IT'S MAGIC ❤︎ WHY DONT WE

nine

"jack! jack wait up!" daniel called after him, running down the hall to catch up, "hey, jack i'm sorry about the other day. we're all just worried about zach, he hasn't really been adjusting well."

the curly haired boy scoffed, "he's muggleborn, what'd you expect?" jack spoke coldly. "jack? are you okay?"

"jack! you coming or what?" draco called from further down the hallway. "you're friends with malfoy?"

"later seavey." jack brushed his shoulder in a slightly rough manner when walking past him.

daniel felt hurt. not by the push, but by how jack was acting. this wasn't him.

the brunette spotted jonah and kay talking to tate and corbyn, so he jogged over.

"hey, i just had a weird talk with jack. he was acting so... cold toward me. do you know if i did something or..."

"i've seen him hanging around malfoy quite a lot." tate pointed out, "he hasn't been acting himself recently, i'm worried."

"maybe talk to his sister. she might know what's going on." kay suggested, "yeah, yeah i might do that. sydnie has to know."

daniel looked back down the hall, seeing jack stand by as malfoy tormented this poor kid. this wasn't him.

•••

the students were sitting at their house tables for dinner. zach and gabriela next to each other with christina across from them.

"how are you feeling zach? better than the other day?" christina asked him, the timid boy only nodding. "zach it's okay to feel homesick, we're away from our families, it's okay."

"yeah well, your families are magic gabriela. my family doesn't understand any of this. i feel like it's still just a bit different for us."

"i'm sure they miss you just as much as our families miss us." christina reached a hand cross the table to hold zach's gently.

"guys, look, i'm sorry. i'm sorry i'm not really opening up. it's just... i'm not–"

"it's okay zach, we get it, this is all new. but we're here and when you're ready, we'll listen." gabriela cut him off.

the three were silent for a moment, christina breaking it first. "we're meeting up with the others after dinner. do you want to join?"

zach nodded his head lightly, "i might not stay long though, you know, head back to the dorms, get some sleep." he shrugged.

"or... at least try to get some sleep." with his anxiety and homesickness, zach hasn't been getting much sleep.

sometimes he'll sneak out, go up to the astronomy tower and watch the stars. it calms him.

maybe because of the beautiful scenery around him, or just how much clearer the sky seems to be here compared to godric's hollow.

or maybe it was because of what his mum said before he left. "if you ever feel lonely, just look to the stars and remember that i can see the same sky. i'm always here baby."

yeah, that was definitely it. the three hufflepuff's continued on with their dinner, talking and giggling.

once dinner was over, they waited at the doors to the great hall for the rest of their friends.

"hello! so what's the plan? where we going?" corbyn smiled.

the group decided on going outside to the fields, it wasn't that dark out yet so it was okay for them to be out there.

"are you okay zach? you seem rather quiet?" kay asked the brunette. they all knew zach was quiet, but he wasn't this quiet.

"huh? oh.. n-nothing sorry." they didn't quite believe him though. "look, i'm fine. i'm just not used to this."

"not used to what, zach?" daniel cocked his head to the side, "f-friends. i-i'm not used to having friends. that's all."

•••

that night, well past midnight, zach found himself still awake.

he missed his family immensely. unable to sleep, he went down to the common room, seeing a boy a few years older sitting on the couch.

"o-oh i'm sorry. i didn't think anyone else would be up." zach mumbled, beginning to turn around.

"not to worry, i thought i'd be the only one awak– are you alright? you're shaking."

"i-i miss my mum." zach sniffed, "here, come sit." the boy gestured him over.

"my name's cedric, you?" the older said with a sweet smile, "zach."

"so, zach, tell me about your mum. what's she like?" cedric spoke kindly.

"well, she's a very kind person. everyone always says i'm exactly like her, and i believe them. mum and i have always been quite close."

"so i take it she's a hufflepuff too?" cedric inquires, "uh, n-no she-she's a muggle."

"well that doesn't matter, if she was a witch i'm positive she'd be a hufflepuff."

zach grinned but it vanished quickly. this wasn't helping, it was making him miss her more.

"zach, if you need to cry, let it out. bottling up your feelings does no good for anyone."

cedric was nice. despite him being in a different year, he treated zach as if they were family.

throughout the night, cedric managed to help zach come out of his miniature breakdown.

that night on, cedric swore he'd look after zach. check in on him, make him feel at home while away from home.