Chapter 10 - [Pt.1]
Antares awoke to the sound of someone knocking on his door. Hoping they would get the message and go away, he ignored them, burying his head under his pillows as he tried to go back to sleep. He was out of luck it seemed, for the person knocking only redoubled their efforts at gaining his attention.
Somehow he knew that he wasn't going to be left alone. So instead of avoiding the inevitable, he sat up and rubbed the sleep from out of his eyes. Once he was awake enough he told the person at his door to enter.
Sophia emerged from the other side of the door. Dressed in her usual Hogwarts uniform of a white buttoned shirt, charcoal-grey knitted V-neck with matching skirt, silver and green tie and finished with a plain black robe emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest. The only makeup she wore was a light pink lipstick that contrasted perfectly with her dark locks, which she wore down and framed her face beautifully.
"Took you long enough. I must have been knocking for at least five minutes" exclaimed Sophia as she stepped in his room.
"I was sleeping" shrugged Antares.
"I gathered as much. Though I thought you would have been up and about by non. When I noticed you weren't in the room I thought I better come and check on you. Your usually up before the rest of us."
"Shit! Shit! Shit! What time is it?" cursed Antares as he threw back his blanket and jumped out of bed.
"Quarter past Eight" replied Sophia, hiding her grin behind her hand as Antares's manhood was brought into view, swinging this way and that as he raced around his room trying to throw on his school clothes in nothing but his skin.
"I must have been more exhausted last night then I thought. I haven't overslept in years. I guess I'll have to swing by the kitchens for something to eat, and I still have to get up to the Owlery to send this betrothal gift to Helena. I tell ya, ever since I found out about that marriage contract my life has been nothing like it used to be" explained Antares he buttoned up his shirt.
Once he was finished dressing, he grabbed his wand and book bag and made to exit his room. Sophia stopped him in his tracks by placing a hand on his arm. He turned to her with eyebrows raised.
"Before you go, I have some things that I have to get off my chest, about last night" she said quietly as she looked him in the eyes.
Something about that look told him that what she had to say was important. So despite the many things he had to do that morning, he placed his book bag back on the floor and took a seat on the edge of his bed.
"I know that things can't be the way they used to be Antares, you being betrothed to Greengrass and whatnot. But I don't want things to get awkward between us because of this. I love and respect you too much to get in the way of your marriage contract, and no matter how much I know it will hurt me to see you with another woman at you side, I truly wish the best for you and Helena's future. What I'm trying to say … Is that I want us to continue being best friends, like it was before you found out you were to be married. Obviously we can't partake in casual sex anymore, but aside from that I want absolutely nothing to change between us. Our feeling for each other won't change overnight, or at all even, but I refuse to spend my life longing for something that will never be mine. I hope you can understand where I'm coming from" said Sophia in a small voice, her eyes searching his for some type of clue as to what he was thinking.
"You right Soph," said Antares as he stood up, "Things will never be the same between us, not like it was before at any rate. But like you said that doesn't mean things have to change completely between us. I'm still me and your still you, none of that has changed. Just because we have feelings for each other that we are unable to act upon doesn't mean we can't still be friends. No doubt it will be difficult, seeing each other with someone else and not being able to do a thing about it, but we've been through some things together and I'm sure we are more than capable of handling this as well".
As he finished talking Antares enveloped Sophia in hug, his large arms wrapping around her much smaller frame with ease.
They stayed locked in each other's arms for several moments, both of them trying to convey their feelings without nothing but their bodies. Antares buried his face in her hair, smelling her tantalising scent of vanilla and rosewood for perhaps the last time.
He would miss her. Probably more than he would care to admit. Their relationship had been as perfect as it could have been, neither one of them expecting anything from the other. It had been easy being with her, for nothing was expected of him when he was in her presence. No heir duties, no school duties, nothing at all. He was just Antares and she was just Sophia, two good looking teenagers who were good friends and had used each for sexual pleasure, only to end up having feelings for each other that neither one of them could explain. But all of that was now gone. His fathers – and by extension his mother's – actions had seen to that.
