Chapter 2
Sitting on the train Draco and Helena had found a carriage with some other children they knew, two boys, Crabbe and Goyle, who in Helena’s opinion were two of the dimmest boys she had ever known. Blaise and Pansy sat opposite, Helena enjoyed Blaise’s company, he had always been calm and quietly intelligent, Pansy was at times a little too loud, but wasn’t unlikable, the two girls simply didn’t have much in common with one another. Despite this Helena still spent the better half of the journey flicking through a wizarding magazine with Pansy, commenting on the pictures.
Partway through the journey a girl named Hermione appeared, already in her robes, responsible, Helena mused to herself. The girl, Hermione asked if they had seen a toad, a boy named Neville had lost it, Draco instantly made some snarky comment, before Helena chimed in.
“I’m sorry we haven’t, but we will all keep a lookout. I know any of us would be devastated to lose our pets.” Helena said pointedly in her cousin's direction.
“Would you like any help looking?” Helena followed on.
“It’s alright, I wouldn’t want to interrupt you all. You all still need to change as well so,” Hermione said politely. The group nodded slightly, the realisation that they would soon be arriving hitting them all.
Pansy and Helena stepped out of the carriage as the boys changed, talking amongst themselves.
“I’m excited to see inside the Slytherin common rooms, my mum kept telling me how amazing they are,” Pansy commented gleefully.
Helena’s face scrunched. “You’re certain you’ll be sorted into Slytherin then?”
Pansy scowled slightly. “Well, considering everyone in my family has been. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I suppose.”
“You’ll be in Slytherin too-“
“Maybe,” Helena replied, in truth she didn’t know. She knew that it would probably be for the best if she was, she mainly just hoped that Draco was sorted into Slytherin, which meant a lot to Lucius and Narcissa. She knew as much. With her there was some more leeway she felt, she wasn’t a priority.
Before the conversation could continue the door slid open, Draco stated that they were done changing, the boys all filing out to stand in the train’s hallway, while the two girls went inside to change.
Arriving at the station the group of children filtered out, the groundskeeper and prefects ushering them in the direction of small boats. A tradition that she had been told about, she had to admit, as they rode in the direction of the castle, its golden lights twinkling that it was beautiful. The coldness in the air bit at her skin, as she pulled her cloak around herself. Turning to Draco he met her gaze, grinning at her.
Now inside, and warmer she watched her dear cousin act like a slight prat in front of Harry Potter, quietly scorning him afterwards that that was not the way to make friends with people in the slightest. Then turning to the Weasley boy, who she had met a handful of times at events, murmuring an apology for her cousin's rudeness, the ginger boy merely told her it wasn’t her fault. An exchange they had had more times she would like to admit. Manners were important she mused to herself, otherwise the world would fall into disarray.
Being led into the Great Hall she felt the older students' eyes on them all, the nervousness of being so on show filling her up, shaking off those feelings she relaxed slightly. Listening to the sound of that Hermione girl rattle on facts about the school to another girl.
The ceremony was interesting at first and quickly became dull as they went through each student, cheers could be heard each time someone was placed into a house, which she felt was quite sweet. Draco’s name was called, and the hat barely touched his head before shouting out Slytherin, a smile split onto her lips as it did. Thank Merlin she thought to herself, clapping as he went and sat down, he grinned at her, an elated look on his features. Several names later her own was called out, moving to go sit on the stool the hat was placed on her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see McGonagall looking curiously at her.
The hat spoke into her head.
“Rosier, I remember your father- and your mother. Interesting they were. Interesting.”
She was unsure exactly how it worked, but she assumed simply thinking a thought would allow the hat to hear it.
“My mother went to Hogwarts?” She asked surprise in her voice.
“Indeed. She was curious, that witch. So was your father, asked for his house.”
“He asked?”
“I’ll sometimes agree to people's requests” The hat replied, almost in amusement, she wondered if the hat was actually capable of being amused.
“Do you have a request?” The hat's slimy voice whispered in her mind.
“I didn’t think I had a choice. I think as long as it isn’t Gryffindor I’ll be fine with whatever you decide.” She mused.
The hat chuckled. “Well then. You certainly don’t have the qualities of a Gryffindor, that won’t be an issue.” She couldn’t find herself to argue with that.
“So where then” She asked, her voice filled with curiosity.
A voice suddenly boomed throughout the room.
“Ravenclaw” Cheers from the blue table erupted as she got off the seat, and moved over to the blue house. Her eyes skipped over to Draco’s table, which was next to her own, he looked slightly downcast but offered a slight smile.
Sitting down a black-haired girl was to her right, introducing herself as Cho, with a Scottish accent. Helena smiled, introducing herself as well.
“Helena. It’s lovely to meet you.”
Several names later the sorting was over, and after a short speech by Dumbledore, who introduced some professors, her eyes lay on Quirrell’s briefly, suddenly a boom of voices slipped into her head, before suddenly disappearing. Not the time, she mused to herself. Maybe now at Hogwarts she could try and do some digging into all of that, she knew whatever the case that hearing voices was never quite a good thing.
Once the speech was over she turned her focus to her new housemates. Sat in her immediate vicinity were the aforementioned Cho Chang, Sue Li, Padma Patil and Michael Corner. They all seemed nice, and she quickly went about befriending them all. Most of their conversation centring around their excitement for their new house. An older Ravenclaw answered some of their questions about the house and the school, quelling any nervousness felt by the group.
