Since I could not think of anthing else that could happen to Rue in childhood, I have moved up to school years. I have a couple of events in mind. Let me know i you have a few you want me to throw in too!


Severus glared at Dumbledore.

"How on earth did you know to suspect Quirell?"

"I had a shrewd idea." Dumbledore said in an almost bored voice. He glanced back down into his Pensieve. The events of the past year, watching the students as he always had, and in particular little Harry, would certainly mark anyone's life. "But I have not called you here to discuss Quirell." Snape flinched ever so slightly. "I called you here to discuss Rue."

"She has not met Potter if that is what you are saying." All year, he had been worried that the brother and sister would meet and recognize each other. But that had not happened. Though she knew by reputation of his presence in the school, Severus was certain that they had never been alone in the same room, or indeed, had a single conversation.

"A feat to keep such a curious girl caged so. But I wonder if she is ready to attend Hogwarts."

"She is only ten."

"Yes. If she were any other child, she would have to wait the extra year, begin at eleven like everyone else. But, I have been watching her as well this year..."

"It seems you have eyes everywhere." Severus said still ice in his tone.

"I do try. And I think she is ready." Severus paced for a long minute staring at the floor. He could not deny his goddaughter's talents. She was already a powerful witch, anyone who had been in the same room with and watched her could see that. She was smart, and rather cunning. And she still had that loyal streak in her.

"She will turn eleven in October. I do not believe it will affect her that much to be the youngest in her class. And if anything, it might make it more of a challenge for her."

Severus could only nod. He know Rue's greatest wish was to attend Hogwarts as a student. They had spent just last night discussing the houses. She wanted to be in Slytherin, though he recommended Ravenclaw. She argued that he had been a Slytherin and she wanted to be like him. It had flattered him deeply. Pulling himself back to the present, he look back at Dumbledore, resigned.

"Alright. Send her her letter. Make her the happiest girl here. I think she is ready too, I just don't like it. I wish she could have remained a baby and easy to protect for ever. Now she wanders everywhere, and Merlin only knows half the stuff she gets up to."

"Spoken like a true parent, Severus. Time will come when she is not a child anymore, faster than you can even think. I believe it best not to put off her education any longer."

Severus felt a shiver go down his spine at the thought. The Dark Lord had come close to being revived this year. Too close. He had realized that he needed to come clean with Rue about her true parentage, and her future. About the danger she was sure to be in should Voldemort ever find a way to return. And yet, maybe he could put it off just a little bit longer.


Rue could just barely contain her excitement. Sure she lived at Hogwarts, but now she was going to be a real part of it. With a house, classes, and everything, just like the hundreds of students she had seen come through. And Uncle Sev had promised to make the experience authentic. They were going to Diagon Alley on August thirty first to get her supplies, so that she could catch the train and float across the lake with all the other first years. She could not contain her grin.

Her uncle Sev had bought all new things, from the books to the robes. She had insisted on picking up a few extra books for background reading, and he had not been able to refuse her, knowing they were not in the Hogwarts library. They also stopped for a long time at the apothocary, Severus placing a large order for ingredients, both rare and common for his potions. Rue always admired her godfather for his skill with a cauldron. There was some thing very special about seeing him work, that made her want to be as good as him. Two of the extra books she had bought were potions books.

They stopped at Olivanders last. This was the part of their trip she was most looking forward to. For years, she had coveted anyone able to carry a wand, to be able to have that weapon which intensified their magic and made it so powerful. She grasped the handles of her bags tighter and pushed open the door, Severus following her.

"Hello Severus. How are you today?" said a soft wispy voice from the shadows. In the dim light, Rue could make out a very old man, white haired and wispy.

"Well enough, Mr. Ollivander. I wonder if you might have something for Rue here?"

Mr. Ollivander looked down his nose at her, light blue eyes studying her for a long moment. "Hmmm. You seem familiar. Rue, did you say your name was?"

"Yes. Rue Prince, sir." She gulped a little. Ollivander was a little intimidating, but she looked right back at him.

"Lets see then. right or left?"

"Ummm... I'm right handed?"

"Good. Hold it out. Yes, lets see." A tape measure sprung up and began to measure of its own accord. Rue watched it measure the length of her fingers, and the space between her eyes, before Ollivander clapped and it fell to the ground. He had in his hands several long thin boxes, one of which he held out.

"This one is Holly, dragon heart string." She took the wand from the box, and lifted it. It felt ice cold in her hand, and Ollivander snatched it back.

