I took a deep breath as I waved goodbye to my parents who were stood huddled together at the edge of the platform, their arms draped protectively over my little brother Hugo, his own bright blue eyes looked like they were fighting back the tears my Mum had already given in to - huh, who knew Hugo had feelings. I would miss the little runt though, maybe a little more than I'd care to admit to anyone but myself. That was all apart of going to Hogwarts, the missing people, my mum had told me that the day I received my letter, "Rosie, I cried every night for the first fortnight, I missed my parents, I missed my house, hell I even missed the homeless man that walked around my village with a trolley. It gets better though, I can promise you that, Hogwarts will become as much of a

home to you as here is". I let my Mum's words fill my mind as I turned my back on all I knew and entered the Hogwarts Express.

"Over here! Rosie!" James' obnoxiously loud voice bellowed from the door of a near compartment as swarms of people bustled past me."Got the best seats in the house, didn't I?"

"I guess so" I often found it was best to just agree with James - it saved a lot of arguments and hexes for both sides.

"Saved you a seat Rosie." my (favourite - but don't tell any of the others that) cousin Al smiled at me, patting the empty seat next to him, knowing I'd appreciate the window seat.

"Thanks Al." I looked around the rest of the now full compartment made up of my many cousins, namely James, Dominique, her sister Victoire, Roxanne and her younger brother Fred as well as Dom's best friend Isabella Falcone. "You nervous?"

"Why would I be nervous?" Al answered calmly.

"For the sorting." He had to be nervous, we were the children of the Golden Trio. Al knew the hefty expectations that weighed on his shoulders just as much as I did. Imagine the scandal if we were sorted into anything but Gryffindor. It would be splashed across the trashy magazines of the wizarding world without a doubt. Both Roxanne and Victoire had been sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively but the pressure wasn't nearly as great for them - Al, James, Lily, Hugo and I on the other hand would cause an uproar.

"You've got to really want it Rosie." I loved Al, he was my best friend in the whole world bar no-one but damn, that boy confused me sometimes.

"I've got to want what? Did you even listen to what I said?" I asked, wondering who'd cast a confundus charm on my cousin.

"Gryffindor." Al smirked. "That's what my Dad told me. The hat nearly put him in Slytherin but he said that he wanted Gryffindor so much it had no choice but to put him there."

"I never knew that." Huh, my Uncle Harry the almost-Slytherin. "But what if it doesn't work Al, what if i'm not meant to be a Gryffindor."

"You're the bravest person I know Rosie, you're a Gryffindor through and through." the soft voice of my sixth year cousin Victoire interrupted our conversation.

"She's also the smartest person I know" Roxanne chirped in from next to Victoire - oh great now everyone was about to have a mass debate about my potential house "Maybe she'll be a Ravenclaw."

"No way" James shouted from the door. "Rosie is going to be a Gryffindor, I bet you a galleon Roxy."

"Don't start your bets James, she's nervous as it is, look how pale she is" Dom nudged James in the side harder than probably necessary.

"You're on" Roxy ignored Dom's attempts to stop his immoral gambling and shook hands with James.

"What about Hufflepuff?" Fred smirked stifling a giggle and looked at his sister. "Imagine if you were a Huffy Rose."

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuffs Fred" Roxy sighed, rolling her eyes. "Ignore him Rose, he's being housist"

"If you turn out to be a Slytherin I'm disowning you as my cousin" James dead-panned - I knew he was joking but a part of me thought that maybe he wasn't. Maybe becoming a Slytherin wouldn't be too bad of a deal if it meant that James Potter would never speak to me again. The thought of a world free of James' constant teasing and annoying swipes was a happy one.

"Slytherin isn't all bad" the previously silent Isabella smiled warmly at me.

"That's because you went out with one for three months" Dom winked at her friend. "And from what I hear Rosie, they aren't a bad snog"

"Dominique" Isabella's previously pale complexion tinged pink at Dom's words.

"I know I'm going to be a Gryffindor" Al broke the awkward tension left hanging in the air of the compartment, all of us ignoring the grimace that had appeared on James' face.

"I'm glad you do." I muttered.

"Rosie, I don't lose bets. You're going to be a Gryffindor." James winked at me, the grimace replaced by his usual grin and for once in my life I prayed that James Potter was right.

The rest of the journey passed with the chatter and usual teasing that surrounded the Potter-Weasley cousins; mainly talk of parties that James said he was going to host, Quidditch try-outs and complaints of exams from Roxy and Victoire.

"It's even better in person isn't it" I grinned at Al as we walked through the corridors of the ancient castle following the herd of other first years. "I mean I've read about it so much but it really doesn't do it justice."

