Chapter One: Year One
Heavy smoke from the train filled the crowded station, making it hard to see, and shouting mothers and indignantly screeching owls made conversation nearly impossible. Platform 9 ¾ was a teeming, stewing mess of noise, life, and nervous students. My heart was beating frantically. I couldn't believe it was actually happening- I was really leaving. Off to Hogwarts. My stomach fluttered nervously.
"Serena? Serena, honey- there you are!" My mother hovered around me nervously, smoothing down my hair.
"Mom, mom, I'm fine," I said, batting her hand away. "Stop worrying."
"I'm not worrying!" She declared. I raised one eyebrow at her. Her hair was a frizzy mess hovering at least five inches off the side of her face. The height of her hair frizz always corresponded to her state of anxiety. "Oh, all right. Maybe I am- just a little bit."
"There you are!" My sister, Chandra, and my father came strolling towards us, having made their way past the wall as well. Chandra was hauling a trunk identical to mine, and Dad was carrying our owl, Giovanni. She ran to us and wrapped me in a huge hug, despite the heavy trunk she was carrying behind her. We'd both been waiting for this day for years.
Dad took one look at Mom and burst out laughing.
"Stop worrying so much! They'll be fine, honestly, 'Mione."
"I'm not worrying," she snapped.
He smirked at her and patted at her hair for a few seconds before she batted his hand away.
"Okay, listen you too," she said, bending down to stare in our faces. "Be good. Eat your vegetables. Owl us every week. Don't forget to—"
"Hermione, they'll be fine."
She bit her wobbling lip and straightened up. "I just can't believe you two are leaving."
Chandra and I exchanged a knowing smile, and simultaneously reached out to hug her.
"We'll be fine, Mom," I said.
"Of course you'll be fine," our dad said, his familiar smirk spreading over his face. "First of all, you are my daughters. Second of all, you'll be Slytherins, both of you, and there's no way—"
"What was that?" Mother's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I think you've mistaken…"
Chandra and I backed off from the pair slowly, again sharing a smile. I remembered only one year ago, when Tristan had left for school, and the two of them had argued for long and hard months over whether their son would be a Slytherin and Gryffindor. Sure enough, his first letter came home to reveal he had been neatly sorted into Ravenclaw.
"Serena! Chandra!" We quickly found ourselves bombarded by two of our Weasely cousins in a sweaty pile of robes and laughter.
Fred's and Albus' faces reflected our own suppressed excitement and fear. It was their first year as well.
"You aren't scared, are you?" Fred asked, grinning wickedly despite looking slightly green.
"Of course not!" I lied.
"Oh shut up Fred," Albus said, even more green himself.
Lily, Roxanne, Yvette, Lucy, and Molly caught up to us quickly after the famous duo. Lily would join her brother Albus next year. Their elder brother, James Potter, was already a second year, like my brother. Yvette and Molly still had two years to wait, and Lucy had six. Secretly I dreaded Molly and Lucy's arrival to Hogwarts. They were just a little bit too much like their father, Uncle Percy.
"Chandra, you've got Snagglehorns all over your sweater," Yvette said, brushing distractedly at my sister.
The Weaselys weren't technically our cousins, of course. But our mother was like a daughter to Grandma Weasely, so we spent nearly every Christmas and Easter with them, as well as a significant part of the summer, as did Yvette Longbottom and her parents. However, her warm feelings didn't extend to our father for some reason. She only called him Malfoy, and would scowl furiously at his presence for at least the first fifteen minutes of every visit- until she forgot that she hated him.
"Come on you hippogriffs! We'll miss the train!" Our brother Tristan and his best friend, James Potter, joined the pile, having already left their luggage on the train.
The four of us- Chandra, Albus, Fred, and I- gulped, paled slightly, gripped our trunks with sweaty palms, and steeled our guts to follow the pair of overly confident second years to the train. The younger cousins turned back to rejoin their parents as we began what felt like a slow, fateful march.
"Frederick Wulfric Remus Weasely! Get over here!"
Fred let out an exasperated sigh, and stuck his arms out to his sides. His parents had caught up with him, and his mother poked his robes with her wand, patting him down thoroughly, suspicion dark in her eyes.
"Dad, can't you do anything?"
