So I decided I'm going all out for back story in this. Hence the longer chapter and, unfortunately, longer time in between updates. Sorry friends.

This is a little more fluffier than what I had in mind. But hey, whatever it takes to make you guys get some kind of emotional attachment to these characters.

Special thanks to my 4(!) followers and 2 readers that favorited this story! Seriously, hope you guys are enjoying it. Don't be afraid to review, it helps me out a lot.

Thankfully, Thomas' third year looked to go by uneventfully. No petrified students or possessed professors running around Hogwarts. The biggest development was Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban, and as far as Thomas knew, he had no reason to fear the convict. That was Potter's problem, not his. He found it increasingly difficult to look forward to returning to Hogwarts. Despite the expectation of a quiet year, finally, Thomas dreaded returning to the school that was a monastery dedicated to worshiping the great Harry Potter. He didn't want to have to put up with his housemates in Slytherin and their consistent bitching. Most of all, he didn't want to see and face Trudy. They had departed on sour terms last year and he knew she would try to fix it. Thomas didn't want anything fixed. He was ok with being miserable. At this point in time all he just wanted was to get through another year without Potter being celebrated as a hero.

Thomas' wish seemed to come true when he found out through the grapevine that Potter had used magic on his aunt. Blew her up like a balloon is what the rumors at the Ministry said. Thomas chuckled at the thought of an overweight woman floating through the streets of London and found humor at Potter's expense. Of course fucking Cornelius Fudge let Potter off the hook, no doubt so he could try to contain the situation with Black. Couldn't let the wizarding population start worrying for their lives now.

Fudge was another source of frustration for Thomas. How could the Ministry allow such a weak willed pussy be accountable and expected to lead? He often questioned the wisdom of whoever it was that designated the leaders and heads of the various magical establishments. Dumbledore was Headmaster of Hogwarts, Fudge was Head Minister, and whoever the warden was of Azkaban had to be dealt with, letting a mass murderer like Black escape. It seemed to be a reoccurring theme for those with responsibility to be irresponsible. Unfortunately, Thomas had no say in the matter. Yet.

Thomas spiritlessly stepped off the Hogwarts express. So far he had successfully avoided Trudy. Good riddance. At the feast he sat alone, like he did previous years past, staring at his food. He didn't want to fucking be here. School had lost it's charm for him and he no longer found joy in class. He loved learning something new but what good was this information if he was never given the opportunity to use it... like Potter had the previous 2 years. For the nth time Thomas considered running away and disappearing. It was foolish to think a 13 year old could survive on his own, Thomas knew, but that didn't stop him from considering it. He had fallen into a depression these last couple months and he desperately needed a morale boost.

Thomas found it as he nearly doubled over laughing at the feast when it was announced that Hagrid was now a professor. He actually looked forward to his first class with the oaf. He expected it was going to be quite entertaining. And of course there was going to be a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Thomas was optimistic with this new teacher, Professor Remus Lupin. He looked interesting to say the least. Of course, anybody would be a better teacher than professor Lockhart.

His first class of Care of Magical Creatures actually went rather well. Hyppogriffs! How Hagrid (Thomas, along with all of Slytherin house, refused to call him professor) had procured such amazing creatures was beyond Thomas, but he was thankful for it. To be able to ride a Hyppogriff was a huge honor due to their proud and sometimes violent nature. When Hagrid asked for volunteers to approach the beasts, Thomas inconspicuously fell to the back of the class. Thankfully, the Slytherins were paired with Gryffindors for this class. He would let one of "brave" students go first. "Cross the frozen pond and ensure the ice was thick enough" kind of thing.

Of course Potter was the fateful volunteer. Good on him, Thomas thought. He must really have some balls to approach a Hyppogriff. Fortunately for scar-face, Buckbeak had cooperated and even granted him the pleasure sit on his back for a flight. To see the beast give Potter a ride had been quite a sight. Calling them beasts no longer seemed appropriate. They were too majestic for that title.

