She raced down the spectating towers, struggling along with the mass of cheerful students still jumping and yelling in her way. She had lost sight of both Eddelina and Saturna a long time ago, but she did not really care. They were not that close friends. Finally, and after what felt like ages, Sigrid felt her feet landing on the soft white snow, which crunched underneath her steps as she hurried through the crowd.
"We won!" Ewoyn nearly slammed into her, and for a split of a second all that Sigrid could see was a mane of long blond waves blocking her vision, pale arms wrapping tightly around her, nearly knocking her backwards. "We still can win the cup!"
"Congratulations!" She could not contain her smile, watching out of the corner of her eyes as two identical figures rushed in her direction, equally grinning.
"Not a bad game, huh?" Elladan's grin glimmered inside his silver eyes, his long ebony hair plastered to his head due to the nagging cold rain still drizzling over them.
"Come on, let's get changed so we can celebrate!" Elrohir waved at her three friends, all of them still sporting the soaking scarlet robes, and Sigrid could notice with the corner of her eyes the remaining of the Gryffindor team starting to make their way to the changing rooms.
"See you at the common room?" Eowyn practically jumped up and down as she followed the twins, throwing her one last wild grin as she simply nodded her head.
"Sure! See you in a while." She called back, yelling over the crowd of students that were walking past her and starting their long march up back to the castle.
There would definitely be a party at the Gryffindor common room that night. There always was every time they won a game. Sometimes even when they lost the students still managed to throw a party at the common room, leaving them all exhausted and yawning the next day. But she did not mind, she was already looking forward to celebrating with Eowyn and the twins. Perhaps someone would manage to steal snacks from the kitchen and bring them up to the Gryffindor tower? She was starving.
The mass of students moved slowly, still chatting loudly in huddled groups, retelling each other nearly every move of the game. It was easy to identify the Gryffindors, still clad in hats and scarves of the brightest of scarlets, jumping in groups or booing at any Slytherin who dared pass too close to them. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about the rain, the students now drenched. Even she could feel the weight of her winter cloak as the now soaked garment nearly dragged her down as she walked.
"B-Bowman?" A hand tapped her shoulder, making her turn around in surprise. The crowd of students had started to spread now on the open grounds, some running towards the warm interior of the castle.
"Oh, hi, Wills." She stammered, fidgeting slightly while placing a wet lock of her curly blond hair behind her ear. It ended up being a useless move, as it felt right out in front of her face again. Standing right in front of her she found none other than those large black eyes and equally black hair over pale white skin that belonged to Curtis Wills.
"Hi." He waved slightly with a hand, the move nearly awkward before he decided to stuff both of his hands safely into his school robes pockets, after straightening his Ravenclaw scarf around his neck. "Did you see the game?"
She opened her mouth to reply but he cut her off, one of his hands running through his hair nervously as he spoke. "I mean of course you were at the game…you're here walking back to the castle. And you're a Gryffindor. Congratulations, by the way. That was a spectacular game! You did great! I mean, not you, because you were not playing- but I don't mean you didn't do great either! I mean, all of you. You, Gryffindors, congratulations."
She had never heard anyone speak as fast as Wills was currently speaking, his tongue seeming to be getting tied every two words, leaving her standing there, waiting for him to finally take a breath before she could speak. And why was he talking to her? He was in her class, though he was a Ravenclaw, and they had spoken to each other a few times, but they were not really friends. She got along better with his twin sister, Felicia, who, unlike him, was a Hufflepuff.
"Thanks." Was all she could think of saying after he finally stopped to breathe, his handsome black eyes turning to gaze at his shoes momentarily, as if thinking of something else to say.
"Well, I should head back t-" She started slowly but his eyes shifted up to meet hers again, suddenly stopping her as he once again interrupted her.
"You don't have a date to the Yule Ball, do you?" He blurted out in one single breath, his eyes suddenly widening as if suddenly realizing he had said something wrong. "I don't mean that you wouldn't have a date. Of course you could have a date already, you're very pretty, I was just wondering if…if…you did have a date already?"
That took her by surprise, for a second feeling slightly perplexed and awkward, but seeing as he was simply a shaking ball of nerves, still fidgeting with his hands, she somehow managed to be the one to remain calmed.
"No." She chuckled lightly at the expression of his face. "I don't have a date yet."
"Wonderful." She saw him breath out a heavy sigh, as if deflating with relief, before he tensed once more, as if once again doubting if he had said the right thing. "Not that it's wonderful that you don't have a date…I just…ugh! Would you like to go…with….me?"
