REQUIEM - [h.p]

III; broken ties

| YEAR 3; CHAPTER FIVE |
BROKEN TIES

     PERHAPS THE WEEKS WEREN'T AS TRANQUIL AS HE WAS HOPING FOR. It certainly didn't help that his friends were casting wary stares his way in the dorms. Maybe they thought he couldn't see it, but their discomfort was clear as day.

It was something he tried not to show, but it still got under his skin and left him feeling concerned and more than a little bitter. His legs continued to move as if they had a mind of their own, leading him to an unknown destination as his mind continued to wander. He wondered if this would go on for the rest of the year. Those stares... he wasn't sure how much more he could take of it. It was far too similar to those damned stares which continued to haunt his dreams and stained within the deep crevices of his memories. It was uncomfortable, seeing even his own friends looking at him as if he was a ticking time bomb. As if he was something other.

"So you finally got ahold of your father?" Blaise's clear and sophisticated voice finally gave him something to ground himself with, even as he struggled to keep his mind focused on the conversation. He shook his head lightly. Instead, trying to focus his attention back on Draco and Blaise. Whatever the two were talking about, Edwyn just found himself in the middle of it, and he found himself incredibly confused. Perhaps the library would be a good place to go for his research, then, he thought, before realizing he was zoning out once again. He really should stop doing that.

In response to Blaise's question, Draco frowned and let out a sigh. "If it weren't for all these Aurors and what-not, I'd already have sent the letter to my father. I can't believe the grounds are still housing that menace of a bird."

"It did nothing wrong," Edwyn noted, "It's just an animal. What did you think would happen when you decided to provoke it? It is not about to just roll over and play fetch. It's, as you said, a bloody bird."

Draco huffed, a noise somewhere between amused and stubbornly angry, but didn't argue with his point. Blaise, on the other hand, nodded in understanding.

"Even so, it should have been trained a lot better. Or at the very least, tied up, so no accidents like what happened to Draco could have happened."

While a part of him wanted to argue with what Blaise had just said, the other side agreed with the boy's point of view. "I guess you've got a point," he conceded before turning to his blonde friend. "But Draco... I think we both know that all the dramatics were a little over the top."

There was a moment of silence before the boy let out a brief chuckle, and Edwyn was thankful that the boy didn't suddenly explode at his joking remark. "I'll keep that in mind for next time, thanks," he muttered in response. A lighthearted sarcastic remark, that Edwyn smiled at.

"Did you really need to contact your father, though?" Edwyn asked.

"Yes, of course, I had to," Draco replied tightly. "If anything, at least the bird will pay."