Yo! Ninety percent of this chapter was written over the course of the last five hours or so, I think, so hopefully it's alright. Thank you to all readers so far!

For the first time in her life, Violet Potter couldn't wait for summer vacation to just be over and done with. After having spent her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, being back in the orphanage was just...heartbreakingly unsatisfying.

She hated that she wasn't able to use her magic, hated that the Matron and other orphans refused to leave her alone, hated that the bullying had only gotten worse, hated that even more of her belongings had gone missing. Violet was just glad she had that trunk, because now at least she could keep her most important things hidden, including the trunk itself.

She had no contact with anyone. She didn't have an owl, and didn't know Hermione's address or phone number either, so she was on her own once more. There were days where she had to remind herself she did indeed have friends now and that those ten months hadn't been a cruel dream.

Had...she done the right thing, Violet wondered? The way she had handled things with Voldemort in June. Had that been right? Should she have tried to stop him instead?

Violet was the actual Girl-Who-Lived, and that title was all about being the Saviour-about being the one to have gotten rid of Voldemort. But instead of doing that, she had spoken to him, had listened to him.

Sitting on her bed, Violet stared down at the moving photograph of her parents cheerfully dancing among the falling leaves. What would they think about all this? Voldemort had killed them, and she wasn't afraid of him. She knew nothing about her parents, so honestly, it was impossible to know for sure.

But, Violet thought, if they were going to be disappointed in her for the way she had handled herself, then they also had to be disappointed in Rose as well, for obvious reasons.

Still, Violet sighed and replaced the photo. No one, not even her or Rose could know what their parents would think about any of this. They were dead, and that was that. What really mattered, she supposed, was how the two of them used the life that had been given to them. Right?

Violet was working on her potions essay in the dim light of the lamp on her desk when she heard a tap on her grimy window. Blinking in surprise she looked round, only to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be an owl on the other side. Frowning, she set down her quill and got up, opening the window and watching in surprise as three owls flew inside, landing on her bed quietly, seemingly understanding her need for silence.

Still frowning, Violet took the letters and packages they had, only to break out into a pleased smile when she realized she had just received birthday presents from Theodore, Hermione, and Neville too. Even though all she got was a book and some sweets, Violet found that she couldn't stop smiling, even when she settled down to sleep...after having hidden everything away, of course.

Two mostly pleasant birthdays in a row, huh? She had to admit that she honestly hadn't expected to even experience one decent birthday, let alone two. That was a really nice surprise that would, hopefully, continue on in the future. Though she knew better than to be optimistic about it.

It was about a week later when the booklist arrived and Violet headed off to Diagon Alley after asking the Matron for permission to leave the orphanage. It didn't take her long to get to the Alley, and she was alone, which suited her just fine. She came across many familiar faces, though no one made an attempt to stop to talk to her. Violet didn't mind that either. At least, not until she bumped into Hermione.

"Violet! Oh, I'm so happy to see you! How are you? Have you gotten your books yet? Did you finish all your homework? Wh-"

"Breathe, Hermione."

Hermione did so, and then smiled somewhat sheepishly. "Sorry. How are you?" she repeated.

"Alright," said Violet with a little shrug. She had no desire to get into how things were really going at the orphanage. "And yourself?"

"Great! I just finished my shopping! There were so many books on the list to buy!" Hermione blushed slightly now. "Just a warning, Flourish and Blotts is really busy today. I can't wait to read all the books though!" She glanced behind her and waved at a couple standing not far off who were looking around in curious awe. "I have to go. I'll see you September first!"

"See you then." Violet smiled, watching as her bushy haired friend hurried off to who she assumed were her parents. She kept moving herself, heading to Gringotts to get more money out of her vault. It was once she was exiting the bank that she ran into another familiar, and fortunately, friendly face. "Theo?"

Theodore turned, blue eyes wide before he smiled and relaxed, evidently pleased to see her. "Hey, Violet."

"What's wrong? What are you doing?"

"Trying to get away from my father."

"Ah." While she didn't know the whole story just yet, Violet was fully aware that Theodore was not at all fond of his father. He never spoke of him particularly kindly and had, more than once, hinted that he may have had something to do with his mother's death. Violet had never asked for him to elaborate, but hoped for Theodore's sake that it wasn't true. Having to live with the father that had killed your mother sounded horrifying.

"Where are you headed?"

"The bookshop," said Violet. "You?"

"Same. Come on, let's go then." It would be best for both of them to stick together, Theodore decided. But he didn't say that out loud. He knew Violet would protest if he did, and that was best left avoided for now.

While the two walked towards the shop, Violet asked who Lockhart was, considering pretty much every book on their list seemed to be his, and she had never even heard of him before. Theodore informed her he was a celebrity of sorts, though his voice was full of disdain, signalling he didn't think much of this man, however famous he was...

