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Harry tsked at his reflection in the mirror, continuing to fuss with his hair. He had let it grow out for some months now, but still could never quite tie it back the way he wanted. He gave a frustrated sigh, scrubbing his fingers through it and letting it fall loosely around his face again. He didn’t look half bad otherwise - a dark green button down with the sleeves rolled back and black denims, though he hadn’t been able to resist pairing them with his favorite scuffed pair of Chuck Taylors. Term was beginning tonight, after all, and he would have to return to wearing robes everyday. The younger professors had nearly all taken to wearing muggle clothes during the holidays, much to Minverva’s consternation.
He couldn’t quite believe the summer holidays were already at an end. Even harder to swallow was the fact that today began his ninth year teaching at Hogwarts. Though he was oblivious to much of the outside world these days, even he wasn’t immune to the steady passage of time, and the years were starting to show in the lines around his eyes.
“I feel like you’re not listening to me,” Draco said, leaning around the corner into their small bathroom. He sighed, slapping Harry’s hands away from his hair. “Your lack of finesse is baffling, Potter. I’ll do it.”
Harry smiled at him in the mirror. “You find me endlessly charming.”
Draco rolled his eyes, carefully separating his tangled curls with his fingers. Harry hummed, content.
Against all odds, they had created quite the cozy little life for themselves. They had taken positions at Hogwarts a few years out of school, both seeking comfort and a safe place to heal in the aftermath of the war. After a few starts and stops, they had found comfort and safety in each other, and things had fallen into place almost effortlessly.
Holed up in the castle as they were for most of the year, they had never really felt the need to publicize their private life. Part of the reason Harry had retreated to Hogwarts in the first place was to escape the tabloids and fans that seemed to follow and overwhelm him everywhere he went, and Draco was more than happy to continue the under-the-radar lifestyle he had taken up after the war. The other staff members knew, of course, as did their family and friends, and that was enough for them. After a few years together, Narcissa had hosted their small wedding on the grounds of her new estate in France, and that was that. Other than the annual flurry of attention Harry would receive when the History of Magic students covered the second wizarding war, their life was blissfully quiet and mundane.
Or it had been, anyway. But Draco had spent the better part of the morning loudly bemoaning the loss of their boring little life.
“I knew it was too good to last, it was always destined to end like this,” Draco groaned as he finished with Harry’s hair. He ran his hand gently down the back of Harry’s neck, making him shiver.
Harry turned and caught Draco by his hips. “Don’t you think you’re being just a touch… overdramatic?”
Draco crossed his arms tightly over his chest, scowling. “I don’t think you’re being dramatic enough! That child is trouble, I’ve been saying so since before he could walk.”
Harry elected not to point out the factual inaccuracies of that statement. “It’ll be fine, he can keep a secret.”
“No he can’t!” Draco shouted, incredulous. “Don’t you remember how many times he talked about magic at his primary school? Andromeda almost had to pull him! His teacher wanted him to see a therapist about his overactive imagination!”
“Anecdotal evidence,” Harry said stubbornly.
Draco threw his hands up, striding back into the tiny kitchenette where the kettle had started to whistle. “I have a list of anecdotes as tall as Grawp. Since we got married it’s been like a slow walk to the gallows waiting for Teddy to start school.”
“You’re such a romantic,” Harry said, batting his eyelashes and earning a glare from his husband.
“See if you’re laughing when I serve you with divorce papers after the staff meeting.”
“Hey! I seem to remember you promising to stick with me for better or worse,” Harry protested.
“Your wardrobe is ‘for worse’, your terrible taste in quidditch teams is ‘for worse’, this is unbearable.”
Harry rolled his eyes, digging through his stacks of paperwork in search of a notebook with empty pages. “If you’re so worried about it, we can preempt it. Go to the press and announce it before Teddy lets the kneazle out of the bag. Xeno would publish something tasteful for us.”
Draco snorted. “Xeno has yet to publish a single thing I would call tasteful.” He sighed, pouring out two mugs of tea and setting one beside Harry. He reached into the jumbled mess on the table and produced a new notebook and biro. “Maybe we should. I’ve just gotten used to things the way they are, I suppose. I like our life here, I don’t want it overrun with howlers and weeping witches who thought you were their soulmate.”
“I know, and I think it could be… uncomfortable for a while, but it would pass. And isn’t that better than just having it hanging over our heads for the next seven years?”
