Ben couldn't be happier to have gotten Harry, Ron and Hermione those notebooks for Christmas last year. Since he could communicate with them in a much quicker way, he didn't need to send them letters. And, since he only used the mail to talk to Thomas, Leah and Cedric, his parents didn't suspect him.

But, one morning, he received a letter. It wasn't carried by a regular owl, but by a large, brightly colored tropical bird. He would be lying if he didn't admit he had nearly had a heart attack when he saw it on the ledge of his window after coming back from having breakfast with his sisters.

Snowflake, his most extroverted cat, was observing the animal from a safe distance, while Boots was hiding under his bed, as usual. He approached the animal, and took the letter it was carrying before sitting down on his bed.

'Dear Benjamin,

I am not sure if writing down who I am would be smart of me, but I believe you are smart enough to figure out who sent you this, so I will not say my name. I am reaching out to you to ask how your summer is going.

I don't want to make any assumptions, but I have got a feeling that my past experience, from when I was a child, might be similar to your current one, and I wanted to let you know that, if it is the case, everything will get better.

I know that it is very difficult to talk about this sort of thing, but I thought it would perhaps be useful for you to have an adult you can talk to. You might be wondering why I am telling you about this, since you and I don't know each other very well, but I do know your family. As I told you when we first met, my family and yours used to share a lot of dinners back in the day and, if I am not mistaken, the Walkers and the Malfoys still celebrate dinners every now and then.

Well, the thing is that I know how our families usually are. And, although I barely know a thing about you personally, I think it is safe for me to say that you are not like them. At least, that's what Harry has told me. And, since you are friends with him, Ron and Hermione, it is very clear that you don't share your family's beliefs. This is where my imagination, and past incidents, come into picture as I assume how they might be treating you.

Please forgive me if my assumptions are wrong. I am in no way trying to offend you or your family, I just wanted you to know that, if you want to talk to someone, I am here.

Sincerely,

Padfoot.'

Ben stared at the letter in silence for a good amount of time. When he saw that bird on his window, carrying an envelope with its claws, he would've never imagined it had been sent by Sirius Black.

He wondered what exactly the man thought was happening to Ben at home. Maybe he thought his parents were not very sweet, which wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth, either. However, it seemed like Sirius knew what he was talking about.

Also, what exactly did Harry tell Sirius about him?

Not knowing why, exactly, he felt a need to tell the man the truth. He had never, ever, told anyone outside his family about his problems at home, since he didn't think it would bring him anything positive, and he didn't want anyone's pity.

But perhaps telling Sirius everything could be useful. After all, he had grown up in a probably similar situation as him, and he had escaped his family when he was younger. Maybe, if he told Sirius that he wanted to run away with his sister, he could give him advice.

Ben didn't waste any time before taking a piece of parchment. Snowflake jumped on his desk, and sat on it as Ben searched for one of those muggle inventions Professor Burbage had given them last year, which he now knew was called a pen.

She meowed at him, and he carefully pushed her away so he could write on the parchment, making Snowflake meow even louder. But at least she stayed there without moving, and from a safe distance, as he wrote.

'Hello, Padfoot,

Thank you for reaching out to me, I really appreciate it. My summer is going pretty well, though I can't wait for Hogwarts to start, because I miss Harry, Ron and Hermione. What about you? How is your summer going? I hope you are doing well.

I really don't know how to say it, but yes, you are right. Life isn't really the best here, but it used to be much, much worse. It's all gotten better since I told my parents I was no longer friends with the people they thought weren't worthy. For some reason, Draco Malfoy decided to help me cover up that it was a lie, and he hasn't broken our deal, at least for now.

So my parents have been sort of nice ever since that, at least to me. But I know I can't relax. It would be too risky, and not only for me. At this point, I don't really care about what they do to me, but I won't let them lay a single finger on Alycia again. I don't know if you know who Alycia is, but she's my sister, the youngest one.

My older sister Audrey said she'd help us run away as soon as she finishes school, and this is her first year out of Hogwarts... And she's still living at home with us. But I don't know how long we can wait, and I'm not completely sure if we can trust Audrey. And, there's still a whole year until Alycia can attend Hogwarts, so she'll have to be alone from September to June, and I'm scared something will happen.

A long time ago, I was told that you ran away from home when you were younger. And I was wondering how you managed to do it?

Thank you again,

Ben.'

