I Am Not Simply.
by ny_zed
Disclaimer: My name is not J. K. Rowling, and I do not own Wizarding World and Associates in any way.
Chapter 6
While Sirius and Harry were celebrating their victory, and Percy was busy feeding his addiction to the Black Library, Oliver was just simply not having a good time. Oliver was not an academic type of person. More like a bloke-into-sports, one would call him. As soon as Oliver's mother had very reluctantly picked up Oliver and Winston from Platform Nine and Three Quarters, she locked up Oliver's cherished Comet Two Twenty and left him with nothing but books.
At home, Oliver was forced to stay in his bedroom to avoid his mother and Winston, but he never was able to hide. Winston always found his way into the room, to taunt him on his limitations. Two days in, Oliver was already wishing for the start of school. Things got slightly better when Winston finally left home, but without Winston to focus on, Oliver's mother started wreaking all her wrath on him instead. For example, he was not fed food normally.
Today, Oliver got into an argument with his mother. It had ended when he asked rather loudly, "What the fuck did I ever do to you?" In response, Oliver got smacked and got the customary response, "No swearing in the house." Ironic, when she swears rather often.
He was reaching breaking point. He had to get out of this place. But where would he go? He knew no one out there. He had no owl for communications. The only comfort he found was working on his summer homework assignments, strangely. When his mother had heard of Snape's policy, she wrote a strong, emotional letter to the Professor encouraging the behavior against disobedient and impudent children. And now, the only homework assignment he could do that was permitted by his mother, was Snape's, and Snape being Snape, made the assignment extra hard. Like seriously, three feet of parchment on a cure for boils? He would rather die.
It was to his good fortune that at this moment, an owl flew through the open window. His hopes soared, thinking he might know what the contents were. He opened and read;
What's up, Oliver?
Hope you're having a good summer so far. Did you hear about the trial of Peter Pettigrew? We caught him! He was apparently acting as Percy's rat! Crazy, right? Anyways, we're wondering if you want to come over to my place for a few days? It'll be fun! See you then?
- Harry
P. S. I already know your location and intend to come fetch you whether you like it or not.
And that was where Sarah Wood found him, when she came to fetch her son for dinner. Honestly, she didn't care if he ate or not, but she had to keep up impressions. Curious about what kept Oliver focused on the paper, she snatched it out of his hand, ignoring his complaints and read.
"And who is this Harry?"
"This Harry would like to know why you're mistreating your son."
Both heads turned to the doorway, and there stood a furious Harry Potter.
"Harry-" Oliver started but was swiftly cut off.
"So, this is Harry? He looks a bit scrawny."
"You have yet to answer the question, Missus Wood."
"What question?"
"Why are you mistreating your son?"
Sarah Wood crossed her arms and squinted. "I do not know what you are talking about." she said quietly, while trying to throw a belt away from notice. This did not go unnoticed.
"I believe I just saw you throw away a belt."
"I do not know what you are talking about."
"Accio Belt." The belt levitated off the ground and flew into Harry's hands. "What do you think this is?"
"Oliver's belt. He's nasty, doesn't clean up after himself."
"If that is the case, why does the belt have the name Winston Wood inscribed on it? I don't believe Winston was good buddies with Oliver."
Gulp. "I do not know what you are talking about."
"I think you do. Stupefy!" Sarah Wood fell to the floor, Stunned.
"What are you doing, Harry?" Oliver asked frantically.
"This is all unacceptable, Ollie! I thought the brother was the lot, but not the bloody mother too!"
"You didn't have to Stun her!"
"I had to. Look, mate. I had to save Percy from his mother, and I'll gladly save you too. From my perspective mothers are probably the worst thing that ever happened. Have you realized? All the fathers are chill. Mister Weasley never has problems with his children. Your dad, from what you told me, was very nice before he died. And my godfather Sirius is cool too, even though we didn't exactly have the best relationship. I live on my own in the Black House in London. Well, Sirius comes over time-to-time, but it's mostly me and Percy. Percy loves it, because of the books. I love it, because it's an entire place of it's own.
"I'm going to bring you to Black House for the rest of the summer. I'm going to Obliviate your mother, so she'll never remember this incident. If you want to, you can stay with us until graduation if you have to."
