Seven Years in Slytherin Chapter 1: First Year 1:The Choice That Matters, a harry potter fanfic

Seven Years in Slytherin
XxMookinexX

Based on the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling.

Rated K+ for implied character death. Possible language. Rating may go up in subsequent chapters. This story starts from the epilogue, when Albus, Scorpius and Rose are in their first year. It will cover (not in every detail) seven years of plot from romance to adventure.

I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters, I only wish I did. Any and all unrecognizable characters belong solely to me and are not to be touched. I am not making any money off of this and I write with the sole intention to entertain. This disclaimer applies to all future chapters. I am disclaiming everything the prefects say at the end of this chapter - it's been altered but it's still essentially a quote from the Pottermore website.

First Year, Part One
The Choice That Matters

"For what is the best choice for each individual is the highest it is possible for him to achieve."
Aristotle

"Your mum would be so proud of you," Grace's dad said as they hugged goodbye in front of the Hogwarts Express. "I am so proud of you." Grace's resolve broke at those words, and the tears she'd promised herself she wouldn't cry spilled down her cheeks. She hadn't wanted to cry in front the Carlsdales – Alex was going to tease her ruthlessly (she couldn't believe he was a Gryffindor sometimes) and Timothy… She had the biggest crush in the world on the fifth-year Ravenclaw prefect. The idea of crying in front of him was abhorrent, but this was her dad, her only family, and knowing that she would be apart from him for a whole year was even worse.

"I don't want to go," she whispered into his ear as quietly as she could. But that wasn't true. They both knew she'd dreamed of going to Hogwarts since Timothy got his letter five years ago (and how she'd cursed when Alex got his! She'd really hoped he would turn out to be a squib, which was a terrible thought, she knew, and felt slightly guilty about). What Grace meant was that she didn't want her dad to be lonely. She loved him dearly. He was the kindest, funniest man she knew. Admittedly he had to talk to witches and wizards as part of his job, but the general hubbub that surrounded Quality Quidditch Supplies wasn't enough to fill the hole Grace was sure she was leaving behind her. Besides, it wasn't as if young witches and wizards needed much encouragement to splurge. Grace wouldn't consider them proper conversations. She was especially worried because after the noise of a Diagon Alley day she knew he'd be coming home to an empty suburban London house. If it weren't for the Carlsdales Grace wouldn't have known what to do. Fortunately the Carlsdales lived just down the road, and Sally and Francis Carlsdale had promised to look in on him from time to time as well as inviting him for supper at least once a week.

Grace's dad understood all this and squeezed her extra tight. When he pulled away slightly to look into her face she saw he was rubbing away a stray tear from the corner of his right eye, dabbing with the sleeve of his robe at the moisture underneath his glasses.

"I'm going to miss you too, Gracie," he whispered, smiling wobbly as he dabbed at the blotchiness of her face. "But you're going to have a wonderful time," he said, and he got a faraway look in his eyes, the look she knew he got whenever he was thinking of her mum. "Some of the best years of my life took place at Hogwarts."

She nodded, sniffing and glanced sidelong at the Carlsdales to see whether they'd witnessed her tears, but Alex was distracted (already being lectured by his mum) and Timothy was missing. She whipped her head around to try to spot him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Then Mr Carlsdale stepped out of the carriage rubbing his hands together, followed by Timothy.

"Well, we've moved your trunk into Alex's compartment for now," Mr Carlsdale said, ruffling Grace's hair affectionately. The colour drained from Grace's face. Of course, she'd known Timothy would be sitting in the prefect carriage, but surely she wasn't going to spend the train ride with that idiot. She sent Timothy a desperate look, hoping that he would understand her predicament. He winked one of his hazel eyes at her.

"Don't worry, you don't have to sit with him if you don't want to. We just wanted to put your things somewhere safe, and dad charmed your trunk so that Alex won't be able to open it and mess with your things," Timothy reassured her. Mr Carlsdale shook his head knowingly.

"I sometimes rue the day we let Alex meet James Potter." Timothy shook his head in turn, and they all looked over towards Alex.

"I'm serious, Alex!" Sally Carlsdale berated. "If the headmaster owls me to say you've blown up one more classroom, I will personally come to Hogwarts to turn you into a toad!"

"Mum, the potions classroom is always blowing up!" Alex complained, indicating with a whining tone of voice just how unfair she was being.

"But the resultant explosions don't always write rude messages about their professors on the walls!" Alex looked mutinous.

"Well, Professor Moors shouldn't be such a-"

"Alex!" Mrs Carlsdale looked furious. Usually Alex and Timothy looked very like their mum, but right now she was a picture of rage. She was tight-lipped and her nostrils flared as her blonde curls bounced around her face. Alex blushed and mumbled something that sounded like 'Sorry, Mum'. She relented and sighed. "Please, Alex, try not to get so many detentions this year."

"Yes, Mum," he mumbled, looking off to the side. When he spotted Grace watching, he glared at her but she saw his blush rising up the back of his neck. She grinned as Sally hugged him and tried ineffectually to place a kiss on his cheek. "Gross, Mum, stop it!" He sprang away from her and came to say goodbye to his dad, and Timothy went to kiss his mum dutifully goodbye as she smoothed down his hair and told him how proud she was of him. Grace wondered, not for the first time, what her own mum would have said to her today. She looked back at her dad and caught the sad expression on his face. She wondered what he was thinking, and tried to cheer him up.

"I'll write to you with Errata all the time, so make sure to write back!" she demanded. He smiled and ruffled her hair. Errata was a Mexican Striped owl who looked like she'd just emerged from a Muggle tumble-drier. Her feathers stuck out all over the place, and Grace worried every time Errata took flight that the wind would blow her away. She'd been in the family for six years, however, and hadn't failed a delivery yet.

"I will. I promise." A hoot from down the platform alerted Grace to get onto the carriage, and she threw herself back into her dad's arms. "Look after yourself, sweetheart," he whispered in her ear.

"You too! I love you, Dad."

"And I love you. Hurry now!"

She broke away and ran onto the carriage behind Alex and Timothy. They wound down their window to say goodbye. She caught Mrs Carlsdale's eye.

"Bye!" she called as the train jerked once, beginning to move. "Remember your promise!"

"I will," Mrs Carlsdale called, smiling to herself. "Take care, Grace. Timothy, keep your brother out of mischief!"

"As if I could," Timothy muttered under his breath as Grace blew her dad a kiss and waved desperately. The train picked up pace as they chorused their goodbyes.

"I'll see you soon!" she shouted back across the platform, but with everyone else shouting farewell she wasn't sure whether they'd heard her, and soon, with all the fog, the three adults were completely out of view.

"What promise?" Alex demanded, scowling at her. Timothy rolled his eyes and flicked his brother on the head.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. Alex blushed and pushed Timothy's arm away.

"If it was obvious, I wouldn't have asked!"

"I just… want her to look after dad while I'm away," Grace explained, somewhat hesitantly. She blushed, and hoped Alex wasn't about to tease her for that because she'd thought it was really important. Thankfully, when she looked up at him he was looking away, awkwardly.

"Where's our compartment?" he asked Timothy.

"Over here, I spotted Catherine and Bethany and assumed James would be along in a minute – oh, he's already here," he explained as he swung open a compartment door. Alex brushed straight past him. He and the three people inside started talking in loud excited voices. Timothy rolled his eyes and turned to Grace. Time was Alex used to hang off Timothy's every word. It was startling to see how easily Alex brushed off his older brother now. "How're you feeling?"

"Um," Grace thought quickly. "Okay." Nervous, but excited. It was hard to believe she was really here. Really on the Hogwarts express with them. She glanced at the compartment. She knew a train ride with Alex and James Potter and their fanclub would probably be unbearable. "I think I'll-"

"Grace!" James Potter stuck his head out of the door. She bit down on her tongue in surprise and winced as the taste of blood pervaded her senses. She had met James once or twice when he'd visited Alex over the holidays, and treated him wearily. He was always so enthusiastic when he saw her – he'd once given her a sweet that made her throw up for half an hour straight, so she suspected his enthusiasm for her was an attempt to turn her into a willing victim in his and Alex's schemes. "Come in, come in!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the carriage. She sent Timothy a panicked look, but he just laughed from the doorway.

"I'll come check on you guys later."

