It's Always the Quiet Ones

It's Always The Quiet Ones

The twins have left finally left me alone, after apologising profusely. Stupid Weasleys. I swear, I'm never accepting anything from any of them ever again in my life. Stupid Ron for hitting me in the face. Stupid Fred and George giving me a - what was it? - Blood Blister-something. So now I'm lying in the Hospital Wing even though my nose has finally stopped bleeding. Madam Pomphrey is insisting that I stay the night because of the volume of blood I lost. Great.

It's early evening now and the stream of injured students has ceased. There's no-one else here at the moment; I'm the only major casualty today. I'm not tired and I can visualise the huge pile of homework I left on my desk, the pile I was going to complete tonight and get out of the way. It'll take me hours tomorrow. I look around, bored, but there's nothing but shadows in the room. No movement, no light beyond my bed. I close my eyes - perhaps I can force myself to sleep if I try hard enough.

I can feel feather light strands drifting over my face. It tickles slightly but is not unpleasant.

"Hey!!" I sit bolt upright but my visitor has already withdrawn to the shadows. I can't quite see the features but I know they're arranged in a smirk for catching me off guard.

"You should try and be more aware of your surroundings, Katie. I've been here for quite a while. If I wanted to, I could have killed you without you even knowing I was here."

Her voice is soft, with a light Irish lilt. She steps out of the shadows and she is smiling, her head tilted slightly to one side, as is her habit when she is playing with words. I sigh, partly in relief. I don't doubt her. Lilith is one of those people you don't take lightly.

"But luckily for you, all I'm here for is to see how you are. I heard about what happened, but the details are vague. Ron Weasley hit you in the face, yes?"

I've long since ceased to be surprised at the depth of her knowledge. She keeps an eye on everything that happens within the walls. Apparently, most of the Slytherins try to, but only the very powerful ones succeed. I find that creepy, and have told her so.

"Yes, but the real damage was caused by one of George and Fred's sweets. Apparently they meant to give an antidote to bleeding, but I ended up taking one of their experimental ones."

Lilith raises an eyebrow.

"Even I know not to take food from the twins," she remarks. I shrug and she comes closer again, sitting on my bed and leaning forward to stroke my hair lightly. "Are you alright though?" she asks gently, concerned. I am touched; it is rare for Lilith to show that she cares for someone, and I am pleased that she cares for me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was a bit of a scare though."

She does not respond, but climbs further onto the bed, bringing her face closer to mine. She is not beautiful, but she is very attractive, with short black hair that falls over one side of her face. She has deep grey eyes and full lips, but a prominent, Roman nose and sharp features. She has a strong face, which is perfect, for she is a strong character. She is totally unlike me, for she is somewhat of a loner, with a quick temper and a hard streak I simply do not possess.

Lilith moves in a separate world to mine, a world of power and weakness, of strategy and watchfulness always. I tried to tell her of my world, of how I simply do my work and relax with friends; where I play Quidditch for pleasure and then laugh and joke with my fellow Housemates. She responded with how she continually appraises all those around her, striking bargains and keeping tabs, ensuring she is always powerful enough that none might strike her down. I asked her if all Slytherins moved in this world, and did she not ever relax and take things easy. She gave me that look, as if she couldn't decide if I was naïve or stupid and never responded.

She is watching me now, face hanging forward like a curtain, obscuring one wolf-grey eye. That is the symbol of her family, the Connors, apparently a noble and well-respected pureblood family. I know nothing of them, for I am a half-blood, something which does not sit well with her. I do not broach the subject; I am happy enough that she is close to me.

She leans forward and softly presses her lips to mine. I respond, but after a few moments she pulls away. I raise my hand to my nose and see why; a thin trickle of blood has begun again. I growl under my breath and reach for a tissue. Lilith leans in and touches her lips to my forehead, then moves behind me, allowing me to settle into her lap. Her hands stroke my hair gently and I close my eyes. Bliss.

My fellow housemates are naturally unaware of this...flirtation between us. They would be horrified, furious. I doubt the Slytherins would be any better. We are supposed to hate each other, we know that...I would never have dreamed of trying to befriend a Slytherin...until last year. Lilith doesn't really believe that rules apply to her; she sees them as something for lesser mortals, I think.

She began to single me out. She would wait for me after our shared classes, or come to find me when I walked alone in the grounds. She is not particularly friendly on first meeting, and often as not would simply walk in my company silently. Strangely enough, that was all I was really looking for at the time, and I began to talk to her. She always listened, and never told, and I began to trust her. To me, she wasn't a Slytherin, but a companion, someone who understood what it is to be a 'quiet one'.

Innocent words, those. They would seem to imply nothing, and they are apt, for I am a quiet person, preferring to hold my tongue than twitter when I have nothing to say. Yet being a 'quiet one' means being overlooked. Forgotten. On the pitch, I am a valued team member, and off it...yes, they are my friends, but sometimes they forget that I might have an opinion, or a problem. I always listen but that doesn't mean I don't need to talk sometimes. And that's where Lilith comes in. For someone mildly threatening, she invites confidence, but whereas people will not listen to me, she does not trust anyone enough to confide in them. Except for me.

We grew close quickly, and yet no-one noticed. We exchanged secrets and memories we would tell no other, yet the world was not aware we even knew each other's names. And when we finally confessed to each other, shared the deepest secret we had, we reached a place we did not know existed.

She glances down at me now, smiling. The light catches her eyes, her teeth, and the shine of her hair. She tells me I am beautiful, but I don't tend to listen. She pauses in her stroking of mind hair to lift my hand and kiss the palm, a strange gesture of hers that I love, for it is her way of telling me how much she cares for me.

We are not a couple, but we are together. It is a strange relationship we have, more than friends, less than lovers. We kiss and cuddle but nothing more. I know she has another in whom she finds physical pleasure, but she does not talk to this other girl so she is no rival to me. I am caught in unrequited love and so Lilith fears no challenge for my company.

We will remain like this for the night, as we have before. Before the dawn, she will slip away and the world will be none the wiser, but for now we are intertwined. I look at her and know she really sees me, and she knows the same when she meets my eyes.

It's always the quiet ones.

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