The Halfwolf (Year 1)

Breakfast

Hey guys!! Sorry it's been so dang long since I've been able to update! Between college classes and work and kids everything has been a mess! But now, without further delay, here we are!

Gretchen leaned her head against Tysons shoulder as he ate his breakfast at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall. Her eyes closed, she listened to the soft, early morning chatter around them. Tyson gently nudged the top of her head with his chin, which prompted her to slowly open her eyes and look up at him. He tilted his head slightly, eyeing her empty plate.

"Alright love?" He said quietly. "You've not eaten anything. Gonna be a long day of spell work for you and me with those first years. You should eat something." He held his fork out to her with a bit of scrambled egg on it. Gretchen closed her eyes again and waved her hand dismissively.

"I'm alright. Just tired is all. Was up all night working on my Ancient Runes essay." Tyson nudged her head again, and when she opened her eyes she was met by a playful scowl on his face. She lifted her head to look at him properly.

"Didn't I tell you I'd help you with that tomorrow? After the ball?" He lay his fork down on his plate, resting his right hand on the table and tapping his fingers. His other hand found her knee under the edge of the table and gave it a soft squeeze. She gave him a small smile.

"I just wanted it done. No sense in putting it off." She waved him off as Tyson rolled his eyes.

"Sure you weren't meant to be in Ravenclaw?" He smirked at her as she rolled her eyes. She laid her head back down on his shoulder, tilting her face up into the crook of his neck to shield her eyes and nuzzled him with her nose. He leaned his cheek onto her head a moment before resuming his breakfast.

The first-year boys made their way into the Great Hall a short time later, chattering and chasing each other towards their seats. Tyson caught sight of them out of the corner of his eye and waved his hand to get their attention as they approached. Teddy looked up at him, to which Tyson motioned to the snoozing Gretchen on his shoulder, and made a shushing motion indicating they needed to quiet down. Teddy nodded to him, and when Zach went to barrel past him, he snatched the back of his robes and halted him. Zach turned a puzzled expression on him, which he responded to by nodding down the length of the table to where Gretchen and Tyson were. Matt, who had been trailing behind the other two boys, followed his gaze.

"She looks exhausted, mate." Matt said as he stopped beside his friends.

"Looks like she could use a Pepper Up potion. What do you reckon is wrong?" Teddy asked, looking over at Zach, who shrugged.

"Probably up too late studying. She tends to do that. Dad teases her sometimes that she should have been in Ravenclaw, but she's far too kind for that lot of geniuses." Teddy scowled at Zach as he wrinkled his nose like he smelled something awful. He elbowed him in the ribs, causing Matt to giggle when he stumbled sideways.

"Molly is in Ravenclaw you dolt." He said simply as he pushed past Zach, heading towards where Tyson and Gretchen were seated. Matt breezed past Zach, who then, realizing what he said, went chasing after Teddy.

"I didn't mean it like that, Ted! Your cousin is awesome! Come on don't be that way!" Teddy kept walking, smirking at Tyson as he did. Tyson shook his head at him and returned to his breakfast. He slid gently into the seat directly across from Tyson, Matt taking the seat to his right as he always did. Zach, on the other hand, had apparently forgotten his sleeping sister and came slamming into Teddy's side as he skidded down the bench, causing Teddy to bang his elbow into a basket of muffins and sending them flying as well as knocking Matt sideways on the bench. Tyson jumped back, causing Gretchen's head to dislodge from his shoulder with a jerk. She jumped up, hair in her face, looking around disoriented for a moment. She brushed her arm up her face to move her hair, then glared at her brother. Tyson, Teddy, and a slightly ruffled Matt were doing the same. Zach looked around the four sets of irritated eyes staring at him and shrugged.

"What?" Tyson looked to the ceiling, shaking his head. Teddy continued to stare, while Matt just huffed and went about collecting the muffins back into the basket. Moony, jarred from the commotion, surfaced from Matt's pocket where she had been napping and crawled up his lap onto the table, grabbing a blueberry muffin that was in front of her. Gretchen, however, grew red in the face, her eyes became slits of pure anger. Zach cowered back a bit.

"What? WHAT?! You come slamming in here like a hoodlum, knock food all over the place, collide straight into your friends, wake ME up, and all you can say is WHAT?! Are you seriously that dense? What is the matter with you!" By the time Gretchen had stopped, she had gone from a reasonable volume to yelling and was now standing, leaning over the table at her brother, who was leaning back so far, he managed to fall backwards off the bench. Tyson, Teddy and Matt were staring wide-eyed between her and Zach, unsure what else to do. Students from the Gryffindor tabled beside them were staring at her too. Finally, she rested her palms on the table, closing her eyes and breathing deeply to calm herself. Tyson slowly reached out and wrapped his hand gently around her upper arm and tugged her down onto the bench beside him. She was shaking as she sat down, leaning against Tyson's shoulder, eyes still closed. Tyson snapped his head up to look at Zach, who had peaked his head up over the side of the table cautiously. He jerked his head once, indicating the boy shouldn't even attempt to open his mouth right now, to which Zach slowly nodded his head and climbed back onto the bench. He pulled a plate towards him carefully, pulling a muffin from the newly refilled basket and spooning some eggs onto his plate. He glanced over at Teddy, who now had Moony cradled in the crook of his elbow after the shouting had startled her.

"Sorry." He murmured quietly. Teddy nodded his head. Matt looked around Teddy towards Zach, who looked miserable. He looked forward again, thinking, and decided it couldn't hurt. He jumped off the bench and walked down to Zach's other side. Teddy watched him curiously out of the corner of his eye as he sat down next to Zach. Matt nudged him with his shoulder, and Zach looked over at him. Matt smiled softly at him, then reached over and plucked the muffin from his plate, earning him a playful scowl from Zach. He grinned cheekily at him again and bit into the muffin. Zach tried to fight a smile as he shook his head at him but bumped his shoulder back as a way of saying thanks.

Gretchen's POV

Unknown to Matt, Gretchen had peaked her eyes open and was watching her younger brother across the table. She watched as the small brunette next to him smiled softly at him and stole his muffin. She watched as, instead of retaliating and trying to fight for his muffin back, her brother kidded with the smaller boy, almost in a flirting kind of way. She watched him bump his shoulder into the smaller boy and return to his breakfast, a small smile on his face. The change in demeanor from the end of the altercation to this boy sitting beside Zachary was astounding. But why was there such a change in him? Was his friend just that much of a comfort to him that it brought him up? She watched from Tyson's shoulder as the first-year boys grabbed a few extra muffins and plucked Moony from the fruit bowl and headed out of the Great Hall towards the common room to gather their robes to get ready for the ball tonight. She slowly lifted her head as the boys left, still staring after them. A shift next to her brought her eyes to the left to focus on Tyson's kind face. Blue eyes misted with concern, he watched her carefully.

"Alright love?" he asked gently, sliding his big, warm hand onto her knee and giving it a slight squeeze. She smiled at him.

"I'm alright. Just thinking," her eyes drifted back to the entrance of the Great Hall. "Did you notice how that little first year was able to cheer Zach up so easily?" Tyson furrowed his brow.

"Can't say I did, Gretch. I was more concerned with you over your brother, sorry." She waved him off.

"Don't be sorry, dear. It was just a question." She smiled up at him again, placing her much smaller hand on top of his still on her knee. He turned his hand to let her fingers slip into his palm and gave them a soft squeeze.

"Anything I need to watch for?" He asked her, searching her eyes for any hint of duress, and he found none. She shook her head.

"No," she glanced back over at the doors, "not yet."