Silence is Golden

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy was feeling a bit better than he had been at the feast, but he was still nowhere near as happy a kid as he had been the years before. Most of this probably had to do with the events of the summer, the most recent of which was his visit with his mother which she spent trying to convince him to live with her. It got so annoying that he'd ended up shouting at her and now he felt guilty about it. It figured that the one time she actually took the time to spend with him, she aggravated him so much that he wished she were actually at work. The young Ravenclaw had looked at the new school year as a chance to get away from both of his parents and their craziness. He had quickly come to realize that the one thing he had wanted the most- his parent's attention- wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Actually, his dad wasn't so bad. The pair had gone to Florida after the two weeks they'd spent in Texas and they'd gone surfing together and even apparated to a quidditch game. It had been Jeremy's first attempt with side-along apparation and it had left him feeling sick for a few minutes after, but afterwards he'd been eager to do it again. It kind of made him excited about taking his own apparation exam when he was old enough.

As he arrived at the garden, Jeremy sat himself down next to a rosebush and began to write a letter to the one friend he'd made in Texas. He pulled out his quill and parchment and for the next few moments, he enjoyed the silence, writing away. The day was a little breezy and every few moments he had to quickly push the parchment back down as the wind attempted to roll it up a bit. It was quite funny actually and Jeremy allowed a chuckle to escape him, the first one in a while actually.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire had come back to Hogwarts with a few new additions to herself. Most she kept hidden but others she couldn't hide anymore. Her mother was become more cruel as time when on. One was the mark that she had on her chest. Since the spring and summer months where not far off the scarves that she usually wore where out of the question so a small black mark could be seen on her chest. A pixie, Dympna's mark. She wasn't so ashamed of it anymore though. If worse came to worse she could always glamor it so that no one could see it. Another were the soft curves that belong to a developing thirteen year old. Sapphire was no where near the beauty that she had seen some of the older girls be but she growing into something that Sapphire suspected would be relatively decent. None of that served ease Sapphires shyness around cute boys.

Sapphire was out in the garden, playing with a lock of her chocolate colored hair and daydreaming, when she saw one of her friends out. Jeremy Thorne had spent a bit of the year before learning a bit of sign language with her because he had asked and Sapphire had been more than happy to teach. She hadn't seen him all summer so she walked up to him only to see that he was writing something. Sapphire crept as silently as only Sapphire could and looked around him to what was on the page. When he chuckled Sapphire put her hand on her lips. It had been quite funny really. What she didn't realize was that the loss of the hand's stability would send her forward making the top of her head bump into his lower back.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy was so lost in thought that he had no idea he was being watched. If he had, he likely would have done something awkward, but since he didn't know, he remained in the same relaxed manner. It was possible that he would never have noticed that he was being watched or that someone was looking over his shoulder. But, when he was hit in the back, it was a bit difficult to ignore.

Jeremy jumped slightly while at the same time looking over his shoulder to see what had hit him. "Yowch" he muttered as he realized that it hadn't been a falling acorn or even a rock. It was somebody's head, and that somebody was his friend Sapphire. "What are you doing there Sapphire? You have a really hard head you know" he complained, rubbing his back as he leaned forward to retrieve the parchment and quill that had flown a few inches before turning himself around to face her.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire nodded. You have quite a sturdy back. She signed then put her hand on her head. Sapphire wondered if she could use his quill to write her next response down so he could see it rather than have to guess. It was that way with a lot of people that she talked to and she didn't mind. Her glittering blue eyes seemed to say her sorry though. Didn't mean to. I was wondering what you where doing. She signed just in case then pointed at the parchment that he was writing on.

Sapphire was curios by nature so it was natural for her. The fact that it was Jeremy who she had been somewhat spying on was a bit of a plus too. Sapphire smiled at him hoping that he wasn't mad at her for ruining what could have been a peaceful day. She absently sat down and folded her blue stalking-ed legs under herself then started to look around the rose bush. I heard someone died here. She signed without really thinking about it.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy looked at her for a second and then shrugged his shoulders. He knew she was sorry and he wasn't mad about the interruption at all. It wasn't like he was doing anything terribly important. "Don't worry about it. It's alright, Saph." He was simply writing a letter to a friend and since he had a friend in front of him right now, he had no problem putting it to the side for a few moments. He looked at what she signed and had to think about what she was signing for a few moments. It had been a while since he had practiced it, so he had to consider each sign for a few moments. Part of him was grateful when she asked for his parchment and he pushed it towards her along with his quill.

