tis the season
Neil waved his friends off that morning as they left the dorm with sleepy smiles and packed bags. Once they were gone, he slumped back down into his bed and went back to sleep in the blessedly quiet dorm, a rare luxury.
He got up a few hours later and joined Kevin downstairs in the abandoned common room before they continued on to breakfast. It was the start of the winter holidays, and Neil found himself looking forward to a break from the schoolwork and classes. It didn’t hurt that Kevin was planning on spending every free moment on the quidditch field, and Neil was planning on the same. He was gradually getting quicker on the broom and had completed over half of Kevin’s striker drills that Kevin had mastered by the time he was ten.
“We have a lot of missed time to make up for,” Kevin had mused the previous night before Neil chucked the quaffle at his head. Kevin never failed to remind him that these were basics taught in quidditch little leagues and a half-witted monkey on a broom could complete them.
As annoying as Kevin was, however, there was something to be said about the crisp winter air against Neil’s face as he flew hard and fast, the rush of exhilaration flooding his very bones, his soul. He chased the feeling that had haunted him since watching that very first game, the mixture of nerves and anticipation and the sheer thrill of it all. Neil spent his days wishing to be out in the open air once more and spent his nights dreaming of the quaffle in his hand and the wooden broom between his legs. He was growing increasingly addicted to the sport and suddenly couldn’t fathom how he had lived all his years stuck on the ground, never knowing his true place in the wind, in the sky. His aching muscles were friendly reminders of his hard work, and Kevin’s berating comments soon turned more and more specific, critiquing specific movements and plays instead of Neil’s general skill. He and Kevin even took up jogging in the mornings to keep them in shape, and Neil found a surprising solace in the simple act of running, step after step striking the soft soil beneath his trainers, the rhythm a soothing tune to cancel out his fears. Soon, he began to outpace Kevin, who had started as the more athletic between them, but Neil was closing that gap in terms of speed. Whether on the broom or out of the grassy plain, Neil raced Kevin and won more often than not. The other boy’s curses as Neil outran him were simply the cherry on top of Neil’s quidditch cake.
With winter holidays here, the castle felt almost abandoned as they made their way to breakfast. There were a few older Slytherins who had opted to stay in the castle, but none that Kevin or Neil ever talked to. The rest of Neil’s dormmates had gone home to welcoming and loving families, to which Neil tried to staunch his bitterness about. At least he had Kevin at his side, a welcome presence in the face of the silent and dusty corridors, which were usually so filled with students bustling and laughing voices that it felt strangely eerie to be here alone. Light shone in through a window as they walked to the Great Hall, illuminating dust mites spinning and twirling through the air, chasing patterns as they passed in and out of the sunlight’s rays.
They took up their normal spots at the Slytherin table, while Neil absently noted everyone else who had stayed at the castle. There were about twenty students here in total, most unfamiliar to Neil. He recognized the two blonde twins who had been on his canoe on the very first day here, sitting side by side at the Hufflepuff table although wearing mismatched ties. They were joined by an older, lankier boy who was grinning and chatting with one of the twins, the one with the Ravenclaw tie. He recognized the other as the expressionless one who Neil had accidentally run into at the Sorting Ceremony, noting his blank expression and the lack of interest on his face as his twin and the other boy, also a Hufflepuff, talked.
Neil recognized a few of the faces at the Gryffindor table as well, noting a third year who was on their quidditch, a seeker by the name ‘Dan’ Wilds. Neil heard Kevin talk about her stats enough to know she was a fierce, determined player well on her way up the ranks of their team. The starting seeker was a 7th year, so Kevin believed she was practically guaranteed the starting position next year. Wilds was joined by a girl with platinum blonde hair pulled into a sleek ponytail and a disgruntled-looking boy who looked like he had rolled right out of bed. Next to them hovered a friendly-looking boy with black hair gelled up into spikes, who was just on the edge of the conversation, as if trying to find his place within their group (“Matt Boyd, he’s in my year” Kevin supplied when he noticed where Neil’s attention had gone to).
There were a few more students at the Ravenclaw table, but Neil ignored them in favor of staring at the grumpy-looking Frenchman sitting alone in his normal area, his usual blue-tied cohort missing. Jean, feeling Neil’s attention, glanced up and arched a brow at Neil’s stare then eventually sighed as he got up from the table and joined him and Kevin. Neil was guessing the rules weren’t as strict about the whole assigned house seating thing during the break, seeing as the twins were together and a big group of blended houses was eating together at the front of the Ravenclaw table.
