new surroundings
"MADAME MALKIN'S Robes for All Occasions." Leo read the sign in front of him, grimacing at how long it was. Leo was holding a paper with all the places he would need to visit and his guide stood next to him quietly.
"Welp — let's get to it, then."
"Excuse me, sir. I'd like to be excused for a moment to-"
"Nonsense, Lillian. You're free to come and go as you please." Leo waved her off and she smiled. She walked away after handing him his list.
When Leo entered the shop, he saw there were already two other kids there. A woman, Madame Malkin, he assumed, was fitting a young boy for robes. A girl stood off to the side, glancing at Leo when he walked in.
"First year for Hogwarts? You can just have a seat anywhere, dear." Leo nodded and sat in the nearest chair.
"What's your name? Are you a pureblood?" The girl standing questioned him, leaning forward as she waited for his answer.
"I don't know what a pureblood is but my name is Leo Snape."
"Snape? Like, Professor Snape?" The boy getting fit for a robe spoke.
"Could just be a mere coincidence... Well, coincidence or not, my name is Emily Clark. Pleased to meet you, Leo." Emily held out her hand and Leo glanced at it, taking a moment before he extended his hand and shook hers.
"Likewise."
"My name is Draco Malfoy. I'm a pureblood and a member of the Malfoy family. You must be a mudblood since you don't even know what a pureblood is." Draco held out his hand and Leo, not knowing what his words meant, just shrugged and shook his hand.
"Mudblood seems like an insult of some sort. Isn't there a different name for it?"
"Nonsense. It's a perfectly suitable name," Malfoy stepped down from the fitting platform as Madam Malkin hurried off to the back room.
The front bell dinged, signaling someone else had walked into the shop. Leo turned around and paused as he took in the person who walked in.
Jet-black hair that reminded Leo of Sky's fur, piercing green eyes that looked like a forest. Leo suddenly became aware that he was staring and cleared his throat. He held out his hand to the stranger.
"I'm Leo. What's your name?"
"Oh, um- Harry! Harry." The boy, Harry, shook Leo's hand in response and gave a small smile.
"Nice to meet you, Harry."
• • •
"Um- Draco, right?" Leo peeked into the train compartment, watching as heads turned simultaneously toward him.
A girl stood in front of the door, flustered and quickly moving away when she noticed Leo.
"Uh- it's just that... I'm tired and I don't really feel like walking through this whole train trying to find an empty compartment and you're the only one I semi-know." He stood there and the girl smiled.
"I was just leaving." She said and Leo looked up. "I'm Alex Lupin, by the way."
Holding out her hand, Leo quickly accepted and nodded. "Leo Snape."
"By the way, if you want some advice, these guys aren't the best to hang around with."
"Ay! Get outta here, ya filthy mud-blood!"
"Calm down, Theo. The mutt isn't worth it." Leo watched closely as Alex's jaw tensed, the girl taking a deep breath before doing her best to calmly walk out.
"What was that about?" Leo asked, shutting the compartment door before sitting down.
"Nothing of importance," Draco waved dismissively, "now I suppose introductions are in order. Leo, this is Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini, and Theodore Nott."
"Oh! Well, I hope I wasn't intruding..."
"Nonsense! Any friend of Draco's is a friend of ours." The boy from earlier, Theo, threw an arm around him. He grinned as he leaned close to Leo.
"Well, that's reassuring."
• • •
"Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now while you're here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you house points. Any rule-breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup."
"I'm obviously going to be Slytherin," Draco says confidently.
"How so?" Leo turns to him.
"We're children of pure-bloods, of course. A long line of ancestors from Slytherin." Theo says.
"It's not like we really have any other option." The way Pansy says it rubs Leo the wrong way. There are three other houses. Surely it wouldn't be that bad to be in a different house?
"The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily." McGonagall leaves to go into a grand hall in front of them.
Leo watches as Draco steps up, focusing his attention on the boy Leo had met at Madame Malkin's.
"It's true then, what they're saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." Whispers rise around him and Leo looks around in confusion. "This is Crabbe and Goyle. And I'm Malfoy — Draco Malfoy."
A snicker sounds in front of him. Instinctively, Leo steps up to defend his new friend.
"You think his name's funny, eh? I won't even bother learning yours. Your hand-me-down robes clearly show that you can't even afford the air you're breathing. I'd do my best to at least not insult the ones who are clearly better than you — in more ways than one."
"Red hair, and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley. You'll soon find that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. Don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." Draco extends his hand to Harry, who hardens his gaze at him.
"He's clearly not worth it if he hangs out with Weasley. Come, Draco." Leo wonders why it was so easy to drag Draco back to their place among the other students. Draco just lets him.
He ignores the stares and whispers around him, looking down at his hand. The hand that just held Draco's. The hand that was used to drag Draco where they currently were. The hand that now tingles with intensity, an unknown feeling that Leo was not used to.
"We're ready for you now. Follow me." The old lady returns, motioning the students to follow her.
She leads everyone through two large doors and into the Great Hall, where there are four long tables with thousands of students, as well as floating candles. The roof appears to be the sky.
"It's not real, the ceiling. It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."
