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“Oh! Um… y-yeah,” Jamie said meekly, hanging his head, though he couldn’t stop the smile on his face. “I guess I’m just in a really good mood today?” He shook his head with a giggle before asking “How’ve you been?”

And just like that, the conversation once again shifted towards him. Cassius rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s not much to complain about, which is probably a good thing,” he answered, though he did doubt his words a bit the moment they came out. “What’s put you in a good mood?”

Jamie was still on cloud 9 from the carnival, so much so that he was actually skipping down the hallway; a sure sign that Jamie was in the best of moods. However, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Cassius looking somewhat upset and haphazardly folding a piece of paper. Jamie’s head tilted slightly in curiosity before slowly walking up with a small wave. “Hi Cassius, are… a-are you okay?”

He was far from finishing the letter and he couldn’t quite pinpoint it yet, but something about it bothered him—maybe. Maybe it was all in his head. He pushed the thought aside as he responded to Jamie with a reluctant nod. “I’m alright.” It wasn’t a complete lie. For the most part, he was. “Were you skipping?” he asked, shifting the focus away from himself.

   Alyx noted the way he jumped. His behavior was odd to say the least because she never recalled him being very secretive to begin with. They took a seat in front of him, ignoring the glances that the others at the table were giving them for sitting at the Hufflepuff table. Alyx had evident concern on their face and it was becoming worse by the second.   They didn’t care about what Molly had said. Their relationship was none of their concern but they were concerned for Cassius in general. “You alright? You seem.. different.”

This was unexpected. He hadn’t seen Alyx coming and he was only halfway through a sentence when he’d hidden the letter. Cassius was a little thrown off, in truth, still a little distracted, but he tried shrugging it away, looking at Alyx and offering them a small smile. “Different? How do you mean?”

Eyebrows furrowed slightly, his gaze flicked from left to right as he read sentence after sentence, though he did take notice of the sound of footsteps coming towards him. Cassius quickly folded up the letter without finishing it, inserting it back into the envelope it came in and shoving it into his pocket before looking up at the person that came. “Oh. Hello.”

   Molly’s smile never left her face but she knew she had to tell him the truth so that things made sense to him when she spoke about Penelope. “So.. don’t feel bad, okay? I’m just going to say this now to avoid it coming up again later. Audrey isn’t my real mother. She’s my adopted mum. I’m not an actual Weasley like my sister, Lucy. I’m adopted. My mother Penelope passed in a horrid splinching accident when I was four years old and whoever my dad is has never been around. We were always close to the Weasley family because Percy and my mother were really good friends so.. he and Audrey adopted me. I think if she were still alive she’d fully support me in either being a zoologist or even going and pursuing dance and music.”  She giggled, “I don’t mind it now and then but it has to be made right. If it’s too dry– it’s too much for me. I need milk if I’m gonna eat a chocolate cupcake unless it’s brownies. I’m also game for brownies all the time… ooh and with vanilla ice cream! Yum.” She paused a moment while looking at him, “Cass– I missed you a lot. I’m glad we did this.”

While ‘don’t feel bad, okay’ wasn’t the best way to break some bad news to someone, Cassius tried his best not to worry too much about what Molly was going to say. As she spoke though, he couldn’t help but feel a little deflated. Just another of those things he should have known but didn’t, and what a major life event it was as well. He tried not to look too disappointed in himself as he nodded. “I see,” he said. “I know it was a long time ago, but I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sure she’d be proud of you no matter what you end up pursuing.” He brightened up once more as she started talking about desserts. “Oh, anything chocolate with vanilla ice cream is amazing. A classic combination, really.” He’d make a mental note to bring her brownies sometime. He looked to her, a small smile on his face. “I’m glad we’re doing this too, Molly.” It meant a lot to him that she was still willing to, despite everything.

“Of course. You can promise to tell me all the wonderful things that happen tonight, okay?” Beulah was quite happy that they had become friends. 

“All the wonderful things that happen tonight?” he repeated. “Oh, with how festive this carnival is, that might take hours upon hours.” An exaggeration, of course, but he it did no harm to hope that the night would go so well.

