Zander mindlessly drifted off to sleep in his chair, the sun setting beautifully from the windows all around.

For a long while, he merely sat there, slumped back in his chair with his head against the wall, snoozing lightly with his mouth barely agape, his hand resting atop Alice's as she too remained lost to a cozy slumber.

Night fell outside, the many windows of the hospital wing darkening, lit now only by the dim ominous glow of starlight.

Then, Zander gulped, slowly blinking himself awake and spotting a figure standing over him.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness, scoping up and down the sleek, slender figure and recognizing him instantly.

"Mr. O'Heidin…?" he mumbled drearily.

"Eya, kiddo," Samuel replied, hands pocketed in his worn black overcoat, flashing his signature half-smile.

Zander blinked several times and straightened up in his chair, withdrawing his hand from Alice and facing Samuel more properly.

"I… ahm…" Zander muttered, trying to force himself fully awake. "What're you doing here?"

"Oh… you know how I got here," Samuel said with a laugh. "I believe you're familiar with my particular shortcut… involving flying and portkeys. Aruis sent an owl straight off. Soon as I got it, I made my way here."

Zander nodded mildly, rubbing his eyes and glancing over at the sleeping Alice.

"Right… she, ah… she's fine," Zander informed. "I thought it'd be worse… but she woke up and bounced right back. Took a potion and just fell straight to sleep."

"Aha. God save the hardheaded Irish," Samuel chuckled, raising a finger. "And… I've got a little something for you."

Zander blinked again, giving him an odd look. "For me?"

"Aye. Y'know, after I gave Alice her Christmas present… I got to thinking," Samuel said with a knowing smirk, reaching into his pocket. "And… it doesn't do much good to give a present like that unless it can be used both ways, eh?"

He pulled out an old carnival compass, identical to the one he'd given Alice, and he placed it in Zander's palm.

Zander stared down at it, then up at him.

"Takes a while to mend them just right… but I've been working on that one since Christmas," Samuel told him, nodding down at the compass. "Now you'll both be able to find each other… or me… whenever you might need to."

Zander gulped, managing a nod and closing his hand around it. "Thank you. But why…"

"Why you?" Samuel asked, as if he'd heard Zander's very thoughts. "Well… look around, my boy. You're here."

Zander straightened up more, glancing briefly across the darkened hospital wing and giving him a strange stare.

"There are a lot of people in this school… and a lot of people she's close to now," Samuel explained, grabbing the nearest chair and sliding it over, sinking down and sitting in it backwards. "But you're the one who's here… right here, right by her side. There's nobody more suited to carry that compass than you."

Zander swallowed again, biting his lip and dwelling on his thoughts. He glimpsed at Alice again, ensuring that she was still lost to a deep sleep, then took a deep breath and scooted a bit closer to Samuel.

"I need to confess something," Zander said very softly, releasing a deep cloud of breath.

Samuel stared at him thoughtfully, leaning forward and resting his chin on his arms, giving him a nod.

"I…" Zander murmured, clearing his throat and forcing the words out with some difficulty. "I ran into Mary-Lynn… the girl who did that to Alice, on the Quidditch field… and I… I know she did it on purpose. She's been antagonizing Alice for weeks. But when I saw her today, I… I was alone with her, right out in the hall. Nobody else was around, so I… I casted incarcerous on her… just for a moment… just to scare her. It worked… and it seemed like it really put the fear of God into her. I wanted to make sure she wouldn't pull anything like this again, and I think I succeeded in that… but I can't help but wonder if… if I did the right thing or not."

Samuel nodded gently, staring down and raising a finger over his mouth as he pondered on this, his fingers decorated with the usual series of tacky carnie rings he always wore, sparkling dimly in the starlight.

"I believe… that the right thing is often grayer than people like to see," Samuel whispered. "It's fairly rare to do any action that is purely right and correct. Sometimes… you have few options… so you just have to take the ones you have. If that's all you could do to protect someone you care about… then, well… that's all you could do."

Zander nodded as he spoke, frowning and sighing before he replied. "I don't feel quite right about attacking a girl."

"Nor would I," Samuel said with a laugh. "But she really could've killed Alice today."

"Right—exactly," Zander agreed. "She can't just saunter about thinking she can attack my friends whenever she wants. If she gets away with it, then she'll just do it again."

