The Flip Side

This was really happening. The mafia. Staring down at the letter in his hand, the Hrabrost sighed. This letter more or less made it official. And with that, he needed to tell people about this. They - they were his friends. And he hoped that they cared enough about him to not just disappear on him.

Biting his lip, Afonka glanced around the empty room before beginning to pace nervously. What - what if none of them showed up? Then what was he supposed to do? Swallowing hard, he shook his head, forcing the negative thoughts away. Be positive. They were his friends. And it wasn't like they already knew and were simply avoiding him. No, they'd be here.

He was sure of it.

Faye frowned as she made her way to the room of necessity, her little slip of paper folded into her hands. She didn't understand what she was doing here. Why exactly...

What did Afonke want to say that would need...

"Hey Fonny," she said softly as she pushed open the door, frowning at the boy. He looked so... "What's up?"

The Slytherin had managed to get lost in the Durmstrang halls. Charlotte wasn't pleased, considering it made her feel like she was late to the place Fonka asked her to be. But she dealt with it. It was her last few weeks in Durmstrang and managed to turn that negativity into a positive one.

Reaching the room of necessity, the exchange student raised an eyebrow when she took notice of Faye in the room as well. Passing by the girl, she ruffled with her hair slightly, she smiled, "Didn't think you two kiddos knew each other."

Turning to face the boy, she summoned a chair, took a seat and crossed her legs. She noticed his expression, it looked... sullen to her. That was her assumption.

"What's with the sudden get together?" She asked curiously.

Someone - someone had actually shown up. Breaking out into a large and relieved grin as he saw Faye, he momentarily forgot just why he had called her here. At least, he had, until she'd asked him how he was doing.

"I'm doing alright," he shrugged, but still kept the smile, "I'm glad you came."

Waving to Charlotte as she arrived, he glanced from her to Faye amusedly, "I didn't know you two knew each other either."

At her question, he glanced down at the letter in his hand, quickly pocketing it. "I - I'll just -" his voice getting quieter and quieter, he shrugged slightly before speaking up, "I just - I don't really want to say it more than once," I'd rather not say it at all, "so we could wait for everyone else to get here and then," pausing to shake his head, Afonka said dully, "and then you'll know."

Faye grinned as she turned at the sound of the door opening and saw Charlotte enter the room. It was on the tip of her tongue to express her surprise at this appearance when the other two beat her to i.

"I suppose it would be a bit redundant for me to say the same thing would it not," she gave a little laugh, "I met charlotte when she first got to the area... I don't even know if school had really started yet. And I ran into Fonny in the hall." She gave a little laugh and a shrug before frowning at Afonka again.

"Okay," she agreed, with a nod of her head, even as she was dying of curiousity to know whats going on. Curiousity and dread. She wanted to know... but she had a distinct feeling she wouldn't like what she was going to hear.

Tessa had gotten a message that Afonka wanted to meet her. It really didn't tell her why, it just asked her to come up to the room. She was having a tough time and she was getting the help that she needed. Tessa was glad that he was there with her every step of the way.

When they where in the room Ariel gave a bark. It was to tell her that she wasn't alone in the room. But she was smiling just a little bit.

"You can meet friends in the weirdest of places," Afonka mused, rubbing his hands together absentmindedly. Shaking his head slightly, he smiled wanly, "I met Charlotte in the kitchens. She made me brownies." grinning from the memory, he added dreamily, looking odd into the distance, "They were awesome."

Smiling at Faye weakly, he was then distracted by the sound of another entrant. Visibly brightening yet simultaneously dreading the moment he had to tell them all, his eyes fell on both Tessa and Ariel. "Tessa," he said softly, walking towards her. Patting Ariel's head and hugging Tessa, he pulled away, looking back at Faye and Charlotte.

"Oh, I'm not sure if you guys know each other. Um, this is Tessa," Nodding, Afonka nervously gestured towards her, "my girlfriend. And Tessa, this is Faye and Charlotte, two friends of mine."

Tessa was glad that she found Afonka. He then bent down and gave Ariel a pat on the head. And then he hugged her. She was glad that she had the old Afonka back. And she knew that he was helping her to get better. And there was some days that she wanted to just give up and jump. But she knew that Afonka would be really sad and that was something that she didn't want to think about. She loved him too much.

She then blinked a little bit. “ No I don't think that I have never meet either one of them.” But she loved it when he introduced her as his girlfriend. That made her feel special.

Faye gave a slight smile and waved at the girl, before belatedly taking in her movements and the dog and realizing that she probably would not be able to see that action.

"Hello, Its nice to meet you," Faye said softly. "I'm Faye Hansoff."

