Hogwarts

((Alright that sounds good.))

The Great Hall looked as gorgeous as ever. Alice was smiling as she gazed around the massive room, even staring at the ceiling for a good while because the clouds were swirling softly across the ceiling. It never ceased to amaze her.

------------

Jay didnt mention his OWLS. He'd gotten one more than Bane and hjs brother had griped about it for a good week and a half, which was enough to make Jay not want to talk about it anymore. It was just enough for Jay to get into all the classes he wanted this term, though he was still bouncing around with his career options.

As the carriage pulled to a stop and they parted ways at the Great Hall, Jay tossed his brother a rare, charismatic smile. It was one of those moments that if you didn't know the twins well, you'd confuse one for the other.
"Do I ever let you down?" Jay asked, clamping a hand on his brother's shoulder strongly. He grinned reassuringly before taking off to join his house mates at the Hufflepuff table.

------

"Jay Zabini." Alice said. Jay was halfway through his dinner when he looked up to find Alice Lovegood sitting across the way. "I didnt think you were found of the pumpkin pie." She added teasingly.
"No that's my brother." Jay said with an easy smile. It was nice to see the young girl. She was bright and quirky and had helped Jay through his Charms lessons last term. They had become good friends over the year.
"Speaking of, I should go say hello to the devil." Alice chuckled, swinging her feet off the edge of the bench. Jay only laughed because he'd yet to figure how Alice could move about to the tables without being caught.



"Passing the pudding would you?" Alice asked Bane effortlessly as she sat down in tbe empty seat at his right. She filled her plate with desserts but the pudding was just out of her reach.

Bane offered Jay a soft smile before his face hardened and he went off to join Fred at the Gryffindor table. Shaking his head, he settled next to his best friend and let himself get swept up in Headmistress McGonagall's speech and the sorting hats song.

When someone spoke across from him, his head shot up in surprise.
"Oh yea sure" He said, passing Alice the pudding. He wasn't eating desert, he tended to avoided anything that could cause him to gain weight. Only Jay knew how much anxiety Bane experienced about his appearance and his weight. It came from modeling for their mother on occasion and being surrounded by that industry, now Bane suffered from it but he didn't let on that he did. Especially since he was leaning towards modeling as a career, since he'd already been semi-successful in the industry.

Scorpius sighed and pushed his food around on his plate. As much as he loved Hogwarts the first night back he was always a bit homesick during.
"You okay?" Vince asked his friend curiously.
"Yea fine" Scorp grinned, though his Malfoy mask was firmly in place. He may not be a cutthroat person but he was a Slytherin and he was a Malfoy and he very much kept himself closed off.
"Homesick?" Vince guessed, keeping his voice low so no one overheard.
"A bit, its weird being away from my family now, after...after Mum" Scorpius replied, pushing his food away as the Headmistress made her final speech and dismissed the students. Reminding them that classes started bright and early in the morning.

Alice chuckled as Bane passed her the dessert and she ate in earnest. "Had a pleasent summer I hope?" She asked, tilting her head curiously as she watched Bane somewhat intently. His gaze seemed distant though as he listened to the Headmistress, speech. As they were dismissed, Alice merely sighed and gave Bane a light smile.

As she walked past Jay, she gave the boy a hard thumb on his shoulder. "Buckle up Jay. Its gonna be one of those years." She said vaguely and ot left Jay blinking in confusion as the girl skipped off to join the rest of the Ravenclaws for the evening.

The night passed in a blurr of games, stories and sweets that parents had snuck away in their childrens trunks. Somr of the cirst years gawked around the common room and made friends with second years. Jay found himself exhausted before midnight, despite it being the first night back at Hogwarts and he turned in early.

-----

"I saw you sneaking around the tables again." Alice glanced up from her Quibbler and raised an eyebrow curiously at the prefect in front of her.
"Then I congratulate you on being so observant." Alice said with an easy smile. She vaguely knew the girl, but for some reason she couldn't remember her name. The bright bage she was proudly displaying was Alice's only indication of who the girl was.
"Just a word of warning that Students are to stay with their respective houses during meals." Alice tilted her head gently, wondering why the girl was choosing to chide her now that they were back in the tower rather than when they were down in the hall.
"Forgive me. I'll try to be more descrete." Alice said with a pleasent smile. There was a subtle crash in the background and Alice was left for the more pressing matter. Yawning, Alice decided it better to turn in for the night. She had potions first thing in the morning and she didnt want to be late or groggy in the morning.

Bane glanced at Alice again, "It was alright" He offered, watching the girl head off towards her own table but not before she spoke to his brother. Furrowing his brow, he turned his attention back to Fred ignoring his friend's concerned gazed.
"You okay?" Fred asked as they walked up the staircase to Gryffindor Common Room.
"Yea just tired I guess" Bane said, rubbing a hand through his hair as a prefect (Rose) spoke the password and they flooded into the room.
"Going straight up then?" Fred asked as James Potter came bouncing over to them.
"Yea I think so" Bane said grinning at his friends to show that he was okay before he headed up to their shared dorm.

