AN – I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other characters I only own Celeste. JKR owns everything and I am not her. I'm putting this chapter out to get an idea as to whether the story will interest people. I'm slowly working out a plan of what to write for it so bear with me please.
CHAPTER 1 – The story begins
Being born into a family renown for belonging in Slytherin is hard… It's even harder when you don't belong there yourself. It's hard being a Slytherin who's in Gryffindor. My name is Celeste and I'm the first Malfoy to ever be sorted into Gryffindor…
I was born the 13th April 1979, one year before Draco. From the day I was born two things were drilled into me, the first of these being that purebloods ruled the Wizarding world and the second, that muggleborns, or mudbloods as some people called them, were scum and unsafe to be around. My parents Narcissa and Lucius were not affectionate towards myself or Draco, but we never had a bad childhood. It was dictated by my father that, as a girl, the only thing I needed to know was proper etiquette. Meanwhile Draco learned everything as a child from basic duelling to how to elevate social status and wealth as he got older. As we grew up, my father expressed an interest in sending us away to do our schooling. In particular he wanted me to go to the Beauxbatons Academy for magic, as he believed I would learn to be a proper lady there, and he wished for Draco to go to Durmstrang, an academy for Dark Arts. Mother disagreed, not wishing for her children to go to schools so far away from home. Therefore, on September the 1st I waved goodbye to my family and boarded the Hogwarts express, promising to send my owl, Amadeus, with a list of the other girls in Slytherin. As the train gathered speed and my parents slowly faded from view, I wandered the train looking for the girls I had grown up with. In particular Daphne Greengrass, the daughter of an old family friend whom my parents hoped to marry Draco to one day. After 10 minutes of searching, I gave up and found an empty compartment for myself. Shortly after I sat down, two identical faces appeared at the door with mischievous grins.
"Hi, I'm Fred." said the one on the right.
"And I'm George." said the other. I knew instantly who the red headed boys were; Weasley's.
"Hello, I'm Celeste. This is my first year." I replied politely.
"Ahhh..." said Fred.
"An ickle firstie." finished George.
Fred and George spent the entire train ride with me, and while I knew what my father would say about me spending time with blood traitors it was nice to have people to talk to. So for the entire journey, I said not one word regarding my family or my future at Hogwarts. I was just Celeste to them. We arrived at Hogwarts in no time at all and after sailing to Hogwarts on little boats, with Hagrid the half giant, we were greeted by Professor McGonagall, head of my future house and the Deputy Headmistress;
"Good evening and welcome to Hogwarts, shortly we shall pass through these doors," she gestured behind her, "and begin the sorting. For those of you who don't know there are four houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin."
She then asked us to sort ourselves into two single file lines while she made sure they were ready for us. Fortunately I finally found Daphne,
"Celeste," she sneered. "We missed you on the train."
"Oh," I whispered. "I spent the ride on my own, I couldn't find you guys." Daphne nodded slowly, as she changed the subject.
"I can't wait to go down to the Slytherindormitory and get away from all of this." she gestured behind us to the crowd. I nodded, my best pureblood smile plastered to my face. McGonagall led us into the Great Hall, where she placed a stool and a hat on the steps and explained what it was for. Next thing I knew she had called the first name.
"Anderson, Vanessa."
A small girl with brown hair ran forward and tried on the hat, after a few minutes it called out Gryffindor and she joined the cheering Gryffindor table. I tuned out until I heard,
"Greengrass, Daphne."
"See you in Slytherin." She whispered and sure enough the hat barely touched her head before it screamed,
"SLYTHERIN!"
A bunch of scared looking girls became Hufflepuff's, and then it was my turn,
"Malfoy, Celeste."
As I stepped out of the crowd towards the stool, I'm sure I heard a couple of faint gasps coming from the Gryffindor table. As the hat was placed on my head I began to worry, surely I should be placed straight into Slytherin, just like Daphne. Right?
"Hmmm, another Malfoy. But you're different aren't you?" This absolutely terrified me; I couldn't be different. I was a Malfoy, pure and great.
"No, I'm not different, I'm a Slytherin."
"Ahhh... My dear that is where I come in, you see I sense honesty in you. I also see intelligence and bravery." I gulped silently; I could feel the stares of the Slytherins boring into me.
"Good luck dear, better be… GRYFFINDOR!"
Deafening silence fell over the Hall; I knew why of course. A Malfoy in Gryffindor was unheard of. I sat frozen in place, the word Gryffindor replaying in my head. What would father say? He would be so disappointed in me. Eventually McGonagall had to come and ask me to move. Where was the bravery that the sorting hat saw in me, I definitely didn't feel brave. I felt completely and utterly petrified. I staggered over to the Gryffindor table, tears pooling in my eyes.
