Title: A House of a Different Color
Rating: PG
Summary: When Lily Potter ends up in Slytherin House, what changes will that bring to her family, friends… and future? And how will a certain young Mr. Malfoy fit into it all? A next generation friendship fic. *1st in my "Potter is a Slytherin" universe*
A/N: Welcome to the beginning of a new series, all about Lily Potter, her family and friends, and their general school year shenanigans. If you read the original version, fear not! The first few chapters are more or less the same. If you're new to this story, I hope you enjoy the continued adventures of the Potter family. =)
Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, and I definitely don't own the Harry Potter series. (I just wanna see how it ends… *type*type*type*)
Journey to Hogwarts
The crowds of people gathered in the steam-filled area of platform nine-and-three-quarters were an odd sight indeed. Cages containing various types of owls rested atop large luggage trolleys filled to bursting with clothing trunks, cauldrons, and spell books. Cats meowed loudly to one another, and a few runaway toads were being pursued by anxious owners. Adults dressed in long, colorful robes and an assortment of jeans and sweaters hugged, kissed, and wished farewell to children of all ages. The Hogwarts Express was preparing to leave.
Amidst all this clatter and noise, a small family of five was searching the surrounding throng for familiar faces. The mother of the group, an attractive woman with shockingly red hair and soft hazel eyes, sighed. "Harry, if they don't get here soon, I'm afraid they'll miss the train." She quickly looked to her three children, as if to make sure they hadn't run off and now risked missing the departure as well.
"Don't worry, Ginny, they'll be here," her husband said calmly. He was a thin man, with messy, black hair and green eyes. But his most noticeable (and famous) feature was the lighting-shaped scar that sat above his rounded spectacles, almost hidden by his unruly bangs.
Suddenly, the middle child shouted, "There they are!" Albus Potter, a smaller version of his father, was pointing through the steam to identify four people who were moving hurriedly in the family's direction. When they were only a few feet away, Harry grinned. "Take a wrong turn, Ron?"
Ronald Weasley rolled his eyes. A tall man, he shared his two children's bright red hair and many freckles. "Funny. No, we forgot something, had to go back."
As if on cue, his wife Hermione turned to their youngest child and smiled, brushing her thick brown hair out of her eyes. "Show Uncle Harry what you got yesterday."
Hugo Weasley, eleven years old and blushing as bright as his hair at the sudden attention, quickly held up a sleek black cat with gold eyes.
"Wow," whispered a small girl from beneath Harry's elbow. The youngest of the Potter children, Lily had her mother's eyes and hair, though hers was a darker shade of red. Her small, eager face took in her best friend's new cat. "What's her name?"
"His name," Hugo corrected piously, "is Timblewink. And," he added excitedly, "he chose me! When we walked into the pet shop he jumped off a counter right into my arms! The shopkeeper said that doesn't happen very often, and-"
"Yes, wonderful," James Potter interrupted. Different from his brother only in the fact that his eyes were hazel, not green, he hopped from foot-to-foot nervously. "Can we board now?" At fourteen, he was the oldest of the group and anxious to leave. As if to agree, the train whistle blew shrilly. Hermione and Ginny hastily told the children goodbye, while Ron and Harry loaded their trunks onto the train. The five cousins then quickly hugged their respective fathers, grabbed their pets and cargo, and scrambled aboard. They stood waving to their parents as the train began to move, and continued to wave until the station was far out of sight.
Rose Weasley nodded to herself. Every inch her mother (except for her hair), her sense of purpose was felt by all. "Well, come on, then," she ordered. "Let's find somewhere to sit."
