Chapter 1: Louis

In a world where magic is real, creatures come in an endless number of shapes and sizes and real life is stranger than your dreams, being a Weasley was all too easy. With keen magical skills, ancestry largely consisting of the heroes of Tom Riddle's War, and being best friends with the Potter family, my life has been a stroll in the park. Growing up in a beach side cottage, enrolled in an elite school with magic at my fingertips, and having an effortless social life since birth, I could not have asked for more.

"Louis!" Someone hit me from behind, tall and grinning, messy dark hair and green eyes. "Get over here, you idiot." He laughed catching me in a head lock and dragging me around the hallway while other people whom we knew and didn't know laughed indulgently. "The sorting's gonna start soon and I want to talk to Professor Longbottom about booking the grounds for Quidditch trials."

I grinned back from under his elbow and pulled out my wand. Pointing it at him I murmured, "Levicorpus." He let out a yelp and swung around to hang in the air by his ankle. Still snickering I backed down the hall as he pulled out his wand for the counter-curse. "Come on James, hurry up." I told him as he landed on the floor.

He straightened up, a devilish smile on his face. "You're on Weasley."

We both burst into a sprint running down the corridor in opposite directions, each to our closest shortcut. I ducked down a hallway and pulled aside a painting. Quickly I crawled into the hole behind it and ran through. Erupting out on the other side, I had to swerve to the right to avoid Filch the aged caretaker, who, rumour would have it, has been here since my grandparents first arrived on the train. Out of breath and thirsty, I shouted aguamenti into the air and swallowed the water that sprouted from my wand as a bunch of startled fourth years made noises of dismay at their newly soaked uniforms. Rounding another corner, I threw open the doors to the Great Hall just as James ran up behind me.

I grinned at him. "I won."

He patted me on the shoulder. "And I didn't just get a detention from Filch for magic use in the corridors. Sorry buddy'"

Scowling, I followed him to a bench at the Gryffindor table. We sat down next to Rose and Lysander, my favourite cousin and childhood friend,c and waited for the first years to be shuffled in. I leaned over to Rose. "Still burning from my great goal yesterday?"

She looked at me. "We won 360 to 80. And you only got the ball past me by literally elbowing me in the face first."

"That's only cause James over here caught the snitch for you." I said, pulling him over by the neck.

She shrugged. "He may have, but how many goals did I save, more than 15, I'd say, so really I won the game."

I frowned, thinking about the implications. "But at that rate you could say that Lysander won the game for each time he got the ball off Aunty Ginny."

Lysander whooped. "Yeah I did!"

The conversation was interrupted as the doors swung open and Professor Longbottom lead in the first years. We looked on as the Sorting Hat sang its song, then waited as Longbottom came forth with the scroll of names.

We all watched as the first years lined up, eyes wide, then scrambled fearfully onto the stool when their name was called.

"Katherine Arnold!"

Even for the seventh years who had been to this ceremony many times a moment of heavy anticipation could be felt in the air.

"Ravenclaw!" Everyone clapped and Ravenclaw cheered and little Katherine Arnold blushed all the way to her place at the Ravenclaw table. And so it went – we clapped, and we smiled if anyone joined our own table, but for the most part it was a slightly tedious business. Ten minutes in and still in the Ds.

"Dudley Dursley!"

A large child with blond hair and beady eyes stepped forward. James snickered. The kid heard and shot a fearful look around the room as Rose kicked James under the table. He reached the stool and sat down, pulling the hat on so quickly it came down over his nose. There were a couple mutters as nervous sweat visibly dripped its way down his forehead. I could see his mouth moving but no audible sound was coming out. There was a long moment of silence then -

"Gryffindor!" There was a polite and slightly surprised applause as he waddled to our table. Rose, one of Gryffindor's prefects, shook his hand.

"Welcome to Gryffindor." She smiled.

He smiled back hesitantly. "Thanks."

James shrugged at me. "You win some, you lose some."

"James, shut up!" Rose hissed, kicking him again, but the kid had already heard and looked down and away. Rose glared at James, but he waved it off. The next twenty minutes passed uneventfully, and I silently begged for The Feast to be soon. Only when Professor Longbottom got to the Ws did things get interesting again.

