A/N: With my other story, The Dragon Club, being close to finished, I thought I would start another one. This one is also a next-generation fic, because I love the next gen! I am also planning on writing two different Marauder's stories sometime in the future. This is the first introductory chapter of this story, so please let me know what you think!
The young girl pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders and continued stumbling blindly through the dark forest. The only sounds were the crunching of the twigs beneath her feet and her own broken sobs. A branch caught on the hood of her cloak, pulling it down, and her golden blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders.
She forcefully pulled the hood back up and carried on. How far was she from her destination? She didn't know. All of her worldly possessions were packed up carefully in her backpack, which was weighing her down significantly.
Her most prized possession was the emerald cloak she was currently wearing, because it was a gift from her best friend. They had met by chance, having lived in the same area. At first she had been terrified, because he had seen her secret; he had seen her perform magic. But when he said that he could do magic as well, that his whole family was magic, she was astounded.
That had been almost five years previously. She came to a clearing and the moonlight glistened beautifully off of the grass and ferns. Now she knew she was close to his house. Would his family turn her away? They had always been so kind to her. Perhaps she should feel guilty about this, but her emotions were so jumbled up at the moment that she wasn't sure if one of those emotions was guilt or not.
She saw the tall iron gates and let out a wail, flinging herself toward them, griping the cold iron tightly in her small fists. They swung open at her touch, and she almost fell in her haste to get inside the yard. Feeling weaker than she had ever felt in her life, she ran using all of her strength to propel herself forward. Finally, she reached the huge front doors.
Before she could even knock, they were being opened by a tall lean man with white blonde hair that was a startling contrast from the black suit he wore. "I'm sorry," she whispered, holding out a thick piece of parchment to the man. He took it with a frown, and the girl collapsed; fainting on his front porch.
….
"Isla!" her name was being shouted, and the person doing the shouting was about to get a swift kick in the pants if he didn't shut his mouth. She was tired and the last thing she wanted right then was to get up and go down to eat breakfast.
"Come on," oh great, now the boy was in the room with her. She moaned feebly and pulled the thick duvet over her head, snuggling deeper into the soft mattress. "We're going to be late if you don't get up."
Sighing, the boy tore open the curtains that were around her bed, letting bright sunlight spill in, but her head was hidden under the covers. He grabbed her ankles and pulled hard. She let out a shriek of fright as her body slid out of the bed, spilling onto the carpeted floor, still tangled in the duvet.
"SCORPIUS HYPERION MALFOY!" she shouted.
Knowing he was in trouble, Scorpius skipped out of the room laughing, with Isla right behind him. He was fast, but she was faster. She sprung at him, and together the two of them toppled down the stairs, each of them taking many hard hits along the way.
They landed in a heap at the bottom, moaning and rubbing their sore spots, "You are a fucking bitch, Isla."
"Me? You're the one who dragged me out of bed, you wanker!"
"It's almost nine o'clock! The train leaves at eleven, you needed to get up," he said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Ah, nothing like waking up to the dulcet tones of my children arguing," said Draco Malfoy as he came into the room, sipping a cup of hot tea.
"She started it!"
"I did not! He's lying, Draco!"
"Dad! You know me better than that, I wouldn't lie!"
"Yes you would, you Slytherin prat!"
"Oi! At least I'm not a goody-goody lion!"
"You're just jealous that you weren't brave enough to be put in Gryffindor!"
"Ha! As if I would want to be put into a house that was all brawn and no brain."
"We have brains, you nitwit!"
"Bitch!"
"Tosser!"
"Slag!"
"BE QUIET!" Astoria Malfoy had entered the room, her long chestnut brown hair messy, like it always was in the morning, and her blue eyes blazing dangerously. Draco was still chuckling, standing off to the side.
"Sorry, Mum," mumbled Scorpius.
"Sorry, Astoria," Isla said, not be outdone by Scorpius' brown-nosing.
