Only One ((Billy))

[Seth Wright]

“See ya.” Seth motioned with his hand to Chace as the blonde haired boy left the Hufflepuff dining table. It was late into lunch, and Chace had agreed to meet Lara in the Courtyard. Seth shrugged to himself as his best friend departed, his figure slipping away from the Great Hall, and turned to his half-empty plate of food. Chewing meant he couldn’t talk, but that didn’t mean Seth’s mind wasn’t thinking, that it wasn’t talking to himself using the powers of internal dialogue. Right now, Seth was thinking how much he didn’t really like Lara. Okay, so she was his best friend’s girlfriend and all, but because of her special status in Chace’s life, it meant she had special privileges to be with Chace. This therefore meant Chace could spend less time with Seth. Which, of course, made Seth sad, because he enjoyed being with Chace. Thankfully, even women couldn’t stand between the two best friends. Every Sunday was theirs and theirs alone, after all. The two of them lazed around eating crisps, playing Quidditch, or wizard chess, which Seth had found he had quite the knack for. Seth loved Sundays. Saturdays were good too, though, even though Lara hogged Chace all to herself. Why? Because Seth had Willow. Willow Willow Willow. Seth could think about his girlfriend forever and ever. That beautiful girl with her sleek brunette hair and twinkling cheeky eyes. Seth loved cuddling her soft body to his, kissing her slowly, feeling her melt in his arms. He loved the feeling of loving and being loved, and he loved the feeling of knowing Willow belonged to nobody else but him.

Even today Seth had trouble understanding why Willow would like him so much, but he didn’t complain. They had been dating over a year now, and their relationship was still going strong. She hadn’t gotten bored of him yet, dumped him for someone hotter and more popular, and definitely not as geeky and annoying as Seth. It made Seth feel good about himself. Although Willow could be really sharp-tongued, she was gentle in her own way, and Seth loved how she made him feel special. Chace was the first one to do that, and Willow had been the second. Seth treasured Willow, really. She probably didn’t know how much he was in love with her. Seth would do anything for Willow, anything! For goodness sake, he had been watching her since the first year of Hogwarts, when she had been sorted into Hufflepuff just before him. Her surname was Walker, and so she was just in front of him in the register. Walker, then Wright. Willow Walker. Seth smiled as he chewed a piece of food with a dream-like look in his eye. The love of his life. He had watched over Willow’s every move since he had first laid eyes on her on that first fateful day, fascinated by the girl whom he had hoped so much to be sorted into Hufflepuff with. Seth had not known a single thing about Hogwarts, and didn’t know the point and meaning behind the housing system. Still, he didn’t think that his wanting to be with Summer was the only reason he was in Hufflepuff. Seth thought ht fitted the house quite well, apart from the fact he was geekier than the average Huffle.

But as long as Willow didn’t care and loved him back, Seth could not give a damn. He didn’t need to worry about his personality, his interests, his appearance, because here, here were people who loved him for who he was. Genuinely. Right? At least, Seth was sure Chace did. He had his doubts about Willow sometimes, only because he was so paranoid. After all, such a bombshell of a girl dating such a social outcast like Seth was almost unheard of, and who could blame him for having self-doubt? He had always had low self-esteem, and although Chace had come along and made Seth feel a whole lot better, he wasn’t one hundred percent healed from his past – or even his present. Even now, Seth got the odd jibe from Slytherins who didn’t care that Chace would probably have a go at them afterwards. Seth kept quiet about it from his best friend though; not because he didn’t believe those bullies didn’t deserve the punishment, but because he didn’t want him to get into trouble over him. Seth wasn’t worth fighting over. He didn’t believe it anyway. As long as Chace remained safe, as long as he was still Seth’s best mate, it didn’t matter. Seth could stand those comments.

Someone taking over Chace’s empty seat caused Seth to look up in curiosity, only to see a familiar face. “Billy! Dude!” Seth exclaimed, throwing his left arm around the younger boy and clapping him on the back chummily. He grinned at the Hufflepuff. “You’re having lunch late today. Are you keeping out of trouble? Where’s that Rex Carter, official best mate and partner in crime?” Seth joked with a half-wink. He knew Billy since he was in the same house as him, and he was also an acquaintance of Eva, who was in the same year as him. “You haven’t seen Eva around, have you? That girl just gets slippier to catch every day.” Seth was chatty as usual, but he was glad of Billy’s presence. He hated being alone, left to his thoughts with so many people crowded around him. He knew Billy fairly well, and he was glad of no prejudice from the younger boy. Seth usually found his own peers uncomfortable to work with, but younger students weren’t so bad, especially if they didn’t judge you. Seth didn’t like stereotypes and labels… people didn’t realise how much it could hurt someone.

