The little girl scampered away, crawling backwards as fast as she could with wide, glowing, frightened eyes. The girl's back hit the wall, and there was nowhere else she could run to.
The man reached for the girl, picking her small body with one large hand.
"NO! No, NO!" The little girl's voice echoed strangely with her shouts as she desperately fought for the man to let her go. He didn't. His other hand slowly reached the girl, and touched her head.
The world was filled with white light.
Bleary eyes opened at once, unfocused gaze taking in the darkness. Awareness always took some time to come back to him in these moments. Nathan lay in his bed, one arm over his eyes, a single tear slowly traveling down the side of his face.
You'd think I'd start getting used to this after a while. The thought idled through his brain as he got up and prepared himself for the day.
The common room was the same as always, only two people in it. The curly hair- Granger- sitting on the sofa. And the boy who was always doing homework at his solitary table.
Without hesitation Nathan walked the short steps to the kid and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. The boy startled, turning his surprised eyes to Nathan, who said nothing. Only stared, trying to show his sympathy.
The boy's eyes glassed over and his shoulders slouched further beneath Nathan's hands. With a squeeze, Nathan walked away from the man, regretful that this was all he could offer him.
"What was that?"
It was now his turn to be startled, quickly turning to the person addressing him. He ended up by the sofa, where Granger sat, looking at him with confusion dancing in her eyes.
He took some time to gather himself before answering. "Just letting him know he isn't alone."
"Did something happen?" Her confusion turned to worry at his words, a frown on her lips.
"Oh, no. It's, um… about homework." He answered with a small voice, now aware how weird this would sound to anyone else. The merriment that filled the girls' eyes only confirmed it.
With a wave he walked away to the exit, head shaking. Course she would find it funny. She's not the one that spends hours in the shitty library.
With this depressing thought, Nathan started his day.
Herbology class had been way easier than he had been expecting. All he had to do was listen to the explanations of the teacher and follow her instructions.
The menial task of taking care of the plants brought a strange soothness to his being. It all reminded him of something. Or someone. He couldn't quite tell, the feeling muddled and completely unrecognizable, but impossible not to feel.
He felt a gentle smile growing throughout the class. One that he was carrying even now, walking out of the greenhouse to a free period. He would probably head to the library to get a headstart on homework. Not even that thought seemed to damper his spirits.
"So, are you going to tell me what that letter from your boyfriend said?" Startling a little, Nathan calmed himself down with a quick breath, after noting it was just two students talking behind him.
"Oh, it was just him asking me how I have been, and saying that he misses me. I tell you, he is the sweetest!" He could see the goofy expression on one of the girls' faces as he slowed down to let them pass. Having people walking behind him was really uncomfortable.
"You should send him something extra with your owl this time!" The suggestive expression on the girl's face morphed into teasing laughter, as her friend responded by shoving her forcefully to the side.
Nathan watched the two friends bicker into the distance, as he rounded the corner to enter the library. Owl? As in the bird? Why dont they use the mail? They can't be that much faster.
The elderly librarian greeting him broke him from his thoughts. On a whim, he decided to ask for any books on owls, wanting to quell his curiosity. Quickly, he found one of the few books the old lady had told him about.
'Owls were enlisted to aid communication between wizards…' yada, yada, yada. '...coupled with their natural camouflage, making them ideal..' makes sense. '...had a natural affinity to magic, and thus could find the recipient of a letter without an address.'
"Huh. That's…" He read a little more, trying to understand more. "Doesnt explain how it works. That's nice!" Closing the book, he put it back in its place.
Going to a nearby empty table, he pulled out a piece of parchment and quickly scribbled some notes. Owls are main mode of communication, can find anyone anywhere-
His hand came to a sudden stop. His widened eyes looked at the harsh line drawn on the paper by the abrupt action. Can find anyone.
Nathan shoved the page and the quill back into his bag, as he took off running out of the library, only stopping briefly to ask the librarian if there were any owls he could use on the school. She looked at him like a part of his brain had melted, but he didnt care. He simply started running again after she gave directions to the owlery.
Could this really work? His mind raced as fast as his body did through the hallways. The book said there are ways to stop the owls from finding people- He increased his speed, not wanting to finish the thought.
He reached the outside, a stone tower spiraling to the sky in the distance. Nathan's pace increased even more, desperation burning in his veins as he tore through the forest. Please, let this work. Please!
Ascending the steps of the Owlery, he finally stopped as he saw the multitude of birds above him. Falling to his knees in exhaustion, he slowly took another piece of parchment out of his bag.
His head was throbbing and numb at the same time, it felt like he was underwater. High pitched noise making his ears hurt from the pressure of the deep.
With shaking hands-He could tell if it was the exhaustion or the nerves- he wrote a simple message. But one filled with hope.
Hey, mom and dad!
I'm just writing to know how everything has been on your side! I really miss you.
Love, Nathan.
Slowly, he rose to his feet, and looked with grainy vision at the birds perched high above him, all looking him in the eye. "Can…" He had to swallow a lump in his throat before continuing. "Can one of you help me?"
A single owl swooped down, and gracefully landed on a ledge close to him. With hesitant steps, Nathan approached the owl, who sat, watching. He rolled the letter after seeing the little tube by the bird's leg, and offered it "Could you take this to my parents?"
The bird, still was sitting, still was sitting. There was no reaction from it, eyes still glued to his own.
In a painfully human gesture, the owl lowered its head with saddened eyes, and shook its head. It seemed to convey through his eyes what it couldn't with its voice "I'm sorry."
With a shuddering breath, Nathan turned around and walked out, unaware of the sympathetic eyes looking from high above.
Two steps out and his legs buckled, his back hitting the wall. All he could do was use the building as support, while he covered the bitter tears running down his face with the unsent letter.
The rest of the day passed in a slow crawl, while at the same time blurring with speed.
He had planned to use the free period before lunch to catch up on his studies. The whole time was spent sitting by the lake, listening to the otherworldly waves. The blanket of numbness became soothing, the melancholy welcomed company.
A long time passed before he gathered the will to get up. By that point lunch had ended. He promised himself to not skip out on meals anymore, or else he would lose the little energy he still had.
A small mercy was given during arithmancy class. The mind numbing task of completing equation after equation making him strangely relax a little. Math he could do. Math he could deal with.
Classes ended and he followed the throng of students to the great hall. Not wanting to collapse, he forced himself to eat something. He got up from the table after only a few bites of food. He still wasn't hungry.
It was an exhausted Nathan that opened the door to his dorm, wishing for nothing more than for the day to end.
"Hey Nathan! Is everything all right?" Sluggishly he turned his head to the person addressing him, who was sitting in his bed with a book.
In no mood to talk to anyone he answered curtly to the boy. "Yeah, I'm fine. No need to worry." He dropped his bag heavily to the ground, while quickly grabbing his things and going to the bathroom.
Nathan felt a small pang of regret while he was brushing his teeth. The boy was only trying to be nice, and he answered him so coldly. I'll apologize to him another time. He rinsed his mouth of the toothpaste and looked in the mirror. Tired eyes looked back. Not today though.
Sleep eluded him. He tossed and turned in his bed, but found no comfort. The pillow was too warm, and the covers too cold. He grabbed his book after realizing he wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon. The familiar words comforted him, more and more of the pages stitching themselves into his being.
He fell asleep with the book open on his chest.