Closed how things change

[Eoghan Blyth]

It had been almost seven hours that Eoghan had occupied this particular couch in the student lounge. For the first five, he'd been reading through his Herbology textbooks in the hopes that he'd be able to make more of the subject and use it in a way that would make sense why it was a subject in a magical school in the first place, and for the remaining hours, the first year had been asleep. The book was still in his hands, but now the open pages were against his chest as he'd passed out without the strength to hold it up. Given that it was still the holidays, many students had been out at Brightstone that day so the student lounge was quieter than normal, which is how the Ravenclaw had found himself here to begin with instead of the Common Room. As comfortable as that place was becoming, he hadn't felt like trekking up all those stairs when the library was so close to him here.

The blond didn't dream that afternoon, and as the sun had begun to set behind the clouds and the afternoon had begun to turn to evening, dinner was missed entirely by Eoghan who remained practically motionless, as though the last nine weeks had finally caught up to him. How had it already been this long, and how had so many things changed for him in such a short amount of time? Whatever he'd been expecting from the school, it had certainly given him a different set of experiences than he was expecting and they hadn't even reached Christmas yet. Eoghan didn't even stir when the occasional student walked past, his book like a blanket between his own world and theirs.​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

Lilith had looked everywhere in the castle. Every corner and stone had been turned in the search of her best friend. They hadn't hung out properly in a bit and she had a nagging to annoy him with her presence so she had embarked on this ridiculous quest. Honestly when she had decided to find him she had thought it would take less than three hours of walking through every place she could imagine Eoghan would go, even the places he wouldn't like the lakefront. Just as the brunette was on the brink of giving up an idea struck her head. The student lounge, perhaps he'd be there, if not she'd just go back to the dorms and sulk.

There were multiple things Lilith had imagined finding the boy doing, but sleeping? Yeah that must have been at the very bottom. With feather light steps the Ravenclaw made her way toward the sleeping boy, afraid of waking him up. He looked so comfortable and content. Something at the view made that beat in her chest melt, he looked different to what she was used. Instead of being alert and constant thoughts running through his eyes he now looked vulnerable and calm. There was no way she could wake him up right now, right?

So Lilith sat down on a chair next to the couch and looked around the room, her mouth opening and closing in an effort to come up with something to say. She spent fifteen minutes just looking around the room and Eoghan awkwardly before she finally dared to poke his cheek. "Earth to sleeping beauty." Her tone soft as she kept poking him in hopes he'd soon wake.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

As Eoghan felt something poking his face in his sleep, the dreams had just begun. He'd tried to move away from whatever creature was causing the pressure on his cheek although in reality, he wasn't moving at all. It was only after the fourth time he felt the jabbing moment that his eyes shot open, and for one brief startling moment, he forgot where he was. He knew he was at Hogwarts of course, but he'd never fallen asleep outside of his bed before and the view of this ceiling wasn't one he was used to. Immediately his icy blue eyes shot across to the chair beside him, where he saw Lilith looking at him.

"What?" he asked, although he wasn't sure if he was asking what she wanted, what she was doing, what he was doing, or all of the above. His eyes dropped shut again for a moment as he began to relax, at least knowing he wasn't in any immediate danger and the only person near him was his best friend. It was still strangely too familiar, to be unconscious around another person even if it was Lilith. He didn't count those he shared a room with since he would just close the curtains and pretend they didn't exist. "What time is it?" he asked, struggling to open his eyes again as he swiped at his sleeve, trying to peer at his wristwatch. The book on his chest poked him on the chin and the first year let out an oof.​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

As those familiar pools of starlight shot open Lilith felt a small smile tug at her lips, he wasn't dead then that's good. Finding your best friend dead in a student lounge would be a tragedy of its own and one Lilith would much like to avoid. "I'm sorry i did not mean to startle you. I wasn't entirely too sure how to wake you up plus you looked peaceful." She said in their mother tongue, her tone still soft as if she was still afraid of startling him.

