CHAPTER FIFTEEN

. . .

LEAVING his ferret behind in his bedroom had become a sort of habit for Enoch. A bad habit, one he really wishes he hadn't settled into. The pet seems perfectly content to nestle in amongst the brunet's blankets, mostly keeping him company after school and at night. But it did leave Enoch without the support during the day, which is arguably probably where he needs it most. Especially on days where everyone seems inexplicably more emotional than usual. Even with his gloves and the candy, it's nearly impossible to focus on anything but the swirl of emotions coming from the students around him on those days.

Thankfully, today is not one of those days.

But still, feeling bad that his ferret was stuck in his room on the weekend, Enoch has decided to go back to find him. The rest of his friends are in the library where he left them, pretending to study as they really find the most obscure books they can, reading out the weirdest lines they spot, or showing the funniest pictures. He'd been reluctant to leave them but his guilt had been weighing on him.

The halls on the weekend are fairly quiet, with most students hanging out in dorms, the library, or grounds. Enoch is able to make it to his room with relative ease. His pet is resting on Elijah's pillow, curled in comfortably.

"You're supposed to stay on my bed," scolds the brunet even though he knows Elijah wouldn't mind. The curly haired Hufflepuff seems rather fond of the ferret, even excitedly exclaiming when Enoch said he was going to get him. The ferret, when he's picked up, titters softly but settles into the empath's hands with ease. He radiates warmth, a kind that flows through Enoch's arms in a way that tells him it's an emotion thing. As he leaves the dorms, he lets ferret curl up around his neck and rest there. Enoch can feel his little breaths brush against his neck softly, punctuated every now and then by a content sigh.

As he's walking back, Enoch turns the corner and immediately wishes he hadn't: two students, standing a few metres apart, seem to be engaged in an angry discussion. A girl with a large bush of curly brown hair is talking quickly and loudly to an equally grumpy looking redhead, who seems like he's barely holding back a response. The second the brunet has entered the room, a flood of chilli rushes over him and he gulps. The spiciness burns his tongue, nearing an unbearable amount of pain. Picking up his pace, he does his best to push past.

But as he's passing the arguing pair, the girl pulls away, the argument clearly over (for now). Not having noticed the additional company, she bumps into Enoch. While the force of impact wouldn't normally be hard enough to receive much of a reaction, the anger and frustration that comes with the contact sends the empath staggering. His mouth burn as though it's on fire and it's all he can do to maintain his composure.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The girl exclaims, adding some remorse to the mix of emotions Enoch is receiving. She goes to help him stabilise himself, increasing the waves of emotion. The Hufflepuff swallows the strong desire to retch as more chilli coats his tongue. "I didn't see you there. Are you alright?"

"F-Fine... Thanks," forces out the younger male, though he's sure he isn't very convincing. He pulls himself away from the Gryffindor girl and gives her a shaky smile. While the surface anger seems to have settled underneath her current concern, the spiciness hasn't lessened and neither has the pain. "Sorry, take care."

It's all Enoch can do not to run away from the pair, walking as fast as he can down the corridor and around the corner. He doesn't even notice he's gone the wrong way, back the way he came. The boy drops to his knees as another retch shakes through his body, thankfully bringing nothing but the pain. Blurring his vision, tears start to prick his eyes. He settles into a crouched position, panting heavily in a desperate attempt to reduce the burn across his tongue. It does nothing.

For as long as he can remember, Enoch has never been able to handle spicy food. The chilli, its flavour and its burn, has never done anything for him; any meal with even the slightest amount has just been a torture session. Naturally, he'd been overjoyed to discover that any emotion on the anger spectrum is some variation of chilli or spiciness. His parents had always been careful with their anger, taking it away from him unless they couldn't help it; he'd grown comfortable.

The brunet hiccoughs as he waits for the burn to leave, lingering far longer than it should. He sniffs, his nose running as a tear runs down his cheek. So engrossed in trying to fight through the pain, he barely notices when his ferret crawls from his spot and runs off.

Draco comes to an abrupt halt as a white ferret scatters out from around the corner. His eyes grow wide as he stares at the small animal, memories of his brief period as one come flooding back. The ferret stares back at him expectantly, squeaking quietly. Then, when the blond does nothing, it runs around in a circle and looks back at him. It makes another noise—it definitely wants something. But, not being able to speak ferret, Draco isn't sure what he can do.

