A/N: Again, I have made a major ending change for this chapter! I ended up deciding that too much of the plot is dependent on Mae being in a certain house, so I changed it. I hope you can all forgive me until you discover the reasoning why.

Chapter 4

September 1, 1992 - Kings Cross Station

They were late, per usual.

The Weasleys were late to get to the station every year. They had barely made it onto the platform in time. Jason was quick to grab the twins and attempt to find an empty compartment so that they could begin their planning with less chance of other people finding out what exactly their pranks this year entailed. What was the point of pranking them if they knew what was coming?

"Jason slow down!" George called from behind him. He hadn't even realized that they were lagging behind.

"Not all of us walk that fast!" Fred called out.

"Sorry, but we have a lot of planning to get done on the way to Hogwarts. I'd hate to disappoint all of our fans if we didn't have something great to start out the year with. I'm thinking maybe the Ravenclaws this year… some of them are just too pompous for my tastes. They need their egos deflated, by a lot. Pranking the Slytherins year after year just gets repetitive, they already know that it's coming. I think that it'd be better to leave them on their toes…" He trailed off when he noticed the weird looks that the twins were giving him. "What?"

They suddenly pulled him into an empty compartment that he had somehow missed. Finally Fred asked, "When did you come up with this?"

He had actually come up with it when he was thinking of what Mae would do if she was with them. She did have a rather Slytherin streak in her. Taking enjoyment in leaving subtle, yet obvious clues that she was going to pull one prank to make her victims feel superior and letting their guards down because they thought they already knew what was coming, when she would actually pull a completely different prank that would leave them extremely confused, or in the Mauraders' case, proud.

"On the way here," he lied effortlessly, "Thought that maybe we should start the year off on a better note and start pulling off more elaborate and complex pranks… along with our usual ones, of course."

"I've never been prouder, or more thankful, of our decision to start collaborating with you on our pranks," George said, wiping fake tears from his eyes.

Jason held in his laughter and answered with a mock seriousness that rivaled even the twins', "I honestly don't know what I would've done without you guys. It's been a pleasure working alongside such experienced pranksters. Merlin knows that I never really had the opportunity to practice at the Dursleys'."

"Happy to be of service," Fred said, smiles re-appearing on everyone's faces. They all spent the next few minutes attempting to lift their trunks onto the racks above the seats in the compartment.

"Bloody hell! Screw it!" Jason finally called out after what felt like a million failed attempts at lifting his trunk up. He stepped back and raised his hand up to easily levitate his trunk onto the rack. Wandless and nonverbal magic had always came easily to him because of his status as an elementalist. It gave him an additional source to draw power from that couldn't be monitored by the Ministry, like his wand could. But it had its downsides, he couldn't cast that many spells without exhausting himself, unlike when he was with his wand. The only spells that he could wandlessly without any issues were ones associated with water, such as conjuring or manipulating it, because that's his element. He wondered if it was the same for Mae.

"Are you ever going to tell us how you do that?" George asked after Jason had repeated the process on both of their trunks as well.

"Maybe one day," he vaguely replied.

They spent the next few minutes planning their brilliant prank that would fall upon the Ravenclaws at the opening feast.

"So what about transfiguring parts of their bodies into parts of ravens, instead of just transfiguring them entirely into ravens? I think that would be even more humiliating. They might see being transfigured entirely into ravens as some sort of experiment, and we wouldn't want them to have fun," Jason smirked.

George had opened his mouth to start his reply when the compartment door opened to reveal Ginny, "Do you mind if I join you guys? Everywhere else is full."

"Not at all, our dear sister," Fred smiled. Ginny had been joining them all summer and helping them with planning-and executing, if he was being perfectly honest-their pranks throughout the Burrow, sometimes even being more devious than they were. And that raised the question: what house would the sorting hat put her in? The hat was already pretty bloody close to putting him, and the twins, in Slytherin. If she was even more devious than them, it would be an even closer call if she somehow made it into Gryffindor. He had been dropping hints to her all summer that what house you don't want to be in would be taken into account during the sorting, which earned him multiple raised brows from the girl. He really didn't want her to be in the position where she was surrounded by Slytherins all day, no matter how strong she was, they would slaughter her. She would survive, that was just who she was, but the girl she was now would be gone. The sorting hat had to realize this.

