A/N: One of the reviews for the previous chapter mentioned that they hope it's a Honks story. While I do intend for that to be the case, it won't be for a while yet and I do intend for them to both date others before then. I don't own the rights to Harry Potter. Or any of the other characters in this story.
Chapter Two: Break With Tradition
"Nymphadora! Harry! It's time to go!" Shortly after she called the two, Andromeda heard the two children galloping down the stairs. Harry had arrived ten minutes before nine, expecting that they'd have to drive to London due to his uncle mentioning the length of the drive. Andromeda had quickly explained that they'd be travelling by floo and since then the two children had been playing board games upstairs. Andromeda handed the floo powder to the children, Ted having already gone through. After the two went through, she followed on behind to see the three sprawled out on the floor, having clearly fallen down upon their exit. Standing nearby was Blaise and a woman who looked to be his mother. At present, she was looking disapprovingly at her son, who appeared to be about to join the two children and her husband on the floor from laughter. "Hello, you must be Blaise's mum. My daughter and her friend met him when we went to Madam Malkin's to pick up their school things."
Blaise's mother looked at Andromeda with a look of superiority on her face. "I see. Allow me to introduce myself, as clearly, my son is too preoccupied to make the proper introductions." Blaise didn't appear to hear his mother's jab. Either that, or he just ignored it. "My name is Erminia Zabini, of House Zabini." Andromeda didn't like her. Not only due to her lack of care or outright dislike of her son, but also because of the rumours surrounding the relationships she'd had with her husbands. Or rather, the rumours about the end of those relationships. Miss Zabini also reminded her of the people her parents would make her meet at the balls they'd throw. The kind who were bigoted towards those of lesser blood status. She certainly spoke like one. Of course, Andromeda also knew how to speak like one.
"A pleasure to meet you, Erminia." The smile on her face didn't reach her eyes. It may have also turned slightly vindictive when she saw the beginnings of a scowl on Miss Zabini's face from the slight of not asking permission before acting on a first name basis. "I am Andromeda Tonks, estranged daughter of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black." She noted dispassionately that Miss Zabini's eyes widened in shock at her heritage, before glazing over with greed. "And this is my husband, Edward." She gestured towards her husband, who had managed to pick himself up off the ground.
"A pleasure to meet you as well, Mrs Tonks." Blaise rolled his eyes at the honeyed voice his mother had put on. "I'm sure you know of my family's exportation business. As the heir to that, my son will one day need a strong wife to help him run the business. Have you put any thought into the possibility of a betrothal for your daughter?" The words hit Andromeda like a slap to the face. She could only assume that Miss Zabini's skills were better suited to charming wealthy men with little charisma and a love of attractive women.
"Please, Erminia. I rather feel that it is far too early to arrange such a thing." Andromeda then dropped the smile from her face and allowed some ice to creep into her voice. Given her family, she knew this made her a much more intimidating woman than most would think at first. "Besides, when my daughter marries, I want it to be for the same reason I did. Love. The only way I would accept a betrothal agreement, is if Nymphadora asks me to. And even then, it would take a lot to convince me."
"I see." The Italian witch's eyes narrowed. "Blaise, get on the train and do your family proud once you get to Hogwarts. I'm leaving now, I have some business to conduct." She quickly vanished into one of the floos, clearly unhappy that things had not gone her way. The trio of Harry, Tonks and Blaise looked at each other before Harry and Tonks said goodbye to Ted and Andromeda and the three headed off to find a compartment. They were quickly able to find a compartment with a sandy haired boy sitting on his own.
"Wotcher, do you mind if we join you?" The boy looked at Tonks, currently sporting striped hair in the colours of all the Hogwarts Houses in a short spiky cut, saying in a thick Irish accent that he didn't mind if they joined him. "I'm Tonks and these two are Harry and Blaise." The boy nodded upwards and introduced himself as Seamus. "Looking forward to Hogwarts, Seamus?"
"Sure am." He shot them all an easygoing grin. "Haven't really had much exposure to magic. See, me dad's a Muggle. Mam's a witch. Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out. We live in a mostly Muggle area, so Mam couldn't really show me much magic before comin' here." Here he stopped and gave Tonks a bit of side eye. "But never mind that, what's with the hair, Tonksy?"
