A/N: Hullo my wonderful Greekies! As you know, this is the second chapter of Flower Gleam and Glow! I have decided to change the chapter titles to follow with the Sundrop and Moonstone lyrics, so this chapter is Wither and Decay. I'm sorry this happened, but I kind of swapped up the plot a bit so that there's a clear villain. You'll see what I mean later! This chapter is around 8,547 words long.

ℋℯ𝓁'𝓈 𝒫ℴ𝒾𝓃𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒱𝒾ℯ𝓌:

Hel sighed as she straightened her posture. Eight days. Eight days and she still hadn't learned anything about that strange chill she'd had. She didn't even know why she was so obsessed with it... perhaps because it had felt so ... odd. It was like a part of their world was shifting—like there was a broken piece somewhere in the world. Hel knew something had come into this reality—that something had happened to this reality. She simply didn't know what.

She had had charms class a few minutes ago, and now it was the break time for the seventh years. Hel had decided to spend her break in the Slytherin Heads' common room, doing research to try to figure out what she'd felt on the train. The only problem was that this wasn't Asgard (the land of the gods). She couldn't find many books on Godly Magic or anything god related for that matter. Hel was sure that this phenomenon she felt had something to do with something as powerful as the gods, which was why she could feel it. But at Hogwarts? There were only Midgardian, mortal related things here. Her search would've been much easier if she accesses to some more powerful books.

Hel picked up another book before she felt a pair of hands cover her eyes. Her first instinct was to pull out her wand and her knife, but after hearing a snicker, she laughed softly.

"Hello, my love," Hel said as Sirius came over to sit in front of her.

"Hel!" He exclaimed as he went and hugged Hel tightly. "I missed you!"

Hel chuckled. "I saw you five minutes ago in class."

"Well, it felt like forever ago," Sirius said, sitting next to Hel and looking over her shoulder. Hel wasn't fazed by the fact that he was in the common room; she had given him the password as soon as she was told what it was. She had told Lily as well, and Lily had given her the Gryffindor common room password. Everything was equal there.

"Whatcha doing?" Sirius asked as he looked over her shoulder.

Hel flipped to the table of contents in her book. "I'm trying to find out what my feeling was—the one on the train, that is," she answered. After finishing the first page of the contents, she groaned. She couldn't find a bloody thing about her shudder on the train. She set the book down and rubbed on her temples. A second later, Hel felt Sirius rub her back softly and looked over to find him smiling sympathetically.

"You'll find out. You always do." Sirius said. "Here, I'll help," he added, picking up a book and flipping through it. Hel smiled at her boyfriend.

"That's sweet of you," Hel said as she flipped through a new book. She debated using Godly Magic to find what she wanted, but she preferred to have energy throughout the day. As a goddess, she had Godly Magic—magic that only the gods possessed--it had multiple uses. So far, Hel only knew basic things like energy spheres and telekinesis. The big downside of Godly Magic was that she was only a fledgeling goddess; she wasn't at her full power. This meant that Godly Magic drained her, so she had to be careful about how much she used and when.

The two silently flipped through the many books laid out in front of Hel. A few minutes later, Sirius put his head in Hel's lap, something he did often. She started stroking his hair like a dog. A few seconds later, Sirius bounced up, causing Hel to jump back slightly in surprise.

"I found something!" Sirius exclaimed before Hel blinked in surprise.

"What?" Hel asked as she looked at the cover of the book: The Multiverse Theorum. How had she not noticed it sooner?

"It says that there can be tears in the universe. They occurred when the universes were created and they were all sealed off, but sometimes, with the right kind of magic, they can be reopened." Sirius said this all in one breath, looking very proud of himself, but Hel held back a sigh. She had already known all of that. In fact, she was taught about it at a very young age.

Sirius noticed this, but rather than look discouraged, he continued. "No, wait, there's more," He reassured Hel, who raised her eyebrow. "It says that the gods of a certain reality can feel when a hole is ripped in their reality."

Hel nodded. Now, at least she knew what she had felt and why. That made her feel a bit of consolation. The only problem now was that she had to figure out whether anything had escaped either reality. If nothing had left either, that would be brilliant.

"Thank you, Sirius," Hel said as she pressed a quick kiss to Sirius' lips. "I've got to go inform Professor Sinistra that I will not be attending class tonight. Thank you for oh-so-kindly reminding me that I'll be at Pettigrew's birthday party tonight." Of course, she wasn't using the party as an excuse. She had already finished her astronomy homework and had done some easy extra credit. A quick thank you to the Roman gods who love bragging about their planets. She was sure missing one class wouldn't be that bad.

"Awesome!" Sirius said, leaping up. He bent down and picked up Hel's hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "Until we meet again, M'Lady," he said in a horrible Norwegian accent.

"Until we meet again, M'Lord," Hel said with a horrible British accent. She smiled as Sirius bounced over to the door and gave Hel a toothy grin before heading out into the hallway.

