AN: And I begin writing chapter 2 a day later, we will see how it goes shall we. Personally, I can't wait until October when I'll be able to buy a new laptop and hopefully crank out chapters a lot faster. This laptop is nearly done for I'm afraid. I hope it lasts that long but in case it doesn't, I am actively clearing a flashdrive in order to put my chapters and work so far onto it.
Adrian smiled slightly as they arrived at the station and he gently shook the two girls awake. "Come on little ones. We have arrived." He grinned as Hermione got up immediately but Violet snuggled further into his thigh, pulling his arm tighter around her like a blanket. He chuckled and easily picked her up, standing her on her feet and holding her for a few minutes until he was sure that she was awake.
"You gonna be able to make it to the castle there, kitten?"
Violet nodded resolutely and gave him a small smile. "Do you care what house we're in?"
"Course not. Though I have to say I would prefer Slytherin."
The two girls grinned at each other, deciding then and there to do whatever it took to join the snakes in the snake pit. No matter what. They took each other's hand before following him off the train quietly. He led them over to Hagrid and introduced them. Hermione didn't recognize them but Violet did and gave the huge man a silent wave.
It only took a couple more minutes and they were all in boats across the lake. There was only four allowed per boat. Violet and Hermione were joined by a boy with white blonde hair and a boy with dark skin and hair that looked relatively friendly.
"Blaise Zabini." The boy introduced himself, halfway across the lake.
The other boy looked indecisive for a moment before commenting, "Draco Malfoy."
"I'm Hermione. This is Violet." Hermione said quietly.
"What? You have no last names?" Draco asked curiously.
"We aren't fond of them." Hermione snapped back slightly.
Draco's eyes widened and he nodded. Blaise frowned a bit but gave a short nod, eyes glued to Violet. She noticed the attention immediately and averted her own to the lake's surface.
Hermione and Violet were both relieved when they reached the shore opposite. Neither of them seemed to like the boat ride. Blaise was the first one out of the boat and he offered his hand to Violet to assist her while Draco got out and offered his hand to Hermione.
Both girls grasped the hand they were offered and were helped gracefully from the boat. Violet didn't feel tense around these two but that didn't necessarily mean she was ready to talk to them either. That could come later.
She let Hermione do the talking for both of them. It was easier and less stressful that way. Hermione was unlikely to reveal anything they didn't want known by anyone else.
When Blaise wrapped an arm around her shoulders on the rest of the walk up to the castle, she expected it to set her teeth on edge. It didn't and she relaxed a bit more. Hermione threw her a look of concern from where she walked next to Draco and Violet shook her head slightly at her. Hermione smiled slightly and both girls returned their attention to the walk.
"Hannah Abbott!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Susan Bones!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Terry Boot!"
And on and on the sorting went. Violet wasn't interested until she heard,
"Hermione Granger!"
Hermione walked up at a relaxed pace, clearly unwilling to let anyone see her nerves. The hat was lowered onto her head and less than a minute later it had made it's decision.
"SLYTHERIN!'
There was a frozen silence from everyone except for Hermione, who headed directly for the table, sitting down gracefully beside Adrian; Adrian, who had slid over to make room on two sides of him and clapped while Hermione sat on his right; Draco, who clapped quite happily; Blaise, who was clapping around Violet as he still had his arm around her shoulders; and Violet herself. She let out a low whistle. She never would have before but she wanted to support her first friend.
The names continued. Draco was almost immediately sorted into Slytherin. He sat by Hermione. There was a set of Indian looking twins. They went to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor in that order. Then it was Violet's turn and Blaise released her for the first time.
"Violet Potter!"
She made her way up and sat on the stool silently. The hat was placed on her head and she bit back her surprise when it spoke to her in her head.
"You've such a dark past, child. Too dark for Hufflepuff even if you are hardworking and very loyal. You're very smart, but you don't see knowledge as the end all be all as most of the ravens do. You're certainly brave enough but you're not nearly reckless or brash enough for Gryffindor."
"So Slytherin?" She thought to the hat.
"You have the cunning, the ambition. You have a dark past and secrets. Such is the way of the snakes. And you'll be safe there. I agree. Better be," he spoke the final word out loud. "SLYTHERIN!"
She walked somewhat quickly to Adrian's left. She sat directly between him and another student but stayed a bit closer to Adrian than the other one. Adrian wrapped an arm around her and returned his attention to the sorting.
A few more names went by before Blaise was sorted into Slytherin and sat next to another older boy, across from Adrian. There was a girl with blond hair seated next to him. Another first year but Violet couldn't remember her name.
"Welcome to Slytherin." The dark haired man spoke. He wore all black. He was still talking but Violet had lost her focus. She and Hermione both sat on the couch. Adrian was in the middle of them while Blaise sat beside her on one arm of the couch and Draco sat next to Hermione on the other.
Violet didn't see how it was all that important to listen to him anyways. She was sure the others would fill her in if any of it actually important. She snuggled a bit more into Adrian's side. He felt very safe to her and she savored that feeling having never had it before.
She wasn't quite sure how much time had passed before she felt herself lifted up and carried somewhere. She squirmed slightly and was held a bit firmer.
"Shhh little one. You fell asleep during Professor Snape's speech. I'm carryin' you to bed. Calm down."
She recognized the voice as Adrian's almost immediately and relaxed back into her sleepy state. She wasn't quite sure why she was so tired but she was absolutely exhausted.
Adrian smiled slightly and put her to bed. The stairs in the Slytherin dorm were rigged on intend as opposed to just males in general so it was easy for him to get up to her dorm. He used a switching spell to put her in pajamas, tucked her in and kissed her head lightly.
He noticed Hermione climb into the bed next to Violet and repeated the tucking in with her. He bid her goodnight and went to his own dorm. He didn't bother trying to examine his out of character behavior. It wasn't really bothering him so why waste the time trying to understand?
He would think back on that moment later on and realize he already knew why.
