The Hogwarts Express had never been decorated according to Houses with one very good reason. While the Prefects had their own carriage, it was a given that the marking of carriages as 'Slytherin' or 'Hufflepuff' would only draw out any enmities that had not been previously resolved. It was for this reason alone that William Rosier was sat on his own amidst a flock of his chattering peers, children clearly marked to become Hufflepuffs. An absent look of boredom rested on his features, to the casual observer it was only too obvious that the boy would have preferred to be anywhere but in that particular carriage. Thus, the sight of the food trolley rolling past only prompted William to move quickly; staggering to his feet with an awkward lurch, the young boy chased the woman nervously. His father would have been disappointed that William had not attempted to simply silence the other students in the carriage, but William could have cared less. Purchasing himself a Pumpkin Pasty, he hurried on to an almost empty carriage. Rather than return to the carriage he had been in, it made more sense to find somewhere quieter to try and read; William had every intention of becoming one of the most accomplished Wizards in his year. Anything less, and Basil Rosier - his father - would be bitterly disappointed with his son, though the boy's current choice of company would hardly illicit feelings of delight from the man.
At the clatter of her carriage door shutting, Molly Weasley II had turned her freckled face to the door with curiosity. Louis Weasley, her cousin, had scoffed at the sight of another boy hovering at the door. Raising a hand with confidence and brushing hair out of his face, he grinned a familiar grin, the very grin that every Weasley male for generations seemed capable of. Continuing the round of faces turning to peer, a previously attached couple turned to peer at Liam before returning to their previous behaviour, much to the disapproving groans of the girl sat beside them.
"Victoire, must you act so?" A pretty face turned to glance at Liam, a shy smile alighting on her features before she continued speaking, "I'm Dominique. 'Nique Weasley. That's my big sister, Victoire, and her boyfriend Teddy Lupin." Another pause, in which she grinned awkwardly. It seemed she was eager to continue when a gangly, ropy boy breezed into the room with an armful of Bertie Botts and Chocolate Frogs. Brushing past Liam and unintentionally barging him, Fred Weasley II turned and offered a Chocolate Frog from the pile in his arms as an apology.
"I'm Fred. Fred Weasley. I see you've met the rest of my family? I'm afraid we take up a carriage by ourselves, but you can join us if you like!"
Liam had to admit that he was overwhelmed by the sheer wave of red hair that faced him; though the girl that had introduced herself as Dominique and her elder sister Victoire both possessed long waves of white-blonde hair, the rest of the Weasley family were dressed with the infamous red locks. Tucking a strand of his own dark hair behind an ear self-consciously, Liam shrugged and began to edge towards the door. Raising both hands with an awkward gesture that belied his emotions, the boy grinned and shrugged.
"If this is a family thing, I can just--"
Before he could finish, the youngest girl had pushed her cousins along the bench she was seated on, patting a space beside her. It was the girl that had first turned to see him, the one most heavily freckled; Liam had no idea what her name was to thank her, but gratefully took the seat and glanced around the room. Expecting someone to introduce the two students he had yet to be introduced to, Liam chewed his lip awkwardly. Realising he was to be met with silence, however, he proceeded to introduce himself to the gathered flock of redheads.
"I'm William, by the way. William Rosier," William paused, grinning sheepishly, "Liam."
The tense silence was enough to tell Liam that he had picked the wrong compartment, if the shuffling and bustle of the six children as they lowered their heads didn't. Glancing around the room, Liam's cheeks filled with red at the realisation of which houses the other members of the carriage belonged to. Three Gryffindors, Victoire and Teddy, and their cousin Fred; one Ravenclaw, the other blonde girl, Dominique. From the actions of the other two, his own age, they were destined to go the same way as their family. What seemed like hours passed, and the few moments of sheepish silence was broken by Molly Weasley, a fearless young woman who took after her aunt Ginevra and Grandmother in all too many ways. As her cousins all turned to peer at her, Molly grinned at Liam, sticking out her hand with confidence.
"Molly Weasley. What House you hoping to get into?"
