Closed Just missing music

[Demi Zephyr]

The more time Demi was spending at the school, the more she was feeling like an outcast. She'd mentioned as little as possible to her parents because she didn't want them to know how many arguments she'd already found herself in, although her little sister Echo had been the bearer of such news and as a result, Demi had had a serious conversation with her father over the Christmas break. It didn't change anything that had already happened, but the Ravenclaw was more determined to keep away from everyone just in case someone else had a problem with her because she didn't know how to not retaliate.

Sat on the floor of the dueling chamber, there were mechanical parts all around the second year spread out across the floor. If anyone asked, she would have said she was trying to fix a broken dummy, but the reality was that she'd taken it apart in the first place in an attempt to see how it worked. She'd liked working on car engines at home, but this was entirely different. Still, she liked to work with what felt like a mechanical jigsaw and even if she couldn't work out how to put it back together, it gave her time to do something fun for herself for a change.​

 

[William Potter-Cade]

William couldn’t believe how much things had changed over his one and half years at Hogwarts. Things weren’t where he would have expected them to be after the first couple of months, there had been more drama than he had expected, or wanted and he hated how little control he had over such things. William had just wanted to make friends and have fun, it hadn’t occurred to him that his actions would cause people to dislike him, for people he liked to turn their backs on him. Relationships he had formed early in his first year that he thought would last at least few school had instead flamed out within a few months. Nothing had gone according to plan.

With the first duelling tournament coming up that he’d be able to take part in William wanted to get in some practice in the duelling chamber. He wasn’t sure if the dummies would practice but he couldn’t bear the thought of firing spells at Eury. When William arrived at the chamber however he found Demi, who hadn’t spoken to him since the debacle that had been truth or dare in their first year. “Hey, are you here to practice too?”

 

[Demi Zephyr]

Demi was in the middle of trying to remember where to put a cog back into place when she heard a familiar voice. She didn't need to look up to know who it was, but she did after a moment regardless. She hated the way she felt as though her stomach was doing somersaults deep down whenever she looked toward William, even now, even though she'd not paid him an ounce of attention in over a year. How was it even possible that someone, especially someone like him, could have that effect on her when she didn't even want it anymore?

The second year bit her tongue hard, resisting the urge to retort something along the lines of what does it look like? She fought with a number of students throughout the semester already, and she was here for peace and quiet not to start another brawl. That didn't mean she was going to just forgive and forget though, and even though this may have been the first time they'd spoken since the game of truth or dare, she still needed to know what had actually happened. Then again she had no doubt that Eurydice had already imformed him of all the terrible things she'd done, and that actually it was pointless worrying about what she was going to say because maybe the Gryffindor would just walk away in a moment. "No. I'm just here to fix things," she said eventually, turning her gaze back to the the parts in front of her. "There are others though, if you want one that works," Demi stated, unsure whether William would think it too awkward to hang around anyway.​

 

[William Potter-Cade]

William thought about her choice of words and thought if it was anyone else there might have been something to them. But he knew whatever bridge existed between them had been burned a long time ago. Demi went out of her way to avoid him, she hadn’t spoken a single word to him since truth or dare and he didn’t really know why. He knew she hadn’t been happy that he kissed other people, he had hoped to kiss her but that wasn’t how the game had gone, but it had just been a game. Or that was what he had thought. “I’ll use one of the others,” William smiled at her. It was awkward, there was no denying that but he had never been the one with a problem, if she was okay with him staying then he would.

“Did you break that? Or did you find it like that?” In the grand scheme of things William didn’t know Demi all that well, nor had he known her for very long but he did know she liked to fix things, maybe she’d got curious and took apart the dummy in the first place, not that he’d tell. William grabbed one of the other dummy’s and pulled it into an open space and pulled out his wand to start practicing.

 

[Demi Zephyr]

Demi didn't look up again when William said he'd use one of the others. In truth she was angry at herself for letting him get away so lightly when she'd told herself and others countless times that she was just as mad at him as she was with Eurydice or Tori, that she would have given him a piece of her mind just as she had anyone else she'd found issue with. But now that push came to shove, Demi found it hard to find the right words at all. The Gryffindor just seemed to wander off as though she was just another student in the area, and perhaps after all this time that was just who she was.

At least, she thought that was the case until he started asking her more questions. The brunette looked back up, thinking for a moment before replying. "You know, maybe it does bode well for my reputation that I like breaking things." Word seemed to be getting around quickly at the moment that she was breaking friendships more than anything else. Others as well as her own, too. Or at least they weren't safe. It had never been her intention nor how she thought her time at Hogwarts was going to go, but how could she stop it from happening? "But no it's not broken. I took it to bits so I could put it back together." She wasn't about to explain to William of all people the hobby she'd picked up while spending time with her dad, but that didn't mean she had to keep it a complete secret. "Maybe I should be doing the second half of that job in other areas too." For a moment there, Demi was starting to believe an actual apology was coming out of her mouth, but there was no way she was going down for this, especially after making such a big deal out of it to her dormmates. Her dormmates whom even her little sister was closer to than she was at the moment, including Lilith who practically shut her curtain whenever they were both in the same room. Demi dropped her gaze from Will once more, angry at herself for using their reunion as a way to bond instead of to get revenge. She didn't want to bond, not with him. He was just a dumb teenage boy, with nothing more to it. Nothing more she needed to get caught up in. William at least didn't seem to care that she was here, so why should she? ​

 

[William Potter-Cade]

William didn’t pay much attention to what people said about Demi. He felt like he knew enough about her to form his own opinion despite everything that had happened and the time that had passed since they last spoke. He didn’t like to get in the middle of drama, whatever happened between Demi, Eury and Tori wasn’t his business, Demi had never stopped being his friend as far as he was concerned and he had every intention to continue to act like they were friends until she said otherwise. Maybe it was naïve, but it was how William saw things.

“Ah,” Taking it apart herself actually made more sense for what he knew of Demi. He didn’t know why, but he knew she liked to fix things, and it made just as much sense to take them apart first to know how they work. “Sometimes things don’t need to be fixed,” William shrugged and fired a spell at the practice dummy. “Just because something changed or isn’t what you expected, doesn’t mean its broke you know?”

 

[Demi Zephyr]

Will didn't seem to think that things needed to be fixed, which was just absurd. It most definitely needed to be fixed. The metaphor of his next sentence however wasn't lost on her, although she didn't couldn't look up at him properly. "I'm pretty sure not talking for a year means it's broken though," she shot back, no longer able to keep dancing around the subject. Maybe he didn't seem to think there was a problem, but how could Demi act like there hadn't been a reason for all of this? "Look, we tried to be friends, clearly it didn't work," the Ravenclaw shrugged. "You're better off with her anyway." ​