The Falling Out

Hermione was already down in the common room, face buried in a textbook when Alex arrived in the common room. She was sitting on large, purple, love seat that matched the drapes in the room. Her hair was a tangled mess, which Alex loved. All of his dad’s friends were proper and very attentive to their appearance. Looking messy or unkempt was frowned upon in his family’s social circle. It made those people them seem almost less than human. Alex himself, rarely ever brushed his greasy, long, black hair. The most effort he ever put into it, was to tie it back.

 

            He must have heard Alex approaching, because she marked her spot in the book and set it down. The sun was peaking up over the horizon and gave just enough light in the room to not need any artificially.

 

            “Ready to go?” Alex asked.

Their plan was to find where all the classrooms were located so they would be ready for the following day. Alex, of course, already knew where all the classes were, but Hermione had seemed so excited that he didn’t have the heart to tell her.

 

            “Not just yet” She responded. “We have to wait for Edward. I invited him to come with us if that’s ok.”

 

            Alex managed to force out a smile and nod. He had become pretty good at masking his emotions over the years. She seemed satisfied with his response and smiled happily. Luckily, his face didn’t reveal his true thoughts on Hermione’s change in their plans. It’s not like there was anything wrong with Edward, it’s just Alex didn’t feel comfortable saying things that he could say when it was just him and Hermione.

 

            “Do you have a copy of our schedule?” Hermione questioned him.

Alex reached in to his bag and pulled out the sheet of paper with the classes they were to be taking this semester. All the Ravenclaws in their year will be taking classes together. One other house for each class they were taking will also join their house. They had five classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and three classes on Tuesday and Thursday.

 

            He and Hermione both turned when they heard footsteps coming from the boy’s dormitory. Edward’s lanky frame came into view from next to the fireplace. He had on his standard robes, however he failed to notice that they were turned inside out. Edward stretched and let out a big yawn as he started for the other two. Hermione gave a conspicuous cough and nodded her head towards his clothes. Edward finally seemed to notice and went pink around the cheeks. He quickly ran back into the boy’s dorm and reappeared a minute later with his robes fixed.

 

            “Hey Edward” Hermione greeted him casually.

            “Just call me EJ” he replied. “I was named after my granddad. Nasty old git he was. Stopped speaking to my dad after he married a muggle.”

 

Just then he seemed to notice that it was Alex standing there. His faced looked shocked and a bit panicky. He fidgeted with his robes and added in. “I come from an old family of wizards though. My mum is the only muggle in the family.”

 

            Alex balled his fists, trying very hard to keep his anger in check. It was just like back home all over again. People treating him like he was going to bring the empire down on their family if they misspoke. Hermione seemed to recognize the situation and pulled Alex aside.

           

            “Just be patient,” she whispered to him. “Give him some time to get to know the real you. That’s the only way you’ll get people to start treating you normal.”

 

Alex wanted to tell EJ off, but he knew that it would solve nothing and make him more of an outcast. He decided that Hermione was right. He walked back over to EJ defeated, though determined not to beg for friendship. Alex put out his hand towards EJ. The boy looked at him with suspicious brown eyes, but eventually offered his hand in return.

 

            “Good”. Chimed in Hermione, happy with the truce. “Looks like our first class is Transfiguration. Should we head there first? Both boys, still weary of each other, grunted in reply. Hermione seemed to take this as a “yes” and pulled them both out of the common room in the castle.

 

 This early in the morning, there were very few students wandering about, so the trio didn’t have any trouble moving about. Eventually, after Hermione’s third consult with the school map, she was able to find the classroom where their Transfiguration lessons would be. Hermione was busy furiously scribbling directions to the classroom on her notebook, so Alex and EJ were left standing there in awkward silence. EJ shifted from foot to foot. His face looked like he wanted to say something, but was restraining himself. Alex felt the blood pumping in his ears again. He knew that EJ was just dying to say something unpleasant about him. Alex forced himself to turn around and calm down before he did something that he would regret. By the time he finished, Hermione was already trying to figure out the way to their next classroom. Their next class was going to be Charms.