He stammered through the last part, one of his eyes closing as a near wince drew on his face, as if bracing himself for rejection. She waited for a whole second, not sure of what to say. She had definitely not expected him to invite her. Merlin she had not expected anyone to invite her at all! Curtis Wills. He was handsome. Very handsome. Indeed, she knew there was a group of Ravenclaw girls that had been silently hoping he would invite any of them. She had heard them whisper about it all during History of Magic the day before.
"Sure…yes…I'll go with you." She saw him let out another sigh of relief, this time a smile forming on his face, suddenly looking normal once more, no longer exceedingly nervous.
"Great!" He beamed, throwing her that handsome genuine smile that she knew many girls giggled at. "I'll meet you at the Entrance Hall that evening?"
"Sure, ok." She shrugged. At least he was nice. Things could have been so much worse, now that she thought of it. Curtis Wills would be a fun date.
"Great!" He said again, not seeming able to produce a wide vocabulary at the moment, one of his hands waving at her. "I should go now, but I'll see you for Yule!"
"Bye." She waved in return, watching his tall figure as he disappeared to joined a crowd of chatting and laughing Ravenclaw boys up at the large marble front staircase and into the majestic front doors.
She shook her head slightly, gathering herself up before she too decided to start her march back towards the castle. Oh, she could not wait to tell Eowyn. And Elladan and Elrohir. Somehow it felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She was definitely going to the Yule Ball now. She climbed the steps two at a time, stopping suddenly as her eyes caught sight of a mane of silver hair disappearing around a corner, into one of the side courtyards.
She stopped in her tracks, fighting momentarily with herself. And yet, she could feel her feet aching to rush in that same direction. This was her chance. All the Gryffindors would be celebrating in the common room by now, the rest of the students probably going into their own Houses as well.
Making up her mind, she followed in the same direction, her rushed footsteps echoing in the cold stone floor. The small courtyard was empty, just as she had suspected it would be, the stone archways lining it elegantly from all sides. He was there, silently crossing in a straight diagonal through the snowed courtyard, not seeming to care that he was once again in the cold freezing rain, though rushing to get out of it. She had to run a little to be able to catch up with him, his ice blue eyes turning in her direction, looking momentarily surprised but saying nothing about it, merely continuing his way.
"Why didn't you play today?" The words left her mouth before she could really think of something better to say, following him across the courtyard and into the stone corridor lined with arches, safe from the freezing drizzle.
"Well, if it isn't my not friend?" Perfect eyebrows shot up in his flawless forehead, stopping momentarily to look at her before continuing his peaceful walk, Sigrid following closely next to him. "Hello to you too, Bowman."
"Um..hello." She hastened to add, thinking that perhaps she should have started there instead of bluntly asking him why he had not played Seeker, and yet she shook her head lightly, as if trying to clear her head before speaking again.
"You didn't play today." She pointed out again. As if he didn't know that already. "Are you all right?"
"That's unusually nice of you to ask." That strikingly handsome face turned in her direction, stopping his march, his voice still that perfectly clamed musical sound that let nothing through it, ice blue eyes piercing through her underneath one raised eyebrow.
"I…" She was once again stunned for a split second, gathering herself again, fighting that tingling wild feeling in her stomach as she felt the weight of those frozen sapphires staring intently at her. "We're still not friends."
"Sure." Lasgalen shrugged, as if disinterested in her words. "You are being very unfriendly indeed."
Sarcasm dripped down his velvet lined voice, and yet his face remained as unreadable as ever, only a hint of an amused smile creeping on the corner of his mouth. He looked at her for a long moment, making her have to fight the urge to fidget from foot to foot in the silence, trying to think of something to say.
"That's not the point." She hurried to add, not daring to be the one to look down, not breaking the long stare he was giving her. "Stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?" He narrowed his eyes slightly, his regal looking features momentarily confused.
"Like that….just…" She stopped herself, shaking her head once more before adding in another rush. "Anyway, you didn't answer me. Why didn't you play? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." He muttered, nearly huffing, even though his voice remained that royal sound that would make nearly anyone obey whatever he said.
It was her turn to raise an eyebrow, clearly not believing his blunt lie, struggling once more to place a long golden curl behind her ear. His ice blue eyes looked away for a moment, handsome face a combination of slight annoyance and displeasure.
"So you just decided you didn't want to play?" She had him, judging by how he clenched his jaw momentarily. Why was she doing this?
"Ok, I'm not entirely fine." He muttered again, looking as if the words tasted sourly on his tongue, piercing eyes returning to bear through her. "But I'm not too bad. Snape was being overly cautious."
"I don't' think he was." She did not know why she said that, but once again the words left her mouth before she could think of them. Was he really still pretending that he was simply fine in front of her? "Stop acting as if I don't' know something's not right."
