Freaks: Year Two

Keep Quiet

PTSD.

"Do not call me that!"

Jasper stared in shock for a few beats after he had snapped at him. He was quiet and he watched as the Slytherin went quiet himself, but Jasper could see in his eyes how panicked and confused he was. Jasper knew that whatever had happened and whatever he had discovered and gone through this year must have been awful.

And Jasper had a feeling it had to do with his family.

Jasper was trying to imagine himself in the situation Alabaster was in. A person where someone thought their parents were good people only to find out they were the ones in the wrong. Maybe not all Slytherins knew what their families were doing. Maybe they didn't know what they actually did or maybe the children had been manipulated and lied to and their whole mindset had been twisted and tainted by the bigoted views of the people who were supposed to be their role models.

And Jasper realised that at that very moment Alabaster was finally understanding the truth; that he was not going to be living in this false illusion that his parents and even himself had created to manipulate and confuse him.

"Alabaster?" Jasper finally asked.

He was rocking back and forth, slightly but Jasper's voice finally broke him out of his own panic. He didn't look at Jasper but he said, "Y-Yes?"

"How about we put the...rat and owl on a bed so they can lie down right," Jasper tried. He was not experienced with tending to the injuries of an animal before but he thought it would be better if they were being laid down and he thought it would be better for Alabaster not to be holding possible dead animals.

"But...but..."

"Just put them right over there," Jasper pointed to one of the beds. "And we can sit there and make sure they are alright and...then Madam Pomfrey will be here to help them and we can maybe talk for a little or you can go to sleep–"

"I can not sleep until I know they are all alright," Alabaster said. "Hoo, the rat and your friend."

"Harry will be okay," Jasper said but even saying it he was unsure. Jasper knew about the nightmares from last year, he knew about them from over the summer and he had a feeling that there was more going on, that Harry had still been hiding things and now with a second attack, he would be back to where he started at the end of last year, if not worse.

Soon Madam Pomfrey came back in, the potions she needed in hand and she took both the rat and Hoo into another room as she thought it would not be a good idea to access in front of the students. She told Jasper to once again stay with Alabaster as she knew the both of them would not be leaving.

Jasper finally got Alabaster to sit on one of the infirmary's beds and he sat across from him. "Madam Pomfrey is a really good nurse, they will be okay."

"I...I hope so..."

Jasper pulled a bandaid out of his pocket. "The side of your face is bleeding again. I assume you got into a physical fight this time?"

"How do you know these things?"

"Intuition," Jasper said and he handed him the bandaid.

"Is this a muggle thing?" he asked, slowly ripping open the packaging.

"Yeah."

"I like the pictures on them," Alabaster said. "It is quite colourful."

Jasper smiled, happy he was finally calm or at least not in a panic. "Yeah, I got superheroes for my brothers and I brought a handful with me."