---

Morning came far to soon for many students at Hogwarts who had spent the night catching up with friends instead of sleeping. Scorpius was not one of them, but the blond had never been a morning person, much to the amusement of Vince and Cale Nott, his two best friends.

---

Bane leaned against the wall, staring into the hall while he waited for Jay. His anti-social behaviour last night had left his friends concerned and sneaking away this morning hadn't been easy.
The tall, green-eyed teen rubbed a hand over his face. He was shockingly tired, having tossed and turned all night though he really had no idea why. The summer had been harder on him then he had let on, what with modeling for their mother and beginning to grow concerned about his weight and his looks. He had spent an ton of time working out, shaping his body and he was worried that being back at school would ruin all the work he'd done this summer.

Noticing his twin, he broke into a small grin, "Hey" He greeted Jay, bumping his shoulder with practiced familiarity.
"Morning" He said, letting his head fall onto his twin's shoulder. It was only around Jay that Bane relaxed, let his more fulnerable self come though. The minute anyone else showed up he was back to being the mean, conniving, confident Gryffindor who took pleasure in pranks.

"Potions, potions, potions." Alice was muttering to herself as she packed her bag with the nessacary books. "You behave today Jinx!" Alice scowlded and she was pretry sure her cat melwed back a sarcastic remark. She would make note of that later. Tossing her wildly curling brown hair into a bun, and grabbing her bag tighter on her shoulder, and she ran from the room.

She was down in the potions room in record tine for her, and the professor hadn't started class just yet so she sat for a minute, just catching her breath.

------------

Jay was a bit disheveled when he left the Hifflepuff common room. He had tied his tie loosely and it was hanging around his shirt which wasnt completely buttoned. He schedule was clamped between his teeth as he lulled his cloak over his shoulders. Seeing Bane resting against the wall, Jay stopped cold in his tracks.

Something was wrong. He could just tell. And when he stood in front of his twin his gaze was a little more intense then he meant and when Bane let his head loll against his shoulder that was the last signal he needed.
"Did you eat dinner last night?" Jay asked, pushing against Bane's shoulder so he was forced to face Jay.
Jay's gaze was flickering between Bane's eyes and he saw the exhaustion and he sighed.

(Grr crumy post. I'm not home yet. I'll fix it when I am....))

OOC: No worries =]

BIC:
Scorpius sighed as he headed towards the Transfiguration classroom. He wasn't looking forward to this class, he wasn't bad at transfiguration or anything, he just wasn't to fond of the Professor. Hermione Granger-Weasley, one of the heros of the war, and also a staunch supporter of all things light. She had a bias view against Slytherins and all things Malfoy, same as her husband. She tried not to show it, but it tended to crop up in little things she said or the way she looked at him.

"Another fun class" Vince said with a laugh as he and Cale took seats on either side of the Slytherin Prince, that was one thing that hadn't changed, Malfoys were and always would be the leaders of Slytherin house.
"For sure, wonder how many points she'll dock" Cale said as they waited for the teature to get begin.

----

"Huh?" Bane asked, arching an eyebrow at Jay.
"Yea I had dinner" He said, rolling his eyes. "M'fine Jay, just exhausted" Bane added, stepping away from his twin. "Don't worry so much" He added teasingly. He felt better now, seeing his twin, but he also didn't want his brother worrying about him or his eating habits. "I have to get to class, I have transfiguration with the Slyths this morning" He added with a groan.

"See you at lunch" He called, shouldering his book bag as he headed back upstairs. He had completely skipped breakfast, but he just wasn't hungry. Besides he had a water bottle in his bag which would be enough until lunch time. He was sure of it.

((phew....finally settled back in my dorm lol))

Jay clenched his jaw as soon as Ban'es playfully arrogant demeanor came back. He didn't say anything against his brother, despite the fact that Bane had circles under his eyes. Jay took a deep breath and nodded gently as Bane said not to worry; yea, like that was going to happen. One of these days, Jay was going to have to knock some sense into his brother....

"Ya. I'll meet you here for Lunch." He said, making a mental note to make sure that his twin actually ate his lunch. If Bane thought he'd skin by this summer with no one noticing that he skipped a few meals in order to work out, and nearly faitned once because he hadn't eaten in over twelve hours, but passed it off as not sleeping, he was seriously twisted in the head. Jay noticed everything, and he knew it was because of their Mother and her fashionista ways. It was another reason why Jay was excited for the year to begin. He'd hoped that getting Bane out of the house away from all the modeling rubbish would set his mind straight again and he wouldn't fuss so much about how he looked.

He turned to head down the hallway towards his Charms class as these thoughts rolled around in his mind. It was only their first day back...hopefully with time, Bane would get better, and Jay wouldn't have to go behind his brother's back and tell Fred his problems to make sure the damn bloke would eat his meals. At least for lunch they could eat together....and Jay made a note to wake up early tomorrow for breakfast.

