Magical Hogwarts

 

Early December, 2004 | Hogsmeade

Alexander was a bit excited about this date, despite it being only for a dare. He didn’t know Perpetua that well, not from previous experiences or from general gossip. He didn’t know what to expect, and this was exciting for the Slytherin. He liked new and exciting experiences. He had dressed sharply, wearing a cool grey button-up shirt with a jacket, straight-legged trousers, and expensive dragon hide boots. He had slicked back his hair, and collected a flower from the greenhouses to give her as they met by the gates. Dare or no dare, Alexander wasn’t someone to do things partway. If they would be going on a date, then Alex was determined to make sure the date was as nice as he could muster up.

He spotted Perpetua in the distance, and walked towards her to close the distance quicker. He smiled warmly at her, presenting her with the flower. “For you.” He smiled, catching her eye briefly. “I don’t have much planned for today, so we can take things by ear, doing whatever you’d like to do.” He assured. “I do want to stop by the Three Broomsticks for a drink at some point, but it doesn’t have to be soon. Their Holiday Butterbeer is well-spiced, and that’s my favorite of the season.” He explained.

“Any idea what you’d like to do first?” He offered his hand, though he didn’t necessarily think she would take it.

@Perpetua Robbins

 Why had she agreed to go on a date with Alexander?

There had to be a catch. She could already imagine how he stood her up and how she’d find him later with his friends, laughing at her. And yet, Perpetua was there, brushing her hair again and again and honestly contemplating whether she’d wear it down or tie it up as usual. The girl scolded herself for being this silly but still chose to keep her hair down.

The chances that Alexander Zhen was interested in her, even liked her, were inexistent. He was only making fun of her. He had to. Why would a popular guy like he wanted to go on a date with her?

She felt the weight of her glasses more than usual. She pushed the big frame up her nose and wondered if guys liked glasses and then caught herself thinking whether the glasses would be a hindrance if they kissed. She felt how her cheeks heated and shook her head. There was no chance that she’d ever kiss Alexander Zhen.

Since the girl had no fashionable clothes, she had decided to wear her school uniform and an old woollen coat that her sister had handed down a while ago. She had spotted Alexander quickly and when he, too, saw her, he walked towards her. The girl was surprised to say the very least and when he gave her a flower, she was actually lost for anything clever to say. She just took the flower, muttered a “thanks”, and stared at it as if it was something she’d never seen before.

Only when he asked her a question, Perpetua realised that she needed to talk to him. She shrugged. “No, I don’t really know…” she hadn’t made plans because she had felt that the date would never really happen. “The Holiday Butterbeer sounds nice, though,” Truth be told, Perpetua didn’t like spiced butterbeer at all. However, if they went to the Three Broomsticks first that would give her some time to think of something else and besides, she’d see if he really wanted to be seen in public with her.

He had offered his hand and for a brief moment she had considered taking it but then Perpetua had chickened out and put her free hand into the pocket of her coat.
 

 Alexander was a little surprised to see that Perpetua had worn her school uniform and hadn’t really dressed up, but he didn’t say anything about it. Her uniform looked nice on her. Despite it all, it did fit very well, hugged her semblance of curves. She wasn’t particularly curvy or particularly—anything—but he found that she was prettier than people typically thought of her as being. It was mostly her ill-suited, thick glasses that made others reject her by sight. Underneath, she was a pretty girl. With different lenses, or contacts, he thought she would be quite fair.

He noticed he caught her a little off-guard with the flower, but didn’t stick too hard on it. He was an easygoing person, mostly, and didn’t let much phase him. She didn’t seem to know what to do or say, and belatedly he realized that this might be her first date after-all. He didn’t know why that surprised him so much, but he was determined to make it a nice date regardless of his intentions for asking her out. Of course, he had the feeling Bran had expected him to stand her up—but Alex wasn’t that type of guy. He was fickle, changing his mind often, but he wasn’t intentionally cruel to people. He wouldn’t ask a girl out and not give his best shot. He couldn’t do things halfway.

“Holiday butterbeer it is, then.” He was not surprised when she didn’t take his hand, so he put it casually into his pocket as he walked alongside her towards the Three Broomsticks.

