"Hey dad?" Janus asked cautiously. "Can I have a friend over later this week?"

"Why?" Peter asked, looking up from a book. Janus quickly scanned the cover of the book his dad was reading. Something about philosophy.

"Well, um, I'm going to be doing his make-up for Halloween and-"

"Janus you are nearly 16." His dad snapped. "You are too old for silly things like Halloween."

"I'm 16 right now, dad." Janus thought. "But Halloween is a really big part of his life and-"

"Janus, the answer is no."

"But-"

"Janus, I have said no!" Peter yelled. "And when I say no, I mean no. Now leave me alone and never disrespect me again, got it? Got it?!"

"Yes dad." Janus muttered quietly before speeding out of the room and into the garden.

Janus sighed and sat on the grass, his back against the wooden plank fence and up his head in his hands. It was stupid to have asked his dad, he knew he was going to say no. So why did he ask him? Did he want validation? The answer was no, he was going to sneak Remus into his house somehow anyway. Maybe he felt bad about having disobeyed his dad so many times. But that wasn't it either. The truth came down to the fact that Janus was optimistic and stupid for being so. He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the world around him and build a new world he could live in. Where almost everything was the same apart from his parents. His mum hadn't left and his dad was accepting. And there had never been a fire, his face didn't have the half-and-half scale feel and look.

"Hey Mister?" A voice from over the fence asked. Janus jumped and quickly pulled his hair in front of his face, looking around. "Oh sorry, Mister. Did I scare you?"

"Um... a little, yeah." Janus said, cursing himself for being startled by a small child. The child giggled and grinned.

"I'm Queenie. Do you have a name, Mister?" She asked.

"I'm Janus." Queenie giggled.

"You can't be Janice. Janice is a girl's name, Mister."

"It is for some people. But my name's spelt different. J-A-N-U-S instead of-"

"I know my ABC's, Mister Janus." Queenie said. She had brown hair in little pigtails that stuck out at the sides of her head. Janus thought it looked quite cute.

"What are you doing, Mister?"

"Here or right now?" Queenie considered the question for a while.

"Both. Cause mummy said that the Mister who lives in this house says he doesn't have any kids." Queenie pouted slightly. "I don't like the Mister who lives here. Do you like the Mister who lives here, Mister Janus?"

"Not really." Janus said truthfully. "I'm his nephew." He lied. "I've been living here for the past few weeks and I'll be gone soon."

"How come I've never seen you before?" Janus shrugged.

"School I guess."

"What's high school like, Mister Janus?" Queenie asked, leaning her head on her hands and looking at Janus with rapt interest. Janus guessed that Queenie was around 4, maybe younger.

"It's kinda fun but very difficult."

"Do you have nice friends?" Queenie gasped. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No, actually. I've got a boyfriend." Janus said. Queenie grinned.

"I've got a boyfriend too! I'm going to marry him when I get older." Janus laughed slightly. Little kids always said the funniest things. "Why do you have long hair, Mister Janus? I thought only girls could have long hair."

"No, you can have whatever hair you want. I wanted long hair and so I grew my hair. Let's say one day in the future you wanted to cut all your hair really short-"

"Nu-uh, never." Queenie said, shaking her head violently. Janus laughed again.

"But let's say you did, you could. It's just what makes you happy."

"Cool!" Queenie said, grinning. "I need to go now, Mister Janus. Bye." Queenie grinned at Janus again before jumping down from whatever she was standing on and running off.

That was a weird chapter, wasn't it? Ah, the things Writer's Block will do to you. But anyway, that was Queenie, my Creativity, when I was 4-years-old. Yes, I really would've done that at 4, please don't judge me for it.
Bye,
Blaize