Murph hadn't laughed in a while, a long while. This was not normal for him in the least. The Irishman was used to laughing man times a day, and if he didn't laugh at least once an hour then in his opinion it was an hour wasted.

He felt like such a fool, and all the schooling in the world couldn't have prepared him for the hardest day to just live through. The one person who had helped him through the difficulty of being pulled away from his family was now gone as well. Unlike Ma and Connor however, this person, Murph refused to say the name to himself, chose to leave. Of course it had to be leaving in the "I don't want to see you anymore" sense rather than actual physical placement into another location. That would have been easier.

It wasn't even the leaving that angered Murph so much, it was the way in which it was done. He'd been so flippantly dropped, like an item that somebody no longer wanted in a store. It was worse than not existing. He'd been deceived, and turned his entire life around for what he so naively assumed had to be love. Laughing had come so easily before this, and had been amplified by someone who loved to laugh as much as he did. Murphy hated being so angry all the time, but all he really wanted was to laugh long and hard again.

Being a prefect had a number of perks. The biggest and most important at the moment was free reign over the Gryffindor Common Room. He had permission to use it for House related parties, and Murph took full advantage of it. Yet to be fair, even if he had not been a prefect he would have made certain that he had an extravagant birthday party. He normally did every year, with each more grand than the last. However, this year he had to make it better than all the rest. Connor would be spending his first birthday at Hogwarts with his twin, and Murph made a contract with himself that he would pull of something to be talked about for ages.

Multiple strands of crimson and gold streamers lined the ceiling, with a few yellow and black thrown in there for Connor. In the back of the room was a large table for presents and on the right side of it stood a magnificent chocolate cake. Chocolate was always the best choice for birthday cakes. It went well with all the loot he was bound to receive.

He was especially curious as to what Fred would give him. Murph knew that it was greedy of him, but he expected something good. Fred always had the best ideas and would therefore have the best gift. Murph grinned to no one in particular, pleased with his thought process. The logic spoke for itself.

"Get away from me, Murphy MacManus!" came the shrill scream of one Joanna Stone. Murph knew that breaking up with her wouldn't be pretty, but just how ugly he couldn't quite predict. In hindsight he wondered if being blunt with her was such a good idea. Girls always said that they wanted honesty. Well, that's what he gave her and now Murphy was paying for it as he scrambled to the Hufflepuff boys dorms, hoping to find Connor and a safe hiding place before Joanna or one of her angry friends hexed his balls off.

OOC: Takes place after this and before this

Murph made his way to the hospital wing lacking the usual bounce in his step. While he normally enjoyed a good fist fight, what occured last night between he and Fred could hardly be considered a fight, much less good. While there was no denying that Fred started the whole thing, the truth was that they had both viciously attacked each other in a way that Murph had never imagined possible.

After he was admitted inside by Madam Pomfrey, Murph walked up to Fred's bed with his hands behind his back to hide the gift that he had brought for his friend. "'lo, Fred..." He began awkwardly.

OOC: Takes place a full day after this and the evening following the "Mending" thread.

More often than not, it was annoying to be a prefect. Murphy received constant ribbing about it from his friends and now that Connor was at Hogwarts he would never hear the end of it. The badge did have it's perks, like getting himself and the Weasley twins out of trouble when they had clearly broken the rules, take away points from other houses, and exert authority over a multitude of younger students. There was a lot to be said for a power trip.

Among all the pointless Prefect duties, what Murph hated the most was rounds. They seemed so pointless. He knew that a few years ago he used to curse the Prefects and do anything he could to break their rules just to prove that no one could tell him what to do. The one thing that made it bearable was Hermione. He enjoyed her company outside of a classroom and it was nice to see her away from George. He liked both of his friends equally, but sometimes the goo goo bits made him slightly uncomfortable.

He looped his arm in hers as was there familiar custom and began walking. "So how're things?" he asked almost lazily.

CONNOR IS COMIN'!!!! The bastard is comin' t' Hogwarts an' I can't fuckin' wait! Apparently Dumbledore an' all them knew that Connor had magical talent an' what not but thought it was best not t'tell him 'cause he was havin' visions an' shite an' they respected his decision t'go 'bout his mission. They seemed t'think that givin' him th'letter like me would just make him follow me outta obligation an' not do... whatever it was he had t'do. So he got some sorta late retarded owl type letter sayin' that he c'n come if he wants an' be in my same year, but he'd hafta take extra classes ev'ry year t'catch up. He o'course said yes t'the offer an' now he's comin' an' I can't wait an' I'm excited as fuck!!! AHHHH! He'll be here t'night an' I get t'meet him soon as he comes in! You other fuckers had better say hi after he gets here. I hope he get sorted into Gryffindor like me.

OOC: This RP takes places after this.

After his talk with Hermione, Murphy trudged back to the Common Room to find it unusually empty. He had walked with her after the Yule Ball under the guise of finishing their prefect duties by making sure everyone everyone was back in their respective dorms. By the looks of it they had done their job quite well, despite Murph's best efforts to do either as little as possible or bark orders just because he could. There really was nothing quite like the abuse of power.

With expensive, but borrowed, dress robes in disarray, Murph braced an arm against a chair as he pulled off his stiff shoes. He planned to go straight to bed, but he couldn't take another step with his feet still crammed into uncomfortably tight quarters. Holding the shoes in one hand, Murph walked sluggishly toward his dorm, almost regretting the extent to which he had danced. He had great fun showing off his skills either by himself or with his date when others formed a circle around them, clapping and laughing. However, now he was paying for it by feeling the formation of several blisters at the bottom of his feet.

An eleven year old Murphy MacManus kicked his feet backwards against the seat of the Hogwarts Express. It just wasn’t fair, Connor got to stay home in Ireland with Ma while he was shipped off to a strange place in England. He was always taught that the English hated people like him, and was ready to fight should someone make a comment about his home, or anything else for that matter.

Glaring through steely blue eyes, Murphy dared the other children sitting across from him to make fun of his accent. He desperately wanted an excuse to throw a punch and get himself kicked off of this stupid train. He didn’t want to leave. Magic didn’t exist and this whole thing was pointless

Directing his attention to the window for what must have been the tenth time within the hour, Murphy scowled. The swirling clouds and bright sun overhead did nothing to lift his spirits. Instead they only deepened his resentment as he tapped into vague memories of a time when his entire family was together, a time before his father had left the family he helped make to fend for themselves. In his mind, Murphy could hardly piece together an entire scene, but he did remember that in those days everyone had been much happier. He wanted his family together again, and all he received instead was an unfeeling train. With him gone now too, the MacManuses were now more broken than ever.

Forgetting the other children in the bus, Murphy flattened his palm against the cold window pane. He needed to go back, maybe if he could push the glass hard enough he could tumble outside and find a way back home.

“…excuse me, Murphy?” the timid voice of the girl sitting next to him interrupted his thoughts.

“Aye?” he responded, not bothering to look at her.

“I heard that we’re going to be arriving soon, you may want to wear your robes.”

Murphy grinned to himself as he continued staring at the window. Earlier in the day he had “forgotten” to pack many supplies he knew he would need, including his wizard robes. Maybe he’d be sent back home after all.