With the capture of Verandi Farley and several high-ranking Trossach members, the British wizarding world has finally caught a break. The rate of rogue werewolf attacks have started dropping at a steady rate and, hopefully, things will stay that way. The Ministry is starting to loosen some restrictions, like not arresting werewolves standing on the street for loitering, however there’s still an obvious power imbalance between wizardfolk and werewolves.
The Cotswolds pack are continuing to advocate for the rights of werewolves and petitioning to change the legislation that has been set in motion by the current Minister for Magic, whilst the remaining Trossachs members are trying to stay out of the spotlight and keep a low profile… for now.
Whilst the British wizarding world seems to have calmed down, the same cannot be said for over in Northern Europe where a rebellion of magical creatures has risen. The state of things has gotten so bad that the European Ministry has enacted protocols to protect those under eighteen whilst their adult witches and wizards fight to keep control of their countries.
Students from Durmstrang have been sent to Hogwarts to keep them safe and those not old enough to attend school have been sent to live with relatives or designated British Ministry officials outside of Europe for the time being.
Will the low rates of werewolf attacks in Britain continue? How long will Durmstrang students stay at Hogwarts? Will the creatures usurp the wizardfolk in Northern Europe? Only time will tell.
SEPTEMBER 2019 It's been a very long, eventful summer in the wizarding world. A baby was stolen, several high ranking Trossach members were imprisoned, and werewolf attacks have drastically dropped as a result. What will happen now school has returned?
MAY 2019 An attempt to capture the beta of the Trossachs has been launched. Were the Aurors successful in their mission? Go read more here!
“Thank Merlin, you’re awake,” Dio let out a relieved breath and looked over the Ravenclaw laying in the hospital bed. A guilty expression haunted the Slytherin’s face. “How are you feeling?” He asked the boy carefully and checked if they were truly alone before continuing. “Hey, ehh… So… Listen… I’m really s- ” Fuck he hated that word. Dio turned away from the younger boy to say it. “Sorry.” Urgh there he said it, for the first time ever after all those years of mistreating the kid. How thing had changed since the last few months of previous school year. “Look I don’t know what exactly happened, but I think it might be best if we stop the training for a while.” That was a lie, he knew exactly what happened. During the training, hoping to build some of Greenie’s confidence, Dio snapped. They were just practicing simple dueling blocking techniques. It was nothing personal, but a specific sound and word Alex said triggered him. Instead of a simple jinx, a firery blast came out. Dio wanted to hurt whatever the cause of it was. And he had succeeded. Nothing magic couldn’t heal but he had burned the boy’s shoulder and part of his face. Just because he lost control due a rage that came from nowhere. It scared him. Was he really losing his mind?
“Perhaps we can eh… Talk instead?” Yeah talking, his greatest skill. NOT. But he somehow felt obligated to make up for what he did. “So,, ehhh. I’ve been wondering. Did you and Alex broke up or what? I mean you two were dating right? I never see the two of you together anymore.” Dio just assumed that. Perhaps that was more reason he sometimes lashed out to Greenie. He didn’t want the guy to take his best friend away from him. Now they were both ignoring McCarty and it just felt weird. Dio had his reasons so he was sure the younger kid had his own.
While he waited on an answer, Dio started to check several drawers in hope of finding some nice stuff. Preferably potions he could use. At some point he might have to break in to the healer’s stock to keep functioning.
Stirring awake in his hospital bed slowly, Alex was hit with one thought as he blinked away the sleep and Dio Greyback came into his vision: he never should have started training with Dio in the first place. It was a mistake, one that had very literally resulted in Alex being burned, and the hospital matron calling the two of them idiots before administering a pain potion and a balm that was meant to heal his blistering skin in the next few days.
Hissing as a sudden shift from his body put pressure on his burned shoulder, Alex resigned himself to pushing himself up into a sitting position with one hand and Merlin, half-way up his arm nearly gave way. Holy shit, his upper body strength was as non-existent as the TARDIS. At the question of how he was feeling, Alex's eyebrows scrunched up before he said frankly, "Er, I feel like shit. But at least I'm not going to end up looking like Deadpool anymore, right? That's... something."
The apology that left Dio's mouth left Alex unnerved and for a moment, a horrible thought hit him, one that he decided to voice aloud. "This... this wasn't some big joke, right? Getting me to train with you and start trusting you so you can end up hurting me and tell your friends how stupid I was agreeing to work with you in the first place," Alex asked, glancing down at the hospital blanket and picking at a stray thread. If it had been a prank, then maybe he deserved his punishment for being so gullible.
