While everyone assumed Juvia was asleep, she instead was lying in bed, contemplating her life.
"Juvia would cheer you on if Gray-sama did that." she remembered mumbling at dinner earlier.
"Erghhh!" she groaned. Why would I say something like that?! But when she thought of Gray, it all made sense. The way he offered her a seat on her first night here, and then when he said hi to her in the hallway as she walked to Charms class…
"Aghhhh!" she screamed into her pillow. How, how could she be falling in love?!
Or fallen.
She slapped herself in the face, You said no friends, no close connections with anyone. Do you not remember what happened at the last school? It was only the end of the first day, her second night here, and already she'd daydream about the near future she could have with Gray (or of course the far-away future after Hogwarts).
Maybe we could fight villains together, eat meals together, or work together in class…
"Juvia no. This ends now."
But Juvia couldn't help it, love wasn't a choice.
Yet she can choose how she expressed her feelings towards him.
"You are not to say anything to him, no stalking or talking…" but Juvia knew that was probably a lie. She sighed, how did this happen to her?
Right as she was thinking of actually trying to fall asleep, she heard a knock on their door. Before Juvia could decide if she wanted to answer it, Lucy already opened the door.
"Natsu!" she heard Lucy whisper, embracing him in a hug.
"Yo! We need to visit her tonight."
Lucy sighed, "Is this about Lockhart?"
"Yes!" he cried. "And it's not just that he gave me detention, it's also about his attitude and the way he's teaching us."
"He's only taught one day. How can you know what he's gonna be like? Teachers tend to seem different than they are on the first day. Typically, at first, it seems that they're going to be great teachers, and then it turns out by the end of the year you hate them." Lucy scratched her head, "Well...since you already hate him, maybe he'll turn out nice and we'll all learn a lot from him?"
Natsu looked down, "Lucy, I don't think that's the case. This guy…is just awful. I've got a feelin' that he's not gonna change at all…"
"Well I guess we can get her input on Lockhart. She's been at this school longer than us so I suppose we can go visit her. Is Gray coming too?" Gray?! Juvia's attention was instantly grabbed. And somehow, unfortunately, she felt a rage of jealousy coming along. Why does Lucy care about Gray? Is she my love rival? Juvia shook her head. No no, she's with Natsu. Of course, Juvia still couldn't help but feel suspicious of Lucy's true intentions.
"Yeah, he just wanted to wait outside of the girl's dormitory cause he says that he 'has respect for girls'." Natsu rolled his eyes. "You know I respect you, right Lucy? It's not my fault we're split into two different halls."
Lucy laughed, "Of course I do Natsu. Now let's get going so I can get at least some sleep tonight." With that Lucy glanced around the room one last time then quietly left.
Should I follow them? Natsu did said Gray was joining them, so she felt the need to see what they were up to.
Juvia had to decide now, before they got out of sight.
She hopped off her bed, grabbing a pair of shoes then throwing on her blue hat and jacket.
Yep, I'm doing this.
"C'mon guys! If we run faster, then we'll get there faster!" both Gray and Lucy rolled their eyes after Natsu's insightful comment. The three of them were running across the field, just outside the school but not far away enough to reach the Forbidden Forest.
Gray had done this with them since their first year, and he never once felt like they were being followed.
But tonight felt different.
"Guys? Are you sure it's just the three of us out here right now?" he asked.
Natsu laughed. "Of course it is. No one has ever followed us before."
"Yeah but, it feels different this time…" Gray mumbled.
"Don't you think that Natsu would smell the presence of someone else?" Lucy asked. He supposed that was true as he decided to brush off that uneasy feeling.
"Yeah I guess so."
Finally they all got to her hut, and instead of knocking, all three chanted 'Erza! Erza!' as if they were still in their first year. After hearing several locks unlocking, the door finally swung open.
"What do you scoundrels want?" she questioned.
"Erza! We need to talk right now about that idiot Gliderock!" Natsu cried. She narrowed her eyes.
"C'mon in." with that they all shuffled inside, starting to grab themselves some tea like they always do. "So explain to me why exactly you all seem hate Lockhart so much." Erza asked the three of them.
