|
|
|
It had only been one night, since Etsuko had been dragged back into the castle walls from the Thestral nesting grounds; and everyone, especially Etsy had become more serious. Things needed to be figured out, and they needed to be figured out now. Not soon… now. Everyone knew it - It wasn't just the adults there, not the previous students, or the long-term professors… Even the students - even the first years knew that something needed to be done, and it had to be done quickly.
Alexus and Alice had made their way to Alice's office, once the commotion had calmed some. Most of the students were in the Great Hall by that point, accompanied by most of the professors, as well as others from the ministry, and a few Aurors had shown up, as well. It was nice to have the security - but both Miss Leon, and Miss Malfoy had decided that they would be able to hold their own on their way to the office and back.
Once they arrived there, Alexus looked to Alice, and noted the look in her eyes, like she wanted to just break down and cry, but she kept that straight face, and went strong into the large office room, and took a seat at her desk, where she was greeted by a black cat. A smile formed across the Headmistress' lips as she rose a single hand to pet the soft fur. "Hello, Yoru…" her tone was saddened. Her expressions weren't quite as strong as her voice, but both were plain to see…
"Alice..?"
The brunette looked up from her cat, to match the blue-hues of the Malfoy woman, with her own emeralds.
"I know things are hard, but you're doing very well."
Alice stayed quiet, still.
"A lot of people are looking up to you, as both a Headmistress, and as a friend."
She let out a soft sigh, petting the cat once more, before closing her eyes. "I'm doing well, am I? I've had students die, professors die, friends die…"
"And none of that was your faul-"
"I could have prevented it!"
"How?! With your own bloody life?!"
Alice stood from her seat, slamming her hands down on the desk, causing Yoru to run off from the desk,"It's better than them losing theirs!"
The room went silent after that. The two females standing, staring at one another as Alice finally snapped. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked to Alexus, her arms, which propped her up now, into that standing position started shaking as she let her fingers spread across the wooden desk's surface. The emerald gaze dropped to the desk as well, before her eyes closed.
"Losing your life wouldn't have solved anything, Alice… It would have made it even harder on everyone. Especially the students. There's no way you would take them all out before losing your life; so what makes you think it would've helped. It would just be losing their Headmistress, the leader. Your students love you, Alice. You'd best remember that." With that, Alexus turned on her heels and started walking toward the door. "Get what you need, and we'll head back to the Great Hall…"
Alice stayed motionless for a moment, before she went from her desk and into a small storage room off the side of the main office with a sigh, and grabbed a few things, slipping them into a bottomless bag and heading over slowly, and silently to Alexus' side, wiping her eyes gently. "Alright… Let's go."
The school halls were quiet. It was kind of eerie, when one thought about it. Hogwarts had always been quite bustling, even in times of trouble, in the past. The Dark Ones were causing too much destruction, too much fear. They needed to be stopped.
Back in the Great Hall, Etsuko was sitting at a table, fixing the blue ribbon in her hair, which she now wore instead of her headband. The look of sadness had never left her eyes, but she knew well, that she had to keep strong now.
"How are you doing?" came a familiar voice, accompanied by the click of a cane on the stone floors, before the man took a seat next to her.
Her eyes lifted from the table and looked over to see Christopher, who gave her a small smile to try and boost her mood a bit; "I'm fine." 'I'm Fine.' Possibly the most-used lie in the world. This situation was no different, the apparent sorrow of losing Amalia was still surrounding the woman as she reached up one last time, to shift the ribbon, centring the bow under the back of her hair, so it flowed down beneath her short locks, in a beautiful stream of dark royal.
"Fine..?" his eyes became a bit more intense as he asked that, his smile fading slightly, as he leaned back against the table, one elbow, propping him up a little as the hand on that arm, reached over and took her's. "It's alright to not be. I really don't think anyone here is fine, so you don't have to say you are, if you don't want to."
Her large eyes looked to their hands, as she turned hers a bit, to grasp his in return, and her eyes shifted back to his, her faint, faked smile fading rather quickly as their eyes met, and with a clank of his cane falling to the floor, she was brought in close, her head pulled against his chest. She closed her eyes, and he just held her there, as for the first time since Amalia's burial, she cried in the open, where everyone could see her. She reached up and grasped at his shirt lightly, burying her face in the fabric in front of his chest. His hands, gently running over her hair, as he shushed and cooed to her.
