Chapter 1: The Sorting

Rose looked around Platform 9 3/4. Where were they? It was so hard to see in all this smoke, and she was so nervous, she would feel a lot better when she saw--

All at once, the family of five came close enough that Rosie and her family could see their faces. It was the Potters! Exactly who Rose had been hoping to find.

"Hi," Albus said to her, sounding as relieved as Rose felt. She smiled widely at him. Rosie was awfully glad that Albus was in the same year as her and starting Hogwarts at the same time. She couldn't imagine if she'd had to start school all alone and knowing nobody, like her mother had so many years ago.

Her father and Uncle Harry chatted about Muggle driving as they hauled hers and Albus's trunks onto the train.

"So what house do you think you'll be in, Rosie?" Hugo asked her excitedly.

"Well, Gryffindor, I hope," she answered. "But I might end up in Ravenclaw, I guess."

"I'm definitely going to be in Gryffindor!" Lily announced. "I can't wait. I want to go now!"

"I dunno," Hugo said. "Gryffindor's cool and all, but do you really want to be with our entire family? I mean, anything you do wrong, you know somebody's going to owl one of our aunts or uncles."

"So what house do you want to be in?" Lily asked.

"I said, I dunno," Hugo answered. "Maybe Ravenclaw?"

Just then their father and Uncle Harry came back, and heard their last snipped of conversation.

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said their dad, "but no pressure."

"Ron!" her mother admonished.

Lily and Hugo laughed, but it didn't seem so funny to Rosie. Glancing over at Albus, she could tell that he was worried too.

Hugo had a point. Rosie, already an over-achieving bookworm, had mapped out how many Weasleys or Potters would be at Hogwarts during each of her years there. This year, there would be six in total: Victoire, who was a seventh year and would be Head Girl; Molly, who was a fifth year and a newly-made prefect; Dominique in third year; James in second; and now, she and Albus in their first year. Victoire, Molly, Dominique, and James were Gryffindors all. Nobody had yet broken the tradition.

And once fifth year rolled around for Rosie, there would be no fewer than ten Weasley-Potters at Hogwarts. Gryffindor would be overrun with them.

But it would be even worse to be left out of that. Rosie bit her lip.

"He doesn't mean it," both Mum and Aunt Ginny assured her, and Rose tried to relax a bit.

"Look who it is," Dad said suddenly. Rose whirled around to see who he was talking about, apparently a family of three, father and son both blonde. She didn't know them, but it was obvious her parents, aunt and uncle did.

"So that's little Scorpius," Dad said, almost too quiet for Rose to hear him. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Mum. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," said Dad, then he said, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

"Hey!" James called, and yammered something about Teddy and Victoire. Rosie, however, gazed over at Scorpius instead of paying attention. She'd heard her parents talk about Malfoy a few times, but she'd never had a face to put to the name. Scorpius didn't look so bad. In fact he looked almost as nervous as she was. Something perverse in her suddenly wanted to get to know him.

He turned his head and looked surprised to see her staring at him. Rose flushed and turned away quickly, trying to focus instead on her family's conversation.

"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board," Uncle Harry said. Rosie, who had been looking forward to going to Hogwarts for years, hugged her Mum and Dad goodbye and scrambled to get onto the train.

"I'll save a seat for you!" she told Albus as she scampered onto the Hogwarts Express.

But her way was blocked by a bunch of students, all staring out the window. Rose huffed impatiently, and still hadn't managed to get very far a few minutes later when Albus joined her.

"Why are they all staring?" Albus asked, leaning out the window and trying to see whatever the others were looking at.

Rose rolled her eyes. She loved her cousin, but he could be so clueless!

"It's me," Dad said, calling up to them. "I'm extremely famous."

Rosie laughed, and so did Albus, as the light bulb seemed to go off over his head. Yes, Albus, Rose thought sarcastically, your father saving the wizarding world does make him famous.

Finally the train pulled away and all the other student stopped gaping and starting moving to find empty compartments. Rose walked down the corridor, Albus trailing behind her, as they tried to find somewhere to sit. James might have let them sit with him, but his compartment was completely full. Another compartment contained Dominique, one of her friends, and more boys than could comfortably sit down- some of them were standing up just to be near her.

"She's only thirteen!" Rosie exclaimed once they'd shut the door to that compartment. "Some of those guys were definitely at least fifth or sixth years. That's kind of sick."

"I guess they can't help it, with her being part-Veela and all," Albus offered.

Finally they found a free compartment, and sat down together.

"Rosie?" Albus asked, hesitantly. "What would you do if I were in Slytherin?"

"What do you mean, what would I do?" Rose asked.

"I mean, would you still talk to me?"

"Nope. I'd never speak to you again, of course," Rose said sarcastically. Honestly, her cousin could be so stupid sometimes. "I might end up in Ravenclaw, you know. Would you still talk to me?"

"That's different," Al objected.

"How?"

"It's... Slytherin."

"Yeah, I guess," Rosie said with a shrug. "Well, better you than me."

"Hey!"

But Al's annoyed remark was cut off when a dark-haired girl opened the door. "Do you mind if I join you?" she asked.

Both Rosie and Al knew her vaguely; it was Leonora Thomas, whose mother and father were good enough friends with their parents to come to one or two big parties each year—particularly Victory Day—but not close enough for them to come around many other times.

"Of course you can, Leonora," Rose said sweetly, secretly relishing that her cousin's protests were cut off. "So, are you excited for your first year?"

"Oh, yes!"

"Are you worried about what house you'll be sorted into?" Albus asked.

"Are you capable of talking about anything else?" Rose asked impatiently. "You've been talking about Hogwarts Houses non-stop for a week! Give it a rest!"

"You must be very worried," Leonora said kindly.

Albus shrugged uncomfortably.

"I guess I'm more excited than worried," Leonora answered Albus's original question. "Dad was a Gryffindor and Mum was a Ravenclaw, and both sound excellent to me. It usually goes in families, you know."

"But not always," Albus pointed out.

Leonora shrugged. "Mum and Dad say I'm a Gryffindor through and through. And I've heard my parents saying you're exactly like your dad, Albus, so I'm sure you'll be in Gryffindor too."

Al looked a bit comforted by that. "Thanks, Leonora," he said.

Just then the door slid open again and a boy, even darker than Leonora, poked his head into the compartment. "Sorry, everywhere's full. Can I come in?"

"Sure," Rose said. "Come on in. Though, what does it say about us that we're the only place with free space? You're scaring people away, Al."

Albus grinned, "Who, me? Scare people away? You're confusing me with your face."

The boy raised his eyebrows as he sat down.

"That, or you're confusing my face with your smell," Rosie shot back with a grin.

Both Leonora and the new boy seemed alarmed now.

"Al and I like to insult each other, but it's all in good fun," Rosie explained to them hastily.

"Yeah, don't mind us," Albus agreed. "It's just our shtick."

This was a common problem with Rose and Albus.

With all the insults flying back and forth between them, even their parents often forgot that Rose and Albus were best friends. Even Rose's mum, who usually seemed to know everything, just didn't understand that was the whole point: they liked each other so much, and were so comfortable with each other, that Rosie and Al knew, without the slightest doubt, that the other didn't really mean it. They both knew that no matter what they said to each other, they loved each other and were only kidding.

But everybody else found it as weird as all heck.

"So what's your name?" Rose asked the boy who had entered.

"I'm Tony. Tony Zabini. How about you?"

"I'm Rose Weasley, and this is my cousin Albus Potter."

Tony shot them a brief, surprised look—it seemed he'd heard of them, or at least, had quickly deduced who their parents were—but he quickly schooled his expression back to neutral.

"And I'm Leonora Thomas," Leonora introduced herself.

"Nice to meet all of you," Tony said politely. "What were you talking about?"

"Al here's just freaking out over what house he'll be in," Rose said. "Which is Slytherin."

"Rosie! I will not!"Albus smacked his cousin. "Shut up! Stop freaking me out! I swear, I will take any house but Slytherin. Even Hufflepuff!"

"So what house are you expecting to be?" Leonora asked Tony.

"Well," he said, quietly, "both my parents were in Slytherin."

Albus and Rosie immediately stopped their fighting, and an awkward silence descended on the four children. Al looked everywhere but at Tony, while in contrast, Rosie studied him thoughtfully.

"That's cool," she said finally. "Sorry, our family are all Gryffindors, so I was just winding Al up. But I just got gone done telling him I won't really care if he's in Slytherin, so we're just joking, really."

Al nodded solemnly, supporting Rose's words, though he still wouldn't look at Tony.

"It's okay," Tony said. "My family's the same with Gryffindor. I'm half worried my dad would disown me if I were in any house but Slytherin."

"My Dad threatened to do that!" Rosie exclaimed. "Except with Gryffindor. What's with parents, anyway? Since when are children not allowed to do their own thing?"

"So you want to break off from your family, go into another house?" Tony asked.

"Me? Oh, no! I want Gryffindor. I just mean, you know, theoretically. How about you?"

Tony shrugged.

"You know what?" Leonora suggested. "Let's not talk about this anymore. It seems like everyone but me is worried about this, and we'll all know soon enough."

Just then, the snack cart came to their door.

"You know what, Leonora, you're exactly right," Rose said. "I think it's time to get more sweets than our parents would ever let us have, and declare any talk of houses off-limits."

Everybody agreed, and the rest of the train ride proved to be extremely pleasant.

--

Rosie, Albus, Leonora, and Tony piled into a boat together to sail across the lake with the other first years, all led by Hagrid. By now all of them felt like good friends, even though really it had only been a few hours (except for Rose and Albus, of course). Rose knew that her father and Uncle Harry had met on the Hogwarts Express and had been best friends ever since. Might that happen with Leonora? Or if he wasn't in Slytherin, with Tony?

The four of them were one of the first boats across the lake, along with a boat carrying three students Rose didn't know, and Scorpius Malfoy.

"Hi!" Rose greeted them as she climbed out of the boat. "What's with all those slow-pokes, huh?"

She looked over at Scorpius and gave him a hesitant smile. She was curious about him, after what her parents had said at the train platform. She found herself mildly surprised when Scorpius smiled back at her, almost shyly.

"Hi, I'm Rose Weasley," she introduced herself, going to stand next to him. "You're Scorpius, right?"

The boy looked startled. "How did you know that?"

"Oh, Legilimancy," Rose said casually. "I know all your secrets, actually."

"Rosie!" Albus protested, elbowing her in the side. "You do not! Our parents pointed you out at Platform 9 ¾," he told Scorpius, to the boy's visible relief.

Rose burst out laughing, and to her surprise, so did Scorpius.

"That was a pretty good one," he complimented her as their chuckles subsided.

"Thanks," Rose said. "Would've been better if Al hadn't ruined it, though."

Albus seemed unconcerned by Rosie's accusing stare.

The other boats were arriving now, and all the other First Years came onto the shore. Rose was looking at her new classmates, and thus in the direction out over the lake, when she heard a noise behind her: the click of an opening lock behind her and a low creaking. She spun around to see a long, stone flight of stairs, and at the top of those stairs, a huge wooden door was slowly swung open.

A witch was standing in the doorway, but it was hard to see her, as she was silhouetted by the light from the castle shining out from behind her into the dark evening.

Most of the students hesitated, but a few of the students—Leonora and Albus among them—immediately began running up the stairs. Once she'd seen Albus on his way up, Rose rushed to follow as well. As they got closer, Rosie realized that she was pretty sure she knew the witch standing in the doorway. Yes; this woman had sometimes come to the celebration parties her family threw. Mum had said this woman had taught her favourite subject, Arithmancy, at Hogwarts. What was her name again?

The professor waited patiently until all the students were gathered at the top of the stone steps.

"Hello, all of you," she said, "and welcome. My name is Professor Vector--" (Yes! Rose thought. That was the name! Vector!) "--and as you may remember from your acceptance letters, I'm the Deputy Headmistress. Please, follow me inside." She held the door wide open, and many students at once were able to pass through.

Rose had been to Hogwarts a couple of times before, as both of her parents went to visit friends who worked there from time to time, but even she found herself in awe of the large, elaborate entrance hall.

She knew the Great Hall was on their right, but Professor Vector took all the first years into a small room to the side. When they were all gathered, she began to speak.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm sure that after your journey, you're all eager to get to the start-of-term feast, but before we can start the banquet, each of you must be sorted into your Houses."

Of course, Rosie knew all of this, and while usually she'd make a point of listening anyway, she was just so excited to finally be a student at Hogwarts! So she found her attention drifting in and out, and caught only bits and pieces of the Deputy Headmistress's speech.

"Sorting will take place in front of the entire school... Your houses will be like your family during your seven years at this school; you will sleep in the same dormitories as your house mates, eat at the same tables... While in recent years we have been trying to stress inter-house unity, and absolutely encourage friendships between students from different houses, most Hogwarts students find that most of their closest friends are from the same house..."

Finally, she told them that it was almost time for the Sorting Ceremony, and for everyone to prepare themselves to sit in front of the entire school for the ceremony.

"I'll return momentarily, and then we can begin," she told the students.

Everyone waited around nervously. Albus bit his fingernails raw and looked like he was going to be sick. Before long, Professor Vector returned, and led them into the Great Hall.

Again, despite having seen it before, Rosie was overwhelmed. She could see the stars above her so clearly; her family lived in a suburban neighbourhood, so usually the ambient light made it difficult to see so many stars. She had to force herself to look back down so she could see where she was going, as the other students whispered to each other. She was content to just soak it all in.

When they were at the front of the Hall, near the Professors' Table, Professor Vector motioned for the students to stop. She then placed a stool in front of them, and put a very old, frayed hat on top of the stool.

Rose stared at the thing. She'd heard mentions of the Sorting Hat, but she'd never imagined it looking like that. It was so old and frayed, and dirty too. Why didn't they at least wash the thing?

She was startled when a rip near the rim opened and the hat began to sing.

