31st July 1991 - Malfoy Manor
Receiving our Hogwarts letters, though long expected, had nevertheless been exciting, even for me. Miserable though I might be, it was a fucking magic school how could I not be excited.
I had, of course, read through all the first year books already, Lucius had demanded it but I had been intending on doing so anyway. It was fair to say I took to it with greater gusto than Draco.
In the years leading up to our eleventh birthday we'd continued our double act. When we were expected to socialise with the other children from the sacred 28 during detestable play dates I could reliably hide behind Draco and be promptly ignored, and in return I backed him up whenever he snuck about doing something our parents wouldn't approve of, which wasn't half as often as I'd imagined.
Narcissa and Lucius spoiled us, there was no denying it, but I'd like to think I had a positive impact of Draco'a attitude... ah, who was I kidding, the kid was exactly the same as he was in the books, although maybe not quite as spineless.
I sighed as I thought of the day ahead, which would no doubt prove eventful. It was Harry Potter's birthday, and the day I knew he'd be walking wide-eyed through the streets of Diagon Alley for the first time.
It was also the same day Draco and I were going to finally collect our wands and school supplies. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't particularly looking forward to it. Bustling crowds and slogging through shop after shop really wasn't my thing. If there had been a way to get our stuff delivered I'd have insisted on it, alas, there was no magical Amazon. Or regular Amazon yet, it was still the 90's after all.
It didn't help that Draco always managed to find something he desperately wanted in each and every shop we entered, and he did so without fail on our each and every visit to Diagon Alley.
The only interesting thing about our shopping trips of Borgin and Burkes, if only because of morbid curiosity, but that wasn't on our schedule to day. At least getting my wand should prove fascinating.
I was currently sitting on my broom high above Malfoy manor watching the sun rise over the clouds, my long hair fluttering in the breeze. It was easily my favourite thing to do, in this life and my last. Alone with nothing but the wind as the clouds turned orange and then red.
Of course, it was bloody freezing and If I hadn't been exercising semi-regularly I'd have found myself short of breath, but it was more than worth it. Mother disapproved, but I'd shown on more than one occasion that I was more trustworthy on a broom that Draco was by a considerable margin. I rarely asked for anything, and that combined with giving her puppy-dog eyes had seen me get my way.
I savoured every moment of my solitude until it was finally disturbed by my brother on his broom, shivering under his thick scarf.
"There you are! Took ages to find you and it's bloody cold. I don't see what's so interesting up here anyway Orion." He muttered as he floated alongside me.
I reluctantly tore myself from the view and turned to give Draco a look of 'what do you want?' that he knew well.
"Mother says we're going soon, you've got to come down." He muttered, still hugging himself to ward off the cold.
With a small sigh I nodded and began to fly back down with my brother.
"What wand do you think you'll get? I'll bet I get Elm like father, he says only only pure-bloods like us can have them. I wouldn't want anything that a muggle-born could use. Can you imagine? Although of course Yew like mothers would be acceptable. Obviously I'll get dragon heartstring, I..." I let Draco drone on without interruption. I'd learnt quickly enough he was never really interested in the answers so much as listening to the sound of his own voice.
The truth was that I didn't much care, a wand was a wand and I'd get what Ollivander gave me. Wand lore, though certainly fascinating, wasn't something I put much stock in.
We arrived back at the manor to mother waiting for us, impatiently tapping her feet in a manner both Draco and I knew meant we shouldn't try her patience.
"Hurry up you two, we're going in five minutes. Make yourselves presentable for Merlin's sake!" Narcissa scolded us.
"Yes mother," we intoned at the same time, rushing inside and up to our (separate) rooms to quickly get dressed.
Father was coming along too, smiling down warmly at us, cane in hand, as we assembled at the fireplace.
We floo'ed in through a tea room that was rather more upscale than The Leaky Cauldron, and after Narcissa exchanged some pleasantries with the owner we were on our way.
Diagon Alley was as bustling as ever, a mismatched mess of odd and misshapen buildings that would have given any student of architecture an aneurysm. I'd have wondered how any of them were safe to occupy and hadn't collapsed yet, but the answer would obviously be 'magic'.
It was chaos and disorder, and the witches and wizards that walked its streets matched the buildings in their odd varieties and quirks. It may have been a stereotype of the Malfoy's but I couldn't help myself from sneering at it all as we walked.
