Disclaimer: Harry Potter, Hogwarts, et cetera and so forth is owned by J.K. Rowling, not me, rahter unfortunately. I own Nessa (funny that), and just for a change, I'm going to own the others, too - Rome, Thom, Rio... although those three technically created their own characters, and I'm merely using them with permission, so they're not really mine, but you should get what I mean... and I'm rambling, I should stop that...
A/N: Thelonious isn't based on a real person, or even someone else's character, so far as I know, but I did get inspiration for the name from a character at The Guild - isn't it just the funkiest name!
"You need to get out more, pet," a voice called across the library to Nessa.
Blinking rapidly, somewhat surprised, Nessa grinned and dropped her book to the floor, rising as she waited for the approaching figure to get closer. "She could kill you with that glare, you know," she said after a moment, nodding in the direction of the dagger-glaring librarian.
"Pet, I ain't that easily killed," Roman replied easily, grinning and sending a jaunty wave to Madam Pince.
"I know that, but perhaps you should tell her one day." Waving politely at the librarian, Nessa accompanied it with a slightly cheeky grin before turning her gaze back to Roman. "You were gone longer than I expected," she commented, a touch of reproach tinting her tone.
"Aww, did Nessie get bored?" Roman asked teasingly, clearly in good spirits. She watched the girl twitch her eyebrows slightly, and quickly gave her a hug. "Sorry pet, I shouldn't be teasing yet – too early in the morning." She could almost feel Nessa's eyebrows raising again, and squeezed her lightly. "You know what I mean…"
Nessa relaxed slightly, and wrapped her arms about Roman, laughing softly. "Yes, I do – sorry, I shouldn't be so temperamental. It's good to have you back, though. I never realised just how… dull it could be around here."
Roman chuckled, and let go, judging Nessa to be relatively back to normal, and ready for some more teasing. "Even with having porcupoppet…I mean, Thomas, around?"
Nessa narrowed her eyes slightly, but there was a smile touching her lips, an amused one. "Yes, even with Thomas around," she replied, feeling a slight heat rising in her cheeks. Clearing her throat softly, she murmured, "Ah…yah, anyway…" and carefully turned around to pick her book up from the floor.
Roman raised her own eyebrows slightly, watching Nessa carefully, and was strongly reminded that she needed to have a talk with the shorter girl.
"Pet, do you have time for a…little chat?" she asked delicately, adjusting her top hat slightly.
Nessa slowed in her movements, obviously having heard Roman's question, but took her time in replying, not certain what to expect. Carefully, she tucked the book into her bag, and slung it over her shoulder. "I have nothing planned," she replied cautiously. Recently, Nessa had become much more wary of 'little chats', certainly more than she had been even six months ago. So little good seemed to come out of them, at least in her experience.
Roman recognised Nessa's reluctance, and smiled a little wryly. "I know, I know. Chat's are bad, scary, et cetera, but I really think we should have one."
Nessa twitched her nose slightly, but nodded, shrugging lightly at the same time. "If you want one, Rome, okay. Where do you want to go?"
"In here's fine," she replied, taking Nessa's hand and guiding her further into the library, right away from the few other students, and settled down fairly close to the Restricted section.
Drawing a breath, Nessa sat down opposite Roman, dropping her bag at her feet, and forcing herself to be calm. If Roman wanted a talk, then they could have one, calmly and sensibly. She watched silently as the Slytherin girl seemed to gather her thoughts, knowing better than to interrupt.
"I know you must be wondering why I dislike Thomas so much," Roman began softly.
"It has been hovering at the back of my brain, yes."
"Mainly…it's because he's taking you away from me. All he had to do was flash his perfect smile, and you were just…gone. And I have to admit, I'm jealous."
"Jealous?" Nessa repeated, an eyebrow raising slightly.
Roman nodded. "I'm jealous of him because of the way he's captured your attention. I'm jealous of the way he can touch you without you slapping him. And…I'm jealous of the fact that you obviously return his affection."
