Killing Loneliness

[Landon Dalton]

It was spring. The air was beginning to warm up and any breeze that fed the lands, was warm and welcoming, wrapping its arms around anyone it would. This didn't make it as hot as it normally was in New Zealand, but it was a pretty good start. Landon Dalton was a prefect, and he had been overjoyed by the idea of telling Lucy all about this, letting her know that he was good at something. But Lucy never seemed to be around, he never seemed to manage to see her at school and now, the couple had drifted so much that rumors had begun flying around. Apparently, Lucy didn't want Landon, anymore, and though the reasons for this had been crudely distorted in every rumor, the message was still the same and it was reinforced by Lucy's lack of appearance.

Landon was sat near the edge of the cliff, so much so that he could peer over the edge to stare down at the lower pieces of cliff. It was there that he imagined his heart, speared on some jagged rock, collapsing into pieces. He didn't enjoy showing any real emotion, especially sadness. Boys don't cry, Landon thought to himself as he fought back the tears, a breeze slamming into his face with a sharp force, colder than the rest as it had slid up the side of the cliff, first. Landon's eyes began to turn red and water. But he still would not let himself cry, no matter how bad things got.

 

[Artemis Tuuri]

Tired of spending her free afternoons hidden away beneath her bed, Art took a detour from her usual turn off towards the Ravenclaw tower and headed out of the entrance hall and onto the green lawns. There were small groups of people dotted around the landscape but she recognised none of them. She didn't know what she would have done if she had seen Shalamar: she's been avoiding her friend alongside the rest of her bunch for well over a year now, ever since the terrible happenings in the forest. Art was happier now yet she couldn't bare to face anyone who reminded her of the dreadful time. Consequently, the loneliness was total and it was driving her mad. That didn't explain why she hitched up her skirts and started off towards the cliffs. It was possibly the loneliest place at Hogwarts, frequented by few and far between since it was strictly out of bounds. Nevertheless, she couldn't have been happier to see Landon.

The tiny goblin girl began to run, seeing a familiar back. Landon always had that silly floppy hat on that Artemis longed to confiscate. He had such nice, curly dark hair that it was a shame to just stuff a beanie over it and call it a day. He probably doesn't even comb it, thought Art with a roll of her eyes. Her momentum almost took them both off the cliff but her weight was what saved them since she may have been a cat leaping onto his back. Wrapping her skinny arms around his waist, Artemis pressed her head into Landon's shoulder before giving him a huge grin.
"Heeeeey brother! What crackalack .... in ..." she petered off. She saw the tears threatening to creep out of his eyes and her face became tragic. "Oh no ... Landon?" said Artemis, her hug becoming more comforting and she shuffled around to hug him from the front.
"W-what's th' matter?". Art's tiny thumb rubbed the corner of his eye where a tear had beaded. Oblivious to the rumours that had been spreading around Gryffindor, she could not imagine anything that would shake the steadfast and happy Landon like this. Looking up at him with huge hazel eyes now filling with their own saline, her face begged an answer.

 

[Landon Dalton]

Landon was taken aback quite a bit by the sudden attack from behind, though he hardly felt it in comparison to every other time he had been sprung upon from behind. It was Artemis and Landon was naturally pleased to see his friend, a source of comfort, a girl who had grieved her love. Jareth had been too young. It just wasn't right. As she spoke, Landon could tell that Artemis had noticed something was wrong. She was cuddling into him more, attempting to comfort him. Landon tried to continue hiding the tears in his eyes.

He was going to have to answer. Landon managed to make eye contact- but soon wished he hadn't, for his stomach began to twist and tense. He couldn't stand to have her see him like this, not Artemis. "It's.." He began, though his voice quickly drifted. All he could think of was Jareth. Really, how pathetic was he to even consider spilling his sorrows to this girl- a girl who had lost her love during a trip to the forbidden forest. And Landon had been there. He had seen the tiny body with the arrow jutting out, but he had had Lucy to hold his hand, to let him know everything was going to be okay. Which it hadn't been, and she wasn't even there to lie to him about that, now. The two of them had comforted one-another, but Landon wished he'd known what to say to Artemis. At one point, he had thought about finding the grieving girl, just so he could take her hand and say the right things to make it all better. The right things. What on earth could he have said? Landon realised he was staring. He stopped dwelling on the past, for the time being, and focussed on his answer. "Lucy." he managed to reply. The hug was warm and Art was comforting. She always had been. A wise Ravenclaw, brilliant in every way. "We haven't spoken in a long time.. Or seen each other and.." He felt a fool. ".. And there are rumours floating around.. And.." Landon closed his eyes. "I think it's over. I think Lucy's dropped me." His heart sank miles.

