"It really isn't that bad. I'm quite sure it's extremely healthy for you, and you want to be a healthy boy, right?"

Michael Lawrence Corner blinked up at his father with the utmost contempt. Gabriel sighed and dropped the spoon down to the counter, attempting to come up with a solution. The books he had bought clearly stated that at four months, you could slowly begin to introduce solid food. Not solid solid foods, like steak or pasta, but moving up a stage from milk and formula. Michael was exactly four months today, so...Gabriel was not understanding.

"Don't you want to eat?" he said again, pulling the stool over to sit in front of Michael. The baby rested in his bouncy seat on the counter, his eyes still glued onto his father. The look of disgust was still rather prominent on his face. "Mashed avocados, Michael! That's delicious. Your healer fully recommended it!"

Taking another small spoonful from the jar, Gabriel once again attempted to coax the food into his son's mouth. Michael's little tongue immediately pushed the green mixture away, and his face contorted once more.

"Honestly," Gabriel huffed, "you're just like your mother sometimes, you know that?" He immediately felt guilty for the comment; Gabriel had promised himself that no ill words would come from his mouth about Mary, in front of Michael. Not that he had any reason to speak poorly for his son's mother, but sometimes the stress of being a single parent wore on him. It was hard not to be jealous of Mary's life in France, but it was a decision they had both agreed on and accepted. Though, Gabriel wasn't sure he would be able to be so far away from Michael, even if he did tend to be a stubborn little one most days.

Gabriel sighed and waved the spoon once more in front of Michael's face. When another negative response was returned, he dropped the spoon, examining the mashed avocado's texture. It didn't look terrible, and it smelled decent enough. Gabriel quickly lifted the spoon and stuck it in his mouth, ready to show his son that the food was not cringe inducing, "Oh, hell!"

He let out a choking sound and rushed over to the sink to spit out the foul food. How had he tried to feed that to his son? That was disgusting! Nasty! He was going to write a letter about how terrible----

The sound of high pitched laughter struck his ears, and Gabriel turned to see his son nearly cackling at the sight of his torture. Oh, what a Gryffindor. Or maybe a Slytherin? A Ravenclaw would certainly not laugh at such physical humor.

But...if it would make his son laugh like that...The sound of Michael's laughter made Gabriel want to slip on a banana peel or knock his head under the cabinets, or--or eat a full jar of that gross baby food! It lit up his heart, and he knew he would rather be right here, making a fool of himself for his infant, than working his way up the journalistic ladder.

"Do you like seeing Papa make a fool of himself? He does that a lot, actually, he's just very good at hiding it..."

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"You can't catch me, you can't catch me, you can't catch meeeeee!"

Amissa Aubrey's hair whipped behind her as she raced across the snow covered lawn, her step-brother Michael on her heels. The snow was making it hard for the usually quick boy to catch up to the girl, but in one swift motion Michael swiped up a glob of snow and chucked it at the back of Amissa's head.

"Heathens!" Rachel Corner gasped from the front porch of their home. Her gloved hands cupped over her mouth, "My children are behaving like absolute heathens!"

"Children," Gabriel corrected with a laugh, "They're behaving like children." He tucked his hands further into his winter cloak and watched as Benjamin attempted to follow his older siblings, with little success. The entirely too large for him snowsuit was inhibiting his movements, which had already been hindered by his small size and depth of the snow. He was fighting a losing battle, trying to trudge through the snow.

Gabriel grinned when his son began to collect snow in his hands, as if suddenly realizing he did not need his feet to throw a snowball. Benjamin patted down a perfect, tiny snowball, and pulled his arm back, waiting for his siblings to come running back from around the trees.

"Benjamin! Benjamin..." Rachel let out in a disapproving tone. Their youngest was still very much under his mother's thumb, and Gabriel knew that Rachel quite enjoyed this fact. The toddler looked over to the porch with wide eyes, and once he caught his mother's glare the snowball was dropped immediately. Benjamin followed and sat into the snow, giving up his losing battle against the winter substance.

