#together like next to each other doing various things. eating. being in class and whatnot. then we walked to the bar we sit down and he got

[maddy-ferguson]

maybe she was onto something now i genuinely think he's in love with me

my new bff was told a secret by a girl we both know and she told her not to tell anyone and even mentioned me by name like she said not even marianne!!!! and i was told the secret the minute we were alone together this morning😭😭😭

[rhapsody-under-pressure]

Moonlight Magic pt 7

“You two doing okay? I haven’t seen either of you two sit near each other for over a week!”

As soon as Roger asked the question, his lip curled up into a sneer. He took a vicious bite out of the red apple in his hand, scoffing a second later in response. Even with a week passing, he didn’t dare speak to Freddie until he wanted to apologise; it wasn’t like he hadn’t tried either, he had done so multiple times in the past week but Freddie just wouldn’t accept any form of talk with him. Freddie would gladly go speak to John or Roger, but as soon as he appeared, he either silenced himself or straight up left the room altogether. Of course it didn’t surprise him, he’d done this plenty of times in the past, often over petty little reasons too, but never did they occur so close to the moon. The mere thought of Freddie trying to get through the night by himself terrified him and yet, he couldn’t help but let his current contempt corrupt his thoughts. Let him go try it, see how hard it is by himself! Was a recurring thought over the past two days; with the day now upon them, however, he couldn’t help but let it start to worry him that it would indeed become true.

“Splendid! Absolutely peachy!” Brian exclaimed, taking another chunk out of his apple, the idea now not even bothering him while his anger simmered once more. “Lousy bastard can’t admit he’s wrong for the life of him! Always tries to be the mediator with shit like this when he’s almost always the cause!” He continued, tossing the apple core to the ground. “God and then he pulls this silent treatment with me instead of just talking.”

“It’s Fred. What, is he pissed about someone meddling with his clothes? Or did someone claim dogs were better?” Roger asked, laughing at his own suggestions right after.

Despite his instant panic at the true answer, Brian just shrugged it off, only revealing a sliver of the truth. “I wish I knew! I try to help him out with so much but then he barks at me for being too involved. He’s needy as all hell though and God forbid if I’m not there when he needs me.”

“Bah, give ‘im time, Bri.” Roger answered. “Probably just pissy again cause of exams coming up and whatnot. I mean I don’t even see him eat now and the guy looks like he hasn’t seen the sun in a year! Though, a few other sixth years look like that too and to be honest, I can see why. Fifth years are still worse; good lord have you seen some of them? Those O.W.Ls are scaring them shitless!” He said.

“Don’t act like you’re not nervous either.” Brian added.

“Trust me, I’m in a similar boat as them all.” Fear started to light up his face. “I mean, my whole life is basically riding on how well I do on these tests and I can’t fathom failing any of them. I’ve already seen big old Ts haunting me in my dreams.” He bit down on his bottom lip before finishing. “I guess we’ll just have to see! Bet they’re all just hyping up how hard they are so that we study more.”

Brian only scoffed, knowing full well that Roger had a lot in store if he wanted to believe that tripe. With the bell ringing, the two parted ways. Roger was dashing off towards his class, whatever exactly it was, he didn’t know; for now he headed off towards his defense class, wondering what “surprises” Jenk had in store for them. Perhaps more spells he’d learned already so that he could keep Freddie’s ass safe or some more useless facts he’d memorised the prior year to make sure they wouldn’t fall behind in any of their classes. Amazing, absolutely amazing how much time he’d put into keeping this thing a secret and what did he get in repayment? Nothing, just him being an absolute prick towards him. What he wouldn’t give to hear him say that he was sorry, sorry for what he’d said and done over the past few years and that he would just stop acting like a complete child over something this serious.

He growled as he marched down the hall, ignoring the other students who wanted to get in his way-did these kids not know what speed was-and shoved them off when necessary, earning a few nasty stares from some of the younger years. The door to his class was already open, Jenk’s hard stare meeting his for a quick second before parting. Without hesitation, he laid his work down on his desk and sat in the back, not wanting to be up front and deal with the same stuff over and over again.

