EDIT: Thank you so much to my reviewers, hopefully I have fixed the mistakes and made it better! If not, feel free to point out any errors you see! It only makes me try and better myself!
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, I just take the characters and twist them for my own evil schemes X3
The first day of school is always tough. Rose Weasley always thought she would be exempt from that fact. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was probably the most famous wizarding school in her whole world. Everyone in her family had gone there; it was the site where her uncle, the famous Harry Potter, finally defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort at the now infamous Battle of Hogwarts.
She awoke that day more excited than she had ever been for anything. Her father, Ron had threatened to hex her if she didn't calm down, while her mother Hermione had hand-cooked a big, healthy breakfast for Rose and her little brother, Hugo.
Rose, already dressed in her Hogwarts robes, spent the car ride to school, which was on the road instead of the air because Hermione refused to let Ron drive a flying car, talking about all the different subjects she was interested in. That included pretty much everything under the sun, even the electives she wouldn't be allowed to take for another two years. Rose had definitely taken after her mother.
"Mummy, why can't I go to Hogwarts?" Hugo complained clutching a stuffed owl named Hoop that he had had since babyhood in his arms.
"Because you're only 9 years old, sweetie. You have to be 11 to go to Hogwarts, like Rosie and Al." Hermione soothed. She'd had this conversation many times before with her son, and every time she said the same thing.
They arrived at Platform 9 ¾, the familiar smell of coal and steam swirling around them. Rose had been here three times already, twice for her cousins, Fred and Roxanne, and once for her other cousin, James. Now she was not merely a spectator.
It was then, while talking excitedly with her cousin Albus that she spotted the most unusual boy she had ever seen. He was tall for an eleven year old, with platinum blonde hair, pale skin and strange, green eyes like emeralds. Her father said his name was Scorpius Malfoy. Such an odd name it was, too.
"Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank god you inherited your mother's brains." Her father said, before being reprimanded by her mother. "Don't get too friendly with him, though Rosie. Grandad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pure-blood."
Rose was only half listening. Scorpius was looking at her, his green eyes gazing into her own chocolate brown. They broke stares as she was ushered onto the train with her family, the whistle sounding loudly for the two-minute warning. She glanced back, but he was gone.
Rose and Albus hung out the window, waving goodbye to their families as the train sped away from the platform, promising to send letters and see them at Christmas. The eldest Weasley felt a strange sense of detachment as her family became nothing but a series of dots in the distance.
"Come on. Let's find a compartment before they all fill up." Albus murmured pulling away from the window once everyone was out of sight, and all that could be seen was country side speeding past. Rose nodded; her deep red curls bouncing around her face, letting her cousin lead her down the aisle.
Kids scurried around them, doors sliding shut as they walked. Most of the first years were still dressed in their muggle clothes; Rose stuck out like a sore thumb.
The cousins couldn't seem to find an empty seat. Finally, they came to a compartment right at the end that had only one person in it.
"Do you mind?" Albus asked the boy, "Everywhere else is full." The boy shook his head, shifting over closer to the window. Albus and Rose took their seats, Rose sliding the door shut behind them.
"I'm Albus, Albus Potter," Albus stuck his hand out to the boy, who responded, and they shook hands.
"Scorpius Malfoy." He said, and Rose immediately recognised him. How could she not have; the pale skin and platinum blonde hair should have been a dead giveaway.
"Nice to meet you, Scorpius. This is my cousin, Rose Weasley." Scorpius fixed his stormy green gaze on Rose, and she felt herself blush, a knot forming in her stomach. No boy had ever looked at her so intensely before.
The three spent the train ride talking about family, Quidditch, and which houses they thought they would be sorted into.
"I'll be in Slytherin. Everyone in my family was." Scorpius informed them rather nonchalantly.
"Our family were all in Gryffindor." Albus replied, chewing on the end of a Liquorice wand. The Sweets Witch had come around about half an hour ago and the first years had taken full advantage of it.
Soon the train pulled into Hogwarts station. The ride had been uneventful for the most part, bar one incident when a girl named Sandy Lowe, an early bloomer with long blonde hair and pretty, periwinkle blue eyes was caught snogging a third year boy in his compartment two carriages up by a prefect, who happened to be the boy's sister.