Gabriel refrained from rolling his eyes, as his wife seemed to have a sixth sense at catching him whenever he did so. He moved up to sidle beside her, leaning forward on the railing of the porch to continue watching the older children attempt to pelt each other from behind their designated hiding spots. Benjamin remained seated, and from the corner of his eye Gabriel could tell that Rachel's vision was locked on the snowball fight, just itching to catch a slight cry of annoyance from the two so she could swoop in and put a stop to this heathenism. Gabriel watched his wife for a few more seconds before he confirmed that she was indeed not paying attention to him, and he let his hand slip out of his pocket and cruise slowly along the railing, gathering up some snow that had been sitting upon it.

It was either a rather funny idea that had struck him, or a really stupid one.

Whatever it was, his hands were already in motion, and by the time he was standing straight, Rachel had looked over toward him. It was a peculiar sight: she was gaping up at him with surprise and contempt, and he was holding a rather large glob of snow over her head, frozen from being caught in the act.

"Gabriel Lawrence Corner if one snowflake leaks from your hand you will be very sorry," Rachel stated quickly, taking a small step back. Gabriel grinned and shrugged, wondering what she could really do to him...maybe not wondering, because then he would lose all the nerve he'd just mustered, but. He took a step forward with each step backwards Rachel made, and she soon realized he was not giving in. With a squeak she made a dart down the stairs of the porch and into the front lawn, Gabriel right behind her.

"GET HER GABE!" Amissa shrieked excitedly, jumping up and down in place. Michael allowed himself to be smacked in the head from a snowball thrown by Benjamin, he was so enthralled with the chase his parents were involved in. Benjamin shrieked in delight and dropped back to the snow, and Gabriel made a quick leap over his son's head in one last stretch to catch Rachel.

"GABRIEL LAWRENCE CORNER---" Rachel screamed, and a second later Gabriel had her by the waist. With a large swinging motion he lifted her off the ground and dropped back into a pile of snow the children had been shoveling before. He landed deep in the snow with Rachel squarely on top of him, sputtering and patting down her hair. "So this is where they inherited those heathenish mannerisms!"

Gabriel laughed and kissed the side of her face, but was greeted with a lump of snow in his eyes, courtesy of his wife.

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His childhood home felt strange, like he'd never actually stepped foot into the manor before. Gabriel stood in the foyer, rocking uneasily on his heels as he tried to envision himself as a child, running up and down the steps and chasing after his sister (or more likely, being chased by Rebecca). They were distant memories, and while he longed to have them fresh in his mind once more, he knew the events that had occurred within the Corner family over the past year had irrevocably changed the family.

The deep desire to reinforce some sort of emotional stability with his parents was the reason why he was stationed at the front door of the home. Gabriel knew that the house-elves were more than capable of performing such duties, but tonight...he was rather wary of how his guest may arrive at the door. The main reason being that no appearance at all could lose the very thin threads of a relationship he and his parents had been putting back together, and the other more...significant reason was that he may in fact be engaged at this very moment, but not have any idea of it.

Rachel Englewood should be in possession of an engagement ring. Gabriel's owl had returned with empty talons, and it was to be assumed that the package had been delivered. Whether or not the ring had been thrown into the Thames was a question that had been floating through his mind all week. He knew in his heart that certain matters should be done face to face, but in this case it didn't seem to make sense. Their betrothal had occurred without their knowledge, so he found the delivery sort of fair, in a way. Sending Rachel a ring with very clear options was Gabriel's way of telling her that he would respect any decision she made. He saw actually bending down on one knee without knowing if she actually wanted to marry him as something that would only cause trouble, and---

He jumped nearly a foot in the air as the doorbell rang. A soft giggle was heard from up the stairs and Gabriel hissed at his sister for some privacy. For all he knew, it was their uncle with the children. Hopefully it wasn't, because Uncle Adrian had all but ignored Gabriel since the news of Michael's conception broke, and he did not particularly feel like getting ignored (or sneered at) tonight. Gabriel stepped forward and grabbed the doorknob, praying that something positive would occur from its opening.

"Rachel," he let out, feeling like he hadn't taken a breath in a week. Gabriel smiled kindly at her, noticing how lovely she looked. You did not get so dressed up to deny someone's proposal, did you? Gabriel forced the thought out of his mind and moved to allow her into the home, when she stuck her gloved hand out, the engagement ring he'd sent a week before pressed tightly between her fingers. Gabriel was frozen mid-motion. "Oh."

