DISCLAIMER: I make no money off this writing, Harry Potter belongs to J. , as well as other affiliates such as Scholastic Books, etc. I claim no ownership over any characters or plot that I have borrowed from the books and movies for this fanfiction.

Each day and night for the last week of her summer, Hyacinth Potter spent in her little cupboard, reading her books. She had finished all those that she had bought out of interest rather than need and was about halfway through each of her school texts. The last 3 mornings she had been allowed out for an hour each day, to clean up the kitchen and bathrooms, as well as to down the remains of a half-emptied smoothie from the local convenience store.

So the day of September 1st, Hyacinth Potter plucked up her rucksack and informed her Aunt with a shout that she would be back in June, then rushed out the door toward the bus stop. She arrived at King Cross Station at 10:30 according to the large clock that stood out front, and she made her way inside, her ticket clutched tightly between her small fingers. She observed a family of redheads run straight at a wall and quickly ascertained that this was the entrance to her platform. Pushing her trolley forward with determination, Hyacinth passed through the wall as though it were water, feeling cool and refreshed on the other side.

Her ears prickled at the loud sounds of the platform. To her right she saw a giant red engine sitting grandly, and she looked back down at her ticket with a grin, "The Hogwarts Express."

She boarded the train with her rucksack, finding an empty compartment near the back of the train rather quickly.

With a great lurch and a jolt, the large steam engine began to move, pulling its cars along with gusto. Hyacinth watched as they began to traverse the country, past great fields and small towns. She had never seen so much of the world!

After a few minutes the door to her compartment slid open and a girl with frizzy brown hair asked, "Mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

Hyacinth nodded and motioned to the seat across from her, "Sure. Go ahead." She stuck out her hand, "My name's Hyacinth."

The other girl shook the offered hand before gasping, "Holy cricket, you're Hyacinth Potter!"

"Er, yeah, I guess I am? Sorry but do I know you?" Hyacinth's brows wiggled in confusion. How did this girl know her?

"Oh I'm sorry. No, I'm Hermione Granger. I just meant that you're the girl-who-lived! You're mentioned in all the modern history books, of course. Didn't you know?"

Hyacinth shook her head, "Sorry, no. I had no idea. What did I ever do?"

So Hermione told her the tale of Voldemort, how he had come to Hyacinth's house when she was just a baby, on Halloween night, and killed her parents. How Hyacinth had somehow defeated this evil man when she was just one, and how she was proclaimed the savior of the wizarding world. so this was her place in the wizarding world. In Surrey she was nothing, an afraid little girl who deserved the punches she got from her relatives. But here, here she was someone. Someone important! She was the savior of the wizarding world, and she'd be damned if she would act like that afraid little girl while she was part of this world.

"I'm afraid I really don't remember defeating Voldemort." Hermione shivered at the name, "Sorry. But I guess I do have the scar." She pushed her long bangs up with one hand, to show Hermione the lightning-bolt shaped mark on her forehead.

Hermione looked at it for a moment before looking back at her face. She seemed reluctant now, "You don't think its strange, do you? That I've read all about you and all?"

"Well no. If what you said is true it sounds like everyone knows who I am. Besides, reading is great, no matter the subject." Hyacinth took some books out of her rucksack, handing them to Hermione, "These are my first wizarding books I bought a few weeks ago. They're absolutely brilliant."

Hermione practically squealed in delight, "Oh how wonderful! I've read through most of the first year texts already but I hadn't thought to look into other subjects. Healing? Customs? These sound so useful!" The frizzy-haired girl bit her lip, "Would you mind terribly if I borrowed this one on customs? You see I'm a muggle-born and I really don't know... well anything about wizarding traditions."

Hyacinth grinned at her, "I didn't either until I read this. Please, feel free. You can keep it if you'd like. I finished it a few nights ago." Hermione's eyes lit up and Hyacinth asked, "Would you maybe... want to be friends?" She was immensely pleased when Hermione smiled and nodded, "I would love to!"

The rest of the train ride passed by mostly uneventful, save for a visit from a blonde-haired boy. "I heard Hyacinth Potter was somewhere down this end of the train. Have you seen her?"

