It was approaching nightfall, and the Hogwarts Express had come to a halt, indicating the student's arrival at the school. Now dressed in her black robes, Lilabeth stepped out of the passenger car and walked towards the sea of students, wearing the same robes as her. Draco and his friends followed close behind, still snickering behind her back. But no matter what was said, the Malfoy girl did her best to keep her calm composure.

"Right, then! First Years this way, please!" the voice called out. It belonged to a man dressed in a brown coat, his brown hair and beard longer than what Lilabeth could've ever imagined. In one hand, he carried a lantern, having the rest of the first years follow him. He led the students to a dock, multiple boats on its waters, big enough to hold four to five people. Lilabeth, Draco, and his friends stepped into one of the boats. In an instant, they began to glide across the water without the assistance of paddles.

The boat tilted briefly to one side, startling Crabbe and Goyle for a moment. But it continued to float, and before they knew it, the Hogwarts school came into view. But this wasn't just any ordinary school. This was a massive castle with perhaps dozens of small and large towers. This is all... breathtaking! Lilabeth thought to herself the longer she stared at it all.

Inside the castle, the First-Year students climbed up two flights of stairs to the next level, where a woman in a dark emerald cloak and black witches' hat on her head was waiting for them. "Welcome to Hogwarts! In a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses," she explained. "They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin,"

Please let me be in Slytherin! Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Draco glancing over at his friends, nodding almost as if he knew he would be in Slytherin. After another minute or so, talking about how the houses would be like their families, Professor McGonagall told the children that the ceremony would begin shortly.

"It's true then!" Draco spoke, his words focused directly on a dark-haired boy with circular glasses and emerald-green eyes. Lilabeth looked over her shoulder, noticing the boy staring back at her brother, confused. "Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts," Lilabeth's eyes slightly widened, as everyone in the wizarding world knew who he was. His parents had been killed by a man who no one would dare speak his name, and somehow, Harry made it out alive with only a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. The Boy Who Lived? He's here?

"This is Crabbe and Goyle," Draco glanced over at his sister for a moment, scoffing under his breath. "That's... Lilabeth. And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," A small laugh came from the red-haired boy next to Harry, making Draco's gaze turn sharply. "Think our names funny to you? No need to ask you yours," A Weasley. Pity he and Harry have to be forced through my brother's cruelties on the first day.

"You'll soon find that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort," Draco held out his hand as an offer of friendship, although he didn't know it, his sister was silently hoping that Harry wouldn't accept, knowing that Draco would try to turn the young boy into another one of his mindless crones. "I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks," Harry replied, stunning the Malfoy boy.

Good decision, Potter. Before he could say anything further, Professor McGonagall tapped Draco's shoulder with her scroll, letting the First Years know it was time for the sorting ceremony. "Potter has no idea he made the wrong choice. He'll regret his decision," Draco hissed under his breath, speaking to no one in particular.

~~~~~~~

In the great dining hall, hundreds of students sat at four long tables. The silverware was already out but with nothing on their plates. The ceiling view made all the First Years look at the sight, a vision of hundreds of stars with candles floating in the air, providing extra light to the room. "It's not a real ceiling. It's just bewitched to look like the night sky," A girl with light brown hair explained as she and Lilabeth gazed at the ceiling. At the other end of the hall, the students came to a halt as Professor Dumbledore said a few words. Mostly warning the students about the forbidden areas of the school.

"Now when I call your name, you will come forth, and I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses," Professor McGonagall explained, lifting a seemingly dusty black hat from the nearby wooden stool. She looked at her list, calling out the names of a few students, all of whom watched with anticipation as the sorting hat announced their house.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the sorting hat announced, making the Gryffindor table clap and cheer as their newest recruit sat with them. "Draco Malfoy!" McGonagall called out, making Draco approach the stool with confidence in his walk. It didn't take long for the sorting hat to put him where he belonged as the sorting hat almost immediately announced, "SLYTHERIN!" Lilabeth's heart began to pound like a drum, and beads of sweat began to form on her face as the nervousness inside her grew.

"Lilabeth Malfoy!" The other first-year students stared at her as she walked up to the stool. Having everyone stare at her provided less comfort and more tension. So much so that she closed her eyes to avoid them. She could feel McGonagall place the slightly heavy hat on her head, the voice of it, talking both to her and the crowd. "Another Malfoy? Hmm, this one is rather difficult... I see determination, talent, and a thirst to prove yourself..." The hat spoke, making Lilabeth feel uneasy.

Slytherin... Please be Slytherin! Her knuckles turned white the harder she gripped onto the stool. "Where to place you. How about... GRYFFINDOR!" Lilabeth's eyes flew open with shock, her jaw almost dropping to the floor. She was so hopeful that she would be in Slytherin like her brother, and just as the possibility was dangling in front of her, it had been snatched away at the last second! "D-did it just say Gryffindor?" She couldn't help but ask Professor McGonagall as she took the hat off Lilabeth's head. "I believe it did, Ms. Malfoy. Now, go join your fellow Gryffindors," she answered, motioning her head towards the cheering table.

Lilabeth did her best to hide her disappointment as she approached the table where the new and old Gryffindors embraced her, welcoming her to the house. Lilabeth sat, watching as the rest of the students were sorted into the houses. Harry followed soon after, and everyone was on the edge of their seats, watching as the hat sorted him into his house. After a few painstaking minutes, the hat announced Gryffindor. And with a smile on his face, Harry joined the table, seated right across from Lilabeth.

As the chatter and excitement ceased, Professor McGonagall tapped her glass with her golden spoon, gaining everybody's attention as Dumbledore stood from his seat, "Let the feast begin!" And with a slight wave of his hands, the food magically appeared on the tables. The food tasted better than anything Lilabeth had ever had in her entire life. Not a bit of the food tasted terrible, and soon it was like she had slipped into foody heaven.

Ghosts soon came out from everywhere, from the floor to the ceiling and even from the food trays. "Wait, I know you! Your Nearly Headless Nick!" the same boy with red hair from earlier called out to one of the ghosts. "I prefer Sir Nicholas if you don't mind!" the ghost objected, turning around at the boy's words. "If I may ask, how can you be nearly headless?" Lilabeth questioned.

"Like this, Ms. Malfoy," Sir Nicholas spoke, grabbing his head and moving it to one side, part of his neck still attached to his body. After a brief second, Sir Nicholas put his head back on straight and floated off, leaving the new Gryffindors in a state of shock. Later on, when all the Hogwarts students' bellies were full of food, it was time for them to head off to their Common Rooms. "Gryffindors this way, please!" A fellow Gryffindor Percy Weasley, spoke as the group filed into the hallway.

Somehow, in the mix of both the Slytherins and the Gryffindors, Lilabeth felt someone tug on her arm, slightly pulling her back. "Imagine that. You in Gryffindor, and I in Slytherin? Heh, I'll bet once father hears about this, he'll send you a letter expressing his further disappointment..." Draco sneered. "Get off me, Draco! I am in no mood!" Lilabeth bit back, prying her brother's hand off her.

Draco's grip was getting tighter by the second, and Lilabeth tried desperately to pull him off her. "No matter about the Gryffindor business. Father and Mother already cherish and love me more. All the more reason for you to be the forgotten twin," he muttered, smirking before joining the rest of the Slytherins.