January, 1876 — Gryffindor Common Room
Esteban Zavala/Clarissa Cosgrove

He was halfway through his third year, and at this rate Bram wasn’t sure how he was going to make it through another four. He had been happier this year than last, he thought, and second year had been better than his first, now that nobody amongst their yearmates was much of a novelty anymore. And yet: every once in a while something else happened that made him wish he’d just been homeschooled instead.

It had just been a joke that had gotten out of hand – some well-meant mockery gone sour, he didn’t blame them – but Bram had still fled outside to the snow-covered grounds this evening, not minding the threat of frostbitten fingers so much as the thought of having to look his dormmates in the eye again tonight. But soon enough the sky was pitch dark and Bram’s teeth were chattering – more than they did usually from his stupid stutter, anyway – so he slipped back into the castle just in time for curfew.

He’d gone straight to bed, waited for the dormitory to quiet, the beds to stop rustling, and the other boys to fall asleep. Only then, sometime after midnight, Bram crept back down to the darkened common room in his pyjamas to find his school things. His dormmates had borrowed – snatched – his bag and books and wand and homework and stashed them all away somewhere earlier, having found it a funny game to try and goad him into reading his History of Magic essay aloud for them. The lingering sound of their laughter was one thing – but he needed that homework, it was due tomorrow.

This might have been easier in the light. Bram picked up some cushions off one of the sofas, checking down the sides of it when he heard footsteps and glanced up in alarm.

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loveliness by Lady!

Halfway through his fourth year and Esteban was already thinking about what he was going to do after his OWLs. He had soft thoughts of joining a Quidditch team and carrying on his fathers legacy. He was easily one of the best flyers in Flying Club and Quidditch Club. He had not joined the school Quidditch team mainly due to either a lack of open slots he really wanted or more senior students getting the positions. That was fine, he still had Quidditch Club.

That was a while to go yet though so most of the time Esteban's time was filled with hanging out with his friends, of which he had in high number. Though of course, he had those that he was especially close to.

Esteban sometimes couldn't sleep though, his body too used to being active to withstand long hours of sleep. He headed down to the Common Room and heard rustling in the darkness. Pulling out his wand, he muttered a quick lumos and was mildly surprised to see the face of one of his friends.

"Bram? The hell you doing in the Common Room at this time of night?" He asked like wasn't doing the same damn thing. "I haven't seen you all evening either. There a reason for that or were you just wanting some solo Bram time?"

  

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Set by MJ

Bram froze, a rabbit in the wandlight. If it was one of his dormmates again –

Oh, it was only Esteban. Bram relaxed, just a little, a corner of his mouth softening in relief. Esteban Zavala had never been anything less than nice to him. Esteban Zavala was someone he was fortunate to call his friend. Esteban Zavala, somehow, even noticed when he was missing, and that felt –

Esteban Zavala now sounded a little bit like his mother, though, and Bram ducked his gaze to hold back an embarrassed chuckle. Instead, he lied – in an incomprehensible mumble that sounded suspiciously like just doing my Astronomy homework, never mind that he didn’t have any books or star charts out (obviously he couldn’t be, since he hadn’t found any of his schoolthings yet) and he wasn’t standing anywhere near the common room window. Instead, he was clutching a cushion in front of his chest, as if one could do their weekly star-gazing peering down the back of a sofa.

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loveliness by Lady!

"I had no idea that the back of the sofa held such views of the night sky," Esteban couldn't help sassing as he came closer to his friend. "You looked like you were looking for something. Looking for the solar system back there?"

  

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Set by MJ

Bram laughed – still nervous, but his mouth twitching genuinely at the humour of the statement, even if Esteban had caught him out here.

“Then you mustn’t have been paying enough attention to these sofas,” Bram murmured, with a faux-solemn shake of his head and a playful tone he wouldn’t have tried on almost anyone else. “You can find all sorts of things down there.” Maybe nothing so miraculous as an entire solar system, but certainly a few interesting bits and pieces.

But not his textbooks or wand or essay. He hugged the cushion to himself a little more tightly, trying not to let the smile fade. “I’ve lost s– a few of my things.” All of his things.

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loveliness by Lady!

He chuckled as Bram claimed that all sorts of things could be found in sofas. A stray galleon or two perhaps but Esteban had never found anything that interested him much in the sofas.

He frowned a bit when Bram said he had lost a few of his things. Lost them or had them taken? Esteban knew that sometimes bullying occurred and he was quite protective of his friends. Especially Bram who was so shy and sweet that Esteban had a feeling he would try and hide what had happened. Or who had done so. Probably wise as Esteban was not in a life situation where he could be expelled for throwing a fist into the face of some uppity dandy type.

"Then I'll help you find them. Which things are they?"

  

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Set by MJ

He had already tried to lie once, and couldn’t do it again, not to Esteban’s face. “My, um, History essay,” he said slowly. “My books. My wand,” he added sheepishly, to explain why he hadn’t had any luck finding the rest of his schoolthings. He knew Esteban wouldn’t believe that he’d misplaced that last, though – Bram was not the tidiest person on earth, but there was nevertheless some method and care to his personal chaos – but he refused to explain further, lest Esteban decide to get involved.