   “I have too many of them. My mother used to tell me that I should think about pursuing muggle studies after Hogwarts to become a zoologist since I’m not as up to date about facts with creatures though. Not that I don’t like magical creatures but.. I feel like a sort of respect and semi fear towards them sometimes? If that makes sense. I’m not sure.” She nodded, “Not a fan of chocolate. I think it’s too powerful but if there’s vanilla with chocolate frosting, I’m game.”

“I think it does make sense,” Cassius said. “A bunch of them can seem quite intimidating at times. But does your mother not want you to be a zoologist anymore?” He chuckled. “Aw, really? You don’t like chocolate bases at all?” He did have a sweet tooth and was fond of chocolate, but he wasn’t seriously going to take it against her. He knew that people had their preferences. “Well, okay, vanilla’s pretty good too and there’s bound to be vanilla. There’s always vanilla.”

   “They are. Pandas and elephants are tied for my favorite. Did you know elephants actually mourn when one of them dies? Anyways- let’s go before I start going off on all my animal facts.” She took his arm, “We shall, Detective.” She giggled at her own joke.

“Oh, no. Please go on. I quite enjoy hearing your animal facts.” It was true. He found himself interested in whatever she had to say. Anything that could help him find the missing pieces again, but also, he found that he rather liked the sound of her voice. He chuckled as they walked with their arms linked. “Do you have a favorite kind of cupcake?”

“Really? That’s wonderful, Cass.” Beulah reached out to pat his back. This was quite the change from the last time they had spoken–and a good change at that. She was glad. Hopefully she helped a little. “I’m okay.”

“Thank you. I think so too.” It was nice not having to spiral into worry that night. He made it a point to enjoy himself. It seemed necessary. “Okay?” He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. “Anything I can do to make it even better?”

   “Thank heavens. I need a drink and some snacks.” She laughed, “Are you at least having fun?”

“Yes, having sustenance from time to time is ideal during parties like these,” he said, letting out a small laugh as well. He nodded. “I am. It’s just so festive, it’s kind of hard not to.” Besides, he was rather enjoying Molly’s company before he had lost her in the crowd, but he was sure he’d find her again later. “I think my favorite so far would be the games.”

   Alyx had been going through the rides and through the booths. Honestly, they were having fun despite being alone. Sometimes they rather be alone to keep their thoughts together. Alyx didn’t mind it in the least until she ended up feeling someone bump against her. Alyx was always a little defensive when they weren’t expecting things so she quickly turned around as if ready for something to happen but then their whole body tensed.   They hadn’t spoken to Cassius in what seemed like an eternity and now standing here face to face with him had knocked her off guard. Alyx cleared her throat, “No, you’re okay.. “ They rubbed the back of their neck, “Accidents happen.”

Once his eyes landed on Alyx, he wasn’t quite sure what to do next. He still remembered everything that had gone on with them, he thinks, and that didn’t really turn out great by the end, but Cassius understood that they just weren’t on the same page and he respected that. Since then, they haven’t really talked all that much and things have certainly changed, but this, he had to admit, felt quite awkward. “So they do,” he said with a small chuckle, unconsciously mirroring them and rubbing the back of his neck as well. “How have you been?”

   “I am but you know when you just start to feel suffocated by being around so many people? There was just too much going on and I think I got sensory overload so I was trying to find a spot to just relax for a moment.”

“Ah, got it,” he said with a knowing nod. He could see how crowds like these could be a little much. They only seemed more rowdy as the night went on. “Well, there’s definitely a place to sit and relax by the food and drink.”

“Hey,” Beulah said, soft and with a smile. “How are you?” Their last conversation had revealed a lot, and, needless to say, she was concerned for him. “Doing better, I hope?”

“Hey,” he smiled back, glad to see her at the carnival. “I’m doing good. Having fun.” Things were far from being completely fixed, but they didn’t feel as chaotic as they once did. Perhaps it was good that he had talked to some people about it. “I came here with Molly, but I think the crowd took her. How are you?”

Beulah reached over and rubbed his back. “When you love someone…you kind of sign up for whatever life throws at you. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

He appreciated the gesture and offered her a small smile. “Thanks, Beulah. I do hope you’re right.”