By the time the boys had reached break the next day they all felt as though they had settled into a pattern of sorts. A pattern that involved confusion, anxiety, regret and hostility; but a pattern, none the less. 

Ianto had been called into work early so the boys cut their morning festivities short and took the forest walk to school from John and Ianto's little cottage. The walk seemed much sorter than it had just two days ago. 

Sirius had, apparently, become an honorary member of Remus' form class, the teacher noted his presence and said no more on the topic. During their study period James and Remus headed to the library and sat at the table that they now claimed as their own while Sirius and Peter suffered through Physics. 

Remus' name was once again commented on in French, on account of its oddness. Both he and Peter shied away from the classroom full of eyes that turned to stare their way. Meanwhile, James and Sirius sat awkwardly through RE wondering just how everyone knew so much about these God and Jesus characters and why they were never reprimanded for their use of magic in front of Muggles. 

"How was your morning?" Remus asked the group as they took their usual seats in the library.

"Well, I only got called a fairy once, but frankly I think they were commenting on just how wonderful my hair looks today." Sirius replied in an absurdly up-beat manner. 

"That's an improvement." Remus said agreeably. "I got 'Frankenstein' this morning, I hear he was a rather handsome man, so no complaints there." He laughed. 

"Wasn't  Frankenstein a monster?" Peter asked in an oddly sheepish tone. James and Sirius looked at Remus expectantly, all apparently thinking the same thing. 

Remus sighed. "You should all pick up a book every once in a while." 

"Given how much this Jesus bloke talks about loving each other you'd think that all these Muggles would be a little more accepting." James said sourly.

"It's not nice to call us names," A girls voice crept quietly into their conversation. The four boys turned in shock to see a face surrounded by a mass of ginger hair staring back at them from between two books on the opposite side of the shelf. It was Gwendolyn, their unexpected ally in mischief from the day before. She swiftly rounded the corner and swept past their table "just because we're not like you." She whispered low. She had left the library before anyone could react. 

"Do we think that's something to be worried about..?" Remus asked, after what seemed like an eternity. All four boys seemed to be trying to decide whether Gwendolyn merely overheard an odd word and assumed it to be a taunt or did, in fact, know exactly what they meant. 

"Surely not." Sirius said although there was very little conviction behind it. 

"Well, if she knows, she's either a Squib-so really, not worth a lot-or she's a witch-and what would she be doing here if she's a witch?" James asserted quietly, again, with very little confidence. 

Although the 'squib' comment had earned a scowl, Remus felt convinced that there was no harm due. Sirius was sceptical, but hyper-avoidant of any more worry in his day, so brushed it off. 

A moment before calm returned to the library Peter whispered "Then again, why are we here?" 

The thought would linger in every mind for the rest of the day.  

Ruby was unnaturally quiet as they sat through maths, hardly looking in the direction of any of the boys, regardless of how much Peter tried to get her attention. She seemed uninterested in them, a welcome change, by all accounts. 

Peter couldn't help but wonder what horrors were in store for them. Surely this Gwendolyn character would do them more harm than good, whatever she knew.

James had dived head first into his work today, which was incredibly unlike him, but he needed something, anything, to keep him distracted from the thought of a witch in their midst-besides, he knew Remus wouldn't be happy if he got them into any more trouble than was absolutely necessary today. 

Sirius, as was becoming pattern, had hardly a clue what he was supposed to be doing in any of his lessons and was focused on his main task-protecting his friends. Protecting them from harm, embarrassment, pain...Gwendolyn? 

Remus' head was already spinning and his bones were aching before they had even reached midday. He was usually a mostly functioning human the day of the full moon, starting to feel the effects in the evening, able to laugh and joke until the moment they left the building. But the stress of their situation only heightened his experiences-and a full day early! He completed his work to the same standard as someone who might have been forced to do it agains their will, which, frankly, he had been. 