"Yes, yes." James waved a hand. "Don't let us keep you from the prefect carriage – I'm sure they're full of ideas on how to keep us troublemakers in our place. Vital stuff."

"See you later," Grace whispered, smiling at him when he waved at her before closing the compartment door behind him.

"Anyway, we knew Filch was waiting just around the corner," Alex was telling a story, letting the two witches hang on his every word. "So we used a clever bit of magic to sneak past."

"Alex!" one of the girls complained through a laugh. She had wavy reddish-brown hair, like dull copper, and a perfectly lovely nose even though she snorted when she laughed. "Alex, why don't you ever tell us the exciting bits! What clever bit of magic did you use? It's infuriating! How did you know he was there?" Grace caught the significant glance James and Alex shared.

"Now, now, Cathy, it's tricks of the trade. We can't exactly tell you, or it wouldn't be as impressive," James said, dropping onto the seat next to Alex and pulling Grace down beside him. Grace inched her way to the edge of the seat, as far away from the boys as she could get to. Something horrible was going to happen to her, she just knew it.

"Well that's not fair," Cathy complained, and nudged her friend in the side. "Bethany agrees with me, don't you Beth?"

"Completely," the other girl said with a grin. She had short blonde hair and bright green eyes. "You boys keep too much to yourselves."

"Well, maybe we'll tell you later," Alex muttered, shooting Grace a look of annoyance. "When we're not babysitting, I mean." Grace blushed. It wasn't like she cared what the two of them got up to, but it was rather infuriating to be left out. Sometimes she really hated Alex. He was so mean!

"Sorry," Beth said. "I'm Beth, and this is Cathy. You're one of Alex's neighbours, right? Are you looking forward to Hogwarts?"

"More than you can imagine," Grace said, eagerly. The other girls laughed, remembering when they had been in her position and knowing exactly what she felt.

"I'm sure it feels that way," Beth agreed. "What house do you want to be in? Gryffindor?" James was grinning unhelpfully, and started nudging Alex in the side.

"Um…" She wanted to be in Ravenclaw, but she knew saying so would only provoke Alex because Timothy was in Ravenclaw. Besides, Grace didn't think she was clever enough to enjoy Ravenclaw. She simply liked the idea of being in Timothy's house. Alex seemed to guess what she wasn't saying though because his eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to say something vile. "My dad was a Hufflepuff," she blurted before he could start anything, and his mouth snapped shut.

"I like Hufflepuffs," Cathy said. "They're so cheerful."

"Gryffindor's better," Alex grumbled glaring out of the window. James rammed his elbow into Alex's side.

"Are you okay?" Cathy asked, roaring with laughter as Alex clutched his side in a brief agony.

"Fine," he ground out, kicking James in the shin, but James took delight in pretending he hadn't felt a thing.

"My little brother's starting his first year, my cousin Rose, too. I told them I'd disown them if they became Slytherins." Grace frowned, she'd never really worried about being a Slytherin. Now she wondered how much worse these two would treat her if she did end up in that house.

"James!" Beth whined. "James, that's a horrible thing to say! Especially when you don't mean it."

"Who says I don't?" he challenged, grinning.

"Oh, please! Everyone knows you'll be furious if he doesn't become a Gryffindor. You should just tell him you want to be in the same house, rather than making him feel terrible about being sorted somewhere else. Why can't you boys ever be honest about your feelings?" She shot Alex a pointed look, who stiffened but ignored her.

"I can't do that!" James laughed as if the idea was ridiculous. "It's Albus, Beth. If I was ever nice to him, he'd probably wet himself."

"Then you should definitely tell him!" Alex agreed, laughing as Beth scowled. Grace wondered if she could leave the compartment. She'd wanted to make friends on the train journey, not hang around with Alex and his gang. Although she was starting to think that James was their ringleader.

"You're right! I'll go to their compartment directly!" James stood up.

"James," Beth berated him. "Be nice!"

"Don't worry, I'm just checking on them." He shot her a small mischievous smile and turned to Alex. "I trust you'll keep the ladies amused." Alex performed a mock salute. Grace looked at the other three and swallowed. Beth was nice, and Cathy didn't seem to be overtly horrible, but she couldn't bear to stay with Alex.

"Can I come?" she blurted quickly, blushing as they all shot her surprise looks. "I'd like to meet some other first years."

"Um." It surprised Grace to realize that James wasn't looking at her, but at Alex over her shoulder. She turned to find out why, and caught his scowl before he turned away from her. Maybe she'd ruined some elaborate joke they had planned.

"Of course you can," James said, smiling to cover up what felt like an awkward moment. "We're not holding you hostage."

"It was nice to meet you," Cathy called, giggling as Grace jumped to her feet.

"I hope you end up in a house you like," Beth agreed, smiling prettily. Alex didn't say anything. Grace looked up at the luggage rack where Errata hooted in her sleep.

"Thanks," she said. "If she wakes up will you let her go hunting?" After promising they would, Grace pushed past James into the corridor. James sighed and closed the door.

"They'll be in the last carriage," he muttered, leading the way. "Probably the last compartment."

"What're they like?" Grace asked, blushing slightly. "Your brother and cousin, I mean?"

"Err," James hesitated and shrugged. "Albus is Albus. Rosie's kind of bookish." Grace nodded and wondered if that meant Rosie wanted to be a Ravenclaw. Grace wouldn't mind being a Ravenclaw if she had someone to help her out. She'd guessed from James' comments that Albus would be a Gryffindor. Good for him, but Grace knew she would avoid Gryffindor if it was the last thing she did. There would be nothing worse than having to sit through Alex's pranks every day if they were in the same house. It had been bad enough just being his neighbour! James looked at Grace sidelong out of the corner of his eyes. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"What do you think of Alex?" Grace was lost for words.

"Why… would you ask that?" she wondered, trying to put off her response for as long as possible. She knew how she felt about Alex. He was a horrible bully, a sore loser, and he had a nasty temper. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that they didn't like one another, least of all to James, his best friend. That being said, it probably wasn't a good idea to provoke James. The two had been oddly nice so far. She frowned, suddenly suspicious that James might be leading her into a trap.

"Um." James scratched his right ear and scrunched up his face. "I was just wondering… I mean, you wouldn't choose a different house just because Alex is an idiot, would you?" Grace bit her lip and didn't say anything. James looked at her expression and frowned. "I dunno. He… uh…" Grace blinked as James fumbled with the door handle to the last compartment. "I think… you should give Gryffindor a chance." He fixed Grace with a very hard stare, as if trying to convey some deeper meaning with his words. Whatever he meant to say, it was lost on Grace, who merely blinked in confusion. James threw open the door without looking inside first. Two girls were giggling to one another inside, one dark skinned with beautiful ebony hair, the other mousey, thin and nervous. Albus was nowhere to be seen. James frowned, and Grace guessed that neither of them was his cousin either.

"Hi," he said. "Do you know where Albus and Rose went?" The two girls looked at one another and giggled again. The timid looking girl went red to the roots of her hair as the ebony haired girl replied.

"Rosie said she wanted to investigate Scorpius Malfoy and dragged Al away with her."

"Oh, really?" James looked perplexed and withdrew his head from the compartment. He thought for a moment before sticking his head back in again. "Any idea where his compartment might be?"

"I think it should be in that direction," the mousy haired girl said, pointing back the way they had come. James smiled a grin that showed off every single tooth in his mouth and closed the door. Then he looked at Grace with a scowl.

"I could have guessed that much." Grace did a double take. She hadn't expected James to fake gratitude to a fan. The fact that they were in the last compartment meant that of course Scorpius Malfoy's compartment would be in the opposite direction. "Well, unless you particularly want to spend your time with that duet of giggles, I'd appreciate your help tracking whatshisface down." Grace pursed her lips.

"Isn't Malfoy… That's not a very common name, is it?" Everyone had heard of the Malfoy family. James pursed his lips.

"You know… they're not completely bad, Malfoys. Dad said. I asked him last year." James drummed his fingers on his thighs as he peered through the windows of the compartments they passed by. "Hey, Grace, if you do become mates with Albus… well, he doesn't really know about Dad."

"What do you mean?" she asked, totally amazed. "Doesn't… don't all the newspapers talk about it?"

