Chapter Text
Through the now upgraded platforms of the King Cross station the small family went, their trunks being pushed with their two owl cages, a snowy and a barn. The station was surprisingly crowded that day, but Orange sighed in relief as no one actually noticed his peculiar hair color. The thought of having an orange-brown mix of custard-shaped hair seemed funny to him, and he was not satisfied with this whole deal.
"Second, hurry up, you don't wanna be late."
Ah, he was lost in his own track of thoughts, he didn't even know what made him so thoughtful about everything today. Perhaps it was the day that he started his first year at Hogwarts?
"Ah- alright Chosen, I am coming!" he called out as he pushed his trunk even faster to catch up to the two familiar figures ahead. The trains going to other cities were setting off, as he could notice. Monday, the first day of September, is a buzzing busy day for anyone.
They eventually arrived at the cracked, brick wall between Platform 9 and Platform 10, which was the secret entrance to the Hogwarts Express Train setting off at eleven. Lucky enough for them, the traffic jam could not stop the car from arriving thirty minutes before the clock struck eleven. Well, it was all Chosen to fuss about he didn't want to be late, but other than that, it was all smooth sailing.
"Well, it was almost time, you two should get in," Alan said after checking the time on the watch, and pushing the two lightly into the wall before Orange stopped short. "What's wrong, bud?"
"Uhm- nothing! Let's go, then!" Orange made up to them with his sudden enthusiasm as he seemed to ram the trunk into the wall, but no, he disappeared, as Chosen shook his moonlight hair lightly and sighed as he followed after the surprisingly energetic Orange into the wall, Alan following closely behind, looking out for any curious Muggle looking at them phasing through the old brick wall. That was not a pleasant sight to see for them.
Through the seemingly old, cracked brick wall was the entrance to the red train, which was letting out clouds of smoke as Alan bid goodbye to the two, after realizing that he had been late for work. Musing about taking care of Orange, they finally parted, and the siblings went closer to the train to find an empty compartment.
"Alright, Second, you will have to stick close to me," Chosen looked at his younger brother as he was also fixing his bright green eyes at his amber ones. "Alan told me to take care of you, so you better not be difficult."
"I don't need someone to look after me, I am old enough-"
"You are eleven, Second."
"But I am as tall as you!"
"That... that doesn't count as a sign of maturity."
"Did you just hesitate?"
Orange loved picking at Chosen sometimes because it made him feel more comfortable. It made him feel a little easier to breathe. And Chosen seemed to get along with it, although he was denying the statement. Orange knew him, but maybe not as good as-
"Chosen!"
Yeah, Dark, Chosen's best friend since... he-knew-when. Ever since he had been able to draw, he had seen the two bonded.
Watching the conversation unfold between the two, which bickering was the thing he could make out the most in the convo, he silently left, letting his older brother enjoy his time with his friends as he secretly got onto the train, heaving the trunk on as he almost fell over with the trunk almost hitting his face when it fell down. He admitted this was not the most efficient way to get a trunk on the train, and one more, it made him look dumber in front of the students.
"Hey, do you need some help?"
Orange looked back and saw a matcha green hair- wait, green hair?- as the other boy offered to help him. He nodded with no hesitation as they together shoved the trunk onto the train just at the right moment the engine started to roar beneath their feet. Checking his trunk, Orange scratched his head nervously as he muttered out a small thank you.
"Oh, it is no problem at all!" the green-haired boy replied, he was outright smiling confidently. And he seemed to be an enthusiastic person, after all. He was probably good at noticing expressions as well, Orange thought, as the boy asked suddenly that surely caught him off guard. "Say, are you looking for any companion to sit with by any chance?"
"Well, yeah," he said shyly, mentally asking himself where had his welcoming and energetic side gone. Maybe it had gone when Chosen approached his best friend, leaving him to roam free.
"If so, wanna come along to the compartment and spend time with me and my friends?"
God, that was lucky, he was about to make his first friend after being helped with the heavy trunk.
