There are moments in your life. When things will change. Thomas had experienced it before. Once with the Old Man. Now Professor Nocturne — who came in and gave him a sliver of light in a place where Thomas only knew darkness. Lars, and his family came next. Showing him a past he never knew, and a future he never even thought of having. This was another turning point. Thomas closed the book on his lap.
A light layer of dust danced in the beam of morning light that shot in the air. Looking up Thomas looked straight into the eyes of Lars, who was upright in his bed. Thomas wasn't sure what colour Lars's eyes were. They changed more than the clouds moved in the sky. Today they were grey — like a cloudy day. Thomas slipped out of bed. Still dressed in his robes. He walked over to Lars bed. He shifted over, and Thomas sat at the edge of the bed. Lars blonde hair was all messed up, but he had a healthy flush of pink to his face.
"It is in the darkness that we see what others see. In the light is where we find ourselves." Thomas said quoting the poet whose book he read last night. The passage held no real meaning. It did strike a chord with Thomas though. To what extent he couldn't say.
"Sounds like you've been reading my father's books." Lars brogue was thicker with sleep. Thomas lips curved at the corner.
"Yes, Von Silversmith." Thomas said taking great interest in the winkle in Lars pulled down blanket.
"Worry is the foundation of friendship — it shows that you care." Lars said, Thomas recognized the quote — it was from the same poem.
"Didn't he trap his friend in cement?" Thomas said looking up at Lars, who winked.
"Promise I won't go that far — if you won't." Lars said a sloppy smile on his face. Thomas nodded, and held out his hand. Lars pulled him in for a hug. "I need to teach you how to insult someone." Lars whispered in his ear.
"Why?" Thomas pulled back, Lars laughed.
"Your nothing but a red herring in someone else tale?" Lars quirk a brow at him.
"That is a perfectly good insult." Thomas said in a huff.
"To what? My grandfather?" Lars said his eyes lightening to a soft blue-grey.
"Boys." Thomas turned and saw Pipa shaking her head from her bed. Bernard to was up.
"I would have to agree with Lars — your insults are lacking." Bernard nodded. His hair that was normally groomed to perfection. Had sliver-blonde hair roaming flying free around his face.
"Ugh." Pipa rolled her eyes and flopped on the bed.
"Let's get dressed and have some breakfast." Lars said swinging his feet over the bed.
"Are you guys fine..." Thomas paused unsure what to say it without making it a fuss. Shaking his head he went all in. "With my fangs? I have them now."
"If this was at the train — I would have not taking it well." Bernard tugged his hair out of his face with one hand.
"Now?" Thomas held his breath. Bernard shrugged.
"Your my friend. Fangs or no fangs." Bernard said offering Thomas a smile through a yawn.
"I want to touch them!" Pipa raised her hand. Shooting herself out of bed, she had her fingers in his mouth before he could blink. "Wow — I wished I had fangs." Pipa muttered, and even Squeakers who crawled out from the nest that was Pipa's morning hair. Peered in. Completely unafraid.
"Some things may change, but never my feelings for you." Lars smiled, then an ear-piercing squeal ruined the moment. Victoria, who Thomas was ashamed to say, he had forgotten about. Was holding her hands to her chubby, beaming face.
"It's...its...all so moe!" Victoria squealed again, jumping up and down from on the poor bed. Sending her bed into shaking mess of fear, and horrible cried of pitched metal. The bed had clearly called for help, because the nurse came flying in.
Kicking them all out of the room, freshen up and dressed — all at a flick of her wand. Bernard and Pipa, kept Veronica from going back in to demand the origins of that spell. Thomas didn't stop her, because the girl could be rather terrifying. He rather face another ghost troll — if he was going to be honest.
"Do you think everyone knows?" Lars said, walking into the hall with his usual confidence.
"Take a picture — it last longer!" Pipa stuck her tongue out at the silent eyes that had turned towards their little group. Victoria had disappeared from their group. In search of her brother, for they could contact their parent's to reassure them she was okay.
"Don't encourage them Pipa." Bernard sighed, back to his composed look. Thomas joined Bernard in his sigh.
"Let's just eat." Thomas said. Trying to demonstrate, that he too, had some strength that his friends had.
"Think you are a hero now — Cloverleigh?" Daniel strolled up to them. An easy tell due to his messy black locks and green eyes. And the small gathering he always seemed to have around him. Did he feel naked without them? Thomas wondered.
