19 Sep 2021, 16:12
Potions and avoidance
@Simon Kincaid
There were couples who were almost inseparable. No matter where you saw them, they were in pairs. At lunch and dinner, during free time, in class, they sat next to each other and if they belonged to the same house, they could only be found in the common room in pairs. Simon and Haley were not like that. They valued the time they spent together, but they remained two individuals. As much as Haley liked Simon, she also needed her space and the feeling was mutual. In class, no matter what subject, they never sat next to each other. Not that it would be bad if they did, but it had simply never happened - at least not in her first year.
The second year had begun, Summer Camp was over and the first fight with Simon was not too long ago either. Every time she thought of that fight, she had to think back to the summer holidays, to what had happened at her grandfather's, and every time she thought of it again, her body twitched inside. She only wanted to forget, but she could not. She couldn't forget what had happened, she couldn't forget the pain and just as little could she forget that she had promised Simon to tell him everything. She would not break her promise, she had never broken one before, but she would try to delay keeping it as long as possible and that meant keeping contact to a minimum.
As much as she missed Simon and wanted to be near him, she couldn't. She knew it would come up and she would have to try to avoid the subject again, as she had done several times before. She spent most of her free time the last few weeks doing homework, studying and reading. And all that indoors, she avoided the sunlight and holed up in the common room or her dormitory after class. Her grades rejoiced from all the studying, but her socialising suffered.
She was packing up her bag when she remembered that she had Potions in a moment and, startled, her eyes snapped open. It wasn't the subject or the professor, it was Simon. They had this subject together and not only did they have it together, but they were sitting next to each other for the first time, completely by chance and unplanned. On the first day, Haley was almost late for class and when she got to the basement, all the good seats were taken except the one next to Simon. But at the same time that meant she couldn't avoid him during that time. Not his looks, and not his questions, written or verbal. "Damn." Muttered Haley quietly to herself as she made her way out of the common room.
All the way to the Basement, Haley pondered the coming situation. How would he react? Would he call her on it or just give her the evil eye? They hadn't seen each other for a week, even on weekends she had spent her time studying and reading. At mealtimes she would be there when almost no one was around and quickly finish to get back. She didn't know what was waiting for her, how he would react, but she knew that any reaction from him was justified and she was still a bad girlfriend and she hated herself for it.
But the moment of truth had come, she strode through the door and her eyes fell on her empty seat and her gaze met Simon's a few seconds later. Haley lowered her head and walked as unobtrusively as she could to the empty chair next to Simon while chewing on the inside of her lip. As she carefully sat down, set her bag down, took out her parchment and quill, she murmured a soft, "Good morning."
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
20 Sep 2021, 13:24
Potions and avoidance
Sitting next to @Haley Rose, by no choice of her own
At first when Haley said she needed some time, he was totally cool with it.
Totally cool.
He and Haley had gotten past the distance of the Summer, past the avoidance of each other's company, past the lies and closer toward an understanding. If she needed time, he would do his best to be that supportive boyfriend and give it to her.
Only, 'some time' turned into quite a bit of time.
The last remaining days of Summer Camp came and while everyone happily chattered about their musings of Summer or chattered happily on their anticipation of the next school year - he was met with more distance, more avoidance, and no understanding.
The first beginning days of Second Year came and while everyone caught up with friends that didn't attend Summer Camp or chattered nervously about what expectations classes held this year, he was still met with distance, avoidance, and no understanding.
It wasn't for lack of trying. Each day he had this internal battle on whether or not to bring it up. He had given her more time so he was trying to be patient. At first, he didn't bring it up at all in hopes that she would be ready to talk. He was her secret keeper after all and she could tell him anything; right? Still, now and then he would begin to bring it up only to be shot down and that's when their visits became more infrequent and shorter. She wouldn't give him the opportunity to ask again. Was she really planning on telling him?
Simon used to look for her every time they were changing classes, pinpointing in the corridors the school's many redheads to find his own but anymore he hadn't been doing that lately. Why? She didn't even want to talk to him. She didn't even want to see him.
He tried to be understanding, but the confusion overwhelmed him. It made him feel as though she really didn't care anymore so he was slowly submitting into defeat.
Simon still cared. He cared that morning to realize she wasn't in Potions. Was she sick? Haley Rose never missed classes.
Placing his notebook and quill out on his desk, Simon bookmarked quickly the chapter they would be working on in his Potions textbook and glanced up as she came through the door. Her usual seat had been taken over ten minutes ago and he realized that there really was only truly one seat left. He watched her, curiously. When this class had first began, he was excited to share it with her but she made it a point to never sit by him and now there was no choice. For a moment her eyes locked with his and he gave her a small little wave, not necessarily out of the ordinary for him, and she sat down, busying herself with setup for the lesson.
"Morning," he said to her. It obviously wasn't a good one for her. She had the misfortune of having to deal with him. Simon sighed, wondering where exactly things seemed to go so down for them and took his quill, scripting out the date on the top page of his notebook. He knew it best not to say too much. He wasn't someone she wanted to interact with.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
21 Sep 2021, 13:35
Potions and avoidance
@Simon Kincaid
The room seemed as still as ever, everything was blanked out for the young gryffindor and all she heard was the scratching of Simon's quill on the parchment and his soft snort. As much as she wanted to, she still couldn't be annoyed by it, because he had every right to act like that. Not for long, soon I will tell him - she admonished herself, but the question was whether it was more of an intention or a lie. She tried not to let her thoughts deviate too much and concentrated on her lessons. She would not have to hold out for too long. Merely listen, answer questions, and take notes. No opportunities for conversation or awkward questions. She should be able to manage that, right?
