A Different Breed PV Henry Knight closed

The boy smiled and happily sat next to the fellow Slytherin under the tree. The Highland ground was always pleasant and refreshing in the fall. It reminded him of his visits up North from Stoneywood, to go visit his "aunts". They were actually just his mum's friends, but this was how his mother coped with not being close with her family and being an only child. He never really became close with any of their children, but they would always play and roll around in their backyards.

It's a bit hard for Nick to casually say that he's doing ok these past couple of months. He's been dealing with a lot more of those nightmares while sleeping, which he's recently found out could very well be visions after the Slytherin discovered he was a Seer. Those paired with the usual chaotic and dangerous nature that Hogwarts brings really has been bringing Nick down. He couldn't say that though, so Nick simply replied, "Same here, a bit o' trouble sleeping but nothing much."

Henry seemed to have forgotten about Halloween night, or at least, he acted like it. Nick supposed that it had been more than a week since it happened, but it was still a pretty chaotic night. Just thinking about the fact that one of the students with Lycanthropy they couldn't control was out and missing on a school full of young children. He thought Henry would think of the event even more since he seemed to be absent from the Slytherin dorm lockdown. Sure, he could've been in his dorm, but it was still a bit concerning.

After the modest greeting between the two, there was a lull in the conversation. Nick wanted to bring up October 31st, but he didn't quite know how to. It should be easy right? Just ask Henry where he was that night, but what if he didn't want to talk about it? Without psyching himself out like he normally did, Nick blurted out, "Um, so what did ye think about Halloween n' the whole lockdown thing?" He tried to be as casual as possible, asking just a general question about the night, so Henry didn't have to get too deep into anything if he didn't want to.

@Henry Knight

Nick bit his lip at Henry's question, he didn't want to overshare but, honestly, he might be able to help. He never mentioned it, but he's seen deep bags under his eyes before. They're not necessarily from nightmares, but that seemed to be the most likely option. "Ye, I suppose they're night terrors... I hope" Nick said, muttering the last part, "'ve never dealt with insomnia o' stuff like that before, sae it's a bit o' a new experience fur me." The terrors were getting harder to ignore, all of them involving menacing men, himself struggling to survive, and his mother failing to.

Morbidly, Nick hoped he was just dealing with some sort of psychological turmoil because the other option with his condition wasn't a pleasant one. He could tell why all the older seer's he's met have white hair. His dad always used to change it back to his natural brunette colour, but there were nights when he fell asleep on the couch, and the young boy would watch the magic fade. The brown locks were replaced by silvery ones, not knowing at the time what they represented, the morbid stories of the future his father had seen.

Quickly wanting to abandon those thoughts and memories, he focused his attention back on Henry. He seemed to hesitate with each word he spoke when answering Nick, wondering if it was the right one to say. It was strange to feel like he connected to Henry at the moment without knowing why. The two Slytherins were hiding something from the other, worrying too much about what they were saying to have any idea that the other was even keeping a secret.

Henry mentioned the shrieking shack as the place the werewolf students were kept on full moons. Nick was a bit confused how he knew that since he didn't remember ever learning about that, but then again Henry seemed a lot more involved in the school than Nick, so that did make sense. He quickly switched what he was saying by asking the same question Nick had.

It was a bit hard to remember Halloween day, most of the memories surfacing from that day coming from the lockdown. Nick did have a general idea of what did happen, though, he would if he had zero recollection of the day. "Ye know me, I pretty much gorged myself with candy that entire day. The lockdown was pretty tame, considerin' the circumstances..." Nick said, "I-I had asked in the first place cause I hadn' seen ye there." He hadn't meant for the last part to come out and quickly stopped himself, so he didn't start pressuring Henry to say anything. It was a pretty tense night, and he probably didn't want to go into detail about it.

@Henry Knight

His mind still wondering if anyone else knew, he hadn't thought about it since November 1st where Amara Dragamior; his dueling partner found out he was a werewolf and Henry was terrified at the thought of others or someone else knowing that he was too which increased his anxiety something he was trying to hide from his fellow slytherin which meant he was tapping his fingers on his pant leg or occasionally fiddling with the end of his jacket with his right hand.

However Henry was still trying to make it a point to listen to Nick and found it odd when he mention something about hoping that he only had nightmares. Henry was curious on what his friend meant and wanted to ask but was also worried on his own mind and situation so instead he spoke " from my experience with uh things, try breathing and thinking about good thoughts before falling asleep. It may help but I'm no expert on night terrors," Henry smiled at his friend then before he knew it he found himself saying " what do you mean you hope their night terrors? What else can they be?"

Henry immediately felt embarrassed and turned away from Nick as he bit his lip and now more thoughts swam through his head but his anxiety didn't start to rise again until he heard Nick's next words about the lockdown. With his mind telling him the worst possible solutions and not knowing what to say, the boy continued to look forward as he thought of a lie to say and hoped that Nick didn't know he was lying, " uh I was in the dorm.... sleeping, why do you ask? I was sleeping because like you said there wasn't anything going on in the dorm to miss anyway right?"

Per usual, the naturally loud-mouthed Scot couldn't mumble anything under his breath without everyone hearing it. Henry had asked him what he meant. "Um.." Nick's voice cracked from anxiety. He didn't know how to respond to Henry's question. It was so easy for him to just come out and say he could see the future sometimes before, so why was this any different? Nick didn't really let people in, so he supposed he was worried that Henry would be afraid of him and leave him.

The conversation turned back to Henry's whereabouts at the Halloween lockdown, where Henry said he was sleeping. Odd, since it had been before dinner but maybe he got tired from the stress of the lockdown. Logic had been pointing to Henry being in his dorm, but that entire night, those dreadful thoughts kept itching at the back of his head, that something bad had happened to him. "Oh...ye...I know, dumb question tae ask. I guess I just..." Nick looked at Henry, exhaling before saying, "I was just worried about ye."

After a moment of silence, Nick realized he still hadn't answered Henry's inquiry, and he was probably waiting for an answer. Even if he wasn't scared of telling him that he was a Seer, he couldn't just up and say it bluntly. He bit his lip thoughtfully, trying to think of the best words to say. "As fur the nightmares, I guess sometimes they feel..." Nick knew he was stepping on eggshells with the wording, "erm lucid, I guess?" He didn't want to give too much away, but he also knew it would sound weird saying what he said without any follow up.

@Henry Knight

"You were worried about me?" Henry spoke the twelve year was take back as he looked at Nick for a moment or two before back at the sky above them still with his thoughts on his fellow Slytherin's words; words that he didn't think he would hear from another slytherin throughout his time at Hogwarts but yet here he was and there were those words the ones that brought disbelief toward Henry as he stared at the sky watching the clouds floating in the distance and the occasional owl flying through the wind delivering a letter.

Henry looked over at Nick and if he wasn't focused on his own thoughts nor was his anxiety rising then he would have known that something was wrong with Nick or noticed at least sign that his friend had something on his mind or was hiding something to but didn't since his thoughts were spiraling around his head as he was deciding what to do and what to say next.

A part of the boy wanted to tell him that he was a werewolf yet a part of him was afraid to. Afraid that he would judge him or look at him differently or even worse ignore him and he would lose him as a friend a thought that Henry really didn't want to dwell on or imagine but yet there was still a part of him that want to tell Nick, to tell him everything.

"Lucid? Maybe try reminding yourself that their just dreams and can't hurt you or find someone that you trust to talk about them with you, maybe talking will help them go away," Henry spoke hey what he wanted to say wasn't there. He was still unsure if he should tell him that he was a werewolf. But what if he had prejudices. What if he would lose a friend.