"You're so pretty~" Alfred smiled as they sat underneath a tree near the lake, leaning against Shelby as she read her book.

"You're so dumb~" She sang back, bumping into him as well.

Alfred faked a sad face at that comment. "I am deeply hurt." He leaned down to Shelby's eye level, donning a puppy dog face. "Kiss it better?"

She raised a brow, looking away from her book. "How do I kiss away your mental injuries, Alfred?"

Alfred tapped his lips. "Right here..." His said in a baby voice.

Shelby rolled her eyes, leaning forward and pressing her lips to his. She waited a few seconds, before pulling away. Alfred flashed a dopey smile, sighing and laying his head in Shelby's lap. "I swear, as soon as we're out of here, I'm putting a ring on it."

"Sure you are, Jones, sure you are." Shelby chuckled, shaking her head as she placed her book over Alfred's face, continuing to read. Across the lawn, Feliks and Toris laid out in a similar way, Toris studying like Shelby, while Feliks braided his boyfriend's hair.

And between both of them, Vladimir sat by himself, a book opened like he was studying, but he wasn't.

The truth was, he was becoming really bummed out hanging around Shelby, Feliks, and their boyfriends. He had gotten over the fact that he had missed his chance with Shelby, but that wasn't what bothered him- it was the fact that she was so happy and in love. He took solace in Feliks, but then Feliks started dating Toris... And now it seemed that everyone in year 7 had found someone they could confide everything in. Elisabeta and Roderich, Jett and Michelle, Lovino and Taylor, Ludwig and Feliciano, Mathis and Lukas, Arthur and Francis (sometimes), Hope and Matthew, Tino and Berwald.

Yeah, so Vladimir was feeling a little down. He thought it might be best to avoid the couples when they were coupling, but it was so hard not to be by Feliks and Shelby since they were best friends.

"Vlad, what the hell are you doing over there all by yourself?" A voice called, and Vlad glanced over to see Alfred and Shelby staring at him. "Come over here dude! Don't be such a loner!"

Vlad shrugged. "I would, but, I have to go to the library to get another book. Sorry." He stated, gathering up his current book, which he hadn't read a lick of, and heading off to the building, his head down and his red eyes trained on the ground ahead of him.

"I'm worried about him." Shelby admitted once she was sure Vlad was out of ear shot. "He's been sort of depressed lately. Ever since Feliks and Toris got together, his morale has just... Plummeted. I'm really worried about him."

"Maybe you should talk to him? You don't even have to say anything back, just like, listen in stuff. Maybe he's just got something to get off his chest?" Alfred suggested.

Shelby pursed her lips, looking off to where her friend had disappeared into the castle.

Vladimir walked by himself in the halls. He felts so exposed without his friends next to him, but it was slowly becoming the new norm.

"Vladimir Popescu!" A male shouted behind him, and Vlad turned to see both Feliks and Shelby storming angrily towards him. And if you can imagine an angry Slytherin and an angry Ravenclaw- especially those two specifically- then you can understand why Vladimir veered off to try to get out of their way. This strategy was unless, however, and the vampire soon found himself cornered against the wall.

"Why the hell are you being such a dick?" Feliks snapped, glaring at Vlad with more hurt than anger. Shelby placed a warning hand on the Pole's shoulder, looking up at Vlad. Her gaze was much more gentle, but still stern.

"I think what Feliks is trying to ask is why you haven't been hanging out with us. It's our last year together, Vlad. After this... It's gonna be next to impossible to see each other everyday."

"Because of that." Vlad stated simply, trying to wedge his way in between Shelby and Feliks to escape. Shelby placed her hand on his chest and pushed him back into the wall, visibly more irritated now.

"You're avoiding us because you won't see us? You don't have to be a Ravenclaw to know that makes no sense at all." She practically hissed.

"No, I want to see you guys. It's just- well, you both have someone else now." Vlad explained in a quieter voice.

Shelby's face fell. "I thought you and Alfred were cool."

Feliks's eyes narrowed. "You're not hanging out with me because I'm dating Toris now?"

