Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For?

[Lucinda Dalton]

After searching and searching, they'd finally found it. Well, Landon had, but of course he'd alerted her the moment he found it. The Room of Requirement. Just in time for the end of school, but the fat that they'd found it was the important thing.

It had been a rough few years for Lucy, after losing her mother, her motivation...she had felt so listless. So alone. It had only been this year that she'd started seeing Landon regularly again, as they'd searched for the Room of Requirement, as they had said they would as children. In the last few years, Lucy had almost lost faith that they would find it, that they would ever work together again, but so it was. The afternoons searching for the room had pulled her out of her funk that had clouded her mood for...well, years. Instead of wallowing, of fearing, she had looked forward to the days where the two of them would put aside their troubles and just explore.

She'd needed Landon. She still did. And even though they were about to leave Hogwarts and go out in to the real world, Lucy hoped that he'd still be by her side. Even if it seemed impossible.

She wasn't entirely sure what to expect in the Room of Requirement - legend said that it provided you with what you asked for, and as she let Landon do the asking, she closed her eyes and held her breath as she entered the room, knowing that they had stumbled upon to something amazing.

And there they were. A comfortable room, spacious but not too big for the two of them. It was comfortably furnished, it was inviting...it was absolutely perfect.

"You did it!" Lucy exclaimed, a smile creeping over her stunned face. "The Room of Requirement...it's fantastic!" Impulsively, she threw her arms around Landon, giving him a tight squeeze, before letting go and sinking on to one of the chairs, glowing with happiness. There was, of course, one thing that would make her happier, but she could settle for this.

 

[Landon Dalton]

It may have been the room itself, or, perhaps, the fact that Landon's childhood dream of finding the place, had at last begun to sink in, either way, the place felt like the final sparks of his wizarding education had united in a burst to wish him luck in the big wide world.

Landon found himself a little surprised by the hug that ensued, and he barely had time to so much as twitch his arms in a gesture of returning the celebration. "We did it," Landon corrected her with a grin, before walking over to a small and helpless looking table, holding several little boxes. "if it hadn't have been for your intellect, I would never have stood a chance." He glanced over his shoulder at her, a slight watery twinkle is his eye. He turned back to the boxes, thinking just how much Lucy had changed over the years, both physically and mentally. And yet..

He paced over to the chairs, dropping into one and giving the room a brief look over. "It's not quite what I had expected," Landon said thoughtfully, though he was well aware that it must be what he needed, rather than what he 'wanted'. Though he couldn't quite understand why it had been such a cosy place with so many boxes on a feeble table. What was even in the boxes? "I was thinking more 'large gothic echoing hall'. Still," He looked back at Lucy, something giving a sudden squirm within his stomach, "I'm rather fond of it."

Landon fell silent for few moments, thinking about what this day could have been like; if they had found it a couple of years sooner, Artemis could have joined them. If they had found it a couple of years before that, Jareth could have been there, too. Landon shifted in his seat. "Do you ever think about that.. That night in the forest?" The words tugged at the back of his throat, a pang of guilt hitting him hard in the stomach. Part of him said that these things were best forgotten, best left in the past. But the part of Landon that triumphed, knew that he could not insult his friend's memory by pretending the boy had never existed in the first place. "Do you think that, if that hadn't happened, we- You, me, Artemis, and Jareth- would still be friends? Or would the years have worn us down and torn us apart?" Landon speculated, looking to his legs and avoiding eye contact as other thoughts raked through his brain.

 

[Lucinda Dalton]

Lucy found herself blushing as Landon insisted that it had been her intellect that had helped. The eighteen year old still reacted awkwardly to praise. Though she had changed in to an attractive young woman, she still blushed and looked away like the nervous first year Landon had met that day by the lake. Some things never changed.

She slipped off her shoes and pulled her feet up on to the chair, hugging her knees as she gazed over at Landon. She barely even noticed the room, now, her attention held on the man standing in front of her. He was still the same boy she'd met all those years ago. Like her, he had changed a lot, but she knew that at the heart, he was still the same Landon, as she was still the same Lucy. "It's nice," she muttered, dreamily. "I think it suits."

The mood sobered up quickly, though. Lucy knew exactly what Landon was thinking without him having to say it. Lucy sighed, remembering. After that had happened, she and Landon had remained close for a while...but it wasn't long after that that Lucy's mother fell ill, and Lucy withdrew in to herself.

"I wonder," she mused. It wasn't something she could have answered easily. "I'd like to think we'd all still be together." She hugged her knees tighter, taking a deep breath. It was hard to think about, though she had thought about it a lot. Many times she looked back on that day, many times she wished it had been her who had been killed, not Jareth. But you couldn't change the past, and they simply had to cherish the now.

