PROLOGUE

Eleven-year-old Molly sat on the train, alone. Her mother had told Cissy and Art to watch over her, buy as soon as Ginny was out of sight Art had told her to stay far, far away, he was going to go hang out with his friends, and didn't want an annoying little firstie around. Cissy laughed at the idea that a twelve-year-old was so much better, before running off to the prefects' car, her brand new badge proudly displayed on her chest.

Molly sighed. It had been just yesterday that she and Art had been best friends. When he'd gotten his Hogwarts letter, he'd promised that they'd still be best friends when she got to school. But somewhere during his first year, he'd forgotten his little sister, and come to view his big sister as little more than an annoyance. She missed him so—

"Hi! I'm Jenny Perkins! Can I sit here? Thanks!" A perky voice, which seemed to speak in all exclamation points, and didn't allow two way conversations, interrupted Molly's musings.

"I can't believe I'm a witch, it's so exciting!" the girl, Jenny, continued. Then she quieted a bit. "But I'm so nervous. I bet everyone else has a witch mum, and a wizard dad, and knows all about magic, I'm so, so, so scared that I'm going to be lost, and no one will like me, and I really need this to work, I , well, where I come from, I'm not normal, which, in fifth grade, is very important. So, I read all these books, ya know, about magic, which I got from the book store. At least now I know the history of magic—"

Molly snorted, thinking of the infamously boring History of Magic class that her parents, sister, and brother had all described. Jenny looked offended.

"Well, I do! I read this one book, called The Second War, so I know all about that, for starters. The book was really good, but I'd have hated to have lived in that time. See, according to that book, I'm what's called a muggleborn, and back then, that was a really bad thing to be, a really dangerous thing to be. So I'm glad it's all better now."

Molly snorted again, thinking now of how very wrong she was. It wasn't all better now. Her parents got death threats daily from ex-deatheaters, and she'd been kidnapped once. This time Jenny just ignored Molly and continued in her monologue.

"The really exciting thing, though, is that some of the heroes from the book, they teach at the school, so I get to meet them. I know, because the book had a where are they now section about all its characters. Ginny Weasley is the Defense teacher, which is totally awesome cause anyone who lead an army of defenders would be an awesome defense teacher. And spy extraordinaire, Severus Snape, he teaches potions. And the head of the Order of the Phoenix, which was the good guy's organization, Minerva McGonagall works there too, but she's the headmistress, so we probably won't see her much, but still. It'll be so cool, we'll actually get to meet these people!"

This both Art and Cissy had warned Molly about. There was a certain amount of hero worship following their parents and their parents' friends, both had said. Molly had hoped they were exaggerating their claims, but she seemed to be wrong. The first person she met was waxing praise on them, and this was a muggleborn, someone who hadn't even grown up with these stories. It was only going to get worse, she now knew.

mmmmmmmmmmmm

A few hours later as the train arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Jenny and Molly scrambled to put on their robes. As they got out of the train, the first years got their first glimpse of the school.

"Wow. That's just… wow." Jenny murmured, taking it all in. Even Molly, who had been there many times before, being a teacher's daughter, was in awe of the school.

"This is it." she said. "This is Hogwarts, my new home."

Jenny nodded.

mmmmmmmmmmmm

Molly sat with the other first years in a back hall, waiting for the sorting ceremony. She laughed at the conversations going on around her.

"My brother said we have to battle a dragon!"

"No, see, my sister, whose always right, says it's a basilisk!"

"Huh-uh. It's a test, to see how smart you are, that places you. And if you're not smart enough, you get sent home!"

"Molly!" Jenny cried out fearfully. "Are they right? Cause I don't want to be sent home and I don't want to face a basilisk."

Molly was laughing. She knew the truth. All you had to do was put on a silly hat!

mmmmmmmmmmmm

"Macaby, Jules!" called Deputy Headmaster Snape, scowling as per usual. The terrified boy walked toward the hat, and tripped over his own feet. Blushing, he got back up and stumbled on to the stool.