Draco bit his lip, his hands wrapped around his mug, the rim resting against his chin. “I know, you’re right. We’ll do something, just not yet. Let’s just get through the first few weeks, I think he can keep it to himself for that long.”
Harry grinned. “Sorry, I didn’t hear anything you said after ‘you’re right’.”
Draco scoffed. Harry caught him by the waistband of his trousers, pulling him close. “Say it again,” he murmured against Draco’s neck.
“You’re insufferable.”
“Try again,” he said, nipping lightly at his collarbone and making Draco squirm.
“You’re going to make us late. Keep it in your wildly unprofessional pants,” Draco said, shoving him lightly. Harry grinned at the rosy blush creeping up his neck.
“It’s still holidays until tonight, we’re allowed to dress as we like,” Harry insisted, not for the first time.
Draco reached for the robes he had left hanging over the back of the sofa. “Minerva doesn’t approve of how you imbeciles dress.”
Harry snatched the robes out of Draco’s hands, jumping back to put the length of the sofa between them. “Stick it to Minerva! Fight the power!”
“I will not.”
---
Teddy woke early on the first of September. By the time he heard his grandmother making breakfast downstairs he had already unpacked and repacked his trunk twice. Locking the lid shut for what he told himself would be the final time, he trudged down to the kitchen to meet her.
“Good—oh!” Her smile faltered when she saw him, and he smoothed down his hair self-consciously. She gathered herself quickly, gesturing for him to sit down. “Good morning, dear. Breakfast will be ready in a moment.”
Teddy murmured his thanks, taking his usual seat facing the kitchen window. So far the morning was still dreary and overcast. His grandmother followed his gaze. “It’s supposed to be quite sunny this afternoon. It should make for a nice train ride,” she said, overfilling a plate with all of Teddy’s favorite foods.
Teddy didn’t respond, keeping his eyes fixed on a squirrel wobbling its way down a too-thin branch. His grandmother set the plate in front of him, then ran a tentative hand through his newly brown hair.
“You don’t need to stop being who you are to fit in at Hogwarts,” she said quietly. “You have a rare talent, Teddy. You don’t need to hide that.”
Teddy nodded, pushing his food around his plate. After a few minutes of silence, his thoughts finally overwhelmed him. “What if no one likes me? What if I don’t make any friends? Why can't I just stay at my old school? I like it there, I don’t want to leave.”
His grandmother took his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “Sweetheart, I know you’ll miss your school and your friends, but you can’t stay there. Your magic will just keep getting stronger, and if you don’t learn how to use it and control it then it can become dangerous for you and the people around you. And of course people will like you.”
Teddy made an unimpressed sound and his grandmother laughed. “Yes alright, I suppose I have to say that, but it’s true. You were worried before you went to your old school, too, and you made friends the moment you arrived. The same thing will happen at Hogwarts, I promise. You don’t need to worry.”
“Are you going to be okay without me?” Teddy asked, unable to meet her eye. He had lain awake for hours the previous night, unable to stop picturing his grandmother all alone in their empty house.
“Now that’s something you really don’t need to worry about,” she said, standing and pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I have a whole stack of books waiting for me, and I’ll finally be able to get this house clean without you tracking mud through it the moment I’m finished.”
“Grandma,” Teddy said, giving her a hard look.
Her teasing smile dropped into something softer and sadder. “Of course I’ll miss you, Teddy. Very, very much. But I’ll be just fine. Molly will never let me get too lonely. And besides, it’s not your job to worry about me. All you need to do is enjoy yourself, learn all you can, and maybe write to me once in a while.”
Teddy nodded, finally picking up his fork and taking a few bites of his breakfast. He let himself think, just for a moment, that going to Hogwarts might be just as exciting as everyone kept telling him it would be.
A few hours later his grandmother puffed heavily as she finally managed to heave his trunk into the car. She eyed the wheezy little convertible angrily. It spent most of its life hidden under a sheet in the outbuilding, but Harry would come to visit every few weeks or so to make sure the engine would still start, and usually took Teddy for a ride. She despised Harry’s car, but she hated the local taxi service even more. Teddy bit his lip hard, trying to repress a smile at the memory of Harry trying to teach his grandmother how to drive the thing. He had never seen her so frazzled, or heard her curse quite so much.
“Are you sure I can’t just take the floo?” Teddy asked. He’d been biding his time, waiting for her to reach the apex of her annoyance with the car in the hope that she might just throw in the towel and agree. “Harry and Draco said it was okay.”
