Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters are the property of JKR. But all original characters (Wenny, Carl, Dray, Emma, Shane, Russo, etc.) are the property of FaithInSnape & her friend. lol
Confusion
Written by: 'WennyG' (AKA 'FaithInSnape') & 'Carl'
Chapter Twenty-One: Nosies & Nosebleeds
Once the door was open, it was like the school had just now appeared there and Wenny and Carl had been miles and years away from it inside that room.
Wenny glanced both ways down the corridor before stepping out of the room. She hoped there wasn't anyone near by who might know where they had been. She took Carl's hand in hers as she started down the corridor. "Well, that was fun," she said, glancing over at him.
He smiled as he held onto her hand and said, "Sure was." He looked over at her. "Hidden agendas," he muttered, rolling his eyes playfully. "Psh, please," he said, grinning at her.
Wenny laughed, having forgotten about that particular comment. "I believe the words you are looking for are 'mission accomplished'?," she said without looking over at him, for fear that she'd turn beet red.
Carl laughed and put his arm around her. "Mission accomplished," he whispered in her ear before kissing her cheek. He laughed again and looked down the hall, wondering where they should go that hopefully wouldn't grow too much suspicion as to where they had really been.
Wenny blushed a bit and laughed at his words. She then put her arm around his waist as they walked through the corridors. They were almost to the Entrance Hall when they heard, "so where have you two been?" Wenny winced as she saw her dorm mate standing nearby, smirking.
"We just went on a tour of the castle," she said, hoping she wasn't blushing. "Must've been some tour, since I haven't seen you guys practically all day," the girl replied with a laugh.
Carl looked at the girl. "You know, this castle is pretty darn big," he said, playing cool. "Plus we were in Hogsmeade earlier and spent some time out on the grounds. But you know what?" he said, cocking his head. "I don't think we should have to explain ourselves anyways. Do you, Wenny?" he said, smiling from the girl to Wenny. He wasn't trying to be rude, and he hoped it didn't come out that way.
Wenny shook her head and laughed a little, "We shouldn't." She turned to the girl, "He's right, ya know. We did spend half the morning in Hogsmeade."
"Very well then," the girl replied with a sigh, "but next time, you might wanna try to be a little less obvious, Wenny." She smirked and Wenny knew the girl knew, which caused her to blush again.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Wenny replied, "See ya at dinner." She gave the girl a slight smile as they walked away. She should've known she would figure it out. The girl was practically a detective. And a gossip. A thought that made Wenny wince again.
Carl walked away with Wenny, his arm around her. "You're ok, right?" he asked her, hoping she wasn't too messed up over the fact that that girl most likely knew. Although, he did hope that she didn't spread it around. It's not that it was a bad thing, but if any of the professors found out...plus it really wasn't anybody else's business but theirs.
Wenny nodded, "yeah, I'm ok. She better not tell anyone, though." Unfortunately, she knew the girl would probably at least tell their three dorm mates and Wenny would be questioned again.
He kissed her on the cheek. "We'll just have to be a little more discreet next time," he told her with a grin, now blushing at what he had just said as he looked back down the coridor.
Wenny looked over at him with a shy smile. "Awww, you're blushing," she said, playfully poking his cheek, "I thought I was the only one who did that."
He laughed as he looked back at her. "Well, I guess not," he told her, resting his head against hers and smiling. "So, where to now, my dear?" he said playfully.
"Hmm...well, dinner starts in about an hour, so maybe we could just hang out on the grounds for a bit or something?," she asked, not quite sure. They didn't really have enough time to go back to Hogsmeade, not that they even could, as it was getting close to time for all students to return to Hogwarts.
"Ohhh, wait...let's run by my common room," she said suddenly.
Carl looked at her curiously. "Alright," he said slowly. "What for?" he asked her as they headed in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room.
"You'll see," she said with a grin.
When they reached the Hufflepuff common room, Wenny gave Carl a quick kiss on the cheek, "I'll be right back." She went to her dorm and opened her trunk, grabbed what she had come for and stuffed it into her bag. Thankfully, none of her dorm mates had been in the dorm, so she wasn't held up for questioning.
Carl walked with her to her common room and smiled at her as she went inside. He waited outside, leaning against the wall, wondering what Wenny could possibly be getting from her dorm. It made him incredibly anxious now that he thought more about it.
Wenny walked out of the common room and smiled when she saw Carl, "miss me?"
