Friday was an important day. Ron wasn't entirely sure why yet, but there seemed to be an odd sense of tension in the air. Frankly, Ron blamed the homework that was due to be assigned over the weekend and rather wished everyone would calm the fuck down.
He sighed, noting how tense Harry and his soldiers were. It was too early to be worrying about someone getting cursed on accident.
"What's first class today?" Millicent chirped as Ron poured sugar on his porridge. Millicent, a noon-person at the earliest, had been unusually cheerful since her arrival at exactly seven am. Ron would have found it suspicious if he hadn't noticed the same cheer on many other faces. He frowned and absently stroked the head of his blue dragon, Blueberry, who sat in his lap. What was he missing? Or, rather, forgetting?
"Double Potions with the Gryffindors," Ron said after a moment, then chuckled. "I mean, Gryffindor."
Draco, who also seemed inexplicably pleased to be at breakfast, smiled winningly. "I hear Professor Snape always favors us. I guess we'll be able to see if it's true."
And if he's one of us, Ron thought privately. So far, the long-time spy had given nothing away.
"I wish McGonagall favored us," Seamus whined. "I mean, we are quite talented for our age." He then yelped sharply and rubbed his hand. His vicious toy had just bitten him. Seamus glared at the grinning little ball of fur; it tended to get violent when it thought he was ignoring it. The volatile nature of the stuffy had given it its name, Sweets. After knowing Hagrid for so long, it was an ingrained knowledge that it was the ones with the cute names that you had to watch for.
Parvati rolled her eyes, idly petting Oracle, her cuddly black Pegasus. "She does favor us. She has a thing for smart people." That was why she had favored Hermione the first time around and why she didn't anymore.
Seamus snorted and went back to his coffee.
Much like Flitwick, Professor McGonagall had kept them after class to test their abilities. By the end, she had pronounced that she would be speaking to Dumbledore about moving them to more advanced classes, just as Flitwick had. However, that hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.
The screech of the mail owls broke the returned kids of their reverie. The only one to be sent anything yet was Harry, who had received an invitation to Hagrid's for tea (and a nip on the fingers from Hedwig for ignoring her for so long).
Harry winced guiltily at the memory of his displeased owl. He hadn't meant to ignore her, but after losing her and living without her for so long it almost hurt to be near her. She was like a portal back to his first Hogwarts' years, when everything was so much more innocent. Seeing her look at him curiously when he jumped and flinched made him feel broken. Dirty, even.
He hadn't dared confess that line of thought to Ron or Neville, though he knew they would have supported him. Instead he'd forced himself up to the owlery one night, warded the place in ways that would make a Goblin weep in envy, and confessed to her. Hedwig had stayed attentive and eerily quiet through all his mad rambling, nudging him when he went quiet. By the end she'd perched contently in his lap, happily accepting his gentle petting.
Harry had left feeling more grounded than he had in years. He'd even managed to pull a convincing smile for Ron and Neville the next morning. A good thing, too, seeing as they had left for Hagrid's soon after classes were over.
Harry smiled, thinking fondly of that afternoon. All the returned had wound up coming along. By early evening an affair which had started tensely had ended with Blaise having to all but beg Draco to leave the hut following the fourth hour of non-stop dragon conversation. Since, Draco had been sneaking down to the hut any time he could safely hide it from the rest of Slytherin House. In the privacy of their own dorm rooms, Ron had started a friendly betting pool on how Lucius would react when he found out that his perfect politician-in-training was setting up to turn into another Charlie Weasley.
Neville had chastised Ron for being mean, but Harry had seen him put a bet down when Ron had his back turned. Never let it be said that Neville wasn't making a home for himself in Slytherin House.
Today, however, many more returned than just Harry received mail.
Draco smiled when the first package landed in front of him. There was relief in that smile, and happiness, but Harry could see fear there, too. They had known each other too long for him to miss it. Harry raised an eyebrow. "You were expecting something?"
"Of course. It is tradition." Draco rolled his eyes and suddenly even Harry couldn't pick out anything but pride in Draco's face.
With an elegance common to all pureblood children, Harry was finding, Draco opened up the package. From an expansive nest of green and black clothing and candies, he pulled out a small jeweler's box. Inside was an ear cuff, carved with astonishing detail in the figure of a silver dragon. Little green emeralds winked from its eyes. It looked very much like the dragon on the family Heir's ring Draco wore on his left hand.
"See?" Draco said, raising an eyebrow. He slipped the jewelry on and turned to the letter sent along with the package. His face was impassive, but something about him seemed to unwind as he read.