"Aye… I understand," Samuel told him. "It's never pleasant to do things like that… and you always want to try to steer situations away from them unraveling in that way. But, when you can't… then, like I said… you just do whatever you can do. God willing, it won't come to that again. I mean… if she's properly frightened of you now, then she shouldn't do it again… but that might not be the whole of it, honestly."

"Really?" Zander asked curiously. "How's that, then?"

"Well…" Samuel nodded sideways. "I did speak to Arius briefly before I came down here… and he's not very happy at all. I imagine little miss Mary-Lynn might face some consequences farther than the ones you bestowed upon her. They might expel her, if we're lucky. But, if nothing else, they'll at least give her a stern talking-to… not to mention her peers in school won't be looking favorably on her now."

"Won't they?" Zander uttered, thinking of Mary-Lynn's pack of followers. "She's got a lot of popularity here."

"Well… maybe not so much now," Samuel shrugged. "Bludgeoning a seeker is dirty pool… and nearly killing a girl who the whole school's grown to adore isn't likely to win her a lot of cool points, even among the Slytherins. Don't forget… you and Alice rescued the head of the Slytherin house from a dark wizard, and the whole school loves you both for that. The Slytherins quite like Professor Crowley… and, by extension, I bet they quite like the two of you for trying to save him. Even though the Slytherins like to play dirty… they don't like to play dirty against the people they support. No one does. And, I think… all these things considered… Mary-Lynn will be put rightly in her place soon. We needn't dwell on her much anymore."

Zander nodded down at his hand, his thumb stroking gently along the surface of the carnival compass he held.

Samuel glanced down at it, sighing and adjusting in his seat.

"She did tell me," he muttered. "What she plans to do next year."

Zander's eyes flickered back up to him. "Did she…?"

Samuel made a nod. "And… she also told me that you wanted to do it instead of her."

Zander stared, saying nothing.

"But y'know," Samuel added, holding up a finger and revealing his signature smirk again. "Nobody in the Twiwizard Tournament ever follows the rules to the letter. If they did, then there'd be a lot more casualties in that game. Everyone in that game always finds a way to get help… and they always have support from someone, regardless what the rules are. Nobody in their right mind would go up against those dastardly tasks without soliciting a bit of help from elsewhere. So… I figured… if either of you end up in that tournament, then both of you having a compass is a good start to making sure you have whatever help you need when the time comes."

Zander slowly nodded, slipping the compass into his pocket. "You don't put much stock in any rules, do you?"

Samuel laughed. "I wouldn't have a thriving business if I did."

Zander smirked and let out a chuckle—and then, Alice began to stir, moaning and turning over before she blinked herself awake.

"Oy," Samuel grinned, standing and meandering around her bed. "Had a bit of a nasty fall, did you? I heard your hard head saved you proper injury today."

"Dad…" Alice mumbled, sitting upright. "Where'd you come from…?"

"From home, loonytoon," Samuel cackled, tapping his temple. "They really scrambled your eggs, didn't they?"

"Shut uuup," Alice groaned at him, yawning and reaching up to him like a toddler who wanted to be lifted.

Samuel hunched over and embraced her, the two of them sharing a loving hug.

Then, Samuel leaned back and rustled her already askew hairs, making her scoff out a laugh and swat his hand away before patting her hairs back down.

Seconds after—there was a gentle knock at the door.

The three of them turned their heads and gazed across the room.

Moments later, the doors creaked open, and a group of people walked inside—Tobias, James, Rose, and Lorcan, strolling toward Alice's bed as the doors swung shut.

"Where have you lot been?" Zander asked. "You're not supposed to wander the castle at night."

The four of them exchanged faces.

"Ve did not want to… disturb you," Tobias told him. "We vanted to let you two have a bit of time alone before we visited."

"And… I was hungry," James mumbled, slowly raising his hand. "I brought a bit of dinner back from the great hall, though. Got some fried chicken in my pocket if you want some."

Zander's mouth opened, gently shaking his head. "No… thanks… I'm good…"

"How'd you get here at night without getting in trouble?" Alice wondered.

"I'm a prefect," Rose shrugged with a smug little smile. "It might've just slipped past my notice that this whole group of people wandered here on my watch."

Alice giggled.

"I like her," Samuel laughed, waving a finger at Rose.

