London, England

3:13 a.m.

There's something about three in the morning in the city of London. People start getting back from a night of heavy drinking, husbands were sneaking back into the embrace of their lovers, teenagers were smoking weed in darkened alleyways, and the occasional flicker of a lamp post that needed a new light. But mostly, it was a time when Sean Montgomery was most active, most alive, and most awake.

It became a habit for him to sneak out of Derek's flat window late at night and sit up on the fire escape that overlooked downtown. The car lights below moved together in a smooth flow, almost like an electric river. London looked full of life even in the early morning hours. Lighting a cigarette, Sean inhaled the smoke and held it in his lungs. He waited for the burning sensation to fill his insides before exhaling it out into the warm air. Watching the passing cars below made him feel like he needed to go; to grab a broomstick and fly off into the night. Even though the glooming teenager hated flying, he needed an escape.

After another drag of his cigarette, he heard the window creak open to the right of him. Derek's familiar face was illuminated with the humming glow of the city as he sauntered his way over to where Sean was standing. Derek's messy brown hair was pushed back and his button down shirt was loosely thrown over his shoulder. He smiled at his best friend, it was a given that Sean would be hiding out on the fire escape and smoking. The cigarette butts in the flower pot were a dead giveaway to how many times he'd snuck out there. As Sean continued to smoke, not letting his gaze out on the city fade, Derek came up behind him. The smell of alcohol soaked into the his nostrils as Derek wrapped his arm around his Sean's shoulder. There was something comforting in this habitual act. Sean didn't have many people he'd let drunkenly hang on him. He must have been coming back from Lauren's party, the one Sean left ages ago.

"Oi," he started, looking out into the cityscape, "what's going on with you?"

Sean extinguished the cigarette and tossed it into the pot on the windowsill. Derek took his arm off of Sean and gave him a pat before leaning against the railing.
"Nothing, I'm fine."

The other man scowled at the obvious lie and turned in an attempt to make eye contact with Sean, "You left Lauren's early, that's not like you. I imagined you'd snuck off with some guy you met, but after two hours-"

"I'm fine, Derek."

"Just spit it out, mate."

Sean was hesitant to explain himself to Derek. A few seconds passed and he inhaled. "I'm finishing up school this year and I have no idea what I want to do after Hogwarts. Dad is pressuring me into getting a job with the Ministry, Mum wants me to settle down and find a good "pureblood girl" to marry, as if there's any of those left. I haven't had any time to work on homework that I've been supposed to be working on all holiday and I just feel like everything is going so fucking fast and I just want it to slow down," Sean glanced over his friend's face searching for something but nothing was coming up.

"Whoa, my drunk self can't take this much," he said shaking his head, "didn't you get the position at the Prophet? I thought your internship went well! Can we talk about all of this tomorrow over breakfast - or dinner? Depending when I get up."

He hesitated before responding, "Tomorrow is some huge thing at the Turpin's. I have to be there. Mum is mandating it."

"I hate that you have to be into all that shit," Derek pulled out one of his own cigarettes and lit up. He gave a disapproving look at the other boy.

"I'm a Montgomery. It's in my blood and you know how much I hate it too, but I have to keep the appearance up. At least until I get out of Hogwarts."

Derek huffed. "Yeah, whatever man."

Sean gave him a once over. He knew he couldn't talk to Derek like this. His friend was a hothead and a drunk. Never a good combo. Sean turned on the spot, threw open the window and stepped inside of the living room. He made his way over to the bedroom door and slammed it shut with a soft bang. He mumbled something about a lousy fucking birthday before stripping down to his underwear and crawling into his best mate's bed. It wasn't long before the seventeen-year-old was fast asleep.

Waking up with a bad taste in his mouth, Sean stretched out his arms and legs, hitting Derek in his side by accident. The other man, sprawled out in his bed giving Sean barely enough room, turned over and grunted in his sleep. Typical. Derek was the worst person to wake up at any time of day, not just the morning. Sean's feet touched the hardwood floor and the cold sent a shiver up his spine.

The life Sean lived was something that would be scrutinized by his family. They didn't pry into Sean's life unless it made them look better in the wizarding world. He would never be allowed to leave if the knew about what he did after leaving their estate up north. Going out downtown, to bars in the burroughs, parties with Derek and his friends at shady flats, and taking trips to Diagon Alley whenever he pleased would not be taken lightly by his parents. Thankfully, the guest house's fireplace was still connected by the Floo Network. He hated appartaing.

The Montgomery's were new money and new blood. Their magical heritage only started back out in the 1800's during the Troll Raids of Newport and Kensington. Mary-Ann Costello and Gerard Montgomery wed, hiding both that they we of magical bloodline. When the secret slipped, they both were over joyed and had a set of twins, Landon and Margaret. Margaret went off to Eastern Asia to study the Chimera's of the jungles while Landon married a witch by the name of Gwen. Soon after, they had a child of their own, Michael. Michael married Rochelle, a french witch whose magical heritage dated back way before the Goblin Rebellion of Germany, and they had their son, Sean. Michael, a business administrator for the wizarding bank, Gringotts, struck gold after partnering with Brazilian Miners and the bank.

Living well off, the Montgomerys were expected to act as such. That meant parties, galas, and events in the wizarding world that Sean was required to attend. Not that he wanted to. Being rich was a bore to him. He loathed going to events with his parents who made him dress up in stuffy suits and talk to old wizards with the highest respect as if they themselves created the cure for dragon pox. His parents had money, but they didn't know what to do with it.

He met Derek at school his fourth year and Derek was in his fifth. Sean had a study group that he lead in the Slytherin Common room and helped any of his classmates that were struggling with their classes. Derek was dead awful at Charms, something Sean was rather good at. After teaching Derek the color changing charm and how to make the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team's hair turn pink, they had been friends ever since. Derek's graduation from Hogwarts meant that Sean was going to have to find fun on his own in his last year of school. That meant he'd be alone again and would have to gain new friends, something he had trouble with. It's not that he was shy or had anxiety about meeting new people; he met people daily and had no problem chatting with them, it just had to do with him liking them or not. Sean has to connect with them; there were people lining up to be his friend, but they were all in it for his last name and money. Sean had racked his brain for maybe someone he'd already known, someone who could maybe live up to the standards of being Sean's friend.

Then he remembered that Derek mentioned earlier, a girl that hung around his group of friends. She was a mousy faced, curly haired, freckled Ravenclaw who was brutal on a broomstick. He was almost positive Derek had a thing for her his sixth year, but she seemed unamused. She was the beater for the Quidditch team. Generally loud mouthed, Sean could use a friend like her and she was in his year. Sean couldn't think of her name for the life of him.

Sean picked his clothes off the floor and began to change. Another moan escaped Derek's mouth and Sean rolled his eyes. "I'm out, D."

Derek raised his hand as a way to say goodbye and Sean was out the door and into the living room. Thankfully, Derek installed the fireplace last month or he'd have to walk to Charing Cross Road to use a fireplace in Diagon Alley. With a scoop of floo powder, he said his home aloud, and a whirlwind of green fire erupted around him. Moments later, he was inside of his family's guest house in Yorkshire.