[Billy Brady H6]

((Finally got round to replying to this lol. Not posted for a while have I? I really must get back into it . Anyway, here it is! Not exactly great, but y'know.))

Honestly, would Billy's organisation ever improve? He didn't think so, not one bit, despite what he would've liked. He needed to get his priorities straight, that was the problem. Yes, pranking fellow students with best friend and partner-in-crime Rex was fun, but it wasn't going to pass his OWLs was it. Unless there was an OWL in Pranks and Tricks-without doubt he'd get an O in that without a problem, and a high one at that. But unfortunately no such qualification existed, and he had to put up with the likes of History of Magic and the devil-sent Potions. He was sure that if a hell existed it would consist solely of Potions lessons, potions homework and detention with Professor Snape. Oh, and having to live in the dungeons, Slytherins 'n' all. Actually, not just any Slytherins, but a Slytherin house full of JJ Weiss's. JJ had been Billy and Rex's (well, mostly Rex) arch enemy since day one really, and he often wondered what exactly it was that held him back from punching him right in the face. Probably the thought that if he did then he'd be expelled immediately if he was caught.

But luckily he hadn't come across the devil's son in a while, and so he was in a relatively good mood. Well, he was, until someone reminded him that he had some work to do for the next lesson that he hadn't even looked at yet. He really did need to get himself an organiser, and use it. This wasn't the first time he'd thought "I'll note that down later" then forgotten, and completely forgotten to do the work. If he had an organiser, he could write it down and actually remember about it. Well, today he actually prioritised the workover food, which was extrememly odd for Billy. He knew that he could go into lunch at any time and there would still be someone to talk to and still enough food to feed an army...he didn't know how the house elves did it, but they were genii whatever. Even home cooking couldn't beat the house elves, but he wasn't about to tell his mother that! Not that she was a bad cook or anything.

By the time he went into the great hall, he was starving. Although he'd managed to get that essay done, and in record time, his stomach didn't appreciate it and couldn't wait to be filled with food. His predictions were right, and although none of his friends were there in the hall-he asssumed they'd already all been and gone, but he recognised Seth, a 6th year in his house sitting alone at the table. He wasn't actually surprised as he'd seen Chase leave the table not long ago, so he promply went to sit next to the older boy. They didn't talk much, but they got on very well when they did. If they'd been in the same year, Billy wouldn't've been surprised if they'd been very close friends, though he knew Chase would always be Seth's best friend.

Well, Billy was pleased to see that Seth seemed pleased to see him, as usual, and couldn't prevent himself from grinning as Seth clapped him on the back as usual. "Well, yeah...surprisingly enough-and to be honest it's surprising it's not caused a completel paradox-I was actually voluntarily working. Trying to turn over a new leaf, y'know? I've suffered for it though!" he said as he picked up and bit into a chicken leg. Swallowing the meat, he answered Seth's next question. "Hmm, I'm not sure really...I haven't seen him since earlier this morning. I guess he's already been into lunch...he's probably with Stace or something. And no, I haven't seen her since our last lesson...mabe she's in the library or something?" He was only an acquaintance of Eva, but they got on well when they talked.

[Seth Wright]

"Whoa!" Seth's eyes widened in fake surprise, staring down at Billy, "You? Voluntarily working? You must be joking. The world's coming to an end! Run for your life!" His voice was one of mock disbelief, laced with amusement. "Good on you though, mate. It's good to get organised for once. Not that I myself have ever managed to be organised. It's not something I'm proud of." Seth continued more seriously, taking a draught of his pumpkin juice as Billy spoke. He didn't want kids like Billy and Eva making the same mistakes as him, but Seth knew, as a teenager who was in the process of growing up, one of the hardest things was to listen to what your elders were telling you. Their advice always seemed so wrong and so self-righteous; it would burn your ears and stir your frustration and fury. Even though a teenager knew the adult only meant the best, it was still infuriating to sit there and take it in. No, kids had to experience things for themselves. There was no point taking the blow for them, learning for them - they had to educate themselves, learn from making their own mistakes. Seth had a inkling that Billy was possibly one of those people; or at least, his best friend was. Rex Carter was infamous throughout Hogwarts; even the older years had heard of him. He was an idol for younger mischief-makers, and a pain in the backside for older prefects and teachers alike. Rex was everything Seth could never be, to be honest; popular and well-known, Rex had girls fawning at his feet and boys begging to hear his stories. Seth, on the other hand, would always be an outcast.

