Chapter 21

Mark was starting to worry. Wick hadn't been himself since Selenity broke things off with him, but recently he had been worse than ever. Mark had spoken to Selenity the other day, and the way she talked about Wick made him sound like a crazed lunatic. Mark didn't know what to think. He knew that Selenity had hurt Wick, but he was taking it way too hard.

Mark's thoughts were cut short when his girlfriend, Hannah, slipped her smooth hand into his. Every time Mark got too preoccupied with thoughts of Wick, Hannah stopped in to take his mind off things.

As Mark and Hannah walked down the hall they smiled and waved at their friends. Mark was about to hail Wick, whose hair was vivid in the sea of blondes and brunettes, but then he noticed who Wick was talking to. Was Mark seeing right? This couldn't be right. Hannah seemed to be thinking along the same lines as him.

"Is that Wick talking to the Malfoy twins?" she asked, flabbergasted.

"That's what it looks like," Mark replied. "What's he playing at?"

Everyone knew that Ignatius "Iggy" Malfoy and Enid Malfoy were two of the most morally corrupt people at Hogwarts. They were the children of Draco Malfoy and his pureblood wife. Mark's father had told him more than a few stories about the Malfoy family. They played a huge role in the war Mark's dad had fought in. They were on the dark side. Mark wouldn't be surprised if they were the next dark lords. Or, dark lord and lady, if you will.

Mark started to walk towards his cousin, but as he approached Wick threw him a dirty look that said quite clearly, don't you dare come any closer or I will make you wish you were never born.

Fine, Mark thought. If he's going to screw around with those people it's his problem. Mark was not going to get dragged into this.

Mark turned back to Hannah and said, "We'd better leave him alone. I'll talk to him later, but for now we still have twenty minutes before next class." Mark suddenly looked mischievous.

"Where's the nearest empty classroom?" was Hannah's response.

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That evening the first thing Mark did when he entered the common room was look for Wick. He was surprised when he actually found him sitting in front of the fire reading a book. It had been ages since Mark had seen Wick hanging out in the common room.

"Hey Wick. What's up?" Mark said upon approaching Wick.

Wick looked up from him book. He looked annoyed. "Nothing. What do you want?"

"I was just thinking about how long it's been since we've hung out," Mark replied. "I dunno what's going on with you anymore. What have you been up to?"

"I'm busy," Wick said, returning to his book. It actually looked more like a journal now that Mark thought about it. Since when did Wick start keeping a journal?

"I hate looking suspicious, but...well…I was hoping that you would tell me what was going on, but you're forcing me to ask you. What were you doing with Iggy and Enid Malfoy today in the hall? You know their reputation. People are going to talk about that." Even though Mark was annoyed with Wick for being so stupid, he was also a little worried.

"It's none of your business who I hang out with," Wick said curtly.

Mark gave a sarcastic laugh. "Not my business? Well of course it isn't. I mean, it's not like I'm your friend and cousin. And my parents would definitely be okay with it if I just stopped talking to you completely and let you do stupid things like hang out with Malfoys."

"Go away, Mark. I don't want to talk to you."

"What is your problem?" Mark burst out. Now he was angry. "All I'm trying to do here is help you. We're family, Wick. Believe it or not, I don't want you to get into trouble."

"I don't need your help."

"You are so lame! I get that Selenity left you, and I know you really cared about her. But it's been months! Get over it! Hanging out with jerks like the Malfoys is not going to solve your problems."

"Go away."

Mark had reached his limit. "Fine. You know what? You're going to get yourself into trouble, and don't ever say I didn't offer you help. You need to stop treating your friends like crap. You're going to run out of people to turn to."

Mark then turned and walked up to the boys' staircase. Before he walked through the door he turned around to look at Wick one more time. Wick had picked up his quill and was now writing in his journal. Then he put down the quill again as if he was reading some sort of reply. In spite of his anger Mark couldn't help wondering What the Hell is going on?

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Selenity looked up at Noah for the tenth time in the past five minutes. She realized as soon as she saw him that something was on his mind. They sat in silence for a few more minutes until Selenity couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you going to tell me what's bothering you," Selenity asked.

"What are you talking about?" Noah replied unconvincingly.

"You're obviously thinking about something. And it's definitely bothering you. Don't even deny it. I know you too well by now for you to be able to lie to me."

"It's nothing important, Selenity."

"If it's bothering you it's obviously important. You're going to tell me what's up. You were there for me when I was troubled. Now it's my turn to be there for you."

Noah considered his options. He decided on just telling Selenity the truth. He wasn't in the mood to come up with a lie, and he knew there was no way he would actually lie to Selenity. "I ran into my mum the other day."

Selenity had a look of surprise on her face. "You know who your mother is?"

"Yeah. She's Ginny Potter."

Selenity let out a gasp. Noah told her the whole story. He started at his birth and continued on into his childhood with the Malfoys. Selenity listened very attentively.

"Oh, Noah," she gushed at the end of the story. "I never knew."

"Of course you didn't. I've never told anyone."

"What are you going to do?" Selenity asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"That's what I said. I don't want anything to do with her, and she obviously doesn't want anything to do with me." Noah was unable to hide the bitterness in his voice.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. You didn't do anything, and I'm fine now. After all, I have you."

Selenity blushed and pulled Noah close to her. That was right. He did have her. He always would.

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Noah was walking to his Transfiguration class, the first class of the day. He passed a large group of students on the way. The group consisted of Hector McNair, Jeff Goyle, Stanley Crabbe, Mara Lestrange, and Wick Potter? Was he seeing correctly? Noah was taken aback. Every one of those students had a bad reputation except Wick. What as going on?

If Noah was in any way interested in Wick he might have stopped by the group to see what was going on, but instead he was just mildly amused. Good old Wick Potter messing around with the "dark crowd." Noah laughed to himself and continued on the way to his class.

Just as he was about to enter his class he heard a woman's voice call out for him. He turned around and saw Ginny standing there.

"What do you want?" Noah asked coldly.

"I want to talk to you. When you helped me after I fell out of the tree I realized that what I thought of you was wrong. If it's not too late, I'd like to have the chance to get to know you better." Ginny looked completely sincere. Too bad.

"It's too late." Noah was about to turn back into his class, but Ginny called out to him again.

"I'm sorry, Noah, I'd like to make amends. I want to get to know my son."

"I'm no more your son than I am a Muggle." This time Noah did turn around and walk into his class, leaving Ginny alone in the hallway.