1st September 1991

Black Residence

"Slytherin!?"

"Sirius, calm down-,"

"Don't!" Sirius snapped as he raised his hand to stop Marlene from finishing her sentence. "Don't tell me to 'calm down', that stinking, ratty-old, faulty, piece of shit hat put my daughter in Slytherin?" Sirius breathed out incredulously.

There was a moment's pause,

Marlene's quiet but strong voice carried through the room "Don't ever, speak to me like that again."

Sirius hung his head in shame, yet his frustration didn't ebb, his fingers were still clutching on to the letter that Hogwarts had sent him. This was something that the school had started only a few years back; this system of sending a letter to the parents, informing them of the house that their child got sorted into. It was a way to let the parents know officially and a means of children without methods of communication to pass this information on to their families.

He had thought that this was a great idea, he'd get to congratulate his daughter and his letter would be the first thing she'd see at the breakfast table, it would have been perfect. Of course, in this musing, she was sorted into Gryffindor.

His mind felt like a broken record player, 'What went wrong?' was the question that he repeated over and over again. He had done all the right things, he had kept her away from the house in Grimmauld Place, he had made sure that she only read stuff about light magic, he had made sure that his daughter was good and she was! She helped her brother, she loved muggle culture and by extension muggles themselves, heck, she was polite to the house-elves over at the Potter's.

Maybe it's because she had met with the Malfoy brat a couple of times at parties and such, yeah that must have been it. He'd probably filled her head with rubbish. But… Viscenya knew better than that right?

It didn't matter, he'd sort it out. He would go over to Hogwarts, the time be damned, and shake sense into the Headmaster and ask him to redo the sorting. It had to have been a mistake.

He moved to leave his bedroom when a hand stopped him in his tracks, he moved his gaze to the said hand and saw that Marlene was clutching onto his shoulder with a vice-like grip. "Where are you going?" she asked calmly, the anger from his behaviour before still not completely gone.

"To have a chat with Dumbledore, this has to be a mistake!"

He moved past her and as he reached the door, Marlene said loudly, "Do you remember your Sorting?"

That stopped him.

He turned around and fixed with a steely look, "Of course I do, one of the best moments of my life." He said, struggling to keep the snark out of his voice, lest his wife got angrier.

"Care to explain what happened after, with your parents?"Marlene prodded further with faux concern.

"Well, they wrote a letter to Dumbledore, tried to pull rank to get me sorted in Slytherin. Came to Hogwarts when they felt that they could scare the hat into putting me in the 'right house', didn't succeed and made life hell for me for as long as I lived under their roof after that." Sirius answered simply, looking a bit confused as to why Marlene had asked him to go over that experience.

Marlene exhaled sharply through her nose and stepped closer to her husband, "And don't you see how that situation may be similar to this one?" she asked; the annoyance evident in her tone.

Realisation dawned on Sirius's face, and Marlene thought that the battle was won. She was wrong.

"If you think that you can compare the two situations, then you are wrong."

"Really, how so? They seem quite similar to me." Marlene said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Well, they're not!" Sirius snapped.

"Go ahead, explain why," Marlene said calmly.

Sirius simply stared at her.

"Okay maybe they're kind of similar- but still!" he defended himself as he saw a smirk overtake Marlene's features. "Don't turn me into one of the bad guys! We both know our daughter; we know that she's better than Slytherin."

Marlene sighed heavily. "Merlin was in Slytherin, you know?"

"Voldemort was in Slytherin too," Sirius responded like a petulant child.

"Pettigrew was in Gryffindor," Marlene, dropping the bomb, "He was in Gryffindor, yet he did what he did."

Sirius breathed heavily through his nose, and his chest heaved slightly. Even after almost ten years, the anger that had risen in him the first time he'd heard of the rat's betrayal didn't diminish, yet he wasn't going to let the case of one bad apple justify Marlene's argument.

"He was an exception." Sirius snapped.