-----------

Potions class went smoothly, and the next class of Alice's day was Advance Transfiguration. She bumped into Jay as she turned the corner towards the classroom, and they both laughed as Jay helped her pick up the books she'd dropped.
"A little light-headed today?" Jay questioned and Alice rolled her eyes.
"It's easy to be light-headed when you're mind is full of ideas that make it wander. Like just not I was contemplating the different vocal demographics between dogs and cats and wondering if they same applies to owls." Alice rambled, but she knew she lost Jay after the word contemplating. Jay nodded to be polite and Alice giggled as she walked into the classroom.

They sat next to each other and Alice noticed the way he tapped his quill rapidly against his parchment, not always making marks, but always scratching.
"If you do that long enough you'll probably develop a new form of Morse-code..." Alice commented and Jay instantly stopped fidgeting. "Rough morning?" Alice translated and Jay shrugged.
"I'm got Charms first thing." He admitted.
"I moved up to Advanced. But I can still help you in the evenings." Alice offered and Jay actually smiled softly.
"That'd be great."

Transfiguration went by quickly despite the class being at least an hour long. Jay was excited to start learning the beginning steps of becoming an animagus. After the class was over, he had a break before lunch. So did Alice, so they sat in the Great Hall while food was being ferried out across the tables and Jay showed her his Charms notes.
More and more students were piling in for lunch, and Jay became more concerned with finding his twin then the lesson Alice was attempting to give him.

Bane made it to the Transfiguration classroom in record time, claiming a seat next next to Fred, he offered his friend a wane smile.
As soon as class began, his mind drifted off, his anxiety skyrocketing at the prospect of having to eat lunch in a few short hours. If Fred noticed his absentmindedness his friend said nothing but dutifully took notes for the pair of them.

"Something wrong with Zabini?" Cale asked, watching Bane curiously for a moment.
"Huh?" Scorp's head popped up and he looked over to where the Gryffindor was sittin in the classroom.
"Dunno, maybe he's just tired" He said with a shrug, the other teen did look tired, he had rather dark circles under his eyes and it was clear he wasn't paying attention to the lesson at all.

Finally they were released, a double transfiguration period meant that the sixth year students all had lunch next.

Gnawing his lip, Bane followed Fred towards the Great Hall, his steps getting heavier and heavier as he approached.
"You okay?" Fred asked for the tenth time as they neared the doors.
"M'fine, tired" Bane said as they settled at Gryffindor table, immediately surrounded by friends and others.
Fred gave Bane a skeptical look but nodded all the same. "Well eat something we have Charms next" He admonished softly, watching Bane put some salad and a tiny piece of chicken on his plate. The red headed teen resolved to talk to Jay, see what the hell was going on with his best friend.

Jay tapped his knuckles against the table as his gaze wandered towards the door of the Great Hall, scanning back and forth.
"I take it that's a yes?" He heard Alice ask him with a pitch to his arm.
"What?" Jay asked, finally drawing his gaze back to his friend. She was resting her chin in her hand, glaring at Jay with a firery curisoity.
"Hmm...Bane just walked in, he's over at the Gryffindor table, should we go say hello?" Alice asked, already gathering up her books and Jay's notes. Jay whipped his head around to find that Alice was right, and his brother was just now sitting at the table. By the time they got their books together and wandered over the table was practically full.

They managed seats though, because Rose shoved someone aside gently so that Jay could sit across from his brother and Alice could sit next to Rose. The two girls struck up a conversation instantly and Jay grabbed a grilled-cheese from a floating tray. He noticed that his brother had nothing but a salad and a few pieces of chicken, but he was honestly grateful. So long as Bane ate, he was content.
"How's double-block with Granger?" Jay asked, just to make conversation. He'd had that block last term and even though he loved it, he knew the professor could get a bit off track.

"What's your schedule for the rest of the day?" Alice piped in, leaning over to look at Fred then Bane and Jay. "I've got Herbology with Professor Longbottom." she offered.

Bane's head popped up in surprise as Jay sat down opposite him.
"Umm..." He trailed off, glancing at Fred.
"It was alright, but you know how Aunt Hermione is" The red head replied with a shrug. "Looks to be a good year though, sounds like we're going to start working on animagus transformations, so that should be fun" He said with a grin. Bane smiled thankfully at his friend.
"Promise to pay attention in our next class" He vowed with a small smile.

Glancing at Jay, Bane wrinkled his nose slightly at his brother's food but didn't comment. Cheese and bread, so much carbs. Shuddering, he nibbled on some chicken before glancing at Alice as she spoke.
"We've got charms. Herbology should be good, Longbottom's a good teacher" He offered, "I think we're with the Slytherins again as well" He mused, glancing at Fred who nodded.
"When is Gryffindor not paired with Slytherin for a class?"
"Fair point" The dark haired teen chuckled.

----

Scorpius smiled, a slight spring in his step as he walked down the many steps that led to the owlery. He had just finished sending a letter off to his father (and grandparents) with his eagle owl Hercules. The lovely bird had been a present from his Grandparents when he had recieved his acceptance letter to Hogwarts and he loved the damn bird. He was an ornery jerk sometimes, but he reminded Scorpius of home.
Walking into the Great Hall with plans of grabbing a quick lunch before Charms class, he wasn't at all expecting to be bowled down by one Bane Zabini as the dark haired teen bolted from the Gryffindor table and sprinted from the Hall, a hand clamped over his mouth.
"Oh shit" He heard Fred Weasley call before the teen hurried over to help him up.

