The first day back after the holidays was like a shock to the system and Brandon did not appreciate having Herbology first thing on  Monday morning, especially as the grounds were frozen over and the greenhouses were arctic in temperature. Professor Longbottom however, decided that it was perfect weather for a practical lesson.

It was lunch time, as the lesson had been a double and taken a lot of time and Brandon and his friends were huddled by the fire trying to get the chill out of their bones.

"If I see another plant-" Brandon began to rant, stopped by Helen laughing.

"We have herbology tomorrow." She pointed out.

"Why?" He asked dramatically, getting a bit too close to the fire and having to move quickly before setting his robes on fire.

"Because we have herbology four times a week." Toby pointed out to him. "Honestly how do you forget things like that?"

"He was distracted."  Lily said cheekily, nudging him in the arm.

"Oh shut up!" He rolled his eyes and collected his charms books. "Come on."

"Oh we were just joking!" Rosa exclaimed as she collected her books and followed him.

"I know!" He said back as they rambled down the corridor together.

"Hey, I have some fire whiskey if we want it tonight?" Rosa offered.

"Well, it might take the back to school blues away." Lily agreed. Brandon nodded, he didn't really want to drink, but he might as well if they were all drinking too.

"Sure, why not?" He nodded, but there was something nagging at the back of his mind that he was desperately trying to ignore.

It was at that moment that Toby's copy of the daily prophet arrived, the owl having flown around until it found him.

"Holy shit!" Toby exclaimed as he untied it and caught sight of the title on the front.

"What?" Brandon frowned, Toby rarely swore.

"27 muggles dead in new death eater attacks." Toby read, his eyes widening.

"Where?" Brandon asked, worrying filling his mind at once, what if one of them was Danny?

"Manchester." Toby answered, skimming the article for more information.

"Isn't that-" Lily didn't finish her sentence, fearing the worst.

"Just over an hour away from where I live, yeah." Brandon felt his heart twist into a tightly woven rope. "I'm going to ask Danny what's going on, I want to know if the muggles are picking up in it and what they're doing about it."

"Bran he's fine, I'm sure he's fine." Lily said comfortingly.

"I have to be sure Lils, if anything happens to him-" Brandon sighed. "I have to know."

"Bran I'm not doing this again, you need to stop being so protective, just because he's a muggle doesn't mean he's helpless." Lily sighed, Brandon gave her an annoyed look.

"I'm not, but if anything bad happens to him I think I'll lose my mind." Brandon all but ran back to their common room and up to his dormitory, leaving his friends to make up whatever excuse they could for Flitwick to deal with.

Grabbing a quill and parchment, Brandon wrote as quickly as he could.
Danny,
How are you doing? I miss you like crazy, maybe I should have smuggled you into school! I heard about the attack in Manchester, has anything else happened? And what's going on with that? I can't wait to see you again.
I love you,
Bran

Making sure the ink was dry, he folded it and  scribbled Danny's name on the back. Now all he had to do was get to the owlery without running into Filch.

He managed to reach the owlery without opposition and sent off his letter without a problem. It was as he turned to go that he found Professor McGonagall standing by the door.

"I think you and I should have a little chat Mr Fawley."  She said, Brandon sighed internally and nodded, following her up to her office.

"Sit down." She instructed, Brandon did as she said numbly.

"Have I done something wrong Professor?" Brandon asked, trying to act completely innocent.

"Well for one thing Mr Fawley, you should be in charms class, but given what's going on, I will allow that to slide." She said, she as she so often did, looked bitterly disappointed in him.

"I don't understand what you mean Professor." Brandon said, he wasn't sure what the headmistress was getting at.

"The muggle attacks were not too far from your home were they not?"

"They were too close for my liking, yes." Brandon nodded.

"And you have someone, a muggle whom you care deeply about, and you're worried that he may be caught up in the attacks." She continued. Brandon just nodded, he wondered why he was even talking about this with her.

"Yes, my boyfriend." Brandon nodded. Her stern expression softened slightly, noticing how on edge he was.

"What is his name?"

"Danny, Danny Marsh." Brandon replied, watching her features change into nothing short of alarm.

"Is... is his father called Jeremiah Marsh by any chance?" She asked quickly and with fear in her eyes. Brandon nodded.

"I think so yes, Professor what's going on?"

"Has he recently 'returned from prison'?" She asked, he was scared by how intent she was on finding this information out.

Brandon nodded again. "Professor will you please explain what's going on?"

"Jeremiah Marsh, notorious young death eater in the last wizarding war, disappeared off our radar, we found him when the muggle police captured him for attacking his family, and he was sent to Askaban, he escaped in later November and we haven't been able to find him since. We also have never been able to trace his family as he kept them well hidden from us." McGonagall told him, Brandon struggling to keep up.

"So Danny... is he like us?" He finally asked.

"I don't know, and he certainly won't. Whatever enchantments Jeremiah has used to hide his family from us, probably hid his children's magic from them as well." She said calmly.

"So what do we do now?" Brandon asked with a frown, as he began to wonder if his boyfriend was in danger.

"Let's start with you giving us his address." Mcgonagoll said, "then I will alert the aurors." Brandon did as she asked, hoping this time Danny's father would be locked up for good.

"Don't hurt him." He said as he passed the parchment he had scribbled Danny's address on over to her.

"I do not intend to hurt any of Jeremiah's family, although I think I should bring them here so I can explain everything to them, that way they won't be in the firing line if he attempts to evade the aurors." She stood up meaningfully. "In the meantime I suggest you return to your common room, I will send an owl to you when I need you, I imagine a friendly face will help in this situation."

Brandon nodded, feeling numb and extremely overwhelmed. He hadn't expected the day to turn out that way.