Chapter 2: Dreams and Memories

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Harry Potter, J.K does, but Alexus is mine :p…..

He was there again, walking the familiar mysterious corridor. It was narrow, it would be difficult for two individuals to walk side by side, and the walls and floor were made of shiny, dark blue squared tiles with white lines between them. He turned and looked at the tall, white door with a circle of gold script twirling inward he didn't remember coming through. He continued walking forward a few steps until he reached the black wall in front of him, and followed the path right. Cold air swept the cramped corridor, but he embraced it, the cloudy water vapor leaving his lips was all too familiar feeling. Moving on slowly, he looked up and saw a small, silver chandelier for what he thought was the thousandth time, illuminating what seemed to be his objective at the end of the confined passage. An exhilarating feeling built up in his chest, and he strode quickly toward it, his robes flapping behind him. And then, the chandelier went out, darkness engulfed the small area and panic began to flood through him as he broke into a sprint. His hand was outstretched, running at full speed. The tiniest of eerie light was emitting from the large cloudy-green orb that he wanted to nestle his pale fingers upon, which was held upright by and attractive two-pillared stone table. He was so close now; he could feel its beckon, feel it calling him. Then everything was black, and the abrupt end to his dream made him wake.

Alexus found himself staring at the flat, Roman-numeral style clock that occupied most of the dormitory ceiling, giving his brain time to decipher between his dream and the reality; he worked out the time to be 9:48. Ten to ten Alexus thought. Ten to ten.

He flew out of his bed and began to rummage through the trunk at the foot of his bed; frantically packing the belongings he needed for the Defence against the Dark Arts lesson he was twenty minutes late to. He left the dormitory with a frown reflecting the disappointment with himself, and made a quick stop in the bathroom to make his appearance seem a bit more refreshed.

Alexus was once again happy that the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom was the closest to the Balthazar common room. He jogged down the large, spacious corridor, with an arched ceiling with magically patterned glass dominating in-between the supporting marble supporting arches. On either side of him were statues centering the indents in the walls and portraits divided the statues. The gleaming sunlight warmed his moving face, momentarily shadowed, as he doomed his soon to be embarrassment in front of his class. Sure enough, when he turned left and entered the first door he came across; he received his fair share of discipline.

'Late again, Edwards.' Said an oily voice he was sure came from the front of the classroom. He turned to see Igor Karkaroff standing on his teaching platform a little off the ground where the blackboard was situated.

'Sorry s-sir I-' he began to stutter.

'Do you think, Edwards, that because you have a certain knack for your studies and are easing through there would be no need to attend the first twenty minutes of my lesson?' Karkaroff seemed to have said it with ease but it made Alexus uneasy all the more.

'No sir, I wont be lat-'

'Detention. Saturday. My office.' Karkaroff turned away to the board as he said this, and it was a short walk to his seat at the back of the class for Alexus, but he still felt every face in the class on his.

He sat down and began to unpack his books angrily. The pupils had all turned away and already discarded the little event, but the irritation lingered with him and the crease between his eye-brows were to show for it.

As the lesson went on, Karkaroff's voice seemed to be coming from a long way as he daydreamed whilst staring blankly around the room. It wasn't a very bright sight, literally. The lengthy, shady curtains were always drawn in the large room. Along the sides were cupboards filled with books and equipments for the lessons. Down the middle were two rows of tables with seats for two divided by a passage which led the professor's table, and at the very back row of four seats, only Alexus sat.

The lesson drifted on and Alexus came back to earth when he heard chairs scratching the floor and the scrambling of students. He condensed into the small crowd leaving the classroom and only remembered halfway down the corridor that it was his favourite time of the week. Flying.

He walked back to his dormitory a little more quickly with this in mind, and went straight to the long package where his broomstick lay safe underneath his bed. He unzipped the side and slowly withdrew one of his most prized possessions and stood up. He was zipping back the empty broomstick holder when a familiar small letter fell out. He picked it up, and decided to read it over before he put it away. He sat on the bed and read in his mind.

