Chapter One

"Enjoy yourself, honey. Remember to write to us!" Lavender wiped a few tears away as she smiled. Her youngest child and only daughter was finally about to board the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

Caoimhe rolled her eyes and grinned. "Don't worry, I will. I'll owl you tonight to tell you which house I've been sorted in to!" Her Irish accent was very broad. She glanced at the clock which told her it was five to eleven, and that she needed to board the train. "We better go and find a compartment, its nearly eleven." She looked at her two brothers who both nodded, and hugged her mother. "Bye, mummy."

She moved to her dad, who grinned and hugged her. "Take care, petal. Give Neville, or should I say, Professor Longbottom a high five from me!" Caoimhe smiled. She would miss her parents, but she couldn't wait to get on the train.

Caoimhe's brother, Caolan used his want to levitate both of their trunks onto the train. Their older brother, Ethan was a fifth year prefect and was already on the train. They moved down the aisle, checking in every window for an empty compartment. When they finally came across an empty one, Caolan made sure the trunks were stashed on the overhead compartment, and they set both of their owl cages on the floor beside the window.

Caoimhe was a small, slim girl with very pale skin. She had long, black hair that reached her waist, and emerald coloured eyes. Caolan on the other hand, was older than Caoimhe. He was in his third year, and he was very tall. His skin was darker, and his hair was blonde with matching, deep blue eyes. Ethan, their older brother, looked just like an older version of Caolan. Looking at the three of them together, it would be hard to recognise that Caoimhe was actually related to the two boys.

"Are you excited then? To finally get sorted into Gryffindor with your brothers?" Caolan asked curiously. Caoimhe sighed and rolled her eyes. "I don't know for sure that I'll get sorted into Gryffindor. And what if I don't? Will you be disappointed?" She looked down at her owl, Nyx. Nyx was a female European Eagle Owl, and she was one of the biggest species of owl in the world. Caoimhe had had Nyx for just over six months and she had quickly become one of her best friends.

She looked up as the compartment door opened, and a tall, blonde haired boy walked in. He had pale skin and a pointed face, and she noticed that his eyes were grey. He glanced around, his eyes locking with Caoimhes. "Well, well, well. I don't think we've met, but you look older than a first year. I'm Scorpios. Scorpios Malfoy." He held his hand out for her to shake. Caoimhe looked quickly at Caolan, who was glaring at the boy, before looking back to Scorpios. "Caoimhe Finnegan. I am a first year." She told him, while shaking his hand. The boys eyes widened, and he turned to face Caolan. "Oh, a Finnegan. Quite disappointing, really." He turned on his heel and walked out, and Caoimhe turned to face her brother. "Who was that? And why doesn't he like us Finnegans?"

Caolan sat back and rolled his eyes. "He doesn't like many Gryffindor's, but because I'm friends with Albus, he doesn't like me more. He's a third year Slytherin, his dad was Draco Malfoy, the one our dad sometimes mentions." Caoimhe thought back, and remembered her dad saying something about the Malfoy family and how they were bad news. She rolled her eyes and pulled out one of the books that she had been required to bring; Hogwarts, A History. She had already read the book countless times, but she found it so intriguing.

"Alright, firs' years this way! Firs' years, come with me!" Caoimhe smiled as she heard the friendly half giants voice. She had met Hagrid a few times, he was a friend of her fathers. Once all of the first year students were gathered up, they walked towards a lake. There were a number of boats waiting on the side of a large lake, and the first years were already piling into them. She looked across the lake and saw the castle, which looked beautiful even in the dark. Her nerves started to kick in – In less than an hour she would be sorted and her life would change. She jumped into the nearest boat and smiled when she saw her friend Lily Potter was in the boat too. Both of the girls' parents were good friends and they visited each other often, along with the Weasleys and the Scamander's.

"Hi Lily, how are you?" Caoimhe grinned at her friend as they hugged before sitting down on the benches. Each boat fitted five people, and their boat was now full with two boys and another girl. "I'm really nervous, but apart from that I'm excited. What about you?" Lily smiled as the boats started to move. They carried on their small talk for a little until the boats stopped, and Hagrid led them up some steps and into the castle. As they entered the castle, Professor Longbottom arrived and introduced himself. "Good evening, students. My name is Professor Longbottom, and You're your Herbology teacher and the head of Gryffindor house. In a few moments you will be taken through these doors and into the Great Hall to be sorted, so I would use these moments to smarten yourself up. I will be back in a minute." As soon as Professor Longbottom left, there were low whispers around the room. In no time, he was back and they were being led into the Great Hall.

Caoimhe gasped as she entered the room. Her family had told her about the Great Hall but she had never thought it would be this magnificent. She looked around and saw the four long tables that the students sat at, and the table at the top of the room that the staff occupied. She then looked up at the roof, and saw the beautiful night sky. She knew it was charmed, but it still looked so real. She smiled, and had forgotten about her nerves until they reached the top of the room. She looked at the stool, and then at the hat sitting on it. All too soon, Professor McGonagall, the head master had introduced the new students and the hat had sang its song. Professor Longbottom began to call out names of students, and Caoimhe tuned in.

