A/N: here we go with my second Wattpad story!! Yay!! I hope you guys like it. Check out my other story 'Me and My Broken Heart' and have yourself a cookie.
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"Gryffindor!"

Rose watched as Albus jogged over to the Gryffindor table amidst hearty applause, grinning like mad. He sat down beside his brother, and James punched him on the shoulder, also grinning like crazy. Rose smiled. She knew that though he would never admit it, James was really quite fond of his younger brother.

She turned her attention back to the teacher's table, where the Sorting was taking place. Slowly, the line shrank as more and more first years were sorted into their respective Houses. Rose's heart was threatening to burst out of her chest. In front of her, Hugo tapped his foot nervously.

Then, suddenly, "Weasley, Hugo!"

Rose gasped; she hadn't been keeping track. Hugo turned and gave her a nervous grin. "See you in Gryffindor," he said, and headed over to the stool. He put the Sorting Hat on his hat.

There was a moment of silence. Then, "Gryffindor!"

Hugo whipped off the Hat and practically sprinted down to the Gryffindor table. He leapt on Albus, who yelled something that was lost in the gale of applause. James thumped Hugo on the back.

Gradually the storm of clapping died down. Rose was sure everyone could hear her heart, it was thumping so loudly. What if something went wrong? What if she didn't end up in Gryffindor? What if she ended up in... Slytherin?

Rose shook her head. She couldn't afford to think like that.

"Weasley, Rose!"

Somehow she forced her legs to move her over to where the Hat was waiting. She sat down, took a deep breath, and put on the ragged old Hat.

"Hmm," said a small voice in her ear. Rose gave a little start. "Difficult. Yes. Let's see... very loyal, you would do anything for your friends... quite brave, too, and not a bad mind either... Oho! I see! Interesting. Very interesting! We must take that into account... Well, then. Better be... Slytherin!"

The last word was shouted out loud, but Rose was too stunned to move. Slytherin? There must have been a mistake. There had to have been a mistake. She couldn't be in Slytherin!

An explosion a cheering went up in the Slytherins. In a daze, Rose took off the Hat and stumbled towards them, a loud ringing in her ears. Maybe this was all a bad dream. Maybe she would wake up and everything would work out fine.

But as she sat down with her new House, as they patted her on the back, congratulating her, welcoming her; Rose gazed across the Great Hall and locked eyes with Hugo. His eyes were full of shock and disappointment. Albus, too, was staring at her in disbelief, but there was something else in his eyes, something Rose couldn't quite fathom.

Rose looked down, feeling a pang of loss. And she knew, in that moment, that it was real. There was no waking up. This time, she was living a nightmare.

-------next evening-------

Dear Mum and Dad,

Albus and Hugo got into Gryffindor, just like you guys did. I got Sorted into Slytherin.

I think the Hat made a mistake, but one of the girls in my dormitory said the Sorting Hat has never made a mistake, and it never will. Do you think this is an exception? I don't want to be in Slytherin. Everyone else is in Gryffindor. Also, you know what Uncle Harry said about the Hat listening to what you want? It didn't. It just said Slytherin right away practically. Is there something wrong with me? I'm scared. I don't fit in here.

Please reply as soon as possible. I hope you guys are doing okay. I wish I could see you. I miss you both.

Love, Rose.

Rose finished rereading her letter for the fifth time. Her stomach clenched. What if they were mad at her? What if she really was a bad person? She wanted to make her parents proud. They had both been Gryffindors.

Sighing, she rolled up her letter and got up. Skirting the edge of the slowly emptying Slytherin common room, Rose made her way towards the door. Ghostly green light flickered on the stone walls, and Rose involuntarily shivered. Even the common room was creepy.

She slipped out into the hall and closed the stone door behind her as softly as she could. Rose didn't think she would ever get used to the way the door just melted into the wall so it was invisible to an outsider. Yet another creepy thing about the Slytherins.

She hadn't had a chance to talk to Hugo yet, but she had Potions class with the Gryffindors the next day. She hoped he wasn't mad at her. After all, it was hardly her fault. Wasn't it...?

