Chap 21-
Pike stared at the ceiling, somewhat tired but incredibly bored in the darkness of the infirmary. Looking over at the curtained beds of Lee and Estelle he sighed, "You two need each other." he whispered to himself. He lifted his hand and concentrated on Estelle. She slowly rose in the air from her bed, still sleeping soundly, and floated over to Lee's bed. Pike weakened with every second her used his power to bring Estelle next to lee, gradually and gently lowering her beside Lee, into his sprawled out arms.
He heard a small groan and made sure Estelle was settled in Lee's arms, and then he got out of his own bed. Walking over to the window, he settled in the frame, opening it slightly and letting the cool air blow in. The silence was eerie, and he knew that something at Hogwarts was amiss. Something always was. He knew the Dark Lord was here, but he didn't know who his pawns were. He shivered, lately Blaise had been overly explosive, Pansy had been acting strange, Draco was nearly always sick whenever her even heard a reference to the Dark Lord. But where was he? Who had he made kill Millicent?
As he stares over at the woods, he felt them calling to him, and he shivered. Something awful was going to happen tomorrow, but he didn't know what. It made his skin crawl. He laid for long hours staring out the window. Sometimes at the woods, sometimes at nothing at all, he was looking for something, but there was a problem, even he didn't know what. As the red glow of dawn appeared over the horizon, Madame Pomfrey was shocked to find a very asleep Pike sleeping halfway out of the window and on the window sill. Before she woke him up, she noted the very troubled look on his face, something was wrong with him. "Pike?" she whispered, trying not to wake up her other patients, "Come on, you nearly fell out of the window."
His eyes bolted up as if he was expecting someone to put a knife to his throat, but then again he had felt like that for weeks. "Wow, that would have been a real mess to clean up eh?" he said, trying to sound perky, but Madame Pomfrey knew him too well.
She was about to say something when Pike abruptly left the infirmary and jogged to the Slytherin common room. When he arrived he went to the dorms, and got his toiletries, a towel, a sheer red shirt and his favorite pair of leather pants. He also reached into his trunk and pulled out a different ring that would replace the barbell in his nipple. He sighed as he stared at Lee's empty bed, and he noted the curtains drawn on Draco's bed. He thought it strange, but he paid it no mind. He had seen drawn curtains on Draco's bed before, and then Pike wondered if his sister was in there. He pushed the thought from his mind as it immediately enraged him. He didn't even want to entertain the thought that it was someone else in there with Draco, it would crush Airykkaa's heart.
He raced up to the showers, finding Pansy leaving them, and he wondered what she was doing up so early. But he dropped his things on the small stand next to the small shower. He fought momentarily with the nipple ring but once he got the small rounded piece of silver through his nipple, he turned on the water. Steam erupted from the shower head and he stepped into it, sighing as the hot water sprayed over him.
For some reason he had felt incredible dirty, not as if there was actually dirt on him, or as if he was unclean, but emotionally dirty. He ran his hands over his shoulder feeling the scars left by Blaise's nails under his tattoo. He sank to the floor and sat there deep in thought and feeling pathetic.
He thought of Eden, what would she think if she knew some of the things he had done? 'She would hate you.' he thought to himself, and tears streamed down his face silently. He sat there under the falling stream of hot water for nearly an hour, feeling horribly about himself, pointing out the awful things that he had done before he had Eden.
Draco walked into the showers, and he noted the steam coming out of one of them. The curtain wasn't drawn and he was very surprised to find Pike in it, rolled into a tight fetal position. "Pike? Are you okay?" he asked, knowing that he wasn't.
Pike jerked his head towards Draco, he hadn't even noticed the blonde was there until he had heard his voice, "What?" he asked, not understanding a word that he had said.
"I think you need some fresh air," Draco said, noting the red tone to Pike's skin, and wondering how long he had stayed under the scalding hot water.
Pike nodded dumbly and Draco turned off the water, careful not to touch it, then he handed Pike a towel and turned around. Pike's dreariness momentarily faded as he noticed Draco's body-frame, highlighted by the white muscle shirt, and pine green boxers. Pike only let his gaze linger a moment longer before he toweled himself off and got dressed.
By then he had fell back into his depression, but he forced himself to gel up his hair and make himself presentable. He unbuttoned his shirt halfway, and made sure his nipple ring showed. He smoothed down his tight, black leather pants, and sprayed a little cologne on. When Draco emerged from the shower, he was amazed at how fast the redness had faded from Pike's skin, and figured that Pike must have done this regularly. Draco felt the need to mention the fight between Blaise and his sister the night before, but he left out the reasoning and most of the details. Although he was sure to mention how Airykkaa had broken Blaise's nails off, and Pike was very proud of his sister.
He didn't question Draco for anymore details, but only made sure that he looked perfect. Draco made a remark as he was leaving about spending more time getting ready than the Weird Sisters do. Pike just laughed and gave Draco the finger as he put on his eyeliner and eye-shadow, and today he even used a small amount of foundation to cover up a small zit he had near his ear. By the time he was done he looked like some kind of godly rock-star, drool worthy down to every hair on his body.
