Attempts at Forced Learning

Hermione couldn't believe what she was seeing. Alexander had already lost them points just last lesson, in charms, making half the points she worked so hard to earn for them worthless. And he had gotten detention for himself for that matter, but at least that detention was a deserved punishment rather than one he subjected their entire house to just because he couldn't be a decent student. But honestly, how could he just lose all the points she won them by openly reading a book completely unrelated to charms right in front of Professor Flitwick!

She had to put a stop to him, because surely, if she did, then Professor McGonagall would be more lenient in taking points from them. And maybe, if all of them were lucky, Alexander included, he'd learn his lesson, and become a better student this time around. 

Hermione tried to ignore the small flame of vindictive satisfaction burning within her at the thought that maybe he'd finally have to try not being the most beloved person in a room for once when he cost them points once again. 

Besides, he did need to focus in transmutation class. It was a dangerous branch of magic, and he could end up seriously hurt when they performed advanced spells later if he didn't learn the fundamentals now. And, well, she didn't want to see him get hurt. Just- just a bit embarrassed.

She gave another look to his little scheming set up. The students were seated in tiered benches around the middle, where Professor McGonagall lectured on soft-to-hard and hard-to-soft wand movements in transmutation. It was a bit akin to an auditorium, except with more space in the middle of the room, and only three tiers of benches with tables for students along the three walls of the room not taken by the blackboard. The benches and tables themselves were beautiful and carved with great care, and Hermione almost couldn't help but sniff in dismay when she so often saw students carelessly leaning over the tables as they vacantly stared at Professor McGonagall. 

Or even at the paintings, antlers or even the wallpaper which bedecked the walls above the oaken panelling, if they were particularly empty minded.

Alexander was sitting two seats down from her in the first row, which was how she spotted that he was actually reading a book on sheet music for some idiotic reason. His book was leaning against two other text books, so that it's contents weren't visible to professor McGonagall, and he scribbled quickly in his notebook in front of him, as he glanced between the professor and his book, to try and make it seem as though he was actually paying attention.

Hermione waited for a break in Professor McGonagall's lecture, before raising her hand swiftly into the air as far as it would go, so that she would quickly be noticed, and wouldn't be a distraction from class for too long.

Professor McGonagall's gaze flicked to her immediately, just as planned, and her brow rose in question as she spoke.

"Yes, Miss Granger? Do you have a question regarding my lecture on wand movements, or is your question of a more advanced nature?" The Professor asked, a glint of pride in her eyes and a slight smile on her lips as she questioned if one from her house once again had an advanced question in need of answering. Hermione preened at that attention but did not allow herself to be carried away by it.

Hermione drew in a deep breath as she prepared to answer. She was sure that Alexander would not like her for this, but it was for his own good. "No, Professor. I just wanted to inform you that Alexander isn't actually paying attention. He got someone to rebind his book, and is actually looking at sheet music."

The quiet hum that was almost always in all the classes Hermione had ever been in stopped, as people turned their attention from the wallpaper to the three of them. Hermione knew this wouldn't exactly make her more popular, and she probably could have done it more quietly if she wished, but everyone at Hogwarts would be able to figure out that she was the only one not charmed by Alexander's antics anyways, so why would it matter.

Besides. It wasn't like she had any friends to lose… And-… And she wasn't on track to make any either, even as Alexander seemed to make half a hundred every day. 

Hermione ignored the pang of loneliness and jealousy that rang through her at that thought, and shoved it down with the rest. 

So what if she still had no friends after two weeks here.

McGonagall's lips drew into a tight line as she briefly glanced at Hermione, and she almost seemed… disappointed? In her? But, no, that couldn't be it. She was being a model student who helped her peers learn, even if they were too childish to see that. Professor McGonagall had to see that. She was surely dissatisfied with Alexander.

Alexander himself froze in his seat, for a moment, before he almost turned his head towards her. But he stopped when his gaze met Professor McGonagall's instead of continuing around to Hermione. 

Even if it was a halting, unnatural stop. 