I bet you never thought a hat
could point you towards your fate,
but I know where to put you
to truly make you great.

In times of deadly war and strife
this brim was almost shut forever;
but your mothers and your fathers
had success in their endeavour.

So listen close, for we now we know
your strength comes from your friends
(though even with your enemies
you can learn to make amends).

Perhaps those friends to help you
you'll find in Hufflepuff,
where of loyalty, hard work, and warmth
you will always find enough.

Or maybe it's in Gryffindor
you'll find your family true;
the brave, the bold, the unafraid
will always stand up for you.

In Slytherin, ambition rules,
but these folks surely know
that with partners come those cunning plans
that help their power grow.

And in Ravenclaw, with those quick minds
they've learned, as those brains run,
that as they study and they live
two heads are better than one.

I can put you where you'll truly fit
and I will do just that,
so come on up, don't be afraid,
put on the Sorting Hat!

Everyone second year and above burst into applause at the song. A few of the first years managed a few weak claps, but that was about it.

Compared to how Albus trembled beside her, Rose seemed almost calm as she stood and watched the students get sorted, one by one. There was lots of time for suspense to build, as she knew she'd be one of the last called, but she mostly managed to contain her nerves.

Luckily for Albus, with the last name of Potter instead of Weasley, he was called much sooner. The poor boy looked like he was going to throw up, and Rosie squeezed his arm reassuringly before he went to the stool and placed the large hat on his head.

There was a minute of deliberation before the hat finally yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" Albus, of course, was visibly relieved as he went to join the Gryffindor table, to the congratulations of his older brother and cousins.

It was harder to be serene without her cousin waiting next to her, and Rosie began fidgeting impatiently as she waited for her turn to be Sorted. Leonora Thomas was sorted into Gryffindor as well. Eventually there were only three students left: Rose, Tony, and a large boy Rose didn't know.

"Clarence Warrington!" Professor Vector called, and he became a Slytherin.

Now it was her turn.

"Rose Weasley!"

Rose drew in her breath and made her way to the front of the Hall, sat on the stool, and allowed the hat to be lowered onto her head.

"Ah, another Weasley," Rose heard a little voice in her ear say.

Get used to it, Rosie advised the hat. There are plenty more coming.

"Quite a remarkable brain in this head, oh yes," said the voice.

Because I know I have cousins? Rose wondered, sarcastically.

"And an enjoyment of learning as well. Though, hmm, not a lot of desire for hard work, not when you can avoid it... bravery, yes, you have that, yet there's a strong sense of ambition, cunning, falling just short of ruthlessness..."

Um, what? Sorting was not going how Rose had expected. You don't mean...

"Yes, I think I know where you belong. Better be... SLYTHERIN!"

The last word had been yelled out loud, and Rose thought she heard it echoing off the walls of the Great Hall.

Which was suddenly very quiet.

Rose removed the hat shakily. Did that just happen? she asked herself silently. A look at the faces of the other students told her that yes, it had indeed happened.

Rose Weasley was a Slytherin.

Chapter 2: Friends and Enemies


The Great Hall was silent for several moments, as Rose slowly stood up from the stool.

A student started clapping, and to Rose's surprise it came from the Gryffindor table. He eyes sought out the source: Dominique was applauding as loudly as she could. All the boys, clustered around her, started clapping vigorously too, anxious to please the gorgeous girl.

Rose smiled at her cousin gratefully, and the rest of the school began to clap as well, though perhaps not quite as loudly as for most of the other first years. Slytherin started cheering extra loudly, probably to make up for the fact that they'd been too stunned to start the applause themselves.

She approached the Slytherin table nervously, only slightly bolstered by their loud clapping. She wasn't sure where to sit; her eyes darted from student to student as she searched for a friendly face. Nobody looked hostile, but she didn't know anybody at all, and she'd been expecting to join a Gryffindor table filled with cousins she'd known her whole life right now.

“SLYTHERIN!� The hat yelled again, causing Rose to jump.

That quickly? Rose turned to see Tony hopping down from the stool, and she almost collapsed with relief. She'd been too wrapped up in her own shock to hear his name being called. Apparently Tony saw how awkwardly she was standing there, and he ran to catch up so that they could find somewhere to sit together.

“C'mon, let's sit with my brother,� Tony said easily, and led Rose partway down the table. At that moment she was filled with gratitude at the gesture, so small but so vitally important.

“Well, well, little brother, welcome to Slytherin!� the older boy greeted heartily as Tony and Rose sat down across from him. “And welcome to you, too. Rose, was it?�

“Yes,� Rose said quietly, before she began to fill her plate with all the delicious-looking food in front of her. “I'm Rose.�

Though she tended to think of herself as Rose or Rosie pretty interchangeably, she usually introduced herself as “Rosie.� Or something like, “Rose, but my friends call me Rosie.� If she'd been at the Gryffindor table, that's probably what she'd have done. (Actually, if she were at the Gryffindor table, probably one of her cousins would have introduced her to everyone before she had the chance. In that case it would definitely have been “Rosie.�)

But something about Rosie didn't seem very... Slytherin. She wasn't quite sure why, but now that she was officially a Slytherin, she felt much more like a Rose.

“Cheer up, Rose,� the boy said. “We don't bite!�

Rose managed a small smile. She tried not to notice how her crazy, unmanageable mane of bright red curls at the Slytherin table stood out like a Muggle neon sign in the middle of a forest.

“So what's your name?� she asked. “Aren't you purebloods supposed to be all about decorum? For shame, Tony, skipping that introduction.�

“For shame, indeed,� his older brother agreed. “I'm Claude. Zabini, of course. I'm sure you figured that out.�

“Yes,� Rose said. “I'm sure you've figured out my last name, too.�

“I might have noticed it during Sorting,� Claude admitted. “So Dominique's your cousin, right?�

“Right. And Victoire and Molly and James. Now Albus too, he's a first year like me. So are you in third year then?�

“No, I'm a fourth year.�

This whole time, Rose had been savouring the delicious food of the feast: beef, pork, Yorkshire pudding, the softest, most delicious bread she had ever tasted, chips with gravy... her mother was not exactly the best cook, so Rose wasn't used to getting food this good every day. Of course, whenever they went to the Burrow she had her Grandma's amazing home cooking. Also, Rose's family usually went to dinner at the Potters' several times a week, and Grandma had taught Aunt Ginny pretty well how to cook. Rose got the feeling sometimes that Aunt Ginny didn't really like to cook any more than Mum did, but she'd been trained so well that she came out with good food anyway.

Still, the Hogwarts feast was certainly a treat, and there was so much of everything! She knew her Mum would be scandalized by how few of the vegetables she was eating, but it was the first day. Besides, Rose needed some comfort food as well as celebration, after her unexpected Sorting.

“We've got a cousin here too,� Tony told her, pointing to a tall boy sitting at the end of the table. “Franco Zabini.�

Rose nodded, not sure what else to say about that.

Claude started talking to his older friends, and Rose looked around at who else they were sitting near. On her left was Tony, of course, but she realized to her right were two girls that she was pretty sure were fellow first years. They were busily in animated conversation with each other, but when there seemed to be a pause, Rose ventured a tentative, “Hi?�

Both girls turned to look at her.

“Hi!� said the one closer to her.

“You're both first years, too, right?� Rose asked.

Both of them nodded.

“I'm Rose Weasley,� she introduced herself.

“I'm Peony Greengrass,� the one closer to her said, “and this is my friend Aurelia Flint.�

Peony had dark blue eyes that contrasted nicely with her black, loosely curling hair. She had a flat, almost squashed-looking nose that by sheer luck complemented the rest of her face perfectly. Something about the the girl suggested that she had just narrowly avoided being ugly, but all those features that might have been unpleasant came together to create striking, if unusual, beauty. It was hard to tell height, as they were all sitting down, but Peony seemed petite, with very delicate bone structure and thin limbs.

Aurelia was much more ordinary looking. She had straight hair, which was in that limbo between dark blonde and light brown, and her eyes were brown. Most people would probably call her pretty, but not beautiful.

While everyone was required to wear black robes as part of their Hogwarts uniform, both girls were dressed in robes that gorgeous and clearly very expensive.

“Nice to meet you,� Rose said politely.

“You too. So... your family's not usually in Slytherin, are they?� asked Peony, tossing a few dark curls over her shoulder.

(Rose wished her curls were toss-able like that. The closest her unruly coils came was bouncing when she skipped, or shook her head. It was especially a shame because their colour was such a vibrant, fiery red that they were her most noticeable, and arguably her best, feature. The only thing that came close was her light, creamy skin, which miraculously lacked the usual signature Weasley freckles so long as she didn't stay in the sunlight for too long.)

“No,� Rose confirmed. “Though don't you think it's a little weird that everybody knows that?�

Peony shrugged. “Well, after the war, the Weasleys are kind of famous,� she said.

“And famously Gryffindor,� Aurelia added.

“How about your families?� Rose asked.

“Both of my parents were Slytherin, and same with Peony's,� Aurelia told her.

“Do either of you have siblings or cousins at Hogwarts right now?�

Aurelia and Peony looked at each other.

“Well, I have an older sister, Philippa,� Aurelia said, “and a cousin, Jason Vaisey. They're both in Slytherin.�

“I don't have any older siblings,� Peony told Rose. “I have a younger brother and a younger sister, but neither will be at Hogwarts for a few more years. But I have a few cousins... Alphard Bole, he's a third year, and Minta Bole, fifth year. They're both Slytherin as well. And actually, Scorpius Malfoy is my cousin too, but...� She giggled. “Our families don't see each other much, so I don't know him very well.�

“Why don't your families see each other?� Rose asked, curious about the amusement in Peony's voice. “Do they not get along or something?�

“Something like that.� Peony giggled again. “See, my Mum dated his Dad almost their entire time at Hogwarts. Everyone figured the two of them would get married. But instead, my mother married my father, and his father married my father's sister.�

“Wow... yes, I can see how that would be very awkward,� Rose agreed. “So neither of you have any family in any other houses?�

“I'm sure I've got second or third cousins or something,� Peony said, “but nobody I know of. Even Scorpius's turned out to be a Slytherin, and he's really only like technically my family. So you're really striking out on your own, aren't you?�

“I guess I am. I should go to the library, look up the last time a Weasley has been in Slytherin. I bet it's been at least a hundred years. Or maybe it's actually been never. Wouldn't that be wild?�

Rose was glad she was having a conversation, but she decided she'd like to change it to something that didn't draw attention to the fact that she was different. “So, do either of you like Quidditch?�

Aurelia wrinkled her nose. “I'm fine with watching it, but I hate to play. Peony likes it though.�

“Really?� Rose asked Peony. “What position?�

“Chaser,� Peony said confidently. “I like scoring the goals. It feels the most like I'm really part of the game. How about you, do you like Quidditch?�

“Love it,� Rose answered. “I like playing Beater. You get to whack balls as hard as you want at people, and people barely ever blame you if your team loses or gets a really bad score. Of course, you don't as much of the glory if your team wins, but you get to beat up on people and not worry too much.� Rose paused for a moment as she considered what she'd just said. “Well, that didn't sound very Slytherin of me, did it?�

Peony just laughed and said, “You'd be surprised. Some of that was extremely Slytherin. So, who's your team?�

Rose and Peony kept up a lively conversation about Quidditch through a lot of the meal, with Tony joining in as well. It turned out Claude was on the team, as Keeper, so he started talking to them again. No matter what differences there might be in their families' values and traditions, Rose thought, at least they all had Quidditch in common.

Well, all of them except Aurelia, anyway. In fact, the girl looked a little put out that the rest of them kept on a topic when she didn't have much to contribute. She didn't seem like she appreciated being left out of their discussion, but Rose didn't notice. Her mind was too focused not only on the subject of Quidditch, but also on keeping herself a part of things. Rose had expected to have a niche ready-made for her at Hogwarts, and she was frightened of finding herself isolated. She was much too happy about being in the middle of a lively discussion to pay attention to much else.

She was so stuffed that when pudding appeared on the table, she wasn't sure she could eat it. She managed one small bite of everything, and then she collapsed in her seat.

“A little full there, Rose?� Peony asked with a giggle.

“My Mum's cooking isn't nearly so good,� Rose explained. “This was so delicious.�

“Oh, okay. My family has house elves to cook for us, same as Hogwarts, so the food's pretty good.�

“Oh,� said Rose.

“We have to pay them now, of course, with the new laws,� Peony continued.

“Yeah,� Rose agreed, uncomfortably.

Peony could tell that the other girl was feeling awkward, but she wasn't sure why. “What's wrong?� she asked, concerned.

“Just... well, nothing. It's... how does your family feel about the house elf laws?�

Peony shrugged. “I guess my parents think they're kind of silly, since house elves don't really want to be free anyway. But the wages are so low that it doesn't really matter. Why?�

Maybe I shouldn't say anything, Rose thought. Slytherins keep secrets all the time, right? No need to rock the boat.

But just because she was in Slytherin didn't mean that she should change her personality to suit what she thought the House was about. Apparently the Sorting Hat thought this was where she belonged, so her personality was already Slytherin. And part of Rose's personality was that she did not want to act as though her family were something to be ashamed of.

“It was my mum who made the house elf laws,� Rose explained, timidly. “Or at least, wrote them and lobbied for them and things like that. She's really into house elf rights.�

“Oh, I didn't know that,� Peony said. “Well, it looks like the meal's over and people are getting up. Should we head down to the Slytherin dungeons?�

“Sure,� Rose agreed, relieved that her new friend hadn't seemed upset at the revelation about her Mum and house elves. She hadn't seemed to care at all! Maybe this whole Slytherin thing would work out okay after all.

Students were starting to rise from their seats, and the first years in particular hurried to follow the prefects who would show them to their common rooms. As Peony stood, Rose saw that the girl wasn't quite as short as she seemed to be, but she was still a good four inches shorter than Rose, who had always been tall for her age.