 

Hermione was much quicker getting to the room this time. The class was right next to their house, given that professor Moonstone, the head of Ravenclaw, taught Charms. They were sitting outside the Charms classroom, Hermione writing directions again, when a voice made all three of them jump in surprise.

“You do realize that classes don’t begin until tomorrow?”

 

The voice belonged to professor Moonstone. He was a taller wizard with long curly black hair. His robes, though simple, gave him an appearance of eloquence. His posture and the way he carried himself gave off the same vibe. Everything about him was perfect, until you go to his face. He had mismatched eyes, one blue and the other brown. His nose was too long for his face and crooked, as if it had been broken one too many times. Worst of all, he had red splotches covering his face, as if he rubbed bubotuber pus all over it.

 

            “We’re just finding all of our classes today so we’ll be prepared for tomorrow professor Moonstone”. Hermione asserted.

            “Very clever miss, Granger, I believe?”

Hermione nodded her head enthusiastically, evidently thrilled that he remembered her name.

            “I’d give you ten points, but unfortunately the semester hasn’t begun yet.” He smiled from ear to ear and the three students couldn’t help but return the smile. Something about the professor was so charming.

            “Of course I know you Mr. Snape”, he said shaking Alex’s hand.

 

He noticed the professor’s voice went ice cold when speaking to him compared to Hermione. Alex was a little taken off guard by professor Moonstone’s tone. He was used to normal people talking to him this way, but usually the teachers at Hogwarts were his father’s friends or people he hand picked. Generally the professor’s treated him more like Slughorn did when Alex first arrived. Neither Hermione nor EJ seemed to notice the change in professor Moonstone, as they seemed to be dumbstruck by him.

            “And what is your name son?” Moonstone inquired to EJ. The warmth had returned to his voice.

After EJ had introduced himself, he told them he had to get to a meeting and wished them a good semester. Alex noticed he looked at Hermione and EJ, but wouldn’t meet Alex’s gaze.

            “I like him” Hermione stated dreamily as if entranced.

            “Me too”, chorused EJ.

Alex frowned at them, but they didn’t seem to notice. They were both still watching as professor Moonstone vanished around the corner. Alex cleared his throat, rather loudly, which seemed to snap the two out of it.

            “What’s the next class?” Alex grumbled.

 

            Hermione, who seemed to be a little flustered, stuttered when she spoke. “Umm it’s….umm Combative Arts.” She finally spurted out. “We have that class and then lunch.”

 

            They made their way through the castle without speaking much. Hermione seemed to pick up on what happened at the Charms classroom and was slightly embarrassed. She avoided making eye contact with Alex all the way to the Combative Arts classroom. After writing how to get there, she informed them that next would be their lunch period and then they were outside for Herbology and Flying lessons. 

            EJ, who had remained relatively quiet for the entire outing, seemed to perk up a bit when Hermione mentioned the flying lessons. Alex wanting to relieve the tension in the air turned to EJ.

            “Are you any good of a flyer?” He asked

            “I’m alright” EJ replied rather embarrassed. “I’m going to try out for the house team, but first years almost never get picked.”

 

            Hermione looked as though she were trying to put together a puzzle in her mind.

            “Are you talking about Quidditch” She asked EJ. “I read about it in the book Quidditch Through the Ages. It’s all rather confusing though. I don’t quite understand it.”

            EJ’s eyes definitely showed a spark of excitement this time. He brushed his dark brown hair behind his ear and scratched his head.

            “Oh wow where to start. You see Quidditch is played with…”

 

            Alex decided to tune the conversation out. He already knew all about Quidditch, but he was glad that the awkwardness was lifted from the group. He still didn’t know how he felt about EJ, but Hermione seemed to like him, so Alex figured he should at least give him a chance.