"Her?" James scoffed. "I'm the one who talked her into it."

"Yes… he is our token rule-breaker," Lorcan affirmed, shaking James's shoulder. "And I can vouch for that with several stories."

"Nooo—not now, 'cuz I've got a way better story to tell," James grinned, leaning over Alice's bedside. "Mary-Lynn went to dinner, and she was strutting about as proud as can be, smiling with her nose in the air and all—but y'know what happened?"

Alice shook her head.

"She got the cold shoulder—from literally—everyone," James snickered. "All her little girlfriends snarled up their faces at her, and they started talking really loud and mean about her until she cried and ran off. I managed to peg the back of her head with a biscuit on the way out. Bloody good aim, too. Everyone cheered when she left! Ha!"

Rose chimed in, telling even more of the story in detail—and while she did, Samuel gave a subtle glimpse over to Zander, smirking and raising his brows.

"What'd I tell you?" he uttered.

Zander chuckled and nodded.

As the night carried on, they all talked and laughed with one another until they eventually grew tired—and then, Rose led them all back to their houses, careful to avoid the areas where prefects often patrolled.

As the other students retired for the night, Samuel remained by his daughter's bedside, talking to her for hours until she eventually drifted back to sleep.

Then, after a gentle kiss to her forehead, Samuel turned on his heel and marched off, intending to return home before sunrise.

The day following the Quidditch game—despite that Slytherin had won the final game of the year—a sense of Hufflepuff pride seemed to be in the air, and numerous people congratulated Alice in passing, complimenting her apparently unkillable nature and showering her with praise due to her great scoring streak.

Zander was alongside her, sparing brief smiles and waves to all these people, and he felt glad that things had diffused since yesterday—especially since Mary-Lynn was keeping her distance now. And, since no teachers had approached Zander and pulled him aside today, he assumed that Mary-Lynn must not have told anyone about their confrontation. He and Alice had managed to dodge several bullets in the past twenty-four hours, and he smirked proudly, thinking of this and marching along comfortably at her side.

Apart from the more exciting conversations, there was also a lot of talk about final exams in the air, as well as the much anticipated lesson with the dementor in Defense Against the Dark Arts. In fact, there was a rumor floating around that Crowley planned to reveal the dementor today.

When they arrived in Crowley's class, Alice and Zander stood with the rest of their friends at the front of the group—and Mary-Lynn was by herself along the group's edge, no longer hovering beside her once faithful pack of followers.

Another student raised their hand from the back, and Crowley gave him a nod.

"Is it true we're fighting the dementor today?" the student asked, many others looking to the professor with intrigue, eager to hear his answer.

"Well." Crowley smirked and nodded sideways. "Everyone in this classroom has at least managed a shield patronus… and a few of you have created a full-body one. I think it's time to try using them for real. Expecto patronum!"

He waved his wand, and everyone watched as his tiny white bat appeared from thin air, circling around him once before landing swiftly on his shoulder.

"Although… I do have to warn you," Crowley added, raising a finger and giving the students an intense sort of look. "The moment that creature is loose in this room… you will feel it. Even if it's not targeting you… even if it's not focused on you… its mere presence can make all joy and levity leave the room at once. That makes it more difficult to produce the patronus… but… well, now we're going to see which of you can overcome. All of you… go ahead and practice a bit. Warm yourselves up before we get to the hard part. Go on."

The students all began to disperse into smaller groups, just as they had been for every Defense Against the Dark Arts class lately.

Tobias grinned as he produced another shield patronus, and now, many other students were instantly able to create one as well.

Alice and Zander traded looks, raised their wands, and cast the spell in unison.

"Expecto patronum!"

Both of them created great bursts of light—and two canines appeared on either side, the dog and the wolf galloping across the room side by side, making many students shriek and laugh as they flew past. The dog and wolf patronuses appeared to be racing one another, shortly before they fused together into a great swirl of light and dissipated.

"Aw… God blind me!" Alice yelled, turning and gaping at Zander. "My dad was here last night, and I forgot to tell him! I forgot to tell him about this! He'd pop his top if he knew we could both make a patronus now!"

"Well… put it in a letter," Zander replied, still wearing his smirk and feeling oddly content today. "Or wait until you go home. Year's almost over. You can tell him soon."

