I Would Not Wish Any Companion PV Part One Fin

Presenting Reid with a half-smile, she nodded. She knew that he was right. Her hatred was justified, and Reid wasn't arguing that with her. For that she was grateful. Time and time again had people attempted to talk her out of her feelings, suggesting that, somewhere along the lines, she was in the wrong. But on the contrary, this had absolutely nothing to do with Alexx. Aurelia hated her parents, not her. That was reasonable. The blonde girl also hated her parents. But instead of moving on with their lives, Aurelia decided to also bring Alexx into the mix. To make this, somehow, Alexx's fault.

She let out an exasperated sigh, blowing a piece of loose hair away from her face, but only to have it fall right back down. "It's fine. You have a right to be curious." She shrugged, turning her head away from him and looking straight at the ground. She wasn't upset with Reid for asking. She supposed that if Aurelia could recognize her, then people were doing their research. She wouldn't be hard to find if someone was really interested.

But through all this, as complicated as it was, she managed to smile at her friend. "Thank you, Reid. I suppose you will have to know sooner than later if we plan to keep... What is the English term? Traîner. It means when you... When you spend time with someone." She said, thoughtfully. Alexx was sometimes forgetting English. It wasn't that she wasn't fluent in English, because she was. It was, instead, that Alexx forgot English quickly when she was nervous. Her mind went straight to French.

Suddenly, a brilliant thought came to mind. "Do you remember Douglas? The plant we managed to keep alive? This is in relation to nothing, by the way. I think Scully might like him. Let's get him back." She suggested, cocking her head to one side. "I mean, why not? It's the end of the year, basically. If you meet me in the Greenhouses tomorrow, I'll tell you everything. Willingly, of course. I think I want to. And, at the same time, retrieve that poor plant from such a dreadful place."

It was a totally off-the-wall suggestion. Alexx, a Prefect, would never willingly suggest that they steal from the Greenhouses. But it wasn't exactly "theft". In her mind, Scully was theirs. They had every right to Scully. So why had Alexx suggested this? Well, she was bored, mostly. She wanted to change topics. She also wanted to spend time with Reid. There was a myriad of reasons, really. She was just sporadic like that. Alexx was an adventure within herself, and those around her would just have to grow accustomed to it.

And in all honesty, Reid was the perfect person for her to surround herself with. Kind. Charismatic. Gentle. Patient. Reid was everything that was good and nice about the world. Reid was slowly making his way into her heart; a permanent home. She didn't mind, of course. He was perhaps the most loyal and trustworthy person she had met so far.

So, she offered him an adventure. An offer that he (hopefully) couldn't refuse. Because Douglas deserved some love here too.

The mood had definitely changed, to which she was more than grateful. As much as she loved Reid, now really, really wasn't her finest hour. She had even slipped up and called him by his first name. That didn't usually happen, but she didn't think he caught it, either. Her whole world was a mess; shaken. Whether or not he could tell how deeply afraid she was, she couldn't tell. She wanted to remain strong. Mostly, she didn't understand why showing Reid that she wasn't weak meant so much to her. Why she acted as if there was any reputation to uphold, or like his opinion really mattered. It did matter, and that was because he was her friend. But outside of that, what was it? Why did it matter? Reid could think that she was disgraceful and terrible, that she should have never been born. He could think that. It wouldn't be illegal to do so. But why did it matter so much to her that he didn't think that? She spent so long promising herself that she wouldn't depend on others or their opinions of her, and when all of that began to change is when she became hurt like this.

Knowing that she wasn't in any sort of trouble with him was relieving. Knowing that he was capable of moving on, unlike people like Aurelia, was the most relieving. It was so easy to hate people. It was so easy to be blinded. Reid was a good friend, and his judgement was pure and unbiased. That was what she loved the most about him in this moment. Somehow, he was able to not judge her based on her attitude alone, nevermind that she practically just stated that she was linked to some dark and sketchy stuff. Her name was drug through the mud time and time again, but somehow, Reid was not concerned about that in this moment.

She still needed to find a way to tell him. How could she sugar coat that? How could she deliver it to him easily? She had an instinct to say it. To just be like, "Hey, my family is absolute shit, hope this doesn't change anything". If there was going to ever be anyone else to know, it would be Reid. That was a funny thing for her to consider because she was thinking like she didn't trust him, and yet she would trust him with her biggest insecurities and fears. He could easily run and tell the school. What else could he do, though? Tell the Headliner? She worked for them, so it wasn't like it would make it on paper. But the ears of others would be enough to break her. He would have the power to do that.

But she knew that he wouldn't. Reid was loyal and kind and understanding. Reid was all things good in the world. She needed to have faith in her friend, even if it was scary. The closer they got, the more they risked drifting apart anyway. Alexx had a lot to lose, but Reid had just as much on the line if her friendship meant anything to him. She valued people who cared. Before Hogwarts, she didn't know that people like Aurelia could exist. People who were hurting so badly that they would make others hurt too. These days, even the sight of the Gryffindor hurt her. Before Hogwarts, Alexx didn't realize that people were cruel. She knew, but she was naive. And despite that she didn't have a desire to get close to people, it was inevitable eventually. She just got lucky with Reid. She got extremely lucky, actually. Someone nice and constant to call a friend.

Cracking a smile at his commentary, even if some of it was foreign to her, she nodded. "Never said I was a good Prefect," She said, tilting her head to the side and raising her eyebrows. "I've been good all year. Kept myself out of trouble. Mikey likes it that way. I don't want any howlers from home. That'd be embarrassing."