As expected, it was the same old stuff again. Jenk went on about various spells: disarming and stunning (something he’d learned back in his fifth year), when to use them (something that should just be common sense), and a quick recap of dementors (a creature he knew plenty about). He mentioned how they’d start working on patroni next class after acquiring a boggart to practice with them, mentioning how Dumbledore had given him the idea. That was the only interesting part of the class and made him perk up, something he seemed to share with much of the class. Jenk smiled warmly, knowing that this was one of the surefire ways to get teenagers’ attention: dangerous activities that might kill them. After that quick announcement, he went over the creature even more so, repeating facts and attacks that Brian already knew, killing the little bit of attention that he had for those few seconds.

Despite every attempt he made, he couldn’t get his mind off of a mock argument in his mind. Constant possible retorts to anything Freddie might say continued to pop up as the class continued on. God couldn’t he just not think about him for once? Maybe then he’d actually get to pay attention, even if it was stuff he’d learned already; anything was more interesting at this point, even if that meant watching a plant grow in herbology. Brian had put up with this for years, shouldn’t he be bored of this? Revising the usual events that would have to go on tomorrow night, if he even wanted to go help out that ungrateful little brat, and then having to deal with John-John...His eyes widened at the thought. It wasn’t the same thing, they had John to deal with. The little fourth year had no idea what it was like and was probably as anxious as Freddie was, though in all the wrong ways; he must be bustling with anticipation to see a werewolf for the first time and completely immune to any fear over what that creature actually did. Brian, in all honesty, couldn’t fathom the idea of being in the same room as another one ever again. Maybe that’s what was keeping him so fixated upon this argument; proving Freddie wrong might mark some kind of change in their relationship and one change often led to another.

“Mr. May, would you like to answer the question?”

Jenk’s booming voice struck him like a tree branch, snapping out of his stupor as both the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors stared at him, awaiting the answer to a question he didn’t know.

“Well?” Jenk asked, “Why are dementors used in Azkaban?”

He took in a deep breath, wracking his brain for a composed answer in the few more seconds of silence that followed. “They’re used there to literally suck the soul out of the prisoners there, ensuring that none would escape due to being left in an empty state. They don’t use the kiss, but they do remove much of the happiness left in the prisoners because if they don’t have any happiness, they’re only left with their worst memories.”

“Very good Mr. May, five points to Ravenclaw.” Jenk said, now returning to the lesson, beaming after getting a well worded answer from one of his students, though Brian knew if any other student had answered the way he had, they would’ve gotten far more than five points. See! There it was again! The fact that all his hard work that he’d put into keeping Freddie safe was now harming the rest of their house. If Jenk didn’t know he was ahead in the class, they could’ve gotten more points and gotten closer to winning the cup! Brian angrily sighed, looking back down at his open book that was probably on the wrong page anyway. Forget it, just forget it. If he wants to believe that he can handle this on his own to prove something to me, fine, let him. He can do whatever the hell he wants and that’s fine.

…

With night now falling, Brian was left completely alone. Both John and Roger were in their perspective houses, unless they’d snuck out to be together in some undisclosed location, and Freddie, as expected, wouldn’t say a word to him. When he’d gone into the dorm, he saw his figure buried beneath his blankets, either fast asleep or pretending to do so. He only scoffed at him, wishing that he had the nerve to whack a pillow across that bastard’s face. In the end, he just grabbed his things and went down the the common room, staring at the purple flames that were brightly lit, curling into little blue wisps that contrasted the golden embers beneath. He just stared and stared, his mind drawing a blank after it going completely nuts earlier.

A soft tapping came from behind him. In the light of the almost full moon sat a rather large owl, a letter sitting in his beak as he continued to tap at the glass with his talons. Brian got up, raising an eyebrow in curiosity as he unlocked the window to let the large bird in.

“Felix!? What’re you doing here?” He asked, seeing his family’s own just ruffle his feathers in response and stick out the letter towards him. Brian took the letter, Felix giving a loud squawk and earning a harsh “SH!” in response.

“Go to the Owlrey, you can go home tomorrow, okay?” Brian asked, Felix seeming to understand enough to fly off, leaving him only with the crackling of both the flames and the envelope.