"No, I mean… obviously he knows Dad's the head Auror, but he doesn't… We weren't raised hearing stories about dad vanquishing Voldemort single-handed. It wasn't like that. The way Dad tells it… he doesn't really take the glory. He used to say that it was the Order of the Phoenix who took Voldemort down, and that he was a part of the Order. Nothing about how he died to save everyone. He doesn't like to talk about any of it beyond how great the people who died were. How many sacrifices were made. Mainly it was Uncle Ron who told us stories about it, and Uncle Ron's a bit… he exaggerates a lot."

"Oh." She tilted her head to the side and tried to imagine what it would be like to be Harry Potter's child. What a thing to live up to. She wouldn't change her dad for anyone.

"Ahah!" James cried as they found Scorpius Malfoy's compartment three carriages down. They must have walked straight past it on the way up. Through the window Grace saw a pale skinned boy with an extremely pointed chin in the middle of an argument with a witch who was already in her Hogwarts robes. She had frizzy brown hair, freckles and bright blue eyes along with rather unfortunately large front teeth that showed as she scowled at Scorpius. Behind the arguing pair, a beautiful girl with exotic, delicate features tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and scowled at the brunette. A skinny wizard hovered awkwardly in the doorway. His hair was brown and stuck up all over the place, his eyes were bright green and made rather larger by the glasses on his face. He looked very pale. Almost travel-sick.

James swung the door open, in time for them to catch Rose Weasley stamping her foot.

"What's so funny about Mum's job?"

"I'm not trying to insult her job," Scorpius said slowly, thinking carefully about his words. Grace saw his ears had gone bright pink, and wondered if he was embarrassed or angry. "Hermione Weasley's done a lot for the rights of magical creatures, but house elves didn't want help."

"Right!" Rose said, drawing herself up. "I see! You're an unthinkingly prejudiced pureblood like that! Is that why dad told me not to get too friendly with you?" The blonde in the compartment snorted. James glanced at Grace.

"You know," he muttered in an undertone, pointing at the people inside. "I usually get a better reception than this."

"Unthinking prejudiced pureblood!" the blonde quoted, the tone of her voice becoming steadily louder and louder. "What about your dad? Saying that when he doesn't even know Scorpius!" Rose went scarlet.

"Do not insult my dad, Zabini! He's worth ten of yours!"

"Take that back, Weasley!" the Zabini girl shouted, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "My dad's gone through a lot, even if he didn't save the world as a teenager! Most people's parents didn't, and if you're prejudiced about that then you're really going to struggle to make friends!" Rose's face blossomed into splotchy red patches. Grace watched James' face turn more severe as the exchange went on.

"Quiet!" he bellowed, and Rose Weasley jumped a foot in the air with fright before turning sheepishly to face him.

"Hello James," she whispered, swallowing. James grabbed Grace's wrist and dragged her into the compartment before slamming the door behind him.

"Sit down," he snapped, and Grace stared at his face. With all the blood in his cheeks, he looked kind of cute. She was seeing so many new sides to him today. "This is Grace Hart," he introduced, causing Grace to blush. The other four in the compartment stared intermittently between her and James with some surprise – they'd been expecting a lecture. "She's a first year too.'

"Hi," she squeaked, wishing desperately that James would do something to reduce the awkwardness in the room. Rose was sitting down next to Scorpius, and the blonde Zabini girl looked ready to leap across the table to murder her the Muggle way.

"You've all made a truly awful first impression," James muttered, crossing his arms. "You're first-years – you're the last people who should be making judgements. What do you know? Rose, you're clever, what're you doing picking fights with strangers? And Albus, don't just stand there and let her rant, you know better than that!" Albus Potter looked even greener in the face than he had before. He looked at the floor, his face flushed, and Grace felt a wave of compassion for him.

"Um," Rose said, and hesitated. It was the most embarrassed noise Grace had ever heard. "I think… maybe I should apologise." Grace realised Rose was blushing horribly. "I'm so sorry. I get a bit… I take after my mum, but I have Dad's temper. It's an awful combination, I'm afraid. I was just curious."

"We didn't mean to start a fight," Albus mumbled. He looked sheepishly at the other two in the compartment. "Sorry." The Zabini girl sniffed, and Scorpius looked stony-faced. James nodded and looked at the other two who mumbled something that might have been an apology.

"Well then, if you're all sorry…" He sighed and looked at Albus, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "There are two girls waiting for you to return to your compartment," he joked, winking at Albus. "I wouldn't keep them waiting. See ya, Grace." Although he had been joking, Grace thought his smile was the same fake toothy grin from earlier, and her suspicions were confirmed when James slammed the compartment door behind him. Grace swallowed.

"C-" She had to clear her throat to get the words out. "Can I sit with you?"

They considered her, sizing her up to see if she were a threat. She fidgeted uncomfortably, and blushed under the Zabini girl's hostile gaze. Scorpius shifted down his side of the compartment, but she couldn't tell if he was making room for her or trying to put some distance between him and Rose. He stared out of the window, which Grace thought was an odd thing to do when they were still surrounded by fog, and there wasn't anything to see out of the window but a shroud of white mist.

"I'm Celia," the girl said, pointing first at herself and then at her companion and the other two. "This is Scorpius. Albus and Rose."

"Grace," she responded, still hovering in the doorway. Celia Zabini hadn't said whether she could sit down yet or not, and since the others didn't feel like speaking she wasn't sure what to do.

"Sit where you like. Are you Muggleborn?"

"No… I'm… both my parents…" Celia nodded before she could complete the sentence. She looked disappointed. Grace sank down into the seat beside Rose.

"You'll know who we are then," Celia surmised, scowling. "It would be nice if you could keep an open mind." Rose frowned, deeply aggrieved by Celia's comment.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, beginning to look a little teary. "I didn't mean to say… I mean – you aren't your parents anymore than I am mine… You don't have to be Slytherins unless you want to be!"

"What if we want to be?" Celia asked suddenly, fiercely. Rose's mouth snapped shut. Grace was surprised. She'd never met anyone who wanted to be a Slytherin. "What's wrong with Slytherin? Merlin was a Slytherin. Did you know that? You don't have to be evil to be great."

"Slytherin was my parents" house," Scorpius said suddenly, looking the four of them instead of the window. "My grandparents" house. We're an ambitious family. We always have been." His expression became slightly pained. "I'm not saying they were right. They did some awful things..." He glanced at Rose who was looking at him sympathetically. "They were scared, and they followed what their parents taught them, and I'm sorry they had their beliefs. But if I'm a Slytherin too, it doesn't mean I share their sentiments."

"Then why do you want to be Slytherin?" Albus asked, leaning forward so that he had more of a presence than before. "Why deal with what other people think? The Sorting Hat lets you choose."

"Slytherin has become associated with the worst qualities of its most famous pupils," Celia muttered, exchanging a glance with Scorpius. "We want to prove that it doesn't matter where you come from. Just because you're a Slytherin, it doesn't make you evil. It doesn't mean you're a Death Eater.'

"We want to change the way people think," Scorpius explained. "Change ourselves, and the school at the same time. We…'

"We promised," Celia finished for him when he lost his train of thought. "We're going to do it, no matter what." Grace thought that when authors wrote about eyes burning with determination they were picturing Celia's expression.

"That's…" she started, trying to figure out what to say.

"Amazing," Rose said, grabbing Scorpius' hand. "Seriously, I'm so sorry. You're brilliant!" Celia scowled as Rose showered Scorpius with praise. It had obviously been a joint idea, but Rose only had eyes for Scorpius. Grace looked at Albus, who was sitting across from her, and tilted her head to the side. The other three were certainly much louder than him, but that didn't make them any more interesting. Albus didn't look half so travel sick anymore. His mouth was slightly parted, and his bright green eyes were wide behind his glasses. It looked like he'd had a revelation.

"Are you okay?" Grace wondered.

"What?" he croaked then cleared his throat. "Sorry. Yes. I'm fine. Just…" Grace smiled. She felt like she could be good friends with Albus. "I think you should go for it," he said, clearly addressing both Celia and Scorpius. The two exchanged a look and then grinned. Rose looked between them and frowned. She pushed a frizzy strand of brown hair behind her ear and stood up.

"We should get back to our compartment." Albus blinked and readjusted his glasses, but nodded.

"It was nice to meet you," he said, standing up.

