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The courtyard was filled with many students, some of whom had hurried to claim spots for their friends to study at under the sun's warmth. Helen had been willing to leave breakfast a little early so she could grab a spot for us. She didn't usually eat breakfast so it wasn't a big deal, she kept insisting, but we all thanked her anyway.

Allie and Felicia pulled out their essays for transfiguration, since they had been procrastinating their work in exchange for more time to read the book they'd been reading together. Reagan, Amara, Helen, and I got to work on the herbology reading we'd been assigned to do.

Most of it didn't make much sense so I made myself a mental note then, for good measure, doodled a little picture of plants next to Kyrie's name and stuck it onto my cover. I was barely scraping by in the class and needed all the help that I could get from it.

Helen was bouncing between staring blankly at her book and ogling a pair of Gryffindors who were sitting a bit away from us. The girl was braiding the boy's hair. He was frowning but his eyes were amused while she tucked flowers amongst the strands, laughing as he pretended to flinch away.

Amara, who had been reading intently, looked over, "Helen?"

"Yeah?" she replied, not taking her eyes off of them.

"Do you need help with that?"

Helen finally looked away and glanced back down at her book then met Amara's eyes, nodding, "I guess so."

"Here, I have some notes you can read," Amara tugged a crumpled piece of parchment out of her bag and handed it over. From a quick glance, I gleaned that it was the notes Kyrie had given us, rewording everything as simply as he could for us to copy.

Allie tossed aside her parchment around half an hour later, stretching her legs as she stood up, "I need a break, I want to tear this apart right now."

"Same," Felicia used Allie for support and stood up, "Kitchens?"

"Yes please," Helen grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder, and got up as well. She glanced at Amara, Reagan, and I, "Do you two want to come?"

We exchanged looks then Amara shook her head, "No, I think we're going to finish."

"Suit yourself," Felicia waved and the three of them headed off, going back inside while chattering.

I could see Helen watching the Gryffindors until they were out of sight.

Reagan was quietly flipping through her herbology textbook, searching for the meaning of different words in a dictionary when she had to.

She didn't speak much to the rest of us, which was a little understandable. Allie, Helen, and Felicia had immediately clicked during the first day of classes while Amara and I continued to struggle our way towards friendship.

Our other three dormmates tried to include us as much as possible but there was a clear line between us and them, especially whenever it was just the three of them and one of us. It did, however, mess with what my parents had always told me.

Both of my parents had attended Hogwarts so, naturally, I'd grown up hearing plenty about their school days. They'd both stayed in touch with their dormmates for years, constantly sending letters and visiting each other whenever possible. They shared a friend group, who they'd met together in their shared astronomy class.

One of their friends had apparently locked them in the potions' classroom after their group had snuck in, hoping to get them together after a long time of avoiding each other.

I knew none of my dormmates would ever do something like that. It wasn't how they were and we just weren't close enough and I couldn't see us becoming good friends. I couldn't help but wonder if Amara and I would be as I glanced at her again.

"Focus," she chided, reminding me of the book whose chapter I still hadn't finished reading.

Before I could return to it, my eyes swept the courtyard another time and I caught sight of the Ravenclaw team entering. I was able to easily recognize Alex and Jay, who stood out among a lot of others, let alone the small team of seven.

I'd been able to pick up others' names by eavesdropping when around them.

Juliette and Leo, both third years, were always side-by-side like Alex and Jay were. They argued a lot more than the two boys, however, and Juliette was much taller than most of her peers and towered over the majority of the team.

Leo, on the other hand, was a little plain in appearance and the way he dressed when not in uniform but his personality made up for it as much as possible, giving him a larger appearance whenever he spoke.

Daniela and Quinton were the oldest of the team, falling solidly as the seventh years and looking far older than their peers. There were no sixth years on the team so they looked more severe and mature, especially compared to the way the others goofed off.

Quinton had honey skin and his black hair was cropped short, though he tended to wear a newsboy cap a lot over it. Whenever he wasn't wearing the hat, he looked a little lost.

Daniela, as I had learned, was very much the mother of the group. Her expression was always firm and cool but it was easy to see that she was observing her surroundings a lot. She'd caught me watching them a lot because of it.

Lastly, Matthew was the one always trailing around in the back, far quieter than the rest and listening more than he spoke. I wasn't quite sure why, only that he seemed incredibly shy.

My accidental ogling was interrupted when Teddy, who I hadn't noticed before, crossed between the team and I, blocking the group of seven off from my line of sight. I tracked his movements and let the quidditch team leave my mind while I watched him head for an archway leading back into the castle, turning right as he left.

I was tempted to go back to watching the quidditch team, since they had claimed the remaining open bench, some of them sitting on it while others sprawled around, but Amara started to snap her fingers in front of my face, "I thought you said you wanted to get better at studying."

"I did but-"

She cut me off, flashing a knowing smile though I could see the exasperation in her eyes, "The team is fascinating. Just admit you want to try out next year, it's no big deal."

"Fine," I sighed, glancing back down to my book. The mere thought of continue to struggle with it gave me a headache so I snapped it shut and stood, "I'm going to go ask Kyrie about this, you want to come?"