"It's fine, I know how you two are. Now go upstairs and finish packing your trunks. We're leaving here in one hour!"
Still grumpy, the two fifteen-year-olds ran back up the staircase and into their separate rooms, each of them slamming their bedroom doors for effect. "What were we thinking, adopting her?" Astoria said with a small smile of amusement.
"That we never wanted peace and quiet again?" suggested Draco as he moved to wrap his arms around his wife.
"I'm glad we did it. I love her very much," said Astoria quietly. Every day she was thankful for the life she had. Draco, Scorpius, and Isla were the best family a witch could ask for.
"We all do. Especially Scorpius. He took to being a brother with amazing finesse. Can you believe it's been four years already?"
Smiling happily, the couple went to the dining room and began to eat the breakfast that their house elf had prepared.
…
Once the Malfoy family had arrived at the train station, Isla took off running toward the train, but Scorpius grabbed the back of her robes, pulling her back hard and using it as leverage to propel himself forward.
"GIT!" she screamed.
"TWAT!" she heard in reply. Grumbling and straightening her robes, she made her way toward the train with a bit less enthusiasm than she had previously.
"Iz! Izzy!" she heard her best friend, Roxanne Weasley calling for her.
Isla groaned, hating when people called her 'Izzy.' To her, it sounded like 'Lizzie' and she most definitely hated that name. Roxie wasn't her only best friend. There was also Louis Weasley and Asher Longbottom.
Roxanne tackled her, but before she could fall to the ground, the broad and stable Louis Weasley was on the other side of her, letting out an 'oof' noise as she collided into him. "Thanks, Louie," she said as she patted his Quidditch-toned chest.
"Any time, Iz," he said with a laugh. "Let her go, Rox, you're suffocating her."
"But I haven't seen her in two weeks, Lou! Two weeks!"
Isla Paddington hugged Roxanne in return, both girls squealing excitedly at being reunited. Isla never told anyone about her arrangement with Scorpius' family, because she didn't want any sympathy or pity. When she had received her letter from Hogwarts at the age of eleven, her muggle parents had told her she wasn't allowed to go; witchcraft was the work of the devil according to them.
Isla argued with them to no avail. Finally, they sent her to her bedroom and told her she was grounded for even wanting to learn witchcraft. Without them knowing, she packed her most important things, and slipped out the window. Scorpius Malfoy was her best friend at the time, and she went to his mansion, not knowing where else to go. His parents had unofficially adopted her.
She had left her parents a note, of course, telling them that she was a witch, whether they approved of that or not, and she was going to a place where she would be appreciated and loved for who (and what) she was. Isla hadn't talked to her parents since that day.
Now, as she began her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, she felt like she was going home. People around Hogwarts knew that Isla and Scorpius weren't exactly enemies, but they tended to avoid each other at school simply because Isla wanted it that way. She loved Scorpius more than she loved her own flesh and blood brothers (of which she had three; one older, two younger).
Whenever her friends wanted to hang out, she asked to go to their homes instead of having them come to hers, for the mere sake of keeping her secret that she was the unofficially adopted daughter of the Malfoy family. Likewise, when Scorpius' friends came over to the mansion, Isla stayed far away from them, and they would never have known that another teenager lived in that house.
"Why are your parents never here?" Roxanne grumbled as she glanced around, looking for adults who may be Isla's parents.
"I told you," she rolled her eyes, "they're muggles and they don't like me coming to a wizard school, so whenever this time of year rolls around, they stuff me into a muggle taxicab and send me on my way."
"Finally!" Asher approached them, dragging his trunk, panting heavily as he found his friends.
Ignoring his arrival, Roxanne continued her scrutinizing of Isla's mysterious family, "If they don't approve, then why do you always have the best of everything? The newest Silver Arrow broomstick, the solid gold scale set for potions, fancy new robes every semester," she was ticking off her fingers like she was counting a list.