"Mackenzie Goldstein says I should smack you for owling this to me," Rachel said primly, her eyes locked onto his. Gabriel straightened, his mouth falling open with his lack of explanation. "Giada Dorny thinks it's terribly romantic and wishes that she would receive expensive jewelry in the post."

Gabriel was suddenly very confused. Was she rejecting the proposal, or applauding it? It certainly seemed more like the former. "I wanted you to be able to think about it," he managed to finally explain, "I thought it would give you the opportunity to make a decision without being bombarded by the supposed...'expected' ways."

"Expected ways?" she inquired, her hand lowering slightly. Gabriel kept his eyes on the ring, feeling hot.

"Our parents expect us to agree to this marriage because it will amend any social mishaps we have supposedly committed," Gabriel said, feeling guilty for alluding to Michael as a 'mishap,' "And on the one hand I do wish to fall back under my parents' good graces, but on the other, much stronger and sensible hand, I know that I have been raised all my life to be married to a woman with grace and propriety. To want to be married to a woman with those characteristics."

Gabriel smiled, holding onto the doorknob, "I don't think I could be paired with a better woman than you, Rachel." It was the truth, "Despite the rumors of your temper and sharp tongue, I do not believe my parents could have made a better match."

She was frowning at him. Gabriel's small smile slipped off his face and he swallowed nervously again. Perhaps he should not have spoken so much? He watched as Rachel's hand clenched around the ring, and she let out a breath turning her hand over and opening her palm. Gabriel felt his heart plummet as she seemed to be returning the piece of jewelry, and therefore ending any hopes of an engagement.

"I came here to startle you with a positive response, but you've gone and ruined the fun for me," she said with a sigh. Gabriel's eyes widened as he watched a small, amused smile curve up Rachel's lips. "However, I do ask that you get down on one knee this time. A girl is only proposed to once, and it should not be in letter form."

He dropped to his knee so quickly he was sure he'd smashed one of the tiles of the floor.

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Gabriel pulled the goggles off of his face with a sigh, glad that potions was finally over and he wouldn't have to listen to Slughorn anymore. His partner, a Gryffindor named Rafe, sat miserably in his seat as the cauldron in front of him fizzled an ugly brown.

"Don't worry," Gabriel said, hopping off his stool, "I didn't get it either. Only Kettleburn got it to spark."

"That's because she's a genius, she doesn't count. I should've at least made it green," Rafe moaned. Gabriel smiled and tapped his friend's goggles to remind him to take them off before they left for break. Hogwarts, it seemed, was going to be a smashing good time. He had friends from home here, and he was making new friends already! It was only the first month of school, and Gabriel already had people to say hello to in the corridors. That was rather nice, and he hoped it stayed like this forever.

After potions was the only time outside of meals that all the first years were free. Most of them, since the weather was still rather nice, liked to hang out in the courtyard. Gabriel said hello to his friends and continued toward the bench where he and Rafe always sat, as it was perched in front of the best spot to play gobstones.

"You're late!" Donovan Rookwood let out, checking his watch. He was one of Gabriel's friends from before Hogwarts, and though it had taken a little time (Donovan was from a pureblood family that didn't really care for people like Rafe, who was a halfblood), they were all friends now. "I had to scare away some Hufflepuffs to keep this spot."

"Big bad Slytherin," Gabriel crowed before dropping his bag down onto the bench. The three boys dug out their pouches of gobstones and got down on the ground to start their game. Rafe was the best at it, but Donovan had the nicest set of stones. Gabriel didn't have the coordination for it, really, to focus on the tiny things enough or to know how softly or hard to hit them, but it was fun anyway. Except, of course, when the putrid liquid shoots out at you when you lose a point.

They were about ten minutes into the game when Donovan let out a groan, "Merlin, here comes Ackerly again."

Gabriel and Rafe looked over their shoulders to see the tiniest first year make a beeline toward their group. Jonas Ackerly was in Gabriel's Herbology class, and from just those sessions he knew that the boy could talk and ask questions for the entire class period. He nearly bounced out of his seat in excitement with every new thing they learned.