Once he was done writing, he folded the letter and placed it inside an envelope. He didn't know if the bird that had brought the letter would enjoy the treats he usually gave to his friends' owls when they sent him a letter, but he gave some to it anyway. The bird ate them happily, and flew away with the envelope as soon as Ben offered it to it.

And, with that, began a long series of letters. Ben opened up to Sirius more than he ever had, and started pouring his heart out on the words he wrote down. To his surprise, it made him feel somehow... lighter? As though everything he had kept to himself for all those years was some sort of weight. But, now that he was letting it out, he was getting rid of that force that pulled him down, and could finally float. Metaphorically.

He found out a lot about Sirius' life at home when he was a child, and about his adventures with his friends at Hogwarts. It turned out that the Marauders were famous for pulling the best pranks, and they were the souls of the parties there. Sirius also told him he and James Potter, Harry's dad, used to play Quidditch in the Gryffindor team; with James being a Chaser, and Sirius a Beater.

So, Ben also shared with him a lot about he and his friends' first years of school. He told him how they did their best to stop Snape from stealing the Philosopher's Stone in their first year, although Harry then found out it wasn't Snape but Quirrel who was trying to do it. Then, he explained to him how Hermione had been petrified, but they still managed to figure out the truth and find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and how Harry had to go rescue Ginny on his own, since a wall of rock separated him from Ron and Ben.

After a large amount of letters, Ben's hopes of running away from home grew bigger. If Sirius had managed to do it, why wouldn't he be able to? Besides, the man had suggested that, once it was safe, maybe Ben and Alycia could join him and Harry, and they could all live together and become some sort of family.

The idea of being in a loving family in which he would be safe was exciting to Ben, but he couldn't help but feel an odd sensation as he wondered if it would mean Harry would be his brother.

He didn't mean it in a bad way at all, he truly loved Harry, he was his best friend, after all. But he couldn't picture himself seeing him as a sibling. It felt... strange, really strange. And he couldn't place a finger on the reason, so he forced himself to stop thinking about it.

Instead, he wondered if Harry would be okay with Ben and Alycia joining them. Perhaps he wanted to be alone with Sirius, since he was his godfather from before Ben was even born. He didn't want to ruin his friendship with Harry over this.

One afternoon, Ben was lying on his bed, reading a book he had already read twice that summer, but that he still enjoyed, as Snowflake purred on his lap, and Boots was sitting next to his legs. A knock on his door was heard, before it was flung open a second later, and Sébastian Walker stepped inside.

"Hello, father," he greeted, nervously sitting up straight.

"Hello, Benjamin," he replied, closing the door behind him. "I am bringing good news to you."

"Good news?"

"Do you remember Richard Stonem? My co-worker?" he asked, and continued speaking once he received a nod from his son. "Well, it seems like he bought some tickets for the Quidditch World Cup final, and his son Thomas wanted you to come along. Richard and Eleanor said Alycia can go, too."

Ben felt excitement and happiness rose with every word. "Wow, really? That's wonderful! Am I allowed to go?"

"Yes," he answered. Ben's smile grew wider. "Your mother and I will be busy that day."

"Okay, great, thank you!"

———————————————

So, only a couple of days later, Mr. and Mrs. Stonem, their son Thomas, Alycia, Ben, and Thomas' cousin Delilah were walking through a crowded field. There were hundreds, thousands of tents scattered all over the grass, of different sizes and shapes. Ben knew they were meant to pretend to be muggles, since the camping was owned by Mr. Roberts, a muggle, and he found it slightly funny how terribly obvious some tents were.

Not that he knew much about the kind of tents muggle used, but he thought it was safe to say that they didn't usually have enormous castle-shaped ones.

As they made their way through the crowd, Ben recognised many familiar faces from school. He waved at Parvati and Padma Patil, two twin sisters from his grade, who had surprisingly been sorted in different houses, along with the Gryffindor's best friend, Lavender Brown.

He had been told by Ron that his family would be attending the World Cup final, along with Harry and Hermione. The redhead said he wanted to invite Ben, too, and that his parents would've loved to take him with them, but they all knew they couldn't, since Katherine and Sébastian Walker still thought Ben was no longer friends with them.

So he wished he could at least see Harry, Ron and Hermione at some point of the night. Thomas assured Ben that, if they did come across them, his parents wouldn't snitch on him if he greeted them. The boy was very glad to hear that.

Richard and Eleanor Stonem had brought a really cool yet quite discreet tent for them six to spend the night. From the outside, it seemed like just a simple family tent, but inside, it was a cozy and warm cabin that even had a chimney with a sparkling fire.

