Laughter and chatter floated through the air as a small group sat at the end of the long Gryffindor table, their voices just as loud as the others. One of the children was gasping for breath, their blonde head almost smashing against the table at a story their friend just told. The rest of the group was either laughing along or looking in confusion, ripped away from their own conversations.
Another head bobbed as he roared in laughter, the redheads to his both of his sides raising their eyebrows in amusement. Yes, it was nearly every day this happened; the giggling Ravenclaw found enjoyment with his tightly knit friends. The Slytherin at the table shook his head as he chuckled, burying his face into his palms. The brunette Hufflepuff watched in confusion, fretting over his friend when they hit their forehead on the table. The small Gryffindor who told the joke beamed in confidence, as he usually did when he got the laughter that covered the room.
"W-wait, wh-hat?! Your brother really did that?!" The blonde came back from their laughing fit, holding their stomach as they turned and coughed.
"Yep. He really shoved a cucumber down his pants," the smaller boy looked on in pride, not even pretending to be ashamed at the fact.
"Hey, hey, do you guys remember," the Hufflepuff boy took a pause, directing the attention to himself, "the first day we came? And - and none of us knew each other but then this guy over here," he pointed towards the Slytherin, "all of a sudden yelled out
'Satan!'" He continued on, bringing each of the friends back to their first day at Hogwarts.
Emmanuel gazed at the ornate interior of the castle. Boys and girls around him frolicked without a care, and here he was, standing there like a tree in a desert. An odd sight to see. One standing all alone.
In a desperate attempt to find any companion, anyone to be with at this point in time. So, he approached someone with an oddly similar hairstyle to his.
"H-hey, you got cool hair," he sputtered out from the chatter surrounding them both.
The person jumped in surprise, looking behind them. Emmanuel started to get nervous as they stood there, staring at him, but a sudden smile broke out on the person's face. "Thanks! I really like yours, too! My name is Sevan, nice to meet you!" The shorter of the two, now dubbed Sevan, smiled wide at the taller boy. "What should I call you, and what are your name things?"
Emmanuel smirked a crooked grin, showing off his pearly teeth. "Oh, I'm Emma— ...er, I'm Emmanuel. You mean... I go by 'he', thanks. What are yours, Sevan?" He beamed wildly, his shyness diminishing.
The blonde looked up in surprise, their smile falling as their eyes shown in adoration. "'T-they'. I-I use 'they'," a small, genuine smile shown on their face as the peered through the top of their glasses at the boy.
Emmanuel stuck up two thumbs at them, tucking his chin in and scrunching up his eyes.
A yell of Sevan's name snapped them both out of the stupid laughter they had fallen into, the panicked voice shouting out into the crowd. The blonde broke into a dead sprint for the boy's voice, trying to reach him as fast as they could. "Gabe!" Emmanuel followed suit, in fear of losing his newfound colleague.
A small bundle of black on the floor stopped him in his tracks as he viewed the scene before him.
"I-I'm s-sorry I-I-I didn't mea-an to l-l-leave y-you...!" The blonde cried as they covered the other boy in their arms.
"N-no, it's f-fine, I just..." The younger of the stopped mid-sentence as he noticed the boy behind his friend. The boy stood with a slightly confused expression. "Wh-ho is...?" He curled in closer to Sevan, trying to hide behind the blonde as they slowly rose from the ground.
The new arrival shifted on his feet, tugging at his shirt to hide the small breasts better. "I'm Emmanuel. Hello!" He waved his hands excitedly.
The brunette waved back shyly, hunched over behind the shorter child. "Emmanuel, this is Gabe! He's pleased to meet you!" Sevan butt into the conversation, introducing the mousey boy.
The moment was broken by a sudden shout of "SATAN!" An olive skinned, tall, dark brown haired boy was running over fiercely, while a small, pale, moley boy tried his hardest to catch up. Sevan jumped in surprise as they heard the yell over the crowd. They leapt into action, spreading their body across the taller boy behind them. All the while Emmanuel was standing whilst looking rather amused by this whole ordeal. Taking in each moment.
"You!" the olive skinned male pointed a long finger at Emmanuel.
"Me?!" he questioned, eyes growing wide.
"Yeah, you, Satan, what're you doing with Sevan," he spat, standing tall over the boy. A solemn expression crossed his face. His glasses shining in the oil lamp's amber glow, making it impossible to see his eyes.
A twisting smirk tugged on Emmanuel's lips. "D-did you just call me Satan?" he inquired, trying greatly not to laugh.
"Yeah," he snarled, "because you are Satan."
Oh, I haven't heard that remark before, thought Emmanuel sarcastically.
"Anyone who hangs with Sevan without my permission is instantly the devil."
Emmanuel sighed. It was odd, he didn't mind being called the embodiment of sin. "Sevan, is this chick bothering you?" the brute of a boy, despite his slenderness, asked to his longtime friend.
