Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Adi was mentally whacking himself with his cricket bat for loosing control of himself like that. He numbly followed Mr Mcleod and his friends to Botros’s office. He just wanted to disappear. He couldn’t even look at anyone, he was so ashamed of himself. So much for being a student leader. If Hadley got wind of this, what would she think of him?! Adi didn’t want to go there, honestly. She had put so much confidence in him and he just…

When they arrived at the Office, the Hufflepuff shuffled in to stand close to Benny. He wanted… no, needed… to be close to his boyfriend even though he knew that the Lion must be in shock from what he had just seen. In addition to Hadley, Henric, Ilia, Adi knew he had big time disappointed Benny.

And Botros. The seventh year could not stand the surprise laced in old man’s voice. He just remained silent still after McLeod had spoken to vaguely explain the situation and Botros had responded. He couldn’t meet the eyes of the man he had always thought of as Grandpa Botros since his first year so instead he fixated his bespectacled, brown eyes on the wall behind him.

But then Henric happened. He jerked his head towards the other Puff. Botros hadn’t addressed the questions to the students, had he? Adi didn’t want to speak out of turn but he couldn’t let Henric take the blame. Not when it was his own fault. “Professor Headmaster?’’ What? He was accustomed to calling the man that. Anyway, he finally looked the man in the eyes. “I lost control of my anger, the anger which I was keeping in because of how much Henric hurt Ilia. I am just as sorry for my behavior.’’ He cared about his Veela girl a lot but he was going to shut up now. He had spoken even though they hadn’t been given permission to. He would dwell on the fact that he was also shook up that he was capable of PUNCHING someone. Great Hippogriffs… what else was he capable of? The question sent Adi’s heart racing and he felt this great weight on his shoulders.

Out of the corner of his eyes during his thinking, Adi saw the plump figure of Moxley sidle in. The instant he saw her, he wanted to melt into the floor. It was not the expression on her face that made him want to do that but here was someone else to add to his ‘Persons he had Disappointed’ list. He fixated on the interesting wall behind Botros again, his hand closest to Benny reaching for the other boy’s pinky to hook discreetly with his. This was easy given the very close proximity to which he was to him. Please don’t pull away, Benny. This entire situation was killing him and he needed you.