Rose walked into the Great Hall with Dominique and Scorpius. Once they got to the Gryffindor table, Scorpius grabbed her hand, gave it a small squeeze and a small reassuring smile. He'll be ok. She nodded, knowing he was right. He squeezed her hand again, and made his way to the Slytherin table. Once he left, a wave of cold washed over her, her hand now hung limp at her side as she watched him settle in at his table. Don't let go of me, she thought, it took all her willpower to keep the words from tumbling out of her mouth. She turned away as Ella Nott slid onto the bench next to Scorpius, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. Rose sat down next to Dom, and fiddled nervously with a loose string on the sleeve her robes.
"Oohh, look Rose, Jason Thomas is giving you the look!" Dom giggled. Rose had no idea what 'the look' was, but she raised her head and immediately made eye contact with Jason Thomas. He grinned at her, and she quickly ducked her head blushing a bright red. Dom had stopped giggling, and had started gossiping with Layla Finnigan. Rose had just started fiddling with the string on her robe again when the doors to the Great Hall swung open. Rose turned around so fast she got whiplash. Rubbing her neck, she looked at the crowd of first years, that followed nervously behind Professor McGonagall, for any bright red hair. She spotted him at the back of the clump looking too awestruck to be nervous. Professor McGonagall had already begun to call out names. Abbot, Atkins, Burkins, Connelly, Colton, Cresswell, Dawlish… the list went on and on until-"Hugo Weasley." Dominique grabbed Roses hand, and both girls squeezed each others hand very hard as Hugo walked, shakily to the stool where the Sorting Hat was and sat down. McGonagall placed the hat on his head, it sunk so low you couldn't see Hugos eyes. Rose gave a watery chuckle, she wiped her face, not realizing until then that she had started crying. That was her baby brother.
"Another Weasley? There are quite a bunch of you aren't there?" The Sorting hat said with a snort of laughter. Rose could see her brothers face turn red. "Well, well, well, let me see…What house shall I put you in? Mix it up a little, eh? So how about… Slytherin!"
The Gryffindors, already prepared to cheer, allowed their mouths to drop open in surprise. Indeed, the entire Great Hall stood in silence, until a small clap began at the Slytherin table. Looking over, Rose noticed who it was. Scorpius. Slowly, Hugo wandered over to the table, looking disoriented. He took a seat between Scorpius and Ella, resulting in a glare from the latter. Rose sighed in relief, at least she knew her brother was safe with Scorpius. Then her fears enfulged her again. How would the other Slytherins treat Hugo, she wondered, After all he is a Weasley, and we do have a bit of a reputation for hating Slytherins. She wondered how her father would react to the news that his son, who he always said would be just like him, was a Slytherin. As soon as the feast began, Rose walked over to the Slytherin table.
"Hugo I… " She said, biting her lip as she lowered herself so she was eye level with him.
"Rose," he said sounding calm and all grown up, completely the opposite of the little boy Rose had sat with on the train."I'm fine, I really am." Rose wasn't convinced. "Besides, I asked to be in Slytherin." He said grabbing her hand. Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes bugged out slightly.
"Hugo… you… I… " She took a deep breath, I need to support him, he's my brother, I love him; no matter what house he's in. She smiled at him, "Hugo why-why did you ask to be in Slytherin, why not Gryffindor like the rest our family?"
"Well, Rose, I just wanted to break out of the mold Dad's forced upon me, his dream of me being a carbon copy of him at this age, so I thought, what better way to do that than to become a Slytherin." He said, my baby brothers all grown up, she thought
Speechless, Rose gave and understanding nod, and stood up planting a small kiss on the top of his head . With tears in her eyes, Rose wandered back to her table, and began to eat, immersed in thought.
Hugo's ambitious and cunning, that's for sure. Maybe he really is a Slytherin at heart. She thought as she munched on her salad. Halfway through dessert she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to see Scorpius standing there. He sat down next to her despite hostile glares from her fellow Gryffindors.
"Scorpius, promise me that you'll look out for him, make sure he's making friends, keeping up with his school work, that he's eating-" Rose exploded, talking very fast in an urgent whisper.
"Rose, he'll be okay, he really does want to be there." Scorpius interrupted. "But yeah, if it makes you feel any better I promise to look out for him." Rose sighed in relief.
"Thanks Scorp, I really-"
"Rose, what are you going to tell your parents?" He interrupted again. She she lifted her head to look him in the eye. He knew her parents- well, her dad at least. Her mum would probably be okay with Hugo being in Slytherin, but her dad…
"I don't know," She sighed. "The truth I guess." There was a long pause, before Scorpius squeezed her shoulder and rose from the table.
"I should get back to my table." She nodded. "Catch y'a later Rose." He said as he walked away. She willed the feast to last as long as possible, knowing that once she got up her dormitory, she would have to write one of the hardest letters of her life.