THE SUN WAS A NUISANCE. Such was a rare thought for Ciaran Byrne. Yet, as he trudged through the burning and congested London streets with his Hogwarts trunk being dragged behind him, he found himself praying for the abusive sun's disappearance.

Where even was 12 Grimmauld Place? He was on the given street and saw no such place. He began to wonder if it was a made-up practical joke. Yet, Cecilia Auclair and Hermione Granger were far from liars. Ronald Weasley? Potentially. But his dear Cee and Hermione? Absolutely not.

They had all written him all but two nights prior to the current day, begging him to come join them in the London residence. He knew the plea was because of Cecilia's worry, Ron's friendliness, and Hermione hopeful attempt to comfort him after his. . loss, but he figured he'd go regardless. They were a group of his closest friends. Who else would he rather be with in times such as these?

After five more minutes of treacherous walking, he was near giving up. Sweat was dripping down his forehead and his blonde curls were beginning to stick to his face. Not fun. Just as he was about to turn around and begin drafting his letters of fury to the three, the building to his left began to move. He halted, raising his brow as he turned on his heel.

There was 12 Grimmauld Place. Of course, it was enchanted. While he was slightly frustrated, he was more so relieved. Ciaran bolted toward the building and knocked on the door with haste. How he needed water.

His fist hardly needed to make contact with the door before he saw a blur of brown curls, vanilla, and lavender perfume hit his senses, and felt the wind knocked out of him by an enthusiastic hug. He knew it was Cecilia for after years of friendship, he knew her hugs all too well.

"Oof! Cee, hey!" He grinned holding his best friend close to him. They had only been apart two weeks, yet, it was two weeks too long in their books.

"I'm so happy that you're here," She mumbled into his shoulder before pulling away to examine him. While he always looked fabulous, he had been looking slightly less fabulous in past the few months. It was to be expected after such a trauma, but remained nonetheless, worrisome. His face was pale despite the sun, he had bags beneath his glossy eyes, and his visage screamed solemnity. On top of that, he was sweaty and obviously exhausted.

Cecilia gasped, realizing how awful the journey must have been. Guilt washed over her features, "Cece, I'm so sorry! I didn't know it would be so hot! Oh, I'm so, so sorry. 'Mione and I would have made an order member come get you if we had known! Come in, it's cool. I'll get you ice water and some lunch." She grabbed his hand and led him into the townhome.

"Cee, it's okay, none of us expected the heatwave. But lunch and water, especially water, sound divine," He said before breathing a sigh of relief at the coolness of the dark home. He played back Cecilia's sentence in his head, taking in what she had said more carefully. "Wait. .what order? You began a whole department last year, don't tell me you've started an order too! How'd you get this house?!"

Cece giggled, "No, it's The Order of the Phoenix. I couldn't have possibly of founded it. It's older than our existence. This is their headquarters. I can explain more later."

"Are you sure, Cece? With a title such as The Order of the Phoenix, I would surmise that you came up with it," He mused. He had always found The Tortured Poets Department to be an intriguing and somewhat peculiar title. He often took joy in teasing the Gryffindor poet for her choice of branding.

"Oh, hush. The Tortured Poets Department is a lovely name and you know it. Grabs people's attention," She shot back, a playful inflection in her voice. Her heart was soaring as if it were a bird gliding through the clouds. Ciaran hadn't bantered with her like this in months.

Just as they were about to head towards the kitchen, heavy footsteps sounded down the stairs. A tall, lanky, and freckled redhead clonked down the stairs. He paused when he ran into the two before smiling brightly, "Ciaran, you're here! How are you, mate? Here, let me get your trunk. You'll be staying with Harry and I, hope that's okay."

"Oh, are you sure? My trunk is quite heavy," Ciaran warned as Ron Weasley moved to grab his luggage.

"I'm positive. I insist. It won't be a problem at all," Ron reassured him with a freckled grin that was honestly, from Ciaran's perspective, a tad bit cute.

Ciaran was sure he was getting heatstroke now.

"Well, in that case, thanks, Ron," Ciaran said thankfully. That trunk was a pain.

Ron then grabbed Hogwart's trunk and took it up the stairs with surprising strain. Cecilia couldn't help but lightly scoff at her brother-like friend before she grabbed Ciaran's forearm and led him into the kitchen.