"This is amazing!" exclaimed Ben as soon as they stepped into it.

Eleanor gave him the sweetest smile he had ever seen coming from an adult. "Thank you, Richard and I bought it many many years ago, before Thomas was born, for a trip we did to Switzerland."

"Oh, yes, grandma still has the postcards you sent when you were there. They're hanging on the refrigerator," said Delilah, with a bright smile.

Delilah was two years older than Thomas, which meant Ben was a year younger than her. He had never seen her at Hogwarts, and she was a Ravenclaw. She looked absolutely nothing like Thomas; while he had curly, black hair, hers was long, straight, and golden like the sun's brightest rays. Her eyes were icy blue, but sparkled with kindness, while Thomas' were as black as coal, and there was a constand mischevious look on them. The only similarity between them were the freckles scattered on their cheeks.

Richard Stonem came back from checking the rooms, and cleared his throat. "Well, you can all go leave your things in your bedrooms, they're ready. The first one is for Ellie and I, the one in the middle is for Thomas and Ben, and the last one is for both Alycia and Delilah."

"Fantastic," hummed Eleanor. "Let's go."

The walls of the room Thomas and Ben would be sharing were painted in a light shade of blue, and they were decorated by posters of the boy's favourite musicians. There were two similar beds on each side of the room, with a couple of small bedside tables next to them.

Thomas left his bag on the left one, so Ben did the same on the right one.

"How come I've never seen your cousin at school?" he wondered casually.

Thomas sat on his bed. "Lilah's very, very shy. She doesn't like attracting attention, and she prefers spending time on her own, studying or just... thinking, I guess."

"Doesn't she have any friends?"

"She does, but I don't know them," he shrugged. "We don't spend much time together, except for holidays or special ocassions like this. She's always at my grandma's."

"What... about her parents?" asked Ben, hesitantly.

Thomas looked down at his fingers for an instant, and coughed. "They died. A long time ago. You-know-who murdered them, just a few weeks before your friend Harry killed him."

Ben ignored the odd sensation on his chest at the mention of his friend.

"Oh... I'm really sorry- I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay, you didn't know, and it's not like you asked her directly," he replied, giving him a smile to assure him he wasn't mad in the slightest.

Ben nodded slowly in understandment.

That evening, half an hour before the match would start, the six of them were sitting on their seats, excitedly chatting. Ben and Thomas had had a great time at the souvenir stalls, where they had bought souvenirs and scarves from Ireland, as the Stonems were supporting the Irish team. Ben bought his sister a leprechaun hat, because the little girl had always been amused by them.

"I'm not even that much of a Quidditch fan," commented Thomas. "But I'm really excited to watch the match today."

"Yeah, same," agreed Ben, enthusiastically. "I used to strongly dislike Quidditch when I was younger, but thanks to Harry being on the Gryffindor team, I grew fond of it."

Thomas turned to look directly at Ben, whose gaze was fixed on the bustling crowd across the stadium, until he sensed his friend's stare, and whirled around to face him, too. "You really like Harry, don't you?"

"Well, yeah," he replied, eyebrows furrowed. "He's my best friend, after all."

"Sure," he hummed, a slightly mischievous sparkle on his dark eyes, though Ben couldn't figure out what he was really trying to say through that look, so he went back to observing the seas of expectant people, waiting for the game to begin.

All of a sudden, Ludo Bagman's voice was heard all over the stadium. "Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the fina of the four hundred and twenty-second Quiddich World Cup!"

The crowd went absolutely crazy, cheering and clapping so loudly it was almost painful to listen. The scoreboard was wiped clean, showing a score of 0 to 0 as everyone continued cheering.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce . . . the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!" The right-hand side of the stands, which was a solid block of scarlet, roared its approval.

Ben was glad he had listened to Eleanor Stonem's advice, and had bought himself and Alycia some binoculars, since, even though they were fairly close to the field, their view wasn't good enough to allow them to see without them.

"I wonder what they've brought as Mascots!" commented Ben, happily. But his smile dropped instantly when he saw them. "Oh."

"What are those?" asked Alycia, taking her binoculars away from her face, and turning to look at her brother, who had left the artifact on his lap, and was facing down, very red on the face. She frowned. "Ben?"

"Veelas," he replied shortly. "They're veelas."

He spun to his other side, to find Thomas looking quite disappointed. "I don't think they're all that..."

"What?" he gaped at him, surprised, before remembering. "Oh."