Dear Alexus

So you're finally going to school! I'm so happy for you Alexus. I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful time at Durmstrang. I hope you're finding all this Magic ok. I know you're going to be a great wizard. I've made sure you don't have to go back to the orphanage, Durmstrang will be your home for the next seven years and when it's over, you'll be old enough to decide where next in life. Stay out of trouble and do your best.

You don't know how sorry I am Alexus, but I will always love you with all my heart.

Good Luck, Goodbye!

P.S. I hope this makes your years a little more enjoyable, I got it custom-made at the warehouse!

He put the letter into the first draw of his bedside cabinet, thinking that it wasn't his fault this letter didn't mean as much as it should have. He pushed the string of bubbling thoughts out of his mind.

Alexus stood and turned the Firebolt over in his hands. At the tip of the broom in gold writing it said Firebolt, and at the other end, in silver writing so shiny it looked like it was glowing, read; Alexus Edwards.

He put on his trusty broom gloves and set out for his familiar flying area, which was just outside the boundaries of the grounds. It was a ten-minute walk toward the valley where he flew. He bent and tied his shoelace tightly upon arrival before taking a deep breath and admiring the scene. He stood at the top of the side of the valley, which was nothing special really, but it was the site that he'd grown fond of in his six years of Friday morning flying.

He had just mounted his broom and was about to kick-off when he heard a stressing voice behind him, and he turned to see Alfonso Hislop, the school caretaker, hobbling toward him on his walking stick. He was a very old man with a hunched back, crooked nose and he was bald.

'Why are you out of bounds young man!' he squeaked, his left hand twitching uncontrollably.

'I'm just flying around for a bit, I'm not that far out really.'

'Nonsense! You are to be within the boundaries at all times! Move quickly and I haven't seen a thing. Don't you now what's going on boy!' he said with raised eyebrows.

'Go and fly in the quidditch pitch, its big enough for the lot of you!' he moved behind him and began flapping his hands and Alexus could do nothing but walk. He could hear him mumble something about living under a rock.

Hislop continued to ramble about breaking rules, and Alexus thought he had had enough. He flung his leg over his Firebolt and kicked off hard. He was high up in no time with impressive acceleration, the wind whipping his air back, whilst looking back at the caretaker now growing smaller and smaller with every second. He flew over to the quidditch pitch and was quite happy it was empty, being unsure whether he would continue flying if it was occupied.

As he flew, he thought about Hislop's words "Don't you know what's going on boy!"

What was happening? In the five and a half years he was never told it was so important to stay in the boundaries. He was even seen flying once by Karkaroff, and was sure he was in trouble, but nothing happened. The letter's image drifted back into his head. He wondered what that letter would mean to him in ten years time. Would he know who it was sent by? He went over the possibilities he had tried to avoid. His mother? Dead. His older sister? Suspected to be dead. His father? Maybe…..

And then the pictures rolled in his mind. He was sitting in the orphanage when a tall figure walked in. As he came closer Alexus saw he was wearing long robes. He had long silver hair with a matching long beard. He was wearing half-moon spectacles that protected a pair of twinkling blue eyes. The man explained to him the truth about his family, his life. He was told his parents died in a car crash along with his sister that was one year older. The truth was however, his mother was doubtlessly murdered, the work of the Avadra Kedavra curse. His sister's body was never found, (reason for the tiniest denial). His father was never known. His mother, Edina Edwards, was thought to have had a dispute with his father, whose name was unknown. She left him, with Alexus expectancy not yet known. He was eleven years old, he had just been told that he was a wizard and asked if he could attend a magical school and had been told the truth about his family's death. If it had been anyone else, he thought, than the man that pronounced himself as Albus Dumbledore, Alexus thought there would be no way to which he would oblige to the madness. But there was such certainty in the tall man's voice, such honesty in his piercing blue eyes. He was, even now Alexus had 6 years of experience of the magical world, the complete image that propped up in his mind whenever he imagined the perfect wizard. He had a high level of admiration and respect for this man, whom he had only a few times in his life, and only conversed twice. But once a year there was contact by owl, to assess progress and confirm their well-beings. The thoughts continued as he flew in a circle around the pitch, switching directions when he reached the goalposts at either end. He thought about his father again. To him it was an empty word. What if he never knew I existed? What if he only thought that there were my mother and sister? But surely he would have heard of their deaths, and if he knew of their deaths he would know of him. But if he knew of him why had he not tried to make even the smallest of contact, or even reveal himself?

