Different

Chapter 4

As the first few weeks passed, Arthur actually found himself improving.

He and Alfred would intensively review different brewing techniques in Alfred's room as well as study and perform the preparation of various ingredients Alfred had gotten from Professor Slughorn. Sometimes the two of them were allowed in the Potions classroom late at night if the potion couldn't be brewed in the dormitories.

Alfred would have him perform techniques over and over and over again until he got it just right. Arthur found himself frequently put on the spot with what Alfred liked to call "surprise quizzes of awesome", in which he would shout out a random question or task for Arthur to complete.

Although Arthur wouldn't have believed at the beginning of his tutoring, he found Alfred's methods to be highly effective. Arthur's problem with Potions class was forgetting what he was supposed to do the instant he was in the classroom. Since Alfred frequently put him on the spot, Arthur was more prepared for that anxious feeling he got every time he had to brew a potion during class.

But, he was by no means a master with Alfred's tutoring. Arthur still had his problems. Both boys still couldn't figure out how Arthur had managed to set water on fire, twice, but both were in it together searching for the solution. Professor Slughorn was delighted with his progress, and his grade for his latest potion was an A for acceptable, much better than the Ds (for dreadful) he had been receiving before.

In all, Arthur had to say he was grateful for Alfred's help. The boy was an incessant chatterbox filled with layer upon layer of information regarding potions. It must have been his true passion back in America since he always got so worked up about it. However, no matter how bright Alfred was in Potions, it couldn't take away from the fact that he utterly failed in another subject.

A History of Magic.

"What do you mean you don't know who Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody is?" Arthur asked in shock.

Alfred gave him a hopelessly confused look. "I just…don't?" Arthur's gaze was unnerving Alfred. He was tugging on the collar of his shirt. "Sounds like you're talking about an insane Cyclops to me…" he trailed off.

Arthur shook his head in disbelief. "Please tell me you know the important historical figures of the Second Wizarding War."

"Uh…Harry Potter?"

"Well everyone knows Harry Potter, you dolt!" Arthur shouted, holding the side of his face in frustration. "Does Hermione Granger ring a bell? Ron Weasley?"

"Well, I've heard of those names before…I don't really know the full story though…"

Arthur didn't think his eyes could open any wider. Nor did he think there could be anyone who existed in the world who didn't know the story of the people surrounding Harry Potter.

"Just…just how cut-off from civilization are you?" Arthur asked, appalled.

"Why are you giving me that look?" Alfred asked accusingly. "I don't know about the shit that goes on in Europe! I just pay attention to what's going on in my country, ok?" he said defensively. "And besides, it's not like you know what's going on in America either." He crossed his arms and Arthur could've sworn he saw a slight pout on his face.

Perhaps it was true that both clearly had no clue what was going on in each other's respective countries. However, that was no excuse for being unaware of such a major portion of wizarding history. Arthur could understand Alfred not knowing the specifics of wizarding history in England, but enough was enough.

"I'm tutoring you," Arthur stated bluntly.

"Huh?"

"I said I'm tutoring you. In history. You can think of it as a sort of 'thank you' for your help," he stated, even though he wasn't actually volunteering to do this as a sort of "thank you". He felt a compulsion to teach Alfred who was obviously too ignorant about important matters for his own good. And he wasn't taking no for an answer.

Arthur supposed Alfred could sense his determination to teach him, and he held no objections. He needed to pass that class regardless and Arthur was filled to the brim with knowledge of wizarding history in England. It was perfect. Alfred could tutor Arthur in Potions, and in turn, Arthur could tutor Alfred in a History of Magic.

And so began their little system. Multiple times a week, both boys would be studying closely together, yelling at each other for a lack of understanding, and learning more about one another as the days progressed.

A few weeks into their new studying routine, Arthur found himself lying on the floor of Alfred's room surrounded by books and parchment. Potion recipes were scattered across the carpet and historical texts littered the foot of the bed. The dormitories were empty. This occurred frequently whenever Arthur stepped inside the Gryffindor common room. It turned out that, as a Prefect, he was allowed to know the location and enter the other common rooms in the school…it just hadn't been enforced (or known about) in decades.

