Disclaimer: See the first chapter. Redundancy kills, don't you think? Again, there will be SLASH in this story.
Chapter 2: Sorting and Sorted out
As the hat settle on her head Lark tensed at the hat's mental invasion. As she felt no threat she relaxed slightly.
Ahhhh. Harry Potter's daughter. How incredibly refreshing! You are much like your father but I suppose there is some of your mother in you as well. A matched set you and your brother Marcus. You'll do great things together. Powerful you are, yes. Good control, with a certain ruthlessness about. But caring and intelligent as well. Hmmm, where shall I put you? Do you want to be in the same house as your brother? You are more together than apart I see.
Lark thought hard about that question. Did she want to be in the same house as her brother? She loved him, she truly did, but she often felt that they were too connected. They could read minds, emotions and most definitely each other with no effort whatsoever. She loved Mars but she also wanted a life of her own. With that thought she made her decision.
Put me where you will, but do not feel compelled to place me and Mars in the same house. After all, we are not the same person.
Lark held her breath as the hat was silent, seemingly in thought.
Well, I cannot speak for your brother but it is quite clear where you should go. In truth there can be no other way. A bit of advice before you leave, live your own life as well you should. But do not forget that no one's life is strictly their own. With that said, off you go to...
"SLYTHERIN."
The tension in the Great Hall was palatable as Harry Potter's daughter was sorted into Slytherin House. The hall erupted into gasps and loud whispers as the children in all the houses absorbed this new fact. Slytherin House was deathly silent, and then erupted into loud applause The Headmaster, Severus Snape, smiled smugly as his dark eyes glittered. Harry Potter, the brand new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, shook his head at the Headmaster's expression as he smiled at his daughter. Lark looked at her father and then down at the newly transfigured Slytherin patch on her robes. Winking at him, she swiftly added a small Griffin at the bottom on the patch. It was subtle and possibly unnoticeable unless one knew it was there. Still grinning she went to sit at the Slytherin table, where the sixth year boys mooned over her and the sixth year girl anxiously clamored to talk to her. The Sorting continued on.
"Potter, Marcus."
The hat was settled firmly on Mars's midnight black head. The hall waited earnestly for the hat to proclaim its decision.
Mars Potter. So like your father you are. But, with a bit more intelligence if I do say so myself. You and your sister have been exceedingly difficult to place. In you I see intelligence, and the courage to use it. Ruthlessness, tempered with feeling. Where to put you? Your sister thinks that you must be apart in this school to learn yourselves and grow. And with her I must agree. However, your power together is immeasurable. As I let her have her say, so shall you have yours.
Mars thought. He knew that Lark was right and that they did need to have time apart for them to grow and become more independent. However, he unlike her was unsure that he could handle being apart for the majority of the time. Well, he thought there are ways around that. With a sigh he shrugged.
I leave the decision up to you. As you have been doing this longer, I'm sure you know exactly where I should be. Mars waited patiently for the hat to decide where he belonged.
I knew you would say much long those lines, as you are a true testament to where you belong. Well, congratulations Marcus you are now a...
"GRYFFINDOR."
Mars blinked in surprise and then grinned as the hat was removed from his head. Applause could be heard thundering around the Hall. A Potter was in Gryffindor once again. He looked up at the teacher's table to see his father smiling just as proudly at him as he had with Lark. Sitting down at the Gryffindor table he was surrounded by his friends the Weasleys, all of whom where in Gryffindor. Mars' thoughts ran a mile a minute as Headmaster Snape gave a speech welcoming in the new school year. Looking across the table at his sister he thought at her.
I always knew you were a sneaky snake, he teased Lark. Lark rolled her big emerald eyes at him and smirked.
Better than a holier-than-thou lion, she teased back. Mars laughed silently and ran his eyes down the Slytherin table a couple of seats down from Lark. With a slight intake of breath his eyes met cold steely grey eyes. The iron colored eyes were set in a perfectly pale face with a slightly squared jaw. Fine silver hair framed the face and fell softly to broad shoulders.
After a few minutes Mars was able to tear his eyes away from the steel gaze and felt a bright blush heat his skin. Chancing a peek at the boy again, Mars was dismayed to find the boy was smirking. Almost absently Mars crept into the boy's mind. The surface of the boy's mind was inconsequential and mainly yielded his name, Ian Malfoy, and his distinct pride of his last name. When Mars reached deeper he was promptly met with a wall. This was the equivalent to having a door slammed in his face and it didn't happen often. Frustrated, his eyes met cold grey again only to be met with a finely groomed silver blond eyebrow quirked in question. With a shrug as the only answer given Mars turned back to the conversations at his own table. He was intrigued however. The block on the boy's mind was impressive. No doubt if he wanted to he could get into the boy's mind with little effort. However, the boy had realized that someone was attempting to read his mind and had erected a shield of sorts. Most people never even noticed and thus prepared no defense. He resolved to talk to Lark after the feast and see what she could find out about Ian Malfoy.
The feast ended shortly after, with Headmaster Snape giving the prefects leave to give the first years the tour of the castle. Although new students, Mars and Lark did not go on the tour, and instead were shuffled up to their dorms by their housemates. With a parting wave to his father and sister, Mars followed Ben Weasley to the Gryffindor Tower.
