Author's Note: I rewrote this chapter. I rewrote this chapter a lot. Like full on scrapped and rewritten several times. Ten times in the case of the first section. So yeah, that's why this is so horribly, horribly late. Sorry. Hopefully some of you all are still around to read it. The good news is that Chapter 13's written and in a pretty good state. I shouldn't need to do a lot of clean up on it. The bad news is that the next Chapter is 12, not 13. So. Yeah. Fun times. Chapter 12's at least pretty well fleshed out in my head, though, so I just need to sit down and write it. Trying to get all of year two at least drafted before the end of the month, which isn't too much of a stretch given that Chapter 13 makes up a pretty sizable chunk of the year.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Pity the Rain Witch
"Is that the last of them?"
"Yes, sir," Juvia replied as she added the last of this term's new textbooks to the small pile she had accumulated.
Yes, sir. No, sir. Since Professor Jose had fetched her from Inis Stoirm, her vocabulary had been reduced to nothing more than a few words. By the time she met up with Gajeel on the train, she doubted she'd remember how to string together a full sentence.
"Good. Let's send these over to the inn, shall we?" Professor Jose waved his wand over the pile, and the books disappeared. "Out you go, then," he said as he opened the bookstore door for her. Juvia stepped out into the bustling street, the gently pattering rain welcoming her back outside. She opened her parasol and started her way down the street towards the Leaky Cauldron, only to be stopped by Professor Jose calling out to her. "This way, Miss Lockser." She turned to look back to him where he waited at the start of another street intersecting Diagon Alley. "I have an errand to run, and I think it'll be good for your education to accompany me on it. Come."
Juvia's rain answered for her, the gentle patter turning into a steady pulse that pounded the pavement, cold and hard, sending many of the Diagon Alley denizens huddling under umbrellas and awnings or the safety of store doorways. She always rather envied that about her rain. It never hesitated to speak its mind. Juvia, on the other hand, couldn't ever seem to find her tongue when she needed it most. A dozen excuses ran through her mind, but in the end, she only turned and followed him down the winding, narrow street.
The new street was far different from the thriving Diagon Alley, forever busy and full of the sounds of life. This one seemed to be completely devoid of people and the only sounds she could hear were the echo of their footsteps, the bustle of Diagon Alley reduced to nothing but a distant din. Even the rain seemed different. The August rain that clung damp and warm to Diagon Alley and its denizens now chilled and formed swirling mist that filled the street and left Juvia guessing whether the shapes she saw were people or wispy half-formed ghosts. She hurried after Professor Jose, not really eager to determine which they were.
Dingy and daunting shops framed either side of the alley, stocked with strange and curious wares in their windows, so unlike the storefronts in Diagon Alley, bright and inviting. Juvia paused before one store window, peering in past the darkened window to the collection of skulls on the other side, trying to discern just what they were skulls of. As she leaned in, something on the other side twitched. Something just behind one of the skulls. A scream tore past her lips as she stumbled back onto the ground when a massive black spider stalked over the skull.
"Miss Lockser!" Professor Jose snapped, the first sign of irritation he had shown towards her since arriving at Inis Stoirm. There was something almost comforting in that.
"Sorry, sir," she said as she scrambled to her feet and darted after him, fighting the urge to peer into any more store windows.
She followed Professor Jose close and silent as they wound their way further down the street. He paused at last in front of a rather dilapidated building. There was no name that she could see. A faded black dragon painted onto a weathered wooden sign acted as the only distinguishing feature. The door groaned as Professor Jose opened it. The pointed professor paused and waited expectantly for her. After a deep breath, she entered the building which appeared to be a tavern like the Leaky Cauldron. However, unlike the Leaky Cauldron which was always in a state of pleasant chaos, this tavern was disturbingly silent, save for the sound of her rain that leaked through the ceiling above and plunked down into a number of buckets positioned about the room. The air hung heavy in the room, a layer of smoke settling over the building as she entered. Hunched figures, seeming to be trying hard not to be noticed, sat at gnarled tables, most keeping their focus on their drinks in front of them. The little light that followed them in from the misty street abandoned them with the shut of the door behind Professor Jose, leaving nothing but the pale glow of a fireplace in the corner and the flickering light of a few scattered lanterns around the room to light their way.