Jean slid onto the bench across from Kevin and Neil and fixed a bowl of oatmeal mixed with honey and granola. Neil, to Kevin’s great annoyance, opted for the French toast instead but complemented the sugary dish with some fruit, mostly strawberries. He was still getting used to the vast array of food that was served at every meal, magically popping up on the table as if conjured from the air. Neither Kevin nor Jean knew where it came from, only that it vanished once everyone was done, and they never had to do dishes. The wastefulness of it jarred Neil, who had scourged and survived off of every last crumb with his mother while on the run. His friends laughed at his tendency to scrape the entire plate clean and scarf down food like there wouldn’t be any there tomorrow. Neil didn’t have the heart to tell them that that’s how his life was for years, and the pitying glances from Kevin were enough. He didn’t need their pity, didn’t want it.
Inevitably, the comfortable silence soon lapsed into Kevin pleading with Jean to join them for practice that day, seeing as no one else was here to be using the grounds anytime soon and they no longer had to practice at late night. From what Neil understood, both Kevin and Jean had played little league quidditch as children, and Kevin swore that Jean was the best beater he had ever played against. Neil had yet to confirm this, seeing as Jean was always ‘too busy having a life’ to practice with them, but the sullen Frenchman agreed now, to Kevin’s utter delight. Neil was used to his friend’s manic obsession with the sport, but even he couldn’t resist giving Kevin a weird look as his friend rambled on to Jean, Kevin’s sparkling eyes never leaving Jean’s face once as he leaned in across the table to the Frenchman, who had an uncharacteristic blush rising to the tips of his ears. The Frenchman ignored Kevin (not that Kevin was deterred in any way), opting to eat his oatmeal calmly and with rigid, precise movements. Neil felt confused like he was missing something, but soon forgot about it as they left the hall in favor of the quidditch grounds. The wind blew and wove its rough tendrils through his face, and Neil felt like he could breathe for the first time all day as he dove beneath Jean’s stray bludger and caught Kevin’s pass to throw the ball through the central golden hoop, satisfaction and pride billowing in his chest.
***
The rest of the week passed much the same, with eating meals with his two friends followed by practice or sometimes just aimlessly flying around, lazily enjoying the view from his broom. He and Kevin spent hours playing wizard or working on their assigned readings in the sanctuary of the Slytherin common room, green light rippling the room in waves from the lake overhead with a solemn and steady glow from the lanterns and candles floating throughout the room. The older students left them alone for the most part, instead spending long hours in the library revising or studying for upcoming exams. That meant they had the entire common room as their domain and spent long hours either sprawled out across various sofas or tucked away in its various nooks and crannies. Kevin would find a dull history book to curl up and read while Neil practiced charms and simple spells on items he had snatched from around the castle, a broken quill here or a misplaced tie there. Neil was vastly amused by the assortment of colorful ties people simply left lying around the castle, wondering how on earth anyone could lose their tie of all things, although quite a few random socks were lying about as well. So far he had collected one from every house, multiple of Slytherin, but that was not a challenge, seeing as there were an unlimited number hidden and left in random places throughout the dorms and common room. The entire house seemed to maintain a strange but widely accepted ideology when it came to ties: at any given time, every student had probably lost or left their tie in the common room at some point, and therefore could borrow or take a tie in return from the common room at any given point. Neil had yet to lose one of his ties but knew it was a problem both Jack and Will suffered with daily.
Currently he was poking a Hufflepuff tie with his wand, willing the thing to change colors. He frowned when it didn’t work again, and rechecked the textbook spread out on his lap. He tried a few more times before giving up and going over to the sofa across from Kevin. He muttered a soft spell under his breath, completely ignored by Kevin who was engrossed in his book about goblin wars (several things wrong with that statement, in Neil’s opinion). He held his wand steady for a few moments, trained straight ahead on Kevin’s paperback. Then, slowly, he tilted his wand up at just the slightest angle, so the book hovered a few centimeters above where it had previously been. Kevin shifted in his spot, likely thinking his hand had jerked, and repositioned himself once more. Neil waited a few moments before repeating the same action, this time at a slightly greater angle. Kevin shifted in his seat again, and Neil saw a frown forming on his features. Neil jerked the wand to the side and the book was nearly jerked from Kevin’s grip, who is now staring suspiciously at the book as if it were moving of its own volition. Kevin slowly released the book and held his hands carefully out to the side, gaping as the book continued to float in the air. He released an ungodly screech as he jumped up from his spot and tried scrambling over the back of the sofa away from the floating book.
“Neil!” he screeched even as his body hit the ground, and Neil couldn’t help his uncontrollable laughter as Kevin flailed helplessly around on the ground. The spell released the book, however, as Neil’s concentration broke with Kevin’s senseless cursing and the amount of death threats sent his way from Kevin’s increasingly red face. That didn’t stop Neil from recounting the entire story that night at supper to Jean, who released an actual laugh, resulting in Kevin giving him a mix between a glare and something else that Neil couldn’t quite name.
