Nicholas squeezed Peyton's hand, trying to be there for him though he had no idea how to.  Just like he'd had no idea what to do with Katy's mum died.[1]  They weren't supposed to have to deal with this kind of thing. That's what parents were for.  Fat lot of good that did them.

And it certainly didn't ruin the date that he hadn't been sure was a date.  Though given that it was their first, it would certainly be a different kind of special now.  But the Ravenclaw had been there for him, so Nicholas was going to do his damnedest to be there for him.  "It's fine, it really is, I mean its not obviously but...."

Nicholas was sure he'd do better if he actually just stuck his foot in his mouth.

"Briar's sister is an Auror, she knows about me, may be the only one, I'm sure she'll tell him."

"I mean't, he'll get the paper, won't he?"  Nicholas explained, surely Peyton's dad got the Prophet.  It seemed like everyone did.  Well he didn't but he still saw it on a regular basis.  "Maybe you should tell Briar or someone else?  Just how many of them are you related to?" 

And there he went again, Nicholas was not doing a very good job at this.  But, he could never keep track of the pureblood families at Hogwarts and surely Peyton could tell at least one of them.  Surely at least one of them would understand.  "I just mean... I don't... you should be with family—be able to be with family."

He took the Prophet and set it to the side after folding it up so that that article wasn't staring them in the face any more. 

1.	A Steel Solemn Sky

Peyton shrugged. Despite the situation, there was still a hint of a smile to his lips. He was thankful that Nicholas was there. He may not have known the best things to say but just being able to talk about it was helping Peyton more than he knew. Not long ago Peyton had been in the same boat, not sure what to say to help his friend but wanting to be helpful all the same. Now it was Nick's turn and the Gryffindor was doing exactly what Peyton needed him to do.

"He doesn't really do the whole Wizard thing anymore." Peyton didn't give any further explanation. Mostly because he didn't have any to give. While he had always been aware of the existence of magic, he father never used it and his mother was a Muggle. They didn't have enchanted things around the house and his father had been more than willing to get hands on with anything he did. Peyton had never questioned it growing up, it was always his version of normal. Even now he didn't know why his father had forsaken all magic but he was pretty sure it had to do with running away from his rich family and first wife.

"Maybe you should tell Briar or someone else?  Just how many of them are you related to?" 

"I'm still trying to figure that out. Berkeley - the one cousin I do talk to - never went into details but gave a rough estimate once when I went to a Christmas party at her place. I think she said something like fifteen of them go to Hogwarts and that doesn't include me and Helena."

He downed the rest of his tea, "I'd rather be here with you, though." He gave another squeeze to the Gryffindor's hand. Trying to track down long lost family wasn't exactly what he had wanted to do with his day. He hadn't even expected to talk about it. He hadn't noticed how much it had been nagging at his mind.

"Wow," was all Nicholas said about the potential number of cousins Peyton had at the school.  It seemed like a crazy number, but there were probably families with more.  Made him thankful for his limited family.  He popped the rest of the small cake into his mouth with his free hand, washing it down with the rest of his tea.  "Well, I'm happy to spend it with you."

And he was, he just wasn't sure what he could do to keep the Ravenclaw's mind elsewhere.  "How are your sugar supplies?  I feel like mine are low for exams.  I think I went through a trunk-full for O.W.L.s.  Unless you just want to hang here all day. Though we will probably have to buy more then." Honeydukes was always a good distraction, especially if they had anything new.

While others may have found it dismissive, Peyton was actually rather pleased that Nicholas wasn't looking to push the subject. it was one of the things it liked about the other teen. Although he was uncertain that he was saying the right thing, he never forced that unsureness into awkwardness or excessive talking. Peyton didn't need any more than what the Gryffindor had offered. He wasn't one to shy aware from tough topics or refuse to talk about his feelings. In this case though it wasn't avoidance, it was more a need to feel acknowledged, and Nicholas was always good at acknowledging him.

"I could definitely use a restock on some Jelly Slugs." He winked and rose to his feet. The tea and pastry had been nice but going for a walk and stretching his legs would certainly help shake off the awkwardness he had been feeling. Not to mention give him time to digest the fact that Nicholas hadn't shied away from him calling this a date. Did that make it official? If it was now, he was certainly going to keep the topics more upbeat.

