End of year had approached, Quirinus never got to say goodbye to Charlotte before she left for her home town; Quirinus had arranged with Dumbledore that he stay there on the holidays; he didn't want to go back home. The truth was, he hated it there; Hogwarts was fast becoming his home and he never wanted to go back; anywhere was better than 'home.' Quirinus had just finished some pumpkin juice at the Ravenclaw table; he recounted how he and Charlotte had done the same thing only a few months before when they first met. He felt heartbroken; he missed her like anything and if he were honest with himself; he wanted her to come back.

A student Quirinus had never met before apparated in front of him. Quirinus jumped back, fear ran through him; he knew it wasn't a good sign when a wizard apparated in front of him; he shook severely as he looked at the student others knew as Tom Mulciber.

"OI!" he yelled, he almost killed me!" Tom looked at Quirinus, "oh hello there... are you pureblood?" he asked as though this were a casual thing.

Quirinus felt as confused as he looked, not to mention scared, "wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-who tr-tr-tr-tr-tried t-t-t-to k-k-k-k-k-kill y-y-y-y-you?" his words shook as much as he did. Quirinus slouched low to the ground and huddled into himself, "w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w... w-what's i-i-i-i-it m-m-m-m-matter i-i-i-i-i-if I-I-I-I-I-I-I'm a p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-pureblood or n-n-n-n-not?" he didn't couldn't tell whether he shook more from his anger or from his fear.

Tom looked at him, "oh... you're the coward." he said, seemingly disheartened.

"C-c-c-c-c-coward...? m-m-m-m-me?" he paused; he knew he had just lie but wanted to make himself seem tougher so Tom would leave him alone, "N-n-n-n-no..." Quirinus looked down at his feet, unable to handle the guilt. "W-w-w-well... y-y-y-yeah... I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I g-g-g-g-g-guess...?" he sighed to himself. He knew he was wrong for lying but he didn't want to be attacked.

"Here... let me adjust you." Tom said suddenly. He slapped Quirinus who almost fell backwards, took his mouth and stretched it then waved his wand at it, "now?" he asked.

It would have seemed to anyone else Tom had just tried to cure Quirinus from his stammering problem, however Quirinus wasn't born with it; nothing could heal the fear he had in his heart. His mouth hurt from where Tom had stretched it and the slap wasn't what anyone would call soft. He cowered away from Tom and looked at him, "W-w-w-what w-w-was th-th-th-that f-f-f-for?"

Tom disapparated before he could answer, whether his intentions were to heal him or to hurt him, Quirinus was unsure but of course Quirinus took is as an attack; what else could he take it as? He was so used to being hurt by people, his face and throat hurt. Upset and angry of his cowardice acts, he hurried off to the common room, pulled out some parchment and his potion book and wrote some notes down to clear his head; he was so tempted to owl Charlotte but he didn't want to come off as a sook or anything. As it neared dinner time, he walked out into the Great Hall and slipped himself into a chair. A few others joined and soon food appeared on their house tables. Quirinus was just about to take a bite out of a potato in its jacket when he heard a screech. An owl flew onto the table with a note tied to its foot. Quirinus' eyes lit up as he seized the owl and untied the note from its leg. He fed it some chicken, unravelled the parchment and read:

Quirinus-

I'm so sorry we didn't have a chance to say goodbye yesterday!

How are you?

Are you going home for the holidays or staying at school?

~Char

Quirinus read the note another four times; tears filled his eyes as he wrote on the back of the parchment. He could not believe she remembered him and owled back straight away;

Charlotte-

I miss you; I really do; I'm sorry I didn't have the chance to say goodbye either.

I'm okay here I guess; I mean, someone asked me a few moments ago if I am pureblood or not. Why does it matter to people what blood status we are? Stupid if you ask me.

Other than that, things here are good- I stayed back at Hogwarts because well...

It may seem strange but I am home here; I've never felt so much at home.

How are things for you? Where are you? Where are you staying?

P.S. Sorry about the scrawl

~Quirinus

He gave the note to the owl and watched as it took off from the table and flew out the window with his note to Charlotte. He beamed to himself, 'she actually remembered me!' he said to himself. He ate some more potato and chicken with gravy, before polishing off some pudding for desert. Once dinner was over he hurried off to his dorm wondering when Charlotte would reply next. His question was answered when an hour later, the same owl flew in threw his dorm window with another rolled piece of parchment. Indeed this was his very first time someone had ever owled him. He took the note from the owl, fed it a treat and read:

Quirinus-

I'm nearby... I'm visiting a friend of mine so I can use the floo network to come to the school for a while if you like?

I know what you mean... blood type shouldn't matter but to most Slytherins, it does. I'm a muggle-born myself and that tends to draw a lot of hate because I wasn't born from a magical family.

I almost wish I was there... I miss the school an awful lot, even after a few days. Silly isn't it? I've gone home for the holidays, at least until next week when we all head on the camping trip. You are coming aren't you? ~Char

Quirinus didn't want to tell Charlotte about the attack but upon reading how she wanted to come to the school anyway; he felt it was only right to tell her as a warning; he didn't want his one and only friend being hurt because of blood status; it broke his heart to have to tell her but he knew things would only worsen if he didn't. He wrote on the back of the parchment:

Charlotte-

Please come... I know I should have told you earlier but I didn't want to say anything...

I'm scared to be honest; someone just, randomly I think... attacked me; the same guy who asked what my blood status is.

Blood type doesn't matter; you're brilliant as you are.

One thing I have never worked out is how do they know?

What if you didn't tell them? Can they know?

By the way; it's not silly. I miss the school even though I'm still here.

Me? When is it?

He put the quill down as his eyes grew teary, a single tear dropped on the parchment; he hoped she wouldn't see it. His eyes lit up, 'me! A camping trip! Me... A camping trip!' he said to himself over and over. He picked his quill up again once he'd calmed down a little and continued:

Of course I will! When is it?

Oh... and who will I go with?

~Quirinus

He again gave the note to the owl and fed it a treat. He realized it would be getting late and Charlotte needed to sleep as he did; if she wasn't too far away, their time zones would be the same. He rested his head on his pillow and fell asleep beaming from ear to ear that night.