Vincent kept a straight face on as he made his way up to the stool, students quickly moving out of the way to let him pass by.

McGonagall looked slightly discomforted as the room continued to stay still before she placed the hat on the stone-faced boy.

Todd looked on in continued horror from where he stood, not even Rimshal made a noise, the little owlet knew better than to do so right now. Todd kept a close hold on him as he kept his eyes on Vincent.

"Hm...dear me, yes...I see...Slytherin!" The hat declared.

This is when the conversations picked up again, a select amount of Slytherin cheering, the others looking slightly worried. The rest of the hall blew up into conversation.

"It makes sense, you know, that he's a Slytherin.." A ravenclaw student murmured near Todd.

"That's true, his kind are always welcome there." A girl beside said student snorted.

Vincent simply nodded before getting up.

Todd furrowed his brow in confusion when Vincent made his way down the center isle, approaching him.
His heart-rate picked up in fear and he took a step back when Vincent stopped before him.

Neither boy said anything for a moment as the next person was called.

Todd had thought the feeling strange when he could only hear himself, his thoughts, and the sorting hat, when he was being sorted, but now found it just as strange that it seemed as if the only person in the room was Vincent- the only person who mattered really, and not in a pleasant way of mattering. It was as if he were stuck in a Pixie trap and his wings wouldn't budge, except instead of wings, it was his legs, and instead of a trap, it was the strong hold that Vincent's expression had on him.

Vincent was utterly still, his stormy eyes portraying nothing at all,
this scared Todd more than it should have, and he was unsure of what to say.

"Is.." Todd began carefully, "That why you said..?"

Vincent nodded.

"You realize it's different, right? The impact of mine versus yours?"

"It's a name." Vincent shrugged.

"Your father is a death eater." Todd spat the word out like it was poison.

"And your father is a murderer." Vincent's eyes narrowed slightly.

Todd bristled, "Quite the nerve you've got to say that!" He paused, "Did you- did you know who my father was?"

Vincent paused and then nodded, "Of course I did."

"And- and you didn't care to bring that up at all?" Todd scoffed.

"It wasn't relevant." Vincent shrugged.

"Relevant- relevant!" Todd raised his voice, "That's got to be the most relevant thing I've heard all day!" He threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Fine then- it wasn't helpful. Me recognizing you or you recognizing me wasn't exactly going to build on any friendship, now was it?" Vincent cocked an eyebrow.

"Friendship-" Todd choked out.

Friendship? He thinks we're still- the nerve, the absolute nerve of that-
Todd's shoulders sagged, Vincent...

"Friendship is out of the question, right now." Todd growled.

Vincent's expression finally broke as his eyes softened for a moment and his eyebrows titled in an arc of helplessness, his stormy eyes seeming almost a meloncholly blue for a moment before returning back to a neutral expression, "Have it your way then." He hissed, turning toward the end of the isle, he waited a moment, "You're exactly like your father, Todd." He then began towards the Slytherin table.

Todd flinched at this. He hated his father. That's not to say, his political and working views hadn't been shaped by the man, he had looked up to him as a child. However, as soon as he could understand what the word neglectful meant, Todd had hopped off that boat of respect, too late however as his mind had already been molded in his father's favor, giving him a strong distaste for Vincent's kind.

Todd's father was Brodrick Wilownick, head minister at the Ministry of Magic.
After the entire Rufus fiasco, the majority of the Wizarding World was not exactly in favor of how he handled the entire Voldemort Situation alone, someone else then had to take up in place, if only temporarily. Initially, Brodrick Wilownick was simply to be put in his place temporarily, to rebuild. However, his popularity soon grew in the Wizarding community, with his leaning views.
After such a battle, one could only expect the despise of Death Eaters and any alike. It was a high debate as to how they should be punished, if punished at all. Some had been under the influence, blackmail, threats from 'you-know-who' at the time, and simply had no choice.
While, others joined willingly, in favor. It was a debate currently going on.
With that debate came the fact of the Death-Eaters line of blood, as to if they should be punished or not for their kin's crime.
Presently, Death-Eaters were not being looked highly of by the people who counted, as expected. The current punishments extended to those who were directly turned, having to live as Squibs until further notice, if not for a lifetime. They were kept a close eye on, naturally, and without much assistance to the Wizarding World, were most likely down on their luck, including their direct family, including Vincent.
Todd's father had been the one to pass such circumstances and give cause to enforce them.

