─── WITH NO IDEA AS TO WHO A.S. WAS, Saros didn't get any sort of sleep as he kept the handwritten note close to his person as he laid in his bed. He studied the handwriting, but it didn't appear to be anything that he had witnessed in the household. Saros waited to see if any other notes would appear in the manor, enough that would stir up any sort of reaction, but it remained silent after everyone went to sleep. Despite being exhausted, Saros kept his eyes peeled open to make sure that whoever had left the letter would not return without him being a witness. However, he found himself to be quite out of luck.

By the time that pure exhaustion took over and forced him to sleep, the sun had already been rising and just a couple of hours later, his name was being called by his mother. With burning red eyes from the lack of sleep and a groggy sensation washing over his entire body, Saros forced himself to sit up in bed but made no effort to get up right away. Crumpled beside his pillow was still the note, leaving him to reach over, grab it, and read it over again.

An unpleasant chill raced down his spine as it spoke about his family keeping the truth from him and while he wouldn't admit it out loud, it was certainly a fear of his. He knew that his parents were attempting to shelter him, Draco had pointed it out that there were bad people, even in the magical world. There were those that wanted to hurt Saros and he had to be extremely careful and Saros had to ponder if whoever had written the note was one of the people that his family spoke of. Were they one of the ones that wanted to turn Saros away from those that cared about him and fill his head with terrible beliefs?

They had tried to do so before and Saros was informed that it was the way he had been hurt initially. It had to be one of them, he thought to himself as he looked over the parchment paper, trying to lure him out and what a better time to try and make an attempt when he was on his way to Hogwarts. He wouldn't be around his parents, they wouldn't be able to protect him as they had been, it was all the perfect opportunity to be set up. How the person had managed to get him a letter undetected on the manor grounds, Saros wasn't sure, but it made him uneasy.

Enough that he ripped up the parchment paper and tossed it into a small bin before reaching for his prosthetic leg. He had to be alert more than ever returning to school if there were people trying to lead him astray, he had to surround himself by the right sort of people. There was no way he could fall for the same tricks twice, especially if he had Draco there to help guide him and steer him away from those that engaged in foul play. He had no reason to believe that his parents or his brother wanted to hurt him, the note was full of lies.

Placing on the prosthetic and slowly standing up to shift his weight properly, Saros stretched out his body before making his way out of his room and towards the dining area. He could smell breakfast as soon as he made his way into the hall, although he didn't find himself the least bit hungry. For a couple of minutes, Saros debated whether he should tell his parents about the note, but he figured it would just cause unnecessary panic and then more than likely they would fight the idea of him leaving.

If someone was trying to get to him, it would follow him to school more than likely, so there was no need to alarm them. His mother had already expressed just how nervous she was about Saros leaving to Hogwarts and his father's reaction was no better. It was like they had no faith in his capabilities. He understood that he wasn't in the best position with his mental states as there were still plenty of gaps, but he had proven it time and time before that he learnt quickly. And he had no plans of straying from his family or their views again.

As he walked into the dining area, Draco was already seated, as was the rest of the family, but they were all so quiet. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of silverware clanking against the plates lightly.

"Is everything alright?" he called out, bringing all of them to jump and immediately turn to face him. All of a sudden, their expressions changed, smiles appearing from nowhere as they greeted him with bright good mornings. He had to admit that it left him uncomfortable, witnessing how quickly they changed but they did it so often. No matter what someone was doing in the household, if Saros approached them, they would immediately change their demeanour.

Narcissa pushed herself up and motioned him over in her direction. "Yes, of course, we were just keeping quiet to see if we heard if you were awake yet or not. I wasn't sure if you had heard me calling your name. Come sit down and eat."

He was seated between his mother and father, across the way from Draco, and as the smiles faded, they all directed their gaze to focus on the dishes. Saros was given a plate of eggs, toast, bacon, an assortment of all sorts of foods. But as he lifted up his fork to just eat a little bit to please his mother, he could see that no one was actually eating at the table, they were simply moving their food around.

There had to be something wrong, whether it was nerves or something else, he couldn't pinpoint it but Saros didn't need his memory intact to put it together that something was up. Breakfast was to remain awkward as he would continue to look up from his plate and look at each of his family members.