"Ah. So this is what Hermione was hinting at."

They arrived at Flourish and Blotts and were quite surprised to see the large crowd outside the doors, practically fighting to get in.

"What's going on?" asked Theodore curiously.

But Violet already had the answer. "That," she said simply, pointing at a sign nearby.

'Gilderoy Lockhart will be signing copies of his autobiography Magical Me today', followed by the time in question, which also happened to be right about now.

"...I don't really want to go in there."

"Neither do I."

"We don't have a choice, do we?"

"No."

Violet sighed in resignation and the two friends struggled to squeeze in through the crowd. Unfortunately, the inside was just as busy as the outside, the store packed with what appeared to be dozens upon dozens of middle aged witches, forming a very long lineup.

Violet and Theodore stayed near the door, looking around, and what they saw didn't improve their rapidly souring moods in the slightest.

Lockhart, blond haired, blue eyed, sparkling smiled, wearing robes that matched his eyes, stood behind a table surrounded by posters of himself, smiling for the camera as a man took his picture. But beside him, grinning from ear to ear, was Rose, who was all but preening under the attention she was getting.

When Violet and Theodore looked closer, they spotted a few redheads nearby and realized Rose had probably come with the Weasleys. Luckily, the two Slytherins went unnoticed for the time being, which suited them just fine.

"I will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts this September!" Lockhart announced suddenly and with another smile that had many witches swooning and chattering about how jealous they were that their children had the chance to have this "wonderful" man as their professor.

Violet and Theodore continued to watch, with some amusement now as Rose and Ron were confronted by Draco Malfoy as they made to leave the store. The entire situation was made even more amusing when the Weasley and Malfoy patriarchs got involved, Lucius keeping his cool even as Arthur flushed very noticeably.

"Here, girl. Take your book. Clearly it's the best your father can do," said Lucius with a sneer, thrusting a textbook at who must have been Ron's younger sister.

When the two Malfoys turned to leave, Draco noticed Violet and Theodore and approached them to greet them, one more stiffly than the other. He didn't really get to say much before his father interjected into the conversation.

"Ah, Miss Potter. Draco has told me much about you," he said smoothly. He inclined his head and held out his hand. "Lucius Malfoy."

Deciding to be polite, and having no real reason not to be, Violet accepted his hand. "Violet Potter. It's nice to meet you, Mr Malfoy." And then she blinked in surprise when instead of shaking her hand, the man lowered his head and brushed his lips over her knuckles instead.

"The pleasure is all mine." Smiling just slightly as he released her hand, Lucius turned to Theodore now. "Theodore. It has been some time. I hope you and your father are well? Do tell him we should have a drink sometime."

Theodore nodded. "We're fine and yes, sir, I'll do that."

The Malfoys left the store a moment later and Violet had only just turned around when she came face to face with Rose. ...Ah. Well hell. The Weasleys were there too, the twins, Ron, and their little sister.

This girl was the first to speak. "I didn't know Rose had a twin!" she exclaimed, looking between the two of them, most likely taking in their resemblances.

The red haired twins frowned. "We didn't tell you?" they said in unison.

"No!"

Violet just nodded politely and introduced herself for the second time. She didn't have anything against all the Weasleys and besides, she had manners. "And what's your name?"

The younger girl blushed, evidently embarrassed. "G-Ginny," she replied quickly. "I-" She didn't get to say anything else because Ron started to drag her away now.

"Stay away from my sister, you Snakes!"

Saying nothing, Rose gave Violet a look of disgust, completely ignoring Theodore, and left with Ron and Ginny.

The Lion twins however, traded a look of exasperation and a sigh, before looking down at the two Slytherins.

"Sorry about our..."

"...brother? Nah, I don't think we know him."

"Probably a distant cousin."

"Maybe a family friend."

"Have we ever introduced ourselves?"

"Fred-

"-and George-"

"-at your service," they finished simultaneously.

For a second, Violet and Theodore just blinked, before the girl managed to get her brain working again. "Violet."

"It is a pleasure-"

"-my lady!" Fred and George looked at Theodore. "And you?"

Surprise visible in his blue eyes at the show of interest, Theodore blinked rapidly. "Theodore," he said finally. "Theodore Nott."

"Nice to meet you, Theodore!"

"Excuse us. We have a certain joke shop to..."

"...inspect?"

"Yes, inspect." And with a cheerful wave, the twins left the bookstore.

Once alone again, the two Slytherins just stood there amongst the squealing middle aged witches who were still crooning over Lockhart and his perfect smile and hairdo.

"Well," said Theodore. "That was awkward."

"Yes. Yes it was." And it wasn't only the encounter with the Weasley twins that they were talking about.