"Well I for starters," Lucy began, "don't exactly hate him. I think Natsu's overreacting a little bit because of the things that Lockhart said. Now I don't think he's necessarily a good person, but that doesn't mean he might become a better teacher over the year."
Gray watched Natsu instantly stand out of his chair, pyro is already fired up… "He said that being a Dragon Slayer is just a title! And even worse, that ass called himself a dragon slayer since he apparently slayed dragons recently, even though no dragon has been seen in seven years!" Gray knew how hard it was for him to endure Lockhart. Being raised by the dragon Igneel for a good portion of his life and all, then suddenly dealing with Igneel disappearing. Luckily, Natsu found refuge with Gildarts before Gray himself had to.
Gray remembered his first night with Gildarts and wouldn't ever forget it.
After Ur sacrificed herself to trap Deliora forever, Gray had nowhere to go. She explained to him of a school for wizards like himself, but at that time he was too young to attend. He couldn't just wander the streets for a year until his acceptance letter came. He tried to ask Lyon what his plans were but he hated Gray so much that he wouldn't even tell him, nor invite him to stay with Ultear as well. It wasn't until he saw Lyon again at Hogwarts that he found out how Lyon practically betrayed him by staying with Ultear, Ur's daughter and not telling Gray about her.
Of course, Ur had told her daughter to take care of Gray and Lyon if anything were to happen to her, but both Ultear and Lyon blamed Gray for Ur's 'death', so she completely ignored him, hoping he'd die wandering homeless on the streets.
But alas, Gray managed to bump into Gildarts just as Lucy had about a year later.
Gray kept his head down as he walked late at night to a convenient store, getting ready to steal some food from it.
"Gildarts!" he heard a boy who seemed about Gray's age complain, "Why can't I have a brother? It gets so lonely when you're gone. I mean, I have Happy and all, but I can't beat up on him or anything."
The older looking man, Gildarts Gray assumed, only rolled his eyes. "Natsu, we've been over this. I can't just give you a brother. I'm not looking to take care of anyone else, you're the equivalence to about ten children."
"C'mon! I don't even know what 'equeal-lence' means." he groaned.
"What I'm saying is that you are a handful Natsu. I don't need another kid in my life." Gray accidentally brushed Natsu's (he guessed) shoulder as he was passing by, and didn't bother to apologize.
Which Natsu didn't take lightly.
"Hey!" Natsu stopped dead in his tracks, causing Gildarts to have to stop too. Gray simply kept walking, hoping that he'd be able to not be delayed anymore. "I said hey!" then Gray was flipped around, finding Natsu angrily holding Gray's hoodie.
"What do ya want idiot?" he asked.
Natsu turned to Gildarts. "Did ya hear what he called me Gildy?"
"Don't ever call me that again please. And yeah I heard him, there's nothing I can do about it though." he shrugged. Gray laughed, he liked this guy's attitude.
Natsu growled a little bit, "Fine then, I'll deal with this guy myself. You think you can just bump into me, on purpose and not say sorry?"
"I didn't do it on purpose, okay?" Gray managed to get out of Natsu's grip. "Whatever, I'm out of here." he started to walk away until he got stopped again, this time by Gildarts.
"Yo kid, where are you even going? It's pretty late." he asked. For some reason, Gray decided to give him an answer.
"Nowhere old man," he never said that it'd be a truthful answer.
"So you've got nowhere to go then?" Gray stopped in his tracks. I guess I wasn't lying. Yes, he was on his way to a convenient store, but when he thought about it, he definitely didn't have anywhere to go. Every night he'd try to steal some food or find either an alleyway, or maybe a park tunnel to sleep in. By day, he traveled around, continuing to steal for food and water, trying to find shelter when the rain wouldn't stop pouring.
Gray could tell that Gildarts somehow knew that he was homeless, barely surviving every day.
Before he could react, Gildarts had come and put a hand on Gray's shoulder while Natsu kept his distance, mostly by getting distracted from a store's window filled with delicious looking cupcakes.