He exited the shop and moved along the cobblestone street towards Honeydukes, "I feel like I want to buy one of everything in Honeydukes." He smirked, wondering if he could get away with holding the Gryffindor's hand again, "Doubt I'll be allowed to indulge a sweet tooth while training." Peyton had always been in good shape, his only real vice being too many sweets. Thankfully, for now, his teenaged metabolism knew just what to do with the sugar and extra calories. Though it wouldn't be long before each indulgence meant an extra rep during his work out.

Nicholas had mixed feelings about how quickly he'd been able to change the subject.  It seemed like he was cheating his...friend... of the very same opportunities that Peyton had offered him after his ordeal.  Now Nicholas was helping the Ravenclaw avoid things.  Well, Peyton had helped him distract himself, sometimes several times in a single night.

So, he was going to do his part, and he'd be there when the other boy needed to talk.  Or when he didn't.

Nicholas smiled when Peyton stood up, "You would like Jelly Slugs."  He got up and followed the other teen out.  The walk provided a chance to find other distractions.  He doubted sex and alcohol would work as well for Peyton as they had for him. And he'd need to re-stock on the latter if he was going use it.

"I feel like I want to buy one of everything in Honeydukes. Doubt I'll be allowed to indulge a sweet tooth while training."

Nicholas reached over and lightly poked Peyton's stomach, "I think you'll be fine."  He grinned and continued, "I'll smuggle some in to you, that way you have something to burn off."

Peyton nudged him playfully when he teased him about his choice in candy. He had never been a big chocolate fan but give him something jelly any day of the week and he was in heaven. He purposely made a sort of cooing noise when Nicholas poked his belly, even if there wasn't much there to poke.

He gave him a smirk, "Only if you promise to help me burn it off." He let his mind wander. What would it be like once he had made it? He'd be training non stop, even if his coach wasn't telling him to. He'd be making the best of ever opportunity he got, which also included any 'visits' he got as well.

The pair rounded down the main street and into Honeydukes. The smell of the shop always made him smile. He grabbed a basket from the front and started moving through grabbing anything and everything that looked appealing. He wasn't as well off as the rest of his large family tree, given the fact that his father had pretty much been disowned and left for dead but his parents still did well enough that having pocket change for one last trip to Hogsmeade wasn't much of a problem.

He picked up an acid pop, "Ever try one of these?" He spun the green lollipop in his hand, "Never had the guts to." He smirked and put it in his basket anyway, "We had this kid in our house one year, would have been when we were in Third year, first time we could go into Hogsmeade. He came back with a dozen of these, gave them out to any First Year that would take them. I swear the Healer was ready to lock him in the dungeons for the rest of the school year." He chuckled softly, trying to enjoy the nostalgia rather than becoming sad from it.

Nicholas chuckled at Peyton's comment.  "Of course. What else are friends for?"  Then again, if the other teen meant going on a run with him or something, he'd have to pass.  If it was what Nicholas thought he meant, especially with that smirk, well there were a lot of ways to make sure a lot was burned off.

It didn't take them long to get to Honeydukes, even with having to make their way around all the other students in the village.  He grabbed a basket for himself and almost immediately filled it halfway with large chocolate bars and a few chocolate frogs before turning a more discerning eye to the shelves.

"Ever try one of these?"

He looked up to see Peyton holding an acid pop and told a story that he was pretty sure had happened in every house.  He laughed, "I might or might not have done that more than just during my third year."  Though really he'd only been passing on the tradition, since that was how he'd had his first acid pop.

"They do actually taste pretty good at least while you've got tongue to taste it."  He added a couple to his own basket.  He held up some wriggling gummy worms, "I don't know why we have to add magic to everything."  He dropped them into a bag and into his basket despite the fact that he still didn't like how they kept moving even after he'd started chewing.  Unfortunately they also tasted great so he still kept eating them.  Though he had a feeling he'd end up giving most of these to Peyton.

Peyton smirked, "of course you did." Though it was really only recently that the pair had started to get to know each other, Bevans had a bit of a reputation. It was never anything bad but it was well known that the Gryffindor was mischievous and enjoyed doing pretty much whatever came to mind. It certainly didn't surprise Peyton that he would have helped pass along such a tradition.

