Disclaimer: Totally not owning any Harry Potter characters…

Summary: She knows that she'll never be the same as them. Eleven scenes between Roxanne & her family.

A/N: Written for Family Next. Gen Challenge over on HPFC. I chose Roxanne, so these are moments with her family throughout a school year.

It's Not a Dream, Anymore

1st Year

September 1st 2020 - Lucy

She had stood there, by her family. Her brother had his robes on already, adorned with red and gold. They were the colours of his house, her future house. Roxanne was different to them; small like her father, with long dark hair liked her mother and tanned skin - a combination of the two.

Now, on the train, she was trying to find somebody to talk to. Well, she had tried to find somebody to talk to; she's given up long ago. Lucy, her small and shy cousin and the only one younger then her, sat in the corner of the compartment looking down at a book in her lap. "You're so boring, Lucy," she told her cousin. "Shouldn't we be wreaking havoc on the train, or something?"

"I-I don't know," Lucy stuttered. Roxanne rolled her eyes and sighed, leaning forward in her seat with her hand tucked under her chin.

"Where's Gina and that Longbottom chick, anyway?" she asked. "They should be here by now."

"Are you thinking of forming a group with them or something?" Lucy asked timidly.

"Yeah," Roxanne replied. "The new Gryffindor girls. You, me, Gina and what's-her-name. Perfect! Lucy you're a genius, you should be a Ravenclaw."

Lucy blushed, not used to the praising from her cousin. Roxanne smiled sweetly at her. She's never really liked Lucy, never really hung out with her. She had always preferred to hang out with her brother and James, rather then Lucy or Lily and Hugo.

"Together, we'll be the perfect four!"

September 13th 2020 - Louis

Slytherin.

The hat's words still hung in the air everywhere she went. Nobody, not even Fred, had come to talk to her yet. She supposed they were all too ashamed to even look at her. After all, she was a Weasley in Slytherin. But it had been twelve days and she was sick of being ignored.

"Hey, Fred!" she called across the hall to her brother who was with his two best friends. The girl nudged him and pointed to Roxanne. Fred looked at her and then to the ground and mumbled something to his friends. The girl pushed him forward, towards her, but he turned back around and stumbled into the courtyard, crossing it quickly. His two friends gave her sympathetic looks and followed her brother.

She watched them go, tears threatening to well up in her eyes.

"Well that was just plain rude."

Roxanne turned and jumped at the familiar voice. Louis was leaning against the wall behind her, his blonde hair in his eyes and his Hufflepuff tie loose around his neck. "Let me be the first to apologize for the entire Weasley-Potter clan for ignoring you," he said quietly. "It's just plain wrong to ignore a family member, after all."

She smiled lightly at him. "So you're saying that you've been ignoring me?"

Louis smiled back. "Well, no. Molly and I were shocked that you were sorted into Slytherin and we wanted to see you as soon as possible, but… we're sixth years. Too much work. Way to much work. If I was you, I'd drop out before seventh."

She laughed. "Mum would kill me if I ended up skipping the end of school like dad."

Louis pushed off the wall and stood in front of her. "Just so you know, Roxy, you're still a Weasley. You may not look like one, hell I barely look like one, and you might not be a Gryffindor, but you act like one and that's all that matters. Trust me; I learnt this lesson a long time ago."

"Thanks, Louis," she breathed. "But I thought you cried for days after you were sorted in Ravenclaw."

"An over exaggeration," he told her. "But I learnt this lesson off Victoire. Us Weasley's that aren't where we're 'supposed to be', need to stick together after all."

"Well, thanks again."

He pulled her into a tight hug. "Don't worry about the others, they'll come round eventually and until then, I'm here."

October 15th 2020 - Rose

Her brother was talking to her again, Molly and Louis were as kind as ever and Lucy was getting on her nerves. But that was about the extent of her cousins that would actually speak to her. Sure, some smiled in the corridor or waved when they walked by, but it wasn't the same as actually talking.

