If the students thought they were relieved when the school year ended, it was nothing compared to how the Prefects felt. O.W.L.s were over, the younger students were stressed about packing that they didn't have time to even consider making trouble, and there were no more night patrols for a few months.

Kurt, Blaine, and Sebastian were relieved for different reasons. Summer holidays meant that they didn't have to see each other every day for classes and meals. Sumer holidays meant that they no longer had to suffer the disapproving and critical stares of their classmates, who were well informed of what had happened between the three of them. Hopefully the summer holidays would be long enough for the student body to forget about everything that had happened that year.

Sebastian heaved a sigh of relief as he stepped off the train and spotted his parents waiting for him. While the other Slytherins weren't as judgmental as the rest of the school, there were still quite a few who disapproved of the way he handled the situation. Many of them couldn't believe that he hadn't taken advantage of the couple and their secret. Santana had refused to speak to him since the Prefects' meeting. She was quite defensive of Kurt, which was understandable. She had grown up next door to the Ravenclaw, after all.

"Ready to go?" Sebastian's mother asked as her youngest son approached. Sebastian nodded, spotting the Portkey in his mother's hands. He was wondering where they were going this summer. Was it the villa in Italy or the lodge in the Alps? Either place would be fine. Sebastian didn't care where they were going for once. Just as long as he didn't remain in England. He didn't want to run into anyone that he knew from Hogwarts over the summer.

"How does Italy sound?" his mother asked. Sebastian gave an indifferent shrug.

"Whatever," he muttered as he gripped his trunk. "Let's just go."

His mother gave him a curious look at his lack of a reaction but decided not to comment. Smythes never asked. It was better to just ignore the problems of others unless it would directly affect them. It wasn't the most healthy method but for once, Sebastian was thankful for it.

Blaine stepped off the train just in time to see Sebastian being whisked away by Portkey. He inwardly sighed in relief. He wasn't sure if he could handle any encounters with Kurt or Sebastian at the moment.

"How was Hogwarts?" Blaine's mother asked. Blaine shrugged.

"Fine," he mumbled.

"How did your O.W.L.s go?" Blaine's father asked sharply. Blaine shrugged again.

"Fine," he repeated, not feeling like divulging any more information. Blaine's parents frowned and exchanged glances.

"How's Kurt?" Blaine's mother asked as she looked around for her son's boyfriend. "I wanted to invite him over sometime this summer and ask him what he's doing for his birthday."

Blaine noticeably stiffened at the mention of Kurt. He mumbled something indistinct.

"What was that?" his mother asked.

"We broke up," Blaine repeated slightly louder. His parents traded shocked looks. While they hadn't been thrilled about the relationship at first, it had been obvious how much the boys loved each other.

"Why?" Blaine's father asked after a moment.

"There was just something missing and we couldn't get past it," Blaine explained dully. "It doesn't matter anymore. Can we go home now?"

His father silently held out his arm for side apparation while giving his wife a meaningful look. They would try to get more information out of their youngest son over the summer. He looked absolutely miserable. They had a feeling that more was going on than just a simple break up.

Kurt nearly bumped into Santana as he exited the train. He was one of the last students to get off the train.

"What do you want?" he asked the girl.

"I need a way home," the Slytherin Prefect replied. "You're that way."

Kurt gave his trunk a yank and immediately began heading for the platform entrance. Santana followed. She usually relied on the Hummels for a ride home. She could never send an owl home because her mother was terrified of birds. It was nearly impossible to communicate with her parents while she was at Hogwarts. In urgent cases, she would send her owl to Kurt's father, who would deliver the message and then send the reply back.

Santana placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder before they went through the platform barrier.

"Kurt, I honestly didn't know about what Sebastian was doing," she said softly. Kurt stepped back, letting her hand drop off his shoulder.

"It's not his fault," he said. "Blaine and I dug this hole ourselves. I'm actually glad that Sebastian handled it the way he did."

"Really?" Santana looked skeptical. Kurt nodded.

"He didn't take advantage of the situation at all," he explained. "The fault lies entirely with Blaine and me because we were too stupid to talk about the issues in our relationship."