"It's amazing and this is our home now Rosie" His words reminded me of my Mum's "We've got to make the most of it, it'll be over before we know it"

"We've got seven years before we leave Al, it's our first bloody day!" I bumped Al with my shoulder and laughed at his sudden seriousness

"I know, I just don't want to waste a minute of it"

"We are now going to make our way into the Grand Hall" Al was interrupted by Headmaster McGonagall, her voice silencing the room. "Where you will be sorted into your

houses, your house at Hogwarts will be your family in many ways whilst here."

"Al! Rosie!" I turned to my right to see James and Fred at the Gryffindor table quickly sit down and shut up when Professor McGonagall shot them a look that read detention for a month as we made our way to the front of the large room.

The headmaster began to read names from her piece of parchment as each house gained an equal amount of students, each table cheering profusely whenever someone joined.

"Malfoy, Scorpius" Wait - why did I know that name? It was definitely familiar to me and then I remembered as a small blond boy took his seat in front of the Great Hall. I had been warned not to get too close to the son of my Dad's childhood enemy, it all seemed rather petty to me and I suspected my Mum would disagree with my Dad encouraging rivalry before I'd even stepped foot into the castle. The boy didn't look evil; I half-expected some sort of demon with red eyes and horns coming out of his forehead. In fact, he looked terrified as he squeezed his eyes shut as the hat seemingly spoke to him - his sorting had lasted a lot longer than any before him.

"Well if you insist...SLYTHERIN!" Scorpius relaxed as he ran off to join the green and silver table, his smile stretching from ear to ear - I imagine that's how I'll look if I get sorted into Gryffindor. A few more names were called before Al took his seat and was sorted into Gryffindor in about a second of the hat touching his head. I had to be a Gryffindor, I had to be.

"Weasley, Rose" a few cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table as I smiled weakly at my cousins before walking up the steps to what felt like my execution. Maybe this is what it feels like to be on death row, y'know just without the actual death and just the metaphorical death of my life.

"Another Weasley" the hat whispered as I closed my eyes "You're different though"

No I'm not. I'm a Weasley. A real Weasley.

"Yes yes very different. You've inherited your mother's brains I see, much more intelligent than most. You're a bright spark you are girl, Ravenclaw would suit you well."

No not Ravenclaw. Not Ravenclaw. Merlin, I'm going to be a Ravenclaw. No.

"Not a fan of Ravenclaw I see?"

I shook my head

"But your thirst for knowledge, it would be such a waste anywhere else."

No, not Ravenclaw. I'm not as clever as my Mum. I'm not.

"Very well. You're very loyal, yes you would do anything for your family wouldn't you? I see that, it's a big part of your personality."

No. I can't be a Hufflepuff. I can't. No. Please, no. I'm not nice enough - I once pushed James into a lake and wanted him to drown. Not Hufflepuff.

"Okay, okay. This is a difficult one."

Why, this isn't fair. Al got sorted in 2 seconds. Why me.

"You know exactly what you want"

Yes, yes I do. I know what house I want to be. Merlin, yes I do.

"Slytherin's are full of ambition."

No. No. No. Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin. Anything but Slytherin.

"It would serve you well - you could learn a lot in that house Rose"

No.

"That leaves us with Gryffindor"

Yes. Please. Yes, Gryffindor.

"You are a brave girl but you aren't reckless."

I am. I am definitely reckless. I can be reckless. Give me a chance.

"Your heart is full of courage. I can see that. "

Yes. Yes it is.

"The choice is yours."

What? What do you mean? I had never read of this happening before

"Any house would serve you well Rose Weasley."

Gryffindor

"Then so be it...GRYFFINDOR" the hat shouted, the table on the far right of the hall jumped up and down as I ran to join them, relief flooding every bone in my body.

"What happened up there Rosie?" Al questioned as he stuffed his mouth with as much food as he could get his hands on during the feast.

"What do you mean?" I asked, once again confused at his words. "You were sorted too"

"You were up there for a long time. What did it say to you?" I hadn't realised how long it had been, it felt like hours to me but assumed it had only been a minute or two.

"It told me to choose." I couldn't lie to my best friend, though I had every intention of lying to everyone else. "It tried to tell me I was suited to all of them."

"Even Slytherin?" Al's eyebrows raised as I nodded.

"Even Slytherin" But that didn't matter because I was here with Al sat at the Gryffindor table just as it was meant to be.

"Good thing it let you pick. I couldn't imagine you in Slytherin." He nodded over to the table on the far end of the Great Hall. The table seemed much quieter than ours, I spotted the small group of first years sat at the end of the table, Scorpius Malfoy chatting to a dark-haired boy I remembered to be called something Nott. Scorpius looked happy, maybe he was like me, felt the immense pressure of his family to be something that maybe you weren't sure you were. Either way today had ended well for both of us, we were exactly where we wanted to be.