Chapter One
Lily Potter was in an absolute frenzy. It was time to send her precious Henry on his way to Hogwarts, but he was missing things. His wizards chess set and Nimbus 2000 that he had gotten for his birthday. They were both somewhere in his room heaped under piles of rubbish and toys scattered about the room. With a swish of her wand, she cleared up his room. She preferred the traditional method of cleaning, but magic would have to do for now.
Harry stood with his trunk and Hedwig's cage on the opposite side of the room. He had everything ready to go and was just waiting for his parents to get everything of his brother's together. His mother hurried down the stairs with his brother's missing broom and chess set. "Really, Henry, you should have cleaned up your room!" she said, although there was not a reprimanding tone in her voice.
"I'm sorry, Mom, really," Henry said. He stood on his tiptoes and placed a kiss on her cheek. James clapped his son on his back.
"Are we all ready to go then?" James asked. He placed a port key on the ground. Harry hurried over with his trunk and put his hand on the key along with his parents. He squeezed his eyes shut.
When he landed, Harry opened his eyes and stood back up with his trunk. Lily brushed Henry off, and James turned to Harry, giving him a once over. "Harry, I want you to know that we are very proud of you," he said. He pulled Harry into his arms and gave him a brisk hug before walking over to Henry.
Lily was already placing kisses on his cheeks and tearing up while hugging him. "Oh, Henry! You're going to have such an amazing year!"
"And don't forget!" James said, his eyes gleaming with a familiar look in his eyes.
"Rules are meant to be broken!" Henry pitched in. He grinned ear to ear as his father gave him a few word of reassurance.
Harry turned away from his family and walked towards the opening of the train. He trudged his stuff with him and as soon as the doors opened, he entered. He felt nervous walking down the train car, and he picked a compartment near the middle. He opened the door and sat down beside the window.
He looked of the window. His parents were hurrying his brother into the line. Lily gave him one last hug before gently pushing him onto the train. They then started to wave. Harry waved a little gesture towards them, pretending that they were waving good bye to him.
A frizzy haired girl knocked on the compartment door and cracked it open. "Can we sit with you? The rest of the compartments are full," she said. There was a boy with her who Harry recognized as Neville Longbottom. He had come with his grandmother when she came for a meeting with James.
Harry nodded his head. "Of course," he said. She stepped inside and sat down opposite side of him.
"My name is Hermione Granger," she said. It didn't take long to know who she was, as she told him within the next few minutes. Apparently her parents were muggles and were something called "dentists".
The door opened and Henry stuck his head inside. He flashed a grin and stepped inside. "Holy cricket! You're Henry Potter!" Hermione said. "I've heard all about you!"
Harry cringed a little. "Of course. Why wouldn't you?" he said cheekily. He walked over to Harry and halved the money their parents had given him. "Here, Harry. Mum and Dad were looking for you, but you had already gotten on the train."
That was a lie; of course, he had seen them slip it to him. "Thank you, Henry," he said. Henry grinned and waved good bye to Hermione and Neville as he left.
His brother wasn't horrible. In fact, he tried to be fair to Harry. When their parents favored over him, he usually tried to share with his brother. He was spoiled for sure, and from what Harry had heard, he acted very much like their father, James. But Henry wasn't so bad.
His parents were the ones who played favorites- especially his mother. His father at least tried to praise and talk to him a little. His mother often acted like he wasn't even around. It hurt, but had grown used to it by now.
In fact, the two people to never play favorites were his two uncles Sirius and Remus. They weren't his uncles by blood, but they might as well be. They were currently traveling the world, as Remus wanted to help other werewolves start lives. Sirius didn't want Remus to go alone, so he made the choice to go with them. They came back on holidays, so they would see them at Christmas.
"You're Henry's brother?" Hermione said. She looked confused. "I didn't know he had a brother, none of the articles told me that."
Harry faked a laugh and waved a little. "Yeah, but it's not like I'm the actual Boy-Who-Lived. It can be real annoying, so I'm glad that I'm not as well known. My brother constantly gets hounded by that stupid Rita Skeeter, ya know? I'm glad that I'm just Harry. "
With that, Hermione got the gist that it wasn't a great topic. She started to talk about all the research she had done on Hogwarts and had memorized all the rules. Neville remained quiet almost the whole ride other than occasional mhms.
When the train finally stopped, they got up and quickly got a boat for themselves. Henry got one with his friend Ron Weasley. The Weasley family was known for all their kids and every single one of them had bright red hair, freckles, and was extremely poor. As they sit in their boat, not even Hermione whispered a word. The castle was amazing, and Harry could hardly believe that e was finally going to be staying here. He had seen the Head Master, Professor Dumbledore, once or twice but he had never spoken to him. He always paid special attention to his brother just as everyone else did.
