- Rating:
- R
- House:
- Schnoogle
- Genres:
- Romance Mystery
- Era:
- Children of Characters in the HP novels
- Spoilers:
- Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix Half-Blood Prince
- Stats:
-
Published: 05/16/2002Updated: 05/23/2003Words: 42,814Chapters: 12Hits: 5,532
Magique l'Element
finite incantatem
- Story Summary:
- The offspring of Fred and George are at Hogwarts, creating some mischief of their own. But things are not as they seem, and sometimes, mischief can lead to danger.
Chapter 06
- Posted:
- 07/22/2002
- Hits:
- 406
- Author's Note:
- This one took a while to send. I have classes, you see, and I can't go online as often.
Chapter 6-Furtive Glances
Days flew by. Skye was still having sleepless nights-and he wasn't the only one. Deep within the castle dungeons, a certain blond Prefect was tossing and turning.
I can do this. I can do this.
Nagging doubts filled his head. Every degrading thing his father had ever said to him kept on replaying, echoing in his mind like a constant reminder. Every comparison between him and his brother was being repeated over and over again.
"You can never be what he is..."
Devon was his father's favorite. Devon was everybody's favorite. Devon got the better half of everything. Even with women, Devon had the upper hand. Not that Pontiard didn't get his fair share of voluptuous girls, but...
No. He could do this. He was going to do it.
I'm not doing this to prove anything to you, Father. I'm doing this for the one girl that your filthy money can never buy.
"Skye's gone mad, hasn't he?" asked Raven, otherwise known as Adrienne Potter, over breakfast.
She looked up from her porridge.
"What's that, Raven?"
"Skye. He's gone mad, hasn't he?" her cousin repeated.
"What makes you say that?" said Rain.
"Look at it this way, Rain," piped in Henry, "He's been rather...evasive. He's always in the library, he's awfully quiet, and no pranks have been pulled in Gryffindor Tower for a month. Why is that?"
Rain eyed the two Fourth Years in front of her. Henry was perhaps the only Weasley without red hair. He'd inherited his brown hair from his mother. Raven, being a Potter, had black locks. Not many people actually considered her as part of the Weasley family because of her hair colour.
"And...why are you asking me all this?"
"Because, as Henry said, Skye's been evasive. I just asked him to play Exploding Snap with me last night and he muttered some lame excuse about doing research," Raven said.
"Actually, I reckon Skye's beginning to have some sense knocked into him," Rain replied to the queries, hoping to put a stop to their inquisitiveness.
"Well, if you say so." Henry said.
Skye's behavior is getting a little...strange.
****
Walking into the Great Hall, Skye searched for Rain. He spotted the familiar ponytail and approached, taking the empty seat beside her.
"Morning, all," he said.
"Hi," chorused his three cousins.
He looked at Rain, meeting her worried glance at him. He shook his head by way of reply No, he hadn't gotten much sleep last night.
"Do you two have secret codes or something?" asked Raven.
"Excuse me?" said Rain. She was always the polite one.
"She's asking if you two have some kind of secret code. Just now you looked at each other significantly," supplied Henry.
Skye looked at Rain again.
"Er-no, we don't have any sort of secret code," said Skye. "I guess we just spend too much time together-like the two of you."
It was Raven and Henry's turn to look at each other.
"Oh, heck, look at the time. Come on, Henry, we're going to be late for Herbology," Raven suddenly said, looking at her watch.
"Alright. We'll be seeing you!" said Henry before they both got up and walked off.
Whew. I thought I was going to have to tell Rain with those two in front of me as well.
"Rain? I need to tell you something."
"Shoot."
"I-er-you see, the girl? She....um...she's..." Skye trailed of to take a deep breath.
"Celestia Faber," Rain finished for him, speaking like she was answering a question in class.
Skye felt his jaw drop.
"How did you know?"
"Honestly, the way you gape at her, I'm surprised everybody in Hogwarts still doesn't know." she said matter-of-factly.
"I...gape at her?" Skye said faintly.
"Openly. Why don't you just tell her, Skye? I'm sure it'll be-"
"Oh. Right. Tell her. I'm getting this advice from the girl who followed my best friend around for four years." he interrupted.