The fearlessness of her gesture relaxed Liam enough for him to shake her hand, noting the smallness of them and the way her nails had been chewed to death; fighting the urge to comment on this little quirk, he beamed back at her. To confess now that he hoped to become a Slytherin seemed nothing if not suicidal, but for Liam there was no other House. If push came to shove, Liam supposed he could bear to be in Ravenclaw, but the thought of Gryffindor or, worse yet, Hufflepuff made him feel slightly nauseous. Saying such a thing in a room filled with Gryffindors, however, was something that made Liam uneasy; it would be unwise to make enemies so quickly, yet Molly Weasley's naturally easy nature allowed Liam a small hint of confidence. For a pair of eleven year olds, both Liam and Molly were all too aware of the politics dictated by their Houses. After all, Molly and the others in the room had lost an Uncle to Voldemort, to Slytherin, and Teddy had lost his parents. Still, Liam knew there was little point in lying.
"I want to be in Slytherin."
It was out. There was no way he could retract the statement, and there was little he could do to make it better. Expecting aggression, Liam seemed to recoil into himself before anyone could make a sound. Fortunately, Teddy was the first to react, laughing shamelessly. Leaning over his girlfriend to pat Liam on the head, an unpleasant gesture but one Teddy had meant affectionately, the older boy continued to chuckle to himself. Fred soon understand what was meant by this, and nodded conspiratorially to Liam.
"Ignore him, he's just thinking of beating you to death in Quidditch next year."
For the rest of the train journey, the view of the Weasleys was made clear. None of them particularly minded Slytherin, though they knew that in a couple of years Scorpius Malfoy would be joining their ranks, at the same time as "cousin Rosie", someone that evidently mattered to the students collected. A pause settled after Liam confessed his own knowledge of the Malfoys, but there were few hitches in the journey. Molly and Liam spent a great part of the journey whispering excitedly, trading spells and laughing about Quidditch. Occasionally Louis joined in, after introducing himself to Liam, but the youngest redhead was quiet and shy, something that limited him as far as conversation went. Fred had marked how comfortable Molly was with Liam, saying nothing and only quirking an eyebrow as the two of them giggled about lessons. Molly expressed her wishes that Liam would change his mind and become a Gryffindor, and Liam returned them in reverse; the two squabbled over whether Gryffindor or Slytherin would win the House Cup, confessing their desire to play Seeker when older. Without any of the students noticing, the Hogwarts Express had rolled into Hogsmeade Station.
Letting Louis and Liam disembark together, Fred hovered by the luggage rack, helping Molly get her small bag from atop it. After a giddy thanks, Molly attempted to rush ahead and catch up to Liam and Louis, but was caught and stopped by Fred. Being a good head taller than her, Fred forced himself to stoop and whisper to her; his usually jovial features had hardened into a concerned frown, something Molly was unfamiliar with. As she struggled a little, attempting to get her cousin off her, Fred shook his head and gestured briefly in the direction of Louis, who was nervously joking with Liam.
"Look, Moll, I know you're a big girl and you can look after yourself, but I want you to watch yourself around him, alright? I'm not going to have any Slytherin idiot hurt my cousin, ok? So just tell me if he does anything stupid."
Affronted by her cousin's implications, Molly simply nodded and rushed off to catch up. Sighing and following, Fred met the gaze of Teddy as the two of them fell in side by side. Watching their young cousins meander towards the boats, led by Hagrid, the group of five waved frantically as Louis boarded their boat.
Awed by their transport to the castle, Louis was even more silent than usual as they drifted towards the imposing building. Reassured somewhat by Molly's tight grip on his arm, the pair of them quietly whispered about their future Common Room; unaware to the fact that they were ignoring Liam somewhat, Louis pointed at one of the towers with delight, crying that he was certain it housed the Gryffindor Common Room before tugging on Liam's sleeve to illicit a similar response. Instead, however, Liam simply nodded and returned his gaze to the lower regions of Hogwarts, attempting to spot a green window and identify the Slytherin Common Room. Molly, disengaging herself from Louis as she realised how quiet Liam had become, leaned over Liam's shoulder and attempted to follow his gaze.
"What are you looking for?"
"The Slytherin Common Room. I'm not sure where it is."