"Would you have ever thought," she began, changing the subject slightly, "on the day we met, that seven years later, we'd be here, together, in the Room of Requirement?" There was a certain reverence to her tone. The room wasn't grandiose or anything, but Lucy was perfectly content with it.

 

[Landon Dalton]

Landon, though he had brought up the subject of 'what if', found himself relieved that Lucy did not let either of them dwell on it for too long. His mind turned to happier memories. Memories that had lost their colour over the years, but still held the same warmth and love as ever. The smile returned to Landon's face as he shook his head, "No," he responded, "on the day we met, I didn't even think you'd hang around once you got to know me. It used to scare people off, my habbit of fact-blurting."

His eyes said the things his mouth did not. He glanced back at the table of boxes, curious as to what they contained. Curiosity had always led him on, and had often got him close to trouble. "Still," he added with a tone of merriment, "we stayed friends." It was at this point that Landon's mind began to wander to the events that had followed in their relationship. His eyes seemed to glaze with memories. Mentally shaking himself, he allowed his eyes to roam about for a moment or two, completely missing Lucy's eyes, for fear of turning bright red.

"Do you remember that time we snuck into the restricted section? And the time we met that centaur? And the first Yule Ball we went to together?" Landon made the mistake of allowing himself eye contact. His cheeks reddened slightly at the last words. But he did not regret saying them. Those times he had felt so alive. One of them had made him doubt how much of a Gryffindor he really was. Lucinda had been a beautiful girl attending a perfect ball. Landon had been a socially awkward boy with hair that refused to behave. But the night had turned out so perfectly awkward, so crisp in little mistakes, littered with tiny details to make it glimmer and shine in a way that reminded Landon it had all been real.

 

[Lucinda Dalton]

Lucy's heart ached, because she knew she'd ruined everything. She could've been so happy, but she was scared. She ran. She lost all the happiness in her life. Everything was clouded, miserable. She hadn't even thought of those happy days in her first years of Hogwarts for a long time - but she allowed herself to now. She missed them, terribly, as she recalled the adventures the two of them had had. There was nothing Lucy wanted more than to have those days again.

"You're ridiculous," Lucy said, lovingly. "I thought you wouldn't want a thing to do with me because of my blood-status, also because of me being a boring, anti-social bookworm," she admitted. "I thought the fact-blurting was interesting."

She smiled, her cheeks reddening a little, as she followed Landon's gaze to the boxes on the table. She, too, was curious to know what was in them, but she didn't dwell on it for too long. She was quite comfortable - well, apart from the slight heartache - where she was.

Her cheeks reddened even more as Landon mentioned the times they'd had together. Specifically, the Yule Ball. It had been one of the only times she'd gone - apart from recently, where she'd mostly hung about the corner, as usual. Her lips curved in to a huge smile as she remembered. Of course, it had been their first kiss, too...that was something that made her face flush and her heart flutter. All those times they'd had together, they'd been the most happy times of her life. It had been some of the few times Lucy had felt truly alive.

"Those were the days," she said, a little sadly, as she looked in to Landon's eyes. Her face was burning, and the fact that that was the case caused her to be even more embarassed, so her hands flew to her face to cover her cheeks. Lucy was so calm and collected most of the time, and yet around Landon, she became completely undone. Perhaps her most human. "Oh gosh," she muttered. "Sorry."

 

[Landon Dalton]

Landon tilted his head sympathetically. He thought of how insensitive it was of him to bring up such things, knowing what Lucy had been through in recent years. Upon seeing Lucy's hands flying to her face, Landon instinctively leapt to her side. He wasn't sure why he had made this move until he found himself looking up from his seat on the floor, one of his hands having momentarily brushed against her arms in some attempt at friendly comfort. It had been accompanied by a smile and the words, "It's alright," in an upbeat sort of manner. But now he simply looked on, something about his expression molding to reflect the thoughts inside his head.

"Lucinda," Landon said with a shake of his head. switching subject slightly, "even with our first meeting, I'm sure you, with one of the greatest brains I have ever known, could tell that blood status has never meant anything to me. Well, I say that," Landon added with a glistening light in his eyes, "though I have always found muggle-borns of particular interest.." There came a pause. Landon felt the silent melting into his skin, making him conscious of every slight twitch and sound he made. His body language was focused on what interested him so strongly, and he noticed this, quickly getting to his feet, clearing his throat and turning away to wander back towards the boxes.

