These Smoky Nights

[Kiefer Harris]

Luminescence filled the room. The little lights blurred a bit but it still stayed there, still and immobile as ever. Air rushed in briefly but it was soon cut off by the door nearby. The grey eyed man of eighteen years old looked as his companions surrounding the table they had. There were seven more people, eight if it included him. Only two were female and the rest were of his gender. Oddly though, none of them did not yet start a make out session. Not that Kiefer Harris wanted someone to start it - it wasn't appealing at all. It was bloody humiliating. They were laughing boisterously and it rang in Kiefer's ears like a megaphone that was put too close. He knew he was on the verge of drunk and hell no did he want that. He groaned loudly and the guys looked at him and laughed. "Sh!t, I need..." The words were gradual and painfully said. He stood up and tried to stopped himself to the best of his ability not to sway. He grabbed hold of the chair's back and slapped the back of his friend who, by the way, was also from Durmstrang. Then he uttered the words to continue his unfinished statement, "To go. Class tomorrow. Lameballs." Then the young man who was also a Durmy guy turned to look at him with a look of unbelief. He knew this was coming. They were to stop him from leaving and Kiefer did want to leave. There were shouts and protests from the table, most of reasoning out like the party had not even started yet. Kiefer gripped the chair's backrest harder and laughed a laugh that was not of his own usual self. As his last action, he looked at one of the ladies and smirked at her knowingly. Without any hesitation, she drew out a pack of cigarettes that had two more left in it and gave it to him. Kiefer got it, took a look inside and threw her an expression of surprise. The girl winked and said in a slurred voice, "Have fun."

"So soon Harris?"
"Looks like his mama is going to get mad." The guy smirked.
"Such a killjoy, Kief."

Kiefer shrugged lamely and mumbled, "I know." He did know and he was not scared to admit it. He had already grown out of the peer pressure world and he was free to do absolutely anything he desired if he had no guardian with him. He showed off a flimsy grin and only shrugged them off. He needed to get back to the castle of Durmstrang before any of his roommates would suspect he was up to some trouble again. But then, who the hell would care about him? They were used to him anyway. For years he had been sleeping in the same room as them and together as roommates all of them messed around and created some havoc that still, up to now, they stated proudly. Looking around at the company he had for the whole day, he gave them a last nod and raised the pack of cigarettes to indicate that he really was leaving. Drunk voices filled his ears until he reached the door and opened it and felt the fresh air. He just needed to leave the damn place before he can consume more alcohol. This was enough for the night and he was not so sure if he can even make it to Durmstrang on time. "Psh, whatever," uttered the young man as a reply to his inner self. The word 'whatever' meant that he knew he was screwed yet he he also knew that he did not give a f***. He walked and thankfully the muggles who past by did not even give him a second glance. He was in muggle Bulgaria anyway. It was certainly different the wizarding one.

Staying in Muggle Bulgaria sent memories rushing in. Those memories weren't the ones he was fond of at all. It sent him thoughts that would make him frown and become silent which was totally peculiar of him. His mother, who was mostly Bulgarian died when he was only entering the age that he realized he needed his family's support. God was he so young back then. Pulling himself away from the thoughts of his mother and her death captivated him and so he spent his free day roaming around Bulgaria and just wrecking stuff. The group of people he was with were magical folk too but no one ever talked about magic. Magic was out of their conversation right now and so was anything school related. Kiefer however, broke that rule when he said that he had class the following day. Truth be told, he had nothing but a revision session with a smart ass tomorrow. He could handle her temper though even if it made his calmness rise to irritation at some points. Her first name he could not recall but her surname surely started with an F. She was so short compared to Kiefer's height! He stumbled as she envisioned what her expression will be when she discovered that no, he was not interested in studying history at all. Why was she his revision partner anyway? Kiefer felt the resentment he had in store for the professor who gave him this awful burden. Because of the tiresome mix of emotions, he clumsily massaged one of his temples with his forefinger. It felt good to feel the fresh air hitting his face occasionally as he walked the street. He needed somewhere to sit down before he humiliated himself or worse, pass out.

