"I think I'd rather die than be in Slytherin."
"I don't even care. I'm just thrilled to be going to such a wonderful place. I had no idea what was going on until Sev here told me what I was." "So what's it like growing up muggle?" "Normal but like I didn't fit in anywhere. I had friends and things but it felt like they didn't understand me. When weird things would happen around me, it scared people. Mum and Dad didn't know what to do with me. They thought I had a serious temper problem for a while. And then I got my letter."
"That would be so cool!" "Not really. At one point they thought I needed therapy. I was actually scheduled for my first appointment when my letter came. My parents were really worried about me. I'm the first magical person in my family. They thought we were all going crazy. And, of course, the more worried they got the more worried I got and the more things I destroyed on accident. Thank god for Sev. If I hadn't known what I was I would have really thought there was something wrong with me."
"Okay, less cool than I thought. My Mum and Dad are in a long line of purebloods. Whenever my magic went crazy they just flicked a wand and fixed everything. The only thing I ever got away with is stealing a cookie once." "Don't act like you're such a badass. Your mother gave you that cookie." "Shut up, Black."
Lucinda watched the back-and-forth between her companions and wished that she knew how to join in. Wished it was permissible. But that was not the way a Malfoy should behave.
Boys could do as they pleased. Girls must be silent. Seen and not heard.
They talked more until the lady with the trolley came by. Lucinda bought herself a snack and watched as Black and Potter devoured sweets like they were starving. Severus and Lily shared something the redhead bought for them.
Eventually they changed into their robes and prepared for their arrival.
It was everything Lucinda had been dreaming of. The train pulled into the Hogsmeade station and she got off with the other first years. They followed a massive man called Hagrid to the lake where unmanned boats were docked and waiting for them.
She looked at the castle in pure amazement as the boats propelled themselves across the dark waters.
This was going to be her home for the next seven years. The potential was at her fingertips. She could be her own person here. She could do what she liked without worrying about her father reprimanding her.
Within reason of course, because Lucius was still in school and he would be watching her. He would tell their father anything that happened. She would toe the line without stepping over.
She took a deep breath of relief at the prospect. She would be watched but the axe hanging over her head didn't seem so close now. She could choose her friends. She could choose when to study. She could choose what to eat at dinner and how much she was allowed.
The first years were gathered in the entrance hall in front of a stern-looking woman in a green dress with her hair pulled in a tight bun at the back of her head. She peered down at them out of her square spectacles with a patiently-disapproving look on her face.
When they were all quiet she cleared her throat and announced, "In a moment I will lead you through these doors and you will be sorted into one of four houses: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, or Slytherin. While you are here your house will be like your family. Do well and you will earn your house points. Any rule breaking and you will lose points. At the end of the year the house with the most points wins the House Cup." she looked accusingly at the children gathered around her, as if expecting to catch them breaking rules even as they stood there. "Let us begin."
They followed single-file through the doors to be lined up in front of the entire school. Four house tables full of people stared at them. The professors smiled or frowned or looked anxious, depending on their nature. The Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, seemed to stare straight through each one of them, sending a shiver of anticipation or anxiety down each of their spines.
Lucinda looked at her fellow first years and wondered which would be wearing the green and silver colors of Slytherin with her. Which of these girls would be her roommates? Which would she be living with and learning with? Who here would want to be her friend and allow for her little oddities?
She looked for her brother at the Slytherin table and he gave her an encouraging smile and mouthed "good luck". She choked back her fears and anxieties. She would make friends here. She had nothing to worry about. Her brother was well-liked and her family well-known. She would make friends.
Professor McGonagle was standing with a long list of names next to a three-legged stool and a ragged hat. She seemed to be waiting for something. And then the hat began to sing.
Gather round and listen well
It is my job to sort you all
To let the houses swell
I might think it wrong to split
Potential friends and family
But it is my job to sit
You down where you belong
No matter where that is
Listen closely to my song
And I will give a hint.
Some of you are Gryffindors
For you are brave of heart
Your courage has no bounds
This sets Gryffindors apart
Others will be Ravenclaws
You'll learn and grow in smarts
Some are truly Hufflepuffs
Their loyalty is tried and true
The rest of you are Slytherins
Ambitious through and through
Now don't be shy
Come on up
Don't worry I don't mess up
I'll peek inside your head
Your thoughts and heart I'll read
Until I know without a doubt
Which house it is you need
Lucius hadn't told her that a ragged hat would dictate her future here at Hogwarts. If he had, she wouldn't have believed him. Not really.
