14. Got Milk?

Late that night, Alastor was awakened from a sound sleep by the door to the Hospital Wing carefully (and creakily) being opened. Propping himself up on his elbows, he spotted two figures slipping inside, the latter pushing the door closed behind him. "Who are you? Who's there?"

"It's me, Rremly," his friend whispered, moving closer slowly just ahead of Holden, presumably. "Holden and Milo are here, too."

"My brother was most insistent on bringing you some éclairs and milk from the kitchens since you've not been able to go to dinner." Holden whispered in the next moment, which was then followed by a soft muffled "Oof!" and a gasp.

"That's my foot, Holden!" Rremly whispered loudly.

"I am sorry there, but you need to walk a little faster." Came the rushed reply.

"I would, but it's hard carrying the milk and éclairs. I'd rather not make a mess, thank you." Rremly whispered back.

In the bed, Alastor was almost dying, trying to laugh and cough without making too much noise. "Oh, you two are almost as bad as Stew and Griff sometimes. Thanks for coming and for bringing the treats."

A door opened that next second, stopping all noise from any of the three. "What's about? Alastor, are you all right?" Stephen's voice sounded from Madam Arden's office. Footsteps could be heard as he presumably came toward Alastor's bedside.

Alastor blinked, startled by the appearance of the older boy. "Er, hello, Stephen. What were you doing in Madam Arden's office at this time of night?"

Stephen stepped up beside him. "I was looking over some of her books. She's entrusted me with the use of her office whenever I have a wish to study or merely to have a bit of light reading before bed." Stephen explained in his quiet voice that held vague musical strains of an Irish brogue. "Might I ask what you three are doing here?" Stephen inquired of Rremly, Holden, and Milo.

"I know it's late, really, but I wanted to bring Alastor these éclairs and milk since he hasn't been able to enjoy dinner in the hall with the others." Rremly whispered, his voice holding little tinges of tentativeness and shyness.

There was a quiet pause in which Alastor could only guess that Rremly held that little lost boy look in his eyes. "I see," Stephen breathed before going on in a louder voice so as to be heard by Rremly, his brother, and Milo. "I'll leave you to your gathering, but mind that you keep quiet, as I doubt this would be allowed by Madam Arden."

"We promise not to make noise. You won't even realize we're here." Holden assured him, taking the plate and jug from Rremly and setting it on the bedside nightstand with a soft muffled clink.

Alastor had always been more of an observer than a participator, and now that the bronchitis was under control, he was better able to observe. It was very thoughtful of Rremly to bring the éclairs and milk and wasn't really surprised that Rremly had come. The presence of Milo and Holden was a surprise. A welcome one, to be sure, but a surprise nonetheless. As for Stephen, well, Alastor still wasn't quite sure what to think of the prefect. Being a Ravenclaw, it was really no surprise that Stephen should be studying, but at this time of night? When most rational students were asleep in bed? No thank you. However, he was letting Rremly stay and visit, so Alastor wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Thanks, Stephen, I really appreciate it." Alastor thought for a moment before adding. "Actually, would you like to join us? Unless, of course, you would rather go back to looking through Madam Arden's books?"

"Yes, please do join us. We've quite a lot of éclairs," Rremly chimed in, his voice an animated whisper.

There was a pause and Alastor guessed that Stephen had been taken by surprise with the gesture of kindness on their part. "I would love that above all things. Thank you for the invitation." The slight Irish lilt gave a musical quality to his voice. "Half a moment, I'll just put the office back to rights and bookmark the book I'd been reading," Stephen told them heading back to the office momentarily.

"Should we wait for him to get back before starting on the food?" Alastor asked the other three, feeling a little hungry, but not much for he was still ill enough that food didn't appeal to him the way it did when he was healthy.

There was the clink once more, which was followed by Holden's voice. "We'll wait," he said, setting down the four goblets. Milo set down the four plates on the nightstand where Holden began pouring the milk and dividing the share of éclairs for all of them.

