Frank couldn't sleep. He tried for what felt like hours before giving up. He pushed himself upright and just hugged his knees to his chest for awhile. Eventually, however, he slid out of the bed and quietly made his way out of the dorm and into the common room.

It was dimmly lit and quiet. Frank frowned, contemplating going back into the dorm. He stopped, however, when he caught movement by one of the couches.

"Baron?" Frank called out, unsure of who it might have been.

Someone witb red hair popped up from one of the couches. "Sorry, Frank, just me." Hayley answered.

Frank pushed a hand through his messy hair. "Why are you up?" He asked. He walked across the room and sat down next to Hayley.

She shrugged, tapping her leg. "The dorm room's real quiet by myself." She stopped the tapping, "I had forgotten..."

Frank looked down. Jamia and Hayley had been the only girls sorted into Slytherin their first year. Now Hayley had it completely to herself.

"I never thought something like that could happen." Hayley whispered, "She always avoided talking about her family, but how it ended up..."

"It's horrible." Frank finished her trailed off thought.

Hayley nodded. "It was all so wrong but... She was still my friend."

Frank could see tears in her eyes, threatening to spill. He pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly. She held him back, sniffling.

"I'm sorry. I know went through a lot more shit than I ever could have." Her voice was shakey.

"It's fine." Frank shushed her, "You knew her differently. You have every right to be feeling what you're feeling; you're only human." He held her for a bit longer, until her breathing calmed. When she pulled away, she wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"What about you?" She asked, "Frank, are you okay after all that happened?"

Frank gulped. He wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted desperately to confess to someone that he wasn't okay. He could scream it from the top of his lungs at this point but...

"Fine." He lied. No one needed to overly worry. No one needed to stress over him after the pain he had been a part of causing.

Hayley seemed skeptical. "You sure?"

Frank nodded.

Hayley sniffled again. She still looked skeptical, but didn't push the issue. She simply nodded and turned her gaze towards the dying fire in front of them.

Frank looked towards it too. The embers were enchanted green, but blipped back to their usual fiery colors just before fading.

---

"No, Pete, I won't let you in the prefect bathroom, I'll get in trouble!" Patrick exclaimed, waving his wand to direct the path of a paper plane that Pete had crafted.

The Gryffindor poured. "C'mon! I hear they have colorful soap bubbles." He winked.

Patrick directed the airplane at Pete in response, hiding a giggle behind his hand as Pete dove to the side to avoid it.

Gerard laughed from where he sat next to Dallon and Ray. The five were out in the courtyard between lessons, catching up. Dallon was practicing several charms he had read up on during the summer while Ray tried to mimic him, Pete was trying to find ways to abuse Patrick's new prefect power, and Gerard was just enjoying the company of friends.

"How have you already gotten wordless spells nailed down?" Ray asked with frustration after turning several leaves to dust with his wand.

"How can you even practice at home? You're under age!" Pete exclaimed, "The minestry should have gotten you by now."

Dallon smiled slyly. "I went to work with my dad a lot. He and Mr. Weasley aren't shy about breaking rules."

"Sly dog." A soft, passing voice laughed. Gerard turned to see Breezy walking by with a group of girls. She smiled. "I've already gotten a letter about trying to practice at home. First strike offender, right here."

"Maybe you could come by diagon alley next summer." Dallon offered, "Too much magic around there for them to pinpoint whether it came from someone under age or not."

Breezy shrugged. "I'll think about it, thanks, Dallon."

He smiled at her as she hurried to catch up with the other girls in her group.

"Do I smell romance in the air?" Pete asked with the wiggle of his eyebrows.

Dallon laughed, turning back to the group. "Breeze isn't into romance. She's just a really good friend."

"Not every interaction equals romance." Ray added as he flicked his wand at a stone, sending it flying across the courtyard. He quickly lowered his wand and looked down when someone cried out.

"Nice." Pete laughed. He shook his hand through his hair and turned to Gerard. "Speaking of romance, Gerard, how's Frank?"

Gerard smiled. Currently, Frank was probably in a class. They hadn't yet compared schedules. "Good. He walked me to my common room last night."

"You sure he's alright after..." Dallon made a sour face. He didn't have much memory from his own experience, but he had learned of what had happened.

Gerard shrugged. "He said so... He hasn't really brought it up."

"It's a fucked thing." Pete frowned, "Love potions, poisoned biscuits, so much bullshit for a delusional idea. My parents actually debated sending me to an American wizarding school because of it."

"Mine considered Durmstrang." Ray admitted, "They would have eaten me alive."

Patrick leaned his head on Pete's shoulder. "It makes me glad my parents don't really understand magic and what goes on here."

Gerard turned away from his friends as they grew silent. So, his mother hadn't been the only one to threaten to not send children back to Hogwarts. A feeling of bitterness passed through him. The parents weren't here; this was something their kids were dealing with. He had already lost some of his friends to fearful parents, but he had never imagined how many more he could have lost if some of these parents were more persistent.

Gerard sighed. He turned his gaze to the covered hall that ran alongside where they all sat. It was fairly empty, except for one student rushing by with his head down.

"Ryan!" Gerard called out. He pushed himself up, quickly excusing himself from the group and hurrying to catch up with Ryan. "Ryan, hey!"

The Gryffindor finally turned, as if he barely heard Gerard. "Oh, hey." He brought his hand up to swipe some of his long bangs out of his face. He had grown it out over the holiday. In fact, he had shifted his entire hair style; it was short on the sides with the only length being at his bangs and a bit on top of his head.

