TWELVE

"ADDICTION IS A VERY DANGEROUS and unhealthy thing." James said to her, as she finished her third butterbeer.

"It's not an addiction!" Annalise defended, setting her glass down on the table.

"So you aren't about to get up and go order your fourth butterbeer?" James replied, a huge smirk on his face.

"N-No!" Annalise said back, even though that was what she was just about to do. James' smirk didn't disappear, as she crossed her arms and stayed seated. She stared him down not breaking eye contact, as they both challenged each other.

"Are we not supposed to speak?" Alex whispered, looking back and forth between, as silence had overcome the table.

"Shhhh!" Asher said, gesturing Alex to be quiet. "I want to see who wins this."

Neither of them had broken eye contact yet, but a minute later Annalise had given away.

"Oh, fuck it!" She cursed, looking away away from James, who laughed triumphantly. She pushed her chair back, standing up and walking towards the counter to order another butterbeer. She ignored James, who yelled "I told you so!" as she ordered her drink. She grabbed 2 sickles from her pocket and payed for it, before grabbing the glass and walking back to the table.

James smirked at her, which Annalise returned with a glare, as she lifted her glass for a sip. "Addiction." He said slowly in a taunting manner while she drank her butterbeer.

"It's not an addiction!" She said once more.

"Four butterbeers!" He exclaimed. "And it hasn't even been an hour! Addicti-"

"Oh shut it!" She snapped at him. "Let me drink the one thing that makes me happy in peace!"

They were all bundled up in their jackets, hats and scarves as the weather had gotten much colder. The sunny days of September were long gone, as the cold winter slowly approached, the temperature decreasing a few degrees every day. After a long trip to the Hogsmeade branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes so the boys could stock up on their "necessities for survival," and a quick trip to Honeydukes, they were all seated inside The Three Broomsticks. The warm pub was stuffed with people who all had the same idea of escaping from the cold outside.

"Only 6 more months until I can go up to Madame Rosmerta and order a firewhisky." James sighed dreamily. "And that time she'll have to give it to me!"

"Jokes on you." Alex laughed happily. "Two more months for me!"

"What does it matter anyway." Roxy rolled her eyes. "You both already have a stash of firewhisky that you've been building up since fourth year."

"Yeah, but it'll be so much better when I'm finally of age!" James said excitedly. "It'll be much easier to get our hands on some whenever we want!"

"Our stash is only for emergencies, may I add." Alex informed her. "We are very good children."

"Emergencies?" Roxy asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Yes emergencies, meaning when one of us has a ruddy awful day." Alex explained. "And we just need to get drunk and forget about it."

"Or sometimes we help the greater good by supplying it for Gryffindor's parties after every quidditch game." James added. "Although we've only done that once because usually Gregory Atkins provides it."

The conversation continued as Annalise sat quietly zoning out. She was absorbed in her own thoughts thinking about her relationship with William. How she really wished she was here with him. How she wished everything was like last year, where he wasn't acting so strange. She wondered and wondered what had changed, what had made him act so differently.

A strange and scary thought suddenly came across her mind, while she stared at the door in front of her. What did William have to study for? He took care of magical creatures, charms, astronomy, divination, and muggle studies. Those were certainly not difficult classes. And he had told her several times he didn't care about his studies and took blow-off classes because his dad had already secured him a job at the ministry once he graduated, so nothing he did mattered. Why would he miss out on a Hogsmeade weekend so he could study for classes he didn't even care about? She pondered upon it for a couple minutes, more and more theories popping into her mind.

"For the love of god James, do not try to attack the womping willow!" Roxy sighed, banging her head on the table. "May I remind you, you ended up in the infirmary with multiple broken bones the last two times you tried."

"I say give it a go Jamie." Alex said, nudging his friend. "You know what they say. Third time's a charm!" He grinned.

Roxy glared at him, and smacked him hard on the arm. "Do not encourage this!" She lectured, while Alex yelped in pain.

"He's right, third time is the charm!" James nodded in thought. Roxy looked at him like he was insane and then looked towards Asher.

"Aren't you going to stop this!" She exclaimed, causing Asher to jump up in his seat. He had clearly not been paying attention to the conversation. "You're the most logical one here."

Asher simply shrugged. "I've given up on him." He said grimly. "I told him if he wants to go get himself killed, the most I'd do is plan his funeral." Roxy just gaped at the three boys, James who began discussing his plans with the whomping willow, Alex who was egging him on eagerly, and Asher who looked as if he was contemplating his choice of friends.

"I think he's cheating on me." Annalise blurted, breaking away from her thoughts. The idea had come so out of the blue, but had left her feeling so terrified and filled with paranoia. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made to her.

The conversation suddenly stopped as four pairs of eyes suddenly turned to look at her.

"What?" Roxy exclaimed in shock. "What made you come to that idea?"

"He can't be." Asher assured her. "He's not."

She explained to them her doubts. How he had been acting odd at certain times, how he couldn't hang out certain days, and how he had told her he needed to study when he didn't need to. Most importantly, the fact that he would never miss a Hogsmeade trip to study.

"That does sound a bit suspicious." Roxy said, deep in thought.

"He can't be." Asher muttered. "Why would he cheat?"

"Sorry, not trying to be rude-" James cut in. "But I wouldn't rule it out. He's not exactly the most pleasant person." His eyes darted to her. "No offense." He said quickly before Roxy whacked him on the head as he yelled in pain.

