A Very Long Night

[Shalamar Ovanisse]

Shalamar ran humiliated from the hall up the stairs then realizing that Daniel might follow her, ran down along the first floor corridor trying the door handles on her way until one gave. Opening it quickly she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Looking at it for a moment she waited hoping that he had not followed her. She had been wrong to go to the Yule ball, wrong to have said yes to him.

Face flushed still with the embarrassment of his trying to kiss her and spilling drink on her dress, Shalamar was grateful for the fact that only some of the candles in the room only flickered on. She looked down at the horrible stain on her dress and cringed at the mess. It was ruined and she had no wand with her to attempt to clean it either. Pulling herself up on to the desk she gathered her legs up and tucked her knees under her chin she closed her eyes and allowed the tears to fall.

 

[Henric Lee]

Creeaaak...

The rafters groaned as an unseen weight pressing upon them lifted slightly. Serpentine eyes, glowing like those of a cat's orbs, luminous in the dark, swiveled down from their blank staring at the ceiling and locked onto Shalamar instead. The soft rustling of robes echoing across the silent classroom was the only sound that could be heard as silent footsteps sent dust spiraling down below. Hanging directly behind Shalamar slowly, like a Ninja quietly descending for the kill, the darkened figure turned at a deliberately impassive speed.

"I didn't know someone else liked to skip the Yule Ball..." The voice rang out, followed shortly afterwards by a dry chuckle as the darkly handsome face of Henric Lee was thrown into sharp relief by candlelight. Turning swiftly, in a flourish of robes the boy landed on the ground neatly, and then rose to look at her inquisitively. "... Hm? ... Ah, Hello, Shalamar..."

 

[Shalamar Ovanisse]

Her tears began to mingle with the stain on her dress, nothing worse can surely happen at this point she tried to reassure herself when a distinct voice rang about the room. She would recognize the voice anywhere and kept her eyes tightly shut. Hoping that when she did open them that he wouldn't be here. He would simply be a figment of her imagination. She wondered briefly if her sadness at how tonights event had turned out had conjured him and as he said her name she lifted a tear stained face to look at him.

Shalamar was not conscience at all of how subtle her beauty was and how delicate and fragile she looked when sad. If he was just a dream then she could ask him anything, say anything, do anything and it would not matter.

"Why is it that when I am at my worst, at my weakest you find me? Why can you not come to me when I am strong, when I have no need for you but the one..." she faltered, what if he was not a dream. Her small hand wiped a tear from her face as she looked at him.

Would he mock her, insult her in some way? She did not think she could take it if he did. Sliding slowly from the desk she stood just in front of him, flight once more on her mind. The only thing that stopped her was that Daniel might be outside looking for her.

 

[Danny Boyd]

Danny looked about the entrance hall that had been teaming with students coming and going from the hall, he had even ventured just outside of the school doors to see if she were among the students getting some fresh air but there was no sign of her. So he continued his search back inside the castle wondering if she had gone back to her house.
He reached the first floor and looking up and down the corridor called out her name.

"Shalamar! Shalamar!" he quickly continued his way up another flight of stairs intent on his search.

 

[Henric Lee]

"Oh, I'm like a parasite you see..." The pale boy drawled, making a sweeping motion with his long-sleeved robes and brushing the waxwork, causing the candles to snuff out instantly. Tilting his head slightly, the boy noted the clumsy fumbling of someone headed towards them and the distinct voice calling out aimlessly. Turning his attention back to Shalamar, he continued in his silky, seductive voice, "I'm drawn to weakness... I fill the gap in your hearts with my lies... Subtle delusions, illusions..."

Pausing, he glanced up at the ceiling and the dusty old rafters whilst apparently in deep thought. "Why am I telling you this ...? ... Maybe because I have the feeling you just won't be able to refuse me... Maybe." The shadow of a smile flashed past Henric's lips as he reached into his robes and removed his wand silently, raising it up to tap upon her throat.

