The Beetle at Bay

Dean woke late on Saturday morning, and found Cas dithering in the Entrance Hall. He hadn't been in the Great Hall for a meal since he'd come back.

'Hey, you okay?' Dean asked.

Cas shook his head. 'I don't want everyone to stare at me.'

Dean looked inside and saw most of the other students were gathered around copies of the Daily Prophet. 'I think they have bigger fish to fry,' he said. 'Come on.'

Cas reluctantly followed Dean inside, and breathed a sigh of relief when no one so much as glanced up from their papers as they sat next to Hermione at the Gryffindor table. It was soon evident why; the report of the Azkaban breakout had come out, and everyone was whispering, pointing at the pictures of the escaped Death Eaters, all wearing similar, frightened expressions.

In all, ten Death Eaters had broken out of Azkaban, including Bellatrix Lestrange.

'And there's more,' Hermione said in a low voice, turning the pages of her newspaper, showing them an article titled: TRAGIC DEMISE OF MINISTRY OF MAGIC WORKER.

'Remember Broderick Bode, with the Order?' Hermione said. 'Someone sent him some Devil's Snare. You can imagine what happened.' She looked utterly disgusted as she scanned the article again.

'Why would they do that?' Cas asked, horrified.

'To stop him from talking,' Sherlock said darkly. 'You-Know-Who tried to force him to break into the Ministry after hours. He knew too much.'

Dean shook his head. 'Well it's a creative murder if nothing else.'

Sherlock snorted, but Hermione frowned disapprovingly.

Just then Harry, who was also late waking, slid into a seat next to Cas. 'Hey, I had an idea,' he said.

'All right,' Cas said in surprise.

'I was thinking - you know how you're going to show me Occlumency? Well, why don't you teach it to the DA?'

Cas bit his lip. 'I don't know, Harry… I'm not that good at it, and I don't know Legilimency at all, so there's no way to tell if they're doing it right or not.'

'Yeah, I know, but wouldn't it be better to have an idea of how it works so they're better prepared if someone tries to read their minds?'

Cas looked doubtful, but nodded. 'I'll try.'

Harry grinned. 'Thanks, Cas. I think everyone's free this evening, if you're up for it.'

'Um…' Cas looked at Dean, who gave him an encouraging smile. 'All right. I can do it.'

Once they were finished with breakfast, Cas went straight for the front door and out into the grounds. He tried to breathe deeply, but it only pulled on his wounds.

'You okay?' Dean asked, having followed him outside.

Cas nodded, gingerly rubbing his chest, so he wouldn't dislodge the scabs.

'You don't have to teach the whole DA if you don't want to.'

'I know,' Cas said, smiling tremulously. 'I want to do it. I think it would be good for people to learn, like Harry said. I'm just nervous.'

'Don't be, you're a great teacher,' Dean smiled. 'So what do you wanna do today?'

Cas rubbed his arm. 'I want to walk for a while, then I want to play chess.'

Dean nodded. 'I can get behind no homework for the day. Let's go.'

Cas was quieter than usual through the afternoon, playing chess with anyone who would agree to it, but Dean could see he was just trying to keep himself distracted. He was pale and shivering by the time of the meeting.

'You don't have to do this,' Dean said softly, watching Cas hesitate outside the door.

'I can do it,' said Cas. He shook out his hands, then pushed open the door.

Most of the DA were already inside; only the Hufflepuffs on their Quidditch team were missing. While they waited, Cas set pillows out on the floor and dimmed the torches.

'It's better to be relaxed at first,' Cas explained at Dean's questioning look.

At last, the Hufflepuffs arrived, and Dean whistled to turn everyone's attention to him.

'All right, everyone, we've got a guest teacher today,' he said, smiling at Cas. 'He's going to teach us a little about Occlumency and, hopefully, we'll be better protected. Over to you, Cas.'

Cas cleared his throat, his fingertips tingling as everyone turned to stare at him. 'All right, if you could all take a seat…' His voice was small and wavering, but everyone did as he said, and he felt a bit more confident once they were all sitting down. 'First of all, who knows what Occlumency is?'