"He burst into song in History the other day," Rafe whispered, making Gabriel's eyebrows furrow in confusion. Burst into song? "Professor Binns just slipped through the wall and ended class ten minutes early to avoid listening."

They watched as Donovan stood up, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"Can I please play with you guys? Please?" the Hufflepuff squeaked, bouncing from foot to foot. "I know I asked you already Donovan but I thought you might need a fourth--"

"I told you, Ackerly, it's a three person game!" Which it wasn't, it really was better with four people, but Jonas wasn't the easiest to deal with. And, if Gabriel could recall, he was also a muggleborn. Loud, jittery, and not a pureblood wasn't exactly the best combination for Donovan to deal with. Gabriel pushed himself up to his feet, and Rafe remained on the ground, making sure the gobstones didn't roll out of place.

"But I'm really good at it! I'm really good at marbles, and that's what those are! I mean---" He did a little wiggle, as if trying to push all of his thoughts out of his gut and out through his mouth, "I mean, they're just like. Magic marbles. I'm really good! I promise! I'm really good! I can show you! I'm really good, Donovan!"

"Merlin's beard----" Donovan let out, turning to Gabriel with a great frown, seemingly looking for a solution to their situation. Gabriel hesitated for a moment, and looked down at Jonas. He really did look positively thrilled at the prospect of playing gobstones, and it was better with an even amount of people...he shrugged at Donovan, and took a step over to make a space.

"Just let him play, it's better with four any---" Gabriel couldn't finish his sentence as he was tackled by Jonas. No--not tackled hugged. The Hufflepuff was gripping him so tightly that Gabriel actually let out a gasp for air, and Donovan had to tear Jonas off of him.

"Oh boy!" Jonas let out, dropping to his knees and pulling out his bag of gobstones---marbles, did he call them? Rafe stared dubiously up at Gabriel, and Donovan muttered some choice words under his breath but went back to his spot.

Well, at least they had a fourth.

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He felt a flick on his forehead and watched the balled up piece of parchment fall down onto the open book in front of him. Gabriel slowly lifted his eyes from the text to glare at Donovan, who was sitting across the tabel, feet resting on the edge as he avoided studying with a large smirk on his face. It was nearing the end of their sixth year, and while their final exams were no where near as strenous as the O.W.L.s had been, they still needed to band together to get the work done.

"Corner, your fan club's arrived," he drawled, causing everyone at the table to turn and look behind Donovan. Gabriel held his breath, but he couldn't stop the smile that grew. He watched the four girls take a seat at the table directly behind theirs, and his grinned widened as he caught the eye of one of them.

"They're not a fan club," Gabriel remarked, feeling his ears heat up slightly.

"They've been here every day," Erin Jugson chirped, taking some time out of staring into Rafe's eyes to evaluate the situation. Rafe didn't seem to enjoy this distraction and he frowned at the group of girls, who were huddled in deep conversation.

Gabriel twisted his neck to try and get a crick out, and hopefully managing to change the subject by ignoring his friends. Not that he minded that the girls seemed to fancy him, but his friends could be thoroughly embarrassing if they wanted to be.

"They're fifth years, they must be studying for the O.W.L.s," Danielle Kettleburn said without looking up from her notes, chewing on the end of her quill. Donovan dropped down onto the front legs of his chair and attempted to pull her focus off the parchment by kissing her chin. Danielle wasn't as easily distracted, being the studious Ravenclaw she was, but she did smile as her eyes continued to race across the scrawls.

Jonas was on his knees, nearly toppling his chair over to try and get a listen as to what the girls were talking about. He looked back at Gabriel with a shrug, and proceeded to start rapping his quills against the parchment in anticipation. "We should invite them over, I bet they'd like that!"

"No," Gabriel let out immediately, and he cursed himself for paying any attention to the conversation because his face immediately flushed and any hint of embarrassment did not go ignored in their group.

"Maybe we should," Donovan suggested, and Gabriel was ready to kick him from under the table when one of the girls got up from their seat and came started toward the table. Jonas let out a squeak of excitement and dropped onto the chair to get a better view of the scene. Gabriel had dropped his eyes down to his book in hopes of not being the one that was approached, but a quick tap on his shoulder proved that he was going to have to deal with the teasing of his friends for the rest of the week.

