Story Time

When things got a little rough, the fourth year liked to escape and find somewhere quiet. He liked to be alone sometimes and this was one of those times that he wanted to be alone. Nothing had set him off, he wasn't unhappy, he just needed to be alone for a moment. Ever since he had talked to Bo about his parents he was become emotional at random times, thoughts of his mother made tears come to his eyes. But he was starting to control those emotions again and bottle them back up where they belonged. Sure, it had felt nice to tell Bo all the things that had been bothering him but he didn't want to break down every time he thought that his mother or his brother or all of the things that had happened to him. So, the best option was to bottle the emotions that had spilled over.

He had just wanted to be alone, that was all that he asked for. But when he saw that there was also someone in the observatory, he let out a long sigh. If he went back down the stairs, he would have an even harder time finding a place to be alone. So, he just sat down in the floor and looked over at his companion. "Ready to hear that story?" he asked the younger boy.

Gregory was trying his best to be cool and fit in. He was doing a pretty good job, in his opinion. But he found himself trying to fabricate stories about himself to appear interesting. It was exhausting. Autumn kept smiling at him because she knew that the rumors were false and she didn't want to confront him. That was the shame aspect of it. He couldn't look her in the eye. Autumn. His own family. Not flesh and blood family, but close enough.

And that had gotten him to think about his birth family again. He wondered if they were thinking about him, too

Greg would always remember what his sister told him when he was old enough to understand where she went for the entire year. She told him that when they both looked up into the sky at night, they were seeing the same stars and the same moon.

So he applied it to everyone when they were gone. He wondered if his older brother were looking up into the sky, so he had gone up to the observatory.

The ceiling was charmed to show the planets in respect to their current location in outer space, and Greg was fascinated by it. Magic was so strange and capable of creating the impossible. He wasn't expecting anyone to join him. So he jumped when he heard Riley's voice next to him.

He had honestly forgotten almost all the mysterious story he had heard a only a tiny portion of. He wanted to know if the story was more than just a coincidence, though he wouldn't know what to do if it were real.

Greg turned to face him. "I'm ready, if you are," he replied.

He had only told this story once before, to Bo. The others that knew were told by someone else. This would be the second time he told someone and he couldn't promise he wouldn't cry. Iuyt was an emotional story and it was real. Not some fairy tale that was based on dreams, this was a real story that actually happened to him. "I'm ready," he nodded.

He paused to gather himself up, he could already feel the bottle of feelings getting ready to tip. "Well, when I was three, my mom died after she had my brother. And our father didn't-" He paused to wipe a tear from his cheek. "He didn't want us. So we were put up for adoption, and he was adopted before I was." He had spent many years in the foster system, but that was a different story. "His name was also Gregory, I don't know what happened to him."

Riley didn't look all that ready. But if he insisted, Gregory was ready to listen.

Greg didn't know what to think. He was trying to put two and two together. Gregory knew that his mom had died shortly after he was. He knew his Riley was almost three years older than him. But the dad story didn't match up.

Gregory didn't know what happened to his father. He had just assumed that his birth mother took care of Riley by herself.

But Riley's Gregory seemed to be in the same situation. Riley didn't know where his brother was either.

But that could mean so much. It could mean the logical one option: the whole thing was completely a coincidence. Or it could be the magical option: that Riley's Gregory and Gregory's Riley were actually sitting next to each other.

But life rarely had happy endings. "I'm sorry that happened to you," Gregory said, noticing Riley was starting to cry.

"If it makes you feel better, I was adopted, too," Greg admitted. "My mom died, too. I don't know what happened to my dad. I have an older brother that I don't know. I don't know much about him."

Gregory felt a little bad about his lie. He was afraid. What if this was a fairytale? How did one handle a fairytale ending?

"But you have a nice family now, don't you?" Gregory asked. "Because you deserve one."

"I feel sorry for him," he admitted. He stopped feeling sorry for himself a long time ago. At least he had known his mother and knew how amazing she was. His brother, Gregory, hadn't met her and probably knew nothing about her. And that's why Riley felt sorry for him. He wouldn't have the memories like he did. "He missed out such an amazing person." He may have only been three, but he knew just how special she was.

Riley found it a bit weird that he was going through a similar story. "When's your birthday?" Maybe this wasn't son random thing, maybe he was his brother. Maybe he had found him. "Yeah, I like my family." He ran a hand through his hair and then began pick at his fingernails.

"I'm sure he did" Greg agreed. He looked up at the planets. They seemed to be dancing. "It's tough, I'd imagine. My adoptive mother feels like my birth mother. I will never get the chance to know mine. I probably won't ever know what she looks like, but it'd be nice to know," he agreed. "But then if I'd known, I wonder if what would have changed in my life."

Gregory was tempted to lie about his birthday. But that was where he needed to be honest. "January ninth. I'm a little younger than everyone in my class. I'll be twelve," he replied.

"They love you, right?"

Gregory realized then that Riley wasn't adopted right away. It could have been yesterday, for he knew. "When were you adopted?" Greg asked. That was a completely inappropriate question. Greg started backtracking, "You don't have to answer that." That phrase seemed to be his go to whenever he talked to Riley.