Alastor chuckled, suppressing a small cough before he spoke, "You thought of everything, didn't you? Although," Alastor paused to count, "you only brought four goblets and four plates."

"We've five plates if you count the original platter-" Holden put forth before Rremly cut him off, his voice betraying sheepishness. "Though, we don't have enough goblets-"

The door closed and Stephen returned to Alastor's bedside, a book in his hands. "Not to worry, I've my empty goblet which had previously been home to my cider," he cut in smoothly, pulling up a chair beside the bed.

"Lucky, indeed. If you didn't have the one I'd have sent Rrem to fetch another from the kitchens-"

"Which I would've done gladly, Holden." Rremly chuckled, handing off a plate to Stephen before Holden poured some milk for the prefect.

Alastor smiled as he accepted the plate Rremly had handed him right after Stephen. It would be just like Rremly to be willing to do something like that.

"Which doesn't surprise me in the least." He looked down at the plate in his lap, wondering if he would be able to eat it all. A nudge on his hand made him look up to see that Milo was holding out a goblet of milk for Alastor.

"Oh, thanks, Milo."

"You're welcome," Milo said quietly, taking a sip of milk. "Though, if you find you can't finish the éclairs, don't worry. We understand that you might not find food all that appetizing just yet."

Alastor nodded, somewhat amused that Milo seemed to be channeling Rremly's intuition.

"By the way, Holden, I don't think Rrem's ever mentioned what year you are."

"I'm fourth year, like your friend Danny." Holden told him, taking a bite of his éclair, handing a napkin to Stephen who had been reaching beyond him for one.

Alastor's mouth twitched in a half-smile. "I'm a little surprised that you know him. Perhaps you know my brother, Aurelius? He's Slytherin, too."

Holden chuckled. "I know Danny from double Transfigurations. Paired up with me when we worked on switching spells. He's quite skilled at it, actually," Holden remarked, a thoughtful expression upon his face. "I do know your brother, if only from Quidditch."

Stephen's ears pricked at the mention of Quidditch. "You're on the team?"

"Keeper for Hufflepuff." Holden nodded his head, his eyes on Stephen. "You follow Quidditch?"

Stephen barely nodded. "I watch a time or two. I find the aerodynamics fascinating. The physics of the sport are intriguing."

Alastor was hard-pressed to keep from laughing. "The aerodynamics and physics? I admit I've never thought of those aspects of the sport as intriguing." He looked at Holden. "I'm not surprised that Danny would be willing to partner outside his own House." Silently, he added, 'And Aurelius would never consider the possibility of associating with a Hufflepuff.'

Stephen did not necessarily respond to Alastor's previous statement on the validity of such aspects of Quidditch being interesting or no. He merely maintained his gaze, attentive to what Alastor and Holden were speaking of.

Holden glanced at Rremly and then back at Alastor. "Yes, I admit, Danny's very kind. About Aurelius, I wouldn't know, as I've never been properly introduced," he said, apparently trying to be diplomatic towards Alastor's brother. Rremly caught Alastor's eye before he looked down at his hands. Milo found his glass of milk quite interesting then.

"Don't worry about it, Holden," Alastor tried to assure the other boy without revealing too much about his family's opinion of Hufflepuffs. "He prefers to keep to his own circle." To prevent himself from saying any more, he took a large bite of the éclair in his hand.

The older Hufflepuff didn't say anything, but his small smile, quite reminiscent of Rremly's, said it all. He took up Stephen's empty plate, as he was dabbing at his lips quite politely with his napkin, and setting it on the table beneath his own empty plate. Rremly too, finished his last éclair and drained the goblet of milk. Milo, too, savored the éclair, unaware that he'd made a little sound of appreciation, and when he did realize it, he promptly ducked his head and blushed.

"This was truly delicious. Thank you for inviting me." Stephen said, the barest hint of a tiny smile on his lips.

"No need to thank me, Stephen," Alastor told the oldest of the four of them. "I wasn't sure if the four of us could eat all the éclairs." He looked down at the half-full plate in his lap. "I'm not sure I can finish my share, though."