Hel sighed, standing up and stretching slightly. The little ritual before they left each other was that fun little goodbye. She had adored it since the first time it happened when she was around thirteen. She tucked her hair behind her ear and then pulled out her wand. She spoke a spell to clean up the books. She then took the Multiverse Theorem book with her though as she went to her bedroom. Hel grabbed one of her many black cloaks and then headed out into the halls. She hadn't lied this time, she was going to the Astronomy tower, but she was still trying to sense people out of place in this reality. As stupid as it sounded, the cloak she was wearing was a gift from Frigg — her grandmother. Or aunt depending on how you saw it, she preferred grandmother. Frigg was one of the Nordic goddesses known for her magical abilities, along with Freyja. She hoped that somehow she could channel her grandmother's magic to perhaps rat out the misplaced thing quicker.

As Hel walked through the halls, she made sure she commanded power with every step. Her cloak was flowing out slightly behind her as she walked with one foot in front of the other. Quick enough to seem like she needed to be placed and didn't have the desire to speak to anyone, but slow enough to not look like she was in a rush. Right as she came to Professor Sinistra's office, she had a terrible thought that kept on popping up in her head. What if the misplaced thing was dangerous? What if it could rip their reality to pieces? What if it hurt the few people she loved? Hel shook her head vaguely disgusted with herself. She was being paranoid, only the weak were paranoid. She was a future Queen and could not afford to be paranoid over something she could fix.

Hel took a deep breath as she knocked on the door. Hel would go back to finding misplaced things from different realities after she's made sure she can attend a party.

𝒮𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓁ℯ𝓉𝓉'𝓈 𝒫ℴ𝒾𝓃𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒱𝒾ℯ𝓌:

Scarlett groaned as she ran her fingers through her hair and pushed it out of the way so she could see. She had been the person oh so lovingly tasked with finding Peter's lovely little partner to make sure they were alright. Apparently, since she was the only one who minded being late to class (read: the only one allowed to stray from the group with the trust of not doing something stupid), she had to go find Andrew. Scarlett had obviously argued for Peter to go since it was his partner, but no. The Marauders didn't trust Peter not to get lost or something like that.

Scarlett pulled the Marauders Map out of her back pocket and looked around; the map was a secret. Of course, she had to make sure that no one was there. After deciding that no one was going to peep upon her like a weirdo, she muttered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," while pressing the tip of her wand to the map.

The map slowly formed into view as Scarlett smirked at the title; Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs and Mmes Lupa. She still loved the little map that they worked so hard on—well, she, James, and Sirius began the rough draft with Peter drawing, Remus was the one to perfect it.

Opening the map, she looked and tried to find Andrew's name. Scarlett began walking in a random direction, going wherever their combat boots took them. Scarlett quickly found Andrew but raised her eyebrow when she saw they were an empty classroom. Even stranger, they were flickering. Their name would flash on and off on and off like a first year's wand trying Lumos for the first time. Scarlett had never seen anyone do that anyone and wondered what the fuck Andrew was doing.

Scarlett headed in that direction while keeping an eye out for anyone. She quickly arrived in the empty classroom. She knocked on the door before trying the handle, but it was oh so conveniently locked. Scarlett rolled her eyes before she pulled out her wand, whispering, "Alohomora," before opening the door and backing up in confusion by what she saw.

"What the fuck?" Scarlett questioned.

Andrew's pink hair seemed to be glowing with a soft golden light. That alone wouldn't have put her off since James' dad literally ran a haircare company, meaning she saw weird hair shit all the time. No, the thing that put her off was the soft golden tendrils of magic coming out of his hands that looked like ... hair? Yeah, that sounded fucking disgusting, but it looked more ethereal than anything. The golden tendrils of light seemed to not be doing anything, and Scarlett did not want to find out what would happen if it came in contact with witches. Contrary to what everyone else believed, not all the Marauders tested out spells they didn't know the function of on each other.

Scarlett decided the best way to grab Andrew's attention would be to stun them. If it worked on everyone else in the castle, it would work on them. The stunning would, hopefully, make the golden light-hair go away. She contemplated the pros and cons of stunning Andrew for about half a second before whispering, "Stupefy."

A second later, Andrew fell to the ground with a soft thud; they were unconscious. Scarlett watched as her hair slowly lost its glow before she went over and muttered the counter curse; "Revvervate."

Andrew woke up and blinked sluggishly as their hand went to the back of their head where they had fallen. "Where am I?" They asked, dazed as they looked around.

Scarlett raised her eyebrow as she looked around the empty classroom. There was a desk at the front where she was ninety-nine point nine per cent sure that multiple kids had shagged on in her year, but other than the desk, there wasn't anything.

"Someone got lost going to class," Scarlett said in a bored tone. "You're in an empty classroom. One I'm pretty sure every dumb couple at Hogwarts has shagged in," she added as she eyed the desk. Scarlett briefly wondered if anyone had ever cleaned the classroom before recalling that Filch was low-key an ass and only cleaned visible messes.

"Oh hi, Red! Er, why am I here? Also, did you know that more than 85 per cent of concussions heal fine, but only if you do the right treatment after one?" Andrew asked cheerfully, even though it was very clear they were dazed. They sat up and Scarlett noted they only noticed her after she had spoken. They must've hit their head pretty hard. Not hard enough though, that they weren't spouting out the weird, extremely random facts they always talked about.

