Ciao, Mio Gemello Character Development Closed

Perhaps it was the way the air was too sticky and humid for London weather, perhaps it was the fact that it had been raining for hours, perhaps it was even the fact that the whole day had just seemed too sluggish for Piérre’s taste, but he knew that something was wrong.

Something was totally, definitely wrong.

Piérre watched the rivulets of rain trickle down the window and listened to the solid pounding of the overweight raindrops overhead within the dry and warm Gryffindor common rooms. It was a miracle that it wasn’t hail that was coming down at the moment. It had been quiet all day so far, and Piérre never liked it when it was quiet. He was quiet when he was causing trouble, and the fact that the silence was being turned back upon him was making him uncomfortable and quite anxious.

So when he spotted a silhouette quickly dash out of the Hogwarts gate and pull a hood over its head, Piérre’s eyes widened. Someone was out there, in the rain? It was like a torrent! A flash flood could show up any second. Was this person crazy!?

Piérre loved crazy!

Without a second to spare, Piérre snatched a black raincoat and his wand before dashing out of the Gryffindor painting and sprinting towards the entrance to Hogwarts’ grand castlesque entrance.

Piérre pushed the doors open, which he found had already been slightly cracked to let another through before him. A small, lithe figure, which was evidently keen upon not being followed.

The tempest swirled, battering the young first year back and forth as he tried to follow the elusive shadow, which seemed to pace ahead of him without an issue whatsoever. It was near midnight, both Piérre and this runaway would be in deep trouble if caught. A night in the headmaster’s office to be sure if Piérre didn’t get sick first.

Fat raindrops stung Piérre’s cheeks and cold ran water ran down his spine as his hair was whipped back and forth and his ears were made cold and red. It was miserable, even for a native-born Italian used to hurricanes and tropical storms around the Mediterranean.

Finally, the follower and the followed stopped before a choppy, terrifying black lake. The lake that the first years had ridden upon when they had first come to Hogwarts. It was different now than what it had been hardly two weeks earlier. Gone was its glassy, serene tone, and replaced was the wrath of a monster, eager to swallow and destroy anyone who dared come close to its banks.

”Hello!? Can you hear me?! Who are you?! What are you doing out here?!” Piérre’s voice was tiny and shrill, like a mouse trying to squeak through an entire orchestra of noise.

For a second, the shape paused, and turned back. Piérre caught a glimpse of dark brown hair and bright, scared blue eyes. The face looked like a young boy’s.

A newfound fear welled up in Piérre’s mind. Tonight was a perfect night to go missing...

And stay missing in the eternal blackness of the Great Lake.

”Please come back! You’ll get lost or hurt if you try to swim! The Great Lake is dangerous!” Piérre called out, cupping his hands in a meager attempt to project his voice. ”Whatever you’re going to do, don’t do anything drastic! There’s so much to live for!” Piérre was buffeted by a freak current of wind. ”Please!” Piérre begged. ”Come back! Just walk toward me! Everything will be okay!”

Those enchanting blue eyes began to blur, swimming with tears as the cloaked form wavered in the sheets of rain which came down. ”I... can’t...”

The words were quiet, almost whispered. Almost as if the voice hadn’t spoken.

”Yes you can!” Piérre called, taking a shaky step forward and shielding his face form the stinging downpour. ”Just come back to me! I can get you inside to talk to a nurse. If you need help, the Headmaster can help, just please, don’t jump! Don’t jump!”

A pair of small hands left the black cloak, traveling slowly to the hood of the cape where mocha hair was whipping back and forth across the unblinking cyan eyes. Slowly, the hands drew the hood down as the person lowered their head. When they looked up again, their eyes were filled with tears, and their mouth was turned in a bitter, crying frown.

Piérre’s heart stopped as the rain froze midair.

It was Romeo.

Time seemed to come to a pause as the Gemini looked at each other with a shared an mixed sorrow. Piérre shook his head, disbelieving. ”N_No... no...”

