Dora had been both excited and horrified to learn that she had to have second hand books and things, but she consoled herself by looking through her mother's old school books. She didn't understand some of the old written conversations that were scribbled in the margins, especially because the Black sisters had occasionally used runes in their conversations, but she knew Ronan would appreciate it and they could have fun decoding it.
Charlie was not excited to be heading off to Hogwarts. At the most, he was extremely nervous to go, unsure what house he should be though he knew his brother was in Gryffindor and his twin sister was intent on going to Slytherin. Charlie did finally confide in his older brother, telling him how worried he was, but Will reassured him that everything would be fine, no matter what.
On Platform 9 ¾, Will, Charlie, and Dora said goodbye to the rest of their family, and it seemed that everyone except Percy was very sad to see the older twins go. Dora firmly pushed away her little sister and hissed, "Stop! Behave yourself."
Arthur had Tommy by the hand just in case, and the younger twins were chattering to Will and Charlie while Percy looked on solemnly and wished Dora "good luck."
Andromeda took her four-year-old daughter by the hand and hugged the oldest three properly, straightening collars and cautioning them on their behaviour at school. "Remember our talk," Arthur said to his sons, and Andromeda added to Dora, "And you remembers ours."
The boys nodded awkwardly, but Dora rolled her eyes. "Of course," she sighed. "Come on, there's the whistle." The three school children loaded their trunks on to the train with their father's help.
Andromeda gave a sigh as the rest of the family waved to the three looking out of the windows of their compartment, grabbing Tommy's hand in hers as he moved to run after the train. The boy yelled to his brothers excitedly, "Bye!" and the boys waved back as the train left the station.
Dora opted to sit with her brothers for the first part of the journey—that was, until Will's friend Richard showed up and began to ask Will about his summer. "I'm going to take a walk," Dora said, getting up and swinging her black hair over her shoulder.
"Why do you look so much different from your brothers?" Richard asked her as she moved to leave the compartment. "Take after your mother instead?"
"I can look however I want," Dora said, and flounced out of the compartment without an explanation. She heard Will say, "Don't mind her," as she left, but kept moving toward the front of the train, having seen Desmond Lestrange and his grandson standing nearer the front when they were boarding the Hogwarts Express.
Dora looked into a few compartments, finding sixth year Hufflepuffs and fifth year Ravenclaws arguing over two Gryffindors playing chess, some third years discussing the electives they were taking, some fourth years talking about Quidditch, and several scared looking first years before she finally found the right compartment. She saw Ronan's face light up and immediately go blank when he saw her.
"Nymphadora," said the blonde girl, recognising the girl who had gone in and out of pureblood circles for the previous seven years. "I wondered when you would show up."
"Avery," said Dora with a half bored, half annoyed expression before she acknowledged the other boy seated with them. "Nott. And who is this? I don't remember seeing you at gatherings." She directed this statement to the dark-haired girl seated by Ronan.
"I am Maura Rosier," the girl said haughtily.
"Oh," Dora frowned. "Then we're cousins, aren't we?"
"Not to you," Maura scoffed. "Weasley."
Lauren looked carefully between the other two girls, but Ronan said, "I'd be careful what you say to this one, Rosier. Dora, Maura is a third year, and these two are—"
"Second years," Dora finished. "I know: Will's mentioned them. He told me they were asking about me."
"I wasn't," the Nott heir stated immediately, and Lauren smirked to herself at this.
"You were always fun to have around," Lauren said to Dora. "You could get away with anything when you were with Ronan's family, and you made gatherings interesting."
Dora gave Lauren a very searching look, then replied, "I didn't choose to leave. It was for my safety that Desmond sent me back to my parents—though of course he hadn't wanted me at his house in the first place."
"You could have stayed with your mother's father," Nott suggested, but Ronan's sharp "no" and Dora's laughter stopped him.
"Cygnus is evil," Dora smirked. "I'd stay away from him, if you like to be healthy."
Rosier raised an eyebrow at this, and Nott hesitated to speak, wondering exactly what the Weasley girl meant by her statement. Lauren turned to Dora and asked, "So why are you here?"
"I'm going to be a Slytherin, and I don't want to sit with my brothers because Will's friend is there," Dora answered. "He was asking weird questions."
"It's that Ravenclaw kid," Nott said knowingly. "Mudblood."
Ronan motioned to Dora, scooting closer to Maura so that Dora could have the seat next to the window. Maura gave the younger witch a dirty look and said to Ronan, "So you just accept her without knowing what she believes?"
The boy looked at Rosier and replied, "We practically grew up together, from four years old to eight years old. I've stayed in contact with her since Grandfather sent her home—in spite of his orders to ignore her—and I have no intentions of breaking that connection."