However, knowing all of this, didn't keep Todd from glaring at the tall boy as he sat down at the Slytherin table. However, knowing all this, didn't keep his eyes from softening, and from frowning, wishing above all else that he hadn't found out about Vincent's blood.

Todd walked awkwardly at the back of the line of Hufflepuff students. After Vincent's walking away, Todd had awkwardly made his way to the table, sitting down on the edge. Some people waved, others continued on with their conversations, either way, it left Todd alone.

Well, not entirely alone, he still had Rimshal.
The little devil of an owlet had kept quiet until the meat came out, in which Todd had been forced to feed him. He'd gotten some curious glances but managed to hide the owlet away before anyone saw, seeing as how he wasn't exactly allowed to have him there in the hall.
Apparently, those who had seen the owlet with Vincent weren't of Hufflepuff, as nobody seemed to mention it even if they were aware of the fluffy thing's presence.

Currently, the owlet was still working on a piece of pork that Todd had smuggled into his pocket, Happy chwirtles drowned out by the sound of footsteps.
Though, Todd nearly bumped into the group in front of him when they came to a halt.

"We have to wait for the stairs to decide to move this way- may take a moment." A male voice came from the head of the crowd.

Todd stood on the tips of his toes to see. Lucky enough for him, a lot of the Hufflepuffs were short like him, so he was at least able to see the face of a lithe, blonde boy with freckles, much like Todd himself, only this boy was taller and his hair was flat rather than fluffy and curly.

"I'm Jackard, head boy of Hufflepuff. If you need anything within the dorms, you can come to me. Are there any questions?" Jackard asked.

Todd thought a moment before raising his hand.

"Yes, you in the back?" Jackard pointed at Todd.

"What are the, um, polices on...pets? In the dorms?" Todd inquired.

An excited murmur broke out among the students.

Right, I forgot— Hufflepuffs.

"They're more than welcome," Jackard beamed, "But unfortunately the school policy limits it to one and can only be the breed of an Owl, cat, rat, or toad."

"We won't tell if you have another beastie, though." A girl that was standing now beside Todd murmured.

"Oh, no, I've only got Rimshal." Todd whispered back.

"Rimshal?" The girl cocked her head.

Todd hesitantly took the owlet from his pocket.

The girl gasped, "Merlin's beard, you've got yourself a Western Screech Owl right there!" The girl gasped.

At the word of this, there was soon a crowd around Todd.

"His wings!"

"What happened?"

"He's so small!"

Rimshal squawked at all this new attention and happily received it, making small squeaking noises that made the crowd scream with adoration.

"Can I feed him?" One voice called, causing Rimshal to fluff up with a mighty squawk of gratitude.

"Thank you, all, but I think Mr.Wilownick and...Rimshal, are becoming quite a bit overwhelmed."

Todd hated that he'd be referred to and remembered by his last name, but he couldn't put much thought into it as soon the stairs shifted to grant them access through the halls.

"You're Wilownick's son, right?" The girl who had talked to Todd earlier questioned as the students' attentions were taken by the stairs and Jackard's instructions.

"Uh, Yeah.." Todd nodded.

"Must blow, having the minister as your father." The girl huffed.

Todd blinked in surprise, nobody had ever spoken against his father to his face- minus Vincent, and let alone spoken the truth, "Why do you think that?"

"My mother works in the Ministry. She's not home all that much and it's hardly worth it." The girl shrugged.

"Right?" Todd scoffed, "They're never about."

"Exactly!" The girl shook her head.

"What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Theodora!" Theodora grinned, offering out her hand with a flick of a lock of brown hair.

"Pleasure to meet you." Todd shook her hand.

Huh,
Friends were easy to replace.