Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The setting and most of the characters and events belong to J. K. Rowling.
After what seemed like forever, the first years finally reached Hogwarts. Those stupid boats always took so long. Draco remembered how slow they glided through the water last year; he could probably swim faster. As the first years walked into the great hall, his eyes found the Weasley girl again – she stood out with that obnoxious red hair. She was talking to a pair of twins and a girl with curly dark hair…oh no.
There was no mistaking that wild mane. Draco's eyes widened as he realized he was looking at Kendra. Kendra Lestrange, chatting friendlily with a Weasley. This was not good. Bellatrix would be furious if she knew her daughter was talking to a blood traitor! He had to stop them before they became friends.
The first years lined up and waited for their names to be called. There were several surprises in store this year, one being the sorting hat's song:
I'm the sorting hat
No doubt about that
Although I am unsure
About the creature who stirs
Beneath our feet
Someone seeks it
The chamber of secrets
Beware the creature
Who stirs in the walls
Of hallowed Hogwarts
For those of muggle birth
Will be the targets
Find the heir
And then beware!
That was the strangest song Draco had ever heard, and it revealed more than he liked. He knew his father had a diary that had something to do with the Chamber of Secrets; he'd have to ask him about it. It sounded like it would cause trouble for the mudbloods – nothing Draco needed to worry about, since he had the purest bloodline in all of Great Britain.
"Posie Allan." She was the younger sister of Stephanie, a Ravenclaw, but for some reason she got sorted into Gryffindor.
"Cass Granger." Draco recognized her as one of the twins from earlier. Could Kendra sink any lower? The Granger got Gryffindor – of course. Glancing over at her new table, Draco saw Hermione grinning widely as she beckoned her sister over. Which led him to wonder…since when did she have siblings?
"Garren Granger."
Of course he would get Gryffindor too. The girl was his twin, after all; it made sense. So when the sorting hat called out "Slytherin!" Draco was shocked beyond words. What, a mudblood in Slytherin? It was impossible! Much to his pleasure, he was not the only one surprised by the turn of events; Hermione looked utterly furious. Cass, however, was smiling and waving at her brother.
Garren had better be loyal to his house and not his family.
"Kendra Ruby." If she didn't get Slytherin, her mother would kill her! And him. Fortunately, she got sorted into the right house. As the girl walked over, Draco caught the Weasley girl watching Kendra closely. Did she know something? Did she weasel something out of Bellatrix's daughter?
Draco hoped not. He really didn't want to deal with that.
"Cheri Tribal." Her sister was in Hufflepuff and everyone expected her to be as well. Draco was glad that she ended up in the family house – something needed to be normal for once.
"Ginny Weasley." She got Gryffindor, of course. Her dump of a family would be proud.
"Troy Walton." His brothers were in Ravenclaw and Slytherin. He became a Gryffindor as well. What was this, a Gryffindor dream?
Don't forget about Garren, Draco reminded himself. He's a Slytherin. But something didn't seem right. How could a mudblood be in Slytherin?
"Draco, what are you thinking about?" Blaise asked.
"The sorting," he replied. "It was really weird this year."
Blaise nodded in agreement. "At least we got a few kids. It's amazing that we got a mudblood, though. I thought it was impossible."
"I know. I need to talk to that boy," Draco said. "Set him straight on the rules and things."
"Isn't that a prefect's job, though?"
"I'm not talking about Hogwarts' rules. I'm talking about my rules."
Blaise grinned. "Good luck, man!"
"Thanks." Not that he needed it or anything – he was Draco Malfoy, after all. He headed over to Garren who was busy talking to Kendra. "Is this seat taken?" he asked. It was more of a courtesy than an actual question; he was going to sit down either way.
Garren shook his head and Draco slid in beside him. "You're Draco, right?" he asked.
The blonde nodded. Smart boy, although what he knew was probably all lies. "I suppose your sister Hermione told you about me?"
Garren shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was lowered so that only Kendra and Draco could hear. "To tell you the truth, Cass and I aren't actually Hermione's siblings."