"Well, if she was good enough for his parents," Nott began, but Dora cut him off.
"I was taken to Lestrange Manor on the Dark Lord's orders—"
"Suggestion," Ronan corrected her. "It was not an order."
The mood in the compartment was immediately awkward, and Dora continued, "The Dark Lord asked Aunt Bella to keep an eye on me, but instead she kidnapped me."
Lauren considered Dora and Ronan for a moment, then asked in a hushed voice, "Do you also believe that the Dark Lord will return?"
"Yes," Dora said firmly. "And my own mother believes the same thing."
"We've heard really weird things about your mother," Nott said in amusement, seeming to be recalling a conversation he'd had with someone else.
"I'll Curse you if you talk shit about my mother," Dora said sweetly. "If you want to ask questions, fine, but consider this your warning."
"Why the hostility?" Maura asked with a smirk.
"Because I've heard things about him," Dora answered with a dramatic sigh.
"What have you heard?" Nott scoffed.
"The things you've said to Will," Dora shrugged.
The Nott heir frowned. "Who's Will?"
Lauren sighed. "That's the oldest Weasley, her brother. Isn't that right?"
"Yes," Dora said, pleased that the Avery girl at least was aware of some things. "I think one of the main differences between the Weasleys and other pureblood families is that Weasleys actually like each other. Mostly."
"That is true," Ronan sighed, amused and pained at the same time.
"What do you mean, mostly?" Lauren asked. "Do you fight with your brothers a lot?"
"They don't dare fight me," Dora shrugged. "I cursed Silas once and they've not tried anything since then."
"So how many of you are there?" Rosier asked tentatively. "No one seems to know the actual number."
Dora tilted her head slightly. "Will's the oldest, Charlie and I are less than a year younger, and then there's Percy. The other twins are after that, then Tommy, and then Elsie is the youngest. There's eight children: six boys, two girls. I'm the third oldest."
"Your twin is older?" Ronan asked her in surprise. "I didn't know that."
"I assume not many people do," Dora giggled. "Only Dad and the Healer were present at our birth. Mum didn't know she was having twins the first time. Apparently I gave her a really hard time."
The others sat there awkwardly, and Ronan blushed slightly, looking down at the spellbook he'd been holding since Dora had entered the compartment. After a couple of minutes, Lauren asked, "What are your powers really like? We asked your brother, but he told us it wasn't his place to talk about."
Dora grinned, wondering at how grown up Will had become in the last year. "I have full Metamorphagus powers and can change any part of my appearance as much as I want. I can impersonate anyone."
"She pretended to be my twin a couple times," Ronan said, grinning too. "Father wasn't pleased."
"So Bellatrix was supposed to raise you to follow the Dark Lord so that he could use your powers?" Rosier asked.
Ronan looked alarmed at this, but Dora nodded. "Yeah, imagine me being a Death Eater. Mask, robes…."
"Dark Mark," Ronan pointed out.
Dora immediately smirked, paused for a moment, then pulled up her left sleeve to reveal a very accurate-looking Mark that brought back memories to the young Lestrange. Nott stared in amazement, and Rosier sneered, "I dare you to keep that all year."
"I'll have a real one eventually, I assume," Dora replied coolly, pushing her sleeve back down. "I expect you all will fall in line too—unless you girls end up married off and all that instead."
"Both are honourable," Lauren answered simply, and Dora scoffed at this.
"I don't think Death Eaters are honourable," she said, making Ronan look at her in shock. "I don't believe in killing people just because you don't like them. Just ignore them."
"You shouldn't talk like that," Rosier said to Dora warningly. "People will think you take after your father."
"He has a weird obsession with Muggles," Dora shrugged. "None of us have that."
Lauren drew a deep breath and said, "Okay, well, do you prefer your parents' house, or Ronan's house?"
Dora frowned. "They're both good and bad. Our house is really loud, but Mum and Dad are nice to us and each other. But I liked learning from Aunt Bella, except that...she doesn't care about anyone except her Dark Lord."
Everyone felt awkward about this statement, even Ronan, who looked down at his textbook again. Dora picked up on this and continued, "I like being home because I know Mum will do anything for any of her children, and Mum can be just as mean as Aunt Bella."
"Can she?" Nott laughed. "Your brother said you have the best parents ever, and I wouldn't think those two things can exist in the same person."
"Being mean or angry isn't Mum's first reaction," Dora explained. "She listens and she talks to us. I honestly don't know how all of us don't make her go crazy."
Lauren agreed with this statement, laughing slightly. "Has she ever really hurt any of you?"
"No," Dora scoffed. "But she made the other twins blind once when they were bullying Percy, and we all know that she means what she says. Mum will do exactly what she threatens to do."
