Chapter 32
Back to School; This is Home
Beginning notes: The songs for this chapter are Back to School by Mother Mother track/0UD6mo4q4YiH5GnSfvNNP5?si=OhSYCwmRTRKPMcHrInZpIg
And This is Home by Cavetown track/7s8VgA8OjvwBUuigKzEGBx?si=0gISd3wbQ_2RxzHhAz0AIg
The return to Hogwarts is two parts pain and one part pleasure.
Flashback:
Draco POV
Malfoy Manor
December 1997
The last place that Draco wanted to be was home. The Manor was crawling with Death Eaters, the Dark Lord, his insane aunt and fucking werewolves, not to mention that snake.
Yet he was supposed to act like it was a normal Christmas. He was a failure, ever since he couldn't kill the Headmaster, they punished him for the slightest things, there was bound to be more torture for him when he arrived, between courses at dinner perhaps or just after breakfast tomorrow morning. He'd learned better than to eat at the meals he shared with their house guests over the summer, otherwise his meal would be all over the floor and it would just add to his humiliation.
His mother had kissed him in welcome and whispered that the Dark Lord wasn't currently in residence, but Nagini and Bellatrix were. Draco nodded, understanding that the two of them would report anything that they heard to the Dark Lord upon his arrival.
No familial loyalty would prevent Bellatrix from getting Draco killed if he said or even thought the wrong thing. He needed to be the vision of the perfect pureblood heir if he wanted to live long enough to get back to Hogwarts. If he didn't make it back, more children would die under the Carrows and he couldn't allow that to happen. He refused. And Theo, Pansy and Blaise needed his help covering so that they could run their undercover clinic. They couldn't maintain it without him.
He had to make it out of winter hols alive.
His father had already been drinking when he walked in to greet Draco, acting like Lord of the Manor as though he wasn't an escaped convict from Azkaban, as though any of this was normal. They were in this strange pantomime of a normal family when a noise from the front entrance of the Manor caused them all to turn.
Thorfinn Rowle, the huge fucking Viking in his Death Eater robes, sans mask, stormed into the house with a blonde witch over his shoulder and Draco froze when he recognized the obnoxiously striped jumper.
Lovegood.
She'd disappeared off the Hogwarts Express earlier in the day. Longbottom had been nearly vibrating with fear and rage as he rushed through the cars searching for her. He looked at Theo's face when he asked their compartment if they'd seen her. Theo only shook his head.
What had there been to say? Only one group of people could apparate on and off the Hogwarts Express and that hadn't boded well for the missing Ravenclaw.
Where had she been for the last several hours? What had they done to her?
Draco doubted that he wanted to consider it too deeply. He felt as though he was going to be sick, so he pulled his occlumency shields up tighter, as though he was somewhere else, as though he couldn't care less about the scene in front of him.
Rowle dropped her on the ground as though she was nothing more than a sack of grain for his father's peacocks.
When she looked up, Lovegood's lip was split and her left eye was rapidly turning purple. His father's gasp next to his ear caused Draco's whole body to stiffen.
"What is she doing here?" Lucius asked in a hard voice that trembled on the pronoun and Draco looked up to see his father's face which had even less colour than normal. His thin hands shook at his sides, it was probably a good thing that his father hadn't had a drink in his hand for a change, because the cut crystal tumbler would have shattered on the floor.
Narcissa's face hardened as she tightened up her own occlumency shields, her silver eyes going flat and her face blank.
"Her father angered the Dark Lord," Rowle answered. "She's to be put in the dungeon to ensure his good behaviour from now on."
Draco wasn't even paying attention to what they were saying, he could only stare at Luna as the blood dripped from her lip onto the marble floor, her pale hair, blonde like his, only splattered in blood.
Her eyes met his; it was disconcerting to realise her pale blue eyes and his grey ones were only the merest of shades apart. The white of her left eye was bloody and it had begun to swell shut as he watched her.
The look in her eye was so kind, as though she thought he could help her.
He thought he was going to be sick the moment he let his occlumency shields drop. And Draco wondered if he could keep them up forever. He never wanted to feel another emotion ever again.
"Way to drop the finite there Lu my love," Blaise laced his fingers with hers.
"I tried to work up to it," she shrugged, tossing her pale hair back to cover her shoulder. "But it was taking too long and I couldn't keep it a secret anymore."
Draco continued opening and closing his mouth, feeling as though his brain was ceasing to work. He can't have heard what he thought that he did. It was simply impossible.
"Well I for one, am not surprised," Theo announced, causing everyone to look at him sceptically. "Alright. First of all, look at their hair. Half the Pureblood families have traits tied to their lines. Luna's hair would have been called 'Malfoy blonde' all her life if we had known."
"And she can be dangerous as fuck," Theo continued as he ticked off points on his fingers. "She isn't entirely inept at throwing curses and hexes around just like Draco, if he were allowed. And she sees through everyone's masks in a way that makes Slytherins envious. Of course, she just announces people's secrets in crowded rooms instead of blackmailing them as is proper."
