Ch. 10: Turning point
The news that Potter and Weaselette were dating circled the castle like wildfire. It helped, of course, that probably one third of the school saw the incident in Hogsmeade, but already the day after the trip nobody was talking about anything else. The fact that none of the subjects of the gossip made appearance for the whole Sunday only fuelled the flames. By dinner time on Sunday, the first years were saying that Potter and Weasley killed each other in a duel and the school was going to be in trouble.
What was more surprising, at least according to Ciel, was that the wild gossip didn't die for the next couple of days. Lessons resumed, the dramatic trio was forced to come out from the Gryffindor common room and resume normal life. According to Elizabeth, who was on speaking terms with Weaselette, the girl was spitting abuse at her older brother during lunch and, according to Hermione, who was in the centre of the mess and all but hid in the library in the evenings, Potter and Weasley were simply snapping at each other for the smallest reason. Ciel couldn't understand how they could put so much drama into the situation.
On the other hand, he was grateful, because indeed, Ron Weasley seemed to have forgotten about him and Elizabeth, or at least he hasn't mentioned it to anybody. It wasn't that he was ashamed of being engaged to Elizabeth, not at all. She was a lovely girl and he was sure that they would eventually get along very well and, most importantly, it avoided him getting stuck in the drama alike the one unfolding in the school currently. Besides, he was glad that he didn't end up with anybody truly despicable, as he always reminded Nezumi, when he teased his brother that father hasn't chosen a bride for him yet.
However, Ciel knew that the students in Hogwarts wouldn't understand, with the possible exception of a couple more pure-bloods who were also on the way of being engaged via a family agreement. He didn't want their mocking or their pitying looks. Actually, he would be the happiest if they would all forget he existed and let him be in peace, with the exception of those he considered friends. Since that was impossible, he opted for not putting himself in the limelight as much as possible. Alike father, he preferred to act behind the scenes, so to say, making people do as he wished without even realising that he was pulling their strings.
Stifling a yawn, he looked around the library, remembering that the following day was Halloween and that somehow the students managed to convince the headmistress that the usual feast should be transformed into a buffet food and a dance floor. They also managed to trade the choir performance for a live band, much to Nezumi's relief, and an orchestra for some "cooler" music. Most of the seventh and sixth year girls, Elizabeth and Safu included, have been giggling about the dance for a week now. Himself, he didn't care much for the event but, knowing that Elizabeth was really looking forward to the dance, he resigned himself to the fact that he would have to suffer through it for her pleasure. He was, after all, a well behaved gentleman.
His eyes landed on Shion, who was looking ahead with an unseeing gaze, probably spacing out, which was far from unusual for him. With a smirk, Ciel waved his hand in front of Shion's eyes and watched the white-haired boy blink and focus on him.
'Fantasising about the dance tomorrow?' he asked with only the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice. Shion looked lost for a moment and then shook his head.
'I'm not going,' he said and it was Ciel's turn to be surprised. 'But don't tell Safu, please. I don't know what has gotten into her, but she is completely irrational about it and I cannot go like that.'
'Like what?' Ciel asked, knowing exactly what Shion meant but unwilling to make it easy on him even as the violet eyes looked at him, pleading: "don't make me say it". He glanced around the library again to realise that it was pretty much deserted. 'Like what?' he asked again, more insistent.
'Well, I will look stupid if I come to a party with the scarf and,' Shion trailed off and looked down. Ciel barely heard him when he continued. 'And I am so sick of people staring and whispering behind my back.' Merlin, please give me the patience I know I don't have, Ciel thought.
'Screw them, Shion,' he hissed, knowing that it would make those tormented, violet eyes look up at him again. For most of the time, when he was in the classrooms or in the Great Hall, Shion put on a brave face and everybody probably thought that he was all fine and happy. Ciel, however, wasn't fooled for a moment and he knew that neither were Nezumi and Elizabeth. He wasn't sure about Safu, but he supposed that she wasn't fooled either. Nevertheless, they pretended that nothing was out of order for Shion's sake and followed Shion's lead in ignoring any hurtful or sarcastic remarks they might hear.
'If they think of you less because your eyes are violet or because your hair is white, or even because you have that freaking scar, then they are worth less than the dirt under your feet,' he added, mindful to keep his voice down, in case. There might have been some students putting books away.
'But-' Shion started, looking at him like he really wanted to believe what Ciel was saying but somehow couldn't. Ciel didn't let him voice his doubts.