"Roman, why are you?" Nessa began, but Roman continued talking.
"He and I do have something in common – our feelings for you, Ness. I kinda…do have feelings for you, more than just friendly feelings. That's the main reason why Thomas annoys me so completely – he can be open with the way he feels about you, and not have to worry. He can touch you, hug you, even kiss you, and the most you do is blush and giggle. I'm not sure you can even begin to imagine how that is for me. To see him able to do the things…" Roman trailed off, her expression slightly pained and sad.
"Rome, why didn't you tell me this before?" Nessa asked softly, gently touching the taller girl's arm. "You've never had much difficulty talking to me about things before…"
Roman laughed, a vaguely regretful sound. "Pet, this isn't exactly an easily thing, for me to tell or for you to hear. I couldn't exactly drop it on you in the middle of Potions."
"Alright, that's true enough," Nessa replied with a small chuckle. Hesitating for a moment, she then continued, "Since we're being honest and all, I have to admit – I've been wondering if you did feel like that. It mightn't seem all that obvious," she explained, "but I can pick up on hints occasionally."
Roman blinked and stared at her friend, who was sitting there with a soft smile touching her lips.
"You're not going to run? You're not going to freak out and put a huge distance between us?"
"It will take some getting used to," Nessa admitted with a small shrug of her shoulders, "now that I know for certain, but I'm not just going to push you away. We've known each other too long for that."
"Dad was right," Roman murmured absently, slightly surprised.
Nessa's eyebrows shot up. "You talked to your father about this?"
"Well, it wasn't exactly planned – he just sort of…showed up."
"You have the weirdest family, Roman de la Croix," Nessa laughed, shaking her head. Sobering slightly, she looked up at her friend. "You going to be okay?" she asked softly.
"Of course I will," Roman replied, slightly flippantly, waving a hand expressively. Catching Nessa's half-raised eyebrows, she smiled crookedly and nodded. "I'll be fine, I do mean that."
Looking intently at Roman for a moment, Nessa nodded slowly and then stood up, slinging her bag onto her shoulder again. "Sorry to dash out on you like this," she murmured softly, glancing at the time, "but I'm meeting…" She paused, her eyes widening slightly.
"…Thomas," Roman finished, managing to keep most of the bitterness out of her voice.
"In a way, but not really, at the same time," she replied, looking vaguely confused. Expression clearing, she looked down at Roman. "I forgot that you wouldn't know – Thom's organised for Lessien and me to meet, today…" A slightly nervous expression passed over her face, and she slumped back into the chair, gazing across to the other seat. "What if she doesn't like me?"
Roman gave a soft laugh. "Pet, I dare to you name one person in this school that doesn't like you," she said with a small smile, conveniently ignoring Nessa's disbelieving snort. "If she doesn't like you, I'll be very surprised. Just remember, you're family, even if you haven't seen each other for years."
"I know," Nessa breathed, closing her eyes briefly and letting out a slow breath. Climbing to her feet again, she smiled at Roman and stooped to give her a gentle hug. "I'll come see you later, alright?" she half-asked.
"Of course – you know the places I'll be."
Nodding, Nessa hugged the taller girl again, reassurance for both herself and Roman, and drawing another deep breath and releasing it slowing. Picking up her bag, she waved at her friend, and headed off, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach.
"Nessa, love, just breathe and calm down," Thomas suggested, watching the dark blonde girl with some amusement. "She'll be here, I promise it."
"Uh-huh, I know," Nessa said, nodding rapidly and continuing to walk around in small, quick circles. "She'll be here, and all lovely-like, and we'll talk and have tea, and…and…"
Laughing, Thomas rose from his seat on the ground and caught Nessa's hand, stepping in front of her at the same time. Blinking, she looked up at him wide-eyed.
"You're stressing and rambling," Thomas informed her softly, slipping an arm about her waist. "Just relax – stressing won't bring Lessien here any faster."
