Orion was one of the first ones on the train and had his choice for a compartment. He chose an empty one and settled in. Before long he heard many others walking by his compartment. Eventually many of the compartments filled up and two other students joined him in his. Orion was shy when meeting new people and rarely had to introduce himself since his father, grandmother, or godfather usually introduced him.
"Hello, I'm Alexia Wilkes. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mister………?" Alexia said, implying that it was now his turn to respond properly. Obviously Alexia had been raised with manners.
"Charmed, Miss Wilkes. I am Orion Malfoy," Orion responded, while the other person in the compartment still remained silent. Then Alexia nudged the person, who first grunted and then spoke.
"Alright, I'll get to it. I'm Sebastian Flint, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Orion smirked at this, giving off the trademark Malfoy smirk.
"You'll have to forgive my friend here, Orion, he obviously has lost his manners," Alexia shook her head and shook her finger at Sebastian. Glaring at Sebastian, she continued, "You might want to find them before we reach Hogwarts. It's a wonder what House you'll be Sorted in. If I didn't know your family, you'd be a Hufflepuff."
"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff!" Orion added.
"Says who?" Alexia retorted, puffing her chest out and sticking her hands on her hip.
"My uncle Ted, he was a Hufflepuff. Of course, Aunt Andromeda always favoured Ravenclaw. Everyone else says I'm a natural Slytherin, destined to follow in my father's footsteps." Sebastian remained quiet during this exchange and it was obvious who would be handling all of the talking.
"Humph. Does that mean you're going to run off and come back with a child?" Alexia knew too much for her own good, but it was no surprise that she knew his heritage. It had been all over the Daily Prophet when he was younger.
"Leave him be Alexia," Sebastian said, hoping to avoid a full-fledged argument. Whispering to Orion, "I know how she can be, I grew up with her. It's best to end it now." Orion thought about it, before deciding to insult her a bit first. While he lived abroad, his father made sure Orion learned about the influential families from every House. Though not everyone conformed, most from a family was Sorted into the same House. The Wilkes family was known for being Slytherin, as well as the Malfoy and Flint family.
"You'd be perfect for Gryffindor Miss Wilkes. You're quite brave, taking on the Malfoy heir like that." He knew he shouldn't have used his name like that to flaunt it, but she was being a pain.
"Some Slytherin you are. Can't even stick up for your own," Alexia shouted, towards both Sebastian and Orion.
"Who says we'll be Slytherins anyway?" Orion asked when the compartment door opened. A young man entered, who was wearing Slytherin robes. Alexia looked ready to smack the young man, who had to be at least a Fifth Year because he had a Prefect's badge pinned to his robes. The young man spoke first.
"You ickle firsties ought to put your robes on now. We're almost there. Alexia come with me," the young man ordered.
"I don't think so Tristan!" Alexia replied defiantly, "I'm staying with Sebastian and Orion Malfoy. Besides I'm almost ready. Oh just leave me be!" At that last shout, the younger man, Tristan, walked out of the compartment and headed throughout the rest of the compartment. Alexia sat down and folded her arms across her chest. She muttered under her breath, but Orion could not catch what she was saying.
"Don't let Tristan bully you," Sebastian said, trying to soothe Alexia.
"Oh you don't live with a prat for a brother! Instead, you luck out with an older sister and a younger sister. And Orion over here gets to be an only child. Older brothers are the worst. Tristan's so protective of me!" The train stopped and the three first years headed for the boats. When they reached there, another young girl who introduced herself as Julia O'Brien joined them. They kept quiet on the boat ride to Hogwarts, amazed at the sheer size of the lake and how Hogwarts looked at night, wondering what Hogwarts would like during the day.
The first years all gathered in a hallway to await their name being called. Julia had vanished and it was just Alexia, Sebastian, and Orion again. Alexia decided that now would be a good time to rant about her brother again. Of course Sebastian had heard all of the stories, but Orion was a new audience.
"Sebastian's sister Marigold is a third year and really sweet. She's a Ravenclaw, so don't expect to see her too much, unless you want to live in the library. Tristan is a fifth year and a Slytherin. He's a Prefect as well, which gives him more authority. He's the only drawback to going in Slytherin. He hates me because I took away precious attention from Mother and Father." Names started to be called and Alexia stopped talking for a few moments.
When FLINT, SEBASTIAN was called, Sebastian ran for the seat, though he knew he'd be in Slytherin. No one in generations had been in another House until his sister came along and he was going to plead in order to make his parents proud. It was quiet for a moment before SLYTHERIN was called. "Yes!" whispered Alexia.
