Only Fools Will Fall For You

Going Sixteen

Fifth Year. Charlie ran his fingers through his hair, tying it up with a long red ribbon, walking down the platform with Lily, hand on her back to guide her gently, given it was her first year, it was his responsibility to make sure she got there safely, when their parents were unable to come to the platform with them. Lily had quickly befriended a blonde girl by the name of Marlene McKinnon, and a boy named Severus Snape, so he trusted she was in safe hands as he shoved his hands rather unceremoniously into his back pockets on his way to find Lucius, Narcissa, Evan and Andromeda. Tucking a few stray locks of hair behind his ears, he smacks Lucius around the back of his head, chuckling softly, "Perk up Malfoy, it's fifth year, come ON", a wide grin on his face as they walked to the train, picking one of the compartments in a quieter part of the train, so they wouldn't be disturbed, and Lucius wouldn't find out about Lily. He couldn't afford to lose this friendship, given how long they'd known each other. He suspected Lucius might have thought he was a Weasley, given he was a dead ringer for Gideon and Fabian Prewett, who were also in their year, and Molly and Arthur had graduated just a few years prior. Leaning back in his seat, he closes his eyes, slumping forward a little as he attempts to get some rest, but to no avail with Lucius and Evan making almost incessant noise, "Shut the fuck up, for christ's sake you'll wake the dead", making Lucius roll his eyes, "Alright Ebenezer Scrooge", laughing softly as he pats Charlie's shoulder, both of them asleep within the hour, Charlie's head falling onto Evan's shoulder, and Lucius's arms wrapped slightly around Narcissa's waist.

A couple of hours later, his blissful peace was disturbed by, you guessed it, yelling. Though this time it wasn't his friends. It was two boys, whom he assumed were first years, chasing each other. One had short, slick black hair, and round glasses perched on his nose, while the other had a messy mop of long, curly black hair. One might have mistaken them for brothers if they didn't look hard enough, though from what he caught, the boy with glasses was James Potter, and the curly-haired kid was Sirius Black. He'd heard Lucius talking about the Black Family before, Sirius was the younger cousin of Bella, Andromeda and Narcissa, and had a little brother called Regulus who would enter the school next year. He hadn't heard much about the Potter boy though, despite the fact he was rather obviously a pureblood wizard. James reminded him a little, in part of his sister Lily, in his somewhat carefree nature, and that smile she had whenever she'd worked out a problem that had taken her too long to solve. It made him smile slightly, as he turned to the window. Maybe he'd be able to take this kid under his wing, teach him the ins and outs of the school, given he might not have any older siblings to do the job for him. He chuckles softly, tapping his fingers on his knees as he mindlessly joins in the conversation with Andromeda and Evan, his hair, once again, falling over his face. Lucius returns a few moments later with all manner of food for all of them to share, and he falls into the regular routine, giggling with his friends until it's time to go change into their Hogwarts robes.

He changes into his gryffindor robes, albeit a little out of place with the rest of his friends, but they don't seem to care anymore. It's just them. He steps out long enough to watch his baby sister get into one of the boats before he's dragged off by Andromeda and her sister to a carriage. Lucius and Evan had already gone so he went with both of them, arriving seemingly quicker than usual to the castle. Hopping out of the carriage, and lifting both Narcissa and Andromeda down, he walks in, sitting with Gideon and Fabian Prewett, turning to the front for the sorting. Part of him wanted Lily in gryffindor with him, but he wouldn't be mad if she were placed elsewhere. Names were called, notable mentions included his sister in Gryffindor, along with James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and Dorcas Meadowes. Severus Snape, Holly De Vere, Edith Parkinson and Zacharias Nott went to Slytherin, Marlene Mckinnon, Cillian Gallagher, and Alyssa Johansson were assigned Hufflepuff, and Ludo Bagman, Dale McKinnon, Ben Burke and Jack Hepburn went to Ravenclaw. Resting his head on his hands, he ate quickly, before making his way to the Gryffindor Common Room, first years in tow, before giving the password. Running his hands through his hair, he walks up to his shared bedroom with the twins, sitting down, changing quickly, before curling up under the covers, attempting to get some sleep.

Upon waking up the next morning, his head was pounding, as it usually was on the first day of school, nothing new, though... for some reason, he felt this year was going to be different, to last year. Something felt new, per se. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but it felt somewhat good, so he made no move to find out what it was, at least not yet. He wanted to see what would happen first, whether this truly was a piece of good fortune, or whether it might turn out to be something more sinister. His bet was on the latter, given how good his luck was at present, things never really seemed to turn out for him these days, even though he was doing his OWLs this year. Maybe Andromeda's good NEWT grades might bring him some luck. Or at least he hoped they would, with how little studying he did, it would be a miracle if he even passed these. Shoving himself up and out of bed, he runs a hairbrush through his rather unruly ginger curls, tying them up half up half down with a hairband, tugging his clothes on and grabbing his school bag, he walks to the great hall for breakfast, plopping himself down at the Slytherin table in-between Lucius and Evan, all three of them giggling in the process. Technically, house mixing wasn't allowed, but there were always some tearaways here and there, with friends in other houses, and as long as you weren't caught, you were cool. An hour later, the were fed, hydrated and on their way to potions, practically chasing each other down the hallways to Slughorn's classroom.