End of Sallow

Before you start a war, you better know what you're fighting for.

CW: THEO THINKS ABOUT SMOOTSMOOT ALOT.

"Run at the wall?" Theo asked, dubious, looking up at Alec who was grinning, as usual.

"Did I fuckin' stutter?"

"You never stutter, but you do pull pranks," Theo retorted with a glare that held no heat behind it.

"Just go. Run." He said, giving Theo a gentle shove, and Theo took a deep breath before he did as he was told. He braced for impact, squeezing his eyes closed, but he felt a gush of air and heard people chattering about excitedly.

He opened his eyes and glanced around to see a whole new train station and grinned. Alec hadn't been messing with him. It was amaz-

Someone crashed into his back, knocking him forward over his trolley, and knocking the wind from his lungs.

"Are ya mental?" He heard Alec's laughter behind him. "Don't just stand in front of the fuckin' wall, dolt."

"Right," Theo wheezed as he breathed and moved closer to the train.

Alec took over from there, instructing him to grab his bags, showing him where they were stowed and steering him onto the train. They found a compartment that was full of boys Alec's age, who greeted him like a brother. They all had on robes that had a red symbol that matched Alec's own robes.

Theo's robes did not yet have any symbol, and he wondered if his would be red, like Alec's. He and Alec took a seat in the cramped compartment, but Theo didn't mind it. It was like Alec was in his element. He was always popular, he drew people in, whereas Theo mostly kept to himself.

"Who's this?" One of the boys asked, looking at Theo with a friendly grin.

"This," Alec said, grabbing Theo's shoulder and gently giving him a shake. "Is my brother. Theodore Hawke."

Theo felt his chest swell with pride.

"How do you have a brother with a different last name, Gunn?" Theo heard a drawl and glanced over towards the window on the same bench as he and Alec. He realized then he'd missed two boys with a green symbol on their robes.

"Mind yer fuckin' business, Malfoy," Alec said easily, "leave my mother outta this."

The boys with the red symbols laughed at Alec's joke, and Theo forced a smile, but he noticed the boy who had spoken up was studying him hard. He looked maybe a year younger than Alec, and he was studying Theo, looking at him like Podex usually did. Like he was something he wanted to take apart to see how he worked.

It made him nervous, and he quickly sat back in his seat so that the boy couldn't see him.

"Who invited the snake anyway?" Alec groaned.

"Hey, Ahmaru's different, cut him some slack," one of the boys said, and they dissolved into playful banter about snakes and lions, whatever that meant.

Alec pulled Theo into the conversation several times, and Theo found himself grinning right alongside Alec, swapping stories about their summers and making jokes.

Once the train pulled into the station, Alec pointed to where the first years were. He ruffled Theo's hair before telling him he'd see him later and joining his friends.

Theo took a deep breath and joined the other students. They all looked more excited than nervous, whereas he felt more nervous than excited.

Would he meet friends? He was hopeful he would, but friends had always been hard for him. He kept to himself too much, too nervous to break that vow that Podex had him take. As selfish as it was, he didn't want to die.