Harry Potter : Next Generation

Chapter 9 Albus

The next day we ate breakfast at the Gryffindor table again. I knew Rosie wouldn't want to sit with all the Slytherin girls flirting with Scorp (though a few Gryffindor girls seemed to be planning on doing the same) and Scorp and I didn't know anyone at the Ravenclaw table. Besides Alyssa but we weren't really friends.

"By the way" Rose told me, interrupting my thoughts, "Alyssa said yes and she'll meet you in the library after breakfast. And for future reference, you really shouldn't have me ask girls out for you. It's quite sad." She gave me a fake sympathetic smile.

I scowled at her, "I wasn't asking her out. I need help in potions and apparently you're too busy to help me."

"Yeah sure" Scorp chimed in.

"Speaking of which Scorp, don't you have someone to meet up with today?" I wiggles my eyebrows suggestively.

"Good point" he said, before shoveling the rest of his food into his mouth, "I'll see you guys later." He practically ran out of the Great Hall.

Rose scowled at me now.

"What's wrong Rosie? Jealous?"

"No" she glared at me fiercely, "but Scorp promised to help me study for the Arithmancy test tomorrow."

"Didn't you study for it yesterday with Alyssa?"

"Yeah and her whole group"

"Still. What's your point?"

"Scorp totally forgot about studying with me just because of one girl."

"So you're jealous."

"No" she said forcefully, "but he's becoming like you. "

"Hey!" I protested.

"Well it's true" she told me, "and by the way please don't hurt Alyssa. She's my roommate and I actually enjoy being friends with her."

"I don't hurt anybody!"

Rose just raised her eyebrows at me.

"Plus it's not a date. She's tutoring me." Her eyebrows were still raised. "Stop making that face!" I finished my breakfast and quickly went up to the Gryffindor tower to change since I was still in sweats and a t shirt. I threw on a clean blue shirt and jeans before heading to the library. When I got there, Alyssa hadn't arrived yet. I waited fifteen minutes and was about to leave when she showed up.

"Sorry about that" she said, "I was helping Augustus out with something."

"It's fine " I told her. Who was Augustus? Had I been waiting for her while she was off with some guy? I didn't really need to study potions right now. I could get Scorp to help me later after he was done hanging out with his friend. I could definitely force Rosie to help me. And the exam wasn't for another couple of weeks anyways.

"Albus are you even listening?" Alyssa asked, clearly annoyed.

"Yeah sorry" I told her, "You know it's okay if you don't want to tutor me. I'm sure you have better stuff to do. It sounds like Augustus could still use some help and I could definitely get Scorp to give me the notes."

"Why would my brother need help?" She asked, confused, "I already talked to him."

"Ohhh you're brother. Augustus. Right. Got it" I clarified, "but you still don't have to help me. It's not a big deal."

"It's fine. Rose made it sound like you need a lot of help" she giggled a little, then added, "and my brother" she put emphasis on that, clearly noticing my mistake, "is fine. He got put in Slytherin this year and he's really self conscious that no one will like him. Since our parents didn't go here, the only things he knew were from what I told him from my books and I think he borrowed one of my history books over winter break a few years ago and read about Slytherin's history with the dark arts so he was a little scared. I told him Slytherins aren't bad, but they're cunning and determined, but then he thought that none of them would like him. Probably why he's not in Gryffindor. I mean, he's a pretty outgoing kid, but he worries a lot. Anyways I fixed it now. And I'm talking too much again aren't I?"

"No it's okay" I reassured her, "I like talking to you. You said your parents didn't go here?"

"They're muggles" she explained, "they went to different schools in California but they met in college. Well, I guess the British muggles would call it Uni, but back at home it was called college. Well, home is a relative term I guess. The U.K. is home now too."

"You lived in America?"

"We lived in California, which is like the farthest state from here. Or one of them. We moved here when I was eight and Augustus was five. Mom came here in college for what they call independent studies and loved it so we moved out here once we saved enough money. It's a lot colder than Cali but it's nice."

"How  did I not notice your accent before?" I asked.

She laughed. "It blends in with a slight English accent now too. And I switch back and forth from American to British terminology. When we first moved here, one of our neighbors asked Augustus why he had an accent. He was quite appalled because he thought they had an accent. It was quite cute actually... we should really start studying now ." She blushed.

"The exam isn't for a month anyways" I assured her, "I'll be fine."

"Okay but we do have to study at some point."

"How'd you get so good at potions anyways?" I asked.

"I take muggle classes over the summer" she said, "we usually go back to California for a month to visit family so I take classes at the college there. I've been taking Chemistry for a few years now, which is like potions, but with the elements instead of magic."

"I've never taken any muggle classes." I said.

"Well you grew up in the wizarding world didn't you?" She asked, "I didn't know anything about Hogwarts or magic until I got my letter, but you, you knew all along what you were and that you'd get the letter. You knew what it was like here because all your family members went to school here and they're all wizards and witches too. I was the first one in my family to come to Hogwarts and the only one in my neighborhood. The only one I know from the United States, though I'm sure there are some I haven't met yet. I came here not knowing anything. I guess that's why I read so much about it, I didn't wanna miss out on what everyone else already knew."

"But you didn't have to deal with James and Fred" she giggled as I said this, "so you definitely had it better. Plus you got to experience things most of us here have never seen. At home, we have a few muggle things because of my dad, and my grandpa on mum's side is obsessed with muggle things. Then there's Aunt Hermione, who basically forced the muggle culture on her family. But otherwise my whole family is magical. We don't have long phone conversations, we just stick out heads in the fireplace. And we don't really watch the teli and there aren't very many wizarding sports but there are tons of muggle sports to watch."

"Did you take muggle studies?" Alyssa asked, amused.

"No that's just what I know from Dad" I said, "and another thing, your family didn't have to deal with the war. My whole family had to deal with the war since my dad was well, you know. And aunt Hermione and uncle Ron were helping him and mum was with Uncle Neville fighting the Death Eaters here and everyone was in the Order and then we lost uncle Fred. You may have missed out on the wizarding stuff, but not all of it was good."

"I'm really sorry Albus" she said, touching my shoulder.

"No it's fine. I didn't mean to ruin the mood" I told her, "so what do you miss most about America?"

"Well besides my friends," she said, "the candy. Definitely the candy. Mostly chocolate really and only dark."

"Is that why you were looking for the trolley the day we met?"

"Yes" she replied sheepishly, then added, "don't you dare judge me Albus."

"I'm not judging, don't worry" I told her, "and you can call me Al, I mean, if you want."

"Okay Al" she smiled, "but we should really study now."

"Fiiiiiiine"