"More than you know," he said, walking away from the wall towards her. "So...what'd you get?" he asked her curiously with the best puppydog eyes he could.
"Awww," she said as she leaned in and kissed him. Then she laughed when she saw his puppydog eyes, and shook her head, "nope, you'll find out when we get outside." She took his hand as they walked towards the main doors. She knew he was curious and she couldn't help but grin.
"Aw, you're killing me here, Wenny," Carl whined as he held onto her hand. "You love this, don't you?" he asked her, smiling as he looked sideways at her. He saw her grin and could tell that she was enjoying this, which made him just that much more anxious.
Wenny giggled, "yes I do love this. Almost as much as I love you." She glanced over at him, "it's really nothing that grand, though, so don't get too anxious."
They walked out to the grounds, to the spot by the lake and Wenny sat down in 'her spot' and motioned for him to sit by her.
He raised an eyebrow, now having an idea of what it might be. He sat down next to her, and stared at her with a waiting face.
"Ok,...remember when I told you that I draw?," she asked, as she pulled out an old sketch book from her bag. "Well, I thought maybe I'd show you some of my drawings. They aren't all that great, but...," she said as she opened the sketch book, looking at the first drawing for a bit before handing it over to him. She was a bit nervous of what he might think of them. She hadn't shown them to anyone before and his opinion really mattered more to her than anyone else's.
Carl smiled as she pulled out the sketch book. He grinned at being right, but how could he have forgotten? He took the book and looked down at it. He looked at the first one as his jaw slowly dropped. He flipped the page before saying anything. "Wenny, these are brilliant," he said quietly as he looked through the drawings. "They're gorgeous," he told her. Of course, was it any surprise that these beautiful drawings came from someone so beautiful?, he pondered.
Wenny watched him and slowly began to smile, relieved that he seemed to like her drawings, "you really think so?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I really think so," he said quietly as he took time to look at each picture, slowly turning the pages. "They're beautiful," he told her.
"Thank you," she replied quietly. As she watched him, Wenny felt a bit odd, exposed. It was as if she were letting him read her diary or something, she couldn't really explain it. But she wanted to share everything with him. "No one else has seen those, so you're the first," she added with a shy smile. He was the 'first' of a lot of things in her life.
He finished looking at the drawings and closed the book, feeling like he had just seen an angel. He turned to Wenny and placed his hand on her cheek. "Your drawings are beautiful. You're beautiful. Your heart is beautiful. I love you," he told her softly and then kissed her.
Wenny couldn't even describe how she was feeling, hearing him say those words. "I love you, too," she replied, blushing slightly. And she did love him, much more than she had ever thought possible. In fact, she couldn't imagine herself without him. She was completely certain that there was no one else in the entire world that she would ever care for more.
She put the sketch book back in her bag and looked at him for a moment, not quite sure what to say.
He moved closer to her and put his arm around her, wishing more than anything that there was a way he could stay with her forever and never have to leave her side. He put his head against her as he held her close.
Wenny smiled at Carl's arm around her. She loved being in his arms. "Do you think it's odd how close we've become so soon?" Even though she had no doubt of her feelings for Carl, she knew they were rather young to have fallen so much in love. Or at least she thought so, as she hadn't really pictured herself falling in love until...well, actually, she hadn't really pictured it at all.
Carl smiled and ran his hand through his hair. "You know, I always thought it took a really long time to fall in love with somebody. You've opened my eyes, Wenny," he said, smiling as he kissed her again.
"You're too sweet," she said with a slight smile, then turned to him. "Carl, I want you to know that no matter what might happen, I will always love you." She wasn't sure why she had felt the need to say that, but she had suddenly gotten a feeling that things were going too well for them. And she knew that happy endings were rare. Especially with Voldemort on the loose.
He sighed and smiled slightly at her. "I'll always love you too, Wenny," he told her as he held her closer. Then he cursed as he saw Draco coming up the path from Hogsmeade. He closed his eyes and rested his head on Wenny's, hoping Malfoy wouldn't bother them.
Wenny spotted Draco and muttered, "great." She hoped he would simply ignore them, but this was Draco Malfoy. Since when did he pass up a perfectly good opportunity to insult someone?
"Oh, look at the love birds!" shouted Draco as he got closer.