Draco's eyes widened. That meant he might not be a mudblood and everything would make sense again!
"Cass and I are purebloods," Garren said. "Dumbledore claims that he saved us when our parents were murdered by You-Know-Who, but I don't believe him. I'm telling you, there's something fishy about that guy. Of course, my sister believes him wholeheartedly. I'm not going to argue with her, though. She's as stubborn as a rock."
This reminded Draco of a certain Death Eater's complaints about their missing children. If Garren proved loyal to Slytherin, which seemed likely now, Draco would tell him that he knew who his real parents were and somehow get them to meet. Maybe that would put the Malfoys on better terms with the rest of the Death Eaters.
After the students were dismissed, Percy led the first year Gryffindors to their common room, discussing the history of Hogwarts along the way. Ginny was quite bored by the time they approached the Fat Lady; she knew her brother was a bland genius but this was ridiculous. Nobody cared that the paintings had been hung three hundred years ago or that the decorative armor in the hall was from the fifteenth century.
Needless to say, Ginny booked it into the dorms as soon as the group entered the common room. She quickly claimed a top bunk in the girls' dormitories, eventually joined by Cass and Posie. They spent the rest of the weekend settling in.
When Monday finally arrived, the first years made their way to the dreaded potions class. The previous year, Ron had told Ginny all about how terrible it was and she wasn't looking forward to it.
"I am Severus Snape, your potions master," the man at the front of the class announced. He looked at the youngest Weasley with hostility in his eyes and she knew she was done for.
"Today you will make the boil-cure potion," Snape said. "I hope you do not fail such an easy task on your first day of classes."
This was going to be dismal. Ginny didn't have a textbook and she had the feeling Snape wouldn't be eager to supply one for her. She couldn't share a textbook the whole year, though, so she cautiously raised her hand.
"Weasley."
"I don't have a textbook, sir."
Snape glared at her. "That is quite unfortunate. You'll just have to guess the potions then."
"Hey, that's not fair!" Cass said.
Snape glanced over at her in surprise, but instead of reprimanding her, he just sighed. "I suppose Ms. Weasley could have one of the textbooks in the cabinet." He pulled one out and dropped it on her desk. "All of you, get to work."
The redhead frowned, staring at the book in front of her. For some reason, Snape gave her the book because of Cass. He didn't even get mad at her for speaking out. There were a lot of mysteries at this school and Ginny was determined to get to the bottom of them.
Fifteen minutes later, Ginny was working on her second try while Cass was on her fifth.
"What if we fail?" Cass whispered nervously. "Think of what Hermione would say!"
Ginny grimaced – she loved Hermione, but she was glad they weren't siblings. That girl was a huge perfectionist. "Good luck," she said sympathetically.
Across the aisle, Posie cringed as her cauldron exploded, sending flames skyrocketing towards the ceiling. Professor Snape came over to her, tapping her desk with his wand.
"A week's detention for you, Posie. And ten points from Gryffindor."
"What!" Ginny exclaimed. "You can't do that!"
"Oh really? Ten more points from Gryffindor and detention for you as well, Ms. Weasley."
Ginny cursed the professor under her breath. Why did he have to be such a prick? And why did she have such a big mouth? She really wanted to give him a piece of her mind, but she suffered through the rest of the class in silence.
"Wow. Snape is so mean! He must really hate you," Cass said after they left the dungeons for Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Yeah, thanks for sticking up for me," Posie said.
Ginny shrugged. "No problem. Snape's an old hag."
The three girls laughed.
"Oi! Wait up!" They paused for a moment, allowing Troy to catch up before they continued down the hallway.
"You were excellent back there, by the way," he said with a smile.
"Thanks," Ginny said, blushing a bit. Stupid red cheeks.
"She was just calling Snape an old hag," Cass remarked.
Troy grinned. "He doesn't mind me. Probably because of Bilius. Actually, he held me after class to tell me that I have a promising future in potions."
"I'm jealous," Ginny said breezily. "I don't know what my brothers did to upset him, but he certainly doesn't like me."
