I appreciate your pity. Oh wait, no I don't. Pv Finished

It was a normal quiet day in the library as most days were. Now and again there might be one conversation among a group that wasn’t so quiet and the librarian sent a shush their way, or there was that one time that Simon witnessed a Ravenclaw break down over a grade that was less than outstanding from a professor.

It was quiet though today, until there was a loud slamming of a stack of books, falling to their doom upon the floor.

Simon had been in another section close by and heard it, and that caused him to look up. Shelves of books blocked his view but he got up and headed around the corner to see the student picking up books while the other student that sat beside them kept on reading. Being the Hufflepuff that he was, he headed over to offer up his assistance, plus he wanted to say hello to his friend.

"Here you go," he said, taking a few of the heavy ones and set them back down on the small table near the chair. He then looked over to Paige who probably noticed he was there by now. It had been awhile since he had seen her and he had frankly become rather worried. The few people he had asked around hadn't seen her either.

"Paige, hey," he said to her softly, still rather concerned. Now that she was there in front of him he would have thought he'd feel more comforted but something about this situation still didn't seem right.''

"Been awhile. If you've been trying to avoid me, it has just failed," and he came and knelt down right by her chair and smiled up to her, slipping his hand over hers and giving it (what he thought was) a soft squeeze.

Paige wasn't one to avoid him ...or to call the library stupid. Obviously something had been wrong and he didn't want her pushing him away like she often wanted to do when things were going badly.

Simon watched her, trying to get a feel for what to make of the situation before him but he was still rather confused. What he knew that was needed though for certain was some alone time and he looked over to the other student. "I'm sorry to intrude, but would you give us a moment?" he asked politely. The girl was already distracted from her studies from the book dropping and now Paige's kicking at the floor and she glanced to the two before nodding.

It took her a moment but she gathered up her things and headed to somewhere else in the library perhaps, Simon didn't really know, but she had granted him his request. Simon now looked back to Paige, glad that it was just the two of them now in that section of the Library.

"What's happened, Paige? Talk to me. What's wrong?" She couldn't truthfully say nothing was. She was being awkward here and she just didn't need to be awkward - not with him. Ever.

He got up and moved the chair that the girl had been sitting in so now it faced directly across from Paige's and he watched her, curious as to why she kept tugging at her sweater and at how stiff and awkward her motions were. It was almost as if she was trying to cover something up. He would be so bold as to push up her sleeve himself ...but he'd wait and give her a moment to talk first.

Trying to have a conversation with @Paige Chase

“I’m wanting understanding, that’s all.” Friends deserved that. He wasn’t there for pity, only to help. Simon was always one to try and build someone up the best he could. He wasn’t going to encourage Paige to feel this way - that would be pity.

Once again as she crossed her arms he noticed the stiffness but this time it wasn’t due to an awkward position trying to not let the cast be seen but the actual hard cast. He looked down, apprehensive to take he hand again because she was being so cold with him and he didn’t want to make her upset. Still, this was all very out of character for her and showed him that she needed him more than ever even if she didn’t agree.

“Please tell me what happened,” he said, his voice lower now, softer. His eyes connected back with hers. Simon slowly reached out, and before she could pull away gently touched her arm, finding evidence to what he already thought - a cast. He had never broken a bone himself but he had previous friends that had.

And in his opinion he figured there was a pretty big picture here because if it was a broken bone due to a playful game with her brother or a fall from a tree then she wouldn’t be filled with all this anger. Simon wished he could take it all away.

@Simon Kincaid

Paige's eyes widened as Simon took her arm and lifted up the sleeve to see the cast. She looked away. "I didn't want you to see my like this." Her voice was a whisper. " I didn't want you to see me as weak! But hey, I guess we can just get into everyone's business now, huh? Well, I guess this doesn't matter anymore!" She held her arm out, no longer hiding it. "As stupid, dumb cast. And you really want to know what happened?" Paige grabbed one of Simon's hands. She looked him in the eye, scared. "I had a dream. A dream where I was taken home from Hogwarts, which I was. A dream where my dad tried to take me, for money. To a scientist. And I ran. My dad had backup. It was so scary, Simon. Really. But my Aunt came and pulled me out of the lake in which I was drowning, and told me to head to the stables. I ran off on my horse, but fell off. I climbed a tree and my dad shot me down with some needle that put me to sleep. Turns out, I fell asleep on a tree and was startled and fell down. But not before I ' woke up in my dream ' and the scientist was my ex muggle best friend's dad. Days later, I woke up in the hospital with a concussion and broken arm. I went home, and I swear I saw my dad hiding in the bushes, looking. I begged to come back, and finally my mom said yes. The dream keeps repeating, except each time, the dialogue is different. And I'm scared, Simon. I'm scared, and weak." Paige wiped the tears from her eyes, wiping away the makeup and revealing the cuts.