Arthur wasn't sure how the school felt about Alfred. On one hand, he was a sort of foreign celebrity. He was amazing at Quidditch and the girls loved him. But then, he had his bad sides. No one liked how he was seen hanging out with Arthur. The students in Gryffindor despised having "Slytherin scum" in their common room. There was a mixture of reactions, but overall, most of them were positive.

Arthur wasn't too sure what he felt about Alfred either. He was grateful, very much so, and it was obvious Alfred was bright. He exuded a sort of happiness and ignorance that Arthur wasn't sure he had ever encountered before. It was almost…nice.

That didn't mean Alfred still didn't have his bad traits.

But, Arthur wouldn't dwell on those. For now, Alfred was tolerable. And besides, tutoring sessions were the perfect opportunity for questions.

"So, what are the American wizarding academies like?" he asked casually, lifting his head from the gibble gabble potion he'd be making in Potions class the next day. Alfred was helping him learn how to add the gibbles to the solution without breaking them, something very difficult to do.

Alfred shrugged his shoulders in response. "I don't know. What do you mean?"

"I mean," Arthur began, "what's it like? How does Hogwarts differ from your school?" He had been dying to hear about Alfred's experience for weeks, and they were both worn out from their intensive studying anyway. Might as well make conversation.

"Hm…" said Alfred as he lied back on his bed, a copy of Astrophysics for Morons lying on his chest as his arms circled around it. "There's a lot of things that are different… The food here is really different, but not in a bad way, I guess. Wish there were hamburgers," he said with a smile as he sat up on his elbows to look at Arthur.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Besides food. We both know about your obsession with burgers."

Alfred gave a chuckle. "Yeah, guess you're right. Ok then…um, I guess the subjects here are just really different is all." He picked up his astrophysics book and stared at it for a moment. "Like your astronomy class. I mean, yeah, for the short while that I had the course we studied the surface of Jupiter's moons and other cool things like that…but our professor just kept insisting that constellations had 'mystical powers'," he said while wiggling his fingers.

"What? You don't believe in mystical powers? Sort of bizarre, coming from a wizard," Arthur added in sarcastically.

And suddenly, there was a slight gleam in Alfred's eye. "Well, I don't believe in divination or crap like that, but I do believe in magic!"

"Oh, I was under the impression you thought the world around you was an illusion," he responded as he crossed his arms.

"Ah, shut up Artie, I haven't told you everything yet!" Alfred fully sat up now, practically bouncing in excitement for, well, something. "I said I believe in magic, but you know what I want to do?" he asked, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I want to discover the secret to magic."

His smile became unbelievably bright after he said that. It was as if he was revealing the most exhilarating news in the world. However, Arthur didn't understand.

"What do you mean, the 'secret to magic'?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean discovering the science behind the magic, Artie!"

"You mean…figuring out why magic exists or something?" Arthur asked, unsure if this is what Alfred meant.

"Yeah, sort of! It's like, I want to know why magic occurs, what causes objects to levitate, why wands respond the same way to commands in different languages, why potions can affect the body like they do… I want to know it all!" Alfred looked like he was about to explode from joy. Arthur, on the other hand, furrowed his brows.

"You can't…you can't discover the fucking 'secret to magic'! It's magic. It's not supposed to be explainable!" Arthur argued.

"Well, then how did we come up with all these spells in the first place? You're taking arithmancy, right? That's a class all about the magic properties of numbers and how wizards have utilized them over the years. Obviously magic has a foundation behind it, and I want to know what that foundation is!" Alfred was biting his bottom lip, his eyes bright as he looked towards Arthur with childish delight.

But in Arthur's mind, Alfred was spewing total blasphemy. "Discovering why magic occurs completely takes away the fact that it's magic! It's wonderful as it inspires both awe and terror. To take away it's element of mystery just sounds…it sounds like something a muggle would want to do or something!" Arthur was becoming exasperated with Alfred's nonsense.

"It's not like I'm the only one who feels this way, dude," Alfred said. "Magicists have been trying to discover the microscopic properties of magic for years!"

"What the hell is a Magicist?"

"God, don't you wizards in England know anything?" Alfred asked. Since when had the tables turned to have Alfred confused about the wizarding ways in England? "Magic scientists! Ok, the name isn't that clever or anything, but it's still kind of obvious what they do."

Arthur stared at Alfred with a blank look.

Alfred looked back with a desperate one of his own.