But it had been next to impossible to worry too much during the day. Hogwarts was just so wonderful, even the fact that she was in Slytherin couldn't spoil her fun. What with classes, and meeting the teachers, and generally attempting to memorize the layout of the vast castle, the first years had had a busy first day. But now, the worry was starting to catch up with her...

Rose shook her head and trudged off in the direction of the Owlery. Several wrong turns later, she entered the huge room and made her way through the vast quantity of roosting owls until she spotted the owl Mum and Dad had bought for Hugo and Rose to share.

"Hey, Flicka," Rose said, reaching up to stroke the little tawny owl. Flicka let out a welcoming hoot and spread her wings, revealing the white flecks on the undersides. She turned her big yellow eyes to Rose and nibbled affectionally on Rose's finger.

"I've got a letter for you to deliver, girl," Rose told Flicka. "It's for Mum and Dad. Get it there as fast as you can, okay? And make sure they give you a reply."

Flicka dipped her head and let out a squawk of understanding, holding out one of her legs for Rose to attach the letter to.

"That's a cute owl," said a perky voice.

Rose jumped and accidentally bumped Flicka, causing the owl to squawk indignantly and almost topple off her perch. Rose turned around.

A familiar looking girl stood behind her. Her light blonde hair was pulled back into pigtails. She was a couple inches shorter than Rose, and her startlingly green eyes held a mischievous sparkle. A spattering of freckles covered her cheeks and nose. She grinned at Rose, revealing two rows of perfect white teeth.

"Hi," the girl said, holding out her hand. "I'm Cynthia. You're Rose, right? Rose Weasley? Isn't your brother in Gryffindor? My brother's in Slytherin. He's in his second year. My family have always been Slytherins."

Rose took the offered hand and shook it. "Hi." She remembered this girl now; Cynthia was a Slytherin first-year too.

"What's your owl's name?" Cynthia asked.

"This is Flicka," Rose said, stroking her owl.

"She's beautiful. I have an owl, too. His name is Aaron. He's a great grey. And he's my very own! My daddy bought him for me. Daddy has a lot of money. The Malfoys are one of the oldest wizarding families, you know. Weasley is pretty old too, right? Not that I care. It really doesn't matter how old your family is, don't you think?"

Rose finished tying her letter. Flicka spread her wings and soared out of the open window along with the hoard of owls now leaving to hunt in the grounds. Then something occurred to Rose.

"Wait, you're a Malfoy?" Rose said, turning back to Cynthia. "Is your dad Draco Malfoy, then?"

Cynthia blinked, then frowned slightly. "Yes, he is," she said, rather tersely. "Why?"

"Just wondering," Rose said quickly. "But hey, that's cool! My dad went to school with your dad, then. And they fought in the Battle of Hogwarts together! My dad's Ron Weasley. And my mom is Hermione Granger. And I know Harry Potter!" Rose added, somewhat proudly.

"Cool," Cynthia replied, though her tone suggested that the situation was anything but cool. Rose barely noticed. She was too exited.

"Wow, this is really neat," Rose said excitedly. "We both have famous dads, then. I - "

"Why does it matter?" Cynthia interrupted coldly. All of a sudden she looked less like a perky little girl, and more like someone you didn't want to mess with.

Rose took a nervous step back. "I don't - "

Cynthia cut across her again. "Well, I'm gonna go back. I'm tired. See you around, Rose Weasley," she sneered. She headed out of the Owlery, shooting Rose a look that plainly said, If I see you around, it won't go so well for you.

Rose stared after her for a moment, hurt. What had she done wrong? She was only trying to be nice. Apparently, Cynthia Malfoy didn't appreciate that.

Sighing, Rose made her way back to the dormitories. "Basilisk," she muttered to the wall, and the door appeared. Pushing it open, Rose stopped for a moment, surprised by the sight that met her eyes.

Two people were sitting in one of the larger arm chairs with their backs to her. They both had blonde hair, and one was smaller and definitely female. At the sound of the door opening, the girl shot to her feet and turned to glare at Rose, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

"Oh," Cynthia Malfoy spat. "It's her."

