Heart Less

00 | Prologue

“Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.”
~Lilo and Stitch~

Family has a different meaning to different people. For some, family is a convenant. For others, it's a past to be escaped. For them, family meant sacrifices, hard choices that they couldn't take back. It meant the fight between what is right and what is familiar. For them, it was always war.

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Minerva McGonagall couldn’t help but feel sceptical and somewhat nervous looking at the first years. She knew most of their parents and was aware of the havoc they had wreaked in their youth. If she had to deal with a new set of Marauders consisting of James Potter’s son and Fred and George Weasley’s brother, she would start looking into a retirement plan a lot earlier than anticipated.

She’d already had the pleasure of meeting Neville Longbottom and his runaway toad. Despite the similarities in his appearance with his mother, after his childhood with Augusta Longbottom, he hasn’t inherited her self-confidence, to say the least.

As she scanned through the faces of the jittery children, she noticed the dark haired boy with round rimmed glasses. She could see the tell-tale of the lightning shaped scar on his forehead and the glaring evidence of his father’s lineage on his face. The corners of her lips tilted slightly. Maybe Albus wasn’t so wrong to send Hagrid; he managed to keep the boy alive by the end of both assignments.

Low expectations, but the boy is a ragdoll compared to Hagrid. Wouldn't be very difficult to lose at all.

She looked again at the group of eleven year olds in front of her and noticed another red-head. Her first thought was Weasley. However, she knew the Weasleys only had one daughter who wasn’t of age yet. There certainly wasn't any second set of twins in the family since she had no doubt the boy glued to Harry’s side was a Weasley. Moreover, the girl had a darker hair colour than the signature Weasley red and she was surrounded by a tightly huddled group of blonde and black haired children.

Minerva frowned.

If she wasn’t wrong, the blonde clinging to the girl was a Malfoy. The signature gelled silver-blonde hair paired with grey eyes and pale skin were enough indication of his lineage. Not to mention the air of arrogance.

This is what all the pure-blood families have dwindled into? A series production of spoilt brats?

There was, however, another blonde girl beside the supposed Malfoy. She had a fuller face making her look younger than the others. Her straight blonde hair formed a curtain around her face as if hiding something from the world.

Minerva had long before heard that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had a pair of twins. This girl must have been the boy’s twin though there was nothing common in their appearances apart from the blonde hair which seemed to be of different shades.

The girl was constantly throwing looks towards the Slytherin table. Minerva followed her eyes a bit closely and noticed that she was looking straight at Eugene Lestrange.

Having just started his second year, Eugene was sitting comfortably amongst other Slytherins. Minerva had to admit that when he came to Hogwarts, she was one of those who involuntarily judged him for his name. The trauma his family had doled out was unforgotten and unforgivable. As a result, Lestrange wasn’t a very reputable surname anywhere in the Wizarding World.

Except for His remaining loyalists, Minerva thought, peeking at the Malfoy once more.

But, the Lestrange boy certainly proved everyone wrong. He had taken after his mother’s side of the family, the Adairs. His mother, Ira Adair-Lestrange was also a Slytherin, but unlike others her age she didn’t go off blindly following the Dark Lord. However, it was quite disappointing when Minerva learned that she married Rabastan Lestrange of all people. Though, he was a charming boy once, before he was pulled to the Dark side and turned into a cruel man.