Talking wasn't something Alex had ever been good at and when Dio changed the subject to Alexander McCarthy of all people, a frown crossed his face because he didn't want to talk about Alex, someone he had considered his closest friend before... well, before he had decided to tell Zoe everything. "I don't - we weren't... you don't even know I like guys," he muttered, trying his best to avoid the question. "I could be as straight as... Batman, for all you know." As soon as the name of the superhero left his mouth, Alex cringed because, okay, Batman? Not exactly a shining example of heterosexuality. He should have picked Ironman instead.
An unfamiliar feeling shot through Dio, seeing the little loser laying there. This couldn’t be… guilt he was feeling. Right? Dio never felt guilty, his mother had trained him that way. Dio bit the inside of his cheek and had a hard time looking at the guy. Usually when he was hurting people he was fully in control, now it was a blind rage coming out. Greenaway was just the unlucky one to stand close. This was dangerous, if this went on, he might accidentally kill someone in a matter of time. Was this real what all that training had lead to?
“Oi! Don’t move you dumb ass, do you want scars? Because ripping healing wounds open is how you get them. Tsk, bloody useless, I thought Ravenclaws had brains,” he scoffed, keeping up the same act as he always had. Inside of his pocket, he found his trusty flask. It wasn’t as full as he’d hoped but a few sips were better than nothing. He was going to need it if he had to deal with this moron. An eyebrow arched up at the younger kid. “Hah? Don’t be so dramatic, you’re not going to die. I’ve healed worse wounds than that without developing scars. Don’t be such a baby.” He was harsh because well why wouldn’t he be? At least he was sitting with Alexander, when his mother hurt Dio she just laughed and left him to heal on his own. This was Dio being nice.
Greenaway was on dangerous territory hitting Dio’s last nerve. As if he wasn’t confused enough already. Though part of him couldn’t blame the Ravenclaw. What he described him as was exactly how Dio used to be in the first four and a half years at Hogwarts. But even then, he would never put this much time and effort into a prank. “Duh, obviously. Of course I’m going to put my precious hours in having some loser Ravenclaw trust me only to hurt him and laugh in his face with all my friends. Oh look they’re all here,” Dio started laughing manically tho it was not as convincing as it should be. Great there went your chance of scaring him away to safe the kid. Just the reminder of how many friends he had stung him. He could hardly call the people from Knockturn his friends. He just hanged around with the gang because they were as twisted as he was. The laughing faded and Dio looked down. “Wel… You’re not wrong. I am a monster. Possibly even worse than my brother. He can at least get people to follow him and look up to him,” he mumbled, more to himself than the kid in the bed. It was too late to change that even if he realized it. He sighed as the flask was empty. Of fucking course.
He shrugged at the obvious defense coming from the loser. Why did he honestly care so much? “Well, Alex likes boys. I know that for sure, he told me. And saying ‘you don’t even know I like guys’ only makes it seem that I can’t know just because you haven’t told me,” he said, feeling much more comfortable talking about stuff that made others have an identity crisis rather than focusing on his own. “Does it even matter tho? When I first found out Alex liked dicks, I was shocked and disgusted. I feared it’d change everything between us. But soon I realized he was just the same as he always was, it changed the way I thought about the whole thing.” Why was he telling the kid all this personal stuff? He did pull a face at the next thing that came out of the Ravenclaw’s mouth. “Hold up kid. I really don’t need to know you’re a furry. Keep your little kinky nerdy hobbies to yourself.” Dio looked as if some old disgusting man had just flashed him. “And I’m sure there are gay bats too, you know. I’m a bit of a nature lover and I’ve read the one and other. Especially after finding out Alex was… He is a great guy you know, if you take away the overbearing motherly part that literally does everything for you without asking,” he sighed again. He missed McCarty as a friend, but it was for the best. “Also don’t tell him I said that or I’ll kill you. Oh and I also told the healer you had an accident with potion homework and I just found so if you told anyone I almost blew you up, I’ll blow you up for real, understood?” Dio shot the kid a threatening glare. ALEXANDER GREENAWAY
"It's... we're in a hospital wing with balms. I don't think I'll end up with scars," Alex protested, his words dying half-way on his lips as he watched Dio pull out a flask of all things. He did, however, frown deeply as he was accused of being dramatic and then being a baby in quick succession. He wasn't exactly sure how Dio had drawn that conclusion from him talking about feeling like shit and not looking like Deadpool, but... okay. "I... I don't really - er, I mean, I don't think I'm meant to feel good about being burned, am I? That's why... I said I felt like shit. Because I don't feel good that I had fire blast at me." Not to mention... he didn't like fire in the first place. It brought back memories of - of his mum and his dad and their... fuck, he was tearing up. Swiping at his eyes with the back of his hands and ducking his head, all Alex could do was hope Dio didn't notice.
