Open On the Way Down

[Freddie Lagowski]

Open after Dan. Set as the Ravenclaws and Slytherins are coming out of their first Astronomy lesson

Stairs. Freddie hated stairs. There were a lot of them at Hogwarts. He considered staying behind to see if Professor Zumwalt needed any help tidying, just to let the crowd clear, but before he could make the decision, he was swept along in the current of students. Great. Guess he was going to hold onto the wall and pray. The Ravenclaw common room wasn’t too far down, anyway.

 

[James Cosgrove]

Astronomy had been fine, but as soon as they were out of the classroom, James followed Freddie down the stairs, though he quickly overtook the Ravenclaw and started calling back over his shoulder. “Keep up Lagowski, or are you scouting another window for your next nap?”

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie could never get down a flight of stairs without someone pointing out how slow he was. Why couldn’t they just leave him alone? Why did they care? He wasn't bothering anybody. He wasn't even really in the way. He made sure to hug the wall, in case anyone wanted to pass.

They could probably see he was scared. Well, not scared, really, just concentrating. Only a bit scared. Either way, he sometimes forgot to hide it. "Wanna carry me?" he asked. That'd make him shut up. And it was kinda funny. Sometimes he was pretty funny, he thought. Merlin, it was a long drop.

 

[Rose Glass]

Rose hadn't minded Astronomy, although it was going to take her a little bit of time to get used to being up so late. On the way back to the common room she caught up with Freddie, a boy that Rose still hadn't really had the nerve to speak to properly since the day on the train. Every time she thought of something to tell him to start a conversation, she suddenly became very aware that he probably would think it cool enough to talk about. She hadn't wanted him to think her pathetic, so she'd left it. It was only when she heard him call back to James about carrying him down the stairs that Rose paused, books clasped in her arms, and perched on the edge of one of the steps. "It's not a race, James." Surely Freddie wouldn't think her pathetic for defending him, right? The first year didn't understand why everything had to be such a big competition around here.