"And now we have a new student, Ivy Ward!"

She looked to be around sixth year, and walked up to the small stool confidently as the hat was placed on her head. The hat made some grunting noises before "Ravenclaw!"

I watched as she smiled politely and made her way to the Ravenclaw table. A new student who wasn't in first year was not a common occurrence in the wizarding world, as most have either planned to go to this school their entire lives or are just happily sent there at 11 when they first find out the wizarding world exists. For a moment she seemed unsure whether to sit where the other first years were sitting, all five years younger than her, or venture trying to sit with some of the older students who she didn't know at all. Strangely, I felt for her. I mean, it didn't happen often. I cringed as she wavered, and wished Albus would notice and invite her over. More moments passed and she still didn't sit, she had caught a few people's attention now including the Ravenclaws she had been walking towards. They looked at her strangely and she backed off. Instinctually I called out.

"Ivy!"

James turned and looked at me. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

But I was already doing it. "Ivy, right? Come sit over here!" I was trying to be helpful but I may have made things worse. She looked more flustered than usual, not knowing the school's protocol. The Ravenclaws were also shooting me daggers, but I tried to ignore them and just follow it through. "Plenty space." I said as I shuffled over.

Looking at the now slightly hostile Ravenclaws she walked over to the Gryffindor table, chin up. James leaned over. "Dude, you're meant to sit where you're sorted."

I shrugged, "Unspoken rule, James. Screw the Panopticon."

He frowned as Ivy sat down next to me. She smiled, "Name's Ivy, although it appears you know that."

I laughed, "Yeah, I'm Louis. This is James," I gestured, "Rose, and Lysander."

They all said hellos and Professor Erwin shushed us. Shutting up, we all turned and watched the rest of the sorting ceremony. By the end I was starving, and all too ready for dinner. Professor McGonagall made a few short words then food appeared in front of us - in great quantity.

I piled potatoes and peas on to my plate, and then a bit of roast lamb. "This," I told Ivy between mouthfuls, "best lamb … in like … ever."

She looked at the food I was shovelling in so fast that hiccups were fast approaching, and smiled a very polite smile. "Thanks, but I'm more of a dumpling girl." She said picking up chopsticks, and putting some dumplings, sauces and buns on to her plate.

"At least have some pumpkin juice." I said, handing her a cup. She accepted and drank, then crinkled her nose.

"This is just pumpkin," she said, "and like, cinnamon."

"Not good?" I raised my eyebrows.

Grimacing she shook her head, "Not good."

"So," Rose asked from across the table, "where did you go before this?"

"Oh," she laughed, "it's all very Mean Girls actually, I was home-schooled in Romania."

Most would laugh politely but Rose was nosier than that. "So why are you here?"

She shrugged. "A combination of wanting more freedom, a new experience, and also, you know, N.E.W.T.s are next year so I'd like to be fully prepared for them and do them with the full schooling experience."

Now that Rose was done, James interrupted, "So are you happy with your house, because you appear to have opted out of sitting with it."

She reddened and I elbowed him. "I asked her over here, because let's face it, Gryffindor's table is the best."

Ivy looked cool again. "I'm sure. And besides, I'm planning to join the Ravenclaw quidditch team, so it'll be nice to get a bit of insight on the competition."

James raised his eyebrows. "Okay, two problems there. First, Ravenclaw's captain is an asshole who only chooses friends for the team, so you have no chance, and two is that Ravenclaw will never be considered competition to us."

She nodded, taking it in. "I'm willing to play dirty to get in to the team, if I have to."

He grinned a predatory grin. James loved this game, the back and forth, pushing and pushing, who's right, who's wrong, push, push, push. "What if you're not as good as other people in Ravenclaw, then you're cheating, and damaging your team rather than benefiting it. Tell me that's not selfish."

She shrugged. "I can't tell you that, I'm afraid. But I find selfishness to be acceptable because life is one big game of 'how can this turn out best for me'."

He leaned back, narrowing his eyes and now it was my turn to laugh. "She got you, James. She got you because that's your philosophy too, so you can't contradict her."

