The month of waiting Sebastian had in front of him raised more questions about his mother than about his father. Aunt Petunia pretty much hated everything out the ordinary, including her witch sister. Witch sister who, by the way, decided – or not – to have a love affair with a dark wizard who happened to be Sebastian's father.
They were raised by the same parents, so what went wrong there?
Sebastian didn't know. And, to busy himself while waiting whole four weeks, he went through his schoolbooks, as well as wrote down every possible question he could have about his parents and their past. He felt as if though the full story could explain who he was, even if he fully knew what his parents did or didn't do couldn't influence who he was anymore.
His despicable relatives had a bigger influence. Researching why he sneezed so much around dust, he found out the lack of dust in his home was probably the culprit to the development of an allergy.
Hermione checked on him twice every week as well, and each time he would reply: "I'm not having a mental breakdown yet." To which she'd say: "Just making sure."
Her calls became a sweet reminder that no, he wasn't having a mental breakdown and didn't fantasize about anything magic-related. It was all real.
Perhaps testing a few spells like Hermione did in her spare time would be a more solid proof, except he didn't dare to touch the wand around the house, fearful of what might explode or break. Even worse, all hint of dust might disappear and his allergy would never be gone.
The month passed quicker than he would have thought at first, and it was moderately sunny when he hoped on Vernon's car. His uncle gave him a silent ride to King's Cross, where he was supposed to board on Hogwarts' Express. Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Sebastian guessed it was a hidden platform, much like Diagon Alley.
He hoped that somehow Hermione knew how to find it. She said she'd be waiting for him at the entrance.
Hermione was a girl who kept her word.
"Do you know how to find the platform?" was the first thing Sebastian said, not knowing how to address the real issue between them: she, in possession of the books found at Flourish and Blotts, knew more about him than he knew about himself, which he found to be slightly unnerving.
"I found out." she replied, as if though they haven't been apart for a month. "Some wizards don't make a point of being discrete."
Sebastian thought that the trunks didn't make the point of being discrete, either.
And so they went inside, as Hermione explained in a mutter: "Apparently you have to go through the column between platforms nine and ten."
"Sounds like a great idea." Sebastian commented ironically. He preferred to tap a few bricks with his wand than running towards a column that, from where he was standing, looked very solid.
"It's ten and fifteen. Someone should show up soon enough and you will see."
A loud family of red haired people did appear. There were a set of twins, a young boy, a boy that should be older than the twins and a girl too small to go to Hogwarts, as well as a mother with a smile as generous as her waistline. They couldn't be discrete even if they tried, with their flaming red hair.
Sebastian and Hermione watched from a safe distance.
One by one – even the small girl – ran towards the column and disappeared, like they were swallowed by a solid column of bricks. Magic was fascinating but still challenged too much of what Sebastian thought to be true.
"I think we should give it a try." Sebastian said.
"I think so. It's getting late."
Sebastian smirked at Hermione's definition of late. Thirty minutes earlier wasn't what he'd call late.
He approached the column with his trunk. No, he wouldn't run towards it. Not a chance. Instead, he looked around to see if someone watched him and walked heading to the column to see if he would really be able to pass.
His finger disappeared when he touched the column, as if the bricks were an illusion. Well, maybe they were.
Sebastian finally mustered the courage to go and he was swallowed by darkness before showing up at another platform, the right one this time. Hogwarts Express already poured smoke and there were many students saying goodbye to their parents and hello to their friends, with the occasional first year student consoling his weeping parents.
"Why didn't your parents come?" asked Sebastian to Hermione when she showed up.
"Work. Cavities to fill, that sort of thing."
"Were they crying?" he went on, half-amused to see the third set of parents crying over their young children. Sebastian knew he wasn't older than them but he was taller and he had been practically on his own for six months.
"If they did, I didn't see." Hermione replied.
"But mom, I wanna go now!" whined a girl, not very distant.
Sebastian turned his head to see who it was, and it was the ginger girl from before.
"Next year you will go, honey." Her mother reassured her.
And then the girl turned her gaze to Sebastian and went wide-eyed.
Sebastian looked away quickly and walked a little bit faster.
"Someone recognized me already."
"Actually, a couple of people already did." Hermione said, as a matter of fact. "Your hair isn't covering your scar today."
"I'm going to the train and spend the whole trip on the bathroom." Sebastian announced.
And he really meant it. Fifteen minutes later, he'd be propped inside a stall in the boy's bathroom. Sebastian never felt like socializing and that was particularly not the time or the place for it.
A couple of hours later, he started to see the flaw in his plan. He was inside a bathroom after all, which solved one problem but not the other two: hunger and thirst. He knew about the trolley lady and even had some pocket change – Potter and Black weren't playing around when they said Hogwarts was paying – though he didn't want to leave his stall, nor wanted to starve or die from dehydration.
His solution came by the fair hand of a boy who slipped something called chocolate frog inside Sebastian's stall.
"Who's there?" he asked.
"He's Ron." Said Hermione. Sebastian could see the shadow of her legs on the floor. "Ron Weasley. He was speaking to me just now when I went to the trolley lady after some food for you. His parents knew your parents."
"Really?" sneered Sebastian. Who didn't know his parents?
"Well, yeah, apparently they were part of Dumbledore's secret organization or something. You know, the Headmaster. Dumbledore."
"Just the greatest wizard of all times besides Merlin." Ron Weasley said.
"So?"
"Dumbledore gave the members of his secret organization a little more information about your parents. Ron just confirmed me your mother wasn't bewitched. Your parents were really in love with each other, so if that's what has been bugging you, you can relax." Hermione explained. "Plus Dumbledore doesn't buy this Wizardry World's Next Top Dark Lord nonsense. He's probably right."
Sebastian didn't worry about it anymore. One way or the other, the outcome was the same. Everyone but a handful of people was afraid of him, and he couldn't leave his stall without being recognized.
"I'm not leaving the bathroom, though."
"I'll come to check up on you every now and then, then." said Ron Weasley. "We arrive at Hogwarts by dinner time, so you are going to starve in here."
"I said I could come to bring him food and juice." Hermione argued.
"Well, you are a girl! And this is a boy's bathroom! What if someone caught you here? What if you see something you shouldn't?"
"I'm not even sorted yet. They can't take away house points. Plus, I'm well aware of the risks of coming here."
"I don't care if it's a boy or it's a girl coming as long as I don't starve." Sebastian intervened. He wanted to open the stall door for emphasis but would hit both the boy and the girl, which would be counterproductive in his task of not dying of hunger.
"We can intercalate." Hermione finally suggested.
"Deal." said Ron Weasley.
It would be a very long ride to Hogwarts.
A.N.: So, as you can see, Ron's a bit less of a douchenozzle considering that the Order of the Phoenix's members ended up knowing the whole story about Lily and Severus. Hope it makes sense. Not that his relationship with Hermione will ever be smooth, haha. Thank you for review, favoriting and following my story!