William

The next couple of weeks were mostly a blur. Isabella had much more going on now, Quidditch, Homework and all of her time that should've been spent studying or in the library were now spent with Charlie. She wanted to visit him as much as possible before the first snow fell. But she also tried to spend a lot of time with Mira when she could.

Anyone who didn't know Mira well enough would think that she was fine. She'd go to class and beam at every teacher and student, strike up a conversation and through in a joke. Even Isabella was almost tricked by the smile she put on her face every morning. But Adam saw through it. He could see the darkness in her eyes. No more of that playful glint in her eye. Her laugh just wasn't the same either. In those small moments when she let the facade drop, he saw through everything. The utter despair. He wished she'd open up to him a little more. He wanted to hug her and comfort her. But she always found a reason to escape, to get away. Isabella always told him that Mira needed time. She said it'd be a while before she could truly talk about it, and it'd be longer before she got over it.

Isabella understood better than he would though. He had an older brother who already worked but he never saw him much. But Mira who was so close to Will... he could only imagine what went through her mind every day. Even then it probably couldn't compare to whatever she felt in her heart.

Adam remembered that every time he visited Mira's, William would run out the door to greet him. Will looked up to him a lot. Will would always tag along with Adam and Mira, he'd talk to them for hours. He was so little. Will was ten, but he looked around eight. He still had that small adorable face and big curious eyes full of wonder. He was pretty short too. Mira's older brother (George, who is a 5th year Gryffindor) always teased little Will.

"Are you thinking about him too?" Mira had sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

He hadn't realized that he'd dozed off.

"Yeah" he responded.

They sat in silence. The common room was mostly empty, Isabella was off somewhere (Study sessions with Potter or something?), most students were enjoying their free time.

Mira turned her head towards him. Up close he saw bags under her eyes, her tired expression. She must've not been able to sleep well these past days. He didn't blame her. Honestly, there were nights when he too laid in bed at night, sleeplessly.

He held her hand.

"Remember the time we pranked George over the summer?" For a second he thought he saw Mira's eyes light up.

"Yes of course I remember." She turned her head and stared at the wall. He heard a small, quiet chuckle escape from her. "Will's idea wasn't it?"

"Indeed it was..."

"What was it again? A spider?"

"Yeah, we snuck into his room and put the spider on his bed. Remember, that night when he found it.."

"Yes! He screamed so loud, mom ran up to see what was the matter. We all laughed so hard, our stomachs hurt after that."

Adam proceded to try and imitate George's scream. It had been quite the high pitched scream.

They recounted other stories throughout the rest of the evening, by dinner time Mira was in much greater spirits. Adam liked seeing her happy. In times like these he knew it wouldn't last too long, but he was glad to have been able to get at least one smile out of her for at least a day.

(Earlier at the Study session)

"Potter! You're ten minutes late! I was starting to think you wouldn't come." Isabella said as she saw him come into the library.

"Sorry I got held up a bit. Blame Vales! He stopped me in the common room to talk about Quidditch practice!" He responded, setting his stuff down.

"Alright, valid excuse I suppose. Now come on. Don't you have some Transfiguration homework to do?"

He grunted and began on it. Isabella remembered she had some studying to do too, but Potter had quite the frustrated look on him, so she helped him out first.

"'Reparifarge' Potter! Pay attention!"

"I'm doin my best here, Dumont."

Once their studying (more like bickering) was over, Isabella quickly left Potter to find Mira. She didn't even let him say goodbye.

Isabella was surprised to see Mira laughing. It was good though. Better than her shutting herself in her room to read or just to be alone.

It was good to see her getting better. Scars of the heart never fully heal, and they take a long time to heal. She seemed fine on the surface but Isabella knew the pain deep down.