She gave Simon a quick smile before picking up her quill and preparing to take notes on the lesson, but things turned out differently than expected. In just a few seconds, a commotion arose throughout the classroom. Partners were found, utensils gathered and soon she found herself back next to SImon with the task of brewing a Sleeping Draught. "Okay we have 4 sprigs of Lavender, 6 measure of standard ingredient, 2 blobs of Flobberworm Mucus and 4 Valerian sprigs." she remarked, focusing on her notes and the recipe.
Haley let her fingers crack, she was nervous, but she had to get this over with. Just because they had more time for conversation now, didn't mean they would use it for that one conversation at the same time. "Should we start?" she asked now addressing Simon and looking at him expectantly. "Maybe you should start to tell me what happened." she heard Simon murmur. It was soft, but she could hear him clearly and his words caused a stab in her heart. She knew he was right, but she couldn't - she didn't want to remember. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. She held herself back, she was in debt and she didn't want to start any drama. "Simon, please." she whispered as she added 4 sprigs of lavender to the mortar.
"No, not Simon please." he whispered back now, only more energetic and the anger was clear to hear. Haley looked anxiously ahead and around, it seems no one had noticed yet. "This is not the right Place." she admonished him now, slightly angry as she added 2 measure of standard ingredient to the mortar and began to crush it into a creamy paste using the pestle. She took her anger out on the ingredients and crushed on and on while looking annoyed at the creamy paste that was developing. "Are you going to help me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, dropping the pestle on the table.
"Are you going to tell me?" was his reply and Haley clenched her fists in response. Again a quick glance around the classroom, no eyes were on them at that moment. She now put everything down from her hands and took a step towards Simon, glaring at him. She was at a loss for words, still knowing he was justified in acting the way he did, but they could hardly talk it all out here and now, right? Right.
"Mhm."was the only Sound she made.
Permission for godmode by Simon Kincaid
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
1 Oct 2021, 16:14
Potions and avoidance
Trying to understand with @Haley Rose
"Mhm..." he repeated her utterance. Mhm meant agreement or acknowledgement but honestly, Simon just took it as extending out her avoidance. "And when, exactly?" he continued. He was pushing it and he knew it. They were in class so he was figuring it was a terrible place for an outburst and so she probably wouldn't yell at him. Then again, Haley could be the fiery redhead she was so maybe he was walking a thin line.
"Mhm, I'll tell you right now? After class? Next week? A few months from now? After we graduate? Maybe after we've had three children." ...At least he was projecting they'd still be together despite the long time frame.
He did still want them to be together and maybe that's what was so frustrating about this entire thing. It wasn't that he wanted to give up on her. He was her secret keeper and she was one of the few he trusted more than anything - so why couldn't she tell him? How was he to begin to understand anything when he was left so far in the dark?
Simon saw the professor circling the classroom and sighed, grabbing one of the ingredients they needed to use. He didn't want the professor noticing their little spat or maybe they would change out partners or make them do it separately and he didn't want that either. Plus, maybe if he'd calm down, Haley would be more apt to wanting to speak with him. He hadn't been very pleasant to her lately and that needed to change. He glanced over to her, his eyes connecting with hers, and hoped she could see that he he was sorry for being so snippy with her. He just wanted to understand.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
1 Oct 2021, 22:33
Potions and avoidance
@Simon Kincaid
Of course Simon was not satisfied with her answer, and he had every right to be. But here and now was hardly the right time, but would there even be the right time? She released her gaze and turned away again, looking at the table in front of them. After all, they had a potion to make and not their relationship problems to discuss, at least it was her personal excuse not to talk about it further, let alone think about it.
She exhaled loudly and slumped her shoulder. She hated all of this. She hated the way she acted towards Simon, that she couldn't bring herself to talk to him about it. She hated all that had happened and that she was such a stupid, stupid child. Unconsciously, she pulled her sleeves up and went through the prescription again. The wounds on her arm had almost completely healed but left their mark. Some of the wounds were so persistent that they still hadn't healed and every time she looked in the mirror, they reminded the young girl of the events in the dark cellar.
As Simon was about to add one of the ingredients, she realised they had forgotten a previous step and quickly grabbed his hand to stop him. As her hand touched his, she immediately noticed the familiar coldness he radiated. Her gaze was fixed on their hands and she tried to remember the last time she had even touched his hand. For a few seconds she was caught up in the moment until she was startled to realise that she had unconsciously exposed her arm and the perpetuated memories were visible. Since she was actually wearing long sleeves, she saved herself the trouble of putting on make-up and so everything was quite clearly visible to anyone who was just close enough. Hastily, she released her grip from Simon's hand and pulled her sleeve back down. Panicked, she looked around her and to her relief it seemed that no one had noticed anything.
Again her eyes met Simon's and she sighed again. "Mhm I just don't want to talk about it right now." Was her response to his actual question. Luckily for her, he could talk about children, which meant he wasn't planning to leave her in the next few days yet, but could she have blamed him at all? She wanted to talk to him, but she just couldn't. She couldn't muster the courage to relive it all.
The rest of the class passed relatively quietly. They both tried to avoid further conversation and after dropping off a sample of their potion to the professor, Haley had, as usual, quickly disappeared from the classroom, fleeing reality and the fact that she finally had to face the truth.
The only one who fear death are those with regrets