The Sortings
Harry sat at the Gryffindor table, watching the First Years' sorting, feeling an odd sense of contentment. He had missed the feeling of coming back to Hogwarts every year. He watched as little kids started sitting down at the table that the Sorting Hat was yelling out.
After the Sorting of the First Years' was finished, Professor McGonagall called for order. In her usual clear, stern voice she began, "The school has been through a lot in the past years. We have learnt that while we did our best, we let the students and their prejudices run-for lack of another word-amok. We also distanced the houses and other schools of the Wizarding Community from Hogwarts. This is why we will be introducing an exchange programme with Ilvermorny this year. 6 of their 7th year students will be joining us at Hogwarts for this year. If all goes well, 6 of our 7th years will be joining the Ilvermorny institution for their final year of schooling. We have also started a house unity requirement. Students of all houses will be given choices of activities that Muggles enjoy. And yes, that is our way of saying, activities in which magic will not be permitted.
Harry watched as everyone in the Great Hall immediately started protesting. 'Why were they to come to a school for magic, if they weren't allowed to use magic?' He watched as Ron started grimacing, probably from the barrage of negative emotions that were hitting him at the moment. Harry felt him latch onto his emotions, mostly because his were the only ones that weren't driving him crazy.
Another thing that was very obvious, was that none of the 7th or 8th year Slytherins put up a single argument towards the new development. Either they were willing to learn from their past misgiving, or they already knew. It was most likely both. It made sense he supposed, quite a few of their parents were on the Hogwarts Board of Directors and they were some of the most affected by the war. It was a good thing that they were willing to learn.
McGonagall let the chaos continue for a little longer before she said "That is enough! I understand that this might be disappointing for you but if you, the future generations refuse to understand the important part Muggles play in our society, then there is no use of having a society at all!" Not as eloquent as Harry had come to expect of her, but it did they trick either way. Regaining her composure, she continued, "The activities will include dance, music, sports like basketball, football, rugby, to name a few, self-defence and weapons classes, although the last two are only for the students already of age, tactics classes, etc."
There were a lot of people confused about the sports she had named but others were a little levelled by the pursuits listed. She marched on, "There will be sheets posted for registry in your houses and it compulsory for every student to pick at least three activities, if not more. There is no set limit for how many activities you choose, but keep in mind that while we will not have as many academic classes as we used to, there will be more than enough for them to become a priority. Once you pick your activities, you will be given timetables and if they seem too overwhelming, you may speak to your Head of House or myself about dropping some." "
There will also be a column for 7th and 8th Years to volunteer as Captains for each interest." The Trio all straightened at that, and it didn't go unnoticed by the Headmistress. "I expect some of you are already looking forward to that. With that I would like to introduce your new faculty. Bill Weasley, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor as well as Head of Gryffindor." There were quite a lot of young girls who looked extremely keen on the idea of being taught by someone like Bill. "Fleur Delacour-Weasley will be your new Potions Professor as well as Head of Slytherin." Everyone looked smitten with the Veela descendant as she smiled. "Wilfred Jones will be your new History of Magic Professor." This, peaked everyone's attention more than others because this meant that Professor Binns has finally stepped down!!
Everyone in the Great Hall broke into raucous applause. The Headmistress smiled. "I would also like to call the exchange students out, so that they can be sorted into their specific houses. All of you please come in." To Harry's joy, the students from Ilvermorny stepped in and in the lead was Sebastian Finch, the love of Harry's young life. Severus Snape would probably compare him to his father, but Sebastian looked better than ever. His alabaster skin, grey, piercing eyes and his beautiful, wavy, brown hair had just gotten more attractive since the last time Harry saw him. He glanced at Harry and grinned ruefully. He saw Ron smirking at him, sensing his absolute adoration for the man, but he didn't really care.
What did distract him was Hermione's downcast eyes. He saw Alexander and a wave of sadness overcame him for his best-friend. They had broken up on well-enough terms, but he had left her practically broken-hearted. He saw Ginny grab her hand and felt slightly reassured that his best friend would be okay. He watched as the 6 students walked up to the Sorting Hat that had once again been pulled out.
"Claire, Annalise," McGonagall called out. A short, stout girl - Annalise - stepped out to the front and sat on the stool. She sat in anticipation as the Hat pondered for a moment and yelled out, "Hufflepuff!" The Hufflepuff table broke out into applause.