Harry had the grace to refrain from raising his hand, but several others raised theirs. Hermione was quite insistent, as usual, but Cas called on Fred Weasley instead.

'Isn't it some sort of protection against people trying to read your mind?' Fred ventured.

'That's right,' Cas said encouragingly. 'Hermione, why don't you give us the full definition?'

Hermione beamed at him. 'The magical defence of the mind against external penetration. An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one-'

Fred and George sniggered at her use of the word "penetrate".

'-It's the magic of closing one's mind against Legilimency. It's ancient magic that's existed since medieval times. It could prevent a Legilimens from accessing one's thoughts and feelings, or influencing them.'

'Thank you, Hermione.'

Some of the DA looked highly disconcerted by the thought of someone else being able to access their minds, and Cas felt sorry for them. He too wished he could go back before he knew what it was, or what it felt like.

'Let's begin,' Cas said, sitting cross-legged on his own cushion. 'The idea of this exercise is to clear your mind of any thoughts and emotions, but that can be difficult, especially on your first try. So the first thing we'll do is some breathing exercises. I want you all to close your eyes, and take deep breaths. In through your nose and out through your mouth.' Cas waited for them all to close their eyes. 'You too, Dean.'

Dean gave Cas a sheepish smile at being caught, but he too closed his eyes.

'In through your nose and out through your mouth,' Cas said again, in a more steady voice.

He watched everyone do as he asked, until he was satisfied they were sufficiently prepared. 'All right, now let your breathing return to normal,' he said in the same, gentle but steady voice. 'I want you to listen to the sounds around you. Since this is your first time, you will get distracted. Don't worry if you do, just gently turn your attention back to what you can hear, and what you can physically feel.' Cas watched them all closely. He could clearly see on their faces when they got distracted, but he was pleased when he could also see them try and readjust their focus.

'Now I want you to concentrate on the places where your body touches the cushion on the floor. Feel the pressure. Listen to your heartbeat and feel how your breath goes in and out. Don't change any of it, just pay attention to it.'

'How does this help?' Zacharias Smith interrupted, breaking everyone's concentration, to much groaning and muttering.

'To start with, we need more awareness of our mind and body in order to begin gaining some more control over it,' Cas explained patiently. 'It takes practice.'

Dean stretched out his legs. 'Do we want to give it another try, or should we move on for today?' he called.

'I think we should try something else,' said George. 'My bum is numb.'

Cas nodded. 'That can happen at first as well. We can leave it here, if you're uncomfortable, but I want you all to give it a try at least once a week. The best time is usually before you go to bed or when you wake up.'

Everyone slowly stood up and stretched, and Cas pulled Dean and Harry aside.

'I think it might be a good idea to do the exercise at the end of our meetings,' he told them. 'That way they're more protected if they do happen to get caught on their way out.'

'That's a great idea!' Dean said enthusiastically, and Harry nodded his agreement. 'Great, so we'll try it again after the session today, but I think we should work on Shield Charms again for now. Some of them were looking a bit patchy last time.'

'Yeah, probably for the best to give that another go,' said Harry.

Dean winked at Cas, knowing full well that he didn't need any work on his Shield Charm.

Cas smiled back, grateful for the opportunity to simply do nothing for a while. He led another short Occlumency practice before they all left for the evening.

Hermione was late to breakfast the next morning, quite breathless. 'Just sent a letter,' was all she would say about it when asked. 'Hey, Hagrid!' she said brightly, spotting him in the doorway waiting for a crowd of Ravenclaws to pass.

He was still as heavily bruised as he had been the day he had returned from his mission, only now there was a new cut across the bridge of his nose.

'All righ'?' he said, trying to muster a smile, but only managing a pained grimace.

'Are you okay, Hagrid?' Harry asked.

'Fine, fine,' said Hagrid with a feeble attempt at airiness; He waved a hand a narrowly missed concussing a frightened-looking Professor Vector, who was passing. 'Jus' busy, yeh know, usual stuff - lessons ter prepare - couple o' salamanders got scale rot - an' I'm on probation,' he mumbled.

'You're on probation?' Ron said loudly, causing several passing students to look around curiously. 'Sorry - I mean - you're on probation?' he whispered.

