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-Sunday – Morning-
Today looked like it was going to be just another ordinary Sunday at this magnificent school of magic.
One of those completely peaceful days when nobody had to worry about classes, exams, or professors.
It was the perfect kind of day to relax, wander around the grounds, or simply do absolutely nothing.
And, taking advantage of that rare opportunity, I decided to sleep in... Or at least a little later than what counted as sleeping in for me.
By the time I finally woke up, breakfast had probably been underway for a while.
Ravenclaw Tower was practically empty.
It didn't take me long to figure out that almost everyone had already gone down to the Great Hall.
After washing my face and getting dressed, I left the dormitory and crossed the Common Room.
My plan was simple.
Have breakfast.
Find my friends.
And then figure out something interesting to do for the rest of the day.
Unfortunately, fate apparently had other plans.
I'd barely stepped out of Ravenclaw Tower and walked a few steps down the corridor when I found myself facing a rather unusual situation.
...
...
...
Blinking a few times, I slowly looked straight ahead.
Then I looked to the left.
Then to the right.
And finally, I looked behind me.
Around me, there was nothing but the corridor walls and the entrance to the tower I'd just come out of.
I was at a dead end.
Now, that normally wouldn't have been a problem, since all I had to do was keep walking forward.
Unfortunately, that wasn't an option either.
And the reason?
Well, standing right in front of me, completely blocking the corridor, were Lily and Astoria.
They stood side by side, arms crossed, staring at me with narrowed eyes and serious expressions.
For some reason I still didn't understand, the two little Slytherins had decided to block the only available path.
...
...
...
The three of us kept staring at each other for a few seconds.
In a silence that, at least for me, was starting to become uncomfortable.
Unable to take it anymore, I decided to break the silence.
"...Are you two here to rob me?" I asked, eyeing them cautiously.
"No."
They answered in perfect unison.
"Oh." I nodded, pausing briefly.
"Well... then is this a kidnapping?"
"Also no."
"What a shame..." I let out an exaggeratedly disappointed sigh, "Two kidnapping attempts in less than ten days would've been a new personal record."
Lily rolled her eyes.
Astoria, on the other hand, let out a quiet little giggle.
But then Lily turned to look at her, and she quickly put her serious expression back on.
Or at least she tried.
She had never been very good at that.
Even while pouting angrily, she still looked like an incredibly adorable little girl.
Lily took a deep breath before looking back at me.
"Ethan."
"Yeah?"
"Do you know why we're here?"
Hearing that question, I paused, pretending to think as I rubbed my chin.
Then, slowly, a cheeky grin spread across my face.
"Well, it must be because you missed me so much, right?"
"..."
"..."
Lily simply stared at me before turning toward Astoria.
"I think we should hit him."
The little blonde nodded seriously.
"I agree."
I immediately raised both hands.
"Okay, okay! I was kidding."
"You were kidding?" Lily asked with a fierce look. "You think this is funny?"
"Well..."
She took a step forward before I could finish.
"You just disappeared, Ethan!" she snapped.
"Yeah! You vanished!" Astoria immediately chimed in. "We knew you were with your family, but after they left, you still never showed up!"
"You didn't even tell us you were okay!"
"Not even a 'Hey, I'm alive and safe'!"
"You completely ignored us!"
The two of them spoke one after the other, barely stopping to breathe.
I blinked a few times.
"...Did you rehearse this?"
...
...
The two of them looked away at the same time.
"...No."
"It was completely spontaneous."
"Hm..."
It had definitely been rehearsed.
Lily let out a small sigh as she uncrossed her arms.
When she spoke again, her voice was noticeably less irritated.
"Ethan..." she began, "Do you have any idea how badly you scared everyone?"
Before I could answer, she continued.
"That day during the Third Task, everything was so confusing and chaotic..."
"Krum attacked people, then you all disappeared... People even died."
Her voice grew quieter as she lowered her head slightly.
"No one knew what had really happened inside the maze. Or what happened to you after you disappeared."
"And even after you came back and everything calmed down, we still didn't know anything."
"We tried asking other people, but they either didn't know or didn't want to tell us," Tori said, biting her lip.
