/* They both were the black sheep of their families and they knew it and were proud of it. That was what brought them together in the first place and this connection brought them closer to each other as both knew what it felt to be the disappointmen...
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1st September, 1971
Platform nine and three quarters was alive and cheerful as always. Families were bidding their children goodbye as they boarded the Hogwarts Express. For some, it was the beginning of a new life, a brand new adventure. The eleven year olds were given last minute tips and manner classes.
"Stand straight young lady. You may not be under our watch but remember it will get to our notice if you fool around. No associating yourself with those.. those mudbloods. Is that clear?"
"yes Aunt.", answered an elegantly dressed Eleanor Crosswood.
"Remember you come from The Noble House of Crosswood. Do not do any such thing which may tarnish the family honour. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Uncle"
"Good. now go and board the train and remember what we have taught you.", instructed Nadia Crosswood.
Nodding her head once more Eleanor Crosswood was off to board the Hogwarts Express, excitement coursing through every vein of her eleven year old body.
It wasn't that she was ill treated or abused at her house but who likes to be reminded every passing day of how much of a favour her uncle and aunt were doing for her blood traitor of parents. She didn't know much about her parents and her eleven year old brain couldn't comprehend the fact that pureblood supremacy was indeed a very shallow concept and didn't know that her parents, though Slytherins didn't support it.
She grew up knowing that being a pureblood, she needed to be proud of the heritage, no questions asked. The only person she could freely talk to was her older cousin, Samantha Crosswood, the brilliant daughter of Nadia and Gerald Crosswood. She was the only person who actually treated Eleanor as a family member. Samantha being the perfect girl she was, was already off towards the prefect carriage.
Finding a suitable compartment Eleanor dropped her bags and placed her owl, Jeremy's cage near the window. As soon as she settled down the compartment door opened once again and peeped in two redheads.
"Can we sit here?", asked one of them. "Yes of course.", replied Eleanor with a smile. In came the two redheads and a person whom Eleanor hadn't noticed before. After settling down the redheads introduced themselves as Amaira and Kaira Xander, fraternal twins.
"I'm Celestine, Celestine Rivers. This whole magic thing is quite a magical experience for me.", said the third newcomer and laughed at her own choice of words. The other three laughed with her but then Eleanor asked innocently, "Why? Are you a mudblood?"
"Pardon. A what?", questioned Celestine while the twins stared at her in shock.
"Mudblood", supplied Eleanor. Amaira spoke up, "Did you know that it is a terrible terrible word to say? Our parents will never let us say the M-word"
"W-what? Really? I-I didn't know. I'm sorry. I had no idea.", stammered Eleanor under the disapproving gaze of the twins. "It's okay. But you never introduced yourself.", stated Kaira. "Oh yes. I'm Eleanor Crosswood.", provided Eleanor with a hesitant smile.
Eleanor didn't like the weird looks she received from the Xander twins. "Oh so that's why you didn't know that the M-word is a foul word.", said Kaira thoughtfully.
The twins seemed to have some kind of non verbal communication then suddenly Amaira declared, "We want to be in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Our whole family has been sorted into Ravenclaw so we kind of expect us to be Ravenclaws too but kept Gryffindor as our back up. I know it's not up to us but still feels good to be mentally prepared!!"
"My family expects me to be a Slytherin. But personally I prefer being brave and loyal than being cunning.", winked Eleanor. The only thing she didn't know was that her 'family' would be far from happy when they finally get the notice of her sorting.
In a different compartment, four young minds delved themselves in similar conversations but only one of them was facing the same problems as young Eleanor Crosswood and that was eleven year old Sirius Black, honourable member of The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. Both of their minds were subconsciously plagued by the same question, "Will I become bad if I make friends with these people?"
A/N: So yeah. This is the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Please share your thoughts in the comment section. Constructive criticism will be very much appreciated. Thank you once again for reading. Please consider voting.
