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TOBIAS PRICE WAKES UP TO FIND THAT NIBBLES HAS, ONCE MORE, ESCAPED HIS DORM ROOM. Not again, he thinks groggily, as he crawls out of bed.

"Anyone got tabs on Nibbles?" Tobias asks his roommates, peeking underneath the drapes in hopes that she will have hidden there—but to no avail, because Nibbles is far too slick to stow away in some place so very obvious.

"Bloody hell, mate," Ygor says as he exits the bathroom, "you've got to keep a better eye on your cat."

"Nibbles hasn't fully escaped yet," Tobias reminds him. It's not his fault that the kitten he raised since birth had a rather exhausting wild spirit, now was it?

He groans as he sits down on the cold, hardwood floor. He grasps at the top of his nightstand, pulling a Clocket into his hand by its chain. He opens it by the seam and looks at the two faces. It's a sort of... friend tracker, so to speak. He had dissected a few muggle pocket watches to make them—one for him and one for Arthur, to start, and then another set for Molly. He focuses his attention on his best mate's side.

Arthur's face sits in the middle of the hands, looking at where they point: Dorm. At least he's awake, Tobias thinks, the word abandoned in its setting—where the six would be in a normal clock. A quick glance at Molly's clock shows that she is already in the Great Hall. Good, maybe Nibbles is there with her. That cat loves Mol and Artie to bits, maybe even more than Tobias does.

He has a Clocket for Nibbles; it was actually the first one he ever created. However, the hands are at a fixed point: none of your business. He knows why he added such a line, since he didn't want to be nosy, but he didn't quite expect his cat to have such an attitude—a mistake on his part. It has made the Clocket useless, though it was the only reason why he made the device in the first place. Anyone with a nonconformist cat would want a clock that showed where they were, right?

Tobias gets ready as quickly as he can, stumbling down the many stairs from Ravenclaw Tower to the Great Hall. He checks every loose crevice or nook, in hopes that he would find a tabby tail peeking from the darkness. But alas, Nibbles is nowhere to be found. Typical. He doesn't have the energy to be surprised.

Nowhere Man is stuck in his head again, the ending lyrics repeating over and over and over. He doesn't mind; he loves The Beatles with his whole heart, there's a reason why he has every one of their records.

Tobias makes his way to the Gryffindor table, where Molly and Arthur sit, facing each other. Tobias and Arthur had been friends since first year, ever since sitting in a compartment filled to the brim with seventh year students. Molly came later, the three meeting when she became a prefect in her fifth year, their sixth. The trio had become overwhelmingly close over their time at Hogwarts, their varied ages and houses doing nothing to keep them apart. Molly and Arthur are obviously smitten with each other—Tobias isn't blind and everyone in school can tell, besides themselves, of course. Even so, he never feels like the third wheel. It's so odd to have found friendships so steadfast at such a young age, but here he is, walking over to the two of them.

"Have you seen Nibbles?" Tobias asks, sitting down next to Arthur.

"Gone missing again?" Molly takes another bite of her bacon, strands of red hair falling from her loose up-do. Arthur blushes, glancing back down at his meal.

"She is untameable," Tobias responds, grabbing a stray fork to stab at Arthur's eggs. He lets out an annoyed oi! They have a quick battle with the utensils, before the Gryffindor relents, allowing his friend to share his breakfast.

"Have you tried the bell idea, yet?"

"She took it off, believe it or not. I don't know how. I didn't think paws were so articulate."

"You should restructure her Clocket, Toby," Molly says. "Take off her none of your business. One day she'll be gone for good and you won't find out where she went."

"I don't want to be rude, Molls!" Tobias exclaims. "Besides, how would you feel if I did the same to you?"

"I've got nothing to hide."

Tobias raises his eyebrows. "Maybe now, but I don't want to accidentally walk in on something that will be seared into my eyelids for life."

Molly's eyes widen comically. Arthur chokes on his pumpkin juice. Tobias gives him a short pat on the back.

"I'm not wrong," Tobias adds when the fussing had all gone down. His friends purposefully make no eye contact with each other. He forces down a scoff. If they like each other so bloody much—which they damn well do!—what exactly is stopping them from uninviting him on their Hogsmeade outings? He wouldn't be pissed, in fact, it would be a joyous occasion! What will he have to do to get them together? Fall off a broom so they have to nurse him back to health together? Accidentally touch hands while reaching for the same puke bucket? He shivers slightly. Hopefully not that.

"Oi, Price!"

Tobias stuffs the last bit of tomato into his mouth as he leans back, meeting the eyes of Aoife Kelly, the Hufflepuff Head Girl to his Ravenclaw Head Boy.

"Did I miss a meeting?" Tobias asks prematurely. He did that once—to be fair, he overslept after studying the night away for a potions exam that he, thankfully, aced. He will never repeat the same mistake again, because her death glare was enough to leave him afraid for his life for a week.

"No," Aoife responds, sitting gingerly on the bench, facing away from the table. "I just wanted to say that Taran Patel told Aditi Gupta told Ted Tonks told me that Nibbles was seen wandering around Hagrid's hut."