McGonagall moved on, "Darius, Alexander." Hermione basically flinched. Harry could see why she liked him so much. He was tall and well-built. He wasn't stocky, but you could see muscle on his shoulders. Just poor Mia's type. He had beautiful green eyes, lighter than Harry's and bigger too. He had that noble-elegance Harry had gotten used to seeing in Purebloods and royalty at the castle. His black hair looked wind-swept yet clean at the same time. Everyone in the Great Hall was also swooning at him. However, by the look he gave Mia as he sat down, he wasn't completely over her either. No one had noticed it though. The Sorting Hat clearly didn't need much time to deliberate. It called out, "Slytherin!" The Slytherins all politely clapped for him as he sat at their table and welcomed him cordially.
The rest of the Hall didn't seem put off either. If this has happened 3 years ago, the rest of the Hall would have booed, but now they had been through so much that they saw the good in everyone until proven wrong. Even if they were, they were willing to give chances. It seemed like they had finally realized, house rivalry was a sad waste of calories.
Professor McGonagall called out, "Devon, Alex." Ron sat up. He looked very interested in their Sorting. Everyone was going to make so much fun of him in the dorms.
The Sorting Hat gleefully yelled, "Ravenclaw!" The Ravenclaw table clapped and welcomed her. Ron looked relieved.
The Sorting moved to Sebastian. He was sorted into Slytherin too. Harry was happy for him. Alaric Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin and while that was met with some whispers from some of the younger students, everyone showed him their support, Draco Malfoy too, indirectly Harry supposed. Imogen Walters was sorted into Gryffindor and another announcement was made.
Professor McGonagall stood up again and said, "All 7th, 8th and students of age in 6th Years stay back while the rest of the students may disperse." The younger students filed out of the Hall leaving all students of age stayed back. Since the journey was much quicker this time around, the Head of Houses were going to spend the afternoon helping the students getting acquainted with what their Hogwarts life is going to be from now. "I have another announcement to make. One that might make you quite... unhappy." She paused as if, she didn't know how to go about explaining. "The Wizengamot in all of its wisdom, has introduced a marriage law." she said, as if deciding to rip off a band aid. There was a moment of complete silence, before, all hell broke loose.
Draco
Draco and his fellow Slytherins sat in perfect quiet while they watched the rest of the students go bonkers. They had known this would happen. The Wizengamot wanted to increase the population of Wixen and this was the best way the twats could figure out how. He observed the Golden Trio as he saw that they were looking at each other and as if they had come to a decision, the same decision, in their heads, they nodded and looked back at McGonagall. He commended their ability to understand each other like that.
The Headmistress stood their for a few minutes, as if she understood their plight. She then went on, "I understand this must be upsetting, but the Wizengamot has thought this through and the law is already in motion."
"Professor?"
"Yes, Mr. Weasley." clearly appreciating Weasley's lack of barminess.
"How is this going to work? The Ministry is just going to tell us who to get married to? I mean, I'm no expert, but there are laws prohibiting this, aren't there?"
Professor Delacour answered, "Zere are lawz zhat stop zhis from happening, but the Wizengamot haz thought of everything. Zhey have changed the laws that prohibit it, since the issue that zhey wish to solve takes precedence." Her French accent was thick but not as quite, the first time she had come to Hogwarts for the Triwizard.
"And what is the problem they wish to solve?" questioned the Weaselette.
"Wixen population." answered the Smartest Witch of Our Age. Of course she had figured it out before anyone else. She explained in a clear voice, "There is a law that states that if the population of Wizards and Witches starts weaning, the Marriage Law will fall into place for unmarried people who are 17-25 years old. The Ministry will be putting forth conditions like living arrangements, having kids and so on. The last standard was 2 kids per pair."
"Ms. Granger is right. There will be Ministry officials here to explain but, there will be 2 per couple demand." explained McGonagall.
The horror on people's faces only increased.
Lovegood raised a dainty hand and asked, "How are the pairs going to be chosen?"
"I shall choose," said the Sorting Hat. I will be examining your lives and personalities and pairing you up with the most suitable partners."
Granger raised her hand, hesitating, "Professor, what about... people from the LGBTQ?"
That stumped Draco. What was LGBTQ? The Headmistress looked equally confused and inquired.
"Homosexuals, Pansexuals, Asexuals, etc," she explained.
"Ah." Understanding dawned on McGonagall's face. "Well, depending on each couple and their circumstances, adoption is always an option. Any other questions?"
There were no more questions. The doors to the Hall burst open. More people started arriving. Percy Weasley, Marcus Flint, Charlie Weasley, and A LOT more. Draco supposed they'd be joining since they were all of age and unmarried.
"Well, let's start with the boys. I will call out a name, you will come sit on the stool and once the Hat is done with you, you will sit back down. After all the boys are done with, the girls will start taking turns and get matched."
And so it starts.
Draco sat in complete boredom as names were being called. He and his friends were making bets on who would get paired with whom.
"I'll bet that one of three will try to use their status to get out of it." Pansy saying that brought him back to the conversation.