Rose cast one slightly wistful glance across the Great Hall, where the Gryffindors, including Albus and her other cousins, were heading in the opposite direction. Al's back was to her, and he was talking to some student Rose didn't know. She told herself that it didn't mean anything; for all she knew he'd looked over at her some time she was turned away, too. But even though it was illogical, it still stung a little.

She turned back to her house mates quickly, and nobody seemed to have noticed her distraction, though she had to jog a couple steps to catch up with Peony, Aurelia and Tony.

It was dark as the Slytherins descended the stone stairwell; not so dark that Rose couldn't see at all, of course, but enough that she wasn't entirely sure of her footing.

“I hope none of these stairs are the kind that disappear or make you sink or something,� Rose murmured to Peony and Tony.

“I don't think so,� Peony said. “My parents never mentioned it, anyway. I think the parts of the castle sort of mirror the personality of the Houses, so it's mostly areas near Gryffindor that it does mischievous things.�

“Really?� Rose asked, surprised.

“I'm not sure or anything.� Peony shrugged. “It's just a theory.�

“It's an interesting one,� Rose mused, already wondering if she could find a book in the library that could verify that. “Hogwarts: A History never said anything about that, but my Mum says it leaves a lot of stuff out.�

None of the steps did anything unexpected, but Rose was still relieved when they got to the bottom. The corridors here were better lit, and it was warmer and less damp than Rose had expected the dungeons to be. They followed the prefects through several twists and turns.

“This is kind of confusing, I hope I'll remember the way,� an anxious voice said. Rose looked over to see a girl she hadn't met yet, though obviously she must be a first year. She had blonde hair and was short and chubby.

“After a couple of times it'll be easy,� Rose said reassuringly, “and I'm sure we're all going to stick together for the first few days, searching for classes and all of that.�

“I hope so,� said the girl.

“What's your name?� Rose asked.

“Morgana,� the girl said. “Morgana Knight. And you?�

“Rose Weasley. It's nice to meet you.�

Morgana nodded. “You too.�

Suddenly, the prefects and the other students in higher years stopped. Rose and the other first years were startled, and almost bumped into them.

“This is the entrance to our common room,� one of the prefects announced.

“This?� Rose was surprised. She knew the Gryffindors entered their common room through a portrait that swung open like a door. This was just a patch of wall, with seemingly no indications that it was anything else.

“The password is 'Schlange.'�

As the prefect spoke the word, the wall opened, and everyone piled through the hidden doorway.

“But keep in mind,� the other prefect called after the students as they entered, “that the password will change every few weeks, so pay attention!�

The common room was long and low; the lamps overhead tinted the room green, which mingled with a bright yellow glow from the brightly crackling fire on one wall. Rose decided that she liked it.

“All the dormitories are down that way,� said a prefect, pointing to the hall opposite the fireplace. “Boys' dorms to the left, girls' to the right. Which year is carved into the doors, so you shouldn't have any trouble figuring out where to go.�

Rose glanced over at Peony and Aurelia, then turned around to see Morgana behind her. She shrugged, bid good night to Tony, and headed off with the other girls in the direction they'd been told. It wasn't long before they came upon a door with an elaborately carved “1� that covered most of the top half of the door.

Peony pushed it open, and the girls filed into their new bedroom. There were six large canopy beds, arranged in a circle, with the feet of the beds facing inwards and the head facing out. The beds had green velvet draped down along the sides, and each poster had matching ties, so that the cloth could be pulled aside when the girls were feeling social, and could be pulled down to offer at least a little privacy. Just beyond the head of each bed were dark wooden wardrobes, with space up top to hang clothes and drawers underneath.

Six beds, Rose thought; so there were two more Slytherin first-year girls she hadn't yet met. There were also six trunks piled in the middle of the room, presumably so that the girls could choose their own beds.

She looked up and saw to her surprise that the other two girls had entered while Rose had been inspecting the room. One of them was a tall, big-boned girl, with brown hair, who despite her large stature was standing rather timidly in the corner; the other girl had bright blonde hair coupled with brown eyes, and she didn't seem shy at all.

“Hi, I'm Liatris Bell,� she announced to the room, and everybody else followed her cue and introduced themselves. The tall, shy girl turned out to be Marion Goyle.

“Well, I guess we should pick beds,� Liatris suggested.

“Good idea,� Peony agreed, “I'm so tired.�

Everyone found their trunks, and Rose looked around at the beds, unsure of where to go. Then she saw Peony smiling at her and beckoning; Aurelia was taking the bed to Peony's left, and it was clear that Rose was invited to take the bed to her right. She did so gladly, happy to be wanted.

After dragging her trunk to the other side of her bed, near the wardrobe, Rose looked over to see who took the bed to her other side. It was Liatris, who stood by her own wardrobe.

“I think I'm going to wait until morning to unpack everything,� Rose remarked to Liatris.

“Yes, it has been a very exhausting day, hasn't it?� Liatris agreed brightly, not sounding very exhausted at all.

Rose agreed fervently as she opened her trunk and rummaged through for her pyjamas.

“But we should still take some time to get to know each other,� Liatris continued. “I was mostly talking with second and third years, so I don't really know anyone here yet.�

Rose found her pyjamas and stood up. She looked over at Liatris.

“Okay,� she said. “I'm just going to take a shower first.�

Once everyone was washed up and in their sleep clothes, all the girls gathered together. Peony, Aurelia, and Morgana sat on Peony's bed, while Rose, Liatris and Marion sat on Rose's, so that all of the girls could face each other.

Liatris sat cross-legged next to Rose, and shot her an enigmatic smile. So close to the girl, Rose noticed that her eyes were quite captivating. They were friendly, but also delightedly secretive, seeming to shine with secrets that she would never, ever tell.

Rose decided that she liked Liatris.

“So,� Liatris said, “you seem to have been the big surprise reveal tonight, Rose.�

Rose blushed a little. “Yeah, yeah, I'm a Weasley, we're not usually Slytherins, so on, so forth,� she said. “How about the rest of you? Anyone else expecting a different house?�

“I was expecting... Hufflepuff,� Morgana Knight admitted, looking embarrassed. “Both of my parents were there.�

“Congratulations,� Aurelia told Morgana. “You've taken a definite step up.�

It was genuinely meant to be a compliment, but it was clear Morgana didn't know whether to feel flattered or insulted. Rose, similarly, was somewhat uncomfortable with this comment.

“I don't know,� she said. “Slytherin will be awesome-- I'm going to make sure of it-- but the hat definitely talked about how I avoid hard work. I could never do the things Hufflepuffs do, I'm too lazy.�

Morgana flashed Rose a quick, grateful smile. Aurelia just rolled her eyes.

“Well, I knew I was going to be a Slytherin,� she said. “Both my parents were, and their parents too, going back generations. Peony, too. We knew we'd be house mates.� Aurelia smiled at her friend.

“I wasn't sure if I'd be here or Ravenclaw,� Marion said. “My mum was in Ravenclaw, and my dad was here. She was so angry she had to be married to him, she says that a pile of bricks is smarter than he is.�

“Then why are they together?� Rose asked, confused.

“It was an arranged marriage,� Marion explained. “They'd been betrothed since they were a year old. Mum kept hoping she'd get out of it-- Dad was always at the bottom of his class and she was always in the top three of her year-- but my grandparents insisted.�

“But that's awful! Why did she agree?� Rose persisted.

Marion shrugged. “It's normal among noble pure-blood families,� she said. “And my Mum didn't want to be disowned.�

“My parents had an arranged marriage too,� Aurelia said. “Though both of them are pretty stupid people if you ask me. Neither seems to care either way, I think they were just as happy not to have to find someone themselves.�

Rose shook her head, amazed. “I can't imagine that at all,� she said. “My parents are kind of sickening, they love each other so much. They're always kissing and stuff in front of me, and when I ask them to try to do that in private, they just laugh at me.�

“Your parents kiss in front of you?� Peony was amazed. “I mean, my parents were a love match, they chose each other, but they would never display affection in public. Even in front of their kids.�

“Your parents can't be worse than mine that way,� Liatris assured Rose. “I'm pretty sure my parents participate in orgies on a regular basis.�

Rose laughed, then stopped when she saw everyone looking at her oddly.

“What?� she asked.

“Your parents are members of Conversio Virium*?� Marion asked, fascinated.

“Well, they've never confirmed it to me,� Liatris said, “but I'm pretty sure.�

“Wait, you were serious about the orgy thing? I thought that was a joke!� Rose exclaimed, not even wanting to ask what “Conversio Virium� was.

“If only.� Liatris sighed dramatically.

“What about you, Morgana?� Peony asked.

“Er, my parents are divorced, actually,� Morgana said.

“So much for Hufflepuff loyalty,� Aurelia joked. “They can't even manage to keep to those lame virtues.�

Morgana flinched, and Rose got to her feet angrily.

“You stop that!� she said sharply. “Don't be such a snob.�

“And don't you be such a goody two shoes,� Aurelia shot back. “We're in Slytherin, there's nothing wrong with some Slytherin pride.�

“There's House pride and there's being a bitch,� Rose said.

Aurelia stared back, shocked.

“Did you hear what she called me!� Aurelia shrieked. “Peony--�

“Actually, I think you kind of deserved it,� Peony said quietly.

Aurelia stared at her in shock.

“And I think you should apologize to Morgana,� Peony continued.

“It's okay,� Morgana said in a small voice, clearly not liking to be in the centre of a conflict. “I don't want an apology. I'm just going to go to bed.�

She stood up from Peony's bed and fled across the room, pulling the velvet drapes down around her bed.

Rose wanted to go after Morgana, to make her feel better, but she didn't know what to say. Plus she got the feeling that the girl really would rather be alone.

“Maybe all of us should be going to bed,� Peony said, looking suddenly uncomfortable with Aurelia sitting next to her. This was not lost on the other girl.

“Fine,� Aurelia snapped, standing up. “Abandon your best friend just because she makes a joke. That's great, Peony.� She flounced off to her bed, and pulled drapes down so hard that they'd probably have ripped, had they not been reinforced with magic.

“Sorry about that,� Peony said quietly.

“Absolutely not your fault,� Liatris said. Rose nodded in agreement.

“I really am extremely tired,� Marion said. “I'll see all of you in the morning. Hopefully nobody will hold any grudges.�

Once Marion was gone, Peony, Liatris, and Rose sat there for a few minutes, looking at each other.

“And the night was going so well,� Rose said with a sigh. “Should I have kept my mouth shut? Slytherin or not, I guess I definitely have the Weasley temper.�

“Are you kidding?� Liatris asked. “She deserved it. And Morgana deserved to have someone stand up for her. You did exactly the right thing.�

“I hate to admit it, but Aurelia was out of line,� Peony agreed. “I'm sure she was just exhausted from the train ride and Sorting, and kind of off-balance with this being her first night at Hogwarts and everything. She's usually a really nice girl.�

“I'll believe that when I see it,� Liatris muttered.

“You will,� Peony said confidently. “Just wait until she's gotten some rest and adjusted a little.�

Liatris looked disbelieving, and Rose couldn't help but agree with her. Still, despite the way the night had ended, it wasn't all bad. Liatris leaned over and hugged Rose good night tightly.

“We're going to be good friends,� she told Rose. Her eyes flicked towards Peony. “You too. The three of us. I can tell.�

Rose smiled. “I was thinking that too.�

Then Liatris headed to her own bed, and Rose began pulling on the ties to bring down her curtains.

“Hey, Rose?� Peony whispered.

“Yeah?� Rose paused, leaving a space in the curtains to see Peony.

“You really aren't holding Aurelia against me?�

“Of course not!� Rose said, shocked. “You didn't do anything wrong.�

Peony smiled. “I'm glad,� she said. “Because I think Liatris is right..�

So, as Rose finished pulling the curtains around her and let her head fall to the pillow, she reflected that even if she'd made an enemy her first day in Slytherin, she'd made three friends. Those, she thought to herself contentedly as she drifted off to sleep, were pretty good numbers.

Chapter 3: New Things


September 1st had fallen on a Friday that year, so they had the weekend to get situated.  Rose had been hoping for a chance to visit Al and her other cousins, but the first years seemed expected to use the weekend to bond with their house mates, and she didn't really have a chance to get away.  

She also spent the whole weekend dreading an owl-- or a Howler-- from her parents, though she knew that it would take several days to arrive.  On Monday, though owls swooped down to deliver letters or packages to some of the students, Rose still received nothing.  She was getting very nervous, and had about decided that the suspense was bad enough that she just wished to just get it over with.   

After breakfast, the Slytherin head of house, Professor Sinistra, handed Rose and her year mates their class schedule and told them to get to class.  

This was nowhere near as easy as it sounded.  Over the weekend, it was true, Professor Sinistra had taken the opportunity to give them a tour of of the castle.  Apparently she considered that all the guidance they would need to find their classrooms.  

Rose stuck close to her house mates as they tried desperately to navigate the castle.  Staircases moved, corridors decided to rearrange themselves, and Peeves tried to trick them.  What Rose couldn't understand was how the older students had managed to eventually learn their way around if the castle changed all the time.  

Their first class was double Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws, taught by Professor Bradley.  Rose didn't know anything about him, but she worried that she'd be expected to already be an expert on the subject, her parents both working in the Department of Law Enforcement (among other reasons).  

Professor Bradley barely acknowledged Rose, though.  Even when she raised her hand, he rarely called on her.  It was a bit frustrating, but her parents had both said that he was a good Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, so she'd give him the benefit of the doubt.  

History of Magic which they had with the Hufflepuffs, was apparently still taught by Professor Binns.  He was every bit as boring as her dad and uncle had described.  Dad and Uncle Harry still joked about how Mum would insist on staying awake and keeping meticulous notes, and tried to get the boys to do the same.  

