“Excuse me, is this seat taken?”

Rue looked up from her book and saw two girls standing in the doorway of the compartment.

“No,” Rue replied, moving over to free up more space.

“Thanks. No one else on the train looked decent. I’m Grace, by the way, and that’s Pansy,” one of the girls said, taking the second window seat.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Rue.”

“Are you in your first year as well?” Pansy asked.

“Yeah. What houses are you guys hoping to be in?”

“I already know I’m going to get Slytherin,” Grace said boldly. “My whole family has been.”

“I’m probably going to be in Slytherin as well.” Pansy eyed Rue. “Let me guess, Hufflepuff for you?”

“Um, maybe. I’m not really sure what house I’ll get.”

“Hopefully not Gryffindor, at least. You know who will get Gryffindor, though?” Grace continued without waiting. “Harry Potter. Apparently, he’s on the train.” She made a disgusted face.

“What’s the big deal about Gryffindor?” Rue wondered.

“Oh, everyone knows it’s the worst house.”

“That’s not an answer,” Rue said, raising an eyebrow.

“You know, it’s just… not the best house,” Grace said breezily.

She was saved from having to come up with something else by yet another girl coming in.

“Have you seen a toad, any of you? Neville’s lost his,” she said bossily.

“No, you would have heard screaming by now if I had,” Grace said.

The girl glared at her and left, making her feel a little bad about the comment.

“That was a little rude, don’t you think?” Rue said.

Grace opened her mouth to answer, but Pansy cut in. “I’m going to go check when the trolley’s coming by. It’s taking forever.” She gave a little wave and stepped out, closing the door behind her.

Rue and Grace stared at each other for a moment.

“What do you have against Harry Potter?” Rue finally asked.

“My parents sympathize with the Dark Lord. And we have a lot of family friends that used to be Death Eaters. Have you met the Malfoys?”

“As in, Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco?”

“Yes, of course. Do you know any other ones?”

“That’s why I was asking! But no, I haven’t. Why?”

“Those are the kind of friends I’m talking about.”

“Well, that’s just sad.”

“I’d watch your tongue if I were you,” Grace warned. “Draco’s coming to Hogwarts this year, too.”

“White, Rue!”

Slowly, Rue walked up to the Sorting Hat. She sat down on the stool and Professor McGonagall lowered the hat onto her head.

“Ah, very good. You could be good in either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. I think we should go with HUFFLEPUFF!” McGonagall lifted the hat up and Rue happily went over to sit with her new housemates.

“Williams, Grace!”

Hearing her name, she took her place on the stool.

“You’re very easy to sort. Following in your family’s footsteps, eh? Definitely a SLYTHERIN!” Smirking confidently, Grace sauntered over to the Slytherin table, sliding in between Pansy and Draco. 

“Alright, find a broom. You’ve all had a Flying class already, correct?” Madam Hooch waited for everyone to nod. “Good. Go ahead and practice your ‘up’ command. Nice and strong! The brooms won’t listen to you if you’re not confident.”

“This is ridiculous. We did this last class,” Grace huffed.

“Shut up before someone else hears you,” Rue snapped. “I’m not going to let you get in trouble on my watch.”

“Calm down. You worry too much.” Grace extended a hand over her broom. “Up!” It immediately flew to her hand.

“Show off. Up!” Her broom came up right away as well.

“Look who’s talking.” Grace glanced at Pansy, who was having trouble. “Stop! You’re doing it wrong. You have to tell it, not ask it.”

“Well I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were a professional Quidditch player,” Pansy grumbled.

“At least you’re not as pathetic as Longbottom. You should have seen him last class,” she added to Rue.

“Everyone should have their brooms by now! Mount up, but don’t fly yet.” After inspecting everyone’s position, Hooch finally allowed them to take off. “Lightly,” she reminded everyone. “We don’t want another fiasco.”

All the Slytherins burst out laughing. “What did I tell you? Longbottom was terrible.”

Grace added the last ingredient to her potion, letting it simmer for a moment. It swirled into a pale blue, just the right shade.

“You were right about the roots,” she remarked. “I would have added too many.”

“Of course I was right. When are you going to learn to trust me?” Rue poured her finished potion into a small vial. “I think it’s still too shimmery.”

“It’s good enough,” Grace said, copying her motions. “Just hand it in.”

Snape nodded contentedly when he saw their draughts. “Good.”

“You know, if you weren’t so busy drooling over Draco and actually paid attention, you might not need my help.”

“Shut up!” Grace glared at her.

“Just saying. Your marks could be a lot higher.”

“Why do you even care so much about your grades? It’s just school.”

“Unlike you, my parents have high expectations, and so do I. If I fail, it’s like the end of the world for my mom.” Rue sighed, wiping down her cauldron.

“I guess not all parents have the same hopes for their children. You see, mine want me to join the Dark Lord’s side. They’re too scared to do it themselves, but they want the influence that would come with it.”

“Your parents shouldn’t decide that for you.”

“Tell that to them,” Grace said scornfully. “They don’t listen to anything but their own big egos.”

A moment later, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Grace waved goodbye to Rue and followed Pansy out the door.

Throughout the year, Grace and Rue became good friends. They often hung out together, or with Grace’s other Slytherin friends.

“Have you heard?” Grace asked, setting her bag down and sliding into the open seat next to Rue.

“Heard what?” Rue didn’t even look up from her essay.

“Slytherin is 46 points ahead of second-place! We’re going to win!”

“You don’t have to rub it in. Do you want me to check your essay?”

“Yes please.” Grace handed over her rolled-up homework. Rue immediately began scribbling out and rewriting everything. “Aren’t you happy for me?”

“Sure. It’s not a mandroke, it’s a mandrake.”

“Whatever. But Gryffindor's last, not only is it the worst, but they’re the losers. No one wants to be on the losing side.”

“I’d rather lose than be as bratty as you.”

A week later, it was time for the End of Year Feast. Slytherin won, and everyone at Grace’s table was happy, but then Dumbledore announced that there were some final changes to make to the points.

“What’s he on about?” Grace hissed to Pansy.

“It’s probably that Potter kid,” she scoffed.

Dumbledore began adding points to Gryffindor. Rue, who was counting up the additions, met Grace’s eyes across the tables. You’re tied, she mouthed.

It was confirmed by everyone else in the Great Hall. And then Neville, Neville Longbottom, earned the ten points for Gryffindor that won them the House Cup.

“This is an outrage!” Grace yelled. Her house joined in, throwing insults at Dumbledore and the Gryffindors, who were all cheering loudly. “Longbottom doesn’t deserve those points!”

Rue, meanwhile, was throwing up her hat, just like the other Hufflepuffs. They whooped and hollered, excited that Slytherin had finally lost.