[OPEN] 37 Facts

Usually, the day went on as it should with a little bickering with his brother, messing around with friends, sitting through classes and finally running back to the dungeons where he would slip into the Slytherin Dungeon and go to the boys' dorms. Not much else was supposed to happen, but since the party, everything seemed to like being out of place.

The bickering turned into fights, the messing around turned into arguments. Classes stayed the same because, well, they were classes. But the one thing that was completely out of the ordinary right now was the fact that the friends he was supposed to have around him weren't there. Anabelle was off at the Ministry, doing whatever it was that she did while she was there, Freyja was apparently cooped up in Gryffindor Tower, studying for something, and Evander.. well, he wasn't really sure what his brother was doing. It seemed that since that stupid party, Evander didn't want to talk to him that much, probably butt hurt.

He didn't care though. (He was mad at his brother too, but his reason for being mad wasn't as justified as Evander's was.)

And so Cronis Yaxley found himself practically wandering the courtyard, by himself, in search of something to do. There was a sense of loneliness that he suddenly began to feel as he walked because it was unusual for him to not be with Evander, at least. They might be in different Houses but they'd always found ways to do almost everything together. Things were changing, though, and Cronis wasn't sure who's fault it really was. He couldn't blame it all on his brother because he had some fault but that didn't mean he couldn't try.

He was starting to feel bad about it, though. He wasn't supposed to care about those problems, but he felt the distance being put between him and Evander and it wasn't sitting well with him. He could lose all his friends, if he had to, but he couldn't lose his brother.

The more he thought about it, the more worse he felt.

It wasn't just a mental thing, though. A sneeze made that clear as it resounded in the area of the courtyard he'd found himself in. The sneeze had caught him by surprise and Cronis couldn't help but think that he was going to get sick. It made sense, in his mind, to be alone and sick. That was just great. He lowered his head into the scarf around his neck to try to cover his mouth and nose from the cold wind blowing.

--

Her solitary trips around the lake had become much easier now that the few friends she had all had better things to do than try and convince her to let them join her on her walk. Christian was running around with Charlotte, and Charlotte was mooning over Charlotte. Margo was busy enjoying her new freedom to pick and choose company. Ace and Apollo were brooding for reasons Molly could only suspect but had no power to help. And Clementine had taken up an apprenticeship that kept her away from Hogwarts when she didn't have her nose buried in her Charms notes. If Clem were more grounded, Molly might have thought she was trying to woo Professor Poliakoff. But it was probably nothing.

It was an oppressive freedom. She had often considered how nice it would to be in a country where no one knew her or her name, and had enjoyed a taste of anonymity at Durmstrang. But there was something different to this, something intention. She had never thought she wanted company, so she had no idea she could feel abandoned. But it was almost that. And Molly knew it wasn't fair and refused to let herself dwell. Just breathe in the nicotine, breathe out the hypocrisy.

How fickle it was to be human.

It was cold, so she had brought a jar of bluebell flames, a favorite of Aunt Hermione's that she had picked up early on. It floated alongside her so she could focus on the task in front of her as she crossed into the courtyard, flicking her cigarette as her hands delved into her pack, finding what she was looking for-

Hm. Cronis Yaxley was not often alone. It seemed they both had stumbled upon isolation.

Without a word, she angled towards him, turned, and sat next to him, carefully setting the jar of bluebell flames between them - and it seemed Cronis could do with some warmth. Why he was out when he looked so obviously sick - well, it was clear why he wasn't the Ravenclaw twin.

She extended a hand, a chocolate frog caught between her fingers, offering it to him.

Though he was someone who didn't get sick often, Cronis knew whenever he was going to get sick. It was pretty easy to tell when you felt like complete crap and didn't really want to do anything. But this time he hadn't been able to tell that he was going to get sick. Not until that sneeze had escaped.

Maybe it was because he was feeling like crap over something else.

He could feel his hot breath spreading across his face as it touched the scarf covering his mouth. At least there was a little warmth being provided there. His heart was aching and though he tried very hard to hide that he knew the reason, the fact that all four of them were going off on their own made it kind of obvious.

Cronis was meant to be a cool kid, this kind of thing wasn't supposed to bug him as much as it did. He was supposed to be the one that didn't care if his friends wandered off to other places without him, but it seemed like he was the only one who cared about it. He felt like he was being left behind and that was probably his own fault for depending on the other three as much as he did.

It wasn't like he wanted do depend on them.

Cronis shook his head. He didn't depend on them. They depended on him. Yeah, that was it. He could keep telling himself that as much as he wanted but the truth was clear. They didn't.

He was pulled by his thoughts by a chocolate frog suddenly appearing in his line of sight.

The Slytherin stared at the frog before lifting his gaze to and up the arm of the person who was holding it out to him. He blinked in surprise once he made it to the person's face. "Molly?" he asked, voice slightly muffled by the scarf. He took the frog from her but only held it in his hands. "Thanks."

--

2. Cronis is pretty insecure about himself.