Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my OC's. All the others belong to the wonderful JKR! This is my first story, I hope you will like it (reviews would be more than welcome). Please keep in mind: English is not my mother tongue, but I'll do my very best.

Chapter 1

–Introductions-

I slammed the newspaper onto the table. This couldn't be the truth! My husband was dead and

I had to read it in the Daily Prophet. My eyes started darting from the headline to the window

to the fireplace and back, I felt like someone was strangling me while a fist was clenching my

heart.

A fight in Hogwarts. Voldemort defeated, Harry Potter saved the world and my husband was killed. My trembling fingers found the edge of a chair. He always had things under control, he was so powerful, this could not have happened to him.

I sat down and like a dark wave the truth hit me, tears started pouring from my eyes and I screamed out in misery. Severus would never come back home to me.

First of all, let me explain who I am and where I stand. I want to tell you my whole story, where it all began and where it all started to go horribly wrong. Don't jump on any conclusions too early.

My name is Sadra Burke and I am a grandniece of infamous Caracatus Burke, founder of Borgin & Burkes. My parents are Cyrill and Mirelle Burke, a born Malfoy. So –as you will have already guessed- I am a pureblooded witch. As far as my childhood is concerned I have no sob stories to tell you. I simply had everything- money, friends, fun. I was and still am tall and slender, with blond hair and dark emerald green eyes and some really good curves all in the right places. Didn't help me in the end…

But to make a long sentence short- I didn't miss a thing during my schooldays. My parents had sent me to Durmstrang because my father despised Dumbledore with such an energy only a crazy pureblood fanatic could ever master.

But it wasn't all that bad. Of course, being a girl was always harder in Durmstrang than in Hogwarts because the school wasn't exactly sponsoring the equality of women and men, but it didn't matter to me, because I still found a lot of friends there and the fights with the boys have made me tougher, I believe. I have never been the girlie-girlish one. That is clearly the job of my younger sister Serena, who came to Durmstrang two years after me.

Finally, my youngest sister Sasha came to school the year I graduated- she was the last try to have a boy, but since this didn't work out she was just the most spoiled brat on earth.

I met my first private Waterloo in shape of Kassian Gradic. He was my second boyfriend and I left my first one- Steven Krum, yes- uncle of Victor Krum and nearly as good in Quidditch as he is- for him in my sixth year. First, it worked out pretty well. I graduated with agreeable marks, the only thing I was really good at was dueling since I had to practice so much in my free time. Kassian and me traveled around quite a lot before I started working at Gringott's in Prague. I could already see us in front of a cosy fireplace, watching our kids and live in perfect harmony. Anyway, obviously this idea scared him and one day he told me that he couldn't see himself married to me and dumped me right there. Next thing I heard was that he had found a girl who had advertised in the "she searches for him" section of Witch weekly after two weeks and was sitting in front of a cosy fireplace with her now. It took me ages to overcome this slap in the face.

Now we've actually reached the point where I want to begin- it was the summer of 1979. I was still sad, mad and frustrated because of Kassian when I was promoted and had to start a job in London. I remember that I wasn't too glad about it, since I had been to England only on holidays for nine years and didn't miss it too much, but it was a very good offer, so I agreed.

I already found myself a nice flat in London and was quite happy that Serena, who had graduated this year, would be starting to work for the Ministry of Magic in London and lived in the city as well. At least always someone to visit.

It was a hot day in august and I was in the- we should call it castle fairly- house of my parents in Berwick, Scotland preparing for a garden party in London hosted by the Black family.

I wanted to take the opportunity to stay in London after that, because my parents were most annoying. All my mother was interested in was gossip- we could do whatever we pleased as long as no gossip occurred. Sounds fun, but she wasn't interested in anything else either. There was no way to talk about problems with her, she would just say:

'I don't know what to tell you/how to help you' and change the subject. On the other hand, she could spend hour after hour discussing the mishaps of other persons or their horrible children. We often joked that we were sent to Durmstrang so that none of our misbehaving could reach the isle.

My father compensated whatever by drinking quite a lot and giving heated political speeches no one wanted to hear. Otherwise he was okay- he treated us like precious little princesses even though we knew that his greatest wish had been a son to carry on his name. The name Burke was far from the danger of dying out but most men tend to want a male heir. Especially the pureblooded ones.

So, that very late afternoon I closed the diamond necklace and looked in the goblin-made mirror. The black dress I wore was banging- I had to admit. And perfect did it look with the shine. Allright, when it came to shopping I could become pretty girlish.

"Here you are. We want to leave now. I don't want to miss a thing. It is going to be spectacular! The first Black party since Orion died. I can't wait to see how Walburga took it and what she looks like. Nearly didn't leave the house ever since. And this useless son of hers didn't even attend the funeral! Never talked to her since he ran away! And that is three years ago!" my excited mother said, stepping into the room. I didn't listen to her properly. I didn't know the Blacks. My parents and they had become friends after I had started Durmstrang, so I knew none of them- useless or not. My mother stopped and inspected my necklace. I could tell by her eyes that she envied me for being young.

"Well, that's a bit too much, don't you think?"

"Nah."

"Your choice. I want you to be polite and charming tonight. You will meet a lot of very very important people. Now come." She swept out agian. Tall, slender and blond- the way all Malfoys are. I shook my head. I loved these peep talks. Like I was some kind of uncontrollable monster most of the day…

"Yeah, important people like James-pain-Potter and ugly-Yaxleys with a bit of Crabbe." I sighed following her.

"No, Potters aren't invited. They dared to criticize the idea of purebloods ruling over the wizarding world and the muggles. Traitors they are and surely not welcome anymore. James- so is rumored- is even married to a mudblood now!" my mother said heatedly. I shrugged. The last time I met James Potter was before I was send to school abroad. I remembered him as a horrible urchin who loved nothing more than to torture us girls. If anything, I felt sorry for his wife.

"Don't you ever go and marry doubtful blood-"my dear mother continued- "The consequences can be horrible these days. After all, you have to think about the future of your children."

I didn't respond. I was twenty and sure enough not thinking about children now. But I let her talk, sometimes she just got kicks out of listening to herself.

Downstairs I already heard my father praising the latest changes due to the Dark Lord. Serena and Sasha both rolled their eyes when I stepped in the living room. My father was having a glass of Martini. Who on earth was interested in politics?