See If I Care

~2~

-July 31st, 1988-

Alex sat on their bed, waiting for Remus to come up from the party that was being thrown for Harry like he did every year. The party was in full swing right now, they could hear the noise drifting through the manor and in from the garden on the other side of the manor, and it was around that time that Remus would always come up. They waved their hand, calling the book that was sitting on their bedside table, causing it to float through the air towards them, letting them easily snatch it out of the air. They opened it, flicking through the pages that they had already read. Reaching their favourite chapter, they immersed themself in the book.

A soft knock on the door that was closed, like it always was, caused a smile to appear on their face. Remus was here. They didn't look up from the page that they were reading, simply flicking their wrist in a quick twisting motion, sending their magic to open the door for Remus. It took a moment for Alex to realise that Remus hadn't moved to sit next to them like he always did. They finished their page before looking up, finding that Remus was standing in the open doorway staring at them, seeming shocked. They understood why Remus might be shocked, since, even though he knew they were reading books on magic and learning all types of magic, the hadn't actually witnessed any of the magic they could do.

"You've been practising?" Remus asked, finally stepping into the room. Another sharp twist of their wrist had the door closing behind him before they gestured to his normal spot next to them on the bed.

"That's not much. I've been practising for a couple of years now, I just kept forgetting to show you. I can do a lot more than that," they said with a shrug, leaning into Remus' hug as he sat down next to them.

"How are you Alex?" Remus asked, pressing a kiss to their forehead.

"I'm good. I found a comfortable name," they said, closing the book and not bothering to mark their page; they had read it multiple times so it wouldn't matter if they picked up at a different spot.

"Did you now?" Remus asked.

"Yep. Agender. Someone who feels a disconnect to any gender, or who is without a gender or gender identity," Alex explained. "I found it in this book." They showed Remus the book in their lap, giving him the opportunity to read the title.

"Goblins and Their Customs?" Remus read the question evident in his tone. Alex nodded.

"Uh huh. I've been teaching myself Gobbledygook over the past year and a bit through books that I owl ordered, since it's polite to use their language when working with them. And I ordered books on their customs as well, since it's common curtesy to acknowledge and respect their customs when using their language," Alex said simply. Remus looked over at them, his shock evident on his face.

"I should stop questioning you, honestly Alex. But you do know that most witches and wizards don't care about other magical creatures and their customs and languages?"

"Of course, I know that. I just don't understand why. It's only polite to treat the other magical races with respect and curtesy, which involves at least having a passing knowledge of their language and customs. And anyway, when have I ever been like the average wixen?" Alex asked.

"Wixen?" Remus asked.

"An umbrella term for all humans with magic. It's a more gender-neutral term than witch and wizard are."

"That does make sense and I like it. I think I'll start using it. What did the book say about gender identities?" Remus said, smiling.

"One of the chapters is about the different identities within their community and the different jobs that are given to those of different identities and genders. They have ten commonly acknowledged gender identities that have specific areas in the community, while there are even more that are less common and often fall under one of the ten gender identities or just under the non-binary umbrella," Alex explained.