One could have sugar-coated it but what was the point?  Figaro's unfortunate, accidental outing had been a mistake and everything that had followed was just a mess.  If Sasha was able to see reminders of that everywhere, he could only imagine how persistent they were to the Hufflepuff.  From the lingering muffled rumors to the ever present chalkboard communication system to whatever the general climate of the Hufflepuff common room was, Sasha could only imagine how hard it was for Figaro to escape those reminders.

Sasha had a pretty good idea what Figaro might be facing.  He'd been on SAWS villain list for quite some time and he'd done things to earn the scorn of Hufflepuff house.  They were, generally, a friendly and easy going bunch but they could hold a rather fearsome grudge when one of their own was slighted. 

The Ravenclaw had been trying to subtly offer his support to the Hufflepuff without seeming too blatant about it.  He wasn't sure if Figaro was hoping, or actively trying, to rectify his standing with SAWS but, if he was, Sasha didn't want to inadvertently hinder his efforts.  He'd sat near the Hufflepuff in class and tried to carry on as usual as much as possible and tried to be there as much as possible. 

"Alex said she had something to finish and she'd be up when she was done."  Meeting in the Astronomy tower had been Sasha's ideas.  Partly because it was a comfortable space and partly because it seemed the second most secure place to talk about tournament strategy.  A blustery fall storm beat against the tower windows and a draft coming in through the chimney made the fire roar, briefly.  The now empty wooden box with the thestral on the front sat on one of the low coffee tables.

"At least, the professor will take that ridiculous hex off before the tournament."  His tone made it clear that he did not approve of the transfiguration professor's choice of punishment.  "It's a good thing you didn't get trapped anywhere without your wand.  Or that you live in the one house that doesn't require a password or riddle answer to get in." 

Normally Figaro didn't count Sasha among his friends around whom he could relax.  For real, Fig liked Sasha a great deal, but everyone had different categories of friends, and Sasha wasn't the chilling out type.  He was more serious, more grown up, more generally effective.  But for once, Figaro was relieved to be with Sasha, who was probably the only person who wasn't angry with him right now.

It had only been a couple of days but the Silencing Spell and everything surrounding it was just wearing him thin.  Hufflepuff House was an echo chamber and it killed Figaro to not be able to set the story straight because all kinds of different versions were flying around of who and why and when all the dramatic little pieces had went down.  Classes were more frustrating than ever, and he wanted to wipe the smug-arse face of the next sod who said the Spell was a marked improvement.  Teasing was teasing, and fair was fair, but he was just tired. 

So getting together with Sasha to prep for the Tournament was a welcome distraction.  He sat in a comfortable chair in the Astronomy tower and raised an eyebrow at Sasha's apt description of the complications of his predicament.  Yup.  He nodded his head in agreement.

He loathed to chalk out another message, so for now he just let the thoughts run through his head without giving them voice.  It was a strange feeling.

Figaro's silence was, to be honest, strange.  It just wasn't him.  That was, perhaps, what seemed most unfair about this whole scenario.  By silencing him, the professors were trying to force him to be someone he was not. 

For a few minutes, Sasha matched the silence, tugging a loose leaf page filled with kinetic energy equations from his bag and alternated between looking at the wooden box and the list of equations.  Sasha didn't mind silence and he could keep a secret well contained, if he needed to.  But, he couldn't just sit idly anymore than Figaro could filter through a string of consciousness once he got going. 

"It's not like it was entirely your fault," Sasha finally remarked, shrugging as he looked up from the page of equations.  "You made a mistake.  Everyone does.  And, there isn't a person in this school who hasn't accidentally let a secret slip.  Scheiß, I've let my own secrets slip.  Anyone who keeps a secret should assume some of the risk.  It was only a matter of time before people found out."

Figaro didn't get in the trouble he did because he let a secret slip.  He got in trouble because others had decided that secret was proportionally more precious than others.  Part of the responsibility lay with the ones who bore the secret.  Yes, Sasha had been humiliated when Rita Skeeter had exposed his secrets.  But, Sasha had created both the secrets and setting that allowed for the humiliation. And, the professors and school administration had had just as much of a hand in creating the charged secret as Zel or Figaro. 

"You made a mistake.  But, the reaction was out of proportion.  You shouldn't be the sole scapegoat.  And certainly not publically.  Why didn't they just pull out a set of stocks and give everyone rotten fruit?" 

It felt time ticked by at a sludge pace when all was silent.  Usually Figaro sped things up with chatter, engaging otherwise useless moments by connecting with friends and sharing stories.  But he couldn't do that lately, so he had to rely on others to keep time moving forward.  Thankfully, Sasha was on the task. 

Figaro watched, leaning in on his hand, as Sasha went about studying whatever he was studying, and listened curiously as his quiet friend made his opinions known.  Opinions that seemed pretty off of what everyone else seemed to think.  Figaro always pegged Sasha as a rule-follower and champion of down-trods like Zel.  But then, it was also no secrety that Sasha had no sympathy for werewolves.  The dissonance showed on Figaro's face - bent brow, sideways glance.

Figaro himself still didn't know how to reckon it, and had mostly resigned to just reckoning how everyone was telling him.  It didn't matter to anyone he hadn't done it on purpose.

Absently Figaro reached out with his other hand to touch the box from the first task.  Smooth and dark. 

