The night's mist began to be chased away by a delicate yellow light. Thomas made the decision that it was time to stand up and stretch. Despite the difficulties, Thomas thought yesterday went well. He sat up and raised his arms above his head. He went to his bed and pulled the drapes closed to make a private space for dressing. Thomas changed into his new house colors after slipping out of his plain black robes.

Looking at the burgundy and gold stripes of his tie. Thomas's mind began to wander to Lars. Today, he would be donning the green and silver of Slytherin. Thomas felt conflicted about that. He flipped the tie around as Uncle Liam had shown him, hanging it around his neck. He's happy that he could help Lars get what he wanted. What he needed. He hated the visions. Thomas disliked seeing Lars suffer.

“Haa.” He sighed as he tucked the tie under his white collar and smoothed it out. He pushed the unevenness up to his neck. Honestly, he regretted not having the courage to face Lars's vision and demanded to be in the same house as him. “Haa.” He let out another sigh as he put on his robe. Thomas wasn't there yet.

“One day at a time.” Thomas spoke softly to himself. Walking past, the other students were still tucking into their beds. He gave Bernard, his roommate, a quick glance. His face was flushed and relaxed, a vast improvement over yesterday. Sorting was a stressful event. Today's classes would start, and the first class would be potions, which was exciting as well. He recalled that Slytherin shared all classes as he descended the stairs. Lars and Thomas would spend the entire day together. In a class. Like a normal kid.

“Today is going to be a good day.” Thomas nodded before stepping into the common area. He wanted to investigate it because it would be a place where he would spend the majority of his time. Similar to last night, the room was warm and well lit. Thomas looked around, but could not find anything to dislike about the space.

“What's that?” Thomas's attention briefly shifted to a shadowy figure in front of the fireplace. Was that there last night? He approached it out of curiosity. Within a few steps, Thomas figured out what it was. Running with his last foot, he pushed the big chair in front of the fireplace out of his way. He knelt down and turned the black mass over. It was a student.

“Are you okay?” Knowing they weren't, Thomas questioned it anyway. He had the impression that he was holding a piece of ice in his hands. The color of her freckled face was unlike anything Thomas had ever seen on a person. Even her freckles had given in to the awful color of her white skin. The color was already unpleasant, but her brilliant red hair made it worse.

“Emma?” Thomas racked his head. There was a freckled girl last night with that boy. Was this her? “Emma!” Thomas ran his fingers along the bridge of her nose.

“She's breathing.” Although her chest was not rising, she was breathing, and Thomas' heart skipped a beat. “I need help.” Thomas hated this feeling of not being able to help someone right in front of him. Thomas looked around; who could he get to help? It's not like he could call on a house elf like he did with Lars.

“Her brother.” Thomas leapt to his feet and sprinted toward the stairs. This could be some sort of medical condition. Something her brother could fix. Thomas sprinted up the stairs in world record time, two at a time. He reached the landing and released her; he didn't know which bed was her brother's. He searched his surroundings for Daniel! Thomas immediately thought of his name. Thomas was unable to see the judgmental black mop of hair, leaving him with only one choice.

“Daniel!” While moving from bed to bed, Thomas yelled. He yelled once more. “Daniel, wake up!” As Thomas passed by, the students were stirring, and some were glaring at him with daggers.

“What do you want?” Green slits finally peered at him from one of the beds after a voice yelled. Thomas recognized the judgmental stare the moment he received it.

“It's your sister!” Thomas pulled the boy out of bed, not giving a wit for his undressed state. “Hurry, she's downstairs in the common room!” Thomas dragged the boy to the stairs before his own feet could carry him. Bernard and Daniel's friend were among the many that followed.

“This better be good-” Daniel shot off, then his face paled when he saw the sight before him. “Emma!” He ran like Thomas did earlier. Shaking his sister's shoulders. “Emma, what did he do to you?” Thomas frowned; surely he wasn't going to? “What did you do to her?” Daniel turned his angry, wet eyes at Thomas.

