𝕬 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖎𝖘 𝕭𝖔𝖗𝖓 | 𝑇𝑜𝑚 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 |

Chapter 10- Her Parents

The swell of excitement caused by their new school adventures quickly turned to chaos and stress, as the first week started drawing to an end. The first years were up to their eyeballs in homework by the time Friday came around. Unfortunately, it looked like none of the professors would be deciding to give them a break for being new to the school. The workload currently included: an essay on certain great Aurors for Defense Against the Dark Arts, a Charms paper, a star map for Astronomy, and a short History of Magic essay. There was also a variety of small exercises and questions from each subject that were meant to be done on a daily basis.

"It's no use. We'll never get all of this done on time." Frankie groaned, as she angrily slammed Magical Drafts and Potions shut. She'd just finished the set of daily Potions exercises Slughorn had assigned for the day, however, the time left to work didn't favor her. She tossed the rejected book and quickly switched over to her nearly completed Charms essay. She and Daphne were currently toiling over the mass of homework late Friday night in the common room, while the others, mostly the boys, seemed to already be shirking their academic responsibilities. Frankie was sitting in an armchair sideways, surrounded by a sea of parchment paper handouts and class notes that littered the floor. It wasn't the most optimal arrangement, but the tables were already occupied by other students. Alice had somehow managed to wrangle Rodger into O.W.L studying with the rest of the fifth years.

Frankie was reaching down to the floor for a particular set of notes, when she lost her balance and completely fell out of the chair. Of course, Rodger was the only one to notice and, despite a heavy amount of shushing and cross glances, laughed raucously at her helpless fumble.

"I'm not going to be able to figure this star chart out without that loon's help. I don't get what knowing the stars has to do with wizardry!" Daphne reasoned, to Frankie, whom she still assumed was in the armchair beside her. She didn't seem to notice her friend had somehow managed to fall to the floor and was now just lying in the wreckage, defeated. Frankie assumed that she was talking about Monty. Just like how Tom had dubbed her 'idiot', Daphne had stripped the word of most of its derogatory meaning and frequently used it to describe her best friend. Daphne sighed. It was no use. Not wanting to deal with the mostly blank paper any longer, she covered it up with her Herbology textbook. "Let's postpone this till tomorrow. If we spend all day at the library, we can most likely finish Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Potions, no problem."

"I'm busy tomorrow though." Frankie protested, finally returning to her original seat. She had promised Tom they would go on a walk together that Saturday. Unfortunately, they hadn't been able to talk properly to each other all week. Although, they got to sit next to each other in practically every class, they rarely got any time to talk beyond rushed, contrived conversations about the course material. Frankie could never find him after lessons ended either. He always ran off somewhere when she wasn't looking. If she missed this opportunity tomorrow, she might not get to hear about any of his experiences in Slytherin for another whole week. She also wouldn't get to talk to him about being in Gryffindor. Frankie wanted to tell him about her housemates. Although, she'd barely known them a week, they'd already started bonding with her for what was probably going to be the rest of her life. They were the kind of people she and Tom had always been looking for deep down. While they'd spent most of their youth so far believing they were alone in the world, sometimes they'd dare to imagine there were other kids with magic out there. Friends they could really talk to and were just as peculiar as they were. Tom often claimed he didn't need anyone else but her in his life, after these illusions faded and they were forced to face reality again. However, Frankie was certain that she couldn't be enough for that lonely boy she met sitting in a corner two years ago. Tom needed friends and, if she couldn't be there for him anymore, it'd be nice to be assured he was getting along with the people in his own house.