Peter, Sirius and Remus, along with their teammate, George, had to present their poster on volcanoes in Geography that afternoon. This took all of the emotional and physical strength the boys had left. Standing there, being stared at with the cold, unfeeling eyes of their peers was enough to drain them completely. 

James had sat glass-eyed through history, not even sure which time period they were learning about. He had spotted Gwendolyn across the room early in the lesson and watched her intently as the lesson went on. He wondered if he should talk to her, ask her discreetly what she knows. But he knew this was stupid, surely she didn't know anything, not that it would matter if she did. What could she do? Tell the school they all went to a magic school for wizards? She would be laughed out of the place. 

At lunch, the four boys resumed their place in the library. James tried fruitlessly to start up a conversation, but no one was willing to talk. Sirius eventually gave in and told James about their geography presentation, out of politeness, as Remus abandoned the sandwich he'd been picking pathetically at to rest his head against the wall and close his eyes. 

Try as he might not to convey weakness, Remus had been truly defeated by this week, and it was only Wednesday. But in honesty, it was more than the pounding in his head and nausea riddling his appetite that disposed his position. He needed to think about what may happen during their next encounter with Gwendolyn. Should they speak to her? Leave her well alone? Put faith in some god and pray to whoever may be listening that she is purely an odd character? 

There was no time to draw a conclusion, the bell rang, summoning the four boys to vocational studies where they would surely see Gwendolyn again. 

Students were filtering in to the class by the time they had begrudgingly dragged themselves across the school. Although, today there was no option of free choice; each table had a book with each students name written on its cover, marking that they should seat themselves there-likely a repercussion of the events of the day prior. 

 James found himself sat next to a boy he vaguely recognised from some point, who shuffled his seat as far away from James as he could. Fine, James thought. 

Peter was sat next to Ellie, whom he had not yet met, but was aware of from stories of the previous days. 

Remus sat alone, an uneven number of students in the class afforded him this luxury. Sat directly ahead of Remus was Sirius and his desk-mate.

Gwendolyn. Sirius had thought long and hard about what he would say to her, should he get the opportunity. Alas, such thought had clearly not been hard or long enough. 

After some reprimanding about the previous lesson, instructions on the work they should complete and a reminder about the looming detention, the teacher left the room and the class to their own devices. 

Sirius took a moment to build up the courage to speak, then turned to Gwendolyn. 

"Hi, it's Gwendolyn, right?" He asked, about as unsure as he had ever been. 

She pulled a pained face. "Ugh-just Gwen, please." 

Sirius huffed a laugh. "Right, sorry. I'm Sirius."

"I know. Everyone knows. You're the weird homeschool kids. You really need a new cover, by the way, it really doesn't stick." She lowered her voice to say the last part, sending Sirius (and Remus, from his almost equally proficient vantage point) into a quiet state of shock and fear. 

"What do you mean?" He asked as convincingly as he could. Not at all convincingly, or course. 

"You didn't really think you were the only magic-folk living in the muggle world did you? How naïve. Suppose it's just luck of the draw that you should end up here."

This stunned the boys. Sirius was completely unable to gather his thoughts. Remus sensed this and leaned as close to their table as he could manage.

"You're a witch?" He asked, trying not to sound accusatory or shocked, while both were absolutely the case. 

"Not exactly." She smiled sadly. "Can I walk home with you? I can explain then." The two boys nodded in response, minds swimming. "Cool. Have you started your personal statements? Mine's rubbish..." She moved swiftly away from the topic as though they had simply been talking about lunch. 

While they contemplated a great many things, both Sirius and Remus were glad to know that maybe they weren't so alone after all. 

It's a F I L L E R C H A P T E R and it's been a long time coming. Wrote about 85% of this drunk but I am an adult so that is allowed. 

Some things:

I sincerely hope you're all staying safe, washing your hands, keeping your distance, wearing your masks and all that jazz. 

America: you did it, well done. 

JK Rowling is a piece of shit, we are not affiliated with her :)

Next chapter should be within the month, but who knows?