Clearing the Air (Mio, Ian, Rowan) (PG-13)

Ian sighed and looked at Rowan with a thoughtful expression. Normally, he would not just talk about other people's secrets with someone, but he needed to talk to someone and who could be better than two of his best friends. "It's their father. He doesn't treat them right, but Jace adores him and now he's hating Sydney for talking to a professor about what's going on at their home." Ian said, getting slightly agitated when he remembered the scene between Jace and Sydney. "Even Sydney did not want to talk about it at first, but I managed to convince her. I mean, how can anything get better if she doesn't tell anyone about it?" he asked, sounding confused and angry at the same time.

Mio groaned and dropped back to the ground, glaring up at the sunny sky. When he had agreed to ignore Sydney, he had thought that they could just drop the subject, but it seemed that it was still the first thing on his friend's mind and he would have to suffer through it. Where were David and Artemis when he needed them? He sighed and looked up at Ian. "I think I have to keep watching you, Jade...to make sure you're really just talking." Mio commented, smirking to lighten up the mood a bit. When the Hufflepuff told them more about Sydney's problems, he snorted. Of course it wasn't nice that even her brother didn't stand up for her, but really, she also had to blame herself for a lot of things. "I wonder why she doesn't seem to have any friends..." Mio said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"It sounds like Jace is blaming Sydney for the change in their living arrangements," Rowan said, thinking about what Ian was telling them about her home life and the sudden change that had come over her brother. "If he really cares for their father, no matter what kind of monster he is, then it would made sense that he would be unhappy that Sydney would go to someone about things if he doesn't think that they are as bad as she says, thus resulting in them no longer living at home," she added, sounding much more like the Ravenclaw that everyone knew. However, her demeaner quickly changed back when Ian mentioned how really how would things get better if Sydney didn't talk about it. Was that the same for her? Things wouldn't get better if she didn't talk about it? Too bad for her, talking about her troubles would only make things worse.

Mio's attempt at lightening the mood did help to make her smile slightly. She couldn't help but agree that they might just need to keep an eye on their friend. Rowan had a sinking feeling that their 'just talking' was really a little bit more than that, but she wasn't one to call him on it. Rowan felt a little bad for the girl. It was hard to go through hard times without anyone there, she knew, but Sydney had made a name for herself and names such as that one were hard to be rid of once earned. "I hope, for her sake, that she can make some friends. I mean, things are better with friends," she said, glancing at both the boys that were her best friends, nearly brothers. While there was a soft smile on her face, it didn't reach her darkened eyes.

Ian actually had to laugh at his friend's comment that he was going to watch him and he shoved him jokingly against the shoulder. "You would be bored out of your mind, Claw, or even more possible...you would get pissed off at Sydney and do something stupid, so better don't do follow us around." he said, grinning at his friend, though he appreciated that the Gryffindor was actually showing so much protectiveness towards his friends. If only Sydney had not managed to anger his friends so much during their first year than everything would be much easier. When Rowan voiced her opinion on why Jace could be acting so oddly, Ian got a bit more thoughtful again. She really had a point and if his little brother would start claiming that their father had done anything, Ian would also have problems to believe it. "I guess that makes sense...though what I can't understand is how he can't have noticed anything. I mean, Sydney has really suffered and he doesn't notice? I just can't imagine how he could miss something like that." he said and shrugged.

Ian punched Mio's shoulder at his comment and shook his head. "Sometimes, you're so evil, Mio!" he said, though he had to bite his lip to keep from grinning. He smiled at Rowan and nodded empathically. "That's so true! You can't choose your family and you can't even choose whom you fall in love with, but you can choose your friends and they always stick by your side."

Mio pulled up his legs to rest his chin on them as he silently watched the conversation between his two friends. Not that he cared much for the Hufflepuff girl, but he could see that Ian was actually bothered by the situation she was in right now and so he decided to stay quiet and let him talk to Rowan about it. "If my father did anything to any of my sisters, I'd kill him." he could not help but snap out when he heard that Jace wasn't doing anything, just turning a blind eye on everything. A Little smirk appeared on his face at Ian's comment and Mio shook his head. "I'm not mean, just honest!" he gave back, though he did notice that Rowan seemed to be a bit different from her normal self. "Is something bothering you as well, Rowan?" Mio asked her worriedly.

Rowan couldn't help but smile softly at Ian's comment of friends always sticking by you. All of hers had, even if they didn't know what was going on. That, in a way, helped, however slight. Dropping her eyes to the grass in front of her feet she thought how much stronger and braver Mio was compared to her. he would actually be able to do something if he was faced with a situation like Sydney's or her own. Looking up suddenly at her friend's question of whether or not something was bothering her, too, she hesitated for only a moment. She wanted to tell them. These two were like the brothers she deserved to have, and yet, she couldn't say anything. "Ummmm.... No.... I'm..I'm alright...." she lied. "Why?" she asked and then regretted it as soon as the word was out of her mouth.