You Don't Understand Solo Finished

Wednesday | 1 September 2021 | before the Hogwarts Express' departure

Aaron hadn't thought he'd be this happy to head back to Hogwarts. Considering the end of last year had been pretty miserable for him, he thought he'd be dreading this day. But he had come to a realization over the summer: Quidditch was stupid. And his parents were annoying.

After he blew up on his dad in August and admitted he had lied about how Quidditch worked, he'd been grounded for the end of summer. Not that it had meant anything for him, considering all of his friends were at the Hogwarts summer camp anyway, and he'd chosen not to go. So he ended up just spending time in the house with his owl Chae-rin. His brother had been away at a muggle summer camp and his sister was often playing outside with kids her age. His parents kept trying to get him to talk about his decision to quit Quidditch, but he really didn't feel like talking about it with anyone - let alone them, whom he knew couldn't understand.

But finally he was here at Platform 9 3⁄4, meaning imminent freedom from his parents breathing down his neck. He could go back to boarding school and go back to making his own decisions without parental supervision, and not needing to talk about his decision on Quidditch. At this point, when his friends inevitably noticed and asked? Quidditch is stupid, and he doesn't want to play anymore. As simple as that.

"I'll write to you loads, promise," Aaron said, kneeling down as he hugged his sister. She wasn't crying like previous years, but she still looked miserable. The young girl had clearly developed an understanding of the situation, but Aaron appreciated that she still missed him so much.

"You, too," Aaron said, when he had straightened and his eyes landed on his brother. He'd been back from camp for a few days now, and they had sort of warmed up to each other again. Slowly, but surely. They hugged, and finally Aaron turned to his parents.

"I'll be home for Christmas, Mum," he said, seeing how she was teary-eyed. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her dramatics, and accepted the embrace she pulled him into. He even returned the gesture. He had started to grow over the summer, having gained at least an inch. Although most people wouldn't notice such a small increase, the hug had adjusted ever so slightly for this extra height and it felt different. That's how he knew he had grown.

"I'll help you with your luggage," Aaron's father said, with a grip already on the trolley that held Aaron's things. He started to lead the way closer to one of the train doors. Aaron accepted the help with slightly pursed lips, not seeing the need but going along with it. Only a few more moments before he was back to freedom.

"Thanks, I'll see you in a few months," Aaron said, as his father and himself stopped right next to one of the train's entrances. The platform was quite crowded as students loaded onto the train, and Aaron was eager to board. But as he went to reach for his trunk, his dad stopped him by speaking.

"Aaron, your mother and I - we're worried about you going back. Your mother doesn't want to push you, but - I think you need to talk about this Quidditch thing and-"

"Dad, you don't understand," Aaron quipped, his eyes narrowing and his mood souring. "I've told you guys so many times already - I'm just over it. It's not a big deal. I'll get good grades, and I'll write, isn't that all you guys care about anyway?"

"Aaron-" his father's tone had turned warning, but it just riled the thirteen-year-old up even more. Emboldened by the thought of going to Hogwarts in a few moments, Aaron took a deep breath.

"You guys are such hypocrites. You never understood Quidditch - you just thought it was a cool hobby I'm into - Why are you suddenly so interested anyway? You didn't even know that I quit for months! What kind of parents does that make you guys? Maybe you should be asking yourself-"

"Stop there, you know that we-"

"No, Dad, you stop! You're being so annoying, and it makes me not even want to come home during the breaks. Gosh, I bet if you guys weren't muggles," Aaron's own eyes widened slightly when he used this term, but his next words were already flowing, "then you'd just understand that Quidditch isn't that big a deal. I wouldn't have to explain every little detail of my school life all the time and you wouldn't overanalyze so much."

Muggles. It was a word he had never used to describe his family before. Not in a manner like this, at least. He had explained the term to them before, but had never thrown it in their face or even described them as such. Non-magical, or normal, he had referred to them before. To friends. To himself. So his use of it here surprised even him, but it had just come rolling off his tongue in the heat of the moment. He decided not to overthink it.

If Aaron ever talked like this in front of his mother, he would never hear the end of it. But he was confident that the rest of his family could not hear from the couple of meters back in the crowd they were. The third year turned away from his father and climbed the train steps, dragging his trunk and cage behind him. He didn't look back, meaning he missed the hurt that consumed the older Welsh man's face.