"Sure, I would love to!" Orange finally said, not feeling that uneasy anymore. Chosen was right, he needed to touch some grass and make some friends, and not just paint stuff all day long. And that would have applied to Chosen as well. "Will they mind though?"
"I don't think so, we would love to have another one joining us," the boy finally said as he led Orange through the crowd in the hallways. "Oh yeah- my name's Green, what's yours?"
"Uhm- my name's Second, but just call me Orange," he smiled a bit. "Nice to have you helping me there earlier."
"Nice," Green said, as he bounded over to the door and opened it a bit too hard, revealing another three figures. "Hey there guys, sorry I am late, finding the compartment was no easy task."
"Green, who is the orange-haired one with you then?" a blonde asked as he looked over to Orange, making him feel a little nervous. What if he was interfering with their plans or something?
"Don't worry, he is- kinda lonely out there, so I invited him over!" Green stated, enthusiasm warming all of his gestures and words. "Guys, meet Orange. Orange, this is my friends: Blue, Yellow, and Red."
Well, that was kinda obvious- based on their hair colors. Well, at least he didn't have to worry about his weird hair color anymore. Their hair color, except for Yellow, who was a blonde, was unnatural all the same.
"Hello there, nice to see you, I'm Blue," the dark blue boy waved to him slowly and showed his soft smile. Orange felt nice to see his kindness, maybe he was the calmest one out of the four. "Hope you will enjoy our company."
"Heyo, the name's Yellow," an energetic blonde with glasses, smiling broadly at him. He gave out even more energetic vibes than Orange himself, and some kind of vibes he saw from his brother - knowledgable and intelligent.
"I'm Red, nice to know you!" a red hair one who was slightly taller than all of them as he looked at him. Warming, and seemed to be caring and impulsive as well.
Great, he might get along well with all of them.
"Well, if you don't mind me asking, when did you know each other?" Orange asked slowly, not wanting to rush his new friends yet. Wait, so just like that, he made four friends in a single train ride?
"Uhm- we are childhood friends, you see, hence why we are so close to each other," Green answered quickly as he hummed a bit, trying to remember. "I think it was when we were about... five, or six?"
"When we were six." Blue corrected as he remembered it vividly, based on his looks. "Red and Yellow might know each other before, so as Green and me. We both met in a playground quite by chance, and got closer."
"Imagine receiving letters to a magic school, it was confusing at first, but we got quite the explanation," Red said, and looked up occasionally at the cage above him. "And it's better when you are going with your best of friends."
"Woah, you all seemed very close... but how do you all discover that you are- wizards?" Orange asked, his soft voice echoed around the compartment as his nervousness was clearly shown. This sudden enthusiasm was new to him, but not unappreciated.
"You see, Red and I are muggleborns, their parents of course not knowing about wizards," Yellow mused. "But we knew about that, I think that was why us four get so attached to each other."
"What about you Orange?" Red suddenly asked. Orange, from being an audience suddenly being pushed into the middle of the lights, clearly looked panicked for a moment before reassuring himself.
"I am a Pureblood- but that doesn't mean I have anything against other people!" he protested rather quickly, his face turned red for a moment. "I- just spend my day inside the house, barely going outside and just painting. That's my favorite hobby ever."
"Oh, what do you usually draw then?" Blue asked as he looked at Orange, retrieving his sketchbook inside the heavy trunk. It was conveniently placed on top of all in case he just wanted to pull it out and do some sketches that made him feel more comfortable.
The sketchbook turned out to be filled with sketched landscapes, like a small house on one of the streets, or a crowded and busy street at night. It all felt real. It felt like they were in that landscape, witnessing the same event. And that was just some pencil strokes, thin and brushed carefully. Every stroke seemed to be calculated and had been done with up-most dedication.
"This is... and you say this is- is this just a sketchbook?" Green said dramatically as everyone laughed, even Orange now joining in, and nodded. Green was surely one dramatic- no, overdramatic one. Once seeing it, Orange was sure to see it another time when they- the group were together. At least if his thoughts were right.
