Magique l'Element

Chapter Eleven- Of Things to Come

"Sometimes I wonder if the Sorting Hat made a mistake, placing you in Gryffindor," Rain muttered, moving her pawn forward.

Skye didn't even bother to reply as he moved his knight, capturing Rain's pawn. He placed it on his side of the board.

She thinks it's so easy. Girls.

"Really, Skye, I don't understand why you're finding it so hard," Rain continued, pushing her queen three spaces forward.

The two Weasleys were in a corner of the Gryffindor common room, quietly playing with a Muggle chess set as they had tired of their wizarding sets at the moment. Besides, it was easier to keep a conversation going without your pieces yelling at you.

"Maybe it has to do with the fact that I have a serious crush on this girl and I get butterflies in my stomach whenever she's near? Have you ever stopped to consider that?" Skye said.

He could only watch as Rain rolled her eyes in a manner that showed just how irritated she was with the whole Celestia situation.

"Anyway," Skye continued. "There's no guarantee that she'll...go out with me or anything."

Damn. Did I just say that out loud?

Skye did not dare look up from the chessboard to meet the smile that had now broken out on Rain's face. He felt his cheeks burn. Thankfully, though, Leonard Wood's voice made all the Gryffindors currently in the common room jump.

"TEAM! PRACTICE IN FIVE MINUTES!" hollered the Captain.

Thank you.

"Let's play another time. If we don't get to the pitch soon, Wood will give us drills until the turn of the century," Skye said hurriedly.

"You're changing the topic," Rain replied calmly. "But I'll let you get away with it this time. C'mon, then. "

Still silently thanking whatever power that made Leonard Wood call a sudden practice, Skye waved a hand over the chess set, sending all the pieces back into their original positions.

****

Rain left Skye in the common room, running up to her dormitory to gather her Quidditch things.

You'd never know that that boy is Hogwarts' biggest flirt, the way he's acting.

After changing her robes quickly and stuffing a few fresh articles of clothing into a rucksack, Rain hurriedly tied her hair into a neat ponytail and checking her appearance in the mirror all the while. Then, she ran back down to the common room to meet Skye, who was already waiting.

"Rain, you forgot something," her cousin told her.

"Eh? What?"

Skye held a hand up as though to silence Rain. A second later, Rain's padded shin and arm guards were floating in front of her. She smiled sheepishly as she grabbed them and proceeded to put them on.

"Distracted, are you," Skye said amusedly.

"Erm, tired, more like."

Skye merely nodded, but wisely did not comment as they left the common room.

It had been a week since that fateful night she had spent in the secret room with Devon. She had slept peacefully that night...there were no nightmares of any sort that penetrated her slumber. And when she woke up, finding herself staring into the impossibly blue eyes that belonged solely to Devon...

Yes, it had been a week-a week since she had a proper night's rest. She had had to endure another week filled with nightly torture; another week of trying helplessly, with every means she knew, to stay awake. No potion, charm or hex she knew could help her. No enchantment, no curse, no book. It was all she could do to keep her eyes open during the day after what she endured at night.

Her body was beginning to show signs of how tired she actually was. She knew it, but tried to hide it all the same. Her pride kept her from asking for help just yet; she hated asking for help. It made her feel so...dependent. It made her feel inadequate. It made her feel like she couldn't handle anything on her own. And, after a lifetime of being coddled and cared for as though she was made of glass, Rain hated depending on other people to get her through her own problems.

Rain chanced a glance at Skye, knowing fully that he wanted to pursue the subject. He met her eyes and gave a grin that comforted her a little. He'd always had a way with her; he knew exactly how to take care of her and help her without injuring her pride. After all, it was nice to be taken care of and looked after...sometimes.

"You're looking a little pale," he said, his grin turning from cheerful to gentle. "But I suppose it's nothing a little soaring amongst the clouds won't cure, eh?"

"Right you are," Rain replied, more than relieved that he wasn't going to ask her another round of questions about the present state of her health.

"C'mon, I'll race you to the pitch!"

