The Struggle for Normality
Rating: M (Just to be safe)
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. All things you do not recognize are of my own invention.
Author's Note: Well, hello there. This is my first piece of fan fiction, and I hope I've done it justice. Any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. If you find the time to read, I'd appreciate it if you also took the time to leave a review.
The train began to pull out of the Kings Cross Station in London before the door to the compartment I had claimed as my own slid open. I looked up from the book I had been rereading, Standard Book of Spell: Grade Seven, and turned to see who was entering, my face hidden in shadow by the hood of the cloak I wore low on my face. There were five people standing in the hallway. At the front, one hand holding the door from sliding shut was a raven-haired teen. He stood at about six foot one, emerald eyes shining as they looked me up and down.
"Hey. Would you mind if we joined you? Everywhere else is full."
I nodded my head and watched as they all entered. There was a red head, probably about six four, six five. He had the look of someone who had sprouted up pretty quickly, and then filled out. Behind him was a girl who must've been his younger sister. She was only about five foot five, six at the most, with a petite frame. Even though she was small, she looked like someone you wouldn't want to mess with. The other occupants were a nervous looking young man, about five eleven, with darker hair, and a girl with chestnut curls and a book held against her chest.
The one with green eyes sat directly across from me, closest to the window. He smiled at me half-heartedly before he gave the introductions.
"This is Ron Weasley, his sister Ginny, Neville Longbottom, and Hermione Granger. Ginny's in sixth year and the rest of us are in seventh."
"You forgot to introduce yourself," Hermione pointed out as she sat beside me, a large orange cat curling up in her lap.
"I was getting to it, Mione." He turned to face me again, his eyes sparkling in the candlelight. "I'm Harry Potter." This he said with hesitation, as if he was expecting a reaction. I closed my book, placing it on the seat between my left and the wall, and dropped my hood. I gave a small smile as I replied.
"I'm Aydrian. Aydrian Halliwell. It's nice to meet you, Harry."
He looked slightly taken aback at my appearance. I was pretty small for my age; always had been. My hair was blue, so dark it seemed black in most lighting, and my bangs were faded down, hiding my left eye. I've hidden the left side of my face for as long as I can remember. I suffer from a genetic disorder called heterochromia. My right eye is a brilliant, vibrant sapphire. My left eye is a dull grey, almost white in color. Most people find it disconcerting, so I began hiding it. I was dressed in Muggle clothes, not being incredibly fond of robes. A tight, long-sleeved black shirt adorned my frame, tight enough to show off muscles well defined from swimming. A nice pair of form fitting black jeans hugged my legs, leading down to a pair of black combat boots, steel-toed, of course.
Suspended from a leather strap around my neck was a silver pentacle, with a blood red rose intertwined. It was a gift from my godmother, and I never took it off. I had gone at the beginning of the summer and gotten three piercings: one in my right eyebrow, and snakebites in my bottom lip. I finished off the look with a purple triquetra tattooed on the underside of my left wrist, with a band of runes above and below it. I had gone a bit crazy with the witch thing. My cloak was velvet, black on the outside, with an emerald interior. The lining was done in silver. Ginny, who sat beside Harry, nudged him with her elbow and winked at him, causing Harry to mutter something under his breath and kick her.
"You too. How come we've never seen you before?"
"Maybe he's a Slytherin," Ron interrupted.
"If he was, Ronald, we would have noticed before. We have classes with the Slytherins in our year at least twice a week for the last six years. Don't you pay attention?" Hermione shook her head in astonishment and returned to rereading her Potions text. Harry and I both chuckled at that one.
"I don't have a house yet, Ron. This is my first time going to Hogwarts."
"Your first time? But weren't you just reading the seventh year text?" Neville was looking at me quizzically from his seat across the compartment, absentmindedly stroking the plant he held in his lap. The small cactus looking organism was making small contented noises from its pot.
"Yeah, I am," I said through some laughter. "I taught myself at home for the last six years. Family issues kept me from coming before now."
"Oh. Sorry. I shouldn't have asked." He quickly went back to observing his plant, and Ginny gave him a small smile out of the corner of her eye.
"Don't worry about it, Neville. It's alright."
We all sat in silence for a while. Ginny and Neville spoke quietly to each other about their summers. Hermione returned to her textbook, whispering to herself every once in a while about a difficult concoction she was trying to memorize. Harry and I watched the scenery out of the window. I occasionally found myself watching his reflection in the glass. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but he might've looked my way once or twice.
The lanterns in the hallway came on suddenly, shocking Hermione out of her studying.
"We should put on our robes. We'll be there in a few minutes."
The group of Gryffindors stood and began rummaging through their trunks, pulling out their school robes and throwing them over their shoulders. Harry returned to his seat first, fumbling with his tie.
"I'm never able to get these stupid things done up the right way," he said, looking to Hermione who was in the middle of doing Ron's tie for him. I moved forward, the momentum sending me to my knees in front of Harry, whose legs were curled up under him.
"May I," I asked, waiting for an almost imperceptible nod before I leaned forward and took the tie in my hand, deftly maneuvering the silk fabric this way and that, before pulling it closed at the base of the teens' throat. I took an extra second to adjust his collar before climbing back into my seat, trying unsuccessfully to hide the crimson tinge that had settled on my cheeks behind my book.
"W-What about your robes, Aydrian?" Neville had just had his tie untangled by Ginny, and was in the process of looping it around his neck as he asked.
"I don't wear robes. Can't stand them to be honest. I stick with this pretty much all the time, cloak optional."