"Gabriel, I was just wondering if you still had your Charms study sheet from last year," the confident voice of Rachel Englewood asked. Gabriel looked up and found himself slightly taken aback at the more than flirtatious smile on her face. He mentally prayed that his cheeks weren't red, but he knew they were by the snickers from around the table.

"Erm--they're in my dorm, right now," he said with a nod. Rachel's mouth dropped in a slight 'o' and she took on a thoughtful pose, hair dropping over her shoulders and hip jutting out toward him. He hadn't spoken to her in quite some time, and had forgotten how upfront and pretty she was.

"Well, that's not a problem," she said with a toss of her hair, "I'll see you in the common room after dinner? Is that all right? We just really need them."

It was then that he noticed the other girls craning their necks over to listen in. Gabriel's attention went back to Rachel, and he caught a wink between her and the girls. Oh. Gabriel let out a breath and stood, enjoying the fact that he was a bit taller than her. Their friends wanted a show? Well, then.

"That would be fine, Miss. Englewood," he said smoothly. His hand reached out and pushed some hair behind her ear, his smile widening as she startled, "Maybe I could tutor you in some things."

She pressed her lips together, and Gabriel knew that whatever game she had been playing with the other girls was now going in a different direction than planned. Rachel nodded primly, and before she left she put her hand on his arm and then made a quick beeline to her table. The girls immediately erupted into giggles and rushed out of the library before Madam Pince beheaded them.

Gabriel remained standing and looked back at his group of friends, amused at their struck expressions.

Donovan began a slow clap, and Gabriel sat, quite pleased with himself.

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Gabriel honestly felt scared for his life.

He stared across the bedroom at his wife, who was reorganizing their bookshelf by flinging the books across the room with her wand, to a pile that was created after the tomes slammed hard against the wall. Scratch that, she was shooting his books across the room and crashing them into the wall, and did not seem to notice that she had nearly hit him square in the face when he'd come to see what the noise was.

"Rachel!" Gabriel let out, rushing over to her and though he managed to avoid the zooming book just moments before, he was not able to dodge her fist as she flung yet another one of his books across the room. He let out a yelp and stumbled back, dropping down into the seat of her vanity. "Rachel, what are you doing?"

"You know, Gabriel," she said, drawing out her words in a tone that issued such anger that Gabriel forgot about the throbbing in his nose and winced, ready to get smacked again. It wasn't as if Gabriel got hit often, but the ferocity in her voice made him quite aware of the fact that he'd done something terribly wrong, "As a gentleman of high society, I would think that you knew better than to humiliate your wife in a public forum."

Her last word was greatly enunciated with another soaring book, and Gabriel could do nothing but sit, completely flabbergasted at his wife's actions. He'd humiliated her? How! How! He would never!

"I did no such thing!" he said, but his mouth shut quickly as Rachel turned her eviscerating glare upon him. Maybe he should just let her finish emptying his bookcase.

"Telling that Gryffindor that you make a good team in the middle of the Daily Prophet's forum is quite possibly the most embarrassing thing I have ever endured!"

Gabriel's expression of doubt was quickly erased, but not quick enough. Rachel seemed even more deeply offended by his questioning eyebrows, and she stormed away, letting out a shrill noise followed by angry mutterings. This gave Gabriel the chance to stand, and he jumped over the books that had tumbled out of his bookcase and followed after her. She was furious about his comments with Greta? He'd known Greta for years---

"It's all innocent, Rachel, Greta's just my friend!-"

Wrong, wrong, wrong thing to say. Rachel whirled around, looking wild. Gabriel had the thought of pulling out his wand to set up a shield, but she wouldn't fling anything violent at him, right? Except for a five-hundred page book, of course.

"A friend who bakes you cakes and cookies for no reason at all!" Rachel shrieked, "Who---who flushes and gets all a twitter every time you give her a moment of your time! A friend who you speak to in a flirtatious manner even though you know she idolizes you and probably would shag you in the broom closet right then and there if she had the chance!"

Her rant took the breath out of her, her voice going up an octave with each statement. Rachel looked wild, her hair having fallen out of place, her eyes blazing. Gabriel stood, shoulders dropped and palms out to her, his expression a mixture of emotions. But a small smirk twitched upon his face.