"Bell, Amy" A small girl with dark brown hair was the first to go up, and she had barely sat down when the hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers at their newcomer.

"Boyd, Grant" A tall, brunette boy walked up to the stool and sat down, while Neville set the hat down on his head. After about a minute, the hat called out, "RAVENCLAW!"

All too soon Caoimhe was called up. Professor Longbottom smiled as he put the hat on her head, and she stared out to the students. She saw her brothers on the Gryffindor table, and Ethan grinned at her giving her the thumbs up. "Hmmm, lots of bravery here, I see. And very loyal. But also very cunning, and very smart. You would do well in Gryffindor, but I think you'll do better in.." Caoimhe held her breath and closed her eyes. "SLYTHERIN!"

Caoimhe's eyes flew open, and she looked straight at her brothers. They were shocked, and she could tell they weren't pleased. However the Slytherin table were as noisy as ever, and she slowly walked to the table and sat down beside a small girl who introduced herself as Lacey Crabbe. Scorpios Malfoy was quick to move beside her, and he smirked. "So, you're clearly not as bad as your brothers if you were sorted here. Shall we start again?"

Caoimhe was sitting in her room, thinking of what to owl to her parents. She was scared. Scared they'd be disappointed in her. She decided to keep it simple.

Dear Mum & Dad,

I'm going to keep this short and sweet, I don't know what to think. I've been sorted into Slytherin.

I hope you're not mad.

Love Caoimhe.

Luckily Nyx hadn't been moved to the Owlery just yet, and she quickly attacked the letter to her leg and sent her on her way. She sat on her bed and sighed, before deciding to unpack. The other girls in her room were already asleep, but she couldn't. She hadn't had a chance to talk to her brothers yet so she didn't know what they thought, but she had made friends. One of the girls in her dorm, Alana Goyle had befriended her at the dinner table, and another girl in second year called Rachel Milton had also made friends with her. She had reluctantly accepted Scorpios Malfoys offer to start again, as it would be no good to make enemies in her own house. After she had finished unpacking, she lay down on her bed with her book and began to read.

Caoimhe must have fallen asleep some time during the night as her book was on her face as her eyes fluttered open. She slowly moved the book to her bedside table and sat up, looking around. Megan Muldrew, Alana and Tori Parkinson were all up and getting ready, and one of the girls, Frankie Avery was in the shower. "Morning," Caoimhe yawned as she stood up as Frankie left the bathroom. She grabbed her chance, picked up her robes and made way for the bathroom.

Once all the girls were ready, they headed up to the Great Hall for their first breakfast. They had already received their timetables, and Caoimhe saw that she had Potions first with the Gryffindor students. She was excited for Potions, as she was actually interested in the subject. Caoimhe sat down beside Alana and began to tuck into breakfast. She loved her house elf, Lola's cooking but she never had this much choice. Scorpios Malfoy appeared beside her and sat down. "Hello girls," he smirked as his friends sat down beside him. "This is Ryan Zabini, Paul Crabbe and Liam Avery," he nodded to each of the boys that had sat down. Caoimhe raised her eyebrows and waved as her mouth was full.

"Mail's here," Zabini said as hundreds of owls entered the Great Hall. She saw her mother's barn owl, Alfie fly towards her and drop two letters. Noticing he still had more letters, she gathered that they were for her brothers. She grabbed the first letter and saw it was from her mother. Nervously she opened the letter;

Hi sweetheart,

Don't be silly, of course we aren't mad at you. Slytherin is a great house, but it is a surprise that you managed to get in there. How was your first night? Have you made any new friends? Please find your brothers, they are worried sick and haven't managed to talk to you yet. Well done, and keep in touch.

Love, mum.

Caoimhe gave a sigh of relief as she began to open the next letter. It was from her father, and she was more nervous to read it.

Alright petal,

Just you remember that Severus Snape, one of the greatest wizards of all time was in Slytherin, and was the head of house before Slughorn. You've made us very proud, so you have. I can't wait to see you in your new robes! See you at Christmas.

Love you. Daddy

She grinned at the touch of Irish that her father had added into the letter. It was typical him. She did miss her family, even if it had only been one day since she'd seen them. She checked the time before standing up. "I'm going to go to class, I'll see you later," she muttered as she walked away. As she walked out of the Hall, Caolan caught up with her.

"Hey sis, are you okay? I saw Scorpios sitting with you, is he causing any trouble? Tell me if he is. What do you think about being in Slytherin? We're worried sick," he mumbled on and Caoimhe rolled her eyes. She walked with him towards Potions, even if that wasn't where he was meant to be. "I'm okay, Caolan. It hasn't really sunk in yet. Scorpios was okay, he has decided I'm alright as I've been sorted into Slytherin I suppose. It's okay, I'll tell you next week when I've had time to settle in. I have to go, I have Potions and you know how excited I've been for this. Bye, Caolan." She hurried on, not waiting for a reply from her big brother. When she arrived at the classroom, she was the first one there. She stood outside the door and waited for the other kids to arrive.

