Aren't we all just children? Icarus Sable Closed

With the sun beginning its descent beyond the horizon, the sky began to dim to allow for the stars to come out and play without worry of being overshadowed by the sun's brilliant light. Icarus' lanky shadow followed in step behind him, stretching out ever further as the late evening approached. The boy walked with a hastening pace for he was not keen on stumbling over his feet in the darkness, or perhaps worse, be caught past curfew and miss out on the so-called secret ball that was mentioned in hushed whispers in the common room. This was especially so since the first year Slytherin had made an effort to find a rather lovely flower that caught his eye while on an earlier stroll around the castle grounds. His search had not been in vain, for tucked in the lapel of his emerald sweater vest was a long-stemmed plant dotted with tiny flowers dusted with a pink blush. Apparently it was heather, or at least that is what Icarus identified it as from a botanist journal in the library. Unlike the heather that surrounded the particular little plant, the flower stood out from the rest with a vibrant pink, demanding attention to it from its much duller cousins beside it. Ever so gently, Icarus had clipped the stem and tucked it in its temporary home in his lapel pocket, reminding himself to cut his stroll short to give the little plant a well-deserved drink of water so that it would survive throughout the ball.

Strolling along the edge of the Great Lake, Icarus enjoyed the gentle breeze that tussled his curly locks and brought the sweet smell of a blossoming spring. Alone in his thoughts, the boy tucked his hands in his vest pockets, lazily kicking a pebble he came across with the edge of his shoe. A splash rippled across the lake as a stone whizzed past his nose, landing with a plunk. Snapping back into reality, Icarus' eyes narrowed and the Slytherin whipped around to find the person who sent the stone in motion. Instead of finding one of his Gryffindor enemies, Icarus spotted a somber-looking girl with her back against a nearby tree. By her lack of acknowledging him, the boy deduced that she simply hadn't seen him along the lake's edge rather than believing the stone was meant to instigate a fight between them. Half of him wanted to shrug his lean shoulders and continue on his way, the other wanted to pry into the girl's business as to why she wore a frown. The curiosity grew as soon as he recognized the girl as a fellow Slytherin, someone who he had seen around the common room from time to time but obviously Icarus hadn't made an effort to introduce himself.

Until now. Marching his way up the sloped hill, Icarus folded his arms across his thin chest and wore his usual scowl. Icarus' shadow was cast over Opeila as he stood in front of the girl, his eyebrow quirked ever so slightly as he spoke. "Watch where you're throwing next time, not everyone is as forgiving as I am." He commented with a snarky tone, acting as if he was a saint when he was the just the opposite. It was his own selfish chase for some sort of entertainment to break the humdrum of the day that led him to approach Opeila.

With his nose turned slightly upwards in an arrogant manner and his eyes studying his perfectly manicured nails in boredom, he hadn't bothered to make more than a glance at the girl. When his hazel eyes met Opeila's, he found tumultuous storm of emotions within their green depths. He had to remind himself she wasn't a pesky Gryffindor, but one of his own housemates and therefore deserved more than the snootiness he radiated. Without an invitation to sit, plopped himself in the grass beside Opeila and rummaged around in the pocket of his sweater vest. When he pulled his hand back out, a wrapped chocolate truffle was in his previously empty hand. Unceremoniously he tossed it at his fellow Slytherin, "Here, it looks like you need this more than I do. Just promise you won't throw it into the lake, aye?" His nose crinkled in disgust at his own act of kindness...or whatever that was. Scooting back to press his back up against the tree, he brought his long legs to his chest and curled his arms around them.

"So, why does it look like someone croaked in front of you? I've seen abandoned dogs looking happier than you." As insensitive the question seemed, there was genuine concern laced in there somewhere, buried beneath a layer of a cruel comparison and a nagging tone. He took the stem of heather from his lapel pocket, examining it a moment before speaking up once more, "You...you look like I do. I can recognize that dread from a mile away. It sorta just creeps up on you one day and doesn't go away." Gently thumbing one of the petals in thought, Icarus glanced back at Opeila once again, "The name's Icarus Sable. What do they call you, Sad Eyes?"

Opeila had still not noticed the boy at the edge of the lake. She had not waited for the stone to hit the water, with a sudden wave of anger she turned her back to the water again. Her fingers locked at the back of her head when she sent a short angry scream towards the disappearing sun. Frustration, loneliness, fear, united as hot anger inside the little girl.

The light wind carried a voice to her, a boy's voice that asked her to watch where she threw her stones in the future, not everyone was as forgiving as he was. Opeila was too emotional to feel embarassed or sorry. She walked down to the lake and sat down in the grass next to where he stood. "Forgive what? It's not like I hit you."

He was just another arrogant Slytherin boy, too taken up with his own fate to care. Like all of them seemed, except for Flash maybe. At least that was what she thought, until she found a wrapped chocolate truffle tossed at her. She managed a little smile when she looked at the little thing in her hands. "Thank you.", she murmured.

Opeila did not open it. She kept it in her hands and stared at it when he asked her what the matter was. That her unhappiness was clearly visible. It was dumb. The same sort of impulse that got her to trust Jack Burnett. That allowed her to care for the redhead. It was that impulse that also made her want to trust this stranger, who's name she didn't even know. "I've... I've done something. Something bad. It could have killed people. And now I have to fix it. I've been selfish and I didn't know... I mean- How could I, he tricked me. And still it was me who enabled him to do what he did. I hurt people. That's what I do. And I have to fix it. I'm gonna end up dying and I might be missed for a week. A month maybe. By people I can count on one hand. I don't mean anything. My attempts don't meam anything, it is all useless. I'm alone with this, they can say what they like."

Tears had started to stream down her face during the monologue that the boy probably didn't understand at all.
He told Opeila that she looked like he did. The dread that came and stayed. The little girl now first really looked at him. The two pairs of green eyes locked and Opeila calmed down a little. The fear, the hopelessness was still there, but his expression confirmed what he had already said, proved Opeila's last words wrong. She was not alone with her unhappiness.

"Self-destructive, selfish and naive. Alternatively Opeila Seilun.", she answered when he asked for her name. "Hello, Icarus."
Nice to meet you would have been a big lie. Nothing of this situation was nice.

@Icarus Sable