Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places, or ideas relating to or pertaining to the world of Harry Potter and JK Rowling. I graciously thank JK for her life-changing works and our ability as faithful readers to use her creations as our own for pure fanfic pleasure.

This chapter is dialogue heavy. If it seems stilted at times it's because I was unsure of how to have an eleven year old speak naturally while still maintaining my own writing style.

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Chapter Three – Green and Silver

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was quite the imposing place. Many generations of children had been fearful when first arriving to the school after a long trip on the Express, weary as they were led to the small boats that magically floated to the castle. While some first years knew others, some children knew not a soul at the school but were either eager or nervous to make new friends.

Isabella was no exception to this as she quietly fell to the back of the group of eleven year olds, surveying the anxiously chatting students as they waited to be led into the Great Hall to be Sorted. She had changed on the train and was now dressed immaculately in crisp school robes, Hogwarts emblem blazing as she followed the group once they were led up the stairs to enter through the massive double doors into the waiting mass of students and teachers. Each in turn, the First years walked to the front of the room, precariously sitting on the short stool before Headmistress McGonagall placed the old and creased Sorting Hat atop their young head.

"Scorpius Malfoy!" McGonagall called about halfway through the names and Isabella waited until a very similar head of flaxen locks slipped through the remaining First years to walk up to the stool before her silver eyes found his figure and she stared in curiosity at the boy. "Slytherin!" The Hat screamed, a large grin painting his face as Scorpius hurriedly ran down the stairs to join his new Housemates.

Her gaze followed him and she was lost in curious wondering when the repeated shouting of her name caught her attention. McGonagall was peering through the remaining First years, the children were staring at each other in uncertainty until they all parted and Isabella was left standing by herself with the Headmistress' gaze on her.

"Miss Mercade?" The older witch called and Isabella hurried up the short stairs, her blonde head held high as she pushed past her momentary embarrassment to turn and sit on the stool.

The Sorting Hat was placed atop her head and within seconds she heard a grumbling voice in her head.

"Hmmm interesting. I remember your mother. And your father. You are certainly their child. Proud and cunning like him and precise and intelligent like her. That leaves me with two options. In both Houses you would be suited. But ultimately I think it will be. . ."

"Slytherin!" The Hat bellowed and an uproarious cheer sounded from the green and silver table. Isabella tightly smiled, hoping off the seat to easily trot to her new housemates, all of her ponderings forgotten as she sat down with just three other students between herself and Scorpius. A crucial thought had registered in her mind when the Hat was speaking to her, she knew her father had not attended Hogwarts and that her parents had met through work. Why then had the Hat proclaimed to know who her father was? And how did it know that she was just like him?

The welcome feast was abundantly exciting as the First years eagerly conversed with the upperclassmen, exuberant with wonder at the magical atmosphere of the castle. Prefects directed the new students through the hallways after the meal, each group splitting off in different directions as the rowdy eleven year olds followed the leader until they reached their dorms. Isabella had begun talking to several other First years during dinner and she babbled on with Helena Harris and Margot Thompson, barely paying attention as they were led through the dungeons. They were all three in the same room with Charlene Nott and Abigail Flint, both of whom knew each other from family get togethers and who shunned the others once they arrived to their dorm and began unpacking. Their four poster beds were larger than she had expected, closer to a double than a single mattress and Isabella continued chatting excitedly as she fished through her trunk to pick up stacks of clothing.

"We better hurry," Margot said, her short, inky black locks swaying around her ears, her sharp brown eyes blinking anxiously as she fumbled with her robes. "McGonagall said there was going to be another mandatory meeting for First Years in the Great Hall. The prefects will be back to get us any minute, I'm sure."

Helena, the most obviously brazen of the trio, scoffed disdainfully, her sleek brunette up do catching the faint, flickering light of the wall sconces as she pushed her hip out to the side and dramatically placed her hand on the protruding bone. "I'm sure their knickers won't be in a twist if a couple Firsties just happen to get lost in the hallways because they missed the rest of their House leaving," she responded, devilishly smirking as she glanced between Margot and Isabella.

"I highly doubt a Prefect is going to overlook three girls missing from a group of twenty," Isabella condescendingly remarked, her back turned to the other girls without seeing Helena frown irritably at her. "I'd rather not get detention our first night here," she twisted around to gaze between the two witches, cocking an eyebrow when neither of them protested. "Would you?"