Duh, obviously. Alex swallowed hard against the lump in his throat because was Dio telling the truth? Sure, the friends he said were 'all here' were non-existent but with the way he was laughing... it wasn't easy to know whether he was joking or not. "I didn't say you were a monster," Alex murmured. Dio wasn't very nice, that was for certain, but he wasn't like... the Joker levels of bad. He was just a dick that made Alex want to sink into the floor and disappear most of the time. "Your brother... is he in the Ministry or something?"
Does it even matter? Alex almost wanted to laugh at the question because yeah, it did. It mattered a lot to him. If he were to tell Dio, of all people, that he was gay then it would just be ammunition for the boy to bully him even more, to taunt him about it, and Alex wasn't confident enough to say that Dio would bother keeping it to himself. "Just because our names are the same doesn't mean we -" Alex cut himself, an absolutely bemused expression crossing his face as Dio lost him with his talk about... furries? "A... what's a furry? I don't know what you're - I don't think I am. I don't... I don't really have that much body hair to be considered 'furry.' Why, do you?"
Alex wasn't really sure about the whole gay bats thing - did bats even have a sexuality? - but he'd take Dio's word about it... or maybe he'd try and get Liam to ask the Care of Magical Creatures professor if gay bats existed.
Listening as Dio continued raving about Xander, Alex couldn't help but pick at the loose threads of his blankets as he said quietly, "Sometimes he needs to ask before doing things instead of just assuming." Xander was a good guy, Alex knew this logically, but... it didn't take back the fact that what Xander had done over the holiday. He'd had no right to go and tell Zoe his secrets behind his back, things Alex thought he could trust Xander with more than anybody else in the world. It stung really bad, and at the moment... Alex didn't want to even talk to him any more.
“You won’t if you sit your ass still,” he commented on the entire scar thing. “Though scars would make you look less of a nerd so perhaps consider it,” he attempted to humor but it definitely didn’t come out that well. Perhaps he just better stop trying with the humor thing. The Ravennerd’s comment on getting burned confused Dio. Mostly because he reflected Greenaway’s situation with his own at home. What was Alex complaining about? Pain made someone stronger. Was that why this kid was still so weak? He should lash out like his mother did to him. But it somehow felt wrong.
“Eh...” Grey blue eyes looked towards the kid after avoiding him for a bit. Oh no… Fuck was he crying? Dio stopped working. What should he do? Smack him? That’s what his mother did whenever he cried. Should he ignore it and pretend he didn’t see it? What the heck did you do with a crying person? The Slytherin was seriously freaking out right now. Instead of going through either option, he flipped and grabbed the kid’s shirt with both hands, pulling him up. An intense look that was almost threatening was on his face. He brought Alex’s face close to his to make sure he was actually crying. “Fucking hell, man,” he groaned to himself and placed the kid back on bed. He summoned a glass of water to give to Alex. After that he got up and moved to sit on another bed so they weren’t too close. “Let’s quit with the training. Today was the last,” he said and looked away.
Dio started pulling at his blonde locks and growled in frustration. What the heck was going on? “It’s okay to say you hate me. The entire school does already. I mean can’t blame you. Just fucking put you in the hospital. I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with Alex, man. How does he keep up with me?” He mumbled to himself, before picking up his guard again. He turned to the Ravenclaw with eyebrows raised all the way up. From the Ministry? “Yeah something like that… Same evil different side, I guess… He is quite famous actually. Though not as famous as my dad.” The dad whom he’d only seen once and was shunned away.
