Following the Brave PV Harlan

Apparently Harlan had been raised with better manners than Dee, because he leapt into action at once, even getting up from his seat to reach the orange juice and offer it to her. Lips quirking into a smile, she filled her cup while he sat back down, and added yet another opportunity to tease him to her ever-lengthening list. She set the jug down on the table with a shrug. "I guess I did? After you declared to my face that you were going to devise some sort of devious prank for me, I figured I should watch my back." Not the reason she'd been looking out for him at all, but far easier to say out loud. Dee was a master in the art of dancing around uncomfortable topics. She raised an eyebrow. "Still waiting on that one, too, by the way."

She lowered her eyes for just a moment, staring at the empty plate in front of her, while she added, "And after the wedding, I thought I should check in on you." Dee had taken the events mostly in stride, which was perhaps worrying in itself, but most students didn't seem to have her vast experience with traumatising events, unexpected attacks and dark magic these days. Most of the younger kids should probably have been sent to talk to a counsellor after that day. (Most of the older kids, too.)

But either she had overestimated the need for this, or Harlan liked to do some dancing of his own, because in the vague explanation about his whereabouts during the summer, the wedding didn't make an appearance. "Bodensee?" Dee asked with the flash of a grin, thinking back to their first conversation and the rambling triggered by Peri's presence. "You missed a fun camp, though. I could have won a teddy bear for you at the fairground games." She raised a knowing eyebrow. "Or even tricked a certain someone into taking the Amortunnel ride with you."

She did find herself vaguely disappointed by the reason for his absence at the races. Despite herself, she'd been impressed with the apparent determination Harlan had showed to face Peri and her on eye level last summer. It hadn't lasted, it seemed. "Finn," she repeated, pulling a face, "needs to mind his own business." She sniffed slightly. "Abandoning racing for Quidditch makes me question whether you were as smart as I thought." She drummed her fingers on the table thoughtfully, wondering whether Peri had said anything more to him. It seemed unlikely, Peri was usually the more nurturing one between them. "In Quidditch it's just gonna be Aly kicking your ass instead of Peri and I."

But apparently Harlan already had some experience in that, and Dee's fingers stilled at the huff and the eye roll, amusement spilling across her features, settling as an impish glint in her eyes. "This is refreshing," she announced, her eyebrows rising as Harlan's hand rubbed against his neck, as if recalling something vaguely threatening. What had Aly done to the kid? "Usually people think Aly is the nice, sane one." Not without reason if she was honest.

The amusement didn't quite disappear but she sobered up slightly when Harlan seemed reluctant to ask his mysterious question among his fellow students, not few of which were likely attempting to listen in on the conversation. Intriguing. Nodding, she grabbed a bread roll off the table to compensate for the lunch she was about to miss, then got to her feet. "Right. Let's go, then."

@Harlan Montgomery

"Mmmmhm." Dee drew out the humming sound, accepting the comment equanimously as she helped herself to some pasta. A girl needed to eat, after all. She supposed her statement, as much as it had been an excuse, would make her very Ravenclaw, and she wondered when that had happened. Had she grown to fit her House, or had this always been her? She'd accepted that the Sorting Hat may have had a point years ago. "Some would just call it paranoid, but I guess I can blame that on this school." This school, and all the things she'd gone through during her time here. An overly ambitious Gryffindor was really the least of her worries. Stabbing her fork into the pasta, she grinned at Harlan's renewed promise. "Make it worth my while, then."

They were both dancing around the real topic, though. The flinch when she mentioned the wedding didn't go unnoticed, but also made her hesitate to dig further into the issue right away. It was a sore spot, one that she wasn't to keen on pressing in public. The rest of his summer seemed the safer topic. "You have a sister?" she asked, surprised. If this was her last year at the school, she must be Dee's age, which meant that Dee probably knew her, too, at least in passing. But it was a valid explanation for his absence in summer, and her teasing was shrugged off with an ease that was telling. "Hmm." Dee took a sip of the orange juice, sounding slightly disappointed. So Harlan was past his crush on Peri - or at least, he claimed to be. How boring. Oh, well.

Dee led them to the doors of the Great Hall, then let Harlan decide where to go next, listening with a faint smile to his complaints. Mock-outrage spread on her features when Harlan's insults expanded from just Aly - which had been funny, and Dee would take great pleasure in recounting them to her best mate later - to include her, too. "Hey!" she protested, blowing up her cheeks for a pout. "What have I ever done to you... actually, nevermind. Don't answer that." Despite their limited interaction so far, she had probably amassed quite a list of transgressions where Harlan was concerned.

They didn't go far, turning to the side right outside the Great Hall, just enough off the main doors to get a modicum of privacy. "Yeah," she confirmed what was likely a rhetorical question. Friend seemed like such a weak description of what Winnie was, but she didn't have a better one, so it would do. Confused, she gave him a questioning look. Was this about the wedding? Despite reconfirming the statement himself, Harlan trailed off, uncertain. A moment passed in silence, and Dee frowned, scrutinising his expression, the nervous shifting, the doubt on his face. It carried on long enough that she was tempted to prod for more information when Harlan finally took a step closer and started speaking again.

