See If I Care

15

"Well, they weren't in the boy's."

"You're right, I wasn't," Alex said, interrupting before an argument could break out. "I slept in my own room." Alex observed the faces of the two people in front of them.

"That can't be right. There are only two sets of stairs," Terry said. Confusion was all over his face. Alex didn't let their emotionless mask change as they answered.

"Because I didn't use either of the stairs. I can't." Neither Padma nor Terry replied. Instead, Padma grabbed their hand, pulling them up out of their chair. They marked their page in Sal's journal, placing it on the seat before allowing Padma to drag them towards the girl's stairs.

"Can you show me? I don't understand how you can't use the stairs," Pada requested. Alex nodded, knowing that a demonstration would help them understand. They placed one foot on the step, their other on the one above. They managed to get six steps up before the steps above them disappeared, becoming a slide. The steps leading down disappeared as well.

"See, can't use the girl's stairs," they said, walking back down the few stairs still there.

"Well, what about the boy's?" Terry asked. Alex moved over to the boy's staircase. They did the same as they did with the girl's, slowly walking up the stairs. This time, they made it up three stairs before the stairs leading up and down disappeared. They walked back over to where they had been sitting, sitting down again with the book in their lap.

"I'm non-binary," they said once they were settled down. "I'm not a girl or a boy." Padma nodded, a look of understanding appearing on her face.

"That makes sense. How long have you known?" she asked.

"I've known I wasn't a girl since I was about four. I didn't have a word for it until I was five though."

"Ok, I'm confused. What's non-binary?" Terry asked.

"It means that Alex isn't a girl or a boy. Their gender is outside the binary," Padma replied. Terry nodded. To Alex, it seemed like he was still confused, but understood a bit more.

"What book are you reading?" Terry asked, breaking a comfortable silence that had fallen over them as he tried to comprehend everything. Alex looked up from the journal, having gone back to reading.

"Oh, nothing much. A potions journal I found in one of my family vaults," they replied, looking back down at the book. Terry came and stood behind them, obviously trying to read over their shoulder.

"You can read that?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"What language is it?" Padma asked from directly behind them. Alex looked up, guessing they weren't going to leave them alone to read. They didn't answer, simply shrugging before pocketing the book.

"Do either of you know the time?" When they both shook their heads no, Alex cast a quick tempest. Numbers shined in the air in front of them, showing the time as 6:55.

"People will be coming down soon," Padma said. Just a few moments later, Lisa, Mandy and Su came up the stairs, Mandy still rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Morning," Lisa said, her voice indicating that she was perfectly awake.

"Still don't see how you're awake Liz," Mandy said, her words slightly slurred.

"I disagree. How are you not awake Mandy?" Michael's voice asked from that boy's stairwell. Mandy simply grunted in response.

Not long later, Professor Flitwick entered the common room. He moved in front of the group of first years that were all sitting together. He cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the 11 first years.