Then all of a sudden the side of his face felt warm and he heard a whooshing sound for a split second and he immediately knew it was the unmistakable narrow miss of a spell. He stared around quickly there was no-one around him. Not until he looked down did he realize how high up he was, and he made out four or five black spots on a carpet of green. Another red jet of light head straight for him, seeing it late, and only a neat spinning roll could have made Alexus avoid it. Angered by this sudden attack, he sped down at full speed at the indistinct figures. More spells were fired at him, but he avoided them with ease on his quick Firebolt. The spells only stopped when he was close enough to make them out as students. Gliding down swiftly, he was walking fast as soon as his feet mad contact with the ground at the individual standing ahead of the other three students.

Alexus drew his wand as he neared; he realized it was Adam Chambers, captain of the Balthazar quidditch team, and to more astonishment, he realized he was clapping. He better have a good explanation for this, He thought, getting angrier as he wore a beaming smile.

'What do you think you're doing?' yelled Alexus, standing very close to Adam.

'That was brilliant!" he replied, almost as loud.

'Are you mental? What's your problem trying to jinx me?' he said, raising his wand.

'Easy boy, it was a simple empty spell that I made look like a jinx, but it wouldn't matter if it hit you, nothing would have happened. But was does matter is; you're a bloody brilliant flyer!' he said looking around at his friends, and they nodded in approval. 'The movement was class! Your bearings were precise! What position do you play!?" he was practically yelling now, but Alexus had lowered his wand and his frown cleared, delighted inside about his praise.

'I've...er... never really played for a team before, so not sure really.'

Adam's mouth opened and he stared at Alexus.

'What a waste! But haven't –' But a short girl behind mentioned they had to leave and he cut to the point.

'This Saturday, we're holding a trial for the Seeker position. It's on the notice board in the common room, you are in Balthazar right?'

'Yeah I-'

'Thought so, be there!' he shouted as he ran after his companions.

Alexus stood there, staring at the place where the quidditch captain stood. He wasn't used to conversing with other students, other than a "pass me that potion" or working in pairs in a class like transfiguration. He was sure he would get the place. He had seen the way other students flew during matches between houses, and he knew he was better.

His happy mood had taken him through Transfiguration in a breeze; he excelled in his favourite lesson and was subjected to another surprise when he walked into a dormitory with a vibrant dark blue finish to the walls. He smiled to himself and looked around for a free table; there was none, but he placed himself in the corner where there were the least people to a table. He unpacked his books and as he began his work he was unnerved by the fact that the three boys sitting next to him were speaking in frenzied whispers. His attempt to continue his work undistracted was feeble and he couldn't resist taking out his wand discreetly and muttering 'Wispario revelius'. With one end of his wand pointing at the speaking boy and his ear at the other, he could barely make out the words they were saying, and he made a mental note to improve the spell he had created.

'Well the bottom line is he been captured, and it was definitely by Death Eaters. You think Professor Baird and Karkarnob are making this up? He hasn't gone home because of a family death. I think it's got to do with his family, probably messed around with You-Know-Who.' Whispered the boy, his voice deteriating as he uttered the name.

Another boy had just come into the dormitory and jogging to where they sat, shoving extendable ears into his pocket as he sat down.

'He's dead. Just heard an official statement they made in the staff room. Can't believe it' he whispered, his face pale.

And Alexus stopped listening. He stared at his books. He read about all the atrocities happening in London and other places, but he thought here, at the other side of the world they would be safe. He felt as if something physical had been broken, but he didn't know why he feared for himself, when this had nothing to do with him. He decided to get an early night's sleep, he didn't know why, he just did.

He'll be going to Hogwarts soon in the middle of an interesting time ;) please review!