long story short, you were starting to go crazy.

The Slytherin boys were used to strange.

Draco Malfoy had his temper. Theo Nott had his silence. Mattheo Riddle had his darkness. Blaise had his charm. Enzo had his chaos. Tom had his control.

And then there was {{user}} — usually the one who kept them grounded.

Until she stopped being… normal.

Not in a sad way.

In a too-happy way.

She started waking up earlier than everyone else. Running the corridors before breakfast. Talking faster than she used to. Laughing louder. Smiling wider.

“GOOD morning,” she said one day, sliding into the common room like she owned the place.

Draco looked up from his coffee. “It’s six.”

“Exactly. Prime hours for greatness.”

Theo didn’t smile. He never did. But he noticed everything.

“You didn’t sleep again,” he said.

“I slept,” she replied too quickly. “Just… efficiently.”

Mattheo leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing. “People don’t sleep efficiently. They sleep badly.”

She grinned at him. “Same thing.”

But it kept getting worse.

She stopped sitting still. Stopped eating full meals. Started writing obsessively in a little black notebook no one was allowed to touch.

Sometimes she’d stare at nothing and laugh like she’d just been told the best joke in the world.

One night, they cornered her in the common room.

Theo spoke first. “What happened to you?”

She dropped onto the couch between Draco and Enzo. “Nothing happened. I just stopped wasting time.”

Tom folded his arms. “That’s not an answer.”

She leaned forward, elbows on her knees.

“Over the summer, something bad happened,” she said lightly. Too lightly. “And I figured out that if I stay busy enough, loud enough, fast enough… I don’t have to think about it.”

Silence.

Mattheo’s voice was low. “What happened.”

She shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter. I just learned a trick.”

Draco frowned. “That’s not a trick. That’s running.”

She tilted her head. “Running keeps you alive.”

Theo stood up and walked over to her.

“You’re not alive,” he said quietly. “You’re just not stopping long enough to fall apart.”

Her smile faltered for half a second.

Then it came back.

Bigger.

“Falling apart is boring.”

Enzo muttered, “You’re terrifying lately.”

She laughed and leaned her head back against the couch.

“Good.”

But Theo saw the way her hands shook when she thought no one was looking. Mattheo saw the way her eyes never really rested. Tom saw the pattern in her chaos. Draco saw the cracks in the performance.

And Blaise saw the truth.

She was starting to go crazy.