Stepping through the doors of Hogwarts was like stepping into a different world. Enormous rooms, moving staircases, talkative paintings and milky blueish-white ghosts that lurked throughout the halls often had First Years' eyes bugging out of their skulls. Blaine, even as a Sixth Year, was mesmerized by it all. Flows of black robes that fluttered around student's ankles swarmed through the crowded halls like tumbling black smoke, and it seemed to Blaine that it would be quite easy to get lost amidst the river of young wizards.

“To Headmistress McGonagall's office. You were put into Gryffindor, right?”

Blaine tore his eyes away from the stream of chattering students and nodded at his friend.

“You're going to love it here, Blaine. You'll be happy you transferred here, don't worry,” Taylor shot him a smile. Blaine felt his stomach clench nervously and gave Taylor a queasy smile in return.

Regardless of Taylor's high recommendation and steady praise of his beloved school, Blaine still felt anxious as hell to start his sixth year at the famous castle. But Taylor ran a hand through his blonde hair before he grabbed Blaine's bicep and guided him confidently through the other Hogwarts residents. His sureness gave some comfort to Blaine, and Blaine trustingly followed his best friend down several hallways to a stone gargoyle. “Apple trinkets,” Taylor stated clearly. The gargoyle stepped aside, and Blaine was then dragged up a spiral stone staircase. Soon, they were in a small, circular office. Fat books were sorted neatly into the bookshelves that were built into the walls, surrounding an old wooden desk. A golden light seemingly emanated from the walls, and it made the room look even more magical. Behind the desk sat Minerva McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor House, and the Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was scratching away at a piece of parchment with a quill, its feather a deep and elegant shade of green.

“Sit down, please, boys,” McGonagall said crisply without looking up from her letter.

The two boys sat down in the suprisingly comfortable chairs in front of McGonagall's desk. Blaine stared down at his lap, twisting his robes nervously between his fingers. There was the small sound of McGonagall setting her pen down onto the desk, and then there was silence. A stretching, long silence. The kind of silence that made you shift uncomfortably in your seat while you waited for it to graciously end. Blaine's eyes finally rose from his lap, and he found the Headmistress staring back at him through her small, round glasses.

“I was waiting for you to look up, dear boy,” she clarified. “Ginger newt?” McGonagall gestured simply to the plate of cookies on her desk. Blaine shook his head. His stomach did another nauseous flip. McGonagall offered a small, kind smile. “Hello, Mr. Anderson,” she greeted. “Mr. Clark,” McGonagall nodded to Taylor, “is a Gryffindor as well, so he can show you around the castle and to your dorms.” McGonagall turned to Taylor. “Mr. Clark, I would like you to show Mr. Anderson to his classes on his first day. I'll notify your teachers, just in case you run late while accompanying your friend.”

Taylor nodded. “Okay, Professor.”

“As for you,” McGonagall turned back to face Blaine. She flipped through a few pages of parchment before finding the list of Blaine's classes, “Here is your schedule.” McGonagall leaned over the desk and handed Blaine the paper with a quick smile. “Now off you go. Both of you. Take Blaine to see Madame Pomfrey for some Calming Draught after he gets settled into his dormitory, Clark. He looks a bit ruffled.”

Taylor nodded and stood, as did Blaine. As they filed down the narrow staircase, Blaine whispered into his friend's ear, “She's a bit intimidating, yeah?”

Taylor chuckled. “Sure she is.”

“C'mon Tay, you know I'm not normally this skiddish.”

“Oh yeah,” Taylor smirked, “You've got the true heart of a Gryffindor, Blaine.”

Blaine pouted.

“This,” Taylor stepped through the hole behind the painting of the Fat Lady and into the Gryffindor Commons, “is your new home.”

Bronze and crimson tapestries hung on the walls, giving the Commons a heroic glow that filled up the entire room. A beautiful stone fireplace sat against the far wall. Black leather couches and cozy armchairs circled the fire, occupied by six or seven students who gathered by the hearth to catch up from the previous summer. Taylor began to make his way across the room to a shadowed staircase. Blaine unhooked his gaze from the beautiful paintings that lined the high walls and hurried to fall instep behind his friend.

Taylor opened the door to the Sixth Year dormitories, and immediately there was an uproar of greetings from the other boys. They pulled him into the room, clapping Taylor on the back and pulling him into quick hugs, leaving Blaine to stand sheepishly in the doorway.

“Hey, who's this?” a striking blonde gestured to Blaine.

“This very awkward guy,” Taylor walked over and tugged Blaine into the room, “is my best mate, Blaine Anderson. Blaine, I'd like you to meet Jeff,” Taylor pointed to the blonde, “Nick, his best friend,” he gestured to a dark-haired boy standing next to Jeff, “Trent,” a stocky brunette waved from the back of the room, “David, the Gryffindor Seeker, and Wes, one of our Chasers.”

