Chapter 55

Frank was still sleeping when I got up the next morning, but there was a tiny brown owl fluttering around the room. It wasn't carrying any letters, but it had a collar around its neck that read "Fun Ghoul." The owl perched on Frank's desk while I slowly rolled out of bed.

I wondered what everyone else was doing at Hogwarts. The other seventh years were probably preparing for the graduation ceremony, unless... What if they were in danger because of us? What if Rookwood had made his way into Hogwarts? He clearly didn't have a problem with killing innocents. What if he was there right now?

I had to warn the others. I opened one of the drawers in Frank's desk and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. I began to write furiously:

Dear Mikey,

I hope you get this before it's too late. Frank and I found the man with two differently colored eyes in the Shrieking Shack. The man's name is Augustus Rookwood, and he is the same man who escaped from Azkaban in July. He tried to kill us, but we were able to stun him. We were afraid that he would come looking for us, so we escaped, but I'm still worried that he might attack Hogwarts. Please pass this on to Ray, Pete, Hayley, Joe, Spencer, Brendon, Dallon, Andy, Patrick, Tiffany, Ryan, and anyone else who is still at Hogwarts, and please write back so I know that you're okay.

Love,

Gerard

P.S. Tell Ray to make sure that Blurryface is being taken care of. You know how much Frank cares about that thing.

I put the letter in an envelope and gave it to Fun Ghoul, who then flew away. I then went downstairs and into the kitchen. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and began to make some coffee. Frank joined me a few minutes later.

"Hey Gerard," Frank said. He kissed me on the cheek and then started making some breakfast for himself.

"Frank, do you happen to have an owl named Fun Ghoul?" I asked.

"Yeah. Did he stop by?" Frank replied.

I nodded. "He's delivering a letter to Hogwarts right now," I said. "He'll be back soon."

"Got it," Frank said.

Suddenly, a different owl that neither of us recognized flew into the room. The owl dropped a letter onto the table. It was addressed to Frank, so he tore it open and read it. "Gerard, you have to read this," he said as soon as he was finished. He handed me the paper, and I began to read.

We thoroughly enjoyed talking to you and Gerard, and we're so glad that you're interested in music, so we got you two tickets to see us live in a few weeks. See you then!

Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool

"And there are two tickets in here!" Frank exclaimed. "WE'RE GOING TO A GREEN DAY CONCERT!!!"

I grinned. "That's so awesome," I said.

"I know, right?" Frank said. "By the way, do you want to help me take the dogs for a walk?"

"Sure," I said.

Frank got out four dog leashes, all of which could take three dogs at once. "You can take Agrippa, Merlin, Pinkstone, Bowman, and Morgana. I'll take the rest of them."

"Frank, I don't know which dogs those are," I said.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Agrippa is the Cocker Spaniel over there, Merlin is the black terrier under the table, I'm not sure where Pinkstone is, but she's a little brown Yorkie, Bowman is the only white dog that I have, so he's easy to spot, and Morgana is a black poodle mix."

I somehow managed to round up all of those dogs, and Frank and I went outside and began to walk. Mungo didn't want to go initially, but we eventually got all eleven dogs to keep walking.

"It's such a nice day today," Frank observed. "I hope it stays this way, since we'll have to walk them again this afternoon."

"Really? We have to do this again?" I said.

"Come on Gee," Frank said. "It'll be fun."

"You're the only person I know who thinks that taking care of eleven dogs is fun," I said.

"Twelve," Frank corrected me. "Usually I have Blurryface too, but he's still at Hogwarts. Poor thing. I hope he's doing okay."

"I'm sure he is," I said.

"I wish I could have gotten him before we left, but I know that we didn't really have time," Frank said.

"Yeah, Party Poison is still at Hogwarts too, but we'll have them back soon," I said.

"I'm scared," Frank said. "What if Rookwood finds us?"

"He won't," I said. "We're in a Muggle town in the middle of nowhere. He couldn't possibly find us here."

We walked the dogs around the neighborhood before returning to Frank's house. "Can I borrow your guitar?" I asked as we took the leashes off of the dogs.

"Sure," Frank said. I went into his room and started trying to play the guitar. I had a song in mind, and I wanted to work on it. I eventually came up with a few lyrics, and I sang them while Frank played around on that machine that he called a "computer."

When the lights go out

Will you take me with you

And carry all this broken bone

Through six years down in crowded rooms

And highways I call home?

Something I can't know 'til now.

'Til you pick me off the ground

With a brick in hand, your lip-gloss smile,

Your scraped-up knees.

And if you stay I would even wait all night

Or until my heart explodes.

How long?

'Til we find our way in the dark and out of harm

You can run away with me anytime you want

Terrified of what I'd be

As a kid from what I've seen

Every single day when people try

And put the pieces back together

Just to smash them down

Turn my headphones up real loud

I don't think I need them now

'Cause you stopped the noise.

And if you stay I would even wait all night

Or until my heart explodes.

How long?

'Til we find our way in the dark and out of harm

You can run away with me anytime you want

"That was beautiful, Gee," Frank said.

"Yeah, but I think one of your guitar strings broke," I said. "Don't worry, I can fix it." I pointed my wand at the broken string and said, "Reparo!"

The string was fixed, but the lights suddenly went out and the screen on Frank's computer went black. "Gerard! You should have known that magic keeps Muggle technology from working!"

"Sorry Frank," I said. "I told you that I didn't take Muggle Studies."

Linda suddenly burst into the room. "Alright, which one of you boys made the power go out?" she asked.

"Gerard did it!" Frank exclaimed.

Linda sighed and said, "I'm going to try to get the power back on. Please don't do any more magic in the house."

She left the room, and I asked, "What were you even doing on the computer?"

"I was just reading Hagzart fanfiction on Wattpad. You know, Hagrid and Mozart?" Frank replied.

"So you were reading fanfiction about our Care of Magical Creatures teacher and a composer from the eighteenth century?!? That is quite possibly the strangest ship that I have ever heard of."

Frank shrugged. "It amused me."

"What if someone wrote fanfiction about us?" I said.

Frank laughed. "Nobody would ever want to read about us!"

"Why not?" I asked.

"We're not THAT interesting," Frank said.

"Oh, I don't know," I said. "You're pretty interesting to me." I pulled him closer and kissed him passionately. The power came on a few minutes later, but I don't think either of us really noticed when we were lost in each other.