"Hufflepuff!"

Molly knew what was coming next, and gulped back her fear. She had no idea what house she would wind up in, and wasn't all together sure she wanted to find out. While she was quite sure her father had been joking about disowning her if she wound up in Hufflepuff, she had no real desire to press her luck on that one. She was in such a daze that she perceived, rather than heard, Snape call out "Malfoy, Molly!"

Determined not to make the same mistake as the boy in front of her, Molly carefully walked up to the hat, and sat down as gracefully as was within her abilities. Which wasn't very gracefully at all. She placed the hat on her head and bit her lip, awaiting her fate.

Hmm. A Malfoy, and a Weasley too. Yet nothing like your parents, nor your siblings. Don't get me wrong, you are brave, and cunning, both Gryffindor and Slytherin would serve you well, but would you reach your full potential there? No, I think not. It must be "RAVENCLAW!"

The last word was shouted loudly, and a quarter of the room started cheering. Art looked relieved at not having her in his house, and she scowled at him, but Cissy looked almost disappointed, which rather surprised Molly, but she shrugged it off, and walked over to her house table.

mmmmmmmmmmmm

Ravenclaw Molly mused in bed later that night. Ravenclaw. Well. I always knew I was different. But still. Mum and Dad were in Gryffindor and Slytherin, Cissy and Art are in Gryffindor and Slytherin. Why aren't I like anyone in my family? Well, at least I now have definitive proof that I'm smarter than Art. That's gotta irk him. With that the girl became significantly more cheerful. Her brother was sneaky and cunning, but she, she was smart. With that, she switched off her lamp, and went to sleep.

mmmmmmmmmmmm

The next morning, Filius Flitwick, her head of house, handed out their schedules. Just as Molly had feared might happen, she had Defense Against the Dark Arts first. Not to say that Molly wasn't a fan of DADA, she was, but to start her Hogwarts career with her mum as her teacher!

She trekked to the DADA classroom with her classmates, resigned to being known for the next seven years as the teacher's kid. She sat down near the back of the classroom, uncharacteristically hoping that the teacher wouldn't notice her. Who am I kidding? she thought. Of course mum will notice me.

Ginny Weasley swept into class moments before the bell, and walked up in front of her desk.

"Hello, I'm Professor Weasley, and I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. If any of you aren't meant to be in DADA right now, I suggest you go to wherever you are meant to be. As for the rest of you, welcome to your first class at Hogwarts, and welcome to the next seven years of your life. This class is here to teach you how to defend your self against the dark arts, as its name suggests. It is not here to teach you about any sort of history, including the history of the war, which many students incorrectly assume it is for, since I was in the middle of the war, and I teach this class. However, to keep from getting questions unrelated to the class, and about the war, throughout the year, I use the first day of class to let each of you ask one question about anything you want. So, if anyone has a question, raise your hand. When I call on you, introduce yourself to me and the class, and then ask your question. If it is a question I feel I cannot or should not answer, I will allow you to ask a new one. So, you can raise your hands now. You, in the back, with the blonde hair."

"My name is Melissa Blake, ma'am." the girl said. "I was wondering, well, what war are you talking about. See, my family's not magic, so I'm sort of lost right now."

Ginny smiled. So it begins.

As the last student was asking his question, the bell rang. "Stay in your seats," the professor said, "while I answer this question. I will write you all passes to your next class. And Ms. Blake and Ms. Malfoy, please stay after class."

Molly groaned, and didn't even hear the answer to the last question. She hadn't done anything wrong, so she was sure her mum was holding her back because she was, well, her mum. Why her?

As the class filed out, the two girls walked up to the professor's desk. Ginny said that they weren't in trouble, so they could get those glum looks out of their faces. She just had an assignment for them, for extra credit of course. What she didn't know, is that over the course of this assignment, her daughter would find her new best friend for life.