"So," he said, his tone so different to the moments before, "What do you think is in the boxes? I'm hoping it's a lifetime supply of socks- never can have enough." He glanced over his shoulder, shooting Lucy a cheeky grin, before returning his gaze to the boxes, and picking up one in his hand: It was small and a fragrant shade of blue. He lifted the top only a few centimeters to peek inside. A pair of silver earrings covered in sparkling blue jewels, rested upon a trimming of pure silk. "OOh, fancy," he said, closing the box and tossing it to Lucy for her to inspect. He opened up another, revealing a crimson coloured necklace, which he proceeded to hold up to his neck. He turned to Lucy, modeling it against himself. "Hmm, not sure it's my colour." He grinned madly. Madly like the Landon he had once known himself to be, the Landon who still remained deep inside his heart, the Landon who may not have been the best, socially, but always followed his heart. And what did his heart say now?

Landon turned back to the boxes, setting the necklace aside to pick out a small and modest box made of wood. What had made him select this one from the pile? Why had he chosen that exact box, one that was not exactly the easiest to get to. For some reason, he made a point not to make this box obvious to Lucy, and as he cautiously opened it, he felt his stomach leap, his heart give solid 'THUD', and his mind tense up. Inside lay a bed of newspaper, a strangely shaped bump bulging from the middle. Landon let his fingers roam inside the box, carefully untwisting the paper and revealing unto himself the box's contents. It was not glittering gold, nor silver, it did not possess a jewels of white, or blue, or pink. It was merely a circle of bronze with indentations of a tiny reel of miniature ivy, but the inside bore the words Consilio Et Animis, Amor Vincit Omnia. Of course he knew a small amount of Latin, what with the wizarding world having such a close relationship to it, but for the life of him, Landon could not work out what the words meant. Well, not all of them, at least. One stood out. One that led him to guess the association with its neighbouring words. But how had all this jewelry gotten here? Especially the ring? Checking to make sure Lucy was not watching, Landon tucked the bronze circle inside his pocket, before returning to the chairs.

"Funny place, this," he said, gesturing his arms at the room. "Wonder how many others have found it?" He looked to Lucy for an answer. Of course he did. She was the smart one, the one who understood life, understood people. He was the peculiar young man who hardly knew where his head was at. And now he could feel the tiny bump in his breast pocket, rubbing against his skin, making him aware of what he had been thinking as he pocketed it.

 

[Lucinda Dalton]

At Landon's words, a smile crossed Lucy's face, her eyes lighting up. She continued to blush, of course - she was not really used to compliments. She gave a small chuckle - of course, as soon as she met Landon, she knew he was far from a stereotypical pure-blood. He found the fact that she was an unremarkable muggle born to be interesting. Fascinating, even. And likewise, Lucy had been curious of what it would be like to grow up in a wizarding home, not knowing what a muggle lifestyle was like.

"Socks?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, as Landon moved towards the curious boxes. "Maybe the room is rewarding us for finding it." Or the boxes were hexed - surely not. They didn't ask for such a thing. However, it turned out Lucy was right, she supposed. "Hm?" she asked, as she struggled to catch the box. She'd never been the most co-ordinated - she wasn't bad, but she was by no means an athlete. Her eyes lit up as she opened the box. "Oh, wow..." she whispered. Looking up, she saw Landon modelling a crimson necklace, and she chuckled. "You're right, you're more of a jade green," she joked, winking, before looking back down at the box in her lap. The earrings were beautiful, and Lucy wasted no time in removing her plain golden hoops to put these on. Perhaps they weren't supposed to, but they were in the room, Lucy was at least going to try them on.

It helped that she did, it distracted her from seeing Landon look at the next box, for surely her curiosity would have piqued and she would've asked what was in it. As it was, she didn't see it at all.

She brushed her hair back, modelling the earrings. "What do you think?" she joked. Lucy had never considered herself a beauty - though if she was to look at herself objectively, she would have to admit she was reasonably attractive - so surely they were wasted on her. "I guess they were some sort of magical gift. I doubt many people have found this room before. Perhaps it was lonely." She stared up at the ceiling for a moment, before her eyes wandered back to Landon, her heart skipping a beat as she did so. She'd have to teach herself to stop doing that.

"Personifying the room aside, I'd say not many have found it. I'm sure we would've heard more about it if they had - even if they kept a secret, people would've found out eventually. And we've been looking for it for a while. I think the room shows itself to those who need it, and to those who look hard enough. Perhaps we're just the first ones who've fulfilled that criteria in a while. Certainly, the room seemed to reward us..." she stated, gesturing towards the boxes. Curiosity was making her itch to know what was in the rest of them, but then again, she didn't want to seem greedy, so she restrained herself.