Professor Jose swept past her and headed without hesitation towards a table in the corner of the tavern. Juvia followed close behind as quickly as sight would allow her, hugging her pink parasol close to her chest, painfully aware that it was drawing a fair bit more attention than she possibly wanted. Professor Jose approached his intended table, and its sole occupant, a well-dressed man sipping a glass of dark red wine. He seemed an odd addition to the tavern, rather like her pink umbrella. He was far too refined and well-groomed for his rotted and crumbling surroundings. Not that he would have suited the chaotic Leaky Cauldron either. He rather reminded her of the Ministry of Magic official Mary Wickham, everything from his neatly plaited long blue hair to his thin rimmed glasses chosen to display an air of authority over the people around him.
His smile, though...
Smiles spoke volumes to Juvia. Perhaps it was because so few had smiled at her, she learned to study the ones that were directed her way.
The abbess' smile always spoke of her weariness and uncertainty.
Gray's declared him honest, open and kind, as bright and beautiful as the sun that he had given her.
Gajeel smiled brash and wild, as though he spat on the expectation of what a smile should be.
Jose's smile betrayed him as every bit as insincere as it was.
This man, though. He smiled as though the world had whispered to him all its secrets, and he sat there smug in his hoarded knowledge. It was a smile that saw her not as a person but a pawn that he had already decided how and when to sacrifice. "Professor. Good to see you again," the man said. "Please, join me."
"Thank you, Mister Yura," Professor Jose said with a slight nod of his head. He motioned for Juvia to take a seat next to him. She quickly sat down, hunching low to try to shield herself from eyes she couldn't see.
"And this must be Miss Juvia Lockser. A pleasure to meet you, my dear," he said. Juvia, as was beginning to be her custom, couldn't speak. Not that anything she would have said would have been heard over the thunder that rumbled loud and low overhead.
"She's not very talkative, I'm afraid. Now, then, did you manage to procure the items I requested?"
"Of course, Professor."
Her expansion of education, as Jose had called it, largely consisted of Jose occasionally showing her some object that exchanged between the men and explaining what it did, but it always seemed an afterthought. Professor Jose hardly seemed to remember she was there half the time.
Mister Yura, however, seemed to take a keener interest in her than Jose. His eyes flicked back to her periodically. She thought at first, or perhaps just hoped, it was merely her umbrella, far too pink and frilly for the tavern, but she soon realized his interest was not with the awkward accessory clutched tightly to her chest. Her hand drifted away from the umbrella to shield the amulet from view. He only smiled while another half dozen leaks appeared around their table, the tavern creaking beneath the weight of her storm.
An hour later, Professor Jose pushed back from the table and stood, Juvia scrambling quickly to her own feet in the hope that she'd soon be far from the smiling man.
"Thank you, Mister Yura. I'll be in touch."
"Of course. Good to meet you, Miss Lockser." She flinched back as the eyes once more turned to her. "I look forward to seeing you again."
She didn't respond. She merely hurried after Professor Jose as he headed for the door. She heaved a sigh of relief as she felt the first drop of rain splash down onto her face. Professor Jose started back down the narrow street, down past the shops they'd passed before. They didn't get far before a figure appeared in the swirling mist, taller than even Professor Jose. Panic didn't get a chance to set in before the figure was given a familiar voice, her body immediately relaxing at the sound. "Professor Jose, Miss Lockser," Professor Precht greeted them as the mist parted enough to bring the professor into view.
A glance to Professor Jose revealed that he neither expected nor wanted to encounter the other professor, his smile gone tense and forced. "Professor Precht. Good to see you."
The Potions professor's one eye turned to look down on her. "I'm a little surprised to see you here, Miss Lockser. Was it necessary to bring her, Jose?"
