A/N: This is my first fanfiction for this fandom, so review it if you enjoy. A million thankyous go to my fantastic beta and brainstormer, In Need of Slash Fix.
Chapter One
"Would you mind if I sat in here?" Rose looked up from her book. A small, skinny first year was hovering in the doorway to the compartment. She looked at her brother and cousins to see what they thought. Lily and Hugo nodded enthusiastically, eager to get to know someone in their year. Al only gazed out of the window dreamily.
Rose smiled kindly at the nervous looking girl, "Sure," The girl smiled at her gratefully and took a seat, "What's your name?"
"Seraphina," the girl replied, making a face,
"Poor you," Lily giggled, "Mind you, my brother has it worse, don't you, Al? Al? Al? Earth to Albus, do you read me?"
Her brother looked up for a moment, "What is it, Lily?"
Lily rolled her eyes, "Doesn't matter."
"Whatever," her brother sighed, going back to his dreaming,
"What are your names, anyway?" Seraphina asked Rose,
"I'm Rose Weasley, this is my brother Hugo, and my cousins Albus and Lily Potter," she said, pointing at each of them in turn.
The girl's eyes widened, "No way! You're the Weasleys and the Potters? But you're so…"
"Normal?" Hugo grinned, "We get that all the time."
"You're so lucky!" she sighed enviously,
"We get that too." Lily's smile matched her cousin's,
"Anyone who thinks living with The Golden Trio's a dream come true hasn't seen my mum in a bad mood," Rose added,
"My parents are pretty boring. Well, apart from their flair for freaky names," Seraphina said,
"Having Muggleborn relatives has its advantages. Dad and Auntie Hermione made sure we didn't get anything too awful - well, all of us apart from Al. Do your family have a thing about odd names?" asked Lily,
"You should hear what my brother's called," the other girl replied,
"What year's he in?" Rose wanted to know, "I might know him,"
"Oh, I don't think you would. He keeps to himself, mostly," she answered, guardedly. The conversation in the compartment turned to other things. The new girl silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Seraphina was feeling sick with fear. She knew that at any moment, her secret could come out. When that happened, any friends she might have made in the Potter-Weasley clan, or even in the entire school, would vanish. She remembered her brother's warning before she'd got on the train: "Sera, I know it's hard, but try not to get too attached to anyone you meet on the train. They won't stay friendly when they know who your parents are. Nobody likes a Malfoy, not now. People will spit on you in the corridors, trip you up, call you 'Death Eater Kid'. You just have deal with it, and don't let them see it hurt you. Just hope you get sorted into Slytherin. Nobody there can say anything about your ancestors, because theirs were just as bad."
She rested her head against the wall of the compartment, allowing the motion of the train to lull her to sleep, where she dreamt of having a family that wasn't despised by the entire wizarding world.
"Seraphina! Seraphina! Wake up, we're here!" She woke with a start to Lily and Rose shaking her awake,
"I'm awake, already!" she complained, getting to her feet and grabbing her heavy trunk. The five of them made their way along the crowded corridor and stepped out into the cool, evening air on the platform.
"Hagrid's over there. Good luck, you two," Rose said, hugging Hugo. Albus gave his sister a hug as well, before giving the two of them a little push in the direction Rose had pointed in. Seraphina felt more like an outsider than ever. Scorpius was brotherly enough at home, but he'd decided to avoid her as much as possible at school. "To make it easier for you," he'd said, ruffling her hair.
With a sigh, she looked up to see the other two vanished. She dashed after them, trying to keep Lily's bright hair in sight. She finally caught them up, and the three of them pushed through the crowd towards a huge, incredibly hairy man who was standing to one side of the platform. He was calling loudly for first years, but he broke off when he saw them.
"Hello, Lily, Hugo. 'ow are the two of yeh? An' who's yer new friend?" he rumbled, cheerfully. Seraphina felt slightly alarmed by this giant of a man, but she didn't shrink back.
"I'm Seraphina," she said, shortly,
He inspected a list he was holding, before counting the little group of ten-year-olds gathered around him, "Righ' then, we'd bes' be off," he announced, leading them away from the station platform. By now, it was almost too dark to see the scenery they were walking through. Eventually, they reached the edge of the dark lake, where a row of little boats were lined up to take them across the lake.
