DISCLAIMER: Not mines :'(

Chapter Two: Hat of Tricks

Rose POV

"Al 'n Rosie! Good to see yer! Are yer excited?" Hagrid wrapped us up in a bone crushing hug when we got on the platform.

"Of course! Can't wait!" I exclaimed.

Clarabelle couldn't take her eyes off the half giant. "Hagrid, this is Clarabelle. She's our new friend," Al introduced her.

Hagrid chuckled. "Well, any frien' of these lot are friends o' mine!" he said, gently shaking her small hand in his huge ones.

He straightened up and bellowed, "Alrigh', first years after me. C'mon. First years."

A swarm of first years followed Hagrid off the platform and too the Black Lake.

I heard Clarabelle gasp beside me, along with many of the others. The Black Lake glistened in the starlight and the Hogwarts was lit in the moonlight. The windows in the building made the castle appear like it was covered in muggle fairy lights.

It was breathtaking.

"Righ', four in a boa'," Hagrid said. Al, myself, Clarabelle and Emma Finnegan (Seamus Finnegan's daughter) clambered in one of the many small boats.

"Hi, Rose and Al! Hi, I'm Emma," Emma Finnegan gave Al and myself one armed hugs while shaking hands with Clarabelle. "Aw, I'm so excited. I hope I'm in Gryffindor. The three of us will probably be in the same house together, and maybe you Clarabelle! Oh, I can't wait!"

Emma was telling us a tale about her holiday in Ireland, when I saw Scorpius Malfoy again. But this time I saw him properly, not like on the platform or the couple of seconds on the Hogwarts Express.

His blonde hair seemed to glisten in the moonlight. His pale features were glowing in the reflection of the lake water. Why did I have to have such attractive competition?

Attractive? Rose, stop it. You're eleven for goodness sake! And besides, his father bullied your parents at school! Malfoy is obviously bad news.

"C'mon, Rose!" Al said, tugging me out of the boat.

We followed Hagrid up to the entrance of Hogwarts. The grounds were truly beautiful.

"Welcome, first years! Welcome to Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My name is Professor Longbottom. Right, so what's going to happen is that you are going to be called up to the front and you're going to have the Sorting Hat on your head and sit on the stool. It's going to be completely painless, so don't worry. Just keep calm and you'll be fine! Good luck!" Neville rattled off all in one breath, smiling down at us. "Oh, and don't forget to take it off."

As we walked into the castle, I dragged Al and Clarabelle up to the front, so I could say hello to Neville.

"Oh, Rose and Al! I hope you are excited! No, don't be silly; don't worry about it at all! No, Al, it doesn't matter if you're in Slytherin. Oh, hello. Clarabelle is it? It's very nice to meet you! No, honestly, it's completely safe," Neville answered our questions with ease.

We reached the doors of the Great Hall.

ASDFGHJKL! SJDNDBDJSNDBDDNDDBBHDJDBDBDBDDNDBDBBDDNDNDKZKSBSJS OAN!

My heart was racing. My breathing became faster and I had to stop myself from hyperventilating. I could feel Clarabelle trembling beside me, and Al was turning a nasty shade of green.

"Right, everyone, this is it! Take nice steady breathes and you'll be fine!" Neville said, encouragingly (I should really start calling him Professor Longbottom, I suppose).

The doors opened and hundreds of eyes gazed at us. I suddenly wished I hadn't pulled Clarabelle and Al to the front. I could hear the whispers of "Isn't that Rose Weasley?", "That's Al Potter, that is! Just like his dad", "Oh, aren't Rose and Al so cute" and "Ickle firsties" (the last one was James).

The Great Hall, though, was magnificent. Instead of a ceiling, a starry night sky took its place, with hundreds of levitating candles.

Headmistress Minerva McGonagall stood up, carrying the Sorting Hat in one hand and a piece of parchment in the other.

And the Sorting Hat began to sing.

Welcome back, New and Old,

I see before me and behold,

The newest of faces and curious minds,

As this year I sense difference, I will turn a blind eye.

The scared may be the bravest,

The tongue twisted the bright,

The shyest the friendliest,

What's seems dark shall be bright.

Will you be a Gryffindor, strong and true at heart?

Or will you be a Slytherin, planning a fresh start?

Maybe a Ravenclaw, wise, clever and bright?

Or perhaps a Hufflepuff who are loyal, hardworking, always against the fight?

I do not care for heart's blood this night,

I care only for the hearts insight.

The Great Hall burst out into applause, but everyone seemed at little confused. A blind eye? What on earth?

"Hats can... Sing?" Clarabelle whispered. I nodded, not trusting my voice.

McGonagall stepped forward with the piece of parchment in her hand.

"Abbot MacMillian, Sarah."

"Hufflepuff!"

"Adams, Natalia."

"Gryffindor!"

"Bank, Lewis."

"Ravenclaw!"

"Darrel, Cara."

"Hufflepuff!"

"Finnegan, Emma!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Malfoy, Scorpius," McGonagall said, like she had a sour taste in her mouth.

Hagrid's expression hardened and Neville- Professor Longbottom turned red.

Malfoy walked up to the stool on which the hat lay. He slowly put it on. The hat made its decision very quickly.

"Slytherin."

He shuffled gingerly to the Slytherin table. His head was down and his friends from the train shook his hand.

Then he found me staring. My bright blue eye's met his metallic grey ones...

"McLaggan, Jason!"

"Gryffindor."

...Heart's insight? Not blood... Huh? I tried to unravel the riddle but got nowhere.

"Mead, Isabella."

"Hufflepuff!"

"Norris, Nadine."

"Slytherin!"

"Potter, Albus."

Al took a shaky step forward. He was sweating and was looking rather green.

