Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Hagrid stood on the receiving platform a short distance from the castle as he waited for the magical train to pull into the station.
While the minutes passed, he took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time.
The sudden popping noise of someone apparating nearby nearly caused him to leap into the air from surprise.
In one swirling swoosh, Tom stood next to him, tall, distinguished, and glaring intently.
"M-Minister Riddle!" Hagrid cried as he tried to calm himself from the sudden appearance, "W-Wha……Beggin' ya pardon, but how did ya get here?"
"The Minister is more than welcome to apparate to this platform, Hagrid." Tom said with an arrogant smirk, "I've come to assign you a very important task."
Hagrid's heart filled with dread.
Although he had enjoyed every hour spent in Harriet, Ron, and Hermione's company, Tom Riddle had always set his nerves on edge.
"Is Harriet not with ya today?" He asked hopefully as he glanced around, silently wishing his friend would appear.
"I'm afraid she had to return home with our youngest." Tom hissed.
"Oh….." Hagrid nodded.
"The train that comes forward this evening bears no usual load of pupils." Tom went on, "It carries within its compartments my son and daughter. My wife has always trusted you, Hagrid…..Please, won't you do what you can to watch over them? The rewards I can grant in return are handsome, to say the least."
Hagrid nodded down at Tom as he forced a polite smile on his face, "O' course, Minister! I'll be glad to look after 'em! Harriet and I already had a chat when you lot visited some months ago."
"Excellent." Tom smirked, "And if anything or anyone goes missing…..inexplicably….for example, somewhere within the Forbidden Forest…..you won't say a word, will you, Hagrid?"
Hagrid's stomach lurched.
He had known his interaction with Tom had gone far too pleasantly to have been believed.
"I……." Hagrid stammered.
Tom's pleasant smirk quickly shifted into an ominous grimace.
"The Minister for Magic has made a request of you!" He snapped, "Haven't you learned that it's rude to keep your superiors waiting?!"
Hagrid nodded, "Beggin' ya pardon, Minister, but the Forbidden Forest is vast and…….unpredictable, I suppose ya'd say. I can't be expected by anyone to account for everything that happens in it, not even by Dumbledore himself."
Tom gnashed his teeth as Hagrid hurriedly sought to end their awkward exchange, "Ya don' have ta worry about me! I'll keep a close eye on Mae and James……..That's their names?"
In a split second, Tom's rage left as he nodded with a smile and replied, "...Yes. Impressive, Hagrid. A man of your intelligence has managed to remember them after a single visit."
Hagrid pushed aside the condescending remark as he nodded, "You can count on me, Minister! I'll look after 'em."
"If my darling wife were beside me now," Tom said with a smirk, "I'm certain she'd add her thanks to mine."
Hagrid nodded again before Tom leapt into the air, assumed broomless flight, and streaked across the sky in a swirling shot of magic.
A frown twisted Hagrid's lips as he listened to the train whistle in the distance.
He would gladly look after the children for Harriet's sake, but knowing he remained under Tom's scrutinizing eye made him more than a little nervous.
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As the train finally arrived at the station, the students began to disembark in chattering throngs of swaying bodies.
James and Lily whispered to each other in quiet wonder as they crossed the Black Lake while they admired the magnificence of Hogwarts castle at night, with its towering turrets and flickering lanterns.
Mae was spared the trip.
Instead, she accompanied the other students in her year as she smoothly joined the crowd of those disembarking from the train while her scaly friend flew up and away into the dark sky, undetected.
Most returning students had already formed tight bonds of friendship.
Mae found herself adrift in a sea of giggling girls and boasting boys, although she paid little attention to any of them.
She had come to be next to James and James only.
The others were background echoes for her to ignore.
James consumed her thoughts as she waited patiently in line to retrieve her baggage, wrapped in her own devious musings.
Mae didn't notice that someone walked up behind her.
"I didn't see you on the train."
It was more of an accusation than a humble observation.
The tone of that judgemental voice caused her to look over her shoulder with a scowl.
She narrowed her eyes as the boy in front of her widened his.
Mae scoffed at the stranger, tall, handsome, and devastatingly blonde..
"...Come to think of it, I haven't seen you at the castle before, either." The boy said once he found his words, "I'm Scorpius……Scorpius Malfoy, fifth year prefect."
