Chapter Four
They had arrived at the familiar station in London.
As soon as they went through the wall, they spotted Riley.
“Riley! Over here!” Harry waved at him, clutching Abra’s hand tightly in his own.
“Hiya Harry! Who are you?” Riley turned to Abra, eyes wide and slightly mocking.
“My name is Abra. Abra Malfoy.” Riley snorted.
“At least he didn’t do the James Bond thing again.” Harry fake-shuddered.
“Hey!” Abra exclaimed, obvious hurt splattered across his sharp features.
“Cya at Hogwarts, Prof Snep!” Harry waved at him, and Abra gave his godfather- alas, not dogfather- a big squeeze before the trio all stepped onto the train that would take them to Hogwarts.
As they walked down the straight hallway, someone bumped into Abra.
“Sorry,” they mumbled, and glanced up before looking down at the floor, hiding their eyes behind their light brown hair.
“It’s fine! I’m Abra Malfoy. Who are you?” Abra asked curiously.
“M-My name’s Alex Finnegan. Second
year.” They added.
“Cool! I’m Harry Potter, he/him, and this is Riley, he/him!” Harry said, beaming like the sun.
“I-I’m they/them,” Alex supplied.
“Oh.” Riley blinked. “I’ve never met anyone who used they/them pronouns before.” He looked at them curiously.
Alex blushed.
“You wanna find a compartment with us?” Asked Riley.
“Y-Yes, please.” They stuttered.
“C’mon, then!” Riley took their hand and skipped down the train, expectedly guiding Alex around other students out in the hallway.
“Ah, yes.” Harry sighed, leaning his head onto Abra’s shoulder.
“Young love.” Abra finished, snaking an arm around Harry’s waist.
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
“What year are you in again?” Riley asked curiously after they had settled into an empty compartment.
“Second,” Alex replied, somewhat uncomfortable with the atmosphere of the compartment. Or was it the smell?
Harry sniffed himself. It wasn’t him.
“Do you want anything from the trolley, dears?” Matilda- the trolley lady- asked.
A chocolate-eating grin overcame Harry’s face. “We’ll take the lot.”
He pulled out a handful of Galleons from inside his pocket.
Matilda gave him a kind smile, and helped them empty the cart of all the sweets that were currently on there.
Though Harry knew that the cart automatically refilled after the doors closed, he still felt a twang of guilt from taking all those sweets.
He watched as Abra promptly stuffed a whole chocolate frog inside his mouth.
Everyone stared at him.
“Wha’?” He asked with his mouth full, confused as to why everybody was looking at him.
Never mind.
That was a trillion times worth it.
Ah, blackmail. Such a sweet, sweet, sweet-
“I got Umbridge!” Abra yelled.
Harry hissed in disgust, leaning away from the horrid card that had mentally scarred him many times over.
And if it went up in flames because of a burst of accidental magic?
Well, who needed to know, really?
As Abra cleared himself of the ashes, glaring at Harry all the while, the door opened yet a second time.
“E-Excuse me?” Asked a shy Neville, “Have you s-seen a…”
The poor boy’s voice trailed off, and Harry said with a welcoming smile, “Come in! What is it that you’re after?”
The boy shyly replied, “I’ve lost m-my t-toad…”
“Accio toad- gently!” Harry spelled.
A toad came around the corner, over Neville’s head, and whizzed into his hand, unharmed.
“Thank you!” Neville exclaimed with obvious happiness.
“My name’s Harry, he/him. This is Abra, he/him,” he pointed at the pompous boy,
“Riley, he/him,” now it was Riley’s turn to be pointed at, “and Alex, they/them.”
“N-Nice to m-meet you a-all,” Neville said shyly, “I-I’m N-Neville, he/it.”
“Cool!” Harry beamed at it. “I’ll see you around!”
The boy muttered a quiet “goodbye”, and the rest of the train ride passed quietly with little interruptions.
Soon enough, after changing into their robes, the train stopped.
“Welcome to Hogwarts!” Harry’s arms were thrown into the air, and he shouted at the sky, in front of the trillions of stars that welcomed him at Hogsmeade station.
He was home.
Again.
Gosh, it had been a while.
They had said goodbye to their new friend, wishing them luck on their short journey, and piled onto one of the boats along with Neville, who looked scared out of his wits.
“Row, row, row the boat, gently down the stream,” Harry muttered/sang, “Merely, merely, merely, merely, life is sweet and free.”
“I haven’t heard that version before,” Riley mused.
“I just made it up.” Harry replied.
Yawning, Abra dramatically fell onto Harry’s lap, almost making them tumble into the dreadful water of the Black Lake.
The mind of the Master Of Death’s wandered, fingers playing with his best friend’s hair, and it stayed that way even as Hagrid yelled at them to duck, even as they came into full view of Hogwarts, even as they gently rocked into the harbour.
They exited the boats, Abra yawing once again, and Harry felt calm.
At peace.
That was until Abra yelled, “Owe! Oh, wait, false alarm! Everything’s fine!”
It was a wonder how he hadn’t given up on him lifetimes ago.