"No. One moment. One moment. Let's try this." He held out another box " There, Elm and heartstring again, but perhaps... No." He took the wand back before even she had lifted it from the box. He paused for a moment to look at her hard again, and then held out his hand.

"Let me see your hand, please." Rue looked back at Severus, who had settled into a small chair, and was looking on with vague interest. He gave her a nod. She placed her hand, palm up, into Ollivanders. Carefully, her traced the lines there, first one way then the other, closing his creepy eyes.

"Yes. No I see it now. Yes." He let go very suddenly, and hurried to the back of the shop. She heard rummaging before he reappeared, holding a single box in his hand. In it lay a pale wand, reflecting pinks and oranges in the low light. She took the wand from the box, and felt a curious sensation, as if the wood were reaching back to carress her fingers. It felt familiar, like saying hello to an old pet, or a long lost friend. Not that she had had many of those, but that was what the sensation made her think of.

"I believe this is a match." Ollivander said with a smile on his face. He quickly put the box and some wand care materials into a bag.

"A beech wand is a fine wand, Miss Prince. I believe it will serve you well. As long as you can serve it well." She gave a nod, thinking that Ollivander was just a tiny bit off his rocker.


The castle she had grown up in looked beautiful from this angle. The way the light played off the stone walls, the sheer mystery and familiarity all combining together. Rue soaked it all in as she floated across the lake, with the other first years. Her nerves were going up exponentially.

Beside her, was Naomie Steele, a girl whom had shared her compartment most of the way on the Hogwarts Express, and spent most of the way bragging about her family's history. When asked about her own, Rue had felt very strange about her answer.

"I don't know."

"How can you not know?" Naomie had asked.

"I'm an orphan. I grew up with my godfather, but we don't know who left me on the doorstep of Hogwarts."

"You got left on the doorstep?" Naomie had then proceed to bombard Rue with questions about Hogwarts and life there, most of which Rue had trouble answering as they were questions about classes and the students there, with whom she had very little interactions. Before long, they had pulled on their robes, and made their way off the train, Naomie sticking to Rue like glue.

By the time they had reached the castle, Ruewas so nervous she could not keep still. Fidgeting and shifting from foot to foot, she did not even bother listening to the chatter of the other students as she waited for Professor McGonagall (now they were all Professors to her, not aunts and uncles) to lead them into the Great Hall.

Finally, they filed in. She took a deep breath, trying to force her entire body to calm down. It was a lot harder than she thought.

Professor McGonagall set the Sorting Hat before them. She had seen Sortings before. Most of the time, it was from a secret alcove she had discovered in the corner of the hall. But this one was different. This one was special. This was her Sorting.

McGonagall unrolled a long parchement, and picked the Hat up.

"Aberdeen, Felicity!"

A taller girl, with a long braid down her back walked forward and sat. The Hat had barely touched her head, when it shouted "Ravenclaw!"

Rue gave a smile, but her nerves ratcheted up. What if she was not in Slytherin?

"Beauregard, Chrystia!"

"Slytherin!" Rue watched the girl with black hair and matching eyes walk nervously along the hall to the table with the green banner. Why did her surname have to start with a P? It was so far down the alphabet!

"Callaway, Jude!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Corwin, Leo!"

"Slytherin!"

"Creevey, Colin"

"Gryffindor" Rue was feeling deeply impatient, as she watched the blond mouse haired boy run eagerly to the Gryffindor table and sit down.

"Didn't you hear?" whispered Naomie in her ear.

"Hear what?" She whipered back, as "Drake, Lyla" was called.

"Potter and Weasley crashed a car!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Rue whispered back, as Lyla was made a Hufflepuff.

"Its true!"

"How do you know?"

"Colin told me." Naomie said with a look of triumph, as "Fanning, Wilfred" was called up.

"And how does Colin know?"

"Ummm..."

"Exactly." Rue said, stubbornly. The Hat was taking its time this time. It took nearly three minutes to sort Fanning into Hufflepuff as well.

On and on it went. It was pretty evenly balanced, each house getting a few of each selections. It took to the M's before she noticed her godfather wasn't there. Why was he missing her Sorting? She supposed parents (or guardians) did not usually attend such things, but it was one of the perks of having her guardian also be a teacher. She had looked for his reassuring presence, but it was simply not there.

"Prince, Rue" McGonagall called, and Rue jumped. She walked forwards as confidently as she could and sat down.

The Hat was much too large and fell down over her eyes, but as soon as it did, a small voice spoke in her ear.