She frowned and looked around before looking back at Afonka.

"So is this everyone, or are we still waiting...?" she kind of thought it would be unusual for Roman to not be invited, considering the fact Faye figured he was closer to Afonka than she was... but what di dshe actually know?

"Going to the catacombs is the best place to go if you want to meet people," Charlotte grinned as she made an orange appear and began peeling it. "Keep that in mind if you ever want to meet new people, alright?"

The Slytherin made a face as she remembered those brownies, "I don't know how you could eat them. I didn't have one but.... I'm pretty sure those were a bad batch."

Glancing to the newcomer whom had a dog, she raised an eyebrow.

"What's with the dog?" But when she heard the introduction from Fonka, she stood and handed the girl a piece of orange, for the hell of it. "Nice to finally put a face to the name. Heard a lot about you, I'm Charlotte. You don't know, I'm not from here."

Going back to her seat, Charlotte crossed her legs.

"So, we getting the party started?"

"Oh," frowning slightly, he glanced at Tessa. It had never actually occured to him before, but who did she spend her time with when she wasn't with him? Probably the Moon Twins, he decided. "Well, I guess now's a good time to meet them."

Glancing at Faye, he bit his lip slightly, glancing back towards the door, "Roman's not here yet, but I guess we could start without him......" No, there was no way he could do that. He wasn't saying this more than once. He just couldn't. "but we should wait, just to see if he'll show up soon."

Eyes widening at Charlotte, he sputtered, "B - bad batch? If that was bad, what does a good one taste like?" Gazing off into the distance, he sighed happily and completely missed the Slytherin's next words.

Tessa smiled at both of the girls. Sometimes she wished that she was able to see. But that made her different and she was sure that was why Afonka loved her. She then went over to the first on who said her name was Faye. “ Hello Faye it is really nice to meet you too. I really don't get to talk with a lot of people.” She then smiled. “ And this is Ariel she is my blind eye dog. I got her last summer.”

She then was handed a piece of orange. “ I am guessing that Afonka talks about me a lot.” But she was still smiling. “ Hello Charlotte.” Tessa heard that she wasn't from around there so that meant that she was from Hogwarts. She was excited cause Lena was going to be coming back.

Tessa smiled as she bent down and was petting Ariel.

Roman wandered through the familiar halls of Durmstrang. He had only been in the Room of Necessity once, even though it was a bit of a hotspot for student when they needed to meet somewhere. Finally, an unfamiliar door appeared, and the boy opened it hesitantly.

"Hey guys," he said, a little uncomfortable that he was the last one to show up. Though he was starting to be late for just about everything nowadays.

"So what's up?" The note Roman had gotten from Afonka was a little worrying, but he figured it probably wasn't anything major.

Faye smiled at the girl, and looked down at the dog, "Hello to you too then Areil."

She began to tap her foot a little restlessly as they waited, frowning at the door every now and again, waiting for a familar face to pop in. Her face, in turn, lit up when she in fact saw it.

The young girl wandered over to Roman, taking his hand lightly and kissing his cheek in greeting before turning back to Afonka.

"So, does that mean you'll tell us what is wrong now?"

He - Roman was here.

That was good, right?

He'd wanted them all here, but now, he just wanted them all to leave. He couldn't do this, even if he knew he had to. Biting his lip, Afonka waved to his best friend.

Glancing at Faye, he gave her a weak smile and a nod.

It was now or never.

"So, um, I guess, you guys are all wondering why you're here." Cringing at the sound of his voice, he continued, "It's because I - well, I don't want to. I don't have a choice in this. It's either this or -" he cut off, his gaze rooted to the floor. Taking a deep breath, he continued despite his shaking voice, "My grandparents want me to join the mafia."

Tessa just stood there. She was waiting for the reason that everybody was called here for. But she held her breath after she was told the reason. This is where she was getting confused. Because it was like everybody was choosing side. And she had no idea which side to choose. Tessa could tell that Afonka was getting nervous.

He said that he had no choice but to join the mafia. But now Tessa was confused because she had no idea what this meant for them. She was scared that he might break up with her because of this. And this was something that she didn't want to happen. She didn't know if she could live with out him. She almost killed herself once, and it was a mistake that she wasn't going to make again. But she doesn't want to live without his love either.

Faye blinked once, and then twice. The words the boy said not completely coming through her ears and into her brain. Her hand unconsiously tightened on Roman's as she contineud to look at the boy.

"Oh, Afonka," she breathed slowly, her tone sympathetic. "I'm sorry."

She knew the sort the Mafia had - her father, maybe one day her brother, but Afonka?

They'd break him.