“You have any plans for the holiday?” He asked, after a long moment. “I think my parents will be taking me somewhere, but I’m not sure where yet—hopefully somewhere warm, maybe tropical.” He laughed. They didn’t always travel over Christmas, but he liked the idea of getting out of the cold for once. “My family celebrates Christmas and New Year’s, I guess, but we really go wild for the Chinese New Year, which is later on in January usually. February, this year, I think. They never let me out of school for it, though, so I always miss the party.” He laughed lightly.

It didn’t take long before they made it to the shop, and he went up to the counter. “Ladies first.” He offered, waiting for her to place her order.

 The dominant thoughts on Perpetua’s mind all started with the word ‘why’. ‘Why had Alex asked her out in the first place?’, ‘Why had he dressed up like this?’, ‘Why had he brought her a flower?’. The most simple answer to this question was that he liked her and wanted to get to know her better and make a good impression himself. However, that, to Perpetua, seemed to be the least plausible answer.

They walked towards the Three Broomsticks and Perpetua was more than aware that if he didn’t take the initiative she would just remain entirely silent all the way there. The girl’s principle was not to speak if she didn’t have anything to say. Just talking for the sake of avoiding silence was not her forte.

“I’ll be home for the holidays,” Perpetua said, her voice not sounding enthusiastic at all. She’d see her step brother there and her sister who hopefully found a job by now because if she hadn’t, she knew what her mother would be going on about all the time. Alex surely had the better holidays coming up.

“You travel over Christmas?” It shouldn’t surprise her, really. Alexander lived a completely different life from hers and yet, she was astonished to hear that he travelled. However, it made more sense as he spoke about the traditional Chinese celebrations which didn’t coincide with Christmas as it was celebrated in Britain.

“In my family Christmas is always celebrated at home,” she admitted, “and you have to spend the holidays with the family whether you like it or not.” Although she tried to keep her voice neutral, a good observer might be able notice in her facial expression that she did not like to spend the holidays with her family.
 

 Alexander could see that the holiday talk was not quite what Perpetua wanted to talk about. As she mentioned, holidays were with the family—whether you like it or not—it seemed to imply that she, herself, did not. Alexander could not relate. He adored his family. Being the only son, the only child, family time was often focused on him, and occasionally his own parents. His father worked hard, even during the holidays typically, so Alexander was used to being relatively on his own, with just his mother, or even just his grandmother during the holiday season. They would occasionally take Alexander along on their vacations, but would just as soon leave him at home. He didn’t mind it, though. He always had something to do and was well-compensated for any time he was left bored.

He wondered what made Perpetua weary about the holidays and time with her family. He was one of few people that was aware that Bran and Perpetua were soon-to-be siblings, and wondered if Brandon had anything to do with her reasons for being u happy. Brandon was a little mean-spirited towards her, and Alexander did not quite understand the animosity. She was so demure and soft-spirited, he wondered how anyone could feel much passion towards her in any way, let alone a seething hatred.

“You live at home with Brandon Lennox, don’t you?” He offered, giving himself away a tiny bit, but not really thinking about it. “I don’t know what his problem is with you, but I hope that he treats you decently this holiday season. I’ve never seen him quite as insensitive as he is where you are concerned.” He offered, with a little frown. He got their drinks, paid, and brought them off to a small corner to sit down across from her. “Is that one of the reasons you seem so weary about spending time with your family. I guess, if he was going to be my brother, I would be put off too.”

Glancing at Alexander, Perpetua thought that he seemed to be content with his life and that was impressive. She had never felt happy about who she was and since her mother lived with Brandon’s father, she didn’t like being at home anymore either. Her mother had often told her that it was typical for teenagers to struggle and dislike many things but Perpetua thought that her mother just didn’t get her and liked to generalise things in order to avoid the actual problem. Anyway, if her mother’s theory about teenagers was right, then Alexander was an atypical teenager.

As she still thought about how happy Alexander seemed to be with his life, he mentioned Brandon and Perpetua stopped in her tracks to look at him. She was somehow taken aback by his question and at the same time she felt that, maybe, Alexander could understand why she was wary of the Gryffindor.

