~Everything's Not What It Seems~
Alex and Justin are siblings sent to Hogwarts to learn about magic just like their father. There they meet new friends, fall in love, and find out that truly everything is not what it seems.
Disclaimer: J.K Rowling and Disney Channel own the right to all these character. I am only borrowing them :)
After putting away his day bag, Justin took a seat across the white-haired girl and another younger girl with long, blonde hair who was seated beside her in the compartment. The white-haired girl pulled out a book from the bag beside her and started to read it, forgetting Justin and the younger girl. The younger girl stared expectantly at her friend.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" The blonde haired girl asked the other girl before looking at Justin with a smile.
"I'm sorry, I forgot that this is your first year at Hogwarts." The white-haired girl smiled at her before turning to him. "Justin Russo, this is my cousin Mikayla Lovegood. Mikayla, this is Justin Russo."
"Russo?" The younger girl's eyes lit up. "Are you Max's brother?" Mikayla asked. If this girl was new then how did she already know Max?
"Yes, Max is his younger brother. Actually, I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Luna Lovegood. I'm a third heard, like your sister Alex." Luna said with a smile before turning her attention back to the book in her lap. Mikayla and Justin both watched her, expecting her to say more.
When Luna flipped to the next page of her book, Justin turned his attention to the younger girl. "So, Mikayla, how do you know my brother?"
"I actually met him in the bookstore at the beginning of the summer. He's really funny." Mikayla giggled. "We found him laying on the floor of the bookstore."
"He can be funny like that sometimes…" Justin shook his head "I was actually hoping to find him before Luna found me."
"You didn't come together?" Luna asked, her eyes not leaving her book.
"No, we didn't." Justin shook his head.
"Why is that?"
"After the attack at the World Cup, we got separated from our sister. Max had to go to the Weasley's but I went looking for her and Harry. The others went ahead of us so we didn't come to the train station together." Justin explained. Now that he thought of it, the name Luna Lovegood sounded familiar. He had to have heard that name from someone.
"You were there too?" Mikayla asked, interrupting his thought.
Justin nodded in response. "Were you both there as well?"
"We were buying books." Luna replied before looking out the window with a thoughtful expression. She's so... strange…
"Justin. Why were you looking for a compartment? Luna told me that Max is quite popular. I assume you are as popular as your little brother, right?" Mikayla asked.
Justin stared at Mikayla. He was unsure of how to answer her question. She was right, why didn't he have anywhere to go? He was Justin Black, a legacy Marauders and a Dumbledore. Despite this all being a secret, he couldn't help but be disappointed in himself. He should have been building his own legacy at Hogwarts. Just like his parents. Like his sister, he couldn't hide in the shadows anymore. He would make sure by the end of the year, everyone would know who Justin was and he'd have his pick as to where to sit on the train next year.
~~~~~
"It's brilliant... but… don't you think it's a little too much?" Fred suggested. Alex had just finished laying out her plan for their first major prank of the year. Alex had to admit, it was big, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle.
George frowned at his brother. "Fred, you're kidding, right? This prank is the perfect way to kick off the year! It's exactly the scale of mischief we want it to be!"
"Fred, if you're worried about getting in trouble, don't be. Let's just say I have a get-out-of-jail free card." Alex smiled at the two brothers.
They both stared at her in confusion. "Explain." Fred leaned towards Alex, resting his chin between his fingers as he looked at her throughtfully.
Alex smirked at him, leaning closer to him. "You two don't need to worry about what I mean. Just make sure you don't look like the culprit at the time of the prank, only me. When I get apprehended, you can spread the news that you two were involved in this pranking masterpiece."
"What do you mean 'when' you get apprehended? Are you trying to get caught?" George asked.
"Blimey Alex, I knew you were crazy but not this crazy." Fred shook his head at her.
"Don't you two worry your devious, little heads." She smiled to herself.
~~~~~
"I was so scared that you got hurt or something Max! I was just worrying about you the entire time!" Marietta said as she grabbed onto Max's arm and scooted closer to him. Max nodded with a forced smile, scooting away and gently moving his arm out of her grasp as his friends snickered.
"Thanks Marietta. I was worried about people too… I still have no clue if my sister is okay."
Marietta's eyes went wide and immediately she threw her arms around him. Max looked helplessly at his friends as they tried to stifle their laughter. "I'm so sorry Max. I really, really hope your sister is okay!"
"Thanks…" Max slowly pried her hands off him and stood up. "I think I am gonna go for a walk around the train. Maybe I can try to find out if Justin and Alex made it on the train." Max could see Marietta opening her mouth to say something but quickly shut her down. "I'm fine going alone."