"Then why can't our daughter be?" Marlene challenged, "Why does she not get to be her own person? Why is it that just because she got sorted into a house- she's a completely different entity now? Pettigrew would have turned bad no matter where he was sorted, similarly, Viscenya will turn out good even if she's in Slytherin."

When Sirius didn't say anything, Marlene continued-

"We raised her to be kind; we raised her to know right from wrong. Just because she's there with those kids, or that she's in Slytherin will not change that," she said in a softer tone than before.

"You're one to say, you hated those snakes just as much as I did in school!" Sirius accused, but the words carried little bite to them.

"First of all, I was a kid back then, and I'd like to think that I've matured over the years."

Sirius snorted at that, Marlene gave him appointed look but carried on, "Besides back then, you have to admit, the people in Slytherin were a bunch of assholes and you can't blame me!"

"I do admit that," said Sirius, "I do, I admit that the kids from Slytherin in our year were grade-A Wankers, and that is the reason why I don't want her with their children! Come on, how can you not see my point?" he pleaded.

Marlene sighed, for what felt like the hundredth time during that conversation, "Honey, the sorting hat knows. I don't know how or why, but it knows. And if it said that our daughter belongs in Slytherin-then she does, there's no way around that."

"So you're saying that she's destined to be a bad person? Huh, is that what you're saying?" Sirius asked her incredulously

"No that is not what I'm saying AT ALL!" Marlene yelled out. "Haven't you heard a word of what I've been saying the entire time!? Our daughter is a good person, just because she got sorted into Slytherin it doesn't mean that she'll be evil once she dawns the green tie- all it means is that she's smart, witty and knows how to get things done, and I don't see ANYTHING WRONG ABOUT THAT!" her eyes blazed with fire, so bright and so hot that even from a distance Sirius felt as though the gaze would burn him to the ground. He felt his expression shift, the anger lines on his face eased as his eyebrow came down from their position by his hairline.

"If I know anything about Viscenya, it's that she'll feel worse about this sorting than you do now. She grew up thinking she'd be something that she apparently isn't meant to be, and I'm pretty sure my darling's crushed inside." Marlene said to no one in particular, it was as if she was thinking out loud.

"...well, 'suppose anyone would be crushed if they got into Slytherin," mumbled Sirius. Yes, it was in the middle of Marlene's rant that he had realised how truly similar he seemed to his birth parents. They too had dreams of Sirius growing up to be the perfect Slytherin boy, and as his daughter, Sirius had also taken a complete 180 turn from that direction.

He may have agreed with Marlene on this but it didn't mean that he was completely on board with the idea. He was going to be bitter about it, but he wasn't going to go so far as to challenge the decision. It also didn't mean that he was suddenly going to wear an 'I Love Slytherins' shirt anytime soon. There was only one Slytherin that he loved and that was his daughter, he would keep it that way.

"Best write her a letter right now I guess, that is if we want her to get it by breakfast," said Marlene with a sigh, while she was all for supporting her daughter there was a part of her that had no idea how to behave and what to say to her that would make her feel comfortable. "Send it via Freddie, she'll like to see him." She added as an afterthought.

Had Viscenya been sorted into Gryffindor, everything would have felt natural... but it didn't mean that this wasn't nice. It wasn't natural because they had been living in a bubble. For eleven or so years, they had been living around and with people who were similar to them in thought and action. This was the variation that they needed. She'd adapt, she'd talk to Lily, read up on the house; the good and bad.

She loved her daughter and she'd be damned if a fucking prejudice got in the way.

2nd September 1991

First-year Slytherin Girl's Dorms,

Hogwarts

"Get up!"

"Shove off."

"Get up now and I won't report you to Professor Snape for your foul language."

"Fuck off now and I won't hex you for thinking that 'Shove off' is foul language."

Pansy gasped dramatically at the curse but was quickly subdued by her friend Daphne.

"Leave her alone Pansy, it's clear that Black doesn't care if she loses House points on the very first day. Let her rot in her haven of self-pity, we've got classes to attend to." A different voice called out from behind.