She wasn't quite sure why he did that. Even less so why he was smiling as though there was some joke only he knew about. Although, it was a very strained smile, right at that moment, rather than the easy, stupidly charming ones he usually bore that Hermione couldn't even slightly mimic when she tried late at night before the mirror.

Professor McGonagall was frowning down at Alexander, as was right, before she looked down at where his 'transmutation book' was propped against a couple of his other books. A frown creased her features, and Hermione felt guilt start to worm around in her stomach. But he needed to learn. She was doing him a favour. Better he be caught now than later, when he was behind with nothing to show for it except even more lost points.

Still, as Professor McGonagall stood above him, in her sleekly cut pine green robes and with the dark blouse beneath, she looked far taller and more fearsome than she normally would, even from where Hermione sat. The great big pointed hat perched atop her head didn't really help, either. Neither did the ever so slightly intimidating quality that her dark hair streaked with grey gave her.

Guilt further roiled. Professor McGonagall looked far more displeased than Hermione had wanted or imagined. Was this punished more harshly at Hogwarts than she had imagined? Had she hurt another student?

Hermione almost deflated in relief when she noticed McGonagall simply reach down for Alexander's 'transmutation' book, and turn it in her hand, before flicking through a couple of pages, and looking closely at the binding. Then she tapped the book soundlessly with her wand. Hermione sighed. She was only curious, and just looked more fierce than Hermione was used to.

"Did you manage to magically rebind a book already, Mr. Alexander? I usually only start watching for this particular scheme around the second year, never mind the third week." Professor McGonagall asked, mildly curious, and slightly impressed. Which was just ludicrous to Hermione. Not only had he been slacking off in class during a very important time, he also damaged his book!

Alexander leaned back on the bench he sat on, crossing his arms behind his head as he rested without a care in the world. Like there was a secret only he knew of. Hermione bet he also had his eyes closed. The gall.

"Well, no," He said, yet Hermione noticed his lip quirking into a slight smirk then, before he almost absentmindedly continued to say that "Of course, I did fairly purchase the rebinding from Fred and George Weasley, for a grand total price of six Weasley-Bucks," with utter confidence, as if he hadn't just named some stupid made-up nonsense.

McGonagall seemed to agree with her assessment, as she was stunned for a moment. A pause that Harry Potter immediately jumped into as he confusedly asked, "Weasley-buck? What's a Weasley-buck?" while Ron's ears reddened beside Harry, as many glanced at him as if that would reveal the secret. 

Alexander then turned to Harry, while completely ignoring Professor McGonagall. The gall!

"Harry, I'm glad you asked," Alexander said, while his smile became both more natural, and more sleazy at the same time, "You see, a Weasley-Buck is a brand new fiat currency exclusive to Hogwarts, that has, with its cutting edge administration techniques, ensured a transparent transaction safety record and accountability level greater even than that achieved by Gringotts itself." His gestures were sharp, and steady, and his tone was confident, clear and excited in a way that it almost convinced even Hermione that the currency wasn't utter hogwash. 

Still, it was decently entertaining, she supposed. Harry and everyone else seemed bemused at least. As did Professor McGonagall. But, still, it was the middle of class for heaven's sake.

"And do you know what the best part about this phenomenal idea is? It isn't just some distant opportunity that you are too late for, it is something that is growing, and reaching its grand potential right here and now. Which means that even a modest investment will turn out big profits." Alexander spoke in a loud whisper, as if he was letting everyone in on some secret, not deterred even as Harry, and several others, snorted in derision.

Alexander continued after a small pause, leaning back slightly as he pulled away from Harry.

"Of course, if you don't want to get involved, then we don't need you. I mean, this is a concept, a cultural revolution, too great to stop. If you would rather climb the ladder than get in the elevator at the ground floor, then I suppose that is your decision, even if it tears me up to see a friend pass by such a chance," Alexander said, shaking his head in disappointment at what could have been, to further laughter from around the room. It seemed he had the whole class hanging at his every word.

And Harry apparently decided to play along. He reached into his bag and casually withdrew three actual galleons, as though he didn't know their value, and handed them to Alexander as he spoke in an amused tone. "Alright then, how many Weasley-Bucks can I get for five galleons?"