"Well, yes... And no. When- when we leave Hogwarts, you two are going to go on and lead lives of your own- probably with Alfred and Toris, at least for a little while. And I just... I just do not fit into that picture." Vlad sighed, leaning against the wall in defeat. "I'm going to have to go back home with my father and spend the rest of my days in hiding because the only two people who hold absolutely no prejudices towards me can move on like a normal witch and wizard."

Shelby's face softened. "Oh, Vlad. You can come live with Alfred and I. We're already adopting Jett, I'm sure no one would mind if we adopted you too!"

"YOU'RE NOT ADOPTING ME DAMNIT!" A voice shouted from somewhere in the busy halls.

"Vlad, you don't have to hide you're whole life with your father." Feliks stated, much calmer now.

"Yeah, do you know many people who would hire a half-breed vampire to work with them? Because I don't." Vladimir snapped harshly, his fangs flashing. Feliks and Shelby didn't flinch.

"Vlad, I know you have a hard time believing that you're normal, because it's been drilled into your hand that you're not, but you can live a normal life. Just keep an open mind." Shelby smiled slightly, attempting to look optimistic, though that wasn't really her thing.

Vlad rolled his eyes. "I'll keep an open mind when the rest of the world does too."

"Hey guys!" A cheerful voice sounded from behind the arguing trio, and they all looked over to see Hope, Arthur, and another, strange student making their way towards them.

"Why is it that I always find myself surrounded by Slytherins?" Shelby muttered jokingly.

Hope elbowed her. "We make the most interesting company, bud."

Arthur Kirkland cleared his throat and stepped forwards. "As Head Boy and Girl of Slytherin, Dumbledore gave us the responsibility of showing our new student around Hogwarts."

"Like, a new year 7 student?" Feliks asked, eyeing the stranger. He had dark, longer hair and dull green eyes. His skin was pale and he was thin and lean, donning a robe and a grey outfit underneath. The visible tie he wore was green and silver, meaning he was a Slytherin. "In the middle of the year?"

"It's unprecedented, yes, but he came from Durmstrang. It was an emergency situation. I don't know much about it actually." Arthur stated, looking to the student for more information. Everyone else's eyes followed.

The student shrugged. "They did not like where I was from. Decided I could no longer attend, and here I am." He stated in a thick Slavic accent.

Feliks stepped forward, offering his hand. "Feliks Łukasiewicz. Slytherin. Goal keeper for the Quidditch team."

"His father is Joseph Łukasiewicz." Arthur muttered into the student's ear, who's eyes widened as he shook Feliks's hand. Feliks rolled his eyes.

Shelby stepped forward. "Shelby Ferrell. Ravenclaw. Seeker for the better Quidditch team." She smiled, shaking his hand. All of the other Slytherins rolled their eyes and groaned at the comment.

Finally, Vlad stepped forward, but there was something off now. His hair was now hanging messily in front of his eyes and and he kept them trained on the floor. "Vladimir Popescu. Slytherin. Chaser." He stated in a small voice, his mouth moving very little as he spoke.

The student raised a brow at Vladimir, seeming both confused and intrigued as he took his hand. "Milen Hinova. Slytherin. Uh, kid in the bleachers." He laughed. Everyone joined except Vladimir, who's face flushed.

"All right, well, we best be on our way. Lots more people to see and castle to explore." Arthur stated, making sure his Head Boy badge was visible before both he and Hope began off again.

Milen gave a small wave as he began away. "Nice meeting you!"

"I know!" Feliks smiled.

Shelby crossed her arms, pouting slightly. "I hate when Arthur does that shit. I should have been a prefect. I should be a Head Girl."

Feliks shrugged. "Guess you're just not good enough."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, bud." Shelby muttered. Both of them glanced over at Vladimir, who had lifted the hair away from his face and was staring after Milen.

Shelby smiled. "Oh my God, Vlad, do you like him?"

"What?" Vlad jumped, yelling a bit too loudly, and a few fifth years glared as they passed by. "No, I don't like boys!" He exclaimed in disgust.

Feliks raised a brow, frowning. "What's wrong with liking boys?"

