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Septimus Weasley was a Weasley through and through, with gangly limbs, a freckled face and bright red hair, the traits that had plagued many a generation of Weasleys. Although it had been his charming manner that had been the first thing to catch the interest of the beautiful Cedrella Black, who in contrast had the famous dark beauty belonging to those of the ancient and noble Black family, with her silky dark hair and equally dark eyes.
The romance between Septimus and Cedrella had bloomed where many wizards and witches had made their matches, in the halls of Hogwarts, stolen moments in the library, notes passed in textbooks and secret meetings by the lake.
After her elopement with Septimus, and subsequently giving him three sons, many forgot she had once been a Black heiress, as she settled so happily in the role of Mrs Cedrella Weasley. Of her three boys, the youngest two were also Weasley’s through and through, in fact the only one to inherit her dark hair had been her eldest Bilius, although he was also as gangly as his brothers.
After her middle child Arthur married Molly Prewett, another family known for their red hair, and also began to produce a series of boys all with the Weasley look it was even easier to forget that Cedrella had once been a member of the Black family.
Until the 3rd of March in 1980, when Arthur and Molly produced a child who was the split of his grandmother except with big blue eyes and christened him Ronald Bilius Weasley.
Now while Ron definitely stood out amongst a sea of red heads it did not affect him really growing up, and in fact Ron considered his looks the only thing unique about him at times, with such talented older brothers and an only sister who could do no wrong in the eyes of their parents, at least no one could ever forget which Weasley he was.
Since Cedrella had been disowned it was also easy to forget her extended family, as the two families never interacted, for example her cousin Pollux Black. It is important to mention Pollux in particular, who was only a handful of years older than Cedrella, that while the two had not been seen together since they were teenagers, but if they stood beside each other, you would think them siblings instead of cousins.
Of course, that was common amongst the Black family, with the proud motto of ‘Always Pure’, also often resulted in frequent marrying of cousins, both distant and closer, making certain features and traits recurring over the generations.
It’s interesting to note however that just three months after the birth of Ron Weasley, another boy was born to the extended Black family who was named Draco Lucius Malfoy, whose mother was the granddaughter of Pollux Black and who also inherited the distinct Black family looks.
Even though Ron and Draco were distant cousins, as well as the fact their families had never really interacted with each other, resulting in the two boys who were close in age and of the same family, but had never had cause to be in the same room as the other.
If they had people would not have thought Ronald and Draco were cousins, instead they would have thought they were brothers, but not just brothers, they would have thought they were twins.
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“Ron didn’t mention he was a twin” thought Harry as their carriage door was opened. Of course, he had mentioned five older brothers, of which Harry thought was one standing in the door, although it must have been strange growing up in a household with two sets of twins.
In fact, after looking a little closer, the only way to tell the two apart was their eyes colour, with Ron having a more clear blue colour, and the other boys leaning more into the paler blue, almost silver in some lights. Apart from that little difference, the boys were strikingly similar. To the curve of their face, and the dark silky hair upon their heads, although the other boys was combed more neatly, Ron’s managing to look a little more naturally wild.
The two boys seemed to go mute at the sight of the other, confusion filling their eyes as they were confronted by a mirror.
Harry picked up the strange atmosphere that flooded the carriage, as the new arrival and Ron just stared at each other. There were two other boys behind the new arrival, but the silence continued to stretch to an almost awkward level as no introductions were made.
Determined to break the strange stare off, Harry asked the new boy “So which brother are you?”
That seemed to break the trance as both boys startled back as if they were struck as Ron spluttered out “He is not my brother!”
“I don’t even know who this is!” the other boy added, the slight sneer on his lip doing nothing to hide the continued confusion.
“I’m Ron Weasley…”
“Malfoy, Draco Malfoy”
Harry looked between the two boys unsure of the strange situation he seemed to have landed into, as he tentatively asked “So, are you two related?” sensing the growing tension in the air.
Draco instantly responded with an offended “No!”
In contrast to Ron who suddenly looked unsure as he ventured “Well…Kind of…”
“No we are not!” Draco denied.
“Yes, we are” Ron heatedly replied, annoyed at the implication that he was lying “My Grandmother is Cedrella Black”.
“Oh, I forgot about that” Draco reluctantly admitted “My grandfather’s cousin I believe”.
“So, you are cousins” Harry asked, still looking between the two boys in confusion.
Draco tried to hide his embarrassment by almost petulantly asking “I thought Weasley’s were all red heads?”
“I take after my grandmother; I thought all Malfoy’s were blond?”
“I take after my mother”.
“So, wait you are cousins, but you don’t know each other?” interrupted Harry, getting increased bewildered about the boy’s strange behaviour, who were apparently related and knew each other’s families, but yet managed to not know who the other was.
The two seemed to shift awkwardly, as Ron realised how stupid it sounded to suddenly declare he hated a boy he had just met just because they were a Wesley and Malfoy respectively, even though they were related.