Scarlett wasn't fazed by Andrew calling her Red, that's what people who weren't close to her knew her as, but she was surprised that they didn't remember why they were there. Sure, not knowing where he was made sense, Hogwarts was a fucking death maze of a castle sometimes (all the time), but not knowing why? That was suspicious.

"I don't know," Scarlett said bluntly, "I was the only one trusted enough to find you since your boyfriend got worried. It's his birthday and he wants to spend it with his partner. Thought you'd know why you were here in empty classroom number five thousand."

"Oh that's sweet of Peter, but I don't remember anything," Andrew said before Scarlett shrugged. What was she supposed to say to that? 'Oh, you'll be fine, just forget about it.' Andrew's already forgotten everything, and she wasn't even sure if they were alright. Might as well not lie about it. Scarlett spotted Andrew's light pink carrier bag and quickly grabbed it before handing it to Andrew. She noticed a weird sketchbook sticking out of the bag but thought nothing of it, she's seen stranger things come out of that bag.

Scarlett pulled out a pocket watch from the inside of her robes. Though, Scarlett usually wore the watch on her jeans since it had a silver chain that looked nice with her usual apparel. Scarlett clicked it open to see that the blood-red cherry blossom clock face told her she was skipping class. Something that was not a hardship for her at all. She clicked it shut before turning to a confused Andrew. Andrew looked like they were trying to muster up the courage to ask Scarlett another question, but she saved them the trouble.

"It's eleven ten, there's no point in going back to class now. We might make it to herbology early," Scarlett said bluntly. "C'mon, don't straggle behind," she added as she walked out of the classroom. She had been told she had long strides—probably a side effect of always protecting Remus by staying slightly in front of him. Scarlett could hear Andrew scramble up next to her, and the two headed to herbology.

...

"Where were they?" Lily asked Scarlett once the strange duo got to herbology class. Scarlett wrapped an arm around Lily's waist as she watched Andrew leap over to kiss a blushing Peter.

"Empty classroom," Scarlett said as she buried her nose in Lily's hair.

"Hmm," was all Lily had to say as she turned her eye to the other couple.

Scarlett watched as Andrew and Peter bounced around each other like two excited puppies. She could hear excited "Happy Birthday"'s coming from Andrew as they hugged Peter tightly. Andrew rummaged through his carrier bag before he pulled out a bouquet of still-fresh flowers. Scarlett blinked in surprise for a moment before rolling her eyes good-naturedly at how both of them were a blushing mess after Andre handed the flowers to Peter.

"Were we ever like that?" Scarlett asked as she let go of Lily's waist to let her grab her Herbology things.

"Hmm, I don't think so, I never got you to the blushing mess stage," Lily said, then squinted as she looked at the bouquet. "Red, white, dark pink, light pink, coral, lavender, yellow, green, and blue rose, Peruvian lily, baby's breath, gladiolus, tulip, carnation, amaryllis, peony, snapdragon, birds of paradise, hydrangea, apple blossom, honeysuckle, goldenrod, red, yellow, pink, purple, and orange gerbera daisies," she said before gasping. "There are nine roses too!" Lily said in awe as she straightened her gloves.

"What do they mean?" Scarlett asked. She had a decent idea of what the flowers meant after knowing Lily since she was eleven. But, seeing Lily get excited and passionate about flower meanings made Scarlett's heart melt. Something that didn't happen very often unless the right people melted it.

"Well, altogether it symbolizes friendship, passion, beauty, respect, innocence, gratitude, joy, new beginnings, love, at first sight, enchantment, timeless and undying harmony, prosperity, devotion, trust, infatuation, good luck, everything good truly. The nine roses are a symbol of eternal love which is adorable. I think the main message would be: you're my one true love and I love you above all things. This is a new beginning for us and we've been friends for a while but now that we've gotten together I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I think you're the closest thing to perfection a human could get to," Lily explained in length with glittering eyes. Scarlett smiled at how beautiful Lily looked when she was happy. She was practically sparkling. Scarlett pressed a kiss to Lily's hair as Lily sighed in adoration at Andrew and Peter.

Scarlett looked over and saw that Violet had sat near them. Scarlett checked the clock to see that there were three minutes until class started. "I'm going to say hi to Violet, I'll be right back," she said before pressing a kiss to Lily's lips and walking over to where Violet was standing.

𝒱𝒾ℴ𝓁ℯ𝓉'𝓈 𝒫ℴ𝒾𝓃𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒱𝒾ℯ𝓌:

Violet popped a piece of bubblegum in her mouth as she finished her lunch, laughing at a joke another Ravenclaw cracked about a movie rendition of a book. She looked around and noticed that Nicholas still hadn't come to the Great Hall. Violet scrunched her eyebrows together; that was strange. She hadn't seen Nicholas in the common room in the morning, during breakfast, or even in the halls, and now she hadn't seen him during lunch. Violet knew he was pretty shy and lonely, so maybe he was in the library? It still seemed strange she hadn't seen him all morning though. Sure they were in different years, but they were still in the same house. Plus she liked to look out for him, call her weird, but he was a bookworm and low-key a loner, she wanted to make sure that he wasn't hurt or anything. Not that he was helpless! He was an intelligent boy, but Violet liked to look out for her friends.