'Yeah,' said Hagrid. ''S'no more'n I expected, ter tell yeh the truth. Yeh migh' not've picked up on it, bu' that inspection didn' go too well, yeh know… anyway,' he sighed deeply. 'Bes' go an' rub a bit more chilli powder on them salamanders or their tails'll be hangin' off 'em next. See yeh…'

He trudged away, leaving them all wondering how much more bad news they could take.

The fact that Hagrid was now on probation became common knowledge within the school over the next few days. As for the freakish death of an obscure Department of Mysteries employee in St Mungo's, and Castiel's dramatic return to the castle, both were overshadowed by the escape of ten Death Eaters from Azkaban.

Those who came from wizarding families had grown up hearing the names of these Death Eaters spoken with almost as much fear as Voldemort's; the crimes they had committed were legendary.

This suited Castiel just fine, though Dean couldn't help but notice his lack of emotion over the following days, and watched him completely zone out several times, staring into space with his Shield Charm at full strength.

And it was not only the students' mood that changed. It became quite common to come across two or three of the teachers conversing in low, urgent whispers, breaking off their conversations the moment they saw students approaching.

'They obviously can't talk freely in the staff room, as she, Harry, Ron, and John passed Professors McGonagall Flitwick and Sprout huddled together outside the Charms classroom one day. 'Not with Umbridge there.'

'Reckon they know anything new?' Ron said, staring over his shoulder at them.

'If they do, we're not likely to hear about it, are we?' Harry said angrily. 'Not after Decree… what number are we on now?' For new notices had appeared all over the school the morning after the news of the Azkaban breakout:

BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS

Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-six

Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor

This latest Decree had been the subject of a great number of jokes among the students. Lee Jordan had pointed out that by the terms of the new rule she was not allowed to tell Fred and George off for playing Exploding Snap at the back of the class.

'Exploding Snap's got nothing to do with Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor! That's not information relating to your subject!'

In response to the Decree, a lot of the teachers began taking it completely literally, and "accidentally" running into their fifth-year Ravenclaw class, who, after a thorough shakedown of the library and finding it wasn't against the rules, continued to run their own classes in protest. The teachers would then talk very loudly in the general vicinity about their subject, much to the Ravenclaws' delight.

This only served to infuriate Umbridge even further, and intensed her desire to bring every aspect of life at Hogwarts under her personal control. She seemed determined at the very least to achieve a sacking before long, and the only question was whether it would be Professor Trelawney or Hagrid who went first.

Every single Divination or Care of Magical Creatures lesson was now conducted in the presence of Umbridge and her clipboard, making John uncomfortably nauseous in each and every one. It made it hard to focus, and he soon found himself falling behind in Care of Magical Creatures, though he found the silver lining in spending more time curled up in Sherlock's arms.

Umbridge lurked by the fire in Trelawney's room, interrupting her increasingly hysterical talks with difficult questions about ornithomancy and heptomology, insisting that she predict students answers before they gave them and demanding that she demonstrate her skill at the crystal ball, the tea leaves and the runestones in turn. John fielded the questions and demonstrations as best he could, smugly telling Umbridge that he learned it all from Trelawney. He watched her wide, toad-like mouth curl in frustration at not being able to challenge John without admitting she believed he was a real Seer.

'You're improving,' Sherlock commented one evening, gently stroking John's hair.

'Hmm?' John mumbled. He hadn't been paying attention, he had just been watching everyone's colours swirl around.

'You're leaning into it more.'

'Well it's quite fun when you're using it to mess with Umbridge.'

Sherlock chuckled and kissed the top of John's head. 'That sounds more like me talking.'

'You're in my head often enough.'

Dean Thomas and Seamus's threads caught his eye and he watched them for a while until they started to intertwine.

'How long?' Sherlock asked.

'A year, year and a bit,' John said. 'He's going out with…' He made a face. 'He's going out with Ginny first. Certainly a choice.'

'Don't you have anything more interesting to look at?' Sherlock said.

