TW: Mention of forced/involuntary miscarriage. Thank you to my beta FalconHonour! Edited 1/15/2021

Draco strode down the train corridor, scorning each compartment at the slightest flaw. "Chipped paint... too close to the bathroom... already has someone in it-here!" He stopped abruptly at a compartment about halfway through the carriage and held the door for the girls. Daphne and Hermione slipped past him and Draco followed them in

"Drake?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can you help me put my trunk on the rack? I'm not tall enough to reach the overhead compartment."

"You know, when we come home for Christmas, we're going to be able to levitate them up, if we want to," Daphne noted, "They teach the Levitation spell in one of the first Charms classes."

"I'm guessing you coordinated who's sitting with us?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," Hermione said, "Pansy, Hannah, Theo, and us three."

"That's two guys and four girls!" Draco protested.

"So? Why does that matter? We've all known each other since we were babies, and who else would I even put in?"

"I dunno, Vincent Crabbe or Gregory Goyle?"

Hermione wrinkled her nose, "Over Hannah or Pansy? I think not. Greg and Vince are sweet, but Pansy and Hannah are my best friends."

"Hey!" Draco and Daphne exclaimed at the same time.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Daphne, you're my twin, I think that's a step above best friend. Draco you're one of my best guy friends."

"Should I assume I'm the other?" came a voice from the doorway.

Hermione swung round and Daphne exclaimed, "Theo!"

The lanky dark-haired boy was leaning on the door frame, his lips curled in a smirk. He hugged Daphne-Hermione turned to Draco and both rolled their eyes-and pushed his trunk up onto the overhead compartment, before taking a seat next to Daphne.

"How are you guys doing?" he asked.

Daphne shot up in excitement, "Daddy got Mia and me a camera and tons and tons of film so we can take pictures!"

"Are you going to be sending them to 'Stori?" Theo asked. Daphne nodded her head.

"Before I forget," Daphne said, "Hannah owled me last night and told me that her and Pans were going to be coming together, so they'll show up at the same time. I also have a surprise for when they show up." She winked at Hermione.

"You're going to leave us in suspense?" Draco splayed his hand over his chest, "How could you?"

"This is Daphne. She likes being dramatic," Theo laughed.

"What is it with everyone insulting me today?" Daphne demanded.

"What can we say? You're easy to make fun of," Draco teased. Daphne stuck out her tongue.

"Who's easy to make fun of?" Pansy asked, her black hair cut in a stylish bob. Beside her was a girl with hair the color of sunshine and big green eyes.

"Hannah! Pansy!" Hermione beamed, "You're here!"

"Of course we're here," Hannah chuckled, "Where else would we be?"

"I dunno, I was worried you'd be late," Hermione said, "Sit down, will you?

"Hermione, you worry too much sometimes," Hannah softly chastised, flopping into a seat beside Theo.

"We were never going to be late. Who do you think we are, the Weasleys?" Pansy giggled.

"Pansy!" Hannah exclaimed, though her words lacked any heat.

"What?" asked Pansy, "I'm telling the truth! My cousin Terrence is a seventh year, and he says every single year, the Weasleys almost miss the train."

"Well, half the reason, I think," Draco interjected, "Is because they pissed off Lady Magic."

"I don't think it's the kids' fault, I mean it's hardly like they can make their parents appease Lady Magic," Hermione frowned.

"Appeasing Lady Magic is half believing in Her and half being a good person and using magic to help others" Daphne murmured, "It's not very hard."

"Well, yeah, how would they know that?" asked Hannah, "I mean it's not like they'd ask any of us about it, even if they did know we practice Magic."

"I think everyone kind of knows our families practice Magic. Most Pureblood families worth their salt do," Pansy sniffed.

"But can you see any of the Weasleys approaching the Malfoys to ask about Lady Magic?" Hermione's voice morphed into an impression of Arthur Weasley, "Hello Mr. Lucius Malfoy, I, Arthur Weasley, lover of all things muggle, would like to ask you about Lady Magic! It's not like we have a blood feud between our families or anything or like Dumbledore, who I would follow off of a cliff, believes that Magic is Dark, so therefore it is bad and evil!"