Far from disheartened to discover that the ghost was still their professor, Rose was quite pleased, indeed.  

It had been almost a year ago when she had come up with the idea, though really it had been inevitable.  The pieces of the puzzle just connected so perfectly:

Her Mum had taken detailed notes of a class whose material, at least for the first five or six years of school, was highly unlikely to change.  

Her Mum had also kept all of her notes from Hogwarts, and kept them in her files, “just in case� there was something she needed to look up.  

It was just a simple logical progression, the conclusion so clear it might as well have been tap dancing on Rose's nose.  A quick search through her mother's files, a few weeks with her new wand practising a duplication charm, and voilà: Six years' worth of History of Magic notes, ready to go.

She didn't think of it as cheating, though she knew Mum probably would if she found out.  She'd read the notes and memorize the information on her own time, so she'd learn everything she was meant to.  In the meantime, she could feel free to fall asleep at her desk or pass notes to her friends or whatever else she wanted.  

Things took an even better turn when Professor Binns neglected to take attendance.  He seemed to have no interest whatsoever in learning their names or otherwise knowing who was in his class.  Rose made a mental note to ask James or Dominique whether Binns would occasionally remember to read a role call.  If not, it looked like she might just have a totally free period, three times a week.

The last class of the day was Potions, and this one was a double with Gryffindor.  Rose couldn't wait; she hadn't seen Al at all since they'd gotten to Hogwarts, except across the Great Hall or passing in the corridors too quickly to do more than say a quick 'Hi.'  She wished that she could just go over to the Gryffindor table to talk to him, but the last thing she needed in her first few days was to alienate her house mates.  Maybe later on, when she knew everybody better.  

The Potions classroom was in the dungeons, near the Slytherin common room, so Rose and her companions found it much more easily than Defence and History of Magic.  In fact, not a single Gryffindor was in the room when the Slytherins filed in.  

“Hi, Aunt Daphne!� Peony said brightly as she came through the door, with a little wave.  “This is my friend Rose.  Rose, this is--�

“Miss Greengrass,� the Professor interrupted sternly, emphasizing the formal address. “We've discussed this.�  Then she smiled pleasantly and turned to Rose.  “Welcome to Potions class, Miss...?�

“Weasley,� Rose supplied.  “Rose Weasley.�  

“Of course.  How could I have forgotten.� She didn't say it meanly; her tone gave no clue whatever about her thoughts. The professor turned back to Peony.  “We've  been over this, and you know the rules.  In the classroom, I'm not your aunt, I'm Professor Bole.  You will treat me as a professor, as I will treat you as a student.�

“Right.�  Peony nodded emphatically.  “Sorry, I forgot.�  

“You promised three times.�  Professor Bole had her arms crossed, but she didn't seem truly angry.  

“I'm sorry!� Peony said again, with a pout.  “It's just hard to get used to.�  

“If you think it's strange for you, imagine how Alphard and Minta feel.�  

Peony and Rose looked at each other, and gave a little shudder before they slid into seats at the front.  The Gryffindors were finally beginning to straggle in, under Professor Bole's disapproving eye, though there was a still minute left before they'd be considered late.  

“You know, I hadn't thought how weird it must be for Alphy and Minta,� Peony said.  

“Imagine if your mother taught at Hogwarts,� Rose said.  

“Ugh.� Peony pretended to gag.  “I'd kill myself.�  

Rose didn't think it would be quite as bad as all that, but--

Her reply was aborted as Rose saw Albus enter the classroom.  “Sorry, be right back,� she said quickly to Peony before jumping out of her seat and running over to him.  

“Al!� Rose exclaimed, grasping his hands happily.  “I haven't seen you at all!  How's life in Gryffindor?  How was your morning? What classes did you have?�  

He looked just as happy to her.  “Gryffindor's just like James described, surprisingly enough.  We--�

“Mr Potter,� Professor Bole said sharply.  “It seems you haven't noticed that it's time for class.  Take a seat immediately.�  

Albus and Rose looked up at the professor in surprise.  Why had she scolded Al, while saying nothing to Rose? There were several Slytherins still standing as well.  

“Yes, ma'am,� Al said politely. He tugged on Rose's hand, and said to her, “let's find seats.�  

“Oh.�  Rose pulled her hand away, feeling embarrassed and guilty.  She should have thought this through better. “I'm kind of already sitting next to Peony.�  She slid back into the front-row seat she'd taken before her cousin had entered.  

“Oh,� Al said, as Rose cursed herself.  She'd been looking forward to Potions so that she could see Al, and she hadn't even considered that they'd want to sit together?  But she couldn't just abandon Peony after they'd already chosen seats.  

“Did I tell you to make more conversation, or did I tell you to sit down, Mr Potter?� Professor Bole asked acidly.  

He looked like he wanted to argue-- Rose wanted to argue too, to be completely honest.  She was being favoured, and it made her angry more than anything.  She could only imagine being on Al's end.  

But he just said, “Sorry, ma'am,� again, and sat down near the back, next to a fellow Gryffindor.  

Rose looked back at her cousin several times throughout the class, but he wasn't looking at her.  It was hard to concentrate on the lesson, but it didn't matter, because she already knew all the material from reading the textbook.  It was the first day, so they weren't brewing anything.  

She tried to talk to Albus after class was over, but he and his house mates rushed out of the class as soon as it was finished.  She couldn't blame him; Professor Bole had not exactly been friendly towards the Gryffindors.  Rose had no idea whether Al was avoiding her, or just trying to get away from the unpleasant class.  

She was about to rush after him, when she heard Peony call, “Hey, Rose, wait up!�

She paused and bit her lip, unsure of what to do.  She hesitated too long, though, and her choice was made up as Peony and Aurelia joined her.  

“Bye, er, Professor Bole,� Peony said.  

“Goodbye, girls,� the professor said.  “Miss Greengrass, you and your friends should join me for tea this weekend.  Why don't I owl you?�  

“Sounds good,� Peony grinned.  By now Liatris had joined them as well, and the four girls left together.

“So what was that about with Professor Bole?� Rose asked as they headed back to the Common Room; Potions had been their last class of the day.  

“What, with the tea?  I told you she's my--�

“No, not that,� Rose interrupted.  “I mean the way she was during class.  Especially at the beginning, with Albus.�  

“Oh.  Well, she's nice in normal life,� Peony said, “but she's pretty strict as a professor.  You saw how she insisted I call her 'Professor Bole' and all that.�  

“Well, yes,� Rose said, “but did you see how, when Albus and I were talking, she yelled at him but didn't say a word to me?�  

“She wasn't yelling at him,� Peony said.  “And you'd already chosen a seat, and got up to see your cousin, so--�

“Exactly,� Rose cut in again.  “I went to see him, and he's the one who she yells at... or is stern with, whatever.�  

“Are you actually complaining because she was being nice to you?� Aurelia asked scornfully.  

“That's not quite what I'm-- well, actually, yes. I am.  I don't like it when a professor plays favourites.  Especially at my cousin's expense.�  

Peony shrugged, then said, “Fine.  I guess she's kind of nicer to the Slytherins.  But we deserve it!  Other teachers treat us worse. They play favourites the other way.�  

“I guess I'm more surprised that she'd favour me.  Being, you know, a Weasley and everything.  She must have been at school with some of my uncles, or even my parents.  If she's so pro-Slytherin, I'm sure they didn't get along.�  

“Rose,� Liatris spoke up.  “You aren't your parents, or your uncles, or your cousins.  Family and House may usually go together, but this time they didn't.  You are a Slytherin.�  

“I know that,� Rose insisted.  

Liatris shook her head.  “Then why do you act like you think you're some kind of imposter or something?�

Aurelia muttered something to Peony that the others couldn't hear.  In return she received a dirty look and Peony's elbow shoved hard into her side.  

“Bloody hell, Peony!� Aurelia cried, loudly.  “That hurt!�  

“It was supposed to.�  

Aurelia drew herself up indignantly, but before she could say anything, an older Slytherin came up to them.

“Stop that,� he hissed.  “There are other Houses around.  Fight all you want in the privacy of your dorm or the Slytherin Common Room, but don't air your dirty laundry in public.�  The boy jerked his head at the Gryffindors who were passing them in the hallway.  “Got it?�

The four girls nodded mutely.  

“Good.�  He continued in the direction of the Slytherin dungeons.  Aurelia looked deflated and frustrated.  Rose and the others stood uncertainly for a moment, then silently they made their way quickly in the same direction.  

The moment the door to the Slytherin dungeons closed behind them, Aurelia turned furiously to Peony.

“What is wrong with you?� she asked.  “You hit me! Like a common Muggle! Why did you do that?�

“Because I don't want you whispering mean things into my ear,� Peony told her evenly.  “Especially mean things about my friends.�  

“I'm supposed to be-- forget it. If that's the way you want it, fine.� Aurelia turned on her heel and stalked off.  

Peony turned to look at Rose and Liatris apologetically and a bit desperately.  

“Go ahead,� Rose said.  “We'll see you later.�  

Peony nodded, then took off after her friend.  

“Aurelia, wait!� she called.

Rose and Liatris stood there a moment.  

“Poor Peony,� said Rose.  

“You don't know the half of it,� Liatris agreed, with feeling.

Rose looked at her friend, curious what she meant.  Liatris just waved her hand vaguely.  

“Let's sit down and try to knock this homework out of the way,� Liatris suggested.  “Ugh, on the first day!�

Rose didn't mention that she was actually quite excited to do her first Hogwarts homework ever.  Instead she just followed her friend, and they searched for seats as near to the fire as possible.  The upperclassmen took all the best seats, of course, but the two girls managed to find a reasonably cosy place to study.  

They'd been working for about ten minutes when Tony came up.  

“Hey guys!� he said.  “Rose, move over.  These chairs are big enough for two first-years, anyway.�  

Rose gave him a Look, but nevertheless pushed herself to the side of the chair.  They fit okay, though it would be harder to juggle her schoolbooks, parchment, and quill this way.  

“Sorry about potions and the thing with Al,� Tony said.  “I heard you guys talking in the hall.�

“Thanks,� Rose said.  “It got me really angry actually.  I hate favouritism.  You know what, I think it ticks me off even more when I'm the one being favoured-- I feel dirty benefiting from it.�  

Tony nodded.  

“It wasn't fair,� Liatris agreed.  “But you know, Albus must be getting tons of favouritism everywhere else.�

“That's not his fault,� Rose protested.  

“I know that,� Liatris said. “Just like it's not your fault that Professor Bole picked on him and not you.�

“But,� Tony added,  “I bet you Al isn't even thinking about the fact that he's being favoured everywhere else.  It probably hasn't even crossed his mind.�  

“That's not his fault either! I thought you liked him.�

“I do,� Tony said.  “I'm not blaming him.  I'm just saying.  But, hey, you do know him better.  Do you think he's worrying about the ways he's been given special treatment today?�

“Well... It's... He's...� Rose trailed off.  Nothing she wanted to say seemed like it would come out the way she meant it.  

“Well... no? It's... how he's always treated?� Tony guessed.  “He's... used to it? Is that what you were going to say?�  

“Maybe something like that,� she admitted.  “But it hasn't crossed his mind because he honestly, truly doesn't realize!  His parents have made an effort to shield him and his brother and sister from the fame and all that.  The other day, when we were boarding the Hogwarts express and Uncle Harry was saying goodbye, Albus asked why people were staring.  He's that oblivious.  He...�

Rose trailed off, her thoughts churning, taking her places she'd never been before.  Tony didn't seem to notice.  

“He actually asked what people were looking at?� he asked.  “That's... kind of adorable.  And hilarious.�

Rose made a non-committal noise, and it was Liatris, looking up from her school work, who realized that something was wrong.  

“You're upset,� she said, surprised worry in her voice, and she set aside her books.  She turned to look at Tony in concern, then back at Rose.

Rose shrugged, a bit morosely.  “I guess I just realized that... I'm probably exactly the same, aren't I?  I've probably gotten that kind of treatment my whole life, too.  Like, not quite as much as the son of Harry Potter, but... still.�

“It's exactly like you said about Albus: it's not your fault,� Liatris reminded her

“But I just noticed it today.  I just noticed it when it was totally blatant and turned against someone I love.�

Tony punched her shoulder gently.  “Hey, stop beating yourself up,� he ordered her.  “You're going crazy over nothing.�  

She just shrugged again.  

Liatris sighed, and leaned across to put her hand on Rose's.  “Look, nobody notices anything weird about the things that they see every day until they see something new,� she said. “And actually looking at the things you take for granted and being open to changing your mind once you see that new thing... that's the important part, the part that makes you strong or weak. A lot of people just won't--if it’s outside their view of the world, they pretend it doesn’t exist.�  

Rose digested that, then looked curiously at Liatris.  “You're really smart,� she noticed.  

Liatris laughed.  “Thanks,� she said.  “But that bit of wisdom's been in the making since our first night.  Not about you, though.  If it helps, someone else is going through about the same thing, only way worse.�  

“What... you've been having...?� Rose asked, with some surprise.  Liatris had seemed, of all the first year girls in Slytherin, the most issue-free.  

But the girl shook her head.  “No, not me.�  

Rose started to ask more questions, then she shut her mouth and looked over at Tony.  She glanced back at Liatris, who was was subtly shaking her head 'no' as she mouthed, 'Later.'  

“Uhh...� Tony said.  “I think there's something I'm missing.�  

“Girl stuff,� Liatris said briskly.  “Emotions and feelings and things like that.  Don't worry about it.�

Rose frowned, a bit perplexed by this comment.  She'd never really had any girl friends her age... the only close friend she'd ever had, really, was Albus.  She had girl cousins two years older and two years younger, and she liked both of them, but they'd never talked about feelings.  

Maybe this was why Mum had been worried about her 'socialization.' When Rose had been young, Mum had sent her to Muggle school, to get a basic grounding in non-magical subjects and so that she could make friends.  It had been okay for a year or two, but when Rose was about seven it quickly became miserable.  She'd been bored out of her mind by her classes and didn't get along well with anybody in school.  

