There are ten steps to the brick wall - up three, across two - and that's when Alex stopped counting his steps. He'd been doing it all the way to the Leaky Cauldron, counting that is. Windows, doors, chairs, buildings; Alex counts sometimes to keep calm. Sometimes he counts just to count. But this was an attempt to keep calm, after the Professor came with his letter. His name was Severus Snape, a dour man with long black hair and a crooked nose. Professor Snape brought him here - and only Alex, Ant's appointment was today so his parents couldn't come - to get supplies for school. 8 books, 3 robes, 1 wand -
"We'll go to Gringotts first, to exchange your muggle money for wizarding currency." Professor Snape said, briskly. He had long legs, Alex noticed as they began walking down the cobblestone path. Soon enough, ALex found himself counting again, buildings this time.
- 21, 22, 23 - was that an eyeball?
"This way, Mr. Parson." Professor Snape said, bringing Alex's attention to the tall marble building before them. He hadn't noticed that he'd been lagging behind. They passed through tall bronze doors and came across shorter, silver doors.
On the silver doors were the words:
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
Alex felt an uneasy tingle down his spine at that. He shook his head and had to jog to catch up the the professor. They walked up to a teller that had no line. It startled him for a second to see the tellers were goblins, but he shook that off to. Thankfully, Professor Snape did the talking.
"We are here to exchange currency." He said simply. The goblin, not looking up from his work, nodded. Professor Snape looked at Alex and Alex jumped, remembering that he had the money.
"225 pounds, sir." Alex said, handing the money to the Professor, who gave it to the teller, repeating the amount.
"Your total is 74 Galleons, 11 Sickles, and 9 Knuts. The fee for the exchange is 1 Galleon, 3 Sickles, and 2 Knuts." The Goblin said as he put the money in the pouch. He looked down his nose at the pair, giving the pouch to Professor Snape who gave it to Alex. "Good day."
Alex gave an awkward wave to the goblin as Professor Snape began to lead him out. The goblin gave him a strange look as they disappeared through the doors. Alex put the pouch in his slightly oversized messenger bag that he carried almost everywhere. It had been his dad's when he was a kid. Alex had gotten the bag for his birthday and he treasured it since then.
"Where to next,sir?" Alex asked.
"We are going to get your robes." Professor Snape said. "For that, we will go to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. While you are getting your robes, I will be picking up your potions tools."
"How much do you need for those?" Alex asked, reaching back into his bag.
"3 Galleons and 3 Sickles. Galleons are gold, Sickles are silver, and Knuts are bronze."
At Madam Malkin's, they split up. Alex went inside alone, looking around curiously. There were all types of clothing, mostly school uniforms which made sense for the time of year. There were ties, blank name tags, and plain black robes. Besides that, there were all the colors under the sun for the insides of the robes. Four were placed dead center with the most made than any other. Red, yellow, green and blue. Hogwarts house colors.
"Hogwarts, dear?" A woman called, startling Alex.
"Yes, ma'am." Alex answered, following the voice. The woman was average looking for a witch, someone you wouldn't remember with her common features. She tutted, showing Alex to a measuring room where there were two boys already there. A blonde and a brunette. She had him stand near the brunette.
"I only have two self measuring rolls since Folly broke the last one." With that she gave a mousy girl a pointed, but not angry, look. She sighed, looking back at Alex. "So Folly will be taking your measurements."
"I can wait." Alex started, his heart starting to beat anxiously.
"It's no problem, dear." Madam Malkin, Alex presumed, waving a hand. The two other boys, who'd been talking until Alex came in, noticed Alex's tone and looked at him curiously. Folly came up with an ordinary measuring roll, and Alex leaned away.
"Please, Ma'am, I have a problem with people touching me. I'm not sure if you have it in the wizarding world, but I have -" Alex stammered, feeling nauseous with anxiety. The blonde boy's eyes widened.
"Madam Malkin, I would be fine with manual measuring." The blonde said. Madam looked at him with a curious eye, but nodded. Folly went to the blonde instead and a flying measuring roll went to Alex, who almost sagged in relief. The blonde looked at him now. "I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy, and you are?"
"Alex Parson." Alex said, smiling nervously at him. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." Draco waved off.
"I'm Harry." The brunette said, smiling.
"Nice to meet you. Are you going to Hogwarts, too?" Alex asked.
"Father almost made me go to Durmstrang, but Mother changed his mind." Draco said with a nod.
"It's great to meet my future classmates." Alex said, his smile growing. "I was thinking that I'd know no one."
"Well, when we're on the train, feel free to sit with my friends and I." Draco said.
"Thank you." Alex said.
A month later found Alex saying goodbye to his family at the train station. His father was a tall man with black hair like Alex's and grey eyes. He was a chef in one of the major restaurants in London, though they lived just outside of the city in a quieter neighborhood. His mother was a beautiful, shorter woman with long auburn hair and blue eyes. Ant took after their mom with auburn hair and blue eyes. Ant was a year younger than Alex, other than that the two were pretty much similar, though Ant's mental problems were worse than his. Alex had a feeling that there'd be another letter next year for his younger brother.
"We wrote to your headmaster about your conditions and he was really understanding. He even told us about a hospital here that can help you." His mom said, her hand carding through his hair as they hugged one last time. "It's more common in the wizarding world to have problems like yours."
"We'll write you once a week." His dad promised, next. "I'll even send you your special teas and snacks. It won't be a problem."
"I'll miss you guys." Alex said, honestly. A tug on his shirt made him look down at his brother. Ant didn't talk much, but he had his ways of letting you know what he wanted. He held up a necklace with a particular charm on it. The charm was in the form of one of the flowers that he grew in the garden with Mom.