Beside Harry, a spark of realization lit Ron's face.
Dean tilted his head. "Tradition?"
Theo laughed. "I forgot you guys were Muggle-raised." Various first years gave him a chiding look.
Theo shrugged carelessly and continued with buttering his toast. "It's tradition that on the Friday morning of your first week of your first year, wizarding parents send various signs that they approve of their child's sorting. Usually parents send ties and scarves and candy of their child's house colors, along with a letter. The better-off or pureblood ones pass down heirlooms or have special jewelry made. If they don't approve, the child gets nothing and stays at school for the winter holidays."
Blaise, Seamus, Theo, Lavender, Millicent, and Daphne were the next to get a package. They opened them swiftly and began showing off their green scarfs or ties, candies, ribbons, pieces of jewelry, and other gifts. Lavender was lovingly stroking a vivid green quill sent to her in a smaller package from a 'Ms. S.' Harry noticed, with a trace of ingrained trepidation, that it looked very much like an infamous Quick Quotes Quill.
Parvati beamed as her package landed but let out a gasp when she opened it. Sitting in the middle of a nest of green and silver scarfs was a large jeweler's box. Inside was easily the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. It was obviously antique; a choker with a galleon-sized emerald framed by ornate silver snakes. A smaller teardrop emerald dripped from the main piece and an array of tiny stones glittered in the scales of the snakes.
"Daphne! Quickly, help me put this on!" Parvati urged. Daphne eyes widened and she hastened to do up the clasp.
Parvati touched her neck, preening. "How does it look?"
All the girls immediately started gushing over it. Parvati didn't need to read the letter to know who had sent the necklace, though she resolved to do so when she was free to cry over what was written. She already felt a tug of teary pride at her father's high praise. It stung a bit that he really hadn't been too pleased with her previous Gryffindor sorting, but that barely mattered anymore. All that mattered was her future, she thought firmly, and what surprises were left for her to discover there.
…Including, apparently, a few more surprises to come that morning.
Several owls carrying packages, including Hedwig, swooped down and landed in front of the Weasley boys, Neville, Susan, and Harry.
Susan opened her package first and felt tears well at the sight of the green dress carefully folded there. It was the dress she had worn to the Yule ball, one of her last reminders of her mother, charmed to fit her now. The first time she had kissed Terry, it had been wearing this dress. After a moment spent running her fingers over the smooth silk, she moved to the letter tucked in beside it. A grin quickly split her face.
"Auntie says she'll be visiting the school soon!" Susan announced. The other returned first years all exchanged eager grins. Suddenly, Susan's expression turned sly. "She also says she has a certain rat she wants to see and a dog to free from the pound."
The excitement among the returned ramped up another league. Amelia Bones was back and apparently with a vengeance. Harry was all but slumped with relief, eyes shining behind his thick frames.
Thank you, he thought, not caring which pantheon caught it. Thank you for this.
Neville opened his package next, at the gentle coaxing of the table. To be honest, he was a bit surprised that he had been sent something at all. At this point in time his family had still considered him little better than a squib. He'd only received a Remembrall for his Gryffindor sorting for that reason, instead of one of the impressive Longbottom heirlooms. Also, for as long as he could remember his family had been staunchly Light. He couldn't imagine what being sorted into the Dark House would get him. So, you could say he was a touch stunned when he opened his parcel to find a plethora of green ties, silk button ups, dress pants, and even a container of green candies tucked inside.
With shaking hands, he gingerly read the letter tucked in among his goodies. His face must have paled several shades, because soon he had both his future-husbands and all the returned first years crowding around him. He only looked away from the letter to hesitantly remove a ring box from the folds of fabric. He clenched it tightly in his free hand.
"What's wrong?" Harry snapped, his wand at the ready. He blinked slightly, looking at the wand. His instincts must have taken over for a moment.
"Gran's proud of me." Neville stuttered, disbelieving. "She's heard about the advanced classes and she's happy I'm a Slytherin. Says I'll make a great Lord Longbottom and that she's sorry she didn't give me this earlier…" he murmured mistily and eyed the ring box he'd plucked from the assorted fabrics.
Neville popped open the box cautiously, eyes as wide as dinner plates when inside he found the Longbottom family Heir's ring. It was bright gold, with intricate Celtic knots etched along the sides. A winged lion clutching a sword sat in the center, surrounded by a ring of tiny sapphires.
In his last life Neville had never actually been allowed to wear the ring. His Gran had believed that he would lose it or that it would be stolen from him. When she had died in April of 1998, just before the Final Battle, she had left him the Lord's ring and informed him by letter that the Heir's was in the family vault if he ever needed it.
