The summer was officially at its end. Ben had been successful in his interview and had arrived at Hogwarts for a couple of days ago in order to get used to things, so they would be seeing him a couple hours when they arrived. Charlotte and Georgia had said their farewells to their parents and were now looking for a compartment to sit in.
"I've got an idea," Charlotte exclaimed excitedly. "In order to get to know more people, we should split up. You go toward the front, I'll go toward the back. No one except the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione will know we're twins so we can get know people before that even comes up at the sorting!"
"Not a bad idea, not bad at all. Okay! I'll see you at Hogwarts." Georgia turned and made her way down the front of the train.
The happy expression the Charlotte had disappeared quickly when realisation hit her. What if Georgia's new friends don't like me? What if the friends we each make don't like each other? We won't be able to hang out as much! Charlotte shook her head, even if those things happen it doesn't mean we won't see each other.
o0O0o
As Georgia moved down the train she peered slightly into the compartments to see if any were free. She would much rather let Charlotte make friends on the train and just hang out with them at school, it's easier and it means she can read for several hours without anyone interrupting her. However, so far on her journey to the front none of the seats were free, they were all chock-a-block.
When she came to the entrance of the very front carriage, she noticed it had a different layout to the rest. This one was all open, no individual compartments. She also noticed that the students had one thing in common, a green tie. A fact she completely ignored as she walked in.
The whole room when silent, this girl wasn't a Slytherin, in fact she wasn't in a house at all!
"What do you think you're doing? Only Slytherin students can sit in here." Georgia turned to look at a dark skinned boy with dark hair and matching eyes. She stared at him for a moment before replying.
"In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been sorted. You don't know what house I'll be in. Come this evening I may be in Slytherin, then you'll feel stupid." A boy sitting next to him sniggered, this boy was the exact opposite to the first one. He had brilliant blonde hair, pale skin and grey eyes.
"And who exactly might you be?" The pale boy asked.
"Georgia Prewett. Don't bother telling me yours, I won't remember it." This seemed to set the boy off, though Georgia wasn't quite sure why.
"Come on Draco, just leave her alone. She probably won't be in Slytherin so you'll never have to see her again." At his name she perked up. She had quite an extensive knowledge on British Pureblood houses. When she was younger she wanted to know everything she could about where her dad came from, and one thing that even the most unknowledgeable person knew was that the Black family had a thing for name their children after constellations and stars.
"You're a Black." She stated looking him dead in the eye. "Or at least related to one."
Draco paused, "How do you know that?"
"Your name, idiot. The Black family always names their children after stars and constellations. Draco is a constellation, the dragon, or to be precise the name comes from the Latin word 'draconem' which means 'huge serpent'. Kind of funny don't you think? And, before you ask, I know that because I have basic astronomy skills and a fairly large understanding of British Pureblood families." She stated and looked back at her book.
"Malfoy." She looked at him in understanding, that definitely made a lot more sense as to his appearance and why he was annoyed when she told him not to introduce himself. "Draco Malfoy."
"Did you know that we're related?" She didn't even bother to look at him.
"How does that even work?" He sounded frustrated that she knew more about his family tree than he did.
"Well considering there is only one line of Malfoys left it's safe to assume that you're the son of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black. When it comes to relation, there are two ways to explain it. First, your Grandfather Cygnus Black is siblings with Walburga Black, who is married to Orion Black. And Orion Black is the brother to my Grandmother Lucretia Black. The second is that we share common Great-great-great Grandparents, Phineas Nigellus Black and Ursula Flint." Draco looked a bit lost but seemed to get the gist.
"So if you're related to the Black family then why isn't your name a star or constellation?" Another boy sitting with the first two chimed up, he seemed to be stuck somewhere in the middle of the other two's physical features. He has light brown hair and olive toned skin.
"When my grandmother married Ignatius Prewett she was near the end of her rebellious teenaged years and refused to name her child something that stayed within the traditions of the Black family." Georgia stopped to look at the appalled look on Draco face. "She also had a fling with this boy called Tom when she was in school, not that my grandfather is aware, but that's why she insisted on the name Thomas. And because of that, the tradition didn't continue through to me and my siblings. It's also because my father wasn't raised by his parents, they died when he was a toddler in a potions accident, so he grew up with his cousin and adopted the traditions of the Prewett family."
Georgia had been reading her book for about an hour and a half before someone interrupted her again.
"So why weren't you attending Hogwarts before this year Georgia?" It was the middle boy from before, she could tell from his voice.
"After graduation from Hogwarts my dad ran away to Australia where he met my mum."
"Why'd he run away?"
She sighed. "He was isolated by his house, they didn't like him very much."
"Why not?"
"He was a Ravenclaw, the first every Prewett not in Gryffindor. Do you ever stop asking questions?" She looked up at him with an unamused expression.
"No, why do you ask?" At this she took out her wand and cast a wordless silencing charm on him.
o0O0o
Charlotte made her way towards the back of the train trying to find a less crowded compartment. Although she planned on making many good friends at Hogwarts, she thought it would be a good idea to start small. After walking through half of 'her' part of the train, she finally came across a compartment with less than six people inside, this one happened to only have two.
Charlotte knocked politely on the sliding door before opening it halfway, "Hi, I'm Charlotte. Do you mind if I sit with you?" She asked feeling nervous as she tugged at her fringe.
"Not at all, come on in." Said the slightly rounded boy with light sandy brown hair. "Wouldn't mind another person to talk with anyway, would we Luna? Oh, this is Luna Lovegood and I'm Neville Longbottom."
