Sherlock Holmes couldn't sleep. That was the first thing fellow Ravenclaw, Dylan Mack, noticed of the boy as he got up and paced in front of his bed for the third time that night. Dylan himself was never good at sleeping, but he knew when to lie still, unlike the boy next to him.
Without warning, the raven-haired boy was out the door and lightly running down the steps to reach the common room. He'd given up trying to sleep hours ago, and simply needed to get away from the content, sleeping children he shared a room with.
The common room itself was lit with a warm, friendly fire that cast a nice glow over the couches and tables. The statue stood forever silent in the middle of the room, watching. There was a figure lying on the longest couch directly in front of the fire. Silver hair spilled over the side. Sherlock thought he recognized her as Artemis Carter, another first year.
"Good morning Sherlock," the girl greeted, arm slung over her eyes as if she was trying to block out the world. He startled slightly, not expecting the girl to notice his quiet descent. But of course she did, she was in Ravenclaw for a reason.
"Good morning Artemis." He replied curtly, heading towards the door that would lead to the corridor outside. It was about five o' clock by his estimates of the sunrise outside.
"Going somewhere?" The girl sat up and yawned, stretching. She was wearing a simple black T-shirt and black basketball shorts as sleep wear. Her hair, it seemed, was always perfect. Sherlock nodded in her direction before disappearing, not wanting to be questioned further.
They were into their second month of the school year, and the boy had yet to make friends. He made it an early morning ritual to visit his owl, Soot, in the owlery before making an appearance in the Great Hall. Though he never ate, he sat by as Molly Hooper rambled on besides him about a charms lesson, or Dylan would mention something about potions. He didn't really care about any of the conversations they tried to make, but it pleased his dear brother for him to at least make an effort.
There were small whispers coming from the room as Sherlock neared it. For a moment, the young boy thought about turning around, going back to his common room and reading some book, but he shook it off and entered, going straight to where Soot stood on a ledge. The whispers had belonged to another first year boy, a Gryffindor. He had strawberry blonde hair and brilliant hazel eyes that turned questioningly to the new boy.
"Oh, um, hi…" he waved awkwardly, scratching a barn owl under the chin and looking at the parchment he held in his hands. Sherlock nodded to him and walked to Soot, who hooted a greeting and held out a leg. There was a letter attached, he assumed from his mum. The Gryffindor boy sighed and rolled his letter up, making sure it was secure before he pushed the bird gently away. "Get on with it Soren, come on." The bird in question flew off into the morning light and the boy turned to look at Sherlock, who was looking over the letter he'd gotten.
Sherlock cursed as he read the letter twice and brought out an owl treat for the ashy colored owl next to him. Soot took it and flew to another perch, hooting in delight. The Ravenclaw boy was in no hurry to return to the common room, however, and stood before the window watching the sun in the distance. The Gryffindor boy cleared his throat rather awkwardly as he watched from the next window, not wanting to go back and listen to Greg complain about Quidditch rules.
Sherlock frowned at him questioningly, slightly annoyed. "I'm…uh, I'm John Watson, first year Gryffindor." The boy stuck out a shaky hand that Sherlock studied for a moment before taking the offered hand.
"Sherlock Holmes, first year Ravenclaw." The other boy relaxed a bit and smiled out at the sunrise.
"It's beautiful is it not?" John asked after a moment, sighing in contentment. Sherlock frowned at the boy. "What?" The Gryffindor asked after a moment, confused.
"Why are you still around? Most people would've left after hearing my name."
John blinked, frowning at the other boy. "Why would they do that?"
Sherlock shrugged. "Because I'm a freak."
John studied the boy and shook his head. He was pale, already getting to a considerably tall height, and real lanky. Somehow he made it graceful when he walked, though John thought he could see a bone or two protruding from the taunt skin around his belly. The raven, curly hair sat atop his head, mused and sticking every direction. His eyes, blue/gray from what John could see, shone with intelligence. They looked to be studying him as well, tearing him down until his whole life was displayed before him. He didn't look like a freak to John, just a kid in bad need of a good meal and good night's rest.
"You don't look like a freak to me," he commented, watching the boy's eyes alight with curiosity. "Why would they call you a freak?"
"Because I can tell you your whole life story just by a few seconds of looking at you." The boy replied, rather proudly. John smirked.
"Let's see it then." Sherlock's eyes widened and his frown came back. Nobody ever wanted to hear him deduce their life unless they wanted to make fun of him. But Sherlock Holmes never backed down from a challenge.
"Very well. You're a muggle-born, obvious by the way you dress. Before this year you scoffed at the idea of magic. You have an older brother, someone you won't talk to. Perhaps because he's annoying, or maybe it's his drinking habit. Your dad is a drunk, and a mean one at that, so you constantly worry about your mum. You fell out of a tree when you were nine, resulting in a broken leg and a psychosomatic limp. You have nightmares every night. Your father called you a freak and kicked you out of the house when he learned of your ability, so you are, at the moment, without a home." The Ravenclaw stepped back, smirking as a shocked look came over John's face.
"How?" He asked simply, staring at the boy in amazement.
"I simply observe John." Sherlock replied.
"That was…amazing! Brilliant!" John suddenly shot out, staring at Sherlock with kind eyes. Sherlock frowned.
"You really think so?" John nodded his head at a mile a minute. "That's not what people normally say."