"Probably why I'm a Ravenclaw and not a Slytherin, I wouldn't want to deprive anyone of essential knowledge," Luna laughed. "I'm not sure if I feel complimented or insulted, Theodore."
"Well, as soon as McGonagall said that Draco had a cousin at Hogwarts, you were the obvious candidate," Theo added conspiratorially, a smile playing around his lips. "I should have put galleons on it, alas."
"His own niece in the dungeons, Lucius is a real piece of work," Hermione said, lips pursed, her brow furrowing and her nose wrinkling in distaste.
Draco was still silently staring at Luna, his eyes tracing over every curve and line of her face as though he was trying to solve a puzzle. He sighed in frustration at himself and his inability to see what was clearly right in front of his face.
"Well Lucius never cared much for family, did he," Draco admitted, with an ambivalent shrug that belied the emotional turmoil that he was feeling at this news.
"At least he didn't offer me up to take the mark," Luna shrugged. "Or marry me off to Dolohov or Rowle. I know they both asked. He knew who I was; he must have known. I know that now in retrospect. He came and looked at me in the dungeons more than once, he never said anything, just looked at me. It was terribly creepy at the time; I was so worried that he was going to do something to me. And everyone always says that I look just like my mother."
"Mama said the same," Blaise added. "That seeing Luna was like her mother came back from the dead. They were friends at Hogwarts even if Luna's mum was in Ravenclaw and Mama was in Slytherin."
Theo shrugged as though that was obvious. "Your mum was a Shafiq before she married and with Luna's mum being a Malfoy, of course they would have been friends. Just like we were because our parents told us who we were allowed to be friendly with."
"I feel like the seventies in Hogwarts was this crazy time that none of us will ever fully understand," Hermione sighed. "I know that Harry's father and Sirius Black horribly bullied Snape. Remus nearly killed him because of one of Sirius' pranks. Despite being a Gryffindor, Pettigrew became a Death Eater and who knows who else joined the Dark in secret. Regulus Black betrayed Voldemort, though he died in the effort. What other secrets from that time are lost? Nearly everyone is dead now." The hopeless note in Hermione's voice, stirred Draco who looked down at her, kissing her brow to dispel any dark thoughts.
"I could always invent an illegal time turner to take us back there. I think I could do it." Theo winked. "We could discover all the hidden scandals. Party like it's 1979."
"Let the dead keep their secrets, Theodore," Pansy commanded, her face stern. "I have no desire to take a visit to the hell of the first wizarding war."
"As you wish, my queen." Theo saluted the raven-haired witch solemnly, despite the fact that his mind was whirling with ideas about how exactly the Time Turner charm would need to be modified in order to do such a thing. It was only a little intellectual exercise after all. He'd never actually do it.
Leaving the protective cocoon of their friends and lovers was challenging for Hermione, but the Heads compartment was right across the hall. She slipped her robes over her blue dress and pinned her Head Girl badge to it, trying to instil some confidence in herself.
Hermione felt nervous leading the prefects meeting, but Theo squeezed her arm attempting to reassure her. His presence helped her stay calm and in control in front of all the young faces in front of her.
"I'm your Head Girl, Hermione Granger and this is your Head Boy," Hermione gestured to Theo.
"Theodore Nott at your service," Theo bowed slightly and flashed his dimpled smile at the small crowd. The Gryffindors looked blatantly doubtful about him, but the other houses seemed content to withhold judgement.
"The priority this year is inter-house unity and so houses will not be paired together for patrols," Hermione began.
Theo passed out scrolls to each of the prefects. "These are the schedules of when you are to make your rounds, they're all charmed to reflect changes that Granger and I make on the master scroll. So if you need to swap patrols due to Quidditch, academics or other family matters please come to see one of us and we can do so, then the change will be reflected on all of the scrolls." Hermione had been impressed with Theo's charm work, but she shouldn't have been surprised, she knew that he was ridiculously talented when it came to his magical ability. It was always hard to remember that Theo could be the wild debaucherous lover up to mischief and naughtiness, but also the intelligent and stern Head Boy who took his responsibilities seriously—the duality of man.
"We will not however swap you from partnering with any other specific prefect or house," Hermione continued. "Prefects need to model the behaviour that the Headmistress expects from all students. If you can't maintain civility with the other houses, you will lose your prefect's badge."
There was some grumbling at that. The Slytherins looked especially nervous at the discontent from the other houses and Hermione lost her patience.
"I'm well aware that there was just a war, I fought in it. More than any one of you, I can guarantee that, and if I can work with Theodore Nott…" Hermione felt her hair begin to spark with her annoyance.
"Whose father is a convicted Death Eater awaiting the Kiss," Theo interjected. "No love lost between him and I, by the way. If you want to know more about that, it's no secret and I'm happy to tell you, not during this meeting, however."