"Uh oh, it is... Seven thirty in the evening. I spent the last three hours or so trying to find you." Lilith's voice held a bit of amusement, how long had he been sleeping here for? Though maybe the nap was needed. "Careful with the book, the pages can give you a nasty papercut if you aren't careful." Her tone turned to that sort she only used with her siblings as she took the book from his chest to avoid him hurting himself with it any further.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan wasn’t used to having anyone looking over him, at least not in the same respect that Lilith now did with something behind her features that he hadn’t seen in anyone else before. It was a comfort even if it felt unusual, and as she smiled at him it took all his efforts to not just turn back over and continue his sleep. “I can’t even blame this on Astronomy,” he mused, referring to the habit in which he’d begun to take a nap before their evening class. No one had ever told him looked peaceful before either, but he supposed that was better than looking like a fool when he was unconscious and had no ability to control his movements.

The first year took a moment to sit up properly, stretching his limbs as he did so. “Three hours?” he repeated, his head shooting to face her properly with his own concern written across his face. “Why? What’s happened?” Eoghan’s mind was already racing as to what he may have missed or what Lilith may have needed to fill him in with that couldn’t have just waited until the next time they spoke. The boy made no protests as his best friend took the book out of his lap, although as she did so a piece of parchment slipped out the back and landed gracefully on the floor between them. ​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

Lilith stared at Eoghan as he got up into sitting position, it probably wasn't too cute she most likely looked like a dog that was having an existential crisis. She didn't want to be a creep who just stared at others, but there was little to do other than that, or at least the things besides this weren't too appealing to her. She hummed in response to the Astronomy comment.

Lilith's face morphed into a grin at his question. "Oh the worst thing happened! You will not believe it, I was distraught because I missed my bestie, did you miss me? Be honest." She spoke faster than usual and more dramatically too, throwing a hand on her forehead for extra measure. Her eyes followed the parchment that fell from between the pages, with furrowed brows she leaned down to pick it up. "What is this? Is it yours?" She asked narrowing her eyes, she didn't want to take a peek of the contents in case it was something personal.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Sometimes, although not as often these days with Lilith, Eoghan had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. One thing that would still cause him to do this however was whenever she called him bestie. The sheer sound of the word was enough to send chills up his spine and he may as well have been hearing nails on a blackboard. "Lil, I was asleep," how could he have missed her when he wasn't even awake? "Besides, you might want to get some other hobbies if you can spend that long looking for me," he didn't mean to be rude or push her away, but he didn't want someone wasting their day searching for him when they likely had other things they needed to be doing. They weren't joined at the hip and he didn't want the pressure of trying to entertain someone when he had his own work to do too. Eoghan wasn't sure if she was joking, especially because of the added dramatic hand motion, but he hoped she'd take it on board that he wanted her to be able to enjoy her own time here too. "What?" he asked, looking at the parchment that she now held up, "Oh, yes. It's a letter from my sister. I wanted to show you before I replied to her," he made no move to take the letter just in case Lilith wanted to read it. "I told her about you and now she wants to meet you," he explained matter of factly. ​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

Lilith could see the effort it took her best friend not to roll his eyes at the word bestie and it had been exactly the reaction she wanted. After all her whole objective was to annoy him. However as he spoke it was her turn to roll her eyes. "Oh no don't worry I am doing fine, I just really wanted to annoy you with my presence today. Besides I only spent that long because everyone else is out and books are about the only thing to do right now." What did he even mean? It suddenly occurred to her that maybe he didn't want her here. Maybe he had finally grown bored of her and just wanted to be rid of her. Narrowing her eyes she spoke again, a little more hesitantly. "I- I can leave? If that's what you are saying, if you'd rather be by yourself or with someone else I can leave." She did not want to but if the boy didn't want her here she wouldn't make a fool out of herself seeming clingy and pathetic.