Though Mum had been insistent that Rose stick with it, eventually she'd relented and let her daughter leave school.  Rose guessed her Mum had probably had a hard time at Muggle school, too, because she didn't usually back down from her convictions.  Her parents had been too busy to teach her, but Grandma had taught all Rose's uncles and aunt before they'd attended Hogwarts, and she'd been doing the same for some of the other cousins.

She looked over to see what Tony thought, but he seemed to have taken Liatris's comment in stride. Things were still a little awkward, though.  

“So, did you come over here to work on your homework with us?� Rose asked.  

Tony eyed her suspiciously.  “None of it's due until Wednesday.  At the earliest.�  

“That's the day after tomorrow,� Rose replied, exasperated.  “Come on, don't you want to get it over with so you don't worry at the last minute?�  

“I won't be worried,� Tony assured her.  

“Well, we're working,� Liatris said.  “So join us or stop distracting us.�  

“Uh huh,� said Tony.  “Well, in that case, it's been great, girls.  Rose, stop worrying about your cousin.  Gryffindors love the whole bravely-suffer-through-oppression, until-we-can-fight-back thing.  He wouldn't know what to do with himself without Bole.  Anyway.  Have fun with the homework.�  

He stood up, giving Rose full possession of her chair again.  

“I will,� she replied, grinning.  “Have fun with the homework, that is.  I'll try on the whole Al thing.�  

“Uh huh,� he said again, before waving and heading over to a corner where some of the other first year boys were sitting together.  

It only took about another half an hour to finish up their homework, which left Rose feeling vaguely disappointed.  Also edgy, like if she'd done it right it would have taken longer, but she couldn't see what more she do.  

Both Liatris and Rose were so cosy, though, that once they put away their books, neither felt like getting up.  So they sat and talked instead.  

“So you never mentioned last night,� Rose said, “about your parents, and their Houses.�  

Liatris shrugged.  “That's because they didn't have any,� she explained.  “They didn't attend Hogwarts.�

“Oh,� said Rose.  “Where did they go, then?�

“Mum's family lived in America until she was fifteen,� Liatris said, “so she attended the Salem Witch Academy.  Then they moved to Sweden for work, so she went to Durmstrang for the last two years of school.  That's where she met my Dad.  His parents are British-- so are my Mum's, by the way, they just moved around for work-- but they wanted him out of the country for the war.  They tried to keep neutral themselves, but... well, choosing Durmstrang as his school is a little pro-Dark-Arts, I think.�  

“Huh,� Rose said.  “But your grandparents--�

“All Slytherins, except for one Ravenclaw,� Liatris answered.  “No Death Eaters, though, to my knowledge.  Well, my Mum's parents were out of the country for the war.�  

Rose nodded.  

“I thought I'd find the whole House think kind of silly,� the girl continued, “but it's so hard not to get really into it! Especially Slytherin.  It's like the whole rest of the school hates us, or is scared of us, or something.  Hard not to want to give them all a giant 'screw you.'�

As Liatris had been talking, Rose, though she was listening, had let her eyes wander.  Just as Liatris was finishing, Rose was startled to see two older Slytherin girls emerge from what had, up until that moment, appeared to be a perfectly normal mirror.  

“Hey,� Rose called to them, standing up.  Liatris, confused, followed Rose's gaze, twisting around in her seat to do so.  

The older students looked over, and Rose jogged up to them.  Liatris followed, still not sure what was going on.  

“Yes?� One of them answered, a tallish black-haired girl with a swarthy complexion.  

“What's the deal with the mirror?� Rose asked.  

The black-haired girl looked over at her companion, a curvy girl with brown hair.  “First years,� she said, shaking her head.  The brown haired girl smirked, but not unkindly.  

“Yes, we're first years,� Liatris agreed amicably.  “As we all must be at some time.  I'm Liatris, and this is Rose.�  

“I'm Carina,� the brown-haired girl introduced herself.

“Soraya,� said the black-haired girl.  

“Nice to meet you,� Rose said.  “So... what's with the mirror?  What is it for? How do you use it?�  

“There are secret places to all around the Slytherin dungeons to have private conversations,� Carina explained.  “The mirror just leads to a little room where nobody can hear you. You just walk through it. If it feels like liquid, then it's empty, and you can go in. If it's solid, then there are people in there.  If you think they're people who want to see you, you can press your hand against the glass and say your name, and see if it turns liquid-feeling.�  

“Thank you,� Rose said, smiling gratefully.  

“Sure.�  

Carina and Soraya walked away, and Rose looked over at Liatris.  

“Want to give it a try?� she asked.  

“I'll go grab our stuff.  Why don't you go inside so nobody else steals it,� Liatris suggested.  

Rose bit her lip as she prodded the mirror; it felt like water, maybe a bit thicker.  She took a deep breath and held it as she walked through, but she needn't have bothered; the sheet of liquid was extremely thin, a millimetre thick, if that.  

She looked around; the room was small, with barely enough room for the five chairs, wooden with green upholstery, that sat in a circle.  

She took a seat in one of them and waited.  There was a chiming sound, almost like the Muggle doorbell she had at home, and she heard “Liatris� echo throughout the room.  

Rose had no idea how to approve a person who wanted to come in.

“Let her in,� she tried.  “Enter.�  

That seemed to be good enough, because a moment later Liatris emerged.  From this side, the entryway looked like a shimmering wall of black water.  

“Welcome,� Rose said, with a smile.  “Thanks for getting my stuff, too.�  

“Of course.�  Liatris settled down on a chair next to Rose.  

“So...� Rose trailed off, then tried to rally her courage.  “What was that you were saying before?  You know, the girl talk?�  

Liatris hesitated.  

“It's okay if you don't want to tell me,� Rose said hastily.  

“No,� Liatris replied slowly, “it's okay.  I mean, I think it's okay.  If you're going to be friends with Peony, it's not fair for you to be completely in the dark about her and her family and Aurelia and everything.  I don't think Peony would mind, exactly, but they're things she'd never say.�  

“Okay... I'm confused,� Rose said.  “I thought you said you didn't know them.�  

“When did I say that?� Liatris asked.  

“Er, the first night, I thought.  You said you didn't really know anyone yet... and you didn't act like you knew Aurelia and Peony.  Especially with that whole 'we're going to be friends' thing.�

“Oh.�  Liatris shrugged.  “I don't know either of them well.  Especially not Aurelia.  But my parents and Peony's are colleagues.  My parents don't like hers, but we had to go over sometimes and have dinner with the Greengrasses and sometimes some other families.� She made a face.  “She and I never really talked, just sat at the table and ate and listened to the adults.  But Peony's parents are awful.  I mean really, just hideous human beings.  It's a miracle that she somehow figured out that conversation is anything besides insulting supposedly-inferior people.  Let alone that it's wrong.�  

“Oh,� said Rose, unable to think of any other response.  

“That's what I was talking about.  Peony must have always seen the kind of behaviour you see from Aurelia as a normal thing.  But since she wasn't really allowed to socialize with people her parents didn't approve of, the people being insulted were never people she knew.�

“So she's just now realizing those people are real, I guess,� Rose mused.  

“Something like that.�  Liatris looked thoughtful.  “I'd expected Peony to be like Aurelia.  I was shocked when she took your side, and then apologized for what Aurelia said.  On the first night, too.  Well, maybe she's had some role model who's demonstrated what a decent human being is.  If not... well, either way you have no idea impressive she's been, considering.  It might be hard to tell now, with her trying to figure everything out, but given some time, that girl will have a backbone that'll put the rest of us to shame.�  

The girls didn't have that much longer to talk before it was time to head to their dormitory and get ready for bed, but Rose was glad that Liatris had decided to tell her about Peony.  It did make things a whole lot clearer, though it was a lot to digest.  

Also, they both were happy to know about the secret compartment.  In a boarding school, privacy was a precious commodity, and a room like this one had been a real find.  

Both Peony and Aurelia were in the dormitory when Rose and Liatris arrived.  Aurelia ignored both of them, while Peony looked up to smile at them and give a little wave, but she didn't say much.  

Rose wondered what it would be like to discover that Albus was actually a really mean person, and she'd just never known it.  She couldn't fault Peony for wanting to keep her best friend.  

It had been a long, full day, and Rose was looking forward to some rest.  She showered, brushed her teeth, and got into her comfy pyjamas.  It hadn't been a bad day, but it had been very exhausting, and she was happy for it to end.  

She sat heavily on her bed, and was just about to crawl under the covers when the family owl, Chudley, flew into the dormitory through one of the open windows and deposited a letter into her lap.

Hermione saw her first. Rose's mother's face lit up and she ran towards Rose, scooping her daughter up in her arms and whirling her around in a hug. Rose might have been embarrassed, but it felt too nice.

"Rosie!" Mum cried, as she squeezed her tight, before she set her back on the ground again. "It's so good to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you too, Mum," said Rose. She hugged her Mum tightly as well, and let go reluctantly when she remembered they were at the train station surrounded by her classmates.

She bit her lip and looked at her father, who had come up beside them.

"Hi, Dad," she said quietly.

"Rosie." Ron leaned over to give her a tight hug. "Rosie, Rosie. I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too," she whispered.

He pulled back and looked at her face for a long time. Usually it was easy to tell what her Dad was thinking. But even though his quiet gaze gave her plenty of time to study his face, Rose found herself, for once, at a complete loss. Eventually she flushed and started squirming.

"We should go back over to Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny," she said. "Sorry I made you come over here."

Mum put an arm around her shoulders. As they walked back to the Potters and Hugo, Rose looked around the station. Peony was standing with a woman Rose assumed was her mother, and a younger boy and girl. From the expression on the woman's face, it seemed Peony was getting a considerably colder reception than Rose was. Peony looked up, and the girls' eyes locked; Rose gave her friend a sympathetic wince, and a wave goodbye. To her surprise, Peony waved back to her.

Mum and Dad looked over to see who Rose was waving to, and they didn't seem too happy with what they found.

"Is that Pansy Parkinson's daughter?" Mum asked, attempting but failing to keep her tone light.

"Her name's Peony Greengrass," Rose said. "I don't know what her mum was called at school."

"That's Pansy's daughter, all right," Dad said grimly. "She married Ares Greengrass a few years out of Hogwarts."

Ares? Rose thought, stifling a giggle. That name must have been a trial, when he was a kid.

"I talked about Peony in my letters," Rose said. "I told you we were good friends."

Dad jerked at that, and his face began to turn red.

"So you did," agreed her Mum, giving Dad a warning look. For some reason, Dad looked like he couldn't decide whether to be angrier at Rose or her Mum, but he just ground his jaw.

"I know her parents are awful. I told you they sent her a Howler just because they found out she was friends with me and tried to help Al, remember?"

Dad's face was even redder as he opened his mouth to speak, but Mum beat him to it.

"Why don't we discuss everything later, when we're at home?" she suggested, in a voice that let them know it wasn't really a suggestion.

"Oh, we'll discuss it, all right" Dad said darkly, glaring at both of them.

Rose swallowed, and ducked her head as they made their way over to the Potters.

As they reached the rest of their family, Rose held out her arms and cried, "Hi, Hugo!" She pulled him in for a hug, but he stiffened and returned the embrace very hesitantly. Rose was surprised; since he was young, Hugo had never really liked being touched, but his older sister had always been one of the few people he was comfortable with. As she let go of her brother, Rose looked at him searchingly. Did three and a half months apart really jar him so much?

"Rosie!" Lily exclaimed. Unlike Hugo, her younger cousin had no compunction about flinging herself into Rose's arms. Rose nearly fell over from the impact, but she didn't mind. She felt a little better as she returned Lily's embrace with a tight squeeze.

When they let go, Lily started talking a mile a minute, trying to fill Rose in about everything that happened while she was away, and asking a million questions about Hogwarts, without stopping to hear the answers. Which was fortunate, since Rose's thoughts were distracted and she was barely half-listening to her young cousin.

Eventually Lily paused for breath, and Rose took the chance to say, quickly, "Hi Aunt Ginny, Uncle Harry."

They also enveloped her in a hug, but there was a tension in the air that Rose had never felt before. When she pulled away, she could see both of them eyeing her green-and-silver Slytherin scarf with wary expressions.

Wanting to escape the look in their eyes, she turned her attention back to Lily and her questions. The merry chatter of a nine-year-old girl, unreservedly happy to see her, was an excellent remedy for awkwardness and tension... or, at least, masked it well.

---

On the bright side, Rose thought, the awkward tension didn't last long once her family arrived home.

Unfortunately, that was because her father exploded the moment the door was shut and the privacy wards were in place.

"The Greengrass girl?" He shouted, whirling to glare at Rose. His face was already turning red, which was never a good sign.

"Hugo, go upstairs," Mum ordered, quietly but firmly. Hugo clearly had no objection to leaving. His eyes were wide as saucers as he backed away and then fled up the stairwell, taking them two at a time.

Rose swallowed, wishing she could follow her little brother.

"Ron-" Mum said, in the tone she always used when trying to calm him down.

"Don't you 'Ron' me!" her father spat angrily. "You knew about this, and didn't tell me?"

"I knew you'd send her a Howler or something horrid," Mum said, wringing her hands.

So you let him find out when he could yell at me in person? Rose thought, annoyed. She should have at least warned me!

Mum had obviously had the same thought, because when she glanced over at Rose, she looked guilty and apologetic.

"Well, maybe it would have knocked some sense into her!" Dad growled. He rounded on Rose again. "What were you thinking, befriending someone like that?"

"Befriending someone like what?" Rose demanded. "An interesting, smart, nice girl who has been nothing but kind to me? Oh, I don't know, maybe I was thinking that I like her!"

"You have no idea-" Dad began.

