Sei Un Magnete &Sono Metal

[Phoebe Callwell]

Phoebe hadn't gone to the Yule ball, but she'd gone downstairs with some friends to see them off, as they insisted if she got dressed and went down she wouldn't be able to say no. However Phoebe fought. She'd been avoiding Rudolf and was sure here he'd be at the Yule ball. After all he'd gone without her before hadn't he? The blonde wore a very simple dress and her hair wqas rather natural. No maekup on there was no way she actually planned on going in there.

She was asked why not, and they asked why she wouldn't just be friends with Rudolf and explain that she wasn't interested. Perhaps that was because that wasn't it. The blonde smiled and bid them farewell, heading back down the corridor hoping to get out of her dress, into some pajamas, and practice her writing more. After all she couldn't rely on any help from Rudolf anymore since she'd not spoken to him since their kiss.

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

Rudolf had debated long and hard about going to the Yule Ball that year. On the one hand, he still didn't have a date (Phoebe wouldn't go, and he wasn't asking anybody else), but on the other, it was usually a pretty fun evening. Of course, that was when he was on good terms with his brother. But now Reuben had Saveli, and Matthew, and didn't seem to need Rudolf with him to have fun any more, and the Gryffindor was inclined not to bother showing up at all. That will show them, he thought triumphantly, until he realised that the only person who would notice his absence was James, and felt miserable again.

Eventually, because his parents had sent him a nice looking suit and he thought it would be a shame to waste it, Rudolf finally dragged himself out of the common room and down towards the great hall. It was on his way that his eyes were suddenly drawn to the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen in his life; her hair was soft and curly, her dress sparkled in the evening light, and she had the kind of lips that Rudolf would happily spend his entire life turning into a smile, if she would let him. It was Phoebe.

"Pheeb?" Rudolf said, putting one arm out to stop her in her path and then quickly retracting it when he realised he'd touched her arm. "I didn't realise you were going to the ball. You look, um... yeah, wow."

 

[Phoebe Callwell]

Phoebe could almost hear that it was Rudolf approaching her in the hallway and she stopped short enough that his arm barely brushed her. The girl continued to stare forward, after all what was the point in glancing in the direction of her voice, she wouldn't be able to see the look on his face - one that probably looked confused as to why she had no makeup on but had a dress. The blonde shook her head. "I'm not." She responded. "I'm going back to my room. My friends are all down there with their dates." Then Phoebe began to walk again, trying hard to ignore that tugging feeling in her chest.

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

"Hey!" said Rudolf, sticking his arm out again. This time he didn't care if he touched her arm - he wasn't letting her walk away, not yet. He'd been making some changes to his life lately, and one of those included having the courage to speak up about his feelings; so instead of wishing her a good night and heading off to the ball alone, he said, "Why don't you come down with me? Then you'll have a date to the ball too, won't you?"

 

[Phoebe Callwell]

Phoebe jumped this time, startled that rudolf would stop her in her tracks like that. She backed up slightly, and this time her head jutted to look at him and by divine fate her milky colored eyes landed on his - and while she could not see she could feel that they were there. "Why do you do this?" She asked, turning her body now to be pointed at him. Her voice held the dejection she'd been wallowing in since losing her sight. "Every year you ask me to the ball why?" Phoebe's fist clenched and she narrowed her eyes, hoping it would prevent her from crying. She was not going to be emotional there was no way it would happen to her - not in a million years. Or maybe not for the next five minutes.

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

Rudolf nearly startled when Phoebe's eyes met his; they'd only done that once or twice before, and never with such intensity behind them. Though it was impossible, he almost felt as if she were seeing him.

Something in Phoebe's voice wasn't right. It tugged at Rudolf's heart, made him want to put his arms around her and hold her, even though he couldn't figure out why. "I thought..." he said, recoiling in pain. "I just wanted to... I wanted to go to the ball with you, Pheebs. I thought if I asked enough times you might say yes." If he'd realised he'd been upsetting her, he never would have pursued it. Or at least, he'd have found a way to pursue it without upsetting her, because he wasn't sure he would ever really be able to let Phoebe go.

 

[Phoebe Callwell]

"You ignored my question. I wasn't asking what you were doing Rudolf. I was asking why." Phoebe was frustrated and she threw her hands up in the air and for a moment swore multiple times in Italian at and about the boy. "You asked me first year, second year, you made braille on the wall and asked me no matter how many times I say no you keep asking. Why the hell do you want to go to the ball with someone who can't even see their own two feet let alone dance on them?!" she shouted now, becoming more and more upset, tears filling her eyes and spilling over no matter how hard she fought.

"I say no, over and over, adn I'm doing it for your own good Rudolf you don't need me around. I can't even write without it looking like I'm missing a finger used to hold my quill. i will never be a successful witch! I won't be able to help you. You're going to be an auror, and you probably want a massive family. My kids might be blind like me if anyone's dumb enough to settle down with a blind girl with no future don't you get that. I'm not good enough for you!" she finished, nearly sobbing. "Now please let me go to my room so i can be in peace. Alone like i belong!"

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

As Phoebe became more and more upset, Rudolf's eyes widened further and further. What was this all about? Why was she shouting? He didn't have to wait long to find out. Her outburst went on for some time, concluding finally to say that she was not good enough him, which, frankly, was total crap, because he had always thought himself inadequate for her. Wasn't that the reason she'd turned him town so many times? Apparently not.

At the sight of Phoebe's tears, Rudolf's own eyes began to prickle, though he managed to suppress his emotions for the time being. A brief silence hung between them before Rudolf finally spoke. "Is... is that why you always say no?" he asked, quietly. "Because you think you're not good enough for me?" There was a pause while he contemplated this, his heart hurting with every contraction. "M-maybe I don't care if you can't dance. Maybe I don't want kids. Maybe I love your handwriting, 'cause it doesn't look like anybody else's and I always know if something was written by you. Maybe I asked you to the dance every year since first year 'cause you are the only girl I have every wanted to go with. Maybe I'm just stupid, but if I'm stupid then I want to be stupid for a long time, with you. Because I love you." There. He said it. Tentatively he stepped forward, closing his eyes and lifting his hand to lightly touch her cheek. He couldn't see her any more, but he could feel her face was only an inch or two from his. "When you kissed me," he whispered, "my eyes were closed. Like now. We're in the dark together. I'm with you. Please... please don't make me go away." Finally, a tear slipped down Rudolf's cheek, his whisper breaking.

 

[Phoebe Callwell]

Phoebe didn't bother to answer Rudolf's first question. wasn't it obvious that that was exactly why she was saying no? When Phoebe began going blind at the young age of seven she'd known she'd never be normal, but she didn't think it would bother her so much. In fact when she was younger and her parents told her once they could save the money they'd get her eyes fixed, she told them it didn't matter to her. She was who she was God had made her as such. As a witch she questioned herself, but never more than when she'd begun to like Rudolf - and now she'd give anything to see his face. Phoebe thought about ti so frequently. Did he have brown eyes? She hoped he did. The blonde felt him move forward, the breeze from body movement tickling her arms gently.

It was Rudolf's last words that really got Phoebe. The words that they were in the dark together. Phoebe reached out quickly, cane falling to the floor. She was hugging him now, nearly sobbing on her best friend's shoulder. the blonde had never thought she'd tell Rudolf the way she felt. and though she was young and had little to compare it too she knew it was the same as he. "I love you too..." She admitted sheepishly, a quiet whisper. Phoebe didn't know what this meant, but her chest lightened and she knew it meant things would at least be better.