A/N: So, chapter one, much longer than the prologue, but not exactly where I want the length to be. Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of it'saffiliates, enough said.
On a bright, sunny day in mid-August, an owl soars through the abyss that is the sky. Her beady eyes, after hours of tirelessly searching between breaks in the clouds, finally spot their target. Snow white feathers whistling in the wind, she angles her wings downward, heading toward the small village of Ottery St. Catchpole. As she arrives safely on the sill of a modest little house, her beak taps loudly on the glass of the window. Soon, a tall, redheaded man answers to her tapping. He opens the window, blue eyes shining with curiosity, and she flies swiftly down to the edge of the red, oaken kitchen table. Here, the man's family—a bushy haired brunette woman and two auburn haired teenagers— wait impatiently as he unties the letters from her leg. Once finally freed of her burden, the snowy owl promptly snatches some toast from one of the plates, and flies off without even so much as a hoot. The family hardly notices, as their eyes are all focused on the school crest embedded in the wax seal of the letters. Finally, unable to contain her excitement any longer, the girl exclaims her impatience loudly.
"Well, bloody open them already!" she says.
Her mother berates her for her language, but to no avail, as she has already jumped up and taken the letter right from her father's hand. Blue eyes scan the words eagerly, gaining more and more speed as they reach the end of the letter. The family looks upon her questionably, only to be answered with a squeal and a passing of the parchment back to her father. He reads the correspondence aloud to the anxious family:
To Miss Rose Weasley,
On behalf of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry I would like to congratulate you on your outstanding achievements thus far in your Hogwarts career. You have been an excellent student and, more recently, an excellent prefect. For this reason, I award you with the position of Head Girl. This is not something to be taken lightly, and I expect that you will not disappoint me. Please report to the Prefects' carriage of the Hogwarts express as usual. There you will meet your co-head and the new fifth year prefects. After the opening feast, please meet me in the Headmistress' office with the Head Boy and I will show you to your private quarters. Enclosed are the Head Girl badge and this year's required materials. Send your family my love and I will see you on September the first.
Sincerely,
Headmistress Minerva McGonagall
Silence befell on the family a moment before they all erupted into cheers.
"Bloody brilliant Rosie!" the father said.
"Oh that's wonderful darling!" the mother said.
Rose was hugged tightly by both mother and father, and even got a brotherly pat on the back courtesy of the other auburn haired teenager. After calming down, Rose, turned to the boy
"And you, Hugo, what does your letter have to tell us, hmm?"
Hugo, having silently opened his letter in the chaos, held up a shiny badge embossed with a cursive letter "P". Smiling mischievously, he held his hands to his ears as his sister let out another ear-drum breaking squeal.
"Oh, that's just fantastic Hugo!" she said, but the impish cheshire grin on her face told otherwise, something, really, more akin to 'I can torture you for no reason now'. Though as if sensing his thoughts, or maybe just the worried look that crossed his face, Rose sent him a genuine smile, quelling his nerves.
"This is absolutely astounding!" their mother said, engulfing them in her arms and effectively ending the brother-sister moment.
Across England, in a good sized manor, sat another family. Some might say that this family was immensely different from the Weasleys', and in some ways, they were. Others though, had suspicions that the world had not yet seen just how alike the two families could be. Around a round, black table sat a family of five, eating breakfast and conversing quietly. Then, suddenly, a tapping came upon the window, startling the group. The father, a seemingly white haired-grey eyed man, got up to answer to the owl at the window. He came back into the room, looking sullen, before breaking out into a wide smile, holding up three letters. Handing one to each of his three children, he directed his gaze to his eldest child, a teenager with bright blue eyes and the same white-blond hair as his father. Nodding in understanding, the boy ripped open his letter and read it aloud to the family.
To Mr. Scorpius Malfoy,
On behalf of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry I would like to congratulate you on your outstanding achievements thus far in your Hogwarts career. You have been an excellent student and, more recently, an excellent prefect. For this reason, I award you with the position of Head Boy. This is not something to be taken lightly, and I expect that you will not disappoint me. Please report to the Prefects' carriage of the Hogwarts express as usual. There you will meet your co-head and the new fifth year prefects. After the opening feast, please meet me in the Headmistress' office with the Head Girl and I will show you to your private quarters. Enclosed are the Head Boy badge and this year's required materials. I will see you on September the first.
Sincerely,
Headmistress Minerva McGonagall
Quietness blanketed the family, and then, two flying blurs of dark hair fired at him, making the chair fly backwards. The parents looked on silently, knowing they should scold the children for knocking their brother over, but not really caring at that time and place. Scorpius laughed as the eleven year olds bombarded him
"You did it! Scorpy, you did it!" one said.
"Well done, brother Scorpius, well done!" the other said, laughing at her own congratulations toward her brother.
"Thanks Cassi, thank you Cari" he said to his sisters "Now, enough about me, what of your letters?"
Low and behold, the sneaky little devils had already broken through the wax on their letters and said together
"We got in of course, what did you expect?"
The three siblings turned toward their parents, only to be compressed into a group hug led by their mother and father. After a questioning stare from each of his children, Draco said
"What? A Dad can't give his kids a hug?" followed by Astoria's
"You only become Head boy" looking at Scorpius "and are accepted into Hogwarts" looking at the twins "once, you know, I think that deserves a hug!"
