Chapter Three
The members of Hufflepuff were very nice, very kind, very welcoming. They were interested in the Umbrella Academy, and some of them had even read the comics and seen them on television. Him, Ben and Vanya were happy to talk and answer questions, and they were happy to talk about living in England. When Ben expressed his worries about being away from his siblings, they assured him that they would see each other all the time anyway.
Allison was making easy conversation with Raymond, who asked her to call him Ray, and they were talking about everything, both of them being from America. They talked amongst themselves and they also talked with others from Ravenclaw, including some second and third years who were eager to talk with them. She told him she had a superpower, and he was amazed. She told him all about the Umbrella Academy, about how she can get anyone to do anything she wanted for her, and she promised never to use her power on him.
Five was already scribbling equations into his notebook when they started eating dinner. Klaus was talking with Dave, who he learned really was his perfect match. He told him about the Academy, about the ghosts. Dave asked if he meant like the ones that roamed Hogwarts anyway, such as Nearly Headless Nick, and Klaus told him that no, not quite the same, that they are loud and mad and scary. Dave gave him a hug and told him he was sorry.
“I’m going to the toilet, I’ll be back in a second,” Dave said, excusing himself.
Klaus turned straight to Five. “Holy shit he’s hot.”
“Not like you to go for the jock, Klaus,” Five notes, not even looking up from his notebook.
“He’s so nice, we have so much in common, and… I really like him.”
Five looked at Klaus momentarily. “You can swoon over him all you like, but please, for my sanity, do it quietly, or to someone else.” Five looked back down at his book.
Luther watched as Ben and Vanya held up conversations, but didn’t get involved in any of them. They were talking with each other about where they would sleep, and Vanya said she didn’t want to be alone in the night, but that she would be because the teachers won’t let boys and girls sleep in the same room. Ben told her that he won’t be able to sleep without Klaus down the hall, and Klaus won’t sleep either.
“I told him I’d be there for him when the ghosts come back, what if I’m not?” he asked.
“He will get through it. I promise. He’s stronger than you think. Plus… maybe it’ll be good for us all to meet new people.” Vanya pulled her brother into a hug. “It’ll get better, I promise. And, we’ll see each other all the time anyway.”
They all made their way to the dorms after dinner, their separate dorms, separate for houses, and separate for genders. Luther and Ben were together; Allison was on her own, but she made friends with Eudora; Klaus and Five were together, and Klaus was already getting close with Dave; Luther was all on his own. He tried to tell them that he was okay with that, but they weren’t quite convinced, no matter how small of a deal he tried to make it.
“Five?” Klaus asked, lonely. He’d never shared a bedroom, but at night he would knock on Vanya’s door to make sure someone was alive, and she would knock back. He could tell it annoyed her, but she knew it helped him sleep.
“Yep.” Five was already half asleep when Klaus interrupted it. But, a good brother who knew he would struggle without Ben, he replied.
“I can’t sleep.”
“Why not?”
“The ghosts are really loud here.”
“Just try to ignore them.”
“Easy for you to say, you don’t have to see a kid at the end of your bed in your uniform, his eyes gouged out, screaming non-stop, not even taking a breath because he just… doesn’t need to.”
“Wow, I did not need the visual.”
“So you see what I mean?”
“Why don’t you get your noise-cancelling headphones.”
“What happens when I open my eyes and he’s inches from my face?”
Five ripped the eye mask from his face, stood up with a huff, and walked over to Klaus’ bed. He held the mask out for him, which Klaus took. “Thanks, bro.”
“It’s fine, as long as you shut up.” Five got back in his bed and turned away from Klaus, drifting back off into sleep. Eventually, Klaus did too.
About an hour later, Klaus jumped out of his wake in a fit of tears and breathlessness. That was a bad one. He was on the edge of hyperventilating. He pulled the eye mask on to reveal that he had soaked it. Five wouldn’t be happy. He tried to regulate his breathing, but nothing was working. He was trying to stay quiet because of the other people in his dorm, but little gasps and groans escaped his mouth as he tried desperately to come back to reality.
Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder, and Klaus flinched, turning around to see who it was. Though he was almost certain the ghosts couldn’t touch or hurt him, he was sure they had attacked him in the mausoleum before.
When he looked up, he didn’t see another kid covered in blood, but Dave, looking back at him with a worried expression. He gently pulled the headphones from him, and Klaus didn’t stop him. “Hey, Klaus, Klaus, it’s okay. You’re okay, breathe. It’s okay.” Klaus was still hardly breathing. After a moment of thinking what to do, Dave stood up and gently held his hand out, which Klaus took. He put his hand around Klaus’ waist, and he did the same.
They walked slowly to the Gryffindor Common Room, sitting on a chair in front of the window. Finally, Klaus began to breathe better and slowly stopped crying.
“Are you okay now?” Dave asked as he looked down at Klaus, who had his head leaning on Dave’s lap.
“Yeah, feeling much better.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“You know the whole… Umbrella Academy… ghosts everywhere… Dad's an asshole thing?”
“Yeah?”
“He used to… lock me up in this… crypt where it was dark and cold and small, which ghosts love. Usually I have my brother Ben to calm me down when I have a nightmare, but he’s in Hufflepuff, so he can’t.”
“Is that why you had the headphones?”
“Yeah, it sometimes helps.”
“Sometimes?”
“They can be pretty loud.”
“I heard you talking to your brother before you went to sleep. What are they like?”
‘Really bad. About to give myself a lobotomy to make myself calm down bad.’