A/N: Hello again my dears! Back with another AU Hetalia story. This time, Pottertalia! Once again, not all credit can go to me, my favorite roleplayer of all time is helping me with this one, and she is ingenious. I will inform you all right now that this is post book 7 of Harry Potter, hints of the war and Harry Potter characters may be seen throughout the fic.
Rated M for dark themes, attempts of self-harm, bullying, and sexual encounters.
Couples in this story will be USUK (And UKUS), and FRUS
Please enjoy, and don't forget to drop in a review if you like.
Next update will be in two weeks.
"You're transferring to Hogwarts when the next school year begins. Behave, and try not to get into any more fights, Alfred! We can't have you expelled from this school as well! Behave or else."
Those were the last words Alfred's parents drilled into his brain, words that still echoed in his brain as he stood on the platform of 9 3/4 , looking around with his bright, ocean blue eyes. It was most likely extremely rare for a "new" student to join such a prestigious magical academy, especially one not of the age 11-12. No, Alfred was 16, starting the new school year with the 5th year students, thankful that he could continue where he left off, instead of starting over. The only problem would be what house he would go into.
The American watched as students and parents of all ages met on the platform, meeting up with old friends, talking about how their summers were, sports, and other things. It was strange to him, not having any friends. Hell, Alfred was a social butterfly! But for once, he stayed on the sidelines, sliding his hands into his plain black robes, watching everyone with a curious smile on his face. Man, he really did miss America already, but there was no way he could go back.
It was half passed 7 in the morning at one of the local 'homes for the homeless' in London, and there was a rhythmic, impatient tapping of someone's foot waiting by the front door. "Come ON, Dylan! We have to get there before people start crowding the platform! What's taking so long?!" A 16 year old British boy called to his brother, whom was taking longer than what the messy haired blond deemed necessary.
"Hold on, I'm almost done! Alwyn is being stubborn this morning!" A distant, Welsh accented voice called back in return. Alwyn was Dylan's owl, a long-ear. Not twenty seconds later footsteps could be heard dashing down the hallway and a light haired brunette came bounding around the corner. "You're always in such a rush, Arthur. You should really learn to-" "'Chill out', yeah, yeah, enough hippy talk let's get going." With that, Arthur turned on his heel and pulled his trunk and caged Tawny owl, Camelot, along out the door, soon followed by his slightly taller and older brother.
The reason for the difference in accent between the brothers was fairly simple. Arthur had stayed in the same home in central London since his parents had passed, and his brother Dylan had gone to live with an aunt and uncle in Wales for a little while. Apparently he'd picked up on the accent, and when a divorce was making the household unsteady, Dylan was sent to go live in the same orphanage as Arthur. He'd stayed in the other country long enough to pick up on the accent, and that was that.
The two quickly made their way to the right train station, taking a cab to get there. Upon arrival, the shorter of the pair growled and cursed. "If you hadn't taken so bloody long to-" "Hey, look!" Dylan interrupted him, strolling passed his younger brother to go talk to a friend of his, much to the other teen's displeasure. His brother was two years older than him, so this was his senior year technically speaking. The two brothers had attended the same school since first year. No, not your ordinary school. It was a school titled Hogwarts; a high end academy for witches and wizards alike.
Reluctantly leaving his brother to catch up with his friends, Arthur went ahead and continued to platform 9 3/4 while dragging his trunk along with him, carrying his owl's cage in the other hand. He still had yet to change into his school robes, but he decided that he would do that on the train ride to the school.
After making his way onto the train, mostly ignoring all other people along the way, he settled down in an empty cabin and put his things away while Camelot was sent to another part of the train to be with the other messengers.
As the train whistle blew, signaling that the students had at most maybe five minutes left to board the train, Alfred took hold of his trunk, trailing it behind him as he boarded the train himself. It was funny to him, how all of these students had to take a train to get to school! Back when he lived in America, they were allowed to simply apparate! Perhaps the laws were different here.
Finally in the train hall, he picked up his trunk to carry, bored of just carting it around. The young wizard strolled down the hallway, noticing all of the filled compartments, his heart sinking. Wasn't there at least one that has yet to be filled by people? Upon hearing the train whistle he gave a groan, running a hand through his blonde strands and opened up the next compartment he saw with at least only one shadow in it.
"Sorry to just barge right in dude, but do you think I could sit in here?" Alfred asked, looking at the teen there. He was thankful that this green-eyed guy was the only one in the compartment, but he still felt strange to just waltz right in. "I mean, I can just leave its no big deal—" Damn, Alfred was never this shy or sheepish! What the hell happened to the confidence he had?