Brian,

Your father’s fallen ill. The doctors aren’t too sure what it is right now but we want you to come home to be with us just in case something happens. We know how much you care about your studies and we hope that you don’t have much work to worry about at school. Dumbledore knows of the circumstances, we told him with another owl. Let us know as soon as possible.

Mum

A short message, but those dried tear stains told him why it was so abrupt. Brian could only sit down on the floor once more, constantly re-reading the letter until he’d memorised every single word in the message; the weight on his chest was continuing to build with every passing second while his mind rushed with questions. How could they not know what was going on? Was it really that serious? If so, couldn’t they have sent something sooner? No, he couldn’t blame anyone right now. Right now, Brian’s mind was focused on rushing up to Dumbledore’s study.

Before he stepped out of the room, Brian paused, giving a quick glance behind him towards the staircase up to the dormitories. He looked down at the letter, folding it up carefully and sticking it into his pocket next to his wand. As quietly as possible, he walked up the steps and entered his room. Just like before, Freddie was fast asleep, completely immune to his surroundings for the next few hours. In the soft moonlight his skin looked even paler and turned the back of his head silver. Brian clenched his jaw and walked over to his bag, pulling out a sheet of paper and a quill, wetting the tip with his tongue and scribbling out a quick message for Freddie. Without another thought, he laid it on the nightstand and left.

Wasting no time, Brian hurried down the halls towards Dumbledore’s study, dashing up the stairs until he stood in front of the massive gargoyle statue, its golden eyes staring right through his soul. In his frantic state, he could barely think, let alone remember the damned password that he’d put up for him to enter. He rambled off every sweet he could think of, starting with toffee until he ended up at ice pops, wondering what the hell he had put as the password.

“Mr. May?”

A serene voice came from behind him. He turned and saw the headmaster staring at him from behind his half-moon glasses, those piercing blue eyes showing not a bit of anger or wonder. Before Brian could even try to respond, Dumbledore stepped forward, his elegant, maroon robes flowing behind him.

“Bubblegum.” He said, the gargoyle now hopping off its pedestal to let them through.

Where on earth do you get that from? Brian asked, now following the headmaster into his office.

He said nothing to him, he just held out his hand, Brian giving him a confused look for a moment before handing out the letter to him. He gave a quick glance over the letter, a glimmer dancing across his eyes before he tucked it into his robes.

“I understand there’s issues at home. You need not specify anything, your mother gave enough in the letter she gave me.” He said, giving nothing else before walking over to his enormous fireplace. A loud squawk sounded from his right, Brian jumping until he saw Fawkes looking down at him from his perch, now cleaning his wings and completely ignoring his presence. The room turned green, Brian watching the flames lose every shade of red and yellow and glow a brilliant emerald with streaks of white.

“If you need anything you might’ve left here, send an owl.” Dumbledore said, now stepping back to give him time to get in.

“T-thank you sir.” Brian replied, now thankful that his lungs had recovered from his running.

He gave a warm smile, that sight being the last thing before Brian called out his home address before stepping into the flames.

…

“THAT BLOODY BASTARD!”

Shreds of paper laid on the floor as Freddie crushed them beneath his foot, his knuckles going white as he bared his clenched teeth; his face was heating up as every part of him burned with anger. He just left! Left without saying a single word to him and left a note to explain it all! What kind of audacity does someone have to have in order to do that?!

Freddie collapsed onto his bed behind him, his body groaning in pain at the mere act of ripping the letter into little pieces. Yet the anger burned on, trying its best to ignore the stress it was putting onto his already tired body. How could he? How the hell could he? He couldn’t bother to tell him? Hell he could’ve done so much more than leave a little letter that said “Dad’s sick, going home.” That there was such a big help! Absolutely amazing! Freddie growled again, wishing he could rip the paper up once more.