"New haircut." Gerard grinned, "Looks good."

"You're back at it again with the white hair." Ryan replied with a soft laugh.

Gerard nodded. "Hey, you want to come hang out? It's just a couple of us in the courtyard."

Ryan shook his head. "No, I... I was going to the library."

"Can I tag along?" Gerard asked, "We haven't really got to hang out yet."

"Sure."

Gerard walked alongside Ryan in the direction of the library. Ryan was quiet, occasionally looking around but otherwise keeping his head down.

"You feeling okay?" Gerard whispered as they entered the library, "You seem a bit off."

Ryan shrugged, continuing through the library. He stopped several shelves in. He scanned over the books before sighing. "Just trying to avoid things."

Gerard tilted his head. "What?" He eyes the shelves, taking note of the books that resided where Ryan had stopped. Newer books about less magical approaches to dealing with less magical problems.

"Just, people." Ryan replied, irritation edging on his tone.

"Brendon?" Gerard asked without thinking about it. After what had happened last year, it only made sense. Ryan had been crushed after Brendon broke up with him before Christmas. It only worsened when he came back to find Brendon with Dallon. It had been the product of love potions, but that kind of damage was hard to take back.

Ryan muttered something, looking down at the ground.

Gerard frowned. "Ryan, you can talk to me. I know-"

"Just stop!" Ryan snapped. His hands balled into fists at his side. "Everyone says that. Everyone thinks I'm a charity case! I'm not!"

Gerard almost jumped. He wasn't expecting Ryan to go off on him. "I-I'm sorry..."

Ryan's eyes softened. "I..." He looked up at Gerard, "I'm sorry. I just..." He shook his head. "I've got to get to class."

"Are you sure?" Gerard tugged at the sleeves of his robes. "Didn't you need a book?"

Ryan let out a soft laugh. "No... I just knew Brendon doesn't like to come within a dragon's wingspan of this place."

Ryan moved to pass Gerard, but paused. Gerard was almost afraid to ask another question. He didn't have to, however, because Ryan spun and wrapped his arms around Gerard in a tight hug.

"I'm really sorry." He whispered before pulling away and hurrying away. He felt horrible for snapping at Gerard. The Hufflepuff had never been anything but kind to him. It was just frustrating to have the same question repeated over and over.

Ryan had been sent to therapy over the summer holiday for his behavior. Being the only magical one in the family after his father died helped with that. His therapist didn't know about magic, but his story played well enough into any high school drama that it only took a few minor tweaks here and there.

He had been prescribed muggle medicines that he didn't take. Muggle remedies had never really worked for Ryan. It was something about his magic that kept it from being fully effective.

Even if it did affect him, Ryan wasn't sure he would have taken them.

He had attempted brewing a calming drought, or something to help him sleep better at night, but he always ran into problems along the way. Eventually, he had given up. He didn't have much beyond the school budget for ingredients to keep failing. He just suffered through it.

He had received owls from Brendon over the summer, but he hadn't responded. That night in the hospital wing, when Brendon snuck in, things seemed okay. It felt like things were on their way to getting better, but something inside of Ryan didn't click. He still felt sad. He still had these conflicting feelings about Brendon. Things weren't automatically better...

Ryan sighed as he came upon the moving staircases. He thought these lonely feelings would wash away. He wanted to move past it. He wished it could be an easy fix, but it wasn't. So he avoided Brendon. Maybe if he could avoid the cause of the pain, it would get easier...

It wasn't so far.

Ryan pulled out his wand, examining the dark wood it was made from. Magic was supposed to be this awesome ability to make things easier. He wished it could make everything easier...

A familiar laugh echoed, making Ryan stiffen. He looked up at the moving stair cases, darting between them in search of that familiar face.

It didn't take long to catch sight of the Slytherin with a large grin on his face. There was no mistaking it.

Ryan felt panic bubble in his chest. What if Brendon saw him? He had no idea what to say. He couldn't even answer his own questions, let alone Brendon's.

Instead, he brought up his wand and quickly cast a disillusionment charm, blending himself into his surroundings. When the staircase connected to the space just in front of Ryan, he held his breath.

"I didn't think history of magic could get any worse!" Another Slytherin student, Hayley, laughed as she jumped off the steps. "Who thought letting a ghost teach the class would liven up the lessons?"

Brendon shrugged. He was wearing a school sweater rather than his robes. "The guy may have lived during the events he's teaching!" He laughed, following Hayley's lead by jumping off of the steps. He landed close to Ryan, not that he knew.

Ryan felt his heart twist as Brendon stepped closer to him. Should he be running from this? Maybe he should try and talk to Brendon... But what if he didn't understand?

Brendon bumped into Ryan just then, causing Ryan to suck in an anxious breath. Brendon steadied himself on his feet before turning back to where Ryan stood still as a statue. He squinted, as if he wasn't sure whether he had tripped over something or not.

"Brendon! We're gunna be late for food!"

Brendon turned towards Hayley for an instant before he was looking at the camouflaged Ryan. Ryan looked back, catching no recognition on Brendon's face.

"Wait up!" He hollered, finally spinning and running after the Slytherin girl.

Ryan waited until his thudding footsteps faded before dropping the charm. He could have said something. He could have been brave, like an actual Gryffindor.

He sighed, looking down. How could he call himself a Gryffindor when he couldn't even face someone he still cared about?..