He walked up to the hat and hesitantly put it on his head. The hat took several minutes to decide. Al looked uncomfortable and pretty terrified. The finally -

"Gryffindor!"

He sagged in relief and took the Hat off and walked down to the Gryffindor table. He shook hands with the other Gryffindors and gave me a relieved look.

"Reid, Agnes."

"Ravenclaw."

"Rogers, Clarabelle."

Clarabelle! She gave me a grimace and I squeezed her hand.

When the hat was placed upon her head, she tensed even further.

I truly didn't know what house she would be in. And then it hit me! Heart's insight-

"Slytherin!"

McGonagall's mouth popped open. Clarabelle had the biggest grin on her face. Al and I exchanged an incredulous look. I clapped louder than the rest of the crowd and I heard Al wolf whistle. Clarabelle walked down to the Slytherin table with confidence, giving me a toldyouso look.

"Scamander, Lorcan."

"Ravenclaw!"

"Scamander, Lysander!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Thomas, Farheen."

"Ravenclaw!"

"Weasley, Rose."

My chest tightened. I slowly walked towards the Hat. It was old and frayed. I placed it on top of my red curls, sat down and held onto the stool tightly.

You're mind says Gryffindor. You think you want to follow in your parents footsteps. Make them proud of you. But, Miss Weasley, you don't want these things. You want to be different, from your parents. You want people to judge you for you. You're a very smart girl. Highly intelligent... I think your be best in..

"RAVENCLAW!"

Oh, Merlin.

Rose POV

Dear Rose,

We are so proud of you! Of course you're not a disappointment, sweetheart! Don't be silly.

In fact, the Sorting Hat nearly put me in Ravenclaw.

Sweetheart, I know you've been worrying about your father's reaction. He is completely fine. He is very, very proud of you. As always.

Hugo is missing you terribly. He's counting down the days to the Christmas holidays, so he knows when he next sees you.

Enjoy all your classes and don't forget to do all you homework on time, and study at every possible opportunity!

Give my love to Al,

Love you always Baby Girl!,

Mum x

I sat back and sighed in relief.

"Aunt Mione and Uncle Ron fully forgave you for being a terrible let down?" Al had teased, quoting my earlier meltdown.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Yeah, they have. What did your parents say?"

Al grinned. "Dad told me that I must be brave. Something about me obviously followed my namesake's footsteps."

It had only been a two weeks into the term, so I still hadn't gotten the hang of Hogwarts yet. The moving stairs terrified me, as I had inherited my mother's fear of heights.

A fellow Ravenclaw, Agnes Reid and I were trying to find our way to DADA (defense against the dark arts). "I'm sure we turned left yesterday, Rose!" Agnes said, confused.

I shook my head. "We went straight on and then right!"

"Er... Actually DADA is left," a quiet voice said behind us.

Malfoy.

Again, my sense of pride flared and I stuck my chest out. "I don't remember asking you," I said, as coldly as possible. Al gave me a confused look.

Malfoy seemed startled. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Whatever. C'mon, Agnes," I said, grabbing a very confused Agnes by the arm and hurling her along.

"What was that about?" Agnes asked when we reached class. Thankfully, it hadn't started.

I shrugged. I mean, who was Malfoy to correct me? His family caused mine an awful lot of pain. His auntie tortured my mother, for Merlin's sake!

I had my reasons to act like that.

Scorpius POV

"Coming, Scorp?" Danny asked, picking up his bag.

I shook my head. "Nah, I just want to finish this. You guys go on ahead."

"Sure, ok," Blake said, getting up from the velvet green couch. "Don't be late. We'll try to save you a seat."

"Thanks, mate," I smiled.

I finished the last of my Transfiguration notes (I was right. It had already been a bit more than two weeks, and I was already in love with the subject) and ran in the direction of the DADA class. I had just turned the corner when...

I'm sure we turned left yesterday, Rosie!" Agnes Reid said, scratching her blonde head.

Rose Weasley shook her head. "We went straight on and then right!"

"Er... Actually DADA is left," I said quietly.

"I don't remember asking you," Rose said, as coldly as possible. Agnes gave her a confused look.

Stupid, Scorpius, stupid. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Whatever. C'mon, Agnes," she said, grabbing Potter by the arm.

What did you expect? I thought as I watched the red head stomp off with her cousin. It was bound to happen. Rose Weasley was always going to hate you.

I gave myself a mental slap and trudged my way to DADA.

"How nice of you to join us, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Creevey said, not unkindly.

I looked at Danny and Blake, but they hadn't managed to save me a seat.

I took a seat at the back, far away from Rose Weasley as possible.

"As I was saying, today we're going to learn the theory of the Jelly Legs Jinx-Miss Rogers! You are ten minutes late!"

The small, short haired girl was bent over, panting. The professor looked at her expectantly. "I... Forgot... My books... And had... To... Run..."

Professor Creevey had to stop a small smile on his face. "That's the third time this week, Miss Rogers! Once more and its detention. Now, catch your breath and sit down."

Rogers nodded obediently and sat down on the nearest seat. Next to me.

"Hey," she whispered, as the professor resumed talking.

"Er... Hi?" I whispered back.

"I didn't forget my books, I just forgot my sweets," she giggled quietly. Under her cloak, she revealed a huge packet of mini chocolate frogs. My mouth watered. "Want one?"

"Sure," I said and took one (Hey, don't judge! I'm a sucker for chocolate frogs).

Suddenly, Clarabelle sneezed and the entire contents fell on the floor.

Then, there was chaos.

A/N: What can I say? I enjoyed this. I've written more of the later chapters, so for me it's really starting to take shape.

Scorose makes me giddy.

And, I, like Scorpius, really, really like chocolate.