The compartment fell about laughing. Draco's voice grew deeper as he tried to mimic his father, "Arthur, old chap, I would be delighted to teach you about Magic! You would very much believe me, of course, and then the pox cast upon your family by Lady Magic for turning away from her will end. You will be rich, your wife will be less of a shrew, and you will get out of your absolute dead end job! All will be forgiven!" The laughter increased, until everyone had tears streaming down their faces.

"Oh!" Daphne exclaimed, "Here they come, look! Someone check their watch. We should record this every year! I'd wager 5 galleons one of them will miss the train next year."

"Deal," Draco shook Daphne's hand. Pansy pulled out a ledger of paper and a quill and wrote down the bet, and at the same time, the train started to move.

"Are you going to keep a record of all our bets this year?" Theo asked.

"Yeah," Pansy shrugged, "Figure it'll be kind of fun to look back on one day.. Plus, I've got the neatest handwriting."

"Hey, do you guys know how many people are in each dorm room?" asked Hannah.

"Well, I know in Slytherin, it's three to a room, but sometimes people do groups of four and sometimes groups of two. Depends on how the sorting shakes out and who wants to room with who," Hermione looked thoughtful, "What house do you think you guys will be in?"

"Slytherin," Draco said confidently, "Every Malfoy is a Slytherin."

"Slytherin," said Pansy.

"Probably either Ravenclaw or Slytherin," Daphne scrunched up her face in thought.

"I'm gonna go wherever Daphne goes," Theo admitted sheepishly.

"Soulmates usually do, don't they?" Hannah wondered aloud.

"Yeah, I think so, and so do twins," Hermione nodded, "So I'm probably going to be Ravenclaw or Slytherin too. And even if twins can end up in separate houses, we're too similar to not go to the same house. Besides, I'm not about to spend seven years in a House without my sister."

Hannah looked a bit upset, "I think I'm gonna be in Hufflepuff. Both of my parents were Puffs, but I don't want to be all alone without you guys."

Hermione hugged Hannah, "That's ok, even if we all end up in Slytherin and you don't, we'll always save room for you."

"You promise you guys won't forget me?" Hannah looked up.

"Promise. Plus, Mum told me that even if you're in separate houses, as long as it's not the Start of Term or the Leaving feast, you can sit with whoever you want. And I heard Hufflepuff's dorms are by the kitchen and Daddy said that the House Elves will fix you up with food whenever you want, so Merlin knows Draco and Theo will be that over that way pretty often."

"Hey!" protested Draco. He looked at Theo for backup.

"I already know I'm planning to go to the kitchens, I'm not at all offended over that," laughed Theo, "Plus, Hannah's the nicest one of all of us by far. You're too nice to be a snake, Han. That's not a bad thing," he added hastily, as Hannah shot him an injured look, "It's just how you are."

"Thanks everyone," Hannah's smile returned to her face, "You know, I was thinking last night. Harry Potter is going to be in our year. What do you think he's going to be like?"

"He's going to be a Gryffindor," Draco said, making a face, "I saw him in Madame Malkins and he was walking around with Hagrid, the groundskeeper."

"That doesn't make sense, wouldn't his guardians take him?" asked Hermione.

"Maybe they're Muggles. I think I heard that Lily Evans Potter had a sister," Daphne commented.

"Wonder if he knew anything about magic before? Or if he knows about Magic?"

"Doubtful," Draco said, "Whoever he got put with was someone approved by Dumbledore, and we all know he wouldn't put him with a family that believed in Lady Magic."

"You know what's really weird?" Hannah said thoughtfully, "My dad said that Muggleborns always get introduced to the Wizarding World by a teacher. It's usually one of the Heads of Houses, like Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape."

"What? But then why would they send the groundskeeper instead, who's also, um I don't know, half-giant?" Pansy grimaced, "I mean, it's not like they send Flitwick. Even if he is Head of Ravenclaw, he's too short to blend in 'cos he's half goblin, and I'd imagine they'd want to give a Muggleborn as smooth a transition into our world as possible."

