* * *

KING'S CROSS STATION was flocked with people at only ten thirty o'clock in the morning.

Valerie Grindelwald stood on her tiptoes in an attempt to see over the crowd, which unfortunately proved impossible when her height was taken into account. She had been waiting by the entrance for half an hour, as per her agreement with Harry and Hagrid.

Instead of being picked up by the gamekeeper like last time, she was escorted to the station by a group of Nurmengard guards.

"You're blocking the way!" someone yelled, forcing her to push her trunk toward the station alone.

Valerie glanced at Harriet, her scope owl who had been noisily hooting ever since she had been put in her cage. Over the past few weeks, she learned that the owl liked to fly about, but would always come back to her at the end of the day.

"Platform nine and three-quarters?" she asked, to no one in particular after making her way in between platforms nine and ten.

A hopeful look was on her face as she turned around, fading away when she realised neither Harry nor Hagrid were there.

"Don't slouch, Draco." she heard, turning to a man clad in all black, spitting out demands to a boy presumably his son.

Merlin, his hair's longer than mine. Valerie thought.

"Yes, father." the blonde-haired boy nodded grimly, before literally running into the brick wall.

Valerie furrowed her eyebrows at the sight, watching as the man followed soon after, simply walking into the wall, cane in hand. She shrugged at Harriet, and with quick strides ended up on the other side of the platform.

The Hogwarts Express, it read. Valerie barely had the time to gawk at the sign before someone nearly ran into her through the portal.

"Sorry!" the girl cried, before trudging away like nothing happened.

"Bloody safety hazard." Valerie murmured under her breath, pushing her trolley toward the man loading trunks into the cargo section.

"See ya, Harriet." she smiled at the owl, before handing her cage over and boarding the train.

Valerie walked through the narrow corridors, trying to find an empty compartment. She passed by a group of girls who had narrowed their eyes at her, whispering to themselves causing her to roll her eyes at them before moving on.

Finally discovering one unoccupied, she took a seat by the window, looking out at the parents bidding their children goodbye. Guilt surged through her, she hadn't given her grandfather a proper farewell. Then again, she contemplated whether or not he deserved one. Lying to her about her parents was one thing, but lying to her about himself was another.

The compartment door slid open, and there stood two pudgy boys, unmoving. Valerie raised her eyebrows at them.

"Are you in need of any assistance?" one asked.

"Uh, no." she replied confusedly, as the boy simply stood by the doorframe. "You know, you're free to come in if you'd like."

* * *

Valerie Grindelwald had made a mistake.

It was halfway through the ride, and the two boys, who later introduced themselves as Crabbe and Goyle, had been arguing nonstop. When they did stop, they resolved to asking Valerie if she was in need of any assistance, every two minutes.

All the Grindelwald girl wanted to do was take a nap.

"Oi, you two." she called, breaking up their debate on whether or not chocolate frogs looked more like chocolate or frogs.

"Could you maybe, keep it down?" she asked them, earning nods from both.

"Okay." Crabbe spoke. "If there's anything you need—"

Valerie shut her eyes in frustration, knowing she was never going to get out of this. "Listen, I'm gonna go... You two should find someone else to worship."

She stood up slowly, slipping out of the compartment. Her eyes went wide as she realised there was an empty one right in front of her.

"Oh, thank Merlin." Valerie grumbled, stumbling inside the compartment. Closing her eyes, she dozed off into a well-needed sleep.

She was woken up by the door sliding open once again. "Now what?"

"Well, for starters this is my compartment. I just went to go change."

Valerie shot up, jumping to her feet all embarrassed as she blinked at the sandy-haired boy. "Sorry, I'll—"

"No, no I don't mind." he stopped her. "Besides, you'll need someone to wake you up. I'm Theodore."

"Valerie," she replied warily. "And I'm quite capable of doing that myself, thanks."

"And if you're not?" Theodore crossed his arms.

Valerie narrowed her eyes. "I am."

"What's your backup?" he tilted his head at her amusedly.

"I don't—"

Theodore cut her off. "Everyone needs a backup."

"Are you always this insufferable?" Valerie groaned.

"That's rich coming from a compartment thief." Theodore retorted.

"I'll leave then." she stood up to walk out the door.

"Alright. But you might end up in a compartment with someone more 'insufferable' than I am." Theodore shrugged in a mocking tone.

Valerie laughed dryly, "I don't think that's possible."

"But who would wake me up?" he pouted.

"You're not—" Valerie stopped mid-sentence as Theodore leaned on the train window, closing his eyes before snoring dramatically. "—sleeping."

