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Chapter 4

Sunday passed by rather uneventfully. Mainly the first year Slytherins just spent the day getting got know each other. In total, there were six girls and five boys. Amber, I soon came to realize, was Pansy Parkinson's daughter, which explained why she did not like me one bit. Her best friends was Patty who was part of the Greengrass family. The two were a perfect match who loved to hate me. I can't deny the feeling wasn't mutual. Those girls were like the devil himself to the rest of us. The last girl I had yet to meet was Sarah, who was torn between the two groups. Both of her parents went to Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts so she really didn't know about House rivalries and familial disputes. She seemed like a really innocent and sweet girl, but she was rather quiet and kept to herself often. I was right about Jasmine, Sam and I though. We all had loads in common, Sam didn't care in the slightest that Jasmine was a muggleborn; she said that bloodlines were "the thing of the past." Instead, Sam loved Jasmine as a muggleborn because of all the stories that came with it! The three of us ended up talking for most of the afternoon and most of that was spent hearing about the muggle world. The best stories were about her chemistry class. They did "experiments" once a week which were basically a process of elimination to figure out which compounds were in the solution and which weren't. It sounded a lot like a baby potions class for amateurs.

I finally convinced the two to go to the library with me where we read up on loads of hair charms, which I would surely be needing. They both vowed to help me in the daily struggle that was my hair. The one we actually tried out in the moment was one that made my hair black! We laughed so hard that we got kicked out of the library where we ran into Scorpius Malfoy and two of his new friends.

"Hey Rose, we were on our way to find you! Andrew and Jack want to here have been dying to meet the famous Weasley who betrayed her family legacy," he said with a wink.

"Here I am in the flesh, not as interesting as the stories I know. These are Sam and Jasmine. Say, we were on our way to skip rocks at the river before dinner. Care to join?"

They decided to join so we headed off to the grounds. We were having a pleasant time until about 20 minutes before dinner. I was rather fond of Andrew and Jack. They were typical 11 year old boys, a bit too sarcastic at times, but they also knew how to crack a joke. I think the reason I like them so much is that they are just like Hugo, my little brother. All in all, not what I was expecting Slytherin House to be like. After being sorted, I had imagined my years spent by Jasmine's side fighting the rest of Slytherin, but all of these people made me realize how greatly misjudged the Slytherin house was for a few bad apples. "Guys we should go to dinner if we want to avoid sitting at the end. Again," Sam said.

"Just one second, I have one more rock to skip before I beat all of you" I shouted as I went head first into the icy river and water filled my lungs. Only I would be unlucky enough to trip over a branch being the klutz I was. Before I could do too much damage to myself, I felt two sets of hands grab my arms and waist to pull me out. "Rose are you okay? That water is freezing," Jack said. "Don't worry, I know a drying spell," Malfoy responded. Then with one flick of his wand, I was dry head to toe. The only thing that had now been exposed was my hair, which was now pointing in every direction.

"Hey good to know that if we're ever short on rope, we can just use some of Rose's hair to make some," Andrew said while he laughed. I blushed and quickly did one of the new spells I had practiced in the library. This one put my hair into a nice, sleek bun.

"Thanks Scorp, you really saved me."
"Not well enough, you're still shivering. Your clothes may be dry but the river had its effect. Does anyone know a heating spell? Better yet we should get inside, but take my coat."

Then I heard a familiar voice shout, "Hey I thought I told you to stay away from her, or do I need to remind you yet again?" It was James. Typical. He stumbled down the hill with Fred, who looked bored out of his mind. "I'm sorry. You should all go to dinner and I'll meet up after I've dealt with my cousins," I said in a shaky voice.

"You sure we can stay," Jasmine said.

"No really you should go. I'm sure this is bound to get ugly."

"Fine but if we hear any shouts, we're coming straight back."

The five of them had barely gotten out of earshot, I think, when James questioned, "Rose Weasley what in Merlin's beard do you think you are doing associating yourself with a Malfoyyy?"

"James, it's not like that. He was just helping me out. You know what a klutz I am, and when I slipped into the river, he pulled me out before I could drown. Then he used a drying spell and offered me his coat. That's what a friend does."

