Please Bear With Me

[Jeremy Thorne]

The days and weeks had rolled by like a rock going down a hill. Between classes, which had become increasingly difficult as he got deeper into his OWL year, quidditch practice, where the team was getting ready for their first game, and his prefect duties, where he was expected to patrol the third floor corridor every two nights, time had really gotten away from the fifth year. Sleep had become the ultimate escape for Jeremy Thorne, where his greatest concern was whether or not to cover himself with a blanket.

The routine that he'd fallen into had left him with little leisure time since Halloween, and on more than one ocassion, Jeremy had stopped to consider whether he was doing it purposely. Halloween had been a really confusing night for him. Sapphire had spent only a few minutes with him, but he'd found himself continuing to glance her way most of the night. He'd almost managed to convince himself that it was just to be sure that no one bothered her, but that was silly. She was more than capable of protecting herself. He'd laughed off Dymetris's comments, but they'd stayed with him and it was soon after that he'd picked up practices, volunteered for extra patrols and really dived into his schoolwork.

As he patrolled the third floor corridor, Jeremy Thorne passed a Yule Ball poster and he stopped in front of it, thinking for a moment, before continuing on.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire missed her friend (and crush) since Halloween. Yeah she had seen him there but as the boys distracted themselves with food Sapphire had wondered off to find other people she knew, maybe even the Mad Tea Party. Heaven knew it was ages since any of them had seen each other. Not that she had much time to consider it. She did have a fair few classes to do herself and they where already putting the pressure of O.W.L's on them meaning that Sapphire really had to buckle down. It was hard considering that her brain tended to wonder off into areas unknown. Like right now.

She had been working on a concept for dorm room four's door (ever year Sapphire painted on the door and every year when she came back the door was a blank work again) when a new thought came across her head. One for her comic books. A cabin boy on the pirate ship of Captain Silica. It didn't surprise her one bit that the new character looked a lot like Jeremy. She had been thinking of him more than she knew she should have been. As if her feet where carrying here to exactly where she needed to be Sapphire, lost in thought, bumped into the very person she was thinking about then bounced back.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Almost as if fate had decided to intervene and force Jeremy's hand, knowing that he would likely not take action on his own, the prefect found himself being banged into by the very person he'd been thinking about. The bump didn't jostle him much nor did it hurt him at all. Quidditch had provided him with a good sense of balance, and Sapphire was so small and slight that he hardly felt it. Looking down at the Hufflepuff, Jeremy's cheeks reddened slightly, as if there were any way that Sapphire could know what he was thinking. As far as he knew, she wasn't an Occlumens.

"Oh, hey Saph" he said, adjusting his uniform robes and brushing off his pristine prefect's badge, with a smile as they stood in front of yet another Yule Ball advertisement, another silent reminder. It was getting late and he'd be done with his patrol soon, but it wasn't as if he was in a rush to head back to his lonely, quiet dorm. With Logan gone, Jeremy had dove into schoolwork as a way to mask his loneliness. "How are the sky pirates doing?" he asked.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire, also a quiddich player though a slight accident on her broom made it so she couldn't go for keeper this year, was rendered to the floor. Her coordination was not as good on the ground as it was on a broom stick seeing as not long before she had been hit by a door that was being opened. She got herself up while fixing her glasses on her face to get rid of what she called Bifocal, a condition that happened in the spit second which was required to get focus back through glasses much like fixing a camera lance. Sapphire allowed herself a moment to take in Jeremy's authoritarian appendices before she blushed and was forced to loo down.

Sapphire signed her hello shyly than got her notebook out of the bag she always carried with her and quilled I am thinking of giving them a young crew member. About fifteen, good with a pressure gun, better with a sword but still needs work on the canons. Don't know if I want to make his background sad, happy or average. Work in progress I suppose. She handed the notebook to Jeremy and gave him a happy smile. She was happy that he quickly found something to 'talk' about instead of lingering on the awkwardness of standing right next to a Yule Ball poster. Some f her more private drawing had that very event but most impossible things happening during it. All centered again around a certen Ravenclaw prefect.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

eremy listened to her as she spoke about the new developments with the sky pirates. He nodded eagerly. "That sounds really cool" he spoke after he'd read what she'd written before adding, "If he's with the sky pirates, his background's probably sad." He stood silently for a moment as a couple walked towards them and then passed by, the guy holding what appeared to be his girlfriend's books. Jeremy quickly glanced back down at the notebook. It seemed that everyone was coupling up these days, but Jeremy couldn't figure out if it was actually occurring more or if he was just taking more notice of it.