Tobias's eyebrows raise as Arthur's furrow in thought, obviously confused by the line of communication.

"Why was Taran outside this early?" Molly asks absentmindedly.

"I thought Ted graduated last year..." Arthur murmurs.

"So you're saying that Nibbles willingly went out in the cold?" Tobias asks.

Aoife huffs, getting up. "Well, I don't know what's going on in that ruddy cat's brain, now, do I?"

"Guess not—and she's not ruddy! She's beautiful!"

"Mhm, keep on telling yourself that. Anyway, that's what I heard—and it went through Aditi so maybe take it with a grain of salt—"

"You're just jealous she got Taran's attention last Celestial Ball," Molly mutters, earning a poorly cough covered laugh from Arthur and a forced down grin from Tobias.

Aoife glares daggers at Molly, who swiftly shrinks into her seat, face turning as red as her hair. The Irish girl then aims her gaze at Tobias, who flinches just before it reaches him.

"I expect you to do your rounds properly tonight. I cannot catch all the students out of bed."

You know damn well I catch more than you do, I'm stuck with the bloody Gryffindors, Tobias thinks, but does not say, because he likes being alive. Instead, he smiles widely. "It would be my pleasure."

Aoife leaves and for a moment, all previous thoughts are gone from the trio's minds. Then Tobias remembers with a jolt why the girl was there in the first place. "Oh! Nibbles is near the forest!"

"Hagrid probably has her," Arthur says. "Besides, doesn't she go in there all the time?"

"Yeah, of course, I've had to fetch her too many times to count," Tobias says, nabbing one last bite of his friend's meal before he stands up, swiping the crumbs from his robes.

"Then why not leave her be?" Molly asks. "You have Transfiguration with Artie in an hour, and you lot can barely pass with each other's help. Imagine what would happen if it was just one of you against McGonagall!"

"Blood in the streets," Arthur says forlornly. "Our mothers would grieve until their dying day. Molly would have to continue on without us."

Tobias laughs. "Bloody hell, mate, I won't be gone forever! Nibs keeps to the edges, anyway. I'll be back before the rats are even out to be transfigured."

Tobias walks away. Arthur calls out, "doubt it!" and if Molly says anything, it is masked by the hubbub of the Great Hall.

Snow sticks to the Hogwarts grounds in a way almost ethereal. If Tobias wasn't a man on a mission, he would have stopped and enjoyed the view. His school is always so pretty in the wintertime. Everywhere is pretty in the wintertime, but Hogwarts always seems a tad more magical when ice crusts over the stone and white covers the sloping hills.

"Hagrid!" Tobias exclaims as he makes his way over. The giant of a man looks up, the seventh year having caught his attention. "Have you seen Nibbles?"

"She just tottered off to the forest," Hagrid replies. "Suspect she wants to be left to her lonesome."

"It's too cold out and she might lose her way back home," Tobias responds, anxiety creeping ever so slightly into his voice. He clears his throat. "Anyway, she'll be needing food soon and I feed her, whether she likes it or not."

"Don't stray too far from the edge, Mr. Price," Hagrid says, worriedly, but Tobias has already made his way to said edge.

"Don't fret, Hagrid, I'll be back as soon as Nibs remembers that I've got a can of sardines stored in my pocket." An easy way to lure his cat out of any hiding space. He keeps it on his person at all times, no matter how horrid the smell may be.

Tobias follows the light paw prints in the snow further and further into the forest. So, yes, it might be forbidden, but when has that stopped Nibbles and, in turn, stopped Tobias? Besides, he never goes in at night, when it's at its most dangerous and it has never done anything to harm the seventh year.

However, he is getting rather woozy. Every time he blinks, the scenery changes, like seconds had passed in between every short breath. He swallows thickly.

"Nibbles?" Tobias asks, tentatively. "Nib—" his words are cut short as the air is ripped from his lungs. He is in a different area of the forest. The trees are curling around him, weaving around his body. He squeezes his eyes shut and when he opens them, it is all normal. I'm just getting too cold, he thinks.

Tobias spots a tabby tail, curling around a trunk, pouncing quickly out of his sight. He grins, all fear slipping from his body as he pulls out the sardine tin, opening it with ease. "Nibs! Nibs, over here!"

He steps closer. The snow rushes beneath his feet, taking him off balance. The fish fall from his hand as he stumbles, regaining his footing when he grabs hold of a tree branch.

Tobias's vision blurs. His breath goes shallow. His heart stutters in his chest as he surges forward. I guess I'll be late for Transfiguration, he thinks sardonically before he falls to the ground, the forest consuming him.

author's note!

1893 words

the final prologue! i wanted to get these out relatively early so others can get a taste of gwen and tobias's personalities.

this one is SO MUCH longer than gwen's. in my defense, it's much easier to write tobias's dymanic with molly and arthur because they are from a more recent age, meanwhile gwen's lingo borders on medieval. 

thoughts on tobias? he's much more in his element here, with his best friends, than he will be in the modern world with strangers, so keep that in mind.

comments and votes are always appreciated <333