"…maybe England's a lot different than I thought," said Alfred as he plopped back down on his bed. "I just… really want to know why magic exists. There's this theory going around that magic occurs through particles of antimatter reacting with normal particles of matter, and those high energy combustions, if controlled, give rise to the ability to manipulate the physical world around us…" He looked to Arthur to see if he understood, but of course, Arthur just couldn't comprehend what was being said. The gleam in Alfred's eye dimmed before it was brought back with new determination.

"To me, Arthur, it just sounds so, so…fucking awesome. I guess that's why I love Potions. I just really like knowing how the different properties of the ingredients affect the potion it's used in. There's a reason Devil's Snare root causes constriction in potions. There's a reason gibbles are used to create potions that can be very unstable, since they're unstable themselves. I'm sure that one day, everything about magic will make sense…and I want to be a part of that." Alfred turned his head on the bed to face Arthur. His smile wasn't huge or bright as it normally was. This smile was warm. This was a passion close to his heart, and even though Arthur didn't fully understand, and even though something inside of him told him that what Alfred was doing was blasphemous, Arthur couldn't help but feel a slight touch of hope for him to reach his dream.

Silence reigned in the room for a few moments before Alfred spoke up again. "So, what about you?"

Arthur snapped out of his slight daze. "Huh? What?"

"I said, what about you? What do you want to do when you're finally free from school?" Alfred asked, that smile still on his face, in his eyes and expression.

"I…I'm not really sure," Arthur answered. "I mean, I do love history. I'd love to study wizarding history and other wizarding cultures, but…it's best I receive a job at the Ministry. I can't go about wasting my time with books when I could actually be someone of importance later on in life."

The smile faded. "Do you want to work for the Ministry?"

"I mean, of course I do! Everyone in my family for generations has worked in the Ministry at some point or another… It's only right I do the same," Arthur said with conviction.

"I didn't ask you about your family! I asked about you! 'Cause to me, it doesn't sound like you want to work for the Ministry. Why can't you become a historian or something?"

Arthur wanted to roll his eyes, but found that he couldn't. "A historian would require further schooling and little pay. It's a job not worth my valuable time."

At this point, Arthur began to gather his books into his arms. "H-hey!" Alfred began. "Where're you going?"

"I've got to go, Alfred, I'll see you for tutoring tomorrow," Arthur said in a rushed voice before quickly heading out the door.

Once back in the Slytherin dormitories, Arthur allowed the familiarity of the room to bring him back to his familiar mindset. iWorking for the Ministry is a fine job…you'll enjoy it. Your brothers enjoy it. Your father is a high ranking member, for goodness sake! You need to make your family proud, you have to prove you're not worthless, you have to show them that you're good for something…

But the way Alfred had spoken earlier…with such passion and adoration for a subject he loved. Arthur had that passion…and yet, he didn't. He didn't have that passion because he wouldn't allow himself to. If he gave into his emotions too much, he'd end up as more of a disappointment to his family than ever before. He'd be a disappointment to himself.

A historian. What kind of bloody job was that?

Arthur glanced towards a dusty corner in an obscure part of the common room. A spider was walking along its web, continuing to spin its delicate thread in new directions. It was constructing its home, tiny strands of thread going this way and that, allowing the spider to have a stable spot in its little corner.

A creeping anger loomed upon Arthur. He approached the corner and knelt down. He took out his want and aimed it at the spider. Arthur didn't know why he was feeling the way he did, or why he was so frustrated over a little spider, but it didn't matter. "Diffindo" he muttered, ripping the spider's web apart into tiny, obscure pieces. Its home was destroyed, the directions of the thread gone, and Arthur didn't receive the sense of satisfaction he had been hoping for…Instead, he felt lost.

A/N: Once again, late update. Classes have started, so I can usually only write a little bit everyday throughout the week, but this particular update is late because my laptop died x_x It decided it didn't like to turn on, so I actually lost the files for this fic last weekend until my dad managed to work magic and fixed it for me for a few days. It died again just yesterday, but luckily I've been emailing myself my fanfiction files (and my homework files, those are important too :'D), so even if I can't get my laptop back or anything, I'll still have all my work! :)

Also, I've decided that I'll update every weekend (Friday and Saturday nights). This just works out really well with my schedule, so I hope you guys don't mind.

Hope you enjoyed and critiques are loved~