Author's Note: Thank you to everyone reading this and to my lovely editors
A radiant smile broke out across Theo's face and some tiredness seemed to leave him. "For what it's worth, I haven't a clue what you're talking about Harrison," he commented as he plopped down onto the bench cushion. His trunk floated over to sit next to Harry's and set itself on the ground.
"It's nice to see you again, Theodore. Have you had time to consider the conversation we had?" Harry asked in a sort of bland, disinterested voice.
"Of course I've considered it Harrison, But I'd like more time to think about it if that's alright," Theodore responded neutrally.
"Certainly… and now that we've gotten that nasty formal stuff out of the way, you can call me Harry."
"Sure Harry, as long as you call me Theo."
"Okay Theo" Harry tried out, "What House do you want to be in?"
"Not really much of a choice when you've come from a family like mine, we've all been in Slytherin since, well since Hogwarts. Some other Pureblood families are the same way with other houses. The Bones and Abbott families have a long history of Hufflepuff leanings, while the Weasleys and the Longbottoms are usually Gryffindors. Ravenclaw is considered more... I don't know 'selective' I suppose. Most families don't mind their kids being put there, regardless of family traditions. What about you Harry? Where do you figure you'll be sorted?"
"Honestly, I haven't put all that much thought into it. Not Hufflepuff, I'm not exactly the friendly type. I wouldn't mind Ravenclaw, though knowledge for the sake of knowledge seems... redundant. I align most closely with the values of the Slytherin house, I suppose, but I'll ask to be put in Gryffindor."
"Why would you do something like that? Especially if you're a Slytherin at heart?" Theo asked, perplexed by such a statement.
"I'm of the opinion that the place of any true snake is the lion's den."
"Well in any case, no matter where we go let's stay as friends"
"Friends," Harry nods.
After that short, icebreaker conversation, Theo and Harry had settled into a comfortable silence, each reading their respective books. The train was due to leave in two minutes, and Harry figured that everyone would be on by now.
The door of the compartment slid open and a young redheaded boy came in. "Can I sit here?" he asked, pointing at the seat beside Harry. "Everywhere else is full." Harry nodded his assent and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he had a black mark on his nose, and wondered what it was from. Likely the floo, he decided, a method of traveling by fireplace that Harry had read about.
Theo seemed to look the boy up and down and come to an unpleasant conclusion before asking him aloud, "Where is your trunk?" To which he got a mumbled reply, something about his brother having it, Harry thought.
The young redhead spent the next two minutes 'sneaking' glances at Harry when he thought he wasn't looking. Harry noticed every time, as the boy was quite obvious about it. But Harry ignored him, continuing to quickly and quietly consume the words on the page.
Eventually, the redhead broke the silence to introduce himself, something Harry felt he should have done upon entering a compartment with two strangers,
"The name's Ron by the way, Ron Weasely." Harry saw Theo cringe out of the corner of his eye and wondered idly about the reaction.
"Harry Potter, a pleasure," Harry said, glancing up from his book to meet Ron's eye respectfully. But Ron's eyes seemed to light up at his name and take on an almost fanatic quality.
" Blimey, I can't believe I'm sitting with Harry Potter. THE Harry Potter. I heard you went to live with Muggles. What are they like?" Ron asked enthusiastically.
"They are fine," Harry lied icily. But Ron didn't seem to take the hint.
"Do you really have the scar? Where You-Know-Who's spell struck, the night… well, you know?"
Harry stared in absolute astonishment at the redhead. What right did he have to ask these questions, or to the answers? What possessed him to bring up his parent's murder, of all things? Harry took a moment to calm himself, and instead of responding, he simply nodded and returned to the page of his book.
The silence was no longer comfortable but filled with tension. There were several minutes where no one spoke, Harry and Theo read while Ron stared dejectedly out the window at the passing cityscape.
Eventually, Ron got bored with staring out the window and turned his attention to the other occupant of the compartment. Just then the door to the compartment slid open again and Harry vowed to learn a locking charm. A short girl and a chubby boy stood outside the train compartment. The girl was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes. "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.
Theo spoke up for the first time since Ron had entered the coach. "I'm sorry to inform you that we haven't seen a toad, m'lady."
Harry spoke directly to the boy whose toad was missing. "Hello, Neville. My name is Harry Potter. You're Neville Longbottom, right?" the boy seemed to straighten up at that, as though suddenly remembering he had a family name to uphold.
"Yes, that's me. Have we met before?" Neville asked, obviously confused.
"No, we haven't, not in recent memory anyway, I'm sure we met as babies though, our families have been allied since before Hogwarts was founded, did you know that?" Harry asked conversationally.
They continued to converse for a short while. Harry said to Neville "I think I know the quickest way to get your toad back. I can't cast the spell, but you could ask an older prefect." Harry went on to explain about the summoning spell, which could summon objects in direct line of sight of the caster, but more importantly, things out of view, by calling the object aloud after the incantation 'Accio'".
While he was talking about Accio and other spells with Neville, he heard Theo talking with the obviously Muggle-born girl.
"I've tried a few simple spells just for practice, and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"
"Theodore Nott, at your service,"
After making sure Neville knew about the spell and how it works, Harry led him out of the train coach and showed him which way to head towards where the prefects would likely be.
After watching Neville walk-off anxiously, Harry stepped back into the coach and closed the door. And wished he hadn't. Though Hermione and Theo sat talking quietly, Ron jumped up as soon as Harry closed the door to the compartment and began to talk, more like monologue.
"Harry, glad you're back mate! I've been meaning to ask you what house you'll be in. First I thought 'well Gryffindor of course, it's the best house there is but you seem like a really smart bloke, so maybe Ravenclaw. Of course, we'll be great friends either way, but it'd be nice if we were in Gryffindor together."
Somewhere in the midst of Ron's little speech, the conversation taking place had died. Hermione piped up after that with "I have to agree with Ron on this one. Dumbledore himself was in Gryffindor, so the house obviously creates great wizards. I wouldn't particularly mind Ravenclaw either, I suppose."
"Hermione, you really shouldn't judge a house by one person that was a part of it over fifty years ago. Your defining characteristic when you are eleven years old may not be your strongest trait in life. Cowards have come out of Gryffindor, idiots out of Ravenclaw, traitors from Hufflepuff, and lazy people from Slytherin. Furthermore, courage and smarts aren't the only traits to be admired, any group needs loyalty and drive too. That is why I think you should have friends from every house, to expand your world views."
Theo seemed to be considering his words, but Ron seemed appalled, his face had grown redder with each word to leave Harry's mouth. "You can't seriously mean to make friends with the snakes! Slytherins are evil, every last one of them! Their parents are all death eaters! That's the House You-Know-Who was in! "
"Ron, calm down, we're eleven, no one is evil at eleven. A lot of us come here with the traditions and ideals of our parents firmly engraved in our psyche, that's true. And if you tell people that they are evil, of course, they will come to resent you. Everyone thinks they are the hero of their own story. Try not to make yourself someone's villain." Harry was calm while saying this, but Ron seemed like he was getting more red by the second, stopping at a crimson shade.
A/N: The reviews keep me going!