Catch Me If You Can → George Weasley

Five

After making sure he was alright, Audrey left Apollo with their Defensive Against the Dark Arts teacher. Apollo was unusually pale after the boggart, and it was noticeable. The room was silent for a moment as the young boy gathered all his belongings. Finally he approached the desk where Lupin was sitting.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" He asked, his voice detached and airy.

"Yes, I did," Lupin replied, frowning at the tone his student used. He did not comment on it. "You had concerns about the boggart exercise... it makes me wonder who it was that you saw."

Apollo looked away, finding the doorway suddenly very interesting. "Just someone from my past," He lied smoothly. Technically, it was only half a lie. The man was from his past, but also his present, and future.

"I see," The teacher hummed, finding it smart not to question him further. "One more thing. I did not find you in the database for registered animagi," He stated carefully, scanning the boys face for a reaction.

The blonde's face remained impassive as he looked back at the teacher, but his thoughts were going a million miles per hour. Most of them being a string of curses. "I don't know what you're talking about, sir," He said coolly, spitting out the last word.

Lupin chuckled as if he found the boy amusing. That caused Apollo's eyes to narrow in annoyance. "Apollo, I will not turn you in," Lupin said. "I must, however, advise you to be careful. You could get in a lot of trouble if you are found out," He spoke as if he knew something Apollo did not. As if he knew this situation far too well.

Apollo eyed his new teacher very carefully for a moment, before letting his tense shoulders relax the slightest bit. "Right..." He said. "Bye." He did not thank him, he just said goodbye. What more did he have to say? He walked right out of the room, purposely drowning out the sound of Lupin bidding him a good rest of his day.

As he made his way to the Hufflepuff common room, he ran into one of his best friends, Cedric Diggory, half way there. Cedric had been running. Just to be a dick, Apollo had stopped walking when Cedric waved him over, forcing him to run over some more.

"Hey! Audrey told Cho who told me what happened," Cedric said as the two started walking back towards the Hufflepuff common room. "Was it your dad that you saw?" He proceeded to ask, lowering his voice despite no one else being within earshot.

Apollo nodded. Cedric knew what happened at home, there was no point in lying to him. "I tried to get out of it, you know," Apollo said, letting out a shaky chuckle.

Cedric gave him a sympathetic smile. "Let's get you warmed up," He said, carefully placing an arm around the boy's shoulders. Knowing it was just Cedric, Apollo did not flinch at the contact. He embraced it.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence. They passed the kitchen, and then finally reached the familiar common room. It was cozy, as you would expect it to be. Plants were everywhere, and a fire was warming up the room. There were very few students there at the moment. Cedric led his friend over to the couch near the crackling fire.

The pair sat there comfortably in silence for some time. Cedric understood that if Apollo wanted to talk, he would.

Finally, Cedric decided to speak. "In case you care, I met someone today," He said confidentially.

"Really?" Apollo asked, glanced over to him. He knew his friend would continue to speak even if he did not say anything, but the blonde actually wanted to know. Blackmail, maybe, but mostly he wanted his friend to be happy.

"Their name is Sammy, and they go by they/them! They are so cute, you have no idea," Cedric gushed.

The blonde searched his brain for someone who went by that name. It was an easy task. He knew a Sammy very well. But he did not want to let Cedric know that just yet. "Sammy Scamander? The Ravenclaw?" Apollo questioned after a moment.

Cedric looked at him weirdly for a moment. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"I'm in Ravenclaw, Ced," Apollo deadpanned. Not to mention Sammy was on the Quidditch team with him.

"Whatever, let's just go to dinner. Adrian's sitting with us today. We have to grab him from his table and drag him over. He doesn't know about the arrangement yet," Cedric said, already dragging his best friend out of the common room by the arm without giving him time to respond.

The pair rushed (unnecessary) down to the Great Hall, and immediately spotted their friend at the Slytherin table with some of his friends from the Quidditch team. Sharing a look, Apollo and Cedric casually walked over and each grabbed one of Adrian's arms, and dragged him over to the Hufflepuff table, ignoring his protests and all the new kids' questioning stares.

"What the hell, guys?" Adrian asked as he sat down between the two, not putting up a fight. This happened enough for him to just stay seated and spend the meal with his two best friends.

"Haven't you heard?" Apollo questioned in reply.

"You're sitting here today," Cedric finished for him, the two high-fiving under the table.

Adrian rolled his eyes but smiled regardless. "I hate you both," He joked.

"Oh, thank Merlin, we can get rid of you now," Apollo joked back, causing the brunette beside him to push him off the bench. "Hey!" He complained, pouting as he got back up.

"I have no regrets," Adrian stated before stuffing his face with the mashed potatoes in front of him. The other two boys followed his lead in eating the food before them.

Before long the meal time was over. The trio left the great hall and went to hang out in an empty classroom, as they usually did. Filch never caught them, and if he did, what could he do? It was not past curfew, and the three of them would argue with him until he decided not to give them detention.

Adrian was sitting in the teacher's chair, legs crossed and propped up on the desk. Apollo was laying on the ground, hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. Cedric, on the other hand, was sitting on one of the tables, letting his legs dangle.

"I cannot wait for Quidditch to start," Adrian said with a dreamy sigh at the thought of flying through the air again.

"Same here," Cedric agreed. "I have my first practice next week."

"Yeah, me too. Flint will probably make it a competition already, with Gryffindor of all houses," Adrian mused.

Apollo chuckled. "I have no idea when my first practice is. Kara hasn't told us." Kara Dustin was the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. "All I know is that Harry Potter isn't going to destroy our new seeker like he will to yours," He said to Adrian.

Cedric snorted as Adrian shrugged. "Malfoy's a git. I hope he falls flat on his face so he gets subbed out," The Slytherin boy said.

"As if that'll happen," Cedric shot. "His father will buy him a new face the moment it happens."

Apollo laughed, really laughed. It felt good, hanging out with his friends again. The three messed around for some time more before they had to go back to their common rooms. Soon, the real fun would begin.