Chapter 9 - Detention

Every teenager in the dim, musty dungeon classroom was looking quite unhappy, and for good reason. Ezra, in particular, cursed his luck; didn't people usually have to write lines for their first detention? Surely this was all an exaggerated misunderstanding.

"As you can see," the professor murmured while staring very harshly at them. "This classroom has not been used for a very, very long time. In fact, it used to be the Potions classroom, before there was a rather unfortunate… accident." His eyes flicked to a dark stain on a nearby wall, then back to the group in front of him. Someone sneezed in the background, and a layer of brown dust flew off of a nearby table.

"Of course, as you can probably hear and smell, there is quite a significant Doxy infestation here." He motioned toward a large copper cauldron which contained what Ezra recognized immediately as Doxycide. "You will fill your sprayers up with the Doxycide and wipe out the infestation. If you do not cooperate and finish by the end of the night, you will come here every Saturday until it is done."

Nobody moved or spoke. The usually nervous professor seemed to have gained a lot of confidence in thinking up his cruel punishment, because he merely smiled before saying, "Well, go on, then. Grab a sprayer and get started."

Dan huffed at those words. Putting them together in the same room and asking them to 'cooperate'?! There was someone in there she would much rather turn into Doxycide than work with. Yet, that would only earn her an extension of this stupid detention, so she swallowed her anger and turned her back to Sabrina. She could barely stand to look at her without wanting to practice some of the most creative hexes she'd found in her father's library.

Pushing that particularly enticing thought out of her mind, she moved closer to Jo in the line to fill the sprayers. "Are you feeling better?" She whispered.

Jo smiled at Dan, then turned to the cauldron and carefully began filling his sprayer with a look of deep concentration. He put the cap back on it manually, then hoisted it at his waist.

"Oh, yeah, I feel great," he replied, giving a cautious look to Alisa, who had stormed off in a huff when Dan had walked up. "Don't worry about her," he said quietly, looking apologetic. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Ezra was trying to get as close to Daniella as possible, but it was proving difficult with Sabrina tagging his every move.

"This is boring," she said helpfully, and he gave her a pained look that he hoped would suffice for a reply. She really didn't know the half of it.

Noah was at the end of the line, arms crossed, throwing Jo and Daniella furtive glances. Like Jo had said, she looked perfectly comfortable with him – even though he didn't know her to judge very accurately. Then, he remembered Shawn's reaction when he had to cancel today's practice because of this 'stupid, unnecessary detention'. He couldn't reach a conclusion about what Shawn would say if he told him what was happening. Would he never talk to him again? Probably.

He wanted to go to Jo and just talk to him like they did before, but he didn't know what kind of welcome he'd get. He wasn't sure of anything anymore. This was news to him, and he didn't like this state of mind one bit. He never dwelled too long on a problem. He was a man of action: he made a decision, stuck to it and hoped for the best. Now, he felt as if he was trapped between a dragon and a Devil's Snare and he didn't know how to get out of that situation unscathed.

Daniella, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow at Alisa's retreating back, but shrugged it away. "I don't care what she thinks, as long as you and I are good." She glanced at Ezra out of the corner of her eye, before pointing her wand at the cauldron to siphon the liquid into her own sprayer. "Not here," she murmured, glancing back at Sabrina. "Too crowded."

"Oh," Jo murmured, glancing furtively at Ezra. She didn't seem to be as worried about his stalking tendencies as usual. "Okay. Um, I'll meet you over by that Doxy nest." He indicated the far corner of the room with his sprayer, and then began walking in that direction.

It was soon Ezra's turn to fill his sprayer. He whipped out his wand and used it to funnel the potion neatly into the attached container before stashing it away. He would submit to the punishment, but wasting time was just foolish – he worked with potions all day. Making him fill a Doxycide sprayer by hand was an insult.

He looked at the corner where Johnston and Daniella were spraying Doxies, and he desperately desired to be next to Daniella instead. Sabrina, however, tugged him to the opposite corner, giving him a small smile that looked like it required an incredible amount of effort on her part.

As Noah finally filled his sprayer, he narrowed his eyes at the Slytherin Prefects. They'd been the ones hexing Josiah. And now Greengrass was looking at Jo very suspiciously. He patted a hand against his robe's folds, making sure his wand was handy. Damn him, if he would let that smug Slytherin do anything else to Jo.