Oliver's eyes widened. "You're willing to let me stay for six years?" Harry shrugged. "I mean, yeah. Why not? We're the Gryffindor Three, the pals. The three stick together!"
And with that, Oliver finally smiled, the first time this summer. He was going away. Going away. Possibly not coming back.
"Obliviate! Confundo! You will not remember me or your youngest son being here. Oliver never went home this summer. You consented for him to live with his friend Harry Potter for the rest of his time at Hogwarts."
The limp figure of Sarah Wood nodded. "Hurry, Ollie. Let's get the bloody hell out of here before the drowsiness of the charm wears off."
1 September 1988
Oliver had enjoyed Black House. There had been an underground Quidditch pitch, fitted in by the late Arcturus Black in his dying days. It had been his final wish.
Percy, Oliver, and Harry went to Diagon Alley about two weeks ago. There they met Lucius Malfoy, who was apparently taking his eldest son Antares shopping. Antares would be attending Hogwarts this year.
"Ah, yes. The infamous Gryffindor Three." Lucius Malfoy said in his famous drawl.
Harry tipped his head slightly. "Lord Malfoy. Good to see you today. Is that your son next to you?"
Lucius Malfoy was surprised that the Potter boy had responded to him in pureblood fashion. Perhaps the Potters weren't the blood traitors he thought they were.
"Why yes, Potter—"
"That is Lord Black to you, Lord Malfoy."
Multiple heads looked up across the Alley as they heard those words. Lucius spluttered.
"Er, uh, yes Lord Black." Harry very smugly displayed the Black ring as he watched the Lord Malfoy embarrass himself in public.
"This is my eldest, Antares Narcissa. He will be starting Hogwarts this year."
"Nice to meet you, Heir Malfoy. How is life faring in the Malfoy hovel?"
To Lucius' horror, Antares smirked and said in a sarcastic tone: "Not so bad, eh? The straw hovel stands strong."
"Antares Narcissa! How dare you! When your mother hears of this, she'll have your hide!"
Oliver and Percy were roaring with laughter. "I'd never thought I'll be here the day Malfoy's own son turns against him!" Oliver choked out. Percy simply couldn't speak.
When Sirius heard of this, he couldn't let the topic go. Soon the topic was all over the Daily Prophet, and Lucius Malfoy became the laughingstock of Britain for some time.
Now, the Gryffindor Three were about to embark on their second year when Harry heard a voice call him out.
It was Antares Malfoy.
"Mind if I sit with you three?" He asked quietly.
Oliver looked at Percy, who looked at Harry. Harry shrugged. "Sure."
The four found a compartment and sat down. When the door closed, Antares started speaking.
"Father was very furious with you three. Especially you, Potter. When he heard of the Black title, he waited until we got home and then he started ranting about how the Malfoy fortune and power was going downhill."
Chuckles were shared between the four.
"Why was Lucius Malfoy ranting over the Black title?" Percy asked.
"Oh, that's a whole other business on it's own. When Lord Arcturus died earlier this year, cousin Sirius was expected to get the Lord title. Thing is, he's not fertile, which means he's not eligible. Cousin Regulus is dead, so that knocked out the main line. Aunt Bella is in prison, and Aunt Andy was disowned. Thus, that left me, and little brother Draco. Of course, Father didn't know that cousin Sirius had a godson by the name of Potter."
"And I bet that gave everyone a shocker."
"Indeed. Mother went absolutely nuts, and Draco was being the blonde ponce he was. He absolutely adores Father, while I don't. It's kind of ironic, since I'm the Heir. I'm also expected to go into Slytherin, and allat pureblood shite."
"Wouldn't you call yourself a blonde ponce?" Oliver asked.
"Nah, because I actually hate the role and I'm not self-righteous like everyone says Malfoys are. Draco is the little ponce. In fact, I think I might sort myself into Gryffindor just to spite the father that is the self-righteous Lord."
Multiple eyebrows were raised, before Oliver barked with slight laughter. "And us lions will be there to welcome you to the den, if you do come share a bunk with the Gryffindors!" Oliver said enthusiastically, slapping Antares on the back multiple times.