"Well, of course, Billy. What did you expect? No pain, no gain, that's what people say, right?" Seth flashed a lopsided smile, propping his hands on the table and smirking at the younger boy. He watched as Billy devoured some chicken. "Whoa, slow down, kiddo. You don't want to kill yourself eating lunch. What an undignified way to go, hm?" Seth chuckled at the look Billy threw him, before the Hufflepuff answered his question about Rex. "I didn't know Rex Carter gave time to both food and Stacey. Isn't food just a waste of time for Rex? He's got better things to do, like ruining the teachers' lives. And I thought he found Stacey annoying, just like you. I still don't understand why the three of you are friends. Not you and Rex, but Stacey." Seth didn't know Anastasia Castlerock, had never had a one to one conversation with her, but he had heard plenty, not from only Billy, but other sources, such as Eva, too. From the rumours, Seth gauged she was a pretty fiesty little character; he knew he didn't want to mess with her, that was for sure. She was apparently domineering, spoilt and a little insane, the latter of which Seth could easily handle, because lots of people would class him as insane too, but he couldn't stand bossy, stuck-up people. They got on his nerves, and they were usually the people who treated him like dirt, like he was worthless and they were above him. It really rankled Seth's anger. "It's not like you're dying to see her anyway." Seth added with a smirk, downing his pumpkin juice and leaning across the table to grab the jug.

Pouring himself some more of the cold beverage, Seth tilted his head at Billy again. "So, what mischief have you and Rex been up to lately. I heard something about flooding in the girls' bathroom on the third floor the other day. Was that your antics?" His eyes twinkled as they fixed on Billy, determined to get the whole truth out of him. Seth wouldn't tell anyone else save Chace anyway. Willow wasn't interested, plus Seth was sure she'd just blab to her girl friends and then the whole world would have to know. It was a trait he'd come to accept over time. "You two do come up with the most outrageous schemes, you know. I'm surprised Stacey puts up with you. Don't you two tarnish her golden reputation?" Seth teased and laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot Rex is worth dying for, isn't he? I wish I was him sometimes. He's only how old? Fourteen? Fifteen? And already he's got a fan club of girls who'd swear on their lives for him, and a circle of loyal friends. What more could you ask for? Except for not to be expelled from here." Seth looked at Billy and smiled. "Though you two should watch out. Professor McGonagall's the Headmistress now, and she won't tolerate as much as Dumbledore. I miss the old guy already, he was brilliant. Honestly, you don't want to get expelled... or do you?" Seth ruffled Billy's hair playfully. He really enjoyed being with the younger boy, he felt like an older brother again. He had always wanted a younger version of himself to talk to, though Billy wasn't exactly a clone of him; far from it. Still, they clicked, and that was all that mattered.

[Billy Brady H6]

Billy grinned and laughed at Seth's surprise about him working voluntarily. Well it was a surprise, given that Billy was so used to just leaving things to the last minute, then deciding not to bother finishing them and telling the professor that he'd hand it in the next day. He struggled to remember the last time he handed in a History of Magic essay on time, but then Professor Binns wasn't really the type of professor to give out dententions much-after teaching throughout his life (and death) there can't've been much he hadn't seen so it was as if very little surprised him anymore. Or maybe he was just too dull to be surprised. "Hah, nope, no joke" he replied to Seth's accusation "as I said, just trying to turn over a new leaf. I do want to get good-ish grades in my OWLs ya know, and seeing as I couldn't find Rex anywhere I thought I might aswell get on with work. Needless to say, I'm starving now." He finished off the chicken leg and helped himself to another one, taking a few sausages at the same time. It was a good job he was so active, with all the food he ate, or he'd certainly be overweight by now. The food here tasted too good to cut down on-he wished he knew the secrets of the House Elves success.