After dragging his trunk into the compartment, he slid the door shut again, making most of the chatter outside muffled. Everywhere else on the platform and train were students and parents yelling goodbye, and little reminders. Alfred's parents were still in America. Honestly, did these parents think their kids were never coming back? Alfred leaned against the compartment door, shoving his hands into his pockets as he waited for the other blonde boy to respond. "Um... I'm Alfred."
Upon arrival to the cabin, Arthur had strapped his trunk in below the seat on the right and changed into his robes; blue and bronze in colour to show that he was in the Ravenclaw house. After that he sat above on the seat that his trunk was under, and began reading one of the books he had brought along for the ride.
He didn't pay much attention to the train whistle blowing besides that it looked like he might end up with the good fortune of having an entire cabin to himself, and that there were only five minutes left before they would take off and begin moving.
It wasn't long until that hope was swept out the door as it opened by a taller looking, blue-eyed, tan teen with glasses. Looking up from his novel, now having his interest peeked by the appearance of a new face. Surely he wasn't a freshman, so why the bland, unmarked robes? That could only mean that he was a new student, something that happened next to never.
Once he noticed that he was staring at the other, he mentally shook himself and gestured to the seat across from him. "By all means, stay here. I'm Arthur."
The teens lit up with a thankful gleam as he relaxed his shoulders, relieved to have a place to sit. "Thanks." He breathed, taking a seat across from the other male. "I'm really sorry to just barge in like this, everywhere else looked really crowded… I'm not used to this whole train thing to get to school."
Alfred slipped his wand out of his robe sleeve, muttering a little spell to bind up his trunk securely. After all, what good was magic if they didn't use it for the simple things as well? "So how long does this train ride usually take?" The American piped up again, his accent slipping from his lips as his bright blue eyes gazed at Arthur.
He had marked robes. That was the house situation, hmm? Alfred quietly wondered if Arthur thought he was no more than a 1st year, but quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he relaxed in his seat. Finally he had spoken to someone from the platform! Alfred had feared he would end up an antisocial hermit!
The teen noticed that he was indeed staring at the British blonde, quickly adverting his gaze. In all honesty, he wanted to cheer that he had made at least an acquaintance! "Sorry to interrupt your reading by the way dude.."
Arthur closed his book, placing the marker between the pages before doing so and setting it on his lap to pay more attention to the teen in front of him, Alfred.
With a small quirk to the corner of his lips, the Brit shifted in his seat a little to face the boy across from him better, a frown replacing the quirk as soon as he heard the small mutter of a spell and saw that wand drawn. His features suddenly hardened and his friendly nature receded.
"You aren't supposed to use magic outside of the school." He said stiffly, staring directly into his eyes with a dangerous glint.
A confused gleam filled the American's bright blue eyes, putting his wand back into his sleeve. Rubbing the back of his head, he gave the other teen a sheepish grin, "Uh... Sorry bro, the rules were a bit different in the U.S." He grumbled, a soft red flushing his cheeks in embarrassment. What kind of lame rules were these? "Back home we were allowed to use magic outside of school as long as we were 15 or older... We got this little magic permit thing." He explained, trying to defend his actions a bit.
Was this guy really that much for the rules? Hell, Alfred didn't feel too welcome by Arthur anymore. His bright eyes never left Arthur's currently dangerous green ones as he continued to speak. "Dude, technically we're on the train going to school, I feel like that should count anyway." He huffed. Man, the one person he managed to get a seat with was a rule pusher. That was great. Maybe he could switch the conversation somehow.
His eyes flicked around the cabin, trying to find something, hell, /anything/ else to bring up. Finally, his gaze rested on the color of the Brit's robes. There was a conversation to be held. After all, Alfred himself had yet to receive a house. "Which house is it that you belong to?" Alfred questioned, hoping his (honest) curiosity would steer the air in the room to a less unwelcoming and un-tense feeling.
Arthur's rule abiding nature had a reasonable binding to an event that happened in his childhood, that of which he didn't fancy talking about nor did it ever really come up in the few conversations he would have, whether it be with teachers, students, or other faculty. So when Alfred claimed to have no idea about what the guidelines at this 'new school' were, his irritation level only rose due to his incompetency on bothering to know what the rules were before arriving - from America, it seemed. So it was under his own self control that instead of lashing out when the other teen said that he 'felt like it should count' to do spells on the train, he simply mumbled under his breath, "If something went wrong there would be no escape off this damn thing..."
