Rhys hardly remembered when it happened. All he knew was that ever since it happened, things were never the same again.

What he did remember, though, was the look on his mother's face.

Elsie Lewis was a witch herself. Muggleborn, but a witch nevertheless. Still, it did nothing to prepare her for the day her son was bitten by a werewolf. Elsie had been so in shock that she had just let Fenrir Greyback get away. If she ever saw him again, she would not let him get away so easily.

It was another year at Hogwarts, and Rhys couldn't help but feel relieved. He loved his mother dearly, but sometimes she could be just a little too overprotective. He felt a little trapped in his own home, even on days that weren't even close to the full moon.

His being bitten had affected their family in many ways. It was more apparent in his mother, who afterwords became afraid to ever let her son out her sight, lest something bad were to ever happen to him again. Unfortunately, that included spending time with his friends in the summer unless they came over to his house.

His best friend Neville had stayed over for a little while during the summer, but that had been disastrous. Quite frankly, Rhys was afraid of seeing him again and afraid that they weren't even friends anymore. It was the only thing that left him a little hesitant to return to Hogwarts.

But as a proud Gryffindor he had to put on his brave face and be willing to face whatever came his way.

At platform 9 3/4 there were many tears and bittersweet goodbyes. Rhys's own mother was in a frenzy, sad to see him go. It wasn't a matter of his safety, for she trusted Albus Dumbledore and believed that Rhys could not get hurt so long as he stayed there. Regardless, it was saddening for any mother so say goodbye to their child for such a long period of time.

Nigel, on the other hand, while upset to see his son go, easily hid this when he gave his son one last final goodbye hug.

"You will let your mother know if anything goes wrong, right?" Nigel said, only loud enough for the two of them to hear. "And me, of course."

They went over this every year. Of course, Rhys expected the same going into his fifth year at Hogwarts. If anything, he thought it might be worse, what with Voldemort returning. Rhys had the feeling that his father had some influence over his mother, and was able to calm her nerves if ever so slightly. After all, Hogwarts probably was the safest place he could be right now, the one place that Voldemort could never penetrate.

However, this time when Rhys told his father that nothing would go wrong it felt like a lie. He wasn't worried about his safety. No, it wasn't anything like that at all.

It all had to do with a certain boy who had a frog named Trevor, and those were problems that he had no intention of ever telling his parents.

The first problem he faced was when he parents said their last goodbyes, and he was forced to face this all alone. He wasn't sure if he should go look for Neville, or if he should avoid the boy at all costs. Rhys didn't know how Neville truly felt about the whole situation, but the fact that he had sent no letters after his visit had been an indication.

Rhys didn't think he wanted to let go of Neville just yet, or over, but for just this time he decided it would be best if he didn't sought him out.

It left him wondering where he should go. Neville really was his only friend, and sure, maybe he was close with his fellow Gryffindors as well, but they were also Neville's friends. If Neville was doing the same thing that Rhys was, and avoiding him, surely that left him with only one other place to go.

Unfortunately, it just so happened to leave Rhys with nowhere to go.

His heart was pounding and he took his first step onto the Hogwarts express. He never believed that he would let his feelings hinder him like this, and yet here he was. And it was feelings for a boy, no less. What everyone think of him? What would his parents think?

Rhys didn't believe that the simple fact of him being gay would lead to his parents disowning him or anything of the sort, but it still left his stomach churning at the very thought of telling them.

And he was supposed to be brave.

Yes, Rhys remembered that moment when he was standing on the couch, claiming that he would be a Gryffindor and nothing less. And still, after arriving at Hogwarts, he convinced himself that if the sorting hat shouted out anything other than Gryffindor than he'd go straight home. Thankfully, that was never something he had to wonder about. He was indeed put it Gryffindor, and the sorting hat hardly had to think before it put him in his place. His home.

Yet it was times like this when he found himself doubting himself. If he really was a true Gryffindor than why was he so afraid? Perhaps that hat made a mistake. Perhaps that hat only put him in Gryffindor because it could sense how badly Rhys wanted to be there.

Rhys was so distracted by his own thoughts that at first he didn't even notice when Trevor hopped onto his foot. It was only after his insistent croaks that Rhys finally looked down and made eye contact with the toad.

"Trevor?"

There was a slight tremor to his voice. He glanced around nervously, but Neville was nowhere to be found. However, behind him there were people growing impatient, waiting to board the train. It left Rhys with no choice but to continue walking.

His entire plan had been ruined, and it was all thanks to Trevor.

Rhys had to chuckle a little to himself, smiling at the memory of his first day at Hogwarts.

