Chapter 1 - Selesta
"Please Professor McGonagall, let my granddaughter into Hogwarts," a frail, dark-haired, old lady begged. "She is exceptionally talented, especially in Potions. I have taught her everything I know, but I am afraid she is missing out on her childhood. I know that Hogwarts is a great school and I would like her to be a part of it."
"I don't know about this," McGonagall sighed. "How old is she?"
"She is almost sixteen."
"That would make her a fifth year!" McGonagall exclaimed. "Usually fifth years are settled in by then and already know which house they belong to. Well, then there is only one way this can be handled. She shall be sorted along with the first years."
"Thank you Minerva! I am happy as long as she is gets into Hogwarts." The old lady said gratefully.
"At least you told me about this before school started, Saveria." McGonagall mumbled.
The next morning, Saveria was awoken by a joyful squeal in the living room. Her granddaughter was jumping up and down as she held an envelope in her hands. "Gran, it's finally here! I got accepted to Hogwarts." The girl hollered from the top of her lungs.
"That's great dear!" Saveria tried to act surprised. "You better start packing so that we can go buy some of the things you need. Maybe even a brand new owl or broom."
Her granddaughter quickly jumped up and kissed her on the cheek. "You're the best!"
Meanwhile on the Hogwarts Express . . .
"Ready for your fifth year, my brother?" James Sirius Potter wrapped his arm around Albus Severus. He wondered why James was being so nice to him and decided to just ignore him.
"You know it's about time you started mingling with the ladies," said James. "I mean look at me. Woman cannot seem to keep their hands off of me; even after I have told them numerous times that I am happily dating Delilah Longbottom. But I really don't mind, I mean… I'm gorgeous! I can't help if I inherited such good genes."
"You do know Delilah is standing by the door," sighed Lily. Delilah cleared her throat and walked away with her arms crossed.
"Uh, Delilah honey … sweetums! I didn't mean anything I said in there!" James chased after her. Lily and Albus couldn't help but bark into laughter.
"Lily, I'm a bit nervous about the O.W.L.s this year," said Albus quietly as he watched the gloomy, grey sky through the window of the Hogwarts Express.
"Don't worry, you'll do fine!" Lily assured him. "I mean if James passed, then so can you."
"Hello, everyone!" A girl with fiery red hair beamed.
"Rose! Where have you been? I was wondering where you were," Lily said. "Have you seen Hugo?"
"I was just telling Hugo off for running around the train with his friends." Rose sat down next to Lily. "Oh, I cannot believe I'm a prefect! I'm just starting to get the hang of it. Mum and dad used to be prefects too during their fifth year. They were so proud when they saw my badge."
"Weasley," Scorpius smirked as he walked passed their compartment. Rose stuck her tongue out at him. "A prefect. Why am I not surprised?"
"Gosh, I cannot stand him!" Rose glared. "He's so obnoxious."
"Just ignore him," said Albus. "He doesn't matter. He's probably just jealous because you always get the top marks in every class."
"Don't worry Rose," smiled Lily. "We're here for you."
During the train ride, Albus took a short nap while Lily and Rose pigged out on some chocolate frogs. Hugo came and joined them for a while, since they had food but hurriedly scurried off with his friend Alice Longbottom. When the train finally stopped, Albus was still fast asleep. It took numerous attempts to wake him up, until Rose accidently dropped her Book of Monsters which painfully bit Albus's left foot. He yelped in pain as Rose and Lily hoisted him up and helped him get off the train.
When Albus, Rose and Lily finally arrived at the Great Hall, they were a little late for everyone else was already seated in their house tables. Rose was never late for anything, but she ignored it for it was partially her fault that Albus had gotten a foot injury. Luckily, they made it just in time right before the sorting started. Albus hopped off to the Slytherin table with his uninjured right foot, while Rose and Lily scampered off to their fellow Gryffindors. He sat down next to Scorpius who he wasn't very fond of, but had no choice for it hurt too much to walk to the other end of the table.
"Come now children, hurry along." Trelawney said in her dreamy voice.
Albus watched as Professor Trelawney led the first years into the very front of the Great Hall. He smiled as he looked at all the new faces. They all looked quite frightened and he instantly remembered his very first day at Hogwarts. He used to be so scared that he would get into Slytherin, but now that he had been in that house for almost 5 years now, he really didn't mind at all. Although, he hadn't made any friends with any of the students of Slytherin, he did make friends with the people of Gryffindor.
