The Other Potter

Boiling Over

"So. Fucking. Stupid." he growled, somehow making fire fly from his hands as he paced the Astronomy Tower. It wasn't the first time he'd done wandless magic, it was normally when he felt overwhelming anger, thankfully he only ever did it when alone and in an empty concrete room. This time the flames left scorch marks on the bricks, he turned away leaning on the metal barrier.

"Elijah.." A soft voice spoke, approaching him from the stairs.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and tried his best to hold back the tears that were welling in his eyes. "You shouldn't be here, Alix. Go back and celebrate, you deserve it.. You did great today." he muttered, focusing on trying to make his voice sound nice and even.

She ignored him, moving to lean on the barrier with him, looking over the castle grounds. "What happened?" she asked calmly.

He shook his head, "Just- It doesn't matter.. It's stupid." he swallowed, running a hand through his hair. He didn't know where to start, and he didn't know if he was ready to share everything.

She turned to face him, his eyes had never been clearer more blue, even the one with a partial brown iris seemed so bright when he was teary eyed. "Lijah, please. It was them, wasn't it? What they say?"

The boy sighed, "Nothing, that's the point. I keep trying so hard to be understanding of them, and the fact that Harry is this 'chosen one'.. But nothing, I mean, nothing I do is good enough." he dipped his head down to hide his eyes. "I'm not saying I need much, I don't.. I don't need them to show up at games wearing Slytherin shirts, or to even cheer for me. I'm happy they were here even if it was for Harry. I just, I wish they'd acknowledge me for the good stuff, not just the bad. Today, I won my first quidditch match as captain and impressed some scouts, I even got kissed by the boy I've been crushing on for years and all my father could ask about is the damn fight I got into." he sighed, pushing himself back from the barrier and going back to pacing. "I'm so fucking stupid, Al.. I thought- I thought if I could achieve something good then they wouldn't just see me as their Slytherin son. But, all I am is a disappointment!" he felt his magic flare up again, but he clenched his fists tightly, keeping it in.

Alix smiled softly, slowly and cautiously approaching the boy, she could she the glow in his fists and so she knew she needed to be gentle. "Listen to me, you silly boy. You don't need to prove anything to them. You are the kindest, bravest, cunning, ambitious, most loyal soul I know. You are smarter than all of our friends put together. You may well be the best of all of us." she whispered, slowly reaching out for one of his hands.

Elijah let out a shaky breath, pulling back slightly in fear of hurting her. "Why don't they want to know those sides of me, Al?" he whispered.

She felt her heart break. She hated seeing her friend like this, she had half a mind to march down to the hospital wing and scream at them, but instead she kept her composer. "I don't know, Eli, I really don't." she breathed, turning when she heard someone come up the stairs. Her gaze softened upon seeing Lucas, wondering how much he heard.

"They don't deserve to know those sides of you, love." Lucas hummed, a sad smile on his lips. "If they can't see the best sides of you, then they don't deserve them." He moved toward the younger boy, stopping less than a foot from him, pausing for a moment so he didn't overwhelm him, before pulling him in to a hug.

Burying his head into the others neck, Elijah let out a sob, unclenching his fists to hug Lucas back. He didn't know how much Lucas heard, but right now it wasn't important. He felt himself melt into the others arms. Part of him was relieved to finally have his friends know.

Once the Slytherin boy calmed down, Lucas pulled them to sit at the metal railing, gesturing for Alix to join them. The three of them sat with their legs dangling from the ledge.

"Did you hear everything?" Potter asked quietly, obviously addressing Lucas but he didn't look up, instead he was watching their feet swing.

"Pretty much." The older boy confirmed.

"You could of told us, Eli.. We would have understood." Alix uttered, chewing on her bottom lip.

"I always tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, so I never wanted to tell anyone." he mumbled, not anymore though. No, now he'd make sure if they didn't want to know anything about him, they wouldn't. He wasn't going to give them a thing about himself other than what was out of his control. He'd help and be there for Harry, but come summer he'd try to avoid them like the plague.

"Well, we know now, and whenever you need to talk we about it, we can." The hufflepuff said softly, wrapping an arm around the other boy.

Resting his head on Lucas' shoulder, "Thanks, guys." he sighed, his mind wandering a little. It was always in moments after he lost his temper he try to remember the good times he shared with his parents but recently the more he thought about it he started to think there wasn't many. He and his father had been clashing long before he was sorted into Slytherin, and they'd always focused more on 'The Chosen One'. Lucas was right they didn't deserve to know him, they didn't deserve to see his better qualities if they couldn't accept him with his flaws too.

As the evening escaped them, Elijah drifted into a light sleep, only to be gently shook awake by Lucas a few hours later.

"Hey sleepyhead." The hufflepuff smiled, looking down at him, "As much as I'd love to have you sleep on my lap all night, we beat all get back to our dorms."

Rubbing his eyes the boy nodded, "Yeah, ok.." He whispered, sitting up with a wince, remembering the potion Madam Pomfrey gave him, pulling it out of his pocket and taking it down in one as he got to his feet, offering Lucas and Alix hands up.

They all walked back down the tower stairs, at the entrance from outside the boy spotted a black dog staring at them, tilting his head to the side. "You guys seeing a dog too?" he asked quietly, not wanting to startle the animal.

"Probably Hagrids." Alix mused, pulling her friend away from the door and through the corridors.

"As long as I'm not seeing things." He sighed, "Why was it looking at us like that?"

"Because we are out of bed when we should be in our dorms." Lucas chuckled, "I don't think it is actually targeting us."

They walked Lucas back to the Hufflepuff dorms before heading through the castle towards the Dungeons.

"You think you'll be ok?" Alix finally asked, glancing to her best friend as they stepped into the common room.

Elijah shrugged, "Yeah, always.. I got this far haven't I?" he asked, meeting her gaze with a small smile, "And I've got you guys. It's no big deal. I think I've realised, I don't have to be sorry for leaving and growing up, when they were never really there to begin with."

The girl smiled, guiding them into the dorms, "I'll see you tomorrow then, Eli."

"See you tomorrow.. And thanks again, Al." he hummed, making his way down the corridor to his dorm room. Thankfully all the boys were already asleep, and after getting changed he join them. He'd celebrate with them tomorrow.