Hyacinth raised a small hand, "Hello, I'm Hyacinth, Hyacinth Potter."

The boy's eyes flew up in surprise. He gave the girl an appraising once-over, grimacing at the state of her hair and her too large, wrong-gendered clothing. "I see," he said carefully before sticking a hand out and saying in a haughty voice, "Well I'm Draco Malfoy."

Hyacinth stuck her hand out as well, to shake his, but he instead caught her hand and ghosted his lips over the back of her hand gently. Hyacinth's eyes widened. According to her book this was a pureblood greeting. Her eyes darted to Hermione.

"And who are you?" Draco looked over toward the other girl as well.

The other girl stuck her hand out and Draco repeated the gesture, causing Hermione's eyes to widen and a red flush to take over her entire face. "Hermione Granger."

"Granger, hmm. That name isn't familiar." Draco hummed.

Hermione nodded slowly, nerves apparent in her shaky voice, "That's probably because I'm a muggle-born."

Hyacinth stared Draco down, daring him to say anything against her new friend. According to her book many purebloods found the company of muggle-borns as distasteful as muggles.

Draco seemed to catch her look so he simply shrugged his shoulders, a strained smile on his face, "Ah, makes sense then. Well, mind if I sit here? My own compartment was getting a bit... crowded."

Hyacinth and Hermione shared a look before welcoming Draco into the compartment. He made no comments on the wizarding customs book Hermione held tightly, merely nodded approvingly before making himself comfortable.

The three chatted about various material from the first year textbooks before they arrived at Hogwarts. As they headed toward the castle together with the other first-years, Hyacinth was pleased to note that they stayed close together. She had her first ever friends!

They were soon ushered into a large hall, four long tables taking up most of the room. A large table at the head of the room sat with many adults, probably teachers. Before them sat a stool, with a grumpy looking hat on it. If hats could look grumpy, that is.

The woman who had led them in, Professor McGonagall Hyacinth remembered, began to call names and one by one the children went up and sat on the stool, the now obviously grumpy hat plopped upon their heads. Hermione's name came up first and she walked forward, looking much more confident than she probably was, and sat primly down on the stool. The hat fell on to her and Hermione's eyes darted around the hall for a moment before the piece of cloth shouted out, "RAVENCLAW!"

Some other names were called and then it was Draco's turn. He had barely gotten the hat on his head when it had called out distinctly, "SLYTHERIN!"

Hyacinth was next and she walked up slowly, smiling slightly as she recognized Professor Snape at the head table. He merely raised a brow in return. The hat plopped down on her head and she heard a sudden whisper, "Hyacinth Potter, ah yes, a wonderful mind indeed. Brave, certainly, yes. And with a thirst, to prove yourself. But where to put you... better be... RAVENCLAW!"

There was polite applause as Hyacinth made her way toward the table Hermione sat at, scooching in next to her. She caught Draco's eye across the hall and gave him a little wave. She hoped they would have some classes together, even if they were in different houses. A few more names were called but Hyacinth was too busy staring up at the enchanted ceiling to pay much attention.

After the sorting was finished, Headmaster Dumbledore waved his hands and the tables were suddenly full of food. Hyacinth's eyes popped. She had never seen so much food before! She quickly piled her plate up with a small variety of offerings, taking care to avoid the juices in the middle of the table, her mind straying dangerously to her customary green smoothie meal.

As the meal ended, Hyacinth got up with the rest of her house and followed the prefect up to Ravenclaw tower. They stopped at a portrait of a sphinx that asked them, "What has an eye, but cannot see?"

They were all silent for a moment before Hermione offered, "A needle?"

The sphinx nodded and the portrait swung open, revealing an inviting room with two sets of stairs. The prefect, Penelope, told them, "The left leads to the boys dorms, the right leads to the girls dorms. First years, your dorm room will be the first on the left at the top of the stairs."

Hermione and Hyacinth headed upstairs to unpack their things with two other girls, Padma Patil and Mandy Brocklehurst.