Some time passed, and she finally lifted her head to look up at him, "I… I have to be strong, for Ama-chan…"
He nodded slowly "We all do. It'll be hard for a while, but I know you can do it." he let his smile return slowly, and was glad when he saw that she was trying to match his smile with her own lips. He leaned in, gently placing a kiss to her cheek, keeping his arms around her; and was slightly surprised when she turned her head as he tried to pull away; catching his lips with her own for a moment, but he smiled.
"I'll… I'll be okay, as long as you're still here."
He nodded again, "I'm not going anywhere…"
A few people were enjoying the silence - no matter how eerie it was to others. Everyone knew it meant peace, if only for the time being… So when a crash happened from the large window behind the head table in the great hall, a lot of people had been quite startled - most jumping to their feet, and aiming wands instantly; but with a cheer of excitement, the fiery-haired Muggle-Born they all knew and loved was waving her arms around followed by the Pure-Blooded blonde behind her, and the Half-Blood brunette behind her. The three, of course, were on the back of a dragon - Adena's baby, Cynder. Of course; they hadn't really thought that entrance through; but it would've been bad-a**, had something actually been happening below, in the Great Hall.
"Oi! Tae fun's arrived n' we're ready fer yer… Stuff!!"
"Aye! T'at dere stuff yer up tae! We're gon'tae-"
"Uh… 'Ey, Lassies?"
"Glenn, can your trap n' get in on i'!! ye ken ye wannae!"
"………"
"Betta'! 'Ere we go!" It wasn't until Glenn had successfully face-palmed, and Adena and Shaia both dismounted the dragon's back and hopped down to the floor of the Great Hall wands out, that they realised what Glenn had been trying to tell them.
"Uh…. Hey, where's tae action?! All tae fun?!"
"W'miss'd it, Lass." Glenn noted, as he too, hopped to the floor.
The look of utter disappointment that crossed the faces of Shaia and Adena were almost too much for one to bear. They were so… Sad. Glenn stepped in between them, and put an arm around both of the females' shoulders and shook his head. "T'ink o'it t'is way. W'may nottae b'in 'ere fer tae acti'n, but ye ken, we c'n'elp out, eh?" Shaia nodded slightly, and went off to see if anyone needed help, but Adena stayed there, a huffy look on her face. Glenn looked down at her, and smirked a bit. "W'at's'it?"
She looked back up at him and frowned. "Eh… I promis'd me baby a snack!"
"Nex'time 'e can, ye ken t'ey'll be back." He watched as she nodded slightly; "G'ud. Sae ye ma's'well b'elpin' out, eh?" She nodded again and ran off down a different row of tables. And Glenn was greeted by Alice, who had since returned with Alexus.
"It's good to see you again, Glenn. Adena and Shaia too. We could've used some help before, but I'm glad you came anyway."
He gave a grin and nodded; "Aye, Lass. Sorry w'c'ud nae mak'it sooner." she gave a smile then, which made him glad. The fact people here were still smiling despite what happened, was good.
"It's fine. You're here now, and that's what matters. I'll speak with Shaia and Adena, once they've calmed down some."
"Aye. S'best. W'at'd w'miss?"
Alice's heart sunk at the thought of answering that question, and she looked at him in the eyes, a look in her own that seemed to say everything at once, but he couldn't tell quite who it was Alice was thinking of. "We've… Lost many people in the battles we've had. Lots of them being my students, but ones you may know, was Amalia Scamander, and her firecrab, Ignacius."
Glenn hadn't seen that coming. But of course, he had always been the optimistic type, so he didn't show any true sorrow, save in his eyes. He kept that smile, though it had faded slightly, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "A'ri't. W'll mak'it sae nae mor're killed. Ev'ry t'in'll b'fine~" of course, that was a bold promise to make, but he needed to say… something.
"I appreciate the gesture. But you and I both know that will be very difficult."
"Hard, ye. Nae 'mpossible~" he gave that grin once more and started off from Alice's side, to also help out.
She simply turned to watch him walk away… The look on her face, obviously trying to figure out where the Hell he got all that optimism from…
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jocelin's vision blurred a bit more, as she watched for a moment longer, the blurred image of her love slithering away and then both he and the female at his side disappearing shortly after. Apparition… Tears welled in her eyes 'Je t'aime…' being her final thought… Not a care in the world, to the feeling of a hand, resting gently on her shoulder. Her vision finally went black then… And her thoughts ceased completely...
 Aya the Small · Thu Aug 16, 2012 @ 06:13pm · 0 Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