“No!” She said sharply, fighting to close the boot over his large trunk. “It’s very important that you take the train. That’s your first chance to meet the other new students, before you’re all sorted and don’t see the other houses as much.”
Teddy sighed, falling heavily into the passenger seat. His grandmother started the engine, then looked at the gearshift uncertainly.
“I could drive,” Teddy offered eagerly.
His grandmother whacked his hand away from the gearshift, smiling in spite of herself. “Don’t be a smart ass.”
---
Harry leaned back precariously in his chair. His feet rested on the potting bench as he read over his final lesson plans, chewing on the end of his pen. Draco and Neville were carefully taking cuttings of plants to use for potion ingredients on the other side of the greenhouse, their conversation a comforting background buzz that washed over Harry without making a lasting impression. He flipped through his papers until he found his schedule for the week. He grimaced when he saw he didn’t have any first year classes until Wednesday. He hoped Teddy would stop by to visit him before then, and began plotting ways he could accidentally run into him over the next few days, just in case.
A sudden shift in gravity rudely interrupted him from his scheming. He let out an undignified shriek as his chair tipped back, his head nearly vertical with the ground. Draco grinned down at him, holding his chair up with one dirt-streaked hand.
“Stop doing that!” Harry shouted, blood still rushing in his ears even after Draco had righted his chair.
“You make it too easy, always sitting like that. Besides, you’re not helping,” Draco said, carefully packing away some venomous tentacula vines that still had a bit of mischief left in them.
“Why would I be helping? I get nothing out of this exchange.”
“It’s not our fault that you don’t enjoy our witty banter,” Neville said, letting a large bag of potting soil fall heavily on the bench.
“He’s just worrying about the hellion,” Draco said, moving to stand behind Harry and resting his elbows on the back of his chair.
Harry sighed, tucking away his lesson plans. He checked his watch - quarter to eleven. Teddy would be boarding the train any minute. “Of course I’m worried. He’s a great kid, but he’s… insulated. And he and Victoire are practically joined at the hip, I don’t know what he’s going to do without her until Christmas.”
Draco squeezed his shoulder, sympathetic. “He’s going to be alright. He’s smart and funny and kind, he’s going to do just fine making friends.”
“I hope so,” Harry said, catching Draco’s hand with his. He turned to Neville suddenly, an idea forming. “Maybe I could go with Hagrid to meet the trains and just check in on him before the Sorting.”
Draco and Neville both loudly disagreed.
“He’s going to be fine, Harry,” Neville insisted. “Everyone’s nervous their first day.”
“Don’t start out fawning over him!” Draco scolded, sounding exasperated. “It’ll make things worse for him! All the kids will think he’s a teacher’s pet.”
“Not if they see him talking to me!” Harry objected. “Especially first years! They think I’m cool.”
Draco gave him a non-committal “uh-huh,” while avoiding eye contact. He was suddenly engrossed in sorting his cuttings neatly into the leather case Harry had given him as a wedding present. Harry spun around in his chair, incensed. He recognized that uh-huh. It was the one Draco usually reserved for when Harry was telling him why the Canons were finally going to take the league this year.
“They still think I’m cool, right?” Harry asked Neville. Neville shot Draco a panicked look then became preoccupied with his watch.
“Is that the time? I have to go see Minerva about…something,” he said, inelegantly making his escape.
“Come back!” Harry shouted, leaping to his feet and chasing him out the door. “Am I not cool anymore?!”
---
Teddy’s eyes were fixed on the History of Magic book spread across his lap, though he hadn’t taken in a word in the last twenty minutes. He was too easily distracted every time he heard a voice or saw a shadow passing his compartment window. So far the other seats in the compartment were empty, with many students still milling about in the corridor. He wondered for the dozenth time if he should open the door, or if that would look too desperate. Or maybe he should swap his textbook for one of his auror mysteries - which would make him look like less of a pathetic nerd?
He nearly hit the ceiling when someone tapped gently on the window. His voice was high pitched as he shouted a panicked “come in!”
A small girl poked her head in. Her hair was carefully arranged into two dark plaits on her shoulders, her school robes hanging open over a sweater and neatly pleated skirt. Just behind her Teddy caught sight of a dark-haired boy. They both had similar heart-shaped faces and matching dark eyes.
“Would you mind if we sat with you?”