The other blonde twisted around. His platinum blonde hair was spiked up at the front, his pale face chiseled. He regarded Rose with the same piercing green gaze as Cynthia.

Something about his calculating stare was making Rose uncomfortable. Avoiding his gaze, she approached them.

"Look, Cynthia, I didn't mean to make you upset. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but I'm really sorry if I hurt your feelings. Can we - can't we just be friends?" Rose looked at Cynthia pleadingly.

Cynthia stared back at Rose for a moment, her eyes narrowed. Then she let out an indignant huff, whirled around, and marched off to her dormitory.

Rose gazed after her in dismay. Why couldn't Cynthia just give her a chance? And it would help if Rose actually knew what she had done to offend her.

"Don't mind my sister," said a quiet voice. Rose jumped. She had almost forgotten there was someone else in the room.

The boy stood up and approached Rose, offering her his hand. She shook it, avoiding his gaze. There was something unsettling about the way he watched her, like he could read all her thoughts and emotions. It made Rose nervous.

"I'm Scorpius." he greeted. "You must be Rose Weasley. That - " he gestured to the door that Cynthia had disappeared through " - was my sister."

"Hi." Rose wasn't sure what to think. Scorpius' voice was polite, but there was a certain guarded coldness to it. Rose couldn't tell whether he was angry at her or not. Merlin, everything about the guy was unsettling.

"Do you - what did I do?" Rose said, then blushed at how childish the question sounded.

"My sister? Oh... well, she's a bit sensitive about our father. You see, Dad worked for You-Know-Who back when all that was going on. Cynthia's always felt like an outsider, because of our ancestry. Don't worry about it too much. She'll get over it eventually."

"Oh - okay. Thanks." Merlin, why was she finding it so hard to talk to Scorpius? She probably looked like a total fool.

"So," Scorpius said after a moment. "Weasley, huh? Your dad's Harry Potter's best mate - Ron Weasley? And your mum... Hermione Granger, yes?"

"Er - yeah."

Scorpius eyed her, his expression unreadable. His thin lips curved into a little smile.

"For a kid with that kind of parentage, you're not very stuck up. Your parents are the heroes of the wizarding world, and you're worried about retaining the friendship of a Malfoy? You don't seem like the kind of girl who'd have to worry about losing friends. You probably have more than enough."

"Well, I don't!" Rose retorted, suddenly feeling defensive. "You think just because I know Harry Potter I should think I'm better than everyone else? Why would I? Besides, what do you mean, retaining the friendship of a Malfoy? Just because your family used to be Death Eaters, I'm not supposed to treat you like equals? That's all nonsense. I thought after the war this whole equality mess was cleaned up. Just because my parents are famous, doesn't mean I'm better than you." She glared at him, silently daring him to argue.

Scorpius stared at her for a moment. Then let out a chuckle. "Well, alright," he said. "You're a feisty one. I wonder that you didn't get Sorted into Gryffindor. You seem like one. Isn't your brother a Gryffindor?"

Rose nodded, disconcerted. Why did this guy have to be so unpredictable?

"Well, it's odd that you got Sorted into Slytherin, seeing as how your parents were both Gryffindors. But I guess we're all different. Anyway... it was nice talking to you, Rose. See you around?"

"Y-yeah, sure. See you."

Scorpius flashed her a grin. "And, Rose? Don't worry about my sister. She's really friendly. She's just a bit... unsure... around people like you."

Rose watched Scorpius head up to his dormitory, completely bewildered. People like you? What in the name of Merlin was that supposed to mean? Scorpius really set her on the wrong foot. She wasn't sure how she felt towards him. He was so hard to figure out, but there was something strangely intriguing about his quiet coldness.

The common room was empty now. Rose suddenly realized how tired she was. Yawning widely, she headed off to her dormitory, silently willing Flicka to bring her parent's reply the next morning. Hopefully they could help Rose sort all this out.
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A/N: there it is. Hope you liked it. Btw if you're reading this I really wuv you and you are officially a unicorn. UNICORNS!!!! Ahem. Anyway. Comment and vote. Ily