The Wicked Walk On Every Side

Chapter 10

Wolfbane woke to the sound of something tapping on his window, which was weird. His dorm room was located in one of the towers, after all. The sound was followed by a short, yet loud screech.

"What is that god-awful sound?" Maxentius grumbled from where he was located. His white-blond hair stuck up in tufts from under his quilt.

Peppermint continued to tap furiously at the glass. Wolfbane, who was also wondering why she couldn't have waited until post arrival at breakfast, got up to open the window for her. The chilled air in the room made goosebumps raise on Wolfbane's arms.

"Good morning, girl!" Wolfbane said, stroking her beak as she stepped onto the inside window ledge, "What do you have that's so important you couldn't wait until breakfast?"

Peppermint stuck out her leg with the letter attached, and once Wolfbane took the letter, she started to preen her feathers.

"Who's that from?" Maxentius asked, sitting up and rubbing his eye with a fist.

"I see you've finally joined the land of the living." Wolfbane teased, unfolding the parchment to see that the letter was from Belladonna.

"Oh, shut up."

"Am I wrong, though?"

This statement got a pillow thrown at Wolfbane, which he tried but failed to dodge. The pillow sailed through the air and hit him directly in the ear.

"Hitting me with a pillow won't get you the information you so clearly want."

Maxentius scoffed playfully and stood up for a big stretch. "Whatever. But seriously, who is it from?"

Wolfbane set the letter down on his nightstand and walked back over to where Peppermint was perched. "It's from Belladonna. She wants to hang out today. It's Sunday, so I don't have anything interfering." Peppermint flew out of the window after a few more beak strokes from Wolfbane, "Do you want to come?"

Maxentius, who had walked over to his vanity to comb his hair, made eye contact with Wolfbane through the mirror and smiled. "I would love to! I don't believe that I've been properly introduced to your sisters."

"You'll love them, I guarantee it."

The eye contact the two were making was interrupted by a flurry of enthusiastic knocks on their dorm room door.

Maxentius put down his comb and called out, "Enter."

The door opened to reveal a first-year with far too much energy for the current time of day.

"You two were taking too long, so I thought I'd come and check on you guys. If we don't hurry up, we're going to miss breakfast!" Mordecai said, plopping down on Wolfbane's unkempt bed, and swinging his legs off of the ledge.

"That would just be devastating, wouldn't it." Wolfbane said, ruffling Mordecai's hair as he walked past to grab clothes for the day from his trunk.

"Yes. It would."

This statement, said with such conviction from an eleven year old, made Maxentius bark out with laughter from where he was sitting, clasping his cuff links. Neither of the other two boys could figure out why Maxentius was dressed so nicely. Wolfbane had chosen a large hoodie and his normal sneakers, and Mordecai was in a t-shirt that said 'Good Boys Get Good Grades', and his regular pair of light-up sneakers.

"Well, we're ready to head down. After breakfast, Wolfbane and I are meeting with his sisters to spend some time together."

Wolfbane held the door open for the other two boys as they walked out and down the stairs. "If you have nothing to do, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you tagged along."

"I have plans with some of my other friends. We're going to go and explore the grounds some. So much space to check out and so little time to do it."

"That sounds cool, kiddo." Wolfbane said. He reached down and ruffled Mordecai's hair again, which caused the blue-haired first-year to let out a noisy complaint.

"Oh come on! At least the first time you did it, there was a mirror so I could fix it properly!"

The older boys laughed a bit, and then Maxentius couldn't resist helping Mordecai fix his hair.

The Great Hall, as always, was a fantastically loud mass of students who couldn't resist speaking at full volume. The abrasive noise was not at all kind to the three boys' ears as they walked to get to their seats. They were completely unaware of a pair of yellow eyes staring them down from the Gryffindor tables.

"Why is it that they never have blackberry jam? I think to myself every morning, 'Maybe this morning will be the morning where they finally have it so I can enjoy it on my toast' but no! They never do. All they ever have is strawberry jam, or orange marmalade. Quite frankly, it's very disappointing." Maxentius griped, sounding very much like a put out bird as he sat down at the table with a flounce.

"I have no idea, your majesty." Wolfbane teased, lightly elbowing Maxentius in the side so that he would know that Wolfbane was joking (it earned him a small smile). Wolfbane paused and looked around. "It looks like Mordecai went to sit with his first-year friends this morning."

Maxentius hummed in agreement, spotting Mordecai farther down the table talking to his friends, before physically balking at what Wolfbane was doing.

"Merlin's beard, how much sugar are you putting in your tea?"

Wolfbane looked almost bashful at the question. "It's how I like it?"

"Good lord, my heart is going to give out just looking at it!"

"Oh, are we making fun of Wolfbane's sugar addiction? It's one of my favorite pass-times!" said a voice behind them, startling both of the boys.

"What the hell, Atropa!" said Wolfbane, wiping sugary tea off of his hoodie (which had been spilled when Wolfbane had jumped in his seat). "Twins don't make fun of each other's eating habits!"

"I don't remember seeing that in the handbook, so I'm going to call bull on that one." Atropa turned to Maxentius, extending her hand. "Atropa Shadow, pleased to meet you."

Maxentius blushed and accepted her hand to shake. "I, uh, like your sweater."

Atropa smiled and replied with a simple, "Thanks!"

Just as this happened, Belladonna came up and joined the group, holding her rabbit close to her chest.

"Good morning, all!" She said cheerily. "Are you guys ready to head out?" Witch Hazel seemed indifferent to these proceedings, chewing on a loose piece of Belladonna's hair.

"I'm not finished my tea yet!" Wolfbane protested.

Belladonna shifted Witch Hazel to one arm and grabbed her wand (which had been stuck through her ponytail). She transfigured Wolfbane's teacup into a travel mug, and then promptly shoved her wand back through her ponytail.

"Now are we ready?"

"Yes, mom." The twins said, perfectly in sync with each other.

"I can't decide whether that was incredible or creepy." Maxentius piped up from beside Wolfbane, popping the last bit of toast (which he had begrudgingly buttered in the absence of his beloved blackberry jelly) into his mouth.

"You get used to it, really." Belladonna said, once again shifting Witch Hazel so that she was in both of her arms. "Alright, gang, let's roll!"

"Can I hold Witch Hazel?" Wolfbane asked, holding his one free hand out as if he could properly grab and hold the big rabbit like that.

"I suppose, but only if you let someone else hold your mug."

Wolfbane happily handed Maxentius his mug (which earned him a playful scowl from the other boy) in exchange for the rabbit, who went happily to Wolfbane.

"Now, let's go before someone steals the spot on the lawn I picked out." Belladonna griped, and started heading for the door.

As the four of them left the Great Hall, two people from the Gryffindor table rose and followed after them.