"I'll make you rot in your haven of self-pity!" Viscenya yelled from behind the drapes across her bed, so really her exclamation didn't have the effect that it should've. Not that it would have had any effect even if had been clear, Viscenya made shitty comebacks in the morning... or, in general.

"Why are you so bitter anyway? Is it because you didn't get sorted into the same house as your boyfriend?" Pansy asked mockingly.

"Harry is not my boyfriend," Viscenya mumbled into her pillow, "And I'm bitter, because you have been yelling in my face for the past half-hour, and I can't listen to a chicken yapping early in the morning... an ugly chicken at that."

"Why- you little! -" Pansy shrieked and whipped the drapes open.

She was met with the sight of Viscenya dressed perfectly in her uniform, hair combed through, all neat and clean. Save for the pillow on top of the face, there was not one thing that was out of order.

'You're dressed?" Pansy asked incredulously, still in shock.

"I've been up since the past three hours, got dressed at around 5:30 or something, roamed around for a bit, got bored, so I got back into the bed."

Of course, Viscenya didn't just roam around in the morning, she set out to the library first; eager to research on the rules and find loop-holes in the sorting ceremony and the Hat's decision. However having read the sign on the library, she found out that the library opened up when the school day officially started, i.e. at breakfast. She had been around three hours too early.

She practically used every spell she knew to get the door to open, but alas, she was just an eleven year old, and the spells protecting Hogwarts and all things included in the building were old and far stronger than a simple 'alohomora'. (If asked, she'd deny it, but she also tried shoving the door open.)

And so like a ghost, she roamed the halls of Hogwarts, she even saw some actual ghosts!

She met Sir Nicholas, and the Bloody Baron, there was no doubt in her mind that she wanted to go to Gryffindor now, the Slytherin ghost was a bore!

But there was only so much exploration one could go on about, early in the morning when she hadn't even had food, and loathe as she was to admit it, she couldn't find the kitchens. Besides, she kind of missed her bed.

So she had slipped back into her bed when all the other girls were sleeping. And through the drapes, she had heard the commotion that ensued when all of them tried to get ready. Safe to say, she had been wide awake the entire time Pansy Parkinson had spent trying to wake her up.

And now that Pansy Parkinson knew that, she was livid.

"Listen, Black, I know you're depressed or whatever but that doesn't mean that you make someone waste their precious time on you! Ugh! You're so frustrating! It's only been one day and you're already caused me so much trouble. Wait till I tell Professor Snape about this! You- you..." Pansy struggled to find the insult that would hit just right.

Even Viscenya turned her head around to witness the terrible blow that Pansy was sure to deal her with.

Suddenly, half the dorm was looking at Pansy expectedly, waiting for her to say something that would insight the first 'girl fight' of their Hogwarts journey.

Under the pressure, Pansy struggled, even more, her stammer more pronounced, and Viscenya was sure that she had seen a bead of sweat trickle down from her hairline.

"You- you... You- ugh! You little blood-traitor!"

Everybody around them gasped, and Pansy looked triumphant, albeit a bit nervous, nervous to see if her well-thought insult would have any effect on Viscenya.

Viscenya, in turn, looked bored, "Seriously Parkinson? You're worse at comebacks than I am."

A good thirty minutes after the riveting showdown in the Girls Dorm, the first-year girls, along with some of the older students moved out of the Dorms and headed towards the Great Hall (Pansy and Daphne purposely walking at a distance from Viscenya), throughout the entire journey, the seniors would tell them things about the school, warning them about teachers that they needed to look out for, and certain habits that they needed to let go of if they didn't want their Head of House hating them.

Of course, all of it didn't matter to Viscenya. For one, she was sure that the Head of House Professor Snape already hated her. She hadn't seen a lot of him before or after coming to Hogwarts but in the short meetings that they had had when he would visit Harry's house, she could tell that he wasn't particularly fond of her or children in general. For another, it wasn't as if she was going to stay in this house for long (not if she had any say in the matter anyway).