He decided that he wanted to get some fresh air, and set his mind to the gorgeous balcony by divinations, it was going to be a bitch getting there, but it was well worth it. He lit a cigarette up in the middle of the bathroom and left the Slytherin dungeons behind him, leaving a cloud of smoke and coughing students behind him as he strode through the halls and up stairs. He grinned as he saw Eden go up the ladder towards divinations, he hadn't known that she was taking divination. He thought he might catch her before lunch, in fact he hoped so.
Turning toward another hallway that lead to the great hall, but also to a marvelous balcony that overlooked the surrounding countryside. He sighed in delight and squealed quietly as the light breeze hit him, and the sun bathed him in warm light. He found him greatly amused as a first year Huffelpuff asked him which was the right way to transfiguration. Instead of telling the small boy that he was on the floor, he smirked evilly and proceeded to bark and growl at the boy. As the young blonde ran down the hallway screaming, Pike couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
He slowly began to fall into a serene feeling of numbness as he stared at his surroundings, and shaking his hands he pulled out another cigarette. as he lit it he turned around and leaned on the railing, refusing to sit on the marble bench just a few feet away from him. He had see entirely too much happen on that bench for comfort, particularly Pansy and Goyle, and it had left Pike emotionally and mentally scarred for life.
Turning back around in the breeze he again faced the countryside, letting the wind whip through his ebony and sea-blue hair, inhaling a drag of smoke sharply. He heard footsteps behind him and he grinned, recognizing the massive clunk from Eden's boots. "Feeling any better?" she asked.
"Yeah, but Madame Pomfrey says I can't go to class until she takes the stitches out" Pike said, grinning as he turned around to face her. His grin intensified as he took note of Eden looking him up and down, staring at the sparkling nipple ring. He also took note of a deep cut on her cheek, and he suddenly realized why Airykkaa had done what she had done, and he was all the more proud of her. "Blaise doesn't have nails anymore." he said.
"How did...?" Eden began in complete astonishment, wondering how he knew of what had occurred the day before.
"Don't worry about it." he replied, a smirk glued on his face. He gently ran his fingers by the wound, caressing her cheek, but careful not to touch the wound itself. Slowly he lowered himself and kissed her cheek lightly right above it lovingly.
"What's that on your back?" he heard Eden ask out of nowhere, and then he remembered he was wearing a translucent shirt.
"A dragon. It cost me a shitload too it did!" he said proudly, loving the design he had created for himself. "Do you want to see it?" he asked, slowly realizing what she was after, he knew Blaise would have acted as if he were her property, but he was hoping that Eden would see straight through her.
Eden nodded and pike unbuttoned the first button and then he grabbed her hands gently. "I think I may just need some help with this." he smirked and worked her hands at unbuttoning his shirt. He smiled as her cheeks lightly turned pink.
After the shirt was unbuttoned and whipped freely about in the wind, Pike directed her hands toward his shoulders, sliding the shirt off with ease. Pike noticed the uneasy look on his face, but he knew perfectly well what she was looking for, and he figured that she would find out sooner or later, so why try to hide it now. He slowly turned and bared his back to her, the brilliant black tribal dragon spouted gorgeous orange and red flames onto his shoulders.
Pike knew that she wouldn't be able to see the scars, but she would most definitely feel them. The ink had done it's job well. Eden touched his shoulders but hesitated to move. "Go ahead." he sighed, waiting for her to find them , and the feeling of dread creeping over him once again.
He felt her fingers trace lightly down where the flames were, and wander closer towards the scars, he wanted to turn around and his heart pounded. Suddenly he wished that this could have waited a while longer, he knew Eden would never forgive him for his past. He tensed up until he felt her fingers touch it, one of the long series of fingernail cuts that had once been deep wounds searing through his flesh, and he let his head drop. He knew that in a few moments, all of the happiness he had known over the last month would disappear. He knew she would leave.
Her fingers traces the rough paths that she could feel underneath his skin, "What ere these?" her voice cracked, it sounded wracked with anger.
"Scars Eden, just scars. A mark of something I've done in the past, but that's ALL it is, the past." he said, turning towards her, seeing the anger curve over her face. She looked as if she had been betrayed, and Pike knew that she had not seen through Blaise's transparent cover.
"I've seen enough." she scowled and turned and began to walk away.
Pike panicked as he saw his whole world beginning to shatter around him, and tears sprung to his eyes. In a last moment of desperation he screamed at Eden's figure, "I'm not still fucking her, if that's what you think!" and then collapsed to his knees in tears. Eden stood stock still for a moment, and then rushed off of the balcony and down the hall. Pike fell to a heap and curled up on the floor in tears, the wind whipping through his hair, he reached for his shirt and held onto it, but the wind had decided that he didn't even deserve his shirt, and it was swept away in the wind.
"I am alone, and I am cold." he said to himself in despair. Eventually he felt a hand gently caress his arm, and he immediately knew the touch. "Tell me something Blaise," Pike hissed angrily, "How is it that you manage to completely fuck up everyone's life that you come into contact with?" he said furiously, turning his head to glare at her with a stare that would have killed a basilisk on sight.
Blaise backed off in surprise, this was not what she had thought was going to happen at all. "Pike? I did it for you." she tried to coo, "Eden is poison, and I can see her poisoning you."
Pike stared at her coldly, "Blaise, whatever it was that we had, it died a long time ago." he growled, "You don't even EXIST to me. You will NEVER be Eden." he screamed. He gathered his things and rose to his feet and left, going back to the infirmary.