New Boy.
Title: New Boy
Prompt: 008. Carriage
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,368
Characters: Susan Bones, Lysander Scamander, Hannah Abbott, Theseus Bones, Ernie Macmillan
Summary: Third year begins at Hogwarts.
Notes/Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to J.K. Rowling. But quite modified in most cases by their individual writers at Founders or my perception of them.
"Susan!" The Hufflepuff turned at the sound of her name being called and stumbled back against another student as a blonde boy in Ravenclaw robes practically tackled her. She laughed as he spun her, returning his wide grin when he finally set her back on her feet. "It's good to see you the right way again." It was not quite fair that he knew what she turned out like when she was older, but she would not tell him that.
"It's good to see you too, Lys," Susan responded, brushing her hair back. Her second summer away from Hogwarts had only led to more peculiarities, due in no small part to the fact that Sirius Black had made his escape from Azkaban. Now she saw him with his group of Gryffindor friends, laughing about something, and could not keep from shuddering. It was one thing to see the boy nearly every day while at school and quite another to see him while knowing that his adult counterpart was actually free in the world. I could always ask Lysander... he'd tell me. But no, for some reason that felt wrong. She had no interest in Divination or knowing the future. "Did you enjoy your summer?"
The blonde nodded, taking Susan's hand as they started towards the carriages. For a moment it seemed like he would start skipping but they had reached a carriage so he did not. "Father and mother took us camping quite a lot," he informed her as they climbed up, joining another blonde and one of Susan's housemates, Hannah Abbott. "We didn't actually find anything yet... but we will."
"Of course you will," Susan agreed, waving at Hannah and nodding at the boy she did not know. He gave her a very wide-eyed look and made a noise that sounded almost strangled before glancing away quite firmly. Susan turned to Lysander, confused. "Is there something on my face?" she asked. A hand went up to her hair. "Or in my hair?" She was sure that there had been nothing there right before she got off of the train, and she had checked.
"You look beautiful," Lysander replied simply, taking her hand again. Susan ducked her head as her cheeks grew warm, once again caught off guard by his simple honesty. She had grown unaccustomed to it during the summer months. "Maybe he's just surprised by it."
"Excuse me," Susan said, raising her voice as she looked at the boy. "You're new here, aren't you?" It was obvious from his lack of school robes, there was no sigil or colored trim, but it was still polite to ask.
The boy glanced at her, eyes a little wild, and nodded. He cleared his throat a few times before managing to get out an actual reply. "Yeah, it's my first year... mum finally decided to let me go."
"Home schooled?" She had come across a few people like that on the train, but they had not seemed quite so nervous about it. He nodded. "Then welcome to Hogwarts! I'm sure that you'll love it here, everyone does." Even with, or maybe because, of the strange spell that seemed to lie over it. "My name's Susan Bones." She extended her hand, smiling when the boy took it and gave a ginger sort of shake.
"Hannah Abbott." Hannah gave a sort of wave, distracted with whatever she was playing with in her lap. Chocolate Frog cards from the look of them.
"I'm Lysander Scamander," Lysander said, tilting his head a little. "And you seem to be quite free of Nargles, so I guess I don't have to worry about that." He held out his own hand and made an excited noise when a magazine slipped out of the boy's bag. "You read The Quibbler!"
The boy nodded. "My mum started getting it for me when I was real little. It's interesting a lot of the time." He brushed back a bit of his hair and put the magazine back where it had come from. Susan saw that his hands were shaking and his eyes were still just as wide as they had been at first. "My name's Theseus."
"That's a beautiful name," Susan remarked as she glanced up at the castle that they were approaching. "Theseus, it has a nice ring to it."
Theseus was still looking at her strangely. "Thanks, she obviously thought so too."
"Your mum?" He nodded. "What about your dad?"
The strange look faded, replaced by a sullen one that Susan had seen most often on Teddy Lupin's face. It did not fit his very well. "Dunno," Theseus shrugged and pressed his face up against the window. "He's not around."
Susan unconsciously squeezed Lysander's hand. "I'm sorry... did he die?" She really did not mean to press the subject, but she had to know at least a little more if she wanted to never bring it up by accident. She never had liked upsetting people.
Theseus did not look at her. "No, he's not dead," he muttered. "Just not around... she won't tell me who he is." He did turn away from the window then, looking at Hannah and Lysander as though he expected them to say something. "She's fine on her own."
"I'm sure she is," Lysander agreed, Hannah nodding along. "It's still a little sad. There must be a lot of nargles around your house."
