Some days later, Sofia walked into History class and was greeted at the door by one of her friends in the class, Candy, who… didn't follow her in. Odd.

The rest of her friends in this class, minus Greylock and plus one from a classroom near this one but not actually here for the next hour block, were gathered around her desk and discussing something fervently. "Hiya!" she said on approaching the group, "What's up?"

They turned to her with smiles on their faces. Mabel gestured her closer and said in a conspiratorial, if still a bit loud, tone of voice, "Well, Star thinks Cedric will ask for the book by tomorrow, but the smart money's on Greylock giving in first, since it's cold out and we only get the two robes, though probably not as soon as tomorrow."

Sofia blinked. What? What? How...did they all even know-? True, Sofia hadn't been very cagey about the robe, but it replaced the one she'd had before on the hook by her bed, and wore her actual one out and about, so it shouldn't be obvious that it didn't fit, but- "How did you even find out about the journal?"

Star laughed a bit too loudly and said, "Ha HA! Pay up, Mabel! I knew it wouldn't be a diary. Oh, and Sofia, we saw you with something and you kinda mutter to yourself while reading and it wasn't too hard to put together." Mabel leered and wrote Star an IOU.

Sofia covered her eyes with her hand and blushed, but nodded. Well, at least she hadn't read anything compromising about Cedric in the book to possibly mumble aloud. "You know what?" she finally managed to say, "Put me down for a pound on both."

"Both? That's not really a bet, I don't see the point..." Mabel was giving Sofia a strange look. "But I gueeess I'll allow it."

Sofia took her hand from her face and shook her head. "No, not like betting on all the flying horses in the race. What if… they teamed up, to ask at the same time. Hmm?"

Mabel's eyes widened and she grinned. "I see! Girls, there's a new option on the table! ...Bleh, I'll have to figure odds for this one too now. No wrangling Dipper in on this one.. Oh well!" She shrugged. "Still, make sure to get me the two quid sometime soon, or it might become three." She raised an eyebrow and wiggled it at Sofia, who laughed.

"No problem," Sofia said, then shook her head and looked around at the gathered group. Mabel, obviously, was setting this whole thing up. Sofia didn't know there was such a side to the girl, good for her. Sofia didn't exactly condone con-artistry, but it could certainly come in handy, and it was good to see the innocent-seeming Mabel more wily than Sofia had thought after all - though, honestly, Sofia should have expected as much, she supposed. It's not as if she herself was constantly underestimated, due to perceived gender, stature, and general adorable demeanor, or anything.

Also there were Shauna and Serena, the former with her arm around the latter's waist, looking excited by the prospect of adorable match-making opportunities. Sofia hadn't quite told any of them yet that she was now actually in a relationship of sorts with Cedric. Oh, well, it's not like resolving the will-they-or-won't-they tension automatically meant cute things had to end. And anyway, when wasn't it fun to pay Greylock back for his own practical joking.

Grenda was in much the same boat as Shauna and Serena, honestly, though she was much less subtle about her excitement, bouncing and clapping and when someone spoke, punctuating with something along the lines of "YEAH it is!"

Star Butterfly, one of Sofia's friends who didn't live in Crage, was also there. Star looked happy from her earlier win, though still on edge, rather intense, as she looked between the other people standing in the group. Weird.

Before Sofia could puzzle out what was bugging Star, Candy rushed to the group and said, "He's coming, scatter!" causing the group to scatter. Slowly, given the obstacle course of desks, but scatter nonetheless. Mabel wiggled her eyebrows at Sofia as she passed, and made her way out of the classroom. She passed Greylock as he came in the door and winked. He winked back with a grin.

Greylock sat down next to Sofia, a few spots away from his usual assigned seat. "So, what brought uh - what's her name again - over from the other class?"

Sofia answered, "Mabel, and-" Well, obviously she couldn't just… tell him. That would be embarrassing, not to mention ruin the wager for everyone else - not that they had any right to wager on her at all. It was all in good fun, though, so she finished, "It was just a friendly wager, is all."

With uplifted eyebrows, Greylock said, "Is that so? What about, if I might ask?"

"You might ask, but it's sort of… an inside joke," Sofia said, "You wouldn't get it if you weren't there for the thing to happen."