John winced, and felt Sherlock flinch in return. 'Sorry,' he muttered. 'It's just easier.' He looked up at Castiel, who was sitting in the window with Dean. He still sat awkwardly, his hand occasionally rubbing his chest, but never moving his gaze from Dean's face, fondly watching him read. He was easier to see now. John could watch him through some of Dean's threads, though just barely.

There was nothing else you could have done, Sherlock's voice whispered in his head.

If you say so. John shook his head and turned his attention elsewhere.

Fred and George were laughing raucously with Lee Jordan in another corner. John felt another twinge of guilt as he looked at them, having taken one of the Beater positions on the Gryffindor team. They didn't hold it against him, and he was certainly not as good as they were, but he found he had a good instinct for Bludgers, and struggled to ignore the wistful looks on their faces when they saw him in uniform.

With Umbridge still snooping about, Hagrid had also banned them from visiting him after dark, unwilling to risk his job more than he already had. The general atmosphere of fear and suppression was detrimental to all of them.

Cas wandered the castle and grounds, unable to sleep, but his note from Madam Pomfrey keeping him out of trouble from most of the teachers. Dean's nightmares came thick and fast, as did John's, the both of them keeping Sherlock awake at night. Most of them trudged through January in a daze of anger, agitation and tiredness.

Harry's Occlumency lessons with Snape continued, and Cas was at a loss as to why Harry was getting worse at it instead of better, despite all of their practice sessions with the DA.

'Maybe it isn't Harry's fault he can't close his mind,' Ron said darkly.

'What do you mean?' said Hermione.

'Well, maybe Snape isn't really trying to help, maybe he's actually trying to open Harry's mind a bit wider… make it easier for You-Know-'

'Shut up, Ron,' Hermione snapped. 'How many times have you suspected Snape, and when have you ever been right? Dumbledore trusts him, he works for the Order, that ought to be enough.'

'He used to be a Death Eater,' said Ron stubbornly. 'And we've never seen proof that he really swapped sides.'

'Dumbledore trusts him,' Hermione repeated. 'And if we can't trust Dumbledore, we can't trust anyone.'

Dean's expression soured, but no one noticed, and he felt no need to speak up and ruin the sense of security they all still had.

'What do you think?' Ron asked John, still not quite willing to drop the subject.

John just shrugged. 'I don't know.'

'You could look, couldn't you?'

'What good would that do?' John said, staring into the fire.

Ron gave him an exasperated look. 'Sherlock, tell him.'

'Actually, I agree with Hermione,' said Sherlock. 'Shut up, Ron.'

There was still light and happiness to be had at Hogwarts, however. Towards the end of January, Dean thought he might sleep in on a Saturday morning, but he was shaken awake quite early. He opened his eyes and squinted groggily at who had woken him.

'Hey,' he croaked when he saw that it was Cas, beaming in the early morning sun that streamed through the window. 'What's up?' He sat up and smiled. Cas looked good in the sun.

'I'm healed,' Cas said in an excited whisper. 'I can fly again - properly. Will you come with me?'

'Sure,' Dean said, stretching widely. 'Hold on, let me get dressed.'

Dean pulled his curtains closed while he dressed, but by the time he was finished, excited whispers had erupted from the other beds, and the others were all hurriedly getting dressed too.

The news that Ravenclaw's star Chaser was back to full health spread rapidly through the castle, so much so that there was already a small group of people waiting for them at the pitch by the time they arrived, including Roger Davies.

'All right, let's see it, Castiel,' he said, already holding Cas's broom.

Cas smiled and took it from him, walking into the centre of the pitch, with Dean close behind. He waited until everyone gathered had settled in the stands, and Dean leaned against the walls near the entrance, where he had the best view.

Cas took a deep breath, mounted his broom, then shot into the sky. He breathed in deeply at his zenith, and fell lazily backwards. He barely heard the gasp from the spectators below. He wasn't worried. The sky was always a comfort to him, and felt as though it were holding him up rather than allowing him to fall. When he sensed he was getting closer to the ground, he flipped over and landed on the broom that was waiting for him, then dropped even closer to the ground, near where Dean was standing, chewing his fingernails nervously. Cas spun around on the broom, flying over to him and planting a kiss on his cheek, before darting across the pitch again.