"How could you not tell us, Miss Malfoy?" The twins asked, smiling, while I just stared blankly, unable to say anything at all. Shrugging, they dug into the food that appeared as the sorting ended, while I sat there, continuing to stare at everyone as they animatedly chatted away, clearly trying to avoid me. I think they all saw me as some sort of evil spy for the Slytherins.
The next morning I contemplated just not going to breakfast, the other girls in my dormitory already hated me. However my stomach protested that decision, so I decided to brave the throngs of people. It was at my own peril though, as during the morning post I noticed a familiar looking eagle owl. My stomach lurched when I realized it was Ames, my mother's owl, and I very nearly vomited when I saw the red envelope. The table turned to look at me as it exploded;
"Celeste Titania Malfoy!" bellowed my father's voice. "How dare you get yourself sorted into Gryffindor! Your mother and I are extremely disappointed with you! We will be at Hogwarts at 12pm, you will be there, or else!" As my father's final words echoed throughout the Great Hall, the howler exploded and turned to ash. I placed my head in my hands unable to stop tears flooding my eyes. I heard someone step behind me and felt a hand rubbing my back.
"Celeste? Are you alright?'
"No," I retorted, "do I look alright?" As I finished the sentence I turned back to see who it was; it was George! Seeing him made the tears flow freer and faster as my guilty conscience took over. I had just snapped at the only two people willing to talk to me.
Taken a back George said, "Ce, don't worry Fred and I will help you and we will be your friends no matter what happens." The tears continued at an increasing speed, and George looked at me worried;
"Celeste? Are you ok?"
Nodding, I smiled weakly, "You called me Ce, I've never had a nickname before."
And with that, the two of them burst into laughter.
I stood in the Entrance Hall waiting and as the clock struck noon, I watched the doors of the Hall open and my father stride towards me, my mother following along behind.
"Mother!" I cried as I saw her. My father just glared at me before striding away towards Professor Dumbledore's office. I watched in terror as the gargoyles stepped aside allowing my father access. I felt bile rising as we entered his office and all I could see was the sorting hat smirking at me. The need to vomit grew as my father asked for me to be re-sorted.
"Certainly Mr Malfoy, your daughter may be re-sorted, however I cannot promise that she will be placed in a new house." Dumbledore placed the hat on my head, and I shuddered as the small, gruff voice filled my ears.
"You're back? I hope you know I never change my mind. I put you in Gryffindor and that is where you shall stay. Gryffindor!" The hat called for the benefit of my parents. Without even seeing him, I could tell my father was furious; he marched up to me and pulled the hat off my head. He then began to shake me, as if he could remove the Gryffindor that way.
"What is wrong with you? You are supposed to be a Malfoy. Malfoy's do not belong in Gryffindor." Professor Dumbledore stepped forward to intervene and stop my father from actually hurting me.
"Mr Malfoy! I'm afraid that there is nothing we can do. Your daughter is a Gryffindor, you should be proud of that." My father looked Professor Dumbledore in the eye and calmly stated,
"She is no daughter of mine." He then stormed from the room dragging my sobbing mother behind him. I felt my eyes fill with tears but I couldn't move. It was a repeat of the sorting ceremony all over again, I was frozen with fear. I didn't belong in Gryffindor, Gryffindor's weren't scared of anything. I couldn't even stand up to my own father, let alone face the entire school again. I remember hearing the door to Professor Dumbledore's office open again, and I also remember a kindly woman telling me to relax and take a sip of the potion. After that my memories go black until the next morning when I awoke in my dormitory. My second morning at Hogwarts and I was alone, I had no one to confide in. No one to tell my fears to, and, most importantly I had no family anymore; no one to love me unconditionally. All I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and cry, but I steeled myself, I wasn't going to do that. I was going to stand up for myself and work hard. I would make my father wish he had never disowned me.
I entered the Great Hall as my mother taught me. I would fit into Gryffindor if it was the last thing I did. I could feel the glares of the Slytherin's as I made my way to the Gryffindor table with my head held high. No matter how much I wanted to join them and just be the daughter that my father wished for, I knew I was in Gryffindor for a reason. A loud voice pulled me from my thoughts.
"Hey Ce, come sit with us?" I stopped and smiled, maybe I did have friends after all.
AN: A review would be great. Just to see what I'm doing right or wrong. I know it's short, I'm sorry about that.