"He helped pick it out for you." Their mom explained. "So that he'll be with you."
"Thank you, Ant." Alex said, taking the necklace gently. His mom helped put it on. The charm rested on his collarbone. "I'll be back before you know it."
Ant nodded and his dad checked his watch. "You better get on the train before it leaves you."
"I'll write you tonight." Alex promised, grabbing the handle of his trunk.
"Don't forget Bastet!" His mother said, handing him a black cat with a white spot in the shape of a heart on her chest. Alex let the cat climb on his shoulder before rushing for the train, which whistled. Two ginger students, identical, helped him put his trunk away before rushing off, saying something about a tarantula.
Thus began his search for Draco and Harry.
Draco and Harry were talking when Alex found them. Draco looked surprised at what Harry was saying but composed himself when he saw Alex in the doorway.
"There are fifty windows between here and the trunk storage." Alex said. "And twenty-five doors."
"That's a lot." Draco said, though not put of by his numbers. Alex sat next the blonde with a smile.
"Have you been here long?" Alex asked. "My family held me up."
"No, we got here not too long before you did. Harry and I were just chatting." Draco said.
"How are you, Alex?" Harry asked, kindly. He'd been surprised by Alex's declaration of windows and doors, but recovered.
"My brother gave me necklace and Dad says he'll be sending me letters and packages." Alex said, his smile growing. "How about you two?"
"Mother said she'd do the same." Draco said.
"I'm doing okay." Harry shrugged. "What's your cat's name?"
"She's Bastet, named after the egyptian goddess of cats." Alex said, scratching behind Bastet's ear. The cat purred and rubbed her face against his cheek. "Mom let me get her a week ago after Missy said that I should get a cat. She's a service cat and very smart."
"She's beautiful." Draco said, smiling. "Can I pet her?"
"She'd love that." Alex carefully picked her up from his shoulder and put her in his lap where Draco could pet her. "Do you have any pets?"
"I have a snowy owl named Hedwig." Harry said.
"I don't have any yet, but we have albino peacocks at home." Draco said.
That launched them into a conversation about peacocks that transitioned, somehow, to wizarding chess which lead Draco into teaching them how to play. They were interrupted only once, by a bushy haired girl and a boy asking about a toad. While playing, the boys talked about school for the rest of the train ride. Alex had his robes in his messenger bag, when it came time to change. Then, they got off the train at the train station.
"Firs' years o'er here!" A loud, deep voice called. Harry perked up, explaining that the tall man calling out was Hagrid, his friend. They were lead to a lake, where boats were.
"I can't swim." Alex protested, planting his feet on the shore. "I can't swim, I can't swim, I can't-"
"We'll be taking the carriages." Draco announced to Hagrid, who looked confused.
Draco carefully lead Alex away from the water, barely even touching the small of his back. Alex kept up the mantra until they were to the carriages and couldn't see the lake anymore. As they boarded the last carriage, color slowly came back to Alex's face. For a few minutes, they were quiet. Alex was sitting with his knees to his chest.
"Are you okay now?" Draco asked, softly. Alex nodded.
"Two doors, four windows, two seats, one horse." Alex said into his knees, calming as he counted.
"That's right." Draco said, though alarm flitted across his face when he heard one horse.
"What happened?" Harry asked, sitting across from them.
"I don't like water." Alex said, shaking his head. He had to stop himself after a minute of shaking his head too long.
"Are you okay with telling us why?" Draco asked, his voice still soft.
"Can't swim, can't swim, can't swim, Aggie couldn't swim." Alex said, hugging his knees tighter. "Aggie couldn't swim, she disappeared, no one found her. Missing, missing, missing, missing -"
"Two doors, four windows." Draco said, interrupting him. "Alex, there are four windows and two doors. How many steps from the lake?"
"Thirty-four steps." Alex said, calming down again. "Thirty-Thirty-four steps."
They arrived at the school before any of the other first years, but Professor McGonagall, a stern looking woman, was waiting for them. Her face softened as the trio made their way up the steps. She crouched down to look Alex in the eyes.
"Would you like to go see Madam Pomfrey? She's the healer here." Professor McGonagall asked quietly. "She can give you a calming draught if you need it."
"I have my tea." Alex said, shaking his head. "I'm fine, thank you, ma'am."
"Alright, just let me know if you need anything." She said, before standing up. She looked at Harry and Draco, who stood on either side of Alex. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter. After you are sorted, I believe ten points each for helping another student is in order. Now, let's go find your classmates."
"Parson, Alexander." Professor Mcgonagall called. Draco had been sorted a few names before them, into Slytherin. He had looked proud and not the least bit surprised.
Alex walked up to the stool and sat down, keeping his hands from the stool. It looked old and rough and he hated the feel of rough wood. The hat was placed on his head and began talking in his head.
"Well then, where should I place you...choices, choices. You'd be good in Ravenclaw with your habit to hyperfocus, but then again, maybe not. Friends in Slytherin already? It might do you good to stay with them, especially with your condition. Your cleverness and cunning does help that as well...I'll say you belong in -"
"SLYTHERIN!"
A/N: I came up with this idea last night, and wanted to write it. This is something I'm really excited about writing. My brother and my friends are convinced that I might have high functioning autism, and most of the things Alex does are things I do, like counting. When I'm having an anxiety attack I count things and sometimes just cuz. I've never broken down like Alex does though but that's also for the plot. An no, Aggie is not why he sees the Thestrals.
Also: Draco is ooc, but it's only because I had the thought of mental disorders being more common in the wizarding world (what with the inbreeding) and they were more sympathetic, plus other reasons as to why Draco knows what to do to help Alex. This is completely au, and if i do continue it, it'll be a dark side is misunderstood kind of thing.
Let me know if you want to see more.