“Sure!” Teddy said, scrambling to move his things off the opposite seat. He forced himself to calm his frantic movements, lest he seem too desperate for company. Belatedly remembering the etiquette lessons Draco had insisted on giving him, he stood up straight and held out a hand to the girl. “Nice to meet you, I’m Teddy Lupin.”
The girl stared at him blankly for several seconds. “Your hair is pink,” she said finally.
Teddy clapped a hand to his head, as if hoping to cover the offending locks. His heart began to race, which wouldn’t be at all helpful for controlling his accidental morphing. He was usually able to keep his powers in check, but between the stress and the excitement of the day he wasn’t able to manipulate his appearance as easily.
“Er, yeah, it does that,” he said, sheepish. “I’m a metamorphmagus.”
“That’s so cool,” the boy said, his face alight with interest as he pushed past his sister and offered his hand. “I’ve read about metamorphmagi before, but they’re so rare I never thought I’d meet one. I’m Malcolm, and this is my twin sister Natalie.”
Natalie rolled her eyes, carefully arranging her skirt around her as she sat on the opposite bench. “He’s never going to leave you alone now.”
Malcolm did indeed have a lot of questions about Teddy’s abilities. Eventually their conversation moved on to quidditch, and Natalie joined in enthusiastically. Like Teddy, she hoped to make her house’s team next year. Malcolm, on the other hand, was happier on the sidelines, and rattled off more statistics about Puddlemere United than Teddy thought it was possible for one person to know. When the food trolley interrupted their conversation sometime later, Teddy was surprised by how much time had already flown by. They shared several boxes of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, giggling over each other's disgusted faces, and Teddy let himself think that maybe making friends at Hogwarts was as easy as his grandmother had promised.
Shortly before they were due to arrive at Hogsmeade station, the corridor was suddenly crowded with people as the compartments across from them began to empty. Several voices shouted over each other, and the door to their compartment popped open as one boy shouldered another into it. Teddy, Natalie, and Malcolm shrank back against the window at the sudden disruption, but the group continued down the corridor, not seeming to notice them. Teddy stood and tried to slide the door shut, but was stopped by a foot blocking its path.
“Nice hair,” said an older sandy-blonde boy. His smile was unfriendly and his eyes glinted with something that made Teddy’s muscles tense. At his words, the other boys in the group stopped their noisy progress down the hall and turned back, shoving each other in an attempt to see what was going on.
Teddy ran a hand through his hair. In the excitement of meeting Natalie and Malcolm he had forgotten that it was still a violent shade of pink. He swallowed down his nerves and grinned back at the boy.
“Yours is cool too,” Teddy said to him, willing his hair to change to the same shade. By the reaction of the other boys in the group, he could tell it had worked. The boy closest to him, who Teddy assumed was their leader of sorts, raised an eyebrow. Though he tried to hide it, Teddy could tell he was impressed. He looked into their compartment, noticing the twins for the first time.
“First years?” He asked.
Teddy nodded. “I’m Teddy, and this is Natalie and Malcolm.”
“Tanner,” the boy said coolly, moving past Teddy into their compartment and taking an empty seat. A few of the other boys crowded in the doorway, effectively trapping them inside. Natalie seemed unphased by the intrusion, but Teddy could see that her hand was wrapped firmly around her wand. Malcolm looked mildly nauseous.
“We’re in third year,” Tanner said, putting his feet up on the opposite seat and looking at ease. “Know what house you’ll be in?”
“My dad was in Gryffindor and my mum was in Hufflepuff,” Teddy said with a shrug. Tanner’s robes were adorned with yellow and black, as were the robes of most of the boys in the corridor.
“Gryffindor has the best parties. Sprout keeps too close of an eye on us in Hufflepuff, but as long as there’s no evidence the next morning Potter lets them get away with anything.”
Teddy perked up at that. “He’s my godfather!”
Tanner gave him a skeptical look. “Professor Potter is your godfather?”
Teddy nodded eagerly. Tanner snorted.
“Sure, kid.”
“He is!” Teddy insisted.
“You’ve probably never even met Harry Potter,” Tanner sneered.
“Uh oh, T, I think you’re upsetting him,” one of the other boys said, his tone mocking. Teddy was flustered and was sure his hair was changing color again.
“I hope he doesn’t tell his godfather on us,” Tanner said, feigning horror at the idea. The boys all laughed and Tanner got to his feet. He mussed Teddy’s hair on the way out, slamming the compartment door shut behind him. Even with it closed, Teddy could still hear them laughing as they moved on down the corridor. His cheeks felt hot and he kept his gaze fixed on the floor.