Rain glared at him.
"In case you've bothered to notice, I'm not exactly doing that anymore. I have other things to do, Skye, and other boys to like that actually like me back and have the stones to tell me. I don't have patience with guys who suddenly come up and tell me they love me just because they're jealous of the attention I pay to other boys," she hissed before standing.
"Alright, alright! I'm sorry, okay? Please-sit down." Skye said placatingly.
Still glaring, Rain sat down again.
"So, that's what happened between you and Jon, eh? He told you?"
She nodded.
"And?"
"What d'you mean 'and'?"
"And-what happened?"
"What do you think happened? I dumped him right then and there. I don't like being treated like a prize that the best man is going to win, Skye. I don't like being fought over. I have a brain and the right to choose."
"So...that's it, then? You're going to leave it at that?"
Rain dropped her gaze to the table, not answering.
"Ah, I knew it wasn't the end of the story. But I don't really want to discuss that with you right now. I need you to help me with something, please." Skye lowered his voice at the last sentence.
"Don't you always?"
"You're too full of yourself. But, really. I need you to help me...with Cel."
"How in the world could I help you with her?"
Here we go.
Skye shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
"Well...you're her friend..."
"So are you, when it boils down to it," Rain interrupted.
"-and I was wondering if you could...talk to her about me or something like that. You know, make a different impression of me, because all she really sees is a Quidditch player who likes to treat all the women in his life like princesses." Skye continued.
Rain looked thoughtful.
"I'll see, but I'm not promising you anything-ooh, mail's here."
He sat back and turned to his breakfast, grabbing his goblet and draining it. Out of the corner of his eye, Skye saw an unfamiliar owl land on Rain's shoulder. He heard her inhale sharply.
"Ow," she breathed.
"Sharp talons?"
"Extremely sharp talons," she muttered distractedly, unfolding the piece of parchment that the owl had delivered to her...and turning slightly pink.
Skye narrowed his eyes. Rain was not a girl who blushed at every single thing. In fact, he had only seen her blush two times in his entire life.
"Who's that from?" he asked quickly, trying to see what was in the note.
"Something that isn't your business. I have to go. I'll see you at lunch." Rain said, quickly rising.
He watched his cousin as she walked out of the Great Hall, wondering what she was keeping from him yet again.
He looked around, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings.
"How did you find out about this place?" he asked.
The girl seated in front of the fire turned to look at him. It was almost nine, and nobody would be looking for either of them-they'd both made sure of that.
"Oh, that's one of those little secrets I need to have permission for to tell you. You're late, by the way." she said.
"I know. It's rather difficult to give a plausible excuse to escape meeting your usual study group, you know."
Devon sat down beside Rain, looking at her. The dancing flames were reflected in her walnut-shaped brown eyes. Her dark red hair was down, flowing gracefully to her shoulders. He smiled.
"You're not listening to me," came Rain's voice, sounding a little hurt.
"No, I'm not. I'm just admiring how enthralling you look in the firelight."
He saw a blush spread about her cheeks.
"So, what were you saying?" he said, leaning back into the loveseat.
"I just said that I never knew you had a study group," she said.
"We're not a study group per se. I tutor my brother and his little friends."
She nodded, turning her eyes back to the fire. Silence settled upon them. Devon took her hand and kissed it softly.
"I saw you this wince this morning when Druid landed on your shoulder. Are you alright?" he asked.
****
"...Are you alright?"
Rain thought she would melt at the concern she heard in his voice. She also felt all tingly inside at the fact that he had been watching her from across the Great Hall. She forced herself to nod, however.
"I'm fine, thank you."
"Druid's talons are exceptionally sharp. Are you sure?"
She just had to smile at that one.
"Yes, Devon. I'm fine. Really," she added when he didn't look convinced.
It was amazing how comfortable she was with him. It was almost like being with Skye...yet completely different. Devon's mere presence made her feel unusually free. Another amazing factor was how unbelievably demonstrative he was with his affection.
Nobody would believe me if I told them that this is the same person who they see everyday.