Things were adding up to fit Riley's story but he had to remain calm. He couldn't scare off his maybe brother. If it wasn't his brother, he still felt sorry for his situation and not knowing his birth family. Riley's eyes widen when the younger boy revealed his birthday but he quickly recovered. "Interesting," he said softly. That had been the day his mother died and the day his brother was born. He was pretty dang sure that this was his brother. But it seemed like the younger boy didn't think about it like he was.

"I've been here and there, I've been to different foster homes, different orphanages. I was adopted right before going to Beauxbatons for the first time." A couple of months before.

Gregory noticed Riley's eyes widen for just a second. He seemed to regain his composure quickly.

Greg, much like Autumn, lived a fairly Muggle lifestyle. He, on the other hand, was aware of the existence of magic. He hadn't seen much magic performed.

He didn't realize his general disbelief in magic until Riley said, "interesting." Greg hadn't experience this kind of magic before. Performing it and feeling it were two different things, apparently.

Greg wasn't going to mention it unless it was true. If it were true, being sorted into Feu. He'd be continuing a legacy. If it were true, it would explain Riley's random willingness to share his story to an almost stranger. If it were true, the puzzle he'd slowly been working on for the past three years was complete. But the not knowing was the worst part. And as a general pessimist, he was too nervous to find out.

"Is that where your friend last year was from? From one of the places you'd lived in?" Greg asked quietly, turning his attention to the ceiling again. Earth was spinning slowly and revolving, the movement almost unnoticeable.

Things like these didn't happen often, if at all. No one ever got a fairy tale ending, it just didn't happen. Life had its way of doing things and usually it liked to make a hell out of things. Right now, things were okay, they were going great actually. If this boy was his brother then things would be more than great, they'd be incredible. But there was a possibility that all of this was just life playing a joke on them. But things were adding up and making a ton of sense. Should he come out and say it? Or should he stay quiet? What would happen if this was his brother? Would anything change? Probably not. He'd just know who his brother was. That was it. He shouldn't expect anything happening after this, nothing would change.

"Yeah, he's my boyfriend," he smiled a bit. He was glad that he could call David his boyfriend, could call him his. But not all good things came with the relationship, things had been rocky between him and Bo since he had said something about David.

The fourth year let out a long sigh before crossing his arms. "We're brother, I know it. Just think about it. We're looking for the brothers that have our names a-and your birthday is when Mom died." He didn't like talking about it, he had cried for such a long time when he talked to Bo last year.

Riley didn't look as happy talking about his boyfriend as he did the first day he received the letter from him. Greg wasn't going to comment on it. Riley probably had his reasons.

"I never t-told you my brother's name," Gregory stuttered. It was a weak argument. He gave up. "Look. Life never works this way. It doesn't give happy endings. It makes sense, yes. My m-" he stopped. Mother probably wasn't the right word for this situation. He looked down at his hands. "My family says that I've been a skeptic for as long as they've known me. And I'm going to be one here, too. I need legitimate, logical proof. Looking alike and having the same names isn't enough for me. I need papers or something. Then I'll believe it."

Greg knew it was true. He just couldn't admit it.

"You didn't have to," the fourth year rolled his eyes. It was so easy to put together and the younger boy wasn't picking up what was right in front of him. It was a lot to take in and it was hard for him as well. But this was what he wanted, he found his brother. He was his brother, there was no denying it. "Trust me, I know that life has no happy endings." He couldn't help but be bitter and he couldn't help but think about Bo. He had hurt him and now things would never be the same between them. Things would be awkward and their conversation would run over and over in his head. He wouldn't be able to run away from the fact that he had hurt one of the most important people to him. "Fairy tales don't exist, just look at our lives."

If they were real, their mom would still be alive and their father wouldn't have walked out on them. "You were a baby, you didn't know their love. Her love. Jacob wasn't always like that," he went on. He couldn't call the man his father. "He loved...he loved mom." Clearly he didn't love his sons enough to stay. He was gone and there was no trace of him.

The fourteen year old stood up and began to pace. "I used to be bitter, first it was about Mom. Why did she have to die? Why did she have to give up her life to...to have you? I don't think like that anymore. Then I was bitter about the adoptions. You were a babt, of course you were going to get adopted. A new baby is a chance to start over, you can teach him whatever you please." He paused to catch his breath, tears rolled down Riley's face. "No one wanted a three year old asking when his mom and dad were coming back. Just look at me! I wasn't adopted until I was ten! And before then, I was just about everywhere." Emotional stress weighed him down and he felt as if he were drowning.

Gregory didn't know how to respond. He knew the truth. But this wasn't a good time. Sure, Gregory had wanted to find his brother. And he was glad to know. But it was too much to handle. He was a twelve-year-old boy. Was he emotionally ready for all of this? Gregory thought of himself as mature (it had to be the reason why he wasn't very skilled at being cool or funny), but for all of this?

Gregory hugged his knees and rested his chin on top of them. He rubbed his eyes, trying to keep tears in. "I'm sorry that I ruined your family," he said quietly.

Riley hadn't specifically said that it was his fault, but it really was. Riley didn't deserve the cards he was dealt. And it seemed as if their father had left because of Greg. If he hadn't happened, Riley would have a better life. He would have his mom and he wouldn't be having to explain his story to a kid who clearly didn't understand.