Diamonds Dull PV Pericles Dralt

WE ARE ALL OF US STARDUST, HELD TOGETHER BY LOVE FOR AN INSTANT.

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	In the months since he became an animagus, Pericles had almost entirely ceased walking from one class to the next, opting instead to fly for his destination. After the Masquerade incident, he was earthbound. The specialist declared no flying until he regained depth perception, a duration which varied vastly between patients, maybe a month at the least. Mingling with the crowds was even more inconvenient with the stares his patch pulled. As a consequence, he strove to take as much recovery time in seclusion as company allowed. When he wasn't with Aly, Eve and Bex, Peri was skulking around his dungeon hideout or holed up in the boy's dormitory. Days were spent staring resentfully out the window at perfect flying weather through monocular vision, and when he was in the bath, glowering at the furniture-inflicted splotches of blue and purple bruises lining his legs. Moving on would take time when the consequences of his loss encompassed every waking moment. Nine days had passed since the ball, and in a little over two weeks, Pericles would be throwing Aly a birthday party. No doubt the day would be inspired by tonight: Aly's invitation offered a much needed respite from his grief-imposed solitude. He knew the Astronomy tower as something of a safe place for her, with its soothing ambiance plus the comfort of open space, and had been grateful to her for sharing it ever since she suggested he join the internship. The note arrived at breakfast and was placed in his left pocket, meant to remind him of it every time he tucked his hand away through the day. It was a way to self-police; ennui encouraged Peri to call it an early night, but his reasonable side knew he needed this. When they first met up again in the dungeons, he was the one that suggested they spend more time together. Their friendship was grounding, preventing one and the other from fading back into the background of Hogwarts. He couldn't possibly pass Aly up. Pericles arrived later than the letter time having detoured to pick up an unusual tool. As he neared the top of the stairs, he heard Aly casting up ahead and- to avoid startling her then winding up on the wrong end of a Flipendo- called "Coming in." Dressed head to boot in dark colorless clothing like usual, Peri wielded an aspen wand to match her own. He walked with a large pot levitated before him. Whatever was within was hidden by a sack, tied shut with twine, though it gave a leafy rattle and trembled beneath the burlap. "Hullo Aly," came the cordial greeting, plainer than he might have liked with his concentration on the planter, though the tired glance he sent her way carried a glimmer of warmth. "Sorry I'm late. I brought a tentacula, thinking she could take care of the doxies while we handle the meteor markings. We have the tower to ourselves tonight, right...? She's a juvenile going through a growth spurt, so she could use the extra proteins, but I wouldn't want anyone walking in on her unexpectedly." A wary squint was sent up at the roosting doxies, who screeched and scattered as Aly began stunning their ranks. Peri stepped over one carefully on his way to her side.
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@Aly Salinger

Fit

I see stars, so many stars tonight...
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As coloured lights flew from the tip of Aly's aspen wand, smacking mostly into doxies but sometimes into the wood of the stairs above her, she grew more and more confident in her spellcasting. Still, there were so many of the little buggers, and she breathed a sigh of relief when heavier-than-usual footsteps and a called-ahead warning announced the presence of the very person she so wanted to see. "Oh, thank Merlin, Peri," she breathed, heaving a sigh of relief as she turned to see her lanky, pale-haired mate sporting a stylish all-black suit and - levitating a sack-wrapped pot? "That's... quite the odd accessory you've got there, mate."

Luckily, the explanation slipped his mouth a moment later, and Aly grinned up at Peri as he came to a stop beside her. Between the climb to the tower-top and the concentration on the levitation spell, sweat had beaded on his brow, and Aly sheathed her wand in favour of pulling the sleeve of her turtleneck over her hand and reaching upwards to pat his forehead dry. "Sorry, I've no handkerchief, but this'll do," she murmured. "Yeah, the tower's all ours. Thanks for bringing the Tent- er, her. I guess if you put her over there, I'll..." The curly-haired bird wandered off to grab her parchment, ink, and quill, mumbling under her breath about meteors and windows for a moment before shaking her head to clear it. Here she was, inviting Pericles to join her specifically to spend time with him, and she was walking away from him? Clambering a few steps up the stairs to the top open area of the Tower, where they could observe the Lyrids in peace, Aly knelt for a moment and placed her face in one of the open slots between steps, so that one of her freckled cheeks was pressed directly to the cold metal of the stair but her eyes were meeting Peri's through the gap. Cheekily, she grinned and teased, "You coming?"

