A Blanket of Stars Closed

With a start, Rhea looked up when a voice sounded from afar. She turned around swiftly, unable to comprehend that yet another person had found their way up to the tower. She pressed her lips together, furiously wiping at her eyes, not wanting anyone to see her tears. Anyone else, that is. 

She squinted, trying to make out who the person was, but there was no need to. The boy was getting closer as he spoke, and Rhea recognized him from the ballroom, where he was her partner. She sighed and made sure her tears were completely gone and tuned into what he was saying. 

"Houses determine what kind of person you will become. It surrounds you with like minded people. If a Slytherin was put into Hufflepuff they would eventually become Hufflepuff." Rhea tilted her head, trying to understand what he was saying. Was he wrong? No, he wasn't. The more she thought about, the more she realized he was right. When she first arrived at Hogwarts, the young redhead thought she would be sorted into Slytherin and surrounded by people she hated - yet, they were familiar, and Rhea had spent her entire life surrounded by people like them. But then, to her surprise, she'd been sorted into Gryffindor. Gryffindor, where the brave and outgoing people went. People like her. Slowly, she was turning into a Gryffindor. It was surprising, yes, but true. His words struck a deep chord inside the 11year old, and in an act of sudden bravery, she decided she would send an owl to her parents as soon as possible. She had to proud of who she was, a Gryffindor. She was a Gryffindor now, not some salty, rude, selfish Slytherin. (Okay, maybe Slytherins weren't all that bad, but that was what Rhea thought in the midst of the moment. Don't yell at her for it). 

Rhea grinned at the other two, her tears long-forgotten. Who would've guessed that two strangers, or at least two others who she hadn't previously known, would help her feel so much better. Rhea was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't hear the boy continue talking. Mostly because Alina let out a small scream and clutched Rhea's arm tightly. Rhea laughed and gingerly pried her fingers away, but Alina did so herself when she saw who was approaching. Seems she knew him, like Rhea. 

"I have a house, if you two want to stay somewhere. Well, cottage. If you want to use it, I can let you borrow it over the summer." Rhea looked up at him, a grateful look on her face. She had no doubt that her parents would be furious, loathful even, and would without a doubt kick her out. She would need a place to doubt, and this cottage would be very nice. Of course, not the Bishop mansion, but anything was better than nothing. Alina introduced them to each other, and Rhea was too lazy to tell her that they already knew each other, so she just nodded. 

"What about your family, Kaegen? Don't they need the cottage?" Alina asked, questioning the way they would have to share the house. Rhea's heart dropped. She thought they had a separate, empty, cottage that her and Alina could share. But she would have to share a cottage with both Alina, Kaegan, and his family? Rhea didn't know if she had that in her. Stupid rich-girl habits, she thought to herself, a small frown growing on her face. She sighed. 

"It's fine if you don't have space, really," Rhea said. Yeah, probably hiding out in the forest around our house. No, maybe even living on the streets for some time. Bloody hell, this is gonna be fun...

"No, grandfather hates the house, and besides he's here now I think. My mother and father are dead maybe? You can use their bed, and there is still food and stuff. I can just sleep out in the hole."
The hole was a pretty safe place, actually. A hole in the ground with a lid that locked from the inside. If no one else was using the cottage, they might as well. It was safe as long as they didn't go outside. The unknown probably wouldn't like them. Would it? Well, it might. He hadn't really seen anyone else his age go into it, maybe it loved kids, and not just Kaegen. They weren't very quiet, but maybe they could learn? Was being quiet even a condition that applied?
"It's not very clean, but there are more wards than I can count. And there is a flower garden within the wards, too."
He knew that at least the flower girl, who he couldn't remember the name of, liked flowers. And flame had liked the one he gave he as a alliance gift. It was kind of strange how not very many people aside from him were handing out gifts at the start of friendships and alliances. Did no one know about the customs? He supposed it didn't matter much, in the end. As he was bringing his thoughts to a close, he noticed that flame's eyes seemed a bit puffy and irritated looking. She was crying, or had allergies. He wasn't sure what to do about the crying part, but for allergies you just had to wait for the season to change. Maybe the same could be said for crying.

"No, grandfather hates the house, and besides he's here now I think. My mother and father are dead maybe? You can use their bed, and there is still food and stuff. I can just sleep out in the hole." Alina raised her eyebrow. That simple sentence alone raised a lot of questions for her.

