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The mandrake leaf was one of the most terrible experiences of Milo's life when it came to tasting anything. He had tasted horrible food before, been forced to swallow terrible medicines when he was ill or injured, but nothing compared to the taste of the sour leaf that he had stored in his left cheek. It was nauseating within the first few hours, his mouth wasn't sure what to do as it continued to over salivate to compensate, so he couldn't help but drool several times. Not to mention trying to figure out a comfortable position for it in his mouth was proving to be extremely difficult. If he coughed or sneezed, he almost risked it falling out of his mouth but he couldn't afford to do that, if the leaf left his mouth, he was going to have to get a new one and start all over again.
He was glad that he waited until after Christmas to stick the leaf in his mouth or Christmas would have been nothing short of terrible for him. He really needed the holiday to feel better after all the drama that continued to go down. He still wasn't talking to Harry and he didn't even bother with getting the boy a gift that year, but his friends and other members of his family certainly made it worthwhile.
Molly had sent Milo another Weasley jumper, another yellow one that looked equally as comfortable to wear as the last one. He wore it all throughout Christmas, especially when he went to visit his mother in her quarters of the castle. Her surprise was that he was going to be allowed to take part in the internship that Newt had offered as well as a box full of Milo's favourite things, including new reading material. His friends and Cedric got him an assortment of things from quidditch gear, to sweets, all of which he appreciated.
Cedric had apologised for not being able to get him much, but he didn't have any money really to his name after his parents had decided that until he changed his mind about liking boys that they weren't going to support him. Milo told him not to worry that he had no problem with it at all and that he was just glad that he could spend Christmas with Cedric comfortably. The previous year, the two boys were still trying to figure out their feelings, wondering if the other felt the same way or if they should just keep it to themselves.
But things had certainly changed, not only were they able to be around each other without worrying, their closest friends and their family knew, with the exception of Harry. Milo wanted to tell him, but at the same time, he really didn't want to talk to Harry during Christmas because he didn't want any of the moments ruined. It sounded harsh and cruel but Milo just needed to focus on himself instead of worrying about how Harry felt all the time.
After all, the reason he couldn't produce his patronus was that he wasn't in the right state of mind. The twins and Lee had all managed theirs, leaving Milo even more frustrated even if that wasn't the proper solution to his problems. Of course, they wouldn't tell him what their patronus forms were either, wanting to make a big reveal out of all of it when Milo finally figured his out.
He had been working on it every night in the dorms while he still had the chance with his dormmates gone for the holidays. However, even with Cedric encouraging him and trying to keep him in the best of moods it didn't seem to be working all that well. Not to mention, the leaf wasn't leaving Milo in the best of moods either. But Cedric was never one to give up. On the evening of Christmas after the big feast, he had one more trick up his sleeve.
After Milo returned from a visit with his godmother and his mother, which had been more awkward than ever. Luckily, Silas had been there and the boy was having a great time, shooting off crackers and laughing with his mother. But Milo couldn't help but notice that Remus was missing and he knew exactly why. It was terrible fate that the full moon had come on Christmas and with how things left off between the two, Milo felt incredibly guilty. He couldn't really find himself enjoying the time like Silas was.
Not to mention, while Harry was invited to join them, the boy didn't bother showing up, which made things worse in his head. When he was actually able to escape, he had never been more relieved in his entire life.
When he returned to the dorms, ready to just crawl into bed, he was confused but pleasantly surprised to find Cedric already there. He invited Milo to sit down beside him and before Milo could even ask what was going on, Cedric placed the boy's copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in Milo's lap. He looked over at Cedric with a puzzled expression, trying to figure out what the by wanted from him in that moment, but Cedric only instructed him to start reading.
Milo obliged, never missing out on an opportunity to read the book, but it still felt odd. However, just several minutes into reading, the boy's voice grew louder and more enthusiastic as he read the work of Newt Scamander out loud. That's all Cedric wanted to hear in that moment, for Milo's voice to return to the fast, excited rambling as he could on and on about the fantastic beasts that he adored so much. Paden settled in between them for the evening, listening to Milo read.
Every so often, Milo went off on a tangent about one of the creatures, offering his own opinion and research that he had done. Cedric didn't stop him, he only listened as Milo rambled on throughout the evening. He would do this every night if he had to in order to get Milo back to where he needed to be in order for him to produce a patronus.