"Rox," groaned Isla, "just because they don't approve doesn't mean they're not rich."
Roxanne started to pull Isla toward the train, calling back over her shoulder, "Oi! Lou! Ash! Bring our trunks, will you?" They went into their usual compartment and were soon joined by the boys, who were each struggling with two trunks.
"I'll be right back," said Isla quietly, knowing there was only about five minutes until the train would leave, "I need to use the restroom," she scampered off of the train and ran to where Draco and Astoria stood, waving to Scorpius.
"Why don't you ever introduce us to your friends?" Astoria sounded hurt.
"I've told you," Isla said with a small smile, "I don't want them to know that I'm, you know, an orphan mooching off of the Malfoys."
"Isla Ann!" scolded Astoria.
Draco frowned, "I understand. But Isla, if they are your real friends, they'll accept you no matter what kind of situation you're in. They won't pity you like you fear they will. We love you, have a good term."
Isla hugged both of them, kissing them swiftly on the cheeks, then left.
Scorpius Malfoy was sitting with his two best mates, Albus Potter and Ryder Zabini. Scorpius waved to his parents, a bit embarrassedly, then turned to his friends and asked if they fancied a game of Exploding Snap to pass the time on the train.
"Is that Isla Paddington?" asked Albus, looking past Scorpius at the platform, "why is she hugging your parents?"
"Oh," Scorpius swallowed loudly and then lied, "my mum and her mum met this summer and became pretty good friends. Isla got close to my mum."
"Hm," said Albus, watching as Isla scurried back toward the train, "not exactly bad looking, is she?" Scorpius felt his blood boil and he suddenly wanted to punch Albus; how dare he look at his sister that way!
"Not exactly bad looking?" mocked Ryder, "she's one of the hottest girls at Hogwarts. Hell, Albus, aside from the girls in your family, she is the hottest girl in Hogwarts. Which means that she is the hottest girl who you could date without participating in incest."
Albus laughed, but Scorpius scowled. "You don't fancy her, do you, Scorp?" asked Al as he watched his friend's face go from its usual pale color to a startling shade of red at the topic of their conversation.
"Bloody hell, no," said Scorpius disgustedly. How did he explain that she was like a sister to him? He couldn't.
"Well maybe you could introduce me?" Albus suggested, wiggling his eyebrows, "Since she knows your mum and all."
"You two have been introduced before," said Scorpius while rolling his eyes, "her best friends are two of your cousins."
"I just thought you might be able to put in a good word or something – wait. How do you know that my cousins are friends with her?" asked Al with a frown.
"I'm observant, Potter. Fuck, what's with the interrogation this morning?"
Albus backed off, "Sorry, mate, didn't mean to get your knickers in a twist, I just didn't realize you paid that much attention to Roxanne and Louis."
"Maybe he does fancy Paddington," teased Ryder.
"Don't be thick," said Al with a laugh, "Scorp is still head over heels in love with Rose, isn't that right?"
Scorpius grimaced; it was so like his friends to take the mickey out of him for liking a girl. He couldn't help it if Rose Weasley was the only girl in the school who challenged him intellectually while also being the hottest witch he had ever seen.
"Yeah, I still fancy Rose," Scorpius finally admitted grudgingly. His friends made kissy noises while he shuffled the deck of cards and began to deal; an exciting game of Exploding Snap should distract them from that conversation.
Once they finally reached the Great Hall, Isla was famished. She had been so engrossed in her conversation with her friends that she had completely missed the lunch trolley! Practically running to Gryffindor Table, she threw herself onto the bench and waited impatiently for the Sorting to start.
"Merlin, Iz," grumbled Louis as he tousled his reddish-blonde hair and plopped down next to her, "Quidditch practice hasn't even started yet and you've already put me to shame by out running me to the Great Hall."