She was getting tired of it, and she could not understand why. She had already seen him once in the Hospital Wing, then scared to death and shaking in the hallway, and then in overwhelming pain, when he had used her as a shield in class so that no one would notice his bandaged hand. And still he was acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
"I'm fi…" Lasgalen started again, but did not finish once he saw the skeptical glare she was throwing him, instead letting out an exasperated sigh. And yet, oddly, he seemed mellower, as if not really having the energy to maintain his sharp remarks and cold sarcastic comments. "Can we just sit down?"
He nodded towards one of the long stone benches lining the empty arcade, not waiting for her answer before gracefully walking in its direction, every single one of his moves seemingly effortless. She followed him, not fancying standing there alone, and too curious still to merely leave. And yet she did not miss the tiredness that flashed over his face for a second as he sat down, vanishing all too quickly.
"You're not feeling well, are you?" Her voice suddenly sounded softer, another inexplicable pang of worry appearing in her stomach as she lowered herself to sit beside him, suddenly cursing herself about being so obnoxiously pushy.
"It's not too bad." Was all he answered, for the first time answering her question directly instead of throwing another one of his infuriating comments. She could not tell whether he was lying or not, his expression impossible to read through, and still she worried.
"Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?" He definitely looked tired, there was no denying it now, but other than that, she could see nothing wrong with him. Perhaps it was really just a cold? Like most the school had?
Ice blue eyes turned to glare at her furiously, as if she had insulted him, letting her raise both of her arms defensively. "No, I do not need to go to the Hospital Wing, Bowman. Drop it."
"Sorry." She added quickly, her eyes dropping to her feet, suddenly interested in her shoelaces.
"Why don't you want to tell me what's wrong?" She could not refrain from asking, even though her voice had lost all traces of its previous defiance, her voice low.
"I was under the impression that we were not friends?" There it was again, that infuriating knowing smirk on his face, and even though she wanted nothing more than to rip it from his handsome face, she could not get herself to do it, could not herself to rage in ire as she would have done a mere week ago.
"We're not." She snapped, angry with herself for not managing to sound as annoyed as she wanted to.
"Well, I don't talk about myself with my not friends." He answered calmly, still she could see that victorious gleam on his impenetrable icy eyes that told her he was enjoying this too much, making her want to yell at him, but she only managed a glare.
"You don't talk about yourself with anyone." She pointed out, crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest. And yet why was she still sitting here? If she was so bothered with him as she was pretending to be, why hadn't she gotten up and left? He seemed aware of that too, for his eyes kept smirking at her.
"If you know that, then stop asking questions." His lips curved up faintly at the corner, and she once again threw a half-hearted glare in his direction.
"I'm not clueless, you know? I know there's something wrong. You know I do." Her voice was almost a whisper, turning a little on the bench to face him better, brown eyes looking directly at his, tired of everything. "I know the rumors about you are false. People have it wrong. Have you forgotten I was with you that night during detention? I know something is off, and that's why you were not in class the following two weeks."
"If you know that, why don't' you contradict the rumors then?" He did not look angered, not even slightly agitated at what he had heard, as if it had not surprised him at all.
"Because you don't stop them either. And neither does your brother." She whispered in return, once again feeling the weight of those mesmerizing powerful eyes. "Which makes me believe that whatever the truth is, you'd rather people believe the lies."
"Sometimes lies are preferable to the truth." Was all he said, even though she could not understand why would anyone prefer to be talked about behind their backs for things that were not true instead of contradicting the lies. But she did not question him about that.
"Why won't you tell me what's wrong?" She pressed, even though she hardly recognized her voice, barely a whisper.
"I don't want to talk about that." He sighed, eyes not looking at her, expression hard, and she immediately knew she would not be asking about it again. At least not that day.
"What do you want to talk about?" She added, not knowing why she had not just stood up and left by then, but he had not moved either, and she thought that as long as he wanted to remain there she would stay. She was still too curious about him, strangely enjoying his company no matter how exasperating he got.
He did not answer, icy colored eyes fixing momentarily on the white snow covering the courtyard, where the rain shimmered in a silver curtain, making it hard to see the other side of the square space.
"Why are you not celebrating with the rest of the Gryffindors?" He suddenly asked, ice blue eyes narrowing slightly as he turned back to face her. "Aren't your Quidditch parties supposed to be legendary?"
"I'm waiting for the worst of it to pass so that it's safe to go back in the tower." She found herself saying, nearly wincing as she imagined the chaos that the Gryffindor common room must be at the moment. Besides, she was sure no one would notice if she was a little late.