But leave it to a someone like Malfoy to ruin something great. Of course he couldn't contain his jealousy and bury his rivalry with Potter for one class. He had to insult Buckbeak and get caught in his claws, squealing in pain as Hagrid took him to Madam Pomfrey. What a pussy. With his opportunity to ride a Hyppogriff gone Thomas only had Defense Against the Dark Arts to now look forward to and give him his desperately needed pick-me-up.

He actually quite enjoyed professor Lupin's lessons. He seemed very intent on expanding his student's knowledge about the Dark Arts and the dangers that it was accompanied with. Until he saw, once again, Harry Potter become the favored student. When he saw Potter given the opportunity to have private lessons with Professor Lupin it had demotivated and discouraged Thomas beyond belief. Why was Potter given every opportunity to succeed and learn? It was fucking unfair. He faints in the presence of one dementor and that's enough to have one on one time with a professor? At this point he had given up at showing up Potter. He was an idol for the Magical world to worship and shine their lights on. Thomas would just have to be content with living in his shadow.

As if Thomas wasn't depressed enough, the presence of the Dementors only made everything worse. Even though they weren't allowed on school grounds it was a dreary sight to look out a castle window and see their dark silhouette in the distance. Thomas heard terrible stories about what these sentries of Azkaban were capable of and he wasn't too eager to test how much truths lived in those tales.

Of course, the greatest thing about being a third year were the Hogsmeade trips. It was good to get away from the castle for a while and forget about the bullshit going on. On one of the Hogsmeade trips Thomas was sitting alone sipping butterbeer when Trudy had attempted to make peace with him and took it upon herself to keep him company.

"May I sit?" Her soft voice cut through the commotion surrounding them in the pub. Thomas looked up from his drink and gave her a flat smile. He kicked out the chair across from him as a confirmation for his permission.

"Time for our yearly talk now is it?" Thomas asked as Trudy sat down. He had to admit, she was looking rather cute. Her hair fell loosely around her face framing it nicely while the rest cascaded down her back. Her deep blue eyes were complimented by the Ravenclaw patch on her robes. Her skin was flawless despite the absence of any make up and her lips remained full and smooth despite the cruel winter weather that had caused everyone else's to become chapped.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing." She said innocently, brushing back the stray strands of hair behind her ear, "You seem... different this year. Like you've always been reserved and kept to yourself, but this year you seem... upset, angry. Even sad. I never see you with anyone. No acquaintances, friends… girlfriend… Do you ever get lonely?"

Thomas gave a short laugh under his breath. So she picked up on his depression did she? How much has she been watching me? Thomas immediately tossed the thought from his mind. Yeah, don't go there. "I'm a Slytherin who was raised by Hufflepuffs that cares about his grades. That's pretty contradictory if I do say so myself. So no I don't hang out with a lot of my housemates. Which leads me to my next point. Who loves a Slytherin, besides other Slytherins?" He asked with a satirical smile, "Not a lot of people. So no, I don't 'hang out' with anyone from the other houses. Which I'm ok with." Thomas quickly added when he noticed the look of pity he got from Trudy. "I didn't come to Hogwarts to make friends."

"Why did you come to Hogwarts?" Trudy asked, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice at Thomas' last comment.

"To become the greatest Auror this world has ever seen." Thomas said dramatically with a chuckle. "To make a name for myself so they would hang banners of me throughout the school." He chuckled once more before taking another sip of his drink. After swallowing and wiping his mouth he lowered his voice and continued, "Kinda hard to do when a boy with a lightning scar is taking the spotlight."

"Well aren't you number three in the class ranks? You can still make a name for yourself right?" Trudy said desperately trying to brighten the conversation and Thomas' outlook of his predicament.

"I could… Yeah." Thomas mused. "Except I would have to out do Hermione Granger and a certain dark hair, blue eyed Ravenclaw to make it to number one." He looked at Trudy with his grin back on his face. "And I know for a fact I'm not smarter than a Ravenclaw."

"Well I'm sure you'll figure something out." Trudy replied, her deep blue eyes never leaving his. They stayed like that for a minute before, much to Trudy's dismay, Thomas broke the eye contact and dropped his dark brown pools to stare at the table.