"Hey, I'm gonna find a friend," Violet said to the people she was sitting with as she loosened her blue and bronze tie further. It was lunch, why should they be wearing their ties the perfect way? "Might not be back, so head back to class without me!" she added before grabbing her blue tote bag (the one with black musical notes on it) and going to the hallway.

Violet blew a bubble with her gum before popping it with her teeth, careful not to get bubblegum all over her face. She was also careful no teachers saw that she was chewing bubblegum in the halls since some could be strict about that kind of thing, along with Filch. Violet was heading up to the library when she saw a strange blue light come from the entrance to an empty corridor. Violet tilted her head in confusion and felt the urge to go and found out what was happening. Violet walked over to where the entrance was and tried to open the door before she found out it was locked. Violet pulled her head back in surprise and scrunched her eyebrow together. Usually, the corridors around there were unlocked, waiting for an unsuspecting firstie (or sometimes even a sixth or seventh year) to walk in. Violet stood back before holding her hand up to the door handle.

"Alohomora'' she whispered and she heard the door unlock. She tried to open it again but found out it was jammed. Violet tried to push her entire body weight onto the door, earning her nothing but a loud thunk and probably a bruise on her shoulder.

Violet was about to give up. She was pretty sure that it was inaccessible to students or something like that even though that seemed out of the ordinary. She should probably just mind her own business. The school had its reasons for keeping certain places locked and unlocked, and they were usually good reasons. Violet was about to put her headphones on and go and find Nicholas in the library before she heard a voice that made her stop.

"Can't let her have it. It's not right," Nicholas muttered from the other side of the door.

Violet's eyes widened before quickly knocking on the door. "Hey, Nick, you missed breakfast and lunch are you alright?" she asked hurriedly. She was a bit concerned with the mysterious blue light coming from the corridor that didn't look like it was going away anytime soon.

"Oh no," Nicholas mumbled, still on the other side of the door.

A moment later Violet heard a thud coming from the other side of the door. It sounded like a human hitting the floor and Violet doubled her efforts to get on the other side. Violet tried ramming her shoulder into the door again before looking through the crack between the door and the wall. She saw a black rock looking thing right behind the door, the thing blocking her from getting in. She stepped back and looked at the door as if that would do anything. Violet then pulled out her wand and decided to vanish the door since making sure a student was not in danger was more prioritized than losing a door.

Violet moved her wand in sort of an up and down squiggle which made the door disappear. Violet's eyes widened when she saw the point of black rock sitting in front of her and stepped to the side. Her eyes were fixed on the rock though. It was black, but when she moved to the side to let some light from a small window at the top of the corridor in, she saw that it was kind of a dark blue. There were lines of bright blue that ran all over the rocks, like straight veins going through the rocks. The lines varied in size, but they all shone with that strange blue light. She noticed that the light had started to fade away after she heard the thud... weird. She looked around and found the corridor had pointed black rocks, all varying in size, scattered around and in the centre of it all was an unconscious Nicholas.

"Nick!" Violet said as she rushed over to Nicholas. She knelt down and shook Nicholas gently. There seemed to be a bruise on the side of his head—probably from falling down. Violet kept on whispering for Nicholas to wake up and was relieved when he did.

Nicholas groaned as his eyes opened and he rubbed the side of his head with the bruise before wincing and pulling his head back. He pushed himself up halfway and rubbed his eyes. "Where am I?" he asked blearily.

Violet knitted her eyebrows together. "You mean, you don't remember what happened?" she asked and Nicholas shook his head.

"No, I remember getting dressed and then everything went ... black," Nicholas mumbled as he ran his fingers through his hair and pressed his eyes shut.

Violet cocked her head to the side slightly. He didn't remember anything? Was he even the one to cause the pointy black rocks everywhere? Was he possessed? Violet shook her head. She could answer those questions later, the priority now was making sure Nicholas wasn't injured too badly. She couldn't have a friend hurt, could she? That would go against everything she said about friendship.

"Well, we're in an empty corridor, I had to vanish the door to get in. Are you alright?" Violet asked quickly.

"Why did you have to vanish the door?" Nicholas asked as he quickly sat all the way up. He faltered for a moment, and Violet was sure he saw stars because of how fast he got up. Once he stabilized himself, he seemed to take in the place and his eyes widened when he saw the scattered black rocks.

"Did I do that?" He asked, raising a pointer finger to one of the black rocks. His eyes were wide and his voice and hand were shaky. He quickly pulled away from the black rock when it started glowing blue where his finger was reaching.

"I'm not sure," Violet said sincerely. She wasn't positive if Nicholas was the one to create the black rocks. But, after his pointer finger made the rocks glow that ominous blue light she had seen before, she was starting to become more sure it was him.

Nicholas then looked worried. "Did I hurt you?" He asked, his breath shaky with a hint of fear.

Violet shook her head and reassured Nicholas that he didn't hurt her and if she did have some bruises or cuts it was because of her trying to break down the door the muggle way. Nicholas looked a little unconvinced but nodded along. Violet saw he looked exhausted — as if he hadn't slept for a week.

"You never answered my question, are you alright?" Violet asked again.

"Tired, dizzy," Nicholas said before trying to stand up. He started wobbling before he could get all the way up and Violet quickly grabbed his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder to help him up. Nicholas sent a grateful smile to Violet and Violet grinned right back.