Rain turned her head to look at Devon fully, and found that his blue gaze was still settled on her. She caught her breath in her throat, stomach clenching at the idea that he was staring at her.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" she all but half-whispered.
"Am I staring at you?"
"Yes, you are. Why?"
"Does it bother you?"
"Not really, though it does make me wonder why you keep staring at me like that," she said, the corners of her mouth turning up.
A crease appeared on Devon's smooth forehead, betraying the fact that he was deciding something. Moments later, he looked down in a motion that seemed to be...shy.
"I keep on expecting to be woken up. I still catch myself wondering whether all this is some twisted sort of dream," he spoke softly, stroking her hand in between both of his. "I still wonder what power in all of heaven and earth made you say yes."
"Have you ever stopped to consider that it may have been your oozing sex appeal?" Rain retorted.
Devon looked at her again, left brow raised.
"You're adding to my already overlarge ego. I did consider my good looks and charming personality...but I'm afraid sex appeal escaped me." he said in a serious voice.
Rain rolled her eyes.
"Seriously though," she said, "I've been wondering the same thing."
"What, why you agreed to become my girlfriend? And by the way, I was serious when I said-"
"Why did you ask me when the enmity between our families..." Rain interrupted but trailed off, not wanting to voice the idea.
He lifted her hand and touched it to his lips once again.
"I still have to find the answer to that question. But for now...I reckon it just revolves around you being you," he said in a husky voice that sent an involuntary shiver up her spine.
They sat togethter in silence after that statement, each one immersed in thought, their fingers intertwined.
Presently, Devon asked, "What time do you have to go back?"
She checked her watch.
"I still have about three-quarters of an hour before I need to go."
"Good."
"Why?" she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"So we can do this," Devon said, surprising her by gently caressing her lips with his own.
Why do I do these things for him?
Rain entered the library on the pretense of returning a book she had borrowed. It wasn't even due yet, but the look on Skye's face the next morning had begged her to do it.
She allowed her eyes to roam, searching for the brown hair of her friend. Upon spotting Celestia Faber, Rain approached.
"Hi," she whispered. "Anybody seated here?"
"No. Go ahead," replied Cel, shifting the positions of several tomes.
"What are you studying?" asked Rain.
"Just reading up on the Restraint Charm."
Professor Flitwick doesn't require them to know that. It's not in Skye's notes.
"Is Charms your favorite subject?"
Celestia nodded distractedly, opening her notes and looking at the thick book in front of her again, perusing the minute text.
Rain snuck a peek at her friend's handwriting. The letters were all small and neat, and no ink blots were present on the margins. But the thing that caught Rain's interest was a word written at the bottom of the page in red ink.
"Skye Weasley," she read aloud.
Cel looked up from the book.
"Excuse me?"
"Skye Weasley," Rain repeated. "You wrote Skye's name on your Charm notes. Is he your partner for a project or something?"
She watched as Cel's eyes widened and the color drained from her face.
"You know," she said before Cel could speak, "He's told me once that you look very pretty."
At this, a little color came back into Cel's face.
"Right," she said in a clipped tone.
"I'm serious. Why would I kid you about this?"
"Because you know I've had a crush on him ever since First Year."
Bingo.
Yes, she knew of Cel's crush on her cousin. How could she not when the older girl used to blush each time Skye spoke to her?
"Oh come on, Celestia. I'm not Devon Malfoy's sister. I don't do things like that for the fun of it-on people outside of my family, of course," she added with a slight smile.
Cel sighed.
"I need to work, Rain." she said presently.
Bugger, now I've done it. I rub the wrong way against people all the time,don't I?
She stood to leave. She was about to go when Cel called her name softly.
"Yeah?"
"You're not lying?"
Rain shook her head.
"Oh. Thanks," Cel said, trying to hide the blush that broke out on her face by turning her head.
Rain smiled.
"Anytime, Cel."
She walked out of the library, still clutching the book that she was supposed to return.
Anytime indeed.
Skye frowned deeply. He looked as though he had the world on his shoulders, though only one thing was on his mind-or, rather, one person was on his mind.
