04. TALES OF THE
GOLDEN FOUR
SLEEP AND THEA HAD A complicated relationship. She hated it if she was being honest, why spend eight hours doing nothing when there's so much to be done? So Thea didn't like to sleep, but she liked it even less when it was anywhere else but home. Her father didn't let her go to a lot of sleepovers growing up, but when he did let her for the first time, Thea didn't sleep for a moment. She wasn't afraid or anything, truly, she just didn't feel comfortable in somewhere that wasn't her bed in her room in the house with her family.
Pushing her glasses up her nose, Thea looked out the bay window she sat in, staring at the bright moon. Every once in a while, an owl would fly by or Thea would notice a constellation in the sky, and that was more than enough to keep her busy. Her bed was right near the window, on the left side, and it was one out of four in the dorm. On the right side was Eva, who was fast asleep. Then on the other side of the room, across from the window were Poppy and Noelia. Ironically, the four girls were dorm-mates, and Thea was happy. They were all nice and they got along well.
She looked at the clock that was near the dorm of the room, 3:00 in the morning. The girl rolled her eyes, knowing if she didn't get some sleep she would be exhausted during her first day of classes tomorrow. Standing up from the bay window, Thea walked over to her trunk and opened it, looking for a hoodie to warm her up. Her eyes widened when she saw the dark orange blanket folded neatly at the bottom of her trunk, with a small paper taped to it.
To make sure you don't forget home
- Papa
A smile rose to Thea's face and she picked up the blanket, sitting on her bed. Taking off her glasses and bringing the blanket to her nose, Thea closed her eyes, breathing deeply as her smile grew bigger. It smelt of pure pumpkin spice, the only scent that her brothers, her dad, and herself could all agree on. No matter the season, there were pumpkins candles throughout the house all year. If she tried hard enough, she could smell the tiniest whiff of jasmine. Her mom. Her dad always mentioned how she used a jasmine perfume every day. The blanket was from their apartment in London, and her mom used it during the family's movies nights. Thea would always end up in her mother's lap, because it was impossible to get Tobi to share a blanket.
Fixing the blanket so it covered her entire body, Thea laid her head against her pillow. Her hands gripped tightly around a small Phoenix stuffed animal she's had since she was a baby. Closing her eyes, Thea finally got some sleep.
~
Following Eva and Poppy, Thea walked down the stairs and into the Hufflepuff common room the next morning, at 7:20 AM. She turned around, waiting for Noelia to catch up before walking any further into the room. Thea messed around with her new yellow and black tie while she waited for the girl.
"Come get your schedules!" A prefect shouted, Eva being one of the first in line. The girl thanked the prefect before walking back to the group, handing them each their schedules.
"Thanks Eva." Thea smiled and the brunette shrugged. "What are you guys' first class?"
"History of Magic." Eva replied and Thea and Noelia nodded, mumbling 'same's.
"I have Herbology." Poppy frowned.
"Good, first period is a class I can sleep through." Noelia smirked and Thea smiled, shaking her head.
"Good morning, girls," Cedric walked over, holding his class schedule as two other boys walked behind him. "These are my dorm-mates, Micah and Silas. Boys, this is Thea, Noelia, Poppy, and Eva."
"You only have three boys in your dorm?" Poppy questioned, looking at the trio.
"No, it's four," Silas spoke up, moving his hand to mess with his dark curls. "Fourth one is a boy named Wesley, he's quiet one though."
"Definitely muggle-born," Cedric looked at Thea. "He told us his name and then just put on a thing over his ear— To play music? And he had a small screen."
"Headphones?" Thea and Eva guessed at the same time, the girls smiling at each other.
"You're both muggle-born?" Micah asked.
"Thea's a de Oro." Cedric told the boy and Micah and Silas's eyes widened.
"Bloody hell, so you're one of the Golden Four!" Micah realized, holding in his gasp and Thea nodded.
Tommy had told her and their brothers all about the way they were now known in the wizard world. The Golden Four. The four young wizards that were miraculously able to survive Voldemort's attack.
"What's your first class, Diggory?" Thea looked over Cedric's shoulder and smiled slightly. "You have history of magic with me, Noelia, and Eva."
"I have Herbology." Silas sighed and Micah nodded.
Poppy smiled in relief, looking at the two boys, "At least I'm not alone!"
"Alright, do you lot want to head down to breakfast now?" Cedric suggested to the group and they all walked out of the common room. Being afraid they would go in the wrong direction and get lost, Noelia quickly found a group of fifth years to discreetly follow to the Great Hall.
"How long is breakfast?" Micah wondered, glancing down at his schedule.
"7:30-8:50," Eva answered immediately and glanced at the clock they passed as they walked. "We have plenty of time to eat and get to our classes early."
"Oh joy." Noelia groaned, resisting the tempting urge to roll her eyes.
When they made it into the Great Hall, a Hufflepuff prefect named Libby was ready to help the group of first years with whatever they needed. Thea took a deep breath, looking at the girl, "Libby, I was wondering— Is there a rule against students from different houses sitting together?"
Libby shook her head, giving Thea a smile, "No, not exactly, there are the four tables for the houses but you're not required to sit with your house. Hufflepuff doesn't care, whoever wants to sit at our table can, but I'm warning you Thea, the other houses aren't as friendly with it."