"Nothing, but I can't like boys. I would never. My dad would kill me." Vlad laughed off the subject, but his cheeks and ears were almost as red as his eyes. "Anyways, guys, I have to get to class. See ya around." He waved awkwardly, before starting down the hallway.

Shelby stared after him with wide eyes. "He totally likes the new guy."

Feliks nodded. "Oh, totally."

~~~~~

Vladimir sat by himself in the library, his nose buried in his potions text book. He was supposed to meet Shelby and Feliks here, but so far they were no-shows. Vlad could only assume, and he assumed the worst; they were probably hanging out with their boyfriends, and had forgotten all about their study session together.

Even though this upset Vlad deeply, he figured it may be for the best. They were going to move on after Hogwarts, he might as well get used to the isolation now.

"Excuse me?" His heart skipped a beat as a particular voice spoke behind him. "Is this seat taken?"

Vlad instantly ducked his head, letting his strawberry blonde hair fall in front of his eyes. He didn't even bother looking to see which chair he was referring to, and shook his head.

"Thanks. I saw the green accents on cloak and I have those too, so I figured were in the same house. There's a lot of blue people here right now- where are the other Slitherers?" The voice of Milen spoke.

Vlad suppressed a smile. "It's Slytherins. And the blue are Ravenclaw." He stated softly.

"Ah, right. Sorry, it is going to take me a while to remember the names and such." He paused a moment, as if taking in his surrounding. "I've been at Durmstrang for 7 years- it's a lot different there, at least atmosphere wise."

"I can imagine." Vladimir muttered, but said nothing else. He hoped Milen wouldn't notice his hands shaking or hear his heart pounding.

"Why are you here? I mean- sorry, that came out wrong." Milen laughed awkwardly. "I just didn't expect to see you alone. You had the friends with you last time, ya? Fellie and Sheliks?"

Vladimir almost choked on laughter, and had to clear his throat. "It's, ah, Feliks and Shelby."

"Oh, right right. My bad. I'm really bad with names." Vladimir could practically hear Milen's smile in his voice. He desperately wanted to look at his face again, but the thought of Milen seeing his eyes made him sick to his stomach. "There was this girl at Durmstrang- I had her in every single class, every single year, and I cannot remember her name. It's either Mildred or Monica... or maybe Martha? Like I said, I'm not quite sure. Names just don't click with me."

Vlad's brows furrowed. "How come?"

" I got bashed in the head real hard when I was younger. Right in the left temporal lobe. I can recognize faces just fine, but I have a really hard time connecting it to a name." Milen explained. "Me being new here will be an excuse for a while, so hopefully I don't hurt any feelings.

"Everyone here is pretty understanding." Vlad smiled as he thought of his friends, and then frowned again when he realized they had forgotten him.

"Is... something wrong, Vladimir?" Milen inquired. "You haven't looked up from your book at all. If I'm intruding, I can go." Vlad could feel him stand up next to leave.

Vlad panicked. "No!" He shouted, his hand instinctively reaching out and grabbing Milen's wrist. Upon realizing what he was doing, however, he retracted his hand quickly. "I'm sorry, I- I don't mean to be rude. I don't want you to leave." He apologized, forcing his neck to turn and look in Milen's direction, hoping that if he "looked" at him, it would make him feel welcomed enough to stay.

Through his hair, Vladimir could instantly see Milen's dull green eyes lock on his mouth.

The teeth.

Vladimir instantly pressed his lips together and looked away. But it was too late.

"Are you a vampire?" Milen whispered.

Completely mortified and terrified, without another word, Vladimir shot up out of his seat, grabbed his books, and stalked off out of the library, his entire body shaking. Milen was left at the table staring at him in complete awe. "Vladimir, wait!" He finally shouted, earning several shushes from students at neighboring tables as he chased after him.

Once the boys were gone, Shelby peered out from behind a nearby bookshelf, followed by Feliks. Feliks let out a defeated huff. "Well, there goes our brilliant plan. We should have just sat with him instead of hiding when we saw Milen. Maybe that wouldn't have happened."

But when Feliks looked to Shelby, she had a very wide smile on her face. He gave her a confused glare. "What are you so happy about?"

"Milen remembered Vlad's name!" Shelby squeaked, trying to keep quiet.

Feliks raised a brow. "And?"

"He told Vlad he has trouble connecting faces to names because of brain trauma. But then two seconds later, he called Vladimir by his name without having to ask or clarify." Shelby explained excitedly. "I don't think either of them even realized it."

"I didn't realize it either." Feliks stated.

"That's doesn't surprise me." Shelby teased.

"Hey!" Feliks shouted defiantly, also earning a few shushs. "So what exactly does it mean, that Milen could remember his name?"

"My hypothesis is that Vladimir must have left a strong impression on Milen when they first met, so Milen's brain worked harder to remember and managed to store the name on the right side of the temporal lobe- the brain isn't completely separate in left and right functions for that very reas-"

Feliks covered Shelby's mouth. "So... long story short?"

Shelby pulled Feliks' hand away, revealing a mischievous smile. "Milen likes Vladimir!"

