Chapter 2
“Hi love, how are you?” Lily Evans-Potter asked through the mirror. Her husband was behind her was waving to his son with manic hand gestures.
“This has been the longest 9 hours of my life, tell us everything.” His dad said, looking serious.
Harry shifting on his bed to turn around, making sure to keep the mirror from showing any signs of green. It was 10 at night and after the boys spent hours having a pillow fight and putting away their clothes, they decided sleep was the best option. Harry found the bed extremely comfortable and he could get used to the weighted blanket. His curtain was wrapped around his bed so the others couldn’t hear this conversation.
“Well, I’ve been sorted.” Harry started, feeling anxiety starting up. “Is Padfoot there?”
Lily laughed. “No sweetheart, he’s decided to visit when Remus invites you to tea tomorrow. Wants to see you in your uniform before your father does.”
“Which is absolutely stupid, might I add, I’ve been looking forward to this moment since the moment you were born. Been getting the camera ready for your first picture in the Gryffindor uniform.” James said.
Harry gulped loudly and felt tears start to fill his eyes. Every bad thing he’s put off started filling his head. They were going to hate him. His dad will be so disappointed to have a snake for a son that he’ll disown him. They’ll turn his room into something else and leave Harry for the dragons.
“I’m sorry.” He choked out quietly, tears started streaming.
His parents looked shocked and went into parent mode.
“No love, no need to be sorry. We love you no matter what.”
“Harry, it’s okay, this is a very daunting experience.”
“Breathe sweetheart, you’re so brave.”
Harry wiped his face and sniffed to get rid of the snot. He could do this.
“Now, Harry. I won’t be disappointed if you’re not in Gryffindor or don’t like it there, I promis-“
“I’m in Slytherin, dad!” Harry shouted, not wanting to wait anymore.
The family was quiet for a moment, staring at each other with wide eyes and mouths open. He hoped his dorm mates hadn’t heard.
“I’ll go now-“ Harry whispered, tears filling his eyes again.
“Harry! Wha- its okay, love.” His mum tried, looking at him with pity and the kind eyes he was used too.
His father, however, was frowning and looked troubled.
“Lily, did you hear what I heard.” Harry heard him say. Lily ignored him and continued to fuss over her son.
“Lils! Give me the mirror.” James snapped after the fifth minute. Tears were coming down Harry’s cheeks and he felt an argument coming on. His dad never looked angry, or serious, or anything other than happy. He was Harry’s biggest role model when it came to everything. He played quidditch for his dad, he wore the circular glasses for his dad, his first word was ‘dad’. They had the strongest bond in the world and Harry hoped this wouldn’t ruin it.
“James, be kind please. This isn’t his fault.” His mum whispered from the side, James was holding the phone to his face which was far higher than her height.
“I will Lils, please just give us a moment.”
She must have left because James looked at his son and ran a hand through his hair with a reproaching sigh. “What have we done wrong, Harry?”
“Huh?” Harry choked out between his tears.
“I- we have raised you to be the perfect Gryffindor, now you’re going to sleep in the same room Snivelus slept in! I can’t put my head around it.” He chuckled but it sounded bitter.
“Dad I’m sorry.” Harry whispered.
“The sorting hat takes your feelings into account, I know it does because I asked for Gryffindor and I got it! Did you want to be a Slytherin?”
“No dad,” Harry whined desperately, "I wanted the house that the hat chose and it chose Slytherin.”
“This is fucking ridiculous, Moony couldn’t have let this happen.”
“Uncle Moony didn’t have a choice in the matter, dad! Just be happy for me, please.” Harry tried again.
His dad sighed loudly and ran another hand through his hair. “We’ll talk later, okay. Just sleep and we’ll sort this out another day. Night, son.”
“Wait, da-”
And for the first time in his life, Harry ended the mirror call with his father without either of them blowing a kiss.
——
“Damn Golden boy, you look like you didn’t sleep a wink.” Draco joked as Harry slumped out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a small towel.
He knew his eyes were red and glistening with sleeplessness. Although the bed felt like he was lying on marshmallows it was his head that kept him up. Harry had woken at 5 in the morning after having a nightmare of being sent to his lunatic aunt and uncles house to live with them instead of returning to the Potter Manor. He took a boiling hot shower to rid himself the smell of his cousins gun powder after their last visit when Harry was six that was still imprinted into his brain.
