The familiar knocking came promptly at eight in the morning as it normally did whenever Minerva had to head up to the castle for work. While Milo had proven himself to be a very responsible twelve-year-old, she never liked the idea of him being alone. Perhaps it was her own paranoid thoughts, but she always thought back to the night where Milo came under her care. How the two boys were discovered, alone in their house, sitting next to the body of their dead mother. Milo didn't seem to have any recollection of the night as he grew older but there was always the worry in the back of Minerva's mind that one day, he would remember something and she didn't want him to go through it by himself.
Gwen or Rosmerta would go back and forth between mornings, showing up to get Milo up for the day to spend with them, either at the Three Broomsticks or The Magic Neep. It was certainly a struggle to get the boy out of bed, Minerva knew that all too well, especially when it came to Milo's first year at Hogwarts where he was famous among the professors for sleeping in. Several times, Minerva personally had to go wake up the boy in the dorms herself, not tolerating him missing class. It was not only a poor image that he was putting out of himself but a reflection of her as well.
She had already been up, long before the knock came on the front door, calling the person in. It was apparently Rosmerta again that would be the one taking care of the boy for the day, although Milo certainly wouldn't find himself complaining in the slightest. The task came with actually waking the boy up.
"He's still in bed, isn't he?" Rosmerta sighed, placing her hands on her hips as she stood in the doorway.
"Were you expecting him to be parading around outside?" Minerva asked fixing her robes and gathering some of the things she would need up at the castle for the day.
"That would have been a sight to see."
"Well, I'm afraid you won't be that lucky today, he's still in bed and he's been snoring for the last hour. Although I can't say that it's entirely his fault, he was rather fidgety last night. Nearly walked circles around the house to get him into a calmer state. I doubt he went to bed early."
"That fidgetiness of his seems to be becoming more frequent as this school year draws near," Rosmerta pointed out. "He wasn't like this when he started last year. You think it has to do with his brother starting up this term?"
"I'm certain that, that has everything to do with it at this stage," Minerva said. "He hasn't stopped asking questions. Ones that I simply cannot give him the answer to."
"Minerva McGonagall, unable to give an answer, now that's unheard of. What sort of questions is he asking you?"
"Well, for one, what house will Harry be sorted into, as if I have become the human embodiment of the Sorting Hat."
"Oh," Rosmerta replied before she started laughing. "You can't blame the boy for being curious about that. I'm sure he just wants Harry to be in the same house as him. You know, get started on working on that brotherly bond that they've been missing out on."
"There is no telling how Harry will take to that, Rosmerta," Minerva said. "Milo might be all for bonding but that does not mean Harry will be as willing. After all, the two have grown up in two very different environments. I'm not sure how Harry will react. I don't know how much the boy knows."
"Well, surely, he knows that he has a brother, right?"
Minerva couldn't give a definite answer because she had no idea. She didn't know what Harry had been informed, but from she observed from the Dursleys, it was probably safe to say that the boy was completely ignorant when it came to the world of magic and the impact it had on his family all those years ago.
When Rosmerta didn't receive an answer from Minerva, she took it as a sign to drop the conversation and leave to wake up Milo. Entering the boy's room, she found that Milo was still in bed, his quilt half hanging off the bed and him, resting on the floor. His left arm and leg were also hanging off the bed while his face was practically buried into his pillow. It was safe to say that Milo was not a beautiful sleeper, he was a child that tossed and turned. There were many times when he was younger as he was being put to into bed or woken up that he would jerk out one of his legs or arms and end up hitting someone by accident. Rosmerta had been one of the few to receive some nice bruises.
Everyone quickly learned that to wake Milo up, they were just better off calling his name loudly. As she began to call his name, Rosmerta could already see the fight begin. Milo grunted and tried to bury himself further to ignore her voice, but it was useless because Rosmerta had no problem being loud. Finally, the boy lifted his head up and shot her a look, bringing a smile to her face.
"Morning, sunshine."
His hair was a mess and if it wasn't for his mother, he wouldn't have even bothered to run a comb through it before getting started with his day. The front part of his hair curled while the back looked like a splattered mess as he rubbed his eyes.
"No, no, go away," he mumbled, trying to move away from her, only to fall off the bed. "Ow."
"That's what you get. Come on now, get ready, your mother is going to be leaving for work soon and you need to come to the Three Broomsticks with me. "
"Can't we just stay here?" He asked in a hopeful tone. "My bed informed me that it's been feeling rather neglected recently and-"
"Not this again, Milo," Minerva's voice rang into the room from the hall. Almost instantly, the boy was up on his feet, his hair still a mess as he stood at the foot of his bed. Just in time for Minerva to walk in.
