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When Ruby sat down across from him on "their" bench with an explosive huff Archie barely glanced up from his homework. It was Wednesday, after all.

"Hello Ruby."

"Hey Arch."

He waited for frustrated slamming of books and a tirade about either Victor Whale's egomaniacal tendencies or the sadistic glee Professor Mills seemed to get from torturing the students - barely a month and a half into the semester and it was already weekly procedure following the fifth year's double potions with Gryffindor and Slytherin - but Ruby remained silent. When the minutes dragged on and she made no move to open her book bag, Archie glanced up at her again in worry and the pensive, faraway look on her face confirmed his growing suspicion: something was definitely off.

"You seem a little…" Calm for a Wednesday afternoon. "Erm, preoccupied. Is something wrong?"

She shifted her bookbag in her lap and clutched it tighter to her chest, still with that distant look on her face. "Not wrong exactly," she mumbled with a shrug. "Just unexpected, I guess."

That sounded… a little ominous.

He tucked the tip of his quill under the stack of books to make sure the warm breeze wouldn't steal it away and pushed his half-finished essay aside to give her his undivided attention. "What happened?"

"We learned about patronuses in DADA today."

Archie kept his face carefully neutral. He had been the only one in his class who had been unable to cast a patronus that first day, and he remembered the smiles of his classmates had felt more pitying than sympathetic - he didn't want Ruby to feel the same way.

"Not everyone can cast a patronus, you know," he told her. "At least not right away."

He could successfully cast a patronus now, but it had taken him close to a full year longer than his classmates to master the spell. Considering the requirements for the charm he didn't want to ponder too closely why he had been unable to cast it for as long as he had.

"Thanks Archie, but that's not…" She sighed, but couldn't keep a proud smile from emerging. "I actually managed to cast it on my first try!" She continued without pause, smile still bright but added by a slightly exasperated eye-roll. "Which was surprising enough in itself, really, but it wasn't what I expected. Its form I mean. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't that, apparently. What form does your take, Archie? Could you show me?"

A little thrown by the sudden word storm it took him a couple of seconds to process her request, but though he felt a little self-conscious and on-the-spot he shrugged and nodded; of course he couldn't deny her such a simple requests. Hesitating for just a moment before settling on a happy memory - the girl in front of him playing a vital part in it - he cast his patronus: The swirling mist solidified into a silvery Dalmatian that bounced about as if happy to be let off the leash.

"A dog!" Ruby laughed out loud in delight as she jumped up and started dancing around with the apparition as if it was a real dog. The patronus was wagging its tail furiously, tongue lolling out of his mouth as it skipped about, barking mutely. "What's his name?"

"N-name?" Archie had never even thought about naming his patronus.

"He looks like a Pongo, I think." Ruby danced about with the ghostly dog. "Don't you think he looks like a Pongo? Yes! Yes, you look like a Pongo, don't you? Yes, you do!"

Archie couldn't help but laugh as Ruby cooed at the happy apparition, her enthusiasm both endearing and genuine. The dog valiantly tried to shower her with sloppy kisses which would no doubt have left her dripping with slobber had the canine been real.

Archie had never seen Ruby smile quite like that before, so completely carefree and happy; her smile so bright that he could imagine feeling the warmth of it on his skin. He decided that his patronus deserved a name for making her this happy.

"Pongo it is then."

She giggled as the newly christened Pongo ran in excited circles around them, fading more and more with each lap until at last only a wisp of mist was left, and then that was gone too. Ruby's smile remained as she sat down beside Archie, staring happily off into the middle distance. Archie regarded her for a moment before breaking the comfortable silence.

"Why did your patronus surprise you today, Ruby?"

She turned to look at him and her smile turned melancholy. "Well, first off I didn't expect to be able to cast the spell at all. I guess that was the biggest surprise. The form actually kinda made sense."

It was easy for him to guess why she had doubted her ability to cast the spell, but of course he couldn't outright tell her that. She didn't know he knew she was a werewolf. He was curious about the shape, though, so he wasn't really lying when he stated vaguely: "Now I'm really curious, Ruby."

"It was a cricket." She looked at him with a grimace, as if worried he would laugh.

"A… a cricket." Now that he had not expected. He felt strangely touched, but told himself he was being ridiculous. It didn't necessarily mean anything. "Your patronus took the form of… of a cricket."