Greenaway started defending himself and actually made a valid point. “I know, I know. Look I just assumed you two were alright. No need to get so defensive about it. Jeez,” he scoffed in annoyance. Though he didn’t actually believe the kid, he decided to drop it. Dio cringed. He definitely didn’t want to explain to the kid what it was. “Your weird man bat thing. I thought it was…. Never mind alright. It’s just a stupid thing some nerds do and you’re a nerd. Go look it up on your doodle machine or whatever space typewriter, muggle shit*.” How did they get here? Muggle people were so confusing .
“That he does. I fully agree with you there and heck I never thought I would,” he sounded as confused as he was. He still wondered what the hell happened. “He seemed to have hurt you pretty bad. I’m not going to ask what he did and I’m definitely not going to apologize on his behalf. I’m not his dad.” It was kind of weird how McCarty’s sad friend and angry friend now sat together. Dio knew this kid did mean something to Alex M so even if they were fighting, and Dio and him weren’t talking, there must be something he could do. “I don’t know how many friends you’ve got but, you know if you ever need to vent. It’s not like I have anyone to tell. I’m not the best listener but I can try.”
Alex was pretty sure that regardless of how he moved, magical balms and creams would solve any scars that were left as a result, but he decided that he was too tired to argue. Whatever. A frown tugged at his lips as Dio implied that at least scarring would make him look like less of a nerd because... well, how could a scar alter his appearance so drastically? "It's... I don't think that a scar holds that much power," he said, shaking his head. "It's not like a potion or anything - it's just a healed up scab on your face."
As Dio moved so close to Alex all of a sudden, his face mere inches away from Alex's own, he wondered somewhat hysterically if Dio had been watching muggle movies lately. This felt eerily reminiscent of that one scene in Tarzan where the jungle man got right up in Jane's face. He really hoped that Dio wasn't expecting a live re-enactment of 'me Tarzan, you Jane,' because... well, Alex really just didn't want to do that especially given he still had tears running down his cheeks. But then suddenly the moment was broken and Alex was instead given a glass of water.
Feeling like he needed to say something to fill the silence, to explain the crying, he said very quietly, "My parents... they're, uh... they died. In... in a fire when I was five. I don't like - it reminds me of that night whenever I see it." It was probably lucky that the whole burning incident had went down so quickly from the moment that fire shot from Dio's wand to Alex passing out. It meant the fear from seeing flames hadn't managed to crawl all the way into Alex's heart, only about... three quarters in, otherwise Alex's tears and mood would have been a lot worse.
Alex didn't comment on whether he hated Dio or not because the truth was... he didn't know. The Slytherin had made his life a living hell for the past few years, so he definitely didn't like him and he... maybe it was mean, but he didn't feel up for pretending like he did. Instead, he focused on Dio's remarks about evil and famous fathers. Right, he was related to that... werewolf guy... something Greyback, who'd fought on the wrong side of the war. But who was his brother? "Er, okay... well... cool?" he said, blinking as Dio confirmed his brother worked in the Ministry.
It was weird that Dio was agreeing with him and Alex was a bit taken aback as Dio said he wouldn't apologise on Xander's behalf. "Uh, you're not... him. I don't know... er, I really wasn't expecting you to say sorry for him in the first place," he said, eyebrows drawing together in confusion. Confusion that only increased as Dio offered to be his person to vent through, claiming that he also had nobody else. It was strange, in a way, knowing that out of all their differences, they shared one thing in common: they were lonely. They both had barely any friends at all. Dio seemed to push them away, and Alex was reluctant to let anyone into his life in the first place if they did try to befriend him.
After a moment's hesitation, realising that he really didn't have anyone else to talk to about this whole Xander thing, he decided to throw caution to the wind. At least Dio wouldn't cluck over him like a chicken if he knew all the details. "I tried to kill myself last year," he said simply. "Alex was the one to find me and... Professor Savage didn't know when she adopted me. I didn't want him to tell anyone, I... I wanted to do it on my own terms, but... he went behind my back and told her anyway."
“I’d beg to differ. My scars are a constant reminder of progress and becoming stronger,” he replied to Greenaway’s reluctant view on scars. To prove his point, Dio started unbuttoning the school shirt and revealed a muscular body covered in countless various scars. “They’re a motivation to stay strong because every injury could be the last.” This was his life work, all his training displayed here. His mother told him to let the wounds heal naturally because magic would clean everything up. In time the lesson would be forgotten.
