Chapter 1: Hogwarts Life

POV Alice

I reached up to grab my Hogwarts robes from my closet. I heard my dad call from the other room.

"Hurry Alice! We're going to be late!"

I rolled my eyes. "Dad, we have another hour before the train leaves, and we can use the ministry car Ron gave us."

"Just hurry!"

I emerged from my yellow room into the kitchen. My dad was waiting for me.

"Come on," he said. "We have to go!"

It's my second year at Hogwarts. My father, Serious Black, was excited. I wished mom was here to calm him down.

My mother, Cala Black, died a year ago.

I hurried into the muggle car Ron had given us. We soon arrived at the train station.

We were about to walk into the barrier, when someone called Serious's name. He grimaced and turned to me.

"Sorry Alice," he apologized. "I have to go."

He hurried off, and I stepped into the barrier and appeared at platform 9 3/4.

I kept my head low, hoping no one would notice me. I had my mother's red hair, after all.

But someone noticed me. I really wished she hadn't.

"Well, if it isn't the criminal's little girl." Said the snotty voice I had been dreading all summer.

"Harla." I said with a jump.

"Yeah, it's me." Harla replied with a sneer. "I could see those freaky dark eyes from a mile away."

It was true. I had my dad's dark eyes, which looked strange against my pale complexion.

Harla's blonde hair rippled down her back. She had icy, cold blue eyes, like her mother, Pansy Malfoy.

Harla was in my year, and she had decided to follow in her mother and father's footsteps. She was the school bully.

"Hey!" Cried another familiar voice. I sighed in relief.

A tall girl with long brown hair, purple eyes, and extremely pale skin, walked out of the fog.

Selina Riddle.

Everyone was afraid of Voldemort's daughter. She was an outcast, like me.

She also happened to be my best friend.

"Harla," Selina said quietly. "Is there something you need to say? I can always pass it along to my mother."

Before Voldemort died, Belletrix Lestrange got married to him. They had Selina, and then Voldemort died at the hands of Harry Potter.

Selina didn't like her father, but her and the Potters have never really seen eye to eye.

Anyway, Harla has always been a little bit afraid of Selina's mother, because now, she is a ministry official with a lot of power. (Plus, for a while, she was Voldemort's first mate!)

I hug Selina as Harla scampers off.

Together, we go inside.

We watch all the first years get sorted. I see Cory Diggory, Lily Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and Rose Weasley get sorted. Rose and Lily are in Gryffindor, and Cory and Scorpius are in Ravenclaw. I saw Harla go pale.

Me and Selina are both in Hufflepuff.

We pass Angelica Weasley, James Potter, and Albus Potter on the way to our Common Room. They're all in Gryffindor.

We walk to the Hufflepuff common room.

I love our common room.

In the back of the room, there's a small fireplace. To either side of the room, there are the entrances to the girls and boys dormitories.

There are clusters of chairs in every corner, and a large desk to the left side of the room.

Me and Selina sit in our favorite cluster of chairs.

We see Wesley Diggory over by the fireplace. Leo Weasley comes and sits down with us.

"Yo." Leo greets.

I blush. I've had a crush on Leo since I got here.

Selina nudges me. "Hey, Leo. Whatcha doin' this weekend?"

I pale. Selina is playing matchmaker.

"Uh, I thought I would just hang around." Leo answered.

"Well," Selina says. "Maybe we'll see you around."

Leo scampered off.

I exhale in relief. "Selina, what were you thinking?!"

"Hey, you've had a crush on him for two years. Do something! You'll be thirteen next year!"

Butterflies flutters in my stomach. I considered fifteen a good dating age. Three years. It wasn't long enough.

"Cut it out. I can play matchmaker too, you know," I said with a knowing glance at Wesley.

Selina paled (if she could). "You wouldn't."

I smiled. "You'll be sitting in the Hogs Head with him this weekend if you don't lay off my to-be relationship."

Selina stole a glance at Wesley. "He's so dreamy," she said.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, princess."