Alexander's blonde bun of hair bobbed a bit as he straightened up, and Hermione couldn't help but once again notice how he still wore only an old worn shirt rather than the uniform. Of course, he also had detention every other day as teachers kept insisting he tell his parents to send him a uniform, and he refused to. Although, at this point, it seemed as though many teachers had been worn down through pity for Alexander's lack of free nights, or exhaustion at spending so much time having detentions with him that they started to ignore the issue of his improper state of dress. She'd also heard rumours of Alexander giving teachers 'favours' of some sort in exchange for them 'overlooking' his breach of the rules.

"Why, Harry, for that sort of money, I reckon you could get yourself I tidy sum of three thousand Weasley-Bucks." Alexander said, snatching the galleons from his hand.

Then he immediately turned away, and started to rummage around in his bag for something, and completely ignoring Harry.

"Uh, so, what can I use my Weasley-Bucks on?" Harry asked, poking at Alexander, and making him turn around once again.

"Nothing," Alexander said, shrugging with an expression that screamed of pity, resignation, and condescendence and… was that a tiny smirk of satisfaction? "Look, Harry, my hands are tied. It is official codified Weasley-Buck economy standard that a service cannot be repriced based on the wealth of the patron, and given that the most expensive transaction as of yet was the twins hiring me for two hours for ten Weasley-Bucks, that would mean that unless I back out right now, I would be forced to work for you for six hundred hours. You can see why that isn't acceptable, right? And with me gone? Well, I'm the entire Weasley-Buck economical infrastructure, so the entire currency has collapsed, and transactions can no longer be processed." He said, shrugging once again as though there was truly nothing to be done, as snickers sounded all throughout the class.

"But, hey!" Alexander gave Harry a friendly and very patronising pat on the shoulder as he spoke in a bright, conciliatory tone, "At least you get a valuable lesson, right? New currencies are fragile things, even the best thought out ones, which ours certainly wasn't, which you didn't even bother to question. Really, isn't that sort of lesson worth a bit of embarrassment Harry? A wise man would certainly think so, at least." 

They held eye contact for a moment longer, as the snickers, giggles, and laughter only got louder, before Harry hesitantly spoke. "Sooo… Am I getting my galleons back?"

Alexander smiled at Harry, gave his shoulder two quick pats with his hand that still rested there, and pulled it away. His smile was charming, caring, affectionate, and almost tender, to such a point that even Hermione had to supress a snort as he opened his mouth to say a quick and blunt, "No."

Then he just spun around, snatched his book from Professor McGonagall, turned his back to Harry and, incidentally, to Hermione, and started to read while now completely ignoring Harry as he returned his attention to his book. 

Well, it wasn't like Harry was trying to get his attention anyways. He was too busy laughing with Ron.

The rest of the room also broke out in raucous laughter then, and even Professor McGonagall smiled as she tried to calm the class to resume the lesson, while Alexander escaped with no punishment at all, only having to get out the right book and actually pay attention now. 

At least that was one good thing, Hermione reasoned. He was paying attention, and they didn't lose any points.

Eventually, evening came, and it saw Hermione sitting at her usual corner table in the common room, practicing an utterly fascinating spell she had found just that very day during the lunch period, which she spent at the library. 

She had, at the time, decided to avoid the great hall, at least until dinner, so that she could avoid the glares sure to meet her for daring to stand against their precious Alexander, even though it was for his own good.

Later, she could not help but feel that perhaps it was the wrong path to have taken, or the very right one, for all throughout the day, people from her house and even other houses had been peculiarly welcoming and friendly towards her, in a way they had not been just that very morning. Hermione was sure that the strange turn would disappear soon enough when she behaved with greater maturity than they could appreciate, but even so, it was… nice, to notice people smiling at her and nodding to her as they walked past her table towards the dormitories.