"So do you want to get married when you're older?" Rosier asked. "Do you plan to have a pureblood family and all that?"
"I don't like babies," Dora said darkly. "Any of them. From Draco to Elsie, my baby sister. And I don't want a husband: they seem like trouble."
This made the two boys laugh, both receiving looks from the girls in the compartment. "You left your trunk with your brothers?" Ronan asked Dora after a moment.
"Yeah, but the elves will take care of it," answered Dora.
"Is your twin going to be in Slytherin?" Rosier asked.
"I doubt it," Dora sighed. "He's more of a Hufflepuff, but with anger issues." Everyone laughed, and Dora scowled at them. "It's not nice to separate twins. Twins don't like that."
"Of course not," Ronan said softly, and Dora glanced at him, the boy's likeness to his father suddenly striking her.
"You look like your dad," she told him, and he gave her a look.
"Thanks," he said, and she knew that he meant for her to shut up about his parents in front of the others.
Dora was relieved when it was time to change into her first year robes, and when the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, she disembarked with Ronan at her side. She heard Charlie call for her, and turned automatically, ready to tell him she was staying with Ronan, but when she turned back around, Ronan had disappeared into the rest of the students pouring off of the train.
"You've been gone forever," Charlie said to her. "Come on! Hagrid's gathering the rest of the first years over there." And he hurried forward, Dora scrambling to keep up with him.
They climbed into a boat together at the edge of the lake, both of them ignoring the murmurs of the other first years. Dora was glad when they were finally out into the lake, because Charlie leaned closer to her and asked, "Did you find him? How was it?"
"Shh!" Dora said to him. "Sound carries over water."
"Yeah, but I was being quiet," Charlie huffed, looking out over the lake at some of the other boats.
"It was fine," Dora told her twin. "I guess we're just going to let everyone know we're talking. It wasn't too bad."
"All right," Charlie nodded.
"So have you decided what house you'll be in?" she asked him with a slightly pleading look.
Charlie sighed. "Dora, don't be mad. I'm not going to be a Slytherin with you."
Dora nodded. "Are you going to Gryffindor with Will?"
"I don't know," the boy sighed. "I don't know, Dora."
She didn't ask him anything else, knowing that he had been worried about his Sorting for the last couple years. Dora was relieved to finally land at the boathouse and said, "No matter where you go, I'll still see you and Will. I mean, you and I are in the same year."
Charlie did not reply, beginning to feel slightly ill, and as they stood on the steps and a teacher approached them, he wished for the first time that he could be like Dora and pretend he wasn't himself. He hardly heard the witch's words as she explained the houses and point systems, following Dora up the steps and into the Entrance Hall. He cringed a lot inwardly as he walked into the Great Hall and heard whispering and felt people staring. He felt that everyone knew who he was, yet he was completely alone.
"We'll be last," Dora murmured.
Again, Charlie said nothing, standing there beside his twin as the group of first years got smaller and smaller. As they expected, Ronan went straight to Slytherin with no deliberation on the part of the Sorting Hat, and Dora began to be very excited for her own turn. She was surprised that Charlie was called first since her own real first name was Bellatrix, but she watched him go to the Sorting Hat and place it on his head, his face blank.
There was silence in the hall. Dora looked at Will at the Gryffindor House table, and they both wondered what on earth was taking the Sorting Hat so long. After several long moments, the Hat solemnly proclaimed, "Gryffindor!" and amid the cheers of Will and his fellow Gryffindors, Charlie set the Hat back down on the stool and walked to the table, sitting down next to his brother and saying nothing as he focused on Dora, the final first year to be Sorted.
"Nymphadora Weasley," pronounced Professor McGonagall.
Dora ignored all the stares and whispers, taking her seat and placing the Sorting Hat on her head. Her mind was full of panic, concern for herself and her brothers, her strong desire to be a Slytherin and with Ronan, and her guilt for separating her family.
"Ah, you're the twin," the Hat mused in Dora's head, much to her annoyance. "Yes, I see the similarities...but you don't want to be like him. How unusual...yes."
I want Slytherin, Dora thought carefully. My brothers have their own friends. Ronan needs me more.
"I don't know about that," the Hat said, and Dora scoffed at it. "You would make a great Hufflepuff—"
No! Dora said in a panic, nearly speaking out loud. I can't be a Hufflepuff. Please put me in Slytherin. I have to be in Slytherin.
And, after a couple more minutes of trying to convince the girl that she'd be a great Hufflepuff, the Sorting Hat announced Dora as a Slytherin. She hardly noticed that barely anyone cheered in her haste to get away from the Hat and join the Slytherin House table.
"Good job," Ronan said to Dora discretely as they turned to the head table for the Headmaster's welcome speech.
