"Jamia got caught in the forbidden forest last night!"

"Oi, so did Frank Iero, apparently."

The great hall was buzzing with gossip. Every table seemed to be stuck on the same piece of information. Everyone was shooting glances towards the Slytherin table as Gerard and Patrick entered the room.

A cold burst shot between the two boys, causing Patrick to cry out and Gerard to shudder. "Hey, you think Trelawney actually got her prediction right this year?" Jon asked as he solidified his form in front of them.

Patrick hugged himself, sliding his hands up and down his arms to warm up. "What prediction?"

"The one about Slytherins getting into trouble." Jon replied, crossing his arms. "Two of them got caught in the forbidden forest last night. Earned a weeks worth of detention."

"A weeks worth?" Gerard asked with surprise, "Just for being in the forest?"

"In the forest after hours." Jon said, looking at Gerard as if it was the most obvious thing to know. "Back when I was alive, it was almost a death sentence to go out there at night. Dangerous creatures lurking around out there..."

"Why would anyone go out there then!?" Patrick exclaimed.

Jon smirked, "Dumbledore sometimes used it as detention."

"That's demented..." Patrick whispered with wide eyes.

"Dumbledore worked in mysterious ways." Jon shrugged, "Kinda wish he would of become a ghost, would of livened things up here."

"Was that a pun?" Gerard asked with a laugh as he slid into the Hufflepuff table next to a tired looking second year.

Jon simply winked before fading down through the floor. Patrick sighed, shaking his head as he sat down. "I don't think I would of made it during Dumbledore's run as headmaster..."

"The world's a bit less insane than it was back then." Gerard said, looking at Patrick but letting his gaze shift to the Slytherin table. He didn't see Frank. As much as the previous night had hurt, Gerard wanted answers. "Who'd you hang out with over the holiday, Patrick?"

"Me?" The strawberry blond looked up from his cereal, "Pete, mostly. He took me flying at night and I nearly had a heart attack,  but not too many other people... Melanie, too." He shrugged, "Why do you ask?"

Gerard looked down at the breakfast spread out in front of him. His emotions were affecting his apatite, making it nonexistent. He sighed before replying to Patrick, "I was hoping to find out if you had hung out with Frank at all. He was acting... Not like Frank last night."

Patrick thought for a moment as he stirred his cereal. After a pause, he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Gerard... You know, though, something weird that did happen over the holiday was Dallon-"

"Attention, students!" The headmistress' voice boomed around the hall. Gerard was slightly frustrated for her to have interrupted Patrick, but it would be rude to continue on the conversation while she addressed the school.

Gerard listened half heartedly while the headmistress spoke. Meanwhile, Jamia stood outside the great hall, bitterly, with Frank. She leaned against the wall with crossed arms while Frank leaned next to her with a dumb smile on his face.

"We wouldn't of been caught if you hadn't of tripped into that Blast-Ended Skrewt nest..." Jamia huffed.

Frank nodded, "I take full responsibility, I'm sorry. I tried to tell-"

"Yea, I know..." Jamia sighed. She looked over at Frank, smiling as she was met with puppy eyes. "Maybe I should have gone out by myself..."

"Oh, no!" Frank's eyes grew wide with his exclamation, "It's dangerous! Next time, we'll just camouflage you better so only I get caught."

Jamia laughed lightly. "Won't be a next time, Frank... I doubt the prize we seek is there after all this time..."

Frank nodded, though, it didn't seem like he had absorbed most of the information. He was stuck on the way Jamia's expression softened with her laugh. Why had he not noticed that sooner?

"Jam!"

Jamia turned to see Hayley running towards her with a large smile. "Hayley!" Jamia exclaimed, throwing her arms open to hug the red headed Slytherin. "You're a day later than everyone else, what happened?"

"Bit of a Christmas accident, got send to ST. Mungo's." Hayley giggled as she hugged Jamia. She pulled away with a wide smile, "Special arrangements got made so I could arrive a bit later. Enough about me, though, how was your holiday?"

