"Yeah, me too. The whole thing's not on." He felt his forehead creasing again, thinking about it. Uncle Fred. Would he be the next to turn up? At least he'd be someone that Alex recognised, if he saw him. Not like that other guy...
He chuckled as she studied the earbud, then pushed his own hair behind his ear, showing how the little black thing fit. The volume was pretty low, too. Not enough to be painful, anyway. Not like some days, when the beat drowning out your thoughts was all you wanted.
"Yeah, it was worth it. I mean, not like you could really use a lot of magic during the summer anyway. Still. It wasn't fun listening to her yell."
He grinned. "And Slytherins aren't allowed to be civil."