“Why –” he stammered, in his hurry to get the thought out and distract his friend from questioning the circumstances any further, “why are you awake, anyway?”

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loveliness by Lady!

"Your wand," Esteban repeated, his tone deadpan. It was likely very obvious that he did not believe for a moment that Bram had just misplaced his things on his own. More than likely the things had gone missing with the help of the more meatheaded among them.

Esteban joined Bram in looking around things, looking for any bits of parchment that had his friends writing or a wand in hiding. "I'm always on the move so sometimes I can't sleep at night because I haven't used my energy up yet."

  

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Set by MJ

Your wand. Esteban knew, then; Bram could tell from the flatness of his tone. “Y-yes,” Bram said anyway, solemnly, as if it was his own fault.

“I don’t know how you have so much of it,” he commented honestly, as Esteban began to help him search; energy, he meant. He had watched the older Gryffindor amongst his classmates or teammates often enough to see it in him, that boundless, deathless energy: a bright glow that seemed to radiate from him, bouncing off other people as if everyone around him was a mirror to it, dazzling light refracted.

No wonder lying in bed was boring for Esteban Zavala; no wonder he didn’t spend his time sitting still. Bram admired it, but he didn’t understand it: he tossed a glance out of the darkened tower windows, an indigo backdrop flecked with stars. Bram could sit motionless for hours watching things, could lie under stars or clouds and spending days lost in his own head.

He tossed the cushion he’d been holding, gently, at Esteban’s shoulder, to catch his friend’s attention as they hunted. “Do you never like to be still?”

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loveliness by Lady!

Esteban resisted the urge to sigh. His friend was sweet and shy which made him a target, Esteban felt. Students with nothing better to do than to pick on others weren't worth anyones time.

"I was just built that way, I suppose," Esteban said with a chuckle. His father was also much the same way so he supposed he got it from the older Zavala.

He looked over at Bram as the cushion hit his shoulder. "I'm sure there could be a reason I might be still but I haven't found it yet."

  

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Set by MJ

None of his things were down the back of the couch, so Bram moved towards one of the tower’s window seats instead, to see if anyone had stuffed his school bag or wand in an alcove there. But his attention was divided, now, between the search and Esteban, who was looking at him.

Bram gave a slight smile, almost sly, at that answer. There were plenty of things he might have pointed out as worthy reasons to be still, but – even better, an affectionate threat. “Next t-time we need to draw portraits for an art assignment, maybe I’ll ask you,” he suggested, “and then you’ll have to sit still.” Bram wasn’t sure Esteban would be a good study for a sketch, though, because would he even be able to pin down all that energy on a page? “Or,” he added lightly, “I could practise the freezing charm on you.”

You know, if he ever found his wand again. And he probably shouldn’t be teasing Esteban about anything right now, because Bram was the one who would owe him a favour for all his help, not the other way around.

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loveliness by Lady!

"You could try and we could time how long it takes for me to break out of it," Esteban said jovially. "Or we could combine the two. Practice the charm and while I am forced to be still, see how much of a portrait you can get done of me." He laughed at his own ideas before continuing to assist Bram in hunting down his things.

  

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Set by MJ

Bram cocked his head sidelong, thoughtful. That was a pretty good idea, actually. He might have to admit he was impressed.

“See?” he said instead, with a rush of amusement and without any catch to his words, not once stumbling over sounds. “You just can’t focus on one thing at a time. You’re always doing everything at once.” He was smiling so much at the thought of Esteban’s general restlessness that he neglected to notice his possessions bobbing up and down, levitating outside the tower window, right before his eyes.

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loveliness by Lady!

"I suppose some of us are just wired that way. It will come in handy when I am a big Quidditch star," he teased, despite the fact that he wasn't even on the house team. He had only played in Quidditch Club so far. "And you're such a dreamer that I bet you don't see your things right there in front of you." His words were said fondly as he waited for Bram to get his hint.

  

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Set by MJ

“Is that right,” Bram mumbled – so mumbled that it was no longer a question, just an expression of affection. Big quidditch star, huh. Bram grinned: he could believe it. He could actually believe it so well that the future spooled out right in front of him for a prolonged moment, watching Esteban’s successes from the sidelines and his career excellence until he was – some household name in bright quidditch robes, and then – and then, they probably wouldn’t be friends any more. Would they?

His grin had drained away; he was still caught in this imagined vision of the future that he had to blink himself out of it at Esteban’s last remark. “Hm?” he said slowly, looking back at his friend and then back where he had been, at the window, and still seeing nothing – “Oh!” he exclaimed, flustered, and scrambled forwards onto the little inside window ledge to prop the window open. The cool night air rushed in, almost winded him from the shock of it. If he’d had his wand, Bram would have reeled them in by magic, but since he didn’t – since it was with all his hovering possessions – he set his jaw, took a breath, and leaned out nervously, having to stretch to reach them.

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loveliness by Lady!

Esteban rose an eyebrow at his friend, wondering what had caused him to be so lost in thought. Then again, this was Bram. He chuckled as his friend finally saw what he had been hinting at. "You'll fall out at that rate," Esteban said, a little nervous as Bram reached out of the window. Getting out his wand, he started summing the items back into the common room one by one.

  

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Set by MJ