At this announcement from her cousin, a laugh tore itself from Rain's lips and she started running after the maniacal boy who was supposedly older than she was.

~*~

"There's nothing like a practice under the eye of a Wood to clear a muddled mind" was the saying that the Quidditch-loving Weasleys had taught each of the next generation who had made it onto the Gryffindor team.

And don't I know it.

Rain dried her hair with a towel, heading towards her bag. Today's practice had been especially hard, as Leon had somehow gotten the idea that eyes were on the Gryffindor team, and that majority of the Hogwarts team for the European Inter-School Quidditch Cup were to be from their house. ("I'm ONLY to let those bloody sods from Slytherin represent Hogwarts OVER MY DEAD BODY, even if the competition is still a rumour", their Captain had said.)

"I'm going ahead, Rain," said Hannah Closky, the team's reserve Chaser.

"Sure," Rain replied, throwing a smile over her shoulder at her teammate before opening her bag.

It was habitual for Rain to take a shower after every practice. She hated the smell of grass that always seemed to cling to her after the rigorous training Leonalways had in store for them. She pulled on a shirt and a pair of grey pants.

"Hullo, what's this?" Rain said to nobody in particular, spotting a cream colored envelope lying in her bag.

Curious, Rain got the envelope. It bore her name in front, and was sealed with a blob of green wax. Frowning, she slipped a finger underneath the flap and opened it.

What the hell...

Inside the envelope was a picture of her. It was a black and white photograph, showing her seated in an overstuffed armchair reading a book. Her photographic self was not moving. Ah. A Muggle photograph. But who did she know that developed photographs the Muggle way?

Rain stared at the photo in her hand for a few seconds more. How odd to give somebody a photograph of herself without evens a note or something of the sort to explain...

All this sleep deprivation is making me dull.

She turned the photograph over to reveal, as she had expected, some writing. It bore no greeting, and wasn't even addressed to her, but she read it anyway.

"See this? I took this photo of you five years ago-when you were in First Year and everyone still thought it funny to be bossed about by such a mite of an eleven-year-old. I snapped this quite by accident, really, but the short and long of that story is that I ended up taking your picture, as is probably obvious.

This is the reason why I like you, Rain. Perhaps even the reason why I love you. You're not like the other girls who do nothing but giggle and gossip about the newest dress robes form the latest magazines. You're not like the girls who flirt with every bloke they'll meet. You don't give a damn about the frivolous and shallow concerns of other girls. You love Quidditch, you detest skirts...I could go on and on, even though the short version of what I want to say is that I love you because you're you. Because you're special.

I know I deserve the way you're treating me, because what I told you the last time we talked was...well, it didn't come out right. I wasn't rational. I suppose I've botched up any chance I might have had with you. But please-I'm truly, honestly, sincerely sorry. I am. And I'm willing to do anything you ask just to make it up to you-only don't even dare to try and ask me to run into the Great Hall naked and screaming 'Severus Snape is the sexiest man alive'.

I want to be friends again, Rain. I'm not wishing that you'll feel the same anymore, but I am hoping that you'll speak to me again so we can be the friends we used to be.

Well, there it is. My apology.

-Jon"

Rain sat down on a nearby bench, biting her lower lip. She re-read the note...twice...thrice...until she was startled to feel something wet on her cheek.

Damn you, Wycheck.

Hastily, Rain wiped her cheek. She replaced the photograph in its envelope; quickly zipping her rucksack shut and exited the girls' shower rooms.

****

Rain was not like any other girl he knew, of course, but that didn't change the fact that she was still a girl in all respects, and therefore took a long time in the bathroom, like any other female he knew.

Sighing to himself, Jon re-entered the boys' shower rooms (just as Rain came out of the girls'). He got his bag and licked his lips, resigning himself to his fate.

Perhaps it's better that I don't see her just yet. Who knows what she might have done to me?

Jon blew his hair off his face as he went out of the shower rooms-though he suddenly stopped short. Without warning, he turned and ran back.