'There are no "buts". Don't you get it?' he asked, wishing that he could get those words by force through Shion's thick skull. 'I know it's hard. I can't even imagine how hard it is and I truly don't envy you, but really, screw people, Shion. What do they matter?' he asked, trying to put all his conviction into those words. It should be Nezumi here, he thought, he is much better than me with this. Although, he thought, Nezumi obviously failed so far and it wasn't for the lack of trying.
'They don't, but they stare and they judge,' Shion whispered in a pained tone. 'And if I look at them I can see their judgement in their faces and I don't want to know what they would say if they knew more than the see. As things are now, the guys in the dormitory don't even talk to me,' he added and it was new information to Ciel. He thought that things were alright within the Ravenclaw House, used to the unity that Slytherin could display in the face of trouble. He mentally cursed the thoughtless dimwits that were supposed to be Hogwarts most intelligent, if their House was anything to go by.
'You know you only need to tell Nezumi that and he'll beat whoever you want up and I'll help him. You know that, right?' he asked, wondering if Shion was aware of the hostile looks that Nezumi would shoot at people, when they as much as looked at Shion in a wrong way, while they were together.
'And you know that it doesn't solve the situation, don't you?' Shion asked back, sounding a little bit angry. Ciel knew, of course, especially since half of the problem probably was in Shion's stubborn head. If they could just convince him to ignore the people who didn't matter, it would be so much easier for him. Unfortunately, anything they tried didn't seem to work.
'Try Hermione,' Ciel said as the sudden idea came to his mind. He was pretty sure that the Gryffindor know-it-all could be trusted to behave herself in the face of Shion's revelations, so maybe telling her the truth was reasonable? In any case, he and Nezumi managed to establish that Potter and Weasley were trying to unravel the mystery so if they had Hermione's help to mislead them, it could be beneficiary.
'What?' Shion asked.
'Granger,' Ciel hissed. 'Tell her the truth and see how she'll react,' he added, wondering briefly if Shion was being difficult on purpose. 'She's hardly a representative sample of the school's population, but if we are not enough, if you don't trust Nezumi and me, or Lizzy and Safu, maybe Hermione will be able to convince you that you shouldn't give a damn about people,' he explained and guilt shone in Shion's eyes for a moment. I didn't mean for you to feel guilty, damn it, Ciel thought. With a corner of his eye, he saw Nezumi standing behind Shion, looking at the white, oblivious head sadly. He must have been putting the books away, Ciel realised.
'It's not that I don't trust you guys,' Shion muttered and looked at his hands. Ciel summoned all his willpower to not hit his head against the table, because he knew it wouldn't help. He also restrained himself from exhaling with exasperation, because he really understood that it wasn't an easy situation.
'Let's get back to the dormitories,' Nezumi said after a while of silence and Ciel didn't miss how Shion cringed at those words. His brother took the last couple of steps to join them and put a hand on Shion's shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. 'Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality of those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change,' he added.
'Hemingway,' Ciel noted, remembering the quote from the discussion with Shion's father they had this summer. 'Far from your usual classics,' he commented, keeping his tone light, as he closed his notebook and put it back in the bag.
''Tis much he dares; and, to that dauntless temper of his mind, he hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour to act in safety,' Nezumi replied with a rueful smile and a flicker of smile appeared on Shion's face for the briefest moment at the familiar words from Macbeth.
They didn't speak on the way to the Ravenclaw dormitory and only whispered good nights before Nezumi and Ciel made their way to the dungeons, still silent. Ciel knew what Nezumi was thinking about, or rather who. He knew that his brother was trying to figure out ways to convince Shion that it was okay to look like this, words to tell him that it really didn't matter if his eyes were brown or violet or even pink and, "Merlin, imagine that your eyes ended up pink! You are so lucky they turned out this sexy violet." Back in September, it seemed like those words, together with Nezumi's birthday wishes to Shion, would do the trick but then the Ravenclaw overheard some of his House mates saying how he looked like a freak and everything went back to hell. Ciel knew that Nezumi was thinking about that, because so was he, wondering if there was anything that could be done.
The next day, sitting at the breakfast table, reading the newspaper that Nezumi didn't even make a move to take, Ciel wondered if they were as strong together as he gave them credit for. He looked up when he noticed that somebody sat in front of them at the table and his jaw quite literally dropped. With the corner of his eye, he saw Nezumi's expression and he thought that it was quite well worth all the worrying of the previous night.
'I've been thinking, you know,' Shion said in a light, casual tone, taking a toast and buttering it as though there was nothing out of order, even though he was sitting there, without his scarf for the first time this school year. 'I couldn't sleep the whole night actually and I finally decided that you guys were right. Screw people,' he finished and smiled up at them. Ciel smiled back and, after a couple more seconds, so did Nezumi.