"What the hell was that?" Scorpius asked, accepting Fred's hand.
"No idea, he was fine one minute, talking about Charms and the next..." Fred trailed off, a frown marring his features.
"Maybe he was sick?" Scorpius suggested but it sounded weak even to his own ears. Something was wrong with Bane Zabini, even he could see that.

OOC: Poor Bane, XD some drama to get everyone together since Scorps sort of left out at the moment.

Jay tapped his glass of water as he listened. When Fred started talking about the class rather than Bane, he realized his brother hadn't payed attention at all during the class. That was two strikes. Jay swallowed another bit of his sandwhich while Alice asked about everyone's class. It seemed that they were all scattered across the board this year. Jay had potions class after lunch. He was about to answer Alice when a sickening feeling hit his gut. The next thing he knew, his brother was high-tailing it out of the hall.
"Shit." Jay cursed, which was so rare for the timid twin that Rose actually gasped loudly, watching as the twin bolted after his brother. Fred was two steps ahead of Jay, which was probably good since he would have ran straight into Scropius.

He huffed a sigh, seeing that his brother went straight to the corridor bathroom. "Damn." Jay muttered again, his heart pounding in his chest as he heard Fred and Scrops talking behind him.

"Yea...probably just something in the greens." Jay said when Scrops suggested that Bane was sick. "Stay away from the salads for lunch." He added, before ducking into the bathroom after his brother. There were a few kids lingering about and Jay nodded stiffly to them. As they hurried out, Jay wandered down to the stalls where he could hear his brother wrenching up was little he'd eaten.
Clenching his fists, Jay leaned against the sink and waited, patient and silent, for his brother to step out.

Alice showed up next to Fred a second or two after Jay had wandered into the bathroom.
"He was looking awfully pale all morning." She mused. "Even last night at dinner." She added, looking pointedly at Fred, wondering if he understood what was happening.
"Hey Scropius. Having a good day of class?" She asked casually, giving the blond a small smile.

"So far so good" Scorpius said, watching Fred and Jay take off before turning his attention to Alice.
"Learning about animagus transformations in Transfiguration, so thats exciting. I hope I can manage the transformation, my Dad can" He said, smiling at the girl.
"What about you? Happy to be back?" He actually didn't mind the Ravenclaw girl in the least.
"Saw your article in The Quibbler by the way, very good" He grinned, "My Grandmother has a cat" He added, continuing the conversation though he was dying to know what was going on with the Zabini twins, Bane especially.
He walked with Alice towards the Slytherin table, he still needed to grab something to eat before class.

----

Bane groaned, resting his head against the stall door and rubbed his aching stomach. He breathed deeply through his nose, trying to quell the sickness coursing through his body. He knew Fred and Jay were probably waiting for him outside and he so didn't want to deal with that right now. He knew his friend and twin were worried about him, Jay probably way more then Fred, since Fred had no clue what was going on.

Finally after a few heart wrenching moments, he rose on shaky limbs and opened the door. He grinned thankfully when Fred passed him his water bottle, which he quickly used to wash out his mouth before casting a breath freshening charm on himself. He didn't say anything, just focused on the tasks at hand, to scared to even look at Jay since he knew what he'd see.
"So..." Fred trailed off, "Want to tell us what that was about?" He asked, sounding remarkably like his grandmother in that moment.
"Nothing" Bane said, "Just must have eaten something that didn't agree with me" Which was the truth, but it was more that food didn't agree with him. He'd eaten to much and overwhelmed his system.
Fred snorted in disbelief, "It was salad and chicken, not much to disagree with there" He said quietly.
"M'fine Fred, really" Bane said, giving his friend a pleading look. Fred sighed, "I know you're not, but I'll leave you alone for now. See you in class yea? Or maybe you should go lie down in the hospital wing"
Bane wrinkled his nose, "See you in class" He told his friend sternly, he wasn't going to the hospital wing. Besides, he was just doing what his mother had told him to do. She was the one who told him if he wanted to model he had to drop a few pounds. He had never thought of himself as fat until this last summer. But that had changed after his first shoot with her when all she had talked about was his weight.

Alice smiled as Scorpius actually turned his attention to her and joined in heartedly to the conversation. When he brought up her article, her face flushed for half a moment and she laughed quietly.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm hoping to do more work this summer again. Maybe with dogs and then owls." Alice said.

"Jay and I have Transfigures right after you and we're starting animagus training this week." Alice said with a nod of agreement. "And I have Herbology next with Professor Longbottom then Divination, which I hear it quick tricky if you don't have the right colored eyes. Mine are brown so I don't think I'll do as well as the blue and green-eyed girls in the class." Alice said, not even really noticing that they were walking back into the hall towards the Slytherin table. Not that anyone would mind really. After the past four years, Alice had gained a reputation of being a wanderer. She seemed to have at least one friend at every table that she visited all throughout the day, and especially during meal times.