"Yeah, of course," she reached up and I grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet. We left the courtyard and wandered the halls for a bit, trying to find Kyrie in one of his usual spots.

Near the Transfiguration classroom we ran into Teddy. He moved to let us pass but we did the same, eventually leading into an awkward back and forth shuffle until we all mutually gave up and stood quietly, regarding each other.

Teddy broke the silence first, clearing his throat, "Sorry."

"No, it's fine," I rushed to assure him, waving it off, and glanced to Amara, "Where are you headed?"

I wasn't sure why I had asked and regretted it when both he and Amara seemed surprised. He answered anyway, though, "Trying to find Professor Longbottom, I have questions about the reading."

"We also have questions! We're trying to find our friend instead, he knows a lot," Amara jumped in a little too enthusiastically, sending glances between us, as she winked at me before turning back to Teddy, "Why don't you come with us? Kyrie's really smart."

"He doesn't talk, though," I added.

Teddy blinked and rearranged his books in his arms, replying slowly, "Sure, I guess. Is this Kyrie trustworthy?"

"Of course he is. If you doubt him you can leave," Amara snapped, her defensive barriers going up. She was a little too head-strong and liked to yell first and ask questions later more than anything. It wouldn't surprise me if she became a dueler after we learned more in Defense. Professor Antin herself had complimented her aptitude for dueling, with her quick thinking and fast reflexes.

"Huh? No, sorry," Teddy looked rather taken aback as he rushed to fix it, "I was just wondering, I've never met him."

"He's not very noticeable," she explained, her words still a little clipped. Teddy's eyes remained confused and mildly hurt from her sniping so I nudged her way with a sigh.

"Amara's protective, don't mind her. She's like a guard dog."

"Am not," she defended but, before she could say anything else, I shoved her off down the hall past Teddy.

"Follow us if you'd like," I called to Teddy as I marched Amara away towards the entrance hall, since the only place we hadn't checked was the Black Lake, which Kyrie had once told us he liked when it was sunny out.

I could hear Teddy following after us, trailing behind, and I let go of Amara. She shot me a glare and shoved me over with her shoulder but her annoyance was gone by the time we descended the stairs into the hall.

Outside, we scanned the lawn for Kyrie and quickly spotted him under a tree. He was leaning against the trunk with his eyes closed and knees tucked up against his chest, his arms hugging his legs.

I was worried he was asleep but, as we approached, he opened his eyes and his face lit up in a smile. His smiles were always sweet and genuine, giving him a soft, innocent look. With his hair drifting around his cheeks, he almost looked like a painting.

He opened his mouth, as if to greet us, but then his eyes locked onto Teddy and his mouth snapped shut. He looked at Amara and I questioningly so I explained, "We have questions about the Herbology reading, Lupin here doesn't understand it much either. Would you mind helping us?"

He nodded slowly and pointed to my bag, making a writing motion with his hands. I set my bag next to him and pulled out a quill, my ink, and some parchment for him to use while Amara flipped open the textbook to the right page and handed it to him.

He let Amara and I press against his shoulders and read with him, though he mostly skimmed, doodling on the parchment while we read and whenever we paused to ask about a specific part, he would make notes and explain it on the parchment.

Teddy didn't say anything, instead sitting quietly on my other side and folding some parchment into some sort of origami animal, so Kyrie made general notes on the more complicated parts on another piece of parchment. He kept glancing at Teddy but, if he noticed, he didn't seem to mind.

When we had finished the reading and asked all of our questions, Kyrie folded up the parchment and handed it to me with a smile. I tucked it away into my bag for safekeeping because, knowing Amara and I, we'd be needing it again. I handed Teddy the other paper and he stuffed it into his bag.

Amara slid down so her head was resting on Kyrie's shoulder, looking like she was done studying for the day. She called to Teddy, "You can come find us for our notes. Or maybe hunt down Kyrie here."

Kyrie's expression turned panicked and he shook his head, knocking Amara off accidentally. He sent me a pleading look, which I reacted to immediately.

"Teddy, could you walk away for a moment?" I asked, meeting his gaze and begging him to understand.

He looked between the three of us then nodded quickly, turning his back and striding away. As soon as he was well out of earshot, Kyrie leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Rather not. Stressful."

He hadn't gotten around to speaking more than a few words at a time to Amara and I but, based off of how slowly he had told Clay he usually trusted people, it was incredible progress. He liked to use as little words as possible and was always almost inaudible unless Clay was around but we still loved him and his efforts.

After he first spoke to us, Clay later told us that Kyrie had wanted us to know that he had done so because Clay clearly trusted us and Kyrie held his opinion in high regards.

"Understandable," I replied softly, matching his volume, as I smiled.

He flashed a small smile and, as Amara settled back onto his shoulder, his eyes caught something and his smile grew rapidly until he was downright beaming. I followed his gaze and spotted Clay coming our way, bag swinging from his shoulder as he sped up, flat out running at us.

