I do not own Harry Potter or its characters, this is merely a work of fanfiction.

This is another long chapter, so buckle in. I have created a pinterest-board for this story, that you can see an image of what their sorting present would look like. I will make sure to put a note at the begging of a chapter when I pin something specific from a chapter, but otherwise it is just general vibes and moodboards. https://pin.it/5T8QqsS

Let me know what you think! I hope you like it:)

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Lord and Lady Malfoy sat by the fire in the study. Lady Malfoy was re-reading the letter they had received from Draco.

Draco had recounted their experience with the Weasley boy, and Lord Malfoy was not well pleased.

"Have they had so many children, that they have no time to teach them the basest level of etiquette?" Lady Malfoy asked her husband.

"Clearly," Lord Malfoy drawled, "Though I am proud of how Draco handled it."

"As am I," replied Lady Malfoy.

"I will have their presents delivered in the morning post."

Lady Malfoy stared into the flames of the fire, thinking deeply. Lord Malfoy was doing the same.

Lord Malfoy would eliminate any threats to his family, which now included Holly. He doubted the Weasley whelp proved a real threat, but there were others out there that might wish her ill. Holly had made her way into his heart, and now he loved her as if she was his own daughter.

There were few he could trust with absolutely everything. His truest friend, and godfather to his son, had fled the country during The War and never returned.

He now lived in Paris and was an expert on magical culture, history, and the Founders families. They could use his expertise.

Lord Malfoy looked at his wife, so peaceful and calm. For so long she had been a society hostess and mother, though she was capable of so much more. She had a brilliant strategic mind, and he had a feeling it would be very busy very soon.

"Cissa, it's time to call him home. We're going to need him."

Lady Malfoy looked at her husband, "I'll write to him in the morning, love. Regulus will answer our call."

"I know he will, love. I know he will."

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Holly rose early the next morning. She was excited to start her first day, and wanted to make sure she looked the part.

She took a quick shower since none of the other girls had risen, and sat in front of the vanity beside her bed.

She braided her hair up into a bun and placed her favorite serpent hair comb into the intricate style.

Next Holly grabbed some parchment and a quill from her trunk, and started a letter to send home. Draco may have written home the night before, but she wanted to assure Lord and Lady Malfoy that she was doing well. She knew Lord Malfoy worried about her.

Holly blew on the ink to dry it as she looked over the short missive. She had included the incident with Ms. Granger. No doubt, Draco wouldn't have mentioned it. It wouldn't have been of note to him, since that Weasley character had accosted her after.

Holly included a postscript asking Lady Malfoy to include a few books on wizarding culture for Ms. Granger, and then signed her love. She would have Draco send it out with his owl.

Pansy stirred in her bed, and Holly smiled over at her as she got out of bed.

"Morning Holly," Pansy greeted sleepily as she stumbled to the shared bathroom. Holly decided to wait for her new friend. They could head out to the Common Room together.

Pansy was done in just a few moments due to some handy charmwork, and walked with Holly to the common room where the boys were waiting.

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"Have you seen this?!" Lord Malfoy seethed, as he handed the morning edition of The Daily Prophet to Lady Malfoy.

There on the cover was a picture of Holly and Draco on the platform. They were surrounded by their friends, and Holly held Draco's hand.

"GIRL WHO LIVED RETURNS TO MAGICAL WORLD ON THE ARM OF HEIR MALFOY!"

Lady Malfoy chuckled. The fact that they thought the most notable part of the story was that Holly was Draco's soulmate, said a lot about the validity of the article. Not to mention, they had dropped Holly's title in favor of some sensational hero title that Dumbledore had promoted after The War.

"Why are you laughing?" Lord Malfoy demanded. He was incensed that their young children had been used to sell papers. Their pictures had been printed without their consent! What could Lady Malfoy possibly be thinking?

"Lady Shacklebolt is no doubt already demanding a retraction. I don't they will run another picture without our permission. Just look at the photo though, Lucius."

Lord Malfoy came around the table to look over her shoulder at the photo.

"They look stunning, and so traditional. Their friends and future advisors are all gathered around them. Every family in the country will see this photo. It's the beginning of a new age, my dear."

She was right. They looked like royalty, and the image would be planted in the minds of wizards and witches the country over.

"Have you read the article?" Lady Malfoy asked, her voice laced with amusement.

Lord Malfoy flushed, he had been too upset with the headline to read too deeply into the article itself. "No."

Lady Malfoy chuckled as he returned to his seat. "They seem to have mistaken Holly's demureness for weakness. How amusing. Well, that's what you get when you have a paper written by these modern witches. They think we are all weak, because we are traditional."

Lord Malfoy nodded his head, as he took a sip of his tea. She was right. Their entire lives, people had underestimated Cissa. It was almost always to her benefit. They had no idea what brilliance and power laid just beneath the surface, cloaked by occlumency shields and perfect etiquette.

She could run the country if she so wished, but she moved in the shadows, attending teas and luncheons, never garnering suspicion. The same would be true for Holly, it appeared. They were making her out to be a weak witch, who needed the protection of her soulmate to get by.

