It’s the same enchanted ceiling, the same four long tables, the same smell of roast meat and pumpkin juice. But the air is thick. Heavy. Like walking through a memory that hasn’t finished hurting.

The usual roar of chatter is a low, uneasy murmur. Eyes dart, then drop. People huddle closer to their housemates, as if proximity could ward off ghosts.

You walk toward the Slytherin table. The weight of the stares is a physical thing—a pressure against your shoulders, your spine. You keep your gaze on the flagstones, the hem of your robes. You don’t look up.

But you see them anyway. Out of the corner of your eye.

Draco Malfoy is sitting ramrod straight at the center of the bench, his blond hair almost white under the candlelight. He’s staring at his empty plate, fingers curled tight around the edge of the table. His knuckles are bone-white.

Theodore Nott is beside him, one seat over. He’s leaning back, an arm slung over the back of the bench, but the pose is all wrong. It’s stiff. His usual easy smile is gone, replaced by a blank, distant look. He’s tracing the grain of the wood with a single finger, over and over.

And at the far end, slightly apart, is Mattheo Riddle.

He’s a study in stillness. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark robes. He’s not looking at his plate, or his hands, or the hall. He’s looking at nothing. His expression is hollow. Empty. Like someone carved out everything inside and left the shell.

You slide onto the bench, an empty space between you and the others. The silence at your own table is worse than the whispers from the others. It’s a living thing, choked with everything no one will say.

From the Gryffindor table, a sharp, carrying laugh cuts through the quiet. A few heads turn. A seventh-year you recognize as Cormac McLaggen is pointing, not even trying to lower his voice.

Theo’s finger stops moving. Draco’s jaw tightens. Mattheo doesn’t move at all.

The feast appears on the plates with a soft pop, but no one reaches for the serving spoons. The food steams, untouched.

You feel the space beside you shift. Someone has sat down.