[This - actually hits him. Hard, right in the heart, and makes him stop with his mouth half-open. Is that what he's doing? Is he just doing what they wanted this whole time?]
[He's not being different at all, is what Prefect's saying. He's being Barron.]
I don't know. [It takes a lot to admit this, but it's the truth: he doesn't know. He's never thought about this, not from this angle, never considered that he might be just as bad, might be worse and weaker for falling back into it. He never considered. He's considering it now.]
[He wants to hide from it, but maybe he shouldn't. His lips tighten, and that sudden fear at the thought of graduating, of moving on, of being better hurts him to think about more than anything.]
Spammm
[He's not being different at all, is what Prefect's saying. He's being Barron.]
I don't know. [It takes a lot to admit this, but it's the truth: he doesn't know. He's never thought about this, not from this angle, never considered that he might be just as bad, might be worse and weaker for falling back into it. He never considered. He's considering it now.]
[He wants to hide from it, but maybe he shouldn't. His lips tighten, and that sudden fear at the thought of graduating, of moving on, of being better hurts him to think about more than anything.]