Crying was weird, Dio didn’t remember the last time he cried. He really didn’t know how to handle the situation. In the past when his victims cried, he would laugh it off and call them weak. Because that was what his mother did with him. Slowly he was realizing it wasn’t right but at the same time he didn’t know what to do instead. Hopefully it’d stop on its own.
What Dio didn’t expect was for the Ravenclaw to share something so personal. “Oh, shit uh.. that’s rough man. Fuck,” he mumbled, scratching the back of his neck because what the hell did you say in such a situation. “I didn’t know though I doubt knowing would’ve prevented it, I’m out of control,” he mumbled as he avoided the kid’s eyes. He was super embarrassed. The thing was; he was actually trying to help Alexander gain confidence and teach him how to stand up for himself. Like that kid would ever believe that now.
"Forget about it," he huffed at the topic of his brother. He wasn't going to explain it because what difference would it make for Greenway? Dio was slowly turning to hate his brother whom he'd always glorified.
Good, at least Greenway wasn't expecting anything from him. After all McCarty had done for him, all the patience he had Dio felt obligated to do something in return. But at this point he straight up disagreed with the guy that was a rare friend. He still didn't like the current situation. In all his Hogwarts years, he never expected to end up chatting with this loser about deeply personal things. He'd never have imagined he'd feel like a total jerk.
When Greenway shared why the two Ravenclaw babies were in a fight, Dio groaned loudly. "Yeah that sounds like him," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Probably the reason why I rarely tell him that kind of stuff." Dio looked down at the big vertical scar on his arm, tracing the thick line with his finger. Hadn't Vito found him in time, he would've been able to escape all this. Dio never told Alex this because he already was known to be an angry mess. Telling such a thing would probably not work in his favor. "If Savage is a good person, she probably would still keep you. Still that gives Alex no right to tell your secrets."
He looked back up at the younger boy, figuring out what he should say next. "I think you should tell him why you're angry. Hopefully he learns to keep his mouth shut in the future. You don't have to forgive him, just tell him what he did wrong and see if he can learn from it." Dio should probably start listening to people too but he feared he couldn't change. The angry jerk kept people at a safe distance, it was better this way. He didn't belong in this castle of happy friends.
"I don't -" Alex started to object to what Dio was saying about scars being a sign of progress but as soon as Dio started unbuttoning his shirt like... like that was a perfectly normal thing to do when you were uninjured and standing in a hospital wing, the words died on his lips because... well, Alex was a teenage boy with a lot of hormones who rather liked the idea of seeing another guy strip down. Even if it was Dio who was... shit, surprisingly fit. After a moment of looking at the scars to be polite, Alex glanced away, willing his cheeks not to go as red as cherries. "I... uh, I still don't think they mean you're not a nerd. You can be... be a nerd with scars. They don't negate nerdiness."
It wasn't a secret what happened to Alex's parents but it wasn't like he went around telling every single person he knew either. Glancing down at his hands, he shrugged. "That's why I'm in... I was in the system," he admitted. But then Dio said something that made him raise his head. "What... what do you mean you're out of control?"
Just like Alex had suspected, Dio didn't magically turn into a mother hen after learning what he tried to do last year. It was a relief, really. Alex didn't want people to make a big deal about it or to be hovering over him all the time, asking if he was okay... and that was a large part of why only Xander had known for nearly a year. One person checking up on him had been enough. "I... I didn't tell him. He found me when I was trying..." To muster the courage to take a step off the ledge. "Zoe does want to keep me - she told me so. But... I still, I wanted to do it myself and... it's been a long time since I had a friend and someone I trusted and he just... he just went ahead and did something I didn't want him to do."
Alex shook his head adamantly because he didn't want to talk to Xander even if he wasn't obligated to forgive him. "He knows why I'm... he's smart. He would have figured it out," he said. It would have been impressive if Xander didn't know because as soon as Alex had that talk to Zoe - well, that's when he stopped replying to the owls tapping on his window, carrying letters from Xander.
Alex was quiet for a long while before he glanced over at Dio, his attention drawn to the long scar on the Slytherin boy's forearm that he'd been tracing beforehand. Alex had never noticed it before, not even when Dio had pinned him to the wall with that very arm. "I, uh... guess we have more in common that we thought," he remarked, lips drawing into a frown.
