Picking a Side

[Matthew Harper]

Matthew was adjusting to school very well, if he said so himself. He had made friends, taken some awesome pictures, done alright in his classes and he had the feeling that he would probably do alright on the OWLs if he kept going on like this. The only thing that kept nagging at him was his original reason for coming to this school, but he had already decided he wasn't going to do anything big at least until after Christmas. He was very excited for the holiday now that he knew he was going to see Leah again.

Even though he was starting to get used to Hogwarts, he still found himself getting lost sometimes. This time he had been aiming for the fourth floor corridor to head to the library, but he must have miscounted the floors. He realized this as he passed the hospital wing, which he had been told was on the third floor. Just as he was ready to turn around and head back, he spotted a familiar face. Reuben! Matthew grinned and raised a hand to greet his friend, before noticing the robes he was wearing. Oh, Gryffindor. That wasn't Reuben. He remembered what Reuben had told him about his twin and how he had basically abandoned him for four years after being sorted in a different house. Ever since he knew that, he disliked the other boy from a distance. He just couldn't imagine leaving a sibling to fend for themselves, especially a twin. Matthew was very protective by nature so he couldn't wrap his mind around it. Without a word, he looked away from Rudolf, hoping the boy hadn't seen him.

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

Rudolf wasn't sure what he was doing wrong any more. He'd started hanging around with his brother again - so what was his problem? It hadn't gone over the Gryffindor's head that Reuben had been avoiding him of late, and Rudolf wasn't enjoying the taste of his own medicine. Suddenly it felt as if he were the loser that wasn't cool enough to hang out with his brother's friend. The difference was, Rudolf had realised his mistake and apologised for it - even if it had taken four years. Reuben hadn't given an indication that he even cared.

Rudolf wasn't going to raise the situation - it wasn't really worth it - but when he was walking down the third floor corridor and saw Matthew raise his hand to greet him and then suddenly look away, he decided he'd had enough. "Yo," he said, approaching the Hufflepuff his brother had taken such a fondness to. "We're cool, right? Every time you see I'm not Reuben, you just look away. Did I do something wrong?" They needed to get to the bottom of this.

 

[Matthew Harper]

Matthew was just thinking that he had gotten away without Rudof noticing, when he heard his voice. He sighed and looked up to see him approach. It had been his own fault, he should have looked more carefully. Now he had to deal with this situation. He hated that he felt this cold toward Rudolf, but he couldn't help it. He looked at him, no friendly smile on his face, just a cold look. "You did." He said with narrowed eyes. "Though, not to me." He crossed his arms. "Reuben told me about how you treated him, so excuse me for not being your biggest fan. I don't understand how anyone could abandon a sibling." He had been planning to just make up an excuse and leave, but as annoyed as he was, he couldn't help the words from slipping out. "So yeah, I don't think we're cool. Nor do I think that we will be." Reuben was one of the nicest, kindest people Matthew knew, and from what he had seen of Rudolf he was mainly just loud and a bit obnoxious. It was no loss to him not to hang out with this boy. "Don't act like it's just me either. I've seen the way you looked at me when dared to sit next to your brother in classes." He rolled his eyes slightly.

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

Rudolf's jaw nearly hit the floor. Was Matthew serious? That had to be an exaggeration. Reuben would never have told anybody that Rudolf abandoned him! All right, he wasn't in the running for any best-brother-of-the-year awards, but he'd still been there when Reuben had needed him. This kid was... mean. Definitely not the sort of person Rudolf expected his twin to befriend. Where was the forgiveness? The understanding? "Are you serious?" he asked, half-laughing in shock. "Dude, what happened between me and my brother is in the past. We put it behind us, and he forgave me. I mean, who do you think was there for him when he was being bullied, huh? Who was there for him when our little brother died?! I did some stupid s**t because I had my priorities wrong, but that doesn't make me a bad person. I love my brother. And if you loved him too, you wouldn't try to turn him against his own family." Rudolf shook his head, bemused. "And you know what? I really didn't care where Reuben sat. I was happy he'd made a friend. You know what... you know what? it's whatever. Do what you like. See if I even care."

 

[Matthew Harper]

Matthew felt his stomach sink to about his knees when Rudolf talked back to him. Suddenly he regretted saying anything at all. Couldn't have have just sucked it up and pretended to like this boy? He swallowed, taking a slight step back. "Okay, dude. I'm sorry for your little brother, I didn't know that. Neither did I know that Reuben was bullied. I didn't say you were never there for him." He frowned. "I'm just going from what Reuben said, obviously I don't know your whole history since I just came here this year." As sad as he felt for Rudolf and Reuben, he couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed in return that things he couldn't possibly have known were thrown in his face. It made him realize that really, he hadn't known Reuben for very long. Maybe he really had no business talking to Rudolf about any of this. It was too late for that now, though. "I didn't say you were a bad person. I just said that I don't think we're going to get along. I don't understand why you're saying I'm turning Reuben against his own family. The only thing I did was sit with him a few times. I would never try to do that, that's ridiculous!" He tried to calm down, taking a deep breath. "Look, just because I'm not your friend, doesn't mean I can't be Reuben's, I'm not like... corrupting him or anything with my presence." He had to admit he had been too rash, even if he didn't want to. "But I was too harsh to you, I'm sorry." The words came grudgingly, but at least they came out.

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

"Yeah," scoffed Rudolf, when Matt admitted he hadn't known about the bullying, or their little brother. "You didn't." The nerve this kid had was insane. One minute he was accusing Rudolf of abandoning his brother, and now he was trying to talk his way out of it. The Gryffindor did relax a little when Matt denied trying to turn Reuben against him, but it wasn't enough. "And I never said you couldn't be Reuben's friend. I literally just told you I don't care." Actually, he cared a lot more than he was willing to admit. "The only reason we can't get along is because you don't want to get along. I never did anything to you, and Reuben does not have a problem with me." Who was he trying to convince? Himself? Maybe Matthew was right. Rudolf shook his head. The kid couldn't even give an apology without sounding resentful about it. "You're an a**hole." With that, he shouldered past the Hufflepuff and started walking away.

 

[Matthew Harper]

This was all going horribly and Matthew was starting to feel like he'd talked way too soon. Honestly, the way he had spoken to Rudolf had felt good at the time but now it just felt awful. He had sounded cold and mean, he had sounded a bit like his father. He wished he could take it back, but he also wished this boy didn't get so angry so quickly. He couldn't tell if he was blaming himself for this situation or Rudolf. Or both. He wanted to say something, not sure if he wanted to defend himself or admit the other boy had a point. But before he could do anything, he had been called an a**hole and Rudolf had walked away. Matthew ran a hand through his hair. This had all seemed a lot clearer when Reuben had told him about the situation with his brother. Now that he had heard both sides, he felt like he no business expressing an opinion about it, but Matthew wasn't the sort of person that really shielded what he said a lot of the time. He had probably messed up any sort of relationship he could've had with Rudolf now, and Reuben might not want to be friends with someone his twin so clearly hated. Matthew walked away, mentally cursing himself for being so stupid. Part of him wanted to chase after Rudolf, but another part of him was still mad at him too for reacting so strongly. He decided against it, it would probably just make things worse.