"You know," Theo said, "My dad went to Hogwarts back in the 40s. He mentioned once that Hagrid went there too, but he got expelled and his wand got snapped."

"Why would they send a half-giant groundskeeper who can't even do magic to pick up the saviour of the wizarding world, as they like to think of him?" Daphne asked incredulously, "I mean, okay, the teachers might have been busy preparing for the start of term, but couldn't they have sent someone who's on the Board of Governors, like Uncle Lucius?"

Five pairs of eyes turned to Draco. "I have no idea, don't ask me! I'm just still hung up on the idea of Uncle Severus introducing a Muggle-born to the wizarding world. I would empty one of my trust funds to see that," Draco chuckled, then his voice turned deep and drawl-y, "Yes, Mister Green, you are a wizard. How many times am I going to have to repeat it to get it through your head, you blithering idiot? You want a display of magic? I'm rather inclined to conjure a vase so I can use it to knock some sense into your thick skull."

Hermione snickered, "Snape is pretty scary when he's acting all mean. I much prefer him when he's actually being normal."

Draco laughed, "I think everybody does. Could you imagine going to him for help as your Head of House and getting the version of himself he is if he doesn't know you? I would rather not go!"

Hannah's brows furrowed, "I hope he isn't super mean to me, I mean there's no way I'm going to be in Slytherin."

"Don't worry," Hermione soothed, "Worrying's my job. And anyway, he already knows and likes you, so even if he is acting mean, he'll be half-decent to you, at least in comparison."

"Yeah," said Draco, "He'll be all like 'Miss Abbott, I must congratulate you for being the only one in your entire House to show at least a minimal modicum of intelligence. Perhaps one day you will amount to something marginally less useless than your classmates.'"

Hannah giggled, "Yeah, I guess."

"Five galleons says that he absolutely despises Potter," Hermione bit her lip.

"Deal," Theo reached out to shake her hand.

"Come on, Theo, you know you're going to lose that bet!" Daphne chided.

"Yeah, Theo, that was a total suckers bet," smirked Pansy.

"Sure, but what if Potter was raised in a household that are whizzes at potions?" Theo asked.

"Seriously?" Pansy asked.

"Whatever, it's only five galleons," shrugged Theo, "Besides, I'm looking forward to seeing Potter get dressed down. I'll bet that kid's never had a single person be anything but sunshine and roses to him because he's the saviour of the wizarding world, and the Boy -Who-Lived and all that junk."

"Ugh, I find that so annoying!" groaned Hermione, "It's not like he did anything, he was a baby! I mean, we all know that it wasthe Sacrificial Blood Ritual that Lily Evans Potter did that was the only actually impressive thing of the night."

"I take you read a biography on her recently?" Hannah asked wryly.

"Yeah, there was a new one at Flourish and Blotts when we bought our books, but she was really impressive and crazy smart. I think she should've been a Slytherin, even though she was a Muggleborn.I get why she wasn't, though. I mean, as much as Slytherin is unfairly stereotyped as being anti-Muggleborn now, it was even worse back then."

"I skimmed that biography on her," Pansy shrugged, "I saw it the last time you dragged me into Flourish and Blotts and thought it looked interesting, so I gave it a quick look through. I mean, I had to connect half of the dots for myself, they didn't outright say the ritual she used, but if you knew what you were looking for, you could find it. Anyway, I think it's kind of stupid that one of the few powerful Magic practising Muggleborns went and got herself killed for a son that's probably walking around with a head the size of Hogwarts."

"I'm not going to go around the train looking for him, but I'm going to try and introduce myself to him when we get to the castle," Draco announced. He looked around at everyone's incredulous looks. "What? Father said he could be a useful ally to have. I mean none of us have to like him."

"If you invite him into the Slytherin common room or to study with us in the library or to eat at our table with us, Draco, I will kill you," snarled Pansy, "The kid is going to be a Gryffindor brat, mark my words, and he won't even associate with anyone or anything below him."