"I had an errand to run, and as she's in my care, I thought it better to bring her with me. Besides, it seemed a good opportunity to educate her on topics she'll not learn at Hogwarts. You've always been a strong proponent of education beyond the school," the pointed professor said.
"As so I am. Very well. In that vein, I'll take over her care for the present, Jose," Professor Precht replied, Professor Jose tensing next to her at the suggestion. "I've some stops to make of my own, and she'll undoubtedly find it of interest."
"With all due respect, Professor, the Headmaster entrusted her care to me."
"Makarov will not mind. Come along, Miss Lockser. I'll return her to The Leaky Cauldron shortly."
Professor Jose seemed ready to argue further, but after a pause, he seemed to think better of saying anything, leaving the pair with just a nod before disappearing down into the misty street.
"If you'll follow me, Miss Lockser," Professor Precht said as he headed down the street. Juvia followed quietly behind, no happier to be on the odd twisting street than before but feeling infinitely safer in the older professor's shadow. For a few minutes, neither spoke, but eventually, when Professor Jose's retreating footsteps no longer echoed down the street, the professor paused. "Tell me, Miss Lockser, where did Professor Jose take you?"
"Juvia does not know what it is called. It was a tavern of some sort. It had a black dragon on a signpost."
"Hrm. The Black Wyvern. Who did he meet there?"
"They did not introduce him. Professor Jose only called him Mister Yura."
"Invel Yura. I'm familiar with him. He's the assistant head of the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry."
"Juvia did not like him."
Had she not known him over the past year, she might have confused the sound that came from Professor Precht then as a chuckle. But Professor Precht did not chuckle. She'd never even seen him smile. Sighs, frowns and scowls were the extent of his expressions. She peered up at him, but he looked as reserved as usual. "At the very least, you seem to have better sense than most your age, even in spite of spending so much time with the boy," he muttered. "Did he talk to you? Invel Yura?"
"Only to say hello and goodbye."
"And did they talk about you?"
"No, sir. Professor Jose was there to pick up some items Mister Yura had for him."
Professor Precht studied her a moment, she supposed to determine whether or not she was telling the truth, though why he'd think that she'd lie for Professor Jose was beyond her. He seemed satisfied with what he saw and continued on.
"Sir?" she asked as she trotted up beside him. "What is this place?"
"It's called Knockturn Alley. The shops here specialize in goods not readily sold in more respectable places like Diagon Alley."
"Should Juvia not be here?" she asked softly, a knot of worry tightening in the pit of her stomach.
"You are here with a professor of Hogwarts. You are fine, but I would not suggest coming here on your own. There's a great deal of trouble an untrained witch can get into here."
"But she's not in any trouble now?"
"I dare say Makarov will not be pleased with Jose for taking you here, but it'll be Jose he'll be cross with, not you. And I do agree with Jose on this point. There are far more forms of magic than you'll learn in Hogwarts or see on Diagon Alley, and best to learn now that pretending they don't exist doesn't make it so," he said as they paused in front of what looked to be an apothecary shop, a multicolored display of bottles in various shapes and sizes arranged in the storefront. "And now, little Slytherin, we've arrived at your first lesson, poisons."
Juvia wasted no time in getting onto the train when she and Professor Jose arrived at Platform 9 3/4, only just remembering to thank Professor Jose as she stepped up into the train, not that he was anywhere to be found when she turned around. Grateful for that small mercy, she darted into the train, not bothering to look around for Gajeel. He had written to her a couple of weeks earlier to tell her that he'd meet her on the train to distance himself from his oft-cursed aunt as soon as possible. She hurried towards the last carriage and had hardly entered the carriage when she was greeted by a familiar string of curses further down the hall.
A smile, the first in months as far as she could remember, lit her face as she quickened her pace. She paused before the source of the cursing and peered inside where Gajeel was trying to grab at something from one of the overhead shelves.
"Gajeel?" she called out as she pulled open the door. "What are you doing?"