----------

Jay kept his jaw clenched as Fred decided to grill his brother with questions. Which only reaffirmed his note to tell Fred everything that had gone on this summer. Fred would be spending more time with Bane than he was, unfortunately, so Fred was going to be another pair of eyes on Bane for this term.

They were alone in the bathroom once Fred left. Jay took a deep breath and stepped around to block his brother from running from the bathroom.
"We're not home." He told Bane. "This isn't a fashion show, this is Hogwarts. I'm not mad at you." He added quickly. "I just don't want you passing out again because you're too proud to eat one bloody meal. I know what Mum said to you over the summer." He followed up with, glancing down at the sinks before back up at his twin. "And she's completely bonkers for saying it. If you want to loose weight, then fine. But don't do it this way Bane...." Jay sighed, voice deep with concern for his twin and nothing else. "Do it the right way. Eat healthy. Exercise every day. This is going to make you sick."

Scorpius smiled as he seated himself at the table. There was nothing quite like talking to Alice Lovegood.
"Ah very cool, you're in fifth year though aren't you?' He asked, wondering how she had classes with Jay who was a sixth year, unless of course she was a more advanced student and had been moved up a grade, he knew that tended to happen with some Ravenclaws.

Grabbing something to eat, he quickly began to eat, knowing they didn't have a lot of time before class.
"I never took Divination, seemed like a waste of time, or at least it sounded liked it according to my Dad. I took Ancient Ruins and Arithmacy" He said with a smile. "I never heard anything about eye colour influencing how you do in the class though, but who knows" He added, looking thoughtful. His parents would have strangled him if he had taken Divination, it was supposed to be a very easy class, and easy grade but also essentially useless unless you were already a gifted seer.

----

Bane stared at his twin for a moment, jaw clenching while he breathed through his nose to calm himself.
"I'm fine Jay, Mum knew what she was talking about" He added, "I just ate something that disagreed with me" He said taking another swallow of water.
"I'm not doing anything wrong" He said with a frown, "I eat well enough, I eat what I'm supposed to. I-" He cut off sharply, shaking his head.

"I know you're worried" He added, "But I really am fine, I'll take nutrients potions if that makes you feel better" The potions would help, plus they didn't have calories in them so they were a bonus as far as he was concerned.
"I have to get to class though, I'll see you at dinner and then maybe we can head to the library together or the pitch?" He offered, looking at his brother pleadingly. He didn't want Jay worried about him, he was fine! He was just doing what he was supposed to. This is what models did! Shaking his head, he headed towards his classroom, glancing back at Jay one last time before disappearing around the corner and down the hall towards the Charms classroom.

Alice chuckled, munching on a few crackers as Scorpius questioned here. "Yes I'm a Fifth year. But I bumped up my class levels in my thrid year because I started getting bored enough in class to make up my own spells. You remember the blizzard in Charms classroom your fifth year right?" Alice asked, her eyes dancing at the memory. That spell had been way more powerful than Alice had meant for it to be. She'd wanted flurries, and instead she'd gotten a blizzard that left snow in the room for days.
"So yes, some classes I have with six years and other classes I have with fifth years." Alice explained. "Oh! Ancient Ruins sounds fascinating! I want to take that class...maybe next year..." Alice sighed.

"Oh yes the eye colors play a role just as other genes are more apt for divination than others. You'll find that most seerers tend to have lighter colored eyes." Alice half rambled with a quick nod. "Mum did an article about it once for the Quibbler. I can't remember all the details right now." She sighed.
"But I need to be off. A long walk to the Greenhouse." She added with a small laugh.
"I'll see you late." Alice added, tossing Scorpius a smile and then dashing off out of the hall.

-------------

Jay clenched his jaw to stop himself from speaking while Bane went on his little tyrant. He let it be, for now, because something worried him. Bane actually believe what he was saying; Bane believed that something must have disagreed with him, that he was doing the right thing. This was going to take a little longer to work into Bane's stubborn head that Jay thought.

He didn't say anything to his brother. If there was one thing that would make Bane listen, it was Jay's silence. Jay was timid and shy to people he didn't know. But never with his brother until Jay was upset with his twin. So Jay remained silent and watched as he walked around him, back out of the bathroom. Jay's hands clenched at the sink until his knuckles turned white.

He took a deep breath before leaving the bathroom as well. Rose was waiting across the hall from the bathroom, Jay's bag in her arms and her books stacked on the floor next to her. Jay frowned as she handed him his bag and picked up his.
"Thanks..." He murmured gently.
"Fred wants to talk to you later."
"About Bane? Yea. Me too. Let him know I'll be in the library after my last class. If he can't make it I'll try to meet him at the pitch." Jay answered shortly. Rose only nodded in agreement, concern clear in her face and she hurried off to her class while Jay went to his.

Scorps grinned and waved goodbye to Alice. Grabbing an apple, he headed off to Charms class with a happy grin on his face.