The first question was returned with a shrug. She didn't know much - they were powerful, influential, sketchy as fuck; Vladimir had a tendency to return from the dead, Papa Athanatos was in deep with some bad shit. Gideon was possibly evil personified, and Matt was only slightly better. She was about to say as much, but Harlan just kept going; spilling the words like they'd been stuck in his throat for the past four months. (Maybe they had.)

"What?" The word came out too loud, echoing into the entrance hall and bouncing up the main stairwell. She winced at her own voice, but couldn't contain the shock bursting inside of her, sharp and cold. "What do you mean, possessed?" she hissed, reaching out to grip Harlan's forearm in a tight hold, fingers digging in. "How? When?" The words were tight, urgent, panic taking root in her chest, edged and visceral, trauma coming back to call. Her other hand came up to Harlan's jaw, forcing him to meet her eyes. "Is it gone?"

@Harlan Montgomery

Panicked urgency had Dee's fingers digging into Harlan's arm without her realising while she stared into his eyes, desperate to confirm that whatever had possessed him at the wedding was truly gone. Impossible, of course; she hadn't seen it in her own boyfriend for almost a year, how could she be sure about Harlan?

It took a few seconds longer for his words to reach her, to fight through the odd haze brought on by her fear. You're hurting me. Dee flinched, snatching her hands back when Harlan tried to pull away. She was breathing too quickly. "Sorry," she whispered and closed her eyes, bringing her hands up to cover her face for a moment. Exhaled, slowly, trying to steady her thoughts. Logic would help, panic would not.

Thankfully, Harlan's words gave her something to focus on, to center her spinning thoughts - even if those words were confusing more than helpful. She let her hands sink with only a slight tremor, and raised both eyebrows. Piano monster hybrid man? Veelas? All that had been going on while she'd been what, talking to Aly and grabbing drinks? She absorbed the information quietly, trying to sort through what Harlan said, trying to match it with other curses she'd seen. Her heartbeat steadied.

After a full, deep breath, she finally looked at Harlan properly. He was shaking, voice unsteady, and Dee could feel tendrils of guilt weaving into her gut. She hadn't noticed any of this was going on at the wedding, and her reaction just now had probably made things... worse. "Hey," she said quietly, worry furrowing her brows. Harlan had taken a step back but she followed, reaching for his wrist again. This time her touch was soft, reassuring. "You're okay. We'll figure it out." Empty promises, considering she didn't really know what it was.

She shrugged, looking away when Harlan questioned whether things like this were a regular occurrence. "Not... exactly, I don't think." It didn't seem to match up. She'd expected hags, not Veelas. There was no aggression, no personality changes, as far as she could tell. Her eyes flitted back up to meet his. "You're not insane." The statement was matter-of-fact. She hadn't doubted his words for a second. "Have you had any... memory gaps since then? Problems with your temper? Feeling any different?" she questioned. Those had been Jack's symptoms. If he didn't have them, did that mean he was fine now? Another thought occurred to her. "Been feeling tired, or constantly exhausted? Like you're too tired to stay awake, but sleeping doesn't help?" That's how she'd felt, after her blood had been used in that hag ritual. All the terrifying curses she'd seen over the years, but she felt like she barely knew anything.

Chewing on her lip, Dee tried to think. "Do you remember anything else about what happened? About the Veelas, or the... piano monster hybrid?" Those seemed like the best place to start.

@Harlan Montgomery

Dee kept forgetting that not everyone at this school was as jaded as she was. That not everyone reacted to life-threatening, mind-crushing events with a deep sigh that said not again and an wide arsenal of spells on their tongue. It was a good instinct to have in the heat of disaster, less so in situations like this, ones that required emotional intuition over cutting wit. She was too intense for this, too focused on solving the problem instead of taking care of those caught up in its wake. Logic might have helped her focus, but it was clearly not the best way to approach Harlan in his current state. When the Gryffindor broke down, just steps outside of the Great Hall, Dee found herself at a loss.

"Shit," she muttered after a moment of hesitation, before gingerly kneeling down next to him, robes pooling around them, a sea of black. Wishing they'd moved just a bit further, maybe around another corner, she gave any gawkers nearby a glare that would send them scrambling, then paused once again, lips pressed into tight lines, tense and uncomfortable. Harlan was rocking himself back and forth, shaken by sobs. It was a pitiful sight, heartbreaking, even, and Dee's shoulders slumped. She exhaled softly, rubbing a hand across her face. Her fingers twitched slightly before she reached out, curling her fingers around the nape of his neck; not to stop his movements but to remind him of her presence, maybe give him an anchor to ground himself with.

"Hey," she said, voice quiet but determined. "Harlan? Harlan, look at me." The words were lined with a subtle edge of command. Intense was what she was good at, after all. If he listened, she'd meet his eyes, hold them, gaze steady, even if she felt anything but. "Tired and angry is okay. Natural, even, after what happened to you." At least she imagined it was, but that was probably less certainty than he needed right now. Half-truths were the strategy of choice, at least until he'd calmed down. There was really nothing else she could do in his current state. "It doesn't sound like anything I've seen or heard of before." Certainly not like what had happened to her, or to Jack. "I don't... I don't think you're possessed or anything, not anymore. I don't know what was going on there. But we'll figure it out, yeah?" In part to help Harlan, in part to find out what the hell was going on. If it would give more insight into the Athanatos family and what Winnie had unwittingly been dragged into, Dee had to know.

@Harlan Montgomery