Too many people lived in Hogsmeade. People’s parents and siblings worked in the Ministry with Angie. Connor was paranoid that someone, anyone, had heard in passing or seen them around this summer, that someone knew how his life had been upended. That he had been dumped by his parents. That they had moved to Pennyworth, but even his sister didn’t really want him. That soon he would have no friends and no allies at school.

He blinked at seeing Ramona at his table. It wasn’t even weird, exactly, because she had done it plenty of times before – but he had thought it might take a little time for people to adjust at the start of the school year, for house social rules to relax, or for her to spend time with her actual friends first.

But she looked miserable, so even the raised eyebrows beside them didn’t put him off entirely yet. “If you want,” he said, like he didn’t care either way at all, like he wasn’t a little bit pleased to see her – he didn’t think even his grumpy tone would actually put her off enough to leave, anyway. He suspected Miss Pendergast was weird enough not to care what other people thought.

Connor pulled the pumpkin juice towards himself, not feeling terribly hungry himself. “What’s happened to you?” he muttered, scrutinising her as he poured his drink – she looked far more dejected than usual. She looked as miserable as he felt, actually.

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