Rain hadn't told him what took place in the library that morning. He had begged her, but she had been evasive. He hated it-he hated not knowing, hated being kept out of the loop like this. He hated it because it concerned him.
He looked up as the portrait hole opened, and ran a nervous hand through his hair as Celestia Faber entered the common room.
Jon had been wrong about her; she didn't really spend most of her time in the library. He saw her in the common room a couple of times, watching her as she did her homework. It seemed that she was always doing something, always studying something.
"...this will never work..." came a mumble that startled him out of his reverie.
Skye looked up at his best friend. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who had a huge problem. Jon looked like he'd been losing sleep over something.
"What's bothering you then, eh?"
His best friend looked up. Skye suddenly noticed that Jon had dark circles under his eyes.
"Huh?" asked Jon.
"I was asking what was bothering you," Skye repeated.
"Oh. Nothing."
Damn right it's nothing.
"So I take it Rains still hasn't spoken to you?" he forced himself to say.
He saw his best friend stiffen a bit. Heck, it was a sensitive topic. Skye and Jon never talked about the Beater's feelings for Rain.
"No, she hasn't." Jon replied in a cautious voice.
Skye stretched his legs, tearing his grey eyes away from Jon's green ones.
"You should talk to her, even if she doesn't want to talk to you. Just pester her a bit. She'll crack eventually."
"Skye, I-"
"Jon, I'm still not comfortable with it, and maybe I never will be. But I don't really like seeing either of you unhappy." Skye interrupted quickly.
"I was going to thank you for the suggestion."
Silence. Skye didn't know what to say to that. Suddenly, he decided to voice out something that had been nagging at his brain since last term.
"Why d'you like her?" he blurted out without any preamble.
Jon looked taken aback. But he recovered from his surprise and looked down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs. After a few more moments of silence, he spoke.
"She's pretty, and she doesn't even know it. Guys fall over themselves trying to get her to notice them, but she seems to be oblivious to it. She's smart and talented and kind to other people. What's not to like about her?"
Maybe the fact that she's the closest thing I have to a little sister and I'm your best mate?
"Go on," Skye said.
"You wouldn't want to know the rest," Jon said, trying to keep the peace.
Skye nodded sagely.
He was always protective when it came to Rain. It was second nature to him to act like her elder brother and keep her from harm as he saw fit. He fancied himself her protector...her shield...her guardian and bodyguard against all things...
Rain had cried when Uncle George came to collect her that afternoon. Skye had been very angry at Uncle George for making her cry.
"Love?" came his Mum's voice from the door of his bedroom.
Skye quickly waved at the fireplace, lessening the intensity of the flames. His Mum would be mad if she knew that he had used his powers without permission.
"Yeah?"
His Mum entered his room, still dressed in her Quidditch robes. She had just come home from practice.
"Skye, Dad says you were quiet this evening when he arrived home. Is there anything wrong?" she said, sitting by his side.
"You're late," the little boy of five said, pouting a bit.
"Yes, love, and I'm sorry. Practice ran later than usual. Tell me what's bothering you."
Skye cocked his head to the side.
"Rain cried when Uncle George took her home," he said, speaking as though his favorite Uncle had killed somebody. "He made her cry."
His Mummy put her arms around him and gathered him up in a hug. She kissed his forehead tenderly and sat him on her lap, arms still around him protectively.
"And you got mad at Uncle George because of that?"
The little boy nodded.
"Ah, love, Rain was just sad about leaving. She has fun when you're playing with her. She says you take care of her. Is that true?"
Skye nodded again.
"Rain doesn't have a Mummy, Mum, and sometimes she cries because she has no Mummy. I need to take care of her," he replied.
"I see. Skye, how would you like a little brother or sister that you and Rain could play with?" his mother asked in a soft voice, asking for his opinion on the matter that she and her husband had been discussing for quite some time now.
Horrified, the little grey eyes widened like saucers. Skye clapped a chubby hand over his mouth in the exaggerated manner all five-year-olds have.