"Yeah. Whatever." Thomas said, his voice callous and void of emotion as he slowly rose from his seat. "Just know one thing Trudy," he said as his voice dropped in tone. Thomas looked up and met her eyes again. "If I find out I passed you in the Rankings, and think for one second that you let me, I'll let it slip to everyone at Hogwarts about your Winnie the Pooh socks. See how well that'll go over. I'm sure the Slytherins will have a blast with it."

Thomas threw the rest of his drink back and slammed it on the table. Giving Trudy a smile and wink before he turned around and exited the pub.

Thomas began his walk back to the castle and as he made his way he heard rapid steps crunching in the snow, quickly catching up to him. Thomas had one guess on who's they might be. They slowed and matched his pace once caught up and when he looked over he was actually quite pleased to see Trudy give him a flat smile before turning her head forward and wordlessly continuing their trek.

At this point Thomas accepted his feelings for Trudy. He was 13, that's old enough to have a crush. And what was there not to like about her? She was very cute, one of the prettiest girls in school. Thomas thanked the fates she was too shy to be noticed by the other big shots of the school. It sounded selfish, but he was really glad she didn't realize how many options she could have were she to come out of her shell a bit. What he didn't realize was Trudy thought the exact same thing about him.

Besides her looks, she was very kind. Despite the bit of bad blood between them, she continued to come back to Thomas and attempt a friendship. That's something he didn't deserve. He was a little bit of a dick, he knew this. He shouldn't be pushing Trudy away like he did last year, all because she put her faith in another boy. She was just scared. And despite the way he treated her, here she was. Walking next to him to keep him company. He didn't want to break the comfortable silence between them but he made a mental note to apologize to her for how he acted. For now, he'd just keep walking to the castle.

Her presence was welcome but quickly became a little aggravating. Thomas was very away of Trudy's bare hands swinging at her sides. How could he not be when they kept brushing his own every 5 seconds? It was below freezing with snow falling in large flakes to the ground. A biting yet gentle wind carried the large flakes through the air into their faces. And there was Trudy, bundled up for the weather with the exception of gloves. Her hands had to be freezing.

Of course, she still had pockets. So why would Trudy be walking so close to Thomas with her bare hands exposed to the unrelenting chill and continuously making contact with his own as if she was trying to tell him something but won't say it out loud all the while staring straight ahead, face flushed, too scared to look at him and...

...Oh

Having now caught on to her hidden signals with a small idea of what Trudy wanted, Thomas silently contemplated his next move. It was obvious Trudy liked him, he wasn't that oblivious like the other boys his age. But he had never had to worry about girls before. The subject was foreign to him. Thankfully, in this time of struggle he only had to ask himself one question. What would dad do?

Growing up Thomas witnessed his father continuously woo his mother. He would always play this game with her where he would approach her like a stranger and this was their first time meeting. Or somehow find a way for every small chore or action to be turned into a come on. While a lot of times it came off as cheesy or embarrassing for his father, sometimes he'd pull it off and make his mother swoon. Thomas recalled these moments in an effort to woo his crush walking beside him.

A small plan of action formed in his mind. It was cheesy, but it would do. And something told him Trudy would eat it up. She seemed like the hopeless romantic type.

Thomas removed his gloves and offered them to Trudy. "Here, your hands must be cold."

Trudy stopped walking and looked at them for a full minute, her jaw locked and disappointment evident on her face. Shit. "Thanks." She said coldly as she refused to look at Thomas and slipped on the thin pieces of fabric before continuing to walk at a brisker pace than before, leaving Thomas behind. Shit.

"Hey, hold on a sec," Thomas called as he lightly jogged to catch up. Trudy didn't slow down and kept her eyes forward. Shit! Thomas had to save this. "Now my hands are cold." Thomas explained when he had joined back up with Trudy.

"So take them back," she said callously as she reached to take the gloves off.

Thomas grabbed her wrist to stop her. Trudy stopped walking and looked at him with a stern expression, her eyebrows knitted into a scowl. "Or," he said as his fingers slid from her wrist and interlaced with hers. "You could keep them warm for me?" He said, a cocky smile gracing his lips. Trudy fought an obvious battle of trying not to smile. A battle she shamelessly lost as she reached across with her other hand and held Thomas' between both of her own as they continued their way home. Saved it.

