1 | Sunlight ➙ Cedric Diggory

Chapter Nineteen

As much as Matthew loved being at home with his family, he sincerely missed being at Hogwarts. The buzz of the holidays dwindled down as every student returned to the wizarding school to continue with their education. It was only the second day back but Matthew was filled up to his eyebrows with excitement, not caring about the stress of school or the extensive work load he had. He was just pleased to be wandering the corridors of Hogwarts again.

On the train ride to the school, Matthew and Cedric had quickly met up with Tobias to catch up with him on how his holidays went. He told the boys that his Christmas was fun, and his mother was doing okay. She tried to wear a smile for her son's sake but some days were harder than others. After the welcome back feast and when everyone was back in their house Common Rooms for the night, Matthew took Tobias up to their shared dormitory to give him his Christmas gift. Matthew stood in front of the boy with his hands fiddling together nervously as he watched him pull the wrapping paper off and open the box. Matthew's heart swelled as his best friend looked up at him with glassy dark grey eyes, speechless at the leather jacket that was neatly folded in the box. 

"Try it on." Matthew spoke and Toby took the jacket out of the box before setting the cardboard on the foot of the nearest bed. Toby pulled the leather jacket on, smiling as the cold material touched his skin. He adjusted the collar before walking to the only mirror in the dormitory, grinning at his reflection. Matthew stood behind Toby as the boy turned to check himself out. The jacket was a tiny bit loose but it suited Toby perfectly. His appearance of messy dark curls and pale skin blended in with the leather like the black material was made just for him.

"Thank you, Matt. I love it." Toby spoke into the mirror, his eyes shifting to look at the boy behind him.

Matthew and Tobias were currently on their way to the library, their book bags hiked up on their shoulders and Toby without his new leather jacket that smelled of pine; it didn't go with the Hogwarts uniform so he wasn't allowed to wear it during school hours. He wore it almost every night in the Common Room though, for no particular reason other than he loved it. Leather was like his suit of armour, he felt on top of the world every time he pulled it on.

The two boys weren't surprised to see Hermione and her friends huddled together at a table, multiple books open in front of them. Matthew glanced at Toby as he realized the three young Gryffindors probably didn't want to be bothered as they whispered intensely with each other.

"What are you rascals up to?" Toby asked loudly, snickering as he startled Hermione, Harry, and Ron. All three jumped up to look at him with Hermione slamming one of the books shut.

"Nothing, just studying." Hermione replied as the two boys quickly bobbed their heads up and down in agreement.

"Oh, come on. We won't tell anyone." Toby said as he grabbed the book that Hermione had closed. The girl reached out to grab it before Toby could but he was too fast. It was a fairly thick book about famous witches and wizards, which didn't look like anything too out of the ordinary that Hermione would be ready. Toby flipped through a few pages before passing it to Matthew.

'You really won't tell anyone?" Hermione asked as she glanced between Matthew and Toby. Matthew put the book back down on the table before sitting down in an empty chair.

"No, we want to help." The blonde boy replied, knowing his cousin was up to something. With Harry and Ron involved he wanted to make sure that the young Gryffindors were being safe. "What are all these books for?" Matthew asked as he glanced at the covers of all of them. They were all about famous events and people in the wizarding world.

"Go on, Hermione. Tell them." Ron urged and Harry nodded in agreement.

The young girl inhaled sharply before speaking. "Fine, we're trying to figure out who Nicholas Flamel is. Harry, Ron, and I accidentally went to the third floor corridor-,"