"Let's get you to the hospital wing," Violet said with a smile as the two walked out of the corridor. Violet made sure to make the door reappear before the two went to the hospital wing.

ℰ𝓁𝓁𝒾ℴ'𝓈 𝒫ℴ𝒾𝓃𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒱𝒾ℯ𝓌:

Ellio spun a bejewelled silver knife between his fingers as he watched the tryouts begin. He could see a few other people on the bleachers, but not many. Hel was there writing something (she was always writing) and had a few books surrounding her. Ellio was about to try and see what the books said before Hel turned to the side to look at him. Ellio looked away nonchalantly (trying not to seem as if he was spying on Hel or something of the sort) and flipped his knife to the other hand while he watched what was happening on the pitch.

Scarlett was ordering people around, and Ellio smirked at her. She seemed to be quite happy to be in a position of power, and he couldn't blame her. Power was everything in this world. The more power you had in the wizarding world, the more you succeeded. Ellio searched and quickly found his secret boyfriend. The corners of Ellio's mouth couldn't help but tilt up a little when Regulus flashed a quick smile his way before looking back to Scarlett.

Scarlett and Regulus were the only reasons Ellio was spending his study hall time at the quidditch arena in the first place. Hyping Scarlett and Regulus up for tryouts was always a fun thing to do, and it made him feel better about his normally rotten self.

Scarlett had been appointed captain of the Slytherin quidditch team, which meant that she was picking the players. Ellio knew she held no bias for anyone so even if her dear brother were trying out for the team. This was a completely hypothetical situation since Remus Lupin refuses to try out for quidditch and was a Gryffindor. She would be picking players off of pure skill, which took a lot of guts since some Slytherins were willing to buy their way onto the team.

Ellio smirked at the Regulus though. He knew full and well that his boyfriend was one of the best players of his age. There was no doubt in Ellio's mind that Regulus would make it to the team based on skill.

As Scarlett explained the rules, Ellio tuned her out slightly. Rules weren't important when it was so much easier to bend them around to make it your way. Instead, he focused on the way that Regulus refused to wear anything other than a long-sleeved shirt despite it being quite warm out. Ellio was lucky that he was able to room with Regulus, and he had seen that in Regulus' trunk that there was nothing other than long-sleeved shirts. Ellio knew what they were for; covering up his dark mark. Ellio genuinely felt bad. Regulus had worked so hard to not become his parents, to be a good person, yet he had been forced to have the mark of a death eater. Ellio bit the inside of his mouth. He wondered what he could do to help Regulus. He already comforted him every night since it seemed that Regulus never had dreams anymore, only night terrors. He, Regulus, and Severus were the only ones in their dorm because of the number of students sorted into Slytherin in their year, and Severus was always busy doing something in the common room, so Ellio didn't have to worry about Severus seeing him and Regulus together.

Ellio focused his attention back on Scarlet and Regulus. The seekers were trying out then while Scarlett watched. Scarlett went through the procedure to choose a seeker, and Ellio hid a proud smile when Regulus caught the snitch in record time. Scarlett didn't hide her impressed face though as she nodded in pride before calling for Regulus to get his ass back on the ground.

"Here for Regulus and Scarlett?" Hel asked and Ellio calmly turned to Hel. It wasn't exactly easy to startle him.

"Yes, you too?" Ellio asked as he put his knife in its sheath.

"Obviously," Hel replied as she turned her attention to where Scarlett was critiquing a keeper. "Muffliato," she said waving her wand. Now no one could hear their conversation. It was a lovely spell, truly. Ellio would know after using so many timers. "How's Regulus doing at night?" Hel asked.

"Night terrors every night," Ellio said.

He was aware of the complete trust Regulus had in Hel. She had never once broken the trust so Ellio was fine with it. Plus Regulus was quite close to Hel in a "friends but one is clearly very protective of the other '' way. In fact, Hel was close to all of the Black children. Sirius, Bellatrix, Narcissa, Andromeda, and Regulus. It was quite a feat to get all the Black children to like you—a feat which both Ellio and Hel accomplished. Regulus had confided in Hel about his and Ellio's relationship after Ellio told him it was alright. Hell, Ellio was there when Regulus talked to Hel.

Hel sighed softly. "I'll talk to Niorun, my goddess of dreams, and Morpheus, Greek god of dreams, see what I can do. Regulus is probably bringing these night terrors on himself though, a subconscious punishment if you will. I've seen it before," Hel explained and Ellio tried to read her face, see what she was talking about. But being the daughter of the god of illusions probably made it easier for you to hide your emotions, something that Ellio found out quickly in Hel.

Ellio nodded, he had figured out the same thing. He diverted his attention to the last keeper trying out as Hel spoke up again.

"Have you ever thought of being a spy?" Hel asked.

"Do you mind elaborating on that?" Ellio asked.

"For the Order of the Phoenix organization. Become a death eater to help the people we love. I'd help Sirius by supporting what he believes in and fighting alongside him and Scar. You'd be able to support and protect Regulus and understand more of what he's going through while still helping the side of equality—the side Regulus supports."