***
Soon, Christmas Day rolled around, but none of the boys remarked it as anything special, considering none of their families cared enough to send them anything. Or at least that’s how it was in Jean’s case, estranged as he was, while Neil’s father would’ve loved to send Neil to an early grave and Kevin didn’t even have any family to care. They got a few presents from Neil’s dormmates, however, and Katelyn even sent Neil a “Happy Christmas!” card. It was more than Neil was used to, but judging by the look on Kevin’s face, today was not a happy day for his friend.
They spent most of it as they usually did: flying above the fields, wandering the corridors of the castle (they were getting slightly better at navigating them), and reading or practicing magic in the common room, when Jean would slip off on his own. He did that quite often, growing distant until he went off on his own to the Ravenclaw common room or wherever he went during those moments. The first time it happened, Neil went to follow the Frenchman, but Kevin just placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Neil watched as the other boy stared after Jean with an inscrutable look, not quite sad but wistful longing at the same time, giving Neil that strange feeling again, that there was something that he was missing.
His friend always returned at the next meal, however, and never seemed to miss a beat. Neil knew Jean valued his alone time, and figured his quiet friend needed to be alone, from time to time. Neil couldn’t blame him for that, as he often tried to slip away from Kevin as well and spent a fair time wandering the castle by himself while Kevin was busy reading a history novel or a quidditch magazine of some sort. He would just roam aimlessly, fingers trailing the walls as he moved from corridor to corridor. He mapped out good places to shelter in and made sure to take note of all the exits from the castle. Neil couldn’t help his second nature, always planning the quickest escape and constantly calculating the risks and advantages of each hallway, each classroom, each place he passed. It was almost a comforting feeling, to make these plans and have them ready in the back of his mind even if he knew most would never be used. It was a comfort knowing that he always knew the nearest way out, even if he was safe and protected here.
That night, the castle was decked in holiday decorations and filled with evergreen trees lit by candles floating in their branches. Neil noted that even the knight armor and stone statues were decorated as he and Kevin made their way to meet Jean for the feast. To his surprise, though, three of the usual house tables were gone, with only one spread out with decorations before the professor's table. Kevin, probably having known this from last year, let out a reluctant groan before making his way to the table. Most of the other students were already there, sitting in clusters based on year and house. Jean was already there, as well, sitting next to one of the short blonde twins, the Ravenclaw one, and was chatting quietly with the other boy. Neil followed Kevin as they made their way over the Jean and sat across from him. Unfortunately, this meant Neil also had to sit next to the other short blonde twin, who was sitting across from his brother. The boy didn’t look up as he sat on the seat next to him, Kevin settling on Neil’s other side, although Neil noticed the slightest tensing in his shoulders.
“Kevin, Neil,” Jean said nodding to them before turning and introducing the boy next to him, “This is Aaron Minyard. He’s one of my dormmates. Aaron, this is Kevin and Neil. I knew Kevin when we were kids.” That was one way of putting it, Neil thought wryly but nodded politely at the blonde boy anyway. Kevin did the same before his gaze slid to the other brother, who was currently ignoring all of them in favor of spinning the dinner knife in his hand.
“That’s my brother, Andrew,” Aaron said after a moment, seeming as if he were embarrassed by his brother’s lack of manners. Sure enough, Aaron kicked his brother to get his attention and fixed him with a glare. Jean watched curiously the interaction as if he were eager to meet the twin after a semester with his brother, while Kevin looked on disinterestedly (probably because the conversation wasn’t about quidditch).
Andrew finally graced the table with his attention, eyes sliding up from the knife to focus on his brother. Aaron gave Andrew a purposeful look, clearly insinuating ‘be nice.’ Andrew gave his attention to Jean next and nodded at the Frenchman, who accepted the peace offering and nodded back. To Neil and Kevin, though, Andrew simply gave a bored gaze before turning his attention back to his knife. Aaron shrugged when their attention returned to him, as if to say that’s all you’re going to get. Kevin, always reliable in his obscene obsession, soon asked Aaron his opinions on professional quidditch and his favorite team, to which Aaron looked slightly embarrassed to say were the Foxes, to which Kevin gaped and went on to explain why the USC Trojans were clearly the superior choice, despite the Raven’s extremely talented players and outstanding performances.
They were saved from too much of Kevin’s blathering with the arrival of the dark-haired boy that Neil had seen talking with the twins at the beginning of the break. He grinned at the three newcomers curiously and slid into the seat next to Aaron.
“Well hello there, I’m Nicky Hemmick! I’m Aaron and Andrew’s cousin,” He said brightly before offering his hand to them. Jean took it reluctantly and received an overly enthusiastic handshake in return. He tried to shake Neil’s hand next, but Neil just looked blankly at him until he got the memo and retracted his hand. “I wasn’t aware the twins here had other friends.”