"But Mummy, isn't Rain here already? I don't need anybody else to play with. And Mummy, MUMMY, if I had another brother or sister, who would take care of Rain?" Skye replied in a voice that made his mother smother a smile.
"Never mind, mate. Oi, what about that Herbology homework, eh?" Skye babbled, trying to clear his head of the memory.
He knew his best friend. He knew that Jon was going to do whatever it took to get Rain to talk to him again. He just wasn't sure that it was going to be the best move to make at this moment.
Days flew by. Skye was still having sleepless nights-and he wasn't the only one. Deep within the castle dungeons, a certain blond Prefect was tossing and turning.
I can do this. I can do this.
Nagging doubts filled his head. Every degrading thing his father had ever said to him kept on replaying, echoing in his mind like a constant reminder. Every comparison between him and his brother was being repeated over and over again.
"You can never be what he is..."
Devon was his father's favorite. Devon was everybody's favorite. Devon got the better half of everything. Even with women, Devon had the upper hand. Not that Pontiard didn't get his fair share of voluptuous girls, but...
No. He could do this. He was going to do it.
I'm not doing this to prove anything to you, Father. I'm doing this for the one girl that your filthy money can never buy.
~*~
"Skye's gone mad, hasn't he?" asked Raven, otherwise known as Adrienne Potter, over breakfast.
She looked up from her porridge.
"What's that, Raven?"
"Skye. He's gone mad, hasn't he?" her cousin repeated.
"What makes you say that?" said Rain.
"Look at it this way, Rain," piped in Henry, "He's been rather...evasive. He's always in the library, he's awfully quiet, and no pranks have been pulled in Gryffindor Tower for a month. Why is that?"
Rain eyed the two Fourth Years in front of her. Henry was perhaps the only Weasley without red hair. He'd inherited his brown hair from his mother. Raven, being a Potter, had black locks. Not many people actually considered her as part of the Weasley family because of her hair colour.
"And...why are you asking me all this?"
"Because, as Henry said, Skye's been evasive. I just asked him to play Exploding Snap with me last night and he muttered some lame excuse about doing research," Raven said.
"Actually, I reckon Skye's beginning to have some sense knocked into him," Rain replied to the queries, hoping to put a stop to their inquisitiveness.
"Well, if you say so." Henry said.
Skye's behavior is getting a little...strange.
****
Walking into the Great Hall, Skye searched for Rain. He spotted the familiar ponytail and approached, taking the empty seat beside her.
"Morning, all," he said.
"Hi," chorused his three cousins.
He looked at Rain, meeting her worried glance at him. He shook his head by way of reply No, he hadn't gotten much sleep last night.
"Do you two have secret codes or something?" asked Raven.
"Excuse me?" said Rain. She was always the polite one.
"She's asking if you two have some kind of secret code. Just now you looked at each other significantly," supplied Henry.
Skye looked at Rain again.
"Er-no, we don't have any sort of secret code," said Skye. "I guess we just spend too much time together-like the two of you."
It was Raven and Henry's turn to look at each other.
"Oh, heck, look at the time. Come on, Henry, we're going to be late for Herbology," Raven suddenly said, looking at her watch.
"Alright. We'll be seeing you!" said Henry before they both got up and walked off.
Whew. I thought I was going to have to tell Rain with those two in front of me as well.
"Rain? I need to tell you something."
"Shoot."
"I-er-you see, the girl? She....um...she's..." Skye trailed of to take a deep breath.
"Celestia Faber," Rain finished for him, speaking like she was answering a question in class.
Skye felt his jaw drop.
"How did you know?"
"Honestly, the way you gape at her, I'm surprised everybody in Hogwarts still doesn't know." she said matter-of-factly.
"I...gape at her?" Skye said faintly.
"Openly. Why don't you just tell her, Skye? I'm sure it'll be-"
"Oh. Right. Tell her. I'm getting this advice from the girl who followed my best friend around for four years." he interrupted.
Rain glared at him.
"In case you've bothered to notice, I'm not exactly doing that anymore. I have other things to do, Skye, and other boys to like that actually like me back and have the stones to tell me. I don't have patience with guys who suddenly come up and tell me they love me just because they're jealous of the attention I pay to other boys," she hissed before standing.
