Closed The Hard Way

[Simon Thorne]

Simon had a feeling this year wasn't going to be easy on him. With graduation and his looming involuntary independence looming over him like a rain cloud he knew to expect some bumps in the road. He had hoped he'd be able to explain himself to Juniper when they got back to school, and come up with a good reason to explain why he never returned her letters but she hadn't given him a chance. Not that he could blame her. She deserved someone who would try, and not shut her out the moment things got hard. But at the same time, how was he supposed to write back to his girlfriend when all he had to share about his holiday was how his father was constant berating him about his grades and lack of prospects. He buried his head in his hands and sighed, giving up momentarily on the book he was trying to read for class. The student lounge was mostly empty for a change but he was glad for the quiet. Simon wouldn't admit it to most people but he missed her even though he knew it was for the best.

 

[Shale Night]

Shale was still doing her best to get her bearings back on this side of the world, and part of that meant trying to actually connect with people. She had hardly been rolling in friends in her time at Hogwarts before, keeping everyone at arms length mainly because it was a good punching distance. Now, though... it was lonely, being around famliiar faces who had all had years to create these deep shared connections, ones she could never be part of. So she had taken to just... going public places, trying to recognise people, trying to feel like part of Hogwarts life again. Entering the lounge she was surprised to find it mostly empty, though there was one... somewhat familiar face. Shale recognised the boy from Sully's birthday, though she couldn't place his name. Still, where better to start off making new friends? "Hey." She said bluntly, sitting near him. "You were at Sully's party, right?"

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon was momentarily pulled out of his sulking when someone sat down and greeted him. He looked up and eyed the girl sitting there curiously. She seemed familiar but he couldn't place it right away but when she asked about Sully's party, it clicked. "I was." he answered simply and sat up straighter. "Shale right?" he asked tentatively. He tried to remember people's names but he wasn't the best at it. He knew it was always an impressive gesture if it worked out. But he grinned, hoping he had been correct. "I don't think we've properly met before. I'm Simon." he said smoothly and held out his hand.

 

[Shale Night]

Shale was relieved when the boy didn't tell her to f**k off immediately, though she still didn't feel entirely certain she was any good at this whole making friends thing. But it was a start. She shook his hand, feeling awkward with the formal gesture, but she was in this now. "Yeah, I'm Shale." She hesitated, studying his face for a moment before speaking again. "I don't recognise you from when I went here. You a transfer?" She asked, making note of the accent. Still, she had always paid so little attention to her classmates that he could have been in classes with her since first year and she could easily have missed him.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon kept his grin on his face as he noticed Shale look a little uncomfortable with his handshake. But he was nothing if not performatively polite. "Nice to meet you properly." he said with a nod of his head. He waited to see if she was going to continue the conversation or if he would have to. He bristled at her question and the mention of being a transfer and his smile fell for a moment. He wasn't sure why the question had made he instantly on edge. It had been a while since he had to think about it and he tried not to most of the time. He had been so angry that first year in New Zealand and it wasn't something he liked to reminisce about no matter how far he had come since then. "I did transfer." he admitted and turned his charm back on. "I started here in my third year." Simon explained. "What about you? You don't sound like you're from around here?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

 

[Shale Night]

Shale nodded when he confirmed that he had transferred, relieved that she hadn't just forgotten about a classmate entirely. This one, at least. She shrugged when he asked about her own situation, reminded all over again of how conspicuous her accent was in New Zealand, even around other English people. Talking to a pommy sounding Londoner didn't exactly help her feel less isolated. "Yeah, I moved here with my aunt when I was eleven." She said shortly. "Been back in the UK for a while, but I'm here again for graduation."

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon listened attentively as she explained what her situation was. But he furrowed his eyebrows as he put together what she meant. "So you transferred to Scotland and then transferred back?" It was a daft question but he couldn't really wrap his head around why she would have done something like that? If he had the opportunity would he have chosen to go back to Scotland? He had never really considered it before since it was so far out of any possibility. With a crushing realization he realized he didn't think he could. His friends inevitably would have moved on without him and he wasn't even sure that they would recognize him now. "Why did you do that?" he asked finally, his confusion getting the better of him and he was still reeling from this sudden realization.

 

[Shale Night]

As little as she liked opening up, Shale hadn't had much of a problem telling Eric or Padme about her reasons for moving. Something about the way Simon asked, though, rubbed her the wrong way. She snorted softly and shrugged, giving him a challenging look. "Family stuff." Shale said bluntly, gaze clearly challenging Simon to dare dig deeper.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon couldn't seem to get a read on Shale and so far he did not understand her at all. For him transferring once had been hard enough the thought of doing it again made his head spin. But what he did notice was her discomfort when he asked why. This was something he could work with. "Oh?" he asked curiously. He saw the glint in her eye but that had never deterred him before, after all he was friend with Sydney. "I'll tell you the reason I had to transfer if you tell me yours?" he offered in a low voice. Simon had never really talked about why he had to move to New Zealand. He always kept it vague like Shale had and he was fairly certain his parent's didn't even realize he and Lila both knew everything.

 

[Shale Night]

Shale raised one eyebrow when Simon continued to pry into her background, the challenge never leaving her eyes. There was something slippery about him, something she couldn't bring herself to trust, but Shale had never been anything but blunt and she was more than happy to try and shut him up. "Fine." She said firmly, never tearing her eyes from Simon's as she spoke in a flat tone. "My parents both died right before I was supposed to start Hogwarts. I got placed with an aunt I hated and she sent me here instead. I transferred when I was able to, but I had unfinished business here so I came back. Happy?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow again. Shale knew all too well that people found it uncomfortable hearing about her past, and she was perfectly happy to let Simon sit in that discomfort.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon's eyes lit up as Shale seemed to take on his challenge. He didn't flinch as she spoke. He had a lot of practice playing it cool and he wasn't about to break now. He gave her an apologetic look and held up his hands in mock defense when she was done. "I wouldn't say I'm happy your parents are dead. I do appreciate you telling me." he shrugged. "I will admit, it does beat my reason. My father took money in secret, which you could also say he stole it, and then invested it in a project that failed horribly. He lost everything." he explained. It sounded so tame when he said it like that but he remembered how it felt to be thirteen and feel like his whole world was falling apart. They had to pack so quickly. His feelings didn't mater, no ones did. Yet they all had to deal with the consequences of their father's greed. "At least he's not dead." he added dryly with a smirk. For a second he wondered if he believed that. Would they have been better off if his dad had just died instead? Simon knew it was a horrible and morbid thought but his father did tend to bring those feelings out in him naturally.