"Aye," Alice smiled, turning and watching Tobias just when he chanted the spell again.

Zander observed them for a moment, then glanced across the room—spotting Mary-Lynn standing along the far wall, hovering beneath one of the enormous windows and absentmindedly waving her wand around in front of her. She muttered the spell several times, but now, her patronus seemed unwilling to appear anymore.

Zander stared, his smile fading, releasing a deep cloud of breath.

Then, he strode across the room and approached her, slowing to a stop a few feet away.

Mary-Lynn glimpsed up at him, stiffening in her stance and looking somewhat on-guard.

"Change it," Zander advised.

Mary-Lynn eyed him, gulping and tilting her head. "Change… what…?"

"The thought," Zander clarified, gesturing to her wand. "Change the thought you used. Make it something better. Make it… something real."

Mary-Lynn glared into him for several seconds, gnawing her lip and sighing deeply.

"Is that what you do?" she murmured.

Zander paused, resisting the urge to glance back at Alice, and he made a nod. "Yeah. It is. Works like a charm."

At that, he faced away and returned to Alice and Tobias, the three of them practicing for a short while longer along with the rest of the class.

Alice then lowered her wand, turning to Zander interestingly. "Whaddid you talk to her about?"

Zander sighed, sparing a subtle glimpse across the room toward Mary-Lynn, who was only just managing to make small bursts of light again.

"It's kind of a… long story," Zander mumbled to Alice. "I scared the life outta her yesterday. I guess I feel bad. So… I was just giving her pointers."

"Oh… okay," Alice nodded, then shot him another quizzical look. "How did you scare her?"

Zander opened his mouth, then looked aside and saw Crowley standing nearby. "Ah… I'll tell you later."

"All right!" Crowley proclaimed, raising an arm and gathering everyone's attention again. "I think we're ready for the big finale. Who wants to go first?"

"I do!" James called out, swaggering up to the front. "Perfect family track record. Let's go!"

Crowley flicked his wand a few times—locking the door, closing the windows, and sealing the room up tightly, ensuring that the dementor could not escape the class once released. Then, he slowly moved back, motioning for all the students to form a line behind James, gently reaching down to the locks on the huge trunk.

Zander and Alice stood closely behind James, everyone else lining up behind them—and Crowley turned the first lock, then the second. When he placed his hand to the final lock, he glanced up from the trunk, giving the students a look of severity.

"This is the real deal," he warned. "So react accordingly."

Everyone nodded, and Crowley's bat patronus began to ascend, hovering directly above the clearing between the students and the trunk.

James gulped and braced himself, his wand at the ready.

Then—Crowley turned the final lock, stepped back, and swung the trunk wide open.

At once—every light in the room seemed to dim, a swift coldness infecting the once warm atmosphere, and a great, black figure unraveled from within the trunk, rising up and craning its hooded head over the student nearest him.

James gazed up at the horrid figure, his mouth drifting agape, looking almost drained all the sudden—but then, he found his bearings, gritted his teeth, and cast the spell.

"Expecto patronum!"

A blinding white shield erupted from his wand—pushing the dementor back and slowly forcing it downward. James maintained the shield and slowly guided it further down, and finally, the dementor sank back into the trunk—Crowley slamming it shut from behind.

The lights in the room easefully began to brighten again, the cold gloom slowly leaving the atmosphere—and everyone stared in silence, glancing between James and the trunk and saying nothing.

Then, James sighed, lowering his wand and giving Crowley a look.

"What happened?" he asked. "I've been making a stag all week. Now I can't make one anymore. What happened…?"

"I told you," Crowley said seriously. "It's considerably more difficult to make a patronus when all the positivity is being drained out of the air. It's much harder to produce the patronus when you're actually in the presence of a dementor… but, you did still manage to make one, which is very good."

"So… what… I can't make the stag when there's an actual dementor?" James tried to understand. "What good is that?"

"You can still do it," Crowley corrected. "It's just more difficult. Takes practice. Now, who's going next?"

"No—hold on," James said, swatting the air. "Let me do it one more time. Can I?"

Crowley shrugged and nodded. "If you like."

He leaned down and unlocked the trunk again—and once more, everything grew darker and colder, the black hooded figure rising out of the trunk a second time.

James gripped his wand tight, took a deep breath, and yelled the incantation with confidence.

