The common room hummed with tension. Lorenzo leaned back in an armchair, his dark eyes scanning the room as if weighing invisible options. “It’s just an idea, but I think Tom would know what to do.”

Draco scoffed, his face set in irritation. “Are you kidding? He hates his brother. No way he’s helping now. And it’s probably too late anyway.”

The door creaked open, and the room fell silent as Tom entered. His sharp gaze cut through the charged atmosphere. “Hate is such a strong word, Draco. Mattheo may be a fool, but he is still my brother, and that is a bond you would do well not to underestimate.”

Theodore smirked faintly before speaking. “Is that loyalty speaking, or just guilt, Tom?”

Tom fixed Theo with a piercing stare. “Call it loyalty, call it guilt... I don’t care, Theo. Unlike you, I don’t waste time debating trivialities.”

Draco stepped forward, his arms crossed, trying to mask his unease with bravado. "How do you plan to find him?”

Tom glanced at Draco, his expression unreadable, but his answer was chilling in its simplicity. “I already know where he is.”

In a shadowed room far from the common room’s safety, Sever*s loomed over Mattheo.

“Do you truly believe this is a game? That your shallow charm and reckless arrogance grant you immunity? Let me remind you, boy, of who I am. I have stared into the abyss of horrors that would obliterate the likes of you. You may carry the bl00d of a dark legacy, but you are nothing more than a naive, insolent child meddling with powers far beyond your feeble grasp,” Sever*s said.

Before Mattheo could respond, the door swung open, and Tom stepped into the room, his presence like a sudden storm. “My brother may be fallible, but even he is beyond your pitiful judgment, Sever*s.”

Sever*s turned slowly, his dark eyes narrowing as they met Tom’s. The tension in the room became unbearable, the air thick with unspoken challenges.