"And sorry, again," Rose reiterated her apology and disappeared. Albus hesitated and looked at Grace.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked. "You know James right?"

"Not really," Grace rushed to explain. She wasn't going to be mistaken for James' fan. "It was a matter of circumstance. I live next to Alex Carlsdale, so…"

"Oh." Albus stared at her. "What house do you want to be in?"

"I… haven't decided yet," she replied, honestly. He nodded.

"Quite right." He smiled and waved at the three of them before following in Rose's wake.

It was maybe half an hour later when the compartment door opened again.

"There you are!"

Grace's heartbeat sped up several notches and she prayed her blush wasn't too obvious. She tried her best to smile at Timothy without letting her right eye do that odd twitching thing it did when she was nervous.

"Hi!" He was in his school robes already, and she saw a shiny prefect badge in blue pinned to his lapel.

"Making friends already," he said, scrutinizing the other two in the carriage. "I don't know why I was so worried. You're doing just fine, aren't you?"

"These are Celia and Scorpius," she introduced, and turned to the other two who had tensed up again. "This is Timothy, my neighbour."

"We've met before," Timothy said, beaming and holding out his hand first to Scorpius and then to Celia in greeting. "At some second-cousin-five-times-removed's wedding or some such." Grace nodded. All the wizarding families are related in some way. The Carlsdales were one of them. Grace was not. Both her parents may have been magical, but her grandparents were not. At least, she didn't think so. Her mum's side of the family had a habit of dying early. She'd never met them. "Anyway, I'm glad to see you're fine, I was just checking in on you since I was worried you and Alex might have killed one another by now." Grace blushed. "Anyway, I'll see you in the great hall. And don't worry too much about the sorting, I'm sure you'll be fine."

He left without a backward glance before she could say a proper goodbye. She wasn't even aware of how red her face had become because she was so thrilled to have seen him and was smiling happily to herself.

"You look ridiculous," Celia said, but she was laughing in a friendly manner that made Grace feel more at home. "I'm guessing you like him? It's written all over your face."

"He was worried about you," Scorpius said. "About us being with you." Grace was surprised. "Didn't you notice? He made sure to ask if you were fine being in the same carriage as us. He's more open minded than most, but he was still cautious."

"I'd like to say you're over thinking it," Celia said, frowning, but she looked a little unsure. She shook her head. "The point is he took Grace's word for it," she concluded, sitting up straighter and looking a little happier. "So now he'll tell other people that he thinks we're alright."

"But we'll have to keep being alright," he said. "Don't you agree?" Grace frowned. She remembered what James had said about Malfoys not being that bad, that Harry Potter was the one who'd told him, and she remembered how angry he'd been to find his brother and cousin already in the middle of an argument with them. Maybe if James hadn't said that, she'd have gone off with Albus and Rose. She would have liked to know Albus better. Rose, on the other hand… So far Celia Zabini was the only girl Grace had met and liked wholeheartedly.

"You know," she started. "I'm sure he'd think you were alright even if I wasn't here, it's just that he'd have found out a little later than just now. It's not like he'd disagree."

Scorpius didn't look convinced, but they were all distracted by the arrival of a trolley full of sweets. A kind woman with a round face asked if they'd like something and Celia quickly shook her head no, but Grace noticed she wasn't taking her eyes off of the pumpkin pasties. She grinned and ordered one for herself, while Scorpius invested in some chocolate frogs. The cart moved on and Grace quickly tore a bit off of her pasty and handed it to Celia with a smile.

"You wanted some, right?" Celia blushed, and Scorpius laughed.

"Your grandmother will never know," he cajoled her.

"But she wants me to go on a diet!" Celia wailed. Grace's eyes widened and she stared Celia up and down. There was nothing about Celia that looked even remotely chunky. "She's a very famous wizarding fashion designer," she whispered to Grace, looking awkward. "I always wanted to model for her, ever since I was little. But she says I need to be tall and skinny. I wanted to drink those height-inducing potions but my mother won't let me. She says they'll ruin my natural progression, whatever that means."

Something brown shot in front of Grace's eyes and she yelped and jumped back with fright. Scorpius laughed.

"Sorry, I was distracted by the card and it got away from me."

"Oh, but it won't be any good once it's been on the floor," Celia said, and Grace smiled as Celia took his distraction as the signal to take the half a pasty she'd still been holding out to her. "Quickly, Grace, catch it!"

She bent down and scooped up the chocolate frog as it made its desperate attempt for freedom, and handed it to Scorpius.

"What card was it?" she wondered. He passed it over to her without commenting.

"Famous Witches and Wizards
Harry Potter
1980-present
The Boy Who Lived, only known survivor of the Avada Kedavra curse and conqueror of Lord Voldemort, also known as Tom Riddle, Harry Potter joined the reshuffled Auror Department under Kingsley Shacklebolt at age 17, rising to become Head of said department in 2007."

"Oh, I have this one," she said and passed it to Celia. Only then did she remember what James had said about how little Albus knew. Oh well, she thought as she munched on her pasty. He was bound to figure it out eventually.

Several hours later Grace realised how dark it was outside, and wondered when the fog had lifted. They would have to get changed into their robes before long, which meant she would have to go and get her robes from her trunk.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Celia asked when Grace had explained the situation to the two of them. Grace shook her head.

"I don't think you'd enjoy meeting Alex," she explained. "He's definitely the type to make bad jokes about Slytherin, and I don't want him to ruin your mood."

"If you're sure," she said, but she looked rather uncertain. Grace pondered that as she made her way back to Alex's compartment. Celia had at first seemed to be incredibly self-assured. Now, on getting to know her better, Grace considered that a lot of that might have been a front. She took it as a sign of friendship that Celia would let her see the uncertainty she usually tried to hide.

She knocked on the compartment door and smiled at Cathy when she pulled it open.

"Grace! Hello again, have you come for your robes?" Grace nodded. "Well, you have good timing. We'd just kicked the boys out to get changed ourselves."

"Who did the charms on your trunk?" Beth asked, running a hand through her blonde hair before reaching to help Grace and Cathy get the trunk down.

"Alex was very angry that he couldn't open it," Cathy explained, grinning.

"Oh," Grace crossed her arms and scowled. "I knew it. Timothy and his dad helped me." The trunk simply wouldn't open if anyone other than Grace tried to get inside. "Sometimes I think Alex is way too predictable, don't you think?" She pulled the lid open and rummaged around for her robes. Beth pursed her lips.

"It's only because he likes- OW!" Cathy yelped as Beth stamped on her foot. Grace stared at them wide-eyed, wondering what on earth she'd missed.

"I know he likes to torment me," she said, sending Beth an odd look. "It's not really a secret. He's been this way ever since… well, he's never liked how much time I spend with Timothy." Grace knew she was blushing but she couldn't help that. "He used to get so jealous that Timothy would spend his time with me. It's just gotten worse over time. You know, the first bit of magic I ever did was to throw mud in Alex's face?" Beth made a choking sound, and Cathy cackled.

"No, I didn't!" she exclaimed. "When was that?"

"Um…" Grace looked between the two of them, feeling a little uncomfortable. She shouldn't really be telling this story to his friends. She knew it wasn't something Alex was proud of, and as much as they didn't like one another, Grace wasn't going to go out of her way to embarrass him. It had happened some time after Timothy received his Hogwarts letter. She'd been crying because he was going away and Timothy had charmed a ladybug to spell her name for her. He was trying to cheer her up. When Alex had seen this, he'd squashed the ladybug flat. An instant later Alex was covered head-to-toe in thick, sticky mud. It was the first and only time to date that Grace had shouted at Alex that she hated him. She didn't really hate him. That was too strong a word for their mutual dislike. But in that moment, her dislike had escalated into a severe hatred. "Sometime ago," she commented noncommittally. She turned back to her robes and started to get changed. The other two immediately spun to face the opposite wall, and when Grace glanced curiously in their direction she thought they were blushing. Alex had the weirdest friends. They helped her put the trunk back up on the shelf when she was done. Grace noticed Errata was gone from her cage and smiled.

"Thanks for the help," she said, and left the compartment. She was half way down the corridor when she noticed Beth and Cathy walking the other way. She froze, staring at them. They looked surprised.