He continued walking and at some times, briefly paused to calm himself down. His hair which was currently a blond mess continued to mess itself with as the breeze blended itself into it. Tiredness ran in his entire body and he could feel his knees grow weaker. The more he walked, the more he stretched the distance between him and that bar. And again, the more he took steps forward, he could find a place to sit down first and just take it easy. Kiefer put the pack of cigarettes inside his black varsity jacket and looked up to see if there was any empty place he could rest for a moment. A patch of green stayed in his vision and he narrowed his grey eyes. It took a whilst for him to register that really, it was some field that had no one on it or so he thought. Or maybe it was a lawn. Though it was vivid clear that it was empty and it had grass on it. He trudged up to the grassy area and there he carelessly plopped himself down. It felt good to feel something support his whole body weight again. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him and he did see a few heads turned to him but he only blinked in return and faced front. He did not need to hear anybody's crap right now. He was tired and he needed to calm his insides which, by the way, included his random trail of thoughts. He got his lighter and a cigarette from inside the jacket and lit it. Putting the lighter back inside his jacket, he inhaled the air around him before it would get smoky once again. He put the cigarette in between his fore and middle finger and brought to his lips. There he did the usual inhale and exhale smoke routine. He needed to calm down and at the moment, he thought that this was the best solution. But for all he knew, somebody was there to prove him wrong.
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[Alice Hills]

Alice scuffed the pavement with her black pumps. The night was coming in, and she knew she needed to return to Beauxbatons, but she was putting it off. Her bag was slung loosely over her shoulder, and she pulled her coat further around her for any warmth she could find as the sun set in the sky. The beauxbaton had found herself wandering through a muggle village, and all she knew was that she was somewhere in Europe. The morning had gone by normally, with Alice catching up on her extra studies, and finishing off her essay for Potions. The parchment had been submitted, and having the rest of the day to herself, she decided to go somewhere for a change. Having apparated away from the school, she had spent her afternoon in a coffee shop, reading her book. It was a very old romance novel, a muggle story, but one that she never got tired of. The book was reaching its climax when the waitress had had to politely interrupt her, apologising that it was time to close the shop. Packing up her book and finishing the dregs of her cold coffee before swinging her bag over her shoulder and leaving, tipping the waitress for her constant service throughout the afternoon. Her muggle money was running low, yet the decision to ask her parents for a top-up needed weighing up. She hadn't spoken to them in a few months, and had barely tried to make contact for a while before that. Her mother would want to give her money, to feel that she was supporting a small part of Alice's education, and her father would be hesitant, until the whispered conversation with her mother reminded him that he hardly sees his daughter, and it is the least he could do. Alice would have to pretend not to hear this conversation, and gratefully accept the money that they give her, all under a facade of happy families, for the sake of Grace. It was tedious, and meant sacrificing a valuable afternoon of her time to them, but maybe it should be done.

The 17 year old kicked at a pebble and watched it roll away, before dropping off the curb and into a side drain. The road followed around to a park, a large green space with a few park benches for sitting on, and a nice green area to watch wildlife in, cornered off with a low fence and a visible in Bulgarian, telling people to stay out from it. The English translation next to it caught Alice's eye, but took a moment longer than a heartbeat for her to read it. She laughed to herself, amused at how quickly French had become her most fluent language, being the one she used day-in, day-out. Upon 3 of the benches sat couples, 1 eating each other's faces off and the other 2 eldery couples watching the birds in the pond, reminiscing it seemed of their lives together, yet in perfect silence, as if their time as a couple had secured a telepathic communication that enabled their love langauges to be spoken without words. Alice paused, transfixed upon the beauty of this caring, devoted and gentle relationship. Shaking herself away from the moment, she wandered slowly to a free bench and sat down, crossing one knee over the other and beginning to read, finding herself lost in the book again. The characters were climaxing their romance, about to adorn words of adoration upon the other, whilst holding hands gently and gazing into the glossy, star-lit eyes of their soulmate. Alice snorted before looking up, aware of the light dimming, and finding herself sickened by the lovesick characters, rather than moved to desire that type of romance herself. The snogging young couple had left by now, entwined in each others arms, most probably heading for the local hotel to get a room. It was more polite, Alice decided wryly to herself. Snatching a glance at the older couples sitting together, she followed their irritated gazes to where a young man was wandering across the nature reserved section of the park and sat down, before lighting up a cigarette and ignoring the irritated stares of those around him. Alice sighed and was ready to return to her book where the romance of the love-sick duo was more pleasant than seeing a couple's lovely evening spoiled by an arrogant male who held a disregard for society's rules. However, her motion to read was interupted by a flicker of light, a street lamp's glow reflected in the old woman's spectacles as she looked to where Alice was sitting. A downgrading look was cast, before a derogatory comment about 'youth these days' was stage-whispered to her husband. Her cheeks reddening with anger, Alice found herself bubbling to retort with a comment, yet seeing the couple leave before she could. Scowling over to where the man sat, smoking away, unaware of anything around him, Alice stood up. She had had enough, and wasn't content to let him get away with ruining her perception of sweetness in elderly love. Walking over to the fence, she took a deep breath and subconciously patted her wand in her pocket, reassured by its presence. She knew she shouldn't use magic unless she needed to, but it was comforting to know it was there, and gave her a confidence that she would have never had without it. Stepping over the fence, she walked slowly to the boy and paused in front of him, looking down at him. She instantly noticed that he wasn't as old as she had first assumed, and looked around her age. He had tousled blond hair, and grey eyes, and would be a fair bit taller than her if he was standing. Yet, she steeled herself and tried to get his attention. "You may not have noticed, but this area isn't for the public to be in." He smelt of smoke, and alcohol, and the dusky scent of bars. She looked pointedly at his cigarette and crossed her arms. "You may also like to know that you can't smoke around here." Pausing, she waited for any reply to come from him, whilst looking around, hoping not to be associated with this reckless behaviour by any passers by.