It was a rather depressing thought because that meant that Mae was practically guaranteed to be in Slytherin, from what he remembered at least. And with the name Weasley she would be lucky to make it out alive.

The conversation after that continued on rather effortlessly, mainly since the planning for their prank was finished in record time with Ginny's help. The twins' had jokingly said that Ginny would be in charge of continuing their legacy after they left, but Jason could see the serious tone underneath their joking exterior.

The train ride was over too quickly as they arrived at the station, and they split ways. Ginny off towards Hagrid with the rest of the first years, while Jason and the twins headed towards the carriages, leaving him with a feeling that somehow, after this year, nothing would ever be the same.

September 1, 1992 - Hogsmeade

Mae was filled with a sense of dread as the train pulled into the station. The train ride was pleasant enough with Cedric and his friends. He was quite popular, something that didn't surprise her. He was the type of person that you couldn't help but want to be around, he was nice to a fault and always had an entertaining story ready to be told if the mood got too serious. He reminded her a lot of Sirius, the way his grey eyes were always filled with happiness, except for the fact that he didn't play pranks or crack any rude or hurtful jokes.

They all quickly exited the train, leaving their trunks behind. Mae felt oddly lost, she was never given any instructions on what she was supposed to do. There was a giant man-who she quickly recognized as Hagrid, the half-giant that dragged Jason and Harry off towards only Merlin knows where on Dumbledore's orders, leaving an awful taste in her mouth and the sudden urge to strangle him-calling first years over to him, while the rest of the students headed over to the thestral-drawn carriages. She looked over at Cedric, silently asking him what to do, but he just shrugged, "Didn't anyone tell you what you're supposed to do?"

She just shook her head, "All I ever got was a letter with what books and supplies I was going to need and a train ticket."

They continued to look around for a professor, but after another minute Mae finally asked, "Where are the first years going?"

"To take the boat ride to the school. There's nothing incredibly important about it other than the fact that every first year does it. It's mainly to show off the magnificence of the school. You should probably go with them, this being your first year here and all."

She didn't want to be anywhere near the man who thought that dragging two children off to live with their "relatives" that hated everything that they stood for just because Dumbledore said so. And Mae couldn't be known as the only fourth year to take a boat ride with the first years. Rigel's voice snapped through her head with the force of a whip, "Appearances are everything!", and it took more strength than she cared to admit to avoid flinching.

She just gestured towards Hagrid, "He's only calling for the first years. If it was really that important they would've told me. And I don't particularly care for a boat ride across the lake, I'd prefer a thestral-drawn carriage ride up to the castle."

She didn't realize her mistake until it was too late, he was already asking, "Thestrals?" But she knew that he had already put the pieces together, the pity clear in his eyes. She knew about the thestrals, creatures that could only be seen by those had seen death, and she lived with her Uncle after making it quite clear that Rigel wasn't in anyway her father.

Unsure of what to do, she just muttered, "Please don't tell anyone," in his ear. She didn't need anybody's pity.

He just nodded, thankfully not asking any more questions. They walked over to the carriages and managed to grab one with a few of his friends. She just silently listened to their conversations as the castle drew nearer.

September 1, 1992 - Hogwarts

Mae forced herself to walk confidently up the stairs to the castle next to Cedric, drawing from everything she had learned from Beauxbatons. She could already see them pointing and staring at her from the corners of her eyes.

When they entered the entrance hall, she saw a stern, and clearly annoyed, looking professor looking around the hall, clearly searching for someone. The professor was wearing rather elegant robes with her greying brown hair tied up tightly in a bun at the top of her head. Mae quickly said goodbye to Cedric and headed over to the professor.

When managed to make her way over to her, she realized that it was Professor McGonagall, a previous member of the Order of the Phoenix and a dear friend of her mother's, from what she remembered. She watched as the Professor's jaw dropped when she got a good look at her. And she understood why, she was the spitting image of her mother, other than the crimson highlights in her hair, the only thing that remained from when Rigel had permanently dyed her hair because her hair was too "Weasley", that there was no way the professor could make out in the dimly lit hall.