As they walked to the Tower Ben had caught up to a few of his friends and had introduced him to them. He'd heard of them all before but had never met them. Adrian Longbottom, Wesley Braden and Carlos Marchiatto were Ben's best friends from childhood. All of them were in Gryffindor with the exception of Carlos Marchiatto who was a Ravenclaw. The rest were actually going to be sharing a dorm with Mars and Ben. As they approached to the portrait guarding the Gryffindor tower entrance the lady in pink in the portrait practically screamed in excitement.
"You must be Marcus Potter! The portraits were talking about a new Potter in Gryffindor, and since you are the very image of our dear Harry you must be him." With a sigh Mars nodded and pasted a smile on his face. The portrait chatted on for a while much to the consternation of the boys who were tired and ready to relax in their room. Finally, the fat lady accepted the password of "kneazles and knarls" and the boys entered the common room. Mars surveyed the room appreciatively. The furniture was a deep brown which went well with the gold and maroon hangings around the room. Overall, it was a very open and happy feeling room. Although, Mars had to admit that the Gryffindor colors were a bit garish in such abundance.
The boys led Mars to their dorm room and showed him his space and bed. As Mars looked at the small space he sighed and not for the first time, wished that his father had taken Headmaster Snape up on the family quarters offer. Their house in New England was large and spacious. It had enough room for at least 10 people, but worked well for the three currently in the Potter family. Mars quickly put his clothing in the large cherry wood armoire that sat across from his bed and sprawled on top of his bed. In truth he really needed time to think. It seemed that the Sorting had been more stressful than he had though it would be. Also he hadn't really had time to speak to his father, besides thought speak. Mars understood why his dad had not wanted family quarters. He had wanted to give his children the chance to have the boarding school experience that he had enjoyed so much. His dad had loved being at Hogwarts, with the exception of the times when the threat of Voldemort had become too great. As he drifted off into sleep his last thought he was that he was really going to really like it in Gryffindor.
Lark Potter was in quite the snit. She had been led from the Great Hall by the sycophants in her House who wanted to know all about Harry Potter, her and her twin, Mars. Not that the Slytherin's necessarily liked her father, but they were rather fond of his power and fame. It seemed that one could hate someone and still be in awe of them. They had led her down to the dungeons where their common room and dorms which is where she currently was. The minute she had walked into the common room she had almost passed out. The room was done in black leather that oozed opulence. Thick plush dark gray carpet adorned the floor and silver, black, and green curtains hung from the wall which did not have any windows. Although the décor was meant to be intimidating she understood that it was comforting to many of the Slytherins having grown up in such houses as children.
What had made her feel faint was the fact that the whole dorm was covered in a rather nasty red and black aura. Not surprisingly someone had done lots of dark magic all throughout the Slytherin's space. But what was surprising was that someone had allowed this unmistakable dark presence to remain in a children's dorm. Lark thought that this aura may have been a leading factor of why so many dark witches and wizards came from Slytherin. Well, she thought briskly, there'd be no new Dark Lord coming out of these ranks. She would clean up the aura tonight, once everyone had gone to sleep. Absorbing this much darkness couldn't be done all at one time, it would kill her so she decided to space it out over a week's worth of time. Of course she could always get Mars down here and get it done in a fraction of the time. She immediately vetoed that idea. The whole point of them being in different houses was for her to learn to stop running to him with every problem she had, and vice versa. They were closer than regular twins because of the amount and kind of magic they held. Only their family had an idea of what they could do and no on else.
On the whole Lark didn't think that Slytherin was bad at all. It had everything including posh dorms and a lot of nice looking boys. As she thought about the nice looking boys in Slytherin, the best one of the lot sidled up to her.
"Ah, Ian Malfoy." Lark purred. Ian didn't comment on how Lark knew his name but simply winged an eyebrow. He smiled charmingly and lifted her hand to his lips.
"Enchante, Miss Potter." Lark's green eyes lit up and she looked seductively at Ian. Taking her hand back from his grasp she smiled at him as she rummaged through his mind breaking the field he had over his thoughts. Grinning like the cat that has caught the canary, she drew Ian over to the black leather couch in the common room.
"So, Ian, what did you want to speak about?" Ian looked into her eyes and grunted acceptance. He knew that she already knew. Pushing that thought out of his mind he decided to forgo that conversation in lieu of another.
"Quite impressive your welcome this evening, no? In fact surprising since a lot of the Slytherins had parents and grand parents who heavily supported the Dark Lord. Myself included." Lark nodded her understanding and waited for him to continue. "With that in mind I am offering you an alliance of sorts. You will soon find that Slytherin House is a virtual political arena. I as of now am a leader. I wish you to become one too." Lark chuckled softly. Turning to Ian she asked him seriously.
"What makes you think I couldn't manage that on my own?" Ian shook his head slowly.
"I know for a fact that you would be able to pull it off. However, I think much more can be accomplished with us as a team rather than fighting for the leading spot. You may have the power but I have a Slytherin legacy and history with almost all of the students in the House." Lark sat thoughtfully for a few minutes. With a resolute nod she agreed.
"I agree. We will work together, as it would be in my best interest to learn the ropes around here from an insider. And by the way, you wouldn't have any, shall we say, ulterior motives for wanting to join forces with me?" Lark smirked at Ian, daring him to deny it. Astonishingly, a faint pink blush stained his cheeks at the question. Lark laughed and let him off the hook. She really didn't want to get involved in his personal affairs. Anyway she was feeling rather peaked and decided to get a nap before she cleansed the Slytherin dorms.