Figaro chuckled silently and shook his head.  The stocks indeed!  I kind of felt like that lately.  He looked at Sasha pointedly - was he serious, though?  Did he really think nothing should have happened?

Sasha caught a glimpse of the uncertainty and conflict on Figaro's face and looked up from his textbook.  "What?" he asked, glancing around for something that might help the Hufflepuff answer before it occurred to him.  Figaro was still a member of SAWS; he probably believed as most of them did. 

"You know," he offered, quietly, with a slight shrug.  "Despite what you all - SAWS - thinks, I don't hate werewolves.  I was ... am .... I care about Zel.  We were, you know, getting close.  I just ... I don't know.  I just think it's naive to think what they're doing now is working.  But, if you're critical about that ... if you disagree ... you get pegged as the enemy." 

The Ravenclaw flipped his textbook closed and let it slide onto the short coffee table. 

"It really doesn't scare you?" Sasha asked, looking up towards Figaro.  "To know you're sharing a room with a werewolf?  Even after ... didn't they have those attacks here in March?"  Sasha had been in London of the infamous March 11 attacks when he'd had the unfortunate run in with Foley.  But, he'd heard the rumors of the attacks at Hogwarts.  "Doesn't it make you at all nervous?"

Figaro didn't know what to think, although in the last few days he'd been forced to figure things out more than he'd ever had before.  It didn't help (or perhaps it did) that Sophie, Fauna, Professor Sandusky, Seto, and Zel all were telling him what to think, demanding answers.  But he just... it was too complicated.  He couldn't settle on their being a clear answer so he didn't want to bother.  Get mixed up in all these bad feelings and animosities.  It sounded cliche, but he just preferred it when everyone was getting on and having a laugh. 

He just wanted to trust what the adults said.  Although since the arrest of his father, his confidence in authority figures had got a wee bit shaky.  But again, he was just trying not to think about it, to stay out of it.  Because no matter what stance he settled on, it would piss off somebody. 

Figaro sighed and shook is head, not making eye contact with Sasha.  He hadn't meant to be so transparent, but he still didn't get it, no more than he understood why Sophie was so angry, or why Olivia had left Hogwarts. 

March 11.  He'd tried not to think about it since it happened.  It seemed so long ago.  But that was the day that Sophie's mom had been killed, the day that he and some other students had nearly been bitten if it wasn't for Professor Storm and Professor Kirchlehner.  Maybe he didn't think about it because nothing had happened.  To him.  They'd never found that werewolf - and it hadn't been Zel, and it hadn't been Ollie and even if it was, they couldn't help it.

But then, Sasha was saying it didn't matter.  Whether they could help it or not, they were dangerous, he said.  It made sense, but Figaro didn't want to admit it.  Admitting Zel was dangerous would just make his life complicated.  Uncomfortable. 

He ran his hand through is hair and scratched his nape.  He sighed and shrugged.  Maybe.  Yea, maybe Sasha was right.   

The Ravenclaw turned to stare at the colorful, mural-lined windows of the tower.  The stain glassed panes were darkened by the low, dark storm clouds that enveloped the tower.  Big, fat raindrops left grey trails slithering down the windows and the flames from the fire reflected perfectly against the window.  It was extremely hypnotic and Sasha's eyes followed the two-dimensional dancing light. 

In the mirrored reflection, Sasha saw Figaro shrug awkwardly.  It was possible Figaro simply hadn't thought of it that way.  The Hufflepuff did have an enviable ability to just see the best in people - perhaps he'd unintentionally, or intentionally, not considered the risks. 

"It just seems like, if the system is working, it's a self-limiting problem.  Right?  If the precautions they had in place now were really sufficient - there wouldn't be any more werewolves.  If the protective measures were enough, no one else would get bit.  The curse would eventually die out."  Sasha frowned, slightly, and looked down at the box.  "But, Foley got bit.  Professor Gryefriar got bit.  The Ministry lost one of their own, employed, werewolves for a night and do we really know he didn't bite anyone?  Zel's sister got bit.  Zel got bit.  I almost got gutted.  All those people in March-  Clearly, the restrictions they have now are not sufficient.  But, even so, SAWS thinks werewolves don't have enough freedom." 

Sasha shrugged and looked back towards Fig.  "Or, is the message that people continuing to get infected is simply the price we have to accept for werewolves having equal freedoms?  Is it just on us as individuals to learn to protect ourselves from them?"

Ugh, Figaro hated it when Sasha was right.  And he sounded very right.  But he sounded way different from his other friends, from Olivia and her mom who wrote that book.  Even from Zel who just wanted to be left alone.  It was true though, wasn't it.  If no one else ever got bitten, there'd just never be any more werewolves.  It was so crazy to think about, a world without werewolves. 

He had always trusted that the Ministry did a good job.  Most people were really intimidated by the Werewolf Capture Unit - he remembered when they thought Fauna Blake was a werewolf and how she'd even had to go sit in a cell even though she hadn't done anything wrong.  But if people were still getting bit, they must not be doing it right somehow.  It was hard to imagine the restrictions being even worse then they were now. 

Maybe Sasha was right, though.  Maybe if they'd done it right from the start maybe Ollie and Zel could have had normal lives.

Fig caught Sasha's eye contact and he smiled blandly.  He slid his ever-present chalkboard closer and clicked out a message.[1]

1.	crazy world lot of bad people screwing it up where's Alex?