They slowed their pace and took their time going back to the castle, neither of their smiles faltering. They didn't say anything else the whole way. They didn't really feel the need for words.

When they arrived back in the castle before going separate ways to their respective common rooms, Trudy removed Thomas' gloves and offered them to him.

"Sure you don't want to keep them?" Thomas offered as he took them back.

"No it's ok." Trudy said as she reached in her coat pocket and pulled out a pair of thick, very warm looking, wool mittens. "I have my own." She giggled. With a huge smile and a wink she said goodnight to Thomas and ascended the stair case.

Thomas watched her go, a smile plastered to his face the whole time.

Their smiles persisted throughout the year. They didn't have any classes together and with the threat of Sirius Black prevalent they never got a lot of opportunity to hang out some more at Hogsmead. One night, as the end of the school year neared, Thomas was alone once again in the library. He was studying his DADA book, a troubled scowl plaguing his face. A soft voice cut through his thoughts and broke his concentration.

"I feel like if I ever need to find you, my best bet will be in here."

Thomas smiled at his book before lifting his eyes to Trudy who was smiling back.

"No talking in the Library Ms. Thorne." Thomas playfully chastised.

"Oh my apologies Mr. Wombleton." Trudy whispered back as she walked around the table to have a seat next to him, her smile never leaving until she saw what page his book was open to. "I don't think that's on our final exam..."

"No, I know. I was... I just..." How can Thomas explain this without sounding totally, bat-shit crazy. "Have you noticed a pattern in Professor Lupin's absences this year?"

"Um... Not really. But I wasn't asking about Lupin, unless you think somehow Lupin and werewolves are a related topic."

"Well..." Thomas began thoughtfully.

"Oh come on Thomas, seriously? The guy is just a little off. He's not a monster!"

"I'm not saying he's a monster, Trudy." Thomas defended, "And shhhhh! We're not the only ones in here."

"Oh good! Maybe we can ask the other students what they think about Lupin being a werewolf. We'll have a school wide survey!" Trudy went off on Thomas, but at least she dropped her voice to a whisper like he asked.

"Will you shut up and listen to me!?" Thomas cut in growing a little frustrated at Trudy's unwillingness to hear him out. When he saw the look of hurt in Trudy's eyes he immediately corrected himself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be mean like that. Just listen. I'm sure he's a great guy and I can't argue with how brilliant of a professor he is. He fought Deatheaters for fuck's sake. But just hear my argument. He never shows up the day after a full moon. I mean after that happening once, maybe twice it's whatever. But every month? Come on." Thomas argued. He found a small amount of relief to see Trudy's expression soften and begin to intently study the book. Thomas continued.

"Snape assigned all the Gryffindors an essay on werewolves earlier this year. Now, if Lupin was a werewolf, it would be hard to keep that quiet. Somebody would have to know besides Dumbledore if they wanted to cover for him. So let's say Lupin's secret is known but it is also known by somebody who really doesn't like him? And let's say that secret keeper wanted to very inconspicuously let the secret slip?"

"You think Snape assigned the essay in hopes somebody would figure it out?" Trudy summed up for him.

"Exactly. And if that wasn't enough evidence I'll throw one more bit in. When Lupin faced the Bogart at the beginning of the year, people say it transformed into a ball of light. What if that was really the moon? And who would be afraid of something as harmless of the moon anyway? Unless, to them the moon isn't harmless and it causes them to rip their skin off and transform into a terrible and feared animal. Hence Lupin's weird fear of the little light in the night sky." Thomas finished his rambling, only slightly out of breath.

Trudy put the book down staring thoughtfully at the pages. "Well… It makes sense. You gonna ask him about it?"

Thomas nearly barked out a laughter that would surely have drawn attention to the two. "And how do you recommend I go about that!? 'Yo Remus! You a furry?' Yeah, no thank you. This is just a theory I worked out. I honestly don't care if he's a werewolf. He hasn't attacked any of the students and he's a brilliant professor. What he does once a month is none of my business."

"Wow…" Trudy said thoughtfully looking Thomas over. "Keeping your nose out of other peoples' business. How very un-Slytherin of you." She said with a smile taking up her face.