Dora hardly heard a word of Dumbledore's little speech, thinking more about what she'd heard her mother say about the man. Her mother definitely had a low opinion of him, and her father nearly adored the man. Dora didn't think Dumbledore looked dangerous at all, but, considering that even her Aunt Bellatrix could pretend to be nice and sweet, Dora reserved her judgement for a later time.
She and Ronan didn't talk much during the feast, but shared looks when different foods appeared. Sure, they were used to feasts and plenty of food and festivities, but not to the scale of all of Hogwarts. They were both beginning to be very excited about being at school.
When the prefects moved to take the first years to their common rooms, Will said to the new prefect, "Don't worry about Charlie: I'll show him around myself."
"No," said a voice behind them, and Will turned to see a blonde girl standing there with a disapproving look on her face. "He's the prefect, and he—" she pointed at Charlie "—needs to go with the other first years."
"Allison," said a boy, and Will this time recognised Matthew Moran, now a sixth year prefect. "They're brothers, and Will's a responsible kid. I'm sure they'll be fine."
"Yeah, pay more attention to the troublesome firsties," Charlie said, looking meaningfully at the Slytherin House table and receiving some laughs.
"Isn't that Weasley girl your sister?" Allison asked the two suddenly in realisation.
"Yeah, she's my twin," Charlie said defensively. "Why?"
"She already threatened one of the Slytherin prefects," Allison sighed. "That's why I came over here to see if there were similar problems."
Will laughed. "Not today," he said. "But don't feel bad for the other Slytherins."
Charlie laughed. "Oh, you're the Head Girl," he said to Allison. "Is that fun for you?"
"Honestly," Allison said, looking at Charlie carefully, "I don't know why you're not a Slytherin too." She walked away, and Charlie made a rude gesture at her back, Will and the Gryffindor prefects awkwardly laughing at the situation.
"Do you have something against Head Boys and Girls?" asked Moran. "What if you two are Head Boys eventually?"
Charlie made a face. "Not me," he said. "I could see Will doing that, though. Come on, Will; let's get out of here."
Will made it a point to walk past his sister, who was in the group getting ready to go to the Slytherin Common Room. "Charlie," Dora asked, grinning, "did you get Will in trouble already?"
"The Head Girl is special," Charlie answered with a slight smirk. "Asked me why I wasn't with you."
"Oh." Dora frowned. "Did you tell her off?"
"In his own way," Will chuckled. "I think the prefects like us though—but we heard yours don't feel the same."
"Weasley!" The Slytherin prefect was glaring at Nymphadora. "If you wanted to be with your litter, you should have chosen their house. Get moving!"
"Piss off," Charlie scoffed at the girl, receiving a glare.
"Ten points—" the prefect was cut off as Dora's magic crackled.
At Dora's look, her brothers moved off just as the Slytherin Head of House approached. "Moving along, Reed," said Severus Snape.
The prefect hesitated, and Dora lifted the spell silently so that the girl breathed, "Yes, Professor."
They were in a dungeon corridor when the prefect glanced around with her wand in her hand and Dora slipped out of sight behind some older students. She fully expected the prefect to attempt to curse her and was on guard.
"Where's the Weasley girl?" the prefect scowled.
"She's probably here somewhere," came the voice of Ronan Lestrange. "I'd be careful with her. She's not a normal Weasley."
Dora was so grateful in that moment that her hair nearly changed colours and she had to really concentrate to keep her hair black. Changing her appearance, she slipped back into the group of first years and stayed quiet. It wasn't very wise to make too big of a scene all at once.
Just before she went off to her room, Ronan walked by and handed her a piece of parchment, giving her a jolt of excitement. Dora hurried into the girl's dormitory and found where her trunk was, sitting down on her bed and beginning to read the paper Ronan had given her.
See you in class tomorrow, it said.
Dora grinned and turned to start organising her things into the drawers that were assigned to her. She could not wait for classes to start.
Life without the three oldest Weasley children was strange, but no more quiet since Tommy was now five years old and insisted on flying brooms with Silas and Regis. They didn't allow Elsie to play with them, however, so Andromeda was left to entertain her youngest child, often teaching her certain manners or things about their world.
Percy was doing very well in his studies with his mother, and since being allowed to use his mother's wand, had mastered several spells. One of his favourite spells was the hex that she had secretly taught him so that he could use it in case of bullies, whether at home or at school.
He could tell that his mother found it very difficult to have all five children practise spells at the same time (impossible anyway because there weren't enough wands) and he would volunteer to watch Tommy and Elsie while Silas and Regis had their lessons. Percy soon hated this idea because of how difficult the younger two were to handle. It was by accident that the nine year old figured out that he could "wish" them into obeying him, and by instinct, he made sure not to do it in front of his parents.