Carl rolled his eyes. Just ignore him, he told himself. Hopefully he'd listen, but hitting Draco sounded like a good idea to him right now. He looked at Wenny with a playful can I beat the crap out of him? look.
Wenny rolled her eyes at Draco's comment. As if being called 'love birds' really bothered her.
She saw Carl's look and laughed. She was tempted to tell him to go for it, but she didn't want him getting hurt or getting into trouble. She watched him for a moment, "hopefully, he'll just go away."
Carl kissed her on her cheek and stood up. "Dont worry, I'm not going to do anything," he told her, smiling. He walked over to Draco. "Yeah, what about it?" he ask him.
Draco just kind of stood there for a moment. "You don't want me to make your nose bleed infront of your girlfriend, do you?" he said nastily.
Wenny watched Carl, uncomfortably. Even though he had said he wouldn't do anything, Draco most likely would and that bothered her. She really didn't feel like watching Carl being beaten up.
"Draco, just leave us alone, please?," she asked, knowing full well that it would do no good.
Draco laughed. "Oh, of course," he said sarcastically. He turned back to Carl. "Looks like you're getting your girlfriend here to stick up for you," he taunted.
"Shut up, Malfoy," Carl replied. "She's right. Just leave us alone. We're not doing anything to you," he told him. He could feel his anger boiling slightly again, but it would take more than Draco to make him go over the edge again.
Now Wenny felt a bit bad. Malfoy had used her request as a taunt against Carl. Though, she knew she should've expected it.
She was tempted to hex the boy, but she knew he'd really say something about Carl "getting his girlfriend to defend him" if she did that. So she watched the two, hoping that Draco would soon get bored and move on.
Carl watched Draco who looked like he was about to punch him again. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "If you're going to punch me again, would you just do it already? Although, it is getting pretty old."
Draco smirked. "Oh, sorry to make you wait," he said as he brought up his fist. Carl didn't move or close his eyes. Draco punched him in the nose. "See you in the common room," he said nastily as he walked past Carl, bumping into his shoulder and heading towards the castle.
Carl put his hand to his nose and looked down at his hand where there was blood. "That's three times in the past two days," he muttered and then cursed.
Wenny winced as she saw Draco hit Carl, but she was glad to see him finally walk off. She quickly stood up and went over to Carl. "I'm sorry," she said quietly as she hugged him. Everytime she thought about the troubles Carl was having with the Slytherins, Malfoy in particular, she couldn't help but feel guilty. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't be going through all of this mess.
"Wenny, please stop saying you're sorry," he said with a grin. "I'm a big boy. I can take a punch. None of this is your fault. Ok?" he said as he wiped the blood off his hand with his cloak.
"I know you're a 'big boy,' but yes, it is," she replied, "if it weren't for me, or if I were a Slytherin, you wouldn't be going through this." She sighed as she walked over and sat back down.
"Wenny!" he said as he walked over to her and sat down infront of her and held her shoulders. "Wenny, listen to me. This is not your fault. I don't give a rat's ass if you're in Slytherin or not. This is Draco's fault because he sold his soul to the devil. Wenny, I love you. You know that. Don't you ever doubt that or think that all of this is in any way your fault. You got that?" he asked her, shaking her slightly. He hated it so much when he saw her blaming herself.
Wenny nodded reluctantly, though she still knew it was. She was back to hating the stupid sorting hat. She had hated it for a while during her first year, until she finally realized how much she enjoyed being in Hufflepuff. And she had accepted that the hat knew what it was doing. But now, seeing Carl taunted and hit just because he was with someone who wasn't Slytherin really brought back all of the disappointment she had gone through that first year.
"I just really hate seeing you hurt," she said quietly.
He sighed and put his arms around her. "The feeling's mutual," he said with a grin. "But you know, Draco's a cheap shot." He held her shoulders again and shook his head, smiling at her. "You're hopeless, you know that?" he said, laughing quietly. He could tell that she was still bothered by her thinking it was her fault, which bothered him.
She gave him a small smile before turning to look out over the lake. After a few moments, and without looking at him, she said "I'm scared for you." She had heard Draco say that he would see Carl in the common room and she could only imagine what he might say or do and it bothered her. Especially since it was already almost supper time and they would have to go to their common rooms afterwards.
Carl put his arms around her again, holding her as close as he possibly could. He didn't know what else he could say after all that he already had. He knew that she worried alot, but he hated it when she did, and wished he could do or say something to make her stop.