 

[Shalamar Ovanisse]

Shalamar knew in an instant that he was no dream as one slight movement extinguished the only real light in the room. 'A parasite?' so that was what he considered himself to be this time, she wanted to run now just to get out of there but she heard her name being called by Daniel and stood stock still unmoving, unblinking. The room was dark now, she could make out his outline. His voice wrapped itself about her, but his words did not touch her. She had witnessed something else in him before and held to it. He could play his games with others but she was not fooled by them and if he thought her weak then more fool he. She did not move as she felt the tip of his wand touch her throat.

"Your feeling then betrays you. I can refuse as well as the next person" her slender hand was as silent as his had been, touched his now. Covered his wand hand like a tender shroud, "Perhaps if you just ask me without placing us in darkness and putting your wand to my throat. Why do this when I am indebted to you and would grant you of all people a favor gladly?"

Shalamar had managed to steady her breathing but she was alone in a dark room with Henric Lee, the boy who filled her every waking thought, the boy who haunted her dreams. Had he finally tired of her then? Had she finally become uninteresting to him? The thought stung deeply. The night was obviously going to be a very long one indeed. She moved to step back from him but found instead that she had taken a step closer. In the darkness she could feel his breath, hear his breathing. No other sound but the gentle intake of her own breath at coming so close to him, too close to him.

"Let me go, you have no need of me."

 

[Henric Lee]

His icy breath seemed to take form and unfurl, whispering into her ears as he chuckled, a low, musical sound. His wand still directed at the tender flesh of her neck, he leaned in close and murmured quietly, his eyes flashing gray like a tempest storm. "Because life like a big, big jigsaw... It's like a game..." He closed his eyes momentarily, and the moment of intimacy Henric Lee displayed for that one spit second was gone. Lowering his wand, he breathed, "Scourgify," siphoning off the stain upon her dress with a lazy flick of his wand. "Your prince awaits." The pale boy said coolly as he listened to Daniel's voice calling out in the distance, stepping away from her and leaning back upon one of the large windows, his sihoulette resembling that of an overgrown bird of prey in the night's darkness.

Like dripping, liquid disappointment, he watched her with shadowed eyes and veiled emotions, chuckling merrily again as he added, "A game you can't win, can't forfeit, and can only, eventually, lose."

 

[Shalamar Ovanisse]

Her eyes instinctively closed as he spoke so close to her ear. She was undone, completely lost and struggled to come back for air. He was playing with her, all she had hoped would never happen was now transpiring before her. In almost an instant he cleaned her dress and she frowned as he announced that her 'prince awaited'.

"Don't... don't do that" her voice had a defiant tone to it, as she watched him move away from her to the window. She could make out his silhouette properly now. Turning to look at the door she slowly shook her head as she stepped back further into the room.
He was right of course, she could not win, could not forfeit and had always known she would lose but did that in turn mean that she should not try, could not at least give whatever chance life through at her a decent effort?
"He is not my prince" the words were stark and almost surreal in this darkness as the boy she fervently wished to be her prince was just inches away.

Shalamar walked to the window beside the one he leaned against and looked out upon the dark sky. Her hands held the window sill as she tried to think, tried to put some semblence of sanity into her thoughts.
"I know I can't win, I have always known" there was no defeat in her voice, no surrender to him as the story of the woman who asked the scorpion for help came to her mind. He had promised the old woman that he would not harm her in his attempts to help her but of course he invariably nipped at her with his stinger. When she questioned him why, he had merely said... 'it is my nature'.
Shalamar knew that Henric's nature was as dangerous as that scorpions and no matter how he would rescue her, help her he would invariably have to hurt her. It was his nature and she had accepted this from the very first.

"You did not go to the ball?"she kept her gaze fixed on the stars outside, not wanting to tempt her heart any further by his closeness.

