"
"My parents don't like anyone to be honest, even other pure-bloods. They think that only those in the noble house of Black, are completely pure"
"Oh, and that really makes me want to meet them".

"Look, it would mean a lot to me if you came" admitted Regulus.
"But I stay at Hogwarts during the Christmas holidays, so I can't just pop down to your house on Christmas Eve" replied Sabrina.
"You could go home for Christmas this year. It's only a couple of weeks, and you are there longer during the summer"
"The only reason I go home during the summer, is because I don't have a choice, since Hogwarts closes during the summer. I have had 2 great Christmases here, so far, and I look forward to having many more"
"Alright, you don't have to come. It was just a suggestion".

Sabrina looked at Regulus's hurt expression, and she groaned, "Alright fine. I'll come".
"You will?" Questioned Regulus.
"Yes, alright. Just this once" sighed Sabrina.
"Great. I will send them an owl to let them know that you said yes"
"And I'll have to borrow a school owl to tell my parents that I'm coming home, since they won't be expecting me. Something tells me that I'm really going to regret this decision"
"You won't, I promise... You could ask your brother to go home with you if you wanted to, so that you're not alone"
"I couldn't ask him to do that. He hates our father even more than me"
"You could at least ask him, just to see what he says. He doesn't have to say yes".

Sabrina glanced over at her brother, who was sitting in one of the green armchairs, leaning over his Potions textbook.
"I'll tell him what I plan to do, and see what he says" announced Sabrina, as she got up from her chair and approached Severus.
"What do you want?" Asked Severus.
"I wanted to tell you that I'm going home for Christmas" revealed Sabrina.
Severus put his book down and frowned, "What possessed you to make this decision?".
"Regulus wants me to come to his family Christmas party. But in order to do that, I will have to go home for the holiday".

"Your boyfriend wouldn't ask you to do something like that, if he really cared about you" Severus said coldly.
"He doesn't know what goes on at home. He might know more than everyone else, but he doesn't know how hard things really are for us. Otherwise he wouldn't have asked. I would have told him the truth, since I do trust him to keep his mouth shut, but you told me not to tell anyone, remember" snapped Sabrina.
"What does he know?" Questioned Severus.
"He knows that our dad is a Muggle, and that he hates magic, and doesn't like us. He is aware that dad shouts at us a lot, but that's it"
"I see... So, you're really O.K with going home by yourself for 2 weeks?"
"I was hoping you would consider coming too".

Severus shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, "If you really need me to, I will. But I don't want spend any more time in that miserable place than necessary".
"I'm not forcing you to come, I'm just asking if you'll think about it. It could be our last Christmas at home together" replied Sabrina.
"I thought our last Christmas there, was when I was in my first year, and I came back to visit you"
"It was meant to be. But we could make this Christmas the best one yet"
"Alright. I will return home with you, to keep you safe. But you owe me one. And don't expect me to make this a regular thing. I am coming home for this one Christmas, and that's it"
"Thank you Sev".