"So if Nott and I can work together, then there is no reason that you all can't work together, too. You are the role models for this school and I expect all of you to act like it. If I find that anyone is misusing their authority to take points you will wish your Head of House never put your name up for the post of prefect. There will be weekly meetings on Wednesdays so we will check-in then, location to be determined. Now, go patrol the train and don't make me sorry that I didn't scold you longer."
As the prefects filed out, Theo leaned back, arms crossed and watched her, his feisty Gryffindor Princess. Once the door was closed behind them, Theo smirked.
"Hermione, you seem tense." The Slytherin cracked his knuckles as his eyes ran over her.
"Of course I am, this is just a small taste of what the rest of the year will be like," she snapped.
"But you handled it outstandingly." Theo approached her and ran his hands along her sides, finding her curves under her robes. "Why don't you lean back and relax?" Theo dropped to his knees in front of her, his hands sliding under her robe and pushing up the hem of her dress. "And let me take care of you?" Her breath caught as his hands crested the tops of her high socks and gripped her thighs.
"Theo…" Hermione moaned.
"That's it, princess, why don't you just let go," his husky voice purred. "I've got you. Rub those nipples for me, darling."
Theo's mouth followed his hands, kissing his way up her legs and disappearing between the fabric of her robes and dress. Hermione hastily threw up a wandless nonverbal ward and locking spell on the door so that no one would walk in to find the Head Boy under the Head Girl's skirt.
"Such a good girl. So powerful. It's so fucking hot when you throw your power around like that," Theo murmured as he nipped at her inner thigh. Hermione could barely hear him over the beat of her heart. Her body seemed to be reduced to the pulsing sensation between her legs.
Theo hooked his finger around her knickers and pulled them to the side, his rings cool on the delicate folds of her flesh. Hermione knew that she was already wet and the hum that Theo pressed into her body immediately sent her careening towards another orgasm. It had only been a few hours since the last time that she'd climaxed; her lovers were going to kill her.
Her body shuddered under the assault of Theo's mouth, licking and sucking at her clit.
But what an amazing way to go.
He slid two fingers inside her as he suckled and licked her, her wetness was coating her thighs and his face as he worked her body, his tongue doing things that she couldn't put a name to if her life depended on it.
She slid her hands under her robes and gripped his hair as she rubbed herself on his face, seeking her release. She needed to finish, she needed the release.
Her pleading and begging became a flow of nonsense as Theo continued to work her body, his fingers inside her curving, his tongue running over her.
"Come on my good girl, come for me," Theo commanded, and so she did.
Theo's face was dripping as he emerged from under her robes and she looked down at him as she panted, her breath coming in desperate gasps.
"If I left your wetness on my face, do you think that anyone would notice?" Theo asked with a smirk.
"You'd smell like me," Hermione gasped out.
"Well that makes the idea sound all the better," Theo chuckled, his tongue licking around his mouth. "You smell and taste delicious. Sheer fucking perfection, my love."
Hermione smacked his shoulder and nearly toppled over.
"Careful, love." Theo gripped her hips so that she didn't get hurt. "Can't have our Golden Girl getting injured."
Hermione wanted desperately to argue with him, but instead her hands ran worshipfully over his masculine shoulders.
"Theo, do we have time for you to fuck me?" Hermione asked, her body still desperate for more.
"Unfortunately not, love," Theo responded with regret, his hands massaging her curves with strong touches.
"Well fuck," Hermione muttered.
Theo laughed in response, his blue eyes sparkling up at her. "Such language, Miss Granger, tsk tsk."
Her answering laugh took even her by surprise.
They returned to their other compartment, with Theo's curls slightly dishevelled, despite the fact that he hadn't allowed Hermione to return the favour of pleasuring him either. He had promised her he could tolerate a little edging. It would make the sex tonight all the better for him. They didn't have much time until the train would pull into Hogsmeade and the six of them were somewhat subdued as the others changed into their robes. Faced with the reality of having to deal with the entire student body again, Hermione could feel her heart going a million miles a minute. Everyone had to have heard what Ron said, yelled really, before they'd boarded the train. It would be all over Hogwarts by the end of the feast. She went to bite her fingernails and Pansy caught her wrist and gave her a small shake of the head.
"Don't, Mi."
"Maybe I need a calming draught," Hermione sighed. Perhaps the scene with Ron and everything was just catching up with her. She really didn't want to have a panic attack right now. There just wasn't time for that. She had to be 'on' for everyone now, this was why she hadn't wanted to accept Head Girl at first. This pressure was just too much.
"Oh! I have one," Luna pulled a small vial of swirling green liquid from her purse and handed it off to Hermione.
"Only a calming draught?" Theo asked, sceptically. "No additional additives?"