"Maybe we could talk to Dumbledore? Maybe he could come up with a way to keep Draco from bothering you?," she suggested. She knew he didn't want to 'run away' from Malfoy, but that didn't mean that he couldn't have some kind of protection.
He sighed. He really didn't want to seem weak or cowardly, so he really didn't want to go to Dumbledore. But he didn't want Wenny to worry even more, so he nodded. "Alright," he said quietly.
Wenny noticed his tone and looked at him, "you don't want to ask for help, do you?" She couldn't help but smile a bit. Guys were so odd. They would rather get beaten up than to ask for any kind of help or protection.
He smiled at her. She knew him so well. "I do if you want me to," he told her. He looked at the sky, noticing that it looked like it was getting close to time for dinner. But he didn't want to move from that spot. At least he'd be able to sit with her at dinner.
She looked at him for a second, "how about this? You do what you think is best and I'll trust your judgement?" She didn't want to force him to talk to Dumbledore if he didn't want to, she was just worried about him. But if he thought he could handle Draco on his own, then she would simply have to let him do so.
Carl tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. "I'm not afraid of Draco Malfoy," he said quietly. He knew that she really wanted him to talk to Dumbledore, but he couldn't decide if he should or not. Doing so could possibly get him just more trouble from all of the Slytherins.
She nodded slightly, "ok." She gave him a small smile and returned his kiss, then just held him close for a few moments.
"I guess we should go in," she said quietly, noticing that it was starting to get dark. She didn't want a repeat of the previous night's events.
"Yeah, we probably should," he said. Although, he really didn't want to move. He loved being close to her. But he knew they really should be getting inside. They had already been missing for most of the day, and probably shouldn't be late to dinner.
Wenny gave him one more gentle kiss before grabbing her bag and standing up, grabbing his hands to pull him up. "At least we get to sit together during dinner, so we don't have to leave each other quite yet," she said, trying to see the positive in having to leave their spot. Though, as soon as she said it, she groaned. They would have to face her dorm mates, who she hoped hadn't just spent the past hour or so gossiping about where she had been all day.
He stood up with her and smiled at her. He could tell what she was thinking when she groaned. He couldn't help but grin. "I told you you're hopeless," he said with a laugh as he tucked another strand of her hair. He was worried about her dorm mates too, but he didn't show it. "Just remember that it really is none of their business and there's nothing to be embarrassed of," he told her.
She put her arm through his as they walked back towards the castle. "That's easy for you to say," she replied with a slight grin. Wenny was very timid when it came to certain things and she really didn't like the idea of people saying those certain things about her.
Carl smiled at her and kissed her on her cheek. "Well, we're facing this thing together," he told her. He felt the same way she did about it, but he made himself not show it. "You know, if people see that it bothers you when they know, they're just going to bug you about it more," he said, grinning.
Wenny sighed, "I suppose you're right. If anyone says anything, we'll just have to act like it doesn't really matter much." Though, admittedly, Wenny didn't have a very good poker face and couldn't act to save her life. She tended to wear her heart on her sleeve and anyone who knew her at all could very easily tell what she was thinking.
They walked into the Great Hall and sat down at the Hufflepuff table. Fortunately, it seemed that her dorm mates hadn't arrived yet.
Carl looked around the Great Hall and saw Draco, but before he could catch another one of his glare's, he looked back at Wenny and smiled. He took her hand in his and looked at her. She really does worry alot, he thought, as he watched her and looked into her eyes.
Wenny noticed the way Carl was watching her, "is everything ok?"
About that time, they heard "hey guys," and turned to see the infamous dorm mate sitting down across from them. "How is everything?," the girl asked with a grin.
Wenny took a deep breath and turned to the girl, "everything is great, thanks." Then turned back to Carl with a small smile.
Carl had nodded at her question and then saw the girl. He looked at Wenny and returned the smile. He saw the girl's grin and hoped that she wouldn't give them much trouble. It wasn't exactly him that he wished this for, but he knew Wenny didn't need that problem right now.
"So, what did you guys do with the rest of your afternoon?," the girl asked, glancing from Wenny to Carl and back.
"Oh, nothing really, just talked for a while," Wenny said, wishing the girl would just find someone else to pester. She had never had a problem with her dorm mates until now. Maybe it was because before now, Wenny a shy girl who kept to herself. Not exactly a cause for gossip. Oh, how things had changed.