The girl in question scowled slightly. "Just Tonks. Not Tonksy." Seamus threw up his hands and nonverbally agreed to call her Tonks from now on. Or at least, that was the vibe he was giving off. "And I like having colourful hair. Once I'm sorted, I'm gonna change it to just the colours of my new House." Blaise gasped in realisation and exclaimed that she was a metamorphmagus. Tonks winked. "Bingo!"
"I am too, though a bit less flashy with it than Tonks." Blaise looked at Harry in surprise.
"Really? You made any changes at the moment?" He then seemed to think about his remark for a moment. "Unless that's too personal. I guess some metamorphmagi could find that to be prying."
"Er, guys?" Everyone looked at Seamus. "What's a metamorphmagus?" Tonks gave an explanation of what it meant to Seamus, along with a few demonstrations of her abilities. "Ah, that's wicked! Wish I could do that!" Harry and Tonks both smiled at him, though Tonks' was more of a mischievous grin. Blaise merely remarked that it would be a useful skill to have.
"I have made a few changes, Blaise. But I want to keep them on until we're about to get off the train, if that's alright?" Both Blaise and Seamus reassured Harry that it was and that he didn't have to do anything he didn't want to. Harry thanked them both with a bit of a sheepish smile. He'd decided to keep the appearance of James from when they went to Diagon Alley for the train journey. Partly so that Blaise still recognised him, but mostly to stop people from gawking at the famous Boy Who Lived.
Tonks could tell that the other two boys were both very curious as to what Harry actually looked like, but didn't want to pry. She decided to distract the group with a game of exploding snap that left Seamus without any eyebrows and minor burns on his fingers and Blaise bemoaning his choice to sit next the Irish boy and continuously wiping away at a scorch mark on his sleeve. Truthfully, the blackened spot stain was gone after only a couple of wipes, but Blaise still acted like it was the end of the world. He even went on a long monologue about how expensive his robes were and they were made from the finest acromantula silk that was spun by the finest clothes-makers in Italy. Once he started talking about how the individual threads had been infused with diamonds and gold, the others realised he was exaggerating and didn't care that much about the minor mark that wasn't even visible anymore. After they called him out, he admitted he didn't actually care, but bet each of them one galleon that his mother would immediately notice the damage done to his robes, which were actually very expensive, though not nearly as expensive or finely made as he'd led them to believe. They all completely forgot about this bet until the end of the school year, when his mother reacted with horror upon seeing the damage. None of them knew how she was able to see the damage, but Blaise happily collected the three galleons whilst his mother was complaining about it to her new husband. A lot would happen to this group of newly found friends before then, though.
Eventually, an alert sounded throughout the train, telling them that the train would arrive in Hogsmeade in 20 minutes. Tonks went to change into her uniform in the bathroom, whilst the boys changed in the compartment. Though, Blaise and Seamus had both offered to let her use the compartment, to allow for more comfort. Harry, knowing that she would refuse that, didn't even bother trying to convince her.
When Tonks had returned, Harry began explaining why he had changed his appearance and showed them what he actually looked like. Both of the other boys were shocked to realise they'd been chatting to the Boy Who Lived, but quickly realised that Harry would prefer to be treated the same way they had been treating him. They quickly got over the shock and went back to chatting the same way they had been the entire ride. Any lingering awkwardness was wiped away when Blaise sardonically remarked that his mother would be disappointed he hadn't been born a girl.
"Given the way she was acting earlier, I don't think that would stop her from trying to set up a betrothal. Love you, man, but I don't swing that way." Blaise burst out laughing at Harry's response, before starting to clutch his sides, crying out that it hurt to laugh. Not long after he managed to recover from his near death experience, the train came to a stop and the four of them left the train. A towering, but jovial man called for all of the first years to follow him to the boats, so they did and shared one together.
After the boat ride, they were taken to an antechamber where the deputy headmistress was waiting for them and told to wait for a few moments before they would be led in. During the wait, a boy with incredibly blond hair approached Blaise. He was flanked by two other boys, who looked to be fulfilling the role of bodyguards. "Zabini."
Blaise returned the other boys nod. "Malfoy." Blaise's new friends could tell he'd reverted back to a mask his mother would likely prefer him to use.