He swears the ferret sighs, frowning at him like he's some kind of idiot and Draco has never felt so insulted by a small animal. The little white creature runs back the way he came. Draco goes to keep on walking, assuming the strange interaction is over, but the ferret comes back.

"D-Do you want me to follow?" Draco hisses, after quickly glancing around to make sure no one catches him talking to a ferret. Potentially in confirmation, this ferret runs off again. It takes Draco a second, but he reluctantly follows. The ferret scampers off ahead, impatiently pausing and glancing back every few seconds as though he's disappointed the blond is taking so long. Once again feeling insulted, Draco picks up his pace to match the animal's.

He understands the ferret's urgency when the small creature comes to a halt. It takes him less than a second to spot Enoch, curled up against the wall with his head in his hands. The boy looks as though he's in pain and, almost instinctively, Draco takes a step forward towards him. But then he pauses, as the ferret runs around his feet. His memory flashes back to when they spoke, to the sour lemon that felt as though it was burning his mouth. If his emotions felt like that, along with all the other things, he couldn't imagine that'd help the brunet right now. There's no way he could help him, even without the empath issue. What could he possibly do?

With the ferret following, making confused and annoyed noises at him, Draco begins his search across the school. He starts in the grounds, doing his best job to scan the area as quickly as possible. When he stops at the entrance, the ferret suddenly climbs up his legs, up onto his shoulders. The claws hurt slightly, but the pain is only brief.

"What are you doing?" He asks the ferret, taking him off his shoulders and holding him in his arms instead. Last thing he needs is to be caught with a ferret for a scarf. The animal doesn't seem to concerned, keeping watch from the thin arms. Draco can't lie, he does have a certain kind of charm to him.

Realising there's no way he can comb the entire school quick enough to get help for Enoch, Draco grabs the nearest, unsuspecting Hufflepuff he passes. The young boy's eyes grow wide—in fear, maybe?—as he comes face to face with the grumpy-looking Slytherin.

"Where's Gertrude Jones?" The blond asks, but only gets stammering in response. "Spit it out, I don't have all day."

"I-I-I think I saw he–her in the library." Draco lets the boy go, running off to the library without another word. He doesn't have time to waste on someone who's outlasted their usefulness. Now he rushes off to the girl Enoch has grown so close to, who thankfully hasn't moved from the library with the other two friends.

"Jones." Draco calls out as he approaches, receiving three suspicious frowns in response. He ignores them, focusing purely on Gee as she watches him curiously. He definitely ignores the way the curly haired boy shies away from him—that definitely doesn't bother him, not even a little bit. "Enoch needs you, now. Or someone who will help him."

"What's wrong with Enoch? Did you do something to him?" A dangerous glint flashes over Gee's eyes and even her Gryffindor friend seems to tense up, as though he could punch Draco at any moment. Even the other Hufflepuff's expression grows concerned. Why must these other folks always expect the worst when Slytherin's involved? Or maybe it's just him.

"I don't have time to explain. He's on the second floor." Remembering the pet in his arms, Draco passes the ferret over to the girl. "If you're unable to find your way there, this ferret can show you where Enoch is."

"Why do you have Enoch's ferret?" The curly haired Hufflepuff pipes up and Draco feels annoyance bubble up inside of him. He's glad Enoch isn't around because his friends are being a bit difficult right now. But, he pauses; he takes a second—all the time he can sacrifice—to close his eyes and exhale slowly.

"As I said, there's no time. Find Enoch, let him explain." Draco watches the way all three go to move and instantly realises how bad an idea that is. "Only one of you! Jones, you go. Anymore and he'll be overloaded."

Gee frowns at him but, thankfully, they must have realised the urgency because none of them argue. The Hufflepuff rushes off, leaving Draco with the other two. He looks at them both, watching the way they both seem to be sizing him up.

"I didn't hurt him." He says, though he's not sure why he cares what they think. Neither seem convinced and he knows he's not wanted—he doesn't want be there either. With that said, the final word, he walks off.

He can't remember what he'd been doing before. And now all he can think of is how he hopes Gee is able to help Enoch.

Enoch thinks he's getting control over the spiciness. The burn isn't quite as all-consuming as it had been, but he certainly couldn't get up just yet.