Antares grinned, feeling welcomed. But that grin disappeared when the door opened, revealing a pretty girl, with extremely pale skin. There was a cold mask on. The girl looked around the room, looking disgusted when she saw Percy and Harry, and then her eyes landed on Antares. She smiled a little. "Antares, why are you sitting with these blood traitors?"
Antares' eyes narrowed as he stared at the girl. "Who are you calling blood-traitor?" He asked carefully.
The smile on the girl's face grew ever wider. "Why, the other three individuals in the compartment with you, of course."
Antares adopted an bewildered expression. "Oh, Merlin!" He yelped sarcastically. "Blood traitors! What would you know?"
The girl didn't seem to catch the sarcasm. "Yes, blood traitors, who are beneath us proper purebloods! You must leave and join the proper purebloods, Antares!"
"Yeah, yeah, Guinevere, shit on yourself and get out."
Guinevere's expression immediately turned cold, and Oliver shivered. "Tut, tut, your father wouldn't approve of such language, Antares." She scolded.
"Tut, tut, my father has nothing to do with the language I use." Antares shot back. "Hmph!" Guinevere stuck her nose up in the air, and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
The compartment was silent for a few moments, before someone broke the ice. "So," Harry said. "That was an interesting experience, innit?" When no one answered, he repeated, "Innit?" before Percy apparently woke up. "Wuzgoinon?"
Everyone laughed. "Please don't tell me you slept through the whole thing?" Oliver asked with a pleading tone.
When Percy nodded, Oliver threw his hands up. "SHITE, Percy. You missed the best entertainment I've had all year!"
"Cough. Let's not forget when Percy chased you over Gryffindor Tower over a piece of homework." Harry said.
Oliver stopped. "Oh. Right."
Antares was watching with amusement. "So are you three a self-declared trio, or something?"
"Yep," said Oliver.
"We are the—" said Percy.
"—only three male Gryffindors—" said Harry.
"—in our year!" finished Oliver.
Percy then looked around in bewilderment. "Oh, Merlin! We're becoming worse than Fred and George!" At Antares' confused look, Harry explained. "Percy has twin brothers, who speak in rhythm to just about everything."
"Oh," Antares said. "When are they coming to Hogwarts?"
"Next year, and McGonagall will lose her fuckin' mind when she deals with those two."
"Now, what was happening earlier?" Percy asked. Antares explained to Percy about the girl, apparently named Guinevere Greengrass who had tried to drag him away from the male zone. The trip continued without any interruption, other than the lady with the snack cart. Very soon, it was dark and the boys changed into their robes, already comfortable with each other.
"Malfoy, Antares!"
Slytherins looked away, and Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and most Gryffindors didn't even bother looking. Malfoy was a guaranteed Slytherin name, and Slytherins hated people named Malfoy. However, Harry noticed that Greengrass was staring at Antares with utmost desire. Greengrass had recently just been sorted into Slytherin, herself.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Silence, as you could probably hear a pin drop. You could see the shocked faces on everyone, including Professor Snape. However, Percy, Oliver, and Harry had been expecting this and Antares very proudly slid into a seat next to Percy. The rest of the Gryffindors slid away from Antares like a disease. Oliver started laughing. "Welcome to the lion's den, Terry!"
"Nottingham, Luke!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Perss, Sarah!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Weasley, Terence!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Zhang, Kirk!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
McGonagall rolled up her scroll, grabbed the hat, and walked off. Terence Weasley and Kirk Zhang joined Antares at the table, them somehow being the only three Gryffindors in their year. Percy ruffled Terence's red hair. "How was the ride?" He asked.
"It was scary," Terence said. "Nothing much happened, just the feeling of going to Hogwarts...you know? First in our side of the family?"
Percy grimaced. Terence Weasley was his cousin, and Weasleys usually could afford the bare minimum of Hogwarts tuition. However, Terence's grandfather, or Percy's grand-uncle Harrison, had killed off his inheritance by drinking. Of course, the inheritance killing had been assisted by Harrison's wife, Julia Rosier who had been near desperate for money.
"Don't worry, Terence." Percy said. "You'll learn a lot here and make Uncle Florean proud!"
"I hope..."
[A/N]
School begins, combined with work.
Chapters become less frequent.
Writing probably gets more horrible.
Plot gets more broader.
New story along the side?
Stay tuned.