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Sneaking around and having a secret relationship was not what Milo had planned whenever he thought about having a relationship with his other crushes when he was younger. But then again, there were different circumstances that had come about and Milo understood that both he and Cedric could not get what they wanted exactly. They were both going to have to compromise in some form of fashion. If it meant dating in secret, Milo could surely put up with that a lot better than just having Cedric flat out ignoring him. So he agreed to it and for those few moments in the locker room, the two of them seemed quite happy with the new arrangement.
Of course, the happiness didn't last very long for Milo when he returned to the castle with Cedric. The two returned to the Common Room to meet with Professor Sprout as the woman claimed that there was a new curfew, all quidditch matches and practices had been postponed until further notice, and no one was allowed to go anywhere without an escort, whether it was to the lavatory or walking in the corridors between classes.
There had been another attack and this time, it was Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater. Milo couldn't comprehend what his brother and Ron were going through with their closest friend being petrified. It made him think of how he would feel if Cedric, one of the twins, Lee, Heidi or Max...if any of them had been petrified, he probably wouldn't know what to do with himself.
When Professor Sprout finished the announcement, Milo left Cedric's side and approached the professor to speak with her. Technically, three Gryffindors had been victims of the attack, first Colin, then Sir Nicholas, and now Hermione, Milo was more than certain that his mother was beyond upset. Despite being a caring adult, she was also the head of the Gryffindor house, it had to be upsetting to know another person was added to the count. He and Professor Sprout stood in the walkway of the barrel entrance to talk in private.
"Is my mother alright?" Milo asked. "I'd ask you to take me to see her, but I'm sure she probably wants me to stay in here until dinner along with every other student."
"She's upset," Professor Sprout replied honestly, " we all are, Milo. We can only hope that this whole thing is resolved soon or we're facing the idea of the school closing in order to keep the students safe. We're asking anyone who has any knowledge of the attacks to come forward so we can put this all to rest. But it seems rather unlikely and to think, Lockhart thought he had solved the problem."
Milo could tell that the woman was in distress as well, aside from the students being attacked, the idea of the school being closed down was worrisome too. After all, to the professors, it was their livelihood, many of them had been there for decades, just suddenly having to leave sounded like the worst possible thing.
"Hopefully it won't come down to that, Professor," Milo told her, placing his hand on her shoulder, " after all, the world needs Hogwarts. Some of the finest witches and wizards had come from here and we can't deprive the world of them. It would be cruel to do so."
Professor Sprout forced a smile on her face before nodding her head, agreeing with his words before she had to excuse herself to meet up with the other professors. Milo returned to the common room to hear everyone discussing the matters of the Chamber of Secrets, the majority of them worried that there would be another attack of some sort. Who would be next, they all asked the same question. But no one had the answer.
"Why don't you just tell your brother to fess up?!" Ernie Macmillian called out to Milo as soon as he reentered the common room. Suddenly, the entire area grew quiet as all eyes fell on Milo.
"What did you say?"
"Tell Harry to turn himself in, we all know it was him-"
"Do you honestly hear yourself right now?!" Milo hissed directly at Ernie, walking over and towering over the younger boy. "His best friend was attacked today, while he was out on the quidditch pitch and you want to accuse him? Do you have any common sense left in there or has it all been replaced by paranoia? That goes for the lot of you."
Max and Heidi exchanged looks, a fired up Milo was a dangerous one and anyone on his bad side was about to get it.
" Don't act like I haven't seen the way you've been looking at my brother or what you've been whispering about him. He's a twelve-year-old, who only just discovered the world of magic last year. He is trying what we all try to do when we come here, is fit in and learn. To accuse him of such a thing is beyond me, claiming he's the Heir of Slytherin? Well, what does that make me? I share the same blood as him we come from the same lineage and you don't see me turning on any of you, do you?"
No one dared to speak up against him.
"You leave my brother's name out of your mouths," Milo warned them before turning to Ernie. "Especially you. Your friend might be in the Hospital Wing but other people in the castle are dealing with the same thing, it doesn't give you the right to be a little git. Helga Hufflepuff is rolling in her grave looking at what the Hufflepuff house has become. We are a house based on loyalty and just, so where is the loyalty and fairness in pointing fingers at someone when you clearly have no evidence besides rumours?"
Ernie just stared at the older boy quietly, until Milo looked away and glared at the others that had been talking about Harry at one point or another. Milo was fed up with a lot and it was his duty to protect his little brother, while the odds seemed stacked against Harry in a lot of ways, Milo would always be there to support him. With no one willing to speak to him right away, Milo decided to head to the dorm and check on Paden.