"Expecto patronum!"

This time—the light expanded much larger, and the shape of a stag began to form, manifesting great bursts of light and forcing the dementor away with greater power.

Once the stag managed to shove the dementor fully downward—Crowley slammed the trunk shut yet again, quickly locking it and standing upright, releasing a breath and brandishing a thumbs-up.

"On your second try," Crowley said exasperatedly, flashing a smile. "Well done."

James grinned.

"I'll beat that," Zander mumbled to Alice.

"Me first," Alice smirked in response.

James sauntered past them toward the back of the line, trading a high-five with Alice and Locran both in passing.

Then, Alice stepped forward, facing the trunk and clasping her wand tightly.

Crowley gave her a nod, unlocked the trunk, and flung it open once more.

The dementor arose from within, darkening everything around—and for a second, everything eluded her, every happy feeling and every conforting memory she so often relied on.

Then—without thinking—her free hand wandered backward, her fingers gently grazing the fabric of Zander's sleeve.

Feeling him there—it seemed to click everything back into place.

"Expecto patronum!"

Alice shot off the spell—and it evolved into the giant brilliant dog in an instant, the great white creature blasting over the dementor and forcing it down into the trunk with exceptional force.

Crowley loudly shut the trunk, then gave it a hard slap and congratulated Alice with pride.

Everyone else clapped for her, and Alice meandered toward the back with a smile, slapping Zander's hand smoothly as she ventured past him.

Then—Zander stood before the trunk, bracing himself and clutching his wand.

He found himself indulging in every warm memory that had flooded his mind that night in the Slytherpuff room—feeling primed by them all the moment Crowley opened the trunk.

The dementor barely managed to arise before—

"Expecto patronum!"

Zander chanted the spell with confident resolve—and the massive white wolf appeared at once, blasting the dementor back and nearly slamming it into the trunk's open lid.

Zander slowly lowered his wand, and the light of the patronus wolf seemed to consume the dementor, closing in around it before sealing it into the trunk altogether.

Crowley kicked it shut and locked it, then gave Zander a ravenous round of applause.

Everyone else clapped for him as well, and he wore a cool half-smile as he wandered to the back of the line.

This continued for a long while; Tobias created a shield patronus, and after a big of difficulty, he managed to force the dementor downward, just as the students before him had. Next was Lorcan, who also created a shield and performed the act the same way Tobias had—and from there, student after student conjured their patronuses, some of their shields fading a bit too quickly, which forced the bat patronus to intervene and finish the job of sealing the dementor away.

After a long while of this—Mary-Lynn sheepishly wandered forward, holding her wand to her chest and frowning, seeming to lack the air of confidence she usually carried around with ease. Now, she appeared hesitant, doubtful, and almost frightened of the task before her.

Zander, who was now standing in line with all his friends, leaned over to the side and stared at the front of the room—seeing that it was now Mary-Lynn's turn to face the dementor.

He paused, swallowing and wondering if he ought to call out, to gather Crowley's attention and tell him that Mary-Lynn wasn't up to the task today—but, after all he'd done to her, he didn't want to further embarrass her now.

Honestly, he didn't like the girl at all—and he hated what she'd done to Alice—but just as well, he'd already done a lot to her, terrifying her to the bone as well as helping to destroy her reputation. Announcing to the class that she was the only person here who wasn't good enough to face the dementor—that would only add onto the list of mean things he'd done to her already.

Besides—she wasn't a child. If she wasn't feeling capable today, then she could simply opt out of the task by herself. Mary-Lynn wasn't his responsibility, after all.

So—Zander kept quiet, and Alice, Tobias, James, Lorcan, and Rose all peered up at the front along with him, watching with rapt anticipation.

"I—I don't want to," Mary-Lynn sputtered suddenly, backing away and shaking her head. "Not right now. I can't do it right now."

Crowley's eyes narrowed at her. "Are you sure? You've been bragging about your serpent patronus all week long. I thought you'd be the first to give it a go."

"No," Mary-Lynn breathed, her eyes filling with tears. "No…!"

At that—she spun on her heel and sprinted past everyone, running across the room and scrambling to unlock the door before she ran out into the hallway.

Everyone watched her go—her former group of girlfriends laughing snidely at her as she fled the classroom—and Zander and Alice exchanged faces, raising their brows and saying nothing.