As Lilith dropped the letter into his lap and began to raise to leave her head whipped around hard enough to give her neck a cramp. "You what? You told her about me?" Why would he? Had she done something wrong? Perhaps that was it, she had already messed up so profusely bad that he had written his sister and now he wanted her to read it as he told her he'd never be friends with her again. "Wait... Hold up, she wants to meet me?" Her mouth left itself open slightly after she finished her sentence. The panic in her system calming just a little bit, maybe she had gone overboard. Or maybe Imogen wanted to meet her so she could give her a piece of her mind about her wrongdoings.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Maybe Lilith had been exaggerating, but no sooner as she'd joked that she just wanted to annoy him, the mood between them shifted. "No, obviously I don't want you to leave," he replied, watching her eyes narrow at him as though she was calculating her next move. Just because Eoghan thought she needed to make the most of her time here didn't mean that the time they spent together consciously was a mistake. His blue eyes followed the letter that glided to his lap, and before he had a chance to say anything else Lilith seemed to be on the way out. Eoghan flung out his own hand, taking hers in an effort to stop her from leaving him. "Plagues don't tend to just walk away," he commented, hoping that it would be enough that she wouldn't actually go.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Eoghan asked calmly, watching her features for any more tells that she was annoyed at him or was going to try and leave him again. "You are my best friend. My only friend, really. Of course, I told my sister about you." He'd told her about how they'd met, how he'd come to call her a friend, as well as the reading they'd had the other day. His sister didn't really believe in all that stuff, but at least she'd been forced to listen to the words in his letter. "Yes, over the Christmas break. If you want to meet her too that is."​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

Lilith was going to leave she was still panicking that he was tired of her when she felt a hand on her own. She laughed a little at the comment. "So I was right, you do think I am a plague. Plague can be cured now, I think, or at least probably some form of relief exists." She didn't want to be a plague in his life, she did joke about it but she did not want to be viewed as one. She cared for Eoghan and if he saw her as a nuisance or worse yet a disease that would end up killing him? No she could not do that.

She looked at his face as he explained the reasoning about writing to Imogen about her. Lilith pursed her lips together and her brows almost met at the middle as she tried to figure out whether he was actually serious and thought that or if he was just trying to make her feel better by saying whatever he thought she wanted to hear. Pulling her hand away softly she took a breath in and let it out before speaking. "I uh, yes I'd like to meet her. As long as it's not because she hates me of course, or you hate me. You'd tell me if i did something? Right? You would.." At this point she had no idea if she was talking to him or herself as she pulled her hands to fidget with her locket, still in deep thought about the situation. Was she over thinking it? Or was she on the right track. Her mind was racing and her focus started to flicker in and out of his face.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan had only tried to make the situation light-hearted but apparently, he'd made it worse. "Lil I don't think you're a plague," he moved the parchment onto the small table in front of him, swinging his legs off the couch so he could sit up properly. With everything that he had come to learn about Lilith, he could see the direction her brain was going down, how the cogs behind her eyes were moving, piecing things together. It wouldn't make any sense if Eoghan tried to continue his current conversational thought before stopping her own thoughts in its tracks. She would be halfway to the next town while he was trying to play catch up. He knew her well enough now to be able to see it written across her features when she started to daydream, to lose focus on what was in front of her and allow her mind to take over. She may have pulled her hand away but at least she hadn't walked away.

Standing up at his full height, Eoghan stepped closer to his friend, meeting her eyes the best he could as he spoke. "I am glad you found me. I am glad you are here. I don't want you to spend all your time looking for me when I am not with you because I want you to focus on yourself before anyone else, including me. I like spending time with you, and you are my best friend," he began to backtrack, making sure he left no stone unturned when it came to a misunderstanding with her. "I would not rather be on my own and I would not rather be with anyone else. You're also not a plague, but you are stuck in my life and I am not complaining about that," a small smile appeared at the corners of his lips. "I would tell you if you did something wrong because you're my friend and trust is the most important thing. You haven't. I don't hate you and Imogen doesn't hate you, and we want you to meet because both of you have become important to me and I think you would like each other."​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

Lilith just stared, not necessarily at anything but stared and focused on the feel of her locket. She vaguely could see Eoghan get up and did hear him talk. Slowly her ears and eyes came into focus and the speech was more than a background noise. She blinked a few times before narrowing her eyes for no other reason than to see if there were any signs of lying on his face. There wasn't. She listened and took a moment to let it all sink in.

