NOTES. Main characters are OCs, some mentioned characters belong to J. K. Rowling (related by family, anyway). All OCs can be found on CASUISTRY*. All characters with names you don't recognise (with the exceptions of 'Maria' who belongs to Riss, 'Maddy' who belongs to Becca, and 'Camden' who belongs to Hanna) belong to me. Most other unnamed characters belong to other people, I'm only borrowing. Whatever you do recognise probably doesn't belong to me.

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And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

- Fix You by Coldplay

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He moved out as soon as he could, renting a flat in Muggle London which was technically in the name of his older brother. He'd be damned if he spent another day or another week being constantly reminded of his failures and of his broken heart – because he doesn't have a heart, much less that it's broken, damn it! He was Kaycee fucking O'Malley; he was not supposed to be some lovesick little school boy pining after the same silly little redheaded girl who he'd pined after for the last year of his life and who was damn well out and enjoying her own life without giving a teensy little fuck about his.

Cerridwen's, his little potion shop in Hogsmeade, was tended by a friend of his, not completely trusted but at least he'd been smart enough to charm the money machine to only open at his touch. Basically, all Vitali Dolohov had to do in the shop was stand around and help customers – not bad for a Galleon a day. Kaycee still provided most of the potions in his shop, with a few bought from trusted suppliers, but he hardly visited aside from his weekly collection of the money machine and stock-taking.

All his remaining time was spent as far away from the magical land and the magical crowd as he could, because really, every time he saw a redhead, or one of the many Potters, Weasleys, Malfoys, or even just a Hogwarts student, he'd be reminded of her, he'd be reminded of them and the fun times they'd shared together, the friends they'd laughed with and the babies they'd joked about. And each and every time he remembered that shit, his heart would fucking palpitate like it couldn't take the memories and he'd be damned if he'd die of a heart attack at his age, handsome and sexy as he was.

So he'd moved out, taking to the easy anonymity of Muggle London because Merlin help him, Muggles far outnumbered wizards and he could see why the magical population had once feared them. There were just so damn many of them. How the hell did they all function without magic? He'd learned the hard way that in Muggle London, one had to be pretty innovative and creative to survive, which was something Kaycee O'Malley never really had to do. Luckily for him, one of his roommates was pretty much one of the best at surviving in Muggle London, because this roommate had lived it out all on the streets, and that was much harder than living in a flat with a fair fortune.

Kailen Irving had continued to live with the O'Malleys after Camden Philips disappeared without a trace. He didn't really have much trouble with Cam's disappearance, because he knew that was what Cam was like and maybe he'd see him again eventually. There had been a couple of times, however – usually when Maria and Maddy were busy with their own family and he'd been stuck in the flat by himself – that he'd sunk into depression over the fact that he didn't have any real, tangible, honest-to-Merlin blood family.

Once, he'd gone back to his street brothers without warning for a couple of days, driving Mrs O'Malley sick with worry; the second time, he'd stolen a bottle of vodka from Kaycee's – ahem, Lance's – liquor cabinet and sculled it, damn near passing out and pushing Kaycee to put his foot down. The older boy had threatened that if Kai was going to just disregard, ignore, and downright reject love from people who considered him family, then he was welcome to go back to his street brothers and their life. Realizing that Kaycee and the O'Malleys sincerely considered him family, and realizing that he'd been nothing short of ungrateful, he'd broken down and cried, apologizing to Kaycee who'd quickly accepted it, completely surprised and out of his depth at all the snot and tears coming out of the self-acclaimed 'tough street boy'.

Kai only stayed at the flat during the summer holidays, spending time with his friends at the castle during Christmas and Easter breaks. A completely quiet and empty house would have driven Kaycee insane, but he knew he couldn't hide his magic from a Muggle, so he didn't want to share his flat with one. Besides, he wasn't too keen on sharing his house – his home, his one place of relaxation and of no masks, his one place to be himself – with some random stranger. And yet, he didn't want a close friend of his, because chances were they'd remind him of her at some point. If he was going to be himself, he didn't want a close friend of his to see his misery and pity him. He wouldn't have been able to stand anyone pitying him. Funnily enough, he'd found someone who was neither a good friend nor a pity person who was willing to share his flat with him in Muggle London, and yet was not a Muggle.

Brianna McLaggen had her own demons to run away from.

She'd moved out with Kaycee as soon as she'd graduated, free at last from her mother's smothering and her father's anger. She didn't care if they disapproved, or what her family and friends thought about sharing a flat with a boy who was hardly her friend and definitely not her lover. He'd provided her with an escape from, and yet also a direct line to, the magical world. He didn't nose about in her life, he didn't give her pitying looks because of her fall from grace, he didn't give a rat's arse about her beyond sharing rent and staying alive – because Kaycee had no intention of being accused of anything if she decided to off herself.

And yet, he'd also managed to save her. His new grouchy, no-bullshitting attitude (that went with his new permanent frown, which Brianna was not too much a fan of) pulled her out of any melancholic or dark thoughts she may have with a few sharp words and a gruff demand to watch a Muggle movie with him or do something useful like make him a sandwich. He kept her moving, kept her from thinking too much about the past, kept her alive. He'd pushed her to get a job so that she could pay her damn rent when it was due to be paid, and his insistence had forced her to find employment in Muggle London as an assistant librarian; it wasn't the best paying, but it gave her some money.

Disgruntled at such a low pay, Kaycee had told her that she didn't need to pay half the rent, which was what he'd first demanded, but simply had to pay for groceries, cook him food, and clean around the house. It never even crossed her mind that she'd been reduced to being Kaycee O'Malley's slave; she'd found a place to stay where she could use her magic, and yet not have to live in the presence of other magical people who'd pity her and remind her of her past. She'd found a job, had an income, contributed to her living arrangement, and kept busy. For the first time since that fateful day at the beach, Brianna McLaggen was content.

And so the two (or three) of them lived peacefully, escaping their own demons and somehow finding solace with each other, although they'd never admit it out loud. They lived comfortably enough, hidden by their anonymity, their being an ant on an anthill, one amongst thousands. They weren't exactly hiding, per se – Mrs O'Malley sometimes dropped in to check that they weren't losing too much weight, and Kai's friends would sometimes visit during the holidays – but neither were they advertising where they lived. Brianna and Kaycee were fine living most of their lives away from the magical world, and all three of them were reasonably happy living with each other, dysfunctional and broken as they were.

Sometimes, the only way for someone to fix you is for them to be broken themselves.

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