He had no intention of getting anywhere near the Slytherins if could avoid it, and Jo was clearly absorbed in a private conversation, so Noah moved to the only free corner to work by himself while his mind wandered.

Daniella had followed Jo to the distant corner, wondering how to say what she needed to say. She didn't want him to hear any twisted rumors by Alisa first. "So… you know I was trying to get closer to Ezra, right? I had to see if the memory charm idea was working." The excuse sounded poor even in her ears. Suddenly a lot more nervous about Jo's reaction to this conversation, she started spraying to keep her mind busy.

Ezra gave the bulky Gryffindor a stony sideways look. Not only had he not forgiven him for beating Slytherin in the recent Quidditch match, he also had absolutely no patience tonight for blood-traitor tomfoolery. Swallowing his discontentment, he began spraying rather violently in comparison with Sabrina's lazy back-and-forth swinging. She wasn't actually hitting any Doxies, because her full attention was focused on Ezra's face.

"Yeah," Jo said nonchalantly as he tried to fit the nozzle of his sprayer into a particularly tight corner. "So? Did you find out anything? Did it work properly?" He gave Dan a slightly worried look. "I mean, I assume it did, or you'd have been…" He didn't even want to say it out loud.

"Well, yeah, it worked." She kept spraying with apparent intense concentration, catching a couple of Doxies, and avoided Jo's eyes. "We've been… talking." She stopped and closed her eyes, organizing her thoughts. Then she looked at Jo, needing to see his reaction. "He told me my brother made him spy on me, told him to get close to me."

"He told you?" Josiah whispered, momentarily forgetting where he was spraying. "Well, that's really… I mean… he's not very good at it, then, is he? If he goes around telling you…"

Daniella bit her lower lip. "He… I don't think he wants to do it anymore. I told him I knew, because you would never stop talking to me for no reason. But I didn't say anything about the memory charm, or that you told me. I didn't want to before I could talk to you about it." She gave Jo a tentative look, trying to figure out what he thought of it – of Ezra.

"He's not so bad, after…" She trailed off, unsure how to finish that sentence. She was doing this all wrong. Maybe this had been a bad idea, after all. She went back to spraying intensely on a particularly infested corner. "I don't think he'll tell Logan anything…" She finished weakly.

Jo had mostly stopped spraying to listen, a look of particularly sassy concern on his face.

"You like him, don't you?" A doxy flew out of its hiding place, and he sprayed it remorselessly. "You know, just because someone isn't pure evil doesn't make them good, either, aye? I mean, we are talking about the same bloke, aye?"

"No!" Daniella replied a little too quickly. She felt her face warming up. "It's not like that… nothing happened," she tried to explain, her voice closer to a murmur with every word. "We just… kissed, that's all."

She looked over her shoulder to where Ezra was spraying with Sabrina. Always Sabrina. She would be the one at his side, in the end. Daniella was just his rebellious adventure. She couldn't let herself forget that. "It doesn't mean anything. He'll never let go of the safety of his privilege and his traditions." She turned to the wall again, because it hurt to look at him and wonder 'what if'.

"Well, not that I can blame you," Josiah mumbled, moving a bit to the left now that the corner was cleaned out. "He is rather dishy, if we're honest. I mean, if it weren't for the whole 'pureblood privilege' bit." He gave Dan a sideways glance, then sighed.

"That does explain why I got a sour look instead of a curse when I bumped into him, at any rate," he said a bit wryly. He paused. "Just… be careful."

Dan studied Josiah until she was sure he wasn't going to be angry. She gave him a relieved half-smile. "I will be," she said, searching his eyes, then added awkwardly, "About that… He didn't want to hex you, really. He was just trying to protect me."

She glanced again at the pair on the other wall. "He's not like… her," she said, referring to Sabrina. "She's just..." she couldn't think of a bad enough word, so she made a disgusted face instead. "But I think if you gave each other a chance, looked past the appearances and tried to get to know each other a little…" She reconsidered. That was probably pushing too hard for one day. Maybe Ezra would never really change his ways, but she thought he might, with time, be more respectful. If it was an honest feeling, maybe…

"So, you aren't upset with me?"