"Below him? The Malfoys are richer than the Potters, and since nobody's been in charge of the Potter estates or business holds for the past, like, decade, the Greengrasses have surpassed the Potters and the Notts are going to soon. Hell, by the time second year is over, if Potter doesn't hire someone to do his money and businesses for him, the Longbottoms,Rosiers and Parkinsons will surpass him easily. And with the way Mr. Abbott's Herbology business is going, the Abbotts will pass them too. He's going to be bleeding money and he probably won't even know," Draco scoffed.

"No, idiot," Pansy scowled, "Below him as in 'evil' or 'dark'. He's gonna be Dumbledore's little golden boy.."

"Draco, how do you even know the Potters are losing money?" Theo asked curiously.

"Well," Draco's whisper turned conspiratorial , "Let's just say Father has an in with the Goblins, and he probably knows more about the Potter accounts than Potter does. Although, that probably isn't hard, because, as we've established, Potter probably knows nothing, I mean heck, for all we know, he could've learned his manners, how to be a Lord, and about his finances from the Weasleys. Or Merlin Forbid, the gamekeeper."

"An in?" Hermione questioned.

"He's pushing a law through the Wizengamot that will let them protect the bank on the inside literally however they want to. That's not something any of us need to worry about, seeing as we're not stupid enough to try and rob Gringotts. I think they also want to have a stipulation that says you have to have a deposit of a minimum of a hundred galleons to have an account, at least for a family. My father's pushing that through as well. Again, none of us really have to worry about it."

"You know, the Weasley's are totally going to get kicked out of Gringotts then," Pansy noted.

"Why is it that the Weasley's are…well, as poor as they are?" asked Hannah.

"Your mum never told you about the Weasley Magic divide?" Daphne gasped. When Hannah shook her head in confusion, Daphne gasped again. "Ok, well it's a long story, so settle in while we tell you about… the Weasleys." Pansy flickered the lights ominously. Before Daphne could start, a shadow passed the door. Pansy flung it open to see the Trolley Lady with a Trolley decidedly lacking in… everything.

"What?" Draco looked in confusion, "Where are the sweets?"

The Trolley Lady said, "A compartment with two young boys bought out my whole cart," and she continued walking through the train hallway.

Theo's face darkened, "Bunch of tossers. Who buys out the whole cart and leaves nothing for anyone else?"

"Oh!" cried out Hermione, "I almost forgot! Mippie packed us practically a feast!" She pulled out the chilled bag and started unpacking the sweets inside. Once everything was out on the table-and almost spilling over-Hermione looked up at Daphne. "Are you going to tell Hannah the story or not?"

Hannah looked up alertly, chewing on a cookie. Daphne nodded, "Yeah, but I was going to eat something first." When Hannah turned injured eyes on her, she sighed, "Oh all right, I'll just pop some of the sorted Bertie Bott's Beans while I tell the story to hold me over, then. You all better leave at least one of everything for me."

"Like we could all finish it," snorted Draco, "Merlin bless your house elves, I love them."

Daphne smirked, "Everyone does. Well, I'm going to start the story if there aren't any more interruptions." She looked around pointedly, and they all rolled their eyes but nodded all the same,. "Good. Well it all starts back in the forties when Septimus Weasley was helping clean up the continent after Grindelwald lost the war. Apparently, he followed Lady Magic, but you wouldn't believe it by his actions. While in France, where the damages were some of the worst, he got angry that he was sent by the Ministry to clean up a mess he didn't care about. He tried to have his boss send him back to England, but his boss said no. I mean, Weasley was in the International Relations Department,so this was kind of a big part of his job. So, Septimus got angry. Instead of returning all the jewelry and family heirlooms that were still intact in the destroyed houses to the owners, he kept them. And not just that. He would crack open hidden safes and take the money for himself. He'd even take wands that Wizards had left behind-cracked ones, new ones, whatever. He would take anything he could get his hands on.

"This, of course, greatly angered Lady Magic, so she exposed him to his boss. His boss was so angry-and rightfully so-that he had Septimus stay for another three months without pay. I mean, nothing, not even minimum wage. And they wrote down a list of every single item he stole - it took a lot of Veritaserum to make him list everything - and made him give back everything to the families and then pay them half of what each item was worth as well. And if he'd lost or sold the item, he had to pay the families back double what the item was worth. The Weasley's had been a fairly well-to-do family before this, but this completely emptied out their Gringotts account."