As the day drew to a clothes, Bane headed up to his dorm room to grab a shower and maybe a nap before he went down to dinner. Professor Bones, the new Charms professor had let them out a bit early so he had about an hour before dinner. Fred had laughed at him, saying he was off to meet up with some other friends since he didn't want to watch Bane sleep or shower.

Tossing his bag onto his bed, Bane headed into the washroom to grab his shower. It was a quick one, just enough to clean the grime of the day off before he headed back to his room to dress.
Digging through his trunk, he let out a grin as he found the stash of nutrients potions he had pilfered from the Manor. Nutrients potions were designed for people who had been or were suffering from malnourishment, they provided extra sustenance for the body when it couldn't handle any or a lot of food. Bane had learned that these were the secrets of most models in the wizarding world. It gave them everything they needed to survive without having to eat. Grinning to himself, he knocked back one of the potions before dressing and heading down to dinner.

----

Once Fred was assured that Bane was heading to the dorms, he quickly seeked out Jay.
"Hey" he greeted the Hufflepuff as he met him by the front doors.
"Wanna head to the Pitch? Less people out there" He said, not wanting anyone to catch wind of what he and Jay had to discuss.

Jay could barely pay attention in Potions class. His worry for his brother was slowly eating away at him. It was like a bad headache that would never go away and you were afraid that if you didn't get yourself some painkillers now, it would turn into a migrane before you could blink. As soon as they were let out, Jay booked it across the Castle towards the library. He had a free period at the end of the day, so he could wait for Fred to get out.

When he spotted red-head, Jay nodded gently. "Probably a good idea. We'll just have to hurry, Bane will be waiting for us at dinner." Jay said, quickly walking with Fred. Once they were far enough out of ear-shot, Jay let out a heavy breath. "You have to swear right now that you won't tell a soul what I'm about to say because if Bane gets wind of this he won't speak to me for the rest of the year." Jay said, but for all that he wanted to sound somewhat threathening, he was stricken with worry.

"Bane started shadowing out Mum at work. She got it into his head that he should start modling her clothes line, and at first it was harmless." Jay explained quietly. "He would go with her during the day, try on her new clothes, have a few photo shoots, he got paid for a few and some wanted to contact him for actual jobs and what not." He waved a hand gently and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Mum let it slip that if he lost a few pounds he'd fit into her winter line because she was going for that sleek-slim fit look or something." Jay swallowed hard before continuing. "I caught Bane skipping meals. He wouldn't eat for hours. If he ever felt like he ate too much, he'd chuck it back up just like earlier."

Jay sighed deeply, gathering his thoughts together before looking back at Fred. "He doesn't think it's anything wrong. He thinks he's following our Mom advice, and this is his way into a solid career. Our Father isn't too keen about him going professional with Quidditch." He was quiet for a moment. He rubbed his face once.
"I'm telling you this because we need to watch him. You see him more often when we're here at school. I can't sit on him. He'll kick my ass if I try. But I just wanna make sure he's eating. We had a scare over the summer, I don't want a repeat of it."

-----------

Alice skipped down to the Great Hall for dinner, having fallen behind the other Ravenclaws. She noticed Bane Zabini wandering down the halls and she patiently waited for him to catch up to her before falling in line with him.
"Dear Bane, how are you these evening?" She asked him, clasping her hands behind her head as she craned her neck to look up at him. He was awfully tall...and she was positively petite to say the least.

Fred listened attentively to Jay, eyes going wide as he heard what was going on with his friend. Letting out a huff of air, the red head sighed, "I knew he was working for your Mum a bit but I had no idea..." He trailed off.
"Scare?" He had to ask, as much as he didn't want to, he had to know what was going on.

"Do you think we can help him? I mean Bane's a stubborn guy he's not going to just start listening to us out of the blue and if we push him to hard..." He trailed off, he couldn't believe his best friend had such a serious problem.
"I know girls have this problem, hell Aunt Ginny went through it after she had Al apparently, but guys?" He looked at Jay with a frown.
"Does your Dad know? I mean I know hes sort of absent but he'll kill your Mum if he finds out she's been putting these ideas into Bane's head" It was no secret that the Zabini-Rookwood marriage was one of convience not of love. A typical pureblood marriage.

He glanced at his watch, "We have about twenty minutes before dinner. Anything else I need to know?" He asked Jay, his tone serious.

---

Bane smiled as Alice bounced up to him.
"I'm fine Alice, how are you?" He asked the girl as they entered the hall. He was a bit early for dinner so he wasn't surprised to see most of the tables empty. There were a few Slytherins floating about from their year, he saw Cale Nott, the seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team hanging out with Scorpius Malfoy and Vince Goyle, the three Slytherins were reading the evening addition of the prophet by the look of it. He offered them a wane smile when they glanced up before he settled himself at the near empty Gryffindor table.

"Yea." Jay sighed. "He passed out. Just dropped to the floor one day while I was talking to him about something. He brushed it off, saying that he was just tired. I found out from one of our house elves that he hadn't eaten the day before at all. And no, our Father doesn't know..."