"Well, not upset with you, no," Jo said a little tensely. "But it's just, you know, it's not exactly easy-as-cherry-pie to believe that someone who has delighted in your suffering for 6 years is now suddenly a chivalrous gentleman." He cleared his throat and rubbed his nose, which had begun to leak a bit from the constant stream of Doxycide.

He looked at Dan a little skeptically, then sighed.

"Well, I believe you, but… it still did rather hurt, you know. I'll meet you halfway, how about that?" He gave her a small smile.

"If he's kind to me, I'll be kind right back, sure as the day is long."

"Thank you, Jo! You're the best!" Dan gave him a tight, grateful hug. "That's all I ask."

Feeling a lot lighter, the dark moody cloud above her head dissipating a little, she let go of him and moved along to another nest. "So, what about Noah?" She asked in a low voice, glancing at the Gryffindor boy, who looked quite sulky today, working alone on the wall to their left. "Did you talk yet?"

"A little," Jo murmured, the smile vanishing quickly after he was released from the hug. "It went… okay. There are a lot of things neither of us are sure about." He glanced even more quickly at Noah, for some reason embarrassed by the thought of being caught looking.

"My arm hurts," Sabrina complained dully, and Ezra made no acknowledgement of her, eyebrows furrowed with concentration on the task at hand and his racing mind. "They have janitorial staff for mundane duties such as these."

"Yes, my dear," he began dryly. "One assumes that therein lies the grievous insult of detention."

Dan studied Jo with narrowed eyes. "Hmm… well, as long as he isn't ignoring you now." She followed Jo's sneaky glance with a much more obvious long look. "I understand him being unsure, but don't let him hurt your feelings, alright? He may be big and bulky, but I know exactly where to kick for him to get the point," she said, winking at Jo, hoping to lighten his mood.

She gave his shoulder a quick squeeze, before emptying the sprayer on the last nest on their wall, killing off the last Doxy in it.

Josiah let out a small chuckle as they finished the wall.

"Don't sterilize him or anything," he murmured, sighing deeply. If they were going to get finished tonight, they should go help in another corner, but…. He looked indecisively between Ezra and Sabrina, Noah, and Alisa, not entirely sure he fancied any of his options.

Dan looked around the room, then sighed. "Alright, let me get a refill and we can help your friend… She's looking awfully sulky because you left her alone to keep a traitor's company," she said sarcastically.

Alisa looked up at Josiah when he walked over to her, her face expressionless.

"Oh, she's coming too?" The intense girl murmured, the corner of her lip twitching downward. "So you've made up then, is that it? I still don't buy that she's trying to 'protect' you by leaving you to fend for yourself."

Jo gave a nervous half-smile, settling in beside her to begin spraying.

"Dan has never been mean to me, or done anything to hurt me, not once," he said, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

Dan refilled her sprayer and approached the two Ravenclaws in time to catch Alisa's last words. She doubled her efforts to leash her temper. She couldn't blame Jo for seeking company; couldn't expect him to write on a stupid notebook all day long. But she couldn't help feel the bite of jealousy.

"Well, he has you to keep him safe, right?" She asked, throwing the girl a piercing look. "Even from me." Setting her jaw, she glanced at Jo, reminded herself that Alisa was his friend and turned to the wall, directing the sprayer and her feelings towards the Doxies.

"Yes, he does," Alisa said without missing a beat. She sprayed in a violent sweep, and at least four doxies fell out of midair. "And you and your little boyfriend will do well to remember it."

Jo's eyes widened at Alisa's tone, his spraying temporarily interrupted.

"That's not a nice thing to say," he said a little reproachfully, and the blonde rolled her eyes.

"You're right. Sorry. I suppose he's not that little; he's at least average height."

Daniella stopped and turned to look straight at Alisa, Jo standing between them; her breath came out in a low hiss. Right now, she was very glad to have had that conversation with Jo. She smiled at Alisa, a sharp half-smirk that didn't reach her eyes.

"I thought Ravenclaws were the brightest students in this school. When I met Jo, I was certain that was true." She let out a 'tsc' sound and shook her head. "I guess that's not always the case..."

Jo was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, standing silently between two women who were clearly at odds with each other.

"Um, I think we should just try to finish," he suggested meekly, and Alisa smiled dangerously, but said nothing more.

Dan clenched her teeth at Jo's request. Because she owed him, she backed off. And Alisa was the least of her concerns, anyway.