"Mis-Miss Weasley? My apologies, you just look incredibly similar to-" The professor began.

"My mother. I know." Mae said quickly, trying not to sound bitter. She hated when others brought that up. It hurt, people comparing her to someone she barely even knew. It was like a stake through the heart. She wasn't even supposed to look this way. It was all a lie. Mae couldn't even find it in her to correct the professor for calling her Weasley. It was the only part of the professor's entire statement that didn't make her want to die a painful death. Mae Weasley.

But Mae Weasley had died the night she saw her parents tortured and murdered.

It seemed the Professor's surprise had disappeared and her irritation had returned in its place, "Do you care to explain why you didn't take the boat ride to the school with the rest of the first years to the sorting?"

Mae kept her composure, not flinching from the Professor's harshness, "I wasn't informed that I was supposed to take the boats with the first years. Actually, now that I think of it, I wasn't given any information on what I was supposed to do, like how to get onto the platform, or how I was going to be sorted. I was lucky Cedric Diggory was kind enough to show me onto the platform or else I wouldn't have even made it to Hogwarts."

Professor McGonagall looked confused, "What are you talking about? Your Uncle helped you onto the platform. He went to school here, just like your parents."

"He never told me how to get onto the platform because he didn't even bring me to the train station this morning. I took the Knight Bus there, by myself," Mae couldn't resist letting her years of bitterness appear in her voice. She wanted to make this woman suffer, she just stood by while Dumbledore placed her with a Death Eater as a guardian, "Last I saw he was passed out on the couch this morning. And in case you weren't informed, it's Black now."

The Professor pretended to not hear what she had said, even though Mae knew she had. "This way," she said, turning and walking quickly towards a side chamber, not caring to see if Mae was following.

In the side chamber, she was surrounded by the small first years that all got on her nerves. Their innocence and naivety filled her with hate and bitterness. They were full of something that she had watched leave her when she saw the life flicker out of her parents' eyes nearly 14 years ago.

Professor McGonagall turned to her and said, "You will be going to the Headmaster's office once the feast has finished." Not waiting for a reply, the professor headed to the front of the chamber and rambled on about the different houses and house points. Mae didn't even try to make it appear that she was paying attention, her mind reeling at the thought that she had to see the Headmaster, tonight. The amount of self control it would take to not kill that man with her bare hands would be astronomical.

Before she even knew it, they were walking through the Great Hall towards the Professors' table. She walked with confidence and posture that would make even her old Headmistress proud. She looked straight ahead as heads turned to look at her.

Professor McGonagall called up first year after first year to be sorted by a ratty old hat. The only one she paid attention to was Ginevra Weasley's sorting. Her cousin made it into Gryffindor, no shock there, but it meant that the sorting had nearly come to a close. A few first years later, and she was the last one standing.

McGonagall said, "This year we have a new student joining us from Beauxbatons, Miss Weasle-my apologies," the professor blushed, while Mae was filled with anger, the professor had no right to say that, she was trying to blend in when all everyone was doing was making her stand out for things she didn't want to be known for, "Miss Black."

Mae ignored the confused looks of her peers and walked up to the stool, putting the hat on once she had sat down. The hat had barely touched her head when it's voice filled the room, "Slytherin!" She saw the look of utter surprise that came over McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore's faces. The first ever Weasley in Slytherin. There was a lot of muttering at the fact that McGonagall called her Weasley-the professor had never made a mistake when it came to names-, and that she had transferred from Beauxbatons to Hogwarts.

Mae quickly got up and walked over to the Slytherin table, there was only one open seat that she could see from her position at the front of the hall and she walked towards it. Surrounded by her new housemates, she felt less welcome than ever.

Across the hall, she could recognize the familiar jet black hair and hazel eyes that were looking straight at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

She forced herself not to break into a run towards him. "Appearances are everything!" rang through her head. And she watched as he stared at her in shock, unable to move out of fear that it wouldn't be real.

She turned her head back towards the people around her, trying to ignore the hazel eyes boring into her. Using her years of training at Beauxbatons, she slid a smile onto her face, and finally opened her mouth, "Hello, I'm Mae, Mae Black."