“Hey, guys...” Blaine gave a gawky little wave before wrapping his arms around his middle. The other boys smiled and nodded to him before returning to the business of unpacking their trunks.

Blaine found his own and chose his bed, heaving his trunk onto the unoccupied bunk with a oink of exertion. After setting into the task of sorting out his books and quills, Blaine felt a hand come to rest gently on his shoulder. Glancing to the side, he saw Taylor peeking at his face, biting his lip.

“Do you want me to take you to the nurse for that Calming Draught? I've never seen you so nervous... You're practically jumping out of your skin, mate.”

Taylor gave him a searching look, and Blaine sighed. His tense shoulders slumped and he gave his friend a soft smile. “I'm fine, Tay. Really. Dalton was just...” Blaine sighed again, “it was my home. My dad was a professor there, so I'd been around that place my whole life. It's just hard to leave it behind, you know?”

Taylor gave Blaine a sad smile. “Yeah. I get you. But, hey,” he rubbed Blaine's shoulder reassuringly, “you'll meet people here. You'll make friends within the day, I'm sure. C'mon,” Taylor grinned a little bit, “You're Blaine fuckin' Anderson. They'll write epics depicting your undying charm and charisma. You have nothing to worry about. You'll settle in just fine. It's not like you can't write Cooper or Ethan or Shane, right?”

Blaine gave a little shrug, feeling a smidgen better. “I guess...” he stared down at his hands for a moment before drawing in a long breath through his nose. “Dining hall?”

Taylor smiled, making the corner of his blue eyes crinkle. He clapped Blaine heavily on the back. “Dining hall.”

“Is-is that the ceiling, or... is that the sky?”

Taylor laughed. “It's charmed, Blaine. It shows the sky outside.”

Blaine made a small sound of wonder as he continued to stare up at the enchanted ceiling like a child trying to count stars. Taylor shouted across the hall to Jeff, who was flailing his arms broadly over his head to flag down the two boys. “This is the Gryffindor table.”

Ultimately, Blaine was shoved in between Taylor and a red-headed and thoroughly freckled Third Year, who blushed brightly when Blaine smiled down at her. Looking down the long table, Blaine noticed a few students he saw in the Common area back in Gryffindor Tower. Looking down the other way, he saw Nick making Jeff choke on his pumpkin juice as he snorted a pasta noodle until it poked out his other nostril. Then he began pulling on each end, going cross-eyed. Blaine scrunched up his nose in dislike. That can't be good for your nose...

From across the table, Blaine heard a soft scoff of disgust. He looked up. A creamy-skinned, lithe brunette with perfectly styled hair was mirroring Blaine's face, scrunching up his nose cutely. The boy shook his head and made another face before going back to nibbling at his own food. He bit his bottom lip as he twirled some pasta around his fork, and Blaine blushed as he felt himself staring. Trying to quickly look down at his own plate, he coughed awkwardly. That only made the boy in front of him look up. His eyes were a pale, brilliant blue. Grey struck through the irises like the sky on a day that wasn't quite cloudless. They flickered across Blaine's face briefly before settling back onto his hazel eyes. Something lit up inside Blaine's stomach when the boy locked gazes with him once again, making a warm, tingly feeling spread through his chest.

Blaine swallowed thickly and prepared to open his mouth to introduce himself, but Headmistress McGonagall drew everyone's attention to the front of the hall with a call for silence.

“Welcome, students, to another year at Hogwarts. For some of you, it may be your first, and to you, I would like to offer you our hospitality and assistance. First and foremost, I wish to tell each new student that the Forbidden Forest is absolutely off limits to all, unless accompanied by a teacher. Also, the use of magic in the halls is not tolerated by...”

After the long introductory speech, the young witches and wizards launched back into their chatter and feasting. Even as Blaine tried to get into the conversation Taylor attempted to drag him into, his thoughts and his eyes kept wandering back to boy across the table. After several disguised peeks at the quiet boy, Blaine noticed his blue and silver tie. If he belonged to Ravenclaw House, why was he sitting with the Gryffindors?

The Ravenclaw murmured something to the boy sitting next to him, a tan, brown-eyed teenager with very short brown hair that flipped skyward in the front, like he constantly carded his fingers through his hair. He nodded and smiled, and the blue-eyed Ravenclaw stood, kissing him on the cheek. The tan boy caught his wrist as he attempted to walk away, bringing him back. The Ravenclaw rolled his eyes and grinned, leaning down to place a firm kiss on the other boy's lips. They shared a brief, private smile before Beautiful-Blue-Eyed-Ravenclaw-Boy walked back to join the rest of the students in his house.

Blaine leaned over and tapped Taylor on the shoulder. “Hey, Tay?”

Taylor looked back to Blaine, stifling a laugh caused by an idiotic joke that David told moments before. “Yeah, B?”

“Who's that guy?” Blaine jerked his head in the direction of the short-haired Gryffindor across from him.