Helena tipped her nose up, aggravated that her idea for a carefree jaunt through the castle was so easily dismissed. "Looks like we know who the party-pooper is now," she commented bitterly, arms crossing over her flat chest as she glanced at Margot for reinforcement only for the girl to look away hastily.

Just then a knock sounded at the door and the five students in the dorm room turned at the same time to stare at the black surface.

"Are you all ready?" One of the female Slytherin Prefects called through the frame. "We're going up to the Great Hall in five minutes."

"We'll be right there!" Isabella yelled back and rushed to shut the lid of her trunk as she paced to the doorway, glancing back to make sure the rest of the girls were following her lead.

The Slytherin First Years were still as loud and animated as was to be expected while the small group made a low rumble of commotion as they proceeded down the main corridor and followed the band of Ravenclaws into the Great Hall. The four large, wooden tables had been removed and instead several dozen chairs lined the sides of the stone walls, Headmistress McGonagall and each head of House standing on the raised dais at the front of the room waiting patiently for the arriving children.

"Alright students," McGonagall called when the four groups were huddled together in front of the stage. "This is your introduction to Hogwarts. Over the next hour, you will be getting to know each other better and interacting with magic in a controlled environment for us to get a feel for how your skills have progressed thus far. First off, I would like each of you to pair up with someone from your own House, one male and one female if you please."

The First years glanced around in nervous confusion, the girls suddenly twittering anxiously as they stared at the boys who looked as if they would rather partner with a teacher than a female Housemate. Their even numbers matched all the students equally, forcing the Slytherins to pair off once the rest of the Houses had done so. Isabella glanced sideways at Margot and Helena, both girls staring at their choices with different facial expressions of slight fear and eager anticipation. Since the other Slytherin females were still standing apart from the males, Isabella peered through the line of boys, catching the intrigued gaze of a blonde headed wizard. Deciding she best hurry up this process before McGonagall reprimanded the lazy Slytherins, she walked across the short distance and stopped in front of the boys who were now whispering excitedly.

"Want to be my partner?" she asked Scorpius easily, silver meeting silver as she quirked her light eyebrows in question as their gazes locked.

"Sure," he replied, turning for her to follow him to where the already paired up Firsties were waiting before McGonagall. "I'm Scorpius," he introduced, rotating back to extend a slender hand out to her.

"Isabella," she returned, grasping his hand stiffly and trying to force a smile when he held her palm a moment longer than necessary.

Tilting his head to the side and peering at her curiously, Scorpius seemed to realize there was something familiar about this girl. "Have we met before? I feel like I know you from somewhere."

She firmly shook her curly head, pulling her grasp away and blinking in concentration. "No - I don't think so."

"Hmm," Scorpius responded and stared for a second more before turning to face the front of the room, his thin arms crossing over his chest soundly.

"Does everyone have a partner?" McGonagall rhetorically asked, the students quieting as she spoke. "Each pair will be given a piece of paper with several questions on them. You are to ask each other the questions - remember their answers because that information will be useful for the next exercise."

Isabella and Scorpius watched as Professor Slughorn approached the huddled group of Slytherins, a small stack of papers clutched tightly in his shaking hand and a cheerful smile pulling up his sagging cheeks.

"Here you are, my boy," he said, handing a lone piece to Scorpius as he passed the pair and Isabella quickly snatched the paper from his fingertips, the boy irritably protesting as her mercury eyes scanned the list of a dozen or so questions.

"What is your favorite animal?" She asked without looking up, her gaze trained to the paper to keep from staring at him.

"A dragon," Scorpius replied after a long pause, his tone short and crisp as he reached for the paper, seizing it easily as Isabella followed the movement and glared, agitated at his forwardness.

"And you?" He asked, reading each line on the page as she huffed a loud sigh.

"A chimera."

Scorpius' silvery head jerked up, his sudden attention catching her off guard as she watched a strange emotion flicker over his features, something she assumed was confusion as she quickly explained her answer.

"It's a creature with the body of a lion, the tail of a snake, and the second head of a goat. But can sometimes just be a creature with many animal body parts combined."

"I know what it is," Scorpius scoffed. "Chimeras are mythical creatures, no one has seen one in several centuries. How can you say it's your favorite animal if they are practically extinct?"

"Anything is possible," Isabella retorted, her eyes narrowed dangerously in anger. At the raising of one of his ashy eyebrows, she let her top lip curl up in revulsion at his demeaning attitude. "Chimeras are representative of humans because they have the many pieces that fit together to make it whole. Everyone has prideful tendencies like the lion and some are scornful like the snake; most people are intelligent like the goat but everyone had a different mixture that makes them unique."

