"Excuse me, may we sit here?" I hear a soft voice ask. I look up to see a girl with bright red hair and green eyes standing in the doorway. Next to her is a boy with shoulder length black hair and black eyes.

"Go ahead," I say as I look back down to my book. I hear shuffling as they put their trunks away and eventually sit down.

"What are you reading?" The girl asks.

"A Beginner's Guide to Handling Nifflers," I say as I look back up at her. Both she and the boy in front of me have books in their hands, too.

"What's a niffler?" She asks as she tries to look at the cover. I hold the book up for her to see, a small baby niffler with bright orange fur is the center of the cover.

"A niffler is a rodent-like creature that's attracted to shiny objects. They're native to Britain where they live in burrows. Although curse breakers and Goblins use them to burrow for treasure." I say, I feel my cheeks heat up, I hadn't meant to sound like a textbook. This is the first time I'm talking to someone else my age in this world and I'm already making myself look weird.

"Interesting, why did you choose that book?" She asks but the boy next to her puts his hand on her arm.

"Lily," he says looking at her. Her cheeks turn red as she looks down at her lap.

"Sorry, I'm just so interested in learning more. I come from a muggle family and-" She cuts herself off. "Sorry."

"It's okay!" I tell her, immediately understanding her. "I didn't know about magic until a few weeks ago."

"Really? Did you already read through our textbooks that quickly?"

"Uh, no," I say as I rub the back of my head. "I actually haven't read any."

"But you're reading about nifflers," the boy deadpans.

"Severus!" Lily whispers. I shrug my shoulder.

"I found out my dad had nifflers," I say as I look back down at my book. "I want to get my certification as soon as I can!"

"Certification?" Lily asks, sitting closer to the edge of her seat.

"Technically there's no rules against having a niffler, they're only rated XXX so any witch or wizard can handle them. But from what the books I've read have said, in the magizoology world it's looked down on if you own a niffler and don't have certification. Plus it's the only way you can own a niffler before you're of age."

"That's so interesting," Lily says as she leans back in her seat.

"I know, right?" I say, forcing myself to not bounce in my seat. "It's too bad we don't get to take Care of Magical Creatures earlier. I mean, who doesn't want to learn about dragons right away?"

"Me," Severus says under his breath. Lily elbows him in the side, giving me a tired look. I struggle not to laugh.

"Well," I say after a moment. "We should at least have the option."

"We already have to take seven classes," Severus says. "It's good for them to start us out slow as we get more acquainted with the castle."

"Castle?" I ask.

"Hogwarts is a castle," Lily says. "It's huge from the illustrations I've seen in our history textbook."

"You really didn't know that it was a castle?" Severus asks.

"No," I shake my head. "I haven't read our textbooks yet and Hagrid never mentioned it to me."

"Hagrid?" Lily asks.

"He's the keeper of keys at Hogwarts. He's really nice and got us ice cream while he helped me shop for my things!"

"You didn't shop with your parents?" Lily asks. "Professor Sprout helped my family shop for my supplies."

"No, my parents died when I was a baby," I say as I look back down to my book. "But I've gotten to learn more about my dad this last week so it's been fun."

"That's good," Lily smiles. But then a look of horror appears on her face. "I didn't even ask your name!"

"It's okay, nifflers are pretty distracting," I smile at her. "My name is Hayden Turner."

"I'm Lily Evans and this is my best friend Severus Snape."

"It's nice to meet you both," I say as the door to our compartment slams open.

"Whoops," a lanky boy says with a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that, can I sit here?" Severus side eyes the boy, not even acknowledging him. I struggle to hide a smile at his reaction. I couldn't help but feel the same way. All the stress of the last few days is finally catching up with me and the last thing I want is to be bombarded with loud noises.

"Of course," Lily says when she realizes Severus and I won't say anything.

"My name is Frank Longbottom, are you three first years too?" He asks as he sits down next to me.

"We are," Lily nods. "My name is Lily Evans, these are my friends Severus Snape and Hayden Turner." I try hard to not let my shock show on my face. It was nice talking to Lily, but she already considered me a friend? Being bounced around from family to family meant I'd never really had a friend before.

"It's nice to meet you," he smiles at all of us. The train suddenly lurches, cutting off our conversation as we all look out the window. We sit in silence for a few minutes as we begin our trip to school. But then Frank speaks up again.