"I've been meaning to ask this, is calling people by their lasts names — a thing?" Thomas looked at Bernard, who Thomas had heard use this.
"Yes, it is." Bernard looked over at Daniel.
"Do you have fangs now?" A tall, well-built boy asked from behind Daniel.
"Yes." Thomas nodded. It wasn't like he could hide them under his hair — like his ears. Thomas gazed off and rubbed his upper lip. Maybe, he could grow a some cover?
"Your a monster, we learned about your kind in Defence Against the Dark Arts class." The boy sneered.
"That's outdated! They revised that." Pipa spoke up, Thomas turned, how would she know? "My parents are lawyers." Pipa beamed with pride, and she turned and pointed her finger at the older boy. "They looked up magic laws before I came here."
"It was added in last year." Lars spoke up. "We have a teacher that is a vampire for Goddess shakes." He turned and nudge Thomas with his elbow. "Lets go — we have better things to do."
"I'm not done with you yet." The boy took a step forward.
"That is enough Gary." Daniel put up his hand.
"You have quidditch to think of." Daniel turned his green eyes at Thomas. Daniel could see the hate burning up in his eyes. "Professor Nocturne can't always be there for you."
"Why would he need too?" Professor Walker came in with a croak. Much to Thomas dismay he had a small brown, bumpy toad resting on the brim off his hat. Shivering Thomas took a side step, placing Lars between him creature.
"Professor Walker." Daniel stood up a little straighter. "We're letting them -"
"Get to their table?" Professor Walker looked at Daniel, Thomas swore the toad on his hat did too.
"And getting to ours." Weasley, Thomas believed that was his name. Stood up and wrapped his arm around Daniel's neck. "And you to yours." With a wink and a smile. He dragged Daniel, and by default his groupies away.
"I should've listened to my mother." Professor Walker grumbled to himself and left with several croaks. That came from different places of his body.
"Do you think he sleeps with them." Pipa looked at Professor Walker.
"I could believe it." Bernard said wrinkling his nose. Thomas shivered and with more eyes on them. They made their way to the table. They had a simple breakfast, and went to their first period classes. Not giving them a chance to talk until Lunch. They had half the great hall to themselves.
"What do you guys know about Harry Potter?" Thomas asked snagging an apple from the basket.
"What do you want to know?" Bernard asked buttering a bun.
"I heard he battled a large snake." Thomas said rubbing his apple on his robe.
"Who told you that?" Lars asked pouring Thomas and himself something to drink.
"I had a talk with Professor Barlow last night." Thomas left out some details, for the record, that wasn't a lie. It was Thomas only way to get around not talking about truths he didn't want to speak of.
"I don't sleep." Thomas shrugged off their questioning stares.
"Among other things, he mentioned that Harry Potter battled a great snake." "He did — in his second year." Bernard nodded, biting into his bun. "In his first year he fought off a." Bernard's eyes bulged, and he started to cough up the bun. Pipa hurried and passed him his goblet.
"Fought off a what?" Thomas asked, his hands stopping on his apple polishing.
"A mountain troll." Lars said, his face frowning and turning dark in thought.
"It looked like we were fighting a ghost." Thomas said. Thinking back to the white tinted but see-though beast.
"Ghost don't drain your energy." Bernard said with a gasp. Putting down his goblet. "None that I heard of."
"It's only a coincidence, right?" Pipa said, pausing in her task of breaking down bread for Squeakers to eat.
"If the ghost of a snake shows up — we'll find out." Bernard said, making the atmosphere around the four tense.
"Last night, I was walking around where we fought off that troll." Thomas said, thinking back to the chamber, and the ghost of the girl in the girl's bathroom.
"Why were you there?!" Lars said almost shouting. Causing a wave of furious whispering around them.
"Shush!" Pipa said, leaning forward to whisper.
"Let Thomas finish." Bernard nodded and leaned forward, elbows on the table.
"Professor Barlow was there too." Thomas said, defending is actions. "Anyway, there is a ghost of a girl there."
"Moaning Myrtle." Bernard whispered, keeping their conversation to their table. "She haunts the girl's lavatory — after dying there from the first basilisk hunt." Thomas nodded, that was what Professor Barlow had said too.