Having not expected such a thorough answer, Scorpius morphed his facial features to show he understood her point, glancing down to the sheet of paper as he casually remarked, "Well that answers that."

"When is your birthday?" He asked evenly without looking up.

"May 3rd," Isabella blandly stated.

"Really?" Scorpius inquired, the surprised pitch to the one word drawing up her attention as she hesitantly glanced at him, slowly nodding her head as if her confirmation would be a bad thing. "Mine too," he added and flashed a wide smile when her eyebrows shot upwards.

"Really?" Isabella repeated his statement and Scorpius chuckled lightly, his silver gaze running over the listed questions as he nodded several times.

"Yes, really. Looks like we have something in common after all."

"You mean besides the fact that we both have blonde hair and grey eyes?" Isabella challenged, already wanting to prove this spoiled brat wrong even if it meant pointing out their similarities.

Scorpius was caught off guard by her statement, suddenly fixing his gaze on her slender face as one eyebrow drooped lower over an eye in contemplation as he assessed the witch before him. The whiteness of their blonde locks were closely alike and their silver eyes were very nearly identical in shape and size, thick dark lashes surrounding both sets of mercury orbs.

"Grey eyes are extremely rare, even among the magical population," Isabella said plainly.

Neither spoke for a moment, staring at each other quietly as her words reverberated in the not so quiet silence of the Great Hall as each attempted to make heads or tails of what that snippet of information meant for them.

Were we twins separated at birth? Isabella randomly thought, the inkling flying out the window as she dismissed their similar features and same date of birth. Impossible. Mother wouldn't have given away one of her children. Are we cousins then? They say all witches and wizards are related somehow.

"Yes well -" Scorpius started slowly, the two words a slight distraction from his inability to quickly say something snarky. "We are all related one way or another," he finished weakly, schooling his features into indifference as Isabella smirked cockily, her expression of triumph relating to his vocalization of her most recent thought as if he had read her mind.

"What's the next question," she said without the inflection of asking, a smile replacing the smirk as she chuckled shortly to herself.

"Favorite memory," Scorpius stated, glancing down and picking a random question before rapidly looking up to gauge her reaction.

"That's easy," Isabella dismissed. "When I was four, my mother was pregnant with my brother. When she brought him home from the hospital - I'd never seen my parents look so happy." Her gaze turned distant and she continued rambling without pausing to think about what she was spilling. "They always fought a lot but when they came back with William, everything seemed easier." Suddenly realizing what she had said, Isabella hastily glanced at Scorpius before staring at the arch of two pillars off to her left. "What about you?" She commented without looking back.

"The first time I rode a broom," Scorpius replied, a sad smile turning up the corners of his lips as he too got lost in his memories. "My father had bought me a new Firebolt for Christmas one year and when I snuck upstairs to find my presents and discovered the broom, my mother was furious that he had bought such an "inappropriate toy" for me. That was one of the times that she left the Manor for several days and one of the many that my father drank himself into depression. I took the broom outside that day after my mother left and my father shut himself in his office and flew for hours, not caring if they found me and took away my gift."

Scorpius then too realized who he was speaking to and shook his head to rid the memories, sheepishly glancing away when he saw Isabella staring at him with a mixture of pity and understanding twisting her features.

"What do you want to be when you grow up and why," he stated when the awkward silence ate at his nerves, briefly chancing a glance at Isabella as her eyebrows furrowed and she contemplated her answer, immensely glad that she had not pushed him further but followed his change in subject.

"I want to be an Unspeakeable like my father," Scorpius filled in for her when Isabella's expression turned serious as she racked her mind for an answer to a question she had not really thought about so far in her short life.

"Your father was an Unspeakeable?" She asked incredulously, silver eyes wide and mouth agape as she stared at him.

Unsure if her question was meant to be implied as a good or bad thing, Scorpius hesitantly responded, "Yes. . ."

"Both my parents were Unspeakeables too," Isabella supplied, earning a curious tilting of his head as Scorpius openly stared in surprise. "That's how they met."

Scorpius kept a wary eye on Isabella, peeking around her to make sure no students were watching them as if waiting for some big joke to be revealed.

"Which department does he work for?" She asked innocently, merely trying to gauge if their parents somehow knew each other.

"I dunno," Scorpius replied hesitantly, eying her up and down.

"Mine were in the Time Department before my mother quit and my father made his way into politics."

A flash of a memory of Draco rambling on about the stupidity of politicians and their selfish desires brought a haughty smirk to Scorpius' features, his lips curling into a sneer as he hmph'ed at her prolonged response.