Now, he slipped it on with trembling hands.
"As she should be," Ron said softly from Neville's left, his hand coming to rest gently on Neville's shoulder. "I don't know how she could have ever doubted you." Harry hummed commiserating from Neville's right. His wand was back in his robe pocket but he was still pressed closely against Neville's side, eyes ticking over the rest of the package.
"About time the old bird gained some sense," Harry added, a sharp edge to his proud smile. Out of the three of them, Harry had always had the least tolerance for Augusta Longbottom. Where Ron could often be pacified by Neville's defense of her, Harry saw too much of the Durselys in her to be so easily appeased.
Harry nodded to the ring, his smile gentling. "It suits you," he added. Neville blushed but his pleased grin outshone his lingering insecurity.
The whole situation reminded that Harry would need to make a trip to Gringott's to claim his title, and that he had best do it sooner rather than later. He sighed mentally, adding it to his list of things-to-do as soon as winter holidays rolled around. He shared a commiserating look with Harry, whose sudden grimace meant that the thought had also occurred to him. They could never manage a relaxing holiday, could they?
Neville gave Harry a shit-eating grin, remembering fondly how he hadn't had to go through oodles of Goblin paperwork to claim his title even in their last life. At the pained looks he received in return, he grinned brighter and nudged Ron's box a little. There was something to take their minds off it, he thought.
"Your turn, lo—Ron." Neville cursed silently. Such affectionate gesture in public were a major breach in pureblood propriety without a contract between them. They would have to get that bloody thing signed sooner than he had thought.
Ron smiled smugly at Neville—he had suggested getting the contract done immediately, screw waiting for second year—before opening his package. He felt relief he hadn't even known he had been waiting for upon seeing the new, obviously expensive items it contained. Percy had already told him that his father and older brothers had come, but the obvious signs of wealth were a physical confirmation that his family was on the upswing. The first time around, he had only received a congratulatory letter due to money problems. Now his box was filled with so many things most of them had to be shrunken, like brand new school robes, dress clothes, schoolbooks, additional materials, and a new wand. The wand that had chosen Ron after his second year.
Grinning ridiculously wide as his wand sent glittering gold sparks harmlessly across the table, Ron saw that his brothers had all received similar packages. In fact, the twins were already coordinating identical outfits, while Percy hissed mock-disapprovingly at them. None of them could hide the joy in their eyes.
Millicent, along with the rest of Slytherin House, looked on in confusion. "I thought the Weasleys were—" Her eyes widened when she realized what she was saying. "I mean, um, not very well off. Oh, Ron, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend."
Ron smiled and shook his head, "It's okay, Millicent." He pulled out the letter his dad had sent and, if at all possible, grinned wider at the various confirmations contained therein. The plan had gone off without a hitch!
"Dad says he has divorced Molly," Ron started with, noting amusedly that the entirety of Slytherin had stilled at his words. Divorce was rare in the Wizarding World. "Once it went through, Great Aunt Tessie finally agreed to cough up the Weasley Lordship, which let him keep full-custody of us," he gestured to his brothers and then pulled a solemn face for the onlookers. "However, my not-sister elected to stay with my not-mother."
By now, there was dead silence in the hall. Everyone who had ever gone through a wizarding etiquette class knew of the scandal caused by the marriage of Molly Prewett and Arthur Weasley. Completely out of the blue, young aristocrat and genius spellcrafter Arthur Weasley had proposed to Molly Prewett, whose reputation had been less than perfect ever since she was found cheating on Alaric Abbot in her third year. Lady Thessaly "Tessie" Weasley had withheld the Weasley Lordship over it, but that hadn't been of consequence to the couple. If the tale hadn't ended in a genius being lumped with the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office and stuck in abject poverty, it might have been romantic.
For a husband and wife who had survived so much scorn to suddenly split like that—what on earth could have caused it? And why was Molly Weasley's (Prewett's?) son referring to her as his 'not-mother'?
Pansy Parkinson, of course, couldn't help but voice the question. "How did that happen?" Pansy needled, craning her neck to try and see the letter.
Ron shot her an acidic glare but straightened his shoulders as though to control a tremble. Much like his twin brothers, Ronald Weasley knew how to put on a good show. With a look of overpowering stoicism, he stared into the middle-distance and murmured: "Love potions."
The hall, which had been silently pretending not listen, gasped as one. An inferno of whispers broke out, but when Ron cleared his throat to speak again—perhaps to swallow a sob, the Hufflepuffs murmured sympathetically—the hall fell silent.
