65: It's the Little Things

The golden plates and goblets before them filled suddenly with food and drink. Alaric, dismissing his thoughts, helped himself to everything he could reach and began to eat.

It was a delicious feast; the hall echoed with talk, laughter, and the clatter of knives and forks — Blaise and Tracey were engaged in a competition of who could eat in larger quantities, and Theodore and Daphne watched them with amused glances; Astoria had switched seats with Alaric after the boy suggested she should sit closer to the newly sorted students to make friends. 

"But I already have you guys," Astoria said, trying to look as cute as possible, but Daphne didn't buy it and urged her to do it. Reluctantly, Astoria began chatting with the other Slytherin first-years and seemed to befriend them quickly. 

That left Alaric alone with his mind. He had been staring blankly at the wall, so spaced out that the pudding in his spoon ended up back on the table. He lifted his hand and looked at the black ring reflecting the candlelight. His mother had given it to him — Lysandra also had one. 

He felt the urge to remove it from his finger. 

Before his thoughts wandered any further, he felt something fluffy against his legs. It was a large, bandy-legged, ginger-coloured cat, with a grumpy and oddly squashed face as if it had run into a stone wall. 

"And who might you be?" Alaric asked tenderly, petting the cat behind his ears. He had a soft spot for creatures. "Shouldn't you be up in the dormitories? And who's your owner? Oh, you like that, don't you?" The half-cat half-something purred. "And you're smart as well? I might keep you for myself," But the cat didn't seem to agree as it stepped away from him. "Alright, alright. Want some cod?" 

Placing a small plate on the floor, Alaric watched the cat happily approach the cod fillet and start eating it. With its neck bent down, Alaric could finally see a collar with a name on it. 

"Crookshanks. Is that you're name, boy?" Alaric ran his hand through the cat's mane as he purred. Licking his face after finishing, Crookshanks meowed happily at Alaric and rubbed his head against the boy's leg before walking away. 

At long last, when the last morsels of pumpkin tart had melted from the golden platters, Dumbledore gave the word that it was time for them all to go to bed. 

Alaric and the rest joined the crowd of Slytherin streaming down the dungeon, walking along the dimming lights of the underground corridors to the hidden entrance of their Common Room. 

"Pure," Said a prefect, and a long silver snake slithered across the wall, revealing the double door. 

The girls and boys split up towards their respective staircases after entering and crossing the Common room. Alaric bid farewell to Daphne, Tracey, and Astoria before descending the stairs with the sole intention of getting a good night's sleep.

__________

When morning came, the dark circles under Alaric's eyes could be seen from the other side of the Great Hall. He hadn't slept. At all. He spent most of the night brooding, and when he was finally about to fall asleep, the sun shined through the window. 

So, half-heartedly, he got up and did his usual morning routine. After a cold shower and dressing his robes, he descended to the Great Hall for breakfast. 

The first thing he saw was Draco, who seemed to be entertaining a large group of Slytherins with a comical story. But Alaric was not in the mood. He passed by them, eyes fixed on a free seat far away from the crowd, even ignoring when Draco called him, saying he seriously needed to hear his story. 

"Prick!" Came the shrieking voice of Pancy Parkison, but luckily for her, Alaric didn't hear the insult. The lack of sleep had him with an extremely short fuse. 

He dropped down on a seat next to no one in particular. 

"New Third-Year course schedule," The student said, giving a copy to Alaric. Just like Albus had said, Divination fell as the last class of Monday, at the same time as Care of Magical Creatures. 

Looking at the rest of the week, he quickly saw where the core classes and the rest of the electives were before folding the parchment and placing it in his book bag. As he did, a toast filled with his favourite chocolate spread and some orange juice appeared before him. 

"Thanks, Filk," Alaric whispered, guessing the house elf that usually served as a dealer in poker had sensed he was slightly down. 

"You look deathly pale," Alaric had to force himself to turn to his left, where the haughty Zoe Carrow was looking at him with a smirk. "Afraid of the boggart underneath your bed, Grindelwald?" she sneered. 

"Yes," said Alaric in a monotone. "It usually takes the shape of your horsely mug, Carrow," He added, taking a bite out of his toast. "Gives me nightmares at a mere glance," 

Zoe slammed her hands on the table, turning every head in the Great Hall to her. It was still early, so not many people were already having breakfast, but they were enough to stop her from making a scene. 

"Don't start an argument if you can't take it," Alaric yawned and got up. 

"Whatever," Zoe frowned. "We start practice tomorrow, and you better be in good shape. We have plenty of Seekers that could replace you," 

"Sure you do," 

The day's first lesson was Charms, and Alaric was the earliest to arrive at the classroom. Professor Flitwick, as usual, greeted him with enthusiasm and encouraged him to take a seat. A few minutes later, the other students began to trickle in, as they were sharing the classroom with Ravenclaw.

"Alright, class! Welcome to another year of Charms! Today, we'll begin with a simple review..."

"Mate, where were you? We didn't even hear you leave," Blaise asked, settling beside his friend. His eyes widened at the sight of Alaric's pronounced under-eye bags. "Merlin, what happened?"