The common room was a large, spacious room, with two entire balcony levels along the walls of the room so that there were three floors for the many Gryffindors to occupy. The railings of the balconies were, of course, warded to prevent anyone from falling, with further wards so that sound didn't truly carry between floors as anything more than a murmur. The common room had red accented with gold everywhere, with dark woods used as a base to contrast the bright red of the plush chairs, tapestries or carpets with all their shiny gold accents. The common room was, all in all, a homey, relaxing place, an atmosphere only furthered by the low crackle of the many fires - which magically never burned too hot - and the quiet murmur of students talking, laughing, and being merry.

Hermione looked out at all the studens clad in red, gold, and black, each laughing, smiling, or relaxing in the mere presence of their friends as they played games, worked on assignments, or simply lay about, and scowled at the empty chairs around her. 

She looked down into her book again, referencing the needed wand movements so that she might finally get a handle on the spell. 

It just seemed so useful to neatly align stacks of parchment or paper with only a tap of her wand and a muttered word that she couldn't stop herself, even if it was at a third-year level. She turned her attention to the passage on component interactivity and group effects, before quickly realizing that the true root of the problem with her casting lay in her lack of understanding when it came to cascade casting and perhaps even in her inadequate knowledge of sympathetic pull.

Hermione felt her worries fade as she delved deeper into the mysteries and intricacies behind such a seemingly simple spell. She loved it. She loved the feeling of becoming better at something though learning alone, of seeing a result in the world because of her understanding. It was like when she studied mathematics back in muggle school, but so much more, because here she could see the result, feel it in a way she simply couldn't with math, because the magic in the air, for a short while at least, became hers. And when it was hers, it wasn't like seeing a correct result on a piece of paper, rather it was the feeling - she imagined - of a perfect Salto, of you yourself doing something just right. But she didn't need to build muscle memory. She only needed to learn. And learning was what she was best at.

Her frown smoothed and she vaguely felt her lips pull into a smile as she paged through the book. 

Fascinating. All of it was just utterly fascinating to the point that when she studied, she didn't even feel lonely anymore, she even felt hap-

A thump sounded, as the wood of a chair creaked, and the breathy sound of pillows compressing permeated the air, making Hermione's eyes snap from the book to the seat across from her. Her scowl swiftly returned to her as though it had never left, and she snapped her book shut when she noticed that he was looking at the pages. 

She didn't want to give Alexander any sort of ideas about her or what she did, or any for his rule breaking. Even if she wasn't sure how he might use what she was reading to break the rules.

"That's quite the interesting tome you have there. Might I borrow it after you finish with it? Can't help my curiosity when I see a concept as interesting as sympathetic magic, you know?" Alexander spoke with an easy grin and careless charm as he leaned back into his chair from how he had been sitting, huddled over to spy on her book.

But, well, he was trying to learn, and it was an interesting subject so… "…I suppose you can borrow it when I finish. What are you here for then? To yell at me, or some other childish reaction to me forcing you to take class seriously?" Hermione bit out, her tone clipped and guarded as she waited for whatever he was going to do.

Alexander didn't answer immediately, just looking at her with that same effortless grin he always wore, even as he pulled a mirror from his pocket, and discreetly twisted it around to look for anyone near them. Hermione's concern only grew, and she couldn't help but find the boy a bit… frightening, as he sat and stared at her in the dim light. Was the silver grey of his eyes always so… stark, cold, and… bright? So considering? Calculating? She wasn't sure, but it didn't seem that way. She flushed then, and reminded herself that he was still only eleven like her.

Alexander slipped the small mirror back into the pocket of his shirt, then leaned forwards and steepled his fingers between them.

"See, Hermione, I've not come here to threaten, or yell, or use my mountainous social status, comparatively that is-" He chuckled slightly, though it lacked much of its normal warmth. He could clearly see the humour in calling his position mountainous when he had been there for only a couple weeks. But it also seemed that he had none of the mindset required for appreciating humour at that moment. "-against you. That would be petty, and fundamentally meanspirited, and no matter what this conversation might make you think, I do not believe myself to be either. At least not to such and extent. No, I simply come here to warn you." He smiled at her again, a little broader than his passive grin, and seemingly empathetic, what with the little twist of his lips. The performance was ruined, of course, given that his eyes held only cold deliberation of her - and his - every movement.