His heart began to sink as the weight upon his chest grew. Did he really not care about him? Was he so obsessed with himself that he didn’t bother treating him like an equal? Or was he starting to realise what he was and felt like he didn’t have to treat him like a human anymore-just someone who was sick and not important. To make matters worse, he had left today. Of all days he chose today. I don’t need him. He tried telling himself. I don’t, John’s there and-what’re you on about, you don’t need either of them! He pushed himself up into a seated position, shivering in his spot as he tried heating up his icy hands. As much as he tried to ignore the impending night, his mind just couldn’t shake the usual fears: hurting someone, hurting himself beyond repair, someone else getting infected; it all was just terrifying and Freddie could already feel his stomach start to twist within him.

He doesn’t care. He couldn’t possibly care. Tears started welling up at the corner of his eyes. He’ll never see you as anything but a nuisance. He wanted to scream everything right at Brian’s face or just throw a book right at it. What kind of nerve did he have to have to think he could do this to him? Surely he couldn’t hate him that much, right? So what if he hadn’t talked to him for days, that was Brian’s fault; if he didn’t want to apologise, then that’s on him. He wasn’t giving in first because Brian thought he was right. Every single time he was too stubborn, something bad happened.

Something bad happened...Freddie turned to look down at his blankets. Why did he think that? He ran his hand along the duvet, the very same texture being the one Brian had brought to him one morning. His mind could only throw flashing images at him for a few seconds: the hulking outline of the beast, the door smashing right into its muzzle, Brian’s petrified face. He didn’t know that he’d seen him, nor did he want him to know.

He was fifteen again. Brian was practically carrying him at this point, his hands trembling as he tried to hold him there while finding his wand in his pocket. The door had formed in front of them, Brian rushing through with him as he already felt his clothes grow tighter around his arms and chest. The room was suffocating and the beast was already trying to rip itself out of Brian’s hold around him. While using his last remaining willpower, Freddie just pushed Brian away as hard as he could before collapsing onto the ground. A blood-curdling cry echoed off the walls as his nails ripped through the fabric of his outfit.  

The scene froze on Brian’s terrified face, constantly zooming closer and closer so that he could try and find out what was going through his mind. How could someone have so much going on in their mind in just one second: fear, worry, anger, a convoluted storm of so many emotions that they turned his eyes glassy and unfocused, almost reverting back to their primal state where everything centered around the idea of “survive”.

Everything grew hazy in front of him, Freddie finally blinking to wash away the last bit of the memory. He grabbed his blankets, trying to stabilize himself. Nothing seemed to want to work though: thinking about good things, focusing on his current surroundings, even smacking his hand against the nightstand to try and feel something different wasn’t doing anything. He could still feel the cold floor on his hands and the putrid drool that dribbled down the side of the beasts mouth. When the fact that it’d all happen tonight struck him, his eyes flew back open as his body began to twitch and shake.

Do something, try something. He got up from his spot, his knees shaking and hindering his ability to walk in a straight line; the floor seemed to be made of spikes, every step jabbing at his aching legs and soles of his feet as he finally made his way to the door. His mind began fighting with itself: the desperate half began whining at him to go get Brian so that he’d have some help while the stubborn half absolutely refused to even think of him. Remember, he left you. His lip curled up into a sneer as he swung the door open, slowly making his way down the stairs and covering up as much of his body with his cloak to avoid any probing questions from the other Ravenclaws in the common room. Thankfully, he gained no attention from the others; it seemed that majority of them were more focused on their studies than their surroundings. 

Should he just go sulk in the library? Or go down to the dining hall for something to eat, yeah like that was going to happen. He turned to his left, seeing a cloudless sky in the distance. Unlike the rest of winter so far, it was no longer grey and instead gave the impression that it was a warm day in spring. He could almost see the little budding flowers among the green grass while the trees would start to grow their flowers, ranging from a beautiful white to a rosy pink. If he listened hard enough, he could almost hear the chirps of birds in the distance. But upon moving his gaze ever so slightly, Freddie could only see everything that ruined this illusion: frost still along the sides of the trees that were barren of any life, an absence of any green in the rolling fields, and absolutely no songs from any birds. Maybe in the distance there could be some kind of sign of change, perhaps it wasn’t going to be seen to the naked eye just yet, but spring would come, just as it always would.