Blaise said, "I don't think so, none of them have tried to yet."
Only Blaise's turn was left. All of the rest of them were done, but the Sorting Hat had said some things that made Draco question who his match could be.
"Zabini, Blaise."
"Oh, finally." The boredom was getting really annoying."
"Would you rather you were paired off right now Astoria?" Daphne asked.
"Well if it would speed things up, absolutely."
"Well Blaise is the only one in the Zs, so I expect they'll start with the girls and some of the boys soon too." Theodore.
"I bloody hated that. Why didn't you tell me it would be so bad?" asked Blaise indignant.
"If we had told you, would have been a wuss and the entire process would have taken even longer." Marcus.
Professor McGonagall stood up. "Well, now that the boys have seemed to finish, should we start with the girls after a short break? You can head up to your dormitories and change into more comfortable clothing. It does seem we're going to be here a while. It wasn't obvious, but it seemed that even McGonagall was shaken by the entire ordeal. There was a touch of awkwardness to her posture and her manner of speech. Everyone got up, eager to change, since they had been there for almost three hours with no ventilation.
Hermione didn't know what to do. Before coming back to school, the Trio had agreed to stop hiding who they truly were. They weren't going to make an announcement or anything but if asked they would be truthful. 'So her current dilemma, should she wear the baggy clothes she used to during her previous years at Hogwarts or should she wear what she actually wanted and show off her actually fashion-forward self.
'Oh screw it.' She was going to wear what she wanted to. She chose to wear something that was stylish and cute, yet at the same time comfy and appropriate for school. They were however 8th years, they were allowed to take liberties with their fashion. She chose to wear a white shirt with long sleeves under a black dress. She wore boots, so that her outfit wouldn't be considered indecent. (She's not wearing the cap and bag btw.)
She went back downstairs and saw that the rest of her house mates had changed too.
Harry was wearing a brownish sweater-cardigan with black-jeans. It gave him quite the dark academia aesthetic.
Ron went much simpler but he looked just as good with a simple white long sleeved-shirt and blue jeans with white shoes.
Ginny looked extremely pretty in her peach colored top with boggy white sleeves and white skirt.
George was dressed in a white sweatshirt tucked into beige pants.
Percy, also harnessing his inner fashionista, was wearing a red shirt with black pants. You might think it would clash with his hair, but it looked really good.
Neville was simply wearing a white shirt with blue accents on the sleeves and black pants.
Oliver was wearing a blue cardigan over a white shirt with black jeans and white sneakers.
Everyone had become much more confident in themselves as they grew up and knew that they looked good now. They left to the Hall again. They noted that everyone had changed into more comfy-stylish clothes. Hermione noticed how good Alexander looked.
He was wearing a simple black shirt paired with dress pants and black shoes.
Her eyes strayed to the rest of the Slytherins. They all looked phenomenal too.
Astoria Greengrass was wearing a a black, long-sleeved top tucked into a checkered skirt with stockings and cute boots. Honestly Hermione wanted that outfit.
Daphne Greengrass was wearing a black long sleeved top like her sister, except hers was tucked into suede pants and paired with a coat.
Marcus Flint was wearing a green shirt with dress pants.
Theodore Nott was rocking the emo-boy aesthetic and wearing a graphic white tee with black sleeves under it paired with jeans.
Pansy Parkinson was wearing a green crop top with black jeans.
Hermione's eyes flicked to Draco Malfoy and did a double take. That was...not how she expected him to dress. He was wearing a white dress shirt under a black designer sweatshirt and jeans. He paired them with accessories.
Alex and Luna walked over to them and they looked fantastic.
Alex was wearing a summer dress over a white shirt.
Luna was wearing a purple hoodie and paired it with matching pants.
"Alright now that we've all trickled back in, should we begin with the rest?" A general mumble of affirmation went through the crowd when McGonagall started things up again.
"So, how this is going to work is, girls, theys and male homosexuals may step up whenever they'd like and get paired. There will be no set order this time around. Once they are paired, they will sit with their intended."
Hermione noticed that there were Aurors all around the Hall. Did the school expect this to get violent?
"Who would like to go first?" asked Professor McGonagall.
Everyone stayed seated, terrified of who they would get paired with, if they got up.
To everyone's surprise, seeing that no one was getting up, Pansy Parkinson got up and sat on the stool. The Hat yelled out, "George Weasley!" The entire Hall broke out into whispers and the look on George's face made the entire table dissolve into laughter.
Pansy wrinkled her nose and asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." came the amused reply.
She got up and sat next to George, put out her hand and said, "Pansy." George looked at the offered hand and said, "George." And that was that.
