The Difference Between What Sparkles and What is Gold

The Difference Between What Sparkles and What is Gold

By AADEN.

Chapter Two.

Night was falling in a graceful dance of blue and purple. Roger could not help but feel cold as he made his way down the steps of the Astronomy Tower, down into one of the main levels of the school so he might be able to redirect himself to Ravenclaw Tower. His strides were hasty, and he had no intention of slowing down. 'That's it, flee the scene,' he told himself ruefully, amused at his own antics.

He always kept himself positioned so closely to the edge that if someone pushed him, just a bit, he would fall. A feather in the wind, tied to a branch with a string. Holding on for dear life.

If he ran into anyone on the way, anyone he knew, Roger was not sure if he would be able to keep himself from smacking them, regardless of who they were. A professor, of course, he would put forth a great deal of effort to restrain himself, though he wasn't entirely certain how successful he'd be. 'Just please,' he pleaded with whatever deities existed, 'No girls.' It would also be great if the aforementioned deities could, please, just keep Michael or Court out of the way. Any snide comments would be greatly unappreciated and met with a smack or a friendly hex.

Roger Davies was not in a good mood.

His grandmother's tart words from his childhood echoed in his ears. 'You'll never be good enough for anyone,' she had said, time and time again. 'None of your friends will stay for more than short stretches of time. Only for a few minutes. Once they get to know you, they'll leave you in the dustbin and pray they'll never see you again.' Roger had shown no remorse the year the old woman had died.

Creasing his brows, Roger agitatedly wondered if this was the first in a wave of many. If he had not been enough for Cho, there was no guarantee that others wouldn't start to feel the exact same way. A wave of nausea swept over him, and for a moment, Roger's hold on himself faltered. His balance wavered, though only for a moment.

Increasingly eager to enter the sanctuary of Ravenclaw Tower, his strides lengthened. He'd never had to take chances with girls. Before he started on any one girl he was well aware that they would not be able to resist him. An assumption that he would be received and welcomed with open arms and open legs, had in the past offered Roger a great deal of solace. A possibility that he might be snubbed was enough to chill his skin and flood his mind with worry. Roger did not like taking risks. They made him nervous. The only reason that he got on well with girls was because he always knew the outcome: he would be accepted. That knowledge was what gave him the attitude he had towards his interests, the boldness simply a product from an assumption that he had already emerged victorious.

When he slipped into Ravenclaw Tower he passed everyone without a word and slammed the door to his joint bedroom.