"It was... Interesting?" Jamia shook her head, "Nowhere near as exciting as a hospital visit! What the bloody hell happened?"

"Unimportant," Hayley shook her head with a smile. She shifted her gaze to the boy standing behind Jamia, "Hi, Frank!"

"Hi..." Frank spoke absently and waved at Hayley half heartedly; he was focused on Jamia.

Hayley frowned with the cock of her head. "He sick or something?" She asked.

Before she could be given a response, however, students began flooding out of the great hall. Hayley was quickly caught up in the swarm of students and Jamia found herself being held in Frank's arms.

"Your hands are freezing." Jamia complained, softly.

Frank rested his chin on her shoulder. "It's still winter. You're warm though, right?" He tilted his head to hide his face in her neck. Jamia gasped, feeling alerted by the gesture of affection.

"Hey, we have classes." Jamie spoke as her cheeks heated up. She pushed at his arms to slip underneath his grip. She instead grabbed hold of his wrist, "C'mon."

Frank smiled dumbly at her. "Anywhere with you." He replied.

A small smile crossed Jamia's face as she and Frank began to follow the stream of people flowing out of the great hall.

---

"Don't you think things are a bit odd since coming back?" Ray asked the small group of students that sat outside in the melting snow.

It was later in the day, after classes. Ray, Gerard, Patrick and Pete were sitting in a cleared out area near the quidditch field. The Ravenclaw team could be heard practicing as the boys sat and talked.

"Not much from my perspective." Pete shrugged. He brought his gaze back from the quidditch field, where it kept occasionally drifting. "Weirdest thing that happened was seeing some Slytherin kid petting the air one night when I was going to fly over the forest."

Ray shook his head, "No, I mean... Some of the people. Out of nowhere there's been such a drastic change."

"Like Frank?" Gerard asked, softly. He had tried to speak to the Slytherin between classes, but he only found himself ignored.

"I was thinking more of Dallon." Ray said, "Haven't really seen Frank enough to gauge his change other than your experience, Gerard." Ray sighed, looking out away from the group. "We were best friends, but now he hardly talks to me... If he does, it's always about Brendon Urie."

"Brendon?" Gerard asked with perplexity crossing his expression, "Ryan's ex?"

Ray shrugged, "I like to keep away from the drama of relationships."

"Yea, it's Brendon." Patrick piped up, "Dallon started acting kinda funny just before Christmas. Breezy said it was some kind of potion?" Patrick turned to Pete for reassurance, but the darker haired boy just shrugged.

"I've slept since then," Pete said, "I have no idea."

Patrick rolled his eyes before continuing, "Anyway... Just a day or two later, he and Brendon started getting really close."

Gerard's eyebrows furrowed at that information. He didn't have time to process a response, however, because a loud screaming suddenly filled the air.

"LOOK OUT!"

"Is that M-AGH!"

Ray was knocked backwards into the snow by Mikey, who had come flying through the air. His broomstick shot like a bullet into a snowbank a few feet away. Ray and Mikey both groaned in pain.

"Mikey!?" Gerard shot up to help his little brother and friend, "What happened!?"

Gerard helped Mikey up, while Pete and Patrick helped pull Ray out of the snow. Mikey looked dazed. He held Gerard's arm tightly while swaying uneasily on his feet.

"Positions... Trying different..." Mikey quickly shut his mouth as something seemed to fill his cheeks. It went away after a moment, however, and he sucked in a quick breath. "Beater... Not for me..."

Gerard moved to hold his hand against Mikey's back with concern as his brother lurched, as if to puke. Other Ravenclaws were running out of the field, looking in every which direction in a panic.

"Mikey!" A girl with pink hair exclaimed, catching sight of him with Gerard's small group. She hurried through the snow to get to him. "Oh gosh, are you okay?" She asked with concern as she came upon them.

Mikey shook his head no as he brought his hand up to cover his mouth. Ray shook snow out of his hair, turning to look at the quidditch players. "Ashley, I think he should go to the hospital wing." He said.

