The Malfoy's Twin

Chapter 4

Altair didn't really listen to the sorting after Draco was sorted. As expected he went to Slytherin. The black-haired boy was sad. Deep inside he always knew that he wouldn't be in Slytherin, but he guessed that he hoped for some kind of a miracle to happen. He was also scared, he did not doubt that Draco wouldn't hold it against him, that he got sorted to Ravenclaw, but what about others? On second thought he wasn't so sure about Draco as well. What if he bonded with his friends so much that he would decide that since Al isn't in Slytherin he isn't needed anymore? And what about their parents? They would surely try to come in between them. Of course, Draco didn't like them very much, but they still treated him with some kind of parental love. What if he would choose them? Al was also worried about Tom. On one hand, Tom had told him that it doesn't matter, but on the other, he was a king of Slytherin and would surely be proud if he, Altair, got sorted into Slytherin. He was scared that Tom would be disappointed.

"Dear Students! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" The headmaster's words pulled him out of his mind. "As mental as Tom said" Altair thought to himself. Al noticed that the food appeared on the table. He also noticed that every table had a slightly different setting. The Ravenclaw table was in the middle with the Hufflepuff table. The Slytherin table was rightmost, next to the Ravenclaws, and the Gryffindor table was leftmost, next to Hufflepuffs. Altair saw that at the Slytherin table, there were practically no sweets, but there were lots of fruits and vegetables. As in Slytherin, there were mainly purebloods, they ate with manners. They were aristocracy after all. The Ravenclaw table looked similar, they had a lot of nutrient food. There was also a lot of meat on their table. Al noticed that there also a lot of people ate with appropriate manners, but not everyone, particularly some muggle-borns, although they tried the best they could, they just couldn't follow wizarding customs. Though they still ate somewhat properly. By contrast, the Gryffindor table was a total mess. Practically everyone from younger years gathered around Potter, who boasted as if he was Merlin himself. Honestly, Altair couldn't stand him, and he was on the other side of the room. The Hufflepuff table along the Slytherin table was the quietest. It was strange, truly, because you would think with their friendliness Hufflepuffs would be one of the loudest. Altair thought that it was because of their shyness, and if Gryffindors were quieter, many of the Hufflepuffs would start to talk. But you could see them forming groups and whispering with each other. Slytherin table on the other hand looked as if more than half of the groups cast silencing charms at the beginning of the feast. It wasn't so absurd Altair decided. They probably didn't want anyone to know their secrets.