"Getting the bastard down. Mind yer face," the boy replied as he started pulling something back from the shelf.
An eyebrow raised, Juvia peered quizzically at her fellow Slytherin. "Juvia's face?"
"Just watch yer face," Gajeel growled as he drew a hissing and spitting black mass of fur from the shelf. She hadn't seen many cats in her years on Inis Storim. Only the old tabby mouser that lived on the abbey grounds, but the creature that Gajeel pulled from the shelf wasn't quite like the tabby, far larger with rounded ears and a scar over his left eye. Holding the creature at arm's length, Gajeel set it onto the seat across from him. "Careful around that thing."
"What is it?" Juvia asked as she took a seat next to the creature. It whipped its tail back and forth, a low rumbling growl emerging from the mass of fur, rather like the roll of her thunder whenever she was irritated.
"It's a Kneazle. Kinda like a cat but smarter and a bigger pain in the ass. My aunt breeds them and sent this one with me," he growled with a jerk of his head towards the black creature as he slunk back in his seat.
She scooted closer to the creature, ignoring the muttered warning from Gajeel, and cautiously reached out to scratch behind the Kneazle's ears. The old abbey mouser never liked her much, all teeth and claws whenever she tried to pet it, but the black Kneazle only tilted his head, leaning into her scratching fingers. The low rumbling growl turned into a steady purr as she started to scratch beneath his chin.
"That figures," Gajeel muttered from across her.
"Well, did you try petting him?"
"Are ya kidding'? I shoved his ass in the carrier and left him there until he broke out ten minutes ago."
"Well, maybe that's why he's angry. What's his name?" she asked as the Kneazle stood and patted over to her lap, climbing on and curling up. The boy across from her flushed and mumbled something incomprehensible. "What was that?"
"Panther Lily," he snapped, "alright?"
She paused a second, blinking, and then grinned at her friend.
"Shaddup, Raindrop," he growled.
"Juvia didn't say anything," she replied sweetly, the smile never faltering.
"Then don't think it."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
"Good."
She let silence settle in, disrupted only by Panther Lily's rumbling purr, before following up with, "so, why Panther Lily?"
"Goddammit, Raindrop!"
"Oh, come on! Juvia's curious! Why Panther Lily?"
"Because my aunt's insane! What else do you need to know?"
"Are you going to call him Panther or Lily?"
"Was going to call him Panther, but then the bastard bit me, so fuck him. Lily, it is," the boy grumbled, leaning back and crossing his arms after his chest.
The train whistled to announce their departure, Juvia feeling all the stress of the previous few months ebb away with the sound even as her rain pattered on. The train rolled forward a few minutes later and soon they were leaving London and its discord far behind. Heaving a relieved sigh, she leaned back, Panther Lily looking up at her and meowing loudly to protest the stopping of scratches. "Sorry," she apologized as she resumed her petting. "Why did you get a Kneazle anyways?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"You just don't seem a pet sort of person."
"Yeah, well, Dragneel got one so I figured I should get one too." Juvia glared at the boy. "What?"
"Juvia had to practically beg to get three letters from you, but you kept in touch with Dragneel?"
"Not by choice! The idiot brought the wretched thing over to my house and flung it in my face. He had already managed to permanently dye the damn thing blue. Idiot."
"Dragneel lives by you?"
Gajeel nodded. "Just down the street. At least when I'm living at the Blacksteel manor. A few of the old families have homes in the area."
"Does Gray live by you?"
"Fullbuster? Nah. He lives with his pa up north somewhere. Highlands, I think."
"Well, other than Dragneel and his Kneazle, how was your summer?"
Gajeel's red eyes narrowed on her. "I wrote ya," he snapped.
"Three letters," she reminded him, holding up three fingers for emphasis. "And considering Dragneel and Panther Lily never popped up in any of those letters, Juvia's going to guess you left out a fair bit."
"Like you mentioned your storms coming back," he scoffed, jerking a thumb at the window and its defense against the assaulting rain.