He liked having her around, he didn't hate her, he considered her a friend, best friend and it was all okay. Lilith dropped her hands from her locket before speaking again. "You promise?" She asked in a little more than a whisper as she lifted her pinkie finger up in a clear sign of wanting him to pinkie swear on it. "In that case, I'd like to meet her too." She gave the blond a weak smile, still calming her brains overactive route.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

As Eoghan was talking, he could see her begin to focus on his words and after a moment, she lifted her hand with the only word that meant he knew she'd understood. "Promise," he said, wrapping his pinky finger around hers in confirmation. That was what they did now, the small motion between them had always carried a lot of weight behind it and this was no different. He smiled as she told him she would have liked to meet his sister, and after a moment he gestured for her to take the seat beside him.

"I had this in the book so that I could ask you about the reply," he explained, taking a seat once more where he'd taken a nap, picking up the parchment from the table. "You can read it if you like, but then perhaps we can write the reply together?" Eoghan wanted Lilith's input because the subject was also about her in this case, and he wanted to make sure that whatever they planned to do, that she was happy with it too. ​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

Lilith smiled as he did promise. Knowing that their little promises were real, not lies. She sat down beside him and leaned back to the backrest, once again listening to him. Him wanting to share the letter with Lilith made her see just how far her brain had ran with the theories, that he in fact did view her as a best friend, because she knew he only shared things about his sister with those he trusted.

Pushing off the backrest a small smile graced over her lips as she reached for the letter again. "Alright, let me read it then." She said as she started on the words in front of her. With each word her smile grew just a little bigger. Placing the letter on her lap she turned over to look at Eoghan. "Would you guys like to come home to Valtimo with me over the break? We'd have to take a dreadful 6 hour train trip from Helsinki to Nurmes but my parents could pick us up from there and you could stay over? If you'd like of course." She wasn't sure about if they'd like to but it was an idea if nothing more. "In any case I'm sure my parents would approve of anything, they are pretty cool, most of the time anyways. Plus if you came to Valtimo you could meet Meeri and Mauri." She continued a little more excited of the thought.

"What were you planning to respond to her? From my side you can say I look forward to meeting her and it'll be fun whatever we end up doing." Lilith said while searching his piercing eyes for any clues of what he might be thinking.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan watched Lilith in silence as she read the letter, the first one he'd directly shown her instead of just relaying the information like a messenger. It was easier this way since it would give her an idea of how his sister spoke, besides he figured it would have been kind to let her read herself her own invitation. The first year however didn't expect Lilith to invite the twins over to her house, and his eyebrows immediately raised at the thought. He didn't mind the travel, and he would have much preferred it if they could have gone anywhere that wasn't his house, although he wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to fund the trip. It wasn't as though he could buy two train tickets with galleons, was it? The only reason he'd managed to afford his own clothes at the start of the year, upgrading what he wore before he'd come to school and transforming himself into someone resembling one of the many authors he enjoyed reading the works of, was because of his school allowance. He very much doubted he'd have been able to switch his galleons in muggle money, and he already knew his grandmother wasn't going to fork out for the cost of sending them on holiday.

"Yeah, we could do that," he replied after a moment, wondering if he'd have been able to raise the money in time to visit. Lilith knew very little about his grandmother and his home life and that had been fully intentional. However, how was he supposed to be honest about his situation if he didn't let her? "The train is expensive, isn't it?" he asked, wondering if there was a magical version they could make use of, although whether or not Imogen could use it too was another problem altogether. "well, I'll tell her that yes you would love to meet her! Whatever we end up doing," he agreed with a smile, but even he knew Lilith would have seen right through it.​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

Lilith saw right through his layers of pretend. Was there something he wasn't telling her. Pursing her lips together she leaned back thinking of ways to go about this. "We are children so the tickets are less expensive, but I could always ask it for Christmas present, for tickets for all three of us there and back. I don't really have anything else I'd ask anyways this year." It was true, there was nothing she wanted. She had everything she needed and that was enough, so if getting train tickets for her and her friends to home was a present she'd ask for it.

