Talin

Chapter One

The alarm began to beep and a tanned arm reached over to stop the noise. The owner of the arm sat up, pushing the covers from his bare upper body. The boy yawned sleepily and rubbed at his eyes with one hand. His other hand reached over and grubbed around on his bed stand. His fingers finally brushed against the cool surface of his thin, black, rectangular-framed glasses. As he was placing the spectacles on his nose, there was a small shuffling next to him.

The boy looked down and smiled. He scooped up a small bundle of feathers. The miniature owl cooed at him and shook itself out.

"Good morning Cypress. I didn't mean to wake you," the boy whispered, nuzzling the small bird against his cheek. The owl hooted softly in response. After another yawn, the boy stood up from his bed. He shivered in the early morning air of his dorm. With shuffling steps, he walked over to his dresser. He opened a middle drawer and pulled out a pair of sweat pants, a t-shirt, a pair of running shorts, and the appropriate underwear. He dressed quickly and headed out of his door, locking it behind him.

Now outside, he pulled his black windbreaker over his red sweat pants. They had a gold stripe down the side of the leg at the hem. After he tightened his shoelaces and did a small warm-up stretch, he began to run. This was his normal morning routine. He would wake up around five in the morning and go for a jog around campus. Usually he would do two, if not three laps around the compound. It was always quiet and allowed for him to collect his thoughts. However, there was another reason for his runs. As he turned the corner back to the Gryffindor dorms around six forty-five, his eyes fell upon another student.

Every now and then, there would be a girl sitting on a bench reading a book or doing some last minute homework. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and the greenest eyes that a person could imagine. She was a normal sized girl—not too skinny, but with a shape to her. As his own blue eyes gently looked over her, she noticed the presence of another. Her head slanted upwards towards him and she flashed him a smile. He felt like his heart would beat right out of his chest.

"You're up early, Talin," she said, closing her book. Talin nodded, his long, curly, black hair falling in his face slightly. He pushed his arms in to the air in a stretch as he slowly walked towards her.

"Yeah, I have to stay in shape to be on the team, you know?" He murmured as he did a cool-down stretch. She nodded and put her book down, stretching herself.

"It's so quiet in the mornings," she whispered as if afraid to shatter the silence herself. Her jade eyes sliced up to look a him.

"Did you go running without Cypress?" She asked, looking at his owl-less shoulder. Talin blinked and looked at his shoulder as well.

"Yeah," he began, "He hasn't been feeling too well lately so I'm trying to let him rest as much as I can."

"Oh no. I'll drop by later and see if I can find out if anything's wrong with him, okay?"

Talin let out a breath, "That's a relief. He's never been like this and I'm really worried, you know?" He looked up at her and she smiled.

"You're really sweet, Talin," she giggled gently. He felt a light blush beginning to fall on his cheeks. He coughed and let his head hang forward so his long hair covered his face.

"I bet it's hard to do anything with all that hair of yours," she said. Talin heard the creak of the bench as weight was removed from it. The morning breeze brought the sweet scent of sandalwood to his nose as he felt the gentle brush of arms reaching around his neck. He froze on the spot, his breath catching in his throat. The girl was reaching around him and tying his hair up in a ponytail with a strip of leather.

"It's so soft," she mused, her breath warm in his ear. A shiver tore through his body, even though he was covered in a sweat suit. A small strand remained on his face as the girl moved away from him. She smiled brightly at him again.

"There we go," she cooed, "Now you don't have to mess with it." Talin blinked and reached back, his fingers ghosting over the bow.

He gulped silently, "Thanks Stephanie." The blonde-haired girl smiled.

"No problem, Talin." The bells in the towering clock in the courtyard began to strike seven and both the students looked up, startled by the bronze bells. After the chimes ceased, they stayed still for a moment. Stephanie cleared her throat and leaned over to pick up her books. She gathered all her things and began to leave.

"I'll drop by during lunch to check on Cypress," she said, turning back to look at him, "Does that sound all right?" Talin stared at her. She was outlined slightly in the morning sunlight. Her silhouette made his heart jump in his chest. He swallowed hard and managed a nod.

"S-Sure," he stuttered," I'll see you then." With a final smile and a nod, Stephanie left towards the Gryffindor girl's dorms.

Talin watched her go. Then he let out a breath he seemed to have been holding. He sat down on the bench with a huff of breath. As he leaned his head back, he draped his arms over the back of the bench. Cerulean eyes lazily traced the early morning clouds as he replayed the scene over and over in his head. He sighed and brought one of his hands up to rub his face. He ran his palm down his face and let it rest cupping his chin.

He chuckled and covered his eyes with his palm, "You must be a witch to have me under such a powerful spell," he murmured.

A/N: Hello! It's me again! I've decided to take a little break from my other stories for now because I'm worried about losing interest in them. So I'm doing a little side project to keep the creative juices flowing. This is a side story about the one-sided love of an OC of mine. He's in love with a friend of mine's OC, Stephanie Cradey. Some of you may recognize her from my other story Bitten. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little fling of mine. :)