James peeked back at the laughing pack of Slytherin girls, then faced his friends again and shrugged. "Well, serves her right. She's treated people like trash as long as she's been here. She's getting a taste of her own medicine now."

The others nodded in response—all except for Alice, who was staring sadly at the door where Mary-Lynn had disappeared moments ago.

"Kinda feel bad for her," Alice mumbled without thinking.

Zander and James blinked, both of them wearing the same expressions of bewilderment and ogling her bizarrely.

"I dunno," Alice uttered with a shrug. "I don't feel that bad for her… it's just… it's just kinda sad to watch. Y'know?"

James cocked his head, Rose and Locran both staring at her oddly.

Zander, however, let out a heavy cloud of breath, nodding mildly and feeling as if he understood her meaning perfectly.

"Well… all right," Crowley said, straightening up and flourishing his wand, locking the door again. "I suppose she's skipping her turn. Who's next, now…?"

As another student stepped forward to face the dementor—Alice and her friends chatted quietly among themselves in the middle of the line, all except for Zander, who was now staring back at the classroom door with a deep, thoughtful look on his face.

Alice stopped talking to Tobias, turning and spotting Zander's intense visage.

"What?" she asked.

Zander glanced at her, then at the door again, his brow hardening.

"Dunno," he muttered. "Just seems like a bit of an overreaction."

"What… her running off?" Alice tried to clarify, waving loosely toward the door.

"Yeah." Zander met her eyes, looking serious. "Y'know… I felt bad because she seemed really put out, after… after I threatened her…"

"You threatened her?"

"Shhh," Zander hissed, waving her down and giving a quick glance to the front of the room. "I felt bad for doing that, especially since she seems so affected by it… but, what she just did… what she just did made me think… maybe she's just full of it."

Alice paused, tilting her head and giving him a look of confusion.

"She wouldn't do that," Zander elaborated, nodding back at the door. "She'd stick to her guns even if her little girlfriends don't like what she's doing. She's proud in that way. But what she's doing now… I dunno, it… it just seems like overkill. Like she's trying to put on a show."

"Yeah?" Alice asked uncertainly. "What makes you think so…?"

"Mainly just that," Zander told her, gesturing to the door again. "Like… why run off? She could've just said no and stepped back. But she made a scene and took off instead. Just doesn't seem like her."

"Maybe she just feels guilty," Alice suggested.

Zander sighed grimly, thinking of Mary-Lynn's behavior outside of the hospital wing and shaking his head. "No. She doesn't. She didn't care what she did at all."

"Listen here, children," James chimed in, leaning forward and glancing between the two. "I don't think Mary-Sue-Lynn has a conscience at all. What she just did definitely looked like a show. But see—why put on a show? What would be the point?"

"Attention," Lorcan shrugged. "She loves attention."

"Ah… but do not forget, she loves prideful attenzion," Tobias added, raising a finger. "And zat… zat was not prideful. Zat was pitiful, what she just did. Pitiful attenzion is not vhat she usually goes for."

"What is this?" Rose whispered, hunching closer and glimpsing between them all. "A Scooby Doo mystery? Why're we so focused on this?"

"Well, Rose… to be frank, I've defeated a freaking dementor today, and now I'm just waiting for class to be over," James chided. "So, yes, I'm bored enough to over-analyze another student's behavior and call it detective work."

"Tobias is right," Zander murmured distantly, glaring at the door yet again. "Acting like that isn't in her character… even if she is upset. She wouldn't do that without a reason."

"Maybe she wanted to skip the rest of class," Alice shrugged. "It's a sly way of just getting out of here. And Slytherins do everything the sly way."

"Zander," Rose said gently, giving him a soft tap on the shoulder. "You talked to Mary-Lynn at the start of class, didn't you?"

Zander blinked and turned to her. "Ah… yeah. Just for a second."

Rose wore a thoughtful visage. "What did you say?"

"Um… I was just giving her advice on how to recreate her patronus," Zander told her. "Why?"

Rose nodded, pausing to think and waving a finger at him.

"Mary-Lynn might be overthinking that little encounter," she said. "And… after you showed her some kind of attention, even just a little bit… then she might think you'll go running after her if she makes a sad scene. Maybe that's what she wants."