Juvia looked down at the black mass of fun on her lap, avoiding the glare from its owner. "Juvia didn't want you to worry."
"Yeah, well, not like you can hide anything," he muttered, the rain picking up to agree with him. Guilt pricked at her, though not because of her rain. She hadn't told him about Tristan. She had already resolved not to. She didn't want him to worry. "So, what happened?"
"Nothing."
"I can see that. What happened?" he asked again, his tone sharper than before.
"Nothing. Really, Gajeel," she insisted, looking up at him. "Inis Storim is just Inis Stoirm. Juvia may have changed while she was away, but it hasn't. It won't. She'll just always be nothing but a rain witch there." Juvia smiled at him. "Juvia's just really glad to be back with you, Gajeel."
The red-eyed boy just grunted in response, though he seemed largely placated. He turned his focus out the window while Juvia returned her attention to Panther Lily, the compartment silent save the steady rumble of the train and purring of the Kneazle. About five minutes later, though, Gajeel cleared his throat. She turned her focus back to him, but he was still looking out the window. "My uncle's gonna be on assignment for another year, at least, but when he gets back, you should come stay with us for a bit during the break."
A grin found its way onto her face. "You'd give up your peace and quiet fro the break."
"Yeah, well, between ya and the old man, at least I know I can take ya in a fight. 'Sides, with you there, the old man may spend his time irritating yer ass rather than mine," he muttered as he leaned back in his seat.
Juvia giggled, happy again for the first time in months. "Juvia missed you, Gajeel."
"Yeah, yeah," came the grumbled response followed by a stretch of a few silent minutes before he added, "Missed you too, Raindrop."
Kneazle cradled rather precariously in one arm, Juvia fished her wand from her robes once she stepped off of the train. Fetching the all-important memory, she pointed the wand skyward. "Meteolojinx Recanto." Relief washed over her as the clouds obediently parted to reveal the bright full moon swimming in its ocean of twinkling stars. She had been so worried that after three months the spell wouldn't work, but there it was again. The moon, in all its brilliant glory. And tomorrow, she'd see the sun again. Feel its warmth. Just a few hours away.
"Good job, Raindrop," Gajeel said as he set a heavy hand on her head and ruffled her hair, Juvia swatting fruitlessly at his hand. The boy had already been among the tallest first years last year, and he had somehow managed to gain another few inches over the summer months. Juvia, on the other hand, hadn't grown so much an inch, leaving Gajeel towering a good foot over her and making any attempt to swat him away from highly ineffective. "Come on. Carriages are this way, judging by the way people are movin'," he said as he started to push his way through, aided by the fact that he not only towered by Juvia, he also towered over most of the younger years. Juvia had to resort to hurrying close in his wake to avoid being jostled about, Panther Lily taking swipes and growling loudly at a few students that crowded too close. "Here we go," Gajeel said at last. The crowd of students started to disperse, allowing Juvia to finally get a look at the carriages waiting for them.
The carriages themselves were not particularly interesting - she much preferred the rowboats that carried them across the lake last year - but the creatures that pulled them were quite another matter entirely. She had never seen anything quite like them. They rather looked like a mix of a dragon and a horse, too reptilian to be a horse, to equine-like to be a dragon. The shape at a distance looked like a horse, but a pair of frail looking leathery wings jutted out from their backs, held together by membrane so thin that the moon seemed to shine right through them unobstructed. Everything from their spindly legs - far too thin to support the frame they carried, slight as it was - to their underfed forms conveyed a sense of fragility that couldn't possibly carry them to the castle beyond the lake, and yet there they were, set to do just that.
Entranced as she was, she didn't react when Gajeel plucked Panther lily out from her arms. "Here, give me that thing. I'll put him away. Stop hissing, ya bastard, and get in the damn carrier. I swear, ya bite me again, I'm feedin' ya to the giant squid in the lake. Raindrop, ya coming?"
"What are they, Gajeel?" she asked, not moving towards the carriage yet.