They soon reached the doors of the Great Hall, and Viscenya had flashbacks of when she was at the same place the night before, of course, in those flashbacks she was happy and genuinely excited about the prospect of studying at Hogwarts.

She was sure that they had entered the hall on time because there weren't a lot of students in the seats yet. A few were scattered here and there, the majority of the morning risers being from Ravenclaw.

Slytherin was second in number with the almost half of the table filled with students.

Viscenya roamed her eyes over the Gryffindor table and immediately spotted Harry, her eyes widened in shock, partly because she was surprised that Harry had even woken up this early and partly because the boy in question was looking directly at her. When Harry spotted Viscenya looking at him in turn, he immediately dropped his gaze to the plate of food in front of him and started shovelling forkfuls of eggs in his mouth, quiet like Ron who was sitting beside him.

Viscenya wanted so desperately to go and talk to him; she had a great opportunity to do so too, but she was a girl on a mission. She needed to get to the Library as quickly as possible; she'd talk to Harry only when she got good news to talk about. She sat down on the table, next to a girl from her year whose name she hadn't bothered to remember.

Just as she was about to grab a piece of toast, an owl that she recognised as her father's, with his piercing amber gaze and tufts of brown feathers, swooped down and perched himself on her shoulder.

Viscenya blanched at the sight of the bird. She'd forgotten that the parents were automatically told about the Sorting of their children. Oh, she was so screwed. She was sure that the bird had brought a letter from her parents. And she was also sure about the contents of that letter. She didn't even want to open, much less read it.

Seeing the cover of the envelope, she was relieved to notice that it wasn't a howler. Nevertheless, she was scared out of her wits. Just wanting the bird to go away, Viscenya carefully untied the letter from around the bird's leg and offered some bits of toast for the bird to eat.

"Hey Freddie, how are you boy," she asked in a soft, wavering voice, not wanting to scare the bird.

Freddie, as the owl was called, promptly finished the bits of toast that had been offered to him and nipped Viscenya playfully on the tips of her fingers in response. He didn't wait long and swiftly took a flight to leave the Hall.

Viscenya looked on forlornly at the bird but drew her attention to the letter.

She was just about to open the letter when she noticed the sudden silence fall on the Slytherin table.

She looked around to see that Professor Snape was at the top of the table distributing the time tables. She also found that during her short meeting with the owl, most of the Slytherin table had filled out.

The Slytherins really were punctual, huh?

When Professor Snape finally reached her end of the table, he was quick with his movements as he flicked his wand and the time table sheets levitated from the stack floating beside him and floated down to the child they were intended for.

Viscenya was impressed at the magic, even when she couldn't help but feel on edge in the presence of the teacher. Personally, she didn't have an issue with the man, but because of the number of times she'd heard her father bad-mouth him, and the botched interactions that she had had with the professor, she couldn't help but feel that she was supposed to be wary around him.

The head of the house didn't spare any of the children a second glance as he gave them the regular warning of being on time. With a swish of his robes, he had gone back to the Head table, and all the children were left in awkward silence.

Of course, the silence didn't last for long as children began talking. Most of the purebloods knew each other from before, so conversation flowed easily between them.

Even Viscenya, who didn't really hang out with these kinds of people often, knew some of the children from Ministry parties and the like.

From the din of chatter, Draco Malfoy's voice was the loudest as he bragged about his Quidditch skills. Viscenya caught Blaise Zabini's eyes, the boy who had peas willingly, and he rolled them at another one of Draco's brags, Viscenya had to bite down a smile.

Viscenya finished her breakfast in record time, and with her time-table and the letter still clutched in her hands, she left the Great Hall. Before leaving through the tall gates though, she looked one last time at Harry, and like before, he was also looking at her. When he saw Viscenya leaving, he moved to get up and approach her but Viscenya ran away before he lost her in the crowds.

The Library had been a waste of time.