Lucius looked beyond pale, almost sickly with the bags under his eyes growing darker by the day, while Draco's cheeks were sunken in from the way he chewed on the insides of them. Narcissa attempted to remain poised but everything was revealed in her eyes, the way they fluttered over the scene of the table as she seemed to fight internally with something. Suddenly, something took control of Saros as he seemed to lose his temper with the overwhelming silence.

"Stop this!" his hands slammed on the table, startling everyone as they turned to him, fear evident in their eyes. "Whatever this is, just stop it. Stop being quiet around me, stop tiptoeing around me. Just tell me what's wrong, talk to me! I know something is wrong, it's written all over your faces, so just say it!"

Of course, even with the sudden outburst, the area remained silent, leaving him to grow angrier as he pushed his chair away from the table and stood up.

"I can't...I can't handle this anymore. I know something bad happened to me. I know it was my fault, but the way you all act...I can't handle that. Half the time none of you can even bring yourselves to look at me and when you do....I...I don't know...but something's not right. So just tell me. Please!?"

"Saros, we already informed you," Lucius began, " the Healers-"

"I don't care what the fucking Healers said," he snapped in his father's direction, " they don't have to deal with half of what I'm dealing with right now! They don't have to deal with the way you all look at me. You all know things and you won't say it but that drives me mad! I don't care what it does, I don't care what I did, just tell me. Tell me what I did exactly and maybe...maybe I'll understand why the lot of you can't look me in the eye."

Just witnessing all three of them remain completely still and still not take to looking him in the eye as he requested, Saros felt his frustration levels nearly become unstable He wasn't sure what had caused the sudden surge of anger in his own mind, until he thought of the letter again. The letter made him lose sleep, it made him question things, and it had basically pushed him to start interrogating his family.

Taking another step back from the table, Saros placed his hand to his head, closing his eyes as he felt a sharp pain in areas that he couldn't reach. He could feel all eyes turn to watch him, leaving him to take a deep breath and exhale slowly before speaking again.

"I'm sorry," he apologised in a softer tone, " I don't know what came over me just now. I-I-I didn't get much sleep last night, I think it might have left me feeling a tad bit grouchy. I think I'm going to go lie down until it's time to leave."

No one said anything, but Saros felt like he was being watched until he completely left the dining area.

After managing to actually get some sleep during his morning nap, Saros would admit, he did feel somewhat better than he initially felt that morning. However, it wasn't as if he had forgotten the confrontation with his family. There was some truth to his words, he really did want to know what happened to him, but if his parents and brother were upholding the Healer's instructions, he couldn't fault them for that. They were following professional advice, which was supposed to benefit him in the long run.

Some memories had already found their way back to Saros, in the form of dreams, most of them incomplete. They were all from his childhood, growing up in the manor, and memories he shared with his family. He could see how his family reacted towards him, the way they all acted around each other before, and he wanted that back more than anything. The life he felt he was living was basically a lie or an empty version of what it once was. He wanted to go back to the times of his happier memories, not when he was stuck in the dark of a situation.

And as the time came to head to the train station, Narcissa offered one last time to bring Saros to Hogwarts so that he didn't have to take the Hogwarts Express, but he declined. He would have the opportunity to spend more time at home, but that wasn't doing him much good. Not to mention, he had duties as Head Boy and he was looking forward to carrying that responsibility, it would give him something to focus on outside of his personal problems.

With no other choice, Narcissa was left with the task of bringing the boys to the train station, dread written all over her face as she guided Saros along through the crowds. He seemed quite happy once they were outside of the manor, probably enjoying the idea of being free instead of being confined in  the house all the time. His eyes seemed to scan the mixed crowds of muggles and magic folk that hurried along to their destinations, possibly trying to see if he recognised any of them and she found herself praying that he didn't.

But they made it to the barrier without conflict and it was the moment where she had to let him go. The last time she had cried was when it was Draco's first year heading off and the time before that it was Saros' first time leaving. However, Narcissa couldn't help herself in those moments as she had an awful feeling that everything they had worked for over the summer would be for nothing.