"Like I believe that," the girl said with a smirk.
Carl had to refrain from glaring at the girl. It was very unual for a girl to make him upset like he was. "Believe what you want. It doesn't matter to us," he told the girl as he smiled at Wenny and gave her a look to try to tell her not to let it get to her. But he knew it wasn't that easy as it was starting to get to him too.
"Someone's a bit touchy," the girl replied to Carl, before glancing over at Wenny, who was avoiding the girl's gaze. "You guys are no fun," she added.
Carl refrained from saying and 'someone needs to learn to keep their noses out of other people's business.' He could see that Wenny was getting uncomfortable and wished there was something he could say. But instead, he merely smiled from Wenny to the girl, trying his best to seem kind even though he was annoyed.
Fortunately, the girl seemed to leave them alone after that, though Wenny wasn't much in the mood to talk after the girl's earlier comments. Wenny's other dorm mates arrived shortly after, but didn't make any kind of comments to Wenny and Carl as the other girl had done, which led Wenny to believe the girl hadn't told them.
Dinner went by rather uneventfully and before they knew it, it was time to go back to the common rooms.
Carl sighed as he really didn't want to go back to his common room, but thought it really would be foolish to stay out another night. Plus they had already risked getting into trouble, and they probably should have gotten in more trouble than they had been in with Snape.
Wenny looked over at Carl. "I would suggest meeting tonight, but...given what happened last night...," she said, frowning and then grinning slightly. It had all be a bit crazy the previous night, Snape and then Lucius.
He smirked. "We could always try it one last time and beat the crap out of anyone who bothered us," he said with a laugh. Although, he knew that wouldn't be a smart thing to do at all.
Wenny laughed, "We could." And she was tempted to do just that, but they had already barely escaped more than their fair share of attacks and she was sure their luck wouldn't hold out much longer.
"Well, I guess we should get on our way...," she said quietly. She really wasn't looking forward to being away from him all night, not to mention they had classes the following morning. And since he was in a different year than she was, they didn't have any classes together.
Suddenly, she laughed. "You'd think one of us was about to leave the country, wouldn't you?" It did almost feel like it, though.
He grinned slightly at her. "Lets go somewhere. Anywhere," he said desperately. "I don't want to be away from you right now," he told her, putting his hands on her cheeks. He didn't know if he could stand being away from her for more than a few hours, because he didn't think he'd be sleeping. Especially if he had to go back to his common room. After hearing that threat from Malfoy, he wasn't quite thrilled with that idea.
Wenny gave him a shy smile. "Well, I suppose we could go back to the Room...," she suggested quietly. Though, if they didn't go back to their common rooms first, they could get in trouble if their Head of House happened to do a random check. It would be one thing if one of them were found out of their dorms, but if they were both missing, she could only imagine the trouble they'd be in.
Carl sighed after hearing her tone. She didn't want that to be another thing for her to have to worry about. He smiled at her and rubbed her cheek gently with his thumb. "We both probably need to get some rest," he told her and kissed her gently on her lips. "I'm sorry. I guess I just love you so much," he said with a grin.
"Don't apologize for that," she replied with a slight grin. She watched him for a moment and then sighed, "I don't want to leave you either."
She tried thinking of what they could do, but the only thing she could think of was the Room of Requirement. Perhaps they could meet there after curfew as they had done the previous night by the lake. Just as long as Professor Sprout thought Wenny was in her dorm, it would be ok.
"We can go to our common rooms for a bit and then meet at the Room later...?," she suggested again, having forgotten about Draco's threat.
He smiled and nodded. "Only if you're sure though," he told her, not wanting her to worry. But he really did want to be with her. And as long as it was in a room that hopefully no one, like Death Eaters, could get in and attack them, then it made it that much more better.
"Well, I'm sure that I don't want to be away from you any longer than I have to be," she said with a slight grin.
Carl smiled and leaned in to give her a soft kiss on the lips. "Then I guess we'll see each other in a little while?" he said, playing with her hair a little bit.
Wenny nodded. "But please try not to be late. I'm not quite sure how you make that door appear, and I don't want to be caught standing in the corridor," she said with a quiet laugh.
He laughed and smiled at her and kissed her again. They walked down the coridor and Carl had to turn to go to his common room. He turned to her and gave her one last kiss before they would see each other again.
"See ya," she said quietly as she gave him a small wave and then headed off toward the Hufflepuff common room.