Once dinner finished the first years followed their prefect up the stairs to the Ravenclaw dormitories, after many stairs later they finally arrived. Padma commenting.
“If I had known there were so many stairs I would have asked that sorting hat to put me in Hufflepuff- there in the cellar you know! Only one flight of stairs to get up and down to the Great Hall.” She giggled as she spoke, clearly joking. Helena and the other three laughed along, silently agreeing. As they arrived the prefect began speaking.
“Alright First years, unlike the other houses we don’t have a password per se- but a riddle!” She exclaimed with excitement.
“Don’t worry, while most riddles have a ‘correct’ answer, the raven will take any answer that can defend if it isn’t the ‘correct’ one. Also if you are really struggling, do just knock, someone is almost always in the common room. So don’t worry yourself too much.” The prefect told them, her voice was kind, and Helena could tell why she was prefect, she seemed perfectly approachable, her name was Jenny if she remembered correctly. The raven uttered a riddle, which Jenny answered quickly, guiding them all inside. The Ravenclaw common room was huge, bigger than any of the rooms at Malfoy Manor. The ceiling showed the sky, which was incredibly clear and vibrant, Helena thought to herself that there must be a charm on it. Her thoughts were confirmed as Jenny gathered their attention.
“The roof has a charm on it to make the stars clearer- and us Ravenclaw’s made a little spell some centuries ago to make it even better!” With a flick of her wand, and the words Réalta Meur coming from her, the wand was focused on a specific pane and the stars seemed to enlarge even more, with more stars becoming visible, as If falling deeper into space. Helena’s eyes widened, as did her fellow first years.
“Neat isn’t it.” Jenny grinned at them. Repeating the phrasing for them to remember. “They’ll go back to their normal distance after a while, so don’t worry about undoing your spell” Jenny carried on giving a tour of the room, and Helena's eyes flickered around. Deep blue couches and chairs lay throughout the large room, staircases led up to banistered balconies where more books sat. A couple of chess tables were out, and several tables that appeared to be for studying were visible. Soft velvety rugs lay on the floor and portraits of past students and alumni sat on the walls, some older students in conversation with them. A beautiful statue sat on the centre of the opposite wall, seemingly of their founder. Jenny then went about directing them to their new dorms.
“Now there are charms to stop boys and girls from going into each other's dorms, so don’t go trying to get past them- trust me, many a Ravenclaw has tried to outsmart them. So far no one has succeeded.” Jenny grimaced.
Helena and some of the other girls were ushered in the direction of a room, it seemed that the Ravenclaw girls of each year had two dorms each. Helena, once in her dormitory looked to see that Cho Chang and Padma Patil were her dormmates. Smiling at one another they all decided to properly introduce themselves.
“I know we spoke at dinner, but if you forgot I’m Cho… I’m from Scotland, near Edinburgh.” She said calmly, her whole demeanour was friendly.
Padma spoke next. “I’m Padma… um I’m from Brighton. My twin is also at Hogwarts, but she got placed in Gryffindor.” Padma’s voice had a hint of nervousness, and her voice changed to complete sadness about her and her twin being in separate houses.
“I’m Helena, my family live in Wiltshire. I understand being sad about not being in the same house as your twin Padma, my cousin was also sorted this year, but he was placed into Slytherin.” She said sympathetically. “We had both hoped to be in the same house.”
“You’re cousin- was that the blonde boy you were standing with?” Cho chimed in.
“Yes, his name is Draco.”
“Draco Malfoy?” Padma cut in curiously.
“Yes, do you know the Malfoys?” Helena asked curiously.
“Not really, my mum was at school at the same time as um… I can’t remember her name- Mrs Malfoy? Said that she had a son the same age as me, mum didn’t mention there was a girl in his family to my age, surely that’s more relevant. But- me and Parvati played with Pansy Parkinson growing up, she mentioned a Draco a couple of times” Padma said a little embarrassed, laughing slightly.
“It’s a little complicated, honestly your mum might not know about me, I don’t know,” Helena mumbled out, her voice slightly awkward.
Before either of the girls could ask anything she explained herself.
“My parents both died when I was little so I was placed under the guardianship of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, so me and Draco were raised together.”
“Oh!” “Sorry if we were being nosy” the two girls quickly said.
“You didn’t! I just thought it best to explain to avoid any awkward situations where you ask about my mum or dad and I have to drop the 'they’re dead' line.” Helena chuckled slightly. The two other girls eased up, agreeing that it would have been awkward.
“Should we unpack our things? I’ve got so much” Helena exclaimed, Cho and Padma both nodding in agreement.
Several hours later their belongings were unpacked, the room a little more cosy now. The dorm was nice, the three beds all four posters with deep blue curtains on them for privacy. Each bed had a nightstand next to it and a chest of drawers on the other side. Three floor-to-ceiling alcove windows sat next to each bed, each with soft cushions on the floor- meant as a reading nook. The ceiling was enchanted with constellations and soft rugs lined the floor over cold marble.
Falling asleep was easy, staying asleep was hard, a school full of minds slipping into hers as she attempted to stay asleep. She wondered meekly how Draco was doing.