It had been much like this, with Rhys suddenly approached by the toad. He didn't know whose it was at the time, but eventually Trevor was reunited with Neville. Neville was very grateful towards Rhys, who had kept the toad for the time being until he could be reunited with his owner. The two became fast friends, and since then the whole thing had been an inside joke between the two — that they became friends all because of a toad. Surely, they would have become friends anyway, just from sharing a dorm, like the two boys were friends with everyone else. And if they really were meant to be friends, it could have happened another way. Regardless, it was a fond memory the two shared, and it was fun to credit a toad for it. It was like, since that day, they took it as a sign that they were meant to always be friends.

It seemed rather ironic that Rhys found himself in a similar situation, and yet he found himself facing the undoing of their friendships.

Or, he thought, maybe this was a sign. One that was telling him not to give up and there was still hope yet for the friendship.

So Rhys took a deep breath, telling himself to be brave as he continued to check the compartments.

Finally, he came upon one that contained Harry, Ginny, Neville, and a girl with long, dirty blonde hair. Rhys had seen her around, he knew that people called her 'Looney Lovegood', but he had never spoken to her.

Neville looked surprised to see him, as if he had expected Rhys to avoid him. It didn't leave Rhys to feel very encouraged at all. If anything, it made him want to hand Trevor over and run straight out of that compartment. Maybe he would have, if it weren't for the fact that everywhere else was full.

No. He was really growing annoyed with the amount of times that day he had told himself to be brave and just face Neville like a true Gryffindor would.

"Trevor!" Neville exclaimed, seemingly noticing his toad for the first time. He stood up and grabbed Trevor from Rhys's hands, and in the process their hands touched for the briefest of moments.

Rhys's heart rate sped up, and his short spurt of bravado suddenly dissipated. How could he face Neville when he couldn't even look at him without his legs turning to jelly? And his heart — it was like it would burst out of his chest and they had hardly touched each other.

And Neville, he didn't feel the same at all.

Rhys wasn't sure what would have been worse, this, or having his feelings reciprocated. Either way, he realized in that moment that he wasn't necessarily afraid of facing Neville, he was afraid of facing his own feelings.

Ginny and Luna were now both staring at him, Ginny like she was studying him, trying to figure something out, and Luna was giving him this knowing look. But how could she know? Of course she didn't know. Whatever she was thinking must've been something entirely different. Neville was too focused on Trevor to notice Rhys standing there, paralyzed in fear, and Harry was of course entirely oblivious to the entire situation.

Finally, Neville looked up at Rhys, his cheeks tinted lightly pink.

"You found him," he said.

"Well, he found me."

In that moment, the two were thinking of the same thing — that day back from first year. They shared a smile, and Rhys felt himself relax slightly. Could he really let his feelings get in the way of their friendship? Their friendship meant so much more than that.

Finally, after Neville had also sat back down, Rhys took a seat beside him. Back in first year, the compartments had seemed ginormous, but now Rhys couldn't ignore the closeness of Neville beside him, made even more cramped by Harry sitting on his other side.

It should have felt this close. It really wasn't that close at all, but somehow Rhys could still feel Neville beside him, and regardless of wanted things to be normal again it still made him nervous.

Rhys folded his hands in his lap and tried not to think of Neville at all. He thought maybe if he could just erase the boy from his thoughts for a while he'd somehow start to lose his feelings for him. However, trying to not think of Neville only really caused him to think of Neville more.

So wrapped up in his own thoughts, for the second time that day, he became completely unaware of what was going on around him. Of course, it was impossible to ignore the dark green liquid that splattered everywhere, and emitted the smell of something like manure.

He immediately regretted the sheik he let out. If only he had been paying attention, it wouldn't have come as such a shock. While he hadn't seen the plant that Neville had gotten for his birthday, he had heard about it. So when he finally did look up to assess the the damage, he wasn't so surprised.

"Sorry," Neville said, looking slightly nervous and embarrassed. "I haven't tried that before. Didn't realize it would be quite so ... don't worry, though, Stinksap's not poisonous."

Harry was spitting out a mouthful, and Rhys marvelled at how he hadn't gotten any his own mouth, when he knew that often times when he got lost in his thoughts his mouth would slightly hand open.

Another interruption came in the form of a Chinese girl who, too, looked embarrassed to catch herself in the situation. She quickly excused herself, saying something about how she'd talk to Harry later.

Rhys was extremely grateful when Ginny finally saved everyone from the awful smell and slime covered bodies when with a wave of her wand she cleared everything away. Rhys sucked in a breath, having not even realized he was holding his breath for most of the time.

Neville apologized again but Ginny told him not to worry. Rhys felt like it should have been his job to reassure his friend, but yet here he was, still avoiding eye contact with him.

How was he supposed to get through an entire year at Hogwarts if he couldn't even have a conversation with his best friend?

**

A/n: I was originally going to start this story in their first year and changed my mind. I wanted to write about their devolving friendship, but other than that nothing really happens so I thought it would be boring. Of course, there's still the matter of him being a werewolf... some complications with stuff that I probably needed to write about before fifth year but oh well, I'll figure it out.

As I always say, votes and comments are greatly appreciated.