"Grace?" Beth called as Grace turned on her heel and stormed back the way she had come. She slammed the compartment door back as violently as she could and glared at the two inside. She knew, without a doubt, that these two were Alex and James. She didn't know how they'd done it, and she didn't know what the point of it was, but she was enraged. She chose the words she thought would injure their stupid Gryffindor prides the most and bellowed:

"I would rather be in Slytherin than share a house with you!" She had one moment to capture their shocked and horrified expressions before she slammed the compartment door again and ran back down the corridor past Beth and Cathy who looked incredibly confused. She brushed at her eyes. She was not crying. Behind her she head the compartment door open again, and Beth shouted:

"James! Alex! What on earth are you doing?"

"Grace!" A breathless Cathy grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. Grace looked behind her to see the other Cathy with Beth. This then was the fake one. In the compartment Cathy had been the more gleeful of the two, the one talking about Alex. "Grace, stop, please. We only wanted to-"

"Leave me alone, James!" Grace snapped, shaking him off of her. She could guess that it was all an attempt to get into her trunk. She wasn't stupid. But she was, she'd really thought James, at least, was going to be nice to her today. "The two of you… Why do you hate me?" The fake Cathy didn't say anything, and Grace, seeing that he didn't deny it, ran away. She threw herself into Celia's arms when she reached their compartment.

"What's happened?" Scorpius demanded, instantly by their side.

"Nothing," Grace sobbed. "I really don't want to talk about it. Alex is… he's… Him and James…" She couldn't really explain why she was so upset. They hadn't exactly done anything to her, but she hated being tricked, and she wished she understood why they had it out for her.

An announcement explained five minutes from the station that the Hogwarts Express was arriving into Hogsmeade and students were to leave their luggage on the train. Scorpius felt a little anxious about leaving Archimedes, his screech owl, in his cage, and so let him go hunting outside. Dressed in their new robes they alighted onto the platform and Grace was gob smacked by the sheer number of students swilling around them, most of whom towered over her. She thought she spotted Timothy, but the older students pushed past and she was no longer certain. She was glad not to see Alex or James.

"First years, over here!" A voice bellowed, and she responded to the voice of authority like a moth to a flame, holding tightly to Celia's arm so as not to get stranded. The voice belonged to a giant of a man in a moleskin overcoat. His beetle black eyes peered out at them from a mass of greying hair that was at once his hair and his beard. "This way!"

"Hiya, Hagrid!" Grace noticed that Albus and Rose were beaming up at the man, and he greeted them in turn.

"'Ello Rose, 'ello Albus." Hagrid let out a little sigh, which sounded like a gust of wind due to his size. "Seems like only yesterday it was yer parents I was meeting here."

Hagrid led them down a very steep and narrow path. The ground all around them was cast into darkness.

"You'll be getting yer first view of Hogwarts any second now," Hagrid's voice boomed from in front of them. Grace looked up, her breath catching in her throat as the multi-turreted castle came into view high on the mountain on the other side of the large lake that had opened out in front of them. She thought it was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen. Scorpius let out a breath.

"Cool," he whispered, and she grinned at him.

Hagrid led them to the edge of a lake, and Grace noticed there were lots of little boats bobbing up and down in the water. "No more than four to a boat." Hagrid took one boat to himself. No one joined Grace, Celia and Scorpius in their boat, but Grace noticed that Rose and Albus were joined by the two girls she had seen in their compartment. She couldn't help noticing that Albus looked rather uncomfortable, and Rose rather miffed by the intrusion. "All here?" Hargid checked. "Forward!"

"Merlin," Celia said, wriggling slightly in her seat. "I'm much more nervous than I thought I would be.'

"Would your mum be angry if you got into Slytherin?" Grace asked curiously as the boats started drifting over the water. Scorpius snorted. Celia had confessed earlier that her mum had begged her to choose a different house before she got on the train.

"Raz is in Slytherin," Celia confided. "So she wouldn't exactly mind, just-"

"Erazimus is her brother," Scorpius explained.

"She'll be disappointed. She almost cried when he was sorted. It would be easier for my parents if we didn't turn out to carry on the tradition, but it's not like either of us plan to be like them."

"Our dads were friends when they were in Hogwarts. They're the ones who had to be in Slytherin no matter what. Their only reaction is going to be a sigh and some mutter about how it was probably inevitable in any case."

"My mum's just a bit sensitive," Celia tried to explain. "It's alright for Scorpius, his mum was a Slytherin too, but Mum was in Ravenclaw… I don't know. I'm never sure exactly what she thinks. I'm worried she'll become disgusted with us."

"It'll be alright," Scorpius said. "Your parents fight a lot, but my dad says they're not going to break apart any time soon. You worry too much."

"How-?" Celia frowned, blonde eyebrows standing out against her dark skin. "Why did he say that?" Scorpius shrugged.

"I asked. Last time, when you were worried after Erazimus was sorted." Grace caught Celia's blush, and smiled quietly to herself. She was a little jealous that these two were so close, but at the same time, she was happy to have found some friends.

"Duck now," Hagrid said, as the boats reached the cliff and passed beneath a curtain of Ivy, down a dark tunnel and into an underground harbour. After checking the boats Hagrid led them up a dark rising passageway culminating in damp grass. They collected on the stone steps as Hagrid knocked on the huge oak doors. They were opened by an excitable and enthusiastic little man with a neat white moustache, and white hair that was combed to perfection, probably to disguise the receding hairline.

"That must be Flitwick," Scorpius said as Hagrid handed them over and they were lead into the entrance hall, which was larger than any room Grace had ever been in, and lit by flickering torches on the walls. She couldn't even see the ceiling. Most of the hall was taken up by a gigantic marble staircase, but Flitwick led them off to the right into a small empty room next to a larger door from which loud noises emanated. "He's been teaching here for ages."

"Some people say he's part-" Celia started whispering, but was cut off as the little man began to speak, his voice squeaky with excitement.

"First years! I am Professor Flitwick, Charms master and deputy headmaster. In a minute, I shall lead you to the great hall, where you shall be sorted into the four Hogwarts houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own unique traits, and while you are in Hogwarts your house will act like your family. You will eat at your house tables, sleep in your house common rooms. Any acts deserving of merit will earn your house points, and anything requiring disciplinary action shall lose your house points. The house with the most points at the end of the year wins the house cup. I will come back for you when we are ready."

As soon as the doors closed behind him, whispering exploded all about them. Grace realised with a start that Albus had ended up next to her in their walk up from the harbour and smiled at him.

"You look like you're feeling better," she said because it was true. He had lost the tinge of green he'd had when she'd first met him.

"Yeah," he nodded, and smiled back. "I'm still nervous though. Rose says she wants to be in Ravenclaw," he said quickly, avoiding Celia and Scorpius' eyes as they started to scrutinise him. Grace was intrigued, and noticed that Rose was now in deep conversation with the ebony haired girl who'd shared their boat with them. The thin, mousy haired girl caught her eye, blushed and looked away.

"And where do you-?" Grace started to ask, but the doors opened, and Flitwick beckoned them through, and they all trekked after him like lambs.

Grace's mouth dropped open. The sheer size of the room was staggering, the ceiling beautiful and she heard Rose explain loudly that it was enchanted, but what caught her attention the most, more than the thousands of candles hovering above each of the four brightly coloured houses, was the see-through people, ghosts, floating through the air. Celia laughed quietly.

"Close your mouth," she whispered. Grace blushed. She glanced at the four colourful tables, and picked out Ravenclaw from the blue robes Timothy wore, and Gryffindor's red after James and Alex. She was alarmed to realise that Alex was watching her, and James was muttering to him. She stuck out her tongue at them, and this time it was Albus who laughed, probably because he'd been looking in that direction for his brother.

"Did you say he was your neighbour?" Albus double-checked, looking a bit surprised as a thought occurred to him.

"Unfortunately," Grace grumbled.

"That's a coincidence."

"Is it?" she whispered, a little taken aback. "How so?"

"Witches and wizards living right next to each other in a non-wizarding town." She'd never really thought about it like that. It was strange, wasn't it? But was she over thinking it because Albus had called it a coincidence? Or was it just that?

Silence fell over the hall, and Grace became aware of a crumpled and burnt old hat, sitting on a stool in front of them. Was this the Sorting Hat Scorpius had spoken of? It didn't look like much. Then a seam on its side opened up, forming a mouth, and it started to sing.