Posie nodded in agreement. "I guess it's because my sister is in Hufflepuff."
"My twin brother is in Slytherin. Maybe that's why he was nice to me," Cass said thoughtfully.
"Does he even need to have a reason? He's Snape."
"Good morning everyone! Meet your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, me!" Gilderoy Lockhart flashed his perfect smile and even Pansy swooned – the girl that was supposedly infatuated with Draco. At least she had a new focus now.
Draco rolled his eyes. "This is going to be torture." Blaise nodded in agreement.
As soon as Draco saw Lockhart for the first time, he knew he'd hate him. He was at Flourish and Blotts with his father purchasing his ridiculous books when he saw the man standing with Harry Potter from Gryffindor. Potter was an annoying kid with Auror parents and a reputation as the best seeker since his father's generation. He and Lockhart were clearly meant for each other – both were pompous gits.
Lockhart started handing out papers. Draco looked at the one he dropped on his desk: a Second Year Essential Knowledge Test.
"What is this?" he scoffed, scanning the pages. It looked to be a list of 54 questions about Lockhart. "This is crazy!"
"I expect this to be completed by the end of class," Lockhart announced. "I hope you all have read my novels."
"Like hell I have," Draco muttered under his breath. He got to work, finishing within half an hour. He couldn't help but smirk as he leaned back in his seat.
"You finished already? I don't even know his favorite color," Blaise said, glancing at his friend's paper in shock.
Draco snickered and handed the test to him. As Blaise scanned over it, his smile grew bigger and bigger until he laughed.
"Is there a problem?" Lockhart asked from across the room.
"No sir."
"Good." Lockhart continued to admire himself in the mirror by his desk.
"Wow, this is great Draco. Insults to last a lifetime! What is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date? Somehow convincing everyone he's capable of being a teacher. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color? Ass." Blaise set the paper back down and looked up at his friend. "You're hilarious."
"I was just getting started," Draco said with a smirk. "The best ones are on the back."
Blaise flipped the paper over and read it. At the end the two burst out laughing. "Maybe this'll take his ego down a few notches," Blaise said.
"I don't know what you two find so funny," Lockhart said. He marched over to them. Draco noted that he had to wrench his eyes away from the full-length mirror. Spying Draco's paper on Blaise's desk, he snatched it up. His face grew redder and redder as he read, earning snickers from everyone in the class. Finally he slammed his fist on Draco's desk, his usually cheerful face twisted ferociously.
"You two – detention," he growled. "And ten points from Slytherin."
Draco glared at him. Hopefully Snape would excuse him because there was no way he was showing up.
DADA was probably Ginny's least favorite class after Potions. When the Gryffindors entered the room, it was covered in mirrors and Gilderoy's books were everywhere.
"He probably has a dozen copies each," Cass commented as she looked around.
The three girls sat down in the back row. Troy joined them, scowling. "This guy is so full of himself. He's blinded by his ego."
"I think he's amazing," Posie said dreamily as she stared at the front of the classroom. Ginny followed her eyes and there he was, smiling to reveal perfect white teeth in the same way as the dozens of posters plastered all over the room. Most of the girls in the room practically fainted, Posie included. Cass, however, looked perplexed, like she couldn't decide what to think of him.
Lockhart began passing out some papers. "I am handing out the First Year Essential Knowledge Test. You have all of class today to complete it."
A test? But it was the first day of school! Even Snape hadn't pulled that kind of stunt. It looked like all the questions were about Gilderoy Lockhart. Cass' expression changed from bewilderment to anger. It seemed that she didn't think highly of him anymore.
Troy grimaced as his pencil rolled off his desk and under Ginny's chair. She bent down to pick it up and noticed a crumpled paper. Out of curiosity, she grabbed both items and after handing Troy his pencil, set the wad on her desk.
"Thanks. What's that?"
"I don't know." Ginny smoothed the paper out and read it over. It was a Second Year Essential Knowledge Test, a page longer than the first years' assignment. The writer had written insults as answers to all 54 questions.