Thea nodded and thanked the girl before walking back over to her group. They sat down at the edge of the Hufflepuff table, closest to the large doors of the Great Hall. Sitting down next to Eva, Thea grabbed a croissant, beginning to eat breakfast.
"What do you guys have after first period?" Poppy looked up from her schedule at the group.
"Herbology." Thea spoke and Eva, Noelia, and Cedric all said the same. "Let me guess, you guys have History of Magic second?"
Poppy, Micah, and Silas nodded and Thea shrugged, "We'll see each other at lunch."
Glancing at the doors, Thea's eyes landed on Tommy just as him and a small group of Ravenclaws walked in. A smile rushed to her face upon seeing her brother, and the brunette called, "Tommy!"
The second oldest quad turned his head at the sound of his nickname, knowing it had to be one of his siblings. And by the high pitch, he knew it was Thea. Everyone had either been calling him Thomas, Tom, or Gold. Tommy smiled when he saw Thea, departing from the Ravenclaws for a moment to talk to her. "Hey."
"Hi, how was your first night?" Thea looked up at her brother.
"It was good," Tommy said, an excited smile on his face. "I'm finally surrounded by people who match my intelligence."
Thea scoffed, rolling her eyes and pretending to be hurt before her and Tommy couldn't resist laughing. She pointed to the bench in front of her, "Do you wanna sit with us? I'm gonna get the other two when they walk in."
"Yeah, of course. Just one second." Tommy nodded eagerly before walking back to the two Ravenclaws he had become well acquainted with, Harrison Asan and Arella Han, but she just liked to be called Ara.
"That your sister, Gold?" Harrison asked when the boy walked over and Thomas nodded. "She doesn't look anything like you."
"Yeah, none of us look like each other, we all have traits of our parents." Thomas shrugged. "Or some family member, my dad says I look like my grandpa from my mom's side. Anyways, I'm gonna sit with my sister and brothers once they come."
"We'll see you in the common room second period?" Ara guessed and Thomas nodded as he walked away from the two Ravenclaws, back to the Hufflepuff table.
Sitting across from Thea, Tommy took a couple of grapes off her plate and the girl rolled her eyes. She sat up, "Everyone, this is my brother Tommy. Tommy, this is Eva, Poppy, Cedric, Micah, Noelia, and Silas."
"You're popular already, Tea?" Tobi walked up to the table and Thea and Tommy smiled.
"Tobi, you were able to get up without me shaking you awake?" Tommy smirked, taking a bite of his croissant.
"No, absolutely not!" Fred exclaimed as he and George ran up, hitting Tobi's shoulder. Another boy followed them, two girls followed them and Thea recognized them being sorted into Gryffindor yesterday during the ceremony.
"He's right, had to practically drag this git out of bed by his legs, me and Jordan here." George rolled his eyes as he pointed to the boy next to him and Tobi shrugged, looking at the ground.
"Right, Thea, Tommy, this is Lee, Angelina, and Ember." Tobi introduced the group.
"Ember? I'm rooming with your brother." Tommy spoke up.
"I'm so sorry." Ember apologized, a slight smirk on her face. "Don't worry, he gets less annoying the more time you spend with him, actually, that's a lie."
"You guys want to sit down?" Thea offered.
"With you? Of course—" George smirked before both of the Weasley twins saw Percy calling them over to the Gryffindor table.
"And there's Percy waving us back." Fred sighed, glancing at the Thea. "Thanks for the offer, sunshine."
"Maybe tomorrow." George shrugged, glancing down at Thea's schedule. "Hey, the three of us have Herbology together second period!"
Thea smiled at the twins happily, "See you two second period then."
"We'll see you lot later." Fred promised before the twins, Lee, Angelina, and Ember walked away and Tobi sat next to Thea.
"You're rooming with the Weasley twins, Tobi?" Tommy questioned as Tobi grabbed his plate, getting food to eat.
"Yup, them and that boy Lee Jordan. They're all pretty cool." Tobi shrugged. "What about you guys?"
"I'm rooming with a boy named Harrison Asan, who I walked in with, another boy named Flynn Barlow, and another named Ashton Hart, Ember's twin." Tommy explained.
"My dorm mates are Eva, Poppy, and Noelia." Thea added and glanced at the doors. "And there's Teo."
He walked with a large group of Slytherins, all laughing and pushing each other around. His eyes fell on his siblings, who all smiled at him and waved him over. Teo looked back at the Slytherins and told them to go to the table without him before walking over.
"Wow, look at you," A smirk rose to Tobi's face, looking at Teo. "All social butterfly."
"Yeah, yeah," Teo rolled his eyes, trying not to smile. "It was weird, not waking up to Papa yelling at us to come downstairs for breakfast."
Thea nodded, her heart aching slightly, missing her father. "It's weird not waking up to you and Tobi running around the house, trying to kill each other."
"Sit down, Teo," Tommy suggested. "You need to eat before class."
Teo had an unsure look at his face, his eyes glancing at the Slytherin table. He sighed silently and sat down, grabbing some fruit. Tommy grabbed Teo's schedule, and then looking at Tobi's. The boy smiled, "We all have history of magic together."
Thea smiled too, "What about second?"
"I have second period free." Tommy answered. "And third, then fourth I have Herbology."
"Same." Tobi nodded.
"I have Herbology third," Teo looked at his schedule. "The schedule is so weird here."
"Right? Like tomorrow we have Astronomy at midnight." Thea agreed, glancing at her schedule.