A Rose By Any Other Name | James Potter

Prologue

Rohesia sat in the small boat next to her twin brother, Lucius, as they sailed across the giant lake towards the castle towering before them. She shivered, sinking deeper into the fur-lined cloak her parents had sent her with. It was black, lined with a green trim on the inside, and she felt as if she could float away as she let the warmth of it surround her.

"Quit worrying, Rossie," Lucius said, looking at her with a sympathetic gaze as he fondly used her nickname. Rohesia was well aware her twin could be a prick, even at the age of eleven, but she also knew he had a soft spot for her. They were twins, after all, and they took care of each other fiercely.

"It's just all very...new," she whispered back, looking over and meeting his grey eyes with her bright blue ones. That was one of their key differences. While they both had snow-pale skin and white-blonde hair, his eyes were like a storm and hers were like the sky on a cloudless day. 

"That's what going to school is, Rohesia. It will be fine, I promise. We'll get sorted into Slytherin and then we'll just go about our lives again as if we were at home. It'll basically just be home again, Rossie." Lucius continued to explain as he gestured towards the building. He seemed to have everything all planned out. Yet there was a sourness that filled Rohesia's stomach.

She thought back to what their parents had said to both of them just that morning at the train station. Don't embarrass the family. The words were practically burned into the inside of her eyelids. It was all she could think of. So while she nestled into her furs and tried to be comforted by the words of her sibling, it didn't particularly hold. 

But the looming dread did, as if she could foretell that something was about to happen. It clung to her like dew to grass on an early morning. She wanted to turn tail and run, give up on this whole thing. Her heart beats were so loud in her ear that they sounded like the striking of a hammer. And this nauseating feeling stayed with her all the way into the Great Hall.

If it weren't for the overwhelming emotions encompassing her, she might have noticed how amazing a place the Great Hall was. The fires the glowed from sconces on the wall were warm and inviting. The candles magically levitating above them gave the room the perfect aesthetic. It was welcoming. It was like the feeling of visiting your grandparents on Christmas embodied. But as she nervously walked, she didn't pay any mind to her surroundings. So much so that when the other students in front of her stopped, she practically ran right into one, stepping on their left heel. 

The boy turned around, eyes narrowed, until they landed on her and he grinned. "Careful, can't go around on stepping on people like that, Malfoy," he said teasingly, and Rohesia racked her brain for where she had seen him before. It was in a painting, somewhere. Then it clicked. That long, black hair, that distinguishing nose. He was a Black. One of the younger ones. She couldn't remember his name, but she knew he was named after a star of some sort. Before she could bite out a retort, her brother cut in.

"Watch out, Sirius. You best stay out of my sister's way. She may be named for a flower, but she has thorns," he sneered, grabbing Rohesia's hand and steering her away from the boy and towards some other first-years that he had met on the train over. Rohesia couldn't help but throw a glance over her shoulder as they moved through the group, watching Sirius watching her. 

"It's nearly sorting time," Lucius grinned at her sister. "After that's done we'll get to go eat and you can stop worrying so much. It's all going to be great, you'll see." Rohesia tried to nod in agreement, but her nod got stuck half way so she really just ended up looking down her nose at him, distracted as one of the Professors, Professor McGonagall (she had lead them into the hall) brought a large, brown, pointed hat up to a stool on the stage before them. 

And if that wasn't weird enough, the hat seemed to spring to life and began to sing. The singing was almost comical, and for a moment, Rossie found herself growing less nervous. Lucius was right, as he so often was. She was overthinking things, again. A bad habit of hers. One she had tried to kick. But it was so innately ingrained in her being that she couldn't. 

When the song was over, the hat began to call the new students up one by one. Each of the four Houses had its own table, and each group of students cheered whenever a first year was sent to join them. The most notably loud was one clad in red and gold attire. 

When the hat reached the M's for last names, Lucius was called first. "See you soon," he said, giving his sister's shoulder a squeeze before walking with purpose up towards the stool. That was a walk that their father had taught them. If you don't walk as if you have a point in going somewhere, what's the point of even getting there? 

"Slytherin!" the hat called out, unsurprisingly, as the table of green and silver whooped and clapped for the blonde boy to go join their ranks. Rohesia clapped too, happy her brother had ended up right where he wanted to be. 

"Rohesia Malfoy," the hat called next, and the blonde girl, slightly short for her age, swallowed and pushed through the group of students. She straightened her shoulders and walked just like her father had taught them. With purpose, with poise. She sat gracefully on the stool, and the Professor placed the hat upon her head.

And then Rossie waited. She waited while the hat was silent for too long, then it began to mutter unto itself. She didn't dare speak up or even think. She was too worried for what was about to happen. She was supposed to be in Slytherin, just like her family always had been. She knew that. And yet....

"Gryffindor!" The hat proclaimed, and a small hush fell upon the room for a moment. The only sound Rohesia could hear was the blood rushing through her ears. Awkwardly, the table of red and gold began to clap.

"There must be a mistake," Rohesia whispered, but the hat told her that wasn't possible, right before it was removed from her head. She whirled, looking for her brother, as she was ushered down the stairs and towards her new house table.

When she finally saw him,  he was staring back at her. Composed, but she could see the nerves hiding behind his eyes. He knew it, and she knew it too.

She had done the one thing their parents had ordered them not to do.