FIRST YEAR

/

This was not how he had pictured it.

His very first departure to Hogwarts was an event Evander had been looking forward to his entire life. Whenever he envisioned it in his head, his mother and father were standing hand in hand, both of them tearing up. Maybe his mother would even cry openly into his father's shoulder. They would hug him goodbye and he would find Caelum and Felix and they'd find an empty compartment together. But before long, they'd be joined by a few pretty girls. He would have everyone in the compartment laughing the entire way to the castle.

But here he was – his mother glanced at her watch for the fortieth time since they'd arrived at the platform. She gave him a thin smile. "See you at winter holidays." She said.

He nodded awkwardly and lugged his things through the crowd of people, fighting for the urge to glance back. He tried not to feel too disappointed. What had he honestly expected?

"Evander!" He turned. Two boys, one with a mop of blonde hair and the other a boy with dark skin and short black hair, were both running towards him. He gave them a half-hearted smile.

"Have you guys found a compart - ?"

"Tell Felix that the Magpies are going to win the next game!" Caelum interrupted, shoving Felix in the shoulder as he spoke.

"Are you stupid? The Tornadoes have a way better chance!" Felix argued back, ignoring Evander.

"Just because they got a new Chaser…"

Evander bit back an icy comment. He tugged his trunk onto the train and went to find a compartment. He checked each one (with Caelum and Felix arguing at his heels) but every single one was full. With every step he took, his irritation grew. He wished Caelum and Felix would shut up. He wished he could find an empty compartment. He wished his parents actually cared.

And just when he thought hope was lost, he stumbled into a compartment that was completely empty – well, except for four girls.

"Boys," He said, grinning, "I think we found our compartment."

The three of them shuffled into the compartment as the girls, flashing grins, scooted over.

"I don't think there's enough room…" Caelum muttered.

"We'll squish." Evander hissed back. This was the only part of his daydream that looked promising – he wasn't about to let it slip as easy as a bar of soap in the shower.

When they were finally seated, however uncomfortably, he began to roll his best jokes around in his mind, deciding which one was best. Two Beaters walk into the Three Broomsticks…

The compartment door slid open suddenly, bringing him out of his reverie. A girl stood there. She looked their age, with long blonde hair. She blushed, the red creeping around a few freckles.

"We don't have any room!" One of the girls snapped.

The blonde girl slid the door shut, muttering something that sounded sort of like 'sorry.'

Evander turned back, opening his mouth to let his joke roll, but the door slammed open again. He turned to snap at the blonde girl, but found himself staring up at an older woman with graying hair, pulled into a tight bun that matched her tight smile. Evander recognized her instantly – Headmistress McGonagall.

"Six to a compartment," She said.

"Oh, come on!" Evander cried angrily. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Alright, I'm taking that outburst as you volunteering to move. You can come with me," She said sharply. Evander, having no other choice, followed to the very back of the train, where she introduced him to the very last compartment. "Here you are," She said. "You may sit in here."

Evander rolled his eyes on the way into the compartment, thinking that maybe he'd just sneak back to his friends once the train got moving. McGonagall never had to know.

But he found himself face to face with the blonde girl he'd almost snapped at. She gave him an appraising look before turning to look out the window.

"You can sit here if you want," She commented. He sat down across from her, cursing McGonagall in his mind. He could be living it up with Caelum, Felix, and four girls…And instead…

"I'm Lauren, by the way. Lauren Dalton."

"That's a funny name," Evander said, smirking. "I'm Evander Redford."

She laughed. "And I'm the one with the funny name?" She said skeptically, wrinkling her nose.

His eyebrows shot up and his faced flushed. "My name's not funny!" He cried defensively. "It's a wizard name! My family's a well-known Wizarding family,"

"Mine's not." She shrugged. "I'm the only witch."

"Oh." He smirked again. A Mudblood. "That's too bad. Having an all-wizard family puts you up pretty high up in power, you know,"

"That's nice," She said, but she wasn't even paying attention anymore. The train lurched forward and she leapt to the window, pressing her nose to the glass. "Look – my parents – oh, hold on – "

Evander stared past her. There were families – parents, siblings, grandparents – all waving goodbye to the students on the train. He spotted two obvious Muggles that Lauren was pointing to excitedly. You could tell they were Muggles just by looking at them – they looked terrified. Were he in a better mood, he would have snickered.

"There they are!" Lauren was saying as she pointed. "That's my mom and my dad!"

He looked around and, after an easy search, found the exact and heartbreakingly empty spot where his mother should have been.

/

"What House do you think you'll be in?"

Evander turned to look at her. She was watching him, her eyebrows raised, obviously waiting for an answer. Couldn't she see that he didn't want to talk? Couldn't she see that he was miserable?

He scoffed inwardly. Humor yourself.

"Slytherin." He drawled, glaring at her. "My whole family's been in Slytherin for generations."

She nodded, her eyebrows furrowing together. "I read up on the Houses in Hogwarts, A History - I think Hufflepuff sounds nice."

He snorted. She's a Mudblood, alright. "Hufflepuff's the worst House!" He said in disgust.

"It's not," She challenged. "Don't you think that being friendly is better than being strong or smart or cunn - ?"

"No." He interrupted, seething.

Her eyes narrowed. "I didn't think you would."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He demanded. She pretended not to hear him and stared pointedly out the window. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked again, with even more emphasis than before.

Sighing, she turned back to him. "You're one of those people."

"Those people?" He repeated.

"Yes."

"And what," He said, clenching his teeth and forcing a smile (deliberately hoping she'd see right through it) "does that mean?"

Her eyes flickered towards him again, searching his face. As she did, his clenched smile faded and he stared back – for once in his life, not scowling or smirking. She, taking him by surprise, smiled. "You'll figure it out eventually."