 

[Kiefer Harris]

If he were in his normal senses, his personal space would not have been so smoggy. The air around him swirled with chemicals coming from the cigarette he had in hand but in an odd way, it gave him relief. How did relief come to him in the disguise of a cigarette, he did not know nor was he thirsty for that piece of information. All he knew was that it gave him his security, especially right now where he was drunk and in no shape to apparate back to the gate of Durmstrang. He needed to calm himself and maybe even just spend the night in a motel where he would not risk splinching half of his body. He blew out the smoke from inside his mouth slowly, watching it dance before him in grey, swirly patterns. It was actually nice and he was enthralled at how it would just fade away in a matter of seconds. Smoke for him, was an intriguing thing if studied closely. He bowed his head and brought the cigarette close to his mouth again. It was a good thing that he had another one, since he was enjoying the serenity it was giving him, despite the smell of the acrid air. Before even putting the cigarette end in between his now rosy lips, the young man heard a sound that almost made him wince. It was a melody of a voice, oh no - far from that actually. It was almost like his deceased mother's voice, whenever she saw him causing the same old mischief as a kid. Although even if the tone was not imploring to his ears, he knew that it came from one hell of a female. He looked up and let his eyes explore her own orbs, his eyebrows knitted.

"It's a free country," slurred Kiefer in the Bulgarian language. He grimaced as he felt his head tighten rather suddenly and released the air in his lungs before he could hold any more pain. His expression changed though, when he repeated her sentence in his mind. It became surprised yet confused, and he looked down at the grass he was sitting on. Gah, so being drunk even made him entwine the dialects he thought he had to speak! She spoke English and he replied in Bulgarian. He suddenly winced at his mistake and tapped the tip of the cigarette. "Wait." His lips curled upward, like he just realized something. "You speak English! How nice," drawled Kief, pronouncing the words perfectly even in his drunken state. If only she knew that he was a wizard and he studied in a school where they taught the Dark Arts! He watched the stars twinkle away and brought the cigarette to his lips and inhaled. He felt it calm his nerves and he took in what chemicals it had to offer for him. As the smoke came out of his lips, his eyes wandered to the girl who was irritated and looked up to see her that she was not drunk at all. She was just there and Kiefer wondered if inside that brain of hers, she was preparing a long, tedious speech about his nonchalance for the rules. "And stop scolding. You sound like a mom." Again he fixed his eyes on the smoke just in front of him, watching it dance as he waited for her to take the hint to leave. It would be safer that way, since she wouldn't really want to know that she was dealing with a wizard.

Little did he know what she really was as well... But that surprise was for later. Kiefer was only concerned that she would leave and that he would regain his solitude even if he had it wrongly in the first place. Forgetting about his responsibilities as a student was a temptation he did not resist and so he was going to end the day with a little twist and a hint of alcohol and smoke. School always gave him loads of things to do and even majority of the professors were never fond of him. Kiefer caused trouble and he knew that by heart. But was not trouble there to spice things up? Other people's lives were just plain boring and he thought that why not enjoy the young life he was having now, before he was even forced to find a job and make tough decisions. Here was now, living up to his thoughts however, someone was just there to correct it. The rational part of his brain just knew that for a reason.
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