"So what do you want to be?" He repeated to keep from allowing her to berate him for silently mocking her parents. "A model? Or a doctor? Maybe just a housewife?"

It took everything in her to not swing at him, her fists clenching at her sides as Isabella narrowed her irate gaze and stared fiercely at Scorpius.

"Whatever I do, I'll be more successful than you," Isabella said smugly, her mounting temper infuriated even further when he simply chuckled and gave her a condescending smirk.

"No one has more success than a Malfoy," Scorpius stated. "My father has told me so."

"Well your da is wrong," she proclaimed through gritted teeth, barely holding back her irritation with the blonde wizard. "He can't be too bright if he's still stuck in the Department of Mysteries after being an Unspeakable for over a decade."

Scorpius meant to retort with a clever comeback but all he could do was step forward enough until they were dangerously close. He barely had an inch over her in height but he used that small advantage to tilt his chin up snootily as Isabella kept her gaze focused on his irate expressions.

"Say that again," Scorpius whispered in a low tone, "And we'll see who's really successful with magic."

Neither blonde had noticed that the surrounding students had gotten eerily quiet as they paused their activities to watch the escalating fight. The Slytherins closest to them turned to divert the other House's attention from the arguing pair, scowling and glaring at their fellow Firsties in order to protect two of their own from gaining the attention of the teachers.

"Isabella?" Margot nervously called her new friend, panicked eyes flitting over the handful of students still watching the Slytherins. She was jerked from her stare by the random mention of her name, glancing sideways to chance a peek at Margot as the black haired girl stood anxiously next to a scrawny wizard, both looking away when Isabella's focus turned to them before she returned her glare to Scorpius.

"Alright everyone," McGonagall loudly stated, breaking their concentration as both blondes spared a glance at the front of the Great Hall, barely considering the Headmistress' call for attention a top priority. "You have had enough time to go over your questions and answers. Remaining with your partner, I want one pair from each House to form a group of eight. Once you have found the others from the opposing Houses and created a group, I want you all to take turns asking each other the same questions. This exercise is designed to create friendships between Houses and to show you all that everyone is not so different. Now find a group - you will have twenty minutes before we move on to our next exercise."

"Come on," Scorpius rushed. "Let's get this over with so I don't have to be partnered with you anymore."

Huffing angrily, Isabella brushed past him and walked around until she found a group of six students who had yet to venture into the Slytherin fold to find an extra pair.

"Mind if we join you?" She asked politely, grabbing the attention of the entire lot as they turned to stare at her and Scorpius looming just behind.

"Might as well," a loud mouthed, very small boy amended from the back. "We're still missing two snakes."

Isabella ruffled at the demeaning tone of his statement and felt Scorpius hurry up to press against her back as he too bristled with anger for the short Gryffindors remark. Pursing her lips into a tight line she nodded once and stepped forward to complete the small circle, making room for Scorpius as he haltingly strode to the group. The rest of the assembly went as smoothly as one could hope and the First Years were eagerly pushing their way through the wide doorway to exit the Great Hall almost three hours later, each House splitting off to retreat to their dorms.

"Now wasn't that so much more fun than skipping to wander around the grounds?" Helena goaded as the three girls were drawn together and began walking down to the dungeons. Isabella ignored her comments, pretending as if she were still too worked up over her partnering with Scorpius to listen to her friend's complaints. Margot was anxiously silent between them, turning her head as she peered back and forth for eithers reaction as they breezed through the corridors.

"What's that?" Isabella remarked, her silver eyes fiercely narrowed. "I can't hear what you're saying over the horrid smell of that ghastly perfume you insist on reapplying every hour."

Helena's gaze widened a fraction before she closed her open mouth and glared scornfully at the blonde witch. There was no snippy response and Isabella smiled smally at her victory over the pompous, spoiled brat. It was almost curfew when the trio found their way to the entrance to the Slytherin common room and slipped inside with heavy yawns echoing through the troupe. As they passed through the green and silver decorated room, a roaring fire bringing light and heat to the cold space, Isabella noted that many students were still up, a lot of them lounging around the common room chatting easily.

After following Helena and Margot back through the dorms to their room, she changed into something more comfortable and threw a sweatshirt over her head to ward off the chilliness of the dungeons. Helena had begun rambling on about how fabulous and exciting her family was, Margot listening with rapt attention as the brunette held her gaze and gestured wildly, and she knew they would notice her absence. Isabella rummaged through her trunk until she found a short stack of books she had brought with her to read and tucked the novel under her arm as she quietly slipped out of the bedroom to make her way back to the common room.

