Summary: Carina says goodbye to her family before boarding the Hogwarts Express. She meets a few people before going through the sorting.
Being a Malfoy isn't easy, especially being the daughter of Lucius Malfoy. Most of us in the Sacred Twenty Eight were raised in an environment full of prejudice. Among the most traditional and oldest families in the wizarding world, any little thing can be grounds for disinheritance, whether it's being sorted into a House other than Slytherin (especially when your family has been in Slytherin for generations), as happened to Sirius Black, my mother's cousin who was sorted into Gryffindor, or whether it's having relationships with muggleborns, as happened to Andromeda Tonks, my mother's sister who married a muggleborn and was disowned from the Black family. We can barely interact with muggles, muggleborns or blood traitors, as we already run the risk of being excluded from our families.
Here I am, Carina Narcissa Malfoy (my first name came from a constellation, a tradition from the Black family that Mum made a point of keeping, and my second name in honour of my own mother), ready to start my first year at Hogwarts. I've spent the last year listening to Draco chatter on about the school, Slytherin, his friends and his enemies, Harry Potter, the Weasleys and the Know-it-all.
September 1st 1992
I wake up early, excited to finally start my first year at Hogwarts. I shower and get ready for breakfast in the dining room with Draco and my parents. I get there before everyone else and see Dobby, our house elf, setting the dining table.
"Good morning, Miss Malfoy." he greets me.
"Good morning, Dobby." I say. "Please call me Carina when my parents aren't around, you know that."
I take my seat and a few minutes later I see my parents arrive. Mum sits next to me while Father sits at the head of the table. As soon as she sees me, Mum flashes a smile (a smile she reserves especially for Draco and me), putting a hand on my shoulder as she sits down.
"Good morning, darling." she says.
I smile back at her.
"Excited for today?" Mum asks me, already knowing the answer.
"Very much so!" I reply.
"Carina, you already know, but I'll remind you once more," my father begins to speak. "As a Malfoy you must honour our family name, I know you'll do the minimum and be sorted in Slytherin, just as I don't want you to make friends with any muggleborns or blood traitors."
"Lucius..." Mum says in a scolding tone. "Leave the girl alone. Carina already knows all this. I'm sure our daughter won't let us down." she turns round and winks at me.
Mum has always been the opposite of my father: loving, protective and everything a mother should be. A few minutes later Draco arrives in the dining room and joins us, sitting down facing Mum and me.
"Draco," my father says, turning to my brother. "You already know this, keep an eye on your sister."
"It's alright, Dad." Draco says, rolling his eyes.
I think that to everyone's surprise, Draco isn't an arsehole towards me, quite the opposite, although he treats others badly, he and I are close, and he's a very protective brother.
When we arrive at the platform where we'll be catching the Hogwarts Express, I immediately look for my friends among all the people. I look for Stella, my friend since I was practically born. As soon as I find her, I'm about to run after her when I feel an arm pull me away.
I turn round and see Mum pulling me into a tight hug. "Remember, I love you." she says in my ear.
"I love you too, Mum." I say, and as we walk away she goes to hug Draco.
"Promise me you'll write every week." Mum tells us.
"We promise." Draco and I say.
I turn to my father and give him a more formal hug.
My parents help us put our things on the train. Just then, Stella and her mother, Mrs Lestrange, catch up with us. I give Mum one last hug before getting on the train, and Stella does the same with her mum.
Stella Lestrange is the daughter of Rabastan Lestrange. Her father is the brother of my aunt Bellatrix's husband, so the two of us (Stella and I) are her nieces, so we consider ourselves cousins because of this and our closeness. Rabastan, Rodolphus and Aunt Bella were imprisoned in Azkaban for torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom. Stella hardly knows her father, just as I hardly know my aunt.
We follow Draco through the corridors, looking for a compartment to sit in. I soon realise that my brother is not at all in the mood to babysit his little sister, as he quickly runs off to one of the compartments where his friends probably are, leaving Stella and me alone. We walk down the corridor until we find a compartment with two other girls who seem to be first-years too, both redheads who could even be mistaken for sisters.
"Can we sit with you?" Stella asks.
They both reply. "Of course."
"I'm Ginny Weasley." the red-haired, blue-eyed girl introduces herself.
We haven't even left and I'm already doing the opposite of what my father told me to do: making friends with blood traitors.
"And I'm Emma Potter." the other redhead, the brown-eyed girl, introduces herself.
Stella and I look at each other. As well as making friends with blood traitors, I'm making friends with the sister of my brother's enemy. Emma may not be the centre of attention like her brother, but she's still a Potter.
I smile at both of them and introduce myself. "My name is Carina Malfoy and this is Stella Lestrange."
Now it's their turn to exchange glances. "You are a Malfoy?" Ginny says.
"Are you Draco's sister?" Emma asks.
"Yes, Draco is my brother." I reply. I see apprehensive expressions on both of their faces. "I'm not like my brother, don't worry."
They seem to be immediately relieved.
We change into our uniforms before arriving. As we get off the train, the first-year students are greeted by a huge man, Hagrid, who takes us to the boats that take us to the castle.
We wait for someone to open the door to the castle. Soon a middle-aged woman opens it.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid introduces her to us.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
She then opens the door for us to pass through. We follow her into an empty room.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," the professor says. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."
Stella and I look at each other anxiously.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as91you can while you are waiting."
She leaves for a moment.
"How are you feeling?" Stella turns to me.
"Nervous and you?" I ask.
"Me too."
The professor soon returns and leads us into the Great Hall. As we enter, I immediately see the four tables, each for one of the houses. I quickly look for Draco, and when I find him, I see that he's already looking at me, smiling encouragingly.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," the professor says as we face a stool with a hat on it. "Avery, Megan."
I recognize her instantly. She's part of one of the pureblood families that are my father's friends.
"SLYTHERIN!"
Of course she got sorted into Slytherin...
"Bell, Jasper!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Creevey, Colin!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Diggory, Aster!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
I stop paying attention to some names. I start paying attention again when the professor gets to the letter L. "Lestrange, Stella!"
Stella looks at me one last time before climbing the steps and sitting down on the stool. I try to give her a smile, but it's difficult when I myself am as anxious as Stella.
The silence in the hall before the hat sorts her is deafening.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
What? Stella gives me a despairing look. No Lestrange has ever been sorted into Hufflepuff before, I don't think any of them have ever been from any house other than Slytherin. After the first few seconds of shock, we hear the Hufflepuff students celebrating and welcoming Stella.
"Malfoy, Carina!"
I feel the gaze of the whole school on me. I take a deep breath before climbing the steps that lead up to the stool. As soon as I sit down, Professor McGonagall puts the hat on my head.
"Interesting." I hear the hat say in my mind. "I see you're not so similar to the other Malfoys..." I silently ask him to put me in Slytherin. "Your brother didn't take me seconds to sort, just like your father..." I continue asking him to put me in Slytherin. "I see what you're asking, but I still can't help thinking of other options..."
And then he seems to make up his mind.
"GRYFFINDOR!"