Hugo quickly claimed the nearest boat, beckoning for the girls to join him. Seraphina sat down awkwardly, not wanting to rock it too much, but Lily was darting here, there, and everywhere when they cast off. With every movement she made, Sera felt the boat rock more and more. She was starting to feel sick when there was a huge splash. Lily had vanished!
"Lily!" Hugo yelled, running to the side she had disappeared from. Suddenly something huge and pale loomed up out of the water. It dumped a very wet Lily in the bottom of the boat before. She shivered and coughed loudly. Sera hastily wrapped her cloak around the other girl's shoulders. Her cousin pulled out his wand and tapped her on the head, "Evaporatus," he said, clearly. There was a hiss of steam, and Lily stopped shivering and smiled,
"It's a good job you got Aunt Hermione's brains," she smiled, handing the second cloak back to it's owner, "Thanks, Seraphina, but I'll be OK now."
"Is that Hogwarts?" came a cry from another boat. The three of them looked up to see the silhouette of the castle. The windows glowed invitingly, a shelter from the cold wind. Their little boat bumped into the jetty, and the three of them quickly clambered out. The great doors swung open, allowing them to step into the warmth of the Entrance Hall.
A little man with a squeaky voice was trying to bring order to the room. Everyone was chattering and laughing, but there were a few who looked as sick as Sera felt. She recognised one of them from the few meetings her mother had tried to stage in order for her to make some friends before starting at Hogwarts. It had been a failed effort before it had begun. Vince Goyle would only be interested in doing something if it'd get someone else into trouble, while his older sister Melissa was only interested in obsessively stalking Scorpius round the house.
"Earth to Seraphina? Are you listening?" Lily said, waving a hand in front of her face,
"Sorry, I zoned out for a minute," she apologised, looking guilty,
"I said we'll see you later, because we should get in line now. Hope we're in the same House." With that, she darted away to the P section. She didn't see the sad little smile on her friend's face. I should be so lucky, she thought, finding her own place in the line.
Eventually, the teacher had the eleven year olds lined up in the right order. They could finally set foot in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. It was as beautiful as they had been told, with its flickering candles and ceiling like the night sky. The four tables were decorated brightly in their house colours. She spotted her brother at the Slytherin table, and gave him a quick smile.
The Hall fell silent when the pupils saw the little group of first years. All eyes turned to look at a small stool at the far end of the hall. On it was an old, ragged looking hat. She was wondering what it was actually supposed to do, when a tear in the brim opened up, and it began to sing!
'I have a tale to tell you,
Of a time not long gone by,
When wizards warred between themselves,
And many lost their lives.
Though that time's far behind us,
And the villains now long dead,
I wish you to remember it,
While I rest on your head.
This war was caused by foolishness,
And pure-blood wizards' greed,
Yet don't despise their children,
For their parents' creed.
I've warned you of this many times,
I hope you take it in,
So let us all now celebrate,
The Sorting shall begin!'
The little professor began to read out names. The school watched in silence as Berry, Emily was sorted into Hufflepuff. Caradoc, Matthew joined the Ravenclaw table. As the sorting continued, Vince Goyle ended up in Slytherin, along with a girl called Leticia Lace. There were a set of twins whose names she didn't catch sorted into Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.
Suddenly, her own name was called out, "Malfoy, Seraphina!"
She was tempted to turn and run when she saw the intense expressions of hate on the faces of all the Gryffindors, and most of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. She clenched her fists, and began the walk down the central aisle. It felt like the longest of her life, but she held her head high against the glares and the whispers, showing none of the sick fear she was feeling. She finally reached the stool and pulled the hat on to her head.
'Finally, a tricky one,' a voice murmured in her ear, 'Your blood screams for one House, but I'm not so sure.'
Not that tricky, she silently retorted, Just put me in Slytherin, it's where I belong.
'You're trying to tell me how to do me job, now?' Now it sounded amused, 'You really are entertaining. You aren't a Slytherin, I can tell that straight off. You'd despise most of your housemates for starters. Hufflepuff wouldn't suit either. You're too angry. Ravenclaw might work, but after your display just now, I think there's only one house for you…
Oh no, no, anything but that… she pleaded, but it was too late,
"GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat shouted. She got to her feet slowly, placed the hat back on its stool, and made her way to the empty end of the Gryffindor table. She didn't look at anyone, even though she felt that the whole hall was staring at her. The only thing she could do now was to wait for the Sorting and feast to finish so that she could find somewhere to hide. She only hoped that she'd be forgotten soon.