The Next Morning, Nathan went down to the Breakfast alone, as he didn't have any classes with John or Oliver till after Lunch, and they were likely still asleep. He sat down at the sparsely populated Gryffindor table in the great hall, and tended himself to his Bacon and Toast. The mail owls began to fly above the students, dropping many envelopes and parcels to the Children below. A Brown owl dropped a small white Envelope with his name straight in front of Nathan.

He opened the envelope. It was a letter from his Mother. Their house was going to be foreclosed, and his Mother would be moving their things to their Grandmother's house. Nathan felt like crying, he had grown up in that home, and now he wouldn't be able to help his mother transition between homes. He felt bad she would have to do all the work by herself. Their money was tight already, and this affirmed his anxiety about his Family's financial Situation.

Out of Nowhere, his plate of food was smacked straight off the table with a loud clang. Joseph stood above Nathan, grinning like an idiot. Nathan sighed, he was growing tired of this Bully's shit.

"Look, if it's all the same to you can you just leave me the fuck alone?" he said, in the most sarcastic tone possible.

Joseph looked uneasy, apparently he had not expected the usually quiet and reserved kid to be so blunt. This was probably the first time he had ever tried to defend himself in front of Joseph, at least verbally. Joseph looked behind him, the cold stare of Professor Mcgonagall felt like it was burning the back of his head. He walked away, dissatisfied with how the situation panned out. Nathan breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad Joseph had decided to leave him alone, at least for now. He was grateful for the Professor for helping him out. He turned and resumed minding his own business.

"Mr Allen?" said Professor McGonagall

She was standing behind him with a large stack of envelopes in her hands. She gave one to Nathan. It was his new Schedule for the First semester. He thanked her. She walked away and passed out more schedules to the other Gryffindor students.

He had Potions first with Professor Slughorn, then he had Charms, then after lunch he had Transfiguration and Herbology. Not a super bad schedule, but the problem was Nathan would be practically alone till after lunch, a thought that made him feel uneasy. His social anxiety prevented him from actually functioning like a normal human being in front of others, especially in front of people his age. He really preferred talking to adults more than people his age, they weren't as judgemental, or just plain awful as kids can be sometimes. He got his bag ready, and set off out of the Great hall, and through the maze of corridors to the Dungeons in time for Potions.

He trudged along, thinking about the lectures and insane amounts of pure stress would be put on him and the rest of the fifth years. He hated how half of what he would be taught at this school would have almost no relevance to his future. It infuriated him he would be wasting his time here every day for nothing, it was as though they were slowly draining his life away, minute by agonizing minute.

He entered the musty, dark potions room. All the bottles and equipment lay scattered in the table at the center of the room, and stools sat around the smaller tables. Nathan was glad he wouldn't have to stand the whole damn time. Professor Slughorn was dressed in his usual tan suit, his bushy mustache made it hard to take him serious sometimes. He was standing, fiddling with some colorful vials and tubes. Nathan greeted the professor and sat down at a table in front of him. He realized as he looked at his watch, he was there five minutes early. More tired looking students began to pile into the classroom and take their places. A Wavy Haired Black Hufflepuff Boy he recognized as Duke sat down next to him. They exchanged greetings. Nathan always liked Duke, he was always friendly. Nathan was happy he knew at least one person in this class.

But the worst thing that could possibly happen actually did unfortunately happen. Joseph walked into the room with Brock.

"Fuck me." Nathan said in a whisper.

Joseph glanced at Nathan, and then sat down at a table in the whole other side of the classroom. Nathan thought this was strange for him, but he enjoyed this time away. Professor Slughorn had taught them the simple steps of how to make a Draught of Peace. He then let the students loose to allow them to try to make one of their own. Nathan paired up with Duke and went to the ingredient cupboard in the corner of the room to grab some essential supplies. He opened the glass door and grabbed some Different liquids and some test vials. He made sure he had the right materials before moving back to his table. Before he could go he heard someone whisper behind him.

"Hey." said Joseph. He stood behind Nathan, hoping to talk to him.

"Can you leave me alone for a day? Just fuck off." Nathan replied. He stormed off, leaving Joseph confused. He sat back down and emptied some ingredients into his cauldron, and handed over the rest to Duke to use. He started stirring the steaming white concoction, hoping to get a good mark for his effort. He left the class after the time ran out for making the potion. He received an "Exceeds Expectations" which he was happy with. He moved on to Charms class. He greeted Professor Flitwick as he walked in, and sat near the front, and to the right of the large, open classroom. Nathan saw as Joseph entered the class and began to walk towards him.

"Please, for the love of God, do not sit next to me." Nathan thought.

Joseph sat two spaces away from him. Not the worst thing that could happen, at least. Charms went by uneventfully, Professor Flitwick going over the importance of the OWL's just like every teacher would be doing that day, and teaching the "Diffindo" Spell. Nathan thought he caught Joseph glancing at him weirdly a few times throughout the period. Nathan sat down at lunch next to John and Oliver, who were waiting for him.