"Alright, alright! I'm sorry, okay? Please-sit down." Skye said placatingly.
Still glaring, Rain sat down again.
"So, that's what happened between you and Jon, eh? He told you?"
She nodded.
"And?"
"What d'you mean 'and'?"
"And-what happened?"
"What do you think happened? I dumped him right then and there. I don't like being treated like a prize that the best man is going to win, Skye. I don't like being fought over. I have a brain and the right to choose."
"So...that's it, then? You're going to leave it at that?"
Rain dropped her gaze to the table, not answering.
"Ah, I knew it wasn't the end of the story. But I don't really want to discuss that with you right now. I need you to help me with something, please." Skye lowered his voice at the last sentence.
"Don't you always?"
"You're too full of yourself. But, really. I need you to help me...with Cel."
"How in the world could I help you with her?"
Here we go.
Skye shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
"Well...you're her friend..."
"So are you, when it boils down to it," Rain interrupted.
"-and I was wondering if you could...talk to her about me or something like that. You know, make a different impression of me, because all she really sees is a Quidditch player who likes to treat all the women in his life like princesses." Skye continued.
Rain looked thoughtful.
"I'll see, but I'm not promising you anything-ooh, mail's here."
He sat back and turned to his breakfast, grabbing his goblet and draining it. Out of the corner of his eye, Skye saw an unfamiliar owl land on Rain's shoulder. He heard her inhale sharply.
"Ow," she breathed.
"Sharp talons?"
"Extremely sharp talons," she muttered distractedly, unfolding the piece of parchment that the owl had delivered to her...and turning slightly pink.
Skye narrowed his eyes. Rain was not a girl who blushed at every single thing. In fact, he had only seen her blush two times in his entire life.
"Who's that from?" he asked quickly, trying to see what was in the note.
"Something that isn't your business. I have to go. I'll see you at lunch." Rain said, quickly rising.
He watched his cousin as she walked out of the Great Hall, wondering what she was keeping from him yet again.
~*~
He looked around, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings.
"How did you find out about this place?" he asked.
The girl seated in front of the fire turned to look at him. It was almost nine, and nobody would be looking for either of them-they'd both made sure of that.
"Oh, that's one of those little secrets I need to have permission for to tell you. You're late, by the way." she said.
"I know. It's rather difficult to give a plausible excuse to escape meeting your usual study group, you know."
Devon sat down beside Rain, looking at her. The dancing flames were reflected in her walnut-shaped brown eyes. Her dark red hair was down, flowing gracefully to her shoulders. He smiled.
"You're not listening to me," came Rain's voice, sounding a little hurt.
"No, I'm not. I'm just admiring how enthralling you look in the firelight."
He saw a blush spread about her cheeks.
"So, what were you saying?" he said, leaning back into the loveseat.
"I just said that I never knew you had a study group," she said.
"We're not a study group per se. I tutor my brother and his little friends."
She nodded, turning her eyes back to the fire. Silence settled upon them. Devon took her hand and kissed it softly.
"I saw you this wince this morning when Druid landed on your shoulder. Are you alright?" he asked.
****
"...Are you alright?"
Rain thought she would melt at the concern she heard in his voice. She also felt all tingly inside at the fact that he had been watching her from across the Great Hall. She forced herself to nod, however.
"I'm fine, thank you."
"Druid's talons are exceptionally sharp. Are you sure?"
She just had to smile at that one.
"Yes, Devon. I'm fine. Really," she added when he didn't look convinced.
It was amazing how comfortable she was with him. It was almost like being with Skye...yet completely different. Devon's mere presence made her feel unusually free. Another amazing factor was how unbelievably demonstrative he was with his affection.
Nobody would believe me if I told them that this is the same person who they see everyday.
Rain turned her head to look at Devon fully, and found that his blue gaze was still settled on her. She caught her breath in her throat, stomach clenching at the idea that he was staring at her.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" she all but half-whispered.
"Am I staring at you?"
"Yes, you are. Why?"
"Does it bother you?"
