going to cry. Honestly, why did they even bother transferring him? Did they run out of places to stash him?"

As Emily's feather quill tapped evenly against the parchment, she added: "Whatever they're concealing, it's slowly killing him; I think he hasn't slept properly since he arrived."

"And Tom? What does he think?" Keira tapped her fingers lightly against the arm of her chair, thinking things over.

Walburga said with a sly grin: "Oh, he is obsessed. He keeps digging for information, but they're careful; he hasn't found much yet." 

Alison rolled her eyes: "It's a game to him, but they're careful; you know how much he hates that."

Keira tilted her head, her lips curved into a faint smile: "Interesting."

"Nothing really," said Walburga, waving her hand disdainfully, "just wearisome. Honestly, I'm sick of hearing about them."

Emily's dark eyes lingered on Keira. "Why do you ask?" she said, carefully.

Keira's smirk widened slightly, though her voice remained light, "Just out of curiosity. If they're as fascinating as Tom thinks, perhaps I should keep an eye on them, too."

Alison let out a short laugh. "Join the obsession, why don't you? At least then he's perhaps not bothering us about it anymore"

And without laughing, Emily watched Keira, as if she were reading between the lines, "Just be careful," she said after a silence, "Tom doesn't share his obsessions lightly."

Keira's smirk faltered briefly before returning, sharper than ever. "I think I can handle myself."

The conversation turned to other topics, but Keira's thoughts remained on the transfer students: if even Tom hadn't succeeded in discovering their secrets, that meant they could be pretty good at hiding; but everyone had their own weaknesses, which she would seek to exploit.

For now she would play it safe, but there was a gleam of resolution in her pale green eyes, for the game had only begun.