If Dumbledore was becoming involved, there was no telling what Saros' fate would be and with tensions rising all over, Narcissa was so afraid of losing her son again. Before he could even think of turning to her and saying goodbye, he found her arms wrapped him tightly. She could hear the air escape his lungs as she had caught him off guard but she didn't care either. Part of her mind had her wonder if it was going to be the last time that she embraced her eldest.

In the distance, she could see Harry Potter and next to him, his godfather, Sirius along with the whole crowd. They were all looking in their direction and Narcissa couldn't bring herself to look at them as she closed her eyes and continued to hold onto Saros.

"Mother, it's going to be alright," Saros tried his best to reassure her as it was becoming difficult to breathe. "I promised you that if I felt uncomfortable with anything that I would contact you, didn't I?"

The last thing Saros expected was for his mother to basically start sobbing into his shoulder, especially in public. She always came across as so composed, never daring to show any sign of weakness in front of others. However, the tears that fell were not a sign of weakness but a sign of fear as Narcissa knew very well that their plans of keeping Saros all to themselves was over. No matter how hard Draco tried to keep an eye on his older brother while they were away, there was no guarantee.

He wouldn't be there in any of Saros' classes and as Narcissa opened her eyes again and spotted Angelina in the distance, she gritted her teeth. Her eldest son would be surrounded by those that were just going to place him in harm's way.

Eventually, Saros had enough of his mother feeling sorry for herself and practically pried her arms off of him to take a step back. He offered a sympathetic smile before pulling Draco over to recieve his farewell hug as a distraction. Taking the opportunity to grab his trunk, he started making his way towards the train, missing out on Narcissa practically pushing Draco to go after him and remain close.

Walking past his fellow peers, Saros wished that any of their faces had appeared familiar as he made his way onto the train. But all he was left with were people staring in his direction, greeted with the same silence that most of his family had treated him with over the recent days. There were little bouts of whispering as he walked by, but he couldn't make anything out. It was as if everyone had a secret and he wasn't to know any of them.

Stepping on the train with Draco close behind, Saros had been given the task of finding an empty compartment, while Draco kept a close eye out for his friends. However, they hadn't moved very far along when Saros came to a halt. He had stopped, not because he had found a compartment for them, but the pathway was being blocked by two red-headed twins.

"Saros, long time, no see," one of them said with a grin, he wore the smile while the other one didn't seem to share in the amusement of the situation. "What? Don't you remember me?"

Saros had to admit, they didn't appear familiar to him, but he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. With a shake of his head, Saros delivered his answer to the pair, meanwhile, Draco was trying to move past them and drag his brother along. But Saros remained in place to listen to what the boys had to say to him. They obviously knew him, enough that they knew his name, how far did their previous encounters go?

"It's me, Fred!" the first one continued. "Your boyfriend!"

While Saros' eyes widened, Draco gasped loudly, and the other twin nudged the one called Fred in the ribs roughly.

"Fred, knock it off, now is not the time," he scolded, " come on, he doesn't even recognise us and if Angie heard you say something like that..."

At the mention of Angie's name, it struck a chord somewhere deep in Saros that his eyes flickered and looked around as if the one called Angie would be summoned by her name. But Saros dismissed it with a shake of his head as he saw Draco motioning him to keep moving. However, Saros did manage to remember something at the time, something about the set of twins before him.

Red hair. Freckles. Hand-me-down robes.

"You're Weasleys..." he uttered out, bringing the twins to smile, while Draco looked as though he had officially shit his pants in the background. "Yes, I remember something about you..."

"Really?" Fred began. "What is it?"

Saros walked forward, quite close to Fred and suddenly placed his prosthetic foot down right on Fred's foot causing him to yelp out in pain before Saros spoke.

"I remember that I don't like you."

Without saying anything else, Saros brushed past the two and made his way to follow Draco, who wore a triumphant grin.

Fred was left to hobble on one foot while George frowned and watched Saros leave. "Well, that didn't go over so well..." George sighed. "What did they do to him?"

"What are you talking about?" Fred replied with a strained voice as he gripped his foot in his hand. "That was great, he remembers how he flirted with me for the first time back at the Quidditch World Cup."

"Flirted?! You call that flirting?!"

"Well, I'm going to call it love now."