Zander's eyes narrowed, his mouth easing open and his expression growing confused.

James and Lorcan both had the same baffled looks on their faces, and Tobias adjusted his glasses, looking lost as well. The four boys all stared at Rose uncertainly—but Alice, however, was nodding along in agreement with her.

"Fair point," Alice said, giving Rose another nod. "That's how girls think sometimes."

Zander shot her a double-take. "Really…?"

Alice choked out a laugh. "Aye. I mean… it's a bit desperate… but girls think that way a lot when they're feeling really put out."

"Especially teenaged girls," Rose added knowingly.

Zander, Tobias, James, and Lorcan all stared at the girls incredulously.

"That's mad," Zander exhaled.

"Well… to be fair, you have to be a special kind of insecure to sink that low," Rose tacked on. "But, since Mary-Lynn is always covering everything up with a lot of pride, I bet she has a lot of insecurities deep down. Then again, maybe we're all overthinking it, and she really did just want to get out of class. Who knows."

"Oy… speaking of breaking the rules," James said, forming a smirk. "Uncle Ron sent me another butt-load of those, ah… special chocolates. See, unlike his daughter, Uncle Ron actually knows how to live."

"Oh… shut up," Rose said in such a curt and matter-of-fact way, it could've made her mother proud. "I already told you… I am not eating any of those."

"Ah-huh—and that's why I'm not talking to you, smart one," James quipped in response, pointing between Zander, Alice, Tobias, and Lorcan. "I have four friends right here."

"Oh Christ…" Lorcan sighed, rubbing his temple. "You really wanna get Alice peshed again? She tends to start ungodly infernos when intoxicated."

"Which is why we need a better environment for it this time," James knew, giving Zander and Alice a mischievous look. "Like… a room that can transform and do instant magical damage control at a moment's notice."

Alice opened her mouth to reply—

"No," Zander stated instantly.

Everyone stared at him.

The line toward the front of the class inched onward, and the group of six meandered a few feet forward along with everyone else in front of them, Zander sighing and shaking his head, avoiding the lingering eyes of his friends.

"That room is the greatest safe haven in the castle… and possibly in the entire world," Zander grumbled to his friends. "I'd like to not fill it up with drunk idiots and catch the whole bloody place on fire."

"But you'll be one of those drunk idiots," James pestered, giving his shoulder a shake. "And, if not… then you can babysit the drunk idiots. C'mon, mate. None of us have ever even seen the Slytherpuff room."

"Ahm… I have," Tobias mumbled, sheepishly raising his hand.

"Right, yeah, okay—but none of us have," James corrected, motioning between himself, his cousin, and his best friend. "Why're we being chumped out? Is it because we all have famous last names? You hate famous people? I think that's racist or something."

Zander groaned and tossed his head back, rolling his eyes and facing them. "No, look, that room is just for…"

He trailed off, gulping and falling silent.

"Just for what?" Rose asked, glimpsing over at Alice, then back. "Just for you two?"

Zander's mouth opened, his cheeks beginning to burn. Then he scoffed, sighing irritably and shaking his head. "No. No… forget it. You guys can come. I don't care."

"Whoa—all right!" James rejoiced, punching the air with delight. "Zander's letting us behind his antisocial barriers! It's a miracle!"

"Hold on, James," Rose whisper-yelled, smacking her cousin on the arm. "Zander doesn't seem like he actually wants us there."

Zander was facing fully forward again, abandoning the conversation and pretending he couldn't hear them any longer.

Alice spared him a look, then sighed and faced the other four. "It's not that he doesn't want you there. It's just… that room's always been the only getaway we've ever had… and we didn't have a bunch of friends until this year. Before this year, everyone was usually just kinda mean to us… or ignored us. It was the only place we could get away from people like Beckly and Mary-Lynn… and it's been that way for five straight years. Inviting people in is just… not… something we're used to."

Tobias gave her an empathetic look, James's expression hardening, Lorcan seeming thoughtful, and Rose looking rather sympathetic.

Zander remained faced toward the front of the room with his back to his friends—but he, too, wore a deeply thoughtful visage, listening to them intently as they spoke just behind him, gnawing the inside of his lip and repressing a heavy cloud of breath.