'Perhaps in a different life thing could have been different' thought Antares. Perhaps he could have married Sophia, had a couple kids and lead a content and happy life. But he was realist, and living in a world of possibilities and what-ifs was something he would never dare indulge in.
"Thanks for being so understanding Antares. Somehow I know things won't be so bad" whispered Sophia into the crook of his neck.
"Please, It's you who I should be thanking, for being there for me in more ways than you could possibly imagine" replied Antares as he finally released her from his embrace.
When he stepped back he was very sad to see a lone tear roll down her perfectly sculptured cheek. Raising his hand to her face he gently wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. She smiled sadly at him, and he returned it with a small smile of his own.
Both of them knew that this was it. It was sad because the both of them understood that from this day forward, nothing would ever be the same again. It was for this very reason that Antares bent forward and captured her pink lips in one final kiss.
Their kiss wasn't the passionate filled, tongue-battle, that it usually was. Instead it was something much much more than that. It was a lover's kiss. Filled with every fibre of their beings as they shared their final kiss together. Eventually, with much regret on both sides, they pulled apart from one another.
They said no more on the subject after that. For what more could they say that hadn't already been said to each other in that kiss.
"I really should get going, before I'm late for class" said Antares as he once more picked up his things.
"What subject do we have first?" he asked as they left his room.
"Double History of Magic with Binns" replied Sophia, once more back to her regular self.
"Excellent," grinned Antares, "Binns won't mind too much if I show up to class a bit late. I don't know why but for some reason he's always been very lenient when it comes to me".
The two of them entered the now empty common room, the rest of their classmates already having gone down to breakfast.
The two of them parted ways on the way up to the Great Hall, Antares turning towards the Entrance Hall and Sophia to the Slytherin table for Breakfast.
The Hogwarts grounds were cold and the sky grey as Antares walked across the frozen fields and once more made his way towards the Owlery.
Once he was standing at the top of the building, he withdrew Helena's second courting gift – this time without a letter – and walked over to were Aquila was perched.
"How've you been boy?" asked Antares as he scratched Aquila behind his right ear.
Aquila's only response was a half-hearted glare and a tiny bob of his head forward, as if to say he had been okay.
"I've got another task for you, same as yesterday in fact" said Antares as he brought Helena's gift into view.
At this news Aquila seemed to perk up and Antares couldn't help but grin as his owl suddenly became animated, eagerly holding out his leg for the parcel.
Tying the small package to his leg and giving him the instructions, Antares gave Aquila one last scratch behind the ear before descending the stairs and making his way back to the castle.
When he did get back to the castle, he made a quick detour to the kitchen for some breakfast. The house-elves were more than happy to help and had no issue with a student being somewhere they weren't supposed to be.
Antares loved house-elves. Not in an affectionate way, no, he thought they were vile and disgusting little creatures. But he was unable to deny that they were dead useful when it came to menial tasks. He especially liked how submissive they were, always so ready and eager to please. They were also surprisingly powerful when it came to magic, able to perform great feats of magic when the time came for it. The things he could accomplish with an army of House Elves made him positively giddy at the thought.
After having a quick bite to eat, Antares finally made his way to his History of Magic Class. Binns had no problem with him being late. What followed was two-hours of Binn's droning on and on about the Goblin rebellions of 1752, the ghost professors voice managing to put half the class asleep before the class was halfway over.
"Well that was as mind-numbingly boring as I remember it being" said Antares to Sophia and Xavier as they exited the History of Magic classroom.
Xavier nodded in agreement, "Is it just me or does Binn actually get more boring the longer he talks. I swear with the amount of money we pay for tuition they could at least give us a competent teacher".
"Anyway," said Antares, "I'll catch up with you guys after lunch. I've got some business that I need to take care of".
Xavier and Sophia both gave him questioning looks, but he didn't allaborate further and instead set off in the direction of the Library.