The pair spent the rest of the night together in the Ravenclaw dorm, sitting on their respective beds, reading their books together, occasionally discussing various spells or theories they came upon. Hyacinth was excited to try out some of the charms she had read about in her books. Their dorm room was cold, the September night air swirling around them. Hyacinth waved her wand in a wide arc around the room and muttered the warming charm from the first chapter of her household charms book. The air immediately started to warm, and Hermione looked up from her book at Hyacinth, a grin wide on her face.

"Hyacinth, that was brilliant! Can I borrow that when you're done reading it?"

Hyacinth grinned back at the other girl, "Of course, Hermione." She looked down at her wand and let the warmth of the room gather into her body, "My first spell... wow."

Classes were everything Hyacinth had dreamed and more. They were paired with the Slytherins more often than not, and Hyacinth was glad she had finished her wizarding customs and etiquette book before coming to the school. Draco was the penultimate pureblood, and he greeted Hyacinth and Hermione at the beginning of each class with a gentle kiss on the back of both of their hands. Hermione blushed a deep red every time, while Hyacinth merely smiled. She had gone from pauper to princess practically overnight! She was riding on a high that didn't feel like it could be stopped!

Hermione had lit up when she realized that Hyacinth was more than happy to do her share of the work. Hermione had gone to a muggle school before this apparently, where those partnered with her on projects sat back and let her do everything. Their teamwork was very complimentary, especially in potions. Hermione would follow the text and Hyacinth would prepare the ingredients as she had learned to do from cooking at the Dursleys. They turned in potion after flawless potion, so Hyacinth was surprised when Professor Snape asked her to stay after one day.

The rest of the class filed out and Hyacinth walked to the front, swinging her rucksack back and forth anxiously. "Yes, Professor Snape, sir?"

The man looked at her in silence for a long moment before he motioned her to come all the way up to his desk. She did so and he sighed, letting out a long breath, "Miss Potter, am I correct in assuming that you and your relatives... do not get along?"

He seemed to be choosing his words with great delicacy and Hyacinth felt her breath constrict in her chest before she nodded once, "Yes, sir. That's right, sir."

"I have heard rumors that you had no idea of your past before you came here. Indeed when I accompanied you to Diagon Alley you seemed... in the dark. Is this also true?"

Hyacinth affirmed this and the man opened one of the drawers to his desk and withdrew a photograph. He placed it upon his desk and pushed it toward her. "You may have this then. I have a copy myself of course, so it is no trouble. It is rightfully yours, either way."

Hyacinth reached out and looked at it, letting her fingers caress the edges of the old Polaroid, "Who is this, sir?"

"Your mother."

After that, the two fell into a steady rhythm. Whenever Professor Snape seemed to be in a particularly good mood, Hyacinth would stay after class, and listen to a story about her mother. The man never mentioned her father, save to say that he was, "an absolute swine," with his meanest sneer. But he spoke of her mother with such care, so quietly. Apparently they had been friends when they had gone to Hogwarts together. Hyacinth felt truly blessed to be able to hear about her, and she told her Professor as much. He had merely looked away, mouth set in a firm line as always. He certainly didn't seem like the mean dungeon bat the other students seemed to think he was, at least not to Hyacinth.

Halloween fell upon the school like a visiting King. Whispers of the Halloween feast, particularly the sweet desserts, were awash within the hallways of Hogwarts. Some of the upper years had transfigured their their robes to have flashy cuffs or collars with jack-o-lanterns or skulls. Even the ghosts seemed spirited. Especially the ghosts seemed spirited. They floated through walls and people with abandon, greeting each other with merriment. Of course, it wasn't a pleasant day for the entire school. Upon waking, Hermione had thrown Hyacinth a sympathetic look, looping an arm through hers as they went about their day.

Hyacinth has never really grieved before. Sure, she had known she had parents, she must have come from somewhere. But her relatives had always glossed over the subject with abrupt lies and insults rather than give her a date or any real information about them. Now she had it all. She knew their names, the exact day the died, and the real reason why. She carried the picture Professor Snape had given her in her rucksack, the first gift Hyacinth had ever truly been given. All her thoughts and emotions that day seemed to be dragged back into the picture, like a black hole that she couldn't tear her eyes away from.