"Wait, a hole? No way are we going to let you sleep in a hole in your own cottage. That's so rude. We can charm the bed to be bigger, or my papa taught me a spell that turns regular furniture into other furniture. He used it whenever he got into a fight with my mama and he had to sleep on the couch. He turned it into a bed." She looked between her two friends and smiled. It was nice to have company, especially on a night like this.

"It's not very clean, but there are more wards than I can count. And there is a flower garden within the wards, too." Kaegen continued. Wards? Was it dangerous where this place was? Or was it supposed to be a secret from others?

"A flower garden! That sounds so wonderful. I could probably sleep out there." She giggled. "You two can have the inside of the house. Besides, I used to sleep on the beach all the time when I was a kid. It's quite relaxing." She turned to Rhea. "What do you think, Rhea? Should we take him up on his offer? The house will be pretty much empty and we can have the run of the place." In her head she imagined a brightened cottage in the grasslands with a large garden and lots of sunshine and warmth. Complete with her two friends. It would be happier there than at home, at least for her.

So, apparently the boy slept in… a hole. Rhea tried not to raise an eyebrow and scoff, and mostly succeeded - however, thoughts formulated in her mind, thoughts that she didn’t approve of. This was what she got for spending so much time with her parents, even when they didn’t want her around. And, the house would be empty because… his parents were dead? How was he so casual about this?

Rhea started to worry about him.

Alina then joined in, adding her opinion. Of course they couldn’t let him sleep in the hole, whatever it was - maybe they could find some sort of pull out couch? Or maybe they could just abandon this whole plan. Besides, Rhea was sure that she wouldn’t need it. Her parents wouldn’t find out about her Sorting results. Never. She would keep lying to them, if she had to, no matter how much it hurt her. But they couldn’t find out. Never.

Rhea tuned back into the conversation. He had a flower garden? How nice! Maybe Rhea would spend her time tending to the flowers, if she did, in fact, end up moving to his cottage. But they still had to resolve the problem of who would sleep where, especially when Alina said she would sleep in the flower garden. What was with these people and proposing sleeping outside, not in beds? Seriously, it disappointed Rhea. She would have to invite them over to the Bishop mansion soon, where they could sleep in comfortable four poster beds. 

"What do you think, Rhea? Should we take him up on his offer? The house will be pretty much empty and we can have the run of the place," Alina asked, and Rhea contemplated it. Although she didn’t want to think about what would happen if her parents find out that she was in Gryffindor, Rhea knew that she had to have a backup plan. Just in case. In case her parents finally confirmed what they knew all along - that they never loved her, that she was a mistake, that she was unwanted and the only person who did spend time with her was her nanny, who was paid to do so - and was now retiring.

“Erm… yeah, sure. Why not? Better to have a plan than no plan, right?” Rhea managed a smile, but it slipped away as she contemplated everything a little bit more. What if… what if no one actually wanted to talk her? These two, what if they simply wanted some peace and quiet and Rhea was ruining it all? What if… What if Rhea’s enthusiasm was a negative?
What was happening to her? She was second guessing everything, something that’ had never happened to the young Bishop before. Attempting to push her thoughts away, Rhea smiled at the others and laughed. “This should be fun.”

"If you need to hide somewhere, just go to somewhere in the highlands, somewhere quiet. And just listen for it. The fens will call you, then all you have to do is follow."
He thought of the cottage in the middle of a barren swamp filled with death and acid. Bones could be seen here and there, a few flowers eking out a living, their colors dull and faded. The mists covered the dangers, the horror, the pure misery of the place. It was not a place for anyone to live, not even a wizard. But the cottage had enough protection around it. It had a few faded flowers, dark purple and grey. It was bleak, and terrifying. Something you would see in a nightmare. But it was still someplace the boy could call home. His backyard had shaped him into what he was. His grandfather made sure he didn't die, and Kaegen made sure he kept learning. Kept improving. If you knew what you were doing, you could be fine there. The dangers hardly crossed Kaegen's mind as he thought of the wards, and how he could survive fine. If he could survive it, couldn't they?
But then he noticed something. Something small. Flame's smile was small, then gone. Replaced by a look he couldn't place. It soon returned, however. With a small laugh. That wasn't right, was it? Maybe she got a stomach cramp. Stomach cramps sucked.
He gave her his best shot at a comforting smile. It probably wasn't quite right, but with any luck it would work. Or maybe he got it confused with a happy smile. They were really similar, anyway. It was one or the other.