"SKYE!" he yelled.

"What?!" came an annoyed yell from the back of the shower room.

Quickly, Jon made his way to his mate.

"Guess who I just saw outside," Jon said, grinning at the look that made its way onto Skye's face.

Skye's grey eyes widened.

"You mean to tell me---she is out there?! Damnit, Jon, of all the times..."

The Gryffindor beater watched with infinite amusement as his best friend scurried around, collecting various articles of clothing and quickly changing his clothes.

Really. There's nothing like being in the same breathing space as the girl you daydream about. It can turn anybody into a blustering idiot, even the ever-charming Skye Weasley.

"Do I look alright?" Skye asked rather breathlessly.

"Er-really, mate, I'm in no position to judge, you know I don't go that way..."

An exasperated noise from Skye made Jon grin.

"JON!"

"Okay, okay. You look fine, Skye. C'mon."

Together, the two boys exited the boys' shower rooms, each one carrying a bag on his shoulders.

"You sure I look decent?" Skye muttered.

Jon fought the urge to laugh out loud at his friend's obvious discomfort.

"Yes, Skye. I'm sure. Absolutely sure."

They slowly walked away from the shower rooms, both silent. Jon knew that it would be useless to try and engage Skye in any sort of conversation at this point.

"Isn't that Rain?" Skye's voice jolted Jon out of his thoughts.

"Eh?"

Skye pointed to the two girls talking on the Quidditch pitch. The shorter one had dark red hair swirling about her shoulders while the other girl's brown curls were tied neatly in a ponytail.

"Yeah. It's Rain," Jon said quietly, swallowing hard.

Great. Absolutely brilliant.

****

"Hannah's already left, Cel," Rain said, smiling knowingly.

Hannah and Celestia were in the same year and were very good friends. It was an innocent enough reason for Celestia to be lurking around the pitch after practice, of course, even though Rain knew that Cel wasn't there to see Hannah.

Celestia sighed.

"I know that, Rain, but Skye doesn't, right?"

Rain gave a sigh of her own before nodding.

"I suppose so," she replied.

Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, Rain turned her head. Skye was walking towards them...with Jonathan Wycheck trailing behind.

"Look who decided to show up," Rain said with another smile, watching Celestia bite her lip.

Skye was wearing a grey sweater and jeans. He looked back to say something to Jon then ran a hand through his red hair-a sure sign that he was dead aware of Celestia's presence.

The funny thing about Skye was that once you got to know him better, you could always tell when he was nervous about something. Running a hand through his hair was his idiosyncrasy; as though he found some comfort in knowing that his hair was still there and that he was in no danger of growing bald like his grandfather-yet.

Of course, while anybody who knew Skye well enough knew about his habit, the rest of the populace who didn't simply thought that he was being...cute. Really cute.

"Cute," she heard Celestia whisper.

Rain raised a brow in amusement.

"I do wonder when you'll realize that he's probably thinking the exact same thing right whenever he sees you," Rain muttered.

"What?" said Cel, turning to the younger girl.

"Oh, nothing."

Skye and Jon approached the two.

"Hi, Cel. Rain," Skye said, flashing a grin.

"Hi." replied Celestia, meeting his smile with her own.

Inwardly, Rain rolled her eyes, even though she left her cousin to his own devices. She had more important matters to deal with at the moment. She turned to Jon.

"Jon."

"Yeah?"

"I need to talk to you...after dinner. In the unused classroom beside the statue of the one-eyed goblin on the sixth floor," Rain said in a whisper.

"Why are you whispering?" Jon replied, seemingly casual and unconcerned.

"You want him," She nodded towards Skye, "tagging along?" Rain shot back, her voice taking a tone she used when she was taking points away from somebody.

Jon sighed, but nodded.

~*~

"You're tense."

"What?"

"I said you're tense. Why?"

Rain looked down at her food. Ordinarily, she would have been ravenous after practice. Today, however, she was picking at her food.

"I'm just a bit nervous, Jen. That's all."

