Chapter - 9.3

"Gryffindor Bella?" Alex looked at Nicole, raising his eyebrow. It's only her first day at school, and she is already popular with the boys. And she was the cute one. There must be others as well.

 

On one hand, Alex was happy that his sister was popular and won't be lonely in school. But on the other hand, the protective instincts of the brother kicked in and screamed in his mind that he needed to crush these pestering flies around his sister.

 

Meanwhile, Nicole could not meet her brother's gaze. She was too embarrassed by what this guy, whom she didn't even know said. Her hair fell over her face, covering her facial expressions.

 

"Leave before we punch you black and blue. Do you think you Slytherins can throw your weight around?" Seamus almost screamed. By this time, not wanting to let Seamus steal the show, the other Gryffindor boys also decided to take the limelight. Now, Alex was up against about half a dozen first years from Gryffindor. And for obvious reasons, Ron and Potter were not part of it.

 

But Alex was not really concerned by their numbers. He was looking at his sister, hoping she would explain the situation. But Nicole was too embarrassed to even have that thought cross her mind.

 

While Alex was alone, taking a stand against a bunch of Gryfindor fanboys, a few Slytherins also stood behind Alex to enjoy the show. But none of them was actually going to help him. After all, Alex was close to no one. Daphne was also one of the Slytherins there in the crowd. She wanted to help Alex, but this being a love battle, she was reluctant to do so.

 

"Guys, it's alright. He..." Finally, Nicole mustered some courage and tried to explain. But she was interrupted. No one was ready to hear her.

 

"You don't need to worry. He can't do nothing to you," A guy pulled Nicole behind and said.

 

"I am not afraid of him. You should..." Nicole tried to warn the bunch, but like always, no one wanted to hear her.

 

"Now, let us take care of him. You just sit and enjoy as we kick his pompous ass," someone from the group commented. Though, Nicole was at the crux of this skirmish, it was more than just Nicole. There was something genetically engineered in Gryffindors and Slytherins. They had to fight it out if they found themselves in such a situation.

 

"Are we doing it or not?" Alex was tired of these kids acting all cocky. They were all barking at him from a distance, none taking a step forward.

 

This was the final nail in the coffin, and soon the bunch of boys jumped at Alex. Without pulling out their wands, they brandished their fists at Alex.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

"Aaghhh..."

 

"Aaahhh..."

 

"Fuc..."

 

There were cries everywhere, and within a few moments that it started, all of them were lying on the floor. Looking at the boys groaning in pain, Nicole could only shake her head in regret.

 

"What is this barbaric act?" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. God knows when and for how long Professor McGonagall had been standing behind Nicole, but from the surprise in her voice, it wasn't long.

 

The professor, on the other hand, could not believe the sight in front of her eyes. Such brute behaviour? She had not seen it in her life as a teacher. Students in Hogwarts would never fight with their fists.

 

"Mr Ashbridge. Explain yourself," Professor McGonagall asked when she saw that Alex seemed to be the focal point of whatever had happened here.

 

But before Alex could explain what happened, Seamus, the perpetrator of the whole act, jumped in.

 

"Professor, it is all because of him. He came to pick a fight with us," Seamus spoke, pointing at Alex.

 

"Be quiet, Mr Finningan. I have no interest in your shenanigans," Professor McGonagall shut Seamus up, "I believe my question was directed to Mr Ashbridge."

 

"It was a misunderstanding, Professor," Alex shrugged, "I was here to have a conversation with my sister, and they all..." Alex looked at everyone he beat up and left his sentence incomplete.

 

'Sister?' Whoever heard Alex turned their eyes towards Nicole, whom they wanted to protect and impress. Did they get their ass beaten up for no reason at all?

 

With all the gazes at her, Nicole looked down, embarrassed and gave a slight nod. Even though she was always bold and cheeky, this situation had no room for her to act bashful. But it was not her fault in the slightest. She tried to tell them multiple times, but they would just cut her off and push her behind.

 

'Now, you can't expect mangoes when you sow cactus, could you?'

 

Now it was clear to Professor McGonagall what had happened. She looked at the boys from Gryffindor all bashed up and bruised. And even though she felt pity for them, she could not sympathize with them.