~~~~~

Vlad's footsteps rang throughout the corridors of the dungeon. He had spent all day up in the owlery with Shelby's owl. He was probably one of the only animals who had ever learned to trust Vladimir, besides bats.

He hated that animals, and people, had to learn to trust him. And that's why he hated that there was a new kid; every time he met someone new, it seemed he had to repeat the same process of getting them to trust him. The only people had ever accepted him right off the bat was Feliks and Shelby, and now he didn't even have them.

And the worst part was, no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself hate Milen. He couldn't find a flaw in him, nothing he did set him off or made him tick. Even though hating him would make things ten times on Vlad's part, he couldn't do it.

Vladimir carefully opened the door to the Slytherin common room. It was late at night now and most of his housemates would be fast asleep; sometimes there would be a straggler staying up late to study, but most Slytherins chose to do that in the privacy of their bedroom, not in the common room. He wasn't expecting to see anyone sitting by the fire.

So his heart dropped when he entered the room and a person turned to look at him with expectant, dull green eyes.

"Hello, Vladimir." Milen greeted as he turned away from the dwindling fire.

Vlad took a step back, stiffening as he did so. "Milen." He said in a quiet voice.

Milen stood up. He looked rather irritated, crossing his arms as he stood and faced Vlad. "I practically searched the entire castle for you. And then, when I couldn't find you at dinner, and I sat here and waited for hours."

Vlad looked to his feet. "Sorry to disappoint. Goodnight." He stated curtly, taking quick strides towards his dormitory. Milen intercepted him, however, and grabbed his wrist. Vlad's face heated up slightly as he turned to the Bulgarian in surprise.

"Vlad, please, let me explain something to you." Milen stated.

Vlad shook his head. He hated that Milen was even looking at him right now, knowing what he was. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Please." Milen begged, wedging himself in between Vladimir and the hallway. "Look." He instructed, before lifting his lip, revealing his teeth- specifically, his canine. There wasn't anything unique about it, save for the fact that the canine was dangerously sharp and pointed. Vladimir's eyes narrowed, examining it for a couple seconds, before his eyes widened in realization. "You're part vampire." He whispered in amazement.

Milen nodded, smiling now. "Yes, that's what I tried to tell you in the library, but you ran off. I'm not bothered that you're a vampire; I'm a quarter vampire myself."

Vladimir wasn't sure whether to smile and let out a relieved breath, so he let out a relieved laugh instead. "I'm actually only half vampire, on my dad's side."

Milen returned the laugh. "It's on my mom's side." He ran his fingers through his hair, looking relaxed now. "I'm so glad I found someone like me. Being part vampire is why I had to leave Durmstrang. Some kids figured out what I was, and they were not very pleased. They tried to jump me; I had to fight back, of course. My parents decided it was no longer safe for me there, so I got transferred here."

Vlad placed an assuring hand on Milen's shoulder. "It will be better at Hogwarts, people are mostly accepting here. You'll like Feliks and Shelby; they were the first people I ever met to accept who I was right off the bat."

Milen smiled brightly. "So does that make me the third?"

Vladimir paused. "I guess it does."