Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no claims to ownership.
Damon Potter knew from experience that nearly everyone wanted to be his friend, which was why he looked up warily when the door to his compartment was opened. The girl who stood there looked vaguely familiar, with numerous freckles, mousy brown hair, and dark green eyes behind spectacles. It wasn't until she spoke that he recognized her as Rose Weasley's cousin.
"There you are," she exclaimed. "I've been looking all over for you."
For a moment he thought she was talking to him and he was confused, but then Rose responded.
"Sorry, Hattie, I know I said we'd sit together, but is it okay if I stay here with Damon?"
Frowning, Hattie glanced at Damon critically. Mentally preparing himself, he met her gaze and watched as her eyes became almost comically large. Despite having chocolate brown hair and no glasses, Damon's resemblance to his father was extremely striking.
"Crickey, you're Damon Potter!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Damon saw his cousin, Castor Malfoy, mouth, 'Crickey?' and Damon suppressed a laugh. He'd heard from Rose about her odd pair of cousins, Albus and Hattie Creevey, but this was the first time he'd met either of them.
Hattie walked purposefully toward Damon, her smile wide and her hand outstretched. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Harriet Creevey, but I go by Hattie."
Behind her, Castor mimed sticking his finger in his mouth to Ajax Black and Rose. Jax bit his lip to contain his smile, and Rose looked at them both in severe disapproval. Damon ignored them as he returned Hattie's handshake.
"Pleased to meet you," he said politely. "Are you a first-year too, then?"
"Oh no, I'm a second-year," Hattie replied. "I'll be seeing you in Gryffindor, yeah?"
Damon gave her a hard smile. "Yeah, maybe."
Jax shifted in his seat uneasily, and Damon tried to send him reassurance through a sidelong glance while keeping his head still. Damon wasn't sure if it was ever received, though, for at that moment the compartment door opened again and a freckled boy with light auburn hair and bright brown eyes poked his head inside.
"Hattie? What's taking so long?"
Grinning widely, Hattie turned to face the boy. "Albus, look, it's Damon Potter!"
As Albus' eyes widened into the same expression his sister bore earlier, Damon groaned inwardly.
"Remember, Slytherin," Damon whispered to his friends once Professor Longbottom left the large group of first-years in the annex room.
Jax's lips pressed together and he nodded tightly while Castor remained relaxed, hands in his pockets and an easy smile on his face. However, Rose wore a pensive expression. Damon leaned in closer to her.
"You know we'll still be friends even if we're in different Houses, right?" he said in a low voice. "It's your choice, Rosie, but if the Hat recommends a House, then it's because the Hat thinks that's the best House for you."
Her brows rose and she gave him a glassy stare. "I know. My mum is the Headmistress, remember?"
Damon held his hands up toward her. "I'm just saying there's no pressure to be in Slytherin. I don't care if you choose it or Gryffindor."
"I know," Rose repeated, looking away and playing with a strand of her red hair.
Despite feeling a need to comfort her, Damon couldn't think of anything more to say, and he was glad when Neville came to collect them.
As he followed the line of first-years into the Great Hall, Damon tried to surreptitiously look through the crowd for people he knew. Aurora, Tonks and Charlie's daughter, grinned at him from the Ravenclaw table, and blushing, Damon spotted his old babysitter, Dominique, among the Hufflepuffs. He fervently hoped neither of them would spread embarrassing stories about him.
Damon steadfastly refused to look at the staff table, no matter how much his father waved to him.
The Hall became silent as Professor Longbottom began calling out the list of names. Jax jittered his foot against the floor until his own name was called, Neville's lips twitching in suppressed amusement. Then Jax drew a deep breath, shot his friends a smile, and strode forward like he'd never been nervous. He sat upon the stool, exuding only a calm confidence as the Hat was dropped onto his head.
A full minute passed.
People began to mutter to each other. An empty feeling from both nerves and a lack of food filled the pit of Damon's stomach as he anxiously waited.
"SLYTHERPUFF!"
The shout came so unexpectedly that everyone in the Hall jumped. Damon's mouth dropped open as the Hat then let out a grunt. He hadn't known the Hat was capable of actual speech outside of naming the four Houses.
"SLYTHERIN!"
With a proper House now given, Neville yanked the Hat off Jax's head and Jax got to see his feet, looking extremely smug.
"Oh Merlin," whimpered one of the professors, her voice drifting loud and clear. "He'll be worse than his father."
"He's not so bad," said Harry, but from the way the witch eyed him almost derisively, she completely doubted that assurance.
The rest of the sorting went as expected. Castor bounded up to the front, ignoring the whispers as he plopped onto the stool. The Hat paused only for a second before shouting out Slytherin, and then Castor was joining Jax, swinging his arms while walking and his cheekbones prominent smiling. For the first time, Damon met his father's gaze, and they shared an eye roll.
Impatience and anticipation made the hall tenser as they drew closer to the 'P' section of the name list. Damon fidgeted where he stood as if movement would make the sorting go faster. On either side of him, he could hear the whisper of the name Potter, and he noticed several people craning their necks to look at him. It wasn't often that the Potter family made an appearance in the public eye, and people had always been extremely curious about Damon and his sister, Lily.
"Potter, Damon!"
All whispering immediately stopped as Damon walked out of the crowd with wide, confident steps. The students were leaning forward in their seats, and when he glanced up at the staff table, he saw his father watching raptly. Harry gave him an encouraging smile, and mimicking Jax, Damon thrust his chest out and squared his shoulders.
"If it's not Slytherin, I lose ten galleons," Professor Longbottom whispered.
Damon glanced up at him, smirking. "I'll try my best to get you that money, then."
Neville winked at him before settling the Hat on Damon's head.
"SLYTHERIN!"
The hall exploded into noise with groans of disappointment at the Gryffindor table while the Slytherins cheered. In the air appeared the familiar Potter emblem that had been created after the war, and Damon smiled at the snake wrapped around a lightning bolt. Later on tonight, after the feast was over, his father had promised to finally tell him the story of how the snake in the grass and the lightning bolt in the sky came together.
AN: Eternally Green gave me an idea, and I decided to go with it. Yes, that means I have another story to work on, but none of them are abandoned.