"Yeah, maybe I am just bored all the time?" he asked, confused for a moment. It was not even that good- well, he was not overreacting it. Nor boasting.
"Dude, you can quit studying and become an artist straight away."
"Well, I don't know, considering I just- you all know- take it as a hobby."
The group fell in silence for a moment as they could relax for a bit. Orange took his sketchbook back and started sketching the wild landscape again in silence, only the strokes of the pencil making contact with the paper softly. Yellow was digging himself with Hogwarts, A History, his glasses dropped on the book suddenly made him jerked up, looking surprised for a second, thinking someone had called him. Green was humming silently as he looked at the wild-looking scenery outside. Red was checking on his owl pretty occasionally since the train was getting a bit wobbled. Blue, on the other hand, was munching some kind of red fungus as he looked at his friends, doing their stuff.
It was a good twenty minutes of comfortable silence before Orange spoke out, motioning at the red-looking fungus.
"If you don't mind me asking, what is that thing you have been eating?"
"This?" Blue looked at the fungus in his hands as he smiled and handled some to Orange. "This weird-looking fungus is called netherwarts. And they are the best to eat! Try some!"
Orange hesitantly took a small part of it and smelt it. A seemingly sweet strawberry scent. That did intrigue him a bit as he took a bite and tensed. The taste was completely opposite with the scent, bitter and a 'little bit' sour. Definitely, this was not the kind of treatment he would like.
"It tastes a bit weird, to be honest," he commented after letting the taste burnt deep in his throat. He could never get used to this taste at any time soon. "How did you eat this?"
"Why? It is good!" Blue protested as everyone chuckled.
"It is not like you are addicted to it."
Orange felt like he needed to ride this conversation in another direction, and the food trolley appeared in time to get the attention of the netherwart. "Say, does anyone hungry? I can buy us some stuff."
"Oh hey, not only do we get a new friend, we get a generous one to treat us! It was just a joke, and seriously, it's nice to have more friends honestly." Green grinned as he looked at Orange. "A profit, I must say."
"Sounds like something we - all of us - enjoy when we are together."
"Am I being counted in the group already?"
"God, Orange, you should stop your bickering about that, we have already considered you as a friend, and now, I think we don't need to throw you out to say that we-" Red snickered a bit, as Orange raised his hands in protest.
"Alright alright, I will not talk about it anymore-"
"Good, now for the feast."
Orange, who was convinced by the others, bought a little out of everything the witch sold. Chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, pumpkin pies... you named it, and they munched happily together until they heard an announcement, and finally realized that it was getting dark outside. Mists covered the windows, and they could not even make out the scenery anymore. They put on their robes.
The train pulled up at Hogsmeade Station after ten minutes.
"First year, this way!" a loud voice rang out in the misty night as they ran to a figure holding a lantern, calling loudly for the other first-years. "Is that all? Then follow me!"
"How are we getting to the castle, I wonder," Red said excitedly, lowering his voice and leaning closer to his friends. "I mean, I saw the older ones going the other way, only us first-years have to follow."
"If I remember correctly," Orange hummed as they got closer to the river. "We are going there by boat. Only this year though."
"Nice," Green muttered. "See how cold this place suddenly is. And it is just the beginning of autumn, it surely cannot be that cold."
As Orange had known before, the boats could handle as many as four people on one boat, but they had already proven that they would stick together. So, five figures crammed on one boat, giggling as they had no one looking in their way. They balanced their way to the seats as they looked around the place. Overgrown plants, and a misty night sky as if a spell was cast to cover the place. The water was surprisingly calm despite the harsh, chilly breezes they were getting.
They were getting there, being led into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, and being explained about the four houses, the great history of the school (even just briefly), and how they had to do the best for their houses. After that, a quick moment of smarting themselves up, and they were led into the Great Hall.
The hall was unimaginable with its hanging lights on the walls, the candles lying on the table, and the starry night sky on the ceiling. Another long table was in front of them, mainly for the professors. Orange began to look around, his eyes shone bright green as he reminded himself to try and recreate this place in a sketch.