Clearing his throat, Jeremy looked back up. "My patrol is just about over. Where were you headed? I'll walk ya if you want" he shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it in case she had other places to be. The Ravenclaw didn't. His room was a lonely place to be these days. Jeremy glanced over her shoulder, but his eyes only fell on another stupid yule poster. He handed her notebook over before stuffing his hands into his pocket awkwardly.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

She was beautiful. The girl walking by with what Sapphire assumed was the girl's boyfriend was beautiful and seemed very confidant and she made Sapphire want to dig a hole a die in it so no one ever had to look at her again by just looking at her. Sapphire wondered if she was kidding herself trying to fit into a normal world when she wasn't normal at all. Right down to the house hold she lived in. Absentmindedly Sapphire placed a hand on her chest where Dympna's curse mark was. She turned to Jeremy as he offered to walk her where she was headed. Sapphire nodded even though she had been going no where in particular.

The Hufflepuff smiled wide now seeing now awkward Jeremy seemed now. If you want you can walk with me out to the lawns. I don't want to go back to my dorm too soon seeing as I will pass this years door art and wonder if I can do anything better next year. The house elves take down the paintings I do on my dorm room door every year. She wrote to him then passed it to him. Sapphire wanted nothing more than to spend time with Jeremy even if she wasn't worthy of his time.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

When he saw Sapphire nod and then smile, he couldn't help but grin himself. Some of the tension in the air seemed to have gone away, but too much of it still remained. The Ravenclaw teen tried his best to not look over Sapphire's shoulder because the poster hanging there did little to help him. He knew that the Yule Ball was 'a magical night.' He wasn't stupid after all. Even though Jeremy had never had a girlfriend before, he knew that many guys took girls to the ball because they liked the girl. The only time he'd ever gone with a girl was because she'd won him in an auction.

As she began writing, Jeremy waited patiently. Reading over the note, he shrugged his shoulder. There was still enough time for them to get to the lawn and back inside before curfew and he knew that Yule ball signs couldn't be outside. "Ok...the lawn sounds fine. I don't want to head to my dorm either. It's really quiet and lonely now that Logan is gone" he admitted as they began to walk. "I have other friends but none of them are in my year or my room" he added, not wanting his friend to think that he was a total loser. "Anyway" he sighed, "what do you have painted on your dorm door this year?" He glanced to the side so he could watch her write. Whenever she talked about drawing, she just seemed to light up. It always put a smile on the teen's face because it was...cute.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire smiled wide and started to walk and write at the same time. Sapphire was small though at the moment not overly small for her age so she was sure Jeremy was able to look over her shoulder as they walked. Having him there gave her a rather unfamiliar shiver. It wasn't an unpleasant one like the ones she got when one of her 'sisters' was right behind her looking to see what she was writing so she could get her in trouble. No this she couldn't quite place. Yes I did hear that Logan left. She wrote as she walked towards the front of the school. It was getting darker very slowly as if the sun did not want to go to bed either.

I drew four cloud like fours on a regular clouds and a giant four which glows like the sun. It means that four girls of dorm room four are in the fourth year. I drew it before on of us left the Hogwarts. I miss her even though she was really quiet a lot of the time. Sapphire jotted down for Jeremy to read while putting the quill across her lips to tell him she was laughing. Her speaking of someone being quite when she herself could not utter a sound, hadn't since she was about four years old.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

If Jeremy stayed just a half step behind her, he realized that he could get a good look at what she was writing as she wrote it. He also had to squint a little closer and Jeremy hoped that his father wasn't right about his needing glasses. Jeremy's father wore them to read and after noticing his son squinting while reading over the break, he'd wondered aloud whether Jeremy had the same issue. It would explain the headaches he sometimes got though. When he finally read what she had written, he nodded. "I can't believe he really up and left. It's not like we were talking much...but he was there. And now...he's not" he said in a sad sort of voice, his voice pitching high at the last word. He hated when that happened.

Reading what Sapphire wrote about her door did manage to cheer him up a little bit. It sounded awfully nice, especially the way that she described it. "That sounds nice. It's too bad the house elves take it away." As he kept reading and saw that she called one of the girls quiet, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit. He was trying to hide it at first, not wanting to offend Sapphire. But, when he looked at her and discovered she was laughing, it somehow made him laugh harder. "She must've been really quiet" Jeremy chuckled as they began descending the stairs. Jeremy usually rushed to and from class to practice to meals to the library to bed, so he never actually stopped to look at flyers and such. The staircase was covered with many, many of which were for the Yule Ball. It has to be a sign. Pointing at one after passing several, Jeremy cleared his throat. "So...um...are you going?"

