Clue unravelled the latest crumpled note Narcissus had tossed his way, and read it. "I want to be with you... you're a lot more to me than them..."

The ivory boy read it a second time and then simply gazed blankly at the words, before pushing the note away into the pocket of his robes, closing the book in his lap, and leaving the common room. He tried not to look at Narcissus as he passed him, but he could see his strong, bronze form in his peripheral vision so clearly that it was as if he could see nothing else at all.

Clue disappeared into the tunnel that led to the boys' dormitories, and mercifully found the fifth years' room empty, cool, and as peaceful as the still lake outside.

Narcissus Laurent