Dean watched him go, dumbstruck, and rubbing the spot on his cheek that Cas had kissed. He watched Cas flip and spin over the pitch, obviously delighted at the return of his flying ability. When he was finished, he descended next to Dean, dismounting gracefully, his cheeks red and his hair wild.

'Better?' Dean asked with an indulgent smile.

Cas nodded enthusiastically, but when the students in the stands started clapping, his expression suddenly froze, and he glanced over his shoulder.

'What?' said Dean.

'I - I -' Cas looked over his other shoulder. 'I feel like someone's watching me. Can we go?'

'Like who?'

Cas's brow furrowed and he just shook his head. 'Please can we go?'

'Yeah, of course.'

Dean followed him out of the pitch, his heart sinking as he saw that Cas was heading for the Whomping Willow. Cas Banished his broom and Immobilised the angry tree, then crawled through the hole at the base. Once inside the Shrieking Shack, Cas headed for the bedroom, sitting quietly on the bed.

Dean sat opposite him at the end of the bed, Conjuring a cup of water for him. 'What's going on?' he asked gently.

'I - uh - '

'Take your time.'

Cas nodded and shakily sipped his water. 'I thought - I thought I saw him in the stands. My father…' His voice trailed off and he stared down at his lap. 'It's stupid, I'm sorry.'

'Hey, listen, it's not stupid,' Dean said. 'It's normal. When I first moved here, I was seeing Demons around every corner. I think you've got a right to be a little paranoid.'

Cas nodded, but his grip tightened on his cup. 'He'll be so angry with me, Dean.'

'Hey, it's gonna be-' But Dean was cut off by a sudden force that threw him across the room, slamming him against the wall. Bright white light erupted from Cas, as well as a high pitched screeching sound, that forced Dean to squeeze his eyes shut and cover his ears. Even then, the light blazed orange through his eyelids, and the noise hurt his ears.

It was over almost as quickly as it began, and Dean stumbled back onto the bed, rubbing his eyes.

'I'm sorry,' Cas mumbled. 'It caught me off guard.'

'It's okay, I'm not hurt,' said Dean, patting Cas's knee, though he was still slightly dazzled. 'Why'd you never use your power against your dad?' Dean asked curiously.

Cas just gave him a terrified look, quaking where he sat.

'You never tried?'

'Once,' Cas whispered, drawing his knees up to his chest.

'What happened?' Dean prompted gently.

'I don't want to talk about it.'

'Okay, you don't have to.'

Cas sniffed. 'I don't feel so good, Dean.'

'Can I help?'

Cas nodded and pulled Dean closer, so he could wrap Dean's arms around him.

Dean's cheeks reddened, but he was happy to oblige, slipping an arm around Cas's waist and holding his hand.

Cas closed his eyes and leaned into Dean, relaxing as best he could, closing his eyes. 'Thank you,' he murmured.

'Any time.'

Cas didn't let go of Dean's hand, even as they were walking back up to the castle.

'You know, the next Hogsmeade weekend is on Valentine's Day, do you want to go with me?' Dean asked, the still frosty grass crunching beneath their feet.

'We always go together,' Cas frowned.

Dean laughed. 'I meant just the two of us. You know, like a date.'

'Oh. Oh.'

'You don't have to, I just thought, since John and Ron will be at Quidditch, and Harry will be out with Cho-'

'I'd love to,' Cas smiled, giving Dean another quick peck on the cheek.

On the morning of Valentine's Day, Dean dressed in his best clothes, excited to finally take Cas on a real date.

'You look great, buddy,' Dean said to Harry, who had also carefully picked out some nice clothes, and he walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Cas wasn't there, as usual, so Dean wandered back out to the Entrance Hall to wait for him once he had finished eating.

People began to stream out, past Dean and out into the grounds. Dean checked his watch, nervous when Cas didn't appear.

Eventually Cas arrived, hurrying down the marble staircase.

'Sorry I'm late,' he said breathlessly. 'I overslept.'

Judging by the heavy bags under his eyes, Dean doubted that was the cause, but Dean was too happy to see him to question it.