Shrugging, Greylock said, "Well, all right, can't be helped. Has anything else happened lately?"

Sofia took a moment to think, then shook her head. "Not really," she said, "Though I'll keep you posted."

They sat in companionable silence as Sofia looked over her book and homework for the class, until the professor walked in and everyone returned to their proper seats.

"Good morning, class," said Professor Layton, "to those of you whose morning is not good, especially." There were some grumbled 'good morning's in response, though no one seemed particularly malcontent.

"Before we launch into today's lesson," the professor said, "does anyone have any current events, history in the making, to discuss?"

Across the room from Sofia, Serena raised her hand. "Professor, have you heard anything about the new restrictions being put on mages?"

Layton's cheerful face lost its smile, and the grim look didn't seem to fit right on his face. The rest of the class didn't seem very at ease with the prospect either, and started murmuring to each other. "Very astute, Miss Grace. I do, in fact, know a fair bit about that. There have been discussions within the powers that be - nothing more, nothing definite, I assure you, class." He put up his hand to hold off the murmuring that was only just dying down. "Still, it is worth noting nonetheless that these discussions are happening. They are currently over two subjects, largely: transportation, and students."

Unsurprisingly, there was another rise in volume from the class at that. Sofia kept quiet throughout, though, too puzzled to comment. When had all this been happening? This was the first she'd heard any of it. Granted, she also had no ties to the magical community outside of the grounds of Hexley Hall, so perhaps that wasn't a surprise after all.

"The former shouldn't concern you students overly much, it's largely about us older codgers." He shared a chuckle with the class at that. "We'll have to have chaperones while traveling, can you imagine? Perhaps we're being treated as students after all." Another chuckle. "The latter, well, isn't so bad, though I understand you'll be disheartened by the news and rightly so. If these talks should come to bear fruit, then the result will be that students at Hexley Hall and other, similar institutions, shall not be permitted to use magic while not on school grounds, unless special permission is granted or the like."

There was the expected groan, but Sofia thought it made sense. Magic was dangerous, after all. There were plenty of wards in and around Hexley Hall to keep magic contained, whereas most places had no such measures, as magic wasn't common enough to justify the expense, or the energy, or something. While the magic was still potentially dangerous within the school's grounds, at least it wasn't cataclysmic, as it very well could be without the protections. Not to mention, here, at school, there was plenty of staff to take care of magical accidents if - no, when - they should happen.

There didn't seem to be much actual discussion from the class anymore, just vague murmuring to neighbors. "Well, that's enough of current events. Turning back to more traditional history, I'd appreciate if you'd turn in your books to page ninety-two. We shall begin to cover the Freezenburger-Maldonian War today." The students let out a collective sigh but did so. Sofia was less enthused about history than actual magic classes, though at least she wasn't so woefully behind here.

Still, it was better history than she'd ever learn in the village, magical or not. Also rather… disturbing, honestly. There had been some kind of uneasy truce for a while, until it was found people from Freezenburg were being sold as slaves to work in Mithril mines in Maldonia, but were passed off as casualties or prisoners of war in the former. Yikes. Sofia shivered and thought about how if this had happened fifty years later, it might have been her father, it might have been her caught up in that. Sure, they were in Enchancia now, not to mention that he was dead and also had maybe been a pirate, but… Yikes.

Partway through the class, a loud noise rang out from the hallway. Layton turned around from the chalkboard he'd been drawing a diagram on, showing how and why the Mithril in this raw state was dangerous to handle, to look at the door, and implicitly gave the student body permission to do the same.

Whatever it was that made the noise wasn't quite visible from the door, but there was a loud incantation - the words weren't quite discernable, though Sofia thought she knew the voice - and a loud pomf of magic.

Layton sighed and, holding up a hand to keep the students in their seats, made his way to the door to see exactly what the problem was, and popped out of the classroom for a moment.

Sofia craned her neck around, hoping she had a good vantage point, but no luck.

A small puff of blue smoke appeared before Sofia, and a note fluttered down from it. "Exciting, isn't it?" Greylock's note said-for it was probably his handwriting, and when Sofia turned to look at him he was grinning broadly and giving her a thumbs up. He hastily wrote at his desk and sent another poof her way - they couldn't be more than fifteen feet apart, was this necessary? Sofia rolled her eyes and looked at the new note. "Magical interruptions never get old, and that's not even including the fact that they interrupt dull classes such as this."