"What's what?"
"The horses."
Gajeel stepped back out of the carriage, peered over at where the creatures waited, pawing at the earth beneath their burnished hooves, and then looked backed at her. "Ya can see them?"
Juvia tore her gaze away from the odd creatures and frowned at him. "You can't?"
"They're called thestrals," he replied after a brief pause. "Get in, Raindrop."
Juvia headed for the carriage but stopped to pause alongside one of the pair bound to their carriage, the creature turning towards her, its sunken eye peering down at her. Hesitantly, she reached out to stroke the arched neck. Much as she had limited exposure to cats, her experience with horses was limited to a single Connemara pony one of the neighboring families kept, but unlike the old mouser, the pony was happy to let her pet it, particularly after she had smuggled away a carrot or two from the abbey larder. The soft hid of the pony, however, did nothing to prepare her for the leathery feel of the thestral's skin or the way she felt each bone beneath her fingertips as she ran her hand down its neck. The creature shifted towards he and butted its head against her, drawing a giggle from the blunette. "Well, hello to you too," she said, stroking the creature's forehead.
"Raindrop, come on. The other carriages are startin' to move," Gajeel called as he leaned out from within the carriage.
"Coming!" She called back. After a final pat on the thestral's neck, she trotted over to the carriage and climbed in, relying far more than she'd care to admit on Gajeel to scramble inside, feeling far too small to manage the steps effectively on her own. She settled next to the now caged Panther Lily, hidden from view by the carrier with only the steady growl from within to betray his location.
"Who'd you see die?" he asked as she settled in.
She paused a moment and tilted her head to the side as she studied him while he stared back at her. "Is there a clarification coming?"
"Thestrals can only be seen by people who have seen someone die," he replied.
"That's an odd trait. How does that even work?"
"You regularly make it rain, but invisible horses are too much?"
"Point taken," she muttered. She paused, thinking for a moment. "Juvia doesn't know. She doesn't think she's seen anyone die. The only person she can remember dying at the abbey was old Sister Mary Margaret, and she only heard about it the following morning. Does that count?"
"Don't think so. I've heard of plenty of people dyin' and I still can't see 'em. My ma had a herd of 'em. I always figured the groom was playing a prank on her."
"Maybe she's forgotten."
"It seems like the sort of thing ya'd remember."
The carriage lurched forward, presenting any further response. She leaned out the window and looked out at the parade of lights making their way to Hogwarts, like a river of lights winding towards the castle. Across from her, Gajeel let out a low groan. She looked back at the boy who was looking a touch green. "Are you alright, Gajeel?"
The boy only answered with another groan as the carriage bounced about. Unfazed by the movement or the chilled air that whipped at her face, she returned her focus back to Hogwarts, gleaming through the dark like a beacon calling her home.
"Goddammit, how'd he get out again?"
Ignoring the sudden crashing coming about from inside, she kept her eyes ahead. Home.
"Oh, thank God, get me outta this thing!" Gajeel hardly waited for the carriage to roll to a complete stop before he unlatched the door and tumbled outside with all the elegance of a Leaky Cauldron patron after the innkepper announced last call.
Far more delicately, Juvia followed him out, determined not to start the school year faceplanting out of a carriage. She looked back into the carriage where Panther Lily peered back from one of the overhead bins. "Lily's still in there."
"Oh God, leave him. We'll get him on the way back end of term," Gajeel moaned from his current resting spot sprawled out on the ground.
"Gajeel."
"Yer a pain in the ass, ya know that?"
"Do you want Juvia to get him?"
"No. Ya try stickin' him in that carrier and he's gonna start flailin'. Small as ya are, he's gonna hit somethin' important. Just gimme a moment and I'll get 'im."
"Okay," she said as she moved towards the thestral from before. She stayed beside it, patting the creature's neck until she heard a familiar cacophony of voices, animated quarreling announcing the approach of a carriage rolling in to join the other carriages already arrived. Like the tide forever being called back to the sea, Juvia moved towards the newly arriving carriage.