And she knew this room had what she needed, but whether or not that would really come to her was a different matter.

 

[Landon Dalton]

Landon let the sight of Lucy in the earrings, fill his eyes for a full few seconds. "Perfect," he said, before listening to her personification of the room. He rather liked the idea of it having feelings and emotions, of it possibly leaving the boxes out as presents for them. Need was so different to want. It had taken Landon a good few years of his childhood to understand where the line fell. He needed to eat to survive, he wanted to eat pumpkin pie. He needed the Room of Requirement, and he wanted to find it. He needed those boxes in the corner, because he wanted their contents. He knew that now.

"Shame they couldn't share this place with us sooner," he sighed, thinking of how many years they had searched and searched for the place. But then, they had only wanted to find it all that time. They had never really needed it. The thought of being there was nice, as was the thought of running there to hideaway when life got tough. But if that had been the case, things would have been so different. Landon was growing steadily certain as to why the room had chosen the ending of their seventh and final year at Hogwarts, to show itself.

"Have you made plans for what you're going to do once school has finished?" he asked, feeling himself definitely testing the water. "You know, any plans for jobs, or trips around the world with anybody?" .. Or long-term relationships with attractive celebrities.. Not very subtle, are you? he mentally scolded himself, the tips of his ears, though hardly visible beneath his hair, turning scarlet.

 

[Lucinda Dalton]

Her heart fluttered at the statement Landon made about her, before she thought more about the room itself. "It's probably a celestial...joke, perhaps. We find it at the last moment, right before we leave, never to see it again. Perfect timing for some sort of...monumental occaision. I'm not sure." Realising she was blathering about things she didn't understand, as usual, Lucy hastily stopped talking, examining her knees instead. "I guess...we would've abused having it if we'd found it earlier." She knew she would've hidden here at every opportunity. But that wasn't what she was supposed to do. She knew somehow, she was only supposed to find it now, with Landon.

"Plans?" Lucy looked up, a little fear evident in her eyes. She wasn't as terrified of the future as she had been in September, but still, she wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, and that scared her. "I think I'm just going to sit down and write. I know it's not exactly the smartest career choice, but it's what I want to do. To be honest, I've been drafting something all year - it's not very good yet, but it's getting there. I guess I'll just get a couple of cats and sit at home alone in dressing gowns and fluffy slippers writing." Her marks had slipped because she'd been writing so much, but those she'd dared to show her writing to (mostly her young protegees, Astrid and Stella), had told her that it was quite good.

"And yourself?" she asked. "What does the world have in store for the Head Boy of Hogwarts?" she joked, but in reality, her heart was sinking. You're a nobody, you'll never get anywhere with writing, and even if you do, you'll wind up an old maid. Landon has the world at his feet, he could be anything, have anyone. You two are far too different, now.

 

[Landon Dalton]

"I'd like the chance to read it if.. If that's alright." He added a little awkwardly, with a smile. He really was interested in what she would write about, what sort of things went on in that wondrous head of hers. He didn't much like the thought of her spending her life alone with just a couple of cats for company. Then again, if he had been written completely out of her life, he could not exactly blame her for it. His eyes seemed saddened by the thought, but he kept on smiling, as she continued the conversation.

"I don't think I'm quite ambitious enough to throw myself at professional Quidditch," he said with a shake of his head, "but I like the idea of getting a steady job at the Ministry, making the odd friend, here and there, getting some place away from my parents to live- I don't mean I dislike them," he quickly said, "I just mean that.. That it would be nice to have my own place, especially if.. If I was betrothed." He gave a small cough, clearing his throat, and glancing away. What did you go and say that for? Landon questioned himself, finding himself in a battle with his heart and head. The two were conflicting violently, screaming different sides of the table at each other. One declared that she was better off without him, one said it was worth another shot. But what if she just laughed in his face? What if she then no longer wished to remain friends? Would it be worth throwing all of that away?

The reason why all this had flared up now, was because of the plans, the dreams he had had of them while they were still together. He had imagined them finding the room a lot sooner, and that, eventually, he would propose to her in this room. But that dream had shattered the moment the world had shifted and changed. Now his brain was on the run, and his mouth was in the process of packing its bags to go with it. "I'm not saying that I want you to marry me," his body froze in shock. He was stood up, facing Lucy with a mingled expression of fear, calm, and worry. "I.." the words had tumbled out long before he had the chance to stop them, "I'm not saying I don't want you to, I.. I just mean I haven't.. I just.." he sputtered wildly, his arms flailing in confusion. He was losing the battle. But also winning it. But mostly losing it. Or perhaps this was a good thing? He doubted it. It would just result in someone's humiliation.

