Another letter from his mother, man, he was sick and tired of getting letters admonishing him for not studying as much as his brother.  His lame, always-in-the-library, little brother.  It was degrading that your parents wanted you to act like a younger sibling.  Besides, he passed all of his classes with a decent grade, they should of been happy with that.  He wasn't a slacker, but he didn't use every spare minute to study like Gideon did.

Trystan walked briskly through the Great Hall after finishing off an apple and roughly pushed open the double doors that led outside and headed towards the lake.  Maybe here he could calm himself down before he did something stupid, it wasn't every day he wanted to knock his brother's head in, but this was one of those days.  If Gideon had been stupid enough to follow him, then Trystan would no doubt end up in huge trouble for beating the snot out of the little twerp.

He stopped at the edge of the lake, pacing back and forth and cursing his parents for ever wanting another child.  Trystan was hoping in the back of his mind that no one would come across him in the mood he was in, he didn't want to think of what that could do to his already rising temper.  He crumpled the letter that he still held in his left hand and tossed it into the lake.  'Why did I get my father's temper?' he asked the silence around him.  Now all he had to do was stay away from everyone until he calmed down, it wouldn't be good if he hexed someone innocent because he was ticked off at his brother.

Gideon smiled behind his book as he watched his brother storm out of the Great Hall, letter in hand.  It pleased him greatly that he managed to tick off his otherwise calm brother.  Part of him wanted to follow Trystan outside, but the sensible part of him knew he needed to let him calm down before he taunted him.

Gideon absolutely loved that his parents wanted Trystan to be more like him.  That had to be the worst insult on the planet, for your parents to want you to act like your younger sibling, there was kind a perverse glee to be found from that - in Gideon's eyes. He turned back to his Potions book and began to look over the ingredient list for Polyjuice potion again.  He doubted he'd ever need that knowledge, but then again, it never hurt to be careful.

Gideon briefly wondered if his brother had hexed or jinxed anyone yet, that would be perfect.  He could imagine Trystan's face now when the howlers came - one from each of their parents - exclaiming that he should of controlled his temper better because he was meant to be a role model to Gideon, and it would be easier if his grades improved.  That had happened on more than one occasion, Trystan getting a detention and the howler ending on how he could be so much better if he just studied like his younger brother.  Gideon smiled as he took a chocolate frog out of his pocket, unwrapped it and ate it without taking his eyes off of his book.  He'd hear about it soon enough if anything happened, no sense in rushing outside now.

Erin didn't smoke often. The taste alone was enough to put him in a mood, lingering on his fingertips, bitter ash like the taste of Razzy's mouth. He'd palmed a cigarette maybe three times in his life before the other boy had come along. He'd thought he was so bad. But Razzy had made it seem normal, something one did to relax, and Erin needed a lot of relaxing lately. The stupid captain position was simultaneously the best and worst thing of his life. Maybe it should've been enough, but it wasn't. He still wanted to fight. He felt the burn in his blood all the time. But Razzy was gone, and so Erin couldn't even kick his arse to feel better about things.

He inhaled slowly, staring out over the mirrored lake. The Erin who would have choked on a lungful of smoke was long gone. Now, if not for the memories attached to the act, it would be almost... peaceful.

The tranquility of the moment was shattered by some bloke stomping down past Erin's hidey-hollow cursing like he had a naughty niffler in his pocket. "Shite," Erin muttered, fumbling the fag. He ground it into the icy sand with one foot, but the other student wasn't paying any attention to him. He narrowed his eyes at Trystan's fuming back. Some older student, Ravenclaw by the robes, muttering to himself and throwing a piece of parchment in the lake. Well, Erin'd been here first. It might be blazing cold but he wasn't leaving just 'cos some other bloke wanted to pitch a fit in peace. Join the club!

"What'd you do, come in second?" he asked sarcastically, trudging closer.