Likewise, Draco was struggling to think of a way to explain to Potter that Weasley was the wrong sort, even though he looked just like him and had already been established as his cousin.
Trying to regain some semblance of dignity, Draco straightened up and said, “Well I will see you both at Hogwarts, Potter, Weasley” and strolled out of the cabin, glad only Crabbe and Goyle had witnessed his fumbling in that entire conversation.
Trying to make friends with Potter had been a long shot anyway, a vague plan to impress his father, Potter was clearly already to far gone if he was already befriended a Weasley, and once again trying to ignore how the fact the boys looked so similar just highlighted how close their families were related.
For Ron and Harry, the rest of their journey passed in a more relaxed manner, with sweets and questions of their respective worlds, and the only other interruption being a hunt for a frog.
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One thing to note however is in another world a blond-haired Malfoy would solidify Harry resolves to not be sorted into Slytherin. In this world while Harry was still a bit unsure of what it really meant to be a Slytherin, what he did know is his first and only friend was related to this Malfoy guy who while intruding into their cabin on their train, had not really said anything too offensive before he left.
So, when the sorting hat shouted “Slytherin!” and a slightly pale Harry made his way to the table of silver and green, to a hall of confusion and a few hesitant claps, a dark haired Weasley watched and felt his resolve harden, as ironically enough Harry was also Ron’s first friend, and therefore already his best friend after a single train ride. As apart from his brothers and cousins he had never really had the chance to forge a friendship with anyone his own age. And while their friendship was new, Ron already knew he would follow Harry anywhere.
It took a bit of convincing to an increasing exasperated hat, but Ron won his argument and was soon joining a relived Harry on the Slytherin table.
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Maybe if Ron and Draco had been sorted into different houses there would have been less confusion, if Ron had a uniform with a red stripe and Draco a green.
Instead, people quickly realised on the first day that when wearing their uniforms, at first glance it was almost impossible to tell If you were looking at the blood traitor Weasley or the Pureblood Prince Malfoy.
Of course, once they started talking it was easier to tell, Malfoy was still an arrogant prat, and Ron was trying to get some enjoyment from the house he was now stuck in for the next seven years, inspired by the chaos his older brothers could cause at times, and was now becoming determined to be the opposite of what everyone had come to expect a Slytherin to be.
The company they kept was also a key indication of which one you were talking to, as Draco was forever flanked by his two silent shadows, while Ron and Harry were quickly becoming inseparable, and later joined by the muggle born Gryffindor, Hermione Granger.
Ron had a moment of doubt on his first night at Hogwarts, of how his family would react to his sorting. He needn’t have worried of course, the Weasley’s were always a tight knit family, and as Arthur would reassure his son in his letter, while Weasley’s were traditionally sorted into the house of lions, he never forgot that his own mother had been a Slytherin.
Even if she had the good sense to marry a Gryffindor.
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Draco and Ron also both quickly realised they could use their looks to their advantage, trying frequently to get the other in trouble when their own mischief was caught by a teacher.
For McGonagall this was soon becoming a trying time. It was almost easier with the Weasley twins, at least you could be confident that both boys would be causing trouble together and could punish them both accordingly.
Filch muttering that one of those boys had been seen after curfew, but it could have been Malfoy or Weasley was not a lot to go on, and with both boys quick to always point the finger at the other, many teachers were tempted to just put them both in detention and call it a day.
Snape was in his opinion having the worst time of everyone, and trapped in a dilemma, having to decide what he valued more, the Slytherin winning the house cup again or punishing that arrogant Potter who despite being a miniature James Potter, had managed to get into the house of the cunning and ambitious. Don’t even get him started on that changeling Weasley.
It was going to be a long seven years.
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Despite getting sorted into different houses and Ron managing to cause quite a bit of chaos in the house of snakes, and in particular trouble for Malfoy, many things about their first year went the same as it would in another universe.
Harry and Ron still bonded with Hermione over the defeat of a troll, a girl who felt out of place in the house of lions she had been sorted into, but quickly found kinship with the two odd Slytherin boys. Despite wearing the colours of silver and green, the boy’s personalities were fixed, and with the only other close friend they had made, they still followed the clues to a mystery that would lead Harry to once again face the murderer of his parents.
It was true that Ron and Harry both displayed traits that Slytherin would have wanted in his students, determination, ambition, resourcefulness. Yet ironically enough at heart they were very much Gryffindors. The colour of their uniform, or even Ron’s looks, would not have changed their desire to do the right thing.
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It was almost too comical that at the end of the year, once again standing at platform nine and three quarters, that Lucius and Narcissus accidently greeted Ron as he stepped off the train, and that Draco was very nearly dragged into a Weasley hug.
Of course, from letters homes they had heard about the similar looks, but the respective parents of each boy were struck speechless at just how alike they did look, presuming that the stories had been slightly exaggerated, and instead had an unpleasant reminder of just how closely related they all were to each other.
After each boy was quickly herded to their correct families a similar thought was shared by many who witnessed the spectacle.
It really was going to be a long seven years.