"I may not look impressive,
But I'm more than what I seem.
Through me, the founders live
And pick students for their dream.

I will judge your character
By rifling through your head.
I'll weigh in every factor
And place you where I'm led.

If you are courageous,
And strong-willed to the last,
Then Gryffindor's the house for you
Where the brave are cast.

Don't be swayed by tales of old
That Slytherin's your foe.
They are merely crafty folk
Who reap more than they sow.

If you thirst for knowledge
Then to Ravenclaw with you!
There dwell the wise and learned
Whose wit always renew.

Or even in patient Hufflepuff
You might find your friends.
These loyal, dedicated wizards
Find rewards are their own ends.

I'm ready to oblige you
So try me and don't forget
I know what I am doing
I haven't been wrong yet!"

Grace knew it was meant to be reassuring, but a horrible sick anticipation filled her stomach as she listened. She swallowed hard, trying to quell her nerves. Celia grabbed and squeezed her hand.

"I will call you up one by one," Flitwick said. "When your name is called please come and try on the hat. Aberessy, Samuel."

The curly haired blonde didn't look nearly as scared as Grace would be were she to go first. The hat was too large for any of their heads, Grace realised as the brim of it dropped well past his eyes, leaving only his very round chin on display to everyone else. A minute later, the hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" and Timothy's table exploded into cheers of joy.

It was the standard reaction, Grace soon learnt, as "Ackerley, Linn" became a Gryffindor, "Barns, Selina" a Hufflepuff and "Boot, Francis" another Gryffindor. "Bletchley, Harriet" a freckle faced girl with hair as blonde as Celia's became the first Slytherin, and Grace thought the Slytherin table cheered twice as loudly as the other tables, as if determined to out-do them all.

"Brooklehurst, Tobias" became a Hufflepuff, then "Bucket, Marlowe" a black haired, dark skinned boy with a wide white toothed grin became a Slytherin and was immediately joined by another boy, "Cauldwell, Sebastian", whose brown hair was cut so short it became impossible to miss the too-large ears that stuck out ridiculously on either side of his head.

"Colbert, Connie." The skinny mousy haired girl who'd shared a boat with Rose and Albus squeaked, until the ebony haired girl poked her, and she stumbled her way up to the hat. After just a second, however, the hat was shouting, "RAVENCLAW!", and she was stumbling away again.

Rose beamed, and shared a grin with the other girl, and Albus frowned. Grace wondered what was wrong. Perhaps he'd hoped that Rose would become a Gryffindor with him.

"Corner, Marinette" became a Gryffindor, and then "Coy, Sarah" became a Hufflepuff. Two more Ravenclaws, "Derrick, Ruby" and "Gosen, Gary", joined their table, and then Grace's heart almost stopped as she suddenly heard:

"Hart, Grace."

She hadn't realised it was going to be her turn so soon. She was sure all the blood had just drained out of her face. She took a shaky breath and Celia squeezed her hand. She glanced at Scorpius and saw him nod at her. She felt a little better. She'd told the two of them she would like to be in their house, no matter which house they chose, and made them reassure her they would definitely be Slytherins because she knew she'd be sorted before them.

"I'll be last," Celia whispered, remembering this, "so make sure you save a place for me!"

Grace's legs felt wobbly as she walked to the stool. She felt it would have been easier to crawl. But the worst bit was as she sat down, for two seconds before the hat dropped over her eyes as she saw all the other students staring up at her. It was terrifying, her hands shock as she gripped onto the seat on either side of her. She had decided not to look at Alex. Or Timothy. Or she would probably change her mind.

The tatty old hat slipped down over her eyes blocking everyone from view, and she breathed out, trying to relax a little. Albus had said you could choose. She hoped that was true. She wanted to be with Celia. She wanted to be a Slytherin.

"Slytherin, eh?" She jumped at the dusty old voice that had crept into her head. "Oh, well… I suppose." But she couldn't help wondering if it would suit her. "Second thoughts?" the hat laughed. "How calculated. I would have preferred Hufflepuff, but Slytherin house will suit your tastes very well, Miss Hart. Your opinions on boys aside." She blushed slightly beneath the hat. It chuckled, and then she heard it shout, "SLYTHERIN!"

She took off the hat, and handed it back to Flitwick with a sheepish smile. She was still blushing she knew, and she grinned at Celia on her way to the Slytherin table. Scorpius winked at her. Albus' lips were slightly parted, and his bright green eyes had widened, and she wondered on that as she sat down beside the very blonde Harriet Bletchley, opposite the grinning Marlowe Bucket and unfortunate looking Sebastian Cauldwell, who reintroduced themselves.

She didn't dare look over to the Ravenclaw table to see Timothy's reaction. Nor did she glance at Alex and James. She didn't want to know what she would see there. She liked to imagine that they were shocked she'd kept her word, but maybe Alex was smug. Maybe he'd think that she deserved to be here. A wave of resentment arose inside her. Well, she did deserve to be here, that was the point. Slytherin was a better house than Alex would ever know. Stupid, stupid Alex. Three Hufflepuffs later, after "Jenkins, Coren", "Larken, Mickey" and "Lyne, Tallulah" had sat down, she noticed the pretty ebony haired friend of Rose's go up, and sure enough "MacDogal, Zara" became a Ravenclaw.

"Malfoy, Scorpius." Grace's heart did a little jump. Scorpius pushed by Albus on his way to the stool, but Grace saw Celia apologise for him. Grace could imagine Scorpius was carried away with expectation. To Scorpius, she imagined, being sorted into Slytherin must be like achieving his destiny. It took longer than Grace had thought it would, but eventually the hat shouted "SLYTHERIN!" and she was one of the first on her feet to celebrate. He winked again as he sat down next to her.

"Fancy seeing you here," he said, and she rolled her eyes, barely noticing as "Meadows, Claire" and "Mendip, Maxwell" became Gryffindors in light of his surprising confession, "Bloody hat tried to put me in Gryffindor."

"Really?" she asked, not that she was particularly surprised, just intrigued. She could only imagine how that conversation would have gone.

"Yeah, it kept asking if I was sure," he said, rolling his eyes. "As if I would have asked if I wasn't sure." Grace hoped she wasn't blushing. Scorpius really was very different to her. Almost completely the opposite if she was honest.

"Montague, Belinda" went up to be sorted, and Grace barely looked at her until the hat shouted "SLYTHERIN!" and she came to sit down opposite Scorpius. She was a very chubby girl, with a huge chin, completely disproportionate to the rest of her face and body, but she smiled at them nervously, and Grace greeted her back before looking back to Scorpius again, and wondering if she should tell him she was strictly a Slytherin, or possibly a Hufflepuff. She wondered what his reaction would be. "Moon, Coraline" became a Gryffindor, and "Nolen, Matthew" a Ravenclaw as she debated with herself. Then "Nott, Daisy" became a Hufflepuff, and Scorpius' intake of breath made up her mind for her. Better not to admit to it. The Notts were an old wizarding family, she knew.

"How many of these students do you already know, do you reckon?" she wondered. He grinned at her.

"Countless millions. I'm probably related to half of them," he said as "Pentworth, Brian" became a Ravenclaw. On her other side, Harriet Bletchley looked intrigued, and tossed one of her two ponytails over her shoulder as she turned to talk to them.

"How come you know so many of them?" she asked. Scorpius shrugged.

"Wizarding families grow up together," he muttered, and Grace noticed the way he avoided using the word Pureblood. Grace was about to ask something, but lost her question as the next name was read out.

"Potter, Albus." A ripple went through the hall, of people whispering his surname, and Grace was certain Flitwick was so excited he almost dropped the hat as Albus walked towards him. He looked green again. Grace bit her lip, and grabbed Scorpius' arm to stop him talking.

"What?" he asked. "You don't think-?" But he read her expectations in her eyes and her body position without her having to explain it to him. Scoripus frowned and leaned back to get a better look at Albus. "Really? But his brother…"

"But Rose-" Scorpius' eyes widened as the hat dropped down over Albus' eyes.

"Was that what he meant?" She nodded, unaware that she was holding her breath. Scorpius had noticed, and would have told her, but he was rather distracted by the idea himself.

"I could be wrong," she said, but Albus was certainly taking a long time to be sorted. Maybe she wasn't.