Ashley nodded. "He wanted to try beater, but that bludger was a brutal bitch today." She said, scooting closer to Mikey. She shot Gerard an apologetic smile, "Mind if I get him? I can have one of our bigger players carry him."

Gerard nodded, but still helped hold Mikey up until he was sure Ashley had him properly supported. A few more of Mikey's team mates hurried over to help him to the hospital wing.

"Dude, you've already got a bruise forming."

"THEN DON'T POKE IT, PETE!"

"Sorry, dude."

"C'mon Mikey, just a bit of a walk." Ashley encouraged as they left the bickering group behind them. They somehow made their way quickly across the grounds and up to the castle's entrance before Mikey grabbed hold of a wall and doubled over, emptying the contents of his stomach.

His team mates let out a mixture of admiration and disgust that drifted to a barely cracked classroom door. It didn't really bother the small group of students sitting in the otherwise empty classroom. Four students sat in the room, each focused on something different.

Brendon sat in Dallon's lap, facing the Ravenclaw with a fascination in his eyes. His legs were wrapped around Dallon's torso, almost like a pretzel. Dallon was looking over Brendon's face with a love lust expression. His fingers were pushing their way through Brendon's hair the whole time, while Brendon simply held to Dallon's sides with his own.

Frank layed across a set of desks, head rested in his hands as he looked dreamily at Jamia. Jamia was in the process of finishing a letter she planned to send out that night, not paying Frank's affectionate gaze much mind.

"You're so pretty when you concentrate." Frank said with a dumb smile, "You're always pretty."

Jamia's cheeks heated up, but she said nothing. She finished up her letter before looking up at him. "You're distracting." She told him, before having him boop her on the nose.

"You're pretty." He replied simply. He laid himself down on the tables completely and looked up at her from the corner of his eye.

A small smile found Jamia's lips, but she turned away from Frank. Her gaze fell upon Dallon and Brendon on the floor.

"So... You actually love me?" Brendon asked in an awed whisper as Dallon continued to push his fingers through Brendon's hair.

"Forever..." Dallon nodded, pushing one hand along the side of Brendon's hair, "and ever and ever..." With every word, his hands slid along Brendon's hairline and pulled the Slytherin closer.

Brendon seemed simply amazed by Dallon's words. He was close enough to the Ravenclaw that their noses brushed against each other's. "Promise me?"

Dallon nodded eagerly before closing the gap between their lips and kissing Brendon. The Slytherin immediately tightened his grip on Dallon's sides and kissed eagerly back.

"Why don't we do that?" Frank asked with the wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Maybe later." Jamia responded, looking down at the letter she had just finished. "Can I trust you with a task, Frank?"

"Anything for you." Frank nodded, pushing himself up to be level with her face. "What can I do?"

Jamia giggled in a playful manner. She placed her hand on top of one of Frank's before looking him in the eye. "I need you to deliver something for me tonight..."

---

Gerard made his way up to the owlery through the dark. Mikey was staying overnight in the hospital wing, and Gerard felt it important that their parents know. It would be better than Mikey's philosophy of sending an owl a few days after the fact.

Gerard reached the top of the steps and looked around the owlery. Many of the owls looked back at him, but only one petite brown owl cocked it's head at Gerard with a size matching screech. Gerard smiled at the owl as he outstretched his arm.

"How have you been?" Gerard asked the creature as it flew over to him. It landed on Gerard's arm with a ruffle of its feathers. "I hope that means good." Gerard laughed. He stroked the birds feathers softly.

Gerard maneuvered through the owl droppings on the floor to a clear spot. He sat down and reached into the pocket of his robes.

"Do you remember my house? The one with festive lights up all year?" Gerard asked as he held the letter out to the owl.

It screeched before taking the letter in its beak. Gerard stroked its feathers again.

"I'm sorry I still don't know your name." Gerard apologized to the owl, "Perhaps I could name you now... I rather like the name bullet for you. You're small, but you move so quickly."