Sofia turned to face him, shrugged, and tried to smile, but was too nervous to spend too much energy on notes right now.

Momentarily, Professor Layton returned. "There is, in fact, a magical incident happening in the hallway, as I'm sure most of you have gathered. We are likely just fine; however, reasonable caution, not to mention policy, dictate that we evacuate." Yes, we've heard this before, Layton, Sofia thought, just a tad irritated at being treated like a child.

"The hallway is occupied by the incident. As such, we'll have to take the alternate route." That was new, at least. It wasn't particularly exciting, but Sofia was fine with that. Greylock looked disappointed when Layton opened a panel in the wall and led the students to an adjoining classroom, which opened on the hallway at the other side of the building. Well, technically the same hallway, but the other side of the square's edge, anyway.

Greylock looked wistfully at the windows in the far hallway and turned to Sofia. "Want to use a floating charm, jump, and say it was part of the drill?"

Sofia rolled her eyes and tugged him along without answering.

Eventually, they and the other classes were lined up on the brown lawn outside the building, and Layton was calling role. It was chilly out, chillier than it looked, and Sofia was glad she'd worn her robe, though she half wished it was Greylock's she'd chosen, given her friends were already giving her crap about it. ...On the other hand, that might seem too… no, not with her and Cedric as they were, and not with how fragile Cedric's ego tended to be. Not that he'd get jealous over Greylock, she imagined, not with how Grey was and the two were together, but… still. It didn't feel like a good idea.

Finally, one of the professors who apparently hadn't had a class at the moment, who'd apparently stayed behind to help fix whatever it was that happened, came out of the building to inform the other professors it was safe to return.

She was followed by a walking broom. The pushbroom had to take a lot of quick steps to make up for its short bristles, and one of its hands was occupied in holding a metal dustpan.

As it walked by the lines, it paused by Professor Layton's class, and waved frantically. Sofia recognized the broom, from her nighttime adventure with Cedric a few weeks ago.

She waved back, and it gave a thumbs up, and scuttled off to catch up with the professor, someone Sofia hadn't had. She was very large in about every way. Tall, thick, huge curly hair. Pink curly hair. Perhaps she was part elf? Not that it was actually Sofia's business.

Interrupting her train of thought, Greylock said, "...What was that about? You're friends with the brooms now?"

Sofia jumped and looked around, seeing that the students were slowly going back towards the building in loose groups. She started walking with Greylock and answered, "Iiit's a long story, actually."

Greylock scoffed and crossed his arms. "You're such a clam today, Sofia! Nothing on the wager, nothing now." He grinned and lightly elbowed her to show he wasn't upset, which was nice. She was nearly worried for a moment. "Keeping secrets from dear old me. What could you even have to hide, from me?" That… caught Sofia's attention, though she tried to cover her startle with a hopefully laugh less nervous than she felt, and by bringing her hand down to her side abruptly when she realized she was scratching at her neck.

"Ohh, you'll be the death of me, withholding these oh so important tidbits of your daily life, I daresay." The awkward moment had passed, and hopefully Greylock hadn't noticed the moment existed in the first place.

Sofia was able to laugh genuinely, and nudged him back. "Oh, please, like you tell me every little detail about your days, either."

It was his turn to laugh awkwardly. "I don't believe you'd want to hear a rather lot of that, honestly."

Smirking, Sofia said, "Try me."

Greylock hesitated, and his cheeks colored. "...No, well. I'm not… really comfortable sharing-"

Sofia poked Greylock in the chest as they started the stairs back to their classroom on the third floor, and he nearly unbalanced. She didn't give him any sympathy, despite his expression, and just said, "Hah! You don't tell me everything either, mister."

...And then Greylock still looked a bit upset, avoiding her gaze as he said, "Trust me, Sofia, you're better off not knowing anyhow."

"Oh. I didn't mean to upset you, Grey, I'm sorry," Sofia said, and at the top of the flight of stairs, paused to look him in the eyes and put a hand on his arm. Good thing they were at the tail end of the group of students, she thought, or this would have had to wait until the moment had passed, and the damage done.