"Not really, though it does make me wonder why you keep staring at me like that," she said, the corners of her mouth turning up.
A crease appeared on Devon's smooth forehead, betraying the fact that he was deciding something. Moments later, he looked down in a motion that seemed to be...shy.
"I keep on expecting to be woken up. I still catch myself wondering whether all this is some twisted sort of dream," he spoke softly, stroking her hand in between both of his. "I still wonder what power in all of heaven and earth made you say yes."
"Have you ever stopped to consider that it may have been your oozing sex appeal?" Rain retorted.
Devon looked at her again, left brow raised.
"You're adding to my already overlarge ego. I did consider my good looks and charming personality...but I'm afraid sex appeal escaped me." he said in a serious voice.
Rain rolled her eyes.
"Seriously though," she said, "I've been wondering the same thing."
"What, why you agreed to become my girlfriend? And by the way, I was serious when I said-"
"Why did you ask me when the enmity between our families..." Rain interrupted but trailed off, not wanting to voice the idea.
He lifted her hand and touched it to his lips once again.
"I still have to find the answer to that question. But for now...I reckon it just revolves around you being you," he said in a husky voice that sent an involuntary shiver up her spine.
They sat togethter in silence after that statement, each one immersed in thought, their fingers intertwined.
Presently, Devon asked, "What time do you have to go back?"
She checked her watch.
"I still have about three-quarters of an hour before I need to go."
"Good."
"Why?" she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"So we can do this," Devon said, surprising her by gently caressing her lips with his own.
~*~
Why do I do these things for him?
Rain entered the library on the pretense of returning a book she had borrowed. It wasn't even due yet, but the look on Skye's face the next morning had begged her to do it.
She allowed her eyes to roam, searching for the brown hair of her friend. Upon spotting Celestia Faber, Rain approached.
"Hi," she whispered. "Anybody seated here?"
"No. Go ahead," replied Cel, shifting the positions of several tomes.
"What are you studying?" asked Rain.
"Just reading up on the Restraint Charm."
Professor Flitwick doesn't require them to know that. It's not in Skye's notes.
"Is Charms your favorite subject?"
Celestia nodded distractedly, opening her notes and looking at the thick book in front of her again, perusing the minute text.
Rain snuck a peek at her friend's handwriting. The letters were all small and neat, and no ink blots were present on the margins. But the thing that caught Rain's interest was a word written at the bottom of the page in red ink.
"Skye Weasley," she read aloud.
Cel looked up from the book.
"Excuse me?"
"Skye Weasley," Rain repeated. "You wrote Skye's name on your Charm notes. Is he your partner for a project or something?"
She watched as Cel's eyes widened and the color drained from her face.
"You know," she said before Cel could speak, "He's told me once that you look very pretty."
At this, a little color came back into Cel's face.
"Right," she said in a clipped tone.
"I'm serious. Why would I kid you about this?"
"Because you know I've had a crush on him ever since First Year."
Bingo.
Yes, she knew of Cel's crush on her cousin. How could she not when the older girl used to blush each time Skye spoke to her?
"Oh come on, Celestia. I'm not Devon Malfoy's sister. I don't do things like that for the fun of it-on people outside of my family, of course," she added with a slight smile.
Cel sighed.
"I need to work, Rain." she said presently.
Bugger, now I've done it. I rub the wrong way against people all the time,don't I?
She stood to leave. She was about to go when Cel called her name softly.
"Yeah?"
"You're not lying?"
Rain shook her head.
"Oh. Thanks," Cel said, trying to hide the blush that broke out on her face by turning her head.
Rain smiled.
"Anytime, Cel."
She walked out of the library, still clutching the book that she was supposed to return.
Anytime indeed.
~*~
Skye frowned deeply. He looked as though he had the world on his shoulders, though only one thing was on his mind-or, rather, one person was on his mind.
Rain hadn't told him what took place in the library that morning. He had begged her, but she had been evasive. He hated it-he hated not knowing, hated being kept out of the loop like this. He hated it because it concerned him.
He looked up as the portrait hole opened, and ran a nervous hand through his hair as Celestia Faber entered the common room.