Intending to find an open chair or couch to relax and read, Isabella stopped in the darkened entryway leading from the dorms as she surveyed the sunken area overloaded with cushiony sofas and plush rugs. Spotting a single chaise lounge chair on the far side of the room just to the right of the giant, marble fireplace inside a shadowed alcove, she paced through the arranged furniture, barely glancing around as she felt roving eyes on her. She was several meters from her destination when her peripheral vision saw a spot of white, her head immediately turning to peer at the object and she did a double take when she saw that it was Scorpius she had seen. He was sitting alone at a small table, his blonde head bent forward so his nose was only a handful of inches from the book's page and Isabella paused to stare at the boy that had done his best to make her life hell for a couple of hours.

Sighing in agitated reluctance, she twisted her hips to begin walking towards the table instead of the secluded chaise lounge.

"Mind if I join you?" Isabella evenly asked, not surprised when Scorpius looked up and blanched before quickly schooling his face into indifference.

"Go ahead," he replied and turned his attention back to the book he was reading, a quill pinched between his fingers on the far side as he readied to make notes in the text. She deftly scooted the chair back before pulling it back under her as she sat, her reading material now lying on the tabletop as she momentarily studied Scorpius.

"I want to apologize for my behavior earlier," Isabella started, pausing when her words registered and he glanced up, intrigued by where she was going. "I get nervous when meeting new people. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Scorpius was astounded by her attitude, he was not used to being treated as an equal by anyone, let alone someone his own age. Most of the children that he had grown up with had been taught to fear and respect the Malfoy name even before they were introduced as playmates. He had never had a true friend before but Scorpius was sure this was how that type of relationship worked. Isabella held her stare for a minute longer, taking in his facial features and expressions and wondering why he looked so familiar, before she let her honey eyebrows raise gently and her silver eyes widened in anticipation of his response.

"Well?. . ." She said shortly, goading his reaction when Scorpius seemed to jerk out of a spacey thought.

"Yes - thank you. I must apologize as well. I have always been praised or scorned for my last name and I assumed you were doing the same thing." The words ran out before he could stop them but judging by the relieved smile that flashed on her face, Isabella was not interested in what others thought of him. She nodded her head once and let the subject drop, focusing her attention on opening her novel to the correct page as Scorpius gazed down at the same sentence he had read four times now.

The book wasn't holding her attention so Isabella leaned back in her wooden chair and casually stared over the other occupants of the common room. Everyone was caught up in their own readings or chats with their friends and she exhaled a small sigh, puckering her lips and pushing them to the side of her mouth as she rotated her shoulders to face Scorpius straight away.

"What are you reading?" Isabella asked curiously when the bubble of silence surrounding their table became deafening. His finger paused where it was following the words on the page as he read and Scorpius slid his fingers underneath the hard edges of the cover to lift the book off the table and hold it so she could read the bold title, his mercury eyes never leaving the page as the tome shifted.

"Charms? Why are you reading a textbook before classes have even started?" Isabella questioned incredulously.

Scorpius shrugged his shoulders, finally breaking his stare as he relaxed his shoulders and straightened his posture. "I think the subject is. . . interesting and want to be prepared for class. What have you got there? Some romance novel I bet."

Isabella hastily grabbed her book and pulled it across the table to where he couldn't reach it if he tried. Hiding the flush of unreasonable embarrassment that threatened to creep up her neck, she ducked her head to look like she was marking her page in the book but inhaled rapidly to calm her jittery nerves.

"So what if it is?" She testily responded, working to push the envelope to see how he would react to a sudden shift in her mood.

Scorpius raised his ashen eyebrows, shaking his platinum head once to convey his indifference on the matter. "Everyone has to read something," was all he said before nodding his chin forward to gaze again at the textbook.

Isabella took his ease in stride and flipped back open her book to scan the page to see where she had left off, smiling to herself when she realized that she kind of liked the boy. They had both easily opened up to the other and she thought that a key component to any solid friendship. She had been weary of this school year because of all of the changes it represented. But making friends and finding a kindred spirit led Isabella to believe that maybe Hogwarts might not be such a bad place after all.

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A/N:

Thank you for reading! This took a bit longer than expected but I had a hard time figuring out how much I wanted to have happen here.

If you liked it, hit that blue button to review. I would greatly appreciate the feedback and would love to know who all is reading this story.