"No, that one is a regular calming draught. Why? Did you want something else? I've got a lot of things I use for micro dosing in here." The jingling of vials could be heard as Luna rifled through her purse. "I've got six kinds of hallucinogenic mushrooms, some pixie dust, and a flask of Mermish fermented kelp. That's really strong though - not a good idea if you need to be awake for longer than twenty minutes or so. And some other things, but the labels have fallen off. Oh dear. That's rather a problem…" The ethereal blond's voice trailed off and she pursed her lips as she considered the problem of the unlabelled vials.
"Calming draught is perfect, Luna, thanks," Hermione tipped back the vial and swallowed it whole, feeling her pulse slow to a more manageable level almost immediately.
Blaise reassured Luna softly that he knew a charm to restore the labelling on her vials, which earned him a thankful kiss, throwing her arms about his neck. The petite blonde witch had to lift herself up on tiptoes to do so.
"What's got you so nervous, Mi?" Pansy asked, placing a gentle kiss on her girlfriend's cheek.
"The prefect's meeting was hard enough, but there's going to be a whole school full of traumatised children and Theo and I are partially in charge of keeping them all from killing each other," Hermione's voice was eerily calm as the words poured out of her. "They've all been using Unforgivables on one another for the past year. That's going to be a difficult habit to break."
"And if anyone can handle it, it's you, and if not we tell McGonagall she needs to hire more supervisory staff. I've always thought Hogwarts ran on a skeleton crew," Theo pointed out, not unreasonably. "And Draco and Pansy's probation Auror will be dropping by now and again."
"So helpful, Theo," Draco bit out. "Hermione, love, you've got this. We believe in you. And if the firsties start to mob you, kick Theo and push him down so you can escape."
Hermione involuntarily laughed at that.
"Oooh, Dragon, I'll remember that," Theo's voice dripped with promise.
Draco smiled playfully at Theo, "I certainly hope so." Draco's hands shook slightly at his sides, belying the confidence he was exuding for Hermione's sake. Theo's eyes flickered to Draco's shaking hands but Theo said nothing, simply taking one pale elegant hand in his own and kissing Draco's fingertips one by one, never letting their eye contact break as he did so.
The tension between them was thick, and Draco's exhale was ragged. Sweet Circe, he couldn't wait to get back to their dorm after the feast.
"We'll hold a carriage for you," Draco promised, as Hermione and Theo stood on the platform directing students towards the row of awaiting carriages. Draco fought the urge to occlude as students rushed around him; there were just too many people.
"Thank you, Draco. We'll see you shortly," Hermione smiled, "Let's get all these firsties into Hagrid's care, Theo."
"Alright first years!" Theo yelled, transfiguring his wand into a giant green flag that he waved back and forth. "Come line up here with me."
Hermione gathered up any of the little ducklings who looked lost, their black ties making them obvious. Sensing their overwhelming nervousness, she carefully introduced herself to each one.
"I'm Hermione Granger, I'll be your Head Girl this year. That wizard over there is Theodore Nott, he's Head Boy. We're here to help however you need," she repeated it again and again in every scared little face. She worked to memorise their names, repeating them several times to herself as she spoke with them.
Persephone Ollivander, the wand-maker's great-granddaughter, who squeezed her hand tightly and whispered, "Thank you!" Hermione got the distinct impression it was for more than just introducing herself. Hermione made a note to introduce her to Luna, perhaps the wandmaker had mentioned the girl during their shared confinement.
Zatanna Frances-Myers, the Muggleborn whose mums loved comic books when Hermione admitted that she'd heard her name before. Hermione assured her that she wouldn't have the most unique name amongst witches and wizards, which eased the girl who'd whispered her name somewhat embarrassedly.
Archer Dorian, bookish with glasses, blinked owlishly at everything around him. He was too thin and reminded Hermione of Harry and she felt a painful clench in her chest that she smiled through. He asked about his trunk several times and her reassurance that it would appear in whatever dorm he was sorted into didn't seem to soothe his anxiety.
Evangeline Burke, like Borgin and Burke's. Hermione wondered looking at the girl's dark long hair and deep blue eyes. She was pale and pretty like a little doll, nothing at all to remind Hermione of the ancient men who ran the shop in Knockturn Alley. She'd never actually been clear on which was which.
Alastair Berrigan and Harrison Blake, who'd already become best friends on the train ride, listened to her carefully and responded with polite and eerily synchronised "yes, ma'am" and "of course, ma'am." Not that she'd ever truly felt young, but these boys made her feel so old. All the kids did really, they were babies. How had she and Harry fought Voldemort at this age? It was hard to imagine now looking at their innocent little faces.
Calliope Michaelis, holding her kneazle in its cage where it hissed in futile rage, nervously reminded Hermione of herself at age eleven. She wondered how Crookshanks had done while she'd been away for the weekend, and learned that the fluffy ball of rage in the carrier was called Hades. That made a bit too much sense. "Well named," Hermione murmured as she worked her way through the little group.
