#mar 80

Andromeda stared at the batter-splattered kitchen in abject horror. She must have done a spell wrong without realising — and she could clean it up before anyone noticed too— But as she raised her wand to do so, she heard footsteps in the hallway. With a yelp, she tried and failed to shield the mess from view. “Everything’s fine!”

It was a question John hadn’t allowed himself to speak for days. But in an otherwise ordinary study session, he looked up, caught Frank’s eye, and said, “I’ll have put her in Azkaban. Right? I did that.”

Benjy was lurking in the corridor outside the ward, debating whether or not he ought to even be there. On the one hand, it seemed wrong not to visit. But on the other, she had told him to fuck off, essentially. Caught in indecision, he could barely protest when a nurse shoved him into the ward, cheerfully telling him that Arnold will see you! Whoever the hell Arnold was, Benjy didn’t know — but it was too late to hurry back out. Dawn had seen him. He raised a hand in sheepish greeting. “Er, hello.”

“Look, I like cats as much as the next person, but I know you have some real creatures out of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them back there. C’mon man, let me in.” Xeno glanced around the shop, scanning to see if there was anyone he knew who could help him when he noticed someone familiar. 

Mio sat alone at the Slytherin table for dinner, helping herself to the strawberry pudding dessert. A few seats down she noticed Asher Avery, one of the prefects, sitting by himself, lost in thought. Bite after bite, she stared at him—his neck, his arms, his hands. He was gorgeous, and he would never waste time with someone like her. Mio shook her head and helped herself to seconds of dessert.

“First year?” he guessed, frowning at the wizard he now stood opposite.

Xeno rapped hard on the front door of number three, Low Street. “Mate, open up!” He glanced behind him, hoping he wasn’t drawing attention to himself. “Is anyone in there?”

As soon as the meeting ended, Xeno hopped to his feet and started out the door. It wasn’t like he and Pandora talked very much at these meetings before her birthday party, but now there was a different kind of silence between them. He was determined, however, not to let it affect his mood or the fun he had with the Oracle and caught up with Doris.

“What was that all about in there? Did you see when the editor squirm when I pressed him about the Sherlock Holmes in London article? I know things are crazy right now, but is it so wrong for the paper to provide some levity and silliness in a time like this? I mean, this isn’t the Prophet.”