As he waited to see what she would write, Jeremy was surprised to see her sign something else, especially because he recognized one of the signs immediately. "Died? Here?" he asked in a shocked voice. He'd never heard anything about a student dying at the school before but now that he glanced around, he spotted what looked like a plaque further down the way. "Is that for whoever it was?" he wondered aloud.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire nodded and smiled a little bit. She took the quill and quickly scribbled "Probably" as she walked to where Jeremy was. She could see that it was a little over grown so she tried to push some of the plants away when she hand got caught on something. She gasped then put her finger in her mouth. A thorn had gotten to her. "Shouldn't have done that" She wrote with her other hand. Having to express herself like this made Sapphire practice with both hands. When it came to writing Sapphire was ambidextrous now. She looked up at Jeremy then back at the plaque. "Sad really don't you think? She wrote down.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy watched Sapphire as she reached out her hand to brush some plants away and saw that she had pricked herself on one of the plants. "You alright?" he asked, a look of concern on his face. She seemed to be alright though because she didn't dwell on it for long. Sapphire was a tough girl though so even if she was hurt, he wasn't sure she'd say anything. As he glanced at the paper to see what she'd written, Jeremy nodded his head.

"Yea...that's terrible. I never knew and she was in my house" he said aloud, wondering if there were some other sign of her loss in the common room somewhere. Jeremy barely paid attention to anything and had never really explored the room, though he was sure he would be doing that when he returned today. It was sad to think about a first year dying. That was an eleven year old. That was the kind of thing that shouldn't happen to anyone so young. He sighed, feeling a little depressed now. "Did you have a good vacation?" he asked Sapphire, his mind drifting to his own mediocre time away from the school.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire showed Jeremy her finger as if to say Just a scratch, don't worry about it. She really didn't want him to worry. Anyway Sapphire had been trained to be tough. One didn't service as long as she did in the Bella-Donna household without it. You either conformed or you stayed on your toes. The third choice was the ultimate end and no one wanted to go there. Well some did but that was only because they had had enough of the house and enough of living. She saw that he was somewhat sad so she placed her unscratched hand on his cheek as a comfort.

He asked about her vacation and she nodded. It was peaceful for once. My eldest sister is treated quite well now and she does a lot of the work that we would have done if we where there like taking care of my younger siblings. Ruby got invited over to a friend's house to stay for the holiday so she had a very pleasant one while I was allowed to stay in my room and read or draw. How was yours? She wrote then started put a quick monogram on the bottom to show how much better her skills had gotten over the holiday. It had been a pleasant one for being one in the Bella-Donna manor. She had to watch her mother torment Veronica but right now it didn't seem like her sister mind all that much. Sapphire closed the gap in her shirt from the memory.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy looked over Sapphire's shoulders as she wrote, explaining how her vacation had been. It didn't sound so bad though and he was glad that things seemed to be going easier for his friend. He knew that she enjoyed drawing so hearing that she had been able to spend a lot of time doing that made him happy that at least one person had been able to enjoy their summer. As he considered what to tell her about his vacation, Jeremy shrugged.

"Mine kind of stunk actually. It started off with my parents telling my sister and I they were getting divorced and then I spent the rest of the summer with my dad." He couldn't say that he had hated spending time with his father because he didn't. Whenever his father actually spent time with him, he'd had loads of fun. "We were in Texas, which was boring except for this girl I met who had a pet monkey" he scratched his head as he explained that. "And then we went to Florida." He left out the worst part of the summer, which was when he'd returned to Maine for two weeks just before he'd left for New Zealand. The time with his mother had been difficult to say the least. "I'm glad to be back."