“Our mum was friends with your godfather in school,” Natalie piped up, breaking the awkward silence. “Her name’s Katie Bell. They were on the Gryffindor quidditch team together.”
“You believe me?”
Natalie shrugged. “‘Course we do. Our mum said he was a great seeker. Did he teach you to fly?”
Teddy grinned, launching into the story of the time Harry had given him his first broom and he had promptly flown through his grandmother’s living room window. The twins laughed along, and Teddy quickly forgot about the unpleasant encounter with Tanner and his friends.
---
“For the love of Merlin will you stop fidgeting?! ” Draco snapped, stepping on Harry’s tapping foot. “Hagrid will be arriving with them any minute.”
“He was so worried about the train, we should’ve insisted that Andromeda let him use the floo,” Harry said distractedly, craning his neck to see over the heads of the returning students and into the entrance hall.
“I’m sure he’s fine, it’s you we should be worrying about. At this rate you’re going to drop dead from a heart attack before the Sorting even starts.”
“You’d love that, then you’d never have to tell anyone that we got married.”
Draco shushed him, casting a furtive look around at the gathering students. “You really shouldn’t tempt me, I have an entire store room full of potions I could poison you with.”
“I love listening to you two flirt by threatening each other's lives. Makes me feel like I’m fifteen again,” Neville said. He checked his watch and rose from his seat. “Suppose I should go meet the first years — sit down, Harry, you’re not coming!”
Harry fell heavily back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest and pulling a face. Draco rolled his eyes and refilled Harry’s drink. “Last minute bets on his house?”
“Anything but Hufflepuff,” Pomona Sprout said from a few seats to their right. “I’ll never have a moment of peace if I have to put up with the two of you asking after him all the bloody time.”
“Don’t lump me in with him! ” Draco said, outraged.
“You’re so sweet to me,” Harry said, kicking him under the table.
“Just because you claim to be adults don’t think I won’t put you both in detention,” Minerva scolded, giving them a sharp look. They stopped their scuffling at once, both shrinking away from the Headmistress. Before she could threaten them further, a hush fell over the house tables. The students all turned to look as, with a loud groan, the doors to the entrance hall swung open.
---
Teddy, Natalie, and Malcolm shuffled through the enormous doors, pressed together in the crowd of students. There was a sharp intake of breath around them as everyone got their first glimpse of the Great Hall. Though Teddy had seen it several times before, it was even more impressive now that it was filled with people and set for a feast. Still he was glad it wasn’t his first time in the cavernous room - the familiarity of the place slightly lessened the abject terror he felt at the prospect of being sorted.
When Neville - Professor Longbottom, he would have to get used to that - had come to collect them from the entrance hall, he had given Teddy a wink and a reassuring smile. He had explained to them how the Sorting ceremony would work and answered the questions a few of the braver souls amongst them had asked before leading them into the hall. Harry and Draco had already told him about the Sorting, but still it was nice to know that they hadn’t made it sound simpler than it really was just to keep him from being nervous.
“Harry told me that when he started school, Headmistress McGonagall didn’t tell them what would happen during the Sorting. He thinks she did it just to scare them,” Teddy whispered conspiratorially.
“That sounds terrifying,” Malcolm said. His face was pale and he looked like he found their current predicament terrifying enough as it was. Natalie shot Teddy a look, rolling her eyes.
“It’s a hat, Malcolm. It’s not going to bite you,” she said.
“You don’t know that for sure! Nobody asked!”
---
“Look!” Draco whispered, nudging Harry. “He’s talking to those kids there! He’s already made friends. I told you he would - we Black descendants are incredibly charming.”
“Oh yes, I remember exactly how charming you were back when we met,” Harry said without taking his eyes off Teddy. “Charmed me right out of Slytherin house, probably.”
Draco scoffed. “Good riddance, we didn’t want you anyway. You don’t have what it takes.”
Harry started to retort, but Draco shushed him.
“The Sorting is starting.”
---
The first years stood in a crowd between the Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables as the Sorting began. Each time the Sorting Hat shouted the name of one of the houses, the corresponding table would give a loud cheer, clapping and stomping their feet as they welcomed their newest member. It calmed Teddy’s nerves a bit to see this - whichever house he ended up in would greet him with open arms.