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However, after Christmas, Milo was approached by his mother, and the woman asked him if he had sent a broomstick to Harry as a present.
"I certainly did not," Milo answered, it had certainly been the plan originally, he had his money all prepared to spend on Harry. Until his brother decided to blame him for all his troubles again, Milo decided to hold onto it for the time being, until they were back on speaking terms. If they would ever be back on speaking terms.
"Well, he received a Firebolt for Christmas, I am not sure if you were aware of this, no card was sent with it," Minerva told him, leaving Milo confused. "Do you have any idea of who would send this to your brother? Elspeth has already confirmed that it was not her doing."
Milo shrugged his shoulders. "Dumbledore, perhaps? After all, he's been known to give gifts to Harry before," he said in a slightly bitter tone. It didn't go unnoted by Minerva but she chose to ignore it for the time being.
"It was not Professor Dumbledore, watch your tone, Milo and address him properly by his title," she reminded him. "Well, I suppose if you don't know, that I was in the right of confiscating it for the time being. We don't have any idea who sent it, but if my suspicions are correct, there might be jinxing to the broom."
Milo knew exactly what his mother was getting at, she figured it was Sirius who had sent the broom, assuming that he had sent it, jinxed it, in hopes that it would kill Harry. He could only let out a sigh, not daring to argue in that moment before excusing himself. If Sirius had sent the broom, he was a bigger dunce than Milo had given him credit for. What was the man thinking?
As Milo thought over his own question, he came up with his answer, Sirius probably wasn't thinking at the time. Being out in the wilderness, trying to survive with so many hunting him down, the man was probably close to losing his mind. Not to mention, the idea of his own godson hating him probably wasn't the best feeling in the world. It sounded like he was trying to make it up to Harry about what had happened without giving too much away.
Unfortunately, it was Hermione who was next up on the chopping block when it came to feeling the wrath of the cold shoulder. She had been the one to report the Firebolt broom to McGonagall and with Crookshanks going after Ron's rat, Scabbers, the boys weren't the happiest with her either.
"Don't mind them," Milo told her as he caught sight of her sitting alone in the corridor, one morning in between classes. "They're both being gits. You did the right thing going to my mum with the broomstick, it only shows that you cared enough to think of what could have happened."
"Well, your brother doesn't seem to see it that way," Hermione huffed.
"That's because he doesn't look from anyone else's perspective," Milo shared in her frustration as the two sat together. "He hasn't figured out how to place himself in anyone's shoes as of yet."
"Before all this Firebolt nonsense, I kept telling him to talk to you, you know, listen to what you have to say. But he's been so stubborn about the whole thing."
"I appreciate it, Hermione, honestly, I do. But you might as well leave it be, you're wasting time and energy with him, he has to come to see it on his own."
Hermione didn't seem to like that as a solution as she shook her head. "Harry remembers how he felt when he thought he lost you last year. He remembers all that time that he thought he wasted fighting you when you two could have been bonding, he said he didn't want to miss out on anything, so what is it that he's doing now? The same thing he said he wouldn't do."
Milo honestly didn't know how to respond to her statement, she was right, but it didn't change anything. He was not about to go apologise to Harry and he was sure Harry was not about to come confiding in him anytime soon. It was really up to time, to see what would take place in between it all.
"Don't drive yourself mental over it, Hermione," Milo told her, placing his arm around her shoulder and pulling the girl into a side hug. "Just let Harry be Harry, it might take him awhile but he'll come to his sense. As for Ron, let him be dramatic, but I remember how many times he has cursed Scabbers and called him a stupid rat, no sense in him getting suddenly worked up over the rat's wellbeing just because Crookshanks is present."
She nodded her head and remained silent but Milo could see that there was something else on the girl's mind. However, it seemed she didn't want to just blurt it out, waiting for someone to prompt it out of her. Milo removed his arm from around her shoulder, especially after Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil passed giggling at the scene, making him uncomfortable. He cleared his throat but faced his body towards hers.
"Is there something else on your mind, Hermione? If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine, but if you do, I'm all ears for you."
Hermione glanced up at him, then around the corridor to see if anyone was close before she met his gaze again.
"It's about Professor Lupin," she began and immediately, Milo felt his body grow tense. "I was noticing how he was getting sick frequently, you know, every month it seemed. Then when Professor Snape assigned his essay while taking over our class in his absence, I started to piece things together...."
Only one thing crossed Milo's mind at that moment.
Oh shit!