Hermione muttered something about what McGonagall wouldn't approve of as she donned her own robes and stuck a shining gold pin over her heart. It was in the shape of a shield, and had a large letter 'H' embossed on it. The sight of it caused Harry to shake himself slightly and remove an identical pin from him inner pocket, fastening it to his robes.
"Please tell me that you're not required to wear buttons with your initials everyday."
Harry laughed behind his hand, trying unsuccessfully to hide it.
"We're Head Boy and Girl. Badges have to be worn during the school day, unfortunately."
"That's a much better explanation. Let's just forget I said anything?"
Everyone began heading out of the compartment, moving to the nearest door leading off the train and onto the Hogsmeade platform. I took Harry's offered hand to steady myself as I jumped down. I met his gaze and we stood there for a second before I took my hand from his and turned away, following the crowd towards a group of black carriages pulled by, for lack of a better description, skeletal horses wrapped in worn black leather. I stood in shock for a minute before moving forward once again. I was about to climb into an empty one when Hermione's voice rang out across the lawn.
"Aydrian! Come in ours!" She was waving from the doorway of a carriage two rows over, blocking Harry from climbing inside. I looked to him for encouragement, and he nodded his head before climbing in. I made my way over and climbed in, shutting the door behind me. I barely managed to sit myself down before the carriage began moving forward, jostling me slightly. I pressed myself against the wall of the carriage, watching the dark forest passing us by. Behind me, Ginny and Harry were whispering back and forth frantically.
"Harry, you should go for it! He's totally sweet."
"He may be sweet, but there's no way he'd be interested in me."
"Are you serious? He was totally checking you out on the train ride!" Harry had to shush her, as she was starting to raise her voice.
"Gin, keep it down." He shook his head in exasperation. "Did he really?"
"You're the only one who didn't notice. Even Ron noticed, and he's oblivious."
Harry turned to look at their new companion, a hopeful smile playing across his features.
The Great Hall was buzzing with excitement when they entered, me and Harry in the lead. The group of Gryffindors made their way to their table, while I remained standing in the doorway. Once everyone had sat down, a strict looking woman sitting in the center of the table at the top of the Hall stood and gestured for me to approach her. I walked quickly up the aisle between the tables, moving around the left hand side of the table to stand beside her.
"Mr. Halliwell?" I nodded. "I am Headmistress McGonagall. Welcome to Hogwarts."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"I trust that you've completed the summer work assigned to you, and brought your O.W.L. results with you?"
"Yes, ma'am." I pulled a folded letter from the inside pocket and passed it to the matriarch, who opened it and scanned the page swiftly.
"It says here you got Outstanding in Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Herbology, and Ancient Runes. Exceeds Expectations in Muggle Studies, Arithmancy, and Care of Magical Creatures. Acceptable in History of Magic. Poor in Divination." She mumbled something about Divination being useless, which I missed as I stole a glance at Harry out of the corner of my eye. As my gaze swept the room on my way back, they landed on a platinum blonde with eyes the color of ice watching me intently, a smirk on his face. I gave him a small smile before returning to the conversation. "This is quite impressive, Mr. Halliwell. I'm sure we'll see wonderful things from you here."
"I'm looking forward to it, Headmistress."
"Professor Flitwick is about to lead in the first year students in for the Sorting. After they've finished, we shall sort you. Please go and wait at the edge of the platform." She handed my O.W.L. results back to me, which I placed back in my pocket before bowing slightly and moving to the edge, leaning against the wall and trying not to make it obvious that I was stealing glances at both Harry and the blonde seated at the table robed in green and silver. Harry turned and gave me a reassuring smile before the doors to the Great Hall swung outward, revealing a man who was shorter than the majority of the students lined up behind up, carrying a stool and a patched, worn hat. He placed the stool in the center of the stage and stood nearby, holding the hat. In a small voice that nonetheless carried throughout the room, he informed the small, nervous group of students that they were to move forward when their name is called, sit upon the stool, and place the Sorting Hat on their head. The hat would then place them in their House.
It went painfully slow. The hat seemed to be making its decisions very carefully. By the time the Sorting was over, there were four new Hufflepuffs, two Ravenclaws, four Slytherins, and eleven new Gryffindors. The amount of cheering done by those wearing red and gold was outstanding. Professor McGonagall stood as the cheering finally came to an end. She gestured me forward as she began to speak.
"Before I leave you to begin your feast, I have one more order of business." She waited until I was sitting on the stool before continuing. "Aydrian Halliwell is new to our school, and needs Sorting. He will be joining his house as a seventh year. For those of you who would pester him for information let me say this: he completed his coursework at home by correspondence. Please leave it at that unless he volunteers the information. Mr. Halliwell, if you would."
I took the offered hat from Professor Flitwick, and nearly dropped it in shock. I could feel the magic that brought the hat to life, and the feel of it was nearly overwhelming. I had never felt magic so old. I shook myself slightly before placing it lightly on my head. Immediately, a voice started speaking in my head. I wasn't very happy knowing that it was rummaging through my thoughts, and it knew as much. Everything I tried so hard to keep secret, it was rattling off. After five minutes of its mindless chatter, I finally thought towards the hat "Enough is enough. Choose my house, already." The reply I got was more than slightly offended.
"Well excuse me for being excited. Not everyday that someone like you comes around. But if you're in such a rush, I guess it'll be GRYFFINDOR!"
The last word was shouted to the entirety of the hall, and the applause that went up was as loud as ever. With a sigh, I swept the hat from my head and handed it back to Flitwick, stepping quickly down the aisle towards where Ginny and Hermione were motioning to an empty seat between Harry and Neville. I took it quickly, smiling up at Harry as he laid his hand on my shoulder.
"Welcome to Gryffindor, Aydrian."
"Thanks, Harry. It's good to be home."