Summer Holiday
Summary: Pottertalia Y1. On the train ride home, the Original Four (plus Kiku) discuss their plans for the summer. Ludwig invites them all over for a weekend, at his mother's insistence, while the Williams-Jones boys break some interesting news to their friends.
Looking back, Matthew still wasn't sure where the year had gone.
Sure, he kept busy between classes, with Quidditch, study sessions in the Secret Room, and his lifelong quest to bail Alfred out of trouble as subtly as he could. He could hardly remember a day he had just to himself, to relax and read and not traverse any of the many staircases at Hogwarts. With so much occupying his days, how was it that it only felt like weeks since the Christmas Pudding Fiasco instead of the months it'd truly been. And then there was the incident with the giant squid, which felt like it'd occurred mere days before, instead of the two weeks that had actually passed.
Yet there they all were, seating in the last compartment of the famed Hogwarts Express, watching the countryside blur outside the windows as they all headed home for the summer.
There were five of them. Matthew was seated to the left of his brother, Alfred, while Kiku Honda was to the right. Across from them was Feliciano Vargas and Ludwig Beilschmidt, whom the Williams-Jones brothers had befriended on the train back at the start of the year. And although they'd all ended up in separate Houses, their friendship had only grown stronger over the year.
"I can't believe it's over already," Feliciano quietly admitted, drawing the attention of the other four.
Kiku smiled knowingly. "The first year does go by fast. Everything is still exciting and new."
"So what? Second year's gonna be dull and boring?" Alfred asked with the slightest hint of a teasing edge. "Man, if that's the case, then I'll just transfer. Mom's always said Ilvermorny's the best anyway. Hey, you think I'd be a Thunderbird? Kinda seems the most like Gryffindor, right?"
Matthew rolled his eyes and elbowed his brother in the ribs a little harder than he intended. "Don't be stupid. Mom only says that because she'd never been anywhere else. And we're not transferring," he quickly reassured the others.
"Feliciano would just find you and bring you back if you did," Ludwig said, referencing the tiny Italian's talent for finding things.
There was some laughter all around at his words, no one able to deny the truth. It had been Feliciano who found their Secret Room, after all.
"So what are your plans for the summer?" Feliciano asked eagerly. "Grandpa said that me and Lovi can have friends over in a week or two, before the summer heat gets really bad."
Ludwig cleared his throat, looking a little embarrassed. "Mutti is inviting you all to join us in July. Gilbert told her all about you guys in his letters and she wants to meet everyone."
"In July? Our birthday's are in July," Alfred said, gesturing to himself and Matthew. "You guys gotta come over for that! We always have a huge party! With fireworks!"
"I'm not sure we'll be able to do that around here. It's not like back home," Matthew reminded.
"When is your birthday?" Kiku asked before Alfred had the chance to start whining about the injustice of not being able to set off fireworks.
"Mine's on the first and Al's is on the fourth," Matthew replied.
There was a moment of silence as his words sank in. The siblings exchanged worried glances, realizing for the first time that there was one big thing about themselves that they had never shared with their friends. It wasn't something they deliberately hid or lied about; it just wasn't something they talked about much.
Feliciano, as always, was the first to speak. "Aren't you twins?"
"Half brothers," Alfred corrected.
"But... why didn't you tell us?" Feliciano still sounded confused.
Alfred shrugged. "I guess it just never came up. We've never told anyone."
"Gilbert knows."
Everyone looked at Matthew, who became uncomfortably by the attention.
"Why would my brother know?" Ludwig asked.
"Because I told him," Matthew said, as if it were the simplest thing it the world. "It was when we threw him a party in January. He wanted to know when mine and Al's was so he could return the favor. That must be why your mom's inviting us over in July." He cast worried eyes onto Ludwig. "Don't let Gil know I accidentally ruined his surprise! He'd be crushed!"
Ludwig nodded in agreement. "I won't tell."
Alfred leaned over to his brother and loudly whispered: "Should we tell them about the other thing?"
Matthew shook his head. He wished, not for the first time, that his brother possessed even the smallest amount of tact. "They'll see when we get to the station."
The "other thing" wasn't something they had to wonder about for long. It was only another twenty minutes to reach the station and then another ten to gather their belongings and wheel their way through the crowd to their parents.
Ludwig easily spotted his father, standing off to the side with a familiar dark-haired gentleman (who greatly resembled the Italian boy clinging tightly to his hand). Gilbert was there as well, gesticulating wildly about something with his usual enthusiasm. Ludwig nudged Feliciano to get his attention and then pointed out where they were standing.
The smaller boy beamed. "There's Grandpa! Hey, hey, Mattie!" Still holding onto Ludwig's hand, Feliciano reached out with his free one to poke Matthew. "Where are your parents? Do you see them?"
Matthew grinned and pointed to the far right of the station, where a tall, blonde witch dressed in clothing more appropriate for a teenager at the beach was waving an alarmingly sparkly cowboy hat.
Alfred looked mortified at the sight of her.
"That's mom," Matthew said, struggling to hold back laughter.
Another woman, also with blonde hair (though it was longer), but dressed in a much more appropriate fashion, stepped closer and said something that got Matthew and Alfred's mom to stop waving the hat around. It also prompted her to lean in and quickly kiss the woman on the lips.
"And that's Maman," Matthew told them.
Only Kiku wasn't surprised by the news, as he'd figured it out all on his own. (A fact that had Matthew rolling his eyes and fondly muttering "Ravenclaws.")
"We'll see you in two weeks, right?" Feliciano hurriedly asked once he'd recovered. "And you'll write?"
Matthew nodded. He was momentarily puzzled by Feliciano's sudden rush to leave, but then he spotted the older of the Vargas brothers making his way towards them and understood. "I'll write. And visiting shouldn't be a problem. You're all invited over too. Right, Al?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Right." Alfred couldn't seem to look away from their Mom, who was gaining much attention from her antics. "She's an Auror. What is she thinking?"
After making sure Kiku had located his own family, the boys all split up with promises of letters and visits over their summer break. Kiku went off on his own, easily maneuvering through the crowd. Ludwig led the way for Feliciano, who was much too timid to ask people to move. And Alfred struggled to get to their Mom, hoping to quickly get her out of there and home before anyone else could figure out who she was.
Matthew trailed along after him with a small smile, knowing that whatever happened, his summer vacation was going to be just as interesting as the school year. After all, if being Sorted to different Houses had only served to make their friendships even stronger, then a tiny thing like distance would be no problem at all.