Chapter 1: The Hogwarts Express

It was inevitable that Rose Weasley would share a compartment with her newly minted arch-rival after boarding the Hogwarts Express for their first ride to school. Rose resembled her mother, in bulldog tenacity, and physically, with frizzy hair and large, expressive eyes; however, their coloring of auburn and green were thanks to her father. Now that the train was underway, and they had finished waving at their parents, her wingman was her cousin Al, who was sitting beside her more quietly than usual. The cousins ignored the pile of puzzle books they had brought for the trip, but they ignored it for different reasons.

Albus Potter looked nothing like Rose's side of the family, but seemed to be a clone of his father, including his father's quiet temperament. While Rose had been at Platform 9¾ being warned by her father against the boy now sitting across from her, Al had been on the platform being reassured by his father that the family would still love him no matter which of the four Houses at Hogwarts he joined, and furthermore, that Al's own choice of House might determine the result of the Sorting ceremony. This amount of free will and adult responsibility required a lot of thought from the eleven year old.

Consequently, Al seemed as shy as ghostly pale Scorpius Malfoy, who had no wingman as he sat facing the challenging stare from Rose. She needed to assess the intellectual threat he posed, following her father's command to "beat him at every test." There was a tradition of baiting first-years with outrageous stories of what awaited them at school, none more ridiculous than those of the fearsome battles of the Sorting ceremony. Because she already knew the truth about the tradition from her parents, and about how students were placed in the Houses, Rose went with this as her first salvo.

"So, what do you think the Sorting's going to be like? Think it'll be a troll this year, or wrestling the Giant Squid?" She peered wide-eyed and attentively as she asked, desperate to analyze his reaction.

Scorpius had been sitting rather stiffly, mirroring Rose's attention to him, but at the question, sat further back into his seat with what might have been a sigh and a quirk of his lips. Irritated, Rose added before Scorpius could answer, "My parents faced a troll."

He answered with his eyes closed, "The Sorting is done by the Sorting Hat. However, your parents facing a troll makes you Rose Weasley." This was true. A troll had been trapped in a girl's bathroom during her parent's first year, and Ron Weasley and his friend Harry had rescued Hermione, Rose's mother. Scorpius crossed his arms over his chest, looked back at Rose, and added, "My father went to school at the same time as yours, you know."

Rose glanced at Al for support. Al merely nodded absently at Scorpius, internally debating Hufflepuff House vs. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor House vs. Slytherin. She sat back, crossed her arms and said, "Fine. You're a Malfoy and I'm a Weasley, and I'm not allowed to marry a pureblood."

Scorpius blushed. "I haven't asked you to marry me. Yet. You sound angry about it."

Rose inhaled sharply to deny what he had said, but held her breath as she couldn't quite work out why.

Rose's father was really at fault for this unusual conversation; it had not occurred to Ron Weasley that he was putting ideas in his daughter's head. After telling Rose to beat young Malfoy at every test, Ron had then tried to keep her away from Scorpius, by telling Rose that her grandfather would not accept her marrying a pureblood. This was important news to the conscientious girl, and she had blurted it out to the boy she had just met because it concerned him, too.

Now, it looked like the girl and boy from opposing families were going to spend the rest of their school years imagining marrying each other. Their wide eyes gazed deeply and wonderingly, considering new questions they were too young to answer.

Al suddenly looked up and joined the conversation, allowing Rose to breathe again. He asked Scorpius, "What House do you think we'll be in?"

Scorpius was prevented from answering when the door to the compartment opened, admitting three more Weasley/Potter cousins, who took Rose's and Al's presence as invitation enough on the crowded train; Rose's glares had kept out previous seatmates. If Scorpius were discomfited by being outnumbered, he made no sign. They all shifted to accommodate the newcomers, who put their bags away on the upper rack. Cousin Dominique sat quietly, but the others did not.

"So, firsties, all getting sorted into Slytherin, are we?" Cousin Fred's sense of humor was not gentle; his father owned a joke shop. He knew that Uncle Ron had threatened to disinherit his children if they weren't sorted into Gryffindor. He sat next to Al.

"Aye, tha look reet shifty t'me." Al's older brother James had for some reason adopted an atrocious Scottish accent. He sat next to Scorpius and opposing his brother. "Canna have them contaminatin' th'other Houses - Slytherins fer sure." He stung all three first-years; Rose, because of her father's threat, Scorpius, because his family had always been in Slytherin, and Al because of the weeks of prior teasing by James, corrected only by their father's advice just previously on the platform.

Righteous indignation fueled Al's retort: "I think Slytherin will be happy to take me." He looked across the carriage to claim a new ally in Scorpius. "Score agrees with me, I bet."

"Certainly." Scorpius blinked at his new nickname, but was happy to oblige his new wingman. Rose blinked at the sudden shift in loyalties, and the confusing twinge of jealousy she felt. Score continued, "A younger brother often needs to be cunning, and it is natural to have ambition sufficient to get out from under an older brother's thumb. These are traditionally considered prime Slytherin qualities by those who don't know better." Everyone blinked at this.

Since everyone else was now staring at him, Score felt called upon to elaborate. "My mother taught me how the Sorting Hat really works."

Dominique spoke first. "Everyone who's been sorted knows how the Hat works. The four Founders valued different things, and the Houses promote different virtues: bravery for Gryffindor, loyalty for Hufflepuff, curiosity for Ravenclaw, and ambition for Slytherin." Dominique looked down her nose repressively at Scorpius as she finished.

Fred contradicted, "I thought that Gryffs were loyal, and Puffs hard-working."

James added, "And Claws are smart, and Snakes are sneaky or cunning, or whatever." Though he was verbally disagreeing with Dominique, he joined her in looking down repressively at Al and Scorpius.

Though he had no idea of what Score meant by "how the Sorting Hat really works," Al was quick to defend his new friend. He challenged James, asking, "Aunt Luna was a Ravenclaw. Are you saying that she's not brave or loyal?"

Rose added, "Are you saying my mum's not intelligent?"

A silence followed this dangerous question; both of Rose's parents were proud Gryffindors. Doubting Hermione Weasley's intelligence was like doubting water's wetness, and so insulting to the family as to amount to a declaration of war. Rose refused to look at James as she spoke, but as she looked at Score, she realized that she had irrevocably joined the side of the boy she was supposed to beat at every test: the boy who had not asked her to marry him. Yet. She blushed bright red.