"He may have helped you this time, but it doesn't matter. He's a Malfoy and a Slytherin. There's no telling what he will do next time he has the chance."

"Newsflash James," I said bitterly, "I AM A SLYTHERIN NOW TOO. Or have you forgotten? And why should we judge Scorp because of his father? Should we judge half of the people in this school because their parents were too cowardly to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts? NO. All you need to know is that Malfoy has been a good friend to me so far and that should be enough. Plus he's not nearly as annoying as you can be."

"That's not what Al said about when you were on the train. He said you had fleas or something along those lines."

"Well as a matter of fact, yes, he did for which he sincerely apologized. Plus I don't tell you who you can and cannot be friends with so what gives you the right to tell me?"

With that said, I stormed off to dinner. I was livid. Why was this all such a problem for my family? What happened to we shouldn't judge others for their families' mistakes? Would they ever be able to understand? Because, honestly, I'm still the same Rose as before.

I walked into the Great Hall and thankfully, my friends weren't sitting at the edge for once. I decided to sit in between Scorp and Same one the side where I could clearly see the Gryffindor table. I immediately looked straight at Al and winked, just to anger him. He looked like I'd just hit him with the body binding spell. Frozen. Unbelieving. I felt somewhat overjoyed at this, which made me start to realize my Slytherin characteristics.

"So Rose, we caught a bit of what James was saying? How are you feeling," Jasmine said tentatively. Then in a whisper only I could hear, "Malfoy feels really bad. He doesn't want to make things worse for you and your family. All of us can only imagine how bad it must be. Have you heard anything from your parents yet?"

I starred a Scorp as I replied, "Nothing from mum or dad yet. And he shouldn't feel bad. It's not his or any of yours that my family can't deal with my sorting. They just need to get over themselves. I just really hope we beat them during the first quidditch match. Four of my cousins are on the team, and then I'll have something to hold over them!" Scorp nodded my way, basically promising to keep the Howler a secret.

Everyone laughed at that which quickly prompted the conversation change. Quidditch took over, no doubt a much more interesting topic. I explained that my favorite two positions were keeper and beater, with a slight inclination towards beater. Being allowed to smack other people is perfect! Scorp played Seeker, like his father, and he was quick to announce he'd already been scouting the team, and both the seeker and a beater were 7th years, so we could both try out the next year. Sam on the other hand said she lacked any hand-eye coordination atop a broom but loved to watch. She even went to the last Quidditch World Cup.

"Don't worry Jasmine, I'm sure you'll love quidditch. Come over to the Burrow anytime and we'll teach you how to play…. Better yet, we should sneak out to the pitch next weekend. There's bound to be a way to get into the broomstick closet!"

"Oh there's definitely a way," Malfoy said mischievously, "I guess the Sorting Hat wasn't wrong, you really are as cunning as a Slytherin."

Jack burst out laughing, "Next thing we know she'll be the queen of all Slytherin girls!"

"Now that's where you're pushing your luck. I'll be lucky if I get on the good side of half of them."

"I wouldn't think that way much longer. You were lucky enough to befriend the most popular Slytherin boys," Scorpius said with a hint of arrogance seeping into his voice.

"I guess it's just bound to happen then" I said in my most sarcastic tone of voice.

"Well let's put ourselves to the test and be the first in our class to find the hidden rooms in the common room. I hear the dungeons are full of them and it's the best way to make friends with the older Slytherins," Sam said.

On our way out, we ran into James who gave me the most hateful look I'd ever seen on his face. I also never suspected to be on the other side of his anger. He then pointed his wand at me and made my hair keep turning every color of the rainbow.

"What the hell James. What was that for?"

"That's what happens to Slytherins around us. Ask the second years," he said as he walked away.

"Does anyone know how to make it stop?" But no one responded. "Never mind, I'm going to go look for Albus. I'll catch up with you all later in the common room."

I bolted before I could see their reactions. I'm sure they all felt bad for me which was the last thing I needed. James was such a jerk. As I ran to my last top in search of Al, the library, I could tell everyone was snickering at me as I pass. Molly was in the library and with one look at me, she quickly pulled out her wand and my hair quickly turned back to its obnoxious red. I gave her a big hug and thanked her under my breath. "Have you seen Al? I've looked everywhere I can think of and haven't found him."

