Ginny and Dean had fought again. Ginny was becoming gradually more and more depressed, often retreating to bed early, or else wondering off on her own. Taylor had good reason to believe that the formerly bright and flamboyantly excited red head now spent much of her time crying, even though Ginny would never admit to this. As had become her custom recently, that is, when she talked at all, Ginny had spent a long afternoon bewailing the woes of her relationship with Dean to Taylor. Like any good friend, Taylor had comforted Ginny, helped her heal her bruises, and just hugged the red head until she calmed down enough to face Dean at Quidditch practice. Ginny had left feeling considerably better, but unfortunately, Taylor was left somewhat grouchy. She just couldn't understand why Ginny continued to keep up this relationship with Dean when he continued to hurt her so badly, both emotionally and physically. It was really beginning to make Taylor mad. She didn't mind comforting Ginny; Ginny was a very good friend and she cared about her a lot. But it was for exactly that reason that the whole ordeal was beginning to take its toll on Taylor. She sat on her four-poster, scowling, her thick black hair a little unkempt and falling in her eyes. She angrily pushed a lock of it out of her eyes, glaring at a random spot on the wall. Already having debated going for a run, and deciding against it, she had nothing left to do to vent her anger. Finally she decided that a nice walk might help to calm her frazzled nerves. Standing up, she searched around for her shoes, finally finding one under her bed and the other in front of the door; she hopped around, pulling them on. After a frenzied search for her winter cloak, she gave up disparately and stomped out her the dormitory, slamming the door behind her, clomping down the stairs and pushing her way arbitrarily out the portrait hole.
Out on the grounds, she kicked a rock around, following a vague path around the grass, through the greenhouses, and then down towards the Forbidden Forest. She snorted loudly as she kicked her rock too hard and it ricocheted away down the hill, and then harrumphed in annoyance when she tripped over a root sticking up in her way. Her bad mood did not lesson as she neared the forest, rather, it increased. How could Ginny do this to her self? How could she do this to Taylor? It wasn't very level-headed or reasonable of her, Taylor fumed in aggravation. Finally, after hurting her toe by swinging out to kick a large rock which turned out to be embedded in the ground, she grumpily scrambled up a large boulder by the lake and sat down heavily, drawing her knees up to her chest in her customary fashion and gazing out across the rippling water. She reached into her pocket and took out a pack of Mr. Cash's Long Lasting Healthy Cigarettes and extracted a single white one before returning the pack to her pocket. Using her wand to light it, she took a deep drag on it, letting the smoke fill her up. She took it out of her mouth and flicked the end, shaking off the ashes. She took another long drag, staring out at the lake.
"What's got you so worked up, Fleet-Foot?" A deep, level voice asked from directly behind her. Taylor whipped around so fast she cricked her neck. Sean stood calmly beside her stone, looking up at her. Rubbing the back of her neck in frustration and returning her gaze to the water, Taylor scowled, not exactly in the mood to converse, even if it was with one of the cutest guys in her year.
"What's with the Fleet-Foot?" She demanded, ignoring his question and taking another drag on the cigarette.
"Oh, nothing." Sean effortlessly pulled himself up on her rock and sat down beside her, wrapping his arms around his knees, following her gaze across the lake. "I just see you running around the grounds sometimes; I can tell you really have a passion for it." He paused for a moment, and then added, "I never took you to be a smoker, though.)
Taylor refused to say anything at first. Finally she replied, "I'm not a habitual smoker, just in times of stress, and occasionally when I just need one." She flicked it again.
Sean stared out at the lake for a second, and then said, "Could I have one?"
"Sure," Taylor took out her pack again, and handed him one. "They last a long time, and are enchanted so that the smoke actually isn't bad for you. It's pretty cool."
Sean lit his own cigarette with his wand and nodded, "I haven't smoked in a couple months. I swore off it, actually. But it's nice every once and again."
Taylor didn't respond instead she nodded, and shivered; it was considerably chilly outside, and she was wishing she had looked harder for her winter cloak.
"Do you want my cloak?" Sean asked unexpectedly.
"No, I'm fine," Taylor replied shortly, repressing another shiver as she took another drag, the smoke furling around her head.