"Oh, aren't you a curious one... All these different things... So much potential. I see smarts, yes, definitely clever. And loyalty. Strong unfailingly so. But also... Cunning. Ruthless even. Where shall you go? What shall you do? I see a crossroads here, where your fate will determine..."

"I make my own fate." She thought furiously. The Hat seemed to pause. She suddenly panicked and thought she had offended it, worried it was going to kick her out of Hogwarts for good, and then...

"Slytherin!"

She sucked in a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding, as Professor McGonagall pulled her the Hat off, and she saw the table on the right cheer for her. She joined Chrystia, and a few other first years. She had done it. She was a Slytherin.

The Sorting did still take a while after her (there were triplets to be sorted, three Reims, all named after stars, of which two made it into Slyterin, while the third put his head high as he walked to the Ravenclaw table), but eventually, McGonagall cleared the chair away, and Dumbledore stood.

"Welcome, new and old! Another year to start, but only after we have broken bread!" With that, the plates in front of everyone filled with food, and Rue smiled as she tucked in, utterly content. She was now exactly where she wanted to be.

Once everyone had started eating, the conversations started. Beside her, Chrystia and Naomie were once again comparing family trees, something Leo Corwin jumped on with great enthusiasm. On her other side, the two triplets, Pollox and Cassimir, were contemplating sadly the loss of their third.

"Come on, Pol, you know you can't change the Sorting Hat's mind!"

"But we've always been together. Always... It just feels weird without her!"

"I'm sure it'll be alright." Rue said, in what was meant to be a comforting way. They both looked at her curiously.

"Who are you then?"

"Rue Prince. And don't worry, we'll still have a few classes with them, and we can hang out during breaks with people not from our house..." She said.

"But it won't be the same." Cassimir said sadly.

"And our parents will be furious." Pollox added.

"What can they do?" Rue asked a little nervously.

"The whole family's been in Slytherin. Cept Uncle Felix, I guess. Better Raveclaw than Gryffindor I guess. Wouldn't want to do a Black!" He said with a laugh.

"What's a Black?" Pollox looked at her curiously.

"Are you muggle born or something?"

"I don't know. I have no idea who my parents are. I grew up here."

"Oh. We should find out! The library here is huge, I bet we could figure it out!" Cassimir said excitedly.

"But what's a Black?"

"Oh he was a distant cousin of ours. Mum likes to spook us with his story. See, the Black were all in Slytherin too, up to their eyeballs they were. Then, came Sirius Black, eldest born, supposed to carry on the tradition and all that, pureblood as they get... and he gets sorted into Gryffindor."

"Apprently his mum sent him a Howler and he walked out in the middle of her yelling." Pollox interjected.

"He turned out to be bonkers. A mass murdered, complete nutter. Well, that's what Gryffindor does to you, apparently!"

Rue sat in silence, absorbing this all. She could not really believe that Gryffindors were all bonkers, but on the other hand, she had heard of Sirius Black. And if he was a Gryffindor, maybe it was enough to keep her away. She determinedly changed the subject.

"You really think we could find my parents in the Hogwarts library?"

"Sure. If not, my dad works at the Ministry, I could ask him to look around." With a smile at her new friends, Rue felt hope dawn inside her. Maybe she didn't need to ask Uncle Sev for the truth of her past. Maybe she could find out on her own.

"Yeah. I never thought of that."

The rest of dinner went briskly, and Rue felt like she had a light shinning in her chest at all the joy of it. When Dumbledore finally sent them on her way, and Uncle Sev gave her a discrete wink, she followed the prefect down into the dungeons she now called home (even if she knew her way there already.)

When she finally got into the common room, she stopped and breathed it in. It was an elegant room, perfectly furnished in dark woods and forest green. The few windows gave out into the lake and she smile a little as the underwater atmosphere felt mysterious and powerful all at once. A warm fire was burning in the grate, and the prefect accompanied them to their dormatories, rectangular rooms, with exactly the right amounts of bed in them.

She smiled at the placement of hers, near the back of the room, and next to another window. Beside her, Naomie, Chrystia and a third girl named Constance were all gushing about the place as they pulled on pyjamas.

She, meanwhile, sighed contentedly, and curled up in her bed. The soft sounds of the water against the windows lulled her into sleep.


A/N: You know that list that J.K. had of her students, all the ones that she would use in Harry's year? I have one of those now, too. Please leave a review, I have yet to develop psychic powers over the internet. (The ones in person are coming along nicely! kidding...)