 

            They stepped outside into the refreshing morning air with the purpose of finding their last two classes. The sun was now much higher in the sky, and Alex figured it must have been getting close to lunchtime. It was the last day of August and the summer seemed to be making one final effort before giving way to autumn. It was a sweltering hot day and the humidity was absolutely horrid. Alex’s long black hair wasn’t doing him any favors either. The lake was looking rather inviting, but Alex knew that there were many beasts residing in there.

 

            EJ was still going on very animatedly about quaffles and bludgers. Hermione, who Alex noticed seemed to be losing interest in the conversation, glanced over at him for help. Alex gave her a sly smirk and shrugged his shoulder as if to say “you got yourself into this”.

Her face twisted and she stuck out her tongue at him before looking back at EJ, who was so engaged in his explanation, didn’t even notice their exchange.

 

Alex, who was used to being alone with his thoughts, was glad to have a break from the conversation. While EJ went into detail about who the best quidditch teams were and why, Alex was able to take in the scenery.

           

            When he first visited the castle with his father, years and years ago, everything seemed so big and scary. The suits of armor looked so real that they might jump out and challenge you to a duel at any second. He heard tales from different professors about the creatures in the lake or the monsters in the forbidden forest or the ghosts who roamed the school grounds. Over the years however, the fear had turned into curiosity. He wanted to explore every inch of the school and uncover all of its secrets. Whenever he could sneak away from his dad, he would roam the halls trying to find secret passages. It wasn’t until now however, that he could fully appreciate the school for how beautiful it was. During the daylight, you could see the castle perched high up on the hill, overlooking the surrounding villages. It had almost a fairy tale look to it.

 

            Before Alex realized it, they had already visited the Herbology greenhouse and arrived at the field where flying lessons were to be held.

 

            Well that’s it for our classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.” Hermione cried out, interrupting EJ who was still talking. He seemed to realize that he had been rambling and turned away slightly red in the face. “Why don’t we go and get some lunch.” She continued. “The great hall should be open by now.”

 

            The three of them walked together back up towards the castle. By the time they reached the entrance, the sun was almost directly overhead. When inside, they noticed that the school hallways were much more crowded than when they left. People were filing from every direction to make their way towards the Grand Hall. When they entered, Hermione pointed out a spot near the end of the Ravenclaw table, which was slightly away from the rest of the crowd. Piles of food were covering the table and Hermione looked as though she had never seen something so wonderful.

            “Is it always like this?” She asked Alex as they sat down. “I mean I figured the welcome feast would be pretty amazing, but is this how every meal is?” Her face was still in awe and she looked as though she couldn’t decide where to start. Finally, she settled on a roast beef sandwich and chips and added them to her plate.

 

Alex laughed and brushed the hair from his eyes. “Of course”, he responded. “Why wouldn’t it be?”        

            “Well, it’s just that my family never really had great meals. We were on the run my entire childhood. It’s not like muggles can just walk into any restaurant. The empire would have captured us and forced us to register.”

            “Hermione!” Hissed EJ glancing from her to Alex. “What she meant”, he interjected. “Is that her family, though they had some muggles, is of course a proper wizarding family.”

           

            Alex took a deep breath. He did not want to make a scene, but the animal inside him was tearing up his insides trying to be unleashed. Alex felt his face grow hot and was on the brink of exploding. Hermione, who was staring very disdainfully at EJ, spoke up before Alex could.

            “That is not what I meant and I would thank you for not speaking for me.” She scolded hotly.

 

            “You can’t tell him that Hermione, you know who he his. Who his family is.” EJ pleaded.

            “Yes I do know who he and his family is, and as a matter of fact, I already told him that I’m muggle born. Thank you very much. Now if you don’t mind. I don’t believe like the present company very much. Alex, let’s go.” She asserted and grabbed Alex’s arm pulling him up with her. They left the Grand Hall with EJ still in shock, mouth hanging open.