When the boat finally stopped in front of the castle, he stepped out and helped Hermione and Neville out. As he approached the castle, a blonde haired boy stepped in front of him. He held out his hand. "You must be Harry Potter. I'm Draco Malfoy," he said.
The name Malfoy was a familiar one. He had heard his parents mention how they worked for the Dark Lord, and that Lucius Malfoy had claimed he was under the Imperius Curse. But they thought it was rubbish. He hesitantly took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Draco," he said.
"I know that your parents are okay with mudbloods, but let's face it," he said, looking at Hermione and Neville, "Some wizards are better company than others. Let me help you out."
At that, Harry dropped his hand. "I do believe I can judge for myself, thanks," he said. He turned away from Draco. Hermione looked down at the ground and gritted her teeth before stomping up the steps. Harry could tell that the Malfoy boy would be trouble, he could already sense it. He hurried after Hermione and Neville followed after him. Behind them, Draco was seething.
Harry came up to Hermione and shook his head. "You're absolutely brilliant, you know. Don't let him get to you," he said. With that, she gave him a hint of a smile before turning to look at Professor McGonagall.
"Before the feast, all new students must be sorted into their respected houses," she said. "There is Hufflepuff, Griffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."
Hermione took a deep breath. "I've studied. I'm ready for whatever test we have do! I wonder what it is?"
"I've heard that we have to duel a troll," Neville whispered. He looked fearful that just the thought.
"You don't think they would really make us battle a troll?" Harry said. "But I don't think I would want to take a test and embarrass myself either!" At that, Hermione let out a small laugh and walked inside. She started to talk about the specifics of hexing and included a few spells that she knew.
When they reached the feast hall, they were happy to see that there was at least no troll. All the older students were taking their seats at their respected house tables. Professor McGonagall turned to them and put all the first years in line.
All the first years pranced around with their feet anxiously as a dusty hat was brought into the Feast Hall. Then Professor McGonagall started to call out the names of the first years. "Abbott, Hannah!" Student after student went, and speed seemed to speed up. "…Potter, Harry," she said.
Harry bit his mouth as he walked towards the seat up front. There were many hushed voices and whispers. The ones he made out were saying "Do you think he's related to Henry Potter." He took a seat stiffly in the chair, his heart seeming to beat harder than he thought possible. He felt the rough fabric being placed on top of his head.
"Ah, young Harry Potter! I have been wondering when we would meet. The ambition you have is strong. Your mind is filled with intelligence, but you're very courageous as well. I think that I will have to choose…"
"SLYTHERIN!"
Harry gaped at the sorting hat's judgment. It was this time when he noticed his parents standing near the door. James had his arm around Lily's shoulders and held her close as if she were mourning. His bright green eyes made an effort to make eye-contact with his father, but he kept looking away with unmasked disgust.
He stood up on his feet stiffly before walking over to the Slytherin table and sitting down in front of a curious-looking Draco Malfoy. "So you finally came to your senses?" he said. Harry lifted his eyes to look at Draco. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead, he turned to watch his brother being sorted. It only took a minute before shouting "GRYFFINDOR!"
The rest of the sortings seemed to slow down. He could feel several curious eyes on his back, but kept his head down. A Potter in Slytherin? That had never happened before. If he hadn't felt like an outcast in his family before.. He wouldn't be surprised if they decided to disown him now. "So are you related to Henry Potter?" a random first year asked.
"Henry Potter is my brother," Harry said. He didn't look up from the table. He couldn't even bring himself into eating much more than a few bites of a roll. When the feast was over, he could feel a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see an older student.
"I'm Adrian Pucey," he said. He waited until the rest of the Slytherin's were filing out of the Feast Hall. "You're a Potter, right? I suppose most of your family went to Gryffindor." Harry nodded silently. "Slytherin really isn't that bad. We have a bad reputation unfortunately, but I must say that we are one of the most loyal houses…To other Slytherins, anyway!" Harry let out a small laugh.
"I suppose I have been biased by my parents, ya know? They were both Gryffindor, and I guess that's where I expected to be placed," Harry admitted.
"You're not the first one to be surprised by the sorting hat's choice. There is always a reason that you're here," Adrian said. He started to walk with Harry out of the Feast Hall. On the way out, he passed his parents, but they wouldn't even look at him. "Is that…"
"My parents," Harry answered. "My brother is in Gryffindor. I just hope he won't be a prat about it." Adrian continued to fill him in on the aspects of Hogwarts, mostly to keep him from thinking about his family. He was grateful, really, because he probably would have cried if not for Adrian's conversation.
