"Give it back!"

"Nope!"

"Come on, Envy, please? Sissy gave that to me!"

"What's all this racket?"

Envy and Ian froze, Envy still holding the sweet out of the latter's reach, and Ian with his mouth open. The boy wizard quickly hid the candy behind his back and he and the seven-year-old both plastered smiles onto their faces. "Nothing, Mr. Norton!"

The old man glared at them through the crack between the door and its frame. "You had better not be lying to me."

"Nope," they said together, fake smiles still fixed in place.

Norton sniffed and closed the door. The two boys remained silent until his footsteps had faded, then Ian darted behind Envy and snatched back the confectionery.

Envy let out a growl of mock anger. "You win this round, but you won't be so lucky next time."

Ian smiled tentatively, and Envy grinned and ruffled his hair (he'd had to make his own hair go back to the length he'd had at the orphanage before). He had been able to make peace with a few of the kids at the orphanage; Ian and Abigail were among that number, although Abigail liked to pretend she wasn't.

It was July 28 now, just a few days before Harry's birthday—and speaking of Harry, the Boy Who Lived hadn't answered any of his three letters for some reason. It was making him a bit nervous—what if they weren't really friends? Maybe they wouldn't speak to each other come the school year and he would be friendless again.

No, that was ridiculous. After what they'd done last year, there was no way they weren't friends, and he would still have Ron and Hermione.

He shook his head and watched Ian dashed off, presumably to find his sister.

Envy also left the room, but wandered aimlessly rather than looking for anyone in particular. Almost all of the other children had been taken out to a park or something (he hadn't been paying attention). Envy had gotten out of it by pretending he had a stomach ache, then saying he was feeling better about ten minutes after they had left. Ms. Partch seemed to realize he had only been pretending after his supposed stomach ache went away and admonished him with exasperation. After that she had let him go do whatever he wanted as long as it wasn't troublesome. Ian's sister, Mia, had escaped the trip by hiding and had yet to be found. There was a reason she was called the queen of hide-and-go-seek. Ian had stayed behind to look for his sister, of course.

Envy's wanderings led him past what he was sure was the same broom cupboard twice. When he at last came by a third time, he stopped. There were muffled shuffling and thumping noises coming from inside the closet. They stopped for moment, then the door flew open and Mia came tumbling out with a high shriek.

Envy jumped back on reflex, and was glad he did, because otherwise the girl would have landed on him.

Mia groaned and sat up, rubbing her lower back. It was a moment before she noticed the boy she had nearly knocked over staring at her. When she did, she hastily stood and dusted off her skirt.

"Novus," she sniffed. "You're the one who locked that cupboard on me, aren't you?"

Envy blinked. "Huh?"

Mia rolled her eyes and pointed at the door, speaking slowly as if to a very stupid person. "The door was locked a minute after I got in, and I'm guessing you just came along and unlocked it when you knew I was leaning against it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Envy deadpanned.

Mia huffed. "Well if you didn't do it, who did? I'm pretty sure you're the only person here light enough on their feet to avoid alerting me that you were coming."

Envy raised his eyebrows and moved around her to take a look at the door. "You didn't hear anyone coming, eh?" He attempted to turn the doorknob a few times. It only twisted on the third try. "It's just a jammed doorknob."

Mia turned red, attempted to stutter out an answer, then gave another angry huff and stomped away.

Envy smirked at her retreating back. That little runt was so stubborn.

Having already traveled the entire building two times, he decided he was done with this particular "activity" and started back to his room. It really was boring here, compared to Hogwarts. Even when Michael was experimenting with chemicals he'd managed to procure from who-knows-where, there wasn't excitement going on.

If only he could visit his friends. However, they hadn't given him their addresses or phone numbers, so he had no idea where they lived.

He passed through the lobby and paused halfway through, having spotted the phone directory. He might not know where Harry or Hermione or the others lived, but he was pretty sure that the Grangers must have their number in that book, seeing as they were dentists. . . .

He grabbed the phonebook and flipped through it until he reached the Gs. Then he searched for the name he was looking for with care. There, Granger Dentistry. Perhaps he could call or visit, but he would have to ask to use the phone first. . . . Ah, screw that rule. He broke them all the time.

He picked the phone up off the receiver, cursing the springy cord, and carefully began to type in the number before thinking better of it. He couldn't call their office when he wanted to talk to their daughter—but he could call their home phone . . . or perhaps drop in without warning. . . . Yeah, that would be fun.

He glanced at and memorized the location of the dental office, returned the phonebook to its customary place on the table that held the the telephone, then continued on his way to his room.

The previous owner of his body had, as Envy had not long ago discovered, been stashing money under the mattress. Envy didn't know where the old Envy had gotten all this money from, but he didn't particularly care to figure it out—he had the money now, and where the other Envy had gathered this stuff from was not his problem. He could use the pounds to catch a bus to the Granger's, get away from this (homely) dump.

He would have to ask for permission to go about London first; if he just up and disappeared, someone might freak out, what with Eliza's tendencies to worry without cease. Unfortunately, Ms. Todd was out on that trip with the others, and he couldn't very well ask Ms. Partch, because she was the nurse, and didn't have the authority to tell him whether he could wander city.

So all he could do for now was wait.

'-'

Envy did wait. He waited until the next morning after breakfast, when he knew Ms. Todd would be in her office. With the other children distracted by whatever they did after meals, he made his way unnoticed to Eliza's office and opened the door without announcing himself.

She looked up, startled, and took off her reading glasses. "Oh, Envy, dear, is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nope, but I wanted to make sure you knew I was going to visit a friend from school tomorrow."

"Do they know you're coming?"

Envy nodded without any hesitation. "Yep." Well, maybe not, but she didn't have to know that.

"Hmm . . ." Eliza tapped her chin. "All right. Do you plan to stay for the night or just visit for a few hours?"

Envy opened his mouth to answer, then paused. "Just a few hours."

She nodded. "Be back by seven o'clock."

Wow, guys. You surpassed my expectations with the reviews. Fifteen. Fifteen. That is the most reviews I've gotten for any chapter. Well, I dub all of thee awesome! Thanks so much!

On another note, I'm sorry I've been taking so long to write and post chapter, even if some of you guys don't really notice the fic is gone until I update. I procrastinated, was lazy, and I went to a week-long writers workshop, which I just got back from yesterday. There were people cosplaying every day there, and on the last day one person dressed up as Edward Elric and another as Riza Hawkeye! :D

Also, there was no Lockhart this chapter, as you saw. Yeah, sorry, but a reviewer gave me the idea of Envy visiting his friends, so I just had to. . . . Anyway, he should show up next time.

(In case some of you didn't remember, Abigail is the "Did he have to wake up?"/"Did he have to come back?" girl.)

Just one question: Do you guys like the orphanage people? Because I feel guilty that no one from Harry Potter appeared in this chapter.

-Quiet Leaf