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire was happy that he only knew of the unhappiness in the house and not the real horrors. Innocence was a delicate thing, something that the children of the Bella-Donna household where stripped of early in life. Sapphire didn't see a reason to take it from her friend. Sad when parents don't stay around but maybe they can be better parents apart than together did they yell at each other a lot? Sapphire asked hoping that she wasn't becoming too nosy. She did a quick sketch of a monkey on the corner of the sheet and smiled wide hoping to bring a smile to his face too.

You travel a lot don't you? I kinda wish I would be able to. Unless a friend asks me to go visit them the only way that I get to see the outside of the manor is when I'm out on errands for the house. The woods around the manor are scary but if you stay to the paths nothing can get you. She wrote some of it was cryptic and hoped he would ask questions of the cryptic parts but then she had wrote it down for a reason. The enchantments on her made it so she couldn't tell even in writing what went on in the house but she could give clues. If she gave enough clues someone would figure it out. The Soul sisters where too far gone to save but Ruby and Jasper where not.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy laughed bitterly. "Yelling would require them speaking to each other. They were hardly ever home and I doubt they'll be home any more now" he shrugged. He was used to it by now and even the small bit of time he'd been able to be with his father and later his mother had felt unnatural. It was kind of sad really that he could feel like such a stranger with his own parents. As he glanced down at the paper, a smile crept onto his face. The monkey that Sapphire had drawn looked a lot like Sanchie, Mizzy's monkey.

"I guess" Jeremy shrugged his shoulders. Listening to his friend speak, the Ravenclaw realized that he didn't know much about where Sapphire lived at all. This was the first time he could recall her speaking about her home. "You mean you can't just go out to play or read?" he asked, a bit confused. Jeremy spent nearly all of his time outdoors when he was home. With a book and a sandwich, he had no reason to return home until he needed more food. It wasn't as if anyone was ever home and if he was going to be alone, he'd rather do it in the great outdoors. He might have second guessed that if he lived in a scary woods. "What kind of things are out there?" he asked, wide-eyed.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire flung her arms around Jeremy. She loved her friends to smile. She dealt with enough sadness at home. At school she wanted to have a good time. She drew back and listened to him speak more then drew up the quill again. She had the words clear in her head but it was as if she where channeling something else. Something that didn't make much sense. It was still her curvy loopy writing that she was so proud of but it wasn't what was in her head.

The house hold secrets of time before time,
The grounds hold stories of myth when myth was truth,
The children hold power not yet unlocked,
To the world they venture,
But to the house they belong,
Their souls bound by that which cannot be unbound.

Gardens watered with blood.

Sapphire blinked then shook her head. She didn't know what that was then remembered. Too many hints and someone would find out. It was probably her curse going into affect and making her write gibberish. She looked down at the paper and put her hands to her mouth. It was worse than gibberish. It was the conditions of her curse. All the children knew that they would never be able to leave the Manor no matter what they did. Even if Dympna somehow got killed (which would be next to impossible) every child that had been in that house and marked by her would be bound to the house forever. Sapphire didn't want to remember. She took out her wand and started to try and burn the paper but every time she did the mental spell only sparks came out of the end of her wand. Sapphire didn't stop. She waved and waved her wand, every time she failed her eyes getting more and more watery until there where tears rolling down her eyes.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy patted Sapphire awkwardly as he felt his face burn slightly. He wasn't used to being hugged by girls, not even ones that he considered to be friends. He quickly released the hug and turned his attention back to the paper. As she wrote, he glanced over her shoulder, his eyebrows furrowing as he continued to read. Was it a poem of some sort? Surely, she didn't mean that the garden near her home was filled with blood? That was crazy. Jeremy didn't get it and he could only assume it was because it was he hadn't read it thoroughly enough. He glanced down but the paper was already tilted away from him and he couldn't get another close look.

Jeremy looked slowly up at Sapphire, wanting to hear an explanation and then he noticed that she was trying to perform a spell on the paper. "What are you doing Saph?" he asked nervously as she continued, and then began crying. "Why are you crying? Please don't do that" he said, growing just as nervous about her tears as he was about the sparks. Actually, he was much more nervous at the tears. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked because his father had once told him that if a girl was crying it was probably because a guy had just put his foot in his mouth.