The old lady leads the first years to the front where the Sorting Hat lies on the stool.
"Will you wait along here, please? Now, before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words."
Dumbledore rises from the table, "I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce. Please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that the 3rd-floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you."
"When I call your name, you will come forth, I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Black, Heaven."
Whispers rose and Leo wonders why students were so immersed in others' lives. Leo watches as a professor at the table leans forward, his curls falling in front of his face. He seemed familiar to Leo but he just couldn't figure out why.
"Hufflepuff!" The girl carefully takes the hat off and races to where her house is. A girl with red hair embraces her in a tight hug.
"Bones, Susan."
A small redhead goes up. Leo looks around and notices a pale, long-haired man staring at him. Once he notices Leo's gaze, he quickly turns away. He converses with the curly-haired professor from earlier.
This school must be filled with pedophiles.
"Let's see...I know...Hufflepuff!"
"Brown, Lavender."
A girl with long brown hair bounces her way to the hat. She puts it on and without a second thought, the hat yells out, "Hufflepuff!"
"Clark, Emily." Emily walks up to the hat, seemingly arguing with it as she puts it on her head. Leo raises his eyebrow as she scans over the crowd, settling on Draco. She looks close to tears when the hat announces Gryffindor as her new house. She sets the hat down and the Hall is silent as she makes her way to her new housemates.
"Poor Emily. Her father was convinced she'd get Slytherin." Pansy says, twirling a strand of hair with her finger.
"Why did she seem so upset?" Pansy sighs and shakes her head.
"I keep forgetting you didn't grow up with us. It's so easy to think I've known you my whole life when you're so easy to converse with. When you're the child of Slytherin descent, there's no other choice." Pansy shrugs it off, like she'd been told this her entire life and it just became something she accepted.
"Pansy-"
"It's not so bad. Slytherins will do some crazy stuff to protect each other."
"Malfoy, Draco."
Draco saunters up proudly. The tattered hat nearly freaks before touching down on Draco's head.
"Slytherin!" The students cheer, not as loudly as they had when it was Hermione or Lavender.
"There isn't a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin."
Leo went to confront him and give him a piece of his mind but Pansy stopped him. She shook her head at him in defeat.
"Nott, Theodore."
Theo walks up to the hat with confidence. Leo watches as Theo places the hat on his head, sitting as the hat made a decision. Theo seemed to argue with the hat, throwing it to McGonagall as the hat yelled out Slytherin.
"Theo's always wanted a reason to defy his father. It relieves me to know he made Slytherin."
"And you?"
"Well, naturally, I'll be in Slytherin."
"Parkinson, Pansy."
Pansy gives Leo a nod, swiftly walking to the hat. She looks unfazed when the hat calls out Slytherin, not even giving her a chance to sit down.
"Potter, Harry." Everything goes silent. Harry walks up and sits down on the stool and the Sorting Hat is placed on his head.
"Hmm...difficult, very difficult. Plenty of courage I see, not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh yes, and a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you?"
"Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin." Harry whispers to the hat.
"Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know. It's all here in your head. And Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness! There's no doubt about that. No?" Harry squeezes his eyes tight, focusing on the hat.
"Not Slytherin...anything but Slytherin."
"Well, if you're sure... better be... Gryffindor!" There is immense cheering as Harry goes to the Gryffindor table.
"We got Potter! We got Potter!" A pair of twins yell as they jump up, throwing their arms at Harry.
Leo crosses his arms, holding his robe tighter against himself. Harry sits down at the table. He looks at Dumbledore, who lifts his goblet and slightly waves it as if he was wishing congratulations.
"Riddle, Mattheo." The guy in front of Leo walks up to the hat and Dumbledore looks at him with suspicion.
"Slytherin." The hat says bluntly and Mattheo shrugs, throwing the hat in McGonagall's direction before walking off. The students yell at him for his disrespect.
"Snape, Leo." As quickly as it got loud, it was quiet. Leo walks up to the hat, doing his best to calm his nerves as the old lady places the hat on his head.
"Leo Snape... what an interesting boy."
"Put me in Slytherin."
"Why, I never heard of someone who requested to be in Slytherin. Do tell me why you've made this decision."
"You know why," Leo whispers, just loud enough so the hat can hear.
Because everyone treats it like a disease and I have a knack for wanting to prove people wrong.
"So be it... Slytherin!"
Cheers erupt from the Slytherin table and Leo was practically beaming as he sat between Theo and Draco. Leo notices the pale man from earlier give him a smile. He just looks away.
"Ronald Weasley." Ron gulps and walks up. He sits down and the hat is put on.
"Ha! Another Weasley. I know just what to do with you... Gryffindor!" The students cheer as Ron sighs in relief.
"Zabini, Blaise."
"Slytherin." The hat gives him no chance to sit down and Blaise shrugs it off. He sits next to Mattheo, who is sat between Draco and Theodore. Mattheo sits across from Leo, now sitting between Blaise and Pansy.
"Yo, first-years!" A guy with blonde hair and blue eyes waves over at them. He sits with two others at their table. He raises his cup and smirks, "welcome to Slytherin."
• • • • •
TO BE CONTINUED