"What houses do you reckon you'll end up in?" He asks as he looks around at us. I silently thank Tom in my head for telling me about them when he told me about my dad.

"I don't know," Lily shakes her head. "I suppose Ravenclaw, what about you, Sev?"

"I don't know," he shrugs as he looks down at his book.

"I think I'll be in Gryffindor," Frank puffs out his chest. "I suppose you'll be in Slytherin?" Frank turns to ask me.

"Why?"

"All the Turners have been sorted into Slytherin," he says, his eyebrows scrunching together.

"My dad was a Hufflepuff," I say as I turn back to my book. "I haven't really thought about what house I'll be in. I'll just be happy to be at Hogwarts."

"That sounds like a Hufflepuff answer," he says. I force myself not to roll my eyes. There's silence for a moment before Lily pulls Frank into another conversation. I'm grateful for the attention to be off me and I feel my shoulders gradually relax. I feel eyes on me a few minutes later and briefly look up, only for Severus to look back down at his book.

He didn't seem to like me much. Or Frank, which I could understand. Frank seems like a nice boy, but he's very, very talkative. A few minutes later, I decide I need a break. I stand carefully and grab my robes from my trunk before leaving the compartment in search of the bathrooms.

Despite my excitement of the new adventure that Hogwarts will be, I can't shake the homesickness I've felt since leaving the Leaky Cauldron.

The rest of the train ride passes much the same. We do get sweets, I don't get all of them, but chocolate frogs have easily become my new favorite candy. Not too long after everyone else has returned from switching into their robes, the train begins to come to a stop. I stand up from my seat and slip my book into the right pocket in my robes. The left pocket is much smaller, meant just for my wand.

"Firs' years! Firs' years this way! Don't be shy now!" I hear Hagrid call over the sea of students stepping off of the train. I smile widely when I see the giant towering over the crowd.

"Come on!" I tell Lily and Severus. Frank had already ran through the crowd. "Hagrid's over here."

"That's Hagrid?" Lily asks as she looks at him with wide eyes.

"Yeah, he's amazing!"

"Amazing," Severus deadpans.

"Oh hush," I tell him. His eyes widen slightly before he looks away from me. I huff and grab onto his sleeve before pulling on it lightly. We follow Lily through the crowd this way, the girl holding her head high despite seeming afraid of Hagrid just a few minutes earlier. Severus looks at me out of the corner of his eye a few times as we make the walk, but he makes no move to pull his sleeve out of my grip.

And for the short walk over it seems that grip is the only thing keeping me tethered to reality.

There's already a small group forming when we get to Hagrid. I smile and wave at him with my free hand as soon as we get to the group.

"It's good to see yeh, Hayden!" Hagrid says, smiling down at me. "Seems like yeh already made some friends."

"Yeah!" I say as a few other kids walk up to us. "This is Lily and Severus."

"Well it's nice to meet yeh both," Hagrid nods at the two of them before his attention is pulled away by a certain red haired duo.

"Oi Hagrid!" One of the boys says.

"Gideon, Fabian, what are yeh doin' over here?" Hagrid asks as the boys walk over.

"Just wanted to make sure our favorite firsties made it in one piece!" One of the boys says as he pats me on the top of my head. The other boy winks at a group of four boys standing together near us. Did they know all of them already? From the matching grins on the boys faces I have a sinking feeling they may have helped with the prank earlier.

"Do I even want to know?" I whisper to the tall Prewett boy beside me.

"Plausible deniability," he winks down at me. "See you at the feast!"

"Bye Hagrid!" The other boy says.

"Don't worry, the test won't hurt too bad, firsties!" They both say at the same time. Severus lets out a deep sigh beside me and I can't stop myself from giggling at his reaction. He looks at me for a moment before looking away, the corner of his lips twitching just slightly.

I'm going to get him to help me with a prank, even if it's the last thing I do.

Soon we're piled into boats, Hagrid sits at the back of our boat with Lily in the front and Severus in front of me. We cross across a dark lake towards a huge castle. It takes my breath away. You can see candle lights lighting up different parts of the castle and for a brief moment I think I see a ghost pass by one of the windows.