Tria Haywood was nearly hopping with excitement to the contrast of her sombre peers, another Muggleborn who was full of questions. Hermione pulled an older copy of Hogwarts: A History out of her purple bag startling the girl who accepted it with yet more excitement. Hermione made her promise not to only read it and ignore everything around her this evening, but the girl's nose was almost immediately between its pages.
Isadora Rounds asked to be called Izzy, and Hermione agreed easily. The girl's robes were clearly second hand and her fingernails had been chewed to nubs. Like Archer, she was too thin, and dark smudges were under her eyes as though it had been a long time since she had had a truly restful night sleep. Her blonde hair was lank and lifeless, Hermione wasn't even entirely sure it was clean and cast a nonverbal wandless scourgify while no one was paying attention.
Gwennyth Sayer, a scar across one cheek - was it a clawmark? - stood close to Izzy and had the same secondhand robes and nervous demeanour. She continually looked around at every little noise. Hermione recognised the signs of trauma in the girl and hoped that mind healing would be available for the younger children as well.
Roderick Powell had a sneer that rivalled eleven-year-old Draco's and that comparison warmed Hermione to a child who could best be described as prickly.
Winnifred Cunningham had a thick Scottish accent that Hermione couldn't place. The girl barely spoke though and answered Hermione's questions with the shortest possible answers and had no questions of her own.
Seamus McCrae, Hermione couldn't seem to stop herself from thinking of him as "wee Seamus," which put a bright smile on her face that set the nervous boy at ease, causing him to ramble about his mum and their village in Northern Ireland and how much he already missed the sea. His homesickness was so tangible that Hermione was grateful that she'd taken a calming draught.
Atlas Travers flinched when he said his own surname. Hermione pretended she'd never heard it before, but the boy rambled about his uncle being a Death Eater. Atlas was a half-blood and his dad didn't care for his brother's politics.
"You don't need to explain yourself to me, Atlas," Hermione reassured the boy. "Or to anyone." The boy seemed reassured by that.
Julian Alexander had a soft Caribbean accent and Hermione smiled kindly at the boy who had a notebook held tightly in his hand. His dark hair was closely trimmed like Blaise's and he had stylish wire-frame glasses.
"Taking notes to write to your mum?" Hermione asked and she squeezed his shoulder. "The school has owls to send messages with, I can help you do it the first few times." The boy's dark eyes went wide and he thanked her effusively. Another black girl with her hair braided tight to her scalp introduced herself as Denise Smythe and asked if all the Muggleborns could come and learn about how to send mail to their parents.
"I don't see why not," Hermione assured the girl, who nearly hopped with excitement.
Valentinian and Theodosius Flint, twins with the dark colouring of their family, seemed well aware of who Theo was and immediately gravitated toward him. Theo, for his part, wasn't giving any child more attention than any other trying to keep them together as he led them to Hagrid who was waiting at the end of the platform, his large lantern in his hand. Taking up the rear, Hermione helped to herd the first years to the end of the platform so that Hagrid could lead them to the boats. Only eighteen incoming students, this was going to be a small group, fewer than half of a typical first year.
"Hey there 'ermione, Theo, how's our Head Girl and Boy doin'?" Hagrid's warm smile and greeting made Hermione feel a great deal better. She hadn't realised that Hagrid and Theo were on a first name basis. How had she missed that this summer?
"Oh we're positively brilliant," Theo said loudly, followed by a whispered, "I picked you up a bottle of something special in London. I'll drop it by your place tomorrow." Theo winked exaggeratedly at the larger man
"Oi Theo you shouldn't've," the half-giant boomed, never one for subtlety. "But that's mighty kind o' you lad, mighty kind indeed. All the makings of a very fine Head Boy tha's what I said when McGonagall told me, yes indeed."
Theo flashed Hermione a wink and his dimpled grin and she couldn't help, but chuckle at him. He was so utterly endearing, the lantern illuminating his face making him look like the angel he absolutely was not. Even with the calming potion in her system, Hermione's heart did a little backflip as she watched him coordinate the little kittens masquerading as firsties. His little encouraging comments put a smile on the face of every child he spoke to. Someday he'd make an amazing father. She was rather hopelessly in love with him.
Honestly though, who could know Theodore Nott and not love him?
Luna stood stroking the thestral's nose and whispering softly to it as the other carriages left them behind. She looked up to find Ginny watching her from the next carriage over where she sat with Neville, Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones. Luna offered her friend a gentle smile that Ginny returned, but when she noticed Pansy and Blaise sitting in the final carriage where Luna was waiting, her face hardened and she looked away. Her carriage took off and Luna saw Neville attempting to make conversation with Ginny, seemingly to know avail.