Rose, Albus and Scorpius stuck in a tight little circle, their eyes widening at the sight of Hagrid bellowing for the first years to follow him to the boats by the lake. There were streaks of gray in the giant's hair, but he looked as fit and healthy as he had the first day Harry Potter had arrived at Hogwarts.
The first years were sorted into groups of four. Rose, Albus and Scorpius were joined by a girl with a deep purple scarf made of satin tied around her head, the ends dangling over her shoulder and reaching almost to her waist, long, mahogany hair, hazel eyes and a smattering of freckles adorning her face. Around her neck was a silver peace symbol held by brown leather drawstrings pulled to make a choker, the ends hanging down to her shoulder blades. She had a look of wonder about her that could only come of a muggle child entering the wizarding world for the first time.
"Not from around here, are you?" Albus asked as they walked to the boats, Hagrid's lamp swinging in front of him as their only source of illumination.
"Is it that obvious?" she asked. Her voice was sweet and happy with a thick, Irish accent. The girl thrust out her hand, "Bridget Nickelson."
"Albus Potter," the young wizard replied, shaking her hand, "This is Scorpius Malfoy," Scorpius nodded in greeting; it seemed he wasn't much for words, "and my cousin, Rose Weasley."
"Good to meet you all." Bridget grinned as they climbed into the small boats on the edge of the lake.
Once everyone was in, Hagrid yelled 'FORWARD', and the boats began to sail on their own, lamps dangling from the bow to light the way. Bridget's eyes went wide. She'd probably never seen a boat do that in her life.
The black waters of the lake glittered in the lamp light, and a collective gasp came from all the first years at the great site of Hogwarts castle looming before them, elegant and mysterious. Rose caught the end of a conversation between two boys in the boat next to them about the Giant Squid. Ron had once told her about the time a boy called Colin Creevy had fallen out of his boat, and was lifted back in by the squid's tentacle. Rose loved hearing her parents talk about their time at Hogwarts.
Out of the corner of her eye, Rose thought she saw Scorpius staring at her. She wasn't sure what to think about him. Her father often said Malfoy's were bad news when he had conversations with Hermione or Uncle Harry, thinking Rose couldn't hear. But Scorpius had seemed so nice on the train, almost like a normal kid.
The boats docked themselves on the shore, and the first years were instructed to climb out and follow Hagrid once more down a long, dark tunnel that Rose suspected led right under the castle.
The large group was lead out of the tunnel to a patch of deep green grass at the foot of a small flight of steps, where Rose recognised the figure of Neville Longbottom, dressed in black robes and carrying a large scroll under his arm at the top, in front of large, oak double doors. Rose had to resist the urge to wave at him.
"The firs' years, Professor," Hagrid said,
"Thank you Hagrid, I'll take it from here." Neville replied, leading the new arrivals into the castle, across flag stone steps to another set of double doors, these gilded with gold and half the size of the first set.
"Welcome first years, to Hogwarts." He said, smiling at them as he stood in front of the doors, "I'm Professor Longbottom. In a moment, you will join the other students in the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony and the start-of-term banquet, but first let me explain a few things." Neville got a very serious look on his face, and the students immediately knew to be quite and listen.
"First of all, for those of you who don't know, there are four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin," Rose saw Albus stiffen slightly at the mention of Slytherin. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he smiled gratefully at her, "While you're here, your house will be like family. Triumphs and achievements earn you points, while rule breaking of any kind will cause you to lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup. Now, just wait here, and I'll come and get you when they're ready." With that, Neville opened the large doors behind him a fraction, not enough for any of them to see, and disappeared behind them.
The students began to chatter and gossip, some discussing which houses they wanted to be sorted into, others wondering what kind of food they would serve at the feast.
"Well, look who we have here," came a scratchy, nasally voice from behind. Rose turned to see a short girl with cropped, dark hair and beady grey eyes walk out from the crowd, "Scorpius Malfoy. Who would have thought you'd fall in with this lot."
"Paula." He said simply, not turning to look at her at all. Rose suddenly remembered seeing Paula, whose last name she knew to be Baxter, verbally abuse a muggle-born girl while she had gone shopping at Diagon Alley with her family. Her father had pointed out the Baxter family. Apparently, they were purebloods, formerly in alliance with Voldemort until his downfall at the Battle of Hogwarts. She didn't seem to notice the way Scorpius brushed her off.