Ellio thought about it for a moment. "But to step down and bow to a 'Dark Lord'?" He questioned. He could never, bowing down to a man who calls himself a lord is something Ellio would never do. He would be the Dark Lord, not You-Know-Who.

"I get what you mean. I'm a goddess and a future Queen—I'm already a princess. To bow down to someone who isn't even a god ... it's wrong. But for Regulus and Sirius?"

Ellio hated the fact that Hel was slightly correct and Hel seemed to hate it too, but love was complicated. Ellio looked and caught Regulus looking at him. Regulus blushed and looked away though. Love was also worth it though.

Oh, look at him. He was being all mushy about love and a minuscule part of him was even willing to bow down to another person to protect the man he loved. How cliche. Love had turned him soft, well, it exposed more of the softness that was already inside of him.

𝒩𝒾𝒸𝒽ℴ𝓁𝒶𝓈'𝓈 𝒫ℴ𝒾𝓃𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒱𝒾ℯ𝓌:

Nicholas sat cross-legged on his bed rubbing his temples with the heels of his hands. He had been healed in the hospital wing and only stayed in there for a few minutes before being shoved back to class. Nicholas pressed the heels of his hands on the sides of his head as he tried to remember what happened in the morning. He groaned when he couldn't remember anything after putting on his clothes. Eight hours of his day that he couldn't remember. Eight hours of blackness, and then he wakes up in a corridor with Violet looking down at him and black pointy rocks surrounding him. Black rocks he was ninety-nine per cent sure he caused to form.

Nicholas felt something brush his leg and found his grey cat rubbing herself against his leg. He gently picked her up and held her up in front of his face, looking into her eyes.

"Do you remember what happened, Luna?" Nicholas asked, and Luna meowed at him in return. He wasn't sure what she meant, but she probably just wanted to be put down.

Nicholas set Luna down in his lap and rubbed her head before looking out the window. It was already dark out (not that he was surprised, it was after dinner), and Nicholas could see the stars outside. Nicholas gently set Luna on her cat bed next to his own (a gift from Lily in his first year—she had embroidered Luna's name and some moons and stars on the front) before standing up to go look at the stars.

Nicholas thought back to when he put his hand close to the rocks. He felt drawn to them for some reason, the blue glowing where his hand was near it backed up the feeling too. It made him feel like he was the one to make those rocks appear in the empty corridor. He briefly wondered what Hogwarts would do about them. He worried that maybe his poor family would be fined for it, then he remembered that Hogwarts was pretty dangerous. A corridor filled with black pointy rocks wasn't exactly the craziest thing to be seen. There was a tree on the grounds whose main purpose seemed to be thrashing students around, so a ton of pointy rocks couldn't be as bad as that.

As Nicholas looked up at the moon, he saw in the faint reflection of the mirror. He jumped back when he saw his normally pale green eyes flash a bright electric blue. He rushed over to the bathroom to look at his eyes and saw that they were still his normal pale green. Weird.

Maybe it was just in his mind. The electric blue veins of those rocks probably affected his mind or something. He shook his head before going back to his bed, finding a book and opening it up. Nicholas flipped to the page his makeshift bookmark was in. By makeshift, he means an old assignment from maybe second year that he ripped up into smaller pieces. He set his head on the headboard as he started reading before he heard a knock on the door.

Nicholas scrunched his eyebrows together slightly as he looked to the door. His roommate isn't usually back until ten, and he would've just come in. Nicholas grabbed his wand (he lived in a school with Death Eaters and pixies, it was smarter to have the wand just in case) before going to the door and slowly opening it.

Nicholas saw a flash of bright red hair partially covered by a green bandana. "Lily!" Nicholas exclaimed before quickly opening the door all the way, letting Lily in.

"Hi, Nick!" Lily said with a smile, "We're throwing a surprise party for Peter and I was wondering if you'd like to come. Andrew said he could keep Peter occupied until nine and according to Pads, we'll be partying until morning," Lily explained and Nicholas' brain took a second to comprehend everything thrown at him. Nicholas thought about it for a moment. He did have class tomorrow, and he didn't really have any friends outside of Lily, his cat, Frank Longbottom, and Violet.

"Violet and Frank'll be there," Lily said to try and convince Nicholas, "And carrots, there'll be carrots too. You could just sit in the corner with carrots and books if you'd like and you could bring Luna as long as she stays away from Remus."

Nicholas smiled awkwardly. Lily assumed that Violet and Frank were the people he'd like to see at the party, but it was her. Unfortunately for him, he had an unrequited crush on Lily. He knew full and well that Lily and Scarlett were very much in love, so he never bothered to try and make a move on Lily. It was also kind of awkward since Lily was a year above him and a Gryffindor.

"Sure," Nicholas said with a smile deciding that hey, it's a party, might as well relax and have fun before professors really start loading homework on you. "Lemme go get a book and Luna," he said before rushing to grab his book and cat, which he was positive looked extremely awkward. Maybe that was just because he was "awkwardly" fumbling around his crush. He carried Luna in one arm and his book in the other, careful not to drop either. Lily held out her hands for Luna, and Nicholas handed her over. After, the two walked out of the Ravenclaw tower and to the Gryffindor tower with a deep conversation about how fat Luna was getting despite Nicholas only feeding her as much as she was supposed to have. Maybe she had been going out for rat snacks in the owlery.