Surprisingly, he laughed, lightly and almost quietly, but oddly refreshing. She could get used to that laugh, if only he wasn't so stone-faced and cold nearly all the time. It was as if almost for a momentary second she had caught a glimpse of that iced barrier breaking, watching that rare, genuine side of him that she was now sure few people even knew existed.
"Sounds like a nightmare to me." He chuckled, shaking his silvery head lightly.
"It's fun!" She contradicted him, watching his eyes throw her another look that seemed to be deeply judging her sanity.
"Your sense of what's fun is questionable, Bowman." He added, once again throwing her a skeptical look that somehow set loose another wave of uncomfortable fluttering inside her stomach. She was once again reminded of how tall he was, ho royal and powerful his sole presence felt. Was this how the Slytherins felt when sitting next to him at the Great Hall? If it was, it was certainly slightly intimidating.
She let out a laugh, shaking her head slightly. Her eyes traveled through the long arched corridor, out of the corner of her eyes watching him close his eyes and lean his head against the stone wall. For a split of a second she was about to ask him whether he was really all right, but decided against it. He had made it clear he did not want to talk about that anymore, so she dropped the subject entirely.
"Are you staying in Hogwarts for Christmas?" She did not know from where that question came from, watching him open one eye to throw her a questioning look.
"Certainly not." He answered as though the idea of staying in the castle for Christmas sounded scandalous to him. "Are you?"
"Dunno." She admitted, not having really put much though into it. "My dad will be traveling, so I'll either stay here or go spend Christmas with the twins. They have offered already."
"I don't know which option sounds worse." He smirked again as he spoke, and he would have yelled at him had not been for the way in which he was silently chuckling.
"You can be really painful to talk to, did you know?" She managed to snap at him, but he did not seem at all affected by her tone.
"It's a good thing we're not friends then." He shrugged, once again sounding disinterested in the topic of the conversation, even though his faint smile had not disappeared from his face.
She felt silent, deciding on turning her face away from him in a pathetic show of annoyance. Whether he took her seriously or not, she could not tell, not even seeming bothered or even noticing her exasperation, merely leaning his head back against the stone wall again and closing his eyes.
Long silence stretched comfortably between the two, the soft whistle of the wind the only sound filling the space. Every once in a while she would hear footsteps echoing throw a nearby corridor, but nobody walked into this particular courtyard. Just as she had assumed, all students must be huddled up in their common rooms, enjoying the rainy Saturday afternoon. She hoped the rain would stop by night time, not looking forward to trying to sleep if the rain continued for much, or if it became heavier. She still could not handle sleeping during rainstorms, no matter how long it had since been…
She turned her large brown eyes to study him, finding him still sitting there with his eyes closed, head leaning back against the wall. For a second she wondered whether or not he had fallen asleep, his long blond hair reflecting in silver at the flickering faint light that managed to filter through the curtain of rain outside.
"Are you all right?" She asked again, letting out a silent chuckle, amused at finding him nearly asleep on a school bench. For a moment, she did not believe he would answer, thinking to be fast asleep by the looks of it.
But the smile quickly vanished from her face as slowly, ever so slowly, his head shook from side to side: No. She froze, her heart skipping a beat as a new sense of alarm rushed through her veins. And then, she noticed, cursing herself for not being sufficiently observant before. Where his chiseled cheeks had been perfectly pale minutes before, now they were flushed bright pink, his breathing coming out slightly heavier. Immediately and almost automatically her hand flew to rest on his forehead, withdrawing it instantly as she felt the sudden heat emanating from his pale skin.
"You're burning." She breathed out in terror, even though he did not react to her words. But why had he not said anything? She had asked many times if he was all right. He had stayed silent. He should have said something!
Ice blue eyes met hers, looking tired, a strange combination of fear and alarm pooling oddly through those frozen crystals, for a second seemed to be debating with himself whether or not to speak. He looked momentarily terrified. But of what? Of the fever?
"I need to go to the Hospital Wing." He said at last, the words barely whispered, and she was instantly on her feet, helping him as he rose unsteadily to his full height, making her flinch at the waves of heat that seemed to be radiating from him. How was his fever so high so soon? It was if his temperature was rising at an alarming rate, making her wonder whether or not he would even manage to reach the hospital wing. It was not normal. Or had he been suffering from a fever all the while and had simply said nothing about it? It still seemed alarmingly high alarmingly quickly. It was unnatural. Something was wrong.
Here's chapter 13! Hope you enjoy it! And let me know what you think! I know the plot is slow but bear with me :)
Again thank you thank you to ErynielGreenleaf, Rose61393 and VanyaNoldo for your comments on the last chapter! They really mean a lot since I know this story is unusual and slightly strange haha it helps to know that at least you are enjoying it! :)
Love,
Elena