He took a seat beneath the giant tree in the middle of the courtyard; no one was outside-who would want to be outside when it was that cold out-yet Freddie didn’t mind; the silence was wonderful, almost a gift to help ease his thoughts. Even with his body feeling so tired, a calm blanket was spreading over his mind. He reached out, playing around with a few strands of grass, the frost upon the tips melting immediately upon touching his fingertips. Every blade glistened in the light of day and made them look more white than green. A small wind blew from behind him, Freddie releasing his hold on those little pieces and watched them dance in the wind. Another wind blew, this time pushing his hair out in front of him and blocking his vision for a quick second. As his vision cleared, he could only see his still outstretched hand, the skin beneath his nails now turning a pale purple. Yet he didn’t feel it; none of the cold was penetrating his body. All he could feel in that moment was the sun shining down on his face, the little bit of warmth emanating from it immediately bringing back that feeling of spring. In that moment, right from above him, a little chaffinch flew onto the tree and sung its loud song.

…

Nerves were bouncing around, every inch of his skin was lined with little goosebumps, and as much as he was trying to force himself up from his spot in the library, he didn’t want to move. He didn’t want to see that thing again, not again. His jaw clenched as he looked up at the line of books in front of him, trying to distract his frantic brain from thinking of the night later on. Alas, it wasn’t working-but what would work? Eating-ha! He was instantly sickened by the mere thought of it. Rest in the room until then? Go find one of his friends?

Friends. Were were they? Roger perhaps was studying up in his room, John might be there too, though it was still bizarre as to why he wasn’t here, especially since he had been so excited to learn about tonight. Then there was Brian; should he even call him a friend anymore? Anyone who just left like that shouldn’t even be called that. Coward perhaps. Brian didn’t even want to say a single word to him before leaving because he was scared. Oh how he wanted to scream every curse at him or hurl a book right at his face.

He leaned over into his bag, tearing out a sheet of paper and his wand. The words immediately came out, Freddie spitting out every single thing he wanted to bark at Brian if he was right there in front of him. His wand collected every single word he read out over the next five minutes, Freddie barely pausing for a breath until he finished his rant. He put the tip upon the sheet of paper, watching it fold itself into a neat, crimson envelope.

With his anger now fueling him, he leapt up and marched right on out, shoving his way through the bustling crowds of students who were going back up to their dorms. A select few seemed to also be heading towards the Owlery, for they too were carrying little parcels or letters that must’ve been going back home, but he was the only one with a crimson letter tucked under his arm.

By the time he’d arrived, he could already see the sun start to set. His skin prickled with fear, but he pressed on, calling down one of the school owls and quickly tied the letter to its leg. He told the little bird Brian’s address, the owl taking no time in flying right on out the window. Freddie turned to head out, only to join the other students in the Owlery who were now staring over at the hunched over frame of a student who seemed close to passing out.

“John? What the hell are you doing here?” Freddie asked, John now looking back up at him with a panicky look in his eyes and readjusting the little bag he had around his shoulder.  

“Ah-uh-well I was gonna try and...catch you to...eh...show you something?” He began, his face, somehow, turning darker under the confused gazes of the other students. “H-how about I go show you?”

Freddie growled under his breath and stomped forward, his own face starting to burn under the stares from the others. He grabbed John’s sleeve and marched forward, another wave of chills hitting his body once he stepped outside. As they walked down the steps, John uttered multiple apologies, all of which Freddie just ignored, his main focus being on getting back inside the castle.

“John, it’s fine, alright? Just stop your blubbering!” He snarled, John instantly shutting up from behind him.

“I-I just wanted to make sure everything was alright. I-I couldn’t find Brian and I got worried so I just...chased after you.”

“Oh don’t worry, no one can find Brian here!” He mockingly said. “That little prick went right on home without saying a single word to any of us! Not only that, he found it absolutely brilliant to just write a few words down to explain what was going on. Selfish little brat!”

“Wait, what did happen?”

“His father’s sick. Wish I knew what! But nope! Just left without specifying! Well, he can have fun with that howler. Maybe he’ll learn what an explanation is!” Freddie spat, his jaw winding up so tightly that his teeth might crack.