She rested a hand on Jo's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Then, she looked at Alisa. "I don't need or care for your approval. The only person who can keep me away from Jo is Jo himself. If he wants my friendship, he will have it, whether I'm at his side or not. But you really should be careful and not trust appearances so much."

She gave Jo's shoulder a quick squeeze. "I'll join Ezra, they're late on their part of the work. Thank you for the talk," she said, walking away to join the other Slytherins.

Ezra and Sabrina sprayed silently, although only one of them was getting anything done. His frustration was mounting, and it was broken only by a familiar scent, and then a familiar face.

"Good evening," he said cordially, giving her a smile that would not be misconstrued as too excited. "I suppose you've come to save us."

"Or to save myself," Daniella said mysteriously as she approached them, settling next to Ezra and keeping her gaze firmly away from Sabrina. "Impressive," she said simply, studying their progress. It was both a compliment, since Ezra had clearly done it all by himself, and a joke that Sabrina probably wouldn't get.

"Quite," Ezra murmured dryly. "It doesn't help that this Doxycide is poorly brewed, either." He moved slowly along the wall. He chanced a look over at Sabrina, who was looking rather upset.

"Is there something the matter? You know how susceptible you are to potion fumes… you can go have a sit in the center, if you like. Daniella and I will take care of it."

"No," the surly girl replied immediately, shooting him a look that might have drawn blood. "Don't be absurd."

Daniella kept her gaze on the wall while the exchange lasted. She bit her tongue and tried really hard, but it was stronger than her. "Yes, don't be absurd, Ezra," she murmured sarcastically, mimicking Sabrina's drawled tone. "We'd never get this over with without her precious help." She sprayed behind a heavily stained curtain and two more Doxys fell of.

Noah was almost done with his side of the wall. Clearly, the frustration had worked to his advantage. As he emptied the container for the second time, he glanced at Josiah again.

This was stupid! He had to do something, or he might just explode! Making up his mind, he walked over to where the cauldron and the bags were and crouched by his own. He looked around again, but everyone was distracted. He took a quill and a piece of parchment from his bag and quickly wrote:

«I'll be in the Prefects bathroom tonight, at midnight.
I'll understand if you don't want to see me; if you don't trust me.»

He hesitated, looking at such a lame message, but he had never been particularly good at getting his feelings into words. He didn't sign it, but Jo would know it was his. He slipped it into Jo's bag and walked away before anyone wondered what he was up to.

Ezra gave Dan a warning look, subtle but serious. The last thing he needed right before the Christmas holidays was Sabrina complaining to his parents that he had replaced her with some Muggle-lover.

"Sabrina," he began slowly, trying to maintain composure. "Wouldn't it be lovely if Daniella joined us for the annual Christmas party at my mansion? Why don't you get her an invitation out of your bag?"

Daniella scowled at his look, but her jaw dropped at his invitation. Her eyes widened at the perspective. What was he thinking? How in the name of Merlin did he think that invitation could end in something other than a disaster?

But he had seemed so unhappy when they talked about the holidays, she didn't have the heart to say no. "I…" She searched his eyes, and murmured, "Are you sure?"

Ezra smiled, small but genuine.

"Of course," he said confidently, lowering his sprayer for only a moment. "They're great fun, aren't they, 'Brina?"

Sabrina made a dull sound in the back of her throat that might have been acknowledgement, but said no words that could escape her jealousy. Ezra ignored her. He gave her a look, too.

"Honestly," he muttered.

'Brina?! Daniella stood there quietly facing the wall, but not really seeing anything. Her hands shook with the effort to control her emotions.

It shouldn't have bothered her. It didn't bother her, she told herself. They'd known each other their whole lives, he'd said, of course he would be… like that… to her. He liked Sabrina, even if he complained about her. They had probably-

Daniella stopped herself from finishing that particular thought.

She forced a smile on her lips, but it looked more like a clenched teeth grimace. "I'll see what I can do. Thank you!"

Maybe she would leave him hanging. He certainly deserved it! The jerk!

"I'll send mother an owl and let her know I'll be having another guest. I'm sure she won't mind..." his tone grew darker the further he got into the sentence, and he stopped talking altogether as he furrowed his brow, lost in his thoughts momentarily.