Jennifer Francis tipped her head to the right, observing Rain. She narrowed her eyes.

"You're nervous? About what? We don't have any tests tomorrow, and you've already finished all the homework that's due tomorrow. What are you so nervous about?"

Rain spooned some potatoes into her mouth, chewed a long while, and forced herself to swallow before answering her friend.

"It's not a what, Jen. It's a who," said Rain quietly.

The black-haired girl furrowed her brows for a second before the realization dawned upon her.

"Wycheck's apologized, then?" she said.

"Yeah...I suppose. I'm to meet him after dinner to talk. Could you please distract Skye if he asks you where I am? I don't want him to burst in on us."

The grin that broke out on Jen's face told Rain that her friend had taken her words the wrong way.

"You can always count on me, " said Jen.

Rain sighed again. She hadn't told Jen about Devon yet. Jen was a great friend, of course, but Rain didn't know how Jen would take it if she knew about Rain's relationship with Devon. If anything, Jen was a loyal Gryffindor, and an extremely traditional one at that.

All these complications...

Once more, Rain forced herself to eat. She was already growing thin from lack of rest; she couldn't afford to get sick because of lack of nutrition.

Suddenly, Rain found her goblet floating in front of her. Quickly, she looked around, trying to see who had their wand out, quite ready to take away points. But, as no wands were drawn, Rain's gaze fell on Skye, who was looking at her.

Rain raised an eyebrow in mute inquiry. Skye just gave her a look that said plainly that he was worried about the way she was behaving.

For the third time in ten minutes, Rain sighed.

"I'm fine," she mouthed to Skye.

She knew he wouldn't believe her, but would take whatever she said at face value, especially considering he really didn't have much of a choice.

I wonder how long I'll be able to keep this up.

~*~

He had skipped dinner. He wasn't really in the mood to eat, after all. Instead, he sat on the window ledge, strumming a random tune on his guitar.

Jon was in the unused classroom where Rain had told him to meet her. He was staring out into the night, wondering what it was Rain could possibly want to say to him. Of course, he was curious about her reaction...but now that she wanted to talk to him, he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Knut for your thoughts," a voice snapped him out of his reverie.

He looked up in time to see Rain sit down on a desk not too far from him. In her hand was a very familiar white envelope.

"Hey," was all he said by way of greeting.

"Hi."

"I didn't hear you come in."

She just nodded and looked at the floor before a very uncomfortable silence fell upon them. Rain was fidgeting, she was playing with the envelope.

"Um, Jon if this is a bad time, I completely understand. I can go and we never have to talk about this and-" Rain started to say before he cut her off.

"No! I mean...I think it would be better for the two of us to just get all of it out now so we won't have to deal with it anymore," he said.

Rain bit her lower lip, but nodded, still not looking at him.

"Alright...so may I start, then?" she asked quietly.

"Go ahead."

She cleared her throat.

"Well, as you can see, I got the photo you left in my bag, and...I read what you wrote at the back. But I..." she trailed off.

"But what?"

Rain cleared her throat again.

"I just...I actually don't know what to say. I don't know what came over me, telling you I had to talk to you, because I really don't know what on earth I'm supposed to say aside from thank you and I'm sorry."

She spoke in a rush, babbling as though she wasn't aware of his presence in the room. Rain didn't ramble on like that often. He just sat still and listened to her, waiting for her to stop speaking-which she did after a few minutes.

"Rain," he said firmly, making her look at him.

Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. She blinked ferociously and wiped her eyes.

"Yeah?"

Jon smiled, placed his guitar aside and stood, walking towards her. She always looked like the little girl she no longer was during moments like this-when she was stubbornly trying to pretend that she wasn't about to cry.

"Rain, you're babbling," he said gently.

Rain hung her head again.

"Oops. Sorry."

Jon smiled once more. He glanced at the hair that was hanging about Rain's face, longing to run his hands through it, but knowing all the while that he could not do so. This was torture. What he was doing to himself was torture.

"Jon?" he heard her whisper.