It was her cousin's birthday today, she was turning fifteen.

"Uh, Rose." Roxanne stood there, looking awkwardly at the ground. Rose was sitting with Albus and a few others she didn't recognize.

"Hi, Roxanne," Albus said cheerily, grinning at her. She managed a small smile back. After all, Albus had barely spoken two words to her since school started.

"Hey," Rose said slowly, getting up to greet her. "What's up?"

"I, uh." she paused and moved a few step back, her confidence was slipping because of all the eyes on her. Rose looked at her friends and grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the group and motioning for her to continue. "I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. You're fifteen now, right?"

Rose nodded slowly. "I'm so glad you came over, I've missed you." Roxanne couldn't believe that, they hadn't really hung out. Ever. "And thankyou," she hugged Roxanne, "for wishing me a happy birthday, it means a lot."

She smiled and pulled away from Rose and reached into her robes. "I, uh, made you this." She handed over a small card made out of parchment.

Rose looked down at it and then back up at her and said, "Oh, Roxanne, it's wonderful," before hugging her again.

"It's alright," Roxanne replied, "it doesn't mean much."

When Rose pulled away, she smiled sadly at her and brushed some hair out of her eyes. "I would love to have you at my party tonight," she said, "but James is the one organising it, so there's going to be alcohol and first years aren't allowed…"

Roxanne brushed it off. "It's fine, really. Molly's going to flip enough once she sees fifteen year olds drunk, anyway."

Rose laughed and began to back away towards her friends. "I'll make you something special for your birthday in two weeks, alright?"

She nodded and laughed. "Alright."

Maybe there's hope after all, she thought as she walked back to her housemates.

November 21st 2020 - Fred

It was the first Quidditch game of the season. Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. Her brothers first game of Hogwarts Quidditch. Ever. She felt like a traitor standing amongst the other Slytherins. Not to her family, but to her house. She knew she should have more house pride, she knew she should probably be rooting for Ravenclaw like the rest of her house, but she just couldn't do it.

At least, she couldn't cheer for along with her house when they were screaming for bludgers to be thrown at her cousin James.

After the game - where Gryffindor had won by ten points - she walked by herself to the Gryffindor change rooms, hoping to meet up with her brother before he went back to the common room to celebrate.

She only had to wait ten minutes before Fred emerged, his best friend Lynn Urquhart hanging off his arm. He stopped when he saw her and Annabelle let go of him slowly. "I'm gonna go find James or Thom," she said quickly before darting back into the change rooms.

"Hi, Fred." Her voice sounded so small, even to herself.

"Hi, Roxanne," he said back as he came towards her.

"Good game today, you played really well."

"Uh, thanks," Fred replied. He sighed and came towards her quickly, wrapping his arms around her. "What are we doing, Roxy?" he asked.

She shrugged and murmured back, "I have no idea, Freddie."

Fred laughed slightly and pulled back. "Walk around the castle with me."

"Don't you have a celebratory party to get to?"

He placed an arm around her shoulders. "Nah, I'd rather spend time with my little sis. After all, it's mostly gonna be CJ complaining about how crap him and the chasers played. We wouldn't have won if it wasn't for Bird."

"I know," she laughed as they walked towards the castle. "You're so lucky. I was cheering for you, actually. Silently though, I don't want to be labelled as a traitor, just yet."

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Love you, Roxy."

She sighed and leaned into his embrace. It was good to have her brother back.

December 11th 2020 - Dominique

She was sitting with her friends at breakfast when the mail arrived. The hooting and flapping wings of the owls signalled it perfectly. Roxanne looked up to have her mother's owl drop a letter in her porridge before flying off again. She sighed and picked it up, placing it next to her bowl. She only ever got one letter, two if she was lucky.

Today, it seemed was a lucky day.

An owl that she didn't recognize - but she was sure Louis did because he was staring at it intently from across the hall - landed in front of her and held out its leg. She untied the letter quickly and stroked the owl's feathers before it took off again.