He was just about to continue when Hermione cut in, her tone frigid. "An ultimatum, then."

He straightened slightly, his face looking mildly impressed and surprised. "I hadn't expected you to interrupt, nevermind ask for clarification." Hermione scowled a bit further at that. She had made that very much a statement, rather than a question "But, no, I prefer to think of this as something a bit more friendly - perhaps only for the sake of my conscience, but still. No, I was simply going to inform you that I gave you this chance to start fresh. With an advantage, even." He waved offhandedly at the common room as he smiled to her. She found it quite condescending at that moment.

And yet, Hermione… didn't understand. She didn't like not understanding. "What do you mean?" she ground out, only getting more annoyed when he looked at her as though she was a dunderhead. Just because he had a talent for potions didn't mean he was allowed to look at her the way Professor Snape did. Besides, a petty part of her whispered, he whistled while he brewed. Professor Snape certainly didn't like that.

"You know, when you told on me like a rat? And I, rather than take whatever punishment was deemed fitting in exchange for letting you hang yourself socially, took the chance to help you, since I noticed your complete lack of friends in Gryffindor? By making it seem as though you were part of the joke, rather than a hindrance to my enjoyment of life? All of that?" He waved vaguely into the distance, looking as though he was perplexed with even having to explain it.

Hermione bristled angrily as she straightened as far as she could to look down on him "You think you can bribe me with… with a half-baked promise of friendship with idiots who wouldn't even see that I'm in the right? I am quite certain that my standard for friends is higher than those people could meet," Hermione hissed though clenched teeth as her face heated.

Alexander laughed in her face.

"Hermione, please, that is not what I am saying, that is simply the cherry on top. I am saying, that if you try to snitch on me again, I will be delivering this little performance to people when they ask about why there was no joke after you snitched." 

His face shifted. His eyebrows rose in the inner part and fell in the outer part to create a sorrowful tilt to them, and his eyes closed just the slightest bit as though he was wincing in embarrassment and hurt, before his mouth both fell and rose into a sad little smile, as though wistful for things that once were. Then, he spoke, and Hermione just knew that everyone would be eating out of his hand as his voice carried all the feelings his expression told of, and more. 

"I- look, I didn't want to create a scene - at least, not that sort of scene - so I tried to play it off, you know? But, well, to be utterly honest, I never really saw eye to eye with Hermione. She- she sort of wasn't ever involved." He winced then, as though embarrassed at being caught in a lie. "At least not on purpose. I just- I didn't wish to make things more difficult for her, so I may not have been totally honest that first time…" He paused for a moment, looking off at nothing with a slight shake of his head. "I really did try talking to her, the night she first told on me!" There was a defensive note, with a pang of desperation, as though he feared judgement and ostracization, before he quietly continued. "Asked her to stop, politely and everything, but she just… didn't want to, I suppose."

There was a moment of silence, and Hermione felt herself almost quake with rage at what he was doing.

Then, he just… reverted to his usual self. Charming smile, glint of humour in his eyes, rebellious clothing and long, done up hair. No more sad expressions. No more cold calculations.

"So, how was it? I think it might be a bit exaggerated, but I suppose that is what practice is for, don't you agree? Oh, and just lend me you book at your convenience. No need to hurry on my account. After all, I have… plenty, of free time." He winked at her. He winked at her. As though his cheating and lying was just some fun game between the two of them! Then he sauntered off, so arrogantly sure that she would fall in line and let him get away with anything.

And the worst part was, that maybe she would. Maybe she'd let him walk all over her, because maybe it would mean having friends to study with. To laugh with. To finally not feel so alone whenever she was with others her age.

The very next day, she noticed and informed Professor Sinistra that Alexander had been avoiding Astronomy lessons for some time at least, and had been using Polyver Potion to let one of his friends sound like him to answer attendance for him. She just couldn't not tell. No matter what he thought of her, or said to others, it was something he needed. He needed to learn, even if it came at a cost to her. It was for his own good.