"I had always imagined us in this room, still being a c-couple," he wanted to slap the stutter away, along with all the words leaking from the opening in his face. "I had always hoped that I would find a day of just us here, without Jareth and Artemis, so that I could.. I could ask.. Ask you to marry me.. I even knew what I was going to say.." Landon let out a frustrated wail. He wanted to apologise profusely for all that he had said, the surprise that he had no longer ruined because it would obviously never happen. He wanted to run. But he was supposed to be a Gryffindor, brave and chivalrous. Not a heap of quivering jelly on the floor.

 

[Lucinda Dalton]

"No problem, but I'm afraid you'll find it's nothing more than useless drabble," she confessed, looking ashamed of herself. No doubt if he ever read her mediocre scribblings, he'd find her to be ridiculously silly and not worth worrying about. Still, he was interested, so that had to count for something, right? She found herself blushing again, and held up her hands to her burning cheeks, wishing she could control her reactions better.

"Oh, that sounds good..." she replied. "Uh, the job that is, not betrothal...although I'm sure that would be nice too..." her words trailed off in to barely more than a whisper as her head spun. She was being an idiot, being hopeful, and she knew it. But she couldn't help but wish...hope, even, that maybe he wanted to have a future with her.

She seemed to completely freeze as Landon spluttered out a couple of sentences about marriage. She had not ever thought about marriage much, apart from the daydreams of her and Landon having a happy life together - but they seemed to be just that, dreams, nothing that would ever be a reality. But with every word he spoke, her heart beat faster. Hoping. Praying.

"Maybe you should..." she began, trying to form the words in her head. "Maybe you should say it." She looked up at him with clear, earnest eyes, hoping like hell that he still meant it and still wanted to say it. Because she knew what she was going to say in return.

 

[Landon Dalton]

If his fear had not anchored him to where he stood, and his Gryffindor heart, also, he would have run off alongside his brain and mouth. And he expected her response to either be silent surprise, angry bewilderment, or something else along those lines. Certainly not what she actually said.

"W-what I was g-going to say?" he stammered in reply, his head feeling a sudden pressure squeezing at it. He tried to remember the words he had planned. The sentences were reappearing inside his mind as though they had been freshly put there only a day previous. He corrected his stance by fixing his eyes to hers, pushing his legs to ready themselves. "Lucy," he began shakily, "On the very first day we met, I could tell you weren't like the other girls in our year- You.." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "You were kind and funny and incredibly clever. You showed me that I did not have to spend my time alone at Hogwarts, that maybe someone would want to be around me. You taught me to enjoy each day, to be confident and strong of mind. That day I asked you to the Yule Ball, was an enormous step in my life. And that night we shared our very first kiss underneath the mistletoe, taught me the greatest lesson of all; you don't need a wand, or a spell book, or a crystal ball to experience true magic- you need love."

Landon paused, wondering if he was really doing this. The moment was taking over. He took a step back to give himself the room to drop onto one knee, and take her by the hand. He drew the ring from his pocket, concealing it beneath his palm. "Lucinda Jane Buckley, my first, and last, true love," his heart raced, his head was spinning, and he was a deer to the headlights of her radiance. He saw her, again, that glow of angelic light emanating from her, that girl he had always known he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, the one he would die for. He revealed the ring betwixt his thumb and forefinger. "Will you marry me?"

 

[Lucinda Dalton]

Emotion overwhelmed Lucy as Landon spoke. She felt her eyes moistening, tears welling up. Tears of joy, though, not of sadness. Everything he said was just so beautiful, so perfect. She was completely overwhelmed by her love for the man before her. There were no words, now. Everything that could be said he had said so perfectly, so wonderfully.

Well, apart from the only word she needed to say.

Overcome by emotion, she gasped, wiping the tears away from her eyes. She was ecstatic, she hadn't felt this happy in a long time. "Landon," she began, trying to compose herself enough to reply. "Yes!"

And with that, she threw her arms around him, half laughing, half sobbing, completely and utterly happy. Even if she was aimless about her future, it was in this moment that she knew everything would be okay. She needed Landon by her side, she needed his friendship and his love. And she was perfectly willing to love him with all her heart - indeed, cliched as it may have been, she'd given her heart to him on the day they'd met. Calming a little bit, she looked in to his eyes, before leaning in and kissing him, still smiling.

She'd never loved anybody else, and she knew she could never love anyone but the man in her arms.