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Morris checks around the corners down the hallway before he slips into the Room of Requirement. It's taken the form of a tiny sitting room, with a little fireplace surrounded by a couch and a few chairs. There's a desk on either side of the fireplace and a pile of pillows on a fluffy rug in front of it. The fireplace is small but there's a bright fire going and it gives the room a cozy glow. Morris sets his school bag next to one of the desks and then falls into one of the cushy armchairs. He shuffles through a deck of cards for Exploding Snap but he's tired and the chair is soft and the room is cozy so he finds himself nodding off.
He stirs when the door swings open and slams shut but he doesn't actually wake up until someone pulls the cards from his hands. "You shouldn't fall asleep while holding these," Oscar admonishes as he straightens the cards and sets them on one of the little side tables. He sets down his school bag next to Morris's and then sits on the couch across from his brother.
Morris watches him as he blinks the sleep from his eyes and then checks his pocket watch- just about the only thing he has left from their father. "You're late."
Oscar shrugs but Morris can see the tension in his shoulders. He picks up a tray from the other side table, that he must have set down when he came in and found Morris with exploding cards on his chest. "I have food."
Food turns out to be sandwiches and the sticky buns that Morris likes. They dig in and eat mostly in silence until they're about halfway through their sandwiches, when Morris can't help but ask anymore. "So why are you late?"
Oscar is quiet for a minute and just when Morris is about to tell him not to worry about it he says "Some of the boys were talking about taking their Marks over the Christmas holiday."
"Oh," Morris says.
"Yeah."
They finish eating in silence and then Morris finds an excuse to move to the couch next to Oscar and lean into his side. He's not a kid anymore but Oscar lets him anyway. "We should talk to someone."
"Uncle Weisel is here. Who could we talk to?"
Morris will admit it would be hard but thinking of Oscar's friends taking their Marks and the boys in his own class already talking about theirs makes it seem worth it. It's scary and he's tired of feeling scared. He's tired of pretending his father was a wizard, that he believes where someone got their magic matters. He thinks of Jack Kelly and Charlie Morris and the rest of their friends, all boys and girls the other Slytherins call mudbloods and blood traitors. A lot of them aren't in school this year and Morris doesn't blame them. He doesn't particularly like them and Higgins is a menace but it’s not like they don’t deserve magic because they were born to Muggles. "We could talk to Professor Larkin,” he says, even as the thought occurs to him.
Oscar doesn't respond to his suggestion, even though Morris can tell he thinks it over. "C'mon," Oscar says eventually. "Let's get some homework done."