See If I Care

~3~

*Gobbledygook*

-August 1st, 1988-

Alex blinked awake, rolling over on to their side to look around the room as they woke up, sun shining in on their face from the window above their bed. The room was unfamiliar, yet completely familiar at the same time. It was set up in the same way as their old room had been, all their things in their places, but was different, the walls were a different colour, the painting was less pristine. Even if the room was a bit smaller and in a slightly shabbier condition, they wouldn't go back; they easily remembered where they were and yet still couldn't believe that they were there, couldn't believe that Remus actually wanted them and wanted them to live with him.

"Alex, breakfast is ready," Remus called, his voice easily reaching them from the kitchen on the ground floor. The house was a simple two-story house, somewhere out in the middle of nowhere and in the middle of a forest that Remus used for his transformations; even if he ran away from the house and into the forest, it would take him until the next evening before he reached other humans, and he would have transformed back to human long before then; it meant that he wouldn't risk injuring anyone since he couldn't afford wolfsbane, and Alex would be safe as long as they made sure the doors were all securely locked. Alex slid out of bed, wrapping their sleep robe over their pyjamas before heading downstairs, subtly pushing away the thrill at being called for breakfast, at being included in a meal with others rather than having to sneak to the kitchen for food or asking one of their elf friends for a meal; it was such a simple thing, but something they hadn't experienced for years.

"That smells good," they said as they entered the kitchen, breathing in deeply through their nose, breathing in the sweet smell of the pancakes that Remus was cooking on the stove. They watched as Remus easily flipped the few pancakes that were in the pan before he turned around to look at them, a smile on his face.

"I'm glad. I hope you like pancakes." Alex returned his grin and nodded; they had had pancakes before, but only a few times and only on special occasions, but they loved the treat, and enjoyed them even more when they helped the elves make them, even though their pancakes never flipped neatly like the elves' pancakes did.

They talked quietly as they ate, though Alex made sure to eat quickly so that they could get to Gringotts; they were very excited about Remus adopting them, and he had said he would see if he could legally change their name and gender registration, which would mean that they wouldn't, couldn't, be dead named when they went to Hogwarts, since no one would know what their deadname was. Once both Alex and Remus had finished breakfast, Alex helped Remus clean up before hurrying upstairs to get dressed, coming back downstairs only a few minutes later, ready to go. They followed Remus out of the cottage and to just outside the anti-apparition wards he had surrounding his house, before taking his offered arm, so he could apparate them to Diagon Alley.

They landed with a crack in a sectioned off alleyway that was designated for apparition, to prevent anyone from just appearing in the alley, which could cause accidents. Alex followed Remus out of the small alleyway and into the main road of Diagon Alley. They looked around the street in awe, there were so many people bustling around and so many different kinds of shops; they had only been to Diagon Alley once or twice in their life, when they were a lot smaller, so their memories of it weren't very detailed, and they hadn't been paying much attention to their surroundings when they were younger.

"There's lots to see, isn't there?" Remus said.

"Yeah. There's so many people. And the magic's everywhere," they said, their voice quiet with awe.

"Come on, Gringotts is at the end of the alley. And ... wait, did you say the magic's everywhere?" Remus asked, coming to a stop as Alex's words fully registered in his mind, moving to the side of the alley so they weren't in anyone's way.