Arguably Pretentious

ch 5

Across the barrier between 9 and 10 on September 1st, 1994, swarms of young witches and wizards sped about in search of their friends after bidding their families farewell. It was a maze of trolleys, peculiar animals, and robes. Hermione stood, staring at the wall from which she had ran through 16 minutes prior.

As soon as he had passed through, Hermione threw herself at Elias and engulfed him in probably the tightest hug the boy had ever received.

He just barely managed to choke out an, "I missed you too, ya screwball."

She finally released him from the embrace but grabbed him tightly by the shoulders, shaking him hard enough to rattle his brain. "You didn't write me on your birthday! I was worried!"

Elias held his hands up to defend himself and shrank back a bit. "Dad wouldn't let me send anymore letters! He placed a strict owl embargo on the house and if he caught me transgressing he would've snapped my wand in half. He said they were disturbing the neighbors!"

"The neighbors can shove it," she huffed and fixed the collar of his white turtleneck before taking hold of her trolley and walking with Elias so that they could both drop theirs off with all of the other student's belongings.

It was the start of term for their 4th year at Hogwarts and Elias had hit a smidgen of a growth spurt over the summer. He stood at approximately 170cm tall, finally overtaking Ron in height. The ginger had experienced his own growth the year prior.

Hermione had somewhat matured in the face and learned about hair products. Her thick brunette waves finally appearing more sleek and healthy.

The pair boarded the train together and started down the isle toward their usual compartment to join Harry, Ron, and Seamus. Almost instantly, Hermione let out an "Ugh!" and doubled back.

"What crawled up your arse?" Elias stopped in his tracks and turned with an eyebrow raised.

"Forgot my book. I'll be right back. Go on ahead without me!" She shooed him off.

"Alright, I'll meet you," Elias answered before turning back around.

Straight away, he slammed into someone and stumbled back about two steps.

"Watch it!"

Elias fixed his hair before examining the poor soul he had nearly toppled over.

"Awh, Its lovely to see you too, Draco. Hope I didn't scuff your shoes. Daddy wouldn't be too happy with that now, would he?" Elias held back a small laugh and poked out his bottom lip in mockery.

Draco scowled and brushed off his shirt as if he was trying to clean off any filth Elias had left him with.

Unfortunately, Draco had a bit of a growth spurt himself. He stepped forward and jabbed a finger into Elias's chest, standing at least two inches taller than him. It took him a few seconds to speak, clenching his jaw, "Don't push it, Eldridge. Don't."

Elias wiggled his fingers in Malfoy's face, "Oooooo, scary. See you at the feast, mate!"

With that, Elias patted Draco firmly on the shoulder and ushered him to the side, brushing past him and not looking back.

Elias had come a very long way since his first year. He was at the top of his class alongside Hermione and a lot of people outside of his own house liked him. They knew him as intelligent, amusing despite his dulcet tones and inability to read social cues, and uncharacteristically kind for a Slytherin. He had grown thick skin and refused to let anyone belittle him at school

But home was a different story.

He would only visit his family for Christmas and Summer, but he wished that he could just stay at Hogwarts year-round. He had grown even farther from his family and the only sibling left in the home was Jordan. His father avoided him like the plague and only spoke to him to disparage the boy. His mum did the bare minimum. Fed, clothed, and made sure he had school supplies, but she was at the mercy of her husband as well.