Charlotte couldn't help the small snort that came from her nose at hearing the boy's last name. "I'm sorry, that was really rude of me to make fun of your name. I'm Charlotte Prewett, nice to meet you, Neville."
"Yellow is a good colour on you." The girl, Luna, said dreamily as she smiled at Charlotte. "Um, thank you, but I'm not wearing any yellow…" Charlotte said looking at the blonde in confusion.
"You will be soon." She replied her voice never losing its spacey quality. "I'm sorry about her," Neville said looking a little nervous. "She does that, you'll get used to her soon enough." He gave her a bright and comforting smile.
"So, what houses are you two in? Should I be hoping to join you?" Charlotte said, feeling a little bolder than usual decided to direct the conversation. "I mean, is there any house in particular I should be aiming for?"
Neville quickly launched into a brief explanation, "Well, I'm in Gryffindor and Luna is a Ravenclaw. There's kind of an unspoken rule that you're supposed to be in the same house as the rest of your family, take the Malfoys for example, they've been in Slytherin since the school opened, so they say. The same with the Weasleys they're always in Gryffindor, but you don't really get to choose at all, the Sorting Hat is the one that puts you into houses, although some people say they convinced the hat to put them in a certain house."
Charlotte gain a thoughtful expression over her face, "Well, my dad was in Ravenclaw, but the rest of his family were all Gryffindor, which makes me wonder where, by those rules I should end up."
For the rest of the train ride Charlotte was in deep thought, Neville subconsciously studied his new friends face, and thought of how beautiful he thought she looked in the bright light of sunset.
Luna simply smiled knowingly, "Yellow will go well with her eyes."
o0O0o
When the train pulled up at Hogsmeade Station all the students got off and walked toward carriages, they walked past a very very tall man calling out to the first years to follow him. Charlotte saw Georgia walking with her nose in her book, so she decided she's let her know that their brother was looking for them at the gate to the carriages.
"Georgia!" She stage whispers when she came up behind her. "Ben's looking for us, I think he's supposed to escort us in."
"'Cause that's not awkward." Georgia sighed, closed her book and followed her twin to where Ben was waiting.
Ben explained that Professor McGonagall had asked him to take them in, the wards had been shifted slight so that for the next ten minutes Ben would be able to apparate them into a room that lead into the Great Hall. So he lead them to the Apparition Point at the back of the station and went out the door into the Hall and told them to stay there until they were called by Professor McGonagall.
"Did you make any friends on the train?" Charlotte asked from her seat.
"Not really, I met our very very distant cousin. I can't remember his name, and his two friends. They were like a scale of skin tones, it was strange to say the least." Georgia was still looking at her book, does she ever put it down? "What about you?"
"Yeah, two. Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, they were really nice." Georgia scoffed and mumbled something that sounded like 'ha, bottom'.
They sat and waited through what they could only assume was the first years being sorted. Then the door leading into the Hall opened and they were treated by Minerva McGonagall who told them to follow her out in front of the crowed. She directed them beside a small stool and addressed the students.
"This year we have two transfer students from Australia, Charlotte and Georgia Prewett. Charlotte, please take a seat on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head." Charlotte did as she was told and she heard the hat speaking to her in her head.
Ahh, a Prewett. It's been a while since I sorted your father, Ravenclaw if I remember correctly. Enough babble, let's take a look at what lays inside this head of yours, shall we?
Hmm, very very interesting… Better be… "Hufflepuff!" The hat announced to the crowed. The table covered in yellow started to cheer and Charlotte headed over to take a seat.
"Now you, Georgia." McGonagall said motioning to the stool.
Well now isn't this curious, it's not common for twins, identical twins no less, to be so completely different. I must say, you are definitely smart enough to be placed in Ravenclaw, your father would be proud. However, I think it's safe to say, you're not studious enough. Therefore, I believe the perfect house for you is… "Slytherin!"
Georgia stood up silently, what does this mean for her? She may have said that she could get into Slytherin on the train, but not that she would! She's not stupid enough to believe all the rumors people have spread about Slytherin, but she still heard them. She wasn't evil, she knew that. But surely the people throughout history who have been labeled 'evil' thought that they were doing the right thing. What if she was evil?
"Miss Prewett, you can sit down at your table now." McGonagall whispered to her. Georgia slowly made her way over to the Slytherin table, wide eyes hidden behind her tick glasses.
Professor Dumbledore made his way over to the lectern to give out the usual announcements. What things were newly prohibited, where to find the full list. Not to go into the Forbidden Forrest, and the new teachers. "As to unfortunate circumstances, Professor Moody cannot continue teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. So to fill his position we have hired Professor Dolores Umbridge, and filling a previ—"
The Headmaster was cut off by Professor Umbridge, who made a ridiculously long speech about absolutely nothing and tried to made it sound relevant. "Thank you, Dolores. As I was saying, filling a previously nonexistent place in our staff, is Professor Benjamin Prewett. He will being assisting struggling students in Professor Snape's potions classes."
Once the announcements were finished food appeared on all the plates and students started helping themselves. "So, Professor Prewett, are you related to him?"
Georgia looked up at her company, it was the two boys from the train and her very distant cousin. "Yes, he's my brother. Also the heir to the Prewett family." Georgia drawled lazily and went back to eating.
"So you're a twin?" The brown skinned boy asked.
"Yeah, pretty sure Professor McGonagall said that. Is there any curry around here?" She asked looking over the bowls of food.
o0O0o
Charlotte sat at the Hufflepuff table quietly eating her dinner. She wasn't totally sure, but she had the sneaking suspicion that her house mates were ignoring her. Why was that?