Hannah gasped and Daphne smirked.

"Oh, but the story doesn't end there. That night, he went to a brothel, despite having a pregnant wife and a son. He slept with this one girl, and a month and a half later, turns out she's pregnant. Poor thing was barely even twenty, and he was double her age. She wanted to keep the baby. She viewed it as a gift from Lady Magic, 'cos she'd always wanted a child. It didn't matter to her who the father was. In fact, she was more than happy to have him leave her be and just pay some child support, but when she told him about a month later after having to track him down, he got so angry that he cursed her with a spell so that she'd lose the baby. She ended up infertile because he cursed her too late in the pregnancy for that specific spell. There's different spells for different levels of development, and you really aren't supposed to use any of them outside of that specific window, and, if you have absolutely no choice you really should get a Healer or something to do it." Daphne paused to take a breath and popped a strawberry Bertie Botts' Bean in her mouth before going on, "Anyways, it turns out the girl was one of Lady Magic's special Muggleborns-you know, the ones that pop out of nowhere instead of coming from a line of squibs. Well, the point is, Lady Magic got really really mad at Septimus, so he retaliated by declaring that he didn't believe in Her and stopped practising. He even desecrated and looted one of Her shrines on the continent. So She decides that she's going to put him down, hard. First, she decided that he and his descendants would never prosper financially, in fact, they would struggle to make ends meet in the very best of times, in retribution for his stealing. In return for his cheating and cursing one of Her Muggle-borns to be infertile, she cursed him and his descendents to have more children than they wanted or could ever hope to afford. And finally, because he turned his back on Lady Magic, Lady Magic would never turn her back on him, but like in the worst ways you could think of. He and his descendents would be plagued by terrible luck."

Hannah's eyes were wide, "But what about the good Weasleys? Not all of them can be bad, right?"

"Well," Daphne amended, "Mum says that Lady Magic judges their souls. They've got until their fifteenth birthday to prove that they're a good person, and the sooner they do it, the sooner they lose the curse. Even though the curse for the kids doesn't really do all that much, it's like a miniature version. But I know that one of the Weasley's, I think his name was Richard Weasley, he was such an awful person that Lady Magic gave him the full Weasley Curse halfway through second year."

"What did he do?" asked Hannah.

"He pushed my dad's little sister down a flight of stairs while they were moving," frowned Draco, "Just 'cause she was a Slytherin. She was in her first year, too. Aunt Rosalind got really hurt. My grandparents transferred her to Beauxbatons to get her away from the arsehole. They almost transferred my dad to Durmstrang, but he was in his fifth year, so there wasn't really too much of a point transferring him so late in his school career. The Malfoys and the Weasleys didn't really like each other much before, but the whole Blood Feud had kind of died down in intensity. When that happened, it came back in full force, and the Malfoys have been actively trying to ruin Weasley lives ever since."

"Merlin," Hannah breathed, "Is your Aunt Rosalind okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine, she lives in some apartment in Wizarding Paris and paints," Draco snorted, "And she owns like four cats. We don't tell people that though, just in case it ever got back to the Weasleys.."

"And all of you knew this?" Hannah looked around the compartment.

"Yeah," Theo said, "That's why we call Weasleys Blood Traitors. They betrayed Lady Magic, the very essence of themselves, the reason they're alive. Though I didn't know the bit about your Aunt Rosalind's Parisian art and her four cats, Draco," Theo laughed.

"I did," snorted Hermione, "He visited her once a couple years ago, and do you know who he complained about it to for weeks? Me. So yeah, I know more than enough about Whiskers, Sir Gato, Mister Mistachio, and Priscilla, thank you very much."

"It's not like you didn't spend the same summer whining on and on about how your library didn't have one book that you wanted and you couldn't find it anywhere in England so you had to wait two weeks for it to ship from the furthest reaches of Merlin-knows-where in Russia," Draco shot back.

"I never claimed I was innocent," Hermione sniffed, "Just that you were guilty."