Frank woke up to the sound of a loud, scolding voice. It sounded like it was somewhere across the room from his bed, so he was sure it wasn't aimed at him. He cracked an eye open to see Brendon covering his head as a pillow followed and hit him repeatedly.

"-Should be in your dormitory and letting Mr. Ross rest!" Madame Pomfrey continued to scold, waving her wand to keep the pillow in attack mode.

"I was letting him rest!" Brendon exclaimed as he zigzagged across the room to try and avoid the pillow, "I was just trying to make sure he's alright!"

"That's my job, Mr. Urie, and I can handle it quite well!"

Brendon decided to give up on trying to explain himself. He ran to the hospital wing's exit, successfully fleeing the attack pillow. A weak laugh rose from the side of the room the nurse was on, but it sounded more like a student than her.

"A lil smile on your face? Are you feeling better, love?" The nurse's tone was back to a nurturing nature as she disappeared behind the curtians surrounding a bed across the room from Frank.

Frank pushed his palms against his eyes, letting a breath of air past his lips. He felt better today, more like himself. The events of yesterday all felt like a blur as he tried to think back to them.

Frank sighed as he sat up. Light poked through the windows of the hospital wing, illuminating the whole room. Frank looked to his side to see Gerard's brother tiredly scratching his head.

"Mikey?" Frank asked, making the tired Ravenclaw turn his head to face him.

Mikey's tiredness quickly shifted to a distastefulness as he looked at the Slytherin. "Frank." He said simply before turning away.

Frank's brow furrowed. "What's up with you, today?" He muttered, looking down at his bed sheets.

Mikey didn't seem to hear him. Instead, he slid himself off the bed he was on and moved to duck behind the curtianed bed next to him. Frank turned his head completely to look at the curtains, rather than just from the corner of his eye.

Was that where Gerard was?

He looked around at the other beds. It was safe to assume that Ryan was hidden in the sheltered bed across from him, but he didn't see Gerard anywhere in the hospital wing. He had to be in the space that Mikey had slipped into.

Frank scooted himself to the edge of his bed before letting his legs dangle over the bed. He pushed himself off the bed, holding back a cry at how cold the stone floor was. He tried to ignore it, instead hurrying his steps to get to the hidden bed.

Just as he made it close enough to reach out to the curtain when Mikey stepped out. Both boys jumped at the sight of each other.

"What are you doing?" Mikey demanded once he had regained his composure.

"Checking on my boyfriend?"

The next thing Frank knew, he was stumbling against the bed Mikey had been resting in. Mikey had brought his hand up in a fist to collide with Frank's face.

"Stay away from my brother." Mikey threatened. His tone may have been threatening, but his expression was surprise. His eyes glanced down at his still clentched fist before he looked back at Frank.

"Dude, what the fuck!?" Frank exclaimed lowly, not wanting to immediately alert the nurse. His nose throbbed where Mikey's fist had collided with it. A warm trickling sensation alerted him that it was bleeding.

Mikey shook his head. "Like you care." He whispered harshly, "You were all he talked about over break. He was so excited to get back and see you. He was ecstatic to hear how you enjoyed his present to you... Look how you paid him back."

"What are you talking about?" Frank questioned. He brought his hand up to hold his nose before flinching from the touch. "I never did anything to hurt Gerard."

"Bull." Mikey whispered. He quickly whipped his wand out from inside his pajamas and pointed it at Frank's face. "Just stay on your end of the castle and leave my brother alone."

"We both live in the lower levels, dumbass." Frank shot back at the Ravenclaw.

Mikey scowled at Frank before whispering something. Frank cried out as his nose cracked. Almost immediately after, however, the pain was gone. Frank touched his nose, feeling that it had set back into place.

What's going on?" Madame Pomfrey stepped out of the curtained bed across the room.

Mikey had already hidden his wand and disappeared back into the curtained area. Frank looked at the nurse with a soft "aahhh" before he pointed down at his foot. "Stubbed my toe when I fell out of bed..." He muttered, looking down.

"Well, what are you doing that for?" She asked, moving to his side of the room. She conjured a tissue and dabbed underneath Frank's nose. "Just a bit of a bleed but, otherwise, you should be alright to go to classes."

"Are you sure?" Frank asked rather quickly. He wanted to talk to Gerard, despite what Mikey had said. He didn't understand what the second year was talking about.

The nurse nodded, "Yes. Clean bill of health now that we've got that all cleaned up." She pulled the tissue away from Frank's face with a nod.

As much as Frank wanted to protest, he didn't want to be chased out of the hospital wing with a pillow like Brendon. He agreed to leave, but constantly looked back at Gerard's concealed bed as he did so.

---

"Has anyone confirmed what it was?"

"Is he alright, Mikey?"