Sabrina stalked silently over to her bag, rustling around in it and pulling out an ornate parchment invitation with green, silver, and red ink. It read:

You are cordially invited

to the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Clement Greengrass on Saturday, December the 23rd.
Please wear semi-formal dress robes and one green accessory.
The mansion is fully staffed; it will not be necessary to bring your house elves.

Making great effort not to purse her lips, she handed Daniella the invitation.

Daniella accepted the parchment grudgingly and skimmed over the words, then slipped it into her pocket.

She glanced at Ezra. Why did he have that effect on her? Why couldn't she stay away from him?

She looked at the now clean wall, shaking those thoughts out of her mind. "Do you think that's acceptable?"

-/-/-

Jo slipped into the Prefect's bath and the door clicked softly shut behind him. The reflections of the ripples from the large pool-like bath in the center of the room bounced off of every surface with a soothing glow. He had always loved this room. As far as he was concerned, it was the best privilege that came with his position.

He looked around for Noah, but he was quite alone; he usually arrived to appointments early, so it was just as well. Supposing that there was no use in coming to the bath and standing around like a lump, he slipped off his cloak and began undoing his tie.

Noah looked over his shoulder; the hallway was empty. Finally, he'd managed to leave Shawn behind. The boy could be stubborn when he wanted to!

His mouth was dry; he looked at the bathroom door, biting his lip, then pushed it open before he had time to think about what could go wrong. He closed the door, but kept his sweaty hand closed tightly around the doorknob. He saw Jo as soon as he turned around. His heart skipped a beat and a familiar heat grew in his chest… and lower.

This was crazy! He wanted to take Jo in his arms again, wanted to taste his mouth again, wanted to- Was he going crazy?!

"You came…" he said breathlessly.

"Of course I came," Jo replied with a grin, not unkindly. "Don't be daft." His cheeks were slightly pink. His cloak and tie and vest were all in a heap on the floor now, and he pulled his untucked school shirt down absentmindedly.

"What's on your mind, then?"

Noah was starting to feel very warm in his school robes. He pulled at his tie, undoing the knot and dropping it unceremoniously on the ground. He tried to come up with a good answer for Jo's question, but he couldn't think of any. Instead, he walked up to him and pulled him in for a kiss.

"You are," he breathed when he pulled away.

"Flattering, aye," Jo whispered, looking off to the side for only a moment. "As are you on mine. But your note…"

He wondered if pressing the issue of the tense nature of the note was a good idea. He settled for leaning against Noah again, pressing his body close.

Noah frowned, looking down to avoid meeting Jo's eyes. But Jo had asked for honesty. "I tried to forget… what happened." Jo's body pressed against his made him lose focus. "But I can't."

Jo had come here. That must mean he wasn't going to punch him… right? Unable to stop himself, he reached for the buttons on Jo's shirt.

Jo squirmed a bit, fully aware now of the fingertips around the edge of his shirt. Strange as it was, and slightly embarrassing, he had thus far been able to avoid having sex with his clothes completely off. All those pumpkin pasties from Halloween hadn't exactly been kind to him.

"You can leave it on," he ventured, hoping that didn't sound as pathetic as he was sure it did.

Noah couldn't quite make himself stop. "Why?" Jo didn't look like he didn't want to… He undid the first button, chancing a look up at Jo, a look that was half question, half challenge.

"You've seen me," Noah started, undoing another button. "You'll have to stop me."

"No reason, I was just…" Josiah lied briskly, flushing a deep red that was half arousal and half embarrassment. "It's not exactly prime real estate," he said with a nervous laugh.

"Oh, well, that must have been very traumatizing for you," he murmured, slightly breathless. "They could have carved Stonehenge out of your abdominal muscles." But the fight was growing weary, and he was slowly giving in. He furrowed his eyebrows and let Noah continue with the buttons.

"Make quick work of it if you're going to do it," Jo said, unbuckling his pants.

Noah chuckled. "So, you like them?" He looked down as he undid the last button and took Jo's shirt off. Nothing about this was normal to him, but he felt comfortable around Jo like he'd never felt with anyone before. That was surprising to him. Surprising and thrilling.

He took off his own clothes, then braced his hands on each side of Jo's head, meeting his eyes. In that moment he realized he couldn't turn away from this anymore, if he tried. Wherever this road took him, he wanted to explore it. Even if he was playing with fire, risking everything he had.