"Wow, this person really has a sense of humor," Troy said.
Ginny nodded in silent agreement, still reading it. Whoever it was had come up with some really good insults that she would have to remember for later.
"They have really nice handwriting," Cass noticed. Ginny hadn't paid attention but now that she looked, she had to agree. Absently, she wondered who had come up with these clever insults - probably a Ravenclaw boy, seeing how the handwriting wasn't very girly.
"Well, it appears that it's almost time to go," Lockhart announced, blessing the group with another of his perfect smiles. "Leave your papers on your desk and I'll collect them."
Ginny frowned – there was nothing written on her test. Hastily, she scribbled a few answers down, stuffed the second year test into her bag, and followed the rest of the first years out.
"It's the first day of classes, Malfoy. How did you get detention already?" Snape snapped.
"It's Lockhart! That guy is an idiot and he got offended when I tried to take his ego down a notch," Draco explained. "You have to get me out of detention, there's no way I'm going."
Snape sighed. "Honestly, you're almost as troublesome as the Weasley bunch. I can't get you out of it today."
Draco groaned. This was going to be a miserable start to the year – and did Snape just compare him to the Weasleys? It was degrading to even put their names in the same sentence, almost as bad as comparing his potion skills to Granger's. Speaking of Granger…
"Have you seen the Granger twins?" he asked. "I think they're Rookwood's kids."
Snape nodded. "The girl was in my potions class. Augustus is not going to be pleased when he discovers his daughter is a Gryffindor, and friends with a Weasley of all people," he said scornfully. "You'd better look out for her and her brother as well as Kendra."
"You know about that?" Draco asked with a grimace. Snape always seemed to know what was going on.
"Bellatrix doesn't seem to trust you. This is your opportunity to step up and redeem your family's honor in the Dark Lord's eyes," he said. "Don't mess it up."
"I won't," Draco promised, a chill running through him at the mention of his insane aunt. His life depended on it.
"I can't believe we're stuck here," Posie grumped. She and Ginny were stuck in detention while everyone else was out exploring the grounds.
"This sucks," Ginny agreed. She slumped in her seat, staring at the moss-covered walls around her. Detention was in the dungeons near potions and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in the last hundred years; everything was coated in moss and grime. It was disgusting. The door had rotted away years ago, leaving an open doorway and two rusty hinges. So far the two of them were the only ones in the room, along with a silent ghost hovering in the corner.
"We could probably just leave right now and nobody would know," Ginny said. The idea was tempting – there was so much to explore and do outside of this dinky room.
"Nobody leaves until I say so," the ghost droned. Ginny groaned, sinking lower in her chair. This couldn't get much worse.
As if on cue, a familiar blonde trudged in, a frown on his face. When he saw her, he looked surprised for a moment before scowling and turning away, taking a seat on the other side of the room. A few moments later, Kendra came in and sat down next to her.
"Hey guys," she said. "I didn't expect to see you here."
Ginny shrugged. "Snape hates me. Probably my stupid brothers. Why are you here?"
"Um, I accidently hexed my teacher's moustache off," Kendra said sheepishly.
"No way, that's awesome. I bet it was hilarious," Ginny said, imagining the scene. She couldn't wait for charms class.
"It was kinda funny," Kendra said. "I felt awful in the moment though. He was so upset and everyone was laughing at him."
Ginny grinned – she didn't feel sorry for any teachers at this school. They had to be a little crazy to teach a bunch of teenage wizards. "Maybe I should try hexing Snape's hair. That would be fun."
Posie giggled. "You'd get in so much trouble."
"It would be worth it," the redhead said, picturing the look on his face.
It was obvious that Draco's assignment this year wasn't going to be easy. When Kendra walked into detention, she immediately sat down next to the Weasley girl and her friend without so much as glancing at him. And the girl felt bad about hexing her teacher's moustache. How was she in Slytherin? How was she Bellatrix's daughter? They were complete opposites. Weasley was more like Lestrange than Kendra was.