There he saw the Weasley Twins at the end of the dining table in such deep conversation, that Ciaran could only conclude them to be scheming as per usual. He also saw Hermione reading earnestly at the counter. Cecilia guided him to a seat and quickly busied herself making Ciaran's lunch.

Hermione looked up from her book, her eyes widening and a smile rising on her face. She had never dropped a book so quickly. She bolted to give Ciaran a smothering hug. "Oh, Ciaran! I'm so glad you're here! How are you?"

"Hey, 'Mione. I'm currently burning alive, how about you?" He smiled down at her with a snarky jab at the weather in his response.

She furrowed her brows and sighed, "Yes, you do feel rather warm. I'm so sorry you had to walk in that heat!"

Cecilia placed a large glass of ice water before him alongside a damp rag. "Hydration awaits."

"Thanks, Cee," He said before taking a large gulp of water and placing the rag on his forehead. The water was so cold that a burning sensation overcame him as it traveled. The rag's chill was refreshing. It was perfect.

As he cooled down, filled his stomach with Cecilia's divine cooking (yet, both he and she knew it was not as good as Kate Myth's), and conversed with his most preferred Gryffindors, he was overcome by the urge to shower. After the buckets that he had sweat in the London heat, he felt a high level of self-disgust.

"Is it at all possible to take a shower? I feel like a sweaty straight quidditch player," He asked as Cecilia took his plate from before him.

Hermione chuckled at his comment while Cecilia smiled and washed off his dish. "Of course. You can use Cece, Ginny, and I's bathroom. Ron and Harry's is honestly quite filthy. We'll show you the way up."

"Speaking of, where is Harry? I've seen good old Ronny but not Harry," Ciaran observed at the mention of The Boy Who Lived. He was surprised Cecilia had not brought him up naturally. She usually could not go more than half an hour without mentioning him in some sense.

Hermione's face scrunched and she glanced at Cecilia who sighed as she tucked a curl behind her ear. Their expressions were uneasy. Hermione allowed Cecilia to take the lead on sharing her boyfriend's whereabouts. "Well, you see, he's at the Ministry of Magic with Mr. Weasley."

"Ah," Ciaran nodded unfazed, taking a small sip of his dwindling water. "What'd he do this time around?"

"It's completely unjust and entirely not his fault," Hermione quickly prefaced Cecilia's explanation.

"Of course not."

"A dementor attacked him and his horrible cousin Dudley under a bridge in Little Whinging. He used the Patronus Charm to repel it, which in and of itself is rather impressive. Yet, they're trying to charge him for utilizing magic outside of school and performing before a muggle." Her face was visibly distressed and riddled with a sense of injustice. "He's currently at the Ministry on trial."

Ciaran hummed and slowly nodded his head as he took in the information. "Got it. . .What was a dementor doing in Little Whinging anyway?"

"That's what we want to know," Hermione pursed her lips while Cecilia nervously picked at the hem of her floral tank top. "The law is technically on his side because it was an act of self-defense but Harry is unfortunately not particularly known for his luck."

"Eh, he kind of is though," Ciaran reasoned with the nervous girls. He could not help himself as he thought back to the night that was in reality not too long ago. In some ways, it felt like it had just occurred yesterday, in others, years ago.

His worst nightmare had unfolded before his eyes. He watched the love of his life come out of the Triwizard Tournament with not a single ounce of life within him. Yet, Harry somehow managed to scrape by dueling the Dark Lord alive. He did not blame Harry in the slightest for his boyfriend's death but he would certainly say that Harry had some type of luck. "His situations are far from lucky but he always makes it out okay in the end."

He felt tears prick his eyes at the thought of his late beloved Cedric and quickly changed the subject. He put on a smile and grinned towards Cecilia with a glint in his glossy eyes. "I'm assuming you and Harry are good then?"

Hermione snorted. "Oh, they're more than good."

Cecilia's cheeks warmed and she looked down at the counter with a sheepish smile, her fingers were still twiddling her top's seaming. "Yeah. . .we're great."

"And that means? What? You guys are together? Are you friends with benefits? What?" He pressed eagerly. He had to admit, prying into his friend's love life was rather comforting.