'Shall we go?' Cas said, holding on to Dean's arm, stroking it gently.

'Okay,' Dean grinned.

They were some of the last few stragglers to leave the castle, wandering across the grounds, past the Quidditch pitch where they could see John streaking after a Bludger over the stands. Cas was quiet the whole way, and came to a halt at the gates.

'What?' Dean asked.

Cas bit his lip. 'This is where the protective charms end,' he said.

Dean nodded in understanding. 'You don't have to go,' he said gently, 'but if you did decide to go, we know all the secret passages back if we happen to need them. You're completely safe.'

Cas hesitated a little longer, then finally stepped past the castle gate, letting out a shuddering breath as he did so.

'You're doing great,' Dean smiled.

'Do you remember the first time you helped me through these gates?' Cas asked, eyes darting around, gripping Dean's arm tightly.

'With the Dementors? Sure I do, but do you really wanna think about them right now?'

Cas shrugged. 'It was nice that you were there for me. You didn't even know me back then.'

'Do I have to know someone to help them?'

'No. That's what makes you great.'

'Aw, Cas, you're making me blush,' Dean grinned, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

'That was the intention,' Cas smiled.

'Oh okay, I see how it is,' Dean said, playfully nudging Cas.

Now past the gate, Cas relaxed more, and they walked all the way down to Hogsmeade.

'So, where do you want to go?' Cas asked when they reached the first houses at the edge of the village. 'You don't strike me as a tea kind of person,' he added as he watched Harry and Cho go into Madam Pudifoot's Tea Shop.

Dean laughed again. 'I'd be willing to give it a try for you.'

Cas shook his head. 'Kind of you, but it's a little too quiet in there for me. I would feel like everyone is looking at me.'

'Three Broomsticks it is, then?'

'That's fine with me.'

The Three Broomsticks was packed as always, and the bubbly atmosphere spilled out of the door as soon as Dean opened it. He ordered them a couple of Butterbeers at the bar. Madam Rosmerta raised an eyebrow at them and Dean winked back, then led Cas to an empty booth, sliding into the seat next to him.

'Cheers,' he said, clinking their bottles together, and they both took a sip.

Cas shifted uncomfortably. 'I've never been on a date,' he admitted. 'I don't know what to do.'

'Well usually we start by talking about our hobbies and stuff we like. Why don't you go first?'

'I - I suppose I like Astronomy,' Cas said.

'Oh yeah, what do you like about it?'

Cas started haltingly at first, but the more he talked about the solar system, the more animated he got. Dean just gazed at him while he talked about some of the moons of Jupiter, then smiled as Cas excitedly described the orbital pattern and rotation of Uranus.

'...and no one knows why it's at such a dramatic axial tilt, but some astronomers theorise that it could have collided with a protoplanet at some point.'

'Protoplanet?' Dean asked, admiring the way Cas's eyes were sparkling.

'Oh, a protoplanet is a small rock that usually collides with others to begin forming proper planets. The asteroid Ceres is considered to be one.'

Dean nodded.

'Oh, I'm sorry, I've been talking too much,' Cas frowned.

'No don't be, I could listen to you talk all day.'

Cas turned pink, and hesitantly reached out to stroke Dean's cheek with a finger.

Dean stammered, his heart fluttering. He cleared his throat, and opened his mouth to ask Cas more astronomy questions, but his voice died when the door to the pub opened, and a familiar head of blonde curls.

'Is that who I think it is?' he said, staring as Rita Skeeter stomped through the pub and sat down with Hermione and Luna, of all people. 'What am I looking at right now?'

Cas turned his head and frowned.

'Yo, Hermione!' Dean called, waving her over. 'What the hell is going on?'

Hermione glanced back at Rita. 'She's going to interview Harry,' she said smugly. 'And Luna's dad is going to publish it, so we can get the real truth out there.'

'Huh,' said Dean, looking at Rita again. 'Hermione, you're a genius.'

Hermione beamed at him and went back to her table with a wave.

Dean then saw Rita craning her neck, trying to get a good look at Cas. 'Hey, you wanna get out of here? I'm getting hungry.'