"What are you two talking about?" Belinda Montague demanded, and Grace couldn't help thinking that the chubby girl had an incredibly unfortunate nasal voice on top of all the puppy fat. She couldn't really be bothered to explain it to her, and Scorpius didn't either, because the next moment the hat had made its decision.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Grace couldn't help letting out a squeal of excitement, but it was nothing compared to the general reaction of the Slytherin table. She'd never heard yells so loud. It was almost deafening. Scorpius' mouth had dropped open along with a lot of other people's.

"I don't bloody believe it," he told Grace, but he grinned as Albus walked down the table towards them. "I didn't think you had it in you," he told Albus, as Albus sat down next to Belinda. Grace elbowed Scorpius gently, and reached out a hand to Albus, unable to contain her smile.

"Hello again," she said, far too breathily, although perhaps Scorpius was the only one who would have noticed enough to tell her that.

"Hi, Grace," he said, smiling and shaking first her hand and then Scorpius' as the Slytherins all around them patted him on the back, still celebrating loudly. In fact, silence only fell again when golden sparks, like fireworks, burst from the headmaster's wand.

At least Grace assumed he was the headmaster. He was sitting in the large ornate chair in the middle of what she had assumed was the staff table, where she now noticed Hagrid sat too. The high stool on the headmaster's left was empty, and Grace realised it must be Flitwick's chair. The headmaster, she finally remembered his name was Morgan Percepal, had long dark hair, and the palest blue eyes imaginable. In fact, she was a little freaked out by them, it looked like he was in the middle of some kind of fit, with only the whites of his eyes showing, they were so pale. It wasn't a natural colour. It unsettled her. He wasn't tall, but he seemed imposing because he had very broad muscular shoulders, and the only grey hairs to be seen were gathered in a streak on the right side of his very long beard, just below the corner of his lip. It made her think that he'd just dribbled paint.

The hall reduced in noise, and Grace looked back over the first years waiting to be sorted, wondering what they had made of him. She caught Rose's eye, who smiled sadly at her, and went on to look at Albus, only to realise he was staring over her shoulder, the smile gone from his face. She unthinkingly followed his gaze, and met Alex's next to James'. Her smile evaporated in much the same manner. Alex was glaring at her, but that was nothing new, she was unhappy at the blank look of shock on James' face as he stared at Albus. For all his jokes, Grace realised, James had never considered even for a moment that Albus wouldn't be joining him in Gryffindor. She wondered if Albus wasn't regretting his decision. Especially as "Stoke, Roger" became a Gryffindor and took the place Albus would otherwise be sitting in.

"Cheer up," Scorpius said, as "Su, Vivian" became a Ravenclaw. Both of them looked at him, and his ears went pink. He rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly. "The Sorting's nearly over," he said, and Grace realised he was right. With "Thomas, Phillip" and "Turpin, Todd" becoming Gryffindors, and "Uglow, Paula" currently being sorted, there were only eight of them left. She watched as two dark haired twins, brother and sister, bickered quietly in line. Their hair was the same length, short for the girl, long for the boy.

"Would you stop being so pathetic," the girl was hissing, and Grace pursed her lips. She would hate it if someone had said that just before she was sorted. The Sorting Hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and Paula Uglow ran to the canary yellow table smiling broadly.

"Warrington, Cecil" Flitwick said, and to Grace's surprise it was the boy she'd been watching who climbed his way to the stool. He looked very young, she thought, realising he was quite short when she saw how far his feet were floating off the ground. "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The girl rolled her eyes, and Grace frowned before she realised that the girl was smiling warmly at her brother, and he was smiling sheepishly back. Grace made a mental note not to judge other people's families when she had no idea what was going on.

"Warrington, Wedby" Flitwick announced, and the girl took the place of her brother as he went to sit down. After a few moments the Sorting Hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" and Wedby Warrington went to sit on Harriet Bletchley's other side.

"Weasley, Rose" Flitwick called, and Grace saw Albus' head shoot up, and followed suit. She was just as certain as he was that she would be a Ravenclaw, but it seemed like Rose sat there for a very long time before the Sorting Hat finally gave in and shouted "RAVENCLAW!"

To her shock she thought she'd seen the glimmer of tears in Rose's eyes as she went to sit down, but it was hard to tell from across the room. "Whitby, Norton" soon joined her, then "Winters, Jeremy" became a Slytherin, and trudged to their table, throwing himself grumpily into the seat opposite Wedby Warrington. He barely looked up as Sebastian Cauldwell and Marlowe Bucket tried to greet him. Instead he sank low into his chair, sulking, entirely mute. Grace noticed Scorpius rolling his eyes, but she smiled at Albus when he looked concerned. In the mean time "Wood, Ola," had become a Gryffindor, and "Yemming, David," a Hufflepuff. It was with some surprise that she heard "Zabini, Celia," and looked back up to the top of the table. Celia was the last student to be sorted, but Grace was shocked that the sorting ceremony was really over already. Was it really so simple to sort forty students into four houses? But as the Sorting Hat instantly shouted "SLYTHERIN!" she realised that somehow it must be.

Celia skipped down the table to them, and Grace saw her hug a tall brown haired boy she took to be her brother, before she joined them, breathless, and pushed Scorpius down the bench so that she could sit next to Grace, who beamed at the special treatment.

"Told you I'd be last," she said. "I was worried there'd be no places left." At which point Grace remembered she had been supposed to save Celia a seat. She blushed, realising that Celia was teasing her.

"I forgot, sorry!"

"No matter, no matter," Celia waved her worries away. "That's Raz," she said, pointing back up the table toward her brother. "He'll come say hi after the food." She was about to say more, but the headmaster stood up again. Grace realised Flitwick must have already stowed the Sorting Hat out of sight. She felt a little sorry for the hat, but it passed as Morgan Percepal began to speak. His voice was deep, and resonated throughout the hall like a cello.

"Welcome home," he said and spread his arms wide as if to encompass the whole hall. "To old and new students alike. Before we feast, l have these start of term messages: The forbidden forest is, as always, out of bounds. The Whomping Willow is equally unapproachable. Any student caught with any Weasleys" Wizard Wheezes products will have them confiscated, and will serve detentions as necessary if they are found to have misused them to skip classes or hurt fellow students. No magic is to be used within the corridors between lessons, and students are forbidden from leaving their common rooms after hours. Rule breaking will be punished." His strange eyes roamed wildly around the hall, as if to enforce his will on them. "So long as this is understood, let the feast begin."

Those simple words were all it took for the tables in front of them to become laden with food. Grace was flabbergasted. She'd never seen so much food all in one place before! She caught Belinda Montague's eye, who was looking quite cross, and smiled because she couldn't think what to say. The girl seemed very intimidating.

"You lot have first year written all over you," a voice said from behind them, and Celia turned and squealed. "Do stop clinging to me, Ceils." From the nature of Celia's limpet like hug, Grace assumed her earlier guess was right. The boy with the brown hair and strange, slanting eyes must be Erazimus Zabini, for it was he who was talking to them. "Nice to see you, Scorpius."

"Raz." Scorpius nodded, his grey eyes sharp and watchful as he looked up at the older boy.

"And you are Albus Potter?" he asked Albus, who looked awkward and uncomfortable under the scrutiny. "Pleased to have you in Slytherin. We're expecting great things from you."

"Yes," Albus said. "Well…" But Raz had already turned his attention to Grace, and smiled a charming smile at her.

"And you are?"

"Grace Hart," she said. His eyes darted upward and to the left, as if in mental calculation. Probably trying to work out how much a pureblood she was. He ruffled Celia's hair, who was still hugging him tightly.

"I hope you're enjoying Hogwarts so far. It can only get better." She wasn't sure if he meant to be reassuring or not. He seemed to be very calculating, like he thought about his words well ahead of time. He pulled a face, and she realised that she'd gotten a bit carried away in helping herself to a bit of everything, and had just collected a few Brussels' sprouts.

"Those are disgusting," he told her, quite frankly. "I wouldn't if I were you." She shrugged and popped one into her mouth.

"They're alright," she said at last, after much dreadful chewing. Raz laughed, clapped her on the back, and looked to Celia.

"Make sure you write to Mum and Dad," he said. "They'll be wanting to hear everything." So saying, he detached himself, and meandered back down the table to his friends, leaving a thoughtful silence in his wake. Albus looked very pale.