"No idea of what?" Rose cried, cutting him off. "No idea what she's like? I've been living with her for the past three and a half months, I think I know her pretty well! No idea about her parents? I've already told you, I know they're terrible people and they did horrible things, but Peony never did anything! It's not her fault who her parents are!"

"THEY'D HAVE KILLED YOUR MOTHER IF THEY HAD THE CHANCE!" He roared, face redder than Rose had ever seen it. "And you stand around giggling with their daughter?"

"Ron, that's not- Rosie, wait, don't-"

Rose's lower lip was quivering. The things her father was saying to her... it was like... it was like he thought she was as bad as they were. Like he thought she'd kill Mum herself given the opportunity.

Like he hated her.

"I should have stayed at Hogwarts," Rose spat angrily. "I wish I never had to see you ever again!"

She spun and ran upstairs to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Ignoring the rules about under aged magic, she performed a locking spell on the door, and then threw herself face-down on her bed, trying to stop herself from crying.

She could hear her parents fighting downstairs. Usually when they had a serious fight they cast a muffling charm so that their children couldn't hear; but apparently both of them were too agitated to think of it just then. Rose hugged her pillow as tight as she could. She could hear her Mum defending her, but that almost made her feel worse, knowing that she was the reason they were fighting so violently.

She half-expected to hear Hugo knocking on the door; the few other times Mum and Dad were fighting so badly they forgot to cast the muffling charm, he'd always crept into her room for comfort. But the door remained silent. Rose didn't even know if she wanted her little brother there. She didn't think she could make him feel any better, considering how she felt... but it might have been nice not to be alone.

It was sometime later when Rose awoke to a gentle knocking on her door. Apparently she'd fallen asleep at some point during the fight. After a while, when she just about couldn't take any more, she remembered that she knew how to cast a silencing charm now. Exhausted from her journey and from the heightened emotions, she must have drifted off.

Since she could hear the knocking, clearly the silencing charm had worn off once she'd fallen asleep; probably that meant the locking charm had, too.

"Sweetie?" Mum's voice came from the other side of the door. "Are you okay?"

Rose hugged her pillow again. "I guess so," she called.

"Your father's gone."

Rose sat up abruptly. She flung herself off the bed and rushed to the door.

"What?" she gasped, as she opened the door to look at her mother. "He left?"

"Oh, no, honey, don't worry," Mum said soothingly as she took Rose into her arms. "He's not gone for good. He'll be back in a while, after he cools down. He's probably at your Uncle Harry's."

"Oh," Rose said quietly.

"Why don't you come on downstairs?" Mum suggested. "We can have cocoa."

"Thanks," Rose sniffled, "but not right now, okay? Maybe in a little bit."

"That's fine, Rosie." Mum stroked her hair gently. "Take all the time you need. Do you want to talk?"

"I guess so," she said. "Maybe. Oh, I don't know."

"It's hard for him, but he does love you, Rosie, very much."

"He didn't sound like it," Rose mumbled. "He sounded like he thought... like he thought I wouldn't care if someone killed you. Because of who my friend's parents are."

"Oh, sweetie, he doesn't think that," Mum told her, hugging her tightly. "He just needs time. It's harder for your Dad, I think."

"Why?" Rose asked.

"Well, because it was me they hated so much. All Muggleborns, really. Sometimes it can be harder to forgive someone for what they did to someone you loved than it can be to forgive someone for what they did to you. Do you understand?"

Rose thought about Professor Bole, and Professor Bradley, and she nodded.

"Yes," she said. "I understand."

Mum rocked her back and forth, and Rose made no move to pull away.

Maybe it was cowardly, but Rose had no desire to see her father after their fight. He'd come home later that night and knocked on her door, but she just yelled at him to go away. Thankfully, he didn't push the issue.

Though Mum's Christmas vacation had already begun, her father's holiday didn't start until the day before Christmas Eve, so he wasn't home during the day. Rose didn't emerge from her room until the next day, when she knew he'd be at work.

Nobody was downstairs, but that was fine with her. In the kitchen sat a pot of hot chocolate, kept warm by a heating charm, and Rose poured herself a mug and curled up on the couch.

She took out her schoolbooks, but for once she didn't feel like looking at them. Instead she stared at the family Christmas tree, covered in ornaments, so comforting and familiar. At the top that silly star still sat, the one she'd made with popsicle sticks and golden glitter, back when she was five years old and still attended Muggle school.

The tree was a little lopsided, the branches were thicker on the left side than on the right, there was a hole near the top that all the tinsel in the world couldn't hide, and it was brown in a few spots.

As a little kid, Rose had always envied the Potters' Christmas tree. Their tree had always been huge, green, perfectly balanced, in fact perfect in every way. But Hermione always insisted on a normal Muggle tree, without any magical changes or enhancement. She said that imperfection was part of the charm.

Rose had to admit, something about this left-leaning, flaw-filled tree made her feel more cosy, more comfy and at-home than a perfect one would have.

"What are you thinking about?"

Rose looked up; she hadn't seen her mother approaching. Now Mum sat next to her on the sofa.

"Christmas trees," Rose answered. "How you always liked the flaws. And I guess, about how different everything was last year at Christmas."

Mum nodded. "Everything changes," she said. "That's what growing up is all about."

"I'd just been so sure, last year, where I would be this year," Rose said.

Her Mum nodded again. "I know how you feel," she said.

Rose looked at her mother skeptically, and Mum laughed gently, putting her arm around her daughter's shoulders.

"I understand better than you may think, sweetie. Remember, I'd no idea witches and wizards even existed until the summer I got my letter from Hogwarts. In fact, my parents hadn't planned to send me to boarding school at all. Moving away when I was eleven was a complete surprise. So my first Christmas home from Hogwarts was pretty different, too."

"Your family wouldn't have known the difference, what House you'd been in. They didn't know enough to think one way or another about Sorting." Rose sighed, and took a sip of her cocoa.

"That's true," Mum agreed. "But there were so many things I could never share with them. There was a huge part of my life they could just... never know. Which meant there was a huge part of me they could never know."

Rose was surprised into silence. She hadn't expected to hear own feelings come out of her mother's mouth- because that was how she felt, almost exactly. Like there was something inside of her that her family could never understand, and as time went by, that part would only grow larger and larger.

But she couldn't tell her mother that. She couldn't bear to see the pain on her mother's face if she did.

"My friends are good," Rose said instead. "No matter what their parents did."

Mum didn't say anything for a while, and eventually Rose looked up at her, worried by the prolonged silence.

"Rosie..." Her mother hesitated. "I probably shouldn't say this, but all I can think is that not telling you, not explaining, would only make things worse for you. You're growing up, and you're so smart... I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say."

Then Mum paused, and she was quiet for a long time. Just when Rose was about to burst and exclaim Just tell me!, her mother finally continued.

"I wish I could... the last thing I want to do is make things harder for you. I want you to know that I trust you, and I trust your judgment. I don't think you'd become good friends with a bad person." Mum smiled sadly. "I know that, but when it comes to the daughter... or the children... of people who wanted to kill me, and who were so cruel to me at school... I trust you and believe in you, but that doesn't make the feelings disappear. I wish I could erase them, but I can't."

Rose nodded slowly. She thought she understood what her mother was saying: her Mum wasn't perfect. Rose was old enough to know that grown-ups had faults, but she was young to wish she could still believe her mother could fix anything.

"Were there any Slytherins that you liked?" Rose asked quietly.

"There were Slytherins I didn't hate," Mum said slowly, apologetically. "There were a couple of Slytherins who I respected. Al's named for one of them."

"Severus Snape," Rose murmured. "But he was your professor."

Mum nodded.

"And," Mum continued with a smile, tightening her arm around Rose in a half-hug, "right now there's one Slytherin I love to pieces."

Rose did her best to smile back.

She wanted to tell her mother about her own problems, her own confusions. But after what Mum had said, how could she be objective about things like Professor Bole? How could she forgive Rose for sometimes liking the professor who was so mean to Albus, who had probably been one of those girls who were so mean to Mum during her school days, no matter how guilty Rose felt about it?

No, things like that were best left unsaid.

A lot of things were different this year, but there was still some comforting familiarity to be had. The family still kept the same schedule they'd had every year, as long as Rose could remember.

The morning of Christmas Eve was reserved for Nana and Grandpa Granger. That was usually fun; they always got weird, but cool, Muggle gifts. Mum seemed to like when Rose and Hugo got some exposure to the Muggle world, and Rose wondered why they only visited twice a year.

She was ready early that morning, and came downstairs to see Dad with his hand on Mum's shoulder. They were talking in low, serious voices, but Rose couldn't hear what they were saying. The moment they saw her, of course, they stopped talking and acted like nothing was going on.

"Rosie, how's Hugo this morning? Will he be ready soon?" Mum asked.

Rose shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I'm not even sure if he's awake." Her little brother had been avoiding her ever since the Christmas holidays had started. She wished she knew why, but even at the best of times you could never really be sure what was going on inside Hugo's head.

"I'd better go check on him," Mum said. She headed up the stairs, leaving Rose and her father alone together for the first time since she'd gotten back.

Since that disastrous first night, Rose had avoided her father as best she could. A few times, he'd knocked on her bedroom door. When she didn't answer, he spoke through the door, telling her that he was sorry and that he loved her. Besides that, they hadn't had any contact.

Rose kept her eyes on the floor as she made her way towards the kitchen. Nana and Grandpa Granger always had a big breakfast ready, but if Hugo wasn't up yet it might be a while before they left, and Rose was hungry now...

Oh, who was she kidding? She just didn't want to be in the same room as Dad.

"Rosie, wait," he said quietly.

Rose paused, undecided about what to do. She compromised by standing in place, but refusing to look in his direction. She kept her eyes trained on the floor near the kitchen door.

"Rosie, I'm very sorry about yelling at you the way I did," Dad told her.

What was she supposed to say to that? 'It's okay'? It wasn't. She settled for just nodding in response.

"I was wrong to speak to you like that," her father continued. "It's just hard for me sometimes."

"And you think it's not hard for me?" Rose answered, still not looking at him.

"I know it is," Dad said. "I'm sorry for making things worse. It's just, the friends you've chosen-"

"Most of my House mates have Slytherin parents," Rose told the kitchen door. "Okay, a couple have parents who attended Durmstrang. So what do you want me to do? Go through Hogwarts friendless?"

"Of course I don't want you to be friendless, Rosie."

"Then what is it you think I should do?"

He didn't seem to have a ready answer to that. After several moments of silence, Rose resumed her trek to the kitchen.

"Rosie... please be careful," said her father. "I know it's your house and you're proud of it, but I worry. There are a lot of bullies in Slytherin."

Rose raised her eyebrows. She turned on her heel and, for the first time since the first night she got back, she looked her father right in the eye.

"In my year, I'm the leader of the Slytherin girls," she told him coolly, but with a hint of pride. "I decide if my girls do any bullying."

Her Dad was rendered speechless. He just stared at her, his mouth moving soundlessly. He looked, Rose thought a bit meanly, like a fish.

"Oh, and the leader of the boys?" she added. "That's Scorpius Malfoy. So I don't think I need to worry too much about bullies-he's a friend of mine, you know."

It wasn't really a lie. Sure, Scorpius wasn't one of her best friends, but he was extremely close to both Liatris and Tony, so they spent a fair bit of time together and got on fine when they did. More to the point, it was completely true that Scorpius wouldn't set bullies on Rose.

But of course, none of that changed the fact that she'd said it almost exclusively because she knew it would upset her father. And, judging from the look on his face, she'd succeeded with flying colours.

Before he could gather his thoughts enough to respond, she spun around again, and went into the kitchen. A few minutes later, Mum came downstairs with Hugo in tow, so her father never got a chance to continue the conversation before they left.

"Rosie! Hugo!"

Rose and her brother were greeted by their grandparents with hugs and effusive welcomes.

"How are you, sweetie?" Nana Granger asked as she released Rose from a hug. She kept hold of Rose's shoulders and held her at arms length, looking her granddaughter up and down. "You've grown so much!"

"I'm okay," Rose said, with a tentative smile.

"Just okay?" Nana asked, but Rose couldn't say more just then, since she and her grandmother were blocking the door, and had to move.

"Hermione. Ron." Nana and Grandpa Granger nodded at Mum and Dad as they entered the house.

Rose had never noticed it before, but... that was kind of weird, wasn't it? Nana and Grandpa were so happy and enthusiastic when they welcomed Rose and Hugo, but when it came to Mum and Dad, they sounded stiff and formal... almost cold.

But Rose didn't have a chance to think about it too much before everyone was ushered into the dining room and presented with a huge Christmas Eve brunch. Then there were presents, and Muggle movies, and Rose completely forgot that she'd noticed anything unusual.

After spending the day with the Granger grandparents, their family and the Potters had dinner together, with plentiful dessert and candy. Up until now, the kids drank cocoa while the adults enjoyed hot mulled wine. But last year, when James had finally entered Hogwarts, he was allowed half a mug of wine, and this year, Rose and Albus were also given that privilege.

"Thank you," Rose said quietly, clutching the mug as her Aunt Ginny ladled her some wine. She stuck close by Al as he wandered into the sitting room. She dawdled on the way, stopping him to chat about random things. But the house was only so big and it wasn't that far from the kitchen to the living room.

"Wait," she whispered, as Al began to head over to the couches.

He stopped and turned to look at his cousin. "What is it?" he asked.

Usually the parents and the children all mingled together on Christmas Eve, but this year Rose didn't want to be over there. Things with her Mum were pretty good, but everything was still awkward with Dad, and Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry... she just didn't know.

She wondered if they were talking about what she'd told Dad that morning. Rose hadn't planned whether or not to tell her family that she was considered a 'leader' in Slytherin house, and now she wished she hadn't. She was pretty sure that, had she really been in control of her emotions, it was not something she'd have mentioned.