-/-/-

Noah rested his forehead on Jo's shoulder. How could such a simple touch feel so good after all that, feel so… comforting? This, too, was surprising to him.

The last few days had been a blur of desire and confusion. His sleep had been interrupted by disturbing dreams, his days filled with doubts and dread of someone finding out what was happening to him. But now, in the laziness of the afterglow, he thought that, for better or worse, this moment was the most honest he'd been in a very long time. What he saw in Jo's eyes seemed more real than anything he'd experienced before. It made his heart ache with a feeling he didn't understand. A delicious aching, if that made any sense.

The world outside seemed far too unpleasant for him to leave just yet. He sat back against the edge of the giant bath, sending small waves rippling through the water surface, his breathing slowly returning to normal. He reached up, his fingertips lightly tracing Jo's cheekbone; leaning in a little, he brushed his lips against Jo's.

Josiah's heart fluttered for a moment, and the kiss dissolved slowly back into the content laziness of afterglow.

He wrapped his arm loosely around the bulk of Noah's back, resting his hand at the base of his neck.

He took the role of expert in these situations, but the truth was that he was not all that more experienced himself. He felt slightly hollowed out, but in the good way, with the glow of loving and being loved radiating from his inside out.

"Are you very busy over the Christmas hols?" He asked lightly in an attempt not to sound pushy or demanding. "My mum makes a fantastic treacle."

Noah tensed at the invitation, the reminder that there was a world outside, as well as judgmental people. It took effort not to squirm under Jo's gaze.

"I…" He shrugged awkwardly. "I'll spend some time with Shawn, probably. Practicing. I made a training plan for him, and we live close by, so…" A plan that he'd completely forgotten about since the last game, which was the reason Shawn was so pissed off with him lately.

"Where do you live?" He asked, delaying a final answer as much as possible.

"Ah, er," Jo backtracked sheepishly. "Wasn't a demand or anything. I live on the Stonehaven harbor. In Scotland, if you couldn't tell," he added with a slight attempt at comedy.

"In any case, it's getting late, aye? I'll just…" he shifted slightly in the water, beginning to lift himself out of it, even more conscious of his naked figure now than he had been when Noah had undressed him.

Noah felt suddenly very hollow when Jo pulled away. He grabbed his wrist instinctively, loosening his grip a moment later. He stared at their hands, letting out a pained sigh when he looked up to meet Jo's eyes. "I can't make any promises," he said pleadingly. "It's hard to explain…" That was probably something stupid to say to Jo, of all people. "But I'll try, alright?"

Jo offered him a small, uncertain smile, squeezing his hand before pulling away again. He pulled a soft, fluffy towel off of a nearby rack. It was magically warmed, and he unfolded it and held it close to his chest.

"Alright," he said agreeably. "Don't fret over it or anything."

-/-/-

"That's enough!" Noah shouted as he swung the club on his hand and guided his broomstick down, landing with ease next to the tree where they'd kept their bags and the wooden box with the Quidditch balls set.

He dropped the club next to his bag, then caught the Bludger as it flew at him and put it back in the box. He rubbed his sore shoulder as he straightened up and looked at the sky. It was getting late. Shawn landed next to him a moment later with a muffled thud, and a smug grin on his face.

"You're out of shape, mate! A simple Seeker like me, giving 'Britain's future best Beater' a sore shoulder?" Shawn asked mockingly, quoting the title from a Quidditch magazine piece he'd found, and examining his own broomstick. It had taken quite a few hits throughout their practice sessions the last few days.

"My shoulder is still strong enough to give you a sore jaw," Noah retorted, just as mockingly, wiping his face on his towel, before stuffing his things into his bag. "You got it, dodged everything in last half hour. If you can keep it up, I won't have to worry about covering your skinny ass against Hufflepuff!"

Shawn grinned brightly. "Hey, we should go out later tonight to celebrate! I can call a couple friends, it'll be fun! They've been eager to meet you. I can't, by Merlin's pants, figure out why, but they seem to like you."

Noah snorted a chuckle as he picked up his bag and broomstick. "Not today, sorry. I have stuff to do, and mom will probably need my help in the next few days," he lied. He tossed the broomstick over his shoulder. "We can meet after Christmas if you want, for one last practice session before going back to Hogwarts."