"Mm?"

"Jon, I...I don't know if you really want to hear this right now, but...I have a boyfriend," she said, completely avoiding his eyes.

Don't I know it.

He nodded.

"I know, Rain."

The look of genuine shock on Rain's face made Jon laugh.

"You-you know?! How could you know?! Who told you?" she spluttered, looking very shirty.

Jon placed his hands on Rain's shoulders, still chuckling.

"Rain, it's sort of obvious. Okay, so not obvious obvious, but...well...let me put it this way: I just know you, and I know when you're keeping something from everybody else."

"That's dragon dung, Wycheck, even Skye didn't see that, and he's known me since I was born," she replied, eyes now narrowing suspiciously.

Sod it. How do I explain this? How do I explain that I have nothing better to do than gaze at her?

"Well, Skye can be dense, can't he?" Jon said, blessing his quick thinking. "But really, Rain, I don't know who it is. I know you have a boyfriend, but I don't know who he is."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Sure. Tell me who the lucky bugger is," said Jon, now starting to toy with Rain's hair a bit.

"DevonMalfoy."

~*~

Nervously, Skye glanced across the common room. Celestia was still seated at her table, obviously having difficulty with her Transfiguration homework. She kept on sighing and shaking her head while staring at the book that lay open in front of her.

Skye turned his eyes to the notice board of the common room, where a piece of parchment was pinned up, bearing the message that made Skye worry.

I can do this...I can do this...I can do this....

Running a hand through his hair wearily, Skye shook his head. This was not working. He couldn't concentrate on the essay he was supposed to be writing. The Werewolf Wars of 1496 were simply not as important as the idea that had firmly lodged itself in his brain: he was going to ask Celestia out.

Skye knew he needed to do it before he lost his nerve completely...it didn't need to be so difficult, after all...all he had to do was go up to her, casually engage her in conversation and ask her...

"Really, Skye, I don't understand why you're finding it so hard," Rain's voice echoed in his mind.

He pushed himself into a standing position. Skye took a deep breath and started walking towards Cel's table.

"Hey," he said.

All right, that sounded incredibly lame.

"Oh, hi," Celestia replied, looking up at him, but not smiling.

"What are you up to? It seems hard," Skye said, trying to sound casual.

"Transfiguration homework. For the life of me, I can't seem to be able to figure out how in the world I'm supposed to turn a pile of books into a table."

Skye cocked his head to the left, frowning a little in thought.

"Would you want some help?" he offered, heart pounding even as he asked the question.

To his immense delight, Cel smiled then.

"That would be great, thanks."

Skye busied himself, effectively turning the pile of books he had stacked behind him into a quaint little coffee table with a glass top.

Celestia gave a little laugh.

"Your expertise always was Transfiguration, Skye, but I'm afraid you have to do that again for my benefit," she said.

"Alright. Here. You get your wand..."

Skye went on explaining the theory behind the transfiguration of the books, all his thoughts were actually concentrated on how he was going to slip Hogsmeade into the conversation.

Luckily for Skye, the opportunity presented itself fifteen minutes later when Cel sat back with a sigh.

"Phew," was all she said, surveying the books she had been able to transfigure.

"You look like you need a break," Skye said smoothly, knowing all too well that his heart was pounding painfully fast.

"Tell me about it."

Okay, here we go...smooth and suave, Skye...

"It's a Hogsmeade weekend on Saturday. Would you care for a butterbeer with me at the Three Broomsticks?"

Alright...there...it's out...

"But isn't that the birthday of Imogen?" replied Celestia, mentioning the surprise party for his cousin Imogen that he had completely forgotten about.

"Yeah, but...have a butterbeer with me anyway," Skye said in his most convincing tone.

Celestia looked at him for a moment before smiling and gathering her things.

"Alright then."

She stood with her books in her arms.

"Thanks for your help, Skye," she said with another knee-weakening smile.

"Anytime," he replied.

And with that, Celestia Faber went up to her dormitory, leaving Skye grinning broadly.

~*~