There was a snort from Louis, who had rolled his eyes and was now looking at Liam with a delicate disgust. Usually not judgemental, Molly was surprised by Louis' reaction, elbowing him in the side in an attempt to shut him up, though Louis said nothing. Liam seemed not to have noticed, and as the group abandoned their boats by the shore, Molly shot a glare at her cousin; a warning to be nice never went amiss. Flocking together, the first years seemed to get nowhere as they edged towards the school. Led through the halls and corridors towards the Great Hall, Molly couldn't help but gape in delight, fascinated by the fine building. Imagining her aunts and uncles here, with her father, Molly giggled shyly. Louis' face revealed similar emotions, and the two of them almost clattered into the backs of the students in front of them, having not realised that they should have stopped walking long ago. A familiar face approached the group of First Years, smiling with warmth at the nervous flock.
"Hello students, I am Professor Longbottom. If you'd like to follow me, you can be Sorted; the Sorting Hat is waiting for you."
A silent riot erupted from the gaggle as they whispered to one another with uncontrollable delight. The Sorting Hat! Surging towards the door, an obedient stampede broke into the Great Hall, rushing towards the front of the Hall with pleasure. Sat on an old stool was the Hat, battered and ancient; Molly clasped at an arm that she thought was Louis'; leaning close to whisper to him.
"Reckon if you ask, you'd get put into whatever House you liked?"
Liam's face turned back to meet hers, and they were close enough to make Molly blush; she had spent only a few hours with the boy, such closeness was completely inappropriate. Apologising as she dropped his arm, Molly turned back to Louis, though not before she heard Liam's response.
"I expect so. Why? Do you want to be a Slytherin?"
There was such hope in his voice that Molly was overcome with guilt, but there was not time to ponder it. Fairly quickly, names were called and students were Sorted. Vulgar cries echoed from Fred and Teddy, who made it their business to celebrate Gryffindor and condemn the other Houses; as the numbers dwindled, it became clear to Molly and Louis that they were to be one of the few students lingering when the others were chatting to new housemates. Realising this first, Louis lowered his face slightly, for he was ever so slightly taller than Molly, and hissed something into her ear that was drowned out by the call of "Rosier, Liam!" Nervously, Molly pushed herself closer to the front, watching Liam stumble blindly towards the Hat. As it was placed onto his head, the Hat paused for a second, seeming to chew on its brim in thought. Moments later, it had opened said brim widely, bellowing the House that Molly had secretly hoped she would not hear. Flushing a pale pink as Liam's gaze met hers, Molly grinned awkwardly at him; they could still talk, couldn't they? Slytherin was not so dreadful, after all. The last few students were Sorted, leaving only Molly, Louis and a young boy that clearly had a most unfortunate surname. A great roar of delight flew from Fred's lips as Louis bounced up the steps to the Hat; it hardly skimmed his ginger hair before bellowing the favoured cry of, "Gryffindor!"
Molly was next. Tripping up the steps and landing conveniently on the stool, the Hat was placed ceremoniously on her head; a chuckle whispered into the cavity she liked to presume was filled by her brain.
"You don't really think you'd fit in in Slytherin, do you?"
Scrunching her eyes up, Molly nodded, an imperceptible response that the Sorting Hat seemed to consider with amusement before mentally shaking its head.
"That won't do at all. No, you're-- Well, there's only one thing for it. Gryffindor!"
If Louis had been given a delighted response, the cheer that went up for Molly was tumultuous. Fred and Teddy were pumping the air and jeering in a way that reminded one of the Weasley twins; they were fearless and proud of their young cousin. Taking her seat beside them, Molly was soon swamped by their affectionate hugs. This was how your future was shaped, was it not? Molly could only hope that her future was as bright as this response, though she doubted it would be free and easy. Glancing over to the Slytherin table, her wide brown eyes alighted on Liam Rosier, and a shy smile curved across her lips. No. The next few years were not to be easy, something Molly was certain over. Bowing her head to him with a sheepish nod, the girl felt somebody jog her elbow, jerking her from her reverie.
Indeed, Molly was jerked from her reverie into a jolt of surprise; once again she had drifted off! The Hogwarts Express and its steady rumble was causing her to sleep away her journey, something Liam was not amused by. Quirking an eyebrow at him wryly, she grinned.
"Remember in First Year? How we met?"