Uncle George grimaced and shrugged. "Best to just let her run, mate. Hope you weren't thick enough to try to—"
Sure enough, as the words were out of his mouth, Angelina pulled several dung bombs out of a secret inner pocket and a snarling, mutated Pygmy Puff out of his left boot.
Uncle George sighed. "I thought you'd learned better than this, Fred…"
Over our cousin's desperate pleas to keep "Quincy," Chandra and I were bombarded one last time by our parents. They both hugged us tightly and wished us well.
"You too will have a great time. Learn lots, both of you," our mom said, sighing. Dad pulled her in for a sideways hug, keeping one arm around her shoulders and tucking her head under his chin.
"You two probably have no idea what's waiting for you. I hear the castle is completely different from our days, after all the rebuilding," he said. The Hogwarts Express let out a sharp, loud whistle.
"Be good!" My sister and I climbed onboard, trunks and owl in tow, and sat down in an empty compartment. We opened the window and waved at the pair of them as the train rumbled below us and began pumping steam into its gears.
"Bye!"
"We promise to owl you!"
Mom was trying hard not to cry as the train picked up speed and began moving down the tracks, and Dad's blonde hair blew in the wind forlornly. I saw his eyes- so much like my own- mist over like mother's before the train lurched forward. We waved at the quickly diminishing pair as they became smaller and smaller, disappearing into the distance.
My sister and I smiled at each other and collapsed into seats across from each other. I could tell exactly what she was thinking- because it was exactly what I was thinking. I couldn't believe we were finally off to Hogwarts.
"Chandra!" My sister's best friend since they were five years old, Izz Snow, had just joined our train compartment. She leapt up and wrapped her friend in a giant bear hug. After a few seconds of frenzied, indecipherable dialogue, the two wandered off to a new compartment, lugging trunks behind them.
I stowed away my trunk and secured Giovanni on a shelf above me, and had settled down into my seat for only about a minute when Fred and Albus burst into the compartment and collapsed next to me, Albus on my right, Fred across from us.
"Guys, guess what?" Fred grinned evilly.
"Oh no," I groaned.
"Mum let me keep Quincy in exchange for the Shocking Shizzberts in my trunk."
I groaned louder and buried my head in my hands. I hated that Puff.
The train ride passed quickly, countryside passing outside our window as we chatted away the hours. About halfway through the ride, a messy girl with tangled hair and half-tied shoes clambered into our compartment and collapsed next to Fred.
"Hey guys."
"Hi Alexa," I smiled. Alexa Jordan was like one of the other many non-official members of our family. Fred's dad and Lee Jordan, Alexa's dad, were as close as their mothers, Angelina and Katie, were. However, Fred and Alexa did not always feel quite the same warm fuzzy feelings.
She dumped a pocketful of Bertie Botts Beans and various Weasley Wizard Wheezes candies into a pile between us, much to Fred and Albus's delight.
We changed into our robes as the train approached the school and darkness settled across the nighttime landscape. The platform outside the school was covered in students shouting back and forth at each other, slightly giddy at the sudden release from parental watch. We piled into one of the tiny boats that would carry us across the lake, and did our best to block out memories of unfriendly comments from Tristan and James about a giant demon lake octopus.
"It's so beautiful…"
The dark sky glittered with diamond like stars, barely visible past the warmly glowing windows in the castle. A cold wind blew over us, and I huddled closer to Alexa.
The entrance hall was everything I'd imagined. I stood gaping stupidly at the passing ghosts and house elves until I heard a sharp bark order us to get into line.
We lined up obediently, once again feeling very small and insignificant like the First Years we were, and walked into the Great Hall for the first time. Chandra, who was standing right in front of me, squeezed my hand comfortingly as we walked inside.
"I hope we're in the same House," she whispered to me.
"So do I," I said. Honestly, I felt ready to puke with nerves. What if I was put in Hufflepufff? I keenly felt every eye inspect our line with curiosity and judgment as the faceless barking voice somewhere up front instructed us on the Sorting. Somewhere in the back of my mind I hoped I didn't have the barker as a professor.
I stood there blankly, wallowing in suspense, until I was shocked out of it by hearing "Jordan, Alexandria!" shouted across the hall.