He finished off the second chicken leg as Seth finished speaking. "Ah yes, no pain no gain indeed. All the best things in life cause pain of some sort, unfortunately, as do things that are supposed to be good for you..." at least his stomach wasn't as painful now after starving himself to do work having not eaten anything but a slice of toast since breakfast. He started on the sausages as Seth went on about dying eating lunch. "Hmm, yeah...it would be quite undignified...choking to death on something or other" he said, picking up a sausage whole with his fork, like something out of a cartoon "but hey, I'm sure there are worse ways to go. I'd think being burnt to death would be one of the worst..." he shuddered at the thought.

Billy poured himself some more butterbeer as Seth continued to speak, going back to the subject of Rex. "Oh yeah, he loves his food too...not as much as me though. He's a pickier eater than me. But yeah, he usually eats quickly so he can get on with more interesting things. Unless he has a lot of work to do in which case he'll eat slowly to waste time before he does the work. As for Stacey...well, yeah, she does annoy him-she is very clingy with him. She basically wants him all to herself, that's the impression I get-hence why she doesn't like me and I don't get on with her. She always wants to get her own way, which usually involves dragging Rex along to somewhere or other and me tagging along." Hmm...Stacey, Stacey Stacey...what could they do with her? Billy knew that Rex valued her highly as a friend despite her not getting on with Billy, but it was obvious that Stace thought even higher of Rex, and probably wanted to be closer than friends with Rex, despite Rex obviously not being interested in the slightest.

Come to think of it, Rex had been acting oddly recently, after the incident with Harmony and Ariane all those weeks ago. Billy hadn't confronted Rex about it since the day, as he knew that he wouldn't get anywhere with it. Something was going on there, between Rex and Harmony, but he didn't know what, and wasn't really sure if he wanted to know what. Rex didn't know that Billy had loved Harmony ever since he first saw her-in fact, nobody did-so he couldn't blame Rex for liking her, if he did that is. But...she wasn't his type, surely? They were completely different people, they didn't seem to have anything in common. And what if it was mutual, and they liked each other? Surely it couldn't be, ever?

His thought processes were interrupted when Seth started asking Billy what he'd been up to with Rex recently. "Oh yeah, the bathroom, that was fun. Childish, yeah, but then pranks generally are! But yeah, we just found an old sock that we didn't think anyone would want and decided to flush it down the loo, to annoy the girls...it just went a bit further than we expected. McGonnagall wasn't best pleased, but then she hates us anyway. As far as she's concerned Rex is the worst thing to happen to her house since the Weasley twins...it's a shame they left before we arrived. And yeah, we do have some great ideas...suits of armour are the best things though, and all the alconves around are just asking to be used for pranking purposes!" He reminisced for a while over some of the pranks he'd pulled with Rex...good times, good times. He didn't know what he'd do if he didn't have his best friend around.

"Hmm, to be honest I don't know either" he said in answer to Seth's question about how Stace puts up with them "I think she's just in it for Rex to be honest-she wouldn't ever do anything to go against him, ever. And yeah, we've landed her in some trouble before now, but she always worms herself out of it in one way or another. And yeah, he's 15 now-last November." He laughed at his comment about the girls "Yeah, you're right, and I don't blame you! being the best friend of the best looking guy in the year isn't that great, but at least it gets you noticed." They returned to talking about pranks "Oh yeah, we have to tame things down a bit now...McGonnagall's a lot less tolerant than Dumbledore was...he was great, I miss him too. I don't think anyone doesn't miss him really. And of course I don't wanna get expelled, what d'you take me for" he said with a grin "besides, the food's too good here!"

[Seth Wright]

Seth nodded understandingly. "Right. Good grades are good. You'll be fine if you stick to your guns. Don't let Rex distract you. If he wants to fail, then it's his problem, right? He shouldn't drag you down with him, that's not what best friends are for," he insisted with a voice that hinted he knew from experience. "Perhaps it's good you get a bit of time from Rex alone," Seth continued to muse to himself rather than to Billy. "Being away from him gives you the chance to be calm and get things done. Make the most of it!" Seth winked jokily at the younger boy. "Yep, work does that to you. Makes me exhausted and hungry and whiny." Seth chuckled softly and picked at the remains of his food in thought. He gave a small smile at Billy's agreement whilst nodding slowly. "Yep yep yep," he said, his mind elsewhere, until Billy's mention of alternate means of death caused Seth to laugh out loud once more. "Now now, let's not get too ahead of ourselves. Talking about ways to go is not the best dinner-table habit, huh? And you have years to live. Hopefully we'll all die from old age. I might die from stupidity and idiocy, you never know." Seth grinned good naturedly and shrugged.