"You just missed him, but he was heading back to the Gryffindor common room. I don't think you'll catch up with him in time."

"Of course, well thanks anyways. You really saved me from more humiliation!"

"Don't fret, I imagine it was James. He does that to everyone. See you." Then, without meaning to, "Though I've never seen cast spells on family."

Great, just another way to prove how my family hates me now. I ultimately decided to go to the owlery and send him a letter,

"Dear Al,

I am sorry for the way everything has gone down between us

since the sorting. I do hope you'll consider speaking with me again.

Even though we've both made new friends, to me, they aren't really

worth it if I can't share them with you. Al you'll always be my best

friend and that is so much more important than our Houses. I hope

you'll agree to study with me tomorrow after dinner, we have Defense

Against the Dark Arts together tomorrow. Tell me then or write me,

we can go to the library. Good luck with your first day tomorrow.

Lots of love,

Rose"

With that done I could only hope for the best. I headed back to my common room and promptly fell asleep.

The next morning, we all woke up extremely energized for the day. "Does anyone know what the first two classes are," Amber asked, "Charms with the Ravenclaws then History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs," shouted Jasmine. Figures Jasmine is the one who knows, and James always said I was a know it all. "I just can't believe we have Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindors, we already know Professor Brown is going to favor them," said Patty in an annoyed manner.

"At least we've got Professor Rowle, she's our Head of House and teaches the class we have with Gryffindors, potions," I retorted.

We headed off for breakfast and sat with Scorp and Jake. Suddenly the screech of all the owls filled the room. "Oh no," I muttered under my breath as I saw my family owl. He dropped the letter right on my head and wouldn't leave until I gave him a piece of bread. Another owl I didn't recognize dropped a note on my plate. I figured short and sweet would be better so I read that one first. It was from Albus responding from my note the previous day, that was fast.

"Rose, thanks for inviting me to study with you. Frankly I've missed you too. Can we meet instead in the Room of Requirement, where I heard you know how to get in, so we can talk too? James also wants to know if he can come too. He's starting to feel bad for how he's been acting. Let me know in class. –Al"

"Well don't leave us waiting Rose, you're the only one with post today. Spill."

"Al and James want to meet with me tonight to do our homework and talk. I'm not sure what the other one says yet, it's from my mum. I'd recognize her handwriting anywhere."

"Well I hope those Potters know how to apologize then. I wonder if maybe I'll be next," Scorp said half-jokingly under his breath.

"That's the one thing I find extremely unlikely. Sorry to say, I mean you are a Malfoy," I said really emphasizing the last word.

"I guess I'll open my mum's letter now, it's best to get it over with now."

"Dear Rose,

I'm sorry I wasn't able to stop your father from sending you that nasty Howler. Now, I'm not going to sugar coat this, the family needs time to adjust, just know that none of this is your fault and I am so very proud of all you've accomplished so far, even if our houses are rivals now. I'm not going to lie and say I'm entirely happy about your sorting, bit I understand feeling scared and alone your first days in a completely different place surrounded by strangers. I'm sure you'll find great girls in your house. Your father is most upset because during our time at Hogwarts the people in Slytherin at the time were cruel to me, and it's harder to forgive someone for things they did to someone you love than yourself. Give him time and your father will get over his prejudices. Your father loves you, he's just not in his right mind now. I promise, even though it's hard to see right now. Write back soon and I miss you loads?

Lots of love, Mum"

"Well this one isn't bad," I said, "she says no is in happy with my sorting and that they will need time to adjust but that he is very proud of me and doesn't hold it against me. She promises to bring dad around. The letter wasn't full of her normal jokes though that she usually uses when I'm away from home."

"I hate to be the buzzkill while we listen to all the drama, but charms starts in less than 15 minutes," Jack said. And with that we ran to class, barely getting there in time, and my first year officially started.