"It's okay," Rose said sweetly, offering Alice a smile. "We don't wanna make you guys uncomfortable or anything. If the room's just for you two… then… it's just for you two."

"I didn't…"

Zander cleared his throat and shook his head, wheeling around and eyeing his friends, feeling both annoyed and conflicted.

"I didn't say that," Zander told them all, his eyes shooting from one friend to another.

Alice, Rose, Tobias, James, and Lorcan all stared back at him expectantly.

"Then vhat are you saying?" Tobias wondered.

"Yeah," James said, sounding uncharacteristically serious now. "What?"

They all maintained this long and uneven staring contest, forgetting to move onward in line. The rest of the class continued meandering forward, leaving the six of them behind, all of them now lingering in the back of the classroom by themselves, most of them staring into Zander and waiting for him to answer.

Zander let out another agitated sigh, rolling his neck and fidgeting with the sleeve of his robe.

He didn't say it aloud, nor did anyone else—but it seemed obvious that they had all found themselves at a crossroad now, wherein the deepness and sincerity of their friendship would have a light shined onto it, and it would become clear just how much Zander trusted them, or just how much he really wanted them around.

For many weeks now, he hadn't spoken a word about it—but he and Alice were no longer loner friends of two anymore, no longer just an outcast duo. All these other people had been paling around with them for quite a while—and it seemed unfair of him to push them away now.

Still—Alice was right. Inviting others in, whether it was into his tiny circle of friendship or into his only safe getaway in Hogwarts, was not an easy thing for him to do.

In fact—it was something he'd never done, not since the day he met Alice five long years ago.

But, he couldn't deny… he'd found himself smirking, even laughing, far more often nowadays. He couldn't argue against the fact that having friends around simply made him happier. The camaraderie that he'd craved as a child, that he'd waited many years to find, was finally attempting to grab hold of him.

He couldn't know why it was so difficult for him to accept now.

But, nevertheless, he managed a nod, sighing deeply and trading eyes with all of them.

"I'm… sorry. I'm just not used to having friends," Zander conceded, his voice low and soft. "But… you… y'know what?"

Alice and Tobias stared with interested looks, Rose tilting her head while James and Lorcan shot him a questioning squint.

"I think… we need a game," Zander stated. "Cards… or wizard's chess… or something. I don't want a bunch of drunken lunatics casting spells all over my favorite room."

Alice's eyes began to light up, Tobias's brows raising while the other three exchanged faces.

"Does that mean you… want us there?" James tried to clarify.

Zander gulped roughly, nodding again. "Yes, I just… I don't want the place destroyed. So bring a game. No shooting spells all over the place. We'll just play a game."

"Oh my God, you guys," Alice beamed, sauntering over to Zander's side and pointing excitedly at him. "This is him being sincere. Ahhh, you've no idea how big of a deal this is!"

"All right," Zander grumped, blushing and turning away from everyone. "Jesus Christ…"

"N'aaaw," James grinned broadly, nudging his knuckles into Zander's arm. "You're just a big ol' softie underneath the… y'know… the terrifying exterior."

"Ha… I think he is," Rose agreed. "I think he's really sweet, and he just has no idea how to show it."

"Yes… zat is Zander," Tobias affirmed. "In a… how you say… nutshell."

"Oh, God… I know how he feels," Lorcan laughed, observing Zander from behind. "You guys are embarrassing the ruddy hell out of him right now."

Alice snickered, draping her arms around Zander and squeezing him tightly.

James leaped forward and did the same, snapping his arms around them and nearly knocking the two of them over.

Tobias laughed and joined in, and Rose and Lorcan did the same seconds later—and then all the sudden, everyone was swarming Zander from every side, trapping him in a gigantic awkward hug that was beginning to smother him.

"Oh—go to hell!" Zander exclaimed, breaking free and scrambling away.

Alice and Rose exploded into giggles, James and Tobias laughing bombastically while Lorcan chuckled quietly and shook his head at the floor.

Zander leaned against the nearest table with his arms folded, grinding his teeth in agitation.

But, then his eyes ventured upward, landing on his friends—Alice sniggering and beaming away, Rose releasing a high-pitched laugh right beside her, James and Tobias filling the back of the room with loud echoing chortles, and Lorcan smiling while he hung his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Zander stared at them all, cracking a smirk and scoffing out the faintest hint of a laugh.