"Trouble sleeping," Alaric responded dismissively, but Blaise wasn't convinced. He probed further with questions, relenting only when Alaric shot him a dangerous glare.

After revisiting last year's Charm material, Flitwick proceeded to teach the class about the Hardening Charm, Duro, and despite his fatigue, Alaric volunteered to demonstrate the spell.

Lunchtime swiftly arrived, and Theodore joined the two boys after almost dying out of boredom when partnering with a Ravenclaw student in Charms. He, too, noticed Alaric's pallid complexion but refrained from commenting after a warning glance from Blaise.

"Where are the other two?" Theodore asked as they sat down at an empty spot on one of the tables. Either at breakfast or lunch, they could sit wherever they liked. Only at dinner or feasts were the tables divided by houses. 

"Taking Astoria—" Alaric had to yawn mid-sentence. " —for a tour around the castle," 

"Why didn't you go with them?" Blaise asked, taking a bite from a juicy meat pie. "You and the Weasley twins must know the castle better than Filch by now," 

"Barely got out of bed in the morning," Alaric said. "I can show her some interesting places, but not today," 

__________

Alaric climbed up the spiral stairs that led to the Divination classroom. Blaise and Theodore, as well as Daphne and Tracey, had chosen to attend Care instead of Divination on Alaric's suggestion; He knew none of the four had any talent for fortune-telling, and because he feared the Professor was a fraud, he figured they'd spend their time better with magical creatures. 

His mind was a bit clearer than in the morning, although he still found himself being angry at even the smallest of things. Lysandra had yet to appear in front of him, and he was thankful for it. Who knew what could come out of his mouth in a moment of lack of self-control? 

He climbed the last few steps and emerged onto a tiny landing, where most of the class, composed of only Slytherins, was already assembled. There were no doors off this landing, but a lookup was enough for him to spot a circular trap door with a brass plaque on it. 

"Sibyll Trelawney, Divination teacher," it read. 

Twenty minutes were left before the class began, so Alaric decided to take a seat in a corner of the landing. He looked down at his hands, deep in thought. 

It felt as if his closest friend was pulling away. His confidant. His twin sister. Deep down, he always had the feeling that Lysandra was slowly becoming distant, all the way since the first year. It was all the little things she'd done. The lying, the omission, her not telling him things anymore, the little care she had for the Emporium these days — something they built together. 

There was something their grandfather had told him that always stuck in his mind. There are people you love with your heart and mind. And there are others which you love with your soul; that's the case for family. The mind forgets, and hearts stop, but souls carry on forward. 

It was engraved into his brain like ink on paper, like carvings on stone. It was the ringing in his ears, the white noise in his silence. Family above all. 

But then he stopped to wonder. Did his twin even feel the same? Had she ever cared for family as much as he did? Was Lysandra truly the person Alaric could place all of his trust in? 

He looked at his ring again. It was mostly symbolic for him — it reminded him of a time when all he ever had as a friend was her. But to Lysandra, he guessed it was simply out of convenience. She would only use the ring whenever she needed help with something, or when she wanted to know where he was, to ask him for something.

Alaric understood now. It wasn't the clothes that bothered him. What clawed at him from the inside was the feeling of replacement he got. Lysandra seemed to care more for her friends than her twin brother. Alaric cared deeply for his friends, but his sister was always slightly above them. But not anymore. 

The magic within the ring trembled. If it was that cheap to her, then he didn't need it.

Furiously, he took the ring out of his hand. It seemed to lose a bit of colour when it left his finger. Without a care, he threw it through the crack of an open window in front of him. 

She had made it clear how much she truly cared. So be it. All the plans, all the dreams, he would do it all by himself. Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, and Theodore would always be in his heart, but this was something only he could do. He didn't need anyone else. 

Adults were never an option. Albus and Aberforth wouldn't let him, much less Isadora. They'd rather dismantle all of Alaric's operation if it meant to keep him safe. The one that could help him was behind bars. But now with Lysandra gone, he wouldn't have to stop himself from doing what he always wanted to do since the beginning. The list of names and backgrounds he got from Fudge wasn't just for show. 

The Emporium was never only about the gold. It was about establishing a footstep in the Wizarding Society. Since the first year they've known Voldemort was never gone; He was still out there, gaining back his power. And even if he couldn't stop him, Alaric would do everything remotely possible to cripple him along the way. 

Of course, that would have to wait until the end of the year. He could begin with the preparations, but first, he had a Divination class to attend.

**********

A/N: This has been cooking since the very first few chapters of the First Year. And it had to be done. I had first planned to do a long angst-filled conflict leading to their fallout, but I decided to go this way. After all, it's the little things that show how much one cares for another. Of course, you have to understand, that the last section of the chapter was all inside Alaric's head, so we're basically seeing his thoughts and events through tinted glasses. Things might be different than he actually believes. Keep that in mind. 

On a happier note, as much as I love drama, too much is too much. Interpret that as you'd like. 

Fun fact! Fred and George Weasley, perpetual jokers, were born on April Fools' Day.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!