"Unbelievable." she muttered, sitting back down defeatedly.

* * *

Valerie hadn't seen anything more beautiful than the castle that had come into sight.

Nurmengard was a dismal place, with dark stone walls and guarded black gates. Hogwarts, was a perfectly disarrayed amass of towers, but held an undeniable aura about it, that made Valerie wish she had grown up there instead.

Soon, the train had come to a halt, and the conductor announced that all student passengers were to get off.

Valerie brushed off her robes as she stood up, simply walking out of the compartment. She stopped right in the corridor when she remembered on small detail. Theodore was still asleep.

Maybe I should just leave him there. It was a powerful instinct.

The better side of her conscience however, convinced her otherwise, and she found herself back in front of the unconscious boy.

"Theodore." she whispered, to no response.

Rolling her eyes, she smacked him upside in the head.

Theodore's hand shot up to his head, fully awake. "Gosh! Why do you have to be so violent?"

"I show no remorse." she raised her hands up in surrender as they left to climb off the train.

For first years to get to Hogwarts, they were to board a boat ride that boasted a complete view of the castle, something Valerie thought to be brilliant.

She tried to enjoy the experience, but couldn't help but feel annoyed by one of the students on the boat with her. Glancing at Theodore with a cringe, the boy only sent her a wide grin.

"You're so... leech-like." Valerie told him.

"Leech-like?" Theodore scoffed. "That's the best you've got?"

"You bring out the worst in me." she slapped a palm to her forehead.

* * *

"Welcome to Hogwarts."

Valerie had just finished climbing the tedious staircases up the castle, choosing to stay at the very back of the first-years. Much to her relief, she had lost Theodore on the way.

"Now," The woman in front of them clasped her hands together. "In a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but before you can take your seats you must be sorted in your houses."

Valerie had heard about the four houses from one of Crabbe and Goyle's conversations, finding the divisions slightly discriminatory, at least from their description.

The woman, who she learned to be Professor Mcgonagall, had gone on to explain house points before she was interrupted by some boy who had lost their toad.

"The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily." Mcgonagall then walked off, leaving the first-years to themselves.

"It's true then, what they're saying on the train." a familiar voice spoke up.

Mister slicked-back hair from the platform, Draco, Valerie remembered.

"Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."

Her eyes brightened up at the mention of the boy, who was standing at the very front, all the attention drawn to him.

"This is Crabbe, and Goyle." Draco continued. Valerie raised her eyebrows in amusement, so they really did find someone else.

"And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." His head then snapped to a red-haired boy who had snickered.

Valerie didn't bother to listen in to the exchange, knowing it was just a skirmish of pride between boys. In the end, Draco wound up slightly humiliated by Harry's rejection of friendship.

The doors to the Great Hall were pushed open, revealing a spacious dining area with four long tables. Candles hovered just below the ceiling which provided a stunning view of the night sky.

"It's not real, the ceiling. It's just bewitched to look like the night sky." she heard a bushy-haired girl say.

The words came out of Valerie's mouth before she could think, "No way, they didn't just forgot to build a roof?"

The remark earned her a few laughs from her classmates, but the girl who had spoken turned around to glare at her. Valerie sighed in frustration, her first night at Hogwarts and she was already making enemies.

"Before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words."

Valerie stared curiously at the Headmaster, and she just knew she had seen him somewhere before. She barely heard his announcements as her mind strayed away, scarcely catching that the third floor corridor was strictly forbidden. The rule only fed her intrigue.

Before she knew it, the Professor was calling their names one by one.

"Hermione Granger."

The bushy-haired girl who had glared ay her earlier stepped up to the stool, where a cedar-tinted hat was placed on her head.

"Gryffindor!" it suddenly yelled, earning sporadic cheers from the students.

"Valerie Grindelwald."

Harry Potter was the first to turn around, his gaze following the girl who had stirred up whispers and gasps from the audience.

He eventually caught her eye as she sat down, sending her a smile which she gladly reciprocated. The boy had looked for her on the train earlier, to no success.

The Sorting Hat hummed as Valerie sat there restlessly, wanting nothing but to leave the prying eyes of her peers. She never did like being the center of attention.

"Have you got your decision?" she asked the hat.

"There's nothing here." The hat replied. "Your mind, it's completely blank. Open it."

"I don't even know what you're talking about." Valerie whispered.

She seemed to be getting on the Sorting Hat's nerves. "Well, where would you like to be placed?"

Valerie felt like she was going mad. "I don't really care."

The hat muttered a string incoherent words, before shouting out loud, "Slytherin!"