"Anura nasus," Lily said to the fat lady portrait. The door swung open and the pair walked in to see Violet putting up tall decorations with wandless and wordless magic, James chasing Sirius around who had a handful of birthday candles in his hands, Remus and Hel seemingly having a deep conversation on two corner sofa chairs, Frank and Alice organizing snacks on a table, Scarlett putting up some decorations, Marlene putting candles on the cake, and their various Gryffindors milling about.

"Let me find Merida, Cotten, and Ophelia," Lily said, referring to Scarlett's orange tabby cat, Andrew's white Persian cat, and Violet's grey kitten. At least, he was pretty sure that's who the names were. "Do you mind if I take Luna with me?" Lily asked.

"Sure," Nicholas said. There was usually a secluded area for the cats to play in from the last time he was in the common room, so he was sure Luna would have fun.

Nicholas looked around awkwardly after Lily went off to find the other cats. Violet seemed busy putting up decorations, and he didn't want to bother her—he had done enough awkwardness with the whole being in an empty corridor thing. James had tackled Sirius to the ground, so Nicholas definitely didn't want to be over there. He would go to Frank, but he and Alice seemed content in their loveseat, and the two looked adorable, so he didn't want to bother them. Scarlett was pretty scary, and Marlene was busy, so neither of them. That left Hel and Remus.

Nicholas and Remus were more acquaintances than anything, and he thought Hel was cool, but he was pretty sure she thought he was annoying. Nicholas sighed before walking over to where Hel and Rmeus were.

"Hi," Nicholas said softly and nearly swore at how awkward he sounded.

"Miller, hello," Hel said as she snapped a book shut in her lap. Nicholas flinched slightly at the action, but looked at the title and saw that it was called, "Multiverse Theorem". He wondered why she would have a book like that. "Lily did say she would be inviting you."

Nicholas smiled awkwardly as he fidgeted with the pages of his book. He then realized that he should probably find a seat.

"Here," Rmeus said as he flicked his wand. "Accio sofa chair," Remus said as he pointed to a sofa chair a few metres away, and it whizzed next to him.

Nicholas sat down in the burgundy chair and set his book in his lap looking over to Remus and Hel.

"Where were we?" Remus asked.

"Tears," Hel said, and Remus nodded.

"Well, it has been proved right? That realities can tear and things can leak through, are there any facts behind things going to different realities?"

Nicholas' eyes widened slightly. Was that the cause of his newfound craziness? Something happened, and his reality changed a bit because of a tear?

"Any input Miller?" Hel asked, probably noticing Nicholas' widened eyes.

"Oh, er," Nicholas said. He didn't expect anyone to notice his reaction. "No?" he said. Though, it came out more like a question.

"You're lying but you're nervous. I'll leave you be," Hel said before looking at the clock, "A few more minutes until Pettigrew and Andrew come along, we should start wrapping everything up."

Nicholas nodded even though the sentence wasn't directed at him. He looked at the entrance, waiting for Peter and Andrew to come in.

𝒜𝓃𝒹𝓇ℯ𝓌'𝓈 𝒫ℴ𝒾𝓃𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒱𝒾ℯ𝓌:

Andrew giggled as they grabbed Peter's hand and ran over to where the fat lady portrait was. The two had managed to escape any teachers throughout the entire time they were out. Andrew had taken Peter to the "forbidden" part of the herbology greenhouse where there were the most beautiful flowers ever (they were convinced that half of them were illegal because of their beauty). The two had frolicked among the flowers as Andrew kept an eye out for the time.

"Oh, I forgot to ask," Peter said softly right before they said the password.

"Yeah?" Andrew asked with a bright smile. They were still on a bit of a high from breaking the rules and going out. The only time they had really gotten in trouble or "deliberately broke the rules'' was for doodling or daydreaming during class, but that wasn't nearly as exhilarating as sneaking out after hours, or, in Peter's case, during class hours.

"Where were you during breakfast?" Peter asked.

Andrew blinked quickly. They had completely forgotten about that if they were being honest. Their fun with Peter had completely wiped that from their brain.

"Oh, I was in an empty classroom," Andrew said nonchalantly. They saw Peter's eyes grow defensive and worried though, so they quickly reassured him that they had no idea how they got there and after Scarlett knocked them unconscious so they were fine. Peter softened immediately and Andrew couldn't blame him for his defensiveness. He always had to be on defence for someone telling him that his friends were better or that he was weak. Andrew didn't see that, they saw a man who had so much potential to be an amazing human being that was separate from the infamous friend group he had.

"Anura nasus," Andrew said quickly, their excitement barely contained by their body. They were practically vibrating, and it seemed Peter could tell from the awkward and confused smile he was giving them.

When the fat lady portrait swung open, Andrew and Peter went in. The lights suddenly flashed on, and everyone (most people) jumped out from their hiding spots.

"Surprise!" Everyone yelled out in excitement, and when Andrew looked at Peter. He was blushing from his neck to the tips of his ears, his eyes wide.