"Who's it from?" Violet asked nosily as she leant over to get a better look.

"None of your business," Roxanne retorted defensively and moved the letter out of her sight. She flipped it over and read the back, hoping that the envelope had who it was from on it. No such luck.

She opened it quickly and carefully, taking in the writing. Roxanne scanned the bottom of the letter looking for a signature and when she found it her face erupted in a smile. Dominique.

Dear Roxanne,

Sorry I didn't write sooner but I've been so busy lately that I haven't found the time. You should consider yourself lucky actually since I don't write to anyone and here I am, writing to you.

God. I was so scared when I was getting sorted, I truly though I was a Slytherin like you. Hell, I still think I am one. I just wanted to tell you that being part of a different house isn't all bad. I can't talk, I know, since I was a Gryffindor, but you get my idea since I've run off with some guy from your house and all…

I suppose you're over it by now anyway, but I figured that I'd write and just talk because I haven't kept in touch with anybody. Not even Louis. Tell him I'm sorry for that, he'll understand. Plus, I'm sure he recognized the owl since it's his. Just keep your head up, everything will work out fine.

She lifted her head up from the letter and looked across at Louis, who was till staring at her. The rest of Dominique's letter was about the life that she was living now and how much she was enjoying it.

Roxanne stood up quickly and headed towards the doors of the Great Hall. "Where are you going?" Violet called to her.

"Have to write a letter," she called back before flicking her hair over her shoulder and exiting the hall.

If Dominique was going to take the time to write to her then she could at least take the time to write back.

January 4th 2021 - Albus

"Hey, Roxanne!"

The library was always a sanctuary. Until somebody appeared out of thin air and scared her out of her wits. She had to admit, she was jumper then normal lately. Maybe it was because she was so afraid of her family at the moment, especially since she didn't go home for Christmas.

"Albus," she hissed, "don't sneak up on me like that."

He smirked and placed his books down on her table, before sliding down into the chair opposite her. "So, how you been?"

"Um, good." She frowned. Why was Albus talking to her now? He'd had so many opportunities to talk to her, but never really took them. All he'd ever done was nod, smile and wave.

"We missed you at Christmas," he said slowly. "It's wasn't the same without you."

"I'm sure you had fun anyway," she replied easily. She looked back down at her books in front of her. Stupid potions. She could feel the frown forming deeper on her face and accompanied by the silence of Albus, it was making more and more annoyed.

After a few minutes Albus asked, "So what homework are you doing?"

"Just potions."

"Any good at it?"

Roxanne shook her head. "No, not really. You?"

He shrugged. "Suppose. Need some help?"

She eyed him sceptically. "Sure." Placing her books in front of him and moving over to the seat beside him, she asked, "but why do you want to help me?"

Albus smiled. "That's what families for."

February 10th 2021 - Lily

Roxanne hated the hospital wing. It was so white and lifeless. It wasn't magical and unique like the rest of the world, just dull and boring and, well, disturbing. After she'd come to visit one of her friends before Christmas, she had vowed to never set foot in the wing again. Of course, that would mean that she couldn't get injured or sick.

Yet, she found herself in front of stepping through the large double door again. Roxanne wasn't sick - which pleased her immensely because she could walk out when she wanted - she was just visiting. Again.

Her small, redheaded cousin was in one of the middle beds. Her head back on the pillow and eyes unfocused on the ceiling. Roxanne smirked as she quietly made her way towards Lily Potter; it was the perfect opportunity to scare her out of her wits. "Hey Lily!' she exclaimed brightly, appearing at her cousins side.

Lily gave a little scream and sat up quickly, pulling the blankets to her chest. "Merlin, Roxanne." Lily smoothed back her hair. "You sure know how to scare people."

She shrugged and sat on the stone floor, eyeing Lily who looked incredibly pale. "You don't look too good," she stated.

"Gee," Lily replied with a roll of her eyes, "thanks."