On the ensuing trip past the occupied compartments, Rose and Albus were pulled aside by some of their fellow third-years, and James went to join the members of his House Quidditch team. Left on their own, Hugo and Lily gripped their belongings tightly as they made their way down the length of the train. When they finally reached the last compartment, Lily shrugged. It looked empty enough. Hugo slid the door open, but froze when he spotted an older boy sitting by the window. Lily cleared her throat, and the boy looked up from the parchment he'd been writing on. "No other seats?" he asked wryly. Lily shook her head. Rolling his eyes, the boy waved them in, muttering something that sounded vaguely like, "Just my luck…"
Hugo and Lily quickly stowed their trunks above the seats opposite the boy, and sat down silently. Hugo was holding Timblewink protectively to his chest, and Lily was stroking her white owl, Snowy, through her cage. The boy had returned to scribbling on his parchment, and Lily found her gaze drawn to him.
He had pale blond hair that was combed to the side and threatened to cover his right eye. His clothes were black and expensive-looking, and Lily got the strong feeling that he was extremely rich. The one thing that caught her interest, however, was a small gold earring in his left ear.
Suddenly, without preamble, he said, "I won't bite," which caused Hugo to jump. Then he looked up, and Lily noticed that his eyes were a pale blue. "Much," he added, mouth twitching.
Lily grinned. He was stiff and proper, that was certain, but his eyes were kind. Plus, if he could joke about himself, he couldn't be all that bad. Leaning over, she noticed that there were no actual words on the page he held; it was almost entirely covered in strange symbols. "What are you writing?" she asked, her curiosity aroused. "What language is that?"
The boy raised one thin eyebrow, as if he found it interesting that those were the first words she chose to speak. "I am writing a report for my Study of Ancient Runes class. The 'language' I am writing in is a style of runes that we studied last year," he explained patiently.
"My sister, Rose, takes Runes," Hugo piped up. "She says it's hard, but fun."
The boy looked at Hugo closely, as if seeing him for the first time. "Is your sister Rose Weasley?"he asked. At Hugo's nod, he added, "She's in my year. We take Runes together."
"You're a third year?" Lily asked, and thrilled when the boy nodded.
"Are you in Ravenclaw, too?" Hugo asked.
The blond boy shook his head. "Slytherin."
Hugo looked startled. "Oh." He slumped back in his seat, petting Timblewink and avoiding the boy's eyes, as if he had just said something embarrassing.
Lily, however, hardly noticed. She was imagining being in the same House as this cool boy, hanging out with him in the common room, learning all about him…
Too bad he's not in Gryffindor, she mused, absently stroking Snowy.
"Ouch!"
Looking up to see what was wrong, Lily saw the boy stick his finger in his mouth. Noticing her concerned look, he muttered, "Paper cut." Then he scribbled a few more lines before putting his quill in the bag beside him, obviously finished.
Leaning forward in her seat, attempting to see the parchment across from her, Lily asked, "What do those runes mean?"
The boy smiled. It was small, but friendly. "Tell me your name, and I'll tell you what some of these mean," he challenged.
"I'm Lily," was the immediate reply.
"And I am Scorpius."
"Pleased to meet you, Scorpius." And with that, Lily scooted his bag to the side and plopped herself beside him. "Now, tell me what that one means," she demanded, pointing at the first rune on the page. When there was no reply, she looked up crossly. "Well? We had a deal."
A bewildered expression was on Scorpius' face. He seemed unable to believe the audacity of this little first year. Attempting to hide his shock, he quietly said, "It signals a beginning."
Lily immediately searched the page. "Does this one mean 'The End'?" she asked, pointing to the final rune. Scorpius nodded, and she grinned. "Cool, I got it right!"
Unable to keep a smile from playing across his face at her obvious joy, Scorpius then proceeded to show his new little friend several more runes, and explain their various meanings. Each time she grinned, he found himself smiling in reply. They continued this until the witch with the lunch trolley stopped at the door and Lily rushed to buy candy. Scorpius was certain this would put an end to their interactions, until she bounded back to his side and handed him a Chocolate Frog.