Mikey insisted that Alexx stay out of trouble. She had to. The Ministry would be watching their family close, even after the divorce. Even after everything had settled. She couldn't blame them. But slip-ups... They couldn't afford for her to even put a toe out of line. It wasn't as if she'd be hauled off to Azkaban for receiving detention, but it was definitely a precaution. On top of that, they didn't need for their name to be soiled. They had done a good job keeping the Séverin name clean. Mikey wanted to keep it that way.

She nodded, listening as they walked. "We tagged him, remember? I'm sure bright blue paint would be easy to spot." She watched in admiration as Reid gave a pat to his toad, recalling something to him. The word wasn't familiar to her. Caded. She agreed with herself that it must be some dialect from wherever Reid hailed from. And that certainly prompted the question, "Where are you from, anyway? You've got a weird accent. Not that it's bad, just different." She couldn't believe that she had never thought to ask him. The conversations between them were always smooth and natural. They got along perfectly, and it was no wonder that Alexx had gotten so comfortable with him as quickly as she did. She had been so caught up in all the fascinating things about him that she had forgotten the important stuff. In fact, she was beginning to realize that they didn't know that much about one another at all. He knew by now that she was French, but that was it in terms of her personal life. There was room for bonding, but they should probably get it out of the way quickly.

Reid was definitely a kind soul. Not many would take in a pet that was damn near useless. Not many boys would be caught cradling a pink fluff ball, either. Fragile masculinity was high in numbers at this age. But Alexx couldn't help but find it sweet of him to love a toad that required some extra care. She certainly wouldn't have picked him. She wasn't a sensitive or caring type. She wanted to be. Alexx longed to have a range of emotions wide enough to touch the souls of others with. She wanted for that to be her, but it just wasn't. Others might have found beauty in her coldness, the way that Quinn did, but she just couldn't. Quinn definitely reminded her that she was worth something, but when they parted after that, her thoughts consumed her again. Enough negativity to believe that it was a bad thing to be so guarded and cold. The belief that all she would ever be good for is telling people what to do. There was a lonely girl behind the badge.

She was about ready to change out of this uniform. It was uncomfortable as hell, and not worth a moment spent in it. But she wasn't going to rush the conversation. She valued time with her friends. "He likes the wild, then. Well, I'm sure he and Douglas will be the best of friends. N'est-ce pas, Scully?" It felt silly to talk about Douglas and Scully as if they understood. She caught herself doing it to Rosalie occasionally and then would ask herself what she was doing.

It was about time for Alexx to head off. Now that a plan was in motion, she should really be making her way to her dormitories- which, she recalled not so fondly, was in the dungeons. But she knew just what she was going to do. She knew how to show Reid that she wasn't the product of monsters and that she wasn't terrible like some might think she is. It was a stretch, but her insecurity wasn't going to allow her to live with people possibly fearing her.

TRANSLATIONS:
N'est-ce pas, Scully? - Right, Scully?

Alexx's cheeks and nose painted themselves in a dusty shade of pink at his words, her face turning sheepish. Sometimes she could recall when she had slipped up and spoken in French. She was usually really good about catching that. However, she did suppose that there was bound to be other instances in which things... Slipped. How often was it happening? How many times had she spoken to him in French without knowing? Still, it caused her to blush, and she suddenly felt embarrassed and rude. Her mother had taught her that changing languages in the presence of others was rude, and something only to be done if you didn't trust them. She hoped that this didn't make Reid feel as though she didn't trust him or didn't like him, because it was quite the opposite. She just got carried away sometimes.

"Oh... Sorry, I forget sometimes that not everyone speaks French. It's my mother tongue, you see. I'll try to remain in English." Rubbing the back of her neck, she looked away from him. It was safe to say that Alexx found herself easily embarrassed at times. She didn't like to believe that she had done something wrong or incorrect, because she was typically afraid that that was the case. She found it hard to take.

Deep down, she knew that Reid wasn't mad. If he were mad, she suspected things would be going a lot different right now. It was her own self-criticism that was eating at her. She didn't know what else to do other than apologize and look away. And change the subject.

"Dar...by? Sounds interesting. I don't spend much time in Egland these days. Perhaps one day I'll pay you a visit. I reside in France. Or... Did. I don't know where we're going to stay now. I hope I don't have to move schools, but I think my Grand-Mère Bonheur has a place just outside of Bordeaux." She explained, but then suddenly felt sheepish again. It wasn't often that Alexx spoke about herself to anyone. She kept most things holed up and didn't care to indulge others in it. But Reid had a funny way of making her speak. There weren't many other people, if any others at all, who could make Alexx come out of her shell in the way that he did. She kept everything on a need-to-know basis. Reid didn't need to know about any of this. She just wanted him to know. That was rare for her.

Her face went red again. "Sorry. I speak too much. Made it about me. Anyway, we can learn all about one another tomorrow. I need to leave, I have some owls to write. Au revoir- I mean, see you later. Bye, Scully." She felt extremely selfish talking about herself, and she absolutely hated it. Still, she found it in her to wave him goodbye. She also took the chance to open the palm of her hand, allowing the Pygmy Puff to return to her. In this process, she had stood up on her tiptoes (granted, Reid was a ways taller than her) and gave Scully a gentle pat. "Tomorrow at three. Greenhouses. Don't look suspicious."

Running off, she didn't really know where she was going. She just needed to get back to her common room before she exploded.

EXIT ALEXX.

EXIT.