Undone

Chapter 1: Fate

Scorpius

Scorpius Malfoy sat in an otherwise empty compartment, reading a novel about as thick as his head with the words "Hogwarts: A History" emblazoned on the spine. He was relieved to be away from home for a change, because his step-mother and father didn't approve of reading for recreation. Or reading at all.

Not that he didn't love his parents. He did. They had their moments where they were okay, great even. He'd liked his father's first wife, his mother, Rachel, far better, as she'd been the one who actually bought Scorpius the books he read. But she had died last summer, and his father had met his old friend Pansy Parkinson at a ball that December. One thing had led to another, they said, and they got married that March.

He didn't care for Pansy much, and his father was different around her, so he was glad to be getting away. Just before they had Apparated to King's Cross, they were both raving about how he'd be the best Slytherin to grace the halls since their times at Hogwarts. But he was honestly hoping to grace another part of the castle.

Being a Slytherin did not appeal to him in the slightest. From the second he'd read the paragraph about them in the introduction to Hogwarts: A History, he had realized that he was not a Slytherin. At all. It had read:

The Slytherin House was founded by Salazar S. Slytherin in the year 1025, when the breach between the Houses became permanent. The Slytherin house values ambition, cunning, resourcefulness, a thirst for power, and pure blood heritage, and most Slytherin students display a high level of Machiavellianism. A servent, accompanied by the House colours, green and silver, symbolize the House throughout the castle. Slytherin House corresponds roughly to the element of water.

He didn't even need to read anymore. He did read on, of course, of course, but he didn't need to. He understood how much his father was a Slytherin. But he himself wasn't; this was apparent. He'd worried for a while that he wouldn't fit into any House if they were all like this. But when he reached the Ravenclaw portion of the introduction, he knew, without a doubt, that this was where he would be sorted.

The Ravenclaw House was also formed in 1025 by Rowena M. Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw House values intelligence, creativity, wit, and wisdom. "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure" is an oft-repeated Ravenclaw proverb. Its animal is an eagle, the house colours are blue and bronze, and its ghost is the Grey Lady. Ravenclaw corresponds roughly to the element of air.

He'd been so excited when he'd read this. That was him, in a nutshell. There was a whole fourth of the schoolthat was like him. He couldn't wait. And now he was on his way to the Sorting at Hogwarts. He had some nerves, sure, but only some.

Suddenly, the door to his compartment banged open and a girl stumbled into the compartment. She looked like she was a first year, too, and the first thing he noticed was her flaming red hair. Her skin was white as milk, and she looked to be quite distressed. She finally said, "Erm…is this compartment open? Please? Everywhere else is completely full."

"Oh. Oh, please," he said a little more awkwardly than he'd hoped. At this, the girl took no time hobbling over to the seats opposite him and collapsing into them.

"Are you the only one in this compartment?" she asked drowsily.

"Yup. Me, myself, and I."

She smiled, but it was forced. "Mind if I spread out a little bit over here? Lie down?"

"Not at all." Once she got his consent, she lay across all four of the seats and moaned. The two sat in silence (besides her groans of pain, anyways) for nearly fifteen minutes before Scorpius finally plucked up the courage to say something.

"Any particular reason you're so upset?" he asked, trying to sound genuinely compassionate.

She turned over so she was facing him. "Oh, just everything," she mumbled, not even bothering to look at him.

"Care to elaborate on what 'everything' is?" he asked.

She sighed. "You're really that curious?" When he nodded, she laughed. She had a nice laugh, he thought, and she said, "Well, if you really want to know…. So I wake up this morning, right? And I can hardly move, I feel so sick. I must have the plague or something, I feel so terrible. And then I realize that my owl is out hunting, so my mum will have to send her to me after term starts, and I really wanted her to be here, you know? She makes me feel safer."

"I know what you mean," he said, meaning it. "I'd hate having to leave Romulus behind."

"Your owl's named Romulus?" she asked.

He nodded, and she said, "Oh, that's a great name! Like Romulus and Remus! Mine's Aphrodite, but I usually just call her Dite."

"That's a good name, too," he said, glad that someone else read Greek mythology. Or read at all, really.

"Thanks."

"So is that all that's bothering you?"

"Far from it. Well, we started running late, and then we had to wait for a long time outside the barrier because people were paying it too much attention. So I ended up having to run for the train, with my trunk and feeling terrible. And I jumped on, and I think I sprained my ankle. It kills. Plus I'm really worried about where I'm going to be Sorted," she said, taking a deep breath afterwords.

"That is pretty bad," he told her.

"Uh huh."

"But I can fix some of them, if you'd like," he said.

She snorted. "How would you do that?"

She came off as very independent, he realized. "Because my parents never minded if I used magic around the house. They even taught me some, like a charm to take care of pain. It's just like Muggle Tylanol, only it works a lot faster."

She looked up into his eyes. "You sure you can do that?"

He nodded. "I've done it over a dozen times. There's no real way to mess it up, anyways; it's pretty basic."

She bit her lip, and seemed to be thinking. Then, apparently making a split second decision, she said, "Okay. Go ahead."

He smiled and took out his wand. Honestly, he wasn't as confident as he was coming off. But he could do it. He knew he could. He stood up from his seat and turned the wand to the girl. "Rarks Unum," he muttered flicking his wand.

She lay there for a second, determining if it was working. She stretched like a cat, and then laughed. Her eyes glistened. "That was great! Thanks!"

He smiled back at her. "No problem, really. So what're the Sorting problems? I'm having a few of my own."

She rolled her eyes slightly, sitting up, which made it a little less odd to talk to her. "Well, both my mum and dad were in Gryffindor, and they both expect me to be in there, too. But I don't think I'm brave enough. I'd rather be in Ravenclaw, anyhow. I just hope my dad won't be too cross."

He laughed. "Wow, small world. Same problem, only with Slytherin parents. And both of them will be extremely cross when I'm a Ravenclaw instead of a Slytherin."

She seemed to open up a bit more at this. "You want to be a Ravenclaw, too?"

He nodded. "Ever since I read about it in Hogwarts: A History. I went, oh my God, that's me."

"I did the same thing! I was so excited that I belonged somewhere! I've read the book seven times through." She perked up a bit, the inflection in her voice becoming less dead.

He laughed. "I've read it five. This'll be my sixth, though," he told her, holding up the thick book.

"Nice." She paused for a second, and then said, "So I didn't catch your name..," she said.

He grinned. "Didn't throw it."

She laughed again. "Real witty. I'm serious."

"It's Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy," he said, excited to see that he'd met a friend already. However, he became puzzled when the girl gasped and put a hand to her mouth. He blinked. "Is that a problem?"

She sighed and propped her head up on her hand. "Possibly. Hi. I'm Rose Weasely. My dad hates your dad. Pleased to meet you."