"Look kid, I had to take in Natsu about a year ago because his father disappeared. Possibly left him, no one knows. There's a certain look in a parent-less kid's eyes that I can recognize. The moment you bumped into Natsu then ended up being turned around by that hyper-active kid, I could see how lonely you were. No kid should be worrying if they see tomorrow, hoping they live through the next night to come." he took his hands off of Gray's shoulders and rubbed his eyes, "I can't believe I'm saying this, that brat could win after all. But would you be interested in staying at my place for a little while?"
Gray blinked in confusion. This guy...cares about me? Someone he just met?
"Um, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not like other kids. It's hard to explain but I just don't think you'd want to accept me if you found out…" That I'm a wizard. Gray knew it wasn't possible that he could stay with a muggle family, Ur specifically told him not to tell any muggle who he truly was. She said that one day, he'll meet hundreds of young people, just like Gray. "But for now, you'll just have to stay with me and Lyon until you can go to that school and learn how to use your powers." Ur once told him.
"Found out what?" Natsu came up to them. "Are you by chance a wizard?" Gildarts whacked him in the head.
"Natsu! You do not go around asking people that, or even mentioning those kind of words!" There's no way, could these two be wizards too? Gray remained speechless, having no idea what to say.
"Sorry Gildarts." Natsu mumbled. Gray decided to take this chance. After all, worse is these two could turn him in for thinking he was insane, which compared to the agony of being starving all the time, maybe being turned in wouldn't be so bad.
"Natsu was it?" Gray questioned. "I don't really care about your name actually. But yes, I am indeed a wizard." Despite Gray telling Natsu he didn't care about his name, his eyes still lit up with joy.
"You hear that Gildarts?! He's just like us!"
Gildart's eyes squinted as he leaned down to be level with Gray, "Who was your parents?" was all he asked. Gray didn't quite understand why he cared about that.
"Silver and Mika Fullbuster." he told him, looking down while remembering the pain of losing them.
"Oh." Gildarts replied. "I remember them. Two very bright wizards to say the least."
"Yeah, were bright wizards." Gray started to feel a storm of emotions rise in him. "Just like how Ur, who after my parents died, took care of me and then died herself! Sure she's still alive, living on in the ice that traps Deliora, but I can never see her again, so she might as well be dead!" Suddenly Gray dropped to his knees, getting that horrible feeling of not being able to formulate words because tears instead took over.
Gray expected Natsu to make fun of him for crying so much, but he just stood there and Gray got the impression that he knew what it was like losing people who were so close to oneself.
After Gray calmed down a little, Gildarts told him something important that he still remembered to this day.
"All the people you've lost are alive in you, Gray, and they show themselves most plainly when you need them. How else could you be so strong?" Gildarts wiped a tear away from Gray's face. "Now c'mon, you have a home now, and I promise I'll stick around for longer than you're going to want."
"Yay! I've got a sort of brother now! One that I can beat up on at least!" Natsu cheered, giving that 'signature' grin filled with pointy teeth.
Gray decided to tag along with them, abandoning his plans for stealing from a convenient store that night for food. Abandoning his short, old lifestyle of living in fear of tomorrow. He was guaranteed to see tomorrow, and all the days to come when he attends Hogwarts.
And so far Gray has kept that promise, seeing that he was still alive, sitting at a beaten down table in his teacher's hut.
"Natsu, I know how you must be suffering. But the problem is, it's only going to get worse." Erza pointed out. The three of them stared at her blankly.
"How could it get worse?" Gray asked her.
"He's not…going to be alone." Erza managed to say. Gray, Natsu and Lucy were still just as confused.
"A-alone?" Lucy piped in.
"You see-" there was a sudden pounding on the door, completely cutting off Erza.
"It's me," Jellal said strictly.
"C'mon in." Erza yelled. And to everyone's surprise, Jellal wasn't alone.
"I found her not too far outside your hut, listening in to the conversation." Jellal stated.
"Juvia?!" Gray, joined by Natsu and Lucy shouted. She kept her head low out of embarrassment.
"Care to explain yourself?" Erza asked, even though it wasn't really a question.