Mae furrowed her brow before she turned back around to resume her waiting.
"Do you have a name or are you mute?" Scorpius sneered.
"Why should I bother telling you?" Mae snapped hatefully without turning back around.
Her beauty left him speechless, but her wicked tongue made him desperate to hear sweeter words fall from her perfect lips.
"...Are you a transfer student?" Scorpius pressed, "I've never seen hair quite like yours……Or eyes. Are you from somewhere far away?"
Mae smirked at that question as she contemplated the true answer.
Knowing she had captured Scorpius's attention, she slowly turned to glance at him, making certain her lush tresses slowly tumbled over her shoulder as he caught a better glimpse of her flawless face, "My name is Sabrina Maeve Riddle, heir of Slytherin. You wanted to know and now you've been told. Good day."
"You're the Minister's daughter!" Scorpius exclaimed.
Mae laughed as she stepped forward, collected her trunk, and turned to face Scorpius, "No, Mr. Malfoy…..I am the princess."
Between Lucius and Draco, Scorpius had spent his life around arrogance.
He was used to displays of entitlement and rude swagger, but as Mae walked away with her impossibly perfect, wavy, dark brown hair bouncing and her lithe hips swaying, Scorpius found his mouth inexplicably dry.
He wondered to himself how exactly he could earn her majesty's favour.
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Once the troop of students arrived at the Great Hall, Professor Dumbledore made his opening announcements in gracious welcome before Professor McGonagall retrieved the Sorting Hat and stool to begin the annual ceremony.
For the first time since leaving her parents at the platform, Mae became uncomfortable as she waited at the back of the line of first years for her turn to come.
As each student came forward, everyone listened in silent anticipation to find out which house would gain a new member.
"James Riddle!" McGonagall's shrill voice called out.
James and Lily exchanged nervous glances before he walked forward and sat on the stool.
Mae smirked.
She had no doubt her darling brother would honour their bloodline by joining the noble house of-
"GRYFFINDOR!" The Sorting Hat called out.
Mae's jaw dropped.
Everyone seated at the Gryffindor table cheered, but Mae refused to accept the Hat's decision.
"That wasn't fair!" She exclaimed as she pushed past the few remaining first years to stomp towards the front of the room to berate the Hat, "Sort him again! You didn't even look at his mind!...Look at his heart! What a dreadful mistake! They should replace you immediately!"
The Great Hall fell silent.
Students blinked.
Professors raised their eyebrows.
Severus Snape frowned as Dumbledore listened closely.
Never before had anyone charged forth to dare challenge the Sorting Hat's steadfast judgement.
"Miss Riddle……" McGonagall said sternly as she regarded Mae with a tense frown.
"Very well!" The Hat shouted, "Sit back down, boy, and I shall have a second go at you!"
"What are you playing at?!" James whispered to his sister.
"I'm helping you make it into the right house, brother." Mae whispered back, "You can thank me later!"
"Mr. Riddle!" McGonagall called.
James held eye contact with Mae as he gave her the most ominous scowl he could manage while he walked over and sat back down on the stool.
McGonagall placed the Hat on James's head again and pursed her lips while it wriggled its brim.
"...No matter what is said in protest of my choice," The Hat huffed, "This boy undoubtedly belongs in…….GRYFFINDOR!"
Mae gasped as James stood up while Gryfinndor table's seated students broke into a rambunctious round of applause.
As Lily stepped forward, Mae hardly noticed she was sorted into the same house, too busy dwelling in soul-crushing devastation.
"Mae Riddle!" McGonagall called.
Mae did not move.
Mae did not blink.
She stared blankly ahead with her mouth open in a little gap of stupefied horror.
"MAE RIDDLE!" McGonagall called a second time.
Mae eventually shook herself and hurried forward with a frustrated scowl.
"They'll place me on your head, girl, but I already know where you're going to be," The Hat scoffed as Mae sat on the stool while McGonagall placed it on her head.
"SLYTHERIN!" The Hat instantly bellowed.
Mae didn't notice James and Lily exchange smiles of relief as she stood from the stool and trudged over to Slytherin's table.
She also failed to realize the hopeful look in Scorpius Malfoy's eyes as she sat down in the only empty seat, next to him.
Her one goal was to stay close to James.
As she stared at him from across the Great Hall and pondered the vast amount of people between them, he had never seemed so tragically distant.