The cost of keeping Secrets

Tiktok chapter 2

The time after the Argon attack seems to proceed as easily as the time before it. Everyone gets back to class, goes back to work. The ministry sends agents into the school to cause some trouble but for the students, it's just business as usual.

For Harrison, live seems to have changed for the better. He has a handsome boyfriend, he's made peace with this past demons and junior championships are just around the corner. In fact, Dolan and Harrison's relationship comes as naturally to the two boys as breathing, surprising almost everyone around them. Sure they get into a few sill arguments here and there, befitting a couple from the two most competitive houses. But Harrison can't deny that he loves the way the snake bites back. There's just, a certain chemistry, between them that can't be helped.

Of course this "chemistry" gets them into their fair share of trouble too. Many more times than they'd like to own up to, the pair have been caught by both classmates and professors alike. But what can they say, puppy love is hard to stop.

The two are practically joined at the tip, which is what makes this next part so surprising. Harrison feel...weird. Bad. There is a looming sense of dread following him wherever he goes that he can't explain. He's tried everything. Eating. Sleeping. Snogging. Nothing helps. He's never felt like this before and it's scaring him. He's on his last leg when the first nightmare hits him.

Not saying that Harrison hadn't ever had a nightmare up until now, but this...this was different. Harrison remembers h is time during the battle, can see his friends being hurt and flung against the castle walls. And he can feel the pain of the curse surging through him all over again.

With a jolt, Harrison is up and out of bed in a cold sweat. Sea, Leo, and Percy are all there asking what the hell's the matter with him. But he doesn't know what to say. He lies and insists it was only a bad dream. The remaining magic from the curse runs through him again, lighting up his nerves but he shakes if off. It was just spooky dream shit. Nothing taking a Pepper-up won't fix.

His plan doesn't last that long. Even after a few days of trying to shake the feeling of the nightmare off, the dread persists. Harrison thinks he's been hexed until the hallucinations start, then he's convinced. Out of the corner of his eye, the feeling of cold sweat on the back of his neck. Harrison can swear he see's things. Shadowy figures, watching him. He starts to wonder if he's going crazy.

He tries to ignore it. Tell himself the things he see's aren't real. In response, they get worse. Soon he's seeing full memories play out in front of him. Anything can set them off. A sudden noise, an accidental push or shove. He becomes irritable and annoyed. Anything at all has the potential to set him off, and one day he bubbles over and snaps at a Hufflepuff to the point they end up crying.

Millie, Harrison's Transfiguration classmate, tried her best to talk to Harrison but he blows her off. He's fine. He's always fine. He's got many other important things to focus on rather than stupid dreams and creepy hallucination. It's all from the stress of the junior championships.

On top of the paranoia. Nights of restless sleep now regularly interrupted by nightmares. Harrison grows used to flying out of bed with a violent shake. What makes it worse is that the waking world isn't much sweeter to him than the world of his dreams. Even after Harrison's announcement and dedication to change, there are a few students who aren't too convinced. Turns out Harrison had a ways to go until he's convinced anyone he's change and is no longer an enemy of Slytherin.