Chapter Text
Leo didn’t feel like sleeping, and after checking his watch he realised it wasn’t even that late. He decided to get up and explore the common room a bit more, sneaking out of the dorm as the other two boys slept.
The older students didn’t have the same curfew as the first years, and a few kids were still in the common room, most seemed to be studying. Except for one, the boy with the curly hair, bright green eyes, and sharp cheekbones that had led the first years earlier. Felix Rosier. This was his first year as Prefect, and he already had to lead the new students.
“Rosier?” Leo spoke to the boy as he approached the lounge. Rosier glanced up from where he had been relaxing, rolling his eyes slightly as he saw Leo.
“It’s past the first year’s curfew, you can’t leave the common room,” Rosier lectured, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes. Leo just shrugged.
“I know, I wasn’t planning on leaving, I just couldn’t sleep,” Leo explained, taking a seat beside the prefect, much to Rosier’s annoyance. They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, before Leo finally spoke.
“Evan Rosier,” Leo blurted out, Rosier tensing at the name, “He was your brother, right?” Leo continued. Rosier stayed silent for a moment, before nodding.
“Yes, he was,” he replied bluntly.
“I knew him, he was nice,” Leo said, “To me,” he quickly added at the end. Evan Rosier was a death eater, regardless of whether or not he was nice to Leo.
“Are you Jacob Torres’ brother?” Rosier said suddenly, turning to face Leo, who didn’t even need to respond, “Of course you are, you look just like him,” Rosier said, with the first smile Leo had seen from him.
“Our brothers were best friends, although you obviously know that,” Rosier stated.
“Evan was over all the time, him, Barty, and Regulus,” Leo reminisced, having someone new to talk to for the first time in years.
“Jacob came over often too,” Rosier responded, before they both fell quiet. Leo felt guilty for bringing up Evan. Even though both of their brothers were gone, Leo had hope he’d find Jacob again. But Evan was dead, Felix wouldn’t be able to have him back.
“Always liked Evan’s hair,” Leo started again, “I dyed my hair just like it,” he said, running his hand through his coily, blonde tipped hair, “It's mostly grown out now,” he finished with a laugh.
“Evan and Pandora both had the same, blonde hair, but they were twins so it’s not a surprise,” Rosier said, staring off at the wall as he spoke.
“How is your sister? I met her only a few times, but I really liked her, she read me stories,” Leo asked.
“Oh, Pandora’s great, she’s married now, and has a daughter,” Rosier said with a grin.
“Awesome! What’s her name?” Leo asked excitedly.
“Luna, her father is the editor of the Quibbler, Xenophilius Lovegood,” Rosier explained, “Needless to say our parents weren’t pleased, but if Pandora’s happy, so am I,” Rosier sighed. Leo had heard of Xenophilius Lovegood. Most people seemed to think he was a bit of a nut, but from what Leo had seen, the man just seemed passionate in what he believed in.
Leo and Rosier spoke for a while, until the common room was mostly empty.
“Ok, Torres, you should go to bed now,” Rosier said, glancing around the silent room. Leo checked his watch, it was past midnight and he had class in the morning. He couldn’t show up tired to his very first class.
“Yeah, I guess,” Leo replied mid-yawn. He was disappointed, he was enjoying talking to Rosier, he was so much like Evan, but also so different in his own, interesting way.
Leo made his way to his dorm, falling asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Next thing he knew, Rosier was there again, waking him and his dorm mates up. Waking up at 7am wasn’t too bad, even after his late night.
Leo chatted with his dorm mates on the way to the Great Hall about their timetables. Their mornings started differently, but all first year Slytherins had Potions second period that day. Leo hoped he’d make some friends in Slytherin, especially his age.
Even out of the naturally cold dungeon, the air was still quite nippy in the corridors. Leo was glad Rosier was there to lead them, because even if it wasn’t his first full day, the maps they’d been given were even more confusing. It seemed like a jumble of corridors, and it didn’t even show him where he was amongst all of it. For a magic school, Leo would have reckoned they’d have a better map.
As soon as Leo entered the Great Hall, the sound of chatter surrounded him. He’d never been around this many kids, it took him a minute to adjust to the volume. He slunk off with Barnaby and Sean to the Slytherin table, the only Slytherin kids his year he knew. They ate mostly in silence, as Leo scanned the rest of the hall for his friends. Rowan was already there, reading a book as he ate his breakfast. Charlie seemed to have already made a ton of friends, unsurprisingly as everyone loved the Weasleys. The first year Hufflepuffs were only just coming into the hall, and as expected, Tonks looked exhausted. She was never good at “early” mornings. Cygnus looked even more nervous than the Sorting Ceremony, trailing closely behind Tonks. Leo hoped he’d have a chance to talk to them soon.
Dumbledore gave a short speech, and everyone started heading to their classes. Leo was lucky Tonks stayed behind to finish her food.
“Tonks, Cygnus!” Leo called out, before being body slammed into a hug by Cygnus.
“Leo! I wish I was in Slytherin with you,” Cygnus sighed as he reluctantly stepped back from the hug.
“At least you’ve got me in Hufflepuff, Cygnus,” Tonks tried to cheer him up.
“It’s not that, everyone looks at me funny, and my parents, they’ll disown me for sure,” Cygnus whimpered.
“The Hufflepuff kids don’t know you yet, and you won’t get disowned, I’m sure if you ask Cissa she’ll keep it from them,” Leo reassured, “And even if they do find out, you’re their only son, your father wouldn’t disown his heir over nothing,” Leo shrugged.
“That, is kinda comforting, I guess,” Cygnus replied. Tonks then came over and hugged Leo as well.
“I wish we were all in the same house, it’d be so fun,” She sighed.
“I know, it sucks knowing nobody in slytherin,” Leo sulked, before the trio was approached by Professor McGonagall.
“Excuse me, but class will be starting soon, and you wouldn’t want to be late to your very first class, would you?” McGonagall said sternly.
“Sorry, Professor,” Cygnus mumbled.
“Yeah, sorry,” Leo added.
“You’ll have plenty of time to catch up during your breaks, now off to class,” McGonagall ordered, and the three kids hurried off down the hall, Professor McGonagall following close behind them.