"I see you've made the acquaintance of a celebrity. Care to introduce us?" The boy, now known to the others as Malfoy, may have worded it as a question, but it was clearly a command. Blaise merely rolled his eyes and turned to Harry.
"Harry, this is Draco Malfoy. The two fine gentlemen next to him are Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle." He turned back to Malfoy with a bored look in his eye that perfectly matched his completely uninterested tone. "Malfoy, this is Harry Potter. The boy who smells of burnt hair next to us is Seamus Finnigan, whilst the girl with the insane hair is Tonks, who I'm just now realising never gave a full name."
Ignoring Blaise's tone, Malfoy extended his hand to Harry. "Lovely to make your acquaintance, Potter. It pleases me to see that you're already making an alliance with a proper wizarding family. I can also help with that, as well as help you avoid the more undesirable families." He glanced at Tonks and Seamus as he said the latter. "Whilst I'm not familiar with the Finnigan's, suggesting Muggle influence, I am family with the Tonks'." He leaned in towards Harry, who had yet to shake his hand, and began to whisper conspiratorially. Though, everyone around could hear Malfoy's words. "Word of advice. Avoid the Tonks'. Nothing but blood traitors there."
Harry scowled. If anyone had thought to look, they'd have noticed a very dark hue of red to mark the ends of his chaotic hair. Tonks' rapidly reddening hair was less subtle and spotted by almost everyone. "I will associate and be friends with anyone I choose. And if Tonks is a blood traitor, then I reckon I'd like to be one too." Malfoy's face turned red, but was cut off from any angry response by the return of the deputy headmistress, who led the first years into the Great Hall.
The four friends listened to the Sorting Hat's song, while shooting the occasional glare towards Malfoy. After a few minutes, Seamus became the first to be Sorted into his House. The House in question was Gryffindor, which greeted him with thunderous applause, including a few ear splitting whistles from a pair of red headed twins. Not long after that, Malfoy joined his two goons in Slytherin and Harry, after having the hat in his head for a couple of minutes, was also Sorted, joining Seamus in Gryffindor to the largest celebration of the night. There was so much noise, Harry half expected fireworks to go off. It wasn't long until Tonks joined them in Gryffindor, though from the look on her face, she'd had to argue with the Hat for a bit, though her Sorting had only taken less than a minute. Eventually, the Sorting ended with Blaise. After almost six minutes of silence, the Hat finally cried out his decision and Blaise joined his newfound friends with a grin on his face. He cried out in laughter. "I told you I'd break with tradition!" He shot a glance towards the House his mother had expected him to join and saw Malfoy's eyes locked on him. Clearly, Blaise was now viewed as a race traitor by the boy who had previously been treating him with some modicum of respect for his family name. Personally, Blaise considered this apparent status as a good thing. He was proud to be a disappointment to his mother.
Shortly after that, the Headmaster announced that the feast would begin. All four of the friends dug in, though it was a bit more difficult for Harry as so many people wanted to talk to him. Almost every single person who talked to him seemed to be addressing his forehead, which was currently covered by his hair. The only two who didn't were the pair of red headed twins who were introduced as Fred and George Weasley. Though, it may be better to say he had been warned about them, rather than introduced to them as their prefect brother told Harry to watch out for them. After about ten minutes, someone decided to stop trying to be subtle. "Can I see your scar?" Everyone who had been trying to talk to Harry froze and fell silent, before looking at the youngest Weasley boy. Harry frowned and asked what he meant. The Weasley boy smiled excitedly. "You know, the scar on your forehead from when You-Know-Who attacked you!" Seamus and Blaise both scowled at the boy who still hadn't introduced himself, though they could remember his name was Ronald because of the Sorting. They hadn't discussed the scar with Harry earlier, but could guess that it might be a touchy subject, given that he got it when a mass murderer killed his parents. Tonks' hair was a bright red. The Weasley twins would later joke that her eyes were literally forming daggers thanks to her metamorphmagus abilities, though this wasn't actually true.
Harry looked at Ronald in confusion, before lifting up his hair to reveal a perfectly normal and scar free forehead. "I don't have a scar on my forehead." Tonks struggled to avoid laughing. Both Harry and Tonks knew that Harry did have a scar, but he had used his ability to make it disappear. Harry had already decided to keep it hidden, so as to avoid people constantly trying to get a glimpse of it.
