Title: Familial Bonds
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Nothing Specific, general for first few books.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione, or Luna, or Ginny, or Cho, or... I would buy them all but I am broke.
Summary: Harry and his twin sister, Violet, are raised by Amelia Bones-Potter, James Potter's second wife. They grew up with Susan Bones and all three have a Muggle education. None of the Pureblood Supremacists were expecting this.
Vi walked into the Great Hall, following Harry, Hermione and Neville. Harry was in the middle of the trio, chatting with Neville while Hermione listened with fascination. Vi had positioned herself behind Neville, with Susie beside her and Hannah on the other side of Susan. A quick look around showed Tracy sticking with Daphne, the Patil twins were together in a different part of the gaggle of First Years, while Ron was standing by himself.
Hannah was the first new student sorted and was put in Hufflepuff. Susie was next and joined Hannah in Hufflepuff. When Tracy was called, Susie took interest but was slightly disappointed when Tracy went into Slytherin, but not overly disappointed. Tracy was a friend to the Potter/Bones children but not extremely close.
When Hermione's name was called, Susie was almost bouncing in her seat with excitement, which turned to a look of devastation when the Hat called out Ravenclaw. Vi's heart went out to her sister. Daphne joined Tracy in Slytherin. When Neville went up, Susie barely looked up, but when he was sorted into Hufflepuff, Susie almost jumped with joy and insisted that Neville sit directly across from her. The Patil twins were split up, with Padma being sorted into Ravenclaw and Pavati being a Gryffindor.
When Harry was up, both Susie and Vi looked on in both interest and trepidation. After a long pause, the hat shouted out Ravenclaw. Susie deflated but Mione cheered.
When her name was called, Vi walked up to the hat with determination and a little bit of anger.
"Well, you are quite like both your brother and sister. You are potentially suited to all four houses." The hat said inside Vi's mind.
"Then why didn't you put us all together?" Vi demanded. "Susie is devastated."
"I am not here to make one student happy." The Hat replied. "I am here to sort you into the house you are best suited to be in, and what is best for the School."
"Splitting us up is best for the School?" Vi asked in confusion.
"Yes. While you would be able to function in any House, you are not equally suited to all Houses. Also, if you are in different Houses, you will be exposed to different viewpoints and experiences, which enriches the group as a whole."
"I say you are just being a big meanie." Vi said, defending her sister.
"And that is why it will be… Hufflepuff." The Hat said, announcing the last word aloud.
Vi stood as McGonagall took of the Hat, gave the offending headwear a glare and then made her way to the Hufflepuff table, slipping into the seat next to Susie, on the opposite side to Hannah, and gave her sister a hug.
The last of their group, Ron, was sorted into Gryffindor. Most of the rest of the group did not really care, as Ron was never really a core part of the group.
"Welcome to Ravenclaw Tower." The Prefect said. "This is the Common Room. You can hang out here or do some homework in the desks in the corner. If there are people studying, then keep the noise down here in the Common Room. The Dorm Rooms are up the stairs but if you go down the stairs you will find the Ravenclaw House Library. It is not as extensive as the main Library, but it has every assigned Text Book from the last several years and some general reference books."
A couple of the First Years looked at the stairs with a hungry look in their eyes. Once Hermione would have been eyeing the stairs in the same way, but her friendship with the Potter/Bones siblings had broken her out of being a total bookworm. Oh, she was still a massive bookworm, but now saw the advantages of socialisation and having fun that she would have previously dismissed as irrelevant.
"What is the Dorm setup?" One of the male students asked. "I heard every House has a different Dorm setup but could not find details."
"Two to a room." The Prefect said. "With a private bathroom. The only rule is your dorm-mate has to be in the same year as you."
Harry looked at Hermione, standing right next to him, and she nodded. They had known each other for a few years and Hermione completely trusted Harry, just as she did Susie, Vi and Auntie Ami.
The rest of the First Years paired off, mostly being paired with someone of the same gender, like Padma rooming with Su Li, but there is one other male and female pairing.