The rest of summer break passed uneventfully. Violet went through her new books, not really sure what to think about all the Lockhart ones, and finished her homework as well, usually doing all this in the cover of night while the others were asleep so she wouldn't get caught.

And on the thirty first of August, Violet reminded the Matron that she was going to be leaving the next morning and wasn't going to be back until summer. As it turned out, the Matron was just as eager for her to leave as she was herself.

In the morning, Violet had her usual breakfast, double checked her room and trunk, and headed out, walking over to King's Cross, recognizing many more witches and wizards for what they were now. They weren't particularly good at blending in. She wondered why they didn't try harder. Muggles weren't complete idiots.

Violet got onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters without any trouble and looked around for a familiar face. Seeing none that meant her well, she figured she was just early and found an empty compartment to settle down in. Many stared at her when they passed the compartment, so Violet focused her attention outside the window. Still, she was glad when she was joined by Hermione not long after, who was soon followed by Neville, and then Theodore.

The four conversed casually, properly catching up and recounting what they had done over the break, Violet listening more than speaking, because nothing interesting really ever happened at the orphanage.

Just as the train began to move, there was a knock on the door which slid open to reveal a dreamy looking girl with dirty blonde hair.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" she asked, big blue eyes trained on Violet. "This is the only compartment not infested with Pufflakes."

Violet had no idea what Pufflakes were, and a single glance at her friends showed they didn't either, but she had no reason to refuse and gestured at one of the empty seats. "Go ahead."

"Thank you, Violet Potter."

Violet blinked. "You're welcome, er-"

"Luna," the girl said with a smile. "Luna Lovegood." And with that, Luna sat down, pulled out a magazine, and began to read. This kid was an oddball for sure.

The other four exchanged a glance and merely shrugged as they resumed their conversation.

The ride was uneventful until, a few hours later, the door opened again. This time, Draco Malfoy was on the other side, Crabbe and Goyle with him as usual.

Ignoring everyone else, he greeted Theodore before looking over at Violet. "Do you know where your sister is?" he asked her.

Violet blinked but shook her head. She had absolutely no idea, and she wasn't sure why he thought she even would. "I'm sure you'll find her with Weasley. They're always together from what I've seen."

"I've already looked. He isn't here either."

A frown appeared on Violet's face. "What about his siblings? His brothers and sister? Aren't they here? I thought I saw them earlier."

"They're all here," Malfoy said with a nod. "Your sister's Weasley is the only one who isn't, and I didn't see her anywhere either." But since he clearly wasn't going to be getting any new information, Malfoy decided to leave, taking his cronies with him and shutting the door behind them.

Once they were gone, Violet turned to look out the window, still frowning. While she didn't really care all that much about what Rose got herself into, it definitely was strange that neither her nor Ron could be found. What were the odds that both of them would be missing like this at the same time?

She shook her head inwardly. Whatever. They were probably just hiding under Rose's Invisibility Cloak, likely off doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. It didn't really matter.

When the train finally reached Hogsmeade station and all the students save the first years approached the carriages, Violet was surprised to see that they were being pulled not by horses, but by strange, skeletal creatures with wings. They kind of resembled...well, horses. Sort of? They were rather more reptilian, but their heads were shaped like a dragon's, and their leathery wings were like a bat's.

"What are those?" she asked out loud, never having seen them before.

"What are what?" said Hermione, looking round at her curiously.

"The things pulling the carriages."

Hermione blinked. "There-there's nothing over there, Violet."

"What? But they're huge!" How could Hermione not see them?

"I see them too," said Neville quietly, staring wide eyed.

"I do too," said Theodore, his own blue eyes passing over the creatures.

That had Hermione frowning. "I wonder why I'm the only one who can't? You can't all just be seeing things." It was clear to them all that she was going to look into this as soon as she could...

The Sorting and Welcoming Feast were uneventful, save for Luna being placed in Ravenclaw and Ginny in Gryffindor. It was only towards the end of the feast, after Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore left the Great Hall one by one and then returned a few minutes later, that the rumours started.

Suddenly, everyone seemed to be talking about how Rose and Ron had flown a car right into the Whomping Willow and had been expelled from Hogwarts.

Violet and Theodore exchanged an exasperated glance at that, not particularly believing what they were hearing. But...a single look at their Head of House up on the Staff Table showed he wasn't very happy at all, clearly a lot angrier than usual.

Maybe something really had happened.

*Fifth year canon Lions/Snakes who can see Thestrals: Harry, Neville, stringy Slytherin boy. Can't be Malfoy, Crabbe, or Goyle, which leaves Theo and Blaise. 'Stringy' matches Theo's earlier canon description, so I'm going with him. As far as I know, it isn't clear when his mother and Nev's grandfather die.*

That's it for now. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!