Aaron rolled his eyes before introducing them, “This is one of my dormmates, Jean. And these are his two friends, Neil and Kevin.”
Nicky beamed brightly at them. “It’s nice to meet you then,” Neil was feeling faintly sick from this guy’s overly upbeat attitude, “Hopefully Andrew hasn’t given you guys too much trouble yet.” He said the last part with a joking attitude, but Neil didn’t miss the worried glance he sent his cousin, who was still playing with the knife, and simply looked back at Nicky with a bored expression.
“He would have to talk to us to give us trouble, so nope. No trouble at all,” Neil replied shrugging to Nicky, finding immense satisfaction in the way the older boy winced slightly. Neil’s words had gotten the attention of the silent blonde boy, who was now studying Neil with the same blank expression on his face. Neil stared right back, and a part of him debated sticking his tongue out to get some kind of reaction from the blonde, to see if his face could make actual expressions.
The boy’s head tilted slightly as if he could read the challenge in Neil’s stare, and Neil was shocked to see a glimmer of amusement in the boy’s eyes, even as his expression didn’t change in the slightest. A soft clearing of the throat from Jean broke off their staring contest, and Neil was left feeling slightly off-balanced, as if he had lost but didn’t know in what way yet.
Their food soon popped up in front of them, a delicious Christmas meal stocked with every kind of holiday food you could imagine. Neil didn’t miss the slight widening in Aaron’s eye as he took in the vast array of food ahead of him and knew he felt the same way Neil did every time he saw the extravagant and extreme magnitude of food laid out for them. Nicky and Kevin had no qualms about immediately diving into eating and dishing out the food onto their respective plates, and it jarred the rest of them into action. Professor Wymack, being one of the professors who stayed over break, gave a tedious speech about joy and gratitude or something, which Neil ignored in favor of trying each flavor of pie spread out in front of them. Curiously, he noticed Andrew doing the same, trying a bite of each dessert before moving on to the next. Neil liked the fruit ones the best, while it seemed Andrew preferred the gooey, chocolatey ones that made Neil slightly sick to look at.
Andrew noticed Neil’s grimace as he scooped up yet another slice of German Chocolate cake and cocked an eyebrow at Neil’s expression. Neil just grabbed another slice of raspberry pie and gestured his fork to the seeping redness of the berries flowing onto his plate. Strangely, Andrew seemed to understand what he was getting at and shook his head firmly. He reached over to the center of the table, and to Neil’s dismay, poured an entire layer of chocolate syrup all over the already chocolate cake. He gaped at the garish display of sweets as Andrew took it a notch further and began layering gelato and whipping cream on top of the drenched cake. Neil looked on in horror and suddenly began to understand Kevin’s disgusted look when Neil ate pancakes for breakfast.
Andrew’s eyes, while his face remained outwardly impassive and bored, glimmered in amusement at Neil’s disgust and took a big bite of the gooey concoction. Neil barely choked back a gag and returned to his raspberry pie, which was just the right amount of sweetness. Wymack finally finished up his speech, and the rest of their group turned back to Andrew’s evil sugary mess with varying expressions of disbelief. Aaron simply looked on resigned, as if used to his brother’s sweet tooth, while Neil could practically feel Kevin’s brain aneurysm from where he was sitting.
“That’s- oh my, that’s-” Kevin sputtered, looking for assistance in the others and coming up short. Nicky looked amused while Jean looked slightly impressed, and Neil favored ignoring them all for his pie. “Do you know how bad that is for quidditch?”
This made Andrew turn to Kevin with his eyebrow once again raised. “I don’t play quidditch,” the boy said, a sneer forming on his lips. “So, I don’t care.” His snarky attitude didn’t go unnoticed by Kevin, who once again sputtered indignantly while Neil and Jean groaned in unison.
“You don’t care about quidditch? How can you not care about quidditch? It’s only the most impor-” Kevin began his long and age-old tirade against the critics and haters of the ‘finest sport in the world’ that Neil was beginning to be able to recite from memory.
“Can your friend shut up?” This time, Andrew’s question was directly at Neil, who felt a faint shock at being addressed directly. Neil just shrugged and replied, “We haven’t found his off button yet.” Which resulted in a glare from Kevin and a laugh from Nicky. Their small talk lasted for the rest of the meal, mostly carried between Nicky and Kevin, who seemed to disagree with most things Nicky said. By the end of the meal, Neil was more than ready to leave their crowded dinner arrangement and return to the quiet of the Slytherin common room, curled into the corner of the plush sofa and watched the embers of a dying fire slowly wink out.