Here We Are Again

[Veronica Willows]

Veronica... couldn't sleep. She was used to it by now, of course; she had been for years - but after her trouble with the nightmare last semester she was a little more worried anytime she couldn't lull herself off to sleep with repetitive thoughts about counting and engine repairs. A method that was clearly more influenced by her father, who had been the one to teach her in the first place. Veronica smiled softly as she climbed the stairs, although it was a little sad as well. She didn't like her parents to worry, and that feeling coupled with the seemingly restless night ahead of her had driven her in the one place she knew she could find a form of comfort at this hour of the night... the Owlery. The night noises and the soft hooting and rustling of owl wings were nice, and also... Tomas seemed to be there more nights than not. Veronica didn't know how he managed to be there so often, but she was glad for it. Whereas Phoebe was her best friend that she shared ideas and projects with and completely admired, Tomas was her best friend that she could talk to about... almost anything it seemed. She didn't have to worry about trying to impress him, or proving herself to him... she could just be. Being was nice. Settling down on the floor with her back to the wall, Veronica waited to see if he would make an appearance tonight. She really hoped so.

 

[Tomas Wode]

He couldn't decide whether or not he should get out of bed and head towards the Owlery to check if his friend would be there that night. He was tired from classes and Quidditch training and could barely keep his eyes open during dinner which caused him to accidentally put some salt in his cup of pumpkin juice instead of sugar. Ultimately the boy decided that he should go check if she would be there because he couldn't allow himself to fall asleep knowing that she would be up there all alone without someone to keep her company for the night. He rubbed his eyes as he got out of bed and put on his slippers before walking out of the dormitory and into the common room. It was empty, the only sound he heard was from some older kid sleeping on the couch and snoring loudly. He carefully made his way to the north tower and looked around the corner at least four times before he continued to the Owlery. He had successfully managed to sneak up to this place without Professors or Prefect noticing him for the past two years (he had come close to being discovered a couple of times though) and thought that sooner or later someone would notice that the Gryffindor was not in his bed if he wouldn't be more careful whilst working his way up the castle. He hurriedly walked to the entrance of the Owlery and peered around to corner to see if his friend was there sitting on the ground. A smile appeared on his face when he saw her and jokingly said, ''I should become a ninja after school, I'd be a really good one.'' in a hushed voice while approaching Veronica and sitting down next to her.

 

[Veronica Willows]

Veronica lifted her head from her arms and smiled at the sound of the familiar voice, though her expression quickly turned puzzled. "But... you didn't sneak up on me. I knew you were coming." At this her face reddened, and she looked away for a moment, pretending to examine the owls overhead. "I mean... I thought you might be, based on... you know." She'd never really realised that she had grown to depend on Tomas turning up on these rare nights, and for a moment her old panic resurfaced that he was bound to get into trouble sooner or later for trying to come meet her. But she knew it was useless to try and convince him otherwise, so instead she let the thought pass and turned back to her friend. "It's okay, I didn't actually have the nightmare this time... I just couldn't sleep." She smiled softly, then placed her head back on her arms facing towards Tomas. "You probably haven't even thought about sleeping yet tonight, have you?" she guessed.

 

[Tomas Wode]

''I wasn't talking about that,'' the Gryffindor replied, ''I was talking about the fact that I once again managed to sneak up to the Owlery without being seen by anyone.'' Grinning, he let his head drop to the side to look at Veronica. He watched his friends closely as she talked, wondering what exactly had been going on with her during the second semester of their previous year, and whether or not she had fully recovered from it because he had disliked not seeing much of her. ''Actually, I have,'' he replied. ''I had a really busy day today and was in bed already when it occurred to me that you might be up here,'' he continued. ''So I thought I'd check just to make sure that you would be up here before falling asleep.'' He wasn't sure if it showed that he was tired but whatever he had been feeling earlier had vanished the moment he saw Veronica sitting on the ground.