Chapter 1: Lily
"Now remember, don't mess with Peeves, don't leave your homework until the last minute, don't let your brothers wind you up, and steer clear of the Slytherins. Got all that?" Lily Potter sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Yes dad, I know, you already told me like, two thousand times. I'll be fine. I have James and Al to 'protect' me, remember?" she said, making little air-quotes with her fingers when she said the word "protect". Her brothers' idea of protection was to hex any guy that looked at her. Not that it happened much, as she was only eleven, and rather small for her age, making her look younger, but still. "And I can take care of myself."
"I know you can honey," said her dad, hugging her. Lily scowled. Whenever he said that she got the distinct impression that he was humoring her. She could take care of herself! She had already taught herself some jinxes and hexes from her books, and though she couldn't practice with her wand until she was in school she knew the movements and incantations by heart.
"Harry, the train's about to leave!" called her mum, Ginny.
"Dad, I have to go!"
"Alright sweetheart, have fun! And be careful!" he called as she leapt onto the train and it began to move. She made her way down the train, looking for an empty compartment, and was immediately stopped by her brothers.
"Piss off," she said irritably. She wasn't in the mood to deal with James and Albus right now. James raised his eyebrows.
"Trust me Lils, if I could I would, but I can't. Dad told us to stick with you for the train ride."
"You can and you will," she growled. "And don't call me Lils!"
"Listen Lily, we don't like this anymore than you, but we can't do anything about it, so let's make the best of it. Why don't we find Hugo and you two can hang out?" asked Albus soothingly. Lily wasn't in the mood to be soothed.
"Because I hate Hugo, he's an idiot. I'm not sitting with him and I'm not sitting with you! Goodbye!" she said, and took off running down the corridor before they could react. She pelted into a compartment near the back of the train and caught a glimpse of a blonde boy before she climbed into the luggage rack saying quickly, "I'm not here, okay?" she hid herself behind the large trunk, thanking God for her small size, just before the door slid open.
"Oh, it's you," said James' voice coldly. "Have you seen our sister?" Whoever was in the compartment must have shaken his head, because James left without another word.
Lily climbed from her hiding place, watched by the bemused boy, and got a better look at him. He was older than she was, probably a third year, with a pointed face and bleach-blonde hair that fell into his grey eyes. He was muscular and athletic, maybe a Quidditch player she thought. "Wow," she said at last.
"What?"
"You're really hot," she said bluntly. "What's your name?" he looked rather taken aback. She was used to this, as she was always very blunt with things, and it had that effect on people for some reason. It made her seem open and honest while keeping the important things to herself.
"Um, Scorpius Malfoy."
"Oh, that's interesting. I'm Lily Potter."
"Oh. So you're their sister?" he asked, jerking his head towards the door.
"Yeah. Apparently my dad told them to stay with them on the train. It's very annoying," she said, sitting on the bench across from him and putting her feet on it. He frowned slightly.
"Don't you have some kind of warning to stay away from me or something? I mean, you are a Potter after all."
She shrugged. "Yeah, but honestly, who cares? Your father doesn't make you evil, just like mine doesn't make me a hero. We are not our ancestors; the past does not dictate our future. We are the new generation." He raised his eyebrows.
"That's pretty cool. Did you make it up?"
"No, I read it somewhere I think. I like it though; people are always trying to identify me by my father. I swear, I'll do something historic one day and people will only remember that 'Harry Potter's daughter did such-and-such'. It's bloody irritating," she said, scowling.
He smiled slightly. "Yeah, it is. I've gotten used to it, though."
"Well that's the saddest thing I've heard in a long time. If you don't like to something don't get used to it, change it! That's what I'm going to do, show everyone that I am not my father."
"Potter, Lily!" Lily grinned and trotted up to the stool, not nervous in the slightest. She wouldn't really mind being in any of the houses, though being in Gryffindor might be a bit annoying because that was the house her brothers, Freddie, Louis, and Roxanne were in. Ravenclaw would be nice, but she'd have to deal with Domieque, Molly and Lucy, and Rose. She sat down eagerly and Professor Longbottem placed the old hat on her head. It fell down over her eyes and her world was plunged into blackness.
"What do we have here, another Potter is it? Well you're a difficult one to place, now aren't you?"
Am I? She thought, knowing the hat could hear her. That's good, right?
"Well I think so, but it does tend to annoy the more impatient ones. Now, we can rule out Hufflepuff, as you're not very kind or loyal to your family or hard working . . ."
I should take offense at that, but I actually kind of agree.
"I just mean that you're not any kinder than the next person, not unkind."
Oh, all right then.
"What, no plea to keep you out of Slytherin? I got one from your father and your brother . . . your eldest brother was so sure I was going to put him in Gryffindor he didn't even bother asking."
I don't care if I'm in Slytherin.
"Don't you now? Well you would certainly do well . . . you're very cunning and ready to prove yourself, don't like to rely on other people, though you're also very brave and clever . . ."
Suddenly Lily remembered her father's words at the station . . . steer clear of the Slytherins . . . But Scorpius had been so nice, and he was alone, because of his name . . . Screw them. She told the hat forcefully. Put me in Slytherin. She could have sworn she heard it chuckle.
"Finally, I get to put one of you where you belong. SLYTHERIN!" it shouted the last word to the whole crowd and at first there was a shocked silence as she took off the hat and headed down to the table on the far left. Then Albus began to clap and the rest of the hall joined in, though not all that enthusiastically. She winked at James, whose mouth was hanging open in shock, and sat down next to Scorpius. He looked almost as shocked as James.
"Hi," she said as the sorting continued.
"You're in Slytherin."
"Yep."
"You're sitting next to me."
"Yep."
"You're a Potter!"
"What's your point?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You must be the first Potter in Slytherin since . . . since . . ."
"Since ever. I think I'm the first Potter ever to be in Slytherin."
"Wow."
"Well, it's better then Gryffindor."
"Most people would say anything is better then Slytherin."
"Well most people don't have two older brothers and some cousins in Gryffindor. Or a snotty cousin in Ravenclaw. Or think that Hufflepuffs are the most annoying people in the world," she stated matter-of-factly. "So, in the end, Slytherin is the best house for me." She watched Hugo get sorted into Hufflepuff, noting out of the corner of her eye that Scorpius was looking at her strangely. She snorted. "Figures he'd be in Hufflepuff. He's such an idiot, always tripping over his own feet to help people. Some people just aren't worth helping." Scorpius raised his eyebrows.
"You really are a Slytherin."
"No, duh. The hat doesn't sort people into whatever house they want, it will just take your choice into account and if you'd do well in that house, it puts you in it. Simple."
"Yeah . . . so why are you sitting with me?"
"Because I met you on the train and I like you, duh."
"I mean why me and not the other first years?" she shrugged.
"I share a dormitory and have all my classes with them. I can get to know them whenever I want."
"Is everything that simple to you?" he asked incredulously.
"No. Some things just aren't simple. Love, hate, good, evil, war, redemption. Those are all very complicated, but I think people tend to complicate simple things."