"Okay, is everyone settled down? Good. Good morning children, and welcome to your first class, which just so happens to be Potions. I am Professor Slughorn, some of you Slytherin's have already met me as I am your head of house. In this class you will learn how to make a number of different potions and you will be working practically. I personally think potions are wonderful, and hopefully you too will enjoy the class. Potions can be made for lots of different purposes such as the ever so popular love potion, healing potions or even Polyjuice potion. Today, we will start off with something simple, the boil-cure potion."

Caoimhe was sitting beside a small, chubby boy from Gryffindor who she later found out was Damien Thomas. She recognised the name, and gathered that her father must know his father. She flew through the potion making and was the first one finished, much to Professor Slughorns delight. She was proud of herself, and Professor Slughorn had told her that her potion was perfect.

Before long, it was time to go to her next class which was charms with the Hufflepuffs. Professor Flitwick introduced himself and had them practising a basic charm, the hover charm. The room was filled with choruses of "Winguardiam Leviosa." After a few tries, Caoimhe was able to levitate the feather in the appropriate way. After charms, it was lunch time. Caoimhe walked down to the Great Hall by herself and sat on the edge of the table. Before long though, Scorpios and his friends had pulled up beside her.

"Hey, Finnegan, whats up?" Zabini said, filling his plate eagerly. Caoimhe sighed, rolling her eyes. "Not much, you?" The small chat carried on for while until Scorpios got bored. "So, are you going to come and watch us hold try outs for the Quidditch team later on?" She considered it, and decided she would go. She always loved quidditch and it would be cool to see the tactics of the rest of the Slytherins.

The day past quite quickly, and Caoimhe had enjoyed her classes. After lunch she had had Herbology with Professor Longbottom and Transfiguration with Professor Jackson. She had found it hard not to slip up and call Professor Longbottom Neville, but she managed not to. By dinner time, she was shattered. She sat down beside Alana and Scorpios and started to fill her plate.

"Alana, you coming to watch the try outs for quidditch with me later?" Caoimhe had decided that she would rather have someone there with her to watch the team. When Alana agreed, they decided to go and get ready, and get down there early.

"Fancy a quick fly before we try outs?" Rachel asked, grinning. She had decided to come along to watch as well. Caoimhe wasn't sure if that was allowed, but she shrugged. She hadn't flown in so long. Rachel led both Caoimhe and Alana down towards a small shed in which the brooms where stored. Caoimhe grabbed a broom and immediately set off into the air. She had missed the feeling of flying, the wind in her hair. Alana and Rachel soon joined her, and they hovered in the sky. From the height they were at, they could see everything. They could see the lake, the castle, the walk down to Hogsmeade, the Whomping Willow and even the team walking towards the pitch.

"Suppose we should get down then," Alana said when she saw the boys on their way. Rachel nodded and quickly flew down with Alana to the ground, but Caoimhe stayed in the air. She flew around for a while, and then looked below her. The Slytherin Captain, Rhys Lavery was shouting at her to get down that instance, so that is what she did. Facing downwards, she sped up to full speed and headed towards the ground. Just as she was a couple of centimetres from the ground, she pulled her broom upwards and hovered just above the other students heads. She jumped down from the broom from there and smiled. "Sorry, captain!"

Rhys, Scorpios and Mitch were staring at her with their mouths open. "What was that? That was amazing!" Mitch said, the first to come to his senses. They were all gaping at her, the girls included. "What? We do this all the time at home. I usually do it to annoy my dad though." Caoimhe said, a little confused.

"We need someone as good as you on our team, it's a shame you're only a first year," Yuni Gates said. He was one of the beaters on the team.

The try outs had started a couple of minutes after that, and not many people had bothered to try out. Liam was the only change made, and he came one of the chasers. However, at the end Rhys had an announcement. "While we were deciding, I had a word with McGonagall. She has agreed that Caoimhe should be our new seeker, so that is what she is. I'm sorry, Kain, but you saw her back then." Caoimhe looked up, shocked to hear her name. She was more than surprised, but she was definitely happy. She ran down onto the pitch, Rachel and Alana close behind her. "Why would you do this? You haven't even seen me try out!" Rhys just grinned, and reminded her that what he had seen was enough.

After the try outs, Caoimhe and her new found friends sat in the common room. Alana and Caoimhe both agreed that they had had an awesome first day, and before bed she decided to write to her parents and tell them the good news.

Hi guys,

Just letting you know that I've made a few new friends and.. wait for it.. I made the quidditch team as their seeker! McGonagall bent the rules for me. I'm so excited! Night night.

Caoimhe x

After she had sent Nyx on her way, she ran back down to the common room and went straight to bed. It had been a long day.