He had to intervene eventually. No way would Bellatrix want her daughter associating with stupid Gryffindors. With a sigh, he got up and took the seat next to Kendra.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Weasley asked. She said his name like it was something foul in her mouth – the nerve of that girl! Ron never dared to speak against him; at least he knew his place.
"Trust me, the last thing I want to do is be near the likes of you," Draco said, glaring at her. No way was he letting her insult him. "Unfortunately, Kendra's mum said I have to look out for her, so if she's going to be hanging out with blood traitors and pathetic Gryffindors, so am I."
"So you're basically her babysitter. That sucks. I'm sorry, Kendra."
Why was Weasley apologizing to her? He was the one sacrificing his time to keep Kendra safe.
"I'm more like a protector. My job is to make sure she doesn't get mixed up with people that are going to steer her wrong," Draco said, looking at Weasley pointedly.
"Oh, because you're heading in such a great direction," she countered, seemingly unaffected by his accusations.
"You don't know anything, Weasley," he snapped. He hated how she assumed she knew him just because of who his father was. She had no idea how hard it was for him. He hated that his father was a Death Eater. Every time he caught a glimpse of the Dark Mark on Lucius Malfoy's arm, it sent chills down his spine. He was so glad that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had been destroyed, because the idea of joining his ranks scared Draco out of his mind.
The redhead scoffed, drawing him back to the present. "My name is Ginny. And I know enough."
"I wouldn't be so sure, Weasley," Draco replied, venom evident in his voice. She didn't respond, but he could feel her glare burn into him as he faced the front of the room, unable to meet her eyes.
"Alright, you are free to go. Posie, I believe you're back tomorrow. The rest of you are clear for now."
The other Gryffindor girl sighed as the three of them stood. "Have fun with your guard dog," Weasley joked as she left.
"Did she really tell you to watch me?" Kendra asked as soon as everyone else was out of earshot.
Draco nodded glumly. "I'm not exactly in the position to refuse her assignment."
"You don't have to do it. Just tell her I'm doing fine and I'll back you up."
"They have eyes and ears all over Hogwarts, Kendra. It's not that easy. You know she wouldn't like you hanging out with a blood traitor." The frown on her face told him she knew who he was referring to; their families were allies in a treacherous circle.
"Her name is Ginny. Just because her parents are blood traitors doesn't mean she's a bad person or a bad influence. She's actually really cool."
This was going to be a lot more difficult than he thought. "Bellatrix is unlikely to agree. I don't know about you, but I don't want to get on her bad side."
Kendra grimaced. "Me neither."
"Think about it, please."
She nodded and they walked the rest of the way to the common room in silence.
When Posie and Ginny got to the common room, it looked like there was a party going on. Fred and George were in the middle of it, passing out all sorts of toys and foods.
"Ginny!" they called out in unison when they saw their sister. Fred handed her a drink that she recognized from their experiments. Glancing around as she held the can, Ginny chuckled – Filch would have a heart attack if he saw the room right now. She popped the lid and took a sip of the bubbly liquid.
"Alright, now that everyone important has arrived, let's toast to another great year at Hogwarts!" George shouted. "Cheers!"
Everyone raised their drinks in the air and cheered. Several confetti cannons went off throughout the room, raining down on the group. Troy appeared beside the girls, grinning widely with an unpopped cannon in his hand.
"Troy…" Ginny said in warning, guessing what he was planning. It was too late; the mischievous bastard exploded it in their faces. Confetti stuck to Ginny's clothes and hair, but she couldn't stay angry and burst out laughing along with Posie and Cass. As the four of them continued to celebrate, she caught Fred and George giving her two thumbs-up. Ron, Hermione, and Neville joined them, and surrounded by her friends, Ginny couldn't stop smiling.
It was going to be an amazing year.
Just a word of warning - the romance in this story will be slow at first. Just remember that they're only 11 and 12 right now, so it would be weird for them to have a relationship. In the original series there wasn't much romance until later books (except for Ginny, since she seemed to always have a boyfriend). To keep things interesting, I've tried to include little events and moments from the books that you may recognize; in some ways this story is quite similar to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.