Marlowe felt exceptionally ill. There was no game that afternoon, which he was grateful for, but he still had training, and no one was willing to except a full moon night as an excuse, no matter how awful Marlowe felt.

He suffered his way through his daily workout and did his best to exhibit good form when the assistant coach pulled all the beaters to work on their swing, but every time he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror or the reflection in the window, he saw he looked pale and drawn and tired. There were bags under his eyes, his hands shook ever so slightly, and he felt more nauseous with every swing.

When it was finally time to leave, Marlowe changed and packed up his things in two minutes flat, offered nothing whatsoever to his teammates in the way of a goodbye, and disapparated.

"Hi sweetheart," said his mum the moment he arrived home. She was sitting at the kitchen table with her work spread all around her. Her home office moved all over the place depending on the day of the week. "You want something to eat?"

Marlowe shook his head and headed straight to his bedroom. After a very brief shower, he curled up his bed and tried not to notice the way his joints ached and how he could feel his heartbeat in each of his sore muscles.

His mum appeared not long after he had laid down, as she usually did. She smoothed back his wet hair and pressed her hand to his forehead. "Not feeling well?" she asked.

"No," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Can I get you anything? A glass of water or some ice or something?"

"It's okay," he said. He swallowed.

"It'll be nice to see Caiti, tonight, though won't it?"

"Yeah," he said. "For a minute."

She rubbed his back, like she had done when he was small and couldn't sleep, and he shut his eyes. His mum amazed him at each full moon, the way she did not freak out, the way she took in her stride something that, as a muggle, should have been so far out of her comfort zone.

He had not forgotten the way she tiptoed around him when he had first been in the hospital earlier that year until he had pointed it out to her, but ever since he had said that what he really needed was for her not to be afraid of him, she hadn't been. It was his dad, for whom the concept of a werewolf was not a total surprise, who was still struggling with it. They didn't talk all that much. His mum, on the other hand, had become his best friend.

She did not push and she did not ask too many questions, she gave good advice, and she was patient. She listened, in the rare occasion that Marlowe wanted to talk. She was kind and she made him feel normal, like Caiti did. She made him feel like things had not changed without pretending they hadn't. She made him laugh.

Around the time that the sky began to darken, Caiti arrived. Marlowe heard the telltale whoosh of the fireplace as someone arrived by floo powder. "Should I have her come down here?" asked his mum, but Marlowe pushed himself up, winced as his low back tweaked.

"No, it's okay," he said. "I'll go."

He made him way back down the hall to the living room where Caiti was brushing herself off. Her face lit up when she saw him. She set down the flask she carried and met him at the edge of the hall and gave him a big hug.

"Hey," said Marlowe, trying to muster up a little positive energy.

"Hi," she smiled.

He gave her a light kiss on the lips and then let go so he could take his potion. It was best fresh. He drained it all in one gulp because having to go back in for a second sip after the initial taste was much more difficult. When it was empty, his mum was already waiting with a glass of water.

"Thanks," he said, switching for the cup. He downed that, too. They all stood there for a second, not quite sure what to do.

"Do you have to be back quickly?" asked Marlowe.

"I can stay about an hour," said Caiti quietly.

He sat down on the big green sofa and patted the space next to him. Caiti tucked her feet under her and sat down next to him. He put his arm around her shoulders. It was weird, sitting here even though it had only been a couple of weeks.

"How's school?" he asked. "You gonna get O's on all your N.E.W.T.s?"

She laughed. "I don't know about that," she said. She did not answer his first question and Marlowe felt like it was purposeful.

"How's everything else?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Like I thought it would be, I guess."

"How's that?' asked Marlowe. He played with the ends of her hair. She looked down at her lap.

"I don't know," she said again. "It kinda sucks. I miss you."

"Not buddy-buddy with Amelia?" he teased.

Caiti smirked. "Believe it or not, Amelia is the least of all evils these days. Sort of." She tipped her head onto his shoulder. "I'm ready to graduate."

"Yeah, I think I'm ready for that, too," he agreed.

His mum, who had gone into the kitchen, came back with three cups of tea.

"Try and drink a little Marlowe," she said, passing one to him and one to Caiti. "This one's supposed to help with pain." She sat down in the chair across from them. If it had been his dad or one of Caiti's parents, he would have resented this, but he didn't mind his mum being there.

He took a sip of the tea. Marlowe highly doubted it would actually do anything to help, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

"How's my little one doing? Is he behaving?" she asked Caiti.

"Elliot is feeling very twelve, let's put it that way," said Caiti.