Upon seeing her face, Draco had immediately understood, and tactfully mentioned that Halloween, or Samhain, was a day to celebrate not only the season turning, but also the supernatural, and that there was a small ritual they could do to honor her parents. It would be best effective at night, so they planned to skip the feast and perform the ritual in one of the lower level lavatories, which was bound to be empty.

When Hyacinth entered the bathroom her skin prickled, the air was thick with magic. Draco was sitting just outside a small circle on the floor, Hermione on the opposite side, watching fiercely as the boy scribbled symbols on the floor in chalk.

"So what do we do exactly?" Hyacinth sat between them, legs criss-cross. She let her fingers pick at her robes, all nerves.

Draco gestured to the center of the circle, "Do you have anything of hers? Place it there?"

Hyacinth hesitated before taking out the picture and placing it in the circle, "I'm not sure if it was hers, but it is of her."

"That'll do," Draco nodded, chest held out slightly. "My father usually does this at home to honor my grandparents, but he let me help this year. Trust me, you'll feel better, at least a bit, when it's done. Join hands."

The three first years grabbed each other hands and held on, as Draco began to chant a short string of words in Latin. The lights dimmed, and small flames lit up around the circle. Hyacinth gasped as her picture lifted off the floor slightly before falling back down, a puff of air blowing away the dust from underneath it. She felt her magic reacting to the ritual, rolling off of her and feeding the flames. She wondered if her friends felt it too.

Draco stopped chanting and they all watched as embers from the flames rose up and crinkled into nothingness. They waited there, sitting still and silent, for nearly 20 minutes as the flames dissipated. When the last ember burned out, Hyacinth felt a great calm come over her. She picked up the picture from the center of the circle and returned it to her rucksack, "Thank you, Draco, Hermione. This... that meant a lot. I do feel a bit better."

Her friends grinned dazedly, also feeling the last of the magic swirling away. Everyone slumped their backs against the wall, exhausted.

"It really drains your magic," Draco explained, "since you don't use a wand or anything. But it has to be that way, to be really personal, you know. It's like feeding some of your life force into the other side."

Hermione frowned, "Isn't that a bit like necromancy? Pushing your life force into a dead being?"

"Er, well I suppose." Draco brushed of the front of his robe, some of the dust having coated it in gray, "But with this ritual you don't really have that intent. The chant was about giving honor to those passed on, and sending them a message of peace through our magic. At least, that's how mother and father explained it."

Hermione nodded, moving her hand forward to brush away the circle, before speaking carefully. "I don't think we should tell anyone we did this. It sounds like it's borderline dark." At Draco's expression she hastened to explain, "I'm glad we did it, I think it really helped Hyacinth, and I really liked getting to see a samhain custom. I just think that, since there seems to be a certain attitude about that sort of magic, that we shouldn't go spreading it about. Sorry, do I sound like a complete jerk?"

Before anyone could respond, a loud bang had resounded in the room and in lumbered creature great in stature. Large hands gripped a wooden club, and sunken eyes took in the trio.

Draco gulped and Hermione stuttered in a hushed voice, "Th-that's a troll!" Taking out their wands, their arms shook, still tired from having their magic depleted by the ritual.

Hyacinth gripped her wand tightly. She was tired yes, but not as much as the others. She raised her wand as it lumbered towards them, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The troll stopped as it's club suddenly rose up into the air. It looked up confusedly before the club promptly dropped on its head, leaving a deep dent in the skull as the troll fell forward, landing just shy of the children's feet. They all scurried back as it's wound started to slowly leak blood, the troll's body twitching every few moments.

No one moved.

A scuffle of footsteps later and Professors Snape, Flitwick, and Quirrell were at the scene. Professor Flitwick took in the scene before a troubled look crossed his face, "Oh dear, dear. This creature almost got to these students! Bad, very bad, indeed this could have been. Someone will have to inform Minny," he blushed before amending, "er, Professor McGonagall, of course. What happened here?"

The students eyed each other before Hermione spoke up, "It's all my fault, Professor. I went looking for the troll because I - I thought I could deal with it on my own - you know, because I've read all about them." The girl flushed red to the roots of her hair, embarrassment plain on her face.