He hadn’t given too much thought to which house he would end up in - Harry and Draco had both extolled on the benefits of Gryffindor and Slytherin respectively, but he hadn’t felt like either of their traits really fit him. At least, no better than any of the others did.
Natalie and Malcolm’s names were called well before his. They each squeezed their way through the throng of students and made their way to the stool in front of the staff table. The Sorting Hat had shouted “Ravenclaw!” barely a moment after touching Malcolm’s head. It took a little longer to decide on Natalie, but eventually she was sorted into Gryffindor. By the time Professor Longbottom got to the J names the crowd had thinned out a bit, and Teddy had moved further up the aisle between the tables. He realized too late that he had ended up standing next to Tanner and his friends at the Hufflepuff table.
“Hey look, it’s that kid that thinks Harry Potter is his godfather!” Tanner whisper-shouted to the others. His voice carried in the quiet room, and several people at the Slytherin table turned to look as well. Teddy felt a flush creeping up his neck.
As the Ravenclaw table burst into applause for its newest member, Teddy turned to glare at Tanner.
---
“No, don't talk to Tanner! He’s a twat!” Harry hissed as the staff table politely applauded the young girl who had just been sorted into Ravenclaw.
“Harry! He’s twelve!” Draco admonished.
“He’s thirteen, and there’s no age limit on being a twat. You were a twat when you were thirteen.”
“And you’re still one at twenty-nine. You just hate him because he’s Zacharias Smith’s nephew.”
“That’s not…entirely untrue,” Harry admitted.
“Teddy looks a bit…angry, doesn’t he?” Draco asked, taken aback. Harry studied Teddy as the next student put on the Sorting Hat.
“You’re right, I think they’re arguing.”
“That’s odd,” Draco said, concern lining his face. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him argue with anyone but you.”
“Should we do something?” Harry asked, clapping along with the rest of the staff as a new student took a seat at the Slytherin table.
“Maybe we—” Draco began, but he was cut off by a shout ringing out through the suddenly silent hall.
“Harry Potter is my godfather! I was the ring bearer at his and Draco’s wedding!”
Draco’s goblet made a loud clanging sound as it hit the floor, spraying wine over his and Harry’s feet. Neville paused with the Sorting Hat suspended a few inches over the next student’s head. The room remained in shocked silence for several moments, then was filled with the quiet buzz of hundreds of students whispering to each other. Many of them stared at Harry and Draco, slack-jawed in shock.
Harry was frozen, unable to process what had just happened. Draco let his head fall into his hands. “He hasn’t even been sorted yet!” He moaned loudly.
Teddy’s cheeks were as pink as his hair, and he looked horrified by what he’d just done. Harry looked back and forth between his guilty expression and Draco’s melodramatic response. He was struck suddenly by how ridiculous the whole thing was, and how insane it had been to think that they could keep it a secret indefinitely in the first place. In spite of himself, Harry started to laugh. Draco looked up at him sharply, then, seeming to come to the same realization, started laughing as well. Soon the whole hall had dissolved into laughter. Neville tried desperately to get the Sorting process back under control, though he was clearly amused too.
“Well, I guess that’s one way to make an announcement,” Harry said, taking Draco’s hand on top of the table.
Draco half-heartedly tried to tug it away. “I’m still considering divorce.”
“I thought you were going to poison me.”
“I’m keeping my options open.”
As the ruckus in the hall finally settled back down, the Sorting ceremony continued. Teddy’s name was called a few minutes later, and he made his way to the front of the hall, his cheeks still flaming. Neville placed the Hat on his head and stepped back. It seemed to take an age, but finally the Hat made its decision.
“Gryffindor!”
Harry leapt up from his seat, cheering along with the Gryffindor table. After the exciting outburst, Teddy got the longest and loudest applause of the night, with students from other tables joining in as well. After all, he had given them the most interesting bit of gossip they were likely to get all year.
“Thank Merlin,” Pomona said, pretending to wipe sweat from her brow.
“Well he certainly proved he’s not cunning enough for Slytherin, or he would’ve tried to blackmail us,” Draco said. “What are the traits of a Gryffindor again? Reckless and attention-seeking?”
Harry rounded on him and the two started bickering. Minerva finished her wine in one long gulp. She let the goblet fall heavily onto the table and rubbed her temples, already exhausted with this term. “A Lupin raised by a Black, a Potter, and a Malfoy. I should’ve bloody well retired.”