Jay's jaw clenched and his face grew dark for a moment as Fred questioned whether this could actually be happening or not. "We're only human. In my opinion, girls get it worse at the start, but at least they'll get help and it's acceptable. If we don't watch out for Bane no one will because they'll brush it off since he's a guy." Jay said. "I'm not saying we've got to shove the food down his throat. We just need to make sure he's eating enough that he's not going to drop into a coma on us." Jay sighed. Hearing that they only had a few minutes until dinner, Jay nodded for them to start walking back up towards the Castle.

"I hate to throw this on you, but I can't do this alone." Jay sighed. "I'll start talking to him about it more and more and hopefully he'll snap out of it...keep an eye on him for me?"

--------------

Alice tilted her head gently as they walked into the Great Hall for dinner. She could tell that Bane was still a bit off from this morning, but she didn't comment on it now.
"I'm looking forward to dessert tonight. I picked up my Mother's love of pudding." Alice sighed, her voice airy as they walked towards Gryffindor's table. "When does Quiddit start this year?" She asked curiously, knowing that Bane was on the team and was probably excited about this years season.

Her eyes wandered over to the Slytherin table, seeing Scorpius laughing with his friends. It put a soft smile on her face but she glanced away after that, tilting her head curiously at Bane.

"Gods" Fred sighed, he still was a bit shocked by all of this.
"Of course I'll help, Bane's been my best friend since first year. I'm not just going to let him wallow in this" He added firmly. "I'll keep an eye on him" He added, smiling lightly at Jay. "We'll manage this" He added firmly. Tonight he was going to relax with his friends, but tomorrow Fred was going to the library and he was going to figure out everything and anything he could about eating disorders and how to treat them.

Stepping into the hall, he grinned as he saw Bane and Alice already at the Gryffindor table. Plastering a smile on his face, he bounced over to the pair.
"So" He beamed, "What are we going to do for our first prank of the year? Have to do something unbelieveable" He said, rubbing his hands together gleefully.

----

Bane smiled at Alice.
"Not really a fan of desert, but I'm glad you like the pudding" He said with a chuckle.
"Tryouts are next week, so the first game will be sometime in October, give teams a chance to get any new players worked out. I know we need two new chasers since two of ours graduated. Not sure what any of the other teams need" He mused.

Loud footsteps caught his attention and he grinned as Fred slid onto the bench next to him. For a moment he was worried but Fred began talking about pranks and he immediately was dragged into the conversation, green eyes sparkling happily as the two plotted and schemed.

----

Scorpius glanced up as the hall began to fill. Putting away the paper, he grinned as food began to appear on the tables.
"Can you believe how much homework we have already?" He asked his friends, chuckling as they both groaned and began bemoaning the workload.
"Library after dinner then? Get it sorted out before it piles up on us?"
"Sounds good to me" Cale grumbled, spearing a piece of asparagus with his fork.

Jay smiled lightly, glad that Fred would be in on this and he wasn't alone trying to wretch his big-headed brother out of this mindset. Once they were in the Great Hall, Jay gave Fred a small nod and settled into a seat at the Hufflepuff table. The food came the next instantly, and despite everything that had happened today, Jay was starving.

Alice grinned widely as Fred showed up and started talking in earnest with Bane. It was good to see Bane smiling. Sighing softly, Alice slipped out from the bench and joined her own housemates at her table.

-------

Dinner was pleasant and just when Jay was about to follow his mates towards the common room a small hand hooked into his elbow. He glanced down to find the bright-brown eyes of Alice dazziling up at him.
"You almost forgot about our Charms lesson." She said and Jay sighed. "You do want to start off the year on a good foot yes?" She questioned in a tone that made Jay wonder who was actually the oldest here.

"Alice, it was the first day...." Jay groaned. "And it's been a really long day. Can we pick this up tomorrow?"
"My Mother always said you needed to face your problems as soon as they arouse, because if you left them along for too long they would grow so much you wouldn't be able to handle it." She sighed. "So no, we can't wait for tomorrow if you barely followed today's lecture, how do you plan to get through tomorrow's? Or the day after that?"
"Yes, yes, I get your point." Jay sighed, letting the girl drag him off to the library for evening study.

The Slytherin trio slowly made their way up to the library along with most of the fifth, sixth and seventh years of Hogwarts. Scorps was convinced that first through fourth year didn't prepare you for anything academically challenging.
"What shall we start with?" He asked, claiming a table and dumping his book bag out, though he was careful lest he explode ink everywhere.
"I'm thinking the 12 inch Transfiguration essay, Granger is by far the hardest professor at this school and she takes stuff way to seriously" Cale said, Vince nodding in agreement.
"Alright, essays on the steps to achieve animagus forms" Scorp said with a groan as he pulled his book towards him and began reading, quill poised over his parchment.

----

Bane and Fred walked slowly up to the Gryffindor Common Room, though both had Homework, neither felt the urge to go to the library to work on it.
"Can I borrow your transfiguration notes?" Bane asked as they settled at a table in the Common Room.
"Yea for sure, you work on copying my notes while I start my actual homework" Fred said with a laugh.