“Thanks Malfoy, much appreciated.” He snapped.
Draco looked confronted and kind of hurt. Harry sighed and threw his towel onto his bed. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. Just had a hard time getting to sleep.”
“Haha, a hard time you say?” Crabbe teased, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Huh?” Draco said.
“You know, like, hard, like the joke?”
Harry and Draco exchanged glances. Dracos more confused whereas Harry looked embarrassed.
“Very mature, and no, get your head out of the gutter.” Harry giggled, remembering what Remus said whenever Sirius made a joke like that.
Crabbe groaned and waved his hand above his head. “Never mind, just something my brother told me.”
“The one that got back from Syria?” Blaise asked from behind his curtains.
“Yep! How’d you know that?”
Blaise came out and was fiddling with his tie. “Cause, I have a great-uncle or something or other that mentored him there. He sent mother an owl about it.”
“Oh. What a small world.” Crabbe grinned. “Someone needs to wake Goyle, he can sleep through too noon if we let him.”
“Dibs not me.” Harry, Draco and Blaise said at the same time, crossing their fingers for extra precaution.
“I can always count on you guys.” Crabbe grumbled as he went into the bathroom.
Harry laughed along with the others and wrapped his tie around his neck. Peter and his dad and tried to teach him how to tie his own tie a few times before he went to Hogwarts but since he was upset and it was 6:30 in the morning, it seemed suddenly impossible.
“Ugh!” He raged after his third attempt and threw himself onto his unmade bed.
“Alright there, Harry?” Blaise giggled from his corner.
Harry only groaned in reply and kicked his feet. He felt his bed dip and turned his head to see Draco combing his slicked back hair for the millionth time that morning.
“Get up, Potter, I’ll do your tie.” He whispered with a reassuring smile.
Harry felt a wave of warmth surge through him and he slowly sat up and gave Draco the green and silver bane of his existence.
“So dramatic.” Draco tutted with a small grin. He wrapped the tie around Harry’s neck and started doing the Windsor knot Harry had been attempting before.
“Perfect!” Draco drew out, fiddling with the finishing touches.
“Thanks, Dray.”
Draco gasped and pushed Harry back down, getting a laugh out of the wild haired boy.
“Never. In the whole of my existence. Has anyone. Except Pansy. Called me that. Don’t. Do. It. Again.” He threatened, a small thread of hair made its way out of the gel and fell nicely on his forehead.
“Sorry, sorry,” Harry apologised, raising his hands in surrender. “I’ll think of a new nickname for you.”
Draco groaned and pushed his hair back again, the thread disappearing. “Oh god no.”
Harry shrugged and draped his Slytherin robes over his uniform. “I’m sorry, but it’s in my blood to nickname every human that comes into my life.”
Blaise laughed and patted a grumpy looking Malfoy on the shoulder.
“Lets head out before Crabbe makes us wake Goyle up, I could hear him snoring literally all night.”
“Delightful.” Draco grumbled.
Harry took a quick look in the full body length mirror next to their door before they left and couldn’t help but grin. His eyes looked greener in the Slytherin colours and he suddenly felt the need to sit up straighter and actually use proper English when he spoke.The silver and green colour combo looked powerful and delicate all at once and Harry loved it. He had never thought to much about what he wore but after helping Draco put his black blazers and turtle necks away he wanted to go shopping too. His whole wardrobe was red and gold woollen sweaters and corduroy pants, a leather jacket and docs Sirius bought him and a bunch of Gryffindor scarfs he needed to send back.
The Great Hall was filling up with students as the boys walked to the Slytherin table. Marcus Flint, the prefect from before stood up and invited them next to him and his friends.
“You boys settling in okay?” He asked as they took their seats and helped themselves to the small feast on the table.
“Yeah, the beds are so comfy too.” Harry said.
Flint laughed. “That’s one of the reasons I never want to leave this place, plus the food, always the food.”
“Agreed.” Blaise hummed into a large bowl of cheerios.
“Here are your timetables, don’t loose them.” A deep, slow voice said from behind Harry. He span around to see none other than Professor Snape. The victim to the marauders pranks and most hated person between his family.
“Thanks Professor.” Draco smirked, taking a timetable and passing one to Harry who continued to look at the teacher.
