Faux Amour (Frerard/Bandom Hogwarts AU)

Festivity & Feelings

The great hall was fully decorated for Christmas the next day. Frank felt a small ounce of pride as he entered the great hall next to Spencer, Melanie, and Patrick. Snow drifted from the enchanted ceiling, somehow dissipating before it reached the festively decorated house tables. The walls were lined with tall Christmas trees dusted with decorations. Occasionally, a fairy could even be seen zipping by.

"It's more beautiful than where we left it!" Melanie exclaimed, tightly hugging Spencer's arm. "Babe! Look at the sugar crystals!"

"Babe, look at the sugar crystals!" Frank imitated her, grabbing hold of Patrick's arm and causing the Hufflepuff to giggle.

Melanie rolled her eyes. "I'm proud of my festive work. Spencer," she turned to him, "come sit with me!"

"We're in different houses though." Spencer frowned.

Melanie giggled, "Who cares? It's Christmas." She popped up on her toes to kiss the Slytherin before pulling him in the direction of her house table.

"They're so sickeningly cute." Frank said as he released Patrick's arm, "How do they stand it?"

Patrick laughed, "Like you haven't been sickeningly cute with Gerard before."

"Where the bloody hell did you hear that?!" Frank exclaimed as some more students moved past him, giving him strange looks.

Patrick just laughed again, covering his mouth to hide his smile. "We're housemates and he's pretty much my best friend." Patrick responded with a soft giggle in between his words, "I've heard a couple of stories."

Frank stood with his eyes widened for a moment before shaking it away. "I am going to kill my Hufflepuff." He laughed as Patrick made his way over to his house table. Frank shook his head, making his way to the Slytherin house table.

Tyler was there, sitting next to a figure with his head down. The closer Frank got, he realized that it was Josh. Josh was the only one that Tyler would let his fingers dance over like that, and also the only one with that vibrancy of hair. Well, not counting Melanie.

"Is everyone mixing up tables today?" Frank asked as he took the empty seat on the other side of Tyler, "Hi, Josh."

Josh raised his hand in a short wave before letting it fall back to the table. Tyler shrugged, "I doubt most people care about house tables now that the holidays have started." He gestured out to the fairly empty great hall. "We're all just students at the moment, no house division."

Frank nodded with a smile. It was nice to see friends able to sit together without competition. He wished Gerard was here to see it. Usually this sort of seating only happened when students met up in the library or when they sat around the grounds.

"This is a whole new sort of magic." Josh commented. He had finally sat up and was now leaning against Tyler's shoulder. Tyler leaned his head against Josh's with a soft smile.

"If only everyone could see it." Tyler commented, "It's always surprisingly calm and friendly."

Josh hummed, tilting his body in order to hide his face in Tyler's shoulder. Tyler shifted to make the position more comfortable for the Gryffindor. He began speaking softly and quickly, prompting Frank to turn away from the couple.

Frank looked up at the sky, watching the snow flakes fade just before they were within reach. Winter was such a beautiful time here, but it made Frank feel just slightly guilty. He was missing family just to be here, just to avoid the awkward silences, and to evade his mother's tears... The more he thought about it, the worse he felt.

Thinking about that caused him to miss Jamia and Brendon walking into the great hall. The two sat on the edge of the Slytherin table, looking around the great hall.