”I can’t stay here, Piérre. It’s all been arranged. It’ll be for the better if you take to your studies alone. The headmaster doesn’t know I’m leaving tonight. I haven’t even told him that I’m going. Maddie’s taking me to Durmstrang. I’ll get a good education there too. I just couldn’t let you know, Piérre. I knew this would happen.” Romeo’s lip was quivering as he spoke, his young voice shaking with an uncalled for tremolo. ”I’m sorry.”

Piérre couldn’t move, couldn’t speak as he let the words hit him in full force. The air in his lungs froze as every individual raindrop seared through his flesh, melting him from the inside out. This couldn’t be happening. This was a nightmare. Piérre would wake up and Romeo would still be bunked beneath him. He would wake up and their lives would continue as normal. Romeo wasn’t leaving because he couldn’t! He couldn’t leave his own blood behind! He couldn’t!

”Piérre...” Romeo whispered, voice shaking. ”Please...”

Piérre only shook his head, staggering backwards and almost tripping over a stump. The mixture of his heartbeat and the tempest swirled in his ears, deafening him completely. He couldn’t. Romeo couldn’t. Piérre had tried so hard to protect them, to keep them together.

”We’re never going to have a Happy Ever After, are we?” He asked, almost to himself.

”We will, Piérre, but right now, I can’t stay!” Romeo cried, clenching the suitcase he had in both hands tighter. ”I have to go! Don’t you see? This is the only way we can be happy! This is the only way that we can both find our happy endings! I’ll still be in owling distance, all you have to do is write!”

”BUT IT’S NOT THE SAME!” Piérre screamed, falling to his knees. So many emotions bottled up inside him. His parents, Romeo, Maddie, the Bianchis... Why couldn’t anything work for him?! Why couldn’t the world be fair to him for once?! Now his twin was being torn away from him. Piérre stared down at the ground through his clenched jaw and red eyes.

Before him, a puddle swirled, and Piérre looked at his reflection within it. He looked sad, yes, but he spotted more within his eyes. Fury, betrayal... madness.

Those eyes looked maddened. Driven to insanity. The eyes of someone who has been tested and tried one too many times. And his teeth, clenched, and twisted into a cruel grin. A smile fit to make the most brave of heart quiver with fear.

”It will NEVER be the same...” Piérre listened to his voice, low and rasping. It sounded to cruel to be his. ”You betrayed me. You betrayed me just like EVERYONE ELSE!!!” Piérre glared up at the foolish boy, the one he had once called brother, ”I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!!!”

Behind Romeo, a wooden mast was slowly rising from the depths. Romeo’s crystalline eyes were wide and terrified at Piérre’s outburst. Piérre wanted to stand, to hold Romeo back, but his body was cold and numb, unable to react as the rest of the ship rose out of the Great Lake and some unknown person threw a rope over.

Romeo quietly grasped hold of the coarse material, and in the blink of an eye, he was pulled aboard. Piérre stared up at his brother, eyes red and filled with tears of betrayal as his crossed arms were held close to his chest. He could feel nothing. He felt the cold and the rain and the wet mud between his knees as the boat slowly sank again, losing itself in the depths of Hogwarts’ awesome lake.

As soon as the ship was gone, the rain stopped. The tempest dispersed as if controlled by magic.

Piérre was silent for a few moments, watching the tiny ripples from where the majestic boat had once been. The first quarter moon shown proudly above, but the thin clouds hid many stars of the constellations. Mister Equinox would have a hard time trying to find any stars on this dreary night.

With a cry, Piérre fell on his hands, burying his face in his arm. Romeo was gone. Romeo was really gone.

A primal scream left Piérre as he threw his head to the heavens. He wanted everyone to hear him. He wanted everyone to cry alongside him. He wanted to be heard and loved. He wanted to find a place where he would belong. He had tried so long to be happy and shrug everything off like it never bothered him.

This was his breaking point.

”AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Piérre’s voice echoed thought he mountains, over the lake, and through the turrets of the castle. Students would claim they had heard a werewolf’s cry of agony or a manwolf’s call. Digging his fingers into the cool mud, Piérre’s shoulders began to shake. He wanted to be found here. He wanted to be loved. He wanted someone, anyone to care.

Did anyone care?