One of the benefits of being a child was that I could just let my parents do all the shopping for me without needing to worry, although mother made a habit of making pleasant conversation with all the clerks and owners of the establishments we visited whilst father sneered and scoffed at one who didn't look like they ate caviar for breakfast.
Draco was a rabid ball of energy, zipping between the shelves no matter if we were looking for cauldrons, books or anything inbetween. He always managed to find something to bring back and ask "Can I have this, mother?" And nine times out of ten Narcissa would fold and buy it for him. When she didn't, Lucius would.
Meanwhile I mostly just hid in father's shadow and tried not to let my frustration show whenever mother stopped for a chin-wag.
I did take a gander, however, when we stopped in Magical Menagerie, observing the various creatures we could take on as pets, or 'familiars'. This didn't escape the notice of my mother, who was quick to spot my rare interest.
"Would you like an owl Orion dear?" She asked me, almost hopeful that I might actually show an interest in something, but I shook my head.
"No... but a cat would be nice." I said in a moment of impulse. I was actually rather fond of cats because, much like me, they were quiet, independent and low-maintenance.
Her nose scrunched in distaste, I knew how much she and father disliked furry creatures after all, but eventually she nodded and smiled at me. "Of course Orion, why don't you go pick one out?"
I was hardly surprised she gave in, it was perhaps the first thing I'd asked her to actually buy for me ask she could hardly say no. I faintly heard father arguing with her in a quiet time as I went looking, but Lucius Malfoy always lost the arguments with his wife.
Sometimes I wondered why he bothered.
Draco snorted besides me, "what do you want a cat for? Father says they're disgusting creatures."
I gave Draco a rare scowl and promptly ignored him. I'd had a cat in my previously life and oftentimes I found myself missing such a companion. I ended up picking out a small little white-furred kitten, a litter tray and several bags of cat food and I left the store feeling rather more optimistic about the rest of our little outing.
I spent the time walking to Ollivander's trying to think up a name. The man had said it was a he, so it ought to be something masculine. By the time we arrived, after tuning out whatever Draco was droning on about, I settled on Dennis.
In the interest of saving time Lucius left for Flourish and Blotts to acquire even newer version of our school books. We could hardly attend school with used books after all.
Ollivanders was unoccupied upon our arrival and the old wand-maker greeted us in a professional, but not particularly friendly, tone.
"Ah, Mrs Malfoy. Yew, dragon heartstring, supple, I remember it well. And these must be your sons, come to get their first wands I take it?" He asked in a rasping voice, his silver eyes bright with energy despite his advanced age.
Narcissa was curt in her response. "Indeed, we require two wands Mr Ollivander, one for Draco here and one for Orion."
Ollivander smiled, revealing crooked teeth. "Excellent! And which one of you fine boys will be going first?"
Predictably, Draco stepped forward with his chin outstretched in an attempt to imitate his father. "I will."
He found no argument from me.
Ollivander smiled and pulled out something resembling a measuring tape. "Which is your wand hand young man?"
Draco raised his right arm and the wand-maker got to work. My brother, it seemed, was an east customer, Ollivander finding him his wand on only his second attempt.
"Ten inches. Hawthorn. Unicorn Hair. Springy. May it serve you well." He said with a smile, handing over the box containing the magical instrument to my brother.
He accepted it with a scowl, but offered up no complaint. Ollivander was an intense man, his passion for his craft more than obvious, so I wasn't surprised Draco lacked the spine to challenge him for the wand he believed he should have gotten instead. Not that it would have got him anywhere anyway.
Without a word I stepped forward and raised my right arm for Ollivander to measure.
"Straight to business then, eh boy? I know just where to start with you." He said with a smile before taking his measurements and disappearing off into the shelves at the back of his store.
He returned shortly with a small box and pulled from it a dark-wooded wand. "Walnut, Phoenix feather, nine inches, pliant." he muttered as he placed it into my hand.
I took a moment to get a feel for it, and almost immediately got a sense of wrongness from it. It was too... fickle. I nevertheless gave it a flick and... nothing.
Ollivander frowned and scuttled away to search for another wand. Time and again he returned with a hopeful look in his eye only for it to be dimmed when I inevitably handed him back wand after wand.
I wasn't concerned that I was lacking in magic, I knew of at least one incident of 'accidental' magic of mine when I'd punted Goyle halfway across the gardens when he'd burped right in my face, but it was nevertheless amusing to see the growing fire in Ollivanders eyes.
