𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 |𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫|

Fourteen: Sirius Black

A/N
This is a long one

— —

Thomas had never experienced a breakup before. He couldn't wrap his head around people leaving. He never experienced grief from someone's absence. He never felt a hurt like he felt now.

Everyone around Thomas knew he was going through a rough patch, but no one understood why. Why would he be upset about Draco? It was Draco for merlin's sake. Draco was a bad guy.

Draco ignoring him hurt him more than he thought it would. With Draco gone, he realized there were big gaps in his day where Draco had fit. Whether it was walking to class, playing exploding snap, or finishing up homework in the dorms, without Draco it didn't feel right.

At night Thomas couldn't sleep. He spent that time staring up into the black lake trying to come up with a solution to his problem. And it was becoming a big problem.

With Drake's absence, it came with the absence of all the Slytherins. Disloyalty was a crime to them and Thomas was guilty. Even his reputation wouldn't save him.

Thomas started to distance himself. He wouldn't show up at mealtimes, he wouldn't interact with anyone from another house. The only time he was seen somewhere more than twenty minutes was during finals.

Thomas put all his effort into his studies. It may have not been the healthiest method of dealing with things, but he thought:  'getting bad grades will make things worse.' Imagine being disloyal and lowering the grade average for his grade? He would never recover.

His first final was on Monday. Muggle Studies was simple. He had to thank Kendra for that as her endless stories actually helped him understand muggle things. He was sure he passed.

On Tuesday, Thomas completed Charms in the morning and by the Afternoon he was hurrying to Ancient Runes. Ancient runes was a breeze. In Azkaban, everything was written in runes and he picked up on it fairly quick. Professor Babbling even complimented his work on the way out.

Potions was tedious. As well as he cooked, he didn't really understand mincing, crushing, or stirring clockwise and all that jargon. His confusion concoction wasn't as thick as it should be, but it was alright enough.

Then came Astronomy at midnight, up on the tallest tower; History of Magic on Wednesday morning, in which Thomas spent three hours trying to remember troll diets. Wednesday afternoon meant Herbology, in the greenhouses under a baking-hot sun; then back to the common room, sporting red skin, and wondering when it will be over.

He had his last exam on Thursday morning. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Remus had compiled the most hands on exam he's ever taken. It was sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a Grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a Hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a Boggart.

Thomas was proud of finally being able to use his magic freely. He had almost forgotten he stopped taking his suppressors around Easter break. Now he felt strong as he he squished along the marsh.

Once he reached the boggart his confidence left him out to dry. What met him inside the trunk was the body of Draco, unbearably still.

"Riddikulus." He snarled, hoping it wouldn't change before he could cast it. Unfortunately the boggart changed. Kendra laid on the floor, red staining her lips and teeth.

"Riddikulus!" His hand shook as he did the wand movements.

Crack. Neville bent at an awkward angle; facedown on the ground.