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.

The other first years were sorted in their time. Lucinda wasn't paying attention any more. Her head was spinning and she seemed to be having trouble breathing. She tried to remember that the Sorting Hat knew best. She tried to tell herself that her brother and father would love her just the same.

She couldn't quite bring herself to believe it.

Lucius had looked shocked and outraged. The last time she had looked up at him he was purposefully ignoring her with a look of disgust on his face.

What was she going to do? What could she do? Would Professor Dumbledore let her be sorted again? Maybe the hat would choose the right house if given another opportunity. Surely she had to at least try to live up to her family's name?

But Sirius looked happy to be in Gryffindor. The house of Black was older even than the Malfoys and all of them had gone to Slytherin. Yet he seemed triumphant to be openly declared different. She knew his home life was difficult. Weren't all pureblood families like that? So many rules and expectations were bound to wear you down. Especially when you found it difficult to be what they expect.

And if Lucinda had trouble, she knew that Sirius did. Walburga Black was not known for her patience, after all.

She came back to the Great Hall and the feast, surprised as she looked up and saw that there were no first years waiting to be sorted. Professor Dumbledore stood at his seat in the center of the Professors' table and spoke,

"On behalf of the faculty I wish to welcome all first years to the beginning of your tenure here and to welcome back our older students, we are looking forward to another year improving your minds. I won't make you wait any longer as I hear the rumbling of empty tummies. Tuck In!"

He sat and food appeared all down the center of every table. Heaping piles of anything you could dream of. All of her favorites were suddenly in front of Lucinda and she gasped in pleasure and dismay.

At home she was allowed only a single serving of anything. She could never have seconds and her father strictly dictated what she ate. After all, Malfoy women were never fat.

As she looked at the food in front of her she wondered if she might, just this once, have her fill. She had grown accustomed to the gnaw of hunger in her eleven years. She had never been starved but she had never been full either.

She looked again to her brother for guidance.

Lucius was piling food onto his plate with seemingly no regard for how his father might feel about it. But Abraxus Malfoy had never limited his eldest child.

Lucinda looked again at the plethora of food around her. She filled her plate slowly, with shaking hands. She kept an eye on her brother, if he seemed to disapprove she would stop. He never looked up at her. He was concentrating on his food and his friends. They seemed to be arguing about something that disturbed her brother very much. He was intent on the conversation and spared her not a glance.

So she ate.

Lucinda was still worried about what her brother or the Gryffindors around her might say about how much she was eating and what she was eating. Rolls still warm from the oven, dripping with butter and shepherd's pie with more gravy than anything, roast and carrots and pie for dessert. She had three pieces of cherry pie before her stomach refused to accept another morsel or it would burst.

She had never been so full. The smile on her face was obvious and she couldn't get rid of it, despite her worries about her family and her future here at Hogwarts as a Gryffindor.

As everyone finished eating the remaining food vanished, leaving sparkling gold dishes clean on the table. Professor Dumbledore stood again and addressed the hall of students.

"Now that our hunger has been sated I do have a few announcements before we begin the year. The Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students. No magic is to be performed in the corridors. Curfew is nine o'clock each night. There is a list of banned objects posted in Mr. Filch's office for perusal of the mischievous. And I would like to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Knightly."

There was some half-hearted applause around the room and at the staff table as a blonde man stood and gave a short bow before returning quickly to his seat.

Lucinda studied him. She had been wondering as much as the returning students who would be the new Dark Arts professor. It was widely known that Hogwarts had been unable to keep someone in the position for more than a year for some time. Lucius had abhorred last year's professor and raved about how unfair it was and how inadequate Dumbledore was for not being able to find decent help.

Lucinda was trying to take the measure of Professor Knightly. She had never heard the name before, which meant only that he wasn't in the circle of pureblood families she had spent any time with. She wondered if he had done great deeds or if he had been a scholar, studying the creatures of magic and danger before he came back to the school to teach.

He was handsome she supposed. His hair was golden and set off the hazel sparks in his eyes. He was muscular and tan. He had a fierce, concentrating look on his face like he was trying to think of the best strategy to get out of the situation he found himself in, or simply preparing for the worst.

She wondered what his teaching style would be like. She had already heard what to expect from the other teachers fro Lucius. She knew the potions master was likely to get close with anyone with a powerful family. She knew Professor McGonagle was stern but brilliant. The Divination professor was crazy and fell asleep in class.

She had thought she was prepared for everything Hogwarts might throw at her. But she was not prepared to be the only Gryffindor in her family.