"Juvia-Juvia" she stuttered. "Juvia couldn't sleep, and heard Lucy sneaking out with Natsu and Gray-sa, Gray. Juvia couldn't help but follow, because…"
"Just spill already." Gray demanded, receiving Juvia's eyes locked onto him.
"Well because of you Gray-sama!" she squealed. What? Gray asked himself. Why would this new chick care about me?
"Wait what about me?" he asked.
"Why does love have to be so strong? To make Juvia come out here in the middle of the night, completely braking school rules." Juvia cried. Gray didn't really know how to make sense of any of this. Neither did anyone else in the hut, except for Erza and Jellal it seemed.
"Oh Juvia," she sighed. "I understand now. I know what it's like to fall in love…" she smiled to Jellal, who smiled back as well. She then turned to Gray, Natsu and Lucy. "How could you guys already corrupt her, and it was only her second night here." Gray still wasn't sure he fully understood the situation. Is she saying that Juvia loves me, but why? She doesn't even know me. And if she did, I doubt she'd love me if she knew what happened to those who cared too much for me…
Natsu smiled. "Yeah, I guess we did huh? Well then," he walked over to Juvia, "welcome to sneaking-out-in-the-middle-of-the-night-to-go-visit-Erza who-is-sometimes-accompanied-by-Jellal." Juvia's head tilted in confusion.
"You want...Juvia to come out here with you guys every time?" she questioned.
Lucy came up to her too. "Of course! Like Natsu and Erza said, you're one of us now."
Juvia gave a real smile, "Al-alrighty then. Juvia accepts your invitation." Gray still sat at the table, not bothering to get up. There's no way I can allow myself to get close enough to her to the point where I care a lot about her or vice versa, she'd only get hurt like the rest of them.
"Erza," Gray started. "Weren't you about to say something important about Lockhart? About how he's not alone or somethin?" Erza, along with everyone in the warmed hut, came back to sit at the table.
"That's right. He'll be having a student teacher assist him this year. She starts sometime this week. And to say the least, wouldn't you agree Jellal that she's even worse than Lockhart?"
Jellal's voice became a little lower. "Absolutely. I don't know how she'll be as a teacher yet, but her personality is just unbearable."
Natsu rolled his eyes. "Great, another teacher I'll hate."
"What's her name?" Juvia asked.
"Good question." Gray commented, and Juvia seemed to get a little too excited.
"Umbridge." Erza and Jellal said in unison.
Gray along with the rest of the wizards in the hut continued to talk a little bit longer and the three, now four of them got some information about Umbridge. From what Gray could tell, she believed that there was no threats to look out for and that the wizardry world was completely safe. Yeah, I doubt that. Something called 'dark guilds' exist.
Then, they discussed how Juvia felt about being a new student "Well, Juvia felt extremely nervous entering a new school, but this night helped her feel a lot more welcome. Not that she didn't before! But coming out here like this, just feels like something special that not a lot of people do.". After that, the three-now four of them left to go try and get some sleep.
"See you guys tomorrow!" Erza and Jellal said to them on their way out, then they all yelled the same thing back as they ran to the school. Gray could tell that Juvia hadn't let herself have this much fun in a long time, and he knew she loved the thrill. Gray always had too, the adrenaline rush of running to and from the school in the middle of the night, knowing that it was completely against school rules.
He tried to get that thought out of his head. He shouldn't be comparing himself to Juvia and finding their similarities.
Of course Gray couldn't help but wonder how a girl who originally seemed so lonely and depressing, suddenly became energetic and…slightly obnoxious to him.
Well, I guess it doesn't concern me how she changed so drastically.
A/N: Ugh writing Gray not caring for Juvia is really hard! But alas, he must be somewhat in character.
And Umbridge is joining the story ahhhhh D:
Anyways, this chapter was way longer than the past four have been! I hope you all enjoyed the extra content.
Oh and one of the things Gildarts told Gray was supposed to be similar to this quote from Lupin in The Prisoner of Azkaban:
"Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night."
I don't know if any of you caught that, but I tried.
Well, that's all I got for this chapter/Author's Note, so in the mean time...
Have a Fairy Tail-astic/Hogwarts-full Day! (lol I'm so incredibly cheesy)