"But if it's Ptolemy, I want it," she said off-handedly, digging in her bag of Every Flavor Beans. "I'm collecting, and it's the only one I don't have." She popped a red bean in her mouth. Then she choked and coughed, finally swallowed, and sputtered, "Chili pepper!" She rummaged around in her bag and pulled out a bright green one. Holding it to Scorpius, she raised an eyebrow. "Do you dare?"
Defiantly taking the bean and biting into it, Scorpius froze. Lily looked excited. "What flavor is it?"
Scorpius grinned. "Lime."
"No fair! Here, try this…" Lily trailed off as she held up a dark brown jelly bean. Her eyes met her companion's. "You don't think…?" At his wide, disbelieving eyes, Lily took a deep breath and nibbled one tiny corner.
"What is it?" Scorpius couldn't help but ask.
Suddenly, Lily laughed. It was a high, melodious sound. "It's chocolate! Here, try!" She passed it to him and rummaged for another. "What color do you want, Hugo?" she asked.
Hugo glared at her and refused to respond.
Lily was utterly confused. Since when had Hugo Weasley turned down free candy? "What's the matter?" she asked quietly. "Do you feel sick?" She quickly moved to his side, leaving her bag of jelly beans in Scorpius' hands. Laying her hand on her cousin's forehead, she frowned. "You don't feel feverish…"
"I'm not sick!" Hugo exploded, and Lily jumped. "And I don't want your stupid candy! Why don't you give it to your new Slytherin buddy?"
Lily said nothing for a long minute. When she finally spoke, her voice was trembling. "I-I'm sorry," she whispered, and Scorpius saw a tear roll down her cheek. "I just like m-meeting new p-people." She sat hunched in her seat, face tucked beneath her bright hair, trying to hide the fact that she was crying.
Scorpius was stumped. He had absolutely no idea how to calm her down. He was an only child, and had never cared to associate with girls, much less those who were younger than himself. Just when he was considering saying something, Hugo wrapped an arm around the trembling girl.
"I'm sorry, Lils. I didn't mean to yell." He looked under her hair. "Can I have a pink bean?"
And just like that, everything was all right again. Lily giggled and reached to take her bag of candy from a thoroughly astonished thirteen-year-old. She handed the bag to Hugo and wiped her eyes. "Why do you want pink?" she asked.
"Cause it might be watermelon," Hugo answered. "Or pink lemonade, or strawberry, or pink sherbet…" As he pulled out several pink ones, he listed off the possibilities. "Plus, have you ever found a bad flavor that's pink?" He popped one in his mouth and smiled. "Raspberry."
Over the course of the next hour they tasted honey, lint, banana, rum, strawberry, peach, toffee, salt, vanilla, coffee, and bread. Hugo bit into a dull green one and announced it was a boogie bean, making Scorpius gag and Lily shriek. They were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
A loud knock on the compartment door caused all three kids to jump. "Scorp! We're almost to Hogwarts. Put on your robes."
"Okay, Raylin," Scorpius called back. He shrugged at Hugo's confused look. "I almost always forget," he explained as he pulled his robes out of his bag. Lily and Hugo were soon dressed, and Scorpius shook his head slowly. "You look like true Hogwarts veterans," he said soberly, smoothing his own robes piously. Lily had to laugh.
The rest of their journey was spent in silence. The eleven-year-olds were too enraptured by the thought of the approaching castle to talk, and Scorpius left them to their thoughts. He looked at the little red-headed girl and fleetingly wondered what House she would be in… then he shook his head. It was none of his business. She was a good two years younger than him. Friendship off of the train was impossible. Still, she had to be the most enjoyable company that he'd had in a long time.
Lily was, of course, completely unaware that she was on the young man's mind. No, she was focusing on the fact that getting in the same House as her brothers would mean she wouldn't be able to be friends with Scorpius, because everyone knew that Gryffindor and Slytherin were rivals!
Though she wasn't entirely sure why…
The train suddenly came to a stop. Hugo gulped and Lily felt her nerves tingle. She looked to Scorpius, who simply smiled.
"Welcome to Hogwarts."