Then, he realized he had his mind in the gutter for far too long. Never he had been more thoughtful like this. Not until Blue's name rang out in the quiet room as he jerked up at once, to see a nervous Blue walking to the Hat and putting it over his head. Sitting, his thumbs messing with each other as the hat was put over his eyes. All of the Great Hall began to watch silently, that is enough pressure for anyone sitting there, Orange thought as he looked up at the blue-haired boy, now practically freezing in place. Not for long, as thirty seconds went by, the Hat had made its choice.
"Hufflepuff!"
Blue sighed in relief as he dropped down and entered the Hufflepuff tables with people applauding him from here and there, his small smile visible as he sat down reluctantly at his place. Now, he was the one observing his friends being sorted, not being the eye of the public anymore. That pressure had long gone off him.
After a few calls for other students, it was Green's turn as he stepped up confidently and put the Hat on even without any issue at all. He seemed pretty confident about this whole ordeal. Orange looked at Green, now the other boy's eyes were being covered with the old, worn hat. He was smiling or smirking, he could not even tell, but a corner of his mouth had gone up and was half-covered by the hat. He was half-wondering if the boy would get into Slytherin-
"Gryffindor!"
That was... a bit unexpected. But still, he grinned at Green, who gave him a peace sign before leaving for the Gryffindor tables. The top right corner of the hall was still applauding loudly.
He was getting carried away until his name was called out. He looked up at once, seeing the professor motioning at him as he titled his head for a moment, but finally picked up his pace and to the Hat. Having a closer look at it, he noticed how worn out it actually looked. It had been around for quite a period, hence why it was patched up with varieties of materials. Hesitatingly, he put on the hat, and the last thing he saw was Chosen nodding at him from the Ravenclaw table.
A bit of reassuring moment, he guessed.
"Hm, let me see, you are quite artistic and witty. You are also a dedicated and hard-working one. You have quite the leadership and bravery inside you. And you are also mischievous, but secretly ambitious, wanting to show everyone about you..." a soft voice murmured in his ears. "The students nowadays are surely difficult to get sorted, for they at least have different noticeable traits from different houses... but the choice must be made. If so... Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor table burst out in loud applauses as he took off the hat and went to sit by Green's side, who was outright grinning at him and patting his back. "Nice!" Now, the pressure was off, and he watched the others getting sorted.
Not long after a purple-haired boy was sorted into Slytherin, it was Red who would be sorted next. He walked up and quickly sat down on the chair with the hat completely covering his eyes. Let's see his guess was right this time.
"Hufflepuff!"
...definitely not.
Red raised a thumb up as he walked by the Gryffindor table to Orange and Green, as they returned the gesture before Red bounded over to Blue to join him at the Hufflepuff tables. Out of the gang, only Yellow remained out of all the new students, and he walked up to the chair, now the whole school watching him.
"Ravenclaw!"
Yellow jumped off the seat and placed the hat back on the chair before rushing to the Ravenclaw tables, and greeting his new friends in the same house.
'The house you are going to be sorted in will be like your family for your whole seven years studying at Hogwarts. You will be studying, playing, and participating in events as housemates, as friends.' that was what Orange had remembered when being told briefly.
At that moment, the chair with the Sorting Hat was put away, letting the headmaster begin his words before the food miraculously appeared on the golden plates, which everyone munched happily. The treats Orange had had on the train seemed to disappear at that very moment.
"Hey, sad that we didn't all end up in the same house," Green said as he took a piece of treacle tart onto his plate. "But hey, we are housemates, and best friends now! Doesn't that seem fantastic?"
Orange looked at Green closely, before glancing at the others at the different tables, before nodding with a bright smile.
"Yeah, it is fantastic, having lots of new friends. It is a fantastic day for me."
And that was when they were dismissed to go to their houses' common rooms, letting this exciting day finally come to an end.
And when Orange tucked into bed, he had never felt happier.