"I talked to her — Myrtle." Thomas said.
"I thought ghost hated you." Pipa said, "Peeve's won't go near you still." Pipa rubbed her twin braids, remembering the yanking they received, if Thomas was to guess. "She said I reminded her of someone." Thomas waved his hand. "That's not my point."
"Who would you remind her of?" Lars said his frown deepening.
"That doesn't matter right now." Thomas said, whispering fast, so he didn't get interrupted again. "She said that someone tried opening the chamber of secrets."
"Students try that. It's like a dare." Bernard shook his head. "They blocked that off after the war with -" Bernard swallowed. "Voldemort." Bernard said with a slight quiver to his voice, his face even dropped a shade in colour. Pipa rubbed his arm.
"Voldemort?" Thomas asked, unfamiliar with the name.
"He was a bad wizard Thomas." Lars said lacing his fingers together he tapped them in his lips. "He's the one who did all the horrible things to this school — during Harry Potter's stay here."
"The snake?" Thomas asked, his heart sinking as he already expected the answer.
"His past self, apiece of his soul, that was locked in a book. Came to Hogwarts, though it being released here..." Bernard hands shook, and his eyes were on the table, while his voice trailed off. "Was my families fault."
"You are nothing like your family." Lars said reaching across the table to pat Bernard's hands.
"You don't know that." Bernard said. "What if..." Bernard shook his head unable to finish his thought.
"I may not know the details." Thomas said, he reached out and grabbed Bernard's hands too. "But if who you grow up with — makes you who you are..." It was Thomas's turn to shake his head. "I would be doomed."
"You're right." Bernard pulled his hands away from Thomas and Lars. Reaching out he held Pipa's hand which was still on his arm.
"Of course they are!" Pipa said, turning her eyes to the table. "What should we do?"
"It has nothing to do with us." Lars said, knocking the table with his knuckles. "We should leave it alone."
"Neither did Daniel's sister, but everyone is blaming me for it." Thomas looked at Lars. "What if the ghost troll, and Daniel's sister share a connection?"
"She is a potter, that could be a connection." Bernard mused, pushing his breakfast around in his plate.
"We should look up more information on the Potter family." Pipa said, clapping her hands together. "We should go to the library — at least we should have information."
"After dinner I have to go to my first class with Professor Nocturne." Thomas gave Lars a sideways glance.
"I'm going with you." Lars said, his voice had no room for argument. Thomas had no intentions of disagreeing with him.
"Good." Bernard said with a nod. "I'll go with Pipa to the library."
"Team work!" Pipa said, bouncing in her seat. "We so have this!"
"Yeah, we can do this. We have each other after all." Thomas said, making everyone paused.
"What?" Thomas said, tilting his head at their stares.
"You're right Thomas, we have each other." Lars smiled, a true smiled that took up his face. A great sight to see after troll fall out of last night.
"I feel real confident now." Pipa said taking a big bite out of a biscuit. "Let's do this." Pipa gave a crumb smeared smile.
"With fewer crumbs, I agree with Pipa." Bernard said offering Pipa a napkin. "Divided we conquer, but together we stand. You focus on Professor Nocturne's night class." Bernard grimaced when Pipa used the back of her hand to clean her face instead. "We got the research part figured out." Bernard dropped the unused napkin to the table with a sigh.
"Thanks." Thomas said, he hadn't forgotten a word about what Professor Barlow had said. Especially about Vampire Bounds. Things could change. He could and so could Professor Nocturne, and their relationship too. It was time Thomas started to press for answers, and if he couldn't. Thomas looked at Lars.
"I have no issue, pressing the man for answers." Lars said picking up his fork to stab his fruit bowl.
"Remember he is a Professor, Lars." Pipa said. Offering Squeakers a piece of fruit. "You don't want to get into trouble."
"I know." Lars said his smile making Thomas, and by the looks of it. Everyone else at their table doubtful.
"Let's finish lunch and get to class." Thomas said picking back up his apple, and taking a bite. Only to get his fangs stuck in the fruit without being able to finish the bite. Pulling hard at the apple, and with the help of a chuckling Lars. He was free of the apple. Bernard and Pipa were useless, they were laughing so hard the table shook. Even the mouse was on it's side laughing. Leaving Thomas red-faced and silently vowing to never eat an apple again. At least, not before cutting it up with his knife first.