Disclaimer: Harry Potter….JKR….

From last time:

Bare feet are an ancient Norse symbol of fertility. Pomegranates, almonds and figs were all associated, in ancient times, with fertility. I actually know some people who have devised charts and formulae to help them name their children. Engineers. Go figure.

Thanks again to all who've read and reviewed.

EPILOGUE: Eleven Years Later...

September 1:

Leo Weasley shivered against the night air as Professor Sullivan led them across the lake in a fleet of small boats. He'd seen the castle many times but for some reason, tonight it seemed more…magical. He sat in a boat with his two best friends: Augusta Longbottom and Zoë Smith. Zoë was also his first cousin and of twenty-four others, closest to Leo in age. She had red hair and the biggest blue eyes he'd ever seen. Well, maybe the second, for his other best friend was blue-eyed as well. Augusta was raven-haired and pale as winter moonlight. She had wide blue eyes and a sharp wit. When they were small, a woman in a park once asked if they were brother and sister. Leo thought it was absurd at the time, but they often joked nowadays that they were "separated at birth". It was kind of silly, for Leo looked nothing like the lovely Augusta. He had brown, curly hair and dark brown eyes, the spitting image of his mother, but for a pointy nose and chin his dad said came from his maternal great-grandmother. He and the girls had known each other since infancy because their parents were all friends from school. That statement wasn't very accurate either. They had all gone to school together except for Augusta's mother, who oddly, was old enough to have mothered all the others. Couldn't really tell though, Leo thought. She was really, really good looking. He was shaken from his thoughts by Zoë, who was speaking.

"Don't know why you two are nervous. You've been here loads of times. For, Pity's sake, Augusta, your dad is a professor! You're going to have it made! I'm the one who should be shaking in my boots."

"Actually, I hear the other kids are harder on students whose parents are professors. Use the kids to get revenge for all the torture the parents have put them through."

Leo smiled; he'd like to see the seventh year who thought she could put one over on Augusta.

She sneered "Why are you smiling, Leo? They're going to get you too, probably worse when word gets out both your godparents teach here."

"Yeah, I imagine some of them would like to get even with Uncle Draco, but who could possibly have a problem with Tonks?"

As the boats pulled ashore, Professor Sullivan gathered all the first year students in front of a great wooden door, upon which he knocked three times. The old woman who answered looked very stern, certainly not the kind of teacher one would want to cross. Leo wrinkled his face up in concentration. He thought he knew all the teachers at Hogwarts and he couldn't place her. As they prepared to enter a door he knew led to the antechamber where first years waited to be sorted. It was very crowded in the little room and when he scooted next to Augusta, he could feel her trembling. He took her hand and tried to sooth her with humor by pulling a face. It didn't work.

"Don't worry. What's the worst that could happen?"

"We might get separated" she whispered

"Not bloody likely" Zoë muttered as someone stepped on her toe

"Not in here…out there" she said as she pointed toward the door leading into the hall.

"How"…Leo began…"how do they do it?"

"Dunno, some kind of test. No one will tell. It's supposed to be some big surprise. I wish we'd read that book your mum was trying to push on us."

"She's been trying to get me to read that behemoth since I learned how to spell cat. I don't care if they put me on the rack and threaten to make me live in the forest, I'm still not reading it." In truth, this conversation made Leo especially nervous. His mum had told him not to worry, that all the houses were equally great. His dad had told him, however, if he got sorted into any other house but Gryffindor, he might as well just get back on the train and come home. He felt nauseous as the doors opened and the old witch appeared again. Then the whole room gasped asshe scrunched up her face, in great effort and was instantly transformed into the smiling visage of his godmother, Nymphadora Lupin.

"We're ready for you" she said, grinning "Right this way".

As Leo passed her she winked at him and he felt a little better.