He quickly returned his binoculars to his eyes for another glimpse of the veelas. An enchanting music began sounding all over the stadium, and all thoughts left Ben's mind for some seconds. They were drop-dead gorgeous, undeniably mesmerizing. He had never, not once, laid eyes on any girl so incredibly breathtaking. It was obvious that they weren't human; not just because he knew about their species, but also because he was almost sure it was impossible for a person to look that good.

Although he knew about some certain people that, even without being a different species supposed to be enchanting, were still astonishingly beautiful.

He was starting to feel really confusing things, so he forced himself to stop staring at them. It was truly incredibly hard to redirect his view from the veelas, he felt like he was under a very powerful spell, but he somehow managed to look away, and chuckled at how startled Alycia looked.

"They're all doing funny things," she commented, letting out a slightly uncomfortable-sounding laugh.

He turned to observe all of the men around him, and was amused by how stupid they were acting. Most of them looked like there was nothing, absolutely anything, going on inside their minds; as though their brains were no longer working. But some of them had stood up, and were starting to do really odd things, such as jumping up and down their seats, while waving their arms madly, trying to attract the veelas' attention. He was very glad he had stopped himself before he could've begun doing something as ridiculous as that, or he knew he would've had to bear with Thomas' jokes for a long time.

It was cool how the Slytherin had shown no reaction to the veelas. It made sense, of course. He had assumed they were supposed to be enchanting to men, but he hadn't taken into consideration the fact that not all men liked women in that way. So, perhaps, their spells only worked for people in general who felt any sort of attracting towards women. He assumed that included other women, too.

He waited in silence, not wanting to redirect his gaze back to the veelas, since he didn't want to end up doing something stupid. He was happy, though slightly confused, about the fact that he didn't feel like they had really affected him that much. He did find them very alluring, and knew that their effect had worked on him, but it hadn't been that strong, in comparison to other people's reactions.

The music stopped, and he guessed the veelas had also interrupted their dance, because the crowd erupted into infuriated yells and complaints. Thomas was laughing, and whispering something into his cousin's ear. Delilah's pearly white skin was now covered in an intense blush, and she was biting her lip, while she kept her eyes fixed on the floor.

"And now," thundered Ludo Bagman's voice, "kindly put your wands in the air... For the Irish National Team Mascots!"

In the next instant, what appeared to be an enormous green-and-gold comet streaked into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A sudden rainbow arched across the field, connecting the two radiant orbs. The crowd responded with a chorus of "oooohs" and "aaaahs" of admiration. The rainbow slowly faded and the balls of light reunited and merged; they had formed a great shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands. And, suddenly, golden rain started falling from it. It wasn't rain, though, but-

"Coins?" exclaimed Eleanor Stonem, furrowing her eyebrows.

Thousands of tiny, golden coins cascaded from the sky, making everyone cheer as people began to eagerly snatch them up. Ben remained still. He didn't want it, nor need it. He already had more than he required, and he felt it would be unfair to seize money that would genuinely benefit someone else in need.

He was both surprised and honestly glad to find out Alycia seemed to think the same, since she wasn't taking any of the money, either.

The great shamrock dissolved, the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the veela, and settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you... Dimitrov!"

A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters.

"Ivanova!" A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out.

"Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand... Krum!"

The crowd went crazy, cheering and yelling his name so loudly Ben was sure people would've been able to hear them in America, if it wasn't for the spells used to avoid that.

It wasn't the first time Ben had seen Viktor Krum, since Audrey used to be a big fan of him when she was younger, but it was a quite impressive experience to actually see him live. He still didn't see what his sister had seen on him; he didn't find him attractive in the slightest. He was very slim, slightly dark, and sallow-skinned. His nose was large and curved, his hair was very short, almost like a buzzcut, and dark, matching his thick black eyebrows. He simply wasn't Ben's personal type.

"He's amazing!" commented Thomas, thrilled. "He's the best player ever!"

"I thought you'd said you didn't like Quidditch," Ben reminded him, giving him a teasing look. "How'd you even know that?"

"Nevermind that," he replied, turning very red in the face.

"And now, please greet the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Bagman. "Presenting Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand... Lynch!"

Seven green blurs swept onto the field, one every time a name was called.

"Ladies and gentlemen... Let the game begin!"

———————————————

Ben would've never imagined that he'd ever enjoy a Quidditch match as much as he had that evening. Half of the time, he didn't understand what was happening, but he still had lots of fun, and cheered blissfully along with the crowd when Ireland was declared the winner, even though Krum had caught the snitch.