Marlowe laughed under his breath. "Yeah he was starting to be a real piece of work this summer."

"I know," said Caiti. "It's worse now, though. He's got like this whole entourage because his big brother's a pro quidditch player and because he knows me and I'm seventh year and more importantly the sister of the Triwizard Champion, so basically the kid's got connections and he's flaunting them. He thinks he's pretty cool."

"Oh, god," said Marlowe. "I'm sorry. Tell him I said to tone it down."

Caiti smiled and shrugged a little. "He's having his moment. Something'll snap him out of it eventually."

They chatted for a while about Marlowe's work and Caiti's classes, and how this year would go by fast, and then, too soon, it was almost dark and Marlowe needed to be heading out to the shed in the backyard which his dad had reoutfitted for his full moon needs, and Caiti needed to be heading back to school.

"Hey, when's your first Hogsmeade weekend?" Marlowe asked as they stood up.

"October twenty-sixth," said Caiti. "It's a Saturday."

"Okay," he said. "I'll see if I can make it that day." He pulled her into a hug so she would not see on his face that he already knew he would not be able to make it. There was a match that afternoon. Marlowe would not be playing, but he still had to be there.

Caiti stood up on her tiptoes, put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him. He kissed her twice more, for good measure, gave her a tight squeeze, and let go. His mum stepped in to give her a hug too and then Caiti stepped towards the fireplace. Her eyes looked the slightest bit glassy, but he could tell she was trying to hide it.

Marlowe gave her one last hug. "Thanks," he said. "Love you."

"Love you too." Her voice was tight. Marlowe didn't like to hear that. She left quickly before he could see her cry.

When she was gone, Marlowe stood and stared into the empty fireplace for a few moments, then turned, kissed his mum on the cheek, said goodnight, and headed outside.

"You let me know if you need anything, sweetheart," she called, standing in the doorframe.

He nodded without turning around, but he would never ask for anything.

---

It had been harder than Caiti had expected, seeing Marlowe. An hour went by so much quicker than she had anticipated, especially since any hour spent in the castle seemed to drag on and on these days. She took her time walking back up to Ravenclaw tower, all the while trying to fight back the tears that threatened to come out. The last thing she needed was for Miriam to see her crying.

She made a brief stop in her dormitory where, as usual, the rest of the girls were blasting N'SYNC and talking about their crushes, but only stayed long enough to grab a bit of homework she really needed to get to work on for charms, and then went back out into the common room and up the stairs to the study area.

Theo was up there with a couple of his friends. Caiti meant to sit in the corner and not say hello to any of them, but he spotted her before she could slink into the shadows.

"Hey Caiti," he asked, and then his brow furrowed, and he followed up his greeting with the dreaded question. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said in her best interpretation of her usual bright and spunky self. "I'm good."

She went to sit down and started searching for the page in her book that she needed. Theo was up and next to her in no time. He sat down. "You don't look okay," he said. "What's up?"

"I'd really rather not talk about," said Caiti with a smile that she hoped said, this conversation is over. She had made the mistake of opening up about her relationship to Theo before and she was not going to do it again, no matter how much they pretended to be on good terms. Caiti would always be friendly to Theo. He had been her first real boyfriend and he had been very good to her in the aftermath of Marlowe's attack, but she had not forgotten some of the things he had said to her last year, some of the things he had assumed. Better to keep her guard up.

"It's a full moon night, isn't it?"

Caiti hated that now, any time there was a full moon or even a new moon, anyone who noticed it looked right at her. "Yes," she said shortly. "It is."

"Did you see Marlowe tonight?" he asked. "You're still making the potion for him, right?"

"Theo," she snapped. "I appreciate your interest in my life, but I have a lot to do." She closed her eyes. "Sorry. I don't mean to talk to you that way."

"It's fine," he said, and he got up and went back to his friends without another word. Caiti regretted it once he was gone. She didn't really want to talk to him, but she was beginning to worry that her attitude was pushing away everyone that might talk to her at all this year. She had already snapped at Bill twice in class for prying about her research. If she kept this up, this was going to be an even lonelier year than she had thought.

She could see herself closing off, could see herself pushing away possible friendships, but she couldn't seem to stop the train she'd gotten on any more than she could notice the effects of the choices she made.

She kept her eyes trained away from any windows, not wanting to see that big, bright moon outside, and she managed, for once, to focus on her schoolwork instead of her research. It was easier, for now, to think about something other than Marlowe. She didn't like to let her mind wander on these nights.