He had left the bowtruckle behind to relax for the day while he anticipated actually playing in the quidditch match. When he entered the room, he saw a small lump in the centre of his made bed. He smiled and made his way over to the side of the bed before lifting up his covers and finding Paden hiding away. As soon as the bowtruckle saw him though, he let out a happy chirp and lunged directly for Milo's chest.
"I suppose you didn't like all the commotion, did you?" Milo said running his hand gently over Paden. "It's alright, but I should warn you, Paden, that it's probably going to b a lot louder in here because of the new curfew they just put into place. Everyone is going to be in the common room and dorms because we don't have any other options at this point."
Paden chirped, not a happy one but a shaky chirp, not liking the idea of the Hufflepuff common room and dorms being crowded once more. He often liked his quiet afternoons when he didn't accompany Milo to class or around the castle. But it seemed that luxurious lifestyle was about to come to an end.
However, the bowtruckle did seem to perk up instantly as someone else entered the dorm room. Milo looked over his shoulder to see Cedric as Paden crawled across the way and greeted the other boy. Not really taking Paden's feelings into consideration, Milo was able to see just how much he had missed interacting with Cedric on a daily basis as well.
Cedric seemed happy to see Paden too as he chuckled when Paden proceeded to hug his face. So it wasn't the best arrangement and neither one of them were going to be truly happy sneaking around and lying to their friends, but it was a start and it made Paden happy to see the two interacting once more.
"You certainly put Ernie in his place," Cedric said as he walked over and sat on Milo's bed.
Milo gave a faint grin. "Well, someone had to."
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A letter did arrive for Milo and it was delivered to the Common Room by Bitsy after Professor Sprout allowed her inside. Bitsy could have easily entered if she wanted to but she always looked for permission before doing anything. The house-elf delivered the letter to Milo before happily skipping off. Milo sat in one of the armchairs by the fire during the evening, with Paden perched on his shoulder eating the remnants of some bug that he had discovered at one point. The letter was from Remus and Elspeth, meaning they had responded quite fast to his last letter or they were sending him something before he had even written the last letter.
It didn't matter to Milo either way, he was going to open it and read it over regardless. As he pulled the letter out, he glanced around to make sure he was alone. Most of the other Hufflepuffs aside from his closest friends had dared to utter a word to him since his outburst with Ernie. Probably afraid that he would call them out next or that he would summon his brother, " the heir of Slytherin" and sick him on them.
But it did grant Milo some privacy while Heidi and Max were up in the girl's dorm and Cedric was in the shower.
Remus' handwriting dominated the letter, meaning that it was solely from him instead of the usually mixed letter between him and Elspeth.
Dear Milo,
Luckily, I received your letter before Elspeth did regarding the map and I ask that in further letters, you do not mention Silas as it is a very complicated matter between the two.
Milo's eyes widened, he didn't even make the connection between the surnames of the two. He was so used to just calling Elspeth by her first name that he didn't even think of the Hayes part. He didn't make the connection, how could he have missed such an important key element.That piece was shocking enough but the fact that Elspeth and Silas knew each other piqued Milo's curiosity even more so.
You will find that some people are able to remain hidden on the map, despite the fact that many others show up including ghosts. Some people in this world are untraceable by birth and that's all you need to know on the matter because that is all I can explain truthfully. I ask that you respect what I'm saying and do not ask any further questions. When the time presents itself appropriately, perhaps Elspeth will share some information with you. But for now, I would leave it alone. You are already focusing on quite a bit. It would be best to leave it alone.
A complicated matter between the two? Milo read the first line over again. What was complicated between them? Despite Remus' plea to have Milo ignore it all, it only made him even more curious to figure out more information. He tried to piece what he knew about Silas and what he knew about Elspeth. Both of them were Gryffindors, they shared the same surname....Silas mentioned his grandparents, did Elspeth have any connection with them? Then it suddenly hit him. What Silas had said about his grandparents on Valentine's Day and what Elspeth's letter had said.
"...my grandparents sent me loads of chocolate earlier. Thought they were being funny signing it as my secret admirer, they always do that...."
"...hope you enjoyed all the gifts we sent you to make up for the years, I thought it would be funny to add from your secret admirer..."
That was one hell of a coincidence if he was supposed to believe it was one.
A/N: cendriia made the beautiful piece above! Lovely as always! :)