Nessa opened her mouth, clearly about to argue with him, and then sighed, pulling a face at him as he raised his eyebrows.
"I know, Thom," she said instead, bracing herself against him and neatly tucking her head under his chin. "But you can't really blame me for being nervous. She won't even remember me from…before."
"It'll be fine," Thomas repeated, running his hands lightly across her back to try and calm her. Hearing a soft footfall somewhere to his left, he smiled and gently tapped his fingers on the small of her back. "That's probably her now," he said, and turned his head to the left. The greeting he'd planned died on his lips, and he made a small choking noise.
Frowning lightly up at Thomas, Nessa decided to leave her question unasked and looked in the same direction, a little nervously.
"Oh… hi, Rio," she said, sounding disappointed, and sighed lightly.
"Expecting someone else, were you?" the Ravenclaw asked in return, folding her arms and glaring at them.
A little confused as to why Thomas was suddenly so quite, Nessa glanced up at him before answering. "As a matter of fact, we were," she replied cautiously, thrown by the other girl's bitter tone.
Rio turned her hard gaze to Thomas, raising a delicate eyebrow. "And what about our da-… meeting?"
Nessa twisted 'round to look up at Thomas so fast that she slightly pulled a muscle in her neck. Wincing, she merely raised her eyebrow in an unconscious echo of Rio's expression.
Thomas made a tiny, pressured noise at the back of his throat, and managed to summon a tight smile for the two girls. He thought hard for a moment and then reluctantly let go of Nessa so that he could stride over to Rio, grasp her arm and pull her a short distance away.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he hissed at her, keeping a tight hold on her wrist.
"I could ask you the same thing, Mr. Malfoy," she responded coldly, ust barely keeping her voice down. "You asked me to meet you here, or did you just conveniently forget about that!"
Thomas froze and swiftly thought back to their conversation in the Great Hall. "You idiot," he groaned, closing his eyes briefly at the mistake she'd made. "I said Tuesday, not today! In case you haven't noticed, today is Friday…!"
Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red, but Rio merely shook her head emphatically and said, "Fine, forget about it," before attempting to pull her wrist free of his grasp.
Glaring back at her just as fiercely, he finally let her go. "Gladly," he replied coolly, grey eyes echoing his statement. "I was just toying with you anyway." Turning his back on her, he walked back to Nessa.
"We were supposed to meet earlier in the week – she needed help with Potions," he explained easily, although his gaze slipped from Nessa's slightly. "She got the day wrong," he added with a small shrug.
Folding her arms loosely, Nessa raised her eyebrows and looked at Thomas silently, her dark eyes catching his gaze and holding it firmly.
"Alright, alright, she didn't need help with Potions," he admitted with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "We'd organised to meet here – it wasn't a date," he added hurriedly, raising his hands defensively against Nessa's slightly accusing gaze. "She was bored, and-… oh, forget it. You won't believe me anyway."
Nessa watched as he ran a hand through his hair again, this time slightly frustrated, and carefully kept her expression the same for a moment as he turned away. She let him mutter to himself for a few minutes, watching as he paced away from her slightly, before walking up to him and resting her fingertips lightly against his lips to stop his muttering.
"Just forget about it," she breathed softly, leaving her hand against his lips until she'd finished speaking. "You have every right to meet whoever you want whenever you want – I have no right to try and stop you. Let it go, and make up with Rio later – it'll be fine."
Reaching up, Thomas caught Nessa's hand in his own and moved it slightly, pressing a light kiss into her palm before lifting it away. "I thought I was going to have an angry Nessa on my hands for a moment there," he admitted, laughing lightly as she raised an eyebrow quizzically. "You have no idea how scary you are when you're mad, do you?" he asked, amused.
"Thom, I don't think I could be scary if my life depended on it," she replied honestly, tugging her hand out of his to hit his arm lightly. "Stop patronising me," she added, grinning up at him.
"Ah, love, I wouldn't patronise you… too scary." Laughing, he ducked out of the way as Nessa took another teasing swipe at him, and he growled at her softly, raising an eyebrow as she froze.