The small owl ruffled its feathers, seeming to accept the name. Gerard smiled, "Bullet it is, then! Do be careful on your flight."

The owl nodded before taking off from its perch on Gerard's arm. Gerard watched the small owl rise into the air before shooting out into the night sky. Gerard stayed on the ground for a few minutes longer after bullet left. He was admiring the variety of owls when he heard footsteps around the corner. Gerard looked towards the noise.

"Hello?" Gerard called out. He rose to his feet and leaned to his side to try and see who was there. "Please at least say you're not peeves."

There was no response. Gerard stepped forward to find out who it was. Gerard nearly felt his heart leap into his throat at the sight of Frank. The Slytherin was sending off his own owl and hadn't seemed to notice Gerard.

"Are you just going to keep ignoring me?" Gerard asked, almost silently.

Frank turned to Gerard. He had a questioning look on his face as he looked at the Hufflepuff. "I'm sorry, do I care?" He asked.

"Excuse you?" Gerard's nose scrunched as his eyebrows furrowed, "Before Christmas I thought that you did. Was there something wrong with what I got you? Did something else happen with your family? Please, Frank," Gerard's expression softened as he reached out to grab Frank's hand, "I'm here for you..."

Frank stepped back, pulling his hand away from Gerard's. "I don't care... And don't talk about my family!" Gerard flinched as the Slytherin yelled, "It's none of your business!"

"Then why tell me in the first place!?" Gerard shot back with frustration in his tone, "I didn't push, I just wanted to make you feel better and you told me about your family. Gosh, Frank, why are you acting like such a prat?" Gerard quickly covered his mouth after the outburst. He instantly regretted it but, admittedly, it made him feel slightly better.

Frank didn't seem at all phased by it, however. "Listen, you just stick to your house and I'll stick to mine, how about that?" He asked as he walked past Gerard.

"But..." Gerard pulled his hand away from his mouth, "I thought..." He turned around to face Frank, but the Slytherin was gone. Gerard looked down, feeling his heart sink. "I thought..."

Frank wasn't thinking at all. One face was stuck on his mind, and that's all that seemed to matter. When he made it back to his common room, his senses lit up when that face appeared in person just feet away.

"I did just as you asked!" He told her before planting a kiss on her cheek.

Jamia stiffened; she was frozen for a moment before lightly pushing Frank away. "Thank you, love." She smiled as sweetly as she could at him, "Now, why don't you go to bed?"

Frank frowned at her. A dull, pinkish hazing laced itself over his usual hazel eyes. "You said we could kiss."  He pouted.

Jamia reached up, letting her fingers trail along Frank's jawline. "Tomorrow, in the abandoned classroom." She promised as Frank leaned into her touch, "You just seem so tired, love..."

Frank nodded as his eyes danced over the details on her face. "Alright. Goodnight." He leaned in and pressed another kiss to her cheek before moving towards his dorm room.

Jamia's hand shot to the spot where his lips grazed her skin. There was no feeling. No strange sensation that she heard other girls speak of when they retold similar experiences. Just, nothing.

"What was that!?"

Jamia jumped at the sound of Hayley's voice. She turned to see the red head looking at her with wide eyes. "W-what?"

Hayley gestured towards the boys dorms. "You know, Frank. I thought he swung for the other team; how did you get him into you after so long of disinterest?"

Jamia twisted a strand of her hair with a nervous laugh. "I dunno!" She lied, "It just kind of... Happened."

"A bit of a shame, though." Hayley frowned, "Gerard is such a nice Hufflepuff."

Jamia looked down. She didn't want to think about that. She gathered her notes from beside her and turned back to Hayley. "Have you heard about Brendon and Dallon yet?" She asked, knowing other school gossip would easily distract the red head.

Hayley's eyes widened. "Spill!" She exclaimed, rushing over to help Jamia with her notes. "Are they really a thing? I did notice Brendon's doodles shifting to new images, but I didn't think much of it..." She continued to ramble as the two girls moved towards their dorm. Jamia and Frank weren't discussed again for the rest of the night.