And she definitely hadn't intended to bring up Scorpius Malfoy.

"I- I'd rather not sit with our parents, this year," she said quietly.

"What's going on?" A bright voice piped up from beside Rose, who jumped in surprised, almost spilling her mulled wine.

It was Lily, of course. The younger girl had practically glued herself to Rose's side the moment she'd arrived at the Potters' house, but for once it didn't seem annoying. The younger girl was delighted by the attention of this favourite older cousin she idolized, and she was excellent at keeping parental tension at bay. She seemed the only one not at all affected by Rose's status as Slytherin.

"Rose doesn't want to sit with our parents," Albus said, quietly.

"Oh," Lily whispered. "Because of the House thing?"

"Something like that," Rose murmured.

A new voice spoke up. "Well, let's have our own party then!"

Rose whirled to see James standing behind her.

"Our own party?" she asked.

"Sure. Why not?" He shrugged. "We can go to my room."

"I'll go get Hugo," Lily said, bouncing off to where the parents were settling down. Hugo was already with them, having apparently missed the rest of the cousins as they gathered in the corner.

Christmas music was playing loudly, so Rose couldn't hear what they were saying from across the room. Lily grabbed Hugo's hand, but he glanced over at the cousins and pulled away, to Lily's visible surprise. To Rose's shock, Hugo climbed into Dad's lap, even though he really was too old for that kind of thing.

Rose guessed that Lily was telling him exactly that, judging from the exasperated look on her cousin's face and the defensive one on her brother's. Lily tried one last time to wheedle Hugo, but he just shook his head fiercely, wrapping his arms around Ron's neck.

Lily rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air, giving up. She said something to the grown-ups, grabbed her mug of cocoa from the table, and headed back over to where Rose, Albus and James were standing.

"He won't come!" she exclaimed, sounding annoyed.

"Why not?" Al asked.

"Oh, who knows." Lily put one hand on her hip as she shook her head in irritation. "He's just being ridiculous. Anyway, I told everyone we're going to James's room for a while, and they said okay."

Rose could hardly believe her luck. When she'd told Albus to wait, she'd expected to end up dragged over to the couches in the name of family togetherness. Instead, she and her cousins were going upstairs, just the four of them, where the grown-ups couldn't even see them!

She could hardly get up the stairs fast enough.

It would probably be unfair to call James's room a pigsty- she was sure a lot of boys his age were a lot messier. But Rose had inherited her organizational skills from her mother, so her own idea of 'disorganized' was when she left her books open on the desk because she wasn't finished studying. But this time, she didn't mention anything as they entered, which apparently surprised James.

"What, no exclamations of disgust?" he asked, as they settled on his bed. "No scolding me over the state of my bedroom?"

Rose laughed. "That would hardly be fair, would it, given you rescued me from our parents?" she pointed out. "Besides, Liatris isn't the neatest person in the world, and she's in the bed next to mine at Hogwarts. So I'm getting used to seeing clutter around."

"Liatris... is that the blonde one?"

Rose and Albus both nodded.

James quirked his lips. "I'll have to remember to thank her."

"One of your House mates?" Lily asked eagerly.

"Of course." Rose laughed. "Did you think she could be in the bed next to mine if she were a Hufflepuff?"

Lily blushed, and Rose leaned over to bump shoulders with her gently. Her cousin looked over at her and smiled.

"So what's Hogwarts like?" she demanded.

"What, haven't James and Albus filled you in?"

"Well, yeah, about life in Gryffindor," Lily said, waving a hand dismissively. "Mum and Dad already told me plenty about that. What's Hogwarts like for you?"

Rose hesitated, and took a sip of her wine to buy herself a moment to think.

She'd always been very close to her Potter cousins. They spent so much time together, they were more like siblings than cousins, really. Even when Rose and James didn't get along, she viewed him more as an annoying older brother than anything.

But after that confrontation with her father that morning, she'd been becoming increasingly nervous about sharing too much of her Slytherin self with her family.

She lowered the mug from her lips and said, grinning, "Sorry, but unlike Gryffindors, we know a little thing called 'discretion.' I'm not about to give away House secrets!"

Luckily, this successfully redirected the conversation towards good-natured teasing about House rivalries, and who would win the Quidditch cup, which led to just talking about Quidditch.

Rose would have to be careful from now on, she realized. She was coming into herself as a Slytherin, but she couldn't show that side of herself to her family. When she was with the Weasleys (the Potters were considered part of the group, even if it wasn't technically their surname), she had to be sure to be Weasley Rose, rather than Slytherin Rose.

She paid enough attention to her cousins to joke and laugh with them, but only half her mind was on them. The other half was deep in thought.

Rose couldn't believe she'd been so stupid that morning. She'd known she shouldn't talk about her Slytherin life with her family! If she'd decided those sorts of things were best left unsaid with her mother, well, that was double-triple-a million times more true for Dad!

From now on, she promised herself. Her Slytherin life would stay at Hogwarts, with her Slytherin friends. Her Weasley life would stay at home, or when she was with her cousins far, far away from the Slytherin dungeons. There was no other way to do it.

No matter how angry she got at her father, she couldn't do things like that, things like mentioning Scorpius or other details of her life as a Slytherin that she knew would upset him. She couldn't let her anger get the best of her. She was better than that.

It was ironic- in order to fit in with the Weasleys, she would have to use everything that was most Slytherin about her, namely, her cunning, her manipulation, and her ability to mask her emotions. And what would most stand in her way in that endeavor was nothing other than the most Weasley thing about Rose: her temper.

Much as she dreaded any ramifications from what she'd said to her father this morning, she was glad that she'd come to this conclusion now, before the big, entire-Weasley-family celebration at the Burrow that would take place tomorrow. Imagine if she went around acting like her Slytherin self around the entire Weasley clan! It would be disastrous.

Her resolve set, she refocused her attention on her cousins, laughing as James prepared to sneak downstairs and get another mug of wine.

"Want any?" he asked.

Albus shook his head, but Rose cocked her head to the side and considered.

"Sure," she said. "That sounds good."

James grinned. "Awesome choice, Rosie."

Five minutes later he was back, with two full mugs of wine, and apparently without getting caught. He grinned and held up his mug, and they clinked their cups together.

The wine was delicious, and its warmth seemed to spread through Rose, and she relaxed even further. They all were really having a marvelous time. Lily was ecstatic when Rose let her have a few sips from her mug.

Eventually, it got quite late, and Rose heard Dad's voice calling from downstairs.

"Kids?" he yelled."You'll have to break up the party for now. It's after eleven, and time to get to bed. Come on, Rosie."

Rose was sad to leave, as the evening with her Potter cousins had been fun, and the most comfortable she'd felt since Christmas holidays had begun. She hugged them goodbye, feeling very glad that they'd all be there tomorrow at the Burrow.

The next morning they had a big Christmas breakfast- Rose suspected that it was secretly provided by Aunt Ginny, delivered before they were awake and kept under a heating charm- and opened all the presents under the tree.

Usually this was one of the best parts, but this year Rose's dread of the rest of the day, always spent at the Burrow, put a damper on most of Christmas morning. It hung over the whole morning, regardless of how delighted she was with the stack of thick books with spells and theory well above first year level (from Mum) or the new SilverBullet 3.0 broom, which technically wasn't released for sale for another week (from Dad).

When she'd opened that gift, her mouth dropped open and her eyes became as wide as saucers.

"In Merlin's name!" Rose breathed. "Dad! Thank you so much! This is... wow!"

She took a time out from ignoring her father to squeal and hug him, because the broom was a pretty amazing gift.

If she were being uncharitable, she might think to herself that he'd bought it before he'd heard about her friendship with Peony; but it wasn't like he could have bought it before he found out she was a Slytherin. It proved he'd intended to be supportive, and that wasn't nothing. Plus, after their fight yesterday, he could have just not put it under the tree last night.

After that, they spent the morning in an unspoken but obvious truce.

But all too soon, it was time to get ready to go to the Burrow. Rose dressed as slowly as she could, dawdling as she removed her pyjamas and changed into holiday clothes. She took more care than was strictly necessary as she packed the gifts for her cousins (as well as a few of her new books) into a bag.

"Rosie! Come on, we'll be late!" Mum yelled from downstairs, and reluctantly Rose picked up her bag and trudged down the stairs, stopping by the sofa to grab her new broom as well.

"Rosie, do you really have to wear that?" Dad asked, with a sigh.

Rose looked down at the green-and-silver scarf wrapped around her neck. She considered playing dumb and asking what was wrong with her robes, but dismissed the idea.

"Yes," she said shortly. "It's cold out, and we'll be playing Quidditch." She may be hiding her Slytherin personality, but no way was she going to pretend she was ashamed of her House.

Dad looked like he wanted to argue, but although he didn't look happy about it, he restrained himself. Mum put one hand on Dad's shoulder and her other on Rose's.

"We're already late," she said. "Come on."

The moment Rose stepped out of the fireplace in the Burrow, she felt as tense as though she'd entered a battleground. She glanced around and assessed the room quickly. After depositing her gifts under the Christmas tree, Rose headed over to the fold-out chairs near the stairwell, on the far side of the room from the kitchen.

Aunt Fleur was not usually Rose's favourite of all the aunts, but she'd attended Beauxbatons, so chances were she couldn't care less which House Rose was in. Uncle Bill was one of the most easy-going of the Weasleys, and of course, Victoire and especially Dominique had already been supportive. Yes, that branch of the family was probably her best bet.

"Rosie!" Uncle Bill exclaimed, standing up to give her a big hug. He eyed her scarf with more amusement than anything. "How's my favourite Slytherin?"

Rose grinned at this welcome. "Much better after hearing you say that," she admitted. "Happy Christmas, you lot!"

"'Ello, darling," Aunt Fleur answered. Louis, their youngest son, murmured something in his dreamy, distracted way. Rose decided to interpret it as a greeting.

Victoire was distracted as well as she smiled, "Happy Christmas." But unlike her brother, her attention was focused on something specific, namely, the object still clutched in Rose's hands. Dominique wasn't just distracted by it; she seemed at first unable to speak, simply staring, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"Dominique?" Rose asked, a little amused. "Anybody home?"

"Is that-- are you holding-- that's the new SilverBullet model, isn't it?" Dominique exclaimed.

"The three-point-oh, yep," Rose agreed. "I just got it this morning."

"Jealous!" Dominique exclaimed.

"I'm surprised Ron bought that for you, considering it might be used in a year or two to help Slytherin beat Gryffindor," Uncle Bill said, voice full of suppressed laughter.

Rose snickered. "You know, I don't think that's occurred to him yet."

"Well, we'll all know when it does." Uncle George spoke up from behind Rose, who jumped in surprise. "They'll be able to hear his scream in China."

"Uncle George!" Rose exclaimed, throwing his arms around her favourite uncle.

He hugged her back. "Mind you, I might shed a few tears if my niece is ever the reason Gryffindor loses to Slytherin," he warned her.

Just then she was startled by a shriek across the room, and she whirled around. Her alarm faded as she realized that it had been a happy shriek-- Lucy and Roxie were rough-housing again. Roxie appeared to have stolen one of Lucy's new toys, and both girls were laughing as Lucy tried to wrestle her doll back. Roxie managed to wriggle away, and she took off across the room, with her cousin in hot pursuit.

"Roxanne, don't steal your cousin's toys," Uncle George called half-heartedly to his daughter.

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Lucy doesn't seem to mind."

She watched fondly as Roxie fled through the back door, Lucy following close behind, both of them giggling madly. Considering Molly's disposition, it was surprising her seven-year-old sister could be so good-humoured about the toy theft.

"Lucy doesn't," George answered. "She never does. But Percy always gets snippy if I don't at least pretend to reprimand Roxie. He has trouble understanding that his daughter has a sense of humor, not having one himself."

"Well, that one of his daughters has a sense of humor." Dominique rolled her eyes, and Rose grinned at her.

"Well, one daughter who might grow up to be an okay person is better than none, anyway," Rose pointed out.

"You're really unhappy with Molly," Uncle George noted.

"She told me I should be ashamed of being a Slytherin and basically that all of my new friends are Death Eaters. So she's not exactly my favourite person, no," Rose answered. "Though to be fair, if she hadn't been such a prat, I doubt everyone else would have accepted it so... eagerly."

"She certainly is her father's daughter, isn't she?" Uncle George snickered.

Rose tilted her head to the side questioningly.

Uncle Bill sighed. "Your Uncle Percy, as a child, also had a way of alienating others with his uptight ways," he explained, somewhat reluctantly.

"'As a child'?" Uncle George repeated, with an eye roll. "As opposed to now, when he still tells me I'm squandering my life with my 'stupid joke shop'? Never mind that I make twice his annual salary in a month."

"And bring a whole lot more joy to life," added Rose, who honestly couldn't imagine the world without Weasley Wizarding Wheezes products.

The next few hours were some of the most awkward of Rose's life. Nobody said anything, nothing overt anyway, but not all of her family members were as nonchalant as those in that corner. Several times, she was sure she heard the word "Malfoy" cropping up in some of the adults' whispered conversations, but twirl as she might she never actually located a source. Even if her House made them uncomfortable, Rose couldn't believe that so many adults didn't even seem to attempt to hide it from her.

For the first time in her life, she looked around at the people who filled the Burrow, and she felt like an outsider.

Even as they opened presents and ate her Grandmum Weasley's excellent Christmas dinner, all Rose could think was how much she wanted it to be time for the family Quidditch match. She just knew all her worries would be swept from her mind just as soon as she was flying through the air on her broom.

Besides, being out in the yard playing Quidditch with a team sounded a lot more appealing than being inside the house feeling like an intruder.

Finally, Uncle Charlie announced it was time for the game.. Rose grabbed her broomstick (which hadn't left her side since she'd gotten it), pulled on her winter robes, tied on her scarf, and ran for the door. Albus was close behind her.

