Chapter 61. Bad things come in threes

At King's Cross station, I kept to myself the same way I did when I was going to Hogwarts for the first time.

My compartment was empty for the first few minutes after I got comfortable inside, then Blair and Tanner peeked inside.

I kept a straight face, what use was it getting angry and lashing out at them?

I had been living a fantasy, it was all my fault.

But at least I still had friends, even though their parents didn't approve of it.

"Well, are you getting in or not?" I muttered gruffly.

They both bounded inside the private compartment, bringing their luggage with them.

Roxana came to visit a couple times during the ride, guilt evident in her light brown eyes.

From the conversation between Tanner and Blair, I could pick out that they had sent letters to each other over the course of the holidays.

It meant that there were a lot of things that I didn't know, I was practically third-wheeling.

I leaned back against the train chair, quiet the entire time. It felt like I was on the precipice of something. Like something monumental was going to happen soon.

Throughout the ride, I didn't see Hazel or Witter. I didn't go out of my way to look for them or ask about them.

I remained in this quiet state even during the Start of Term feast, if Tanner and Blair noticed it, they said nothing about it.

Lessons would begin in earnest tomorrow. The first term had merely been a warm-up to the difficult topics that would be treated.

On Monday, Blair and Tanner mostly kept to themselves but that wasn't new.

I tended to hang around Hazel and Witter or Roxana in classes.

Talking about Hazel and Witter, I would be having Potions after lunch which meant that I would get to sit with them for the duration of the class. Or so I thought.

Professor Slughorn decided randomly to shuffle groups every term and I didn't miss the relief on Hazel's face at this.

Witter's expression was impassive but I didn't miss the malicious intent in those green eyes.

I was then grouped with two other Gryffindors who didn't look particularly pleased to be in a group with me even though I was one of the gifted students in the class.

Cynical laughter bubbled up my chest but I forced it down, paying attention to Professor Slughorn's class instead.

At dinnertime in the Great Hall, I noticed that I hadn't seen Sawyer all day.

Now, Sawyer was the last person I was concerned about but we were in the same Hogwarts House which meant that we shared the same dorm and the same classes.

It would be downright weird if I didn't see him even once a day.

 At that point, Tanner and Blair paid attention to me.

"Audric, have you seen Sawyer?" Blair asked.

I frowned, why was she asking me?

"No, I haven't." I gave them a look that conveyed my emotions.

Blair looked down at her plate but Tanner stared shrewdly at me, an odd look on his face.

My frown deepened. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Blair was quick to say, shooting Tanner a look filled with hidden meanings.

I had enough then, ever since we got back together on the Hogwarts Express, they had been acting this way, talking over my head.

It worsened when we got to Hogwarts, why sit with me at all if they didn't want to?

Pitying me was even worse than outright malice and hate from people, I hated to be pitied.

I left the Great Hall early, my appetite ruined. I wasn't too eager to return to the dorms so I walked around a bit, maybe I could spend the night in the Room of Requirement.

It was the one place I would get weird vibes from people, and that was because there would be no people there.

It wasn't just the people I thought were my friends, the rest of the students did the same.

They all stared at me warily like they expected me to put my wand out and start casting Unforgivable curses at random.

The previous term felt like a mirage, like it all happened in my head.

What happened during the three-week holiday to absolutely destroy the entire progress I had made last term?

There was nothing strange in the newspaper, could it have been passed around by word of mouth?

Was that why Vannessa slowly distanced herself from me over time?

I made my way up the grand marble staircase, stopping when I got close to the top to sit down.

From where I sat, I could see the entirety of the Entrance hall. The four large hourglasses that represented the house points were against the far wall, fixed into the wall.

There was a stark difference between Slytherin's house point hourglass and the other houses.

Slytherin's hourglass was filled up the most, almost halfway and a good 90% of that had all been my doing, yet… yet…

"Audric?" A familiar voice called a short distance behind me.

I look behind me to find Hazel standing at the top of the stairs. "Should you be moving with my kind?" I said without spite, turning to look at the hourglasses again.

Hazel made a strangled noise behind me, coming closer. "Audric…" She repeated. "I… I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Why?" I glanced at her when she sat down beside me.

Hazel shook her head. "For everything." 

I scoffed, keeping my gaze stoically in front of me. "What are you doing here?"

A rustling sound came from somewhere in the Entrance Hall and Hazel startled badly, half rising to her feet.

The cynical laughter that had been caught in my chest the entire day finally let loose. "Hazel, what are you doing here?" I asked in a much colder voice.

She gingerly sat down again, her gaze down to avoid mine and I could make out the telltale redness on her face.

"I…"

"She trailed off, unable to say more or even look at me.

I leaned back, resting my elbows on the stairs behind me. "You don't want to be seen with me so you might want to hurry up." I added dryly.

She turned to look at me now, a torn expression on her face. "Audric…"

"I'm not a fantasy, Hazel." I cut her off in a frigid voice. "I'm not a powerful dark wizard who is on the wrong side of the law and who will come to sweep you off your feet."

Hazel flinched backwards like I had struck her across the face, horror in her gray eyes.

She clutched her head in the next moment. "Stay out of my head, Audric!"

I straightened up now and leaned in her direction, cupping her jaw in a tight hold. "I don't think I will. What's there to be scared of…"

Hazel's hands dropped from her hair, her eyes going wide and glazed. I didn't need to use Legilimency on her to know that this was exactly along the lines of what she wanted from me.

"Tch." I pushed her away, my expression darkening. "Stay the hell away from me."

She scrambled backwards, curling into herself. 

I leaned back again, looking up at the lofty ceilings this time. "You know who is even sadder than you? Witter." I said in casual tone, looking straight at the left of the hall.

Hazel's gasp was audible, she shot to her feet and stumbled down a couple of steps. "W-West?"

Witter stepped out of the shadows, his face scrunched up in an expression similar to pain.

I got to my feet and swept my robes behind me. "Don't worry, Hazel, West could never be mad at you." I tossed over my shoulders, leaving them behind.

I had no plans of returning to Slytherin dorms, I would spend the night in the Room of Requirement instead.

When I got to the first floor, I noticed students moving about. Dinner must be over by now.

I was avoided by the other students, a jarring difference from a little over a month ago when people were falling over their feet to talk to me. People were truly fickle.

On my way to the second floor, I bumped into Roxana and to my surprise, she walked up to me.

Roxana mostly avoided me till she wanted to talk to me, like right now.

"Um, I wanted to give this back." She pressed something into my hand.

I felt delicate metal, it was my mother's necklace.

"I um… I also…"

I leaned forward, my gaze sharp. "You also want to break up a relationship that we never had." I completed in a sinister voice.

Roxana's eyes went wide, she stepped backwards and I noticed a couple students fidget around me.

I glanced around. "So you brought friends?" I continued in a low voice, putting the necklace back around my neck. "Thanks for fixing it by the way."

Roxana took another step back, I made no move to follow her.

"What do you think I'll do?" I mused. "Not interested in poor Audric now that he's not pitiful, now that he's not a sad, dumb, loser you can play hero over?"

I was right on the money because Roxana went sheet white, stumbling backwards in horror.

Of course, I was, I should have used Legilimency on the people around me a long time ago.