Saoirse was born into the pureblooded Delaine family, the only daughter of her parents, but with two much older half-siblings from a previous marriage of her father. Her father and mother, both high-level ministry officials, were often busy in her youth, but her mother's sister and niece also lived in the same household, and the two girls were so close in age that they grew up almost as twins. Neither girl wanted for love, for Elisa, Sairse's aunt, was a doting woman, and when Saoirse's parents were home, they, too, paid attention to the girls. Glynn and Saoirse are as opposite as can be. Saoirse has always been the more physically active, exploring, riding, fearlessly venturing wherever her whims took her. She never worried too much about her appearance in day-to-day life, though she paid some attention to whether her clothes were clean or not - dirt was fine, but she was never smelly. Wherease Glynn liked quieter pursuits with other girls, Saoirse was always off with the boys, riding broomsticks, playing at dueling. Despite these differences, they are each the other's best friend, perhaps because of their dichotomy. These differences were only emphasized when on their arrival to Hogwarts, each was sorted into a different House - Glynn to Hufflepuff and Saoirse to Slytherin. In her first year, Saoirse has proven herself quite accomplished at the practical aspects of charms, transfiguration, defense against the dark arts and potions. She does less well when faced with theory and facts in classes like history of magic or astronomy. Not exactly the stereotypical Slytherin, she has also earned a reputation for a very strict code of honor that sometimes gets her teased about being a Gryffindor at heart. However, she lacks the compassion needed for that House. She expects everyone, herself included, to accomplish things for themselves, on their own. Sure, she might offer to help on occasion, but it rarely comes without at least concealed condesension.

Hogwarts Year One

In her first year at Hogwarts, Saoirse has, for the most part, stayed in the background. There is a rumor that she was responsible for the rather persistent case of ever-growing nose hair that Jason Shibly suffered immediately after making his umpteeth nasty remark to her cousin Glynn at dinner in the spring, although Saoirse has never yet admitted to having hexed the older boy. She has excelled in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration, and done quite well in Potions. She's fallen asleep at least once (that's been noticed) in each of Astronomy and History of Magic.

Family

The Delaine family is an ancient wizarding house that can trace its lines back so far it's not even worth trying unless you're exceedingly bored. Never has a Muggle or Muggle-born married into the family, although a clever researcher might notice a few discrepancies now and again that might suggest such marriages occurred with the parties being removed from the official family records. There is also a smattering of squibs. Again, a thoughtful researcher might notice that squibs tend to occur most often when the bloodline has remained especially pure for some time. They are not known to be a particularly fecund line - one to five offspring per generation is the norm. They are reasonably wealthy, with a large manor located in the country around Lake Neagh in Northern Ireland. The house is set up on a hill on about half a square kilometer of land made up of garden, woods and fields. Muggle-repelling charms around the perimeter, and a complicated illusion on the grounds combine with stories of hauntings to keep the property secure from intrusion. The current patriarch of the family is a hard-working wizard named Egan Delaine. It is known that Egan's first marriage ended in divorce not long before his second marriage. There were two children produced in the first marriage, and one in the second. Egan's sister is known to live at the manor with her daughter, Glynn, who both, interestingly enough, bear the surname of Delaine. Most of the Delaines have been in Slytherin House, but there have been occasional members of every other House as well. While Egan and his wife both work for the Ministry, it is not out of necessity, and many members of the family have dabbled in various fields from healers to dragon-handlers to entreprenuers, gamblers and layabouts. The family has in the last century or so been known as one that, while very proud of its pure heritage, is fairly reasonable in its view of Muggles and Muggle-born wizards, although that has not always been the case.

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