As it turned out, it took until the test in question for Avery to disappear from the study group. When he'd shown up and seen the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors he'd groaned and grumbled and made a huge show of either ignoring them or putting up with them. Tom thought he may have heard some fondness for Chadwick a couple of times in passing, but once the test was upon them and Avery passed with a halfway decent score, the only time he'd pop in was on Tuesdays afternoon when it was generally just the Slytherins. And even then it was only when he was quite desperate.

Tom only told Mia and Tammy about Merrythought's offer of extra credit, and it wasn't mentioned again because by then the rest of the professors had picked up Merrythought's mindset and was making them begin their revisions and studying for their first finals, marking the end of their first-year term. Which brought dread to Tom for a completely other reason from everyone else. When they were a month out and Professor Slughorn didn't come around asking if anyone would like to stay at Hogwarts for the summer holidays, Tom felt a lump in his stomach. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that they likely didn't let anyone stay after the end of the term since it would be a two and a half month break, but he still sought out his head of house and asked- nearly pleaded- if he could stay.

Of course, it was a resounding no. Professor Slughorn offered his sympathies but promised that none of the students were allowed to stay at Hogwarts between terms and that he would be required to head back on the Hogwarts Express, but not to worry, his guardians would be notified of the day and time to retrieve him from King's Cross. He also explained that either he or Professor Dumbledore would be by to deliver the funds for his school supplies for the next year.

Tom had little to no worry about his finals in comparison to this problem, and he didn't have anyone he could truly discuss it with in detail since everyone outside of his professors assumed he would be going home to see his nonexistent uncle in London. Except for one person.

"Question for you," Tom asked Chadwick one Saturday as the study group took a bathroom break, "One of my guardians is supposed to pick me up at King's Cross the day we get back."

"That's not a question," Chadwick said, still scribbling on a drawing of a dragon he'd started earlier.

Tom sighed and rolled his eyes, wanting to get through it before anyone came back to the table, "Yeah, I know, I wanted to know if we could tell everyone that you and your mum will be dropping me off at my uncle's."

Chadwick looked up from the drawing and tilted his head and then nodded. "Yeah, I suppose- you owe me though."

"Obviously," Tom agreed. "But let's make it double then. Apparently either Professor Dumbledore or Professor Slughorn will be by to bring me by Diagon Alley for my supplies for next year- but maybe I could go when you and your mum go, in case I see someone and they wonder why I'm off with a professor."

"Fair enough," Chadwick said, adding flames coming from the mouth of the dragon. "You have to stop by and visit though."

"What?" Tom asked, confused by the request.

"My house," Chadwick clarified, "I think my mum is worried that I'm not socializing enough," He said the word with a tinge of annoyance to it. "I think it would calm her out a bit if she saw I had someone I was actually communicating with instead of ignoring."

"I think I can manage that-" Tom had gotten on well with Chadwick over the winter break and continued on through the second semester, and it would be nice to have a place besides Wool's to be around at. "I'll get your address from you, you don't need to nip by mine, it's not exactly a great place."

"I imagine," Chadwick said with a look and tilted his head as Delaney slid back into her seat next to Tom. "Ah, so you didn't fall in the toilet Royston?" He drawled, making the Slytherin girl blush scarlet. Tom ignored them as the rest of the group came back and they went back to studying.

The rest of the year came and went without much to report. They studied, Quidditch was played, they took their finals and the Hufflepuffs won the Quidditch Cup. At the farewell feast, the Great Hall was decorated in blues and bronze, large Ravenclaw banners hanging above all the tables and around the room and Headmaster Dippet gave his end of the year speech and Tom ate entirely too much food.

Nott, Mulciber and Avery were too busy comparing their plans for the summer to pay him any attention that night and the next morning and Sable and Delaney gave him a small wave that morning at breakfast but otherwise left him be. By the time they were loading onto the carriages, he was already safe in a group with Mia and Tammy, as well as Lyall and Chadwick. The ride to the station felt much shorter than the boat ride to the school had been at the beginning of the term, though he was certain it had more to do with the nerves he'd felt taking that boat ride.

Once they pulled their trunks from the horseless carriages and got them loaded onto the train, Tom expected Lyall and Chadwick to drift off and find their own compartment, perhaps with a group of Gryffindors, but they didn't and instead the five of them found an empty one and claimed it for their own.

Tammy unlatched the wicker carry case for Kelly, releasing the loud white cat into the compartment and he kneaded Lyall's lap for a little before deciding Tom's was the best place to shed his fur, flopping haplessly about, demanded to be pet.

"You're lucky I'm wearing my khakis," Tom teased, scratching the cat under the chin.

"You're lucky he's too stupid to function," Tammy shot back, already busting out one of Tom's decks of cards she'd gotten him for Christmas. She shuffled them loudly and Kelly meowed as if offended by his master's insult.

The whistle sounded and the group paused as the train lurched, beginning its journey back to King's Cross. Tom wondered for a moment if the training stayed at the Hogsmeade station through the year or if it was used for anything else, but was quickly distracted by a game of exploding snap. He didn't even have time to dwell on the fact that Hogwarts was growing smaller and smaller in the distance until it disappeared from sight completely. He didn't think about how much he was going to miss the school until later that afternoon, with Kelly still on his lap and Lyall asleep on the chair next to him, Mia and Tammy leaning on each other as they drifted in and out of sleep.

It had been the best year of his life so far, and he only hoped, for probably the millionth time, that he wouldn't wake up to find that it had all been a dream.

A/N: Apologies again for posting late- I mentioned I was very busy last weekend, but it was more so this weekend, with Halloween coming up. I should be more free next weekend and up until Thanksgiving so I'll be on time until then- but a head's up that I will be on a cruise from November 29th (my birthday) until December 8th, so my plan is to make a post on Thanksgiving on the 28th, but then won't be able to post again until I get back on Sunday the 8th. I just wanted to give that heads up now. Also, this is, as of right now, literally the shortest chapter of the entire series. This is one of the only ones I wrote about four different things and everything felt so forced that I felt a general summary and short scene felt better overall, and I'll make up for it with the next chapter, which is much longer.

As always, this is something I'm doing in my spare time, but I do have all the chapter planned out up until the reboot of Empathetic, and a good bit already written out. If you want to support me or read more of my writing, I'd really appreciate it if you checked out my original works at StrongwindAcademy dot com, or on our WattPad, if that's your preference (wattpad dot com (/) user( /) strongwindacademy).