Santana still looked skeptical and Kurt gave her a small, reassuring smile.

"Come on, Satan. Let's head home. I need to get home before Finn gets back from school. If not, I'm going to have to deal with whatever surprise party they've cooked up this time."

Santana laughed.

"Stop complaining," she admonished the Ravenclaw. "You like the surprise parties."

"As long as Rachel doesn't cook," Kurt replied and laughed along with Santana.

A month into the summer holidays, Kurt's sixteenth birthday came. Normally Kurt would spend the afternoon in Diagon Alley with his friends from the wizarding world and then reserve the evening for his family and Muggle friends.

"So who are you all meeting up with?" his father asked.

"Santana, Quinn, Tina, Jeff, and Nick," Kurt responded immediately. "Though we'll probably run into others there."

"Not Blaine?" Burt inquired. A mournful look crossed Kurt's face and the teenager shook his head.

"Definitely not," he replied.

"Are you ever going to bother explaining what happened?" Burt wanted to know. "You two were perfect together."

"Not as perfect as everyone thinks," Kurt replied bitterly. "I'll see you tonight."

Before his father could say anything more, Kurt was dashing out of the house where Santana and a cab were waiting.

The afternoon passed in a blur for Kurt. There was enough in Diagon Alley to keep the younger witches and wizards occupied for days. A few hours wasn't nearly enough time for them to do everything they wanted, so the teenagers had to limit themselves to eating ice cream and window shopping. Kurt probably bought more than he should have but he had an excuse. It was his birthday, after all.

Kurt had forgotten about the incident with his father by the time he returned home. His father and stepmother were finishing up dinner in the kitchen, so Kurt was promptly waved into the sitting room where his stepbrother Finn was waiting with Rachel, who was currently his girlfriend. Kurt had lost track of how many times they had broken up and gotten back together.

"Kurt!" Rachel greeted him enthusiastically.

"Hey Rachel," Kurt said with a small grin. Rachel waved letters and cards in his face.

"I had no idea you were so popular," she said. "Owls have been coming all day."

"I guess that's the benefit of being a Prefect," Kurt said jokingly. "Everyone knows who you are."

The wizard plucked the cards out of Rachel's hands and began going through them. Most were from his fellow Ravenclaws but there were a few from other houses. Kurt was mildly surprised to see that there was a card from Sebastian. It was nothing fancy but Kurt hadn't expected anything from the Slytherin Prefect in the first place. He had never expected anything more from Sebastian than a simple, mind-blowing fuck.

Kurt bypassed the card from Sebastian and his eyes widened as he spotted familiar handwriting on one of the envelopes behind the card.

Blaine.

There was only a small piece of parchment inside the envelope. There was no obnoxiously cheesy card like Kurt had received every year since his twelfth birthday.

The parchment simply read,

Happy Birthday

It wasn't even signed.

Hands shaking, Kurt separated Blaine's letter and Sebastian's card from the rest of the pile. The rest of the cards and letters he set down on an overstuffed chair. Slowly, Kurt approached the roaring fire. He hesitated for a few seconds before firming his resolve and dropping the two pieces of parchment into the fire, where it slowly burned into ashes.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kurt replied, voice tight.

"Why did you do that?" Rachel wondered.

"It's complicated," Kurt replied.

"Does it have anything to do with your break up with Blaine?" Finn asked carefully. Kurt gave a small nod. There was no use in denying it.

"So there's really no chance of you two getting back together?" Finn prodded.

"Definitely not," Kurt responded.

"But everyone gets back together after break ups," Finn objected. "Rachel and I have done it tons of times."

Kurt gave his stepbrother a sad smile.

"It's not that simple," he said.

"Why not?" Finn asked. Kurt shrugged.

"Not everyone can get back together after a break-up. Sometimes things are just too big to be resolved. The problems Blaine and I had aren't little ones like the ones you and Rachel have."

"That's a shame," Finn told his brother. "It seemed like you and Blaine were perfect for each other."

Kurt turned away so Finn and Rachel couldn't see the tears beginning to prick at his eyes.

"Yeah, well we weren't obviously," he replied, allowing a bitter tone to creep into his voice.