Though he had never been the sort of brother to prank and pick Lucinda would have been sure to think he was pulling something over on her with that.
But there it sits, silent and waiting now that its song is over. A hat will tell them who their friends are going to be for the next seven years.
Professor McGonagle wasted no time. She began reading from her list and as she called out each name a terrified first year sat on the stool and wore the hat. Some of them were easy to sort and the hat was barely on their head before it was shouting out a house. Others were harder and took some time.
When she called "Black, Sirius" Lucinda barely even paid attention. Of course he would be in Slytherin. But when the hat said nothing and continued in silence for some minutes the hall went silent. The whispers stopped. Suddenly everyone was paying attention, waiting for the hat's decision.
Sirius looked furious and stubborn. It looked like he wanted to rip the hat off his head and stomp on it. He started shaking his head furiously. When he stopped the hat called, almost in exasperation, "Gryffindor!"
He ripped the hat off his head and almost threw it at the Deputy Headmistress before taking off for the Gryffindor table. They were applauding him. The Slytherin table looked mutinous and a little bit disgusted. Sirius was triumphant.
Lucinda was shocked. She had never heard of such a thing. Every Black as far back as they went had been in Slytherin just like the Malfoys. How could he have ended up in Gryffindor?
She shook her head and tried to pay attention to the next being sorted. It wasn't as interesting as Black's miraculous sorting. The hall was buzzing with talk as the older students gossiped with younger students, telling them why it was so unheard of and wondering what made him so different. Lucinda was wondering that herself.
She had always felt a connection with Sirius Black. They seemed uninterested in their families' politics and the rigid ways of the pureblood class.
But if he was in Gryffindor she couldn't see how that friendship might be explored. Even if he did want to be friends with her. And she couldn't declare that he did.
She faded in and out, sometimes catching a name or a house, other times watching the enchanted ceiling and the waning moon above her. Eventually it was her turn.
"Malfoy, Lucinda" she snapped back into focus at the sound of her name and tried to remember what a Malfoy was supposed to do in this situation. She was pretty sure she was supposed to stand up straight and walk proudly to the front of the room. But her knees were a little wobbly and she was suddenly a little light headed. She wasn't sure what she was worrying about, she was going to Slytherin and her brother had already saved her a seat next to him and his friends, Crabbe and Mulciber. She wasn't going to be alone at the feast. But all those eyes on her were a little overwhelming. How was she supposed to blend into the background if everyone was watching her?
She was worried she would trip or faint. She was sure she had something on her face.
But she made it to the stool with no mishap and the hat went down over her eyes when it was placed on her head.
Another Malfoy. I have placed you all in Salazar's noble house for generations-carbon copies all of you. But you aren't that, not quite. They've tried, their mark is on you but your spirit has yet to be crushed. You're braver than you know to have come so far and still be free of their designs. You are pure of heart and brave. You want only the opportunity to prove yourself.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Before she understood what the hat had said about her, before she could contradict it and say she was as she had been bred to be, the hat was calling out her new house and it was not the house she had been expecting. Her eyes went automatically to her brother. He was staring at her in open-mouthed shock. He was shaking his head and looking horror-struck.
Lucinda handed the hat to Professor McGonagle, who gave her an encouraging smile before heading slowly to the applauding Gryffindors. She met Sirius's eyes and he was frowning at her. He didn't know what to make of her placement any more than she did.
Of all the things she had been worrying about: falling on her face in front of everyone, not being very good at lessons, not making any friends-she had never, not once thought to be worried about where she would go. She had always known that Malfoys belong in Slytherin.
It was true that she was not a very good Malfoy. She had always been a little different. But she hadn't thought it would make such a difference. She suddenly had a whole new set of worries.
Lucius would have to write back to their father. Their father would be outraged. What if the kids in Gryffindor didn't trust her because she was a Malfoy?
The house and family rivalries at Hogwarts went back generations. It might be too much for some of them to accept at the word of a hat. She couldn't possibly belong in Gryffindor. She was terrified of what the future might hold.
Why hadn't she thought of this outcome? Why hadn't she thought to ask the hat to place her with her brother?
Because she was the first Malfoy to ever be sorted anywhere but Slytherin.