Tossing the bear

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy left the North Tower and swore she would never go up there again. It seemed to be bad luck for her. She went over and over again in her head what Merlina had told her and she could not help but get upset all over again. She wondered which Gryffindor he had asked, knowing he had asked Kiera twice already and Hilary once before. Had he asked Kiera again? She wouldn't blame him of course as Kiera was stunningly beautiful, the more she thought about it the more it made sense that he would ask someone, anyone other than her.

She felt relief that she had not asked him now... had not embarrassed herself even further by doing so. Her heart was heavy but she fought back any more tears. She was tired of this whole situation now. As she walked across the lawn she got so mad with herself that she pulled off the bear pendant and tossed it to the ground. The dress that lay in her trunk was now wasted, Cyndi would be getting her bed made after all.

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raff had been hauled up in the Common Room reading... well trying to read. His mind was elswhere these days. He pushed his book away, knowing it wasnt going to be read. He decided he would go for a stroll, hoping that perhaps he might meet some new people.

He took the stairs two at a time and when he finally reached the bottom he was slightly out of breath, they really needed to get an elevator or something in this school. At least being in Ravenclaw and having the tower right at the top of the school might keep him in shape. Walking slowly out onto the grounds, Raff noticed the weather was getting warmer, which was kind of a let down to Raff. He preffered cool weather.

Taking small steps across the grass Raff noticed a girl and as he got closer he recognised it as Andy, he smiled slightly, but his smile faded as he saw her throw something to the ground. He slowed his movements slightly, not sure whether to approach her, but then decided it would be the right thing to do as no one else was around. He glanced at the ground when he got close enough and noticed a bear pendant. He looked up at Andy's face, "Hey, are you alright?" Raff asked, allowing his concern reach his voice.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy turned at the sound of the voice and smiled at Raff, though the smile barely registered on her face at all. She hadn't seen her friend since early in September and felt bad for neglecting him but so much had happened since their last meeting. Her uncle dying, her breakup with Carlisle, her feelings for Bruin... she sighed and wrapped her arms about her waist.
"Why are boys so damn impossible Raff?" she hadn't meant to simply blurt out the question but now it was out there she turned to face him, "Can you tell me that? So many mixed signals all the time. I mean a girl goes to all the trouble of dance lessons, getting a dress for crying out loud. I do not wear long flowy dresses, I've never even gone to a Yule Ball but I was going to make an exception. I was." She clammed up and turned away again to allow her temper to cool a bit.
She looked down at the bear pendant and kicked it with her foot. She didn't want to see the offending article any longer.

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raff took in her sad smile and wondered what was wrong. When she spoke his questions were answered by one word. Boys. He listened to her speak, taking in every single word. By the sounds of it, she had been let down by a date to the Yule Ball. Raff knew it was coming up, but hadnt given it much thought, he didnt think he would go, because he didnt really know many people. As Andy turned away Raff placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Whoever your talking about obvious did something very stupid." He said soothingly. "Giving up a chance to take someone as great as you." He finished, turning her around again, so she could see the smile and know he was telling the truth. He had to be careful what he was saying as he had no idea who she was talking about and truth was, he didnt know Andy that well, but he still considered her a friend and didnt like to see her upset like this.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy felt the hand on her shoulder and the words that followed would probably have been scoffed at, but he turned her around to face him. She smiled and shook her head.
"Ok you just got away with that corny line but only because you delivered it with a French accent" she looked over to where she had kicked the pendant and sighed. As she turned back to face him again her smile didn't waver.
"Thanks Raff, I guess hearing something nice on occasion doesn't hurt. Thing is I was going to ask him, so he doesn't even know. I should have known he'd ask someone else, anyone else".

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raff chuckled at her comment, "We are known for our corniness." He made sure he smothered his words in his accent that time. He continued smiling a small and hopefully comforting smile at Andy. He hated seeing people upset, especially people he cared about and Andy counted.

"You cant beat yourself up about this." He said, wondering if she was perhaps talking about Carlisle. Were they still together? Raff had no idea. "Why dont you ask someone else?" He tried, not quite sure what girls wanted to hear when they had guy troubles.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy couldn't help but laugh as Raff increased the sensitivity of his accent. He was good company and a sweet friend but she shook her head all the same.
"I don't think so Raff... it was taking every last nerve I had just to get up the courage to ask him. I guess I never even thought of myself going with anyone else" she rolled her eyes before looking at him, "That makes me sound conceited now doesn't it? Like I even expected him to say yes. It's just the past few months I thought... well, never mind. Anyhow I don't think there are any available boys at this late stage".

She attempted to strive for humour now and hoped she was pulling it off.

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raff looked at Andy as she explained her situation, "I wouldnt worry about it too much." Raff said and not being able to help himself pulled his upset friend into a hug. She looked so down and Raff hated seeing anyone like that. "Whoever it is missed out," He continued, pulling back from the hug, "and he shouldnt have been leading you on if he was just going to let you down." Raff said seriously, annoyed at the guy that did it. If it was Carlisle Raff was going to hunt him down and give him a serious talking to.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy smiled as she was enveloped into a hug and returned it. It simply felt like ages since anyone thought she might actually need one. She always had the outward appearance of having it all together, of being strong while most of the time she was possibly more lost than half the kids she knew.
"Thanks Raff" she whispered and then released herself from the embrace, "You're sweet, really. But I don't think he was leading me on so much as I simply gave myself hope. It's my own fault I guess. Looks like I'll be a single girl for quite some time to come."