"You just growled... literally growled," she breathed, her eyes wide and her breathing slightly faster.
Thomas shrugged, a little bemused at her reaction. "Yeah, I that occasionally," he replied, his eyebrow lowering slightly. "My mother told me once that I had to be part-wolf to make a noise like that."
"Well, I certainly agree with her – that didn't even sound natural!" Nessa said, crossing her arms and pouting.
"Aw, did I scare poor Nessie?" he teased, walking in a wide circle around her before darting forwards and growling softly into her ear.
"Stop it!" she squeak, spinning around, before freezing just as quickly, her hand only an inch away from his cheek. Laughing a little sheepishly, she dropped her hand back down to her side. "Talk about your unconscious reaction," she muttered, lowering her eyes briefly.
"Feisty," Thomas commented approvingly, grinning at her and tapping her nose lightly. "Now, feisty's good… angry is scary, but kinda good, too," he added, slipping an arm about her waist.
"How on Earth do you figure angry to be good?" Nessa asked, lifting an eyebrow in confusion.
"Believe me, knowing how twisted that boy is, I wouldn't suggest you ask," a new voice chimed in, its light, lilting sound filling the area they were standing in.
Nessa froze – she didn't recognise that voice at all, which could only mean… Slowly, she turned around in a circle, eyes sweeping the clearing, and stopped as she saw the figure a short distance away. Her mouth going dry, Nessa stared at the female, taking in her appearance swiftly – the girl's shoulder-length, straight brown hair, her hazel eyes, more like green flecked with brown than the other way around, and the way she held herself so confidently. Swallowing hard, Nessa took a small step forward, and attempted a smile.
"I definitely have to agree with you on that," she replied cautiously and softly, uncertain where to begin. Her brow wrinkling, she shot a slightly helpless look at Thomas.
Taking his cue, he stepped forward, and rested his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "Nessa, meet Lessien. Lessien, Nessa," he said softly, eyes flicking swiftly between the two.
Nessa bit her lip lightly and looked across the clearing again, at the girl who was, had been, and in some ways, still was her sister.
"So… we finally get to meet," Lessien murmured, her hazel eyes firmly fixed on Nessa. She hesitated, took a step forward, and then hesitated again. It wouldn't be right to hug this girl, this person would was apparently her older sister. She was who she was, and she wasn't a tactile person most times.
At Thomas' whispered suggestion and gentle push, Nessa stumbled forwards a couple of steps, and held out her arms to Lessien, not wanting to push her. Lessien blinked and frowned lightly, before taking a final step and bringing herself within arms' reach of Nessa, who folded her arms gently about the girl who was younger than her, but nearly the same height.
"I'm sorry," she murmured in Lessien's ear, tears filling her eyes. "I tried, I tried so hard…"
Feeling the dampness on her shoulder, Lessien put her arms about Nessa, patting her back awkwardly.
"I know, Thom's told me," she replied a little stiffly, not knowing how to react. Raising her gaze slightly, she stiffened even more as she caught sight of the red kite circling overhead, screeching a long note. Hurriedly, she pulled away from Nessa and moved towards the trees again.
"I've got to go," she said urgently, eyes flicking about rapidly as though looking for an exit, "something's…"
"Wrong, were you going to say, Lessien?"
Eyes wide, Lessien froze at the familiar voice of the man who was griping her shoulder tightly. "Thelonious," she muttered through gritted teeth, hating him even more.
Thelonious smiled, his eyes not reflecting his smooth grin. "Forgive me, my dear, but I don't believe we've been formally introduced," he said graciously to Nessa.
"We don't need introductions," Nessa cut in sharply, her face slowly draining of colour as more figures moved out of the trees. Swallowing nervously, she shifted a little closer to Thomas for comfort, and then lifted her chin, trying to meet Thelonious' cold gaze. "I've seen you before – you're the one who made Lessien a full Death Eater..."