Since Alex was so firm on the fact he wasn't gay, Dio didn't consider stripping down odd. Guys did it all the time, comparing muscle and stuff. Besides this was about the scars, not his body. The Slytherin got pissed off when the kid had the nerve to look away after a short time. "Oi, don't avoid me, coward. There is nothing repulsive or nasty about these scars," he growled and grabbed the Ravenclaw's chin, forcing him to look. "Don't tell me you avoid gaze because you're jealous of my build. Everyone can get a little fit if they work hard." Alexander was acting weird, Dio highly suspected the guy to like dudes. But well since the guy obviously was straight he had no excuse.
" Fine they don't negate nerdiness but at least you'll be a cooler nerd than the regular nerds. Whatever if you cannot learn the lesson from the scar, you might as well still be a whimpy nerd, " he scoffed and crossed his arms.
Dio didn't even know Alexander was an orphan. He expected orphans to be stronger than this dude. Lesson learned everyone was different. Losing parents was a painful experience. Dio didn't quite know how to deal with this topic. What would be the right thing to say?
When the Claw looked up at him, Dio swallowed and looked down at the floor. "I've been training all my life to be strong and well… I don't even exactly know why. I just did it because my mom would hurt me if I didn't. She is quite terrifying when she gets mad. Lately I'm realizing how fucked up it is and how it messed me up. Alex, believe me. I didn't hurt you on purpose. There is.. this.. This blind rage and thirst for blood build inside me. Sometimes I can't keep it in anymore," he mumbled, avoiding Alex's eyes because shit this was some embarrassing stuff. Why of all people would he tell this little shit?
Dio swallowed and nodded into the Claw's direction. "Well, I'm glad he found you." And he froze. Why the heck was he glad? Dio wasn't supposed to give a crap about weaklings. "It's a very personal thing. Should be yours to tell not someone else's even if they saved you." Zoe sounded like a good person, plus she was hot too. Dio would've loved to have her arms wrapped around him and her soft breasts pushed against his back. He'd be a contend man if that'd happen.
"Alright, I guess I'll leave the situation to you to handle. But if there is something I can do… I eh.." How did the saying go? "I don't hate helping." His face looked as if he was about to vomit but there were no take backs. Part of him hoped the Alexes didn't need his help because he was kind of avoiding the older one.
"I suppose we're both losers in life," he shrugged, putting his shirt back on and covering his arm. "Perhaps that was why I was such a jerk to you. I saw something of me in you and couldn't stand it. You're lonely, sad and people confuse you. At least I got that impression" ALEXANDER GREENAWAY,
5'11 | dangerous outside soft inside | single | hetroflexible
Usually, Alex could handle being called names like loser or coward but as Dio forcibly grabbed his chin, directing him to gaze at him, annoyance bubbled in his stomach. He was never going to do another stupid 'training' lesson with the Slytherin again. Being mocked all the time... being degraded by Dio... it was too much and every single time an insult left the boy's lips, it wormed it's way under Alex's skin and stayed there for days. He was starting to get sick of it. As he was accused of being jealous, Alex blinked before saying, "Yes. Guess I'm jealous. You're right, Dio," in a flat voice.
Alex felt bad, hearing Dio's story about how scary his mum could be, but... it wasn't that easy to believe that Dio hurting him was just accidental, especially when he claimed it was a result of being angry, thirsting over blood. Lots of people in the world were angry... and yet they didn't go around blasting fire at people. No matter how tough Dio had it at home, it still didn't make it okay to hurt other people - just like it wasn't okay for all those kids who passed through the group home, full of rage and bitterness and brokenness, to lay a hand on him. Instead of verbalising this, he just nodded in response.
I'm glad he found you. Alex blinked, surprised, because... why would Dio care? It wasn't like Dio liked him anyway. But... he agreed with what Dio was saying - Xander never should have told Zoe. As Dio moved on to say that if there was anything he could do, the blinking only increased, especially as he said he didn't hate helping. Even if Alex thought he could give them a hand... the chances of him asking Dio were slim. Really, really slim.
"Was such a jerk?" Alex said, finally unable to hold his tongue. Did Dio think he'd changed his ways by offering up his help to train him? Did he think Alex had somehow missed all the times he'd called him a loser or insulted him in this conversation alone? Instead of elaborating, Alex murmured, "Can you go now please? I just want to sleep. I'm tired." Not physically, he was just... emotionally drained by having this conversation with Dio. Turning his head onto the opposite side of the pillow, he closed his eyes and hoped that the Slytherin would just leave him in peace.