Holly may feel that way now, as an eleven year old in a new world, but he had no doubt that in time she would eclipse even Cissa's power.

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The Slytherin First Years walked as one large group to the Great Hall. Even the large entourage that Holly and Draco seemed to have amassed couldn't shield her from the sound of whispers everywhere they went.

"Have you seen-"

"Is she really?"

"And so small!"

"A Slytherin?!"

"And her soulmate-"

The gossip seemed to follow her like the plague. Holly reinforced her occlumency shields. She would not let the gossip hurt her. She had much more concrete threats than the thoughts of petty children.

While she was thrilled to finally be at Hogwarts, she was also well aware that she was now in the domain of Albus Dumbleodre. The man who had allowed her to be abused for years. She didn't trust him one bit.

Holly sat at the Slytherin table, bookended by Pansy and Draco. Across from her Theo and Blaise were talking quietly between themselves.

"Now Holly, you really must eat a little more or you'll be positively ravenous by lunch!" Pansy prodded as she heaped another spoonful of fruit onto Holly's plate.

It hadn't escaped her notice that Lady Potter was more than just petite. She was positively diminutive. Draco looked at Pansy speculatively. She seemed like she would make Holly a good friend.

Owls began to swoop in and drop parcels on different tables. A flurry of owls descended at the Slytherin table, bringing presents to the newly sorted Slytherin First Years.

Draco untied a parcel from his owl, Archimedes, and affixed Holly's missive before he sent him on his way. Holly scooted a little closer to him, to see what it was. Inside the wrappings were two rectangular velvet boxes, with a note on top of them. Draco read it to Holly-

"Dearest Children, I had these commissioned for you this summer. I had no doubt, of course, that you would be sorted into Slytherin, as generations have before you." Draco skimmed through the rest of the letter which bestowed his love, and promised to see them at Yule.

Draco slid one of the boxes towards Holly and they opened them carefully. Inside was a set of silver snakes, facing each other, with a chain that connected the two sides. There were tiny emeralds set into the eyes. They were gorgeous, but Holly was unsure what they were for.

"Draco?" she asked, taking in his stunned face.

"They're cloak fasteners...incredibly traditional. People have used them for ages."

Draco snapped his gaze to hers and then ducked down to whisper in her ear. "The snake is symbolic of your lineage. They're no doubt imbued with powerful protection charms, and probably locator charms, knowing Father."

Holly smiled up at him, and allowed him to affix her cloak fasteners to her school robes. Her classmates were all similarly fiddling with their gifts.

A tall hulking boy came to sit by Pansy, and she positively lit up under the light of his attention. She turned to introduce him to her new friends, "This is Heir Marcus Flint, and this is Lady Potter, and Heir Draco Malfoy."

Marcus bowed as well as he was able while sitting at a table, and Holy and Draco nodded in return. Marcus carried on a brief conversion with Pansy, before heading out to class.

"He just wanted to make sure I was settling in okay." Pansy told her, as she fiddled with the new bracelet her parents had sent her. "He really is very sweet, though I know he looks terribly frightening." Holly laughed at her new friend. Pansy was delightful.

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Classes commenced, and Holly found herself pleasantly occupied with trying to learn all she could. Charms was easily her favorite. The tiny Professor Flitwick was kind, and the enchantments amusing.

Defense Against The Dark Arts should have been interesting, but the droning nature of Professor Andrews caused Holly to lose interest quickly. Holly frequently found herself wondering why there was not a magical culture class, considering there was a muggle studies one. It seemed unfair, as well as impractical.

Hogwarts completely neglected teaching anything about the Olde Ways to the students, leading Holly to believe that it was the school that had primarily led to their swift death. And yet, the pureblood students knew.

She noted that a few other witches in Slytherin wore gloves as well, though it seemed to be a dying tradition. There was only one reason to still wear gloves in this modern age, to honor Mother Magic. From Holly's year, only Daphne and Pansy wore gloves daily.

One morning about a week after school started, Holly received a package from Lady Malfoy for Ms. Granger containing a selection of hair pins, a simple hair comb, and several books on magical culture.

Holly had dropped it at the Ravenclaw table one morning with a smile for Ms. Granger.

"Thank you!" she squealed while pouring over the books. Holly felt good, it was the right thing to do.

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Potions was stupid.

Okay, perhaps that was a bit harsh.

The potions themselves were brilliant, and it was easy enough to follow the instructions written on the board. Professor Snape had a foul attitude, but at least it was directed at the Gryffindors. The prejudice against the Slytherins had not gone unnoticed by Holly, and it was amusing to see it reversed.

Something about the potions master, however, put her on edge. Sometimes his gaze lingered on her a second more than it should, as if he was remembering a far-away thought. Holly didn't like it. She made sure to mention it in her next letter home.

Mr. Weasley couldn't help but get himself into trouble during their first Potions lesson, losing points for his house repeatedly. When his potion bubbled over and caused him to be carted off to the hospital wing, Holly and Draco did their best to hide their giggles behind their textbooks.