Roxanne lent back against the bed behind her and cross her arms. "Enjoying this soulful place?" she asked, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"Sure am. But it would be much more enjoyable if you told me why you're here."

She let her head fall back against the bed and looked at the roof above her. "Can't I just visit my family?" She looked back at Lily.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Since when do you want anything to do with me?" The bitterness in her cousin's voice was amazing. But she knew she deserved it. Instead of hanging around with cousins her own age, she'd always ignored them and chose to hang out with the ones that were years older then her. She'd even been quite mean to Lily and Hugo in the past.

Roxanne stood. "You're my cousin."

The redhead snorted and rolled over onto her side, her back towards the dark haired girl. "Thanks for visiting me," Lily mumbled.

She sighed; it was going to take a lot of work to fix that relationship.

March 19th 2021 - Hugo

She was underneath her favourite tree by the lake, escaping her friends and their not-so-witty banter. Roxanne was just content to relax for once by herself, without her friends, family or so-called enemies to bother her.

"Well looks like that plans ruined." She jumped startled as a small boy landed beside her with a thud. "You really need to learn to speak inside your head."

She stared at Hugo and had nothing to say but, "did you just come out of the tree?"

"Well that's obvious isn't it," he replied as he swung back up onto a branch above her head. "Where else would I come from? The sky?"

Roxanne snorted and looked up at him. "Why are you hovering? Did Lily send you to spy on me?"

Hugo snorted as he swung to another branch. "And who said boys couldn't multi-task. Look at this, I climbing and talking at the same time."

"Yeah, but you can't stay on topic," Roxanne pointed out.

"You know," Hugo said as he sat in between the crook of two branches, "this is the most I've talked to you. Ever."

"Well we wouldn't be, if you weren't spying on me for Lily."

"Lily didn't send me." He pulled some leaves of and threw them at her, only to have them float down to the ground harmlessly. "I was jus' sittin' here minding my own damn business when a certain dark haired female cousin of mine happened to sit underneath my tree."

"It's not your tree," she told him. "You don't own it."

"Well neither do you," he pointed out. "I suppose that we'll just have to settle for sharing then, won't we." Roxanne raised her eyebrows at him. "You can share can't you, Roxanne?" Hugo asked almost mockingly.

"Course," she replied smoothly.

"Oh, good," he grinned, "I jus' wasn't too sure, you know, since you've never been good at sharing with anybody in the past."

"Well, there's a first time for everything."

She looked back across at the lake, taking her eyes off him finally. She wasn't too sure about this sharing thing, especially when it came to her favourite tree. "Don't tell Lily, alright."

Hugo jumped out of the tree for a second time and reached out his hand for her to take. She grabbed it, feeling the calluses he had from climbing so much, as he pulled her off the ground. "Our little secret," he informed her.

April 1st 2021 - James

Roxanne was more then slightly annoyed. Very annoyed. Extremely annoyed. Angry even. It was April Fools day, something she hadn't been looking forward to all year. The reason: James Potter and his stupid friends tending to pull pranks on unsuspecting Slytherins on that day. Namely first years.

Maya and two other girls in her dorm had woken up to frogs in her bed. She'd heard some of the fifth years complaining about their hair that had been changed to various colours. The boys in her year were all looking extremely sick and tired. Roxanne suspected that they hadn't gotten any sleep last night because they were too afraid of her cousin and his stupid friends.

"I wouldn't touch the pumpkin juice if I was you," one of the third year warned Violet as she went to take a sip. "There's a boy down there clucking like a chicken because of the juice."

Violet rolled her eyes and raised her glass to Roxanne. "Ah, don't you love having relatives that are pulling the pranks."

Roxanne scowled and stood up. "No. I hate this free pass." She moved around the table and headed towards the Gryffindor one, where James and his friends - one of them being Violet's brother - sat happily watching the mayhem around them.

She placed both her hands palm down on the table and glared at him. "What are you doing, James?" she asked angrily.

The smile disappeared off his face. "I'll tell you what I'm doing, Roxanne," he replied. "Watching our wonderful magic play out. That's what I'm doing."