The sorting wasn't half as bad as he thought. They stood at the front of the hall and one by one had to try on a patched and dodgy looking old hat (which had sung a funny song at the beginning of the ceremony that Leo was simply too nervous to pay attention to). The hat, then, after a long amount of deliberation for some and not-so-much for others, called out the name of a house. The "sortee" then joined the members of that house at their respective tables. Leo looked out across the room. The Gryffindor table, on the right, was easy to spot as it was populated by redheads; his Weasley and Smith cousins comprised most of Gryffindor's residents these days. There were three other tables. His father said he would be able to tell by looking which were which, but honestly, they all looked the same to him. Professor Lupin called Augusta's name, catching Leo's attention. He watched as the hat seemed to take a long time in deciding where to put her. He looked at the high table and spotted her father sitting with fingers crossed, eyes closed muttering the words" Not Slytherin" over and over again. He didn't get his wish, however, for finally the hat (with a bit of a chuckle) proclaimed Augusta Longbottom the newest addition to Slytherin House.

Leo was gobsmacked. Augusta was right. They were going to be separated. He promised himself right then and there that he would not let house rivalries get in the way of his friendship with Augusta. But his father's words came back to him…"there was never a dark wizard who wasn't connected to Slytherin in some way or other". He never had anything good to say about the dungeon dwelling Slytherins. In fact, Leo had often wondered how his father and his godfather ever managed to be friends. They didn't seem to like each other very much and the root cause seemed to have something to do with Hogwarts. When they disagreed, and they often did, the argument frequently dissolved into name calling regarding house affiliation. His dad called Uncle Draco "The Ponce of Slytherin" and the thing Uncle Draco had called his dad in return, he'd promised his mother never to repeat in mixed company. His mum on the other hand assured him that there were plenty of good Slytherins, Uncle Draco for one and the Headmaster for another. She also reminded him that plenty of people from other houses turned out badly, Peter Pettigrew and his Uncle Percy, who died long before is birth were both Gryffindors during their schooldays.

The sorting continued and before long, it was Zoë's turn. Her brothers and sisters could be heard hooting and cat-calling as the hat was placed on her head. A hush fell over the whole crowd though, as the hat announced that Zoë would be joining Augusta in Slytherin. Now Leo was really surprised. True, Zoë's parents had been in different houses, but no one expected this. She had to be the first Weasley in centuries not to take her place in Gryffindor. He felt worse than ever. He would be separated from both girls for sure, for it was a foregone conclusion that he would be in Gryffindor. Both of his parents were Gryffindors and all of his wizarding grandparents for time out of mind. Suddenly, his first year, which he'd looked forward to since he could say "Hogwarts", seemed a lonely prospect.

Forlornly, He glanced up at the high table again and noticed identical smirks on the faces of both the Headmaster, whom he didn't know, but whose reputation as a tyrant preceded him and that of his godfather, who looked for all the world like he would smile at any moment. There was only one problem with that, Uncle Draco never smiled. "Malfoys do not smile like simpering Hufflepuffs" he'd told Leo more than once as a small child. Glancing over at Augusta's dad, he saw that the Herbology teacher had dropped his face into hishands and was shaking his head. Now it was just Leo and Mariah Zabini, whom he knew from his splendid birthday parties thrown every March at Malfoy Manor by his godfather. He didn't particularly like her, but she seemed nervous, so he smiled at her. Professor Lupin was calling out "Harry Weasley" and it didn't register in his mind that she was calling him until she shouted "HARRY LEONIDAS WEASLEY".

With a jerk he made his way on shaky legs to the stool and sat down. Professor Lupin went to put the hat on his head and it had barely touched his carefully controlled (with a short haircut and copious amounts of Sleekeasy's) coiffure before announcing that he would not be separated from the girls after all, but join them in Slytherin. As he took his place at the Slytherin table with his two best friends, he looked again at the high table. The Headmaster was clapping (maybe he wasn't so bad after all) and his godfather was smiling like a kid at Christmas. Leo waved at him, returning his proud smile as ProfessorLongbottom patted the Potions Master on the back and offered him his hanky to wipe the tears streaming down his face.

The End.

A/N: For this chapter: Augusta is Neville's grandmother's name. It seemed natural.

I know Zoë would technically be a year above Leo, but give me a little leeway, here. I didn't want to give Ginny and Zach another baby.

By my calculations, Leo's birthday is March 10, shared with Remus Lupin, that's why Tonks is his godmother.

I don't know who first described Malfoy as "pale as winter moonlight" but it is a phrase that has always stuck with me. I love it. I think it describes him, beautifully. Finally, for those who aren't related to Captain Obvious: Augusta is Draco's ½ sister, a product of Neville's union with Narcissa. Draco is Leo's Father.