See If I Care

13

They still remembered where their old quarters had been and was planning on staying there if their house didn't have any accommodations for them. They knew that the house dormitories were separated into girls and boys. When they had been with the founders, Sal, Rena, Helga and Ric all added a third room into the common rooms, one for people who were non-binary. But Alex didn't know if those rooms still existed. The headmaster from one time or another might have had them removed. Only they could access their old quarters, the door having required a flare of magic to open.

"Let's go Remus, I don't want to be late," Alex said. Remus grinned.

"It's only 10 o'clock cub, there's no rush," he said.

"Yeah, but I want to get a good compartment. One without other people already in it." Remus laughed at that.

"You know that you have to meet people and make friends. You're going to be surrounded by people at Hogwarts."

"I know, but that doesn't mean I don't want a compartment to myself. So come on, let's go," they said, picking up their trunk.

"Do you have Akira?" he asked. Alex nodded, moving their robes to reveal Akira wrapped around their waist, head resting on their shoulder. Remus sighed and offered the floo power container to Alex. Alex grabbed a handful, throwing it in the fire. The flames turned green and they stepped in.

"Platform 9 3/4, Kings Cross," they called. The flames swirled around them, whisking them away to the platform. The gracefully stepped out of the fire, moving to the side just as Remus came through. They moved together towards the train the platform not overly busy but not abandoned.

They reached one of the train doors and Alex turned towards Remus.

"Bye Remus. I'll write as much as possible." They hugged him and felt him squeeze back. He pulled away, holding them at arms length, hands on their shoulders.

"I'll miss you too, but you'll have fun at Hogwarts. Remember, don't be afraid to ask questions and show your intelligence. Try and make friends. I'll write everyday if possible and I'll see you for Yule." Alex gave him one last quick hug, before stepping onto the train, pulling their compartment along behind them.

They moved along the corridors, heading towards a compartment close to the back. They found one and stepped inside. They levitated their trunk onto the shelf after pulling out their research book and a pen. They settled down in their seat, happy to simply keep up with their research.

At the moment they were working on a potion that would conceal all traces of a person, hiding them from sight, their magic from being detected and making it so you couldn't hear or feel them. They had worked out many ingredients and steps that would be needed, but still needed to iron out a few details, and there was still one or two ingredients that were missing.

About forty minutes later, they hadn't worked out which ingredient the were missing, but had finalised the steps that they could without the ingredient. A knock on the door made them look up. They saw a boy standing at the door. He was wearing everyday dark green robes, his white blond hair slicked back slightly. Alex immediately recognised him as a Malfoy. They stood, opening the door and stepping back, allowing the other boy to enter the compartment.

"Hello, I'm heir Malfoy. I was wondering if I could join you in this compartment?" the boy asked.

"Of course, heir Malfoy. I'm heir Potter-Black, pleased to meet you." Alex offered their hand and the Malfoy heir shook it. They had already decided to not tell anyone about their relation to the founders, Merlin or the Peverells.

"Pleasure to meet you heir Potter-Black. You can call me Draco."

"Then you can call me Alex, Draco." Alex had sat back down, and Draco took the seat opposite them, after lifting his trunk onto the overhead shelf. Alex put their research book in their pocket. It wouldn't hurt to talk with Draco and their research could wait. It's not like they had any more idea at the moment anyway.

"I was unaware that the Potter's had a second child. But you seem to have more pureblood etiquette and manners than the famous Potter."

"Not many people are even aware that I exist. I believe that even James and Lily have forgotten about me. But that doesn't matter, I don't consider the other Potter's family anyway," Alex replied. Draco would probably be a fine friend and ally. They spent the rest of the time waiting for the train to leave talking about their families. Alex only provided vague details, such as they lived with their Godfather, but not who that was or where they lived. They mainly let Draco talk, interested in how a pureblood was raised.

The train finally began moving and a few minutes later there was another knock on the door. Alex opened the door, allowing the crying boy to enter.

"Have either of you seen a toad. I've lost mine," the boy said. Alex and Draco shook their heads. Alex felt sorry for the boy.

"What's your toads name?" they asked. The crying boy sniffled slightly before replying.

"T..tr..Trevor." Alex flicked their wrist, allowing their wand to move from its holster into their hand. They raised it slightly before performing the spell.

"Accio Trevor the toad," they said. It didn't take long before a toad came flying into the compartment, stopping in the crying boys outstretched hands.

"Thank you," the boy said. Alex smiled.

"It's no problem..." they trailed off, not knowing the boy's name.

"Heir Longbottom. Neville," Neville provided.

"Pleasure to meet you, heir Longbottom. I'm heir Potter-Black, but you can call me Alex. Would you like to join us?" Alex asked.

"Just call me Neville. And can I? I don't want to be a bother," Neville replied.

"Heir Malfoy, call me Draco. Of course, you can join us. There is plenty of room and I would be happy to be friends with another pureblood heir Neville," Draco said. Alex hid their shock behind their mask. They hadn't thought that Draco would be that accepting of Neville. But people can be surprising. Neville sat down next to Alex.

"So, Draco, what house do you want to be in?" Alex asked.

"Slytherin, obviously. My whole family has been. Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad though," Draco replied.

"What about you Neville?"

"Oh, um, my Gran wants me to be in Gryffindor. Personally, I would prefer Hufflepuff though. I don't think I'm that brave." Alex saw Draco try to repress a sneer when Neville mentioned Gryffindor. They knew of the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin and thought it was stupid. Salazar and Godric had been close friends after all. They hoped that if Neville did go to Gryffindor and Draco to Slytherin, that it wouldn't get between their new friendship.

"What about you Alex?" Draco asked.

"Well, I was thinking Ravenclaw. But honestly, I don't care. The houses are just a way to separate students to make organising classes easier, as classes full of people with the same interests and values are better than classes made of a mix of people," they replied. Alex watched as Draco and Neville looked thoughtful.

"That makes sense," Neville said, and Draco agreed.

They spent the rest of the train ride talking about Hogwarts. What classes they were looking forward to, which ones they were dreading. How they thought they would get around the huge castle. Various myths and rumours about the castle, including how they would be sorted. Alex quite enjoyed it.

Alex discovered that Draco was looking forward to Potions, as his Godfather taught it, while Neville was looking forward to Herbology. Draco had said that he wasn't looking forward to History of Magic, as he was told a ghost taught it and was incredibly boring. Neville had expressed his fear of potions, saying he could never get the potions to work even when he was following the instructions perfectly. Alex had allowed their magic to expand a little at this and studied the other two magics in the room. They found out that Neville's magic just didn't get on well with potions; it was repelled by it. That would make potions class interesting for him.

Draco had also visited Hogwarts a few times, so wasn't as worried as Neville about getting lost.