"Oi, don't wander off too far," Gajeel called, still sprawled on the ground.
With a wordless wave back to him, she crept her way through the now empty line of carriages to reach the arriving addition. Keeping herself hidden behind one of the empty carriages, she smiled as the voices became ever clearer.
"Dammit, Natsu!" Her stomach did the now familiar flip at the sound of Gray's voice. "Let me out first. I'm closer to the door."
"Let me out of this thing," Dragneel wailed from inside the carriage. The door popped open and out tumbled the pair, a mass of limbs, black robes and black and pink hair. Well, black robe. Singular. Gray had apparently lost his at some point. Along with his shirt. "Get off of me, you flame-brained idiot!"
"I'm gonna be ill," Dragneel groaned.
"Not on me, you're not," Gray snapped, shoving the boy off of him.
"Both of you get off the ground this instant," ordered the red-haired Scarlet as she exited the carriage.
"Yes, ma'am!" the pair chimed in unison, scrambling to their feet. Or trying to, anyways. Gray managed to keep his balance easily enough, but Dragneel, still sporting the same shade of green as Gajeel, stumbled backwards into the carriage, right into Heartfilia as she descended from the carriage. Both pink-haired idiot and blond queen bee went falling back into the carriage with a thundering crash and shriek from Heartfilia.
Scarlet groaned while cradling her face in her hand. Gray just laughed, a sound that she hadn't realized she had missed so much until that moment. She leaned against the carriage, smiling absently, while she watched Gray. Watched the way the moon caught his eyes, bright and beautiful. Watched as he practically glowed with life.
She could say hello.
That was a normal thing people did, wasn't it?
Even for little orphan rain witches. Even she could say hello.
So why weren't her traitorous feet moving?
While she struggled to convince her paralyzed form to move, others joined the four Gryffindors. "I'm pretty sure they can hear the four of you from the Great Hall," one of the new arrivals, Loke Llewellyn, said as he approached.
"Yeah, well, the flame-brained idiot's never heard of being quiet," Gray replied with a scowl.
"Heard you just fine too, Gray," Llewellyn replied with a grin. "Very manly shriek by the way."
"Ah, shut up!" the raven-haired boy snapped.
"Why so irritable, Gray?" Alberona asked as she joined them. "I thought you'd be relieved. The rain's stopped," she said, gesturing up at the inky black sky. Juvia felt the heat rise in her face at the mention of the rain. "See? All clear. Your little girlfriend's just fine," she said as she slung an arm around his shoulder which he quickly tried to shuffle off with no success.
"Awwww, was ice princess worried?" Dragneel teased, still sprawled out on the carriage steps, half his body still in the carriage.
"Natsu, your elbow!" Heartfilia snapped from further in the carriage.
"Sorry, Luce!" he called back.
Cana giggled. "Been freaking out since we met up at Diagon Alley. So cute!"
"Cana, I swear, if you don't let go of me, I'm cursing you bald!" Gray growled, scowling dark and dangerous. Not that Juvia really noticed. Nothing really mattered right then. Nothing mattered but one beautiful thought, bright and warm like the sun she hadn't seen in months.
He was worried about her.
He cared about her.
She couldn't feel the chill of the night. She couldn't remember the loneliness of the past three months. She couldn't feel the eyes on her, hear the whispers following her. All she could feel was the warmth that spread over her, feel the way it found its way to her heart, so worn and scarred over the summer, and made it whole again.
He cared about her.
"Cute," the Llewellyn boy chuckled. "When's the wedding, Fullbuster?"
"Shut up, Loke, it's not like that!" Even in the dark, she could see the boy flush red. "I just feel sorry for her, that's all."
Like the wind blowing in from the sea, all the warmth fled from her. The smile fell from her face, and heart stilled in her chest. She ducked behind the carriage, flat against the vehicle to shield her from the further sight or sound, but still she heard his words ringing in her head, like the great bell of St. Brigid's, loud, thundering, incessant, no matter how well she hid away.