Clay slipped in the grass and he crashed into Kyrie's legs but neither seemed to mind, instead bursting out into laughter as Clay righted himself and fixed his bag's strap. Clay smiled, his eyes bright when Kyrie brushed grass off his knee, "What're you all doing?"

I glanced away to see Teddy walking away towards the Black Lake's shore, occasionally sending looks over his shoulder to check on us. I waved him over and he started back slowly, taking his time.

"Herbology, Kyrie was helping us," Amara replied, shredding blades of grass and knotting other bits together.

Clay laughed again as he took his bag off, letting it fall next to him, "I thought you Ravenclaws are supposed to be all-knowing?"

"I think we missed that part," I jumped in, gesturing vaguely around, "Who would care for this when books are a thing?"

"Sounds reasonable," he let out a small, breathy laugh, brushing his hair out of his eyes. It didn't do much good because it fell right back into place but I noticed Kyrie staring at Clay as he messed with his hair, his pupils a little wide.

Amara shot a smug smile at me then asked Clay, "Did you read the Herbology assignment?"

"No," he responded immediately, flushing as he avoided all of our gazes, instead looking at the ground, "It took me too long to read a page and I got frustrated."

"Threw the book across the room," Kyrie added softly. I couldn't tell if that was how he always spoke or if it was because he was nervous, even though it was just Clay, Amara, and I. I never asked because I was too worried to pry, since it was none of my business, but I did catch Clay often looking at Kyrie with worry clouding his eyes. It seemed like he was constantly taking mental notes of him. Or maybe mental pictures.

Teddy returned and stood next to Amara, looking awkward and fidgety when Kyrie closed his mouth on whatever he was about to say, the shadow of stress returning to his eyes. Clay met his eyes and the two stood up on an unspoken cue, "We're going to head back up to the common room, see you both later."

He smiled briefly at Teddy then the two of them started to walk away. Clay reached over to brush Kyrie's hair away from his face and their shoulders pressed together as they left, seeming to fit against each other.

Teddy turned to me as soon as they were gone, "I didn't do anything wrong, right?"

"No, it's nothing you did. It's selective mutism," Amara jumped in, now weaving together long blades of grass into a neat plait, "Anything involving speaking causes him anxiety, rendering him mute in some situations due to the stress and some other factors."

"Really? Should I've not come then?" he looked bewildered, glancing at the retreating backs of Clay and Kyrie with a slight bit of panic in his eyes.

She shook her head, "I think he's okay, it just shut down his ability to communicate verbally with us."

"Oh," was all he replied with. We stayed in silence for a few long and awkward minutes before he made an odd noise and spit out, "I'm going back inside as well. Er, thanks."

"Of course," Amara and I quickly said in unison. The corner of his mouth flicked up into a half smile as he turned and left, tracing the same path Kyrie and Clay had taken.

Amara rounded on me as soon as he was out of sight, scooting closer, "Was that a bad decision? Should I not have invited him?"

"Kyrie would've left if it was too much," I was quick to reassure her, shaking my head. Kyrie always seemed to run away from his problems and he would've made a swift exit if helping Teddy had been too much for him.

She paused then nodded, her face relaxing, "Do you think it'll go away? My cousin's did."

"I'm unsure, but we can hope."

Clay had told us, with consent, that Kyrie was tired of the crippling fear of talking and had been pushing past the stress whenever he could. He hadn't explained why but had told Clay enough for him to guess that something traumatic had happened to Kyrie, bad enough to change his whole life, but he was doing his best to work through it before it ruined the rest of his childhood.

"Change of subject?" she asked after a few minutes to break the silence around us. I nodded and she smiled as she leaned closer, "Anything going on with that Lupin boy?"

"Huh? No," I frowned at her, cursing her nosiness. She copied my frown but it broke out into another one of her grins after a few moments and I couldn't help but smile back.

She settled her chin on her palm, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes, "Really? Nothing? He's unique, don't worry there."

Sighing, I broke eye contact to look out at the lake. Almost everyone was "unique" in our generation in one way or another from the impact the war against the Dark Lord had had on our parents. Many of us felt the pain our parents had endured, marking us all.

There had been a major shadow over all of our pre-Hogwarts years, due to the intense fear of the Death Eaters rising again to finish what they had started under their Lord. Those in first year had all been born in the same year the Battle of Hogwarts had taken place and they'd been dire times.

Amara's parents had both been killed during the battle at the hands of the Death Eaters so her aunt and uncle had raised her as their own alongside her numerous cousins. She never really talked about it but, as far as I knew, she didn't seem to mind.

I voiced a few of my many thoughts and her expression fell as they sunk in. She nodded slowly and admitted, "You're right."

"I'm sorry," I reached over and gave her a quick hug, "Do you want to head to the kitchens?"

"Yeah, sure," she stood up, reaching down to pull me up, "but I still do think Lupin's quite cute."

"Then you go for him, why don't you?"

She snorted as we started back towards the castle, "Really not my type."

"Well he's not mine either," I argued, tucking my hands into my robe pockets. We took slow steps across the lawn, stalling for a reason neither of us knew.

She smiled and bumped my shoulder with hers as she picked up the pace, the moment passing, "You never know."

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