Harry and Hermione's room had two canopied beds along the walls, with the gap in the middle, near the headboard, being taken up with two wardrobes back to back, which meant when the door to the wardrobes were open there was a small alcove that provided privacy. On the wall beyond the foot of the beds were two hutched writing desks, with a door to the bathroom between them.
"I'll take the bed by the door, if you want, Moine." Harry said. "It'll give you a bit more privacy."
"Thank you, Harry." Hermione replied, and proceeded to give Harry a big hug.
Vi dropped down on the two-seater couch next to Neville, who shuffled slightly to give Vi a little more room, much to her disappointment. In the two-seater couch across from them sat Susie and Hannah, with Hannah's arm around Susie's shoulder.
This was not the Hufflepuff Common Room, instead it was their apartment within Hufflepuff House. All the Dorms in Hufflepuff were these four bedroom apartments. The living rooms of the apartments had two two-seater couches, two single seat recliners, two doors on each of the side walls that led to the private bedrooms. The back wall had a door by the right corner that led to the bathroom and a long study desk that could easily fit three, for with a little bit of a squeeze.
"I am glad you are all here, but I miss Harry." Susie said, with a tear in her eye.
"You know our brother." Vi said. "He won't let a little thing like being in different Houses stop us spending time together. All it means is we won't get to jump on him to get him to wake up in the morning."
"We'll see him in the morning and set something up for regular meetings. Maybe a Study Group." Hannah suggested, pulling Susie closer, into a hug.
Susie nodded against Hannah's shoulder.
Seamus looked over at Dean with a grimace as they sat on their beds in the First Year Male Gryffindor Dorms. Dean nodded his agreement to the unspoken question. Both grabbed a pillow and threw them at the snoring form of Ron. Ron rolled over and for a blissful moment there was silence, and then the snoring started up again. Both boys groaned.
Daphne rolled her eyes at the total fool Draco Malfoy was making of himself, half arrogantly declaring and half whining some drivel about his father. Apart from some Seventh Years who were glaring annoyed at the boy, the only people paying attention were Crabb and Goyle, as much as the mentally limited boys could be said to be paying attention, and Pansy Parkinson, who was looking adoringly at Draco, though Daphne could swear she could see the Galleon Signs shining in Pansy's eyes.
Having had enough, Daphne stood and walked out, followed closely by Tracy. Once they passed through the magical barrier that separated the corridor for the Girl's Dorms from the Common Room, they heard blissful silence from the Common Room. There were regularly spaced doors along the right hand wall of the corridor and widely spaced doors along the left hand side. The doors on the right led to the individual bedrooms while the widely spaced doors on the left were bathrooms.
"Did you see the devastation on Susan's face when Mione was sorted into Ravenclaw?" Tracy asked.
"Yes. Susan was letting her Hufflepuff show." Daphne replied. "She wanted Mione and Harry in the same house as her."
As they were Slytherin, in public, they were expected to address almost everyone by their Surname, but in private they referred to their group of friends by their first name.
"I would not be surprised if Susan and Violet had a Social Group set up under the guise of a Study Group by tomorrow." Daphne continued.
"The only question is if they do it before or after we get a class schedules." Tracy mused. "Night, Daph."
"Night Trace." Daphne said.
Daphne opened the door to her room and walked in. There was a big bed with the headboard against the wall to the left of the entry door. Beyond the bed was a large wardrobe. Daphne walked past the bed and sat in the bay window seat, pushing a small slider switch down one click and sitting against the wall and looking out the magically reinforced window. The window went from completely black to a glowing green 'Night Mode' that let her see out into the lake and the small school of fish swimming by. The third setting, Day Mode, made the window transparent like a normal pane of glass.
She relaxed as she watched the fish. She was not yet ready for sleep.
TBC…
A/N: the Hufflepuff dorms are based on the four bedroom apartment I developed for my fic Strings of Fate. I also used a modified two bedroom apartment for my Harry/Amelia Bones fic Retrograde.