It seemed to Kyle that Selah had let slip something she wasn’t supposed to when she covered her mouth and then made a face. “I didn’t hear anything from you,” he echoed, feigning ignorance while giving her a knowing and mischievous grin, as though he too was complicit in this accidental leak and cov...

Kyle had just passed the third bed when his ears caught a familiar voice responding to his call. She’s awake. That thought offered him a small measure of comfort, for it meant that Anwen was at least well enough to be up. Hurriedly (and as quietly as he could manage) he made his way towards her, and...

“Happy Christmas, Mr Winters” 24th December, 2005 ♪ “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” – Ryuichi Sakamoto ♪ Don’t look. Keep walking. A gentle breeze picked up as Kyle pulled the hood of his jacket over his head, trying to hide his face as best as he could. Not that it made any difference: his height, ...

As Professor Forrester explained that it wasn’t an Auror interrogation, and that he was free to back out at any point if the session got uncomfortable, Kyle nodded to acknowledge that he had understood. “Yes, Professor,” he replied. Given what had happened, it was almost certain that he would be ask...

The relative peace of the Hospital Wing was abruptly interrupted by a pair of clanking crutches as their anxious owner hurriedly entered and began to search for a particular someone. Said owner was none other than Kyle Winters, who had rushed over here as quickly as he could upon learning that Anwen...

Saturday, 3 December 2005 4:00pm The corridors were fairly quiet when Kyle returned to Hogwarts Castle after his solo Quidditch training. He guessed that most of the students were either studying in the library, or hanging out in the Common Rooms. As he strode down the hallway past a stairwell, he ...

A relieved smile spread across Kyle’s lips as Juniper confirmed his guess earlier; he had presumed that she didn’t have a dance partner yet because she was sitting alone. “Oh, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced,” he said. He didn’t quite know the Fifth-Years as well as the other batches, f...

Kyle’s face reddened a touch as Selah reminded him that it was always good to pay attention to how others around him were feeling too. “I’ll remember that,” he promised; when the school year started he’d need to send more letters home too to check on his mother, or even pop back home for a bit after...

A loud sneeze reverberated through the old classroom, followed by a very sheepish apology. The source of the noise was Kyle Winters, whose nose had instantly disagreed with the dank and dusty air when he first stepped into the old classroom. Though social events and dancing weren’t his thing at all,...

As a Quidditch player, Kyle was no stranger to the occasional injury and subsequent stay at the Hospital Wing, but this was the longest he had been stuck here and it was driving him bonkers. No amount of protesting from him could convince the healers that he was all right, and while they agreed that...

Hearing how Anwen used to attend lessons for ballet, jazz, and even tap dancing… that felt like a lot to Kyle. “Whoa,” he said – and it was pretty much the only thing he could say, as astonished as he was by the number of extracurriculars she used to take. And that was probably on top of all her oth...

It was only when Selah pointed out his elementary mistake did Kyle realise that the reading hadn’t been for him. “Fuck,” he swore involuntarily under his breath as a mix of embarrassment and anger at himself welled up in him. Everyone had their own struggles, of course, but he was so stuck in his th...

A few minutes before the class started, one of the two people Kyle had saved seats for arrived. A dorky grin of a boy in love spread across his lips as he looked up from the gloves that he was mending to greet Anwen. “I would mind if you didn’t want to take the seat I reserved for you,” he said play...

As a Muggle-born, getting howlers from home was something Kyle hadn’t experienced before despite him being just as good as Riley at earning detentions, no thanks to Percival Scranton. He wanted so badly to wring that shitehead’s neck every time he saw his ugly mug, and needless to say he had acted u...

I want to too, Kyle wanted to say when Selah reminded him that it was her job to help others, not his. It mattered not that it wasn’t his job to do so: he had been there for the adults in his life – his mother, and Osman and Yasmine – when they were going through a rough patch. He wasn’t a kid anym...

H–handsome model? Him? Anwen’s compliment came out of the blue, and Kyle started a little. He had never ever heard himself being described as such before. He didn’t particularly quite like the way he looked either: though his features resembled his mother’s more, he still looked similar enough to hi...

Kyle heaved a sigh of relief when the younger student said that, apart from a scuffed dignity, she was otherwise all right. “No, it’s my bad,” he apologised. “I should have placed my book bag somewhere else so it wouldn’t become a tripping hazard.” The girl introduced herself as Monique, and confirm...

With a backpack on his shoulders, and two bags in one hand, Kyle stepped into the Slytherin common room. He was using his crutches today – or rather, just one of them; he had opted to give up one crutch so that he could free up a hand to carry the two bags (as well as the unused crutch). One of thes...

Anwen was not the only one lost in the moment; her performance had Kyle completely spellbound up till the very last second. As the music came to an end, Kyle was still trying to figure out a way to gently make his presence known, when Anwen turned around and jumped in surprise. “I—I’m sorry, I didn’...

Selah was right: it was all a knee-jerk reaction. In fact, it was so painfully obvious that Kyle should have been able to see it himself, rather than have someone else point it out to him. Her words of reason calmed him down somewhat, and after she reached out to touch his hands, he was able to stop...

The thought of seeing the Gryffindor team defeated brought a stupid grin to Kyle’s face. How he’d love to experience that again. Not that he had something against them – on the contrary, there were some awesome folks on that team, such as Sam and Quinn – but the long-standing rivalry between their t...

A distance away in the stairwell, Kyle was pacing back and forth anxiously, wringing his hands as he ruminated over what he should do or say. When Anwen had asked to meet him in the music room, he kinda had an inkling what it might be about, but the incorrigibly insecure part of him still couldn’t q...

As Selah revealed that her mother was still oblivious to her own faults, Kyle couldn’t help but feel for her. He had been in a similar situation: he knew not if his his father had since changed for the better, but back then his father had been most adamant about his ways. The thought of everything t...

Selah’s initial response to Kyle’s request was, as usual, measured and rational. The teenager’s face fell as she pointed out that it wasn’t well thought-out. It would have hurt less if she dismissed his request as an emotional and impulsive thought, but instead she pointed out logically why it would...

A moderately loud ‘pop’ announced Kyle’s arrival at Hogsmeade as the teenager materialised out of thin air in front of the Three Broomsticks Inn. Quickly giving himself a once over (and double checking his prosthesis for good measure), he was relieved to find that he had successfully Apparated here ...