He shook his head, "All right, all right, I'm done."

Rose started up a conversation with Ivy just as dinner disappeared and dessert arrived. Momentarily distracted, I pulled more food onto my plate. When I finished my bowl of sorbet and had started in on another tart, James leaned in.

"Don't become her friend, okay?" He said. "She's going to be on the opposing team, buddy. Just keep it clean and don't do it."

He got up then and walked towards Freddie and some of our other friends down the table. I was still frowning when Rose's little brother, Hugo, swooped in and took James' place.

"Hi," he said quickly before turning to Rose who was still talking to Ivy and Lysander. "Rose, Rose? ROSE. Thank you. Look, there's a first year down there who's hyper-ventilating, can you go deal with it? Yes, you, Rose you're a prefect. Uh huh, thank you again."

Grumbling she got up and left and he turned to me. "So who's the new girl?" He muttered.

"Ivy," Ivy said, leaning around me to shake his hand. "Ivy Ward."

He nodded, already disinterested. "Okay, cool. So, Lysander," he said turning to our friend, "any many major life decisions that have changed since like, what was it 16 - 16? - hours ago when I last saw you.

Lysander shook his head, "Nope. Unless you count deciding to, like, take a piss."

"'Fraid I don't buddy. Just," he was tugging at his ear, looking disappointed in our ability to converse, "just let me know when you do." With that he left, no doubt to find someone who had a brain big enough for someone of his stature to pick.

McGonagall got up again soon after that and made her annual speech. It included a lot about peace, and being lucky buggers to have it. The only moment of interest being when she warned us that the fourth floor corridor, was absolutely, absolutely, even when running from an angry caretaker, out of bounds. I gave Lysander a look and he shrugged. Rule or no rule, if he was late to class, he was going to take the fourth floor shortcut to get there fast.

After that we departed to our dormitories, Rose leading the first years, and James and Freddie dropping back to walk with us. When we got to the place the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors went different ways I paused to point Ivy in the right direction. She smiled her thanks and walked that way. James gave me a look but didn't say anything.

By the time we had reached the dorm and fast-talked our way past The Fat Lady at the entrance, the mixture of food and rush of the last 24 hours had me exhausted. I collapsed in an armchair in front of the fire as Rose took the seat opposite me, and James, the seat adjacent. Gryffindor students filed past, on their way to their dorms, a worryingly large number of them related to me. Apart from my two cousins sitting across from me, there was Freddie, another cousin, and his sister Roxanne; Lily, my cousin - James's little sister; Avery, cousin and Lily's closest friend; Hugo, cousin, and Rose's little brother. Done with the roll-call, I swung back to the family members I was closest with.

"Long day." I told them. They nodded, too tired to actually speak. "So when will quidditch trials be?" I directed this at James.

He slowly swung his head around to face me. "Day after tomorrow." He smiled as big as you can when it's been a long time since your head was on a cushion. "No guarantees by the way, buddy, you're gonna have to fight your way on to the team."

I smiled. "I'm sure. And Rose, going for keeper as usual?"

She gave me a look. "Obviously."

I turned to James. "Does she have a guaranteed place?"

He nodded, examining his nails. "Obviously." I frowned as he stood up. "And now," he announced, "I am going to go bless someone else with my presence, probably my pillow, and leave you to your whining." With that he got up and walked up the staircase leading to his room.

I looked to Rose. "And I assume you're leaving too?"

She groaned as she pushed herself out of the plush chair. "Yeah," she said yawning, "classes start tomorrow. You should probably be getting a couple winks yourself."

I waved goodbye and waited as she made her own way up to her room. Despite her sound advice, I spent a long time after she left looking into the flames licking up the side of the grate. They were bright, in the way no living thing is. When you burn that bright, no one will be able to stand your light for long. When, sure enough, the light started to imprint to the back of my eyelids, I stretched my limbs and walked up the stairs to my door. Pushing it open quietly, I ignored Alaric and Ed asleep in their beds. I reached my bed and, pulling the hangings aside, collapsed onto the sheets fully dressed. Not the best way to start the new year I suppose, but it would have to do.