For one, there were no books apart from 'Hogwarts: a History' that could give her insight into how the school worked, for another, the aforementioned book made it seem like the Sorting Hat's decision was absolute.

'Legend has it that the Sorting Hat was sewn roughly one thousand years ago and began as a normal hat belonging to Godric Gryffindor. When Gryffindor, along with Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff, wondered how they would continue to sort the students when the four were dead, Gryffindor pulled his hat from his head and, along with the other founders, enchanted it with their combined intelligence. All four founders wanted to ensure that students would be sorted into their eponymous houses, which would be selected according to each founder's particular preferences in students.

The Sorting Hat, now animated, was able to sort and divide the students into the Hogwarts houses and continued to do so for a millennium, passed down to each new Headmaster or Headmistress of the school. When not in use, it is placed on a shelf in the current Headmaster's or Headmistress's office.

The hat continues to carry out its duty each September at the beginning of the start-of-term feast when it is placed on a three-legged (sometimes four-legged) stool at the front of the Great Hall

The vast stores of knowledge that the hat possesses leads it to make irreproachable decisions, although there have been cases where the students didn't suit the houses that they had been sorted in, there has never been a case where the decision of the hat has been formally contested.'

There was more to the paragraph but none of it was useful to Viscenya after that point.

'There has never been a case where the decision of the hat has been formally contested.'

The same words had flashed before Viscenya's eyes all day. Through her classes, through the walks in the corridors, every time she closed her eyes, the words would spring back up in her train of thought. It all got worse when she realised that Harry was trying to contact her throughout the day. She'd see him sneaking glances at her as she made her way to other classes, even during lunch she could feel his gaze burning holes in her head.

But she had vowed that she'd only talk to him after she had good news, and now the prospect of even moderate news seemed bleak. Also, she was just too sad to even try talking to someone, let alone a person whom she was sure would judge her.

Although now as she walked towards her Potions class, which was right after lunch she couldn't help but feel that talking to Harry was inevitable. After having been avoided for the entire day, she knew her best friend enough to know that he'd find some way to get to her.

With a sigh she stepped into the classroom, it was dark, incredibly so. The thick black curtains were completely drawn and there was no scope of any light besides that of the dim candles, lighting up the room.

It was also cold, but from her experience in brewing potions, Viscenya knew that if they were allowed to brew potions on their first day, the classroom would heat up in no time. She could already see a few cauldrons simmering away at low heat. She ran her gaze over the walls and saw that several jars lined the stone.

Some jars had frogs kept in them while some had magical creatures that Viscenya wasn't familiar with. At the back of the class, she could see that there was a door that led to what she could only assume was the storeroom.

Despite the gloom she had been feeling all day, she couldn't help but feel giddy at the thought of using the vast stores of ingredients that Aunt Lily had told her about.

The seats had not been filled yet, but there were still a lot of students who had shown up. Viscenya took her seat somewhere in the middle of a row and waited. She kept her ears strained for some clue of harry having entered the class, but she found none, either he was being incredibly quiet, or he was just late. And eleven years of their friendship made her believe the latter.

At the very last minute, a gaggle of Gryffindors came inside the class with their loud boisterous laughs announcing their arrival. And surely, Viscenya heard Harry among them.

There was some shuffling, the sounds of chairs scraping the stone, Viscenya could hear the girl sitting beside her whisper something indignantly to someone else before she too got up and left her seat, curious to see what was going on she turned to her left and saw Harry, sitting there wearing a triumphant grin.

Viscenya whipped around to see who it was who gave away her seat for Harry and found that it was the Granger girl from before. Now it was her turn to be indignant, how dare Granger not understand her mission to avoid Harry!

She huffed and she puffed as she turned to face Harry again, and just as before she was met with the sight of him smiling, "Found you!" he said as he 'booped' her nose with his finger, and Viscenya cringed at the action.

Before she could get her word in, the door to the classroom swung open with a bang and their Potions teacher entered the room with a swish of his robes very dramatically. The candles dimmed impossibly lower and then he began to speak.