"You're so lucky," he griped. "I can't believe you actually have your own broom now! I still have to use old discarded ones."

"Oh, yes, that old, discarded broom your Mum used when she played for the Holyhead Harpies," Rose pointed out, with a laugh. "It's a professional model!"

Albus, refusing to be placated, just rolled his eyes. "It was," he corrected. "Like, twenty years ago."

Aunt Ginny apparently overheard the last part, and she punched Al lightly in the shoulder.

"Twenty years?" Aunt Ginny asked. "Just how old do you think I am, anyway?"

Al just folded his arms. "You know what I mean," he said, apparently of the opinion that as he hadn't gotten a broom for Christmas, he didn't owe his mum any apologies.

Rose just grinned.. "Be nice and I'll give you a turn riding it," she told him.

Though Al still grumbled something about it not being fair, he couldn't stop his eyes from lighting up at the prospect of getting to ride a SilverBullet 3.0.

"Alright then, let's choose teams!" Uncle Charlie exclaimed, clapping his hands and rubbing them together.

Lily insisted that she wanted to play that year, which brought the number of players to thirteen and made the teams uneven. There was some squabbling until Victoire went back into the Burrow and convinced Uncle Bill to play as well.

"Which makes two teams of seven!" Victoire announced, with satisfaction. "We actually have enough for two full teams, for the first time ever!"

It took some time and some flooing to a couple of houses to grab extra brooms, but they rustled up enough. This Christmas, it was Aunt Ginny and Uncle Charlie's turns to be team captains.

Back several years ago, there had been some worry about choosing teams, since it might hurt the younger children to be chosen last. It had been a problem until Mum suggested that if one of the cousins was young enough to throw a temper tantrum at being picked last, then he or she was too young to play in the family Quidditch game.

Now the younger kids looked as cheerful as they possibly could, no matter when they were chosen. Rose couldn't really see what the big deal was, anyway. Sure, the adults might choose each other based on ability, but once it was time to choose the cousins, it was pretty strictly oldest to youngest.

Rose ended up on Uncle Charlie's team, with Uncle Harry, Aunt Angelina, Uncle Bill, Dominique, and Fred. Some of the family had to rotate positions to get time in their favourite, but luckily, Beater wasn't that popular and Rose could whack Bludgers at people to her heart's content.

Aunt Ginny managed to capture the Snitch within the first ten minutes of the first game. While Rose was disappointed that her team lost, it did mean this would be a best-of tournament, and she always enjoyed it when they played multiple games.

"Okay, same rules as usual," Uncle Charlie announced. "The scores from each game don't carry over, just a tally of who won and who lost. If the third game isn't finished by seven o'clock, it's best of three. If we're at the fourth or fifth game by seven, it's best of five... and so on. Any questions?"

There weren't. The next game took a bit longer, but it was only half an hour before Uncle Harry snagged the Snitch and the victory for their team. The score was one to one, and it wasn't even five o'clock yet.

Rose was playing against her Dad, but then all of them were playing against immediate family members. She suspected Uncle Charlie took perverse pleasure in splitting the families up when he could, but just now she really didn't mind slamming balls at her father as hard as she could. It felt therapeutic, actually. After his blow up that horrible first day back, her father had done his best to be nice, but things were far from mended.

Still, Rose was shocked at her intense satisfaction as one of her Bludgers hit right on target, and Dad was thrown off his broom. He managed to keep grip with his hands, and hauled himself back onto the broom with a grimace at Rose, but it had been so great, hitting that big ball at him with so much force and seeing it collide and slam into him with an audible 'thunk'...

Rose was possibly harbouring more resentment for her father than she'd admitted to herself.

The third game Rose's team won as well, with Uncle Charlie capturing the Snitch easily. The fourth game, however, went on forever. That was partly due to Rose's efforts. James was playing Seeker for the other team, and twice when it seemed he was about to nab the Snitch, Rose managed to knock him over with a Bludger so he missed his mark. She just grinned when her cousin scowled at her. After last night, Rose was feeling fonder of James than she'd ever been before, but everyone knew you couldn't let something like that affect how you played Quidditch.

Unfortunately, though Rose's team generally had the better Seekers, Aunt Ginny's team had the best Chasers, and Uncle Bill, on Rose's team, was only middling as a Keeper. As the game dragged on, the other team racked up more and more points. When Uncle Harry finally caught the Snitch, their team was aghast to realize that, even with the 150 points that came with the little golden ball, they'd lost the game by just ten points, 210 to 200.

Seven o'clock was approaching, so they knew the fifth game would be their last. Whichever team won the next game would be the Christmas winners.

Fred tried to convince the team that they should put in their strongest Seekers, either Uncle Harry or Uncle Charlie, but the grown-ups insisted that it was a friendly game and that everyone should get a chance to play their preferred position. Since Dominique had made the Gryffindor team that year as a Seeker, she should have the honor of playing her position in the deciding game.

Rose might have agreed with Fred if she hadn't liked Dominique so much; but given her extreme affection for her boy-crazy, outspoken cousin, she had no objection to letting her play Seeker for this last game.

It turned out not to matter anyway. After a fierce match lasting nearly an hour, Dominique spotted the Snitch and immediately threw herself into spectacularly steep and fast dive. The Snitch was darting around, just out of her reach, as she pulled her broom back to a more horizontal position, and Albus wasn't far behind her in his quest to catch the Snitch.

Hooking her legs around the broom tightly, Dominique, chasing after the little ball all the while, swung herself in a circle, upside-down and back up again. On her second pass, she cupped her right hand around the Snitch and, once she was upright again, clapped her left hand over top of it.

They'd won!

"That move was amazing!" Rose cried, as Dominique did several celebratory loops through the air. Her cousin grinned at her, and they flew by each other to high-five.

"Thanks!" Dominique exclaimed.

"You have to teach me how to do that."

"Sorry, no can do!" Dominique said. "I love you, Rosie, but no way am I training up a future Slytherin opponent."

Rose stopped cold, and stared as her beautiful cousin soared by, her laughter chiming like bells, long hair flowing behind. She didn't even realize she'd said anything wrong- telling Rose she was sure to make the team was a compliment, after all.

Dominique's hair was a pure, Veela-style platinum blonde-unless you saw it glinting in the sunlight. The sun had already set, but it seemed the radiantly bright lights her family had conjured up to illuminate the field were enough reveal the shining red highlights that rippled through her hair.

The fiery red and golden streaks looked, to Rose, like insults meant just for her. I'm a real Weasley, they seemed to say. And really, red with hints of gold? Even Weasley hair was in Gryffindor colours!

As rest of her team celebrated the victory, Rose just sat there, hovering in the air, unable to move.

Even when playing Quidditch... even Dominique...

My hair's the real Weasley red, Rose thought, irrelevantly.

Quidditch was supposed to be her refuge, and Dominique had been so nice, so understanding... but even she saw Rose as an outsider. None of the Weasleys would ever have dreamed of refusing to teach one of their cousins a new Quidditch skill. Until now.

Rose felt tears welling up behind her eyes, and she cursed them. How could she be so childish! So immature! Crying because her cousin wouldn't show her a Quidditch move...

But try as she might, Rose knew that she wouldn't be able to hold back her tears. She didn't want anyone to see her cry. They might be her family, but she didn't belong anymore, and she never would again. Well, fine- let them keep her out. She'd just keep them out, too, that was all.

And she'd be damned if they saw how much it upset her.

So while her team mates were celebrating, and the other team were getting off their brooms looking disappointed, Rose angled her broom and zoomed towards the ground. Quick as she could, she ducked around the house and leaned forward. The SilverBullet really was incredibly fast- in a matter of moments she was in the woods, dodging her way between trees as she flew in the dark, hoping nobody had noticed her fly off. Or, if they had, not soon enough to come after her.

She flew until it was too hard to see through her tears, and she was afraid she might hit something. Abruptly, she halted and dropped her broom. This was no graceful dismount; the bright, new broom fell against the ground as Rose collapsed beside it, lying in whatever way her body happened to crumble. Something was poking into her side and she felt frozen dirt against her cheek, but she couldn't be bothered to move. She just cried and cried.

If only her friends saw her now- the great leader of the Slytherin girls! What a joke that was. If any of them saw her like this, lying on the ground sobbing her eyes out, they'd see her for what she was: a pathetic loser who couldn't even keep control of herself, let alone others. They'd know she was nothing but a fake, who had somehow, by sheer luck, managed to...

No.

Rose sat up.

Peony and Liatris and Tony... they were her friends. Good, true friends. If they saw her right now, they would offer comfort, not disdain.

She wiped at her tears. They were still falling, but more slowly now, drops rather than streams running down her face.

And she wasn't a fake! Rose was good at being a Slytherin. She was great at it! She'd gotten what every Slytherin is supposed to want- power- and she'd done it without even trying. Luck didn't last four months.

She hadn't accidentally gotten power and the Slytherins' respect just because she'd stumbled into it. It may have been accidental, but that was because it was effortless. Scorpius, smart and charismatic as he was, had needed to plot and scheme in order to take over. But she, Rose Weasley, had just... done it. Simple and easy as breathing, and requiring about as much forethought.

Well, her father was right about one thing: House mattered.

The Sorting Hat's decision had changed everything.

She couldn't trust her family. She loved them, and they loved her, but they'd always keep her at arms length. They'd look over at her from the corner of their eye, and think, She's not really a Weasley.

But they can't reject me if I beat them to it!

She felt triumphant and empty as she thought of it.

They'd be polite to each other, of course, but she had to close herself off. She had to stop caring about being a part of the Weasley clan. Her heart belonged in Slytherin now. She didn't need these people to love her; she had her friends. She had a new home now, and it would be every bit as good as the old one. Better even.

Rose stood up, wiping the last of the tears from her face. She picked up her broom and carefully brushed it off, and cast some glamours to hide any evidence she'd been crying.

And, she resolved, as she remounted her broom, she'd beat them at Quidditch. Maybe Beaters weren't seen as the reason for a victory, but she'd find a way. Knock Dominique off her broom right before she'd have caught the snitch, maybe.

Rose lifted off the ground, and rose above the trees this time; partly because she didn't want to dodge trunks and shrubs again, and partly because she wasn't quite sure which direction the Burrow was. Once she was above the leafless winter trees and dark pines, it was simple to see where to go. It was dark out, but as those lights outside the Burrow still shining, that just made it even easier to find.

Once Rose was on the team, Slytherin would beat Gryffindor out for the Cup every year. And Rose would go up there with her team and accept it, and celebrate. She didn't need any help from Dominique.

She didn't need help from any of her family.

It was with that resolve that she made her way back to the Burrow.

"Rosie!" called Albus as soon as he saw her fly up. "Where did you go? You promised I could take a spin on your broom!"

Despite herself, Rose couldn't help smiling a little at his eagerness. She landed beside him and relinquished the SilverBullet. As she watched the delight in his eyes as he mounted it and pushed off the ground, she felt an unexpected- and unwanted- wave of fondness wash over her.

Oh, who was she kidding? She couldn't just stop caring about Albus. He was her best friend. She'd promised him that wouldn't change if he were Sorted into Slytherin, and she knew he didn't want it to change when it had happened to her, instead.

Well, maybe she could make an exception for Al.

"Rosie!"

Rose turned to see Dominique jogging up to her. She made sure to keep her expression completely neutral.

"Where'd you go off to?" Dom wanted to know.

"Just wanted to try the SilverBullet in the woods," Rose answered, allowing her face to betray nothing.. "It definitely gives you practice dodging."

"Especially after dark like this!" Dominique agreed. "You know, Rosie, you were pretty amazing out there. You're going to make one hell of a Beater once you're on the Slytherin team. Give the rest of us a real run for our money."

"We don't even know if I'll make the team," Rose pointed out.

"Are you kidding?" Dominique asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Of course you will! Maybe not next year, because neither of the Slytherin Beaters are Seventh Years. But definitely in your third year, once Davies is gone. You're amazing."

Rose blushed, not sure what to say. What would Rose the Weasley Family Member do?

She settled on a simple, "Thanks, Dom."

"Al! Rosie! Dominique!" A voice called from inside the Burrow. Rose and Dominique turned; Uncle Harry was standing in the doorway.

"What are you kids still doing outside?" he asked. "Supper's ready. Aren't you hungry after all that Quidditch?"

"But Dad!" Albus whined from far above their heads. "I'm still testing out the SilverBullet!"

"I'm sure Rosie will let you use it plenty more times," Uncle Harry answered. He rolled his eyes and smiled warmly at Rose, his green eyes laughing.

Rose, a little taken aback at such familiar behavior after all she'd been thinking in the woods, couldn't help but smile back at her uncle.

"I promise, Al," she yelled up towards the sky. "Next time you visit, or vice versa."

"Oh, fine," he grumbled. He landed and relinquished the broom to Rose, reluctantly.

"Does that offer stand for me?" Dominique asked. "I'd love to take the three-point-oh for a spin."

Rose was, thankfully, spared from answering as Uncle Harry spoke again.

"Come on, you three. Everyone's waiting on you for supper."

As they made their way back into the Burrow, Dominique slipped her arm around Rose's waist.

"It was nice being together on a team," she whispered warmly into Rose's ear. "I wish we could be team mates at school. That's the only real downside about the House thing."

Rose slipped her arm around Dominique's waist as well. Okay, maybe she wouldn't have to knock her cousin off her broom every time Slytherin played Gryffindor.

As she sat down, Rose looked around the room at all her family members again, talking and laughing and passing each other various dishes. Maybe she'd had the right idea yesterday. Really, if she thought about it, staying on good terms with them was the Slytherin to do. There was no point burning bridges, and the Weasleys were a pretty important family these days.

For them, she could be little Rosie, typical Weasley cousin. And in return, they'd never have to know Rose, rising star of Slytherin.

She dug into her supper. Uncle Harry was right; after all that Quidditch (and crying), she was simply starving.