RISE OF THE FALL | R.B.

LXXIV.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter World belongs to J.K. Rowling.

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CHAPTER LXXIV.

ONE YEAR LATER

Caelum liked Harry Potter since the boy first arrived at Hogwarts. They'd met on the train when Caelum had been running through the train looking for his friends. Well, at the time, his one friend.

After all the drama, Caelum could proudly say that he still liked Harry Potter, which was more than some other people could say.

Perhaps Caelum used to like him more before all of the drama started, but nevertheless.

"Caelum," Justin said, snapping his fingers in front of the boy's face, "Zoning out already?"

They were on the Hogwarts Express, and Caelum was sitting in a carriage with his Hufflepuff friends. They had just left King's Cross, but Ernie had already begun eating the snacks that his mother had packed him and was almost halfway finished.

"Uh, no," Caelum said, shaking himself out of his thoughts, running a hand through his hair already messy hair, "No, I'm fine. Um, what did you ask again?"

"Proof that you weren't listening," Hannah said with a snicker.

"Does he ever?" Ernie remarked, and Caelum elbowed him in the side, causing Ernie to very quickly slide to the other end of the chair, shoving himself right up against the window.

"Leave me alone," Ernie rolled his eyes, "Honestly, though, you're always lost in your own head."

"Can't argue with you on that, though, I suppose," Caelum sighed, leaning back against the seat.

Ernie and Caelum had been friends since they were in their first year, and the two of them had befriended Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchley in their second year when the two younger students were in their first year.

"Well, it's going to be the third year of you zoning out in class and getting almost-detentions, then," Ernie said with a chuckle, shifting back so that he was sitting next to Caelum again.

"I still don't know how you managed to worm your way out of a detention with Snape," Justin said, shaking his head, recalling back to the story that Ernie had recounted to he and Hannah last year, "If I didn't know better, I might even say that he likes you."

"Snape doesn't like anyone," Ernie scoffed, "Except for maybe Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle."

"Don't forget the rest of his group," Hannah said with a sigh, "I swear the only one of them I can tolerate is Atlas."

"Atlas is a bit annoying, too—and he and Archie have both become a bit more confident over the past year," Caelum said with a laugh, "Atlas has really settled in with his Slytherin friends, though, which I suppose is good since I was quite worried about him not being able to find good friends."

"Sure, he's a little irritating sometimes, but he's not rude and insufferable like some people," Justin retorted, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not sure if you're referring to Malfoy or Snape," Hannah said with a half-smile.

"Both," He replied without any hesitance, "Definitely both of them."

***

"Archibald!" Hermione snapped when the boy tried to climb onto the seat to fetch something from his bag on the rack, almost stepping on his Uncle Remus.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had started off a bit wary of the slightly battered-looking man, but after Archie explained that he was his Uncle and that he was becoming a teacher at Hogwarts (Archie's mother had told him and his siblings before they left the house), they'd become a bit more comfortable.