The Other Potter

Inure

Inure; to accept or grow accustomed to something undesirable.

It was the quidditch final and everyone was buzzing around hyped for the game. Normally Elijah took games in his stride with just a touch of nerves to keep him in check, but on days where it was Slytherin vs Gryffindor, well that was another story altogether. If Gryffindor was playing, then it meant his parents were to be in the stands, and usually if Gryffindor wasn't playing Slytherin he could avoid them. Alas, no such luck today. It also didn't help that all week he'd been reminded of the scouts coming to his last game of the season.

He sat at the Slytherin table, trying to force down a bowl of porridge, but his appetite was nonexistent. Pushing the food around the bowl as if it would miraculously give him a sense of hunger. His hands shaking slightly, he'd been up all night antagonising over a run in with his parents, and now dark circles sat under his pretty eyes.

Alix sat beside him, gently nudging him to pull him out of his daze. She made sure the other boys were deep in another conversation before talking to her friend. "You ok?" she asked softly, though she already knew the answer.

"I haven't really spoken to them since the friendly against Gryffindor at the beginning of the year. Other than the birthday card, Christmas card and the few howlers, I've heard nothing. If dad is going to try and talk to me, it not going to end well." He sighed, running a hand through his messy black hair. "Normally I'd have received one or two letters from mum by this point in the school year, so to hear nothing from them, even when my report came out.." He shook his head. "I think they are really pissed off."

"They have no right to be angry at you, Elijah. You've done nothing wrong, all you've done is not  reply to the Howlers." She argued, looking up to see Lucas sliding on the other side Elijah. "You've got us here remember? Lucas and Cedric will be in the stands with Ezra and I'll be by your side. Your parents be damned."

"They are back?" Lucas asked, his own long black hair a lot neater than Elijahs. "Do they ever miss one of Harry's games? Do you think they will try to talk to you?"

"Not to my knowledge, but I stopped sitting in Gryffindors stands when Harry plays, so maybe they've missed one or two." he sighed, finally giving up on eating, letting the spoon fall back into the bowl as he pushed it away. "Dad won't be able to help himself, especially with the amount of fights I've been getting into recently." he sighed, rubbing his face with his hands, his knuckles still healing from the last fight he'd gotten into with some seventh year Slytherin who thought it was funny to laugh about Lupins clothes and scars.

"You could just stop fighting people." Lucas commented, a small smile playing on his lips. He was trying to lighten the mood, but he when it came to his parents Elijah was hard to talk down.

"I would if people stopped pissing me off." he grumbled, letting out a heavy sigh. He could use magic, but he personally found that it was always more affective to throw a punch a wizard. They never really knew how to defend themselves against hand to hand combat. Plus, he could control himself with punches, but magic.. He could potentially kill someone if they pushed the right buttons. It was an added bonus that it wound James up that his son, a wizard, chose to fight with fists instead of a wand.

"You never did tell me what that seventh year actually said." Alix hummed. Though she knew a lot of people saw Elijah as someone who was hot headed and lashed out at any and everything, it was the furthest thing from the truth, her friend under normal circumstances would do anything for anyone, but the second someone insulted or threatened someone he cared about he'd see red and start swinging. He was far too protective for his own good.