Charms wasn't bad, Professor Flitwick was a little quirky, but all in all it was bound to be an entertaining class. The lesson for the day however, was remarkably easy: Wingradium Leviosa, as if I hadn't heard it a million times. My dad teases my mum about it constantly, "It's leviOsa not leviosA," The swish and flick movement was also pretty basic; I had done many more complex while reading James' second year charms textbook. But all the practicing came to my advantage because I earned by first ever house points, for being the first to get my feather off the desk. 20 points! "Oh I guess the house can change but you certainly are your mother's daughter," Professor Flitwick said jokingly. That moment gave me the courage to endure the toils of first year because everyone would eventually not find it odd for me to be in Slytherin. I just felt it in my gut. After charms, we went to the most boring class I had ever been in. Fred hadn't been exaggerating. Professor Binns, the ghost who taught our class, had the most monotone voice in existence. If I hadn't have already read "Hogwarts a History" twice, I would actually be worried about the material. We all agreed we would find a way to ditch that class as much as possible.

The next class of the day was Transfiguration which was one of the two classes I had most been looking forward to. My mum always spoke wonders about this class and it is the Headmistress' specialty, so a good way to earn brownie points if you're good at it. The class on the other hand for the day went by rather uneventfully. The thing that made the class most entertaining was Scorpius, he sat next to me and cracked jokes the entire time. Scorp turned out to be rather funny. The next class we were going to made me nervous for two very distinct reasons. One, everyone expected the daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger to be a natural and top of the class, with the one exception of maybe Harry Potter's son. I didn't know if I could live up to the name. Second, we were with the Gryffindors for this class, all who seemed to hate me because of my "betrayal." Too much to live up to in this class. At least the class was taught by a family friend, Seamus Finnigan, the boy who used to always blow things up. No one ever thought he could be a teacher or as great a wizard as he is, but his seventh year at Hogwarts and the Battle of Hogwarts made him immensely more confident. I imagine he would be like most professors, slightly favor his house yet try to treat everyone as fairly as possible. For once I was right. For this class however, he didn't go into a lot of detail of the class rather just gave the breakdown of defensive and offensive spells and the different scenarios in which they should be used. Again, I sat with Scorpius in the class and Al even smiled in our direction even though there wasn't a lot of actual happiness in his eyes, it was major progress. After class, Al came up to us and said, "Hey Rose, Malfoy are you still down to do homework tonight… and can James and Fred come too?"

"Yeah I guess, just meet me at the seventh floor corridor at 7:30, I'll let us in."

Scorp and I headed back to the Common Room to play some wizards chess, where I won every single game. At 5:30, the rest of our friends joined us. "I bet I could beat her," Jack exclaimed. "You wish!" Those words started the longest wizard's chess, "Checkmate" I shouted. "Rematch, tomorrow night." "Oh you are so on."

With that we saw Sarah approaching us, "Hey sorry to bother you all but do you think I could have dinner with you tonight? I don't think I can take another night talking about all the attractive older boys."

"Of course Sarah, we were just on our way," Sarah replied.

That night, we bonded with Sarah. She seemed all sweet and innocent and she'd already snuck out to Hogsmeade to see her older brother on Sunday.

"Sarah quick question," I said, "Do you like quidditch?"

"I like to watch. I'm a decent flyer myself, but can't seem to be able to fly and catch the quaffle."

"See that's perfect then!" The rest of dinner was spent telling her our plan to sneak out to the quidditch pitch and teach Jasmine how to play. She already thought she knew how to do it too! Who would have thought that sweet, innocent looking Sarah was so sneaky? Just then, I glanced at my watch. "Crap, later guys. I'm off to meet up with my cousins."

I rounded the corner to the seventh floor corridor right at 7:30, to my surprise, the boys were already there. "Hey sorry, I got caught up planning something. James do you think I could have some of those smoke bombs you guys sell?"

"Umm I guess," Fred said, "What are you planning?"

"I'll tell you inside. Let me open it."

I asked the Room of Requirement to give us a room that could be like a mutual common room for both Houses. The door opened and revealed something I never could have imagined. It had one couch and table adorned in emerald green and the others in Gryffindor red. The walls had both a snake and lion together in peace.

"Way to go Rose. Let's sit down! And do tell what you're planning to do with those smoke bombs!"

"Well Jasmine, the muggleborn sorted into Slytherin who sat with us on the train, has never played quidditch, so I had the idea to sneak out to the pitch next weekend when there are no teams practicing and teach her how to play. Well at least the basics for now."