He quickly turned away and rushed out the door, ignoring Marietta's insistent calls after him. When he reached the hallway, he sighed in relief and began to make his way down the hall. Max was thankful that most of the student had left the blinds open, allowing him to see into the compartments as he walked.
"Anything from the trolley?"
Max looked ahead to see the lady that sold the candies to them last year standing a few doors down with her cart of sweets. He could see Fred standing in front of her, handing her money.
"Fred!"
He looked around in confusion and nodded when he spotted Max. "Hey Max. What brings you out of the compartments?"
"Do you know if Alex and Justin made it onto the train?" Max asked as he approached Fred.
"Yes they did. Alex was just here with us. She went to get something from Justin. George helped her over to that compartment over there before going off to find Lee." Fred said as he pointed to an open compartment a few doors down.
"Great, thanks Fred!" He patted Fred on the shoulder as he passed him and the trolley to continue down the hallways to the open door. Max smiled in relief as he approached the door and spotted his brother and sister sitting beside each other, chatting.
"Alex! Justin!"
Alex looked up and smiled as she spotted Max, waving him inside. Max walked in and threw his arms around his sister. "You're okay." He squeezed her briefly.
As he pulled away, she patted the empty seat beside her. "Come sit."
"Okay." He sat down beside Alex as she continued her conversation with Justin. When he looked around the compartment he was surprised to see the one girl he'd been thinking of a little too much sitting across from him.
"Max! How great of you to join us!" Mikayla said with a smile.
"Mikalya, it's great to see you again." He smiled back, unexplainably happy to see her again.
"I thought I'd never see all three Russo's in front of me, in the flesh! Strange though… you look nothing like Alex and Justin." Mikayla said as she looked at all three of them with a scrutinizing expression.
Max looked at his siblings, the discomfort on their faces apparent. If Mikayla only knew that there is almost no way that they would look alike... since they aren't actually his brother and sister. Max looked back at Mikayla, but stayed silent as he tried to think of a response.
"Max?" Mikayla looked at him curiously.
"Oh, sorry. Yeah, we get that a lot. It's because I have light brown hair while Justin and Alex have dark brown hair-"
"Well, there is also the skin and Justin's eyes." Mikayla cut in. "Alex's eyes are darker than yours and Justin's is almost green. Oh, and there's your skin too. Your skin is a little tanner than theirs..." Mikayla continued to list their features as Max zoned out into his own thoughts. Wow… she was very… observant, more observant than even he had been about this. How had he never noticed how different they looked? Do other people notice the differences?
"The eye color I got from an older family member… it skipped a generation." Justin quickly replied.
"And the skin is because Max spends way more time outside than the two of us." Alex added. "Justin stays inside to do his dorky science stuff and I prefer staying inside to do art or activities that allow me to be lazy." Alex shrugged as Justin shot a glare at their sister.
Max looked at Mikayla again to see her looking at the three siblings in embarrassment. "Sorry… I didn't mean to say so much. Sometimes more comes out of my mouth than I intend." Mikayla said, giving him an apologetic smile.
"It's okay, I tend to say too much all the time." He smiled at her genuinely.
"Then we're the same." She smiled wider.
The door of the compartment slid open and everyone looked towards it to see George standing in the doorway. He scanned the compartment until his eyes fell on Alex. "Hello all, just here for that one." He pointed beside Max. "Alex, I caught up to Lee so I'm headed back to our compartment. You need help?"
"Yes, thank you." Alex started to stand up as a pained expression formed on her face. Justin quickly stood up and put Alex's arm over his shoulder to support her. Max looked down at her left leg, noticing that a bandage covered a part of it.
"Alex, what happened to you leg?" He stood awkwardly as he tried to think of a way to help Justin with Alex.
Alex turned towards him slightly. "Not really sure how it happened, but I woke up and there was a gash on my leg. I need to get it checked out once we're back at Hogwarts." She shrugged. "It was nice meeting you Mikayla!" Alex smiled towards Mikayla. "And Luna..." She gave Luna a strange look before turning back towards George. Justin helped Alex transfer her arm over George's shoulder so he could help her out of the compartment. Once she was completely supported by him, Justin stood at the doorway and watched as they disappeared down the hall.
"Uh, I guess I better get going too." Max looked at his brother. "Your luggage is in my compartment, but you can come get it later if you want."
Justin nodded as he took his seat. "Thanks Max."
Max looked at Mikayla, seeing the disappointed look on her face. "It was nice seeing you again Mikayla... I uh, hope to see you later?"
"Sure, I'd like that." Mikayla smiled.
Max smiled to himself as he walked out of the compartment. And for some reason, he couldn't get the smile to go away.
Updated!