"I actually sent a letter back home a bit ago and I did tell about you as well so it is not like you'd be news to them either. Plus Vega and Sirius are very nice and always willing to see our friends." She explained with a smile. "Don't worry, Antares, we'll figure something out." She added patting his arm with a smile.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

"You would do that?" Eoghan asked quietly, still watching her face for any sign that she was joking, but for the boy who wasn't used to getting any presents at Christmas at all, he was surprised to hear that Lilith would use hers on him. He knew that this was a big deal, and he had to make sure that she wasn't going to come to regret her decision if she really was willing to help out Eoghan and his sister.

"That would be very kind," he smiled again, wondering what Lilith would have told her parents about him, too. The last friend he had, he was pretty sure they'd never told anyone about him although that was probably for both of their benefits. Still in awe that Lilith was being so sweet, and feeling as though his earlier comments had been much too harsh, Eoghan tilted his head to rest it on her shoulder. It was something he would do with his sister when he was trying to show affection, although he still brought the parchment back up to his face to focus on, just in case Lilith found it to be awkward. "I will write another to my grandmother, to let her know we'll be away for a few days. I don't think she would mind though. If anything she will probably appreciate the both of us being out from under her feet."​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

Lilith smiled and nodded to her best friend. Of course she'd do that, why not? "Yes well, like I said I don't want anything else. I have all I need and having my best friend over would be the best gift ever, well after this locket." She explained taking her locket off her neck for a bit and opening it. "It's me and grandma when I was a kid, she gave it to me on my 7th birthday and told me that even when she was gone I would always have her in my heart and to wear this necklace when I miss her. So I wear it around my neck everyday so that we might never be apart for as long as I live." She smiled sadly as she explained. She never told any of her friends this story back at home, not even her family knew the full story behind why she refused to take the locket off, even when she went to sauna.

Her eyes widened a fraction when Eoghan put his head on her shoulder, her face quickly fell into another smile as she rested her head against his and looked at the parchment he was holding. "A few days? Nope you have to stay at leaaassstt a week preferably more. It gets so boring around there and noisy I need my bestie and his sister so we can go outside and explore. God knows the twins would just get me into trouble, or Leo probably would. He likes to do stupid things." She laughed softly, it was true Leo was an experience to say the least. Her heart broke a little at his words about them being gone from under their grandmothers feet making her happy, it didn't sound like a loving environment. Never mind one you should spend Christmas in.

"Maybe you two could stay for Christmas?" She suggested, testing the waters. She wanted them to have a good Christmas, not just Eoghan but Imogen too. She was starting to get the picture that things at home weren't the best for them and she wanted to give them something good. Lilith also made a mental note to get both of them something for Christmas so that when gifts were given, they would be included had they decided to stay over it.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan listened to Lilith tell him the importance of the locket she'd been wearing. Did she always have that around her neck or had he just never noticed before now? He realised her grandmother was someone of great importance to his friend given how she spoke of her, but every time she relayed another story it would paint a picture, one that showed Eoghan was it was like to have a member of your own family actually care about your upbringing. He didn't find himself to be jealous, but he was glad that Lilith had had people in her life who were there for her. He was also touched that she thought a gift of him being with her would be enough in itself, and the first year watched the expressions on her face for any indication that she was exaggerating but saw none. "That is true. Sometimes you can still be connected to others even if there's a physical distance," he knew about that from Imogen.