"I'm so proud of you two!" Rose's voice rang out as she came up behind the boys. Rose channeled her mother and was by far the most annoying Gryffindor in the house when it came to studying.
"For what?" Fred asked while Bane busied himself copying notes, Bane and Rose weren't exactly best friends, though Bane tolerated Rose for Fred's sake. She was his cousin after all.
"Getting started on your homework so early" She said, giving them both a squeeze.
"Oh Bane are you feeling better? You looked so sick at lunch today" She said, pressing a hand against his forhead as if to check for a temperature.
"M'fine" Bane said, shaking her hand away and scowling. Fred groaned inawardly, he loved his cousin but she had a way of making things worse.

"No! Don't flurish your wand so much!" Alice said quickly, grabbing Jay's hand before he accidentally caused the entirely library to flood. "Charms and spells aren't just about the words. They're about the movement and flow of your hand, the power you put into your wand." Alice sighed as Jay lowered his hand. "Honestly, you've been doing spells all your life, this should come second nature to you. Like sleeping." Alice said, glancing over Jay's shoulder as the Slytherin boys settled at the table across the book-shelved-hall.

"I can do the simple spells. Things do come easier if I've done it before but the new ones are confusing." Jay said, flipping through his book again. "I mean honestly, how am I supposed to say this entire spell before I flick my wrist?" He asked, and then realized that Alice was only half-listening. He blinked. It was rare that he found Alice not paying attention to something school related. Jay waved a hand in front of Alice' gaze and she blinked a few times and gave Jay her full attention.
"Sorry. Must have been a Wrackspurt." Alice said with a sigh.
"A what?" Jay asked.
"Wrackspurt. They float into your ears and make your brain go all fuzzy for a few seconds." Alice explained. "So yes, back to this spell..."

Jay tried not to groan. God above he loved Alice like a sister he never had but this girl was going to drive him nuts this year. Every three seconds she seemed to be staring at something over his shoulder and she was zone out for half a minute. When Alice was zoning out, Jay stole a quick glance over his shoulder, wondering what she was staring at. Alice noticed the movement and she gasped at him.
"You're not practicing!" She exclaimed.
"Okay, what's really going on?" Jay asked, turning to look over his shoulder entirely. What was she looking at? All he could see where the other students around the library, studying.
"Nothing!" Alice said all too quickly. "I think we've worked out enough for the night don't you?" She asked, but her tan cheeks were flushed and Jay watched as she started to stack up their books and papers. They'd only been here for an hour...which was a light night by Hogwarts standards.

"Tomorrow we can work on the animagus spells." Alice said and Jay merely packed up his things slowly.
"Alice....?" Jay trailed off. "You sure you're alright?" he asked.
"Course." Alice said, picking her head up with a grin. Everything was back to normal, and suddenly Jay wondered if he had imagined that the girl seemed off.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Jay said then, picking up his bag and heading out of the library, nodding gently to Scorpius as he walked past.

((o0o0o0o0o0 someone's gottt a crruussshhhhh ))

OOC: D'awe and watch Captain Oblivious not notice in the least D:
Also do you want to skip ahead a bit, get everyone interacting? Haha I'm skipping ahead a bit anyway.

BIC:

Bane sighed as he read the letter he had just recieved from his mother. It was nearing Christmas time and he had just been released from the hospital wing due to Quidditch injury. He couldn't believe four months had flown by so fast, it was like had blinked and suddenly he was about to go home again.

Rubbing his eyes, he placed the letter aside, ignoring the angry stab of tears before he closed himself off again.
"You okay?" Fred asked from where he was seated on his own bed, packing his trunk for the holidays.
"Yea, just a letter from my mum, nothing important" Bane said with a weary smile.
"Ah" Fred wisely hushed up. For the last month Bane had been getting tons of letters from his mother and each one had worsened his condition. Getting him to eat was damn near impossible and trying to force the issue only seemed to make things worse.
"So you're still coming over for New Years? Everyone will be there, even Alice and Scorpius" Lately the group had expanded and somehow the three Slytherins (Malfoy, Nott and Goyle) had begun to hang out with Bane, Fred, Jay and Alice.

"Yea I'll be there. Our parents are back to work right after Yule anyway, so can I come a few days early?" Bane asked, "Jay too obviously, its better then being alone in the Manor with just grandma, her newest man and the elves"
"Yea 'm sure it'd be fine, I'll ask Dad and see what he says"
"Thanks mate" Bane said, flopping back on his bed.

----

Scorpius grinned at Jay and Alice, silver-blue eyes sparkling for a moment.
"My Dad says I can spend New Years with you guys at the Weasleys, provided I only stay one night" He said with a small smile.
He was actually a bit shocked, while his Dad sort of got along with Harry Potter and George Weasley as well as the older Weasleys (Bill and Charlie) he didn't get along with Ron, Hermione, Ginny or even Molly and Arthur, so the fact that he was going to allow Scorpius to spend the night was rather surprising.
"Admittedly I think the invite shocked him as much as it did me" He said with a wry chuckle.