"My father had a minor accident in his workshop a few days ago. When St. Mungo's ran his bloodwork, they found near-lethal amounts of Amortentia." A horrified noise broke across the hall. Ron bit his tongue to keep his bubbling laughter in. He cleared his throat and carried on. "Bill and Charlie are with him now. Lucius Malfoy has given my family the use of his private legal team as a gesture of good faith." At this, Ron gave the appropriate nod of acknowledgement to Draco, who returned it without a hint of mischief in his eyes. Ron restricted himself to a wobbly smile.
The Hufflepuffs, Hogwarts' official gossip mill, all murmured about his tragic strength.
"In addition, Great Aunt Muriel has given the Prewett tittle over to my father's care and removed Molly from the Prewett family to help make up for the offence." Digging into the package, Ron removed a black ring box much like Neville's. Inside, of course, was the Prewett Heir's ring. Huh, Ron thought, no awful Goblin inheritance paperwork for me!
Harry restrained a sigh. Of course, that left him alone in the misery. Lovely.
"Due to recent offences done against my father and family by a staunchly Light witch," Ron continued, and by now even Dumbledore was leaning forward in his chair, "My father would also like it to be known that the Weasleys are no longer a Light-aligned family and instead take a neutral stance on events henceforth." Ron finished the formal words with the appropriate solemnity. The twins made a mental note to congratulate their little brother on his fine performance.
The hall sat, stunned. In his golden throne, Albus Dumbledore cursed Molly No-Name for failing so spectacularly just when it counted.
Lowering his voice so that just those at their section of the table could hear, Ron informed them that, "Dad has also made it clear to our Head of House that he's willing to sponsor Slytherin newbloods. Particularly Dean Thomas and Lee Jordan," Ron added with a wink.
Lee Jordan, who was eating at the time, promptly choked on his toast. He had known Arthur Weasley was a kind guy, but from what Cassius had told him, sponsorship was a Big Deal. They had been going over who they could ask for ages. Now Arthur Weasley was sweeping in to save the day? Right after a huge family upheaval? Lee met Cassius' eyes. This, plus the twins' freak decision to get re-sorted in the first place, was all starting to sound really strange.
Not that he wasn't grateful, but Lee swore to himself he would get some damn answers out of his evasive best friends before this weirdness went any further.
Dean, for his part, merely nodded his thanks before going back to his tea. As if his life hadn't just been completely changed. Lee narrowed his eyes, hand tightening around Cassius' beneath the table. Oh, yes, he thought, I deserve a fucking explanation, alright.
Ron finished with, "And Luna also says hello and that she will be visiting come the holidays." He was grinning widely by the end, unable to restrain the emotion within his own court.
"Luna!" Lavender squealed. "Oh, I can't wait to see her! You are inviting me over for the holidays, Ron?" She not-asked, the hard glint in her eyes hinting that Ron had no choice in the matter.
Ron gulped and nodded, sending the rest of his court into a fit of laughter.
Watching as the table snickered around him, Lee found himself once more at a loss. Everyone, including the twins and Percy, seemed to know this Luna person. Yet, in three years of intense friendship, Lee had never heard a word of her. Hell, he'd even met the infamous Great Aunt Muriel once. How would he have no knowledge of this girl, who was apparently well-liked?
What the hell is going on, Lee thought, mystified. The last week had felt like a walking-dream. The twins skittered around his questions and Percy Weasley gave him sympathetic looks when Lee tried to interrogate him. Even the first years had talked circles around him when he had tried, in a fit of desperation, to find out what was going on from them.
His parents, of course, didn't know anything, nor did they care to. Not too strange, that. They were of the opinion that magic was fine and dandy as long as they didn't have to get too involved with it. Anything that took away from their business deals was rated as rather too much bother, really.
Sometimes Lee wondered if they'd only had a son to complete the happy picture they made.
Below the table, Cassius squeezed his hand reassuringly. Lee smiled at him, watching as some of the worry left Cassius' eyes. Lee wished they could just go ahead and get the contract hammered out so they could touch in public. Of course, that meant talking with his apparent sponsor. In light of his recent Weasley interactions, which were all vague and generally unhelpful, Lee wasn't looking forward to that. Besides, at the moment it was much more entertaining to watch Ron and Neville nudge Harry into opening his package. It involved a hell of a lot less thinking on Lee's part, anyway. Squeezing Cassius' hand back, Lee settled in for the show.