Isla laughed and glanced up and down the table for the rest of her team mates. James Potter, sixth year, was the Quidditch Captain and star Chaser. Isla was also a Chaser, along with Louis. The Beaters on the Gryffindor team were James Potter's best mates; Fred Weasley (Roxie's brother), and Evander Wood, whose dad played Quidditch professionally. Their Keeper was Rose Weasley, and their Seeker was Lily Potter.
As she looked down sadly at her empty plate, a piece of parchment appeared. Isla picked it up cautiously and opened it to find the familiar scrawl of their Quidditch Captain. The note read:
Isla,
Team meeting tonight in the RoR. Yes, it is required. No, you're not allowed to bring Roxanne. Meeting starts at 8. See you then.
JP
She rolled her eyes and stuffed the note into her pocket. James Potter couldn't fool her, she knew this wasn't a team 'meeting,' but more like a team 'drinking,' as Louis liked to call them. James said that it was important for the team to "bond" and his idea of bonding involved a lot of firewhiskey, no adult supervision, and team-only parties.
However, their fearless captain knew her all too well and had anticipated her two questions (if she had to go and if so, then could she bring her best friend?), so maybe these team bonding sessions really did work. Contemplating this, she barely even noticed that the First Years had now entered the Great Hall.
"Oh, they're so cute and little," said Roxanne gleefully.
"Twitchy little midgets. Don't let them fool you, Roxie, they're evil," said Asher ominously.
"But they're adorable," she argued imploringly, "I mean, just look at that little one with the blonde mop of hair! I could just pinch his perfect little cheeks!"
"My cousin, the pedophile," mumbled Louis. Roxanne pinched him hard. "Ow! That hurt, you bint!" he said, rubbing the left side of his chest, giving the impression that Roxanne had pinched a particularly sensitive spot.
"Shh, it's starting," said Asher, practically bouncing with excitement. He had always loved the Sorting Hat's song.
Don't be fooled, young friends of mine,
By the way I look so frayed
I'm wiser than an owl
And always unafraid.
Try me on, I'll sort you out,
Put you where you belong
You can't hide your thoughts from me
And I am never wrong.
Four houses here at Hogwarts thrive,
Four places you might go
There's a spot for each of you
And I will make it so.
If you are loyal and work hard
You'll go to Helga's house
Hufflepuffs are always fair
And are meeker than a mouse.
Your mind may be above and beyond
Just like the eagles soar
Then I'll put you in Ravenclaw
Where reading's not a chore.
For those who are brave and just
Gryffindor is for you
Chivalrous young lads go here
And ladies who are true.
Perhaps you are ambitious
Deceivers who want fame
Slytherin is where you'll go
For I know your cunning game.
These are the houses four
For me to choose between
And once I'm done, we'll have a feast
You can lick the platter clean.
Step right up, whoever's first
Place me on your head
There's nothing I haven't seen before;
No mind I've never read.
Your secrets are all safe with me
I'll never tell a soul
Now's the time you've been waiting for
It's time to call the roll!
Everyone clapped and cheered as the hat bowed (as best as it could) to each of the four house tables and then to the line of nervous First Years waiting to be sorted. Professor Chang started calling names off of a long piece of parchment.
Isla was only partially paying attention as she kept glancing back wistfully at her empty plate. That was until she heard the name, "Paddington, Eli." Without thinking, Isla leapt to her feet to get a better look.
It was the small blonde-haired boy who Roxanne had been talking about earlier, and now that Isla was paying attention, she saw what she had failed to see before. "Iz, what's wrong?" asked Roxanne, tugging on the sleeve of her friend's robe.
Isla didn't reply, just stared as the boy walked shakily up to the hat and placed it on. For a moment there was silence and then, "GRYFFINDOR!" Isla had never cheered so loudly. She was jumping up and down, waving her arms and clapping. The boy spotted her and ran to her, a huge smile on his face, and his arms wide open. He slammed into her hard, but she didn't care. For the first time in four years, she was with her little brother.