Luna sighed. If Ginny couldn't handle Blaise and Pansy, how on earth would she handle…
The earth crunched behind her, and it caused Luna to turn, her wand immediately came to her hand, but it was just Draco. She slid her wand away. Draco was probably the connection that would cost Luna her best friend, but Luna couldn't be sorry to have more family in the world. And she and Draco's relationship was bathed in blood, that was true, but she knew that her own dark tendencies were nothing to him, he'd seen and done worse than she had ever even considered doing. If she ended up having to kill Tracey Davis, Draco would help her hide the body, of that she had no doubt.
"What are you smiling about Luna?" He asked her, stomping out the cigarette he'd been smoking while waiting for Hermione and Theo.
"The bonds of family," she answered and at his raised eyebrow, she added, "and murder."
"Fucking hell," his laugh was dark like the night that had fallen on the forest around them. "How did we ever not know you were a Malfoy?"
She shrugged, her smile still pulling at her lips, as the thestral bumped her shoulder with his snout urging her to give him more pets. She stroked him again, meeting Blaise's watchful eyes as she did so. She couldn't wait to sneak into his room tonight, she toyed with the black pearls he'd given her over the weekend, his symbol of how earnest he was about their courtship. She enjoyed feeling possessed by him. A blush dusted her cheeks and his eyes took on a lustful glint as they watched her.
She'd never thought it could feel so good to be someone's witch.
Dressed in her green healer robes, Cordelia was at the archway that led into the castle, greeting students as they entered. Her open smile brightened even further when she saw the six of them coming up the walkway.
"Well hello, how are the six of you? So happy to see you all back." Cordelia used her amazing manner of looking at each of them and giving them her full attention for a moment as though they were the only one in the world. "Any exciting new developments?" Her smile was playful and Draco appreciated their mind healer even more in that moment. She really did care about them, as people; it just wasn't something that had happened to him much in his life.
Theo grinned back at her and grabbed Draco and Hermione's hands kissing each of their wrists. "The four of us made it official," Theo burst out as though he couldn't possibly keep the information secret for another minute.
Pansy rolled her eyes at the dramatics and Hermione blushed, but no one scolded Theo for his enthusiasm. No one could bear to steal the joy from him, the joy that seemed to flow between the four of them like a magical stream that they couldn't quite explain.
"How wonderful!" Cordelia's smile grew even larger. "I'm so happy to hear that. Blaise, Luna? How are things with you?"
Luna toyed with her strand of black pearls that she'd put on the top of her uniform.
"Luna and I are very well," Blaise responded, putting his arm around the blond's shoulder. "My stepfather is unwell, but my mother is seeing to him."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Cordelia's smile dropped, but restored itself quickly. "Well, enjoy the feast. I'm looking forward to seeing you all in the different therapeutic model the school year offers us."
"Is there no chance of having a group?" Hermione found herself asking with another blush. "It's just that I got so much out of it over the summer."
Cordelia smiled. "I think a voluntary group, maybe on Saturday mornings, might be a thing we could do, early enough that people could still go to Hogsmeade if they wanted or needed, although I think you eighth years will be allowed to go during the week."
The quad shared excited looks over that, although Draco felt the sinking in his stomach about Rosmerta and the Three Broomsticks, which needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later.
"But you better head in, I hear the first-years coming up the stairs, if you dawdle with me longer, you'll be in danger of getting resorted," Cordelia laughed at her own joke which the rest of them found horrifying. She was still chuckling as they moved into the castle.
Most of the Great Hall had been seated by the time Draco entered with Hermione, Theo, Pansy, Blaise and his newly discovered cousin, Luna. He'd never felt the strain of separating from Hermione so acutely before. It was like something inside of him was stretched almost to the point of tearing, it was worse than when they'd waited for them this evening at the carriages although that had been uncomfortable too. He nearly reached out and grabbed her wrist before she walked to the Gryffindor table, but he stopped before he made a fool of himself. He'd be able to see her across the Great Hall, he attempted to reassure himself, but somehow it still caused an ache in his chest.
The gossip from Weasley's outburst at Kings' Cross had obviously made its way through the train with alacrity. The whispers got to Draco very quickly, but at least they weren't throwing curses and hexes. Theo took his hand, interlacing their fingers as though he dared someone to say something to the Head Boy, and led Draco to their seats at the end of the table near where the little ones would be sorted rather than the farthest end of the bench. Draco felt the stares and wished that he had just gone up to the head's room. He tried to at least appreciate that while the second years looked at him with no small amount of trepidation on their faces, none of them moved away from him.
Behind them, Blaise took his time gently kissing Luna, his hand on her cheek, staking his claim before the entire student body; she took her seat at the Ravenclaw table, earning a couple cat calls from the older Hufflepuff and Gryffindor boys. Faces turned from all over the room to look at what the spectacle was and the Headmistress swept by to meet the first-years.
"That's quite enough Mr. Zabini, I believe all the other young men have gotten the message," McGonagall pronounced as she passed him.