"What do they normally say?"
"Piss off." The boys cut off into laughter and Sherlock found he genuinely made a friend in the Gryffindor boy. He was about to point out as much when John glanced down at his watch and yelped.
"It's almost time for the first lesson!" Sherlock frowned down at his own watch and sighed.
"Guess I'll head out to my potions class."
"I got transfiguration." John made a face and Sherlock laughed. "Meet up for lunch? You could come sit at the Gryffindor table I'm sure." He pointed out, smiling. Sherlock frowned and shrugged, nodding.
"See you at lunch John."
Sherlock sat in his seat during his Defense class, his leg hammering up and down. His fingers tapped against his book as he listened rather impatiently to the professor. This was the class right before he would be going to lunch, and he felt anxious to talk to John again. John, the only kid that ever told him his deductions were brilliant. He wanted to talk to his friend again and make sure it wasn't all a joke.
Artemis noted his behavior with a small smile. "Someone's ready for lunch." She commented, leaning forward in her seat slightly. "You're never ready for lunch. Make a new friend did we?"
Sherlock nodded back to her, his attention solely focused on making it through the lesson. Dylan, sitting next to him, smiled knowingly at Artemis, who winked at him and sat back, closing her eyes and humming softly as they continued with the talk about the spell. The minutes ticked slowly by and Sherlock groaned when the teacher proceeded to tell the students to practice the spell. He absent-mindedly flicked the wand and managed the spell with great ease. Everybody gaped at him and he heard several mutters of 'freak' ring around the room. He paid them no mind and continued to impatiently wait for lunch.
When class was finally over, Sherlock hung back, biting his lip as his classmates spilled out to run to the Great Hall. He knew nothing of how friendships worked, and also whether John would still want to be his friend. Surely the Gryffindor had heard the stories about him and decided he really was a freak.
As Sherlock walked out of the classroom, head hanging low and mentally cursing himself, he felt a body smack into him and turned to find John in a pile of the floor, looking up at him with a faint smile. "You know, for a lanky kid such as yourself, you sure are like a brick wall when it comes to running into you." The Gryffindor boy muttered, getting up. Sherlock smiled awkwardly.
"Made a new friend have we Sherlock?" A snide voice came from around the corner. The Ravenclaw sighed and muttered something, turning to face his older brother with a haughty glare. John bit his lip and looked up at the older boy with some fascination.
Mycroft Holmes ran a hand through his ginger hair and glared at his brother. He wore similar robes to his brother, with some kind of badge pinned to the front next to the Ravenclaw symbol. "Mummy and Daddy would be quite disappointed to know you made friends with a Gryffindor."
"Who cares Mycroft!" Sherlock threw his hands in the air but his gaze didn't waver. John was suddenly starting to feel very uncomfortable between the siblings. "You're starting to sound like those bloody Slytherins." He glared, turning to John. "We must be going, I'll see you later brother." He snarled as he stomped off, anger clear in his icy eyes. John glared at the older Holmes before following after Sherlock.
They ended up with the owls again, Sherlock grumbling the entire time. John followed without a word, mind still reeling from the encounter. His owl waited on the sill, wide eyes staring at his young companion. Soren stuck out his leg and rubbed his head against John as the boy took the letter and fed him.
"You followed me…" Sherlock muttered, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Well…that's what friends do, they stick by each other. And that encounter obviously upset you." John stated simply, watching Sherlock with wide eyes. Does he really not know what friendship is? He asked himself, waiting for the Ravenclaw to reply.
"Oh…I wouldn't know." Sherlock lifted his icy eyes to study the boy before him. "Friends? Surely you've heard the stories about me."
"Oh yes, of course I have. I don't believe any of it." John crossed his arms, leaning against the ledge carefully. Why would I believe such ridiculous lies anyway? He didn't understand his classmate's aversion to him. Even the Slytherins stayed well away.
"That's a first…" Sherlock muttered, more to himself. "Well…what else do friends do?" He was curious. Nobody ever wanted to be his friend. Good reason he supposed.
John shrugged, studying the boy before him. "Hang out. You've seriously never had a friend before?" Sherlock shook his head, looking down and away. That stunned the Gryffindor. He was used to having friends, having been a well liked child back in primary school. He'd never met anyone who had never had a friend.
"I know…it's weird. I'm avoided constantly, always have been." Sherlock shrugged, as if it didn't matter, but John caught the glimmer of hurt in his beautiful eyes.
"You can call me a friend. I won't avoid you." John offered, smiling at him. Sherlock looked up, stunned into silence before nodding.
"Yea…okay. That sounds…good." He smiled faintly and watched kids below him for a minute. "I suppose you are hungry then?" Sherlock smiled in his direction. John laughed as his stomach growled, shaking his head.
"A bit, yea. Skipped breakfast this morning you know."
"Do you…do you think it'd be alright if I sat by you?" He looked uncertainly at John, biting his lip.
"Of course! I would love it actually. Maybe Greg will shut up about Quidditch." John laughed, heading towards the door. "And I'm sure the professors wouldn't mind. Not that you'd care eh?"
"No, I really wouldn't. Greg Lestrade? He went to my primary school…" Sherlock trailed off, eyes downcast as he remembered his years before Hogwarts. "He never joined in on the teasing, but he never tried to be my friend either." He added after a while, following John down to the Great Hall.