Upon getting to the top of the stairs, Aly took a deep, cold breath of the outdoor air, relieving her lungs much in the same way that throwing a bucket of ice water on someone at the end of a Quidditch match relieves them: not at all. By the time Peri came and joined her, she was already at the edge of the tower, staring up into a night sky that had luckily cleared of clouds since the day's light drizzle. The stars were visible now, shining brightly down onto a Ravenclaw lady, just faintly illuminating starstruck eyes as her own moon came to join her.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to walk away from you down there, I'm just - Merlin, I've been distracted lately," she apologised, looking sideways at him and brushing a stray curl from her eyes. She knew he understood, without having to say so - or the reason why - aloud. "I think everyone has, a little bit. But I'm glad you're here. You've welcomed me into your life, and now-" Aly gestured with a wide swoop of one arm out to the grounds below her, empty as plenty of schoolchildren slept comfortably and hopefully safely in their beds- "well, now I want you here in mine. I don't think the peak has started yet, though, so we have a little time to... er... catch up."

She had seen him more often in the last week, and yet, it felt like years since they had spoken. He did look different, after all, but Aly was determined not to mention it. She was no therapist, but the teenager was quite sure that what Peri would need right now was for someone to treat him normally. That was what she would have wanted, in his... situation. And yet, even with the dark patch over his eye, a stain of night sky on his moonlit face, he was still so beautiful, not just inside, but outside, too. Maybe it was just genetics, or maybe it was the way he carried himself, but there was always something about Pericles Dralt that made you want to look. And look Aly did.

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You could make diamonds dull, you are so beautiful...
@Pericles Dralt

WE ARE ALL OF US STARDUST, HELD TOGETHER BY LOVE FOR AN INSTANT.

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	Putting Peri to a task made for a clever distraction. While some might perceive doxy extermination as a tedious process, most Ravenclaws welcomed a break from the norm, and he was no exception. A trek down to the greenhouses then up to the astronomy tower wasn't ideal as flying from place to place, but it did afford him a chance to clear his head. By the time he joined Aly, he found himself wanting the comfort of company, and the starlette never disappointed on that front. The press of her sleeve to his furrowed forehead elicited a smile both amused and appreciative. When she apologized for the lack of an actual handkerchief, Peri teased her with a crinkled nose and a short "Ew," only to stoop towards the touch with a more genuine "thank you." The floating pot was coaxed onto an open table. As Aly busied herself with collecting supplies, Peri prepped the plant, white wand arching overhead with an incanted "Accio burlap." It darted towards his outstretched hand, revealing a waist-high Venomous Tentacula. The bush stretched her branches and shook out her leaves, extending fang-lined mouths towards the ceiling while vines unfurled below, getting a feel for these strange surroundings. It swelled and rattled as if drawing a deep sigh. One doxy paid the price in flying perilously close, loosing a startled shriek that was quickly cut off by a bolt of venom. The stunned pest tumbled into reach of a snapping mouth and promptly disappeared. Peri watched on with passive contentment, eventually turning to see if Aly caught the first casualty, only to be left glancing left and right in search. "Aly...?" "You coming?" His eye followed her voice towards the stairwell, narrowing into a squint as she took off without him. Cheeky. The eagle shook his head and trailed after, consoling himself with the thought that this was the last set of stairs he'd have to climb for awhile. The air was sharp and clean from the earlier rain. Savoring a slow breath of it, Pericles pinched his collar and tugged it higher, exhaling steam while stepping out onto the observatory. Aly waited outlined in starlight. He traced the silhouette of her wild curls, subconsciously prompted to smooth down his hair, only to stop the second she turned towards him. It was difficult not to be acutely aware of one's blemishes when spending time with a flawless friend. Skimping sleep and meals for the past week and a half took their toll, hollowing his cheeks and shadowing his eyes. Then, of course, was the matter of his latest accessory. Peri half feared her invite had been a coverup for some kind of intervention, and Aly couldn't have been more right in her choice to treat him normally. The bird brushed away the apology, gentle as ever with his reassurances. "It's nothing you need to say sorry for. O.W.L.s just around the corner, and all." Playing dumb was his go-to method of avoiding uncomfortable topics. Yet Aly made quick work of demolishing the boy's barriers, making it clear with only a few true lines that she welcomed him as he was, putting doubts at ease with that seemingly effortless charm. The stiffness bled from the pureblood's pristine posture, stare softening at the chance to catch up. He suddenly wasn't sure why he'd hoped to avoid an earnest conversation. When his father threatened to pull him from Hogwarts over the (latest) incident, his thoughts had gone to his friends- the dread of losing time together like this, of never knowing them better, of their paths parting indefinitely if not permanently. Pericles always assumed he was partial to solitude, but that was before he'd had friends like Aly. She never seemed to mind his eccentricity, his long bouts of silence or recently dour demeanor. Relenting with a small nod, he gestured towards the edge of the platform, moving to sit alongside her with his legs dangling over the edge. "I think I'd like that."
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@Aly Salinger