 

[Hoshi Icchihara]

Sliver stelleto heels gleemed in moonlight as Hoshi Koshiba came back from seeing her escort off to bed. It was still early but he didn't seem quite as festive as he had earlyer. She heard voices in her path along with a snippit of conversation. "He did not. I would know." She said as she fixed her black yet sparkling shall over her shoulders. "Percatuinary measure really. The poor girl that ended up at the ball with our Lee-san would most likly be tormented for a good part of the night. Like wise he would be tormented himself if he where to show up alone." She said her voice as kind and pleasent as the smile on her face.

She seemed like the perfect doll at the moment with her kind and well practiced smile on her face. "A pleasure to see you again Ova-chan." She said. She made it a point to sound a bit like her old self even though her harsh, abrasive stance seemed to have been replaced by one that was more inviting. She observed the pail boy by the window then bowed her head slightly. "Lee-san." She said brightly enough.

 

[Henric Lee]

Henric Lee's fierce gray orbs darkened considerably, as if the storm was beginning to rise. "Koshiba." He greeted quietly, his voice a soft, serpentine hiss as he turned his head slightly to view her. His face showed no real expression as Hoshi took it upon herself to start explaining in her usual manner to Shalamar; pale fingers curled aorund his wand slightly, and in an involuntary jerk of movement, it looked as if he was going to whip out his wand and curse them all in the heat of the moment, but instead, he stashed his wand back inside his lengthy robes.

The moment gone with the arrival of Hoshi, he nodded once with his usual perfect artificial smile plastered upon his face as he passed the two girls without noise as he made his way across the room. "Good night." He called, and he left it a hanging question as to he who was bidding a well-evening as he disappeared out of the classroom, his footsteps fading into the darkness as the festive sounds of the Yule Ball overshadowed his light presence.

 

[Shalamar Ovanisse]

Shalamar turned her head only slightly at the different voice from behind, the sound of the shoes across the floor had at least alerted to her to the fact that it was not Daniel. She closed her eyes tightly, squeezed them shut as Hoshi spoke about Henric is such an over familiar way. They seemed to obviously have a history together, remembering the magazine from the year before Shalamar wished she could simply turn and leave. Could simply switch off her heart as easily as Henric had snuffed out the candles.

She sensed more than she heard his departure and only opened her eyes when he said the words 'good night'. Still she did not turn around but cast her gaze upwards towards the stars as she looked out the window. As she did so her hair tumbled from her shoulders to fall neatly straight down her back, the thin straps of her dress revealed for the first time the birth mark etched on her left shoulder in the shape of a dragon. Sometimes she thought it had appeared on the wrong sibling, that it was meant for one of her brothers and not for she. There was nothing of a dragon in her at all. She did not fight for him, she left him walk away from her time and again. She denied too often the tremors of her own heart that only he had been able to create.

Shalamar did not speak hoping her silence would entice Hoshi to leave as well, leave her alone with her thoughts. So he had not gone to the ball then, had not taken anyone. She did not know whether to be happy or sad about that and as she mulled it over in her mind, she remained standing like a statue by the window.

 

[Hoshi Icchihara]

Hoshi put her hand on the side of her mouth but kept in the laugh that was bubbling up inside her. It looked he meant stay away this time but she wondered how long it would really last. Hoshi waited for a mement to give Henric a chance to dissaper again then made her way to the door. "It hurts doesn't it." She said over her shoulder. The silver snakes where more pronunced against the back of her dress then ever. "To know that the one who owns your heart thinks of you as a toy. You try and denie that you love him, you try and believe that if you could just love another than the scars would go away." She continued as she held on to the door fraim.

"But they don't go away. They linger and ache every time you see that person with another. You confert yourself with the knowlage that the girl means nothing more to him than all his other toys but deep inside you still scream. Abandon all hope with Lee-san Ova-chan. He will bring you nothing but pain." She said walked out feeling as if her job had been done. What she really wanted to do was find the Hufflepuff and lead him away so that Ova could really be alone with her thoughts but then though it would be a little too cruel even for her.