"Owls stay in the Owlery, right?" he checked. Scorpius nodded.

"Not like my toad," Celia said. "Which reminds me, Herbert'll like those scrambled eggs, could you pass them?" She motioned to Belinda Montague, who looked affronted.

"Scrambled eggs?" she asked, still nasal. "For a toad? Yeck, what on earth possessed you to bring a toad?" Celia flushed.

"What on earth possessed you to eat so much?" she retorted, and Grace covered her mouth with a hand, stifling a giggle. It wasn't that she found Celia's anger funny, or her insult, it was that Belinda made her nervous. She admired Celia's nerve. She reached over for the scrambled eggs, and passed them to Celia, trying not to catch Belinda's eye as the other girl huffed and stuck up her already piggy nose.

"Do you want to go to the Owlery?" she asked Albus, at a diagonal, trying to ignore the glare Celia was directing to Belinda's turned away face. Scorpius was smirking in amusement.

"Maybe," Albus said, trying his best to help her ignore the situation, and finding it equally stressful. "I don't know. James'll probably Owl my parents for me, maybe one of the Carlsdales will do the same for you?" Grace pulled a face, her humour suddenly gone.

"Oh, I hope not. Can you imagine what they'll say? Timothy would be alright, but Alex will harp on about it in the most detestable way." She shuddered, and wondered for the first time what on earth her father would say. Maybe this would be a horrible shock. Albus smiled weakly.

"Tell me about it." Celia looked at him sharply, but Scorpius was the one to ask the question.

"What made you change your mind, then?" He smiled, and Grace thought it was a disguise. He didn't really want to tell them what the hat had told him, and she didn't blame him because she didn't want to share it herself. Somehow, it had been a very private affair. In Albus' case, who knows what the hat would have found there. Fortunately the food disappeared and the headmaster stood up, saving Albus from the difficult question.

"Before bed," he said in that demanding way of his. "For tradition's sake, we will sing the school song."

The words unravelled from the end of his wand, and grudgingly, with much shuffling of feet, the students sang. Grace wasn't a brilliant singer by any means. She often forgot the words, but she had the knack of singing along with whoever was next to her, copying their lilting tones to make her way through a song she didn't know. Usually this was a useful skill. In her last school the students were lectured when they didn't sing properly, but here, because everyone was singing something different, she ended up voicing a very odd amalgamation of different songs all jumbled together. Albus noticed and smiled at her, but she noticed his eyebrows had ridden up and smiled sheepishly at him in return, consciously trying to sing faster to get to the end. So, she was one of the first to finish, and had a lot of time to look around. She noticed one of the ghosts, the ghost preferring to stick to their table, was covered in blood, and felt chills run up her spine.

"How horrible," she whispered to Celia as they waited with the other Slytherin first years for someone to tell them where to go. "What happened to him?"

"The Bloody Baron?" Celia checked. "Who knows?" Albus looked like he was about to tell them, when the Slytherin prefects appeared.

"Serle Vicks," the tallest boy said. He had dark black hair, slicked to his head, and olive skin. His lips were plump, like a girl's, but he had a gauntness to his face that somehow saved his masculinity. "My name. This is Pandora Rowan." The girl was rather short, with bleary eyes, and a very red nose. Grace guessed she had a cold, but when she spoke, her voice was clear and carrying.

"Follow us, this way." She led them out of the Great Hall, past the marble staircase, and down a smaller staircase off to the side and into the dungeons. Pandora pushed several older students out of the way, and led them to a cold stone wall. She sniffed, cleared her throat, and enunciated the password for all to hear: "veni vidi vici."

"It means I came, I saw, I conquered," Serle explained as they entered through a passageway into a dungeon-like room with a low ceiling and greenish lamps. There were lots of low backed black chairs and dark green leather sofas with buttons, skulls and dark wood cupboards. It looked regal, but the floors looked cold on the bare marble stretches between the ornate green carpets on the floor. It reminded her of aura of a mysterious, underwater shipwreck.

"It extends under the lake," Scorpius whispered. Grace looked out of the window and almost screamed along with several others as something massive with tentacles swooshed by. They were underwater.

"Welcome to Slytherin," Pandora said, smiling at their reactions. "Even the giant squid has come to greet you. Firstly, let's dispel a few myths. Don't believe everything you hear from competing houses. We've produced our share of Dark wizards, but so have the others – they just don't like admitting it. We're traditionalists, and we care about honour, but you'll find plenty of Slytherins who have at least one Muggle parent."

"The other houses might act a little afraid of us at times, but you should use that to your advantage. A couple of hints that you've got access to a whole library of curses, and you'll be surprised how little the other students will want to pick on you," Serle said, rubbing his hands together and grinning. "And if anyone ever does, we'll have your back. Not just me and Pan, but all the Slytherins."

"As far as we're concerned, once you've become a snake, you're one of ours – one of the elite." Pandora put a hand on her hip and leant into it, surveying them all critically. "You're Slytherins because you've got the potential to be great, in the true sense of the word. Don't forget that the other Slytherins have the potential to be just as great."

"What else?" Serle asked Pandora, thinking hard. She opened her mouth, but he smacked a fist into his palm. "Our house ghost is the Bloody Baron. If you get on the right side of him he'll sometimes agree to frighten people for you, but don't ask him how he got bloodstained; he doesn't like it."

"The password to the common room changes every fortnight," Pandora said, rolling her eyes. Serle shouldn't have forgotten such an obvious thing. "Keep an eye on the noticeboard. Never bring anyone from another house into our common room or tell them our password. Girls, follow me," and they followed her up a flight of stairs to the first door on the left. They entered a room with five ancient four-posters with green silk hangings, and bedspreads embroidered with silver thread. Medieval tapestries depicting the adventures of famous Slytherins covered the walls. In particular Grace noticed the familiar visage of Merlin amidst the stories. Silver lanterns hung from the ceiling. "This is your dormitory. Get a good night's sleep, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to let me know."

Celia immediately ran to the second four-poster from the left, by one of the opaque windows. Grace took the one beside her on the end, and Harriet took the third. Wedby Warrington, stuck her foot out to trip Belinda as the pudgy girl made a rush for the forth, and walked sedately over to the trunk at the end of it, flipping it open with the toe of her a boot.

"This is my stuff," she explained, at which point Grace and Harriet sheepishly looked at the trunks at the ends of their beds and switched places, and Belinda, huffing, got onto her own bed, and drew the curtains shut. Wedby rolled her eyes and pulled the curtains back. "Don't be like that. We might as well be friends." All she got was a glower in response, and she shrugged and turned back to the rest of the room as Belinda finally got her way and tore the curtains closed again. Harriet giggled, and set about stripping the hair ties from her bunches.

"I'm so nervous about tomorrow," she said, "that I'm sure I shan't be able to sleep." Grace nodded in agreement, but no sooner had she gotten ready for bed than she passed out, all thoughts of sending letters forgotten.

Author Notes:

I would like to apologise to previous readers of this story in its original form. Anyone who has read this will see that it's completely changed from the original (although the general plot will hopefully have remained the same). I would just like to explain why this change has occurred. That is, as you can tell, I've written it in a different style. I hope you can tell. This is the style I'm prone to. The style I swing back to most of the time unless I'm writing a very specific kind of project. The previous version of this story copied J.K.R.s book format, and I got totally fed up with it. Not least because I kept having to explain terminology which the readers and myself already know! I liked discovering diagon alley with my character, and going through the whole adventure, but it's not something I think needs to be seen in hindsight.

There are OCs in this because to think you could write a story about three characters and only have them interact with other already established members of canon when it's set years later and half of the teachers are different and we know no-one else in their year is a completely redundant idea. Likewise, to assume that any last names not directly taken from cannon are definitely Muggleborn would be failing to comprehend how many people there are in the world J.K.R. set up for us, and matching everyone together too neatly. I wanted to write a girl because the HP books are obviously about a boy, and sometimes I think it would be nice to see the alternative. Rose wasn't an option. She would never be in Slytherin. Not on her life. A single train journey wouldn't change that. I put a lot of thought into making their decisions believable. Hopefully you agree.

If you like this story, it's side-story Inheritance is complete and will give you some idea of what's to come. The side-story has no OCs in it.

Luv Ya

XxMookinexX