Seth listened to Billy as the kid rambled on; he was quite a talker too, just not in as dorky a way as himself. Seth always sounded like a dork when he chatted away, because ha babbled instead of speaking clearly. It evidently got on people's nerves, but mostly, his fellow peers just thought him too insignificant and unnecessary to acknowledge him. It was a sad feeling, but one Seth had endured all his life; he felt lucky that the brunt of his pain had been shielded by Chace in his high school years, and he was also grateful to the kind teachers who had looked out for him upon arriving at Hogwarts. The professors here were much more observant than those in his primary school, who had neglected his predicaments and bullying as though they did not exist. Seth had been picked to pieces in front of their eyes and they had either never noticed, or pretended not to. Either way, they were bad teachers, unconcerned or insensitive to their pupils' wellbeings. Snorting inwardly at the hypocrisy of the job of a teacher, Seth looked back to Billy and, catching the last part of his sentence, patted him sympathetically on the arm. "That's girls for you, man. They're clingy and desperate, and very, very lovely." Seth cracked a wide grin. "When they set their eyes on a man, then they'll stop at nothing to get him. It's like a pack of wolves, I swear. Willow didn't have to do much hair-pulling and bitching to get me though. She's the only one for me, and no one else has ever wanted me anyway." He grinned sheepishly.

"Can't help you with Stacey, mate. 'Fraid you'll just have to put up with her. One day, even if it's not Stacey, Rex will find another woman and he'll spend all his time preoccupied with her anyway, and she'll probably be clingy in return. You'll be the same, and then you'll find you'll have to divide your time evenly between best friend and girlfriend. Chace and I do that, you know - he spends some of his time with Lara, and me with Willow, but every Sunday it's strictly 'guy time', you know? Just him and me, playing chess or flying or practising Quidditch. You just have to make the effort to stay best friends, otherwise your girlfriend will take over your life." Seth tried to sound sombre nearing the end of his advice, but couldn't stop a peal of laughter at the look on Billy's face and his own serious tone. "Don't look so shocked. It's the way relationships work, kiddo. When you get older you'll understand. It's hard to imagine it now, but you get to my age and things become just a bit clearer. Mind you, I stress 'just a bit'. I'm guessing even when you're an adult with fifty years of experience you're still never fully out of the dark." Seth smiled wryly and popped a grape in his mouth.

"I knew it was you two!" A triumphant smile curled around Seth's lips. "I was thinking to myself, 'who could possibly pull off such a ridiculously pointless yet ingenious stunt?'" Seth thumped Billy on the back, not exactly in approval, but in a sort of admiring way. He chuckled after Billy's comment about Chace. "Yep. But I don't mind. It gives me credit for being the best friend of the best looking guy, you know?" Seth grinned proudly, devoid of any jealousy or annoyance. He was genuinely delighted, even though Chace overshadowed him in so many aspects. Chace always encouraged him to do better, not worse, and Seth took more than he lost with him. He laughed again when Billy mentioned the food, the boy not even halfway through his large meal. "You sure have an appetite, Billy," Seth chuckled, flinging back a few strands of curly black hair from his eyes. It needed a cut. "We all come here for the food, obviously," he joked, before glancing outside the window. It sure was a good day. "Hey, you free later on? Wanna go for a fly around? I heard from Ivy that you might be auditioning. You should join, it's great fun and great practice," Seth enthused brightly, almost jumping up and down on his seat like a five-year-old boy about to be told he came first in a chocolate-winning competition.

[Billy Brady H6]

"Oh yeah, I completely agree" Billy noddedat what Seth was saying "Best friends are great to spend time with-I could quite easily spend all day every day for god knows how long with Rex-but they aren't half a distraction when trying to work! Seriously, I can sit down to do an essay alone and it'd take me, say an hour. If I was with Rex at the time then after looking at the same essay all night I'd still only be a few lines in. So it doesn't exactly help that I'm with Rex more often than is good for my health, sanity and motivation, but hey." He shrugged, while stabbing a sausage with his fork. "It's great spending time with him, but it's also good to have some time alone...sink into my own thoughts, be more productive and such" he took a bite of the sausage, swallowing it in one go.