"I know, silly, right?" But the way she said it without meeting his eyes suggested she didn't think it so silly despite her disclaimer.

Archie shook his head and put his arm around her shoulders, giving her half a hug. "I don't think it's silly at all. Crickets are considered lucky in many cultures. I can think of a lot worse forms a patronus can take."

"Really?"

She sounded both unsure and hopeful as she leaned into the hug, her cheek resting on his shoulder, and Archie had to bite his tongue lest he blow his secret.

It wasn't that he didn't trust her - he trusted her with his life every time he joined her in the Shrieking Shack - but he couldn't tell her. He couldn't tell her he knew her secret; he couldn't tell her his.

In the beginning he had told himself it was so she wouldn't have to lie for him if it ever came out that he was an unregistered animagus - he'd of course get the brunt of the fall-out if that were to happen, but the Ministry did not take kindly to people knowing about an unregistered animagus and not reporting it. The Ministry was not exactly known for its discretion and he didn't trust them to not expose Ruby's werewolf status if she was caught up in the mess. He couldn't risk that; he knew how ostracised werewolves were in their society, how feared and despised, and he never wanted Ruby to experience the stigma of being a known lycanthrope.

But as time had passed a different reason had made itself known and he had been forced to admit, if only to himself, that he was more afraid of the possibility that if she found out that her little cricket friend was just plain old boring Archie Hopper… that she would be disappointed. Maybe even so disappointed that she wouldn't want anything to do with him, in cricket form or otherwise. She would no doubt feel betrayed, hurt that he had kept the secret for so long, and rightly so - it had been nearly a year now, after all. He'd lose their monthly "play dates", and more importantly he would lose her friendship the rest of the month.

It was terribly selfish of him, but he was deathly afraid of losing her friendship.

Because they had become good friends, the best of friends, since that day she showed up at the Hufflepuff table seeking his help with "an assignment" which had quickly been proved to be a poorly thought through attempt to discreetly milk him for information about animagi. He had been so scared that she would out him then and there, and he had been almost weak with relief when he had realised she had no idea that the animagus she was not-so-surreptitiously looking for was right -

"Archie!"

He jumped as fingers snapped loudly right in front of his nose. Ruby snorted at his reaction and he blushed, retreating his arm and putting a little distance between them on the bench. The laughter was back in her eyes again, though, so Archie decided a little embarrassment was well worth it.

"Lost you for a second there, buddy."

Forcing his mind back on track he rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. Not enough sleep, I guess."

"Still? You should go see the medi-witch, Archie."

And say what exactly? 'Once a month I stay up all night three nights in a row keeping a werewolf company. She can sleep during the day but I usually have classes and no good excuse to skip them since both the werewolf bit and the keeping said werewolf company bit is very hush hush, and should anyone ever find out both of us would be in a lot of trouble. Everyone thinks I'm having trouble sleeping and that that's why I'm so tired, but of course that's not the case: I don't have trouble sleeping at all, the problem is I don't have time to sleep! I need to be able to stay awake long enough to get through my classes and all the extra work Professor Blue saddles me with on top of my regular homework now that I'm student assistant, and since I also have several hours of detention accumulated already for falling asleep in class I would prefer to also somehow get through that without adding even more of the same. You don't happen to have a potion for that, do you?'

Merlin's beard, he felt exhausted just thinking about it. Exhausted and stressed. He only had one week until next wolfstime, he had so much that needed to be done before then… He had tried to do as much as possible during the summer vacation, knowing time would be tight this semester, but his parents had done their best to sabotage his efforts, forcing him to do his homework on the sly under the cover of night.

Come to think of it he hadn't gotten much sleep during the summer vacation either. Things were already starting to snowball and the semester had barely started.

"No, no, I'm fine. Just… insomnia or something." He tried to emphasise 'something' without being too obvious about it, the evasion feeling too much like a lie for comfort.

"Pretty sure it's not insomnia, Arch. Insomnia means that you're not sleeping at all, doesn't it? And from the sounds of it you don't have trouble sleeping in class. David said he had to wake you in charms again yesterday. Just try not to fall asleep during care of magical creatures, okay? You're liable to get your head bitten off!"