“Oh look!” Pansy gasped from opposite Harry. “We have Herbology first with the Ravenclaws.”
“Delightful.” Draco muttered scornfully.
Harry knocked their shoulders and grinned. “What’s so bad about digging around the dirt, hmm?”
Draco rolled his eyes and took a large bite of a green apple. “You should be asking what’s good about digging around in dirt. Apart from ruining perfectly clean robes and getting dirt under my nails, there are millions of other factors.”
“You are such a pussy Dray.” Pansy sighed.
A large girl beside her called Millicent Bulstrode laughed and the juice she was drinking shot out of her nose and all over the toast. A loud bang went off on the other side of the hall and then the owls began flying in, dropping packages. Harry was so confused with all the chaos he almost forgot to catch a package and some letters from Hedwig.
“Thanks, Hedwig.” He whispered, giving her a small piece of his toast. She mewled and rubbed her beak against his cheek. Giggling softly, he gave her another corner of toast.
Draco also received a heavy package from a mighty eurasian eagle owl that didn’t stop for affections before flying out the window again. It was a package of sweets and cauldron cakes that earned a large cheer from Crabbe and Goyle who appeared a few minutes prior.
“Oh hell yeah, mum sent exploding bon bons!” He cheered, sharing the packet around. Harry melted at the familiar taste of warm cocoa.
Harry looked down at his own mail and found a letter with Remus’s handwriting:
Dear Harry,
Please meet me at my office after classes.
4pm would be best.
Also, I didn’t get the chance to say congratulations on getting Slytherin! You will achieve much in this house, I can feel it.
See you then,
Moony Xx
He looked to the staff table to see Remus already looking at him. His godfather gave him a thumbs up which Harry returned happily. At least one family member supports him.
“Why are you thumbing up Professor Lupin?” Draco asked.
Harry laughed. “Thumbing up? You know he’s my godfather, right?”
Draco looked surprised. “Really? I thought that was Sirius Black? Professor Snape is my godfather, him and mother are close friends.”
“Snape’s your godfather?” Harry asked in shock. “He doesn’t look like the fatherly type.”
“Well he isn’t my father, is he?” Draco droned.
“But the godfather is meant to look after you if something happened to your parents.”
“Ha.” Draco laughed. “As if mother would leave me that quickly. Also you didn’t answer my question.”
“Which question?”
“I thought Sirius Black was your godfather, not Professor Lupin.”
This sparked the interest of those sitting in hearing distance.
“Sirius Black is your godfather?” Pansy shouted, a slight blush appearing on her high cheekbones.
“Please tell me you don’t have a thing for my godfather.” Harry groaned as Pansy put her head in her hands and did a girly giggle.
“He’s just so handsome, with his hair and leather jackets. His tattoos too. Salazar, I’d let that man do so many things to me.”
Harry made a vomiting sound and covered his red face. “He’s my godfather! Gross!”
“Also you’re 11 but I’m guessing we’re ignoring that.” Blaise added.
“What’s with you and having things for people in Potters family?” Draco asked, slightly bitter.
Pansy did that girly giggle again and cocked her head to the side, looking Harry up and down. “I don’t have a thing for everyone in his family. Only Harry and Sirius.”
Harry groaned louder and Draco rubbed his back in pity.
“You still haven’t answered my question.” Draco said again, Harry could hear the smirk in his voice.
“Which question?”
“Whose your godfather, Sirius or Lupin?”
Harry cleared his throat and raised his head to see everyone was looking at him eagerly. Dorcas was right, people really are snoops.
“Uh- well Sirius is allegedly my godfather but Remus is… also my godfather?”
He didn’t know why he asked it like a question but Harry knew he wasn’t allowed to tell everyone of Sirius and Remus’s relationship. They had always separated their private life with public, same with everyone in his family, and Harry wasn’t going to lose their trust for some students greed for information.
“I thought you’d say something cool like they both did an unbreakable vow to one of your parents so then you were born they couldn’t not let them both be godfather so that’s why you have two.”
Harry looked at Pansy is confusion. “How you come up with this stuff is beyond me.”
“Imagination, Potter, it’s all in here.” She smirked, tapping her temple.