But before I can look again, we've pulled up to the shore. We walk up more steps than I could ever count and then finally, we're there. We stop in a small corridor where a woman with emerald green robes stands at a set of doors. Professor McGonagall looks down her nose at us and I lower my face to try to hide my laugh.

I feel a tug on my robe sleeve to see Severus holding it in a death grip. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself and look back up at the woman. She rolls her eyes at me before she addresses the rest of us.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she says, her accent thick. "If you follow me we will begin the sorting ceremony shortly." I take another deep breath and step forward to follow the group.

It feels like hours have passed by the time we follow Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall. I can't help but look around in awe as we walk through the room. The ceiling looks like it's the sky outside! And the long tables are filled with students, all of them look at us. We follow the professor to the front of the room where a hat sits on a stool in front of another table with Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid, and who I assume to be the other teachers.

The school soon erupts into a song before the hat talks about the traits of each house. I struggle to listen, my heart beats in my chest. What house will I end up in? Will I be with Lily and Severus? Will I be with Fabian and Gideon? Or will I be alone again?

"Evans, Lily," Professor McGonagall's voice pulls me from my thoughts. Lily carefully walks up the steps before she sits down on the stool. It takes a few seconds before the hat calls out her house.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Lily smiles up at Professor McGonagall as the woman takes the hat off of her head. Lily walks over to the long table filled with red and gold ties before she's welcomed by those at the end of the table. I focus on taking calming breaths until I hear a name I recognize.

"Potter, James." The boy that swaggers up the stairs as if he's relishing in all the attention on him looks like a carbon copy of Mr. Potter. The hat barely even touches his head before it yells out,

"GRYFFINDOR!" A few more names are called before Severus is called to the front. He releases his grip on my sleeve and walks up to the hat cautiously. It sits on his head for almost a minute, but then it makes a decision.

"SLYTHERIN!" Severus pauses for a moment, looking at Lily at the Gryffindor table who gives him an enthusiastic thumbs up. I feel sadness creep in. Not only have they been separated, but they've been sorted into the houses with the largest rivalry.

And Lily doesn't seem to realize it.

"Turner, Hayden," Professor McGonagall says after Severus is settled at his table. I feel my hands shake as I walk up the stairs carefully. The last thing I want to do is trip when no one else has so far. Professor McGonagall raises the hat as I sit down on the stool. And soon I feel the hat drop on my head.

"Interesting." I hear a voice in my head say.

"What?" I think back. "Are you in my head?"

"Of course, how else would I sort you?" The hat asks, amused. "Now, let's see where to place you, Hayden Turner." The hat is silent for a few moments aside from the occasional mumble that's too low to discern.

"You are much like your father, eager to make friends and grow in a community." He pauses for a moment. This seems to be much slower than the other sortings.

"But you have ambition to become something greater than those who doubted you could ever imagine."

"And hidden in your ambition is also your bravery to stand up for what is right." The hat pauses again before speaking directly to me.

"Yes, I know where you belong."

"SLYTHERIN!" I feel my heart sink. I was just sorted like any other Turner. Would I be like them? I couldn't be, could I? I was raised by muggles, my mom was a muggle, I can't be like them. I won't turn to the dark arts. Nothing will make me do that.

I'll be a good Slytherin. I'll show the wizarding world that not all Slytherins turn to dark magic.

I take a deep breath as the hat is removed from my head. The Slytherin table claps, although it's not as loud as the other houses. I take an empty seat by Severus and let out a relieved breath. At least I won't be totally alone.

The feast goes by quickly. And soon enough we're guided through the halls of Hogwarts, down the moving staircases, and through the dungeons. I already know I'm going to get lost regularly by the time we make it to a portrait.

A pale man with gray hair and eyes looks down at us sharply. He looks at each new student before he eventually gets to me. His brows furrow as he looks at me for a second longer than the others. I feel their eyes on me, but I ignore them and stare right back at the man.

"Password?" He finally asks the prefect.

"Adder," the boy says as the portrait swings open. We walk down a tunnel, the sides and ceiling are clear and show the bottom of what I assume to be the lake that we just crossed over. People who look like mermaids wave at us from under the water. I wave back at one who feigns shyness by hiding behind the person beside her. I smile at them before I'm pulled by my sleeve. I look to see Severus looking pointedly at the prefect.

"Sorry," I whisper as I walk beside him. He rolls his eyes, but he doesn't let go of my sleeve.