Harry opened his package cautiously, a grin creeping across his face when he saw what was inside. Of course, there was the usual clothing, as well as casual wear to replace his icky Dudley-castoffs, and candies, too. However, the focal point of the whole lot was a gorgeous, auror-issue wand holster. The Basilisk hide shimmered faintly with various protective and defensive spells and the Acromantula-silk lining gleamed in the light. Rows of runic wards were carved artfully into the hide, reinforcing the spells to last life-long. Shiny silver buckles and detailing ensured no magical creature could remove it and he knew it would mold magically to fit his arm, skinny as it currently was.
"Who sent the package, Harry?" Dean asked, looking admiringly at the wand holster. It was a beautiful piece of work and eerily similar to what Harry had worn in their first life.
Harry already had the letter in his hands, missing the knowing look on Draco's face. "It's from your father, Draco."
Dumbledore, who had thought it safe to return to his breakfast after the latest shock, nearly spat out his eggs.
Harry was beamed unconsciously as he read, bringing smiles to both Neville and Ron's faces.
"Lord Malfoy wishes to pass along his congratulations on my sorting," Harry continued. He met Draco's eyes over the edge of the letter, who grinned cheekily at him.
Everyone in the hall swiveled their heads back to stare at the first year Slytherins again. Lucius Malfoy was sending gifts to the Boy Who Lived? Had they entered a parallel universe at some point?
Dumbledore had to steeple his fingers under his chin to keep his jaw from dropping.
Harry carried on, either oblivious to the hall's stares or uncaring. Unlike Ron, Harry didn't much give a shit about keeping up pretenses. "He gives his regards and…" Harry trailed off, honest shock crossing his face. He looked to Draco again, who continued to grin brighter than the sun, nodding slightly. Neville and Ron both perked up, unaware of what could bring Harry to a complete halt like that. The rest of the hall and, in particular, Dumbledore, shared the sentiment.
"Harry, what is it?" Neville murmured, placing a cautious hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry had a tendency to react badly to movements he didn't see coming. On his other side, Neville could feel Ron tensing, getting ready to stand if needed.
Through it all, Harry and Draco never dropped eye contact and Draco's smile never faded.
"Apparently," Harry said at length, in a small voice, "The Malfoys and Potters share quite a lot of overlapping ancestry. We," he gestured between himself and Draco, "Are cousins, of a sort. Lord Malfoy, Lucius, has used that to get custody of me." And here, the single most breath-taking smile anyone had ever seen on Harry Potter stole across his face. "I don't have to go back to the Dursleys this summer, or ever again!"
At once, chaos broke across the Great Hall. Draco Malfoy left his place to give a bone-crushing hug to his recently discovered cousin, while Ron and Neville stared gape-mouthed before joining in. The returned first years cheered, and Susan Bones was, perhaps, was the loudest of all. The houses fell into loud discussions and arguments and even the Head Table turned to each other to gossip.
In the end, it was Severus Snape who was forced to return order to the room, as the headmaster was too stunned to speak.
Harry smirked viciously from his new place between Draco and Ron, casting a sly look at Dumbledore, "Lucius also says that someone's in trouble for putting me with the Durselys in the first place. He just needs to find out who it is." Beside him, Draco snorted. His father probably hadn't written that, but, oh, was it ever fun to watch Dumbledore's face skip grey and go straight to white.
"Lucius says to call him Uncle, and that he'll see me as soon as possible. Love and hugs and all that." Harry ended absently, more interested now in testing out the holster—which, as he had thought, shrunk to fit perfectly.
"This means we'll be spending Christmas together, cousin." Draco gave him such a feline look of satisfaction that Harry nearly expected to see a bird's worth of feathers floating around him. "Which means you'll be going to the annual Malfoy Yuletide ball," Draco all but purred. Harry looked on blankly at him.
Suddenly, comprehension dawned. A ball meant formal clothes, and formal clothes meant a shopping trip a la Draco Malfoy. An utterly terrifying thought, Harry mused, and gave a dramatic shutter to illustrate his point. The returned first years broke into hysterics.
For the first time in years, Harry found himself joining them honestly.
Wow, sorry for the wait, lovelies! It's coming up to exams for me so I'm a bit strapped for time. Anyhow, I hope you liked this, even if we didn't make it to potions class (next chapter, I swear!) Instead, I added a bit more culture porn (my dirty pleasure) and filled in some blank spaces (or, at least, I hope I did). Also, this chapter has been recently edited! (8/13/2022)
Can't wait to hear from you, my dears! Your words are what keep me going!
Sincerely,
BlackRoseGirl666