Jon had been wrong about her; she didn't really spend most of her time in the library. He saw her in the common room a couple of times, watching her as she did her homework. It seemed that she was always doing something, always studying something.
"...this will never work..." came a mumble that startled him out of his reverie.
Skye looked up at his best friend. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who had a huge problem. Jon looked like he'd been losing sleep over something.
"What's bothering you then, eh?"
His best friend looked up. Skye suddenly noticed that Jon had dark circles under his eyes.
"Huh?" asked Jon.
"I was asking what was bothering you," Skye repeated.
"Oh. Nothing."
Damn right it's nothing.
"So I take it Rains still hasn't spoken to you?" he forced himself to say.
He saw his best friend stiffen a bit. Heck, it was a sensitive topic. Skye and Jon never talked about the Beater's feelings for Rain.
"No, she hasn't." Jon replied in a cautious voice.
Skye stretched his legs, tearing his grey eyes away from Jon's green ones.
"You should talk to her, even if she doesn't want to talk to you. Just pester her a bit. She'll crack eventually."
"Skye, I-"
"Jon, I'm still not comfortable with it, and maybe I never will be. But I don't really like seeing either of you unhappy." Skye interrupted quickly.
"I was going to thank you for the suggestion."
Silence. Skye didn't know what to say to that. Suddenly, he decided to voice out something that had been nagging at his brain since last term.
"Why d'you like her?" he blurted out without any preamble.
"She's pretty, and she doesn't even know it. Guys fall over themselves trying to get her to notice them, but she seems to be oblivious to it. She's smart and talented and kind to other people. What's not to like about her?"
Maybe the fact that she's the closest thing I have to a little sister and I'm your best mate?
"Go on," Skye said.
"You wouldn't want to know the rest," Jon said, trying to keep the peace.
Skye nodded sagely.
He was always protective when it came to Rain. It was second nature to him to act like her elder brother and keep her from harm as he saw fit. He fancied himself her protector...her shield...her guardian and bodyguard against all things...
Rain had cried when Uncle George came to collect her that afternoon. Skye had been very angry at Uncle George for making her cry.
"Love?" came his Mum's voice from the door of his bedroom.
Skye quickly waved at the fireplace, lessening the intensity of the flames. His Mum would be mad if she knew that he had used his powers without permission.
"Yeah?"
His Mum entered his room, still dressed in her Quidditch robes. She had just come home from practice.
"Skye, Dad says you were quiet this evening when he arrived home. Is there anything wrong?" she said, sitting by his side.
"You're late," the little boy of five said, pouting a bit.
"Yes, love, and I'm sorry. Practice ran later than usual. Tell me what's bothering you."
Skye cocked his head to the side.
"Rain cried when Uncle George took her home," he said, speaking as though his favorite Uncle had killed somebody. "He made her cry."
His Mummy put her arms around him and gathered him up in a hug. She kissed his forehead tenderly and sat him on her lap, arms still around him protectively.
"And you got mad at Uncle George because of that?"
The little boy nodded.
"Ah, love, Rain was just sad about leaving. She has fun when you're playing with her. She says you take care of her. Is that true?"
Skye nodded again.
"Rain doesn't have a Mummy, Mum, and sometimes she cries because she has no Mummy. I need to take care of her," he replied.
"I see. Skye, how would you like a little brother or sister that you and Rain could play with?" his mother asked in a soft voice, asking for his opinion on the matter that she and her husband had been discussing for quite some time now.
Horrified, the little grey eyes widened like saucers. Skye clapped a chubby hand over his mouth in the exaggerated manner all five-year-olds have.
"But Mummy, isn't Rain here already? I don't need anybody else to play with. And Mummy, MUMMY, if I had another brother or sister, who would take care of Rain?" Skye replied in a voice that made his mother smother a smile.
"Never mind, mate. Oi, what about that Herbology homework, eh?" Skye babbled, trying to clear his head of the memory.
He knew his best friend. He knew that Jon was going to do whatever it took to get Rain to talk to him again. He just wasn't sure that it was going to be the best move to make at this moment.
~*~