The Vanishing Room
The Christmas holidays were fast approaching. Grey had been pouring all his attention into his friends and studies, more devotedly than ever before. This year, he was feeling particularly disheartened that both his friends were going home for Christmas. Even though the extra time he'd been spending with them was partly a distraction technique, Grey genuinely relished it. His relationship with Richard was different this year like they were somehow closer.
As for his predicament, he'd begun to stack up several ways to banish potential visions. They weren't necessarily healthy strategies though. So far the most useful technique that Grey had found was burning himself subtly with his wand. When a headache began, he'd use a sparks spell as sporadically as possible on his skin, then if the wound was noticed he'd claim it to be an accident. The burning somehow dispelled the migraine. His discovery of the aid was quite accidental however it wasn't always easy to play off. Nurse Sullivan was definitely getting suspicious as to why Grey came into the hospital wing with burns every week and he could only feign clumsiness or other accidental happenings so many times. Thankfully he was an excellent liar. But the scars were getting irritating. If the situation was too crowded to use this trick he'd go with the next best available injury to cause that could look unintentional.
Grey had also been making special efforts to avoid Dumbledore. Obviously, he couldn't skip transfiguration but he had been practicing keeping his mind as blank as possible during the lessons. He'd even found a book in the library on Occlumency. Grey knew if Dumbledore found out about his coping strategies, there would be a world of trouble.
However, despite all this, Grey could not stop the dreams. There now wasn't a single night when he didn't remember them and they were mostly about Credence or Grindelwald and that dark castle. Sometimes he had one about school or someone he knew. Those ones all came true a day or so later. But thankfully, they were mostly uneventful and brief - manageable was the term Grey used. Besides, he liked to reason that they were all just pointless coincidences.
Two weeks before the Christmas holidays were due to start, Grey and his friends wandered down the drafty corridors as more snow fell in freezing sheets outside. The trio was desperately trying to waste their Saturday afternoon and the library was far too cold to sit in for hours. Usually, at this time of year, students flooded to Hogsmeade on weekends but since Grindelwald was still at large, all the trips had been cancelled. Grey hardly minded. Hogsmeade was an easier place to get beat up without the presence of teachers. However, it was clear that Derric was disappointed.
So instead, the three boys paced the many lengths of the castle, bundled in their cloaks and constantly moving to keep warm. The upside is they spent hours talking. Grey felt he had really gotten to know his two friends whilst expertly avoiding giving them any truthful information about his own life. Obviously, he was honest about regular things like what he enjoyed, etc. It was just topics like childhood, home life, and health that he falsified his answers about. Grey often felt relieved that neither of the boys were legilimens.
That afternoon, the conversation swayed, as it often did, to quidditch. Slytherin had beaten Hufflepuff in the most recent game and his friends were discussing the finer details of the match.
"I'm not supporting the action," Richard was reasoning, "I'm just saying that hitting a bludger directly into someone's face isn't technically against the rules."
Derric scoffed. "Fine, but you can agree that it was a horrid move."
"Oh, absolutely." Richard chuckled.
"What did you think of Steven's second goal Grey?" Richard asked, turning to the Ravenclaw who was walking slightly behind the other two.
"Was that the one where she hung upside down off her broom?" He asked.
Both his friends nodded eagerly.
"OK. Then I thought it was incredible. I've never seen anyone fly so well."
At his words, Derric launched into a passionate rant about Olivia Stevens and her quidditch history. Grey grinned to himself. He'd been really trying to get into quidditch and understand it more because he knew how much it meant to his friends.
The three continued chatting as they wandered up to the seventh floor. Through the windows, they had an excellent view of the Hogwarts grounds. Everything was pristine and white, the black lake was frozen over causing it to take on a deep mysterious blue. Mrs Lorvis, the groundkeeper was hovering a dozen Christmas trees toward the castle with the help of Professor Elks. Soon the whole of Hogwarts would be covered in festive decorations. Despite Grey's lack of care for the holiday itself, he loved how beautiful Hogwarts looked at Christmas.
Rounding a corner in the upper castle, the three boys noticed the sound of approaching laughter. With curiosity, they got closer but what they found did not strike Grey as amusing at all.
Abraxas Malfoy, accompanied by his usual goons had cornered a Gryffindor - Grey recognized it as Fleamont Potter. On the floor, were Potter's smashed glasses. Muttering curses at Malfoy, the Gryffindor stooped gathering the pieces while Malfoy twirled Potter's wand in his hand.
Derric grabbed Grey's arm. "Are we going to do anything?"
Grey sent Richard an entreating look. He wouldn't do anything without his friend's consent, no matter how much he itched to hex Malfoy and he knew Richard wouldn't want that. After a tense moment, Richard sighed.
"Fine. But no violence." He whispered sternly.
A grin twisted across Grey's lips. Drawing his wand, he stepped forward and spoke loudly, "Oculus Reparo."
With a snap, Potter's glasses mended themselves in his hands just as Malfoy looked bitterly at Grey. He opened his mouth but before he could utter a word, Grey flicked his wand again, this time uttering, "Expeliarmus."
Potter's wand flew from Malfoy's hand and the Gryffindor caught it, quickly raising it at Malfoy. Satisfaction filled Grey at the look of shock on Malfoy's face. The snickers from his two friends further fueled the triumphant smile he wore too.
His grin didn't even falter when the Slytherin and his friends brandished their wands and started towards him.
"You smug bitch." Malfoy hissed, flinging a poorly cast hex at Grey's feet.