It was a small party, but Andrew knew Peter preferred it small rather than large. All the Marauders did. Their birthday parties were small and memorable, while their end of the year parties (mostly organized by Violet) were gigantic and unforgettable.

"Hope you like the party, Peter," Remus said as he went to hug Peter, who accepted the hug. Andrew smiled brightly before looking around, seeing what everyone was doing while the Marauders flocked to Peter's sides.

Lily was sitting off to the side with Scarlett (who wasn't flocking to Peter's side despite being a marauder) with a small microphone in hand. Scarlett was holding a cup of some mystery beverage Andrew thought was alcoholic, while one arm was draped across Lily's shoulders. Violet sat with Nicholas in the corner with a much larger, blue microphone in her hand. Marlene, Dorcas, Frank, and Alice sat in another corner with some other Gryffindors. Hel was standing near the snack table, popping pomegranate seeds into her mouth as she looked around the room. Her eyes caught Andrew, and they awkwardly waved and smiled as Hel chortled before she looked somewhere else.

After pressing a kiss to Peter's cheek (which made both of them turn just a tad bit pinker) and telling him they would be back, Andrew set off on a mission to find the cats. It wasn't a hard mission. They went over to the side of the room where Nicholas and Violet were talking and found the place across from that with the cat toys. Andrew found their little furball and picked Cotton up, pressing a kiss to her fuzzy little head and pulled some treats out of his messenger bag for all the good little kitties.

Andrew looked over to where Nicholas was sitting with Violet and decided not to mess with the two since they looked quite content. Instead, they went over to where Peter and Lily were with the rest of the Marauders (and Hel, who looked just a little—very—imposing along with Scarlett) at a round table. Andrew smiled as they popped in, taking a seat in between Lily and Peter.

"How was your escapade with Peter, Andrew?" Sirius asked teasingly with a grin that implied that they did more than giggle and look at the flowers.

"It was fun, we looked at the flowers! Also, did you know that ancient civilizations burned aster leaves to ward off evil spirits?" Andrew asked with a bright grin on their face. They weren't looking for an answer, of course, just a random tidbit of information. They could see a few people giggle or smile due to their contagious grin, and that made them all happier. There were a few who looked at Andrew with concerned faces, probably calculating how close the nearest loony bin was.

A few minutes went by as everyone talked about anything. The topics ranged from politics to how to make the best bubble bath. Fun random things to keep everyone excited. Then they heard a loud thump and everyone turned to look to the centre of the common room. Violet had gotten on the makeshift stage and turned down the speakers that were previously playing soft, classic party music. The thump was from when she tapped her big blue bedazzled microphone seemingly to catch everyone's attention.

"Now that I have your attention, I think this party needs a little more oomph! Who's with me?!" Violet exclaimed into the microphone, and there were cheers among almost everyone. "How about some Dancing Queen to get the music kicked off?!" Violet yelled, and Andrew turned around to see that Sirius all but flew out of his chair to yell out in excitement. Violet grinned as she turned on dancing Queen and Sirius sprinted to the middle of the common room so fast Andrew thought he was going to catch on fire. Everyone followed, and Andrew smiled when Violet gasped as her boyfriend who was previously sitting at Andrew's table swiped her off her feet.

"Let's go!" Andrew yelled over the blaring music to Peter as they grabbed his hand and pulled him to where everyone is dancing in the middle of the dance floor.

Tens of songs later, and everyone was laughing and excited before the music slowly died down. Andrew, along with practically everyone else made noises of disagreement and looked to where the speakers were. Andrew had previously been spinning a smiling Peter around before the music died down. They looked to see Violet with her microphone in hand while her boyfriend had Peter's birthday cake in his hands with Sirius cautiously helping him hold it. Hel, Scarlett, and Lily all had their wands in their hands, supervising the boys.

"I know, I know," Violet said to the sad crowd, "but it's time to sing happy birthday! Birthday boy c'mon up here!"

Andrew looked to a wide-eyed Peter and gently dragged him towards the stage, carefully pushing him on. The candles were lit by Violet, and everyone started singing happy birthday.

As everyone sang, Andrew was practically shaking with excitement. Peter looked so happy, and it made Andrew ten times happier. The candles reminded them of the sun, which led to them thinking of how bright Peter looked and how he looked flustered. In their excitement, their hands started glowing gold! ... wait, their hands started glowing gold? Andrew looked down to find their hands glowing a soft golden light, but as they did so their excrement and joy went away slightly. As they looked around to see if anyone else noticed, the glow went away.

'Weird,' Andrew thought as Peter blew out his candles. James and Sirius nearly dropped the cake when Peter did — probably from excitement — but three matching stern looks from the girls did the trick. Andrew grinned as Peter quickly got off stage and threw himself into the hug Andrew was offering.

"I love you," Peter said almost inaudibly.

"I love you too," Andrew replied in the same volume. It felt more special that way. They'd figure out the glowing hands things later. Right now, they were focused on their boyfriend and them having the best time together.

Question for your OCs: Do they play quidditch? If so, what position?

Hel: In short, she refuses to get near a broomstick; they put her on edge.

OCs Used In This Chapter:

Andrew Thomas

Ellio Mintz

Nicholas Miller

Scarlett Lupin

Violet Bellerose

Hel Lokidottir