Unfortunately this turned out not to be one of Billy's best ideas, and soon enough he found himself choking and coughing, the sausage stuck in his throat. Eventually he managed to dislodge the meat and swallow it properly. He grinned at Seth, thinking about the irony of what had just happened. "Yeah, you're right, talking about ways to go isn't exactly the most appropriate mealtime conversation....albeit quite ironic now!" he took another bite of the sausage, taking more care not to choke himself to death this time. "I don't inted to die for at least another 50 years, thanks very much! Though knowing my luck I'll end up dying sooner than that. And chanceas are Rex would be to blame" he grinned again, always taking oppurtunities to playfully blame his best friend for something. If Rex was there he wouldn't've appreciated it and would've probably thumped Billy as hard as possible, but at least he would've appreciated it to be a joke.

The conversation turned back to girls, as Seth explained more about how their minds worked, and Billy nodded along. "Oh yeah, most girls are like that. They set their eyes on one guy and would do anything to get with them. Some girls though..." he sighed, as his mind turned to Harmony "are just shy, never make the first move. Expect guys to do all the chasing, as if it's expected of them not to do anything to get the guy, or are just plain surprised if any guys approach them. Very few girls get the balance right..." not that he actually knew many girls, he was only talking based on what the 2 girls he did actually know were like. Stacey was obviously the former, chasing Rex, who seemed to either be oblivious or just not care. Harmony was the latter...too innocent for her own good, acting as if guys were a seperate species altogether. Probably oblivious to her own feelings. And if not, there was always her sister preventing her from making any of her own decisions when it came to guys.

Seth had got lucky though, with Willow. Billy barely knew the older girl, but he knew that she was beautiful on the outside and, from what he'd heard, beautiful on the inside. But Billy didn't have much time to dwell on that before Seth returned to talking about Stace. "Oh yeah, you're right there. One day we'll both find the girls for us, and Stace will just have to deal with it. Either that or she'll find another guy to set her sights on and leave Rex in peace, so to speak. We'll end up not spending so much time with each other, but that can only be a good thing really...aq girlfriend would do him some good I think, and I wouldn't say no to having a girlfriend myself. We'd probably end up doing what you and Chase do...have a strict time to spend together. As long as we stay good friends, we'll be alright."

It was hard to contemplate, Rex having a girlfriend, or Billy himself having a girlfriend. Rex got loads of atetnion from the girls, but he just wasn't interested, and Billy was just Rex's not-so-great sidekick. Seth obviously picked up on Billy's facial expression. "Oh yeah, I'm sure it'll all seem clearer in the future. Heck, I'm not even 15 yet, and Rex has only been 15 for a couple of months. We've still got plenty of time for chasing girls in the future. We still have plenty of mischief to make first. I'll warn you now, look out for a small fire somewhere in the grounds in the near future" he said with a wink. "It'll all pan out in the end, as well as it wants to. Hopefully adult will be something I can be glad I looked forward to, rather than regret."

Billy chuckled at Seth's copmment about the flood "Oh yeah, well, who else could it be, now the Weasleys have all left? Well, hey, I'm sure we'll mature as we get older, however awful that sounds now." he grinned again "and yeah, I do have a large appetite...but I think I've had enough now" he said, setting his cutlery down on his plate, finishing his butterbeer. He was beginning to get a cramp in his stomach so it was time for him to stop eating. He sat backand relaxed for a while to let his food be digested, before convesation resumed.

"Yeah, I'll be free after afternoon lessons today, most likely. That'd be great, getting some practice in. And yup, I might be auditioning, but not till next year now. I wanna get myself more organised this year, so it'll be more conveniant then. I'll probably be a beater I think, if I make the team." he grinned at the thought of himself out on the pitch, bat in hand, whacking bludgers at Slytherins, getting his own back for them hitting members of his team. "you're a chaser, aren't you?" He asked, wondering what Seth would have to say about quidditch. Billy had always been interested in it, and was looking forward to getting more involved the following year.

[Seth Wright]

Seth mused over his and Chace's friendship as Billy described his own with Rex. "I think I'm the distracting one in our duo," Seth smiled sheepishly after some thought. "I always distract Chace from doing homework, but not in the same way as Rex distracts you. Rex wants to prank people, I just can't stop talking." Seth shrugged helplessly. "I want to, but it's a really bad habit. It's hard to change, and Chace says he doesn't mind if I never do. If I didn't babble like this I wouldn't be Seth Wright, and I think he's right there." Laughing at the word 'right' sounding exactly the same as 'Wright', Seth was reminded again the irony of his surname. Since the day he was born, Seth had always been under the impression everything he did and was was wrong. Ironic his name sounded like 'right'.