"My, you are a challenge young master Malfoy, but I think this time I've got you pegged. Give this one a whirl." He said as he returned once more with a dusty old box and pulled forth a long, almost featureless wand of a pale wood. "Pine, dragon heartstring, thirteen inches, unyielding."
The moment it touched my palm I knew, as something akin to a static shock ran through my hand upon contact along with a feeling of rightness. With a small flick, it's tip lit up brightly, fading only after several moments.
Ollivander clapped his hands together, a bright and genuine smile on his face. "Excellent, just excellent! I expect you'll outlive us all Mr Malfoy, they say the owners of a pine wand live the longest!"
I smiled politely and nodded in thanks and Draco snorted behind me, then left mother to pay the man. I went to stand by Draco as he was admiring his new wand, and nudged him slightly with my elbow then nodded down at my wand.
"Mines bigger," I whispered with a smirk, though all I got in response was an irritated scowl.
Our last stop of the day, at least if Draco didn't get his way about going to Broomstix afterwards, was Madame Malkin's, whereupon mother muttered a quiet curse under her breath as she seemed to remember something.
"Ah Merlin damn it all, I forgot I was supposed to pick something up from Ollivanders. Stay here dearies and be good, I'll be right back." She said before storming off.
I briefly wondered what that was about, before deciding I really wasn't interested in the errands my parents were running. Madame Malkin lead us into the back to be fitted for our school robes and left us with an attendant who immediately began silently taking measurements.
Draco, as always, went first, leaving me to twiddle my thumbs on one of the tasteful yet far from comfortable sofa's around the edges of the fitting room. Nevertheless, if making myself comfortable was an Olympic sport I'd be a gold medalist, and though mother might have snipped at me to sit up straight she wasn't here, and that meant I didn't care. Combined with a truly excellent frown it also made me utterly unapproachable, all I needed was a book and I'd have been happy.
It was in such a position that I had the perfect vantage to watch as the wide-eyed boy-who-lived stumbled into fitting room accompanied by Madame Malkin.
He... wasn't much to look at, in all honesty. A scrawny looking thing, a bit like one of those starving dogs you see on the street. I felt a degree of pity for Harry then, knowing what his home life was like, but I wasn't in the habit of taking in strays.
He was a tough lad, he'd managed before and he'd manage again without my help.
It was amusing to watch as he stood on a stool just to one side of Draco and my brother struck up a decidedly awkward conversation. I'm sure from Harry's point of view he came across and snobbish and arrogant, which to be fair he was, but having grown up with him I could see he was actually slightly nervous talking to one of his future classmates that he hadn't grown up around.
He tried to make a good impression the best way he knew how, which worked with the other pure-bloods but not with poor little Harry.
I didn't make any effort to eavesdrop on their conversation until both of their eyes turned to me. I made sure to give my best scowl to dissuade Harry from coming over to me, which thankfully worked and he turned swiftly back to Draco rather than meet my eye just in time for my brother to ever so politely shout, "I say, look at that man!" Having caught a glimpse of Hagrid through the door and past the shop window.
The attendant chose that time to finish measuring Draco and called me up in his stead, very likely saving poor Harry from his first encounter with magic racism.
"Hello," Harry said nervously as I stepped up onto the stool besides him.
"Hello," I greeted back politely, but giving him nothing more.
Harry shuffled uncomfortably at Madame Malkin continued to take his measurements at my side. His face told me he was trying to think of something to say, but unfortunately for him I was perfectly content to standing in silence, so that's what we did until the Madame finished with him.
Watching him walk out left me with a deeply surreal sensation as I realised I just spoke with the boy-who-lived. The protagonist, as it was, and all I could think of was how... normal he was.
All the shit that would happen to him in the future flashed before my eyes, plenty of it awful, none of it deserved. A brief desire to call out to him, introduce myself and do what I could to help came over me, but I quashed it ruthlessly.
He was, ultimately, a stranger. And so long as I left him to do his thing then everything would work out for him eventually, which was enough to soothe my conscience.
I went to stand besides Draco as we waited for mother to return.
"Strange boy wasn't he? Didn't like quidditch, can you imagine?" Draco asked rhetorically, almost offended.
I chuckled at the irony, "I'm sure he'll come round."
It wasn't like he was one of the best seeker's in Hogwarts history or anything.
I wasn't going to tell Draco that though.