"Oh," Was the only thing that could escape Charlotte's lips when Tessa had informed her she was blind. The Slytherin, for once in a long time, didn't know what to say. Whether to apologize, give her a pat in the back or... well, she didn't know.

And then, Roman walked in. Her lips turned into a little smirk as Faye had wandered over. She wasn't going to embarrass her. Charlotte didn't even embarrassed Fonka in front of Tessa. It would only be fair.

"Well, don't I feel like a singleton," she laughed lightly as she glanced the couples.

Sitting up right when Fonka began the news, she raised an eyebrow at it.

"At least you're not dying," she pointed out, momentarily forgetting Faye was in the room. "And besides, you said they wanted you. Technically, you can say no."

Roman smiled down at Faye, returning the kiss cheerily. His eyes subconsciously stayed on her as she talked to Afonka, and they checked for any signs that she wasn't okay, just out of habit.

He turned back to his friend after a brief smirk at Charlotte's lighthearted comment. His short-lived happiness began to wane when he saw Afonka's clear distress. Something was obviously really wrong.

"No way... That's... that's so messed up!" This sort of thing had become a bit of a soft spot for him, "I mean- you can't!"

They knew now. The people who mattered the most to him outside his family knew about what they were making do. And that, that was good, right? Biting his bottom lip, Afonka flicked his gaze around the room from person to person, gauging their reactions.

Staring worriedly at Tessa as she said nothing, he twiddled his thumbs. He hated the silence. He just wanted her to say something, anything at all. He just wanted to know what was running through her head. If - if she wanted to break up with him because of this, well, he'd understand. Why would anyone ever want someone forced to be in the mafia?

Raising his gaze up to Faye, he smiled - or at least, he tried to - at her. But her sympathy, it didn't change anything. His grandparents were like puppetmasters, and he was the marionette being tugged by his strings. "I'm sorry too," he muttered under his breath.

Turning towards Charlotte, he frowned, glancing back at Faye for a moment before returning his gaze back to the exchange student. "It's not that easy." he said, pulling the letter out of pocket. "If it was, do you really think I'd be freaking out?" Looking at the letter warily, he read, "'And just in case you think you ignore us, we know exactly where your family is. You can't run away from us. Not if you treasure the lives of your family.'" Returning his suddenly wet gaze to Charlotte, he shook his head, "I - I can't not do this! They - they'll kill my parents and sister if I don't."

Flicking his gaze to Roman and then quickly away, he stared down at the ground, stuffing his sneakers against it. "If none of you ever want to talk to me again," Afonka said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, "I - I'd understand."

Faye glanced nervously at her feet at Charlotte's comment, ignoring the part of her brain that couldn't help wondering how long it would be before she might have to do something similar. Something....

"Dying's easier," she muttered quietly, before jolting her head up at Afonka's words.

She quietly disentangled her hands from Romans, before walking over and wrapping her thin arms around the boy.

"Why on earth would I stop talking to you?" she muttered softly shaking her head, "And it will be fine. Trust me, okay?"

Roman overheard Faye's words, and forgot completely about the present moment, overcome with worry. All he wanted to do was reach out to her, or at least do something. But as usual, he didn't, and stood by as she walked away.

It took him a few moments to process what Afonka had said, but once he did, he looked up in shock. The mafia didn't make threats they couldn't carry out. So if this was real... well, then he had no choice. As Roman listened to Afonka, his problems seemed a little bit smaller. Granted, they were still pretty big, enormous actually. He just didn't feel quite so alone

"Don't be ridiculous," He managed a small smile, and walked up to him and Faye, "We're all here for you. No matter what happens."

Tessa wasn't sure how to react to Afonka news. But she knew that he would need her more than ever. And she was going to stand by him. She really wasn't sure what the mafia could do, but she was sure that she didn't want to find out.

She couldn't believe that he didn't have a choice at all. It sounded like he was forced to do this. She just stood there as everybody else was talking. Tessa really wasn't sure what was happening. But she knew that over time she would have a better understanding.

" Afonka I love you and I would never leave you."

"Oh," was all she could blurt out once Afonka had cleared that he didn't have a choice. The Slytherin crossed her arms and looked away, not wanting to see him cry. Listening to every one's words and his. Slowly, the realization sunk in.

Sitting there silently, she had no idea what to say to him. She couldn't actually help him out in that situation, unlike the others. Or at least, Charlotte had hoped she had helped him in some way.

"I wouldn't stop talking to you kid," the exchange student responded as she avoided his gaze and every one else's as her eyes started to become wet. She didn't stand up from her seat though, thinking that he had enough hugs as it was. Besides, she didn't want anyone to see her start tearing up. "Even if someone had me at gun point or wand."