"Hey now," Thomas defended as he began packing up his stuff. "We Slytherins are known to be cunning and fierce. That's the house description. Malfoy and his thugs are the ones with no sense of boundaries."

"Mhmm." Trudy mused. Thomas finished packing his books and looked up to meet Trudy's gaze. Once again their eyes met. Deep blue meeting dark brown. It frightened Thomas to realize how intense the raven haired girl's gaze could be. As he maintained the eye contact his breathing increased along with his heart rate and the edges of his vision became unfocused. Fucking shit I'm such a little bitch.

"So… I owe you an apology…"

"Oh?" Trudy questioned. Confusion etching its way onto her face.

Thomas looked away and nodded. "Yeah, for last year. You were just scared and you needed somebody to talk to. I let my anger get the best of me and left you when all you needed was a friend. I'm sorry." Thomas chanced another glance back his crush as his voice dropped to a whisper. "You deserve to be treated better than that."

Trudy didn't react at first. Her face stayed neutral as she examined Thomas' sincerity. After a minute of silence a small smile made its way to her face. "Apology accepted." She said simply, and it was never brought up again.

They spent the rest of the night up until curfew talking. While most of their conversation stayed on school, they did open up a little to each other and talked briefly about their parents. Thomas felt comfortable with Trudy. He was so thankful he was able to find someone to make the year a little more enjoyable. Dare he say, he might have found a friend.

The rest of the year went by without a hitch. The whole Sirius Black incident blew over nicely. Thomas admittedly thought about assisting Sirius in getting into Hogwarts, just to get rid of Potter. But of course he could never do that. Harry was a classmate and while he hated him, Thomas could never imagine causing anybody at Hogwarts harm. Ultimately he was quite relieved to discover Black had been apprehended by Professor Snape. Maybe now the dementors could clear out of Hogwarts.

But low and behold Sirius Black had escaped again, only proving Professor Dumbledore's ineptitude at running Hogwarts. Dumbledore was a brilliant wizard and Thomas respected him greatly, but in his not so humble opinion, Albus Dumbledore was never meant to be Professor Dumbledore. While he felt he could learn a lot from the great wizard, he was quite unsure the wizard was capable of managing a school like Hogwarts. Or maybe he was unable to manage a school housing Harry Potter. Either way, Thomas would gladly vote Dumbledore out as headmaster.

That wasn't the craziest development though. The news that Lupin was in fact a werewolf took Hogwarts by storm. Thomas had presented this info to Trudy with an arrogant "I told you so" to accompany it. To which Trudy only rolled her eyes. Thomas' was brought down from his high back to earth when he realized Lupin would have to leave Hogwarts. Apparently the rest of the student body and their parents didn't feel the same as Thomas when it came to monsters. Well fuck.

As the Hogwarts Express pulled into King's Cross Station Thomas was surprised to realize he didn't want to go. He didn't understand why until Trudy playfully nudged him off of the train. They had sat together on the way home and talked the entire way back. Now they stood with their luggage about to unwillingly depart their separate ways for the summer.

"So…" Thomas began awkwardly.

"So." She responded with a smile.

He was unsure of what to do or say. She wasn't his girlfriend, he wasn't even sure if she considered him as a friend. So how do acquaintances bid each other farewell. Definitely not by saying fucking 'so.'

"Stay in touch, yeah?" Thomas offered. It seemed like the right thing to say.

"I'll have to get an owl…" Trudy mused, "Or you get email."

"I'll look into it, whatever that is. Whichever happens first then?"

"Sounds good." Trudy finished before wrapping Thomas in a hug. "Take care Thomas. I'll see you in a few months."

Thomas watched Trudy ascend the stairs to the station. When she was out of sight he smiled to himself. He had found his reason to return to Hogwarts.

Side note. I put that whole 'Theory about Lupin being a werewolf' in there for 2 reasons. To establish Thomas is just as good, if not better than Hermione, and to help build Tsquared's (what I'll call Thomas and Trudy's) relationship. Not a big head canon or anything.

Thanks again for reading. See you bitches soon!