Draco was looking at her like a fish out of water. Hyacinth shook her head, "We were with her, and when the troll finally came we got lucky. We floated the club away and... and dropped it on the troll's head. I... I don't think it's dead." Hyacinth was staring at the troll with conflict warring in her eyes. She didn't want to hurt it, really. But the creature had been coming for them and the other were too magically exhausted...

Professor Snape was silent, looking at the troll rather than them. He quickly snatched up Draco by the collar and led him form the room. Hermione winced. She felt sorry for the boy, no doubt he'd be getting an earful from Snape about the incident.

Flitwick nodded at them both, "Yes, well. Unfortunate as this situation was, I will have to take points, 25 to be exact, for going looking for trouble like this. However," a small smile played on his face, "I'll have to award points - perhaps 30? - for using the levitating charm in such an advanced way. Come come now, let's get you to bed. Don't want you to have to look at this any more than you already have." Flitwick motioned for them to follow him, clearly proud of the students from his house.

They moved to follow but Professor Quirrell stopped Hyacinth before she walked out, "One m-m-moment please Miss P-P-Potter."

The other went on ahead and Hyacinth waited, tucking her wand back into the folds of her robes. "Yes, sir?"

"That was r-rather ing-g-g-genius sp-spell casting Miss P-P-P-Potter." Quirrel eyed the troll before looking back at her.

Hyacinth felt her cheeks flush slightly at the praise. Points were one thing, but being told she was good at magic, at anything... Her stomach began to settle and she felt more like herself as she answered. "It was really nothing. Hermione and I have been practicing as much as we can with things we have learned or read about and when I saw the troll come in I just acted without thinking." She looked at the twitching troll again, its eyes flickering open and close, body parts spasming. "I-I'm sorry sir. Can't we... put it out of its misery? It looks like its in so much pain..."

Quirrell stared down at her, saying nothing for a beat before looking over at the troll again. "Why d-d-don't y-you p-put it d-d-down then, Miss P-P-Potter?"

Hyacinth's head snapped up, apprehension marring her features, before she pointed her wand toward the troll's neck. "Bonham's Healing Basics mentioned the jugular is best for a swift death. I... I don't want it to suffer anymore." She muttered the spell, "Diffindo." The creature's neck sprayed blood, ruining the bottom hem of her robes before the thing went entirely limp, and she knew it was dead.

She sighed and looked back at her professor. Quirrell was looking at her appraisingly before nodding, "N-nice w-w-w-work there Miss P-P-Potter. Off to-b-bed now I th-th-think." He ushered her out of the room before slamming it shut behind her, himself still inside.

Hyacinth walked down the corridors back toward the Ravenclaw dorms, bile swirling around tumultuously in her small stomach. She ran to the nearest bathroom and proceeded to empty her belly into one of the toilets, heaving far more than she ever had before. Perhaps because now that she was at Hogwarts she was eating more.

Curling up inside the stall, Hyacinth shivered. Her stomach felt better now, but her heart still threatened to leap from her chest. Raising a shaky hand to her mouth she pushed herself up off the damp stone floor and returned to her dorm. The walk was cold, and though there was no breeze inside the castle's thick walls, Hyacinth gripped her robes tighter around herself. A muttered warming charm did nothing to thaw the chill that crawled over her skin.

She carefully slipped into her room and made her way toward the bed, slipping under the covers. She stuffed the stained robes under her bed, a dirty secret to be hidden away from even herself. She waited a moment and Hermione's voice whispered from the bed closest, "Are you all right, Hyacinth? What did Professor Quirrell want?"

Hyacinth turned over on her side, "He just needed help cleaning up a bit. I'm fine."

There was another beat of silence before Hyacinth heard a watery, "Thank you. For saving us."

The corners of her mouth turned up and for the first time that night she felt a heavy weight lift from her. "Thank you, Hermione."She put her rucksack next the her on the bed, feeling the thrum of magic dissipating from the picture of her mother, fading into the night. She didn't let herself think on it a moment more before her dreams overtook her.

Her only dreams that night were of a large monster, twitching violently before it stilled, lying cold on the floor. Rich red pooled over immaculate white.