"So who do we have? From the looks of the red-hair and hand-me-down robes, I can only guess you must be a Weasley." Paula said to Rose, eyeing the slightly tattered edges of her robes shrewdly before turning to Albus, "Hmm, green eyes, glasses and a dazed look. From the stories, you could only be a son of the famous Harry Potter." The famous was said with disdain and sarcasm. Albus narrowed his eyes and his mouth set into a familiar angry form.
"And who's this?" Paula advanced on Bridget, who had been standing nearby, slightly out of the loop, appraising the scarf tied around her head and her odd choice of accessories, "Of all the muggle children, why do they pick the bad seeds?"
"Who's to say I'm the bad seed here?" Bridget threw back, arching her brow at the other girl. Paula looked as though she was going to retort, but at the precise moment she opened her mouth, Neville walked back in.
"We're ready for you now," he said.
Neville led the first years down through the middle of the Great Hall, in between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. Every single one was astounded by the sheer size and grandeur of the hall, the floating candles, the enchanted ceiling; every detail was a feast for the eyes.
Rose and Albus waved to James, Fred, Roxanne, Fleur and Bill's children Victoire, a seventh year, Dominique, a sixth year, and Louis, a fifth year, as well as Percy and his wife Audrey's two daughter's Molly and Lucy, as they passed them at the Gryffindor table, all eight of them smiling with encouragement at their family.
A few first years screamed as pearly white ghosts floated through the walls and gracefully flew around the room, some greeting the students, but most ignoring them in favour of their own conversation.
A stool sat at the end of the hall, just in front of the staff table. On it was an old, faded pointed hat with patched tears and frayed threads all over it. The Sorting Hat.
"Oh, good, it's just a hat. Dad and Uncle Ron said we had to wrestle a troll." Albus sighed in relief. Bridget looked at him with great disbelief, fiddling with the ends of her scarf.
The Sorting Ceremony began. The hat sang its song, which Rose had been told was different every single year, and the hall burst into loud applause, some of the students whooping and cheering, even whistling.
Neville, Professor Longbottom, opened his scroll and began to read out the names. 'Aaronson, Betsy' was the first. Professor Longbottom placed the hat on her head, and after nearly a minute, it screamed out 'RAVENCLAW'. The table erupted with claps as Betsy went to join her house.
The list went down in Alphabetical order. Paula was the first new Slytherin, who applauded politely but showed no real enthusiasm for it at all. 'Edgely, Maxwell' was the first to be sent to Hufflepuff, the Hilderwood triplets, Demelza, Richard and Oscar all became Ravenclaws, and on so it went until finally Scorpius's name was called from the scroll.
He sat solemnly on the stool, and the hat was dropped gently over his steely green eyes. At first there was only silence, the sounds of the Great Hall blocked out by the wide brim over his ears, when suddenly a little voice began to whisper in his mind;
Ooh, a Malfoy. I know all about your family. Every last one were in Slytherin...but there's something different about you, Scorpius felt his stomach churn; his father would be so disappointed if he were anything but a Slytherin, Hmm, don't want to disappoint Daddy, do we, Scorpius? And yet I see in your memory the way you look at her...the Weasley girl...there's confusion, so much confusion...but also a burning passion, a need to prove yourself...and we wouldn't want the wrath of dear old Draco and lovely little Astoria...those Greengrass girls did have quite the temper...so, better be...
"SLYTHERIN!" the hat bellowed. Rose felt her heart sink a little as Scorpius removed the Sorting hat and went to join the Slytherin table. In the back of her mind, she had been hoping he would be a Gryffindor, and then maybe they could have been friends. Nevertheless, she supposed it wasn't to be; Malfoys and Weasleys could never be friends.
"Too bad," Bridget sighed, her accent thick in her words, "I rather liked him. Bit too quiet for my tastes, but a nice guy all the same." Albus nodded, pushing his glasses back up his nose.
The rest of the sorting seemed to fly by. Bridget became the first Gryffindor, followed closely by Harry O'Lachlan, Melissa Ottoman, Simon Peters and Albus, who was greeted by great handshakes and hair ruffling when he sat down next to James at the table.
Unfortunately for Rose, her last name was at almost the bottom of the list. After waiting through the Q's, the R's, the S's, the T's, the U's, and the V's, Professor Longbottom arrived at the W's.