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Lord Regulus Black looked at the letter in his hand as he sipped his morning coffee. So his late-brother's goddaughter was the soulmate of his godson?

'Mother Magic is laughing somewhere' he thought as he took another sip.

He picked up The Daily Prophet that had arrived a few days ago, and took another look at the photo on the cover.

Lady Holly Potter made a striking figure on the arm of Heir Malfoy, surrounded by the elite of pureblood society.

Somewhere, James Potter was rolling in his grave. He had not cared two wits about pureblood etiquette or protocol. Yet here was his daughter, looking every bit the princess.

The time had finally come for him to return to magical London. He would miss Paris, but family was more important, and they had asked for him to return.

"Kreacher," he called, "Prepare our things, we're going home."

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Holly was able to avoid Gryffindors until their flying lessons. They were held jointly, and Holly found herself lamenting that they were paired with Gryffindor once again. They were always so loud.

Holly, Pansy, and Daphne walked arm-in-arm as the boys walked ahead of them, extremely excited to get to fly. Suddenly Pansy stiffened, and pulled Holly closer to her.

"What is it?" Holly questioned.

"Heir Longbottom won't stop staring at you," Pansy whispered.

Holly looked over her shoulder. Heir Longbottom was staring at her with an inscrutable expression. Holly had never spoken to him, and had no idea why he could be staring at her.

Draco had heard Pansy's whisper though, and strode to where Heir Longbottom stood, with Vince and Greg at his back. Holly followed with Theo and Blaise trailing along. She had a feeling Draco was looking for a fight.

"Can I help you with something?" Draco snarled.

"No," Heir Longbottom replied simply, continuing to stare at Holly as she approached. He had an air of surety about him, as if he knew where he was going and exactly how to get there.

"She's my god-sister." Heir Longbottom said evenly to Draco as Holly stopped in front of him.

Draco sneered at the Gryffindor. That meant Lady Longbottom was Holly's godmother, and had left her with those filthy muggles for years. Holly didn't know what to think.

A god-brother.

He seemed so familiar somehow. He turned to look at her, and Holly was struck by the sincerity in his face.

"We played together as babies. I begged them to try to find you, but they insisted Dumbledore knew best." He seemed to be struggling, as if it pained him to disagree with his family. "I'm sorry Lady Potter. You have my loyalty." His magic hung thick in the air with the weight of his proclamation.

He meant it.

Holly recognized this from the texts she had read about on the Olde Ways. It was an oath, sworn in front of other Pureblood Heirs and Heiresses. This meant he owed her his loyalty should she ever wish to call on it. It was an honorable gesture, meant to convey the depth of his remorse for his parents inaction.

The Slytherin's all stared at either Holly or Heir Longbottom with shock. They had all been taught The Olde Ways, they knew the significance of his words.

Holly took a step forward, to stand beside Draco. "Thank you, Heir Longbottom. I don't hold you responsible for their actions. May our families flourish- and please, call me Holly."

"Neville," he responded as he held out a hand to Draco. Draco took it genially and shook it. If Holly was allied with Neville, then he was as well. They were a package deal as far as Draco was concerned.

"Draco," he informed. Then he pointed around the group of Slytherin's and introduced them to Neville. Just as Draco finished introducing the last member of their group, Mr. Weasley came bumbling over, once again stepping too close to Holly for her comfort.

She took a step toward where she knew Draco was standing, and he stepped forward, grabbing her hand. She was vaguely aware of Neville gripping his wand tightly at her other side.

He may have just taken the first step to repairing their friendship, but he would not let the likes of Ronald Weasley disrespect his god-sister.

"What are you doing with these snakes Neville? They giving you a hard time?"

"Hardly. Just reacquainting myself with my god-sister."

Mr. Weasley looked at Holly disgustedly.

"The snake? Surely she'll hex you when your back is turned. You don't need friends like that!"

Holly tensed, but made no retort. She was better than that. She was Lady Potter and Heiress Slytherin, she had no need to drop to his level.

Apparently Draco did not feel the same.

"Wizards duel. Tonight, trophy room, midnight."

What was Draco up to?

He would never risk getting in trouble over an insult so insignificant. He wanted to win the House Cup just as much as the rest of them. Being out after hours could get them in enormous trouble, and cost their house points.

The risk wasn't worth the reward, and Draco was nothing if not cunning. Holly kept her mouth shut. Clearly, he was up to something.

Mr. Weasley agreed to the duel and trudged back over to where the rest of the Gryffindors were watching the confrontation with suspicious eyes. Neville apologized for his housemate, and went to join the Gryffindors. He appeared to be trying to talk sense into Mr. Weasley.

Draco turned back around to face her with a cocky smile, and Holly did her best not to laugh at him. He would tell her what his plan was later.

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As they sat in the common room after their flying lesson, Holly decided to broach the subject of the Wizards Duel.

She fixed Draco with a look that she had learned from Cissa and called his name. He looked up from his position by Theo and paled at the look on her face.

"Draco, what are you up to? I know you aren't going to duel that half-wit over what he said."

Draco got a dangerous looking smile on his face, causing Theo and Blaise to laugh at him.