Mikey sat in the Ravenclaw common room, surrounded by his teammates, friends, and students from Gerard's year. He had been told to go back to his dorm about halfway through the day, once his and Gerard's mother had send a letter in response to Gerard's incident. Mikey technically had gone in before his brother for an injury acquired during quidditch practice, but he had been allowed to stay with his brother overnight and miss the days classes.

"I'm not supposed to say what it was..." Mikey said, looking down and scratching his arm.

"Forget secrecy, Mikey." Nick Martin, one of his older team mates, spoke up. "Professor Howell started giving us patronus training in the middle of our Inferi unit."

"That really only leaves one thing that it could be." Ray added, worriedly. "To think, we were just talking about them at breakfast yesterday..."

"It can't be dementors!" Breezy exclaimed. Fear was evident in both her tone and expression. Dallon wrapped an arm around her to hold her reassuringly where they sat on the ground.

"I don't know how many there were!" Mikey exclaimed, shutting his eyes tightly. He didn't want to think about that; what could have happened if his brother had received a full on dementor's kiss...

Ashley sat down next to him with worry. She scooted close to him before pulling him into a hug. "Is he doing okay?" She asked softly as Mikey let out a choked sob.

"Melanie had Bitsy sneak him in some goodies during lunch, since he's not allowed visitors other than family and those helping out." Kenny said, quietly, as Mikey his his tears in Ashley's shoulder.

"Who's Bitsy?" Ray whispered.

Kenny let a smile crack his doleful features, "A house elf that Melanie is particularly fond of."

Silence fell amongst the group. Mikey's shakey breaths were really all that could be heard within the group. In contrast, conversations continued normally around them. Worry of classes and homework seemed nothing compared to what the small group knew, though hints of what they knew did occasionally pop up in surrounding conversation.

"I have a bad feeling about things to come." Kenny spoke up, suddenly, getting all eyes in the group drawn to him. He looked at the royal blue carpet they were sat on before continuing, "This year has just been weird... You know? It's had a different feeling to all our others..."

"Not to mention the dark mark in the sky above hogsmeade at Christmas." Ray chimed in.

"Or what was going on with my head for awhile." Dallon said, "I'm missing a chunk of my year, it's just really fuzzy."

Breezy shook her head. "I'm convinced you were under the effect of a potion." She said, leaning her head against him.

"Dark mark, potions, and dementors..." Mikey sniffled, using the sleeve of his robes to wipe his eyes. "How does that all tie together?"

"I reckon something real shady." Ashley said, looking between the faces in the group. "Just because he's been gone for awhile, doesn't mean his followers aren't still around."

"No one's safe with people like that around..." Mikey whispered.

Everyone looked down now. For the half bloods and pure bloods, stories of the second wizarding war replayed in their minds. For the muggle born, fear of the unknown consumed her thoughts.

"Guys!"

Heads turned as Mike Fuentes came hurrying over. His breathing was labored as he reached the group. He doubled over, propping himself up on his knees as he focused his gaze on Nick. "Vic and Kellin are both being transferred to St. Mungo's."

"What!?" Nick's eyes grew wide as the group exchanged worried glances, "Why?"

"I-I don't know." Mike's breathing refused to slow as he spoke, "Something happened and that's all anyone would tell me." He pointed back towards the common room entrance, "They may still be in the Hospital Wing, I was literally just told-"

Nick was on his feet in an instance. "Move, now." He instructed, "Left hand staircases have a slower moving pattern compared to the others." Mike nodded before both boys were rushing towards the common room entrance.

"That's four pretty bad injuries in two days." Mikey whispered as he watched his team mates leave, "Yesterday I heard them considering sending Ryan to St. Mungo's as well."

"None of this can be coincidence." Ray thought out loud. He let himself fall backwards, from his sitting position, onto the ground. His hair flooffed out like a pillow as he shook his head, "Something is happening..."

"Or being covered up." Breezy added.

Mikey hugged his chest. "I just want my brother okay..."

"Don't worry, Mini Way." Ashley ruffled his hair, "He's a Hufflepuff, he'll find a way and be on his feet again in no time."

"What's to stop something else from happening to him if he does get better?" Mikey exclaimed, feeling tears weild in his eyes once again. "He's not the same Gerard from a few months ago. Frank made him so happy then, on the turn of a dime, so sad. His hair has changed, the look in his eyes has changed, he's changed." Mikey quickly his his face in his hands. He hated to continuously show his emotions to every like this, but it had become so hard to hold it all in.

Mikey felt a pair of arms wrap around him in a hug. Then, another set of arms. Mikey could feel himself being surrounded by the body heat of his friends and house mates, only making him cry harder.

"We're here for you." Ashley whispered in his ear, "We'll figure it out."

Mikey nodded a much as he could in the tight huddle. They could figure it out if they really worked at it. If they used their house values against whatever was going on, they could help make things better...

At least he hoped they could.