“I did nothing!” Thomas denied it, shaking his head. Didn't he have better things to do than blame him?

“I came down here to check out the room and found her there.” Thomas said his bit. There wasn't much to say.

“Did you come to me after you regretted sucking her dry?” Daniel stood up and rushed to plant himself right in Thomas's face.

“You vampire!” His green eyes were filled with a dark anger, and Thomas' chest sat in a lump. Daniel genuinely believed what he said to be true. It would be hard to change his mind, and the whispers turning around him only let Thomas know. Like before, there was no one by his side.

“I don't bite people.” Thomas' ground out. Trying to stand up for himself and have some pride in himself. He had learned this lesson from his time with the O'Sullivan family. He wished Lars was here, but alas, he was elsewhere in the fortress. Thomas had to handle this himself and is capable of doing so. “Check her neck if you don't believe me.” Thomas continued to speak while gazing into Daniel's hate-filled eyes until Daniel, and not Thomas, turned away.

“There is nothing on her neck, Daniel.” The boy with long hair, Bill said. He had someone get to Emma's side and check her over.

“We should get her to the nurse's office.” The shouting attracted girls from the other dorm. Their additional stares weighed heavily on Thomas. 

“I should drive a stake in this blighter's heart!” Thomas was knocked off his feet and hurried back into the crowd as Daniel turned like a beast. Where they tripped and tumbled until Daniel fell on top of Thomas. Thomas noticed the tears running down his face as he raised his fist. “What did you do?” He demanded to know.

“Get off of him!” Hands pulled Daniel off of Thomas, and Bernard stood in front of him.

“You should be getting your sister's help, Potter.” Bernard looked like a cold tower staring Daniel down. Thomas was gobsmacked and stunned into silence. He was also impressed that he didn't judge Bernard as someone who would do this—stand up for him, that is. He had misjudged Bernard, and because of that, he was no different from the people in front of him at this moment. A bitter feeling stuck in his throat.

“Instead, you're blaming others for your faults. You would not want to betray your family's legacy, would you? Potter.” Thomas stood up while his legs were trembling. The atmosphere in the room completely changed. Bernard had silenced them all.

“What is a Malfoy doing in Gryffindor?” Daniel questioned, bumping not just one, but two of his friends. Each one was looking straight through Bernard's head.

“I would like to know what a coward is doing in Gryffindor.” Bernard's hands sat at the small of his back, folded with grace from the front, but behind him. The shaking of his hands was only visible to Thomas. “Go to Hufflepuff; I hear they accept everyone there if you are afraid of vampires. Even a black spot on the Potter name.” While speaking, Bernard's back trembled. “We ought to be happy about this.”

“You bast-” Daniel wiped away his tears, leaving only anger in their place. Thomas quickly stood up. If Daniel went after Bernard, he would be prepared to save him.

“That's enough!” A wind billowed through the common room. A tall, slender man walks into the room wearing a kilt and a long, black robe decorated with strange, intricate geometric patterns. He had swept his blonde hair back. Thomas wondered if the navy stripes that ran through it were a natural color.

"Everyone is not involved. You better be getting ready for breakfast.” He raised an eyebrow and scanned the entire space. His voice was calm and even friendly. Thomas observed that the older children had already started to disperse from the room. “Or I'll have you clean my quidditch field.” His gold eyes flickered. “Without magic.” In an instant, the crowded area became empty, and Pipa appeared behind the teacher in a flash of fuzzy pink.

“Are you okay, Thomas?” She ran around him, examining him, while the long, floppy ears on her hoodie swayed. Thomas looked her over and nodded. He was trying to figure out what she was wearing.

“Good.” Pipa put a hand to her chest. “I ran to get a teacher as fast as I could.”

“Thank you.” Thomas said, earning a smile from the tired Pipa. Thomas looked at Bernard, a bit worried; he seemed okay, but something felt off.

“Potter, get your sister to the infirmary.” The professor turned his head in a nod to the door.