"Hey! You look kind of lonely. My name is Robert Hilliard. I am Ravenclaw's prefect. If you don't know, I am supposed to make everyone feel welcome. It's my job really, but anyway! What's your name?" He stopped talking and was staring at Altair. Al was quickly judging him, he may not have been sorted to Slytherin, but that doesn't mean he would resign from this part of his personality. He decided that he would make a pretty decent Slytherin, but in Ravenclaw, even if it doesn't make sense. Al thought that the boy, Robert he remembered, talked too much. He decided to just stare back at him and see what happens. He didn't want to talk, he was a selective mute and wasn't comfortable with talking to some stranger. Robert was slightly put off by his reaction, just a blank stare, but decided to not give up. He didn't know why, but he was determined, to get the little one to talk to him. "Little one? Where did that come from?" he thought "Oh well" Altair seemed to resonate with the energy that made you want to look after him. Sad that it didn't work on his parents. "You're not very talkative, are you?" Again silence was Robert's answer. "Well I'll just have to talk for the two of us, what do you say?" he didn't even wait for Al's answer "Sounds good? Great!" he smiled cheekily and sat down next to him. Altair didn't want to admit it, but the boy seemed like good company for him. He was sure that he could be entertaining and, apparently, he didn't care that Altair didn't want to talk. He had brown hair that was slightly curved up, so it wouldn't fall into his identically brown eyes. He wore glasses with almost circular and really thin frames, though it looked pretty good on him as he had long face. Judging by his stubble, he was in his teens, probably about 16 years old or something like this. Altair still stared at him blankly as if trying to solve a riddle. Alright, he was a prefect, but didn't he have friends he could sit with? "You look very thin, mystery child, you should eat something." Altair just shook his head, as a no, although he had only eaten a small breakfast in the morning, he didn't want to eat in the hall full of people. He preferred eating alone, with Draco, or generally with people he knew and liked. "Why? Surely you are even a little bit hungry, aren't you?" Altair didn't know what to do, he didn't want to talk with this many people close to him, but he didn't want to eat in there just as much. He nodded and shook his head, praying that the boy would understand and leave it, but no. "Ahh... Look, I see you aren't talking much, is there any particular reason? Please shake your head if no and nod if yes" Al nodded "Alright, are you mute?" he asked, but then realised that he was a little bit straightforward and blunt and blushed. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that." After some thought Altair decided that having one person in his house knowing what is going on can be useful, though he was happy that while blunt, the boy was talking quietly. He didn't want everyone to know he is mute. The boy was staring at him patiently, and he decided to answer. He shook his hand to say "Kind of". "I have to finally learn sign language" Altair thought. "Alright so not completely? Like in selective mute?" Altair nodded. "Can you communicate by writing? It would be easier." Al thought for a second and came to two conclusions. The first one, why the fuck is he "talking" with this random guy. The second one was why he didn't think of writing before coming to Hogwarts, of course inside Malfoy Manor he didn't need to communicate with anyone apart from Draco and Tom, and he was comfortable with talking with them. But why didn't he prepare for Hogwarts, that was utterly stupid. He nodded hurriedly, to not keep the prefect waiting, of course, he could write. The boy had conjured paper along with ink and quill before Altair could even think about doing this. "Now, write, why you don't want to eat. I don't want an answer like "I am not hungry", everyone is hungry after a train ride, do not lie to me." The boy tried to intimidate Altair, with the last words, but Al looked unfazed by it. He didn't care, this boy wouldn't Crucio him if he didn't comply, he couldn't. Al smiled at his thoughts, he had a break from his father's Crucio and other torture. He calmly wrote on the paper: "I do not appreciate eating with a lot of people I do not know, thank you very much. It makes me uncomfortable" He was curious about what the boy would do, he remembered he wanted to say (or write) one more thing "Though I would appreciate if you didn't tell anyone about my muteness, without my consent, thank you" The boy quickly read it and again started to stare at Altair as if trying to decide what to do.

"Can I tell professor Flitwick? He's our head of house, it is technically against the rules to not be at a welcoming feast, but I think he would make an exception." Altair thought about it and decided that if it was possible to eat somewhere else he would appreciate it. And he was starting to get hungry, so he nodded his head. The prefect boy slowly stood up and made his way to the staff table. He talked to professor Flitwick, who turned out to be really small and came back. "I have permission to take you out of here, come. Professor Flitwick asked if I could take you to him, tomorrow morning. Is that alright?" Al nodded his head. He was immensely thankful, that he was getting out of this noisy hall. The boy guided him to the Ravenclaw tower while telling him various things about Hogwarts, such as the riddles he got while trying to enter the common room. Altair was worried because he knew that he would have to talk to get into the common room and he didn't like that. Al also got to know, that the History of Magic professor is extremely boring, but he knew that Tom was more than qualified to teach him. Yes, that brings Tom up again, what was he going to do about him? He was nervous about his reaction to him being sorted into Ravenclaw. He didn't want to end their relationship by stopping to write, he preferred to end it if Tom, was furious that he didn't get into Slytherin. Yes, he would come into the diary, but maybe not today, he was tired. They arrived before the common room and the knocker started to say the riddle.

"Which came first, the phoenix, or the flame?" Altair thought that it was a really easy question. Pretty obvious if you think logically.

"Want to answer your first riddle...? What's your name again?" Altair smiled inwardly, but his face remained blank. He decided that he could say his name, after all, if he wanted to have a companion in this guy, he had to start to talk.

"Al-Altair Arcturus Malfoy, second heir to the Malfoy family" he said coldly and silently, he wasn't even sure if the boy had heard him. "The answer to the riddle is: A circle has no beginning" The knocker seemed to accept the answer and opened the door. The older boy smiled wildly.

"Welcome to Ravenclaw, heir Malfoy"

A/N: Hi guys! Please leave some comments as feedback, I know I ask every time, but it is really important to me. I seem to not be able to write shorter chapters. I am sorry it takes so long. I hope to publish some more. See you soon :)