Numb. That was the best word for it. The attack had happened a week ago. On the 8th. The night of the full moon. Fabian had repeated those phrases in his head until it was all he could think about. Holly had tried, unsucessfully, to get him to leave the house and come stay with her and Gideon, but not even his twin's pleas moved the blonde haired boy.

He needed to stay here. Here where he could water his mum's flowers and keep the garage neatly swept; keep the kitchen spotless and mow the lawn. Somehow all those chores he'd despised became so much more important - and leaving would mean that he'd abandoned what meant so much to his mum and dad. They had loved their house in the middle of Muggle Hackney. Loved the neighbors who had become as close as family over the twenty plus years they had lived here.

'Attacked by a pack of wild dogs' - that was what the neighbors had been told. Fabian had been invited to just about everyone's home in the neighborhood already. The fridge was packed to the gills with any number of casseroles. A few more understanding neighbors had brought over pies - pies which Fabian had picked at with at least some pleasure, though not a one had been finished.

Auror training was the only thing that really kept him moving. It was the reason he crawled out of bed and showered; why he put on clothing and made sure he looked decent before apparating to the entrance arena of the school. And why, when there, he put all his energy into smiling and laughing louder and harder than any other.

And so, when the knock sounded at the door, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for yet another casserole, or a pie, or another plea from a well-meaning, yet nosy neighbor, to move in with him.

Before he could quite make sense of who was standing before him, he was engulfed in a hug, the voice of a woman penetrating his shock before he stepped back and gave a weak smile. "F-fine. I'm fine."

He looked like utter hell even as he stood back for them to come in. "I..there's food. In the fridge. If you're hungry."