It was hard trying to fall asleep after such an exciting event, especially taking into consideration how loudly the Ireland supporters were celebrating the victory.

Thomas and Ben were laying on their beds, still not wearing their pijamas. The younger boy's parents had told them to try to sleep, but they had secretly planned they'd attempt to stay awake for the whole night. Ben could hear his little sister's giggle coming from the bedroom next to theirs. She was laughing at something Delilah was telling her. He couldn't tell what she was saying, exactly, but he was glad Alycia and her were getting along well.

"It was really cool how Krum caught the snitch, wasn't it?" commented Thomas, softly.

"It was," agreed Ben. "But it's funny to know they still didn't win."

Thomas let out a small chuckle. "Yeah."

"It shows how good the Ireland team is."

"Krum is still better than all of them," said Thomas. "He's my favourite player ever... Who's yours, by the way?"

The answer arrived instantly in Ben's mind, but he hesitated for a second before saying it out loud.

"Harry," he replied. "He's my favourite."

The boy's name echoed in his head. He had had a lot of fun that afternoon, but a part of him was sad he hadn't been able to see Harry and the rest of his friends. He wished he didn't have to act as though he didn't get along with them, and could hang out with them without worrying about being seen.

"Can I ask you something?" Thomas' voice sent him back to the reality he actually was in.

"Sure, go ahead."

"It's about Harry," he continued. "Are he and Hermione dating?"

"No!" he whisper-exclaimed, sitting up straight all of a sudden. "No, they aren't."

"Okay, okay, sorry," said Thomas, sitting up too as he raised his hands apologetically, though there was a slightly amused look on his face. "Why did you panic like that? Do you perhaps have a crush on Hermione?"

"Not in the slightest," he answered grumpily. "She's my best friend, but no. I don't have a crush on her."

Neither of them had time to realise the intensity with which he had pronounced the word 'her'. Amidst the jubilant cheers of those still celebrating, a scream of sheer horror pierced the air with such force that it overpowered any other sounds.

Immediately after that, another followed, this one even more heartbreaking than the previous one. And then another came. And another. And then there were so many, that it was impossible to determine when they ended and when they ended. It was a jumble of terrified screams and cries that grew louder and louder.

"What is happening?" asked Thomas, panic written all over his face.

"I don't know," replied Ben, standing up. "We should go ask your parents."

"I will," nodded the boy. He ran out of the room as Ben quickly put on his shoes, having a gut feeling that they'd need to leave their tent. He heard Delilah and Alycia exiting their own bed, too.

"Ben?"

"I'm here," he replied, stepping on the corridor. Both girls were standing in front of their doors, looking horrified. Delilah already had her shoes on, and was putting on a hoodie. She seemed to have had the same gut feeling as Ben. Alycia ran up to hug him as soon as she saw him.

"Ben!" Thomas called out, his voice trembling.

"Yes?"

"They're not here."

He froze for an instant.

"What?"

"They're not here," he repeated. "My parents, they're gone."

Delilah let out a strangled gasp, and ran to join her cousin.

"Alycia, go get yourself a jacket," he instructed calmly yet surely. The girl nodded, and disappeared into their room. Ben walked into Mr. and Mrs. Stonem's room, where both cousins were standing, wide-eyed, and in silence.

"Their clothes are still here," noticed Ben. There was a terrible sensation on his stomach. "We need to leave."

"Why?" asked Delilah. "There's clearly something terrible going on out there. Maybe we're safer inside."

"But what if we aren't?" he retorted. "We can't just stay here and hide until it ends. We don't even know what's happening! Maybe it's a fire, and we end up burning to death!"

"Are we going to burn to death?" asked Alycia, standing on the doorway, her face white as paper.

"No, we aren't," stated Delilah. "You're right, Ben, we've got to go. Let's take our wands."

"Why?" wondered Thomas. "We can't even use them, we're underage."

"Still. Go get them."

"I don't have a wand," said Alycia hesitantly.

"Don't worry," Ben reassured her. "Just stay with me. I won't let anything happen to you."

Ben didn't know what was happening outside. But he was sure that, if someone tried to hurt Alycia, Thomas or Delilah, he wouldn't care in the slightest about breaking the law to protect them.

Once they were all ready, they stood in front of the exit door nervously. None of them were speaking, and they didn't seem eager to leave. So Ben breathed in deeply, and swung the door open decisively.

A/N: Let's goooo, a new year is starting!! I hope you enjoyed this new chapter <3