He barely had to move to avoid it.
"Wow. Gret wandwork." Grey stated with a chuckle.
The look on Malfoy's face was enough to terrify the strongest first year. Grey heard Potter snort with amusement.
"You think you're so clever do you, Willow? Little miss know it all."
Ignoring the misgendering, Grey shrugged casually. "Well, I am in Ravenclaw, unlike you."
The next jinx grazed his hair, missing him but inches. Behind him, Richard had to duck. By now, Grey was treading on very thin ice and he didn't feel like receiving a beating that afternoon. So, with a smile still plastered across his face, he glanced at Richard and Derric.
"Run." He hissed.
Wide-eyed, Derric gaped at him.
"What!?"
With a shove, Grey pushed them back the way they came.
"Run!"
All three took off sprinting down the corridor, knowing that the Slytherins were pursuing them because their dodgy hexes kept bouncing off the braziers and suits of armor. Grey was laughing to himself. He had been longing to get Malfoy back ever since the altercation at the start of term. All they needed now was somewhere to hide and hang out for an hour or so until the Slytherins quit their rampage.
Swerving around a corner, still on the seventh floor, Grey watched Richard do a sudden double take. He quickly saw why. Opposite a tapestry of ballet dancing trolls, where usually stood a blank section of wall, now was a large wooden door. It definitely hadn't been there when they walked past earlier. Stark for options, Grey gestured frantically at the door, mouthing 'go in' to his friends. They complied and the three speedily entered, slamming it shut behind them.
With bated breaths, the three watched the door, waiting for Malfoy to burst through and hex them. But such a confrontation never came.
Grey released a sigh he didn't realize he'd been holding.
"I think we lost them." Derric huffed, clutching a stitch in his side.
Richard nodded, still panting. As they regained their composure, the trio had a chance to actually take in the room they'd stumbled across. It was roughly the size of a corridor with a high stone ceiling, no windows but lots of braziers to fill the room with warm light. Illuminated candles also hovered from the ceiling much like in the great hall. One side of the room held several filled bookshelves. There was an old piano in the corner and the rest of the room was furnished with chunky brown sofas and armchairs. The stone floor was covered in half a dozen juxtaposing colourful rugs, none of which matched. Best of all, by the door, was a shelf kitted out with blankets, pillows, and every wizarding game they could wish for. It was the perfect cosy hang-out spot.
"Where do you suppose we are?" Richard asked, gratefully sinking into one of the squishy sofas.
"No idea," Derric shrugged as he and Grey joined Richard on the sofa, "But I've never seen this place before, that wall's usually blank."
"Maybe it only appears to students who are being chased." Grey chuckled.
He was still grinning despite being out of breath.
"You enjoyed that way too much." Richard huffed.
Even though his tone was accusing, Grey could see the amusement in his eyes.
"I've been good all term, let me have this."
Richard snorted and just elbowed him lightly.
"Did you fight a lot last year?" Derric asked casually.
"I wouldn't say-"
"He was in detention nearly every week." Richard poked.
Grey glared playfully at him. "That's an exaggeration."
"Is it?"
Now it was his turn to elbow Richard but he couldn't help but smile at the amused yet triumphant smirk on the Slytherin's face.
"I don't blame you," Derric interrupted the scuffle, "They seem to hate you most of all."
"They just hate anything they don't understand, which in their case is a lot." He said dismissively.
Derric fell silent for a moment.
"How- How did you," The younger boy paused, seemingly trying to decide how best to phrase his question. "How or when I guess, did you realize you were a boy?" Derric asked tentatively.
Grey stiffened immediately, his smile fading. This wasn't something he talked about. Richard never asked. When someone did Grey's instinct was usually to hex them. Granted, most of them didn't ask as nicely as Derric but still. All those detentions, most of them-
He couldn't. What if Derric didn't understand?
A soft hand on his broke Grey from his frantic thoughts. He glanced at Richard, who'd taken his hand. The reassuring look on his face softened something in Grey. He sighed, unclenching his jaw.
"I suppose," He began, trying to mask the tremor in his voice. "I suppose I always sort of knew. At the-, at home, I hated having to wear dresses and I'd cut my hair short whenever I got my hands on scissors. As I got older, I realized that something didn't feel right. I felt like I was pretending to be something I wasn't. When I tried to express these feelings, the matrons -" Grey paused, choosing his words very carefully. This was risky territory.
"They didn't understand so I isolated myself more. I didn't want to pretend. When I came to Hogwarts and the girl's stairs didn't let me up it all sort of clicked. And for the first time, I felt right - thinking I was a boy. The other students didn't understand and it took some of the teachers some time too but from that moment on, I refused to live a lie. I have never regretted my decision because it wasn't a decision really, it was fact."
Grey finished, his voice no longer tremorous. But he refused to meet either of their eyes. He'd never even told Richard this and their silence was making him sweat.
"Oh! That makes a lot of sense." Derric exclaimed brightly.
"Yes, it does."
Grey glanced thankfully at Richard, who hadn't released his hand throughout his whole explanation. With a soft smile and a squeeze of his hand, Richard rose, going to retrieve a pack of exploding snap from the game's shelf. As he did, Grey mumbled thanks to Derric also, offering him a warm smile which the Hufflepuff returned kindly.
They began to play, conversing more and laughing. Discussions varied from Derric's crazy family to the story of Richard and Grey's friendship but over the next few hours, Grey relaxed more and more. He pondered months later, when practising the Patronus charm, that it was his happiest memory.