"Then why aren't I a victim like the rest of the Slytherins, huh? Why isn't my hair bright pink? Why didn't I find frogs in my bed this morning?"

"I thought you'd be happy," James drawled, "If you weren't a victim in this like the rest of them. After all," he added as an after thought, "you are family."

"What would make me happy is if I was treated them same as before. You used to love playing pranks on me and that shouldn't change! Plus, I'm a Slytherin for god sakes, I should be treated like my house mates or should I go back across there and tell them that you're too nice to pick on family?"

"Do you want your hair dyed bright pink?" he asked bitterly with a flick of his wand. "Will you be happy walking around with an embarrassing hair style all day just so you can fit in?"

"As long as I'm treated equally, James, then I'll be happy." She stalked away, sporting bright pink hair and a frog in her pocket. She stroked the frog and sighed, at least he was treating her like the rest of them.

May 2nd 2021 - Victoire

It was the anniversary of The Battle of Hogwarts. Unfortunately for Roxanne and the rest of the student body it was on a weekend which meant that they had the day off anyway. One thing Roxanne wasn't looking forward to was seeing her father. They hadn't spoken much since September first, only sending letter here and there. Her mother on the other hand had been sending letter back and forth nearly everyday telling her how much she loved her and how proud she was.

Another reason she was dreading seeing her father was because it was the anniversary of his twin brother's death. Not really a good time to try and reconcile with the person she'd been trying to avoid since day one.

Roxanne was down by then lake when two delicate hands wrapped over her eyes and a soft voice whispered in her ear, "Guess who?"

She smiled slightly. "Louis?" she asked mockingly. "Your voice has turned much more girly since the last time I spoke to you."

Victoire lent down and dropped a kiss on her cheek. "So funny, Roxanne," she said as she hugged her cousin. "That wit is definitely from your mother."

"Hey Vee," Roxanne laughed. "How's life?"

"Fantastic. Teddy asked me to move in with him, Uncle George isn't breaking down yet and I absolutely love being a Healer. But, how's you life? I hear some people didn't talk to you after, well, you know."

"After I was sorted into the wrong house?" She laughed again, but bitterly. "I'm fine with it and the others seem to be fine with it too. James is still a little off, I don't think he'll ever look at me the same again, but besides that I'm happy. Plus, I've been talking to your dear sister every week via letters."

Victoire raised her eyebrows. "You've heard from Dominique? How is she? I've been so worried. We haven't heard from her for almost a year."

Roxanne shrugged. "She says she fine. She's with some guy. Adam, I think. The first time she wrote was at the beginning of December, but we've kept in touch."

"Where is she?" Victoire asked curiously.

"I'm not sure. America maybe."

She grabbed Roxanne hand and smiled. "Thankyou. Now, come. Let's go and see the rest of the family and on the way you can tell me all about your classes."

June 29th 2021 - Molly

"Ready for seventh year?" Roxanne asked casually as she sat down beside her redheaded cousin. "Ready for the Head Girl position?"

"Mmm," Molly replied, "I'm not too sure about the Head Girl thing."

"Why?" Roxanne laughed. "Get caught snogging that Davis guy too many times?"

Molly crinkled her nose as her cheek tinted pink. "He's an annoying asshole -"

"That you were caught locking lips with, how many times?"

"Seven." Her hand flew to her mouth at the automatic response. "Roxanne," she groaned, "why do you have to be so annoying?"

"Because I'm a first year Slytherin," she shrugged casually, "it's what we do best."

"Whatever," Molly said as she stood up. "Next year you'll be a second year and maybe be a little less annoying."

"Hey!" Roxanne protested as she stood up and followed Molly. "You still have the whole summer to find out how annoying I really am!"

She smiled widely at Molly's back. She may not be the same as them in looks and perhaps in personality, but she can try to rekindle her relationships with them while she's still young.

[Edit - 15/4/2010 for some grammar and spelling mistakes]