Upon entering the hallway, Freddie fell silent. He could already see the darkening sky outside and his fear silenced any of the once burning anger inside. He paused, his body not wanting to move any closer to the room. Those childish thoughts returned: don’t let me go in! I don’t wanna! I’m sick of this! Someone, help me...John reached out and grabbed his hand, giving a reassuring smile towards him as he lead him towards the room. Freddie just stood there, tightly gripping his sleeves as John paced back and forth three times. In a matter of seconds, the door formed, John holding it open for him as he brought himself to walk in.

He raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of him. It looked, almost homey, and yet there wasn’t a single piece of furniture. The room was a good size, roughly a dozen metres long and wide and a large window sat to the left, the navy blue sky already starting to give way to the blackness of night. Freddie just sat down on the carpet, not wanting to look around any longer. His body was already giving its occasional convulsion, all those memories starting to swarm around and only intensify his current fears.

Something struck him right in the stomach: what if something happened to him tonight? Was the last thing Brian would ever hear from him be anger? No, no it wouldn’t be, when has anything terrible happened? Surely it wouldn’t just start tonight! Right? His eyes began to water. What good was worrying going to do him? Brian obviously didn’t care about him. He might just open the howler up as soon as it got there and tune it out. His whimpering grew louder; was everything they had nothing? Did he really not matter to him? After everything they’d done together and been through nonetheless, was it just that easy for Brian to move on from him?

“Fred, you alright?” John asked.

Freddie finally became aware of John’s presence and turned to face him. Immediately, he shouted “No! No I’m not alright! Brian’s gone...A-and it’s my own fault!”

“He’ll be back soon though, you can talk to him then.” John told him.

“Don’t be so daft John! He just left that sort of letter for me! He doesn’t care...I-I know he doesn’t or else he would’ve left something more for me o-or still be here w-with…” He looked towards John. “Why’re you still here?”

“Thought you could use some company.” He replied with a proud smile upon his face.

“Comp-what’re you on about?” He wiped away wet streaks on his cheeks. “Get out of here, I-it doesn’t need company.”

“Come off it Fred, I’m not here for it, I’m for you!” He explained. “Don’t worry, I took precautions.” He motioned to behind him where a brown door sat, Freddie only assuming that another room was behind it.

“What-no! No, no, no. C’mon John, go back to your house and get back down here in the morning.” John stayed still, not budging from his spot, even when Freddie stood up and headed towards him. A look of indignation suddenly appeared on John’s face as he stared right up at him, determination shooting through his eyes.

“Fred, I know enough about these things to know that they’re isolating. You feel alone in here every single time you have to go through this. Since Brian’s never here with you, I’ll do it. I’m not going to have you go through something alone. It’ll help, believe me!” John pleaded.

He backed up ever so slightly as Freddie hovered above him. “John. Get out of here now. You don’t know what they’re capable of.” He ordered.

Out of nowhere, John’s shadow began to grow behind him. Freddie looked down and saw his own shadow interrupt the steady silver light that had already started to fill the room. Just a second of distraction was enough. The fire spread through his body and nearly knocked him right to the ground. As it took hold, Freddie’s ability to speak quickly vanished, despite him still desperately trying to tell John to leave. He could already feel his nails ripping into his outfit and piercing his skin as his clothes grew tighter and tighter around him once more. His groans of pain echoed off the walls of the room, the sound of his outfit ripping to shreds following soon after. Fear gripped his stomach as he managed to catch a quick glimpse of John. Instead of any fear, there was this terribly sad look in his eyes as he stood transfixed to his spot, unable to do anything as he watched his monthly change take hold.

Yet, there was something different this time. As his head and ears started to lengthen, a powerful scent struck the beast’s nose; it smelled of metal and something he couldn’t quite identify, and yet it smelled so familiar. Despite its spine still settling into place and its whole body throbbing with pain, the beast quickly shot up, its blood tainted saliva dribbling out of the corner of its mouth and into a massive puddle on the ground. It wasted no time and immediately leapt forward, aiming right for the door that was now shut with John peering out from behind it, his eyes wide with awe and concern. Both of the aforementioned emotions vanished in an instant as the beast reared up onto its hind legs and crashed into the door, John’s face covered with fear as he backed up, just barely missing the beast’s slashing claws through the little bars in the door’s mini window.