"Oh My God, Class is even more insufferable than last term." He said, as he sat down with a sigh.

"Divination wasn't so bad, and neither was Potions. I'm assuming they gave you the same Exam Lectures as we got?" said Oliver.

"Oh Yeah, Professor Flitwick wouldn't stop talking about how this would impact our ENTIRE lives. Good way to keep stress off your Students. I also got to talk to you guys about something weird later after Fourth Period." Nathan Replied.

The Three Boys ate and talked about what they had been doing in class, and John brought up this Conspiracy Theory he had on why Muggles had no clue about Wizards. Nathan had a theory himself, they are just fucking stupid. After lunch ended, they walked to Transfiguration. Nathan sat alone next to a table that John and Oliver occupied. Professor Mcgonagall was probably his favorite teacher, she wasn't horribly strict, but she was always fair to her students. She had always been kind to him and his friends. The Professor began with the same lecture he had gotten by his other teachers, and then proceeded to let them practice a spell to turn Fruits into Rocks. Nathan was muttering the incantation quietly to himself. Joseph sat near the back right corner of the room next to Brock. He was so bored of class, especially today. He couldn't wait until Quidditch season Started. School itself felt like such a pain. He was getting extremely tired, so he folded a piece of paper into a plane, and used "Wingardium Leviosa" to float it over to Nathan. As soon as he saw the name on the paper, he had no clue what to do, he turned around and looked back at Joseph, who was smiling like an idiot. Nathan Hated that smug smile of his. He opened the paper, it read

Can we talk sometime? Ps. You're a Dork :)

"The Fuck?" Nathan thought.

Joseph had never been like this. Sure, he had been annoying as hell, but he was never actually friendly. Joseph, the person who had tormented him for years, was being….Nice? No. he couldn't believe it.

This incident remained in his head for the rest of the day, he intended to tell his friends about it in herbology. He had managed to get a spot in the back of the class for herbology, and as Professor Longbottom set them free to handle something known as the "Fanged Geranium"

"I hate him so much, he's repulsive." said Nathan as he attempted to rip the fangs off the dangerous plant.

"Does he know that?" said Oliver.

Nathan gave him a sarcastic look, "Of course. I told him to fuck off in breakfast and potions."

"Why would he want to talk to you? And why do you think he wrote that note?" said John.

"I don't know. But honestly, I'm probably just gonna ignore him. It seems like the right approach." Replied Nathan.

"This is really strange behavior coming from someone like him. If anything, i would say confront him." said John.

"I might, if i can be ready for something like that."

The class finished up alright. Nathan and Co. Headed off to the Dinner feast. He enjoyed unwinding after his very hit or miss day. Joseph and his loud group of "friends" sat somewhat close to him. Nathan glanced at Joseph, he could overhear him talking about the first Quidditch match coming up in a week.

"Did you guys know the first Hogsmeade trip is this weekend?" said John.

"What do you guys wanna do?" the usual?" replied Nathan.

"I can't go this time, i got a date with this one chick from the RavenClaw Quidditch team, she's a beater." said Oliver.

"Hopefully she can beat some sense into you. Remember Bro's before Hoes?" Replied John.

"That was Third Year, Dipshit." said Oliver.

"What's the first Quidditch game you play?" asked Nathan.

Oliver responded "Us versus Slytherin. Should be easy, there's this new Captain, and he's as dense as a Goblin."

"Goblins are actually incredibly witty…" replied John, meekly.

"Shut up." said Oliver.

Nathan was spread out on the couch in the Gryffindor common room, alone in his Pajamas and a hoodie. He embraced the warmness of the Fireplace, and pondered over his day, and the future to come. He wondered how his past at home could have prepared him for everything later. His future seemed uncertain, he could not see a light at the end of the tunnel. He propped open a book he had been reading for ages, and just relaxed. He enjoyed this peace and quiet away from the world. He felt comfortable in his own little space, it was as if he was all alone, perfectly at tune with himself and his thoughts. He heard the door to the Girls dormitories open, and a tired looking red head wearing only pajama bottoms he recognized as Joseph stood on the ledge above him, not even noticing his presence. Nathan checked his watch, it was almost one Am.

"Shit. i can't have one f**ing moment to myself?" he thought.

Joseph walked down the steps and into the warm main area of the common room. He walked over to the couch and said

"Can i Sit here?"

Nathan responded "Sure….."

Then he moved his legs back up against his chest, his book still clenched in his hands.

"Thanks. And before….before…" Joseph said, dozing into sleep.

Joseph quickly fell asleep, leaving Nathan to sit there awkwardly, having no clue what just happened. He quietly slithered off the couch, crept up to his dorm, and layed in bed. He thought about this day, and what just happened, could him and Joseph be more than just enemies? Could they be ...friendly? No. he could never be anything close to friends with someone as cruel as him. The thought of being close with someone who made him genuinely miserable made his feel uneasy.

He quickly paused this thought. He had to go to bed, as he needed to get his 8 hours.