 

"All of you, each will have five points deducted from Gryffindor," Professor McGonagall ruled out the verdict. She then turned towards Alex, "And even though you did nothing wrong, you will also have five points taken away from Slytherin. I hope you understand," Professor McGonagall said. She did not want to make things difficult for Alex. But rules are rules. Alex was indeed part of the brawl, whatever his reasons may be.

 

"I understand," Alex nodded. He had no desire to challenge her decision.

 

'Alas... Why don't I get the sensible ones,' Professor McGonagall sighed, looking at the bunch she had at Gryffindor.

 

 

And just like that, Gryffindor lost forty-five points. And what followed was cheers and applause from the Slytherins. Even though the Slytherins lost five points, they were the happiest of the bunch.

 

While these events unfold, Nicole, for the first time, looked at her brother, only to find him staring at him. Alex gave his head a nudge and eyed Nicole to follow him outside the Great hall.

 

Soon the siblings found a corner for themselves.

 

"What is it that you wanted to talk about, brother?" Nicole was the first one to speak. She did not want Alex to ask her about the Bella thing.

 

And fair enough, Alex was not interested in that either. Without beating around the bush, he asked.

 

"Are you friends with Potter?"

 

"Potter?" Nicole did not think that Potter was the important thing her brother wanted to talk about. It was very unlike him to take interest in someone, "I wouldn't call us friends. I am usually with Hermione, to be honest. You can say that we are acquaintances, though. Why? Want me to introduce you to him? Don't tell me it's a fanboy moment," Nicole tried to lighten the mood with her jokes.

 

"Then keep it to just being an acquaintance. No need to bother with him too much," Alex asked of Nicole.

 

"Why?" Nicole had to ask. She was not the type to just do whatever is asked of them.

 

"Because I am saying so. Is that not a good enough reason?" Alex was reluctant to tell her the reason. He did not want her to get involved in some meaningless scrimmage among wizards.

 

"You need to tell me a reason, brother. You can't just come and tell me, out of nowhere, to do something or not to do something," Nicole was adamant in knowing why Alex would say so.

 

"He is not your average person," Alex sighed, "There are many powerful people behind him. Good and Bad." Alex said.

 

"... And believe me. Neither I have the power nor the will to go against them if something were to happen to you," Alex shook his head helplessly, "Now, it is up to you. If you want to become an unnecessary headache for me, go for it. I am your brother. I will have to face it."

 

"But where's the fun in life if you are not meeting new people and doing something adventurous every now and then?" Disheartened, Nicole mumbled.

 

"For me, fun is when I see your face every morning. When I see you smiling across the tables. Humph... Even hearing that you became a Bella, that too, the cute one, was fun for me," Alex looked at Nicole with a soft smile and said.

 

"That was a cheap shot, brother," Nicole blushed when Alex finally brought up the Bella jibe. But she could understand the meaning behind his words, "Brother, you are worrying too much," Nicole held Alex's arm and said, "He is just a kid. What danger do you think he can get himself into? Don't fret over him and lighten up a bit." Nicole comforted Alex. She knew it was not easy for Alex to come out and say that.

 

"I just want you to be safe. You are the only family I have, and..." Alex also chose to end the conversation for the time being. He was not convinced that Nicole would heed his advice in the first go, but it was alright.

 

"I will keep that in mind, my cute older brother," Nicole laughed and pinched Alex's cheeks before running away, "I will see you in the class tomorrow."

 

Alex watched Nicole's figure fade away before he made his way to the Slytherin Dungeons. He has been out for a while now. Erebus must have woken up. With these thoughts, he entered the Slytherin common room, where he was surprisingly welcomed with cheers and applause. It was not only the first years, but even the seniors came up to him and, patting his shoulder, offered to come to his rescue if anyone from the Gryffindor came to look for trouble with him.

 

But Alex did not care about any of it. He wanted to run away, but the thought of angering them on the very day he made an enemy of the Gryffindors was not a good idea. So, he had to stay.

 

It was only by midnight that the celebrations ended. Alex finally left the crowd and made his way to his room.

 

Entering the room, Alex found that Erebus was up and looking at him with a complaining gaze. He must have been hungry. Without wasting any time, Alex took out Erebus's food from the pouch he had and fed him. After that, he took out the parchment Professor Snape gave him and looked through the schedule. And before he knew it, Alex was already drifting into dreams.

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