I see stars - you shine as bright as day...
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Pericles Dralt truly was a wonder. How much had the world thrown at him? - parental trouble, duelling losses, and of course that infernal ball, and those were just the ones of which Aly had knowledge. Yet here he was, as gentle and calm as ever, blaming her distraction not on his injury or the recent turbulence in their lives but on... O.W.L.s? Yeah, like I'm thinking about exams right now. Still, she was grateful for the excuse, and he seemed less uneasy thinking that her nerves were about upcoming schoolwork. His shoulders, usually so rigidly stiffened, rounded just the slightest bit - and that, for Aly, was enough.

Even better, Peri came to sit beside her on the ledge, draping his long legs over the side of the turret with nary a care in the world as to the long drop below. Aly supposed that, when one undergoes a deep trauma, all other thoughts of danger scatter momentarily - a sort of "I've gone through the worst, so nothing further could possibly happen to me" mentality. She was far more tentative in slinging limbs over rock to take a seat on the edge of the tower, even as her white-haired companion expressed that he might like to just spend this time catching up a little bit. After all, they hadn't had a true conversation - just the two of them, no homework or classes or other people hanging over their heads - since a fateful, and rather lucky, meeting on an unlucky day back in October.

And there was so much Peri didn't know about her. So much that, despite her own hesitance to delve back into the darker corners of her past, Aly wanted him to know. The moon in human form had become one of her closest mates as of late, someone she wanted to protect as much as he wanted to protect her, and the fact that she could consider him a friend without him knowing these things... well, it was a miracle. But he deserved to hear that someone else was suffering, too - had suffered. He deserved to know that he wasn't alone in the dark.

"Yeah. O.W.L.s, that's it," she agreed halfheartedly, with only a minor chuckle-slash-scoff that was neither genuine nor sarcastic. "Merlin, I really should be thinking more about those, honestly. But - no, nevermind. Let's ignore those tonight, yeah?" With a wry smile, the Ravenclaw held up the parchments in her hand. "Enough work to be done without worrying about those for the time being." Shuffling hastily-sketched sky charts she'd made earlier in one of her study periods, Aly took a cursory glance back up at the dark, starry sky - often one of her favourite sights. No meteors yet. Or, at least, none at this exact second. The peak would come in time, but for now, it was her curiosity that was piqued.

