Flashbacks will be italicized.
Seamus Finnigan: Part One
Students whose parents were once a part of British magical society and who left because of the first war are starting to come back. The mass of students didn't quite fill all the empty spaces of students that had lost their lives, but it got pretty close. There was one student everyone was talking about. "Mattheo Riddle passed all of the tests we had for him. There is nothing we can do. The Berkshires raised him. Their whole family also passed our tests. Even though they have friendships with several Death Eater families, they never joined themselves." Kingsley looked at Harry while also trying to organize some files. "Everything will be okay."
"Well, I have to go to Hogwarts to make sure."
This story isn't about either of them.
Part One:
There was a hustle and bustle around our new house. This was the main house, I didn't like being here. It was too much commotion, and there was always an expectation for my behavior. Don't ask questions about family business; you also represent the family business. I was waiting for my father to be free so I could ask to depart to the smaller house. The other new house that my family and I actually lived in. My father was always busy. To talk to him you had to catch him as he walked by. I saw a glimpse of his flat cap and rushed toward him. "Father, can I go?"
At first, he nodded, but then he stopped my uncles and the other men following him and looked at me. "Actually, let's talk in my office." My uncles followed us as we walked the green mile up the stairs. He gestured for me to sit. But he didn't talk to me. "As much as I would like for it to be different, Ruby has to go to Hogwarts."
"But, what kind of protections can they offer?"
"Not much. But her marks are good, I am confident she could defend herself." I sat up straighter.
Uncle John scoffed. "And what about her Hogwarts house?"
Uncle Arthur patted my head. "She'll probably be in Ravenclaw like her mom."
"But what if I'm not?" I whispered. They had all been in Slytherin (except for Arthur because he can't do magic), but they barely survived it.
"Does it scare you being in Slytherin?" My father eyed me with his glare.
"I don't know, should it?"
And now I was sitting in a train compartment, by myself. My father said a boy named Seamus Finnigan would come and find me, but the boy never did. Dusk started creeping into the sky, so I drew the curtains and locked the door to change into my uniform. When I put the curtains back up, a boy was standing at my door. I slid the door open. "Did you need anything?"
"Are you Ruby Shelby?" He looked like he was very nervous.
"Yes, are you Seamus Finnigan?"
"Yes, I'm so sorry. I got distracted seeing all of my friends again. Don't tell your dad."
"Of course not. Would you like to have a seat?"
"Sure, can my friends come with me?"
"Of course." A few minutes later, another boy and girl came to the compartment along with Seamus. Their faces were sad, but their voices were happy. The two boys were in Gryffindor house, but the girl was in Ravenclaw. "My mother was in Ravenclaw. Elizabeth Stark was her name back then."
"Yeah, I think she might have been a prefect." The girl lied; my mother had never been a prefect, and that was my father's first wife. But his first wife was in Hufflepuff, not Ravenclaw. She died when my brother Charlie was born. She was given a necklace by a certain high-achieving Slytherin family. The pregnancy was already a little hard on her, the cursed necklace just sent it over the edge. She delivered the baby herself before anyone could stop her; she knew they would save her and not the baby. It is because of her that I am alive. I didn't correct the Ravenclaw girl.
I didn't get to ride the carriages with them. I had to ride in these little boats. The half-giant man said they wouldn't tip over once we were inside them. He said it was mostly when people stepped inside the boats that the falling would occur.
I walked in with all the others, glad to see older students like myself. I talked to a few as we waited. No one but the three I talked to on the train seemed to know who I was. There weren't the usual gasps; those all happened for the Riddle boy. I was glad not to be the centre of attention. It was finally my turn to walk up and sit on the stool. I had to wonder if the stool was just as much part of it as the hat was. Can the hat really read our minds, or is it just basing everything on how we sit on the stool? "SLYTHERIN!"
The whole table clapped for me. For a moment, I was okay with being there, but then I saw Seamus's face and wondered if it was a mistake. Didn't he know what house my father, Great Aunt Polly, Aunt Aida, and Uncle John had been in?
