Lando returned back to Gryffindor tower late that night as he had spent the last couple of hours with Alex Albon and George Russell, catching up with their transfiguration homework. He was thinking about what he had said to Oscar. He regretted his words, yet they held some truth, he didn't understand why Oscar had thought to start rumours or whatever he was trying to achieve about Carlos. It wasn't like Oscar to be so petty, however he wouldn't rule it out with either of his friends.

Thinking about Carlos, he remembered him telling Lando earlier in the day that he was going to pay a visit to Professor Alonso to ask him about the Chamber of Shadows. He realised it was rather late, the moon had long ago cast its spotlight over the castle. Carlos should be back by now. He quietly climbed the staircase up to their dorm and silently entered. With the darkness of the room he could only just make out the outlines of his friends. One bed was empty. Carlos wasn't there.

He narrowed his eyes, there's no way he is still there, surely. He silently crawled into his four-poster, but couldn't settle without knowing where Carlos was. He waited another five minutes- nothing. The only sound he could make out was the light snoring coming from Charles' bed. Luckily, he didn't have to get back up in search of his best friend as he had already appeared. He delicately closed the door behind him and changed into his pyjamas, lying down in his bed. Lando thought he was mistaken, but he swore he could make out Carlos' frame shaking slightly, a tell-tale sign of crying. Do I pretend I'm asleep or say something? Ah fuck it, "Carlos?" He whispered, the faintest of sound filling the air. No response. Maybe he had imagined it.

The next morning was a rush, the houses were split in half in order to make room for their extra lessons in order to prepare them for their upcoming examinations, Lando and Carlos were in one class whereas Lewis and Charles were in another, an admittedly more boring subject.

Professor Fernando stood at the front of his transfiguration class, he took on many of the extra classes when McGonagall was busy. He watched over as his students struggled to produce varieties of inanimate to animate transformations. Alex was watching his chair walk away with glee as George stood dejectedly as his shoe as his tie slithered away and out of the window, much to the amusement of the Slytherins in the corner. Lando had successfully managed to make an hourglass pick itself up and turn upside down, much to his happiness. He looked up to see Alonso nod an approving head at him, his expression shifting however to one of well concealed sadness. 'Well', not 'perfect.' He noticed that this expression was aimed at Carlos next to him, who was sitting at his desk among the cries and laughter of the room, staring blankly at his hands, not even attempting to cast a spell, wand still tucked away in his pocket.

"Chilli? You alright? You've not even got your wand out yet," he questioned, concerned. Carlos simply blinked, eyes wandering to the turned back of Alonso before uttering: "Estoy bien."

"You sure? You know you can tell me anything, right?" He hated seeing Carlos upset. It was a rare occurrence, always smiling and being a social butterfly, but it occasionally happened, though Carlos would always refuse to confide in him, or anyone else for that matter, insisting that he was fine, yet Lando could see the extinguished fire in his usually deep, brown eyes.

"I know, I-" He faltered as he accidentally met Alonso's gaze. "Lo siento, Lando, no puedo- tengo que irme." He stood up in a rush, pulling his unopened bag over his shoulder and exiting the classroom. In a muted shock, Lando snapped his head towards Alonso before grabbing his own belongings and chasing after him.

"Carlos, Carlos, stop, what's- Carlos?" Lando placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, halting Carlos from running off any further.

"Please let me go, I just need a minute-" His frustrated tone merged with his thick accent. "I can't do this right now," he whispered, his voice tight, "this isn't something that can be fixed, so just... let me go, please." Carlos hesitated, before shrugging out of Lando's grip attempting to walk away.

"You don't have to tell me everything, Carlos. But you can't keep doing this- storming off and expecting me to just wait around until you either decide you're ready to talk or at least go back to normal." That made Carlos flinch, 'normal', something he knew he could never be.

"I'm your friend, okay? You don't need to keep dealing with whatever this is alone, but if you keep shutting me out... I don't know how to help you." Lando finished, frustrated. He waited a moment, watching Carlos' retreating form before turning away sharply. "Fine, be like that."