Her tone was joking but Archie saw the worry in her eyes and felt his cheeks flame.

"Can't you sleep during history of magic like the rest of us?"

He resisted the immediate urge to protest: he did sleep during history of magic! Whenever wolfstime fell on days he had that particular class he slept as soundly as his classmates, but unfortunately wolfstime didn't always fall on the days with classes he could safely sleep through - he wouldn't have had this stupid problem if only wolfstime could have fallen on the weekend every month! Well, it wouldn't have been quite as big a problem.

And he wasn't sure he liked the fact that David apparently kept Ruby up to date on his sleeping habits in class. Thankfully the seventh year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs only shared a handful of classes this year, leaving at least most of his classes sans the the far-too-observant Gryffindor tattletale. Ruby didn't have to know how often he struggled to stay awake during his classes. It was only four days a month; three sleepy days followed by one where he slept from the end of the days classes until breakfast the next morning, and Ruby was away from school for three of those days so if their friends could just keep their mouths shut about how tired he was while she was away then everything should work out fine… he should be able to soldier through without worrying her. He just hoped no one started seeing the pattern.

Oh, if only he could get his hands on a Time-Turner! That would make things so much easier! But of course that was a pipe dream; the Ministry was notoriously strict when dealing with Time-Turners and he'd never get a permit to use one without a valid reason - and it wasn't like he could actually tell them why he needed it so badly.

But he should do a little research, see if he could find a potion of some sort to keep himself awake. He couldn't ask the medi-witch for such a potion without arousing suspicion, but he might be able to brew his own… He had a pass for the restricted section of the library, after all. True, Professor Blue had given him the pass so he could work on his N.E.W.T.S. transfiguration project, but he could probably sneak a peek at some advanced potions books too. He was reasonably proficient in potions and should be able to muddle through…

"I'm fine, Ruby, really." He smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "Don't worry. I promise I'll get some warm milk from the kitchens and call it an early night tonight, okay?"

And despite all his unfinished work he would do just that, because he promised her he would - but in turn he promised himself that he would use his next free period looking into energy-giving potions in the restricted section. He couldn't really think of any other way he'd be able to get everything done without sacrificing either the play dates in the Shrieking Shack or his grades and his future.

"I'm not mothering you, Archie." Ruby rolled her eyes at the look he threw her and punched his shoulder playfully. "No, really! I'm not, and don't you forget it!"

"You're mothering me more than my own mother, Ruby." He nudged her back, his tone light despite the sad truth of his statement. "But I don't mind. Not at all. It means you care, and I truly appreciate that."

To his consternation he could see her tearing up and he hastily scrambled for a change of topic. "So, erm, crickets! A cricket patronus, huh? That's - that's kinda cool. Any idea w-why?"

For a brief terrifying moment he thought she was going to tell him and he could've kicked himself for not saying something - anything - else, but then she shrugged and shook her head, surreptitiously wiping away the tear that had threatened to fall. Relieved he didn't try to catch her eye, knowing perfectly well she was lying but only too happy to let it pass to save both their secrets.

"Well, I-I'm sure there doesn't have to be any deeper meaning behind the form of a witch or wizard's patronus," he babbled. "I mean, I can't imagine why mine is a dog. I've never had a dog in my life!"

"You can get one, though," she said, clearly relieved too and more than willing to go along with his evasion. "I mean, if you want one. You can do whatever you want once you graduate!"

He had always wanted a pet, a loyal friend to keep him company, but his parents had always said no. Probably didn't want to pay for its care, and since they didn't give him an allowance despite the mountain of chores they gave him he had no way of paying for a dog himself.

But after graduation, less than a year away, he would be his own master; he would get a job, he would get a place of his own to live, and he would be free. He could actually get a dog if he wanted one.

"Yeah…" The thought of such freedom was a heady one and he had to fight down the urge to hug her in gratitude for pointing it out to him. He couldn't quite keep the wonder out of his voice or the wide grin off his face, though. "Yeah, I guess I could."

Ruby rolled her eyes and gave his arm another playful punch. "You never thought about that, huh? You're such a dork, Archie."

He laughed in agreement and she smiled. Fishing her potions book out of her bag she demonstratively and dramatically slammed it on the table, and declared:

"You have no idea what that narcissist Victor Whale said in potions today!"