The Boy In The Gray Skirt
“Did you have to wear that? You knew it would make mother angry”.
Eryn and Narcissa had just stepped onto platform 9 and 3/4. It was the start of Eryn’s third year, and Narcissa’s fourth.
He brushed off some lint off of the pleated gray skirt he had borrowed from Andromeda.
“You know I don’t care what she thinks, Cissy”.
“It’s not just her, if you keep dressing how you do in public someone might…”
“Might what?”
“I just…I don’t want some close minded person to try to hurt you”.
“I’ll be fine, Cissy. Anyways, have you seen Bella? I swear she disappears every time we get here”.
Narcissa looked around. Their sister, who was in her final year at Hogwarts, was nowhere to be seen. This had become a regular occurrence since Eryn had started school; and the argument that had happened over his attire that morning seemed to only make Bellatrix want to avoid her brother more.
“Oh, there he is”, said Narcissa, looking off in the distance behind Eryn. He turned around and saw their cousin, Sirius. Eryn had forgotten he was starting this year.
Sirius stared at Eryn until his mother noticed and twisted his head away from him. She shot Eryn a look of disgust and walked further away with her son.
“Looks just like you, doesn’t he?”
Eryn jumped at the unfamiliar voice, who laughed as he turned around. It was a tall, good-looking boy with blond hair in Narcissa’s year who had made the statement. He locked eyes with Eryn, who had been told that his eyes turned red when annoyed. The boy looked him up and down, with a small flash of judgement across his face.
“Right. Who’s this prick, Cissy?” Eryn asked, still annoyed.
Narcissa rolled her eyes.
“Eryn, this is my friend Lucius. Lucius, this is my brother Eryn”.
Lucius’ eyes fell back on Eryn’s skirt.
“Didn’t know you had a brother”.
Narcissa sensed the tension immediately.
“We better get on the train, it’s leaving soon”, she said fervently.
The three of them started walking. Before he got on, Eryn glanced back to Sirius, who was being scolded by his mother again. Lucius was right, they did look alike. They had the same face shape shared by most of the Blacks, the same soft dark hair, the same blue eyes (though Eryn’s were often red). It was almost like looking in a mirror.
“Eryn, are you coming?”
He turned around and followed his sister down the corridor.
They quickly found their friends Pandora and Evan, twins the same age as Eryn. Him and Narcissa had a lot of the same friends. Apart from Lucius, who seemed to be a new edition.
The five of them found a compartment and were followed by Narcissa’s friends, Dorcas and Barty.
“Well, you look lovely today, Eryn”, Pandora said as she sat down next to him.
“Thanks, my mother agrees with you”.
“Hm. Is that why you have that cut under your knee?”
The two of them burst out laughing. It was then Lucius seemed to have noticed Eryn’s two sharp teeth, and stared at him for a considerable amount of time after that.
Pandora and Eryn continued to chat for most of the journey. They got along well. Eryn thought Pandora was funny and pretty, with her braided hair and dark eyes and round lips. Not in the sense that he found her attractive, more so as an objective fact. Eryn had more or less accepted that he had no interest in girls that past summer, much to his father’s and his peers’ dismay.
Except for those who sat around him on this day, of course.
“Sirius starts this year, doesn’t he?” Evan asked. Their families were close, and Evan enjoyed listening to gossip.
Narcissa nodded.
“He was supposed to stick with Bella, I don’t think he did, though. By the way, has anyone seen her today?”
“I saw her with Lestrange a couple rows down”, said Barty, twisting a lock of his green hair around his finger. “Barely see her without him these days. Wouldn’t be surprised if they announced their engagement tomorrow”.
Narcissa leaned back in her seat in relief. “That’d keep our parents happy, at least”.
“Yeah, they have enough trouble with pretty boy over here”, Barty joked. Eryn punched his arm playfully.
“Our family is having enough problems outside of my brother”, said Narcissa. “I’m more worried about Sirius than anything”.
“I mean, how bad can he be, anyway?” Lucius started. “There’s only so many ways for someone to mess up”.
“Oh, keep quiet, you”, said Narcissa. “I’m sure he’ll be fine”.