He continued to fill up his basket. Collecting extras of the sweets he really enjoyed and one of nearly everything he had never tried but always wanted to, "you know it's funny. I always found it weird that there even were magical candies but then a few Spring Breaks ago I visited family in Australia and it just felt weird not to have magical everything."

He examined a box of every flavoured beans, remembering the time Nicholas had tried the ice cream, "Would you ever consider living a muggle life or even with muggles after having magic for so long?" He lived in a relatively magic free house himself. His mother was a muggle and his father didn't perform magic anymore. There was really just him and his sister. She wasn't old enough yet to have the trace removed so that really only left him and whatever magical items they brought home with them during holidays.

"I think it would be interesting. I probably wouldn't go for it right away. Especially with the prospect of playing Quidditch professionally but I think if I ended up falling for a nice muggle bloke or something like that, maybe even a muggleborn wizard I'd try it out."

Nicholas was more selective in his candy choices, though his basket was just as full.  He'd already tried nearly all of it, he was never going to try anything with blood in it, and just picked out handfuls of his favorites.

"No, absolutely not.  I hated not being able to use magic," sure he missed some things, like his iPod.  But magic more than made up for it.  The only thing that made the summers bearable in the beginning were his muggle friends.  And his mum.  But it got harder and harder to explain his school as he and his friends had gotten older.  He'd fallen out of touch with most of them.

"This muggleborn wizard has no intention of going back to life as a muggle. Eleven years was more than enough.  And the summers on top."  He added some more hard candies to the pile in his basket.  "I wouldn't say no to movies or muggle concerts though.  And I prefer an airplane to broom travel if its too far to apparate."

Peyton couldn't help but chuckle. He imagined a lot of muggleborns felt the same way. It was hard to walk away from such a life. Being able to perform magic could be so advantageous, how could you leave it all behind? He secretly wondered if He'd ever have the courage to ask his father how he had done it.

"Definitely would not give up movies." He'd be living with Berkeley in Diagon for a while, he wondered what kind of technology he could sneak into his cousin 's apartment. The place was spacious enough for the two if them but it was rather sparse when it came to any sort of decoration or entertainment. Berkeley was a workaholic, her whole life revolved around being an Auror but she was open to him making himself at home. He wondered if Netflix worked in Diagon.

"So obviously I love riding brooms but yeah planes over apparating any day." He threw a few more sweets in his basket before heading vaguely in the direction of the cash, "or port keys. Those suck." He made a face, "I wonder how Quidditch players travel for big tournaments."

"One giant quidditch team sized broomstick."  Nicholas deadpanned.  He wasn't able to keep a straight face for long though.  "The real question is, can groupie's travel with the team?"  And they'd have to find time between erasing people's memories and quidditch practices to go see a movie. 

He doubted that he'd be able to get any of it to work in the flat.  He certainly wasn't going to take Peyton back to his mum's place.  Wizards seeing a movie was not a good enough reason to introduce the parent.

They approached the front counter with their hauls, and before Peyton could say anything or pull out his own coins, Nicholas had pulled enough sickles out of his pocket to pay for all of the candy. "My treat."

Nicholas made sure the clerk kept their candies separate before turning to the Ravenclaw. "Where to next?"

Peyton chuckled at Nick's deadpan. He wasn't surprised he couldn't keep the straight face for long. Despite it though he was now picturing a comically large broomstick with an entire team saddled upon it. He gave a wide smile, "Oh we definitely need to look into that." If they survived their impending adult lives, Peyton had every intention of dragging Nicholas along to as many games as they could schedule in. On one hand it was fun to think about, on the other hand he wasn't sure how realistic such fantasies were. He supposed they weren't the only 'couple' experiencing this.

He moved to protest when Nicholas treated him, but let the gesture pass. He'd have to make it up to him another time. He had been on a mini shopping spree here and letting Nicholas pay for all of it made him think he shouldn't have grabbed so much. It also sort of helped enforce the notion of this being a 'date' in his mind.

Peyton accepted his bag of sweets and led the Gryffindor out of the shop. Before answering, he cupped the shorter man's cheek in his hand and gave him a kiss. As he pulled away he smirked, "We've got all afternoon, anywhere you want to go."