We end up in a circular room, the walls are the same brick as out in the dungeons, but there are small windows out into the lake as well. There's a large fireplace on one of the walls and plush green chairs and sofas fill the room. I look to see what seems to be a few chess tables and open tables throughout the room as well. Tapestries hang on the free walls with the Slytherin crest and colors.

"First years," the prefect says, getting our attention. "Welcome to Slytherin house. Here we take care of our own, this includes taking care of each other when ill or in distress, helping each other with improving grades and earning house points, and we protect the blood in this house as well." I feel his eyes move to me and Severus before he continues.

"Should you need any assistance, find a prefect or an older student. Older students will accompany you on your first days so you do not lose points from being late to your classes."

"Are there any questions?"

"When will we receive our timetables?" A boy towards the front asks.

"Tomorrow morning. We will leave for the great hall at eight, do not be late." The prefect looks around our group one more time before he nods.

"Boys will be to the left, girls to the right," he says as he points at the two staircases on the wall opposite of the fireplace. Instead of going up, they go down, deeper into the dungeons, and in turn to the lake. I feel one more brief tug on my sleeve before Severus walks towards the boys dorm.

I cautiously follow the two girls in our year down the stairs. The first landing we come to is labeled for seventh year and sixth years. The next is for fifth and fourth, then the third and second. And then finally we come to the lowest floor. There's another small common area to the left and a door labeled first years to the right.

"It's ridiculous that they have to make it so obvious we're on the bottom," a girl with blonde hair says as she pushes open the door to our room.

"Tell me about it," the other girl says as she holds the door open for me. I see my trunk sitting at the end of the bed the furthest away from the door. It's also beside the largest window in the room where we can see the bottom of the lake. I look at the lake in awe. How did they manage to build this? How deep does that lake go and why were we sent in such small boats if it's this deep?

"Did your family keep the common rooms a secret?" The blonde girl asks, distracting me from the window. "My mother wanted to make it a surprise but father told me anyways."

"Uh, no. My parents died when I was a baby, so I didn't know about all of this."

"What do you mean all of this?" The other girl asks as she begins to braid her long, straight black hair.

"I was raised in the muggle foster care system in America," I say. I'm not going to try to hide my past here. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, they'd learn soon enough that I'm not a pureblood, anyways.

"Well, that's unfortunate," the first girl says. "Didn't anyone know to take you in? A cousin maybe? I thought the Turner family was tight knit."

"They might be," I shrug as I sit on the edge of the bed. I grin at the girl before continuing. "But dad blew himself off the family tree when he was fifteen." Both girls stare at me in silence, their mouths open in shock.

"No bloody way," the blonde girls says.

"That's bloody brilliant!" The other girl says.

"Really?" I ask.

"The Turners are a bunch of snobs," the black haired girl says as she waves her hand. "They try to act like they're in the sacred twenty-eight when they're not."

"My name is Lucinda Talkalot, by the way," the blonde girl says.

"I'm Meera Shafiq," the girl across from her says.

"I'm Hayden Turner," I say as I look at the girls cautiously.

"I think we'll be good friends," Lucinda smirks at us before she opens her trunk. I work on opening mine as well and grab my clothing before I shut the curtains around my bed. I change quickly, trying to avoid the scars on my legs but failing. Most of my foster families had been distant until I turned seven. I'd hated it and dreamed of a family feeling at least something. And then I met them.

I shake my head, trying to physically stop the multiple years worth of memories from coming to my mind. It took ages for a teacher to actually notice something and say something before I was shipped to a new family without any support for what I'd gone through with the last. Laila was great with my nightmares, but she wasn't a therapist. She'd told me as much and had made me plans to meet with one before I was suddenly thrust into this world. Were there magical therapists? Could I even go to one at this point?

I turn my focus to pulling my Ilvermorny sweatshirt over my stomach and laying back on my bed. My mind spins with my thoughts and experiences of the last week. I hear the sounds of footsteps on the cobble floors before the fabric surrounding my bed opens just a little.

"Do you want to sleep or do you want to join us? We're going to see who can eat the most Bertie Botts before getting a nasty one," Lucinda asks. I open my eyes and smile up at her.

"I'm in." I sit up and climb out of my bed before joining the other girls on Lucinda's.

Maybe this Slytherin thing won't be so bad after all.