"There aren't, I've checked. And she's not sad at all, she's very happy with what she does and never gets lonely." He sat up a little straighter. "She has me after all."
Susan reached across to pat Theseus on the knee, a little surprised when he jerked back. She was not used to people shying away from her. "And I'm sure that you're a brilliant son."
The carriage came to a halt. "She always says I am." Theseus was giving her another strange look before he hopped out of the carriage first and started off towards the castle, getting lost from sight in the crowd.
"He's a bit strange seeming," Hannah remarked as Lysander helped her, then Susan down. "Wonder where he'll end up."
"Maybe in Ravenclaw with me!" Lysander suggested happily, waving energetically at a few housemates. "He read the Quibbler and knows what nargles are, has even checked for them! He'd fit in good with me and Lorcan."
Susan was not so sure. There was something about the boy that almost seemed familiar, in a really strange way. "We'll see what the Hat has to say. I wonder who his mother is." He had seemed protective of her.
"He never did say." Hannah smoothed out her robes. "Didn't even tell us what his last name was. Ah well, we'll find out soon enough." Lysander nodded as they entered the Great Hall and gave Susan a quick hug along with a promise to see her the next day before skipping off to the Ravenclaw table. Some of the others snickered as he went past, but they had always been like that. "Your boyfriend is so strange, Susan," Hannah remarked with a shake of her head.
Susan's eyes widened as she slid onto the bench between Hannah and Ernie Macmillan. "He's not... I mean..." Her cheeks were turning red again. Lysander had never said anything about it so they were not, not really. They just spent a lot of time together.
"I'm only teasing."
"Hush you two," Ernie said, nodding up at the front. "They're about to do the Sorting. Bigger lot than last year too, maybe we'll actually get one."
And the first name that McGonagall called did indeed come to the Hufflepuff table, grinning as he did. Theseus Bones? Susan thought, staring. I wonder whether he's Jamie or Alex's... Unless he came from one of her cousins. "You should've told me your last name," Susan said as the boy slid in across from her. "You must know who I am and how we're related."
Theseus reached for the jug of pumpkin juice and poured it. "Yeah, I do," he agreed. "You're my aunt or something." And then the Sorting continued and Ernie told Susan to save her questions for later so he could actually hear what was happening.
Prompt: 008. Carriage
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,368
Characters: Susan Bones, Lysander Scamander, Hannah Abbott, Theseus Bones, Ernie Macmillan
Summary: Third year begins at Hogwarts.
Notes/Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to J.K. Rowling. But quite modified in most cases by their individual writers at Founders or my perception of them.
"Susan!" The Hufflepuff turned at the sound of her name being called and stumbled back against another student as a blonde boy in Ravenclaw robes practically tackled her. She laughed as he spun her, returning his wide grin when he finally set her back on her feet. "It's good to see you the right way again." It was not quite fair that he knew what she turned out like when she was older, but she would not tell him that.
"It's good to see you too, Lys," Susan responded, brushing her hair back. Her second summer away from Hogwarts had only led to more peculiarities, due in no small part to the fact that Sirius Black had made his escape from Azkaban. Now she saw him with his group of Gryffindor friends, laughing about something, and could not keep from shuddering. It was one thing to see the boy nearly every day while at school and quite another to see him while knowing that his adult counterpart was actually free in the world. I could always ask Lysander... he'd tell me. But no, for some reason that felt wrong. She had no interest in Divination or knowing the future. "Did you enjoy your summer?"
The blonde nodded, taking Susan's hand as they started towards the carriages. For a moment it seemed like he would start skipping but they had reached a carriage so he did not. "Father and mother took us camping quite a lot," he informed her as they climbed up, joining another blonde and one of Susan's housemates, Hannah Abbott. "We didn't actually find anything yet... but we will."
"Of course you will," Susan agreed, waving at Hannah and nodding at the boy she did not know. He gave her a very wide-eyed look and made a noise that sounded almost strangled before glancing away quite firmly. Susan turned to Lysander, confused. "Is there something on my face?" she asked. A hand went up to her hair. "Or in my hair?" She was sure that there had been nothing there right before she got off of the train, and she had checked.
"You look beautiful," Lysander replied simply, taking her hand again. Susan ducked her head as her cheeks grew warm, once again caught off guard by his simple honesty. She had grown unaccustomed to it during the summer months. "Maybe he's just surprised by it."
"Excuse me," Susan said, raising her voice as she looked at the boy. "You're new here, aren't you?" It was obvious from his lack of school robes, there was no sigil or colored trim, but it was still polite to ask.