Simon listened. He didn't like how she called herself weak but he didn't interrupt and listened as she told him about her trip home, how she told him about her crazy dreams, how she told him about falling from the tree and the connection between the dreams and real life events, and how she thought she saw her father watching her.

"Breaking a bone doesn't make you weak," he said of her cast. He also looked over her face to see the cuts and bruises and was gently as he slowly brushed his hand along her cheek to try and wipe away some of the tears. "Even the strongest of people get physically hurt sometimes."

"And being scared doesn't make you weak either. In fact, there's more bravery in living a life while scared of something than doing so when you feel invincible." Those that lived in fear fought a harder battle every day than those that weren't because they had to battle all that life threw their way AND their fears. No, there was nothing weak here. "There's nothing weak about you, Paige...even if you feel that way."

The nightmares though, he could tell they must have been bringing her down because he could see it in her eyes that what sleep she had been getting wasn't good sleep. "I wish we were in the same House. I'd tell you to sleep in the Common Room along side where I am so I can be there for you." It wasn't as if he slept most nights anyway and she looked like she could use the comfort. "Maybe you could take in a nap? I'll stay right by your side."

@Simon Kincaid

See, times like this Paige says and feels one way, but the deep deep deep truth is hidden there. You would need someone who knew her to translate the words. Even Paige needs a translation. She thinks shoes supposed to feel one way. " Doesn't make me weak... really. Really. It's really scary, okay? Please don't try and act like you understand cause you don't, you never will." Translation: No one gets me, but please don't leave me. I really need someone who can try to understand right about now. "Well clearly there is something weak about me... my arm. My heart. You are totally right but I don't want admit it so I'm fighting the truth with mean sarcasm.

Paige yawned. "As much as that seems nice, I'm not two. Besides, you need... need... ~Yawn~ sleep too." She was beginning to feel the consequences of not sleeping. She yawned once more. Everything was nice and quiet back here... the light wasn't too bright... She was safe with Simon... Her eyes began to slowly close. Before she drifted, she pulled out a stack of opened letters from her mum saying they saw her dad running on the grounds of their house again. But at the bottom of the pile was an unopened letter from her father. She than began to slide in her chair as she began to fall asleep.

Simon's gaze didn't waiver from hers but this was now the second time at Hogwarts that someone had compared him to a two year old. Maybe maturity really wasn't his thing but he knew his heart was in the right place trying to help his friend and while Paige seemed to see herself at the moment as less than she was, he didn't.

He noticed how tired Paige seemed from the moment he first met up with her but more so now and it only grew as she spoke with him. She mentioned he needed sleep soon and he was about to interject that he barely slept at all when he noticed that she seemed to be nodding off there, fighting her sleep more and more with each passing moment.

Not so much for cold weather but for sun-cover, Simon always had a hooded sweatshirt or his cloak with him in his bag and today was no exception. He pulled out his hooded sweatshirt. He moved his chair back beside hers and placed it on the arms of the two joining chairs now and brought his arm around her. He didn't like to see his friend this worried but it didn't make him think one bit less of her.

"Rest, Paige," he whispered to her, brushing some of her hair softly away from her face with his free hand. "I'll stay here the entire time."

Trying to keep it quiet for @Paige Chase

They still had awhile until curfew and Simon didn’t mind staying in the library. He pulled out one of the books he had with him and kept his arm around Paige as he began to read it.

Simon was a patient person, especially when it came to the feelings of others - and even more so when that someone was his friend. He cared a lot for Paige and just hoped that she would pull through her troubles but even if not, he’d be there for her.

At one point two boys at a shelf of books nearby began to get rowdy and loud. Simon looked to them, glaring just slightly. “This isn’t the place for that,” he said to them. They weren’t even first years, probably third years, and they both glanced to Simon but there was just something that they decided not to snap back.

Maybe it was dhampir stuff kicking in. Maybe they were going to be courteous to Paige. Either way, they motioned a sort of silent apology to Simon and then left the area.

Simon glanced down to Paige, hoping they didn’t wake her. She needed her rest and needed her peace. And he just wished he knew some way to help her more.

@Simon Kincaid

About a half an hour or even an hour later, Paige didn't know, she began to wake up. First, her hand moved. Than she blinked her eyes. Slowly she got up, with a smile in her face. This was new. Usually she woke up with a fast beating heart, sweating, tears. But she was calm, well rested, and was feeling very, very thankful. She brushed some hair out of her face. "Thank you. Thank you, thank you. I cane even- I wasn't scared, when you are here. I didn't feel scared yet it was the same dream. I- I can't thank you enough, Simon."

Paige hoped Simon understood how much he has done for her. She would be lost with out him, really, she would. His friendship was important. " Do you- Do you want to meet up in the rehearsal room sometime? Or ask if we could go stargazing? It will be fun. The least I could do after all you have done. Oh, and I need to give you a huge bag of lemon drops." She smiled, before she let tears come to her eyes and her voice dripped to a whisper. "You really have no idea, I've been so scared and stressed but with you- Simon, with you I feel safe. So thank you."