But Annalise wasn't offended, not even the slightest bit. She was too busy burying herself deep in her thoughts. "I need to go back." She said quickly, standing up from the table. "I need to find out if he's actually studying."

"Annalise please sit down." Roxy said. "I'm sure he's not, we can check after we go back. "

"Yeah, we'll all come with you and look for him after!" Alex added.

"No, because once we get back he won't be studying anymore!" She exclaimed. "I need to go now."

"What are you going to do search the whole castle?" Roxy asked.

"If I have to!" Annalise exclaimed, her paranoia only increasing by the moment. She pushed in her chair, getting ready to walk back to the castle.

"Annalise-"

"Roxy," Her voice quivered. "Please. I just need to do this." Roxy didn't argue, and nodded her head in understanding.

"Wait-" Asher said. He whispered something to James.

Janes sighed. "Well if you must!" He grumbled. "Just don't tell her what it is, look for yourself."

Annalise looked at them confused until Asher stood up, pushing in his chair. "What are you doing?" She asked him.

"I'm coming with you." He said, taking one last sip of his butterbeer before setting it back down on the table.

"Why? Just stay here. I can find him myself." She said, turning around, not waiting for his response.

"It's going to take forever to search the whole castle!" Asher protested, quickly following her out the door.

"It's fine Asher." She repeated again, now more irritated than before. "I'll find him."

"I can find out where he is." Asher explained and she paused, listening to what he was going to say. "We just need to head back to my dorm and I can tell you exactly where William is and who he's with."

Annalise waited outside of Asher's dorm patiently. She was confused, and insisted she start looking for William right away, but Asher refused to let her go.

"Asher?" She yelled from outside the room. "I'm leaving! We're wasting time."

At that moment, Asher walked out of his room, shutting the door behind him. "I know where he is." He said hesitantly, frowning.

"That's impossible." Annalise muttered. "How could you possibly know where he is just by going into your room and doing god knows what!" She exclaimed, shaking her head, starting to walk away from her brother, coming to the conclusion that he was simply crazy.

Asher grabbed her wrist. "Annalise, I already told you. I can't tell you because it's not my secret to tell."

"It just doesn't make any se-"

"Do you trust me?" He asked her, staring into her eyes.

"Yes." She sighed. "Where is he."

He paused looking down at his feet. "He's in his dorm room with Eloise Cox, that tall blonde Gryffindor seventh year." He said quietly.

A horrible feeling filled her stomach. "I knew it." She muttered, chuckling dryly.

"Hey." Asher said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "It doesn't mean anything." He said, although his voice seemed unsure. "They could be studying, or just hanging out."

"You know that's not what that means." She snapped angrily, her voice quivering.

"There only one way to find out." He said. "I'm guessing you know where the Ravenclaw common room is?"

She nodded as they walked out of the Gryffindor common room which was almost empty except for a few first and second years. They walked down the staircase silently not saying a word as Asher followed behind her. She tried to get the thought out of her head. She tried to listen to what Asher had told her. He couldn't be cheating on her. It's not something he would do, she told herself.

She tried to think of other explanations for why Eloise would be in his dorm room. They could be studying. She was a seventh year too. Maybe he needed help on something. Maybe they were just hanging out as friends. There was nothing wrong with hanging out with friends of the opposite gender.  Except he never told her about it.

She took a right turn and started to climb of the stairs of the Ravenclaw towers, heading up to the common room. "Woah!" Asher exclaimed looking around, as he climbed up the stairs. "I've never been in this tower." They were almost at the top of the tower, the a door with a bronze eagle knocker in view, just up ahead. "I heard that instead of a password, you get asked a riddle and you can only enter once you answer it right!" Asher exclaimed excitedly, as they approached the door. "Isn't that so cool!"

Before they could use the eagle knocker however, out walked William and Eloise Cox, their hands intertwined. William froze, his eyes widening, as soon as he made eye contact with Annalise. He dropped Eloise's hand immediately.

She glanced at both of them, eyeing them up and down. Williams Hair was disheveled, and his lips were puffy. Eloise's tie was crooked, and just above her collar was a purple bruise. She had seen enough to know that her worst thoughts were indeed true.

She turned around and ran down the stairs, as William yelled "Annalise, Annalise wait!" She ignored him sprinting her fastest down the stairs. Unfortunately William was faster, as he grabbed her arm, holding her back as she spun around to face him. "Why?" She asked him, her voice breaking, her eyes filling with tears.

"I-I don't love her." He said frantically, almost pleading. "I love you. I just needed her. For sex. That's it. Nothing more than that. She doesn't mean anything."

"That's it?" Annalise said, as if she couldn't believe what she was saying. "That's it?" She growled angrily.

"Annalise you have to understand!" He begged her. "I just needed someone who... you know! You never wanted to do it with me after that one time so I had to find a way to satisfy-"

Before he could finish his sentence, she raised her clenched fist, and before she realized what she was doing, she punched him square in the face. He stumbled backwards in pain, cursing as she ran off. Her right hand throbbed, but she ignored it. She could hear Asher behind her calling her name, but she didn't stop. She ran all the way back to the Gryffindor tower, trying her absolute hardest to stop the tears that had formed in her eye from running down her cheeks. It was impossible when it felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest.

When she finally reached her dorm room, she couldn't hold it in any longer. She collapsed onto her bed, letting out a sob, the hot tears flowing rapidly down her cheeks. She buried herself under her covers and in her pillows, and just cried.