"Jaron, dear... He," Sevan put emphasis on the pronoun, "isn't bothering me. It's all good, you don't have to worry 'bout me, you know? We aren't exactly children anymore!" The blonde kid chuckled as they slapped the stomach of the giant.
"Geez, fine," Jaron rolled his eyes, flashing a grin at Sevan. He accepted Emmanuel as a new companion, for Sevan knows all who can be trusted. Their judgement is undoubtable.
"Jaron!" Gabe gasped out dramatically in greeting, still standing behind Sevan's back. "You didn't forget about me, did you?!"
Jaron thrusted his luscious, emo hair in a majestic flip from his eyes. "Of course I didn't. Sevan sticks with you like glue, I can't find them without finding you." the olive skinned green bean turned his head to the side and mouthed 'fuck' silently.
"Yeah, Jaron," Emmanuel stuck his dainty hands on his hips, "Don't forget about Gabe." He sure caught on quick. Anyone looking in couldn't have thought that he had just became friends a mere 20 seconds ago.
"See? Even Emmanuel gets it! Anyways, who's the kid?" Sevan looked down in confusion at the boy next to their friend.
"My name's Lliam!" The boy stated as he smiled at the group of four.
The group went around, introducing themselves before a middleaged woman with a pointy hat and black robes stepped forwards from the sea of children. The woman split the sea like Moses, the ocean of prepubescents dividing into two halves, giving her enough room to make her way through.
"Children," she spoke loudly, silencing the smaller humans. "Please follow me." The woman turned with a fwoosh of her robes and stormed off. A herd of children following.
Two doors gave way to the dining hall, revealing the enchanted ceiling and older students. The first years walked across the room, following the older lady to the front of the room. Lliam and Gabe stared in wonder at the ceiling, both growing up in muggle or semi-muggle households. The other three simply looked on. Breaking through the crowd was a voice of a young girl, no doubt showing off her knowledge to another friend about the enchantments on the ceiling.
The room became silent as the woman grabbed their attention, finally introducing herself as Professor McGonagall. She stated how she was going to go about the process of assigning the children to their houses, simply by calling their names and placing a hat on their heads.
Emmanuel cocked his head, confused by the strange way of sorting children. Oh, how he hoped he would stay with his new friends. Sevan felt the same way. They crossed their remaining fingers (the other tightly gripping Gabe's hand), in a desperate attempt to turn fate their way. Jaron merely crossed his arms, taking in the scene.
"I will now select the first child." Professor McGonagall extracted forth a scroll from thin air, with a flick of her thin wand. She shouted a random name, nobody from the group. Actually, it was practically hours before Gabe was called.
He gulped in surprise when he heard his name. The grip on his hand loosened. Gabe shot a glance over at Sevan, who beamed to augment the situation positively.
Gabe broke their connection, and took his place on the seat where he would be sorted by the hat. Said hat was in McGonagall's hand, ready to be set on the brunette's head. A silence spread out through the hall, each house waiting to see if they would have a new recruit. A few seconds passed before a loud yell rang into the room.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" Said house started to clap as Gabe got down from the chair and did an awkward half - run, half - shuffle over to the table.
The remainder of the group was sad to see him go, but the possibility of joining still existed, so their spirits stayed high. As if on queue, Professor McGonagall called up Jaron.
"God, why me," he hissed under his breath, taking his place away from the crowd. The same routine followed, the hat was placed on his head. The accessory pondered for a bit, then shouted "SLYTHERIN!" Barks of triumph erupted from the table.
After another crowd of people, Sevan was finally called up. They sharply inhaled, but slowly exhaled as they started to move from their frozen spot. Emmanuel's face sunk ever so slightly, but he still cheered them onwards. Sevan slowly moved their small body towards the front, nerves settling in. If they were taken away from Gabe...! They gulped and sat down, small fingers gripping their skirt. Ten seconds hadn't even passed when they heard a shrill call of "HUFFLEPUFF!" in the room. Claps resounded as the child bounced over to their friend, throwing a thumbs up to the two left to be sorted.
Lliam was next. He strode up with confidence, ready for whatever the hat threw at him. Of course, with this kind of courage, there was only one place he could go: Gryffindor.
"GRYFFINDOR!" And went he did. Claps and whistles broke through the silence as the miniscule boy did an awkward duck run over to the table filled with other lions.
At last, the final one. Emmanuel's knuckles turned white from how hard they were scrunched together. His brows were knit together, and he slouched in a way to hide himself.
Professor McGonagall issued him to the spot. The hat was thrusted onto his cranium, causing him to flinch. He wrung his wrists and shifted his ankles. He couldn't be alone, he just couldn't! Emmanuel felt his new friends were special, and needed to be held onto.
The hat mumbled under it's breath. "I'm pretty torn," it said. "Hmmmmmmmmm…" he thought, 'hmm's and 'hahh's. Then shouted at once: "RAVENCLAW!" Like the others, shouts and whooping exploded forth from the table. Though many were deep into books.
With the squad divided, there wasn't much room for development. Although, Emmanuel and Sevan were determined to build their friendships.