"Don't be ridiculous," Sean told her, resting his cigarette on the rock, undoing the silver fastening at his neck, removing the heavy wool cloak from his broad shoulders and draping it around her thin ones. After Taylor didn't object, just continuing to stare out at the water, he said, "So, anyway, what's got you so worked up?" He turned his head to look at her instead of the lake, picking up his cigarette again.
Taylor took her time staring out at the water. The setting sun's rays were hitting the water, and the ripples reflected gold in the chilly air. Finally she decided that the question did not offend her and replied,
"It's Ginny. She and Dean, well…" she let her voice trail off. This was Ginny's dealings, she had no business discussing is with some guy she hardly knew. "They're having a bit of a rough time, and it's kind of getting me down." She amended.
Sean continued to stare at her for a couple minutes. "You're a good friend, you know that? But really, you need to not let yourself get so tied up in Ginny's business. She's a big girl; she can take care of herself. You need to let her take care of herself and concentrate a bit more on yourself."
Taylor sighed, a wisp of dark hair falling down in her face. She ignored it. "I know. But it hurts me so bad to see her being wounded like this. I want to just fix it for her." With his cloak draped over her shoulders, she could smell Sean's scent as it wafted gently up to her nose, confusing her senses slightly. She shook her head mentally, she didn't feel like that.
Sean made a sudden movement as though to brush her hair out of her face, and then withdrew his hand. Placing it back around his knees, he sighed too. "I know. I wish I could fix a lot of things, too. But sometimes, there are things you just can't fix. You can give Ginny all the wonderful advice in the world, but it's really up to her to decide what's right for her to do. No matter what you say, you can't make her break it off with Dean."
They sat in silence for a bit more, each taking long drags on their cigarettes. The sun sank lower in the sky, and the surface of the lake blazed red and orange in the dim light. Then Sean said,
"Speaking of fixing things, you never helped me fix my performance in Transfiguration. And I never helped you with Charms. Is that deal still on?"
Taylor looked up at him. What with her successful conversation with Sirius, trying to fathom a way to bring him back into the world of the living, and dealing with Ginny's relationship problems, she had completely forgotten about their deal. "Oh, I'm sorry, I… " Her voice trailed off again. She really didn't have the energy to make up an excuse. Listlessly, she rested her chin on her knees, returning her eyes to the lake.
"It's alright, I realize you've got a lot on your mind right now," Taylor brought her head up sharply. How had he found out about Sirius? She hadn't told anybody, not even Ginny. Sean went on, "I mean, trying to tell your best friend what's best for her without upsetting her, and seeing her torn to pieces like this, it's got to be so hard." Taylor put her chin back down on her knees. Thank God he didn't know about her dad. She wasn't ready to talk about that yet.
"Yeah," she croaked, "yeah, it's hard."
Without thinking about it, Sean reached up and put his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Taylor looked at him sharply, and he quickly withdrew his hand.
"Er, sorry. I didn't mean…sorry." He hurriedly returned his hand back around his knees again, this time grasping it with his other hand, as though scared it might reach out and touch Taylor again of its own accord. Together they stared out at the lake. The sun had set behind the mountains, and the blazing fire on the lake and been doused along with the last of the twilight. Stars were coming out now, scattered skillfully along the sky in whimsical patterns. Taylor shifted her gaze from the now dark lake surface to the sparkling heavens.
Noticing this, Sean offered, "The stars are pretty."
"Mmm," Taylor replied, still watching the heavens avidly. "They are."
As she continued to stare sky-ward, Taylor was suddenly quite aware of how close Sean was, how the heat from his body wafted over to her, making her long to snuggle closer to him, to have him wrap his strong arms around her. He smelled so nice too. She shook her head mentally again. That was ridiculous.
"Shooting star," she said, lifting her arm to point it out. Sean's eyes followed her finger.
"Make a wish," he breathed; he was sitting so close his breath gently lifted a couple wisps of her hair. She felt them rise and fall, feeling tingly all over.
A/N: Awww, they had a sweet conversation. Unfortunately, Taylor was too worked up to really notice the attraction between them. But that's ok, it'll hit her at some point. Well, once again, please review and tell me what you think. Is it crap? Should I never write again? Is it decent? Does it (gasp) intrigue you? Is there something I'm missing? Something you want me to add?