"Are you giving Rosmerta a hard time?" She questioned.
Milo shook his head in response. "Actually, I was just about to get dressed after I brushed my teeth," he told her.
"You might want to run a brush through that hair!" She called after him as he skipped passed her to get ready, only to hear him call something back.
"But my hair is so much better when it's like this! Shows character!"
"Shows the lack of brushing!"
***
"It's going to be great!" Milo's arms shot up into the air as he walked alongside Rosmerta on the way to the Three Broomsticks. After he had finished getting ready, he only had a chance to wish his mother a good day before she had to leave. She warned him to stay out of trouble, which he only responded to the request with a grin before she left, leaving a slightly hesitant look on her face. Rosmerta promised him breakfast when they arrived at the Inn, leaving him in a much better mood since his rude awakening.
The older woman listened as Milo went on and on about his brother showing up at Hogwarts for the upcoming term, which was only a few days away. It was sweet to see him in such positive spirits, but it was also nerve-wracking because there was no telling if all his expectations would be crushed.
"I can show him all around the common room and the dorms, we can even-"
"Milo, you do realize that he would have to be sorted into the same house as you, right?" Rosmerta reminded him kindly, hoping to let him down gently in case it didn't turn out as plan. "There's no guarantee that he will."
"Well, Fred and George, they were sorted into the same house. In fact, all the Weasley siblings so far have been sorted into the same house. So, wouldn't that mean the same for Harry and me?"
"Like I said, it's not guaranteed but it could happen. You'll just have to wait and see. Remember, you're not a Weasley, you're a Potter. There's a difference. Do you remember how much the Sorting Hat struggled to sort you? Just like your mother."
Milo smiled to himself, knowing that Rosmerta was not referring to the sorting of Lily Evans, but the sorting of Minerva, who had been a hatstall. He had followed in the same footsteps, perhaps because he mirrored after her a little too much.
He could remember his Sorting from nearly a year ago as it had been one of his favorite memories to date. He had been standing in line, behind a few other students, near the end as his surname did not bring him to the front. He could see his mother placing the Hat on the head of students before it would call out the name of the house. Sometimes the sorting would be fast, barely touching the head of the student, other times it would take a couple of minutes. Most of the students seemed pleased with their sorting, while others not so much.
Milo had to admit, he was anxious over his own sorting that was to come, he wanted to be in his mother's house, but she had often told him that all of the houses were great and that he could benefit in different ways by being in each other them. He wished there was a way that he could rotate between the four. Spend a year in each and when he discovered which one he liked more, he would spend the remaining three years there happily. But that wasn't the case, it was one house for the next seven years.
Finally, he heard his mother call his name.
"Potter, Milo."
It was so weird with how formal she sounded addressing him in such a way, normally she would just call him by his first name. But she did explain that once they reached the castle grounds that things had to be different, he couldn't refer to her as "Mum" during class. He had to use the term Professor, which Milo found disturbing. He wasn't the only one, though. Minerva didn't say anything but she found it so odd to hear him call her professor. She remembered a time where she had been uncomfortable when the toddler had started calling her "Mummy." Now she could imagine hearing anything else.
When he reached the stool, he sat down, seeing a hint of a smile on her face before she lowered the hat over his head.
He sat there while the hat muttered to itself, a quick decision was not to be made this time. For Milo showed traits of his parents, making him a good fit in the house of Gryffindor.Generations of his father's family had been sorted into the house and his mother, Lily, a muggle born had been sorted as well for the traits they valued and possessed. However, there were other traits and factors that the hat had to factor in. Due to who had raised him, he seemed quite fitting for the Ravenclaw house as well.
The Sorting Hat was suddenly left with the painful dilemma he had met decades before when trying to sort Minerva McGonagall. It would be a debate between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. When the Hat couldn't come up with a clear answer of its own, often it would ask the student what house they wanted to be in, to take it into consideration. The Hat did just that.
Milo thought over the question for a moment before he smiled and gave a nod of his head.
"I want to be in the house where I'll learn the most. I don't mean academically, my mother said that you can grow in more ways than one. But I want to be in the house that will make my mother most proud. Both of them, because I know my other mother is watching over me along with my father."
A moment of silence passed after Milo spoke and finally, the Sorting Hat made its decision.
"Very well, you belong in...."
:P