“Yes…” Perpetua confirmed, wondering if Brandon ran around complaining about her or if Alexander and he were actually close enough friends that he’d tell him something he’d otherwise try to keep a secret.

“Thanks,” she responded as he went on, feeling somehow embarrassed that he felt the need to say that he hoped that her almost stepbrother treated her decently. It made her feel weak, weaker than she already felt anyway.

When Alexander paid for their drinks, Perpetua almost wanted to pay him back for hers but decided that that would likely just cause a scene and be even more awkward than she felt about him inviting her.

He asked another question and mentioned that he wouldn’t want Brandon as his stepbrother either. It felt like a trap and so Perpetua was reluctant to respond. “Well,” she shrugged, “I guess we just don’t see eye to eye… It’s strange to share a home with people you do not…” she stopped herself just before she said the word ‘trust’ and feverishly thought about an alternative phrasing.. “feel close to.”


[sorry for the delay <33]

Content was not the word Alexander would have used to describe his own relationship with his life. He was a Slytherin, after all, and very ambitious. He wanted to experience a lot of things, but mostly he was happy, at least where his family was concerned. He got plenty of attention and any material thing he desired, within a certain modicum of reason. He liked knowing what he was planning to do with his life. He had been training to be a businessman for his whole life, and knowing this had helped him make decisions about what he wanted to do with himself. To say he was content was a slight misspeak, but he was happy with the trajectory, at least.

He shrugged a little, noticing that Brandon was a bit of a tense topic for Perpetua. He understood that, for sure, and tried to steer away from the topic. “I guess, yeah.” He admitted. “I don’t have siblings, so I can’t say for sure what things might be like if I did–or if I suddenly had a new one.” He admitted. “But hey, if you’re bored on New Years, I might have a party at my house. You’re welcome to come, if you’d like. I don’t know who all will be coming, or if I am actually going to host something or not, but keep me informed if you have nothing better to do. I’ll keep you entertained.” He grinned.

“Anyway, Perpetua.” He smiled at her. “You looking forward to anything special in the New Year?” He wondered. “Any plans or resolutions you are hoping to keep?” He asked. “I am hoping Slytherin takes the Quidditch cup, but who knows what’s up. I think I only want it because they made me captain this year, not that I expected it. I suppose there was no one better. Benjamin is probably a better player than me, but he was Head Boy, so they can’t quite give him both–you know?”

“I’m going to graduate this spring, and I’m nervous and excited for what life will bring after that. You have one more year, don’t you? Are you turning seventeen soon? Or have you already?”

Perpetua couldn't say yet whether or not she liked Alexander. He was treating her kindly, but the girl was still wary. She couldn’t understand why a handsome, popular guy who was satisfied with his position in life would want to spend time with her. She felt like the total opposite of him and did not believe in opposites attracting each other, not opposites like them anyway. From her experience, people only pretended to be nice to her in order to fool her later. She hated her own distrust and vulnerability, but she felt she needed to protect herself.

Alexander told her that he was an only child and Perpetua found herself wondering how that would be. She didn’t mind her real sister much, they got along well enough, her soon to be step brother was her problem and maybe, had they lived together from an early age on, they might have grown mutually accepting each other.

Before she could think about this thoroughly, though, Alexander said something that almost made her choke on her drink. She looked at him through thick glasses, wondering if she had heard right or if her drink was drugged and made her hallucinate.

"Are you serious?" She bit her lip, feeling how her cheeks reddened after she asked the question. How pathetic was she, really. She knew that, no matter what he'd say, she would still mistrust him and yet, the prospect of being away for New Year's Eve was not at all appalling. Maybe she could take him up on this. After all, it couldn't be worse than having to be around Brandon.

Was she looking forward to anything in the new year? Perpetua thought about it briefly as she listened to Alexander talking about Quidditch and graduation. Alexander was really good at keeping a conversation going. When she was hesitating to reply, he just went on talking and asking more questions.

“I’ll turn seventeen in the summer,” Perpetua said, “and yes, I’m still in sixth year.” She was giving information reluctantly but it was hard for her to open up.