Growls of frustration rang through the small room, Freddie wishing he could block out all the sounds and ignore the sight of his friend right in front of him. God he wished he could yell at John right now; how could he be so stupid to want to be here with this thing? Every snarl, every bark, and every attempt to break through the wood door to finally attack the first human it’d seen in years sent waves of adrenaline through its body, every ounce of focus being put onto John and nothing else. It finally smelled blood other than its own, it finally saw flesh other than its own, and it finally saw the chance to attack and spread its disease with ease; the chance was right there, less than a few metres away from it and the door was blocking it. Freddie was immensely thankful for whatever spells John had placed on the door, but all he could feel was the beast’s ever growing frustration.

Finally, it walked away from the door, realising that this attempt wasn’t going to work. Freddie wished he could plead with it, beg it to go back to attacking itself instead of his friend, but he had no control for the next few hours. He was just a witness, a being trapped inside another’s body as it did whatever it wanted. All he could do was watch it prowl around, occasionally lunging back at the door to try and grab John. Only once did it come close and that was when John walked up to the window to get a better look, to which the beast gladly sprung back at the door and dug its massive paw through the window, the daggers just barely missing John’s face.

At one point, when Freddie was sure that a few hours had passed, the beast walked away. Freddie just repeated a silent apology to John, wishing that he knew how bad he felt that he had to witness this whole ordeal. But the mortal terror he felt an instant later put those apologies up in smoke as the beast went to the back of the room, quickly licking its chops before rearing back onto its hind legs and letting out a blood-curdling howl that bounced off the walls of the room, John’s face appearing in the small window once again. With all its energy, the beast fell onto all fours and rushed forward as fast as it could, slamming its whole body against the door and sinking its teeth into the metal bars of the window. It glared at John, trying its best to yank its claws out of the wood as it snarled venomously at him, Freddie just barely able to see its icy blue stare in John’s wide eyes. He saw nothing: no joy, no excitement, no anger, just the primal, frenzied light of a monster that was ready to dig its teeth into some part of John’s body. It growled, sending flecks of its infected saliva towards John’s face, Freddie panicking inside of the creature as it continued its attempts over and over again, trying harder and harder each time to break through the door. Even when he was sure it was starting to tire of this quest, it kept up. All the pain in its body, the blood dribbling down its arm from cutting itself on a stray piece of wood, nothing kept it at bay. Not until the sky started to glow a brilliant gold from the rising sun.

Its head whipped around at the first ray of sunlight that hit the room. Outside sat the clear sky; the east held the sun, glimmering in all its golden glory while off to the west sat the moon, casting its silvery glow for a few more moments before it would vanish until night returned.

Once its eyes laid on the sun, the pain returned to its body, its whimpers and loud cries of pain reverberating off the room as his body shrunk back down to its original size, the fur, teeth, claws, and ears all receded back into his body. With one last snap of his spine back into its normal alignment, Freddie collapsed onto the cold ground, immediately clutching his bleeding arm as all those emotions from the past hours resurfaced and grew to the point that brought him to tears.

He curled up, trying to hide as much of his body from sight as he sobbed into his folded arms, ignoring the pain in his right. Across the room came the sound of a door opening, Freddie venturing a quick glance towards John, who still had that little bag from the Owlery hanging on his shoulder. John said nothing and just sat down next to him, Freddie not daring to look him in the eye after all he had to witness from last night. Yet John still prodded at his arm until he looked up at him again. In John’s outstretched hand sat a little muffin stuffed with blueberries, in his other hand sat a bundle of bandages and some cream of some sort, and a stack of folded clothes-which he presumed were his-sat behind John. John just offered a kind smile as he took the muffin, slowly starting to work on the injury upon his arm as he ate the pastry. After getting dressed, both sat in silence, John offering him a massive sweet from his bag, to which Freddie split it in half. The two ate their halves, Freddie feeling a peaceful warmth spread throughout him just as the sunlight took over the final rays of moonlight.