When Albus finally got his mind set into the present, he realized the Sorting Hat was already finished singing its song. He watched as Professor Trelawney unrolled a long piece of parchment that blew some dust into her face. She started coughing uncontrollably as she patted her chest. Albus couldn't help but gaze elsewhere and noticed a raven-haired girl with a worried look on her face. She was the tallest out of all the first years and probably stood out the most. She looked longingly at the Slytherin table and even caught Albus's eye for a moment. She quickly turned away and looked down at her shoes.
"Oi, did you see that first year over there?" Scorpius whispered to his pals Milo and Cunis. "She's like 2 heads taller than everyone else."
"Probably part giant," Milo snickered. Albus glared at them. It was the first years first day and Malfoy and his goons were already making fun of people. Hogwarts was supposed to be a place where you felt safe and comfortable in. Almost like a second home.
When Trelawney finally gave out her last cough, she read the first name on the scroll. "Chang, Chai."
A short boy with round spectacles sat on the old wooden stool as Trelawney set the ancient Sorting Hat on the top of his head. It took only a few seconds until the Hat spit out, "Ravenclaw!" The boy quickly skipped to his table as all the Ravenclaw students cheered.
"C-C-Cre… ACHOO!" Trelawney sneezed. "Creevey, Cayla"
A blonde young girl stepped up and the Sorting Hat announced, "Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor's blared as they welcomed her into their house.
"Ellesmere, Delena." Trelawney called. The brunette girl was quickly assigned to the Hufflepuff table as they cheered and welcomed her.
Time passed and Trelawney was finally down to the letter S. This time with a box of floating tissues next to her, she announced, "S-Snape, Selesta."
Everyone swiftly directed their attention onto the girl when they heard the name Snape, including Albus. He realized it was the raven-haired girl he saw earlier. She was shaking as she sat onto the stool and was biting her lip like a nervous wreck. Trelawney gently laid the Sorting Hat onto her head. "Slytherin!" the Hat bellowed. Her worried face quickly vanished and was replaced with a smile as she excitedly ran off to the Slytherin table. The Slytherin's cheered and she found a seat across from Albus.
When Zelda Zamboni was the last name to be called and was finally seated into Ravenclaw, Professor McGonagall stood up from her seat and smiled at all the students. "Now that we are all settled in, let the feast begin!"
Mountains and mountains of food appeared in a blink of an eye on every table. Albus felt his stomach grumble and knew he was extremely hungry. He hadn't eaten anything ever since the train ride to Hogwarts. He aimlessly reached out for a fried drumstick when he noticed something was pulling on the other end. It was another hand which belonged to the raven-haired girl. She quickly let go, "Sorry, you can have it."
"Uh, no don't apologize." Albus smiled. "I should be the one who's sorry. I didn't realize you wanted this one too. Here, it's only right. You should take it as remembrance of a very fine meal on your very first day at Hogwarts." He handed her the chicken. "I'm Albus by the way."
"Selesta," she laughed as she held onto the other end and shook it, sort of like a handshake. A very strange handshake which made Albus laugh as well.
"Well, lookie here. Potter's already made friends with a giantess," Malfoy sniggered. Milo and Cunis joined in as well.
"Shut up, Malfoy." Albus stared angrily into his face. "That's no way to treat a first year."
"Oooh, defending your new girlfriend, I see." Malfoy teased.
"Not like you'll ever make one with that attitude." Albus snapped back. Scorpius turned his head dramatically and pretended he hadn't heard anything. He ignored Albus during the rest of the feast and busied himself by joking around with Milo and Cunis. Albus noticed that from time to time, Scorpius would look up at the Gryffindor table looking awe-struck. Albus tried to follow the direction he was staring at and surprisingly, it was at Rose Weasley. He shivered at the thought of Scorpius actually liking one of his best friends and not to mention his own cousin. He had and instant vision of Scorpius being part of his family and hoped it wasn't so.
"Thanks for defending me," said Selesta.
"It's no biggie," said Albus. "Nobody deserves to be treated like that." He noticed she was studying his face and he couldn't help but gaze deeply into her dark violet eyes.
"Your eyes are a lovely shade of green." She whispered. "My favourite colour."
"Um, thanks." Albus blushed.