The feeling of her head resting on his made him understand that he hadn't misunderstood their friendship or its boundaries. "If we could stay for the entire break then I think we would," Eoghan admitted, knowing that it wasn't practical but if the offer was there then he would gladly spend as much time as possible at her house instead of his own, especially if his sister was there with him. Eoghan peered up at Lilith from her shoulder, a small grin folding. "What kind of stupid things?" he asked, not having known anyone with a younger sibling before let alone two. ​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

All Lilith did was nod. It was true even with distance souls could still be connected. At least she wanted to believe so. She felt a tug everytime she looked up at the sky and saw her grandmother’s constellation. A sweet reminder that she was there somewhere, or when she woke up from a nightmare but felt a presence as if to comfort her. Her soul was never alone.

“In that case, I shall present the idea to my parents and they have no option but to accept. Though I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t mind either way.” Especially not her dad, he was a true people person. Lilith turned her head to the boy as he looked up at her with that boyish grin and narrowed her eyes. “Oh you know like breaking Vega’s favourite vase and blaming it on me, or dragging Leena to the pond behind the house to play hide and seek and then falling in and getting all wet and nasty and I got blamed because I was supposed to supervise.” She left out the fact that he also liked to hide everyone’s socks so that they only hd one piece of each pair. Or that he fed the dogs foods that made them gassy.

Lilith stared at Eoghans face for a little bit longer, had he always had such dark lashes or was this the first time she was this close? Or had his right eye always been just a fraction smaller? Odd things one could notice when being so close to another’s face. She didn’t even know why she felt particularly endeared about these new little things, noting each one down into her brain. Perhaps she could use them in a poem. Her mind blanked completely and even though it wasn’t exactly her intention, well not that she knew of at least, her face closed the distance and she pressed a small kiss on his lips. Just enough to feel the warmth of them.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Eoghan was chuckling at the idea of Lilith running around after her brother and sister, trying her best to keep her brother especially out of trouble and watching the chaos unfold. If they could make it to her house for Christmas it certainly would make for an extra entertaining holiday.

The Ravenclaw's pale blue orbs were fixed on Lilith's face, and while he felt comfortable and at ease, she was watching him for a second too long for this to feel as it normally did between them. Before Eoghan had a moment to register what was happening, Lilith moved her head closer and gently kissed him on the lips. Eoghan held his breath, frozen as he realised he had no idea what to do. Just a moment ago he was considering how he hadn't misunderstood their friendship, but how was that the truth if now she was kissing him? He pulled away, his lips immediately feeling cold as Eoghan became instantly self-aware of every part of his body. His cheeks were now bright red, and while he didn't remove his head from Lilith's shoulder, his eyes dropped back to the parchment if only to break the tension that had just grown between them.

Had this been Lilith's plan all along? Had she befriended him with the intention of them being something else entirely? Eoghan had been hesitant to make any friends at all, he wasn't exactly ready and waiting for a girlfriend either. Is that what Lilith wanted? The thoughts were racing through Eoghan's mind in the few seconds of silence that passed between them.

Eoghan trusted Lilith. He really did. Wouldn't Lilith have told him if she hadn't just wanted to be his best friend? Maybe it was foolish to think that she'd planned this at all, and that actually it had been as spur of the moment as he had been when resting his head on her shoulder in the first place. If he was to think about it, he wasn't against kissing her, even if it had been unexpected. Actually, it was nice. Although his cheeks were still pink, the blond looked back up to Lilith again although this time, before she could say anything else he leaned closer and pressed his lips to her once more.​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

The kiss didn’t last longer than a few seconds, if it could even be called a kiss, and when Eoghan pulled away Lilith knew she had messed up. Her eyes grew to the sizes of the moon she so adored. What had she done? This was her best friend, right? She had just broken a boundary. She wouldn’t lie and say it didn’t make her feel something, it certainly did. It hadn’t been her inention.

Lilith’s eyes stayed wide and started to gloss over as her hands started sweating too, but she was too afraid to move. Was she about to lose the one friend she had, the one person she could see herself trusting with her life. Her mind was making loops around everything and anything and it felt like it had been a whole year, a decade, perhaps even a millennium when she suddenly felt those same lips covering hers again.