He bowed formally. "Of course, Headmistress, apologies." He turned and saw that everyone else in their party had gone and sat by the second years leaving space for whatever first years Slytherin gained in the sorting. Blaise looked back to see that the Headmistress had gone out the large doors and placed one more gentle kiss on Luna's cheek before joining the others. Luna preened under the shocked gazes around her, pouring herself tea as though nothing was out of the ordinary. She subtly looked over her shoulder at Tracey Davis who looked as though she wanted to put the fork she was holding into Luna's eye. Luna considered winking, but the girl didn't even deserve the courtesy.
Draco laughed at his cousin's performance of casualness and wondered if she'd be willing to publicly claim him as family. His fingers tapped on the table as the doors opened wide to reveal less than two dozen small children. It seemed like a hundred years since he'd been that young and tried to befriend Harry Potter right outside those steps. Their eyes looked up in awe at the bespelled ceiling, but the ghosts were still missing. Draco watched their little faces as they stood there waiting.
Flitwick stepped forward on the dais with the mouldering old hat and stood next to the stool, the piece of furniture making him look even smaller.
A boy who reminded Draco of a younger Blaise went to Ravenclaw. Two boys in a row went to Gryffindor and Draco wondered who in a post-war world would even want to be sorted into Slytherin. They'd always been cast as the villains of Hogwarts and even McGonagall's attempts at inter-House unity weren't about to change that. Theo clapped for every child, even the Gryffindors, earning a smile from Hermione who'd sat so she could see them. Draco tossed her a smile and wished that they could use legilimency to talk to each other across the room.
"Evangeline Burke" caught Draco's attention. Was she the great grand-daughter of the decrepit old tosser in Knockturn Alley? When the Hat yelled out "Slytherin!" It appeared so.
Someone tried to boo at the Gryffindor table and Hermione stood and said loudly, "Fifty points from the next person who does anything other than clap or whistle for the sorted first-years. Don't test me!" Her voice carried through the space and all the professors nodded in approval, it seemed to have properly chastised the lions because they either clapped duly or were silent.
Little Evangeline had frozen at Hermione's outburst and Theo called to her, "Come on over here, Burke." The doll-like girl, all long straight raven hair, clearly charmed not to tangle, and porcelain skin, walked carefully to the table and then froze again not knowing where to sit. Pansy patted the bench next to her and Blaise stood to move next to Draco to give the girl a spot. Pansy smiled gratefully. As Pansy soothed the girl's nervousness with soft reassuring words, the next girl went to Ravenclaw.
"Archer Dorian." The thin boy with his dark hair and glasses looked a bit like Harry Potter to Draco and he looked over and saw that Hermione's face looked haunted. He wished that he could walk across the room and comfort her. Draco had never been a member of the Chosen One's fan club, but Hermione had been. It was a shame that Potter had so imminently failed as a friend when he wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for their witch. Draco knew that he'd hurt her the last few months and this little boy that reminded her of him would certainly be salt in that wound.
To Draco's surprise, the hat announced, "Slytherin!" and the Great Hall remained polite. The applause was restrained perhaps, but there was a distinct lack of booing. Draco did not remember being booed very fondly and was positive it contributed to his tendency to be an absolute arse in his first year. The boy came and sat next to Blaise who shook his hand and welcomed him to Slytherin.
"Will my trunk be in the Slytherin dorm when I get there?" Archer asked urgently, picking at the threadbare cuff of his robe.
"Absolutely," Blaise reassured the boy. "The elves are probably moving it right now."
The boy nodded, but chewed his lip nervously. Blaise met Theo's eyes in concern. Theo shrugged in response.
"Theodosius Flint."
"Is that Flint's little brother or nephew?" Pansy asked Theo.
"Brother," Theo responded. "There's another one too. They're twins."
"Honestly Theo," Blaise drawled. "How do you remember all that?"
"My grandfather literally wrote the book on the Sacred Twenty-Eight and the master copy automatically updated," Theo's final words were nearly swallowed up. "Until I…um… burned them all earlier in the summer."
"Of course you did," Blaise snorted.
The little first years stared at him in shock while Pansy laughed behind her hand and little Theodosius went to Ravenclaw.
"Damn, if he gets Marcus' build then Ravenclaw just got themselves an excellent future beater," Blaise sighed.
"Valentinian Flint."
"See there's the brother," Theo pointed out. They were nearly identical twins both younger, thinner versions of Marcus.
"Can we eat while we wait for this to finish?" Archer asked.
"If you're subtle," Draco advised the boy. "But this sorting will be short because you have a small incoming class so you won't have to wait too much longer..." The boy's sceptical expression was undeniable and Draco was bothered by how thin he was.
The minutes ticked by painfully slow as the entire Great Hall watched while an angry boy sat silently under the hat. Theo found himself wishing that he'd purchased one of those expensive Muggle watches that he'd admired in London. It had to have been at least ten minutes and the students were beginning to get a bit restless.