"They kept saying we were too young to know about those kinds of things," Lily continued. "That we shouldn't worry about it. That we should just focus on our classes."
She then raised her head, a clearly upset look on her face.
"But it was impossible not to worry... impossible not to worry about you..."
"And we were really worried..." Tori murmured, almost in a whisper.
Looking at the two girls in front of me, I didn't even need Empathy to understand how they were feeling.
Even so, it confirmed what I already knew.
I could feel their frustration, hurt, worry, and sadness.
Along with that, there was also relief and happiness at finally finding me.
Those emotions washed over me from both of them so clearly that they were impossible to ignore.
It made my chest tighten a little.
Ever since I'd met Lily and Tori, I'd taken them under my wing, treating them like little sisters.
They were smart, adorable, cheerful, innocent, and fun. And I'd promised myself I'd protect them and never let anyone hurt them.
But this time, the one who had hurt them...
...Had been me.
'Damn...'
Knowing I'd been in the wrong, I silently cursed myself.
At the same time, I couldn't help feeling warm and happy because they'd been so worried about me.
It showed me that they genuinely and cared about me.
And I realize that, just like me, they saw us as siblings too.
I was the funny, mischievous, slightly crazy older brother... but one who would always be there for them whenever they needed him.
That realization made the affection I felt for them grow even stronger.
'You know, aside from the part where they cornered me like two tiny loan sharks ready to break my legs over an overdue payment... this was actually pretty adorable,' I thought, smiling faintly.
Completely unaware of the bizarre direction my thoughts had taken, Lily spoke again, pulling me back to reality.
"At one point, we thought about going straight to you to see how you were doing."
"But you were with your family, and we didn't want to interrupt... so we decided to wait."
"And we waited for a long time," Tori added. "But then your family left, and you were still nowhere to be found. Then you didn't even show up to class."
"So..." she said with a small smile, "we decided to use Plan B."
"Plan B?" I raised an eyebrow.
Lily smiled too.
"Waiting outside Ravenclaw Tower so we could surprise you and corner you."
"..."
"..."
"..."
I looked from one of them to the other.
"...That's stalking."
"It's strategy."
"It's stalking disguised as strategy."
"It worked, didn't it?" Lily shrugged.
I couldn't argue with that.
Astoria raised her hand.
"If it makes you feel any better, I voted for waiting for you in the library."
"And I already explained why that wouldn't work," Lily replied immediately. "I told her you could spend the entire day in there."
"Well, that's true." I nodded.
"Then she suggested waiting in the Great Hall, but you might not show up there either."
"Very likely." I nodded again.
"And then..." Lily looked at the little Greengrass. "...she suggested waiting for you in the bathroom."
...
...
...
"I'm sorry?" I blinked.
Then I slowly turned toward the little blonde girl. "The bathroom? Seriously?"
"Well, yes..." she shifted awkwardly, looking a little embarrassed. "But I never said it had to be the boys' bathroom."
"..."
"..."
I put a hand over my face.
"Please never let her help plan anything ever again."
"Hey!" Astoria pouted. "My ideas were good."
"They were terrifying." Lily rolled her eyes.
"Depends on the point of view."
"From any normal person's point of view!"
Tori let out a quiet huff.
"You only say that because you know my ideas were better than yours."
"Hey!"
Watching the two of them "friendly argue," I couldn't help letting out an amused little snort.
In a strange way, this little moment was actually comforting.
But even though they were smiling and joking now, I could still feel that their worry and hurt hadn't completely disappeared.
They were still there, hidden behind jokes and smiles.
The two of them were trying their best to pretend everything was fine so I wouldn't realize how much I'd hurt them by ignoring them.
Unfortunately for them, no feeling or emotion could stay hidden from me.
And after sensing all of that, I once again realized just how much of a jerk I'd really been.
They were right.
After everything was over, I should've at least gone to see them, even if it had only been for five minutes.
I'd been so focused on my own problems that I hadn't stopped to think about how my friends must've felt — especially the ones from the other Houses, who hadn't even gotten an explanation from me.
In the end...
I'd really been a terrible friend.
End.
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