Holden grinned a wicked sort of grin. "I'll finish those then," he said, taking up the plate from Alastor.

"Holden!" Rremly scolded, frowning slightly.

Holden turned up an eyebrow at him. "Who'll eat them if I don't?"

Rremly chuckled, "Well I would have, if you'd asked."

"I wouldn't say no to a last one, either," put forth Stephen, a slight twinkle in his eyes, which was of course magnified by the mere fact that he was again wearing his glasses.

"I'll let you four fight it out," Alastor managed to insert. "I've had quite enough, thank you."

Holden laughed warmly and divided the last éclairs between himself, Stephen, Rremly, and Milo, wolfing down his with relish. "Mmm, quite delicious."

"I agree," Stephen murmured, dabbing at his face again with the napkin.

Rremly had no words, merely a warm smile. "Well, at least the éclairs weren't wasted," Alastor mused, noting the lack of remaining éclairs. "What about the milk? Is it all gone?"

Holden glanced behind him before turning back to Alastor with quite the sheepish expression on his face. "Er… yes…"

With a laugh, Rremly patted his brother on the shoulder. "Next time we'll keep the jug by me."

Stephen watched the exchange before coughing to get their attention. "Ahem," he paused, waiting for them to meet his gaze before going on. "Allow me to rectify the problem," he declared before conjuring a glass for Alastor.

"I didn't ask because I wanted one, Stephen, although I thank you for the thought," Alastor told the prefect. "I was asking out of curiosity, that's all."

"In that case I'll take that too, if you don't mind Stephen," Holden announced, taking up the glass of milk and downing it back in one gulp.

Rremly laughed, too exasperated with his brother. Milo chuckled, shaking his head a little. Stephen, however, was merely quietly bemused. "My, you do have quite the appetite," Stephen mused.

Holden grinned, his eyes sheepish. "Runs in the family."

"Does it, Rrem?" Alastor asked, looking at the other boy.

"It does, but unlike my brother and my father, I know when to stop." Rremly smiled widely.

This set Alastor to laughing, which, in turn triggered a coughing fit. "Drat! I hate this!"

Stephen was instantly up out of his seat, with a conjured goblet of cider for the boy. "Do drink this, it'll settle the coughing. I'll see about getting one of Madam Arden's potions," He told Alastor before turning to the other two. "I must also say that it's quite late, and we really should leave Alastor to rest."

Holden, Milo, and Rremly nodded, the latter fluffing Alastor's pillow and the former two tucking the blankets around him just as Stephen returned with the promised potion, holding it out to Alastor. "Thanks, Stephen." Alastor took the potion and drank it in one go before returning the goblet to Stephen and beginning to work on the cider.

Stephen didn't say anything, but merely looked upon Alastor with concern before glancing at the other three, who nodded.

"As Stephen said, it's time we left, but we'll come and bring you breakfast, not to worry," Rremly informed him, that kind smile appearing on his lips.

Holden nodded in agreement. "Rest well, Alastor," said the older Hufflepuff.

Milo gave his shoulder a pat, "Pleasant dreams."

They each hugged Alastor and went on their way. Alastor was a little surprised by the hugs, but returned them nevertheless. He looked at his remaining visitor and offered the now-empty goblet he held.

"Thank you again, Stephen."

"You're welcome, Alastor," Stephen told him, "think nothing of it," as he picked up his book. "I'll be letting Madam Arden know that they'll be here to bring you breakfast. Sleep well, Alastor. I hope to have the pleasure of checking up on you tomorrow." The prefect awarded him a quiet smile.

Alastor nodded, settling back into his pillows. "I wouldn't mind seeing you tomorrow, Stephen. Madam Arden is nice, don't misunderstand me, but it's not the same as having a friend."

Stephen's eyes flickered with surprise for a moment, before that look of calm reserve settled one again in his green eyes. "Indeed, I agree. I'll see you tomorrow then, good night, Alastor."

"Good night, Stephen," Alastor replied, watching the other boy leave the Hospital Wing. Sighing contentedly again, he drifted off to sleep.