After many names, it was Orion's turn. He was nervous and hoped to make his own family proud of him. When he was called up, he heard several whispers amongst the students in the Great Hall, but he had been used to that. After all, he was the Malfoy heir. When he put the Hat on his head, he was shocked to discover the Hat was talking to him. "My, my! A Malfoy at last! Haven't had one of those in a long time, especially not one as difficult as you. Such courage, such loyalty, such ambition. But I see a sneaky side in here." Please, Slytherin, Please. "Well if you insist on it, you'd do well there, but Gryffindor could help you in many other ways." I insist. Make it Slytherin. "Better be SLYTHERIN!"
Orion let a breath go that he did not know he was holding in. He sat next to Sebastian and the older students congratulated him before focusing on the next student. Finally it was Alexia's turn. The Hat was barely on her head when it shouted out SLYTHERIN! Tristan jumped up at the moment and screamed "YES!" Alexia just hung her head down after her brother had just embarrassed her in front of the whole Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore then announced the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Harry Potter. Orion thought he remembered that name, but when he heard gasps throughout the Hall, he knew he was not the only one who remembered the name. But the face, Orion remembered his face in person. After the meal, the first year Slytherins followed Tristan, with Alexia, Sebastian, and Orion being the last ones to enter the Slytherin common room.
The next day, schedules were passed out in the morning. Slytherins had Defence Against the Dark Arts first with the Gryffindors. Orion wanted to make a good impression and urged Alexia and Sebastian to hurry in order to get good seats. Alexia insisted on making an entrance with one of the other girls sorted into Slytherin so only Sebastian followed Orion. Like expected, they were the first ones in the classroom. Professor Potter wasted no time in starting class and Alexia certainly made her entrance.
"Well, what do we have here?" Professor Potter asked when Alexia and her friend Felicity Avery tried to walk in the classroom.
"Sorry Professor, we got lost," Alexia spoke first, since Felicity was trembling at the prospect of speaking.
"In the future, it will be five points for every minute late. Is that clear to the rest of the class? Consider this your warning." He was a strict teacher, but Orion was anxious to learn. "This year we will begin to cover many of the Dark creatures. Today though, we will discuss the rules of my class. Take out your textbooks. Tonight for homework, read over the section on Kappas, prepare an outline for the next class and be ready to discuss them. In my class, I want this to be a place where we cannot only learn freely, but discuss freely. From today onward, there are no House boundaries. You will, however, sit with a person from another House. We'll arrange the desks in a circle for discussion days. For today's lesson, I will do all of the talking." Professor Potter continued to list all of his rules and when the bell dismissed them, he asked for Orion Malfoy to come up front.
"Yes, Professor Potter?" Orion asked respectfully.
"How's your father doing?" Harry asked; which shocked Orion, who was not expecting that question. Seeing Orion's confused look, Harry added, "We worked together when you were younger and were good friends. Do tell him I said hello. Run along now."
After Orion left, Harry set up the wards around the classroom and turned towards the empty chair next to him and said, "He's a fine young man. I wouldn't have believed he was a Malfoy." Ginny's head popped up as she pulled the Invisibility Cloak off of her head.
"Thank you for allowing me to watch this class. I'll come every Monday."
"You should be proud of him Gin, even if he is a no-good Slytherin." Harry stuck his tongue out at him, as a way of teasing her.
"Not all Slytherins are bad and Draco Malfoy wasn't all that bad or I wouldn't have married him," Ginny added.
"Whatever you say dear. But I have a class coming soon and you might want to check on the children. Watch Cassie carefully. You know she'll roam the castle if she's allowed to."
"Yes Boss. I think I can handle my daughter. Our children on the other hand…" her voice trailed off.
"Ha, they'll be fine. They love Grandpa Dumbadore already." Harry had taken the twins to visit Professor Dumbledore and immediately the twins dubbed him Grandpa Dumbadore, since they could not say Dumbledore yet. Cassie listened to Professor Dumbledore, knowing he would be her Headmaster in a few years.
- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -
The next two years progressed smoothly for the Potter family at Hogwarts. Cassie was disappointed that she was not allowed to mingle with the students, but she did not mind it that much. The twins loved living in the castle and grew tremendously. Ginny sat in on many of Harry's classes to watch her son become one of the best first years in Defence Against the Dark Arts. After only two years as a professor, Harry thought it was time to step down, for family reasons. He did not want to be a professor while Cassie and the twins were at school because then he would be accused of being unfair to them. Ginny agreed with Harry and Professor Dumbledore thought it was a brilliant idea; after all, Harry had broken the curse of the Defence Against the Dark Arts post by staying more than one year. With the first of the Weasley's entering Hogwarts, Harry decided it was time to move his family back into Potter Manor.
