The next couple months were calm, almost perfect. Clarke avoiding getting injured and in turn avoided the infirmary. From September to November, he had a completely unexpected blast. He made more friends than he ever expected from Niko Midgeon: a fellow ravenous book reader who had a "mild" crush on an older Slytherin, to Phyllida Jorkins: a Hufflepuff who followed Quidditch the way Kaitlyn obsessed over football. While he could never tell any of these friends about his home life, it was still mind blowing to him that he wasn't targeted for some silly reason, like being smart.

Although being one of the more studious students in his class didn't make him a target, he still couldn't bring himself to achieve over the rest. While he definitely knew the material well and practically had it memorized, it was terrifying to think about what could happen if he tried to claim the spot of the top of the first years. Years of dealing with Jessica, caused him to become almost trained to keep a step back; but it didn't matter to him to take the spot because he didn't want to even tempt fate to turn his new friends against him.

Hope was a beautiful thing, an emotion of vivid colors and that when present caused the subject of the hope to feel like they were floating away from all the dangers of the world. For Clarke Torry, this hope felt new. While he always had his friends back in Mulberry, he knew that it was impossible for them to protect them from his family all the time. He had always understood that as much as they wanted to, they couldn't for various reasons. Clementine had student council, Austin had cricket practice almost every day, Kaitlyn was moving towards becoming an unforgettable football player, Ben had social obligations that at his status he couldn't ignore, and the other Gutierrez kids had things like work, scholarship essays, mountains of homework, and he knew he couldn't just rely on these high schoolers to ditch their own lives to help him. He had never had such overfilling hope and faith in life until he came to Hogwarts because Hogwarts felt like a dream.

Filled with hope, the burden of his home life was lifted from his shoulders and he became able to do the simple things in life without the constant fear of getting punished following his every movement. This hope caused the distress of not eating to disappear, it gave him the strength to talk to people he had never tried to speak with before, and it provided him with such bliss he let his guard down. From going to the library to read to studying with friends; every simple task stopped feeling like a miracle and more of a routine. He stopped focusing on footsteps, and his candles started to become rarely used because while his anxiety wasn't gone it became dormant. He learned to breathe without worry, and that itself was a blessing he had never expected.

It wasn't until the beginning of the snowfall and December, did this clarity end due to a red envelope delivered by a large dark feathered owl he had never seen before. When it dropped the letter on the table and flew away, his friends gave him wide-eyed looks. "Whoa! What did you do to receive a howler?" Anthony asked, unbelieving that his roommate who always made sure to stay out of trouble had gotten such a letter.

"A howler?" Clarke questioned flipping the envelope to look for the name of the sender.

"It's used to send anger and stuff, my parents sent me one after realizing I had taken some

money from them one time," John explained.

"Well don't keep us waiting, I want to know what you got one for! I bet it's because you checked out half the library," Paul joked. Hesitantly, Clarke opened the letter and it flew in front of his face.

"CLARKE LOUIS TORRY, HOW DARE YOU RUN AWAY! YOUR MOTHER AND I HAVE BEEN WORRIED TO OUR WITS END, WE HAD TO FIND OUT FROM DIEGO THAT YOU WENT TO FIND SOME IDIOTIC SCHOOL FROM YOUR STUPID FATHER'S FAIRYTALES?! IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ARSE BACK HERE RIGHT NOW, I WILL PERSONALLY GO AND FIND YOU AND DRAG YOU BACK HOME BY THE EAR!" the letter yelled, Baldric's voice echoing through the entire hall, capturing not only the Gryffindor table occupants' attention but also Slytherins and Ravenclaws.

Clarke began to shake at just the voice, barely even listening to the words. Once the letter erupted into flames, he went into a full blown panic, dashing out of the Great Hall and back to his dorm room to pack. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid to think that Hogwarts would actually last. It had only been a matter of time before Baldric found out from one of Kaitlyn's more naive cousins.

While Clarke hurried to pack, his roommates were left trying to figure out what had just happened. "What the bloody hell just happened?!" Paul asked looking over at Chris and the others.

"I almost forgot he had run away, he told me the day we met…" Chris mumbled trailing off as he stood up to leave and go help Clarke calm down knowing that his friend would probably be freaking out right now. Before the others could say another word, he left and made his way upstairs and to Clarke's side; leaving the others to deal with the various students who wanted to know the gossip on Clarke as well as his friends. Soon enough, the three remaining boys were crowded, causing Professor Perkins to stand up and press the tip of his wand to his neck to amplify his voice.

"Sit down! All of you, Paul, Anthony, John, follow me. Everyone else go back to your meal!" he yelled, watching the standing students scurry to their seats. Once the pathway to the boys was clear, he left from his spot at the teacher's table and walked to their side prior to gesturing them to follow him to his office. After a few minutes of silence, the group reached the professor's office and were told to sit down on the couch parallel to the teacher's desk.

"What happened?" he questioned raising an eyebrow at the boys.

"We don't know sir," John answered.

"We didn't even know he had run away," Paul admitted glancing at Anthony and nudging him as a hint to talk.

"What's going to happen?" Anthony asked in a soft almost scared tone. He had grown to like Clarke, he was funny and terrific despite the first impression.

"While we can't keep Clarke here against his parents' wishes, I will however not let him leave until I go and talk to his parents," the professor promised, causing the trio of frightened students to give a unified sigh of relief. "Go back to breakfast, I will handle this." and not too long later, the boys were gone. He then stood up and marched to Clarke's dorm, able to hear the sobs from all the way down the hall.

"Y-You d-don't understand!" Clarke cried, trembling hands shoving more clothes into the backpack he had first used to bring his things on the train.

"Shh.. everything will be okay…" Chris hushed, pulling his friend away from his things and helping him onto his bed. He left him sobbing there for a minute as he took the lavender candles from Clarke's nightstand and set them on top, lighting them with the wave of his hand. He then sat on the bed and lifted Clarke's head into his lap. "It's going to be okay…" he comforted. They had been sitting there for a few minutes by the time the professor walked in to see Clarke still bawling and shaking.

To keep from further frightening Clarke, Professor Perkins stayed at the end of his bed, keeping his focus on Chris. "Christopher, I'm going to bring Clarke to the infirmary, he needs a calming draught. Once he's asleep, I need you to tell me everything you know about his parents okay?" he explained, gently lifting the boy. "Teeky!" he called, summoning a little house elf wearing what looked to be an apron.

"Yes Master Perkins?" she asked looking up at him with large blue eyes.

"Tell Madam Gaudette I'm bringing a distressed student in and he'll need a calming draught," he ordered as he headed out of the room, with Chris at his side. After a quick nod, the house elf disappeared with a pop.