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire patted Jeremy's shoulder to tell him that it would be ok. People left just like that all the time. She loved to hear Jeremy laugh. She knew that some would be overly careful with her because of the fact that she couldn't talk out loud but with her writing and art work it was almost as if she could speak. Her flute even sang for her. She looked at the poster that Jeremy was pointing at and Sapphire's face flamed up red.

Sapphire shook her head. I normally don't. I normally don't have anyone to go with. Not even friends. I would if someone asked me to though. She wrote for him to read then looked down so he would see her eyes. There he would be able to see the silent plea for him to ask her. Sapphire's only impossible hope if he did would be that he ask her to go not as friends. Something she highly doubted would happen but the hope was still there.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy didn't notice that Sapphire's cheeks had reddened because he was decidely not looking at her face. Instead he busied himself staring at the tops of his sneakers, looking up only when he heard the scratch of her quill. As she wrote, he was able to regain some of his composure, and he glanced at what she'd written. He was a bit surprised to hear that she'd never been, though it certainly explained why he'd never seen her. As he finished reading, a sort of resolve went through Jeremy and he went with it before his better sense kicked in.

"So...if let's say I asked you...would you go?" he asked, his cheeks reddening beyond belief. He was grateful that the staircase offered some shadows and he hoped that he happened to be standing in one right now. As the words left him, Jeremy found himself in the midst of a sense of relief. He wasn't entirely sure what this feeling was he was feeling but he knew that he'd have fun at the ball with Sapphire. It sure would beat going to the dance alone.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire looked at Jeremy and nodded really fast then felt silly because he was looking down too. She quickly scribbled I would love to go with you. If you asked to got that is. She added that last part as a bit of cheek. The air around them was just to damn tense that Sapphire thought that they could use a laugh. She smiled wide at him to tell him that she was joking and also that she was really happy. She was just bursting to tell Jeremy how she actually felt but something was stopping her something that scared her. Hadn't everything good in her life always come with a price? What if?

She stopped her thoughts before they came and just flung herself Jeremy in a hug. It wasn't as if she hadn't done it before. He was probably used to it by now. She backed away still smiling wide. She took her notebook back and wrote I never asked you if you liked your present or not. She handed it to him then puit her hands behind her back while waiting for his answer.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy's blue eyes quickly scanned over the response that she'd quickly written. A smile grew on his face and as he looked up he saw it mirrored in Sapphire's face. "I am asking" he confirmed with a nod. He couldn't help but be a little proud of himself for actually going through with it. Sure, it was Sapphire, someone who'd he known for a while and who he was extremely comfortable with, but with his developing fondness of her, it was a big step for the teenaged boy.

He only had a split second heads up that she was about to fling herself into his arms. Jeremy patted her back awkwardly. He was fairly used to her hugs by now but he knew that this one was a bit different. At least to him it was. "I usually go with Logan and a bunch of other friends. It'll be fun." He let her take the notebook and placed his hands in his pocket, taking one out to grab the notebook when she was done. "It was awesome. You're a really great artist Sapphire" he smiled, pleased that they were able to easily move on with the conversation. He'd been afraid of making everything awkward by asking her to the Yule Ball. It seemed he had no reason to worry though.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire couldn't stop smiling. No she hadn't exsacty told him how she felt about his but yes he had asked her to the ball. She was going to spend a night with him alone. Well not exsactly alone, there would be the others at the dance but in her mind. Good god in her mind there was only Jeremy. If only. She had switched to what they where comfortable with because she knew that things where starting to get very strange between them just then.

Not that dating was strange. Most girls her age or even younger where dating and it worked just fine for them. Then again they where so much prettier than her. So much smarter and so much more honest. They didn't have to hide how they where. Thank you. You know the young pirate was inspired by you. She wrote then smiled wide. Do you mind? Sapphire added before handed the notepad back to Jeremy.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy was taken aback when he heard that the young pirate was inspired by him. "Really?" he said in a surprised voice. He wasn't really all that interesting, especially since all he did was sleep, schoolwork, practice, and eat. That certainly didn't make for an exciting enough life to inspire anyone.

As he saw her question, he had to choke back a laugh. "No. I don't mind at all. I'm just a little surprised you'd choose me" he responded as he gestured towards the stairs so that they could keep walking. "It'll be weird reading your comic now" he said with a small chuckle. He didn't think Sapphire would kill off the pirate, but if she ever did, it would be pretty awkward.