"You're jealous."

"I---am---no---such thing!" Rachel sputtered, but her face was red and she could not look him in the eye, "Jealousy is an emotion for the weak and---stupid, there is no way that I could be jealous of that little girl---"

Gabriel had closed the space between them and put his arms around her waist to pull her close. Rachel protested, very much offended by his accusation, but he still moved to kiss her cheek, then along her jawline, and down to her neck.

"I was not jealous of that Gryffindor," she sniffed, stiff in his arms. Gabriel's lips curved into a smile against the hollow of her neck and he nodded in agreement.

"Of course you weren't."

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Gabriel twisted away just fast enough to avoid Rafe’s fist. The Gryffindor’s hand slammed hard into the locker, sending vibrations down the entire row. Gabriel threw his own quidditch equipment down in anger, ready to start pummeling his supposed best friend, but a fury of yellow and black slammed into his chest.

“STOP THE VIOLENCE!” Jonas Ackerly screamed at the top of his lungs, having hurled himself into Gabriel’s chest in a poor attempt to hold him back. Donovan Rookwood was pushing Rafe further down the locker bay, but it didn’t seem like the human barriers would last for long. Rafe pointed a stiff finger over Donovan’s shoulder, face a deep, angry red,

“You’re a lying prick, Corner!”

“Oy!” Donovan shouted as he wrestled Rafe against the lockers. “Quit it!”

Irritated by the insult, Gabriel pushed forward, knocking Jonas out of the way and into the lockers. He felt like he’d stepped out of his own body. His hair was wild around his head from the quidditch helmet, and he wanted nothing more than to punch Rafe Kirke straight in his stupid face.

“If you weren’t such a coward we wouldn’t even be having this conversation!” he shouted back, earning a yelp of fear from Jonas, a groan of frustration from Donovan, and a roar of anger from Rafe.

That was the worst word someone could call a Gryffindor, and Gabriel knew it. He didn’t care though, not in the moment; he wanted Rafe to get mad enough to break away from Donovan. The Gryffindor was an idiot, and it was not Gabriel’s fault that he hadn’t been brave enough to speak what was on his mind earlier.

This quick pick up game by the boys had not gone as originally planned. It had been Gabriel and Jonas versus Rafe and Donovan, a supposedly fair match. It started off normal enough, until Gabriel started to realize that all of the practice bludgers were being aimed towards him, and only him! Rafe was ignoring anything that wasn’t a bludger he could send straight to Gabriel’s head, and after the fifth blow he’d had enough.

“You knew I fancied Erin, and you went and asked her out!” Rafe yelled, shoving Donovan into the locker with a well placed hand to the Slytherin’s chest. “What kind of friend does that?!”

“I asked you ten times!” Gabriel nearly shrieked, managing to keep his voice at a somewhat manly, even tone. Jonas was tugging on his arm and he started toward Rafe, but the little Hufflepuff’s efforts were to no avail and Gabriel shook him off completely. He and Rafe were face to face now, chests heaving with furious breaths, their faces screwed up and scarlet, “I’ve asked you if you wanted to take Erin out and you’ve told me no, what am I supposed to think?”

“That I think she’d laugh in my face when she could be going out with a bloke like you!”

Jonas’ slight gasp was all the sound that was let out as Rafe’s words reverberated off the lockers. Gabriel, for the first time in quite some time, found himself speechless, and his face heated up for reasons other than anger. Rafe turned his head away, looking ashamed, and suddenly all of the anger in the room had dissipated. That was not something Gabriel had expected from his friend, and it was a strange feeling that was now coursing through him.

“Don’t say that,” Gabriel said in a much quieter voice than before. It was strange to go from one high to a completely different one, and he couldn’t look Rafe in the eye, he was so flushed with embarrassment about the whole ordeal, “You’re the quidditch star, you....you’re about half a head taller than me---”

“---but you’re smart and good at Charms and I’m such a dunce when it comes to school work,” Rafe lamented, and Gabriel’s guilt could not be contained. He felt like a horrid person, a horrid friend and he ran a nervous hand through his hair.