"Yeah," Seth nodded in understanding. "When Rex disappears one day, I'm sure you'll suddenly miss him rather than want him to leave you alone." Humans were hypocritical, contradictory creatures, Seth had learnt. Suddenly Billy began to choke, apparently on the sausage he had tried to swallow in one go. Seth hadn't paid much attention to him doing it, but immediately began to whack him frantically on the back, eyes wide. "Yo, dude, are you all right? Breathe, breathe. Don't die on me now!" Not frightened but surprised by Billy's abrupt predicament, Seth sighed in relief as Billy eventually managed to cease choking and compose himself, swallowing the sausage. "That was close," Seth couldn't help but chuckle, "I told you you would kill yourself if you ate too fast! My advice is never wrong!"

"You sound like you're speaking from experience, Billy," Seth commented sombrely, his tone falling along with Billy's more serious one. "There are some girls like that. I don't know very many, must say. Willow's the other type, so I don't have much experience with shy people - except me of course - and I don't have much experience with girls full stop." Grinning, Seth nodded again in agreement. "I hope Rex can keep a girl," he added seriously, eating another grape without really thinking about eating it. "I hope he doesn't break too many hearts. He seems the type. No offence." Seth could be honest and easily accidentally offend people. All in all, he was terrible at lying, so he didn't try it often. Everyone always saw through him. "Yeah. You guys will stay friends, as long as you don't argue over the same girl. But I'm sure that won't happen. You two are different people, you probably have different tastes." Smiling reassuringly, Seth patted Billy's back in a friendly manner again.

"Right," Seth smirked conspiratorially when Billy winked, amused to be in on the prank of the kids. "Sounds ambitious. You'll be careful, yeah? I don't want you two burning yourselves, it'll give everything away. Oh, and please don't burn the grounds down," Seth protested, laughing, "It would be hilarious to see the professors' faces, but not all of them deserve it, and we wouldn't be able to go out when the weather's nice and shiny." Though, Seth thought, he wouldn't mind Professor Snape's reaction to a fire burning in the grounds. He could just imagine his expression, but he knew Rex and Billy would scorch under his glare if they got caught. No, Seth didn't want to be in their position. He didn't know where they got the energy and bravery and time to think up of such intricate, insane pranks and execute them throughout school. Didn't the boys have homework? Oh, they were only in fourth year. Of course. Eva didn't have to labour as much as Seth did nowadays. NEWTs were utter hell.

"Oh, that sounds good. We need Beaters," Seth nodded enthusiastically, drumming his hands on the table because he needed to do something with himself besides moving his mouth. "We've got Chasers and Keepers mostly. They're always the most common, I think. I don't know. I'm no Quidditch expert. I'll have to ask Chace." Seth grinned. "I can't wait for you to be on the team too! It's good to see a friendly face. The only people I'm good friends with there is Harmony, even though Ivy and Charles and Kael are in my year. We just don't talk much, you know? I'm friends with her cousin, Aurora, who's in my year, but she doesn't play Quidditch. Harmony's lovely. She's in your year, isn't she? Do you guys talk much? She's a sweet kid, always looking out for other people, but she's awful shy. I think we help each other, though. 'Cause we're both shy, we're not shy around each other, if that makes sense. She's been real friendly to me ever since I joined. Oh, I forgot Chace - yeah, Chace is my closest friend on the team, but then it's Harmony. I'm pretty good with everyone else now though."

"Me? No, actually I'm a Keeper, but my second position is Chaser," Seth corrected Billy with a keen grin. "I've got good reflexes, so Keeper suits me. I like watching most of the game, not having as much action. Plus, I'm not good at stealing the Quaffle or hitting people with Bludgers. The only reason Chaser is my second is because I practise a lot with Chace, and I can't be a Beater with my strength, and I can't be a Seeker because I'm not a fast flyer or anything. I usually can't see the Snitch anyway, I'm really unobservant." A lopsided, sheepish smile stretched Seth's lips. "Keeper is a lot of responsibility, but I feel like I've accomplished something when I manage to save the Quaffle." He nodded proudly. "So what will your second position be? You're a Beater like Rex, right? Let me guess: is his second one Seeker? It just seems so Rex-like," Seth joked good naturedly. "I can't imagine you as a Seeker, to be honest. A Chaser then? Chaser's fun, even if I don't enjoy it as much as Keeper. Oh, you might get to play against Rex one day. That'll be a match!"