 

[Shalamar Ovanisse]

Shalamar cringed inwardly as Hoshi spoke to her. The words were being spoken with venom, with experience. Had Henric hurt Hoshi then for simply caring for him? Shalamar could not turn around and look at the other girl. Did not want her to see the tear that slid down her face. She remembered her reasons for agreeing to go to the ball with Daniel, it had been after she had seen Henric carry Taylor from the pitch, ignoring her completely. Maybe that was where his heart lay then. She lowered her head, gripping the window sill and sighed when she finally heard Hoshi leave.

It was only then that she turned around, walked slowly to the door and closed it after her class mate. Wrapping her arms about herself she walked slowly back to the windows and hoisted herself up onto the window sill where Henric had been near. Pulling her legs up to gather into her arms before her, Shalamar looked out across the night sky.

It looked so peaceful, so beautiful that she found she was jealous of it. Wanted nothing more than to be out there instead of stuck here in tormoil because of a boy. Was Hoshi Koshiba right? Time and again she had promised herself she would not listen or believe the judgements others made on him, would not consider them in her feelings for him and so far she had not, tempted as she had been countless times. She trailed a hand against the window as she looked out.
"I am lost" she whispered into the night, "utterly lost".

She did not know how much time passed by, did not really care and when sleep slowly began to steal over her Shalamar did not even head back to her house but curled up in a foetal position on the window sill and fell asleep. Looking as peaceful and as angelically beautiful as any girl had a right to look.

 

[Henric Lee]

No-one was recording how much time had past, but a certain someone decided to make a return trip after all had settled down.

"Why?"

The voice spoke out of turn, echoing out of the darkness, musing to no one in particular. The dark figure shrouded in the night's cloak of silence moved with tranquil grace over towards Shalamar's prone, sleeping form. Surprisingly strong arms took hold of her body and lifted her up, moving her gingerly over to one of the other classrooms with a more comfortable layout of cushy pillows. Quietly, the figure placed her down and left his own large cloak over her as a blanket.

"Shui ba, xiao niao." The figure whispered in Chinese, turning on his heel and leaving the 1st Floor Corridors again.

 

[Shalamar Ovanisse]

Shalamar sighed contently as she felt strong arms encircle her. Her dream was so beautiful she did not want to wake up, did not want to return to a world where he kept leaving her. Here at least in her dreamscape Henric had returned carried her off in his arms, holding her close so very close.

If she had only opened her eyes, just flickered them open once she would have seen his beautiful strange face hovering over hers as he carried her between rooms but she hovered between the dream world and consciousness. Inhaling his scent, feeling his touch but believing them all part of her most vivid of dreams. Feeling the softness underneath her as she was lowered down Shalamar whispered his name into the night.

It was much later as stark light entered through a window that she stretched languidly. Expecting at first to be in pain from being curled all night on a window sill she jerked fully awake, completely alert as she looked about her. This was a different room, she was no longer on the window seat but on so many soft large cushions, she was not cold from lying in her thin silk dress she was instead covered by a warm large cloak.

She tried to recall the dream she had, it was quite vague now. Gathering the cloak to her she inhaled the scent that lingered on it, only to inhale him. A knowing gasp escaped her as the only conclusion to be made from all of this came to mind. Henric had returned at some point and carried her here. It had not been a dream then. In her dream he had spoken to her, she tried desperately to recall his words but for now they evaded her.

Gingerly she stood up, she would have to go home today. Would have to finish her packing first of course but as she wrapped her slender frame in his large cloak, enveloping herself in the folds of his scent she felt she was not so worried about going home now. A gentle smile played on her lips as she left the room to head back to Ravenclaw house. Whatever else Hoshi might think of him, Shalamar knew and believed so much more of him. So very much more.