——
Harry zipped his satchel up and tried to straighten out his tie before knocking on Remus’s office door. His mum said Sirius would be there but Harry had this ideological wish he never had to see Sirius till the holidays so he didn’t have to wear his uniform.
Remus opened the door and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow with an amused grin. “Oh Harry, stop fussing about and come in, I could hear you pacing.”
“R-right.” Harry muttered, hurrying into the office.
Sirius wasn’t in the room but Harry saw his leather jacket thrown across the room and his Godfather never disrespected his jacket like that… unless. A blush formed at the thought of what they had been doing.
“Come here Prongslet.” Remus said, opening his invitingly long arms and Harry felt his walls break. He ran towards Moony and hugged him back tightly, feeling tears appear.
“Dada hates me.” Harry whimpered what he had been feeling since last nights call.
Remus petted his hair and kissed the crown. “He doesn’t hate you. Your dad could never hate you, I promise you that.”
“But he looked so s-sad when I told him I was Slytherin.”
“He wasn’t sad, surprised maybe, but not sad. You mean the world to him and I don’t think a silly think like which Hogwarts house you’re in will ruin that.”
Harry cried more, burying himself deeper into his uncle. “You said think. I want you to know.”
Remus chuckled lightly and pulled Harry higher. “I don’t know everything, Prongslet, but all I do know is that your mother and father will always love you, no matter what.”
“You’re just saying that!” Harry sobbed harder, his shoulders shaking.
“Baby, come here.” Remus sighed sadly, leading them to his couch. Harry folded his legs and cried into Moony’s collar like he did when he was younger.
“Do you hate me?”
He heard Remus take a sharp breathe and move his fringe, kissing the scar for a long moment. “Don’t think that’s possible.”
“What about Pads?”
“Definitely not possible.”
“Wormy?”
“He would be offended you even thought that.”
Harry lifted his head and rested his chin on Remus’s collar, looking over his face, tracing the scar that went from his forehead to his right cheek.
“We’re the same now.” He whispered, like he remembered when he was younger. Remus smiled sadly and tapped Harrys scar.
“Yeah, we are.”
Harry breathed through his nose and rested his head against Remus’s shoulder again, his tears were silent now but didn’t stop. A thudding sound came from a closed door before it opened and revealed a frazzled Sirius.
“Moony, I don’t think a mini fridge will actually work in here, just bombard the kitchens like we used to- hey, baby buck! Why the sad face?” Sirius jogged towards the couple, squeezing on Remus’s over side and taking Harry’s hand where it rested on his boyfriends stomach and kissing the knuckles.
“Is this about your sorting?” He whispered, Harry nodded and sniffed loudly.
“Was Prongs being a dick?” Harry nodded again. Sirius rolled his eyes playfully and squished his face against Remus’s shoulder to make a funny face, Harry laughed.
“Tell us about your school day, was it eventful?”
Harry felt tears start up. “We had Herbology first which was fun, then we had charms with the Gryffindors an-and Ron ignored me and so did Neville but Ron’s my best friend and he won’t even meet my eyes. I want us to still be friends.”
Sirius looked sympathetic and kissed his knuckles again.“I hate seeing you sad, and you know you being sad makes me sad, and me being sad makes Moony sad and no one likes a sad Moony.”
Harry laughed and wiped his remaining tears. “Sorry Moony, didn’t mean to make you sad.”
Remus laughed and ruffled his fringe again. “Padfoot will make me happy if you ever make me sad, don’t worry.”
“Fuck yeah I will.” Sirius started, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Harry jumped up and hurried to grab his satchel. “Might go now, have fun you two.”
“No Harry! Sirius was joking, weren’t you?”
“Not really-“
“Bad dog!”
“Haha!”
“No Pads- don’t lick me you feral beast!”
Harry giggled as Remus squealed like a girl and rolled off the coach. “Bambi! Get help.”
“Can’t, sorry! I’ve got homework! Enjoy the feral beast called Padfoot.” Harry replied, feeling happy for the first time since breakfast. Or when Draco had to find flobberworms with his bare hands because he called a girl something rude. That was pretty funny.
“Kick ass, Harry!” Sirius shouted.
“Not literally, please.” Came Remus’s response.
“Say hi too Minnie for me!”
“Not an effing chance.”
——
Harry left the office feeling a whole lot better than when he came in.