"What's taking so long," Evangeline asked, her little nose wrinkled in confusion.
"It appears, my dear, that the second Mr. Flint is a hatstall which means the sorting hat is having difficulty placing him in one of the four houses. Sometimes it's because the person has characteristics of multiple houses and sometimes it is because the person is attempting to argue with the hat."
"People can do that?" Archer asked. "Argue with the hat?"
"Who wins?" Evangeline asked at the same time.
"Yes," Theo responded to the boy. "Sometimes the hat and sometimes the witch or wizard. It's not really an exact science."
"It's so strange that an old charmed hat has so much of a say about our schooling," Blaise offered. "Isn't there a better way to assign houses?"
"I think that some of the older families charmed the hat," Pansy put in, tapping her long sharp manicured nails on the counter. "Haven't you noticed? Weasleys always put in Gryffindor. Malfoys and Notts always put in Slytherin."
"And Parkinsons too," Theo pointed out quietly.
Finally the hat shouted out, "Slytherin!"
The Slytherin table broke out into applause, but the boy heading their way still looked very angry about it.
"Welcome to Slytherin," Theo told him as he sat. "We know your older brother, he'll be so pleased to hear that you've joined us."
The boy snorted, "Maybe, but I would have preferred to be with my twin."
"Valentinian? That's right isn't it?" Pansy said, kinder than she normally was when wizards were being difficult. "Twins rarely get put in the same house at Hogwarts. That's usually the way of things."
His shoulders drooped, but he didn't say anything else.
"Zatanna Frances-Myers."
"Zatanna, that's a pretty name. I don't think I've heard it before," Pansy said before the girl went to Hufflepuff.
Another girl went to Gryffindor and a boy and a girl to Hufflepuff.
"Do you think Hufflepuff or Gryffindor will get the most this year?" Blaise asked the others.
"Hard to say," Theo murmured. "Gryffindor won the war though, so my galleons are on them."
Two more went to Ravenclaw including an Ollivander, which caused Draco to lose even more colour in his face. He hadn't realised the wandmaker, who had been held in his dungeons for months, had family. He didn't know what he'd do if that little one accosted him, he'd deserve any cruel word that she wanted to throw in his direction. He hadn't done nearly enough for the elderly man.
"Isadora Rounds." The little girl was blonde, but not a shade nearly as pale as Draco and Luna. Theo blanched at how thin her robes looked in places. How had her family sent her to Hogwarts dressed that way? Even the younger Weasleys had been attired better.
"Slytherin!"
She slid onto the bench next to Evangeline, who looked over at her with interest. Draco wondered whether they would be the only girls in Slytherin in their year. Perhaps that would be enough to make them friends despite the fact that the little Burke clearly had more than a few galleons to her name and the other girl was obviously poor as could be.
"Gwennyth Sayer." The light of the Great Hall illuminated the girl's face before the hat descended, and Draco's eyes widened. He hadn't expected to see such scars here tonight.
"That's a werewolf scar," Draco whispered into Theo's ear as the girl with sandy blonde hair sat on the stool.
"So it is," Theo responded equally quietly. "Is there even a safe place to transform here at the school?"
"Put it on your list to figure out, Head Boy," Draco muttered back.
"Put wolfsbane on your list of things to brew," Theo murmured to his boyfriend. Pansy watched the two of them with a curious look on her face, but kept any questions to herself, well aware that they were surrounded by listening ears.
"Slytherin!"
"Well that's not unexpected," Theo sighed, his mouth just next to Draco's ear. "Figures the bloody hat set double targets on her back."
"Lupin was a Gryffindor," Draco sighed, turning to whisper into Theo's ear, "One of Greyback's."
"Almost certainly," Theo agreed, his mouth tight.
The little girl, Gwennyth, sat next to Isadora and threw her arms around the other girl happily.
"Do you know each other?" Pansy asked.
"We're from the same orphanage. Archer lives with us too," scarred little Gwennyth said by explanation, waving her arm in Archer's direction. He smiled awkwardly. "Our parents all died in the war." Evangeline and Valentinian's eyes widened at that comment and met each other's eyes, a shared connection that their parents yet lived.
"They were all Death Eaters," Gwennyth added. "Miss Hamilton says we are lucky that we have a roof over our heads at all considering what kind of parents we had."
"Miss Hamilton sounds lovely," Pansy's sarcasm dripped with venom.
Gwennyth snorted and wide-eyed Isadora and Archer shook their heads vehemently.
"That was sarcasm, little snakes," Pansy clarified, her eyes meeting Theo's and the message was clear: the Slytherin Queen was livid beyond words.
Another girl went to Gryffindor and a Travers to Hufflepuff (which earned a raised eyebrow from Blaise) while Draco and Theo grappled with the reality that the hat had sorted three war orphans into Slytherin.