"So, anyway. Catching up, then. What do you want to know?" she drawled, leaning back off the ledge so that her weight was centered over the floor instead of over the gaping maw of a plummet to the grounds; overdoing the lean made her shift suddenly to avoid crashing backwards onto stone and giving herself a lump on the head the size of an Occamy egg. "I'm an open book. Errrrr... got a Dreadful on one of my Transfiguration quizzes last month. They're putting me on a committee to help organise the summer camp. I applied for the Headliner! - changed Quidditch positions yet again! - oh, and my birthday's next month. Sixteen, almost. Just a year away from being able to learn to Apparate and such." Quirking an eyebrow at her more-than-blonde companion, she joked, "Shall I go on, or are you quite bored of me yet?"

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I will look out for you - we'll light each other's way!
@Pericles Dralt

WE ARE ALL OF US STARDUST, HELD TOGETHER BY LOVE FOR AN INSTANT.

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	Aly's dry snark and even dryer chuckle were met with a lidded, take the out I'm offering look. Yet Pericles couldn't blame her for not wanting to acknowledge exams, and he held up his hands, relenting "Right. No O.W.L. talk." When she asked what he wanted to know, he gave an ambiguous shrug, encouraging her to share whatever came to mind. Her succinct summary of life-to-date was heeded contentedly. Aly's company provided a sense of normalcy, anchoring him to the moment with her realness. The words came a little easier when she was around, especially when they were alone. He also enjoyed hearing about someone else's life, for a change; he was rather tired of being stuck in his gloomy head. "Bored? Of you? Not likely." Naturally his first priority was to offer, "I can help you with transfiguration, you know. Eve likely could, too, if she isn't overly occupied. Most of us have a knack for it." The specification of "us" went unsaid; Eve's status as an animagus remained a secret for a little while longer. Pericles hesitated, recalling each abridged going-on in order before methodically asking: "What is this summer's theme? What position did you take on, and what are we doing for your birthday?"
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@Aly Salinger

You are on fire - you can rise higher, up in the sky...
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Scratching the barren nib of her quill against equally dry parchment, Aly pointedly ignored Peri's equally pointed look, though she could feel his eyes boring into her for the briefest of moments. If he wanted to ignore the Erumpent in the room, that was his prerogative. Still, when he ribbed about never being bored of her, Aly couldn't help but glance up to meet his gaze with an easy grin and perhaps a slight flush of embarrassment colouring freckled cheeks. It was rare to find someone so willing to put up with her in so many ways - impossible, really, other than Dee, and... her father, but he had gone. Just the thought of Benjamin wiped Aly's face clean of a smile. Over a year had passed, but the wound had not yet healed - 'twas still open flesh that stung raw at even the sparest of remembrances.

Trying to shake off the (likely visible) funk that had so quickly settled over her, Aly tuned back in to Peri's short, but comforting, words. Well - comforting, that is, until he mentioned being good at Transfiguration, and the stars stuck their collective tongue out at the moon. "Oi! Not all of us can have natural talent - or the ability to morph into a bird whenever we may like," she added on at the last second, only barely remembering the secret Pericles had shared with her the previous fall. "You still owe me that flight, by the way," ended her section of protest.

To speak of the summer camp was definitely a more welcome topic, and Aly embraced it with open arms. "Oh! Well - don't tell anyone I've told you this, but it's going to be winter-themed. Bit of a change, eh? Bex and I are both on the committee, and we're quite excited. I've even planned up a bit of a winter's ball, so make sure you pack jackets and something a bit dressier. I'll be in red, if you'd like to match." Her grin was back, brighter than ever. "And I finally switched over to Seeker. Figured it'd be a better fit for me, but I'm still second-string right now, though I'm hoping I get promoted to the main team before the match against Gryffindor in May." Finally, Aly waved off the suggestion of doing anything for her sweet sixteen. "As for my birthday, you don't really need to do anything. It's the ninth - a Thursday, so we'll have classes and the lot. Honestly, as long as I have one of those Cauldron Cakes I've got stashed in my trunk back up in the dormitory, it'll be a good day for me. Your birthday, on the other hand..." She raised an eyebrow at him, squinting green into grey. "Remind me when that is, again? June? July?"

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Enjoy the view, you stars...
@Pericles Dralt