Upon hearing the questioning about his house, his friendliness inched out again and his hostile look dimmed somewhat. Not all the way, mind you, but enough that it didn't look murderous anymore. "Ravenclaw." Arthur said with dignity, proud to have been sorted into such an intelligent House. Since day one he had been excited to be where he was, though it was only by sheer wishful thinking on his part that the hat didn't sort him into Slytherin instead. He wouldn't have minded, really, but that frog - Francis - had gone before him and was placed in the green colored House, so being the person he was he was happily seated at a different table.
Alfred relaxed a little then, thrilled that he managed to shift the conversation away from, well, yelling at him! It wasn't like the young American meant to break the rules, hell; he only would every once in awhile to make things work in his favor. Like the incident that made him leave America in the first place.
The blonde gave a friendly grin, nodding at what Arthur said. He truly was interested in the different houses, something his old academy did not have. "That's the smart one, right?" Alfred inquired, leaning forward, never taking his bright blue eyes off of the Brit. Arthur sure had nice eyes… But that would be a point to discuss for another day. The young wizard could hear the muffling voices of the other students on the train, some in the hallways, making fools of themselves it seemed. Usually, that would be right up Alfred's alley. Too bad he knew no one but Arthur
"In my letter, I was told that before the first years are sorted out, I'm going back in private to get sorted into a house." He informed his companion eagerly. "Though I know for a fact I won't get in the same house as you. Heh… I'm nowhere near that smart!" He practically beamed at Arthur, seeming honestly very pleased with having a person to talk with.
Arthur was looking the other up and down, as if to size him up. His mind was trying to collect every bit of information that it could just by observing the American, and he completely agreed that Alfred wouldn't get sorted into Ravenclaw with him. He'd spent four, going on five years now in the same house, and everyone in it had a certain aura about them. Even the first years. And Alfred did /not/ have that aura.
That settled in his mind, he didn't really have to worry about having this guy hanging around him in the dormitory, and his gaze flicked out the window and then back at him. "I'm sure you'll be sorted into the proper house. The hat is never wrong." He told him with a slight smirk.
Shifting in his seat slightly, he looked back out the window as last minute students (the usuals) bid their family farewell in rushed embraces before leaping onto the train. They were probably going to start their journey within a minute.
Alfred gave a nod, a smile gracing his tan features. He was aware that Arthur completely doubted his intelligence, and that was fine. There was a small part of the American that believed after this train ride, he and Arthur wouldn't speak much.
Noticing they were finally going to take off, the blonde yawned, taking his glasses off to run his hand down his face. At this rate, he was going to be completely bored the entire ride. He glanced out the window before glancing at the Brit. To be honest, the guy was attractive. Grumpy? Yes, but attractive. And apparently very intelligent. The type of guy Alfred would have befriended back home.
"So..." Alfred started, gazing at the other as he put his glasses back on. He needed to keep up conversation, or this silence would turn awkward. "What type of other activities does Hogwarts offer? I'm pretty big on doing things outside of school too."
The blonde British teen raised a slightly bushier than normal brow up at the attempt to keep conversation going. Surely this American wasn't truly interested in still talking with Arthur...normally people would ask him quick questions or have a brief discussion with him and then feel uncomfortable to continue talking with him. Girls, and even a couple of boys had tried to approach him before without really knowing who he was, due to his looks, but they got scared off easily it seemed after being exposed to his more intimidating nature. So this was definitely new.
Though part of it was most definitely a way to keep from getting bored on Alfred's part as well. Either way, Arthur's interest was now peeking out again, and he suddenly felt he wanted to know more about this person sitting in front of him. It was just part of how his mind worked. Once he was exposed to something he found interesting, he wanted to know everything about it and more.
"Activities? That depends, I suppose..." He said slowly, turning his head back in the direction of Alfred. "Different Houses tend to hold different activities just for their members. I know Ravenclaw has loads of competitions..potion mixing, wits, riddles..it varies. I assume others due the same in their own Houses. But then there are, of course, things that include students of all Houses. The most popular is Quidditch by far. It's narrowed down to sport on broom, the only real sport of the wizarding world, honestly. Then there is the Yule Ball, and every four years there is an event held between other prestigious wizard academies called the Triwizard Tournament...but that's not this year, so..." He named off, remembering different past events. "There are definitely more, but those are the basics."
Alfred nodded along with everything the Brit said, honestly interested. Well, as fun as some of the things, like the ball sounded, Alfred didn't see the point in it. Didn't you need to have a date for those things? And quite frankly, Alfred had a slight different taste than other guys. And that was, of course, other males. Not too many gay Wizards around his age at his old school, after all. Hell, he didn't need to focus on a relationship anyway.