"We're together," she smiled proudly, finally looking up at Ciaran as she placed her hands flat on the countertop. As she told the story, Ciaran swore that he saw hearts in her eyes. "We both couldn't sleep the night that he arrived without talking about the kiss. He came to our door and we went downstairs and talked for a while. We confessed our feelings all the way back to first year and. .we decided to start dating."

Ciaran grinned cheekily as he stood from his seat. "Well, it's about damn time. That's awesome, Cee! I'm happy for you two."

She could not shake her happy visage accompanied by warm, flushed cheeks as she muttered a gentle, "Thank you."

"Oh, 'Cia, you wanted to shower, right?" Hermione asked as they all began to transition out of the kitchen.

"Please," he eagerly answered, his voice a tad exasperated. Now that he was somewhat hydrated and had a full stomach, he could not bear to have the layer of sweat and grime much longer.

The three made their way up the dark, rickety stairs of Grimmauld Place. The place was awfully dusty and worn down. Vintage would not even begin to describe the nearly deteriorating home.

The girls showed Ciaran to his room and pointed him in the direction of their freshly cleaned bathroom. Upon arrival, Ginny, Hermione, and Cecilia took two days to deep clean their room and bathroom. The grime was simply unacceptable.

When Ciaran returned back from his simply refreshing shower he heard shouting from below. He hurried down the cranky, old stairs, his blonde hair still dropping occasional drizzles of water. He followed the shouting which he made out to be Ginny and the twins shouting, "HE GOT OFF! HE GOT OFF! HE GOT OFF!"

He peeked into the room to see exactly that. Harry Potter was at the center of the room in dress attire with a face of relief. He was speaking with Hermione, Cecilia, and Ron who all beamed at him victoriously, his arm was firmly around Cecilia who nearly looked more at ease than him. Ginny, Fred, and George danced around him chanting with jolly.

Harry glanced in Ciaran's direction, his green eyes doing a double-take when they noticed him. The joyous color had drained from his face. Cecilia noticed her boyfriend's gaze making Hermione and Ron catch on quickly. Their grinning expressions fell and their chatter ceased. Cecilia gently patted Harry's chest before muttering something that Ciaran couldn't make out.

A pit formed in Ciaran's stomach. Was Harry uncomfortable seeing him? The two of them had not spoken since the night of Cedric's passing.

Harry awkwardly cleared his throat and excused himself from his friends. Ginny, Fred, and George carried on with their chanting as it appeared to annoy their mother. Ciaran's heart quickened as Harry approached him with a rather solemn pace to his step.

They stood before each other, unsure of who should speak first. Yet, the gaze that they held dispelled Ciaran's previous notion of anger from Harry's end. Instead, Harry bore an expression of guilt and sorrow. It was he who thought Ciaran to be angry at him.

Harry gulped before he sighed. "Listen, Ciaran, I-I know I should have spoken to you sooner but-"

"Harry, I don't blame you," Ciaran quickly interjected causing Harry's eyes to widen. He did not think he could handle a monologue of apologetics from Harry filled with explanations and further knowledge of that night. "I know you did all that you could. I have not a single ounce of resentment towards you."

Relief flooded Harry's visage. Color rushed back into his features. It was obvious that this had been something that had been bothering The Boy Who Lived. All he could mutter out was, "Thank you."

As the two shook hands, there was a great sense of healing that Ciaran felt. When he looked back at Cecilia, Hermione, and Ron smiling at them, a wave of comfort drowned him.

Perhaps there was a way to live in harmony with grief.

~~~

AURORA'S MESSAGE 🩷

Hi, everyone! I know this beginning chapter is very overdue but believe me, I have not forgotten about this story!! I'm hoping to get some good chapters in before summer's end!

I know a lot of characters were not in this beginning chapter which I find honestly to be a bit more of a prologue. I began with this because I felt that setting the stage with grief was precisely what was called for. The actual department in its entirety will be in the next chapter which I hope to get out shortly. I really just wished to hone in on grief (which will make sense later).

Also, as the TTPD album has been out for quite a while now, instead of a special chapter (which I may still do) the chapters will have TTPD lyric/song titles! <3

I hope you all enjoyed it!!

Much love!! ✌️