“Him? That's Nathan Burke.” Nathan was attempting to lick of the remanence of pumpkin juice off of his upperlip, not looking particularly intelligent. “He's the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.” Taylor glared, “He's also the dumbest twat you'll ever meet. He's, uh, dating Kurt Hummel.”

Blaine furrowed his brow. “Kurt Hummel?”

“Yeah,” Taylor half-sighed. “Tall, beautiful eyes, perfect hair... Nice arse, I have to add.”

“Is he in Gryffindor?” Blaine asked, feeling everything start to slip into place.

“Nope. Sadly, that gorgeous boy was sorted into Ravenclaw... I only have Potions with him, and jesus, he's the smartest-” Taylor sighed and shook his head. “But he never even notices me.”

“So,” Blaine said slowly, “Kurt Hummel is the guy you keep telling me about?”

Taylor nodded.

“Hey, Clark!” Someone across the table shouted in a thick, authentic Scottish accent.

Taylor looked up, annoyed. “What, Burke.”

Burke smirked. “I heard you're planning on trying out for the team this year.”

Immediately, a blush crawled up Taylor's neck. “M-Maybe. I practiced a lot this summer. You might just be surprised at how easily I'll be able to kick everyone's arses during tryouts.”

It wasn't a secret that Taylor was rubbish at Quidditch. Blaine actually felt a little sorry for him. Taylor loved the sport to death; he was a die-hard fan of the Tornadoes. But he just couldn't fly gracefully, no matter how hard he tried. It was true though, he had been practicing that summer, so Blaine wasn't sure if his friend had actually improved or if he was just talking himself up. Blaine, sadly, guessed the latter.

Burke laughed, and then stood from the table with a group of athletic-looking boys. “I'll believe the impossible when I see it, Clark.”

Taylor fumed, glowering at Burke as he walked away, laughing obnoxiously with his group of friends.

“Hey,” Blaine laid his hand on Taylor's arm, “C'mon. Let's go back to the Commons and play some wizard chess, yeah?”

His friend glared after Nathan fiercely as he walked over to the Ravenclaw table, smacking an obscene kiss on Kurt's lips. Eventually, Taylor nodded. “Okay.”

The walk back to Gryffindor Tower was short and quiet. The halls were shadowed in grey, while the sky outside was a dark blue. It vaguely reminded Blaine of his uniform back at Dalton.

“So...” he said, after a long silence. “You really like that Kurt guy, huh?”

Taylor shrugged. “Yeah. I have for a while. And I really... I really don't think Burke deserves him. It just pisses me off whenever I see them together,” he sulked.

“Plenty fish in the sea, when a door closes a window opens, etcetera etcetera...” Blaine grinned, earning a smile from his friend.

They continued to walk in silence until they reached the nearly deserted common room. The dorms were empty and dark, and as the two stepped inside, Taylor yawned.

“I think,” he said, his voice distorted from the yawn, “that I'm just gonna go to bed, actually.” Taylor looked up at Blaine, who was getting his pajamas out of his trunk. “I hope you don't mind.”

“No,” Blaine held up his nightshirt with a smile, “I'll just call it a day, too. I'm beat. Anxiety really takes it out of you, I don't know how some people do it, honestly.”

Taylor laughed and changed into his pajamas as well. Once he was in his PJ's, Blaine crawled into bed and curled up under the comfortable cherry-colored blankets.

The room fell silent, and Blaine was reminded of the sleepovers he used to have with Taylor when they were younger. It was a certain silence that was very easily to listen to, but it just begged to be broken. Really, Blaine mused, it wasn't silence after all. The quiet was really just filled with thoughts instead of spoken words.

“... Blaine?” Of course, silence was made to be broken.

“Yeah?”

Taylor paused. “Nevermind.” Momentarily, quiet fell again. “I'm glad that you relaxed so much at the feast. You looked normal again. It was worrying me for a bit, the rate that you were freaking out.”

“I wasn't freaking out,” Blaine scoffed, “I was just... tense. But,” Blaine's thoughts flickered back to the boy across the table, Kurt, “I think I'll be alright here.”

“Yeah?” The blankets rustled as Taylor turned over to peek though the bronze hangings around his bed at Blaine.

Blaine looked back to his friend and smiled. “Yeah.”

Taylor returned his smile. Then, he took off his glasses and set them on his nightstand. “Goodnight, Blaine.” Taylor drew the hangings closed and rolled over.

“G'night, Tay.”

Today had been a little rough on Blaine. He was officially leaving his friends, his brother Cooper, and the rest of his family behind to study at Hogwarts. But, Blaine doubted he would ever be able to go back to Dalton. It just wasn't something he could... handle. But, Hogwarts was... Hogwarts was okay. It was big and old, and certainly different from what he was used to, but Blaine could manage. He could adapt. And, who knows, he might actually survive his classes the following day.