Oh? Was she dreaming? Had to be, there was no way. The witch raised her hand to gently pinch her other arm and almost winced at the sensation, yup definitely bot a dream. It was clumsy she supposed, neither of them knew how to kiss clearly. Once they pulled away she just stared at Eoghan, trying to see what he was thinking. “I- I’m sorry? If I offended you I mean, or if it you, if it was too much. I don’t know how it happened, really and I didn’t mean to confuse you, or god forbid make you feel like there was some ulterior motive behind it all. There wasn’t it just happened, I just you know wanted to see what it was like but I’m sorry if you didn’t like it.” She rambled on, not even realizing that he had in fact returned the gesture afterwards. “I hope you don’t hate me, because you are important to me. My best friend.” She added, her voice low and showing every bit of fear of him leaving her.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

Of course, Eoghan didn't know what he was doing, the first year was simply moving on instinct. The broke away after a few seconds although the blond made no motion to move more than a few inches away as his eyes searched hers for answers. He let her speak first, although the smile returned to his lips as she apologised, explaining his last thoughts. He knew her well enough, clearly. Obviously, there hadn't been any other intentions. He was going to interrupt her, tell her didn't need to say sorry, and to stop that pretty head running wild through the hedges, but in truth, he was just enjoying hearing her voice, his focus captured by every word that was coming out of her mouth.

"It's okay," he said slowly, once she'd finished talking. His eyes were still fixed on her features, the corners of his mouth still raised. Without taking his eyes off hers, one of his hands left the parchment he'd been clutching and found hers, wrapping his fingers around hers. They were a little sweaty but so was his, he realised. This had caught her as off guard as it had him, but he just held her hand tighter. "I'm not going anywhere Lil," he said truthfully. Not only did he not have anywhere else to go but he didn't want to leave her either. "I could never hate you, you are important to me, too." He didn't know what this meant if anything, to their friendship, but Lilith didn't need to worry about him disappearing because she kissed him. ​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

The way he was staring at her made Lilith's cheeks heat even more, she hadn't even realize they were heating and probably pink at this point. By the time she had finished and he started speaking her face must have resembled a tomato so she attempted to look down and let her hair fall around her face, to cover the embarrassing hues.

His hand holding hers made it slightly easier and less nerve wrecking, however she was still on edge. She had no idea what this would mean for anything, if it did mean anything. "Well that is good, you might have to have someone drag me crying and screaming if you wanted to be rid of me then." Her attempt at joke wasn't the best, but it was something as she smiled and looked back at him. "You know, the reason I named you Antares, is because it is the brightest star in my grandmothers constellation, Scorpius and therefore it is my favourite star." She had no idea where the need to explain it came from, but the way he was looking at her just made it happen. "Also means rival to Ares in ancient Greek." Lilith added, playing into her fascination with the mythology as well.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

It was a comfort to know that Eoghan wasn't the only one who found this situation a little unusual, given that he could see the mirrored flush of his own cheeks in the girl sitting beside him. It looked like she was trying to hide from him now, behind her hair, and the Ravenclaw only squeezed her hand a little tighter. He knew Lilith was joking, but the idea of her crying or screaming wasn't one he wanted to make reality any time soon. If ever, actually.

Eoghan smiled back softly as Lilith looked up at him again, although her next words caught him a little by surprise. He knew the star Antares, if not only because he'd read about it after Lilith had first named him it that day. He knew it was the brightest star and he knew it was Scorpius constellation, however he hadn't realised it had been her favourite. He hadn't realised she'd named him, after her favourite. "I am your favourite?" he asked gently, not wanting to jump to conclusions but struggling to see what else she was grasping at. "You name everyone after a star. Who else do you call Antares?" Surely he couldn't have been the only one, couldn't have been the first. That would suggest that Lilith had never been close enough to anyone before to call them such, and Eoghan wasn't naive enough to believe that was true. There must have been others before him. The idea that she'd waited to call anyone else in her life after her favourite star until now wasn't something he could take seriously. Besides, that certainly wasn't a title he deserved.​