"Weasley, Rose," he called, after Judy Wallace got sorted into Hufflepuff, Michael and Michaela Watts got sorted into Slytherin and Zachariah Waybright was put into Ravenclaw.
Approaching the stool, Rose smoothed out her skirt as she sat, the Sorting Hat falling over her deep red curls and covering her eyes. She jumped as the little whisper began in her ear,
Ah, another Weasley! And by the feel of it you've got a little bit of Granger in here as well! Fine girl, that Hermione Granger, smartest witch in her generation, and a muggle born to boot! You don't find talent like that every day, and with Ron Weasley for a father I'm not surprised by the tenacity, courage and eagerness to learn, which means you'd be perfectly suited for...
"GRYFFINDOR!" a smile spread onto Rose's face, her heart pounding wildly as Professor Longbottom removed the Sorting Hat, Gryffindor table coming alive with cheers. As she rushed to join her family, the last few students were sorted into their houses.
The Head Master, Professor Edmund Kensington, gave a speech involving a welcome to the first years, new staff introductions and a reminder that the forest was forbidden to all students; Rose lost track half way through when her stomach rumbled painfully. Finally, the Head Master said the words all the students had been waiting for,
"Let the feast begin!" the gold dishes set up along each table suddenly began to shimmer as mountains of piping hot food appeared out of thin air. There was pork, lamb and chicken roasts, corned beef all cooked to perfection, mashed, roast and boiled potatoes, vegetables of all kinds, chips, giant golden tubs of gravy, and many other things that Rose couldn't be bothered to name.
Piling her plate high with all kinds of food that she never would have been allowed to eat in one sitting at home, she thought she saw Scorpius staring at her again out of the corner of her eye.
Doing a double take, Rose realised she must have been mistaken; he was looking off in another direction as Paula tried to chat him up. Rose felt a strange stab of jealousy. She didn't know Scorpius very well, but she knew he deserved better than to have someone like Paula Baxter hanging off him.
"Evwyfing alwight, Wose?" Albus asked, his mouth full of chips and gravy, his plate overflowing with a little bit of everything.
"Yeah, fine," Rose replied, stabbing her golden fork into some pork with more force than necessary. To distract herself from the strange feelings prickling inside her, she immersed herself in listening to James, Fred and Louis having a conversation about famous Quidditch teams on one side, Roxanne, Molly and Lucy were all talking about potions on the other and Bridget discussing flying techniques with Albus while shovelling copious amounts of food into her mouth. Victoire was sitting with the prefects at the other end of the table, her badge gleaming brightly on her uniform.
After dessert, which, despite saying they were too full to eat anymore once the plates had cleaned themselves, everyone seemed to suddenly find room for, their Prefects led the first years to their common rooms.
The Gryffindors followed Victoire, who happened to be Head Girl, up the moving staircases, which startled every one of them (even succeeding in making some of the muggle-born's scream) all the way up to the Fat Lady's painting.
"Raxacoricofallapatorius," Victoire said, and the painting swung open to reveal the Gryffindor common room, all decorated in red and gold, and a fire burning brightly in a large hearth in the corner.
"Vicky, why is the password Raxacoricofallapatorius?" Rose asked as they entered through the porthole.
"Don't ask me. I think the head master is a big fan of Doctor Who." She shrugged, moving to the front of the crowd. Victoire explained that the boys dorms were on the left and the girl's were on the right, before dismissing everyone for bed.
Rose and Bridget moved slowly up the stairs after saying goodnight to Albus, following behind the other girls. The dorm was lined with four-poster beds, the curtains displaying the house colours of red and gold. Their trunks were already there, set at the foot of their beds.
Without a word, each girl changed into their pyjamas, did their nightly routine, and went to bed.
Rose lay awake, her mind swimming. Everything was different now. She was finally at Hogwarts.
Thoughts of Scorpius filled her mind as she rolled over, gazing out the window next to her bed.
It was probably best that he was in Slytherin. That way she could forget about him and move on. After all, he was a Malfoy. She was a Weasley, and therefore could never be friends with a Malfoy.
A single tear slid down Rose's face as she drifted to sleep, her mind filled with dreams of magic, and a pair of intense, emerald green eyes...
So, whaddaya think? Please leave reviews, constructive criticism is also welcome. No flames please, this is my first HP fic!
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