Opening his mouth to speak, the young American was cut off as their compartment door was thrown open, two males grinning like wolves, striding right in. The two males, one with long blonde hair tied in a low pony tail, and one with almost white hair, messily strewed on his head, both wore black and emerald green robes, different than Arthur's own. "Heh. And we have got ze most awesome Quidditch at our house!" The Albino spoke up, laughing, while the blonde with him winked at Alfred before shutting the compartment door, and then shot a glare at Arthur.
Alfred blinked in confusion for a moment, before straightening out and giving his signature grin, being friendly. Maybe these were Arthur's friends, or something!
Arthur had been actually expecting an at least mildly interesting conversation to spark up now, or at least something that he wouldn't find a waste of time and would keep them both occupied when Alfred had opened up his mouth to reply to the Brit's little rant of major activities at the school. His interest showed on his face and in his eyes while he watched the American in front of him.
But then as the compartment door opened and in strolled dumb and dumber, his features hardened once again and a quiet "tch" escaped his throat, nose scrunching up in disgust at the sight of green and silver robes accompanying the idiots wearing them. And that was just from seeing the faces of the two whom had just entered the compartment. When that German accent voiced out, Arthur physically cringed and crossed his arms tight to his chest.
"I didn't think your ego could get any larger, but I see it's increased yet again." He said through clenched teeth, eyes flicking over to the teen next to the albino, blonde hair still as long, if not longer than last year and his eyes narrowed. All possible friendliness that had been vaguely shown barely a minute ago was now washed out of his system.
"Well aren't you a bundle of sunshine, Artie~?" The blonde one cooed out, his French accent slipping through his lips. The two of them made themselves comfortable, Francis sitting beside Alfred, while Gilbert took it upon himself to sit next to Arthur. "What ego are you talking about, mon ami? Gil is right..." Francis looked to Alfred and grinned, looking him over, noting the unmarked robes. "Our house 'olds the best Quidditch team 3 years in a row~ Undefeated." He winked at Alfred, who in turn looked very eager. Alfred loved sports, it was what he was best at!
"I'm Alfred," he introduced himself to the two, smiling wide. Francis arched a brow, glancing at Gilbert as they both grinned.
"An American? Oh, how nice!" Francis purred, resting his head on the palm of his hand. "Well Alfred, I will just have you know that our house would love to have someone like you part of our family." This caused Alfred to grin, looking over at Arthur. His grin soon faltered, seeing the look on the Brit's face.
The moment Arthur realized that Gilbert would be sitting next to him, deliberately to upset him, mind you, the Brit scooted closer to the window and away from the German teen. He disliked most other people, but this little group had only ever aggravated Arthur since the first day of school in their first year. This didn't make being around them at all fun.
Rolling his eyes, Arthur tightened his crossed arms to his chest even more and glared at Francis. "Shouldn't you two be in the back of the train with the other animals?" He sneered, practically ignoring the existence of Alfred now that he had no reason to really talk to him directly at the moment.
"Oh, you injure me!" Francis gushes, feigning hurt. "We came in because of Alfred, not for you, parasites gênants." He smiled again, looking back to Alfred. "Mon père told was talking about you the other day... He said there was a pureblood transferring to Hogwarts from America that would be excellent Slytherin material~" He continued with a wink. "Père knew your père, he said. Though he said nothing about the American being handsome."
Alfred blushed, giving a flattered grin. It didn't surprise him that his dad had connections with people here. He glanced over at Arthur and then frowned. He looked angry, now. So they weren't friends at all... huh.
"Heh! Handsome or not, if you join the slyrherin house you can hang out with the awesome me! What an honor for you!" Gilbert added before nudging Arthur once. "Or you could hang with unawesome mr. Rules here!"
A loud whistle blew out from the train, signalling its departure as it lurched foreward and slowly inched out of the station, gradually picking up speed while parents and family of many students out on the platform waved goodbye and called out various things to their children before the last car completely exited the station.
This distraction helped Arthur calm down before responding to what the German had said prior to the interruption of departure. "At least I follow the rules, unlike the pair of twats sitting in front of me. They're made for a reason, and that reason is to keep people safe." He scolded, then turned his attention out the window, facial expression still hard, hiding other emotions he buried deep within himself constantly.
He really didn't want to talk to these pigs any longer, and he knew that with Francis' quick and smooth tongue, Alfred would soon be in their grasp, and on team Slytherin in no time. That meant that he really wouldn't have to see the American, or worry about him anymore after this. The meeting between the two of them might as well hadn't happened. Good Riddance for Alfred, then. If he was one of these people, then Arthur would want no more to do with him.
Little did Arthur know how wrong he really was.