"You're such a bore lately!" Shawn threw his own bag over his shoulder, shaking his head. "Fine, I'll take the girls out and entertain them myself."

"Have fun," Noah muttered, patting Shawn's back. "Merry Christmas, Shawn."

-/-/-

Noah dropped his black leather jacket and his warmest wool sweater on the couch, next to his helmet and bulky backpack, before joining his mother, Agnes, in the kitchen. His father was away on some business trip and wouldn't return until tomorrow.

"Are you going out?" Agnes asked, frowning a little.

"Uh…" Noah met her eyes for a brief moment, then took his seat at the table. It had taken him until the last minute to make his final decision. So, he'd brought the backpack down already, to keep from changing his mind yet again. "Yeah. Sorry I didn't say anything before, it was a last minute decision. I'm going away for the weekend."

"And you're taking the motorbike? It's the middle of the winter! Where will you stay? You can't ride that motorbike all night…"

Noah sighed, resigned to the inquiry he knew would come.

"I'll be fine! I'll be protected from the cold, and I have money for an Inn. And I promise I won't drive all night." Noah offered his mother a reassuring smile. "It's not like it's the first time." He smiled more widely, more hopefully. "Hmm… You can tell dad, right?"

Agnes let out a pained chuckle, then started filling his plate with mashed potatoes and meatballs. "Alright. But can you at least tell me where you'll be? Are you going with Shawn? He could've come over for dinner."

"No, I'm going alone this time. I'm thinking of going up north, to Scotland." Noah kept his eyes on the food, partly because he was starving, mostly because he was nervous about the likely course of this conversation. He had never been able to lie to his mother; she always knew when he was lying. "It's been a rough year. I just need some time to myself… to do my own thing, away from everyone."

Agnes finished serving her own plate and took her seat across the small table, filling their glasses with pumpkin juice. "I understand, darling," she said quietly.

She reached out and took his hand in hers. Noah felt bad for taking comfort from that touch and still lie to her; he couldn't help but wonder if she suspected what was going on with him. But that was impossible. He hadn't said a word to anyone. "I'm very proud of you, Noah. I'll always love you, darling. No matter what."

"Alright, mom." Noah furrowed his brow, eyes still fixed on the plate as he built shapes on his mashed potatoes with the fork. Something was clogging his throat; he wanted to tell her everything, all the doubts and the worries and the fears. He wanted her to tell him he was being silly for worrying, that there was nothing wrong with him. But what if there was? Would he disappoint her instead? He couldn't bear that thought. "Thanks."

-/-/-

Half hour later, Noah had given his mother one last hug, pulled on the sweater and jacket, and walked out of the house, following the short path to the back, where he kept his bike under a slightly shabby looking shed he'd built himself with Shawn a couple of summers back to show his parents his determination to earn and take proper care of the motorbike he'd been pleading for.

He had gotten it at last, last year. It had looked like a piece of junk when he bought it, but after many summer days spent with his grandfather working like a slave on it, he'd restored it to its full glory.

The sun was setting and the air was sharply cold. He adjusted the scarf around his neck and closed the zipper on his jacket all the way up to his neck. The lining was pretty warm. His breath came out in thick white clouds. He walked over to the bike and stuffed his backpack into the storage space that had been expanded with magic.

He put the warm leather gloves and the helmet on the seat and searched in his pocket with clumsy cold fingers, taking out the note he'd written on a piece of parchment. Looking up to his window, which he'd left partially opened, he let out a sharp low whistle. Speckles popped out a couple seconds later, flying down from the window to rest on his arm.

He attached the message to the owl's leg, petting the patient animal lightly before whispering, "Go quickly, Speckles. Find Josiah." Raising his arm a little, he let Speckles fly away.

Huffing out a white cloud of vapor, he took the map and his wand from his back pocket. "Lumos," he murmured, studying the marks and side notes he'd scribbled on the map earlier that day. Getting to Aberdeen wouldn't be very difficult. Finding Jo's house, though… "Stonehaven harbor," he murmured. "I'll find it."

"Jo,
I'm travelling to Scotland. If your invitation is still up, I'll meet you at the pier, at midday. I'm assuming there's a pier there. If there isn't, I'll be the guy on a motorcycle wandering around completely lost.

See you soon,
Noah"