He was still blushing as he looked at her, but he smiled. "No harm, no foul, dear Sof. I'm just… odd sometimes I suppose. A little like someone we know, hmm?" He laughed, a little too forcefully Sofia thought, but let it go. And anyway, this was Greylock, was there such a thing as 'too much' when it came to what he did, what he felt like, how he expressed himself?

Sofia grinned and tried to take Greylock's arm, but he shrugged her hand off and looked away. Perhaps she had been right, but she didn't know how to fix this - she didn't know what, exactly, she'd done wrong. Well, that wasn't quite true, she pried into his life beyond what he shared willingly. But what, exactly, caused this sudden - oh, she was over thinking, he was probably just not feeling well. Talk about turning into Cedric, she said, remembering Clover's words from the night she… the night a lot of things happened. 'Got the journal' would suffice for now.

Finally, they caught back up to the rest of the group and wandered back into the classroom, though Greylock seemed to be making a point of following Sofia somewhat closely, and was walking somewhat oddly. She couldn't figure out what that could possibly indicate, as far as body language went, though somewhere within the realm of 'upset' seemed obvious, at least.

Layton counted heads as they walked in and took their seats, and gave a satisfied nod; then he looked at the clock, and gave a slight frown. "There isn't really enough time to continue the lesson for today, I'm afraid." The class gave a badly-stifled cheer. "I'm afraid you'll have to do the problems on your own, or at least not within class time." A badly stifled groan. "Don't forget my office hours, I'm always available to help a student in need. The remaining ten minutes are yours to do with what you wish, whether that's to catch up on reading, or-" By this point in his sentence, most of the students were already at the door. "-Yes, that is a valid option."

Sofia had been one of the few students who hadn't rushed for the door, though she was gathering her books, if slowly. Greylock also still sat, staring intently at the large text book open on his lap.

"Good to see you still here, Mister Thorburn," Layton said to Greylock, "I honestly expected you to be out with the rest of them - not to say that there's anything wrong with that, mind. It's simply nice to see you dedicated to your studies, in the flesh."

Greylock looked up at Professor Layton, seemed to flinch a bit, nod, and turn his eyes downward towards the book again.

Layton nodded and looked over to Sofia. "You too, of course, Miss Balthazar, though your dedication is quite apparent regardless." He then went to personally address the other three students left, none of which Sofia knew particularly well.

By the time the bell rang, Greylock seemed to be in better sorts, at least. "I'm sorry about earlier," Sofia said, "I didn't mean to-"

Greylock cut her off. "Don't mention it. Really."

Sofia nodded. "So, I've got another class soon, but - do you want to swing by the drama department? It was hard to tell, but during the -it wasn't a drill, there was an actual magic accident, but what do you even call that?" Sofia shrugged. "Aaanyway, I was trying to say I thought I saw some papers up on the door to the theater. Do you think the play's cast has been posted?"

Greylock hummed in thought, and said, "I do believe you might be right. Onward!" He grabbed her hand and took off towards the stairs, and she was barely able to keep up. She may not have been able to figure out what was wrong with him earlier, but at least he'd bounced back in record time.

Soon, breathless but excited, the two stood looking at the page on the stage room doors. The character names, and the play itself, were something that neither Greylock nor Sofia recognized - nor were they expected to, as the character names had things like "[Leading Role]" next to them.

One such label was on the same line as "Greylock Thorburn", and the boy let out a rather high-pitched squeal as he grabbed Sofia in a bear hug.

She hugged him back, then they looked for her name on the list. She was on the right side, rather than the left, of the female lead's name - and had the additional label, "[Understudy]".

They almost missed that she had a minor but non-understudy role as well. Greylock congratulated her, and she tried to feel excited, but it was dulled in comparison to Greylock's own role. It shouldn't work like that, and she was probably not ready for a lead anyway. It would be good practice, at least, rehearsing as if she were.

"Well," she said, cheerfully, trying to mask her sinking heart, "I'd really better be off. But wow, lead! Aren't you something. Grats again, and seeya around!" She smiled and hurried off.

A/N: Shout-out to another fic in this chapter! If the author's not cool with that, I can take it out. Don't want to call out names, I just enjoy your work and am bad at showing it/being social. And to everyone, I hope you enjoy!