"Ravenclaw!" I gasped, shocked. The girl who'd climbed up and jumped out of a 30-foot tree at the age of five not daring enough for Gryffindor? The girl who just last Sunday framed Fred for blowing up a public toilet not in Slytherin? She grinned and sat down next to my brother Tristan at the table decked out in blue.
I stood there anxiously as the line inched our way. Finally, I watched as my sister ("Malfoy, Chandra!") took her turn sitting on the stool with the sorting hat.
"Gryffindor!"
My heart skipped a beat as the gold and crimson table burst into surprised applause. She grinned and ran to join James. It made sense. I'd always kind of known she would be a lioness. She was too—
"Malfoy, Serena!"
Oh damn.
I walked numbly toward the stool, stumbling slightly halfway along, sitting down, and shoving the hat on my head.
"Oh, twins!" said a voice in my head. I gasped with surprise. "But not very similar sisters, I see…" It mused. "No, not at all. Much too feisty, I see, and stubborn. A lot of determination, too…" I sat there in painful suspense for the longest two and a half minutes of my life while the hat muttered to itself. Finally-
"Slytherin!"
I froze, shocked. My eyes darted over to my sister at the Gryffindor table, whose cheery smile was fading off her face. I stood up numbly and walked towards the table decorated in green and silver to the sound of riotous applause and cheering. Across the hall, the Gryffindors were booing softly.
I sat down, and some tall, terrifying sixth year clapped me on the back. "We finally have a Malfoy where they belong! Your sister scared us for a minute there."
Chandra and I had never been apart for longer than an evening or so at a time, when she would go to sleepovers with Izzy, or I would run off with Albus and Fred. But now- different houses? I waited on the end of my seat as the line inched forward.
"Potter, Albus!"
A sort of hush fell over the Great Hall. Every eye was glued on my would-be cousin/best friend as he sat down and put the Sorting Hat on. The pause was nearly as long as mine.
"Slytherin!"
I cheered as loud as the rest of my house as the small dark-haired boy that looked just like his father came to sit next to me. I grinned at him stupidly.
"Heya."
"Hi."
"Can you believe…?"
"No," he breathed, the initial excitement wearing off to allow his sudden realization of fear set in. "Oh god… James will be insufferable!" he said, paling visibly. "Mum will be furious!"
"She'll get over it," I said, patting his shoulder vaguely. I was already worrying about my mom. "She loves you, no matter which house." I was half speaking to Albus, half to myself. At least I had Dad. He'd be absolutely thrilled.
The line wore on, and I found myself much less anxious. I was sorted, and I had at least one person with me. Fred's sorting was probably some sort of school record. The hat barely touched his head before it shouted out "Gryffindor!"
Finally, after the last student ("Zabini, Gabriel") sat down at our table, and the feast had been eaten, we were heading to our Common Room for the very first time.
"Al! Serena!" We spun around to find Fred half-hidden behind a stone gargoyle. We snuck away from the line of new Slytherins to talk to him.
"Fred!" I hissed. "How will you find your Common Room?"
He shrugged the question off. "Sooner or later Chandra will tell me. You know her."
We never found out what it was he wanted, because just then- as the line of Slytherins rounded the far corner, a sour looking cat came around the opposite corner, and a certain Pygmy Puff was missing from its oh-so-secure pocket.
"Quincy! Quincy!" Fred looked around desperately for his beloved monster. Finding it was easy despite his small size- besides being bright orange, he was hissing and growling his way down the hall.
I felt the blood leave my face. The furiously snarling Quincy had spotted the ugly cat and was honing in for a death kill. The cat let off an indignant yeowl and a quick clash of claws later, the three of us found ourselves trying to tear the tiny, murderous Puff off of the cat.
"What are you doing?"
Our heads snapped up. A decrepit, ancient-looking man came limping around the corner. His eyes had an evil glint, and didn't look like much more than skin stretched over an animated skeleton. His thin white hair floated around his head as if it was just waiting to leave.
"What are you doing to Mr. Norwell?" All three of us flew away from the cat, throwing our hands in the air in a gesture of innocence.
"Nothing!"
With a wild gleam in his eyes, he dragged all three of us by our elbows down a hallway and up a spiral staircase, leaving us in a large office before limping off, muttering to himself.
"You just had to bring Quincy, didn't you?" I demanded, rounding on Fred.