The boy glanced at her, eyes a little wild, and nodded. He cleared his throat a few times before managing to get out an actual reply. "Yeah, it's my first year... mum finally decided to let me go."
"Home schooled?" She had come across a few people like that on the train, but they had not seemed quite so nervous about it. He nodded. "Then welcome to Hogwarts! I'm sure that you'll love it here, everyone does." Even with, or maybe because, of the strange spell that seemed to lie over it. "My name's Susan Bones." She extended her hand, smiling when the boy took it and gave a ginger sort of shake.
"Hannah Abbott." Hannah gave a sort of wave, distracted with whatever she was playing with in her lap. Chocolate Frog cards from the look of them.
"I'm Lysander Scamander," Lysander said, tilting his head a little. "And you seem to be quite free of Nargles, so I guess I don't have to worry about that." He held out his own hand and made an excited noise when a magazine slipped out of the boy's bag. "You read The Quibbler!"
The boy nodded. "My mum started getting it for me when I was real little. It's interesting a lot of the time." He brushed back a bit of his hair and put the magazine back where it had come from. Susan saw that his hands were shaking and his eyes were still just as wide as they had been at first. "My name's Theseus."
"That's a beautiful name," Susan remarked as she glanced up at the castle that they were approaching. "Theseus, it has a nice ring to it."
Theseus was still looking at her strangely. "Thanks, she obviously thought so too."
"Your mum?" He nodded. "What about your dad?"
The strange look faded, replaced by a sullen one that Susan had seen most often on Teddy Lupin's face. It did not fit his very well. "Dunno," Theseus shrugged and pressed his face up against the window. "He's not around."
Susan unconsciously squeezed Lysander's hand. "I'm sorry... did he die?" She really did not mean to press the subject, but she had to know at least a little more if she wanted to never bring it up by accident. She never had liked upsetting people.
Theseus did not look at her. "No, he's not dead," he muttered. "Just not around... she won't tell me who he is." He did turn away from the window then, looking at Hannah and Lysander as though he expected them to say something. "She's fine on her own."
"I'm sure she is," Lysander agreed, Hannah nodding along. "It's still a little sad. There must be a lot of nargles around your house."
"There aren't, I've checked. And she's not sad at all, she's very happy with what she does and never gets lonely." He sat up a little straighter. "She has me after all."
Susan reached across to pat Theseus on the knee, a little surprised when he jerked back. She was not used to people shying away from her. "And I'm sure that you're a brilliant son."
The carriage came to a halt. "She always says I am." Theseus was giving her another strange look before he hopped out of the carriage first and started off towards the castle, getting lost from sight in the crowd.
"He's a bit strange seeming," Hannah remarked as Lysander helped her, then Susan down. "Wonder where he'll end up."
"Maybe in Ravenclaw with me!" Lysander suggested happily, waving energetically at a few housemates. "He read the Quibbler and knows what nargles are, has even checked for them! He'd fit in good with me and Lorcan."
Susan was not so sure. There was something about the boy that almost seemed familiar, in a really strange way. "We'll see what the Hat has to say. I wonder who his mother is." He had seemed protective of her.
"He never did say." Hannah smoothed out her robes. "Didn't even tell us what his last name was. Ah well, we'll find out soon enough." Lysander nodded as they entered the Great Hall and gave Susan a quick hug along with a promise to see her the next day before skipping off to the Ravenclaw table. Some of the others snickered as he went past, but they had always been like that. "Your boyfriend is so strange, Susan," Hannah remarked with a shake of her head.
Susan's eyes widened as she slid onto the bench between Hannah and Ernie Macmillan. "He's not... I mean..." Her cheeks were turning red again. Lysander had never said anything about it so they were not, not really. They just spent a lot of time together.
"I'm only teasing."
"Hush you two," Ernie said, nodding up at the front. "They're about to do the Sorting. Bigger lot than last year too, maybe we'll actually get one."
And the first name that McGonagall called did indeed come to the Hufflepuff table, grinning as he did. Theseus Bones? Susan thought, staring. I wonder whether he's Jamie or Alex's... Unless he came from one of her cousins. "You should've told me your last name," Susan said as the boy slid in across from her. "You must know who I am and how we're related."
Theseus reached for the jug of pumpkin juice and poured it. "Yeah, I do," he agreed. "You're my aunt or something." And then the Sorting continued and Ernie told Susan to save her questions for later so he could actually hear what was happening.