"Wow, maybe you are as sneaky as a Slytherin," James said unable to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

Then Al spoke up, finally, saying "well how has it been going in Slytherin? Malfoy still being the jerk he was raised to be?"

"Did we come here to bicker again? I thought the whole point of this was to go back to the way things used to be."

"If we really go back to the way things always were, tell me what your parents said. I know you told your friends you hadn't heard from your parents, but when dad wrote to me, he said your father had sent you something in the post. What'd it say?"

My entire face turned as red as a tomato.

"That bad huh, that's too bad Rosie," Fred said. He always was the sweetest.

"If I tell you guys on two conditions. One, you guys have to promise not to tell anyone here, Hugo or any other cousin."

"That's a no brainer Rose," said James, "What's the other condition?"

"You have to start accepting me as a Slytherin and be nice to my friends. Plus I know you guys love the competitions we'll have during quidditch matches."

The three of them deliberated this for a minute as if it was an extremely hard decision. Finally, in union they all nodded.

"I don't think I need to promise because I already have been the best cousin around, no suspicious behavior here," said Fred, "unless you count helping James prank Malfoy."

"I always knew you were my favorite cousin," I said with a laugh.

So then I went on to tell them about the Howler, how mum had prohibited him to write to me again unless it was to apologize and sincerely ask about school, mum's letter saying she understood what it felt being so isolated within her house at first, and how much Patty and Amber hated me. It was nice finally relying on my cousins again especially since I didn't really know how to handle girl drama as growing up it was mainly us four playing quidditch a degnoming the gardens at the burrow.

"Wow, dad wasn't exaggerating," James said, "Now I really feel like a jerk. I didn't think Uncle Ron would ever say anything like that. He always grew up bragging about how you'd be top of your class and show us all up."

"What did your dad say?"

"Well, he didn't say much but I guess on the day you were sorted he apparated to our house and was fuming asking dad how the sorting hat could have done this to you. That he was sure you had asked to be in Gryffindor and that's how my dad had gotten into Gryffindor so it wasn't fair that he got to pick and you didn't. Then he was trying to decide what he would say to Professor McGonagall when he came down here to demand you to get resorted into Gryffindor and that the other Slytherin girls wouldn't treat you right, which I guess is half-true. Dad tried calming him down saying that there was a possibility that Al would have been in Slytherin and explained all the reasons why it was okay. But Uncle Ron never forgave Snape as dad did so he didn't agree. He didn't want you sharing a House with the "death eaters who'd tried to kill Aunt Hermione for being a muggleborn and who did kill Uncle Fred.""

I sat shocked at how upset my father was over this whole situation. The boys waited patiently until I could dare to speak without my voice breaking.

"Dad also said that he knew I would probably react in the same way as Uncle Ron and that if he heard of me doing anything to you he would take my broom away," James said, "I probably deserve it."

"No I won't tell Uncle Harry anything. Not if you promise to help me out teaching Jasmine how to play quidditch. That'll be enough to repay me!"

"Deal."

With that we switched the topic to quidditch. Boy was quidditch really saving my ass in serious conversations. We talked for another hour on how we would sneak into the pitch. We knew when two of the teams were practicing so we just needed to figure out when Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were practicing to ensure our success.

"Okay hate to be a buzzkill but we have an hour until curfew and I think we maybe should start our homework."

With disgruntled looks, we all decided that was to the best and agreed to have Monday nights dedicated to family study sessions in the Room of Requirement, but next time we'd invite Dom to join.

Ten minutes before curfew I got up to leave. "Sorry guys I don't have an invisibility cloak to let me stay out late! I'll see you all tomorrow," I said as I grabbed my things.

"Wait before you go I have a task for you," James said, "I need you to find out everything you can about Hannah Brown, she's a first year Ravenclaw who Al has a crush on."

"James what the hell, I thought you weren't going to tell."

"Sorry little bro, you should know your crushes are never safe with me."

Fred roared in the corner and I said, "Oh don't worry James, I'll make it my number one priority to find out everything about Al's new girlfriend. Frankly I'm jealous you knew before me."