"Enoch?" He tastes a burst of citrus and, at first, he thinks it's Draco. But then he realises it's too sweet—it's Gee. He looks up, feels the concern radiating from her. His ferret is resting in her arms, but he quickly jumps from them and rushes over to the brunet. He bumps his small head against his hand, giving it a small, comforting lick. "Are you alright?"

"Uh, y-yeah, I'm just... I... It's..." Enoch frowns. Suddenly he regrets not explaining the empathy to his friends.

"Here, you don't have to explain. Can you stand?" The brunet nods, though he's not entirely sure. He hopes he can. The girl crouched down, wrapping an arm around his body. The oranges go strong but, after the chillies, it's a relief. "I'll help you up. Ready?" Enoch nods again. They manage to stand with relatively ease. He still leans against his friend, relying on her for support. "C'mon, lets go back to the dorms. Slowly, take your time—there's no rush. If you don't think you can walk, I'll get Philip and he can carry you."

"I-I can walk," He responds quickly, though not without a chuckle. It's reassuring, to the other girl. They begin their trek, with the ferret running around them.

"Malfoy, of all people, came and got me, said you needed help." Gee says as she hands the brunet a glass of water from the kitchens. She sits down on the bed beside him, brow furrowed into a frown. "He didn't... do anything, did he?"

"I didn't even know he was there..."

"And you'd tell me the truth, if he had, wouldn't you?" Enoch nods, which in return receives a nod from Gee. "Good. I just, don't want him hurting you. Don't want anyone hurting you, or any of my friends."

"It's okay... I don't think he would."

"Can you tell me, why you were like that?" Gee asks after a pause, clearly hesitating. "You don't have to, don't feel–"

"It's okay. I, uhh, I've been meaning to tell you." At this, Gee turns her whole body towards the brunet, curious frown on her brow. "I can... sense emotions. Other people's emotions affect my senses. It's why I was held back from school, why I wear these gloves now." Enoch pulls nervously at the hem of his gloves, thumb running over the embroidered 'DM'. "Sometimes the emotions are a bit overwhelming, I can't handle them. Like earlier, I bumped into someone who was upset and all I could taste was chillies."

"W-Wait, you can feel other people's emotions? Through your senses?"

Enoch nods, "Like an empath, of sorts."

"That is so cool!" The girl's expression has brightened as an impressed smile curls right up to her eyes. Then she coughs, shuffles, and tries to regain her composure. "I mean, that seems difficult."

"No, you're right, sometimes it is cool." The brunet chuckles. He's grateful for her response, because it makes him feel a little better about it all. Though it does make him feel a little foolish, as he's been fearing he'd be treated like some kind of freak.

"Is that what happened when you got sent to the sick bay?" Enoch nods, comprehension flashes over Gee's face. "That makes sense! We'd been wondering why, it happened so suddenly."

"I-I learnt, I can take bad emotions away sometimes. But I can't control it and usually I just get sick." At this moment, the dorms open to reveal Elijah and Philip. The pair of them both look concerned, but some relief takes over it at the sight of the other two.

"Are you okay? Malfoy came with your ferret—we thought he'd done something." Elijah exclaims.

"Did he do anything? I'll kill him if he did," adds the Gryffindor boy.

"Please don't kill him. Draco didn't do anything."

"Draco... Haven't heard anyone call him Draco in a while." Philip comments as he frowns softly. Thinking back on Draco's own comments on image, the brunet shuffles uncomfortably.

"I'll never understand the wizarding world's obsession with last names." Enoch hopes he can brush it off as some kind of transfer thing. Thankfully he receives laughter and it seems to be dropped. When silence falls over the four, Gee sends a purposeful, questioning look to Enoch. After giving a small nod in return, the brunet looks at the two boys. He sighs softly, trying to gather some confidence.

At least there'll be one less secret between them now.

( AUTHOR'S NOTE )
Enoch forgetting his ferret definitely isn't some kinda reflection of me.... totalllly not

I just wanna say, my block timed itself perfectly because now I get to write the Christmas segment during the Christmas season & pretend it's a Christmas special, it's basically a Christmas miracle

There could be some really basic errors in here & I'd like to blame autocorrect. I spent a good minute typing like for (correctly) only to have it turn into fix, fit, all kinds of other words