 

[Artemis Tuuri]

He looked at her for such a long time that Artemis began to feel uncomfortable despite her sympathy. She persevered in looking up at him but still felt her cheeks begin to go pink. Art got stares from everyone as it was, either for being small or 'the tiny chick who's boyfriend died'. Getting it from Landon set her on edge, excusing the pun. Landon was struggling to explain and into his reverie she sank as well, but only for thoughts of her friend. Art certainly wasn't in the loop but she wasn't blind: Landon was never without Lucy. She knew very little about his family yet she trusted that he could, would talk to her if anything troubled him. It must be Lucy, one of her best friends in the world beside Landon and Shalamar. What could trouble Landon, anyway? Steadfast, gentle Lan with the silly beanie. Art placed her little head on his shoulder, the tip of her ear tickling under his chin. She couldn't help but look up as the sensitive ends picked up a hint of stubble. Gee, that's new, thought Art, bemused. A small and inappropriate part of her wanted to reach up and check. Noticing that Landon wasn't a twelve year old boy anymore was probably the most astonishing thing that had happened to her the whole term.

As she looked at his face again, her thoughts returned to Lucy as he finally spoke her name. This was about her.
"It isn't true." said Artemis decisively, her fingers wrinkling in his shirt. Surely he could see just how outlandish the rumours were. Their puppy love was famous from the moment they stepped into the Yule Ball so many years ago. She felt a pang as the forbidden thought of her own Yule date sidled in, which she suppressed.
"Ye musnae cry over summat like that, Landon. We all know that she loves 'ye!". Little did Artemis know that her words may be causing more harm than good. Logic in turn spread the seed of doubt in her mind when it reminded her that Lucy would be the first to dispel such rubbish ... if it was lies. Where was she, then? Letting go of his shirt suddenly, the truth began to dawn. "I don't understand it." said Art slowly.

 

[Landon Dalton]

She had said something that Landon could agree with, and Landon looked to her eyes, lost in his own little maze of a mind, trying to figure out why things happened the way they did. "It's almost our-" Landon stopped himself, readjusted the sentence, and tried again. "It would be our three year anniversary, come the Yule Ball.." It would be the first ball he would attend without Lucy, knowing he ought to attend as it was his prefect duty to set a good example. Landon's voice was solemn for many reasons; the first was that the strength to smile goofily, to be his usual cheerful self was gone, and the second was that he did not wish to sound as though he was boasting. Jareth had been gone for some time, but that didn't mean Landon had stopped caring. Why, Jareth was the closest he had ever come to a male friend, though the boys had never exactly seen eye to eye on a particular subject, and they both knew why.

"I'm sorry," Landon said honestly as he apologised to Artemis, although it was quite obvious that this wasn't just him being sorry for going on. And this soon became clearer. A slight silence filled Landon's head, sparkling dust which forced its way into his mouth. After a moment, he spoke again. "I wish things were like they had been.." But he couldn't say anymore. His voice had broken very slightly as he had said this, his mind drifting to those dreams. Of course he understood exactly what they meant, but that didn't mean he would do anything about them. Certainly not right now. He couldn't. His stomach was knotted and it was too disrespectful. He loved Lucy. He loved her, didn't he? Of course he did- he worshipped the ground she walked on, he promised himself to her for when they were of marital age. That was just a year away. It would take the two of them to make it work, but Lucy was not even trying to make contact with Landon. He was certain she was avoiding him. His heart sank as the atmosphere changed and told him it was over.

Landon had never been so heartbroken.