"Hey, don't gang up on him," he said, petting the small fiend lovingly as it slept peacefully, suddenly looking innocent again. "He was just hungry."
"Hungry?"
"What did you do to that thing?" Al asked, looking pale and green.
I glanced around the room, distracted and agitated. "Guys," I interrupted. "Where are we?" They joined my searching glance. There was a large mahogany desk in the middle of the room, several tall bookcases, glass cases full of mysterious odds and ends, and a back wall filled with portraits of sleeping wizards.
"Oh Merlin," Fred whispered, now as green as Al. "I think it's the Headmistress's Office!"
That was it. I was dead.
Before we had a chance to gain a full grip on our terror, the door slammed open behind us. Headmistress McGonagall came striding in, sealing our doom, the frail, evil man behind her.
"Mr. Filch tells me you three were—oh for the love of Merlin!" The matronly woman had looked at the three of us and suddenly lost her steam, collapsed in her chair and gripped her temples. "Mr. Filch, you can go, I will handle this," she said. He gave us a long, menacing look before leaving.
The three of us glanced at each other, confused.
"Excuse me, I'll be right back," she said. "Don't touch anything!"
We stood there in the awkward silence for several seconds. I became aware of a murmuring behind me. I whipped around when I heard my name.
"…Obviously a Malfoy…"
Two of the portrait figures were no longer feigning sleep. They froze, caught in the act.
"You three. What are your names?" The figure speaking was a greasy haired, hook-nosed man.
"Fred Weasley," my friend said, then continued with our names, seeing our faces. "Serena Malfoy, and Albus Potter."
"I knew it. Look at that god-awful hair…" I wasn't sure who he meant. "You. Which Weasley are you descended from?"
"I- Uhh- My father is George Weasley."
"Wonderful," he said, sarcasm dripping off every syllable. "And you are very obviously a Potter," he spat at Albus. "I could tell right away." He turned a critical eye to me. "And you… A female Malfoy…Interesting." He sank into thought for a second. "At least you're living up to your legacy."
"Really, Severus. Don't encourage such prejudice." The other portrait showed a wizard with a long white beard and sparkling blue eyes. He sighed quietly. "I just wish…"
"What?" the other portrait sneered. "Miniature Weasley and Potter the Third getting along with a Malfoy? House unity has its limits."
McGonagall- in all her fearsome glory- re-entered the office.
"Now," she started, sighing deeply. "Now that I have… mentally prepared myself, what were you three doing to Mr. Filch's cat?"
"Nothing!" I cried out. "Trying to save it!"
"It was Fred's crazed Pygmy Puff- he thirsts for blood!"
"Hey!"
She glared at the three of us, trying to discern the truth. "Very well," she sighed.
"Wait- you three weren't brought up here for fighting?" The black haired face seemed incredulous.
"Why would we be fighting?" Albus asked.
"Severus, just so you know, Albus is in your house," the Headmistress calmly commented.
As the man- who I realized was the infamous Professor Severus Snape- began choking at the unexpected and apparently unwanted news, the door slammed open and Chandra burst in, gripping me in a bear hug.
"Serena! What happened? I heard you were taken to the—"
"Oh now this is rich, really," Snape drawled, composure regained. "Granger's daughter and Malfoy's daughter, the best of friends… I have to puke."
"How did you know..?" Chandra seemed taken aback at the rather rude painting.
"The hair! All four of you, but you especially! That bushy mane has to be an offspring of Granger's. As if those bloody Potter and Weasley genes weren't bad enough."
"I don't see you complaining about the Malfoy blonde," the other portrait commented.
"Yes, well…"
"Serena and I aren't friends," Chandra interjected.
The dark man raised one eyebrow at our hugging forms.
"We're sisters. Twins," I finished.
"Enough!" the Headmistress cried, reclaiming sanity. "I honestly don't care what you did or didn't do to that infernal cat anymore. Just don't do it again. Now all four of you- off to your houses. And yes, Severus, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy got married about fourteen years ago."
Professor Snape stared at us bug eyed as we left the office, still paralyzed in surprise. As we left, I heard one last comment from the old Headmaster.
"I don't know what you look so glum about Severus. I get so bored pretending to sleep all the time. This should be quite entertaining…"