“I just asked her to study,” Gabriel muttered, “It was just a study date, not a....” He nodded his head back and forth. He’d been planning to ask Erin to Hogsmeade during the study session, he was never so upfront about these kind of things. “...you know.”

Rafe finally looked up, eyebrows heightened in surprise. Gabriel smiled meekly at his friend and Rafe responded with one of his own. Now that his mind was clear, Gabriel didn’t know what he would have done if Rafe had been seriously mad at him, mad enough to never speak to him again. He appreciated all three of his best friends, but Rafe was always the first one he turned to when he really needed someone.

“Are we having a moment?”

“Shut up, Jonas,” Donovan snapped, grabbing the Hufflepuff by the collar and pulling him out of the locker room. Gabriel hadn’t realized how long they’d been standing in silence and flushed, moving away to pick up his quidditch belongings. Rafe let out a nervous laugh, but then let out a sound of pain as he ran his hand through his hair. Gabriel shot up and took his friend’s hand gingerly.

“You are an idiot,” Gabriel tutted, “I think you’ve broken your hand.”

“Perfect,” Rafe let out with a sigh, but he laughed and shook his head, shoving Gabriel in the shoulder with his good hand, “Now you’re going to have to sit with me in the hospital wing.”

Gabriel feigned great exasperation as he followed his friend out of the room, “You’re lucky I’m such a good friend.”

“Let’s not get too hasty, Corner.”

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"Good evening, I'm Gabriel Corner and this is The Wizarding Wireless News---damn it."

Gabriel dropped his parchment script to the desk in front of him and only barely stopped himself from dropping his head to it as well. He was set to go on air for the first time in only a few short minutes, and it seemed like only he was aware of how grossly unprepared he was for this job. The crew was running around like mad, the station manager (and the junior station manager) were shouting orders in duplicate, and then sometimes bickering amongst themselves, and there he was! Gabriel Corner, silently panicking and wishing he'd called in sick.

How could he have possibly thought that it would be a good idea to audition for this job? He had no public speaking experience, he liked writing! Writing the news was much different than announcing it and----they should have never told him the approximate number of wizards and witches that tuned into this on the hour program!

He felt like a measley intern again, hiding in broom closets and breathing into paper bags to compose himself under the pressure. Gabriel was very adept at speaking when he was confident and sure of himself, but right now he felt like, even though it was only his voice that was going to be broadcast, that the whole wizarding world was staring at him, waiting for him to fail.

"Ma'am, ma'am you're not allowed on set---" Octavius Pepper's voice disappeared into a strangled sound of despair and Gabriel's head shot up from his defeated slump and his eyes widened.

"Rachel!" he nearly yelped. His very pregnant wife had pushed past the producers of the show and looked highly irritated. What on earth could he have done that would have possessed her to invade the offices of the WWN? Gabriel made to get up, but Rachel put her hand up.

"You're on in five, sit!" she said, coming around the desk. Gabriel gaped at her as she swiftly began to adjust the collar of his robes, and then press back a curl of his hair that could never stay off his forehead for long. Rachel examined him closely for a moment and then nodded. "You left without allowing me to make sure that you were prepared."

"I'm sorry, I----"

"---was a complete nervous wreck, yes." She sent him a pointed look. "You seem to catch an awful case of stage fright, don't you?"

His ears were pink, and if it were any other person telling him these truths Gabriel would had angrily disagreed. Coming from Rachel, however, strangely eased him; she was able to read his emotions quite clearly, and it comforted him to know that she was able to.

"Are you ready?" she asked, eyes flicking toward the countdown that had just hit its one minute mark. There was shouting coming from the other side of the room, but that seemed to be the closest the junior manager would get to Mrs. Corner. Gabriel nodded, obliging quite eagerly at her quick, but firm kiss. He felt a reassurance in her lips, and when they parted there were only thirty seconds left. Rachel straightened her shoulders and in her stern expression Gabriel saw what may have been a glimmer of excitement.

She patted the desk before she marched off the set, and Gabriel picked up his parchment once again.

"Three…two…."

"Good evening. I'm Gabriel Corner and this is The Wizarding Wireless Network News."

The introduction music began to play and Gabriel sent a sly grin towards Rachel, who stood proudly behind the scenes.

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