Hannah Abbot got up next and the Hat told her he required more information before he paired her. The Hat did this a few times. Daphne Greengrass and Ginny were told to wait as well.
That is, until Luna got up and sat on the stool. She sat there as the Hat evaluated her, before it yelled out, "Daphne Greengrass-" Ginny looked devastated. Hermione knew that she had been hoping to be paired with Luna, but the Hat wasn't done yet. "-And Ginny Weasley!" The Hall once again broke out into whispers.
Sure polyamory was more common in the Wizarding World compared to Muggles. It was still quite rare. The three looked at each other, unsure of what to do and decided they would sit at neutral ground -the Ravenclaw Table- and talk about what to do.
The Hat kept on pairing unusual couples together Hannah Abbot got paired with Susan Bones, Cho Chang with Terry Boot, Katie Bell with Justin Finch-Fletchley, etc. Most of these pairings went on as a complete roller coaster ride. People cried, screamed, yelled, one even tried to hex their pairing.
One particularly bad incident was when Lavender Brown went up onto the stool. The Hat immediately yelled, "Gregory Goyle!" Lavender burst into tears and Hermione sighed. Not only was she making a scene, poor Goyle looked like he was slapped. Not because he got paired with her, but because she cried. Hermione got that it was hard but again, poor Goyle.
She was given a calming draught and brought to sit beside Goyle. He gave her as wide a berth he could.
To keep moving, Professor McGonagall said, "If there are any boys who believe they could be paired with boys, please step up whenever you get the chance."
(AN: McGonagall isn't homophobic here. She just phrased it that way because she also wanted to include Bisexuals and Pansexuals.)
Everyone looked at each other at that announcement. None of them wanted to be out.
Seeing this, Oliver Wood said, "Oh you bloody cowards, I'll go first."
He sat on the stool pointedly ignoring the staring and the pointing. The Hat, having made it's decision, said "Percy Weasley-" Percy blushed furiously at both his relationship with Oliver and his sexuality being revealed, as the Hat continued, "-and Marcus Flint." Oliver and Percy looked at each other and shrugged as if saying, 'the idiot is never going to sit with us before we acknowledge it'. They went to the Slytherin table and sat down.
Harry nervously got up too. He didn't want his relationship wrecked but he had to if he wanted to know. The Hat gleefully yelled, "Sebastian Finch and Blaise Zabini!" The students all started screaming, 'Harry Potter's GAY?!"
Harry once again ignoring this, went and sat in between Blaise and Seb, who had coincidentally been sitting together. "Go on then." he said to everyone that was staring at him.
Hermione saw Ron and Alex trying to make a decision. Apparently they came to one and Ron got up and sat on the stool. The whispering restarted. 'Ronald Weasley's gay?!'
Hermione was done with the whispering! She got up and stood on top of the Gryffindor table and yelled, "That IS IT! What is wrong with you people? They're gay, let them be fucking gay! I've had it up to here with the rumor mill around this place."
Everyone looked absolutely dumb-founded. They hadn't expected Hermione Granger, The Golden Girl of the Wizarding World could be so crude!
Ron grinned at her and waited for the Hat to make it's decision. "Theodore Nott and Alex Blue."
Alex and Ron exchanged looks and almost simultaneously looked at Nott. He, on the other hand looked absolutely content with this turn of events. "I've always wanted to have a threesome. Come on, sit with me then. Ron smirked and sat with Alex, as if daring Nott to come sit with them. A pleasant surprise, Nott actually did.
Hermione got up. Everyone was flabbergasted. All three of the Golden Trio in a row?! Hermione rolled her eyes done with the propaganda. She sat on the stool, adjusting her dress. She heard the Hat's voice in her head.
"Tell me about Alexander. Would you make amends with him?"
"I suppose I don't need to tell you. You could just look through my mind and figure it out." Hermione remained stubborn. The fact that she was going along with this utter bollocks was because she didn't want to cause a scene. It certainly didn't mean that she was happy about it!
"Hm. Well, the two of you make a handsome pair, but need an outside push." The bloody Hat was enjoying turning everyone's lives around. Hermione was going to burn that manky, moldy, ridiculous excuse of headwear!
"Now, now, Ms. Granger. Let's not get violent. I know what to do with you." The Hat replied to her inner crusade of violence. The fact that he only sounded amused by it was even more infuriating!
Still, she sat there, with a poker face that would have made her mother proud, even if she was seething on the inside.
She wondered how her mother would react to this. She had always loved Alexander, but would she get her daughter married without consent just like that? Wherever Hermione looked at it from the answer was no. But, her mother was an extremely well-mannered lady, she would treat her intended with the at-most respect. (Just not in private)
The Hat seemed to have finally made it's decision.