Questions
Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, et. al. The characters are hers; I've just borrowed them for a bit.
A/N: This is just an idea that popped into my head at approximately 12:36 last night and wouldn't let me go. So here it is.
For Roni and Tay.
xxx
"What did you have for breakfast this morning?" she asked him as they passed in the corridor.
"Toast," he answered, albeit puzzled.
The next morning it was what he had had for dinner, and the day after that, lunch. He was relieved, thinking that having run out of meals to ask about, the strange questions would at last cease. But no.
That afternoon on his way to Transfiguration she asked him his favorite kind of tea, and the next day about whether he preferred wool socks or cotton. He had to pause over this one, never having really thought about it before, but the crowd at his back pushed him forward, eager to get to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Cotton," he called back over his shoulder, and saw her nod before he was hustled through the doors along with everyone else.
He grew used to the odd questions, at odd times and in odd places, questions about the shape he liked best or which hair color he thought to be the most likely to bald. Strangely, he came to expect the questions, and, even more strangely, he began to look forward to them.
And so it was that one day when she passed him in silence outside an unused third floor classroom, he was even more puzzled than he had been the first time, when she had asked him about his breakfast. He called out her name, wondering if she was ill or upset, but this time it was she who was pressed on by the crush of people at her back, and she only turned and looked at him before disappearing around the corner.
He couldn't concentrate at all during his next class, which wasn't an odd occurrence during Defense Against the Dark Arts with Snape, but made it all the more difficult to even attempt to master nonverbal spells. All he could see was her face as she turned the corner, and an odd sense of incompleteness gnawed at him. He sought her out at dinner, ignoring the strange stares of his housemates, and asked if they could talk.
She gave him a surprised look, but followed him into the entrance hall and then out the front door. They sat on the front steps together, the strains of pink from the sunset casting a cheery light on both their faces.
"Why didn't you ask me a question today?" he asked at last, lifting his eyes from his lap to look at her face.
"I have nothing left to ask you," she replied. "I started asking you the questions so that I could know you, but I have realized that so much knowledge is useless unless the knowledge is reciprocal."
And with that she got to her feet and went back inside, the door closing softly behind her.
He sat on the steps until the sun had eased completely below the horizon, taking all the pink and cheery light with it. His chin in his hands, he gazed off into the Forest, and then with a sigh of calm conviction stood up and made his way back indoors and up to his dormitory.
The next morning when he passed her on his way to Charms, he was the one who broke the silence.
"What did you have for breakfast this morning?"
And he saw the smile break upon her face like the sun through a bank of clouds before the mill of students carried her out of sight.
Fin
So, what did you think? I tried a little experiment here with not using names, to see if I could still portray the characters without naming them. But I want to know who you think they are, to see if I succeeded. So you can tell me when you review, okay?
Much love,
Ani