Ronald appeared to deflate like a sad balloon. "Oh, that's disappointing. I heard it looked like a lightning bolt. That would've been really cool." At this point, his twin brothers rushed over and apologised for his words. They assured Harry that they'd let Ronald know exactly how much of an idiot he was, before dragging him further down the table. The benefit of Ronald's complete lack of anything resembling tact was that everyone else felt too awkward to continue trying to speak to Harry, which allowed the group to build their friendship even more.
After everyone's bellies were full, except for Ronald who seemed disappointed when the food vanished, the Headmaster rose and gave the hall a vague warning to avoid the third floor corridor. Naturally, this aroused Tonks' curiosity. She was going to try to convince Harry to join her in investigating the third floor as soon as possible. She wasn't sure how the other two viewed rule-breaking, though she suspected that Blaise was fine with it due to his obvious disdain for his mother's approval. Had she been looking more closely, she'd have seen the obvious glint of interest in Blaise's eye. However, she then noticed Harry's eyes. They were subtly flashing between their normal emerald green hue and a distinct bottle green. Not something most people would notice, but a metamorphmagus was more accustomed to noticing minute differences in a persons appearance. And she knew exactly what that meant. Harry was in pain. It was something that Harry had done on occasion after learning to use his abilities whenever his uncle started to mistreat him again. Of course, her mum had quickly made Vernon stop, but it had still happened enough for her to know what was going on. The rapid alterations to his body didn't stop the pain, but they did distract him enough that he wouldn't make any other reaction. She hoped there'd be a quiet spot in the common room for her to speak to Harry about it.
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"Alright, Potter, spill." Seamus and Blaise looked at Tonks in surprise. "What was hurting you in the great hall?" The other boys gazes quickly turned to Harry in concern.
"I'm not sure. All I know is, that one teacher with the hooked nose and greasy hair looked at me and my scar began to hurt." They'd managed to find a quiet corner to sit and talk in, though they could've been discussing it in the middle of the room and no one would have heard it over all of the other Gryffindor's catching up or getting acquainted with their new home. Harry glanced at his two male friends and briefly explained why he'd hidden his scar earlier and asked them not to share that he actually had one. Which both boys quickly agreed to.
"That was Professor Snape." The three half-bloods looked to the pure blood in their midst as he explained who Snape was and parts of his history. Namely, that there was a long held and widely known enmity between him and James Potter and that Snape had joined the ranks of the Dark Lord. "Though, Dumbledore did defend Snape, claiming he was a spy in the Dark Lord's ranks. But he is still friends with quite a lot of wizards who were under the Imperius Curse." He used his fingers to show that there were heavy air quotes around the ending of that sentence, clearly demonstrating his opinion of their excuse. Seamus asked Blaise how he knew this. "My mother expects me to enter high society and be a respected socialite or politician, which means I had to learn everything about anyone she considers potentially important. Since Snape's close friends with the Malfoy family, he's included in that group of people." He shuddered. "If I'd ended up in Slytherin like she wanted me to be, I'd probably have to suck up to Draco. Or worse, actually befriend the little bastard."
"Well, I was going to suggest we investigated the third floor, but since Harry might have an ex-Death Eater after him, I think we should postpone that for later in the year." Seamus and Blaise both agreed, though both of them clearly wanted to investigate it at some point. They started to play a game of snap to distract from the possibly murderous teacher they had, this time using some Muggle cards that Tonks had brought with her. After a few rounds, and quite a lot of relief from Blaise at not getting more singed, the prefects announced that it was time for bed. The group said goodnight to one another and went to bed. Tonks would end up chatting to her dorm mates for an hour or so, until one of them scolded the rest for not going to sleep because she wanted to be well rested for her first day of school. The boys wound up making a bit of small talk with Neville and Dean, two of their dorm mates, before all five of them began brainstorming ways to stop Ronald from snoring at roughly the same volume as a dragon. In the end, Blaise went into Ronald's trunk and pulled out a pair of socks, which were used to gag the redhead. It didn't fully block out the noise, but after closing the curtains around Ronald's bed, it was tolerable enough that they could fall asleep. Though, all five of them drew their own curtains shut to further block out the noise and resolved that they'd have to go to the library the following day to look up silencing charms.