Sorry.
He felt sorry for her.
Pity.
That's all it was.
Pity.
He didn't care about her. He didn't want her around. He pitied her. One more person seeking her out to appease their conscience. She was nothing but a burden. To him. To the abbess. To Gajeel.
Stupid girl.
She clutched at her chest while her heart twisted and squeezed to wring out every last bit of joy it had so foolishly allowed to seep in.
Stupid, stupid girl.
The first cold drop that splashed onto her arm, she mistook as a tear, wiping angrily at her eyes with the black of her hand. A second followed, however, and then a third. She turned skyward just as the last glimpse of moon was swallowed by the stormy clouds. Her storm wasted no time in picking up from a gentle patter to a full on downpour. She was only dimly aware of scattered shrieks from the other side of the carriage and the retreating steps as the students left to find shelter.
She stayed a moment in the rain, a sort of comfort in the familiarity. Just a lonely little rain witch. How dare she think she was anything more. Anything else.
She pulled her wand from her robe and like an automaton, executed the spell as she had so many times before. "Meteolojinx Recanto." Nothing. No light climbing upwards. No rippling clouds. Nothing. As if she hadn't said anything at all. She closed her eyes, fetching the memory. Or trying to. But it was different now. All she could see was the pity in his eyes. All she could feel was the wrenching of her heart. Everything else was a twisted blur. "Meteolojinx Recanto." Still nothing. Panic settled in, her wand movements erratic and rushed. "Meteolojinx Recanto! Meteolojinx Recanto!" The sky wept, mingling its tears with hers.
She wasn't going to ever see the sun again. Three short months. That was all the time she would ever have. That was all the time she deserved.
Stupid little rain witch.
No.
She couldn't lose the sun now. She couldn't! It wasn't fair!
She closed her eyes and fetched her wand.
She tried to picture her emotions as Tristan taught her but they were a jumbled mess, an indistinguishable tangle of thoughts and feelings. It wasn't like the day on the beach where her anger had overpowered all other emotions. They massed and swelled, like the seas of Inis Stoirm, each demanding to be acknowledged. She couldn't separate any one from the others, so she gave them all form, a twisting, contorting ball of many colors, swarming and endlessly circling like one of the schools of fish outside her dorm window, no one color indistinguishable from the next. She couldn't see any one to remove it from the school.
So she took them all.
She held on, even as it burned. It scalded. It froze. It inflicted a dozen different pains that she could not give names to, but still she would not release them. Anything was better than the breaking of her heart.
Better prepared this time, she managed to keep her scream to little more than a strangled cry as she tore the ball away, the sound lost to the crack of thunder overhead. Trembling, she tapped the wand against the shell and strands of blue sought the safety of the spiral shell. Once they were safely stowed away, she leaned back against the carriage and took deep, steady breaths, eyes closed, listening for the echo of her heart. She couldn't feel the rain. Not anymore. She could hear it still. She could hear the patter where her heartbeat should have been.
Drip, drip, drop.
She opened her eyes and stared up at the clearing night sky, the moon peering through the clouds that parted before it. She stayed there, watching the stars, taking deep breaths and listening to the rain in her heart.
Drip, drip, drop.
Hollow little rain witch.
"Juvia!"
Gajeel.
She didn't answer. She just kept breathing.
"Juvia, where the hell -." Gajeel's shouting cut short as he rounded a corner and found her. She didn't turn towards him. She stayed with her eyes on the ever-clearing sky. On the stars that twinkled far above. "Juvia! Are you okay? What happened?"
"Juvia's fine," she replied, her voice hardly more than a whisper.
"What happened?" he repeated.
"Nothing. She's fine," she assured him. She finally tore her eyes from the sky and down to Gajeel, sporting a new set of fresh scratches from some battle with Panther Lily. She tried to smile at him. Tried to be reassuring. But it was though her face had forgotten how. "Let's go inside," she said as she pulled away from the carriage. "Juvia's cold."