'All right.'

Dean led Cas by the hand, out of the pub and back through the village. Besides Rita clearly dying to interview Cas, Dean could also see that Cas was getting agitated at spending so long away from the castle.

They bumped into the Gryffindor Quidditch team on their way back inside, and they all looked miserable.

'Hey, guys, why the long faces?' Dean said.

Ron just grumbled and stormed off, and none of the others felt like answering the question, except John who shrugged sadly.

'It's still early days with the new team,' he said. 'We're not working together very well at the moment.'

Dean nodded. 'I'm sure you'll work it out.'

'Where are you two off to, anyway?'

'Kitchens,' said Dean. 'Just gonna hang out with the house-elves for a bit.'

'Sounds good,' John said.

John followed them into the Entrance Hall, and considered dropping into the kitchens as well, but stopped when he found Sherlock waiting for him.

'What are you doing?' he said suspiciously, eyeing up the unusually tidy hair, and trying to see what Sherlock was hiding behind his back.

'Nothing, I just thought… people do things on Valentine's Day, so…' He pulled a rose out from behind his back and handed it to John. 'Come with me.'

John barely had a moment to take in the gleaming red rose Sherlock had given him before Sherlock walked away, forcing John to jog to catch up with him.

'Where are we going?' John asked. He could look if he wanted to, but he could feel how nervous Sherlock was about whatever he was doing.

'The Room of Requirement.'

'Oh, why?'

'You'll see.'

John followed Sherlock all the way up to the seventh floor, resisting the urge to peek into Sherlock's mind the whole time, and waited for Sherlock to open the door. His jaw dropped when he saw what was inside.

Rather than the spacious practice room they were used to, the Room had now transformed itself into a small, cosy room. A fireplace sat opposite the door, with a blanket spread out before it and the most comfortable-looking sofa John had ever seen next to it. Sherlock ushered him inside and closed the door, blocking out all of the swirling sounds, colours and light from the rest of the school. John then noticed a faint, perfumed scent that reminded him of Trelawney's classroom.

Sherlock went around the small room lighting candles, and picked up a basket from a small table next to the door.

'Did you do this?' John asked incredulously.

'Molly helped,' Sherlock admitted.

John grinned and took Sherlock's outstretched hand.

'Come sit down.'

The blanket was soft, and John sat opposite Sherlock, allowing the fire to soothe the aching cold in his bones from spending most of the day at Quidditch.

Sherlock started pulling food out of the basket, along with two glasses and an expensive bottle of white wine.

'We're a bit young for that, aren't we?' John smirked.

'Only a year,' Sherlock shrugged.

'Two,' John corrected.

Sherlock just rolled his eyes and poured them a glass each. 'I had it brought up from our vault. It's very old.'

'Does being old make it taste better?'

'I suppose so.'

'Well, there's only one way to find out.' John took a sip and cringed at the strong flavour that crossed his tongue and hit the back of his throat, but after the initial shock, he found he enjoyed the taste. 'That's not bad actually,' he said, giggling slightly at Sherlock's wrinkled nose as he too tasted it. 'Mycroft won't miss it?'

Sherlock snorted. 'He's not in charge of the vault, we all have access. I doubt he even knew this was in there.'

John smiled and took another sip. 'Thank you, Sherlock. This is lovely.'

'You deserve it.'

John shuffled around the blanket so that Sherlock was within reach, leaning over to kiss him. 'You're sweet,' he murmured.

'I am not.'

'Whatever you say, Sherlock.'

Welcome back everyone, thanks to ConstantineHolmes and Morgan Tara Befan for the reviews!

I'm sure you're wondering where I've been. I was recently made a manager at my job and instead of starting me off slowly, they immediately dumped fourteen new hires on me that I had to train, so it's been a bit chaotic and scary, so I haven't had much focus time.

Anyway, please accept updates to all my works in progress - SPL - Order of the Phoenix, Lionheart and Little Things, as well as a new story Mykonos as an apology, and an optimistic view that updates will be more frequent now that things have settled a bit, but maybe not as frequent as before.

Thanks for all your support if you're still sticking around :)