She smiled at him though once again the smile didn't quite make it to her eyes.
"What about you Raff, what have you been up to since I last met you? Have you settled in to Hogwarts any better?"
Preferring to change the subject from herself before she ended up blurting out that she thought she was falling in love with their head boy, Andy wrapped her arms about her waist once more as she looked at Raffael.

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raff nodded carefully. "If your sure." He said, still looking a little worried. The conversation fell to him and he went along with it, Andy obviously didnt want to talk about herself. "Yeah I guess I have. Only have about two friends, but I prefer being by myself anyway." He said and it was half true. He had gotten over not being back in France though and that was the main thing he supposed.

Laaame

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy looked at Raff and her eyes appeared sadder now, any glint in the amber seemed to have completely dimmed. She didn't like to think of any of her friends being on their own at all.
"You know, if you need someone just to hang out with or simply chat to all you have to do is call me" she told him with a gentle smile, "I'll be there in a heartbeat".

[lamer--- race is on for lamest post ]

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raff took in Andy's sad expression, he hated it, but he didnt know how to make her feel better. "I'll keep that in mind." He smiled. "I like being on my own though, its peaceful." He said, his eyes falling to the bear that lay on the ground. He didnt know why Carlisle would give her a bear pendant, so that somewhat ruled Carlisle out as the one that made Andy upset. Raffael wanted to ask, but now was definatly not the best time. He shifted his eyes up to Andy's again quickly, not wanting her to see what he was looking at and gave her a small smile.

Hows that? Pretty lame if you ask me.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy saw briefly where his eyes went and sighed a bit louder than she had intended to. She walked over and picked it up curling the chain carefully so it all fit in the palm of her hand. She closed her fist around it before walking back to Raff again.
"Peace can be over-rated at times" she smiled, before putting her hand into her bag and dropping the pendant in amongst her books.




[ I am so winning ]

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raff watched with a slightly guilty feeling as she picked up the pendant and placed it in her bag. "I suppose your right." He mumbled with a tiny shrug. His mind flicked to his parents and when they went on one of their trips. Peace had definatly been over-rated then.

"And how have you been?" He asked, "Aside from this." He added quickly with a wave of his hand, gesturing that he was talking about the general situation she was going through.


You so are not

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy sighed at his question as she glanced up at him.
"Where to begin Raff, lets put it this way I wish this entire year well except for the summer, had never happened. My uncle died in September, I broke up with Carlisle, I tried to shut out all of my friends thinking they were better off without me. I've hurt just about everyone that cares about me" she blew a strand of hair off her face and looked about her awkwardly. She didn't mean to just dump all of that on him, "Sorry Raff you didn't need to hear that or need to know any of it".




[going for the lame sympathy vote now ]

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raff's face was blank, he felt of rush of sorrow for his friend and once again pulled her into another hug. He felt it was all he could do in the situation, because words couldnt exactly make up for what had happened to her. "Andy thats horrible. Im so sorry. I'll always listen even though Im not fantastic with advice." He said as a responce. He rubbed the top of her back soothingly, before pulling back. He rested his hands on her shoulders, "Things can only get better from here." He said somewhat hopefully, he had to admit Andy was rather strong for being so composed when she outed all of that stuff. It must have been so hard going through all that in one big hit.



Defending with the lame comfort.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy felt the arms pull her into another hug and didn't bother fighting it. She seriously felt like that was all she needed right now, not more words that meant nothing but actions. She held on to him as he rubbed her back, there was nothing other than a friend offering comfort to his friend and Andy appreciated this greatly. When he stepped back to speak again, leaving his hands on her shoulders Andy shook her head.

"I am convinced I'm jinxed Raff. Carlisle was amazing, he really was ...is and I threw that away. I feel as fickle as anything because while I was trying to grief my own way my bestfriend kept being there for me until ... I, " she lowered her head and closed her eyes, " I fell for him."

Looking back up again she looked directly at Raff, the sadness in her face was like a freshly painted portrait.
"I think I've read every signal wrong though. I must have. But what kind of person am I, I should be still feeling bad about losing my uncle but instead every thought I have is Bruin".
Andy hadn't even realised she had spoken his name but simply continued talking as if this was an utter relief at last to unload it all.

"I can't concentrate on anything and if I'm not careful I'll end up failing my exams as a result" she shook her head gently and closed her eyes again as if a headache of massive proportions were about to asail her, it was then she realised she had mentioned his name and groaned slightly.


[ok comfort post won that round ]

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

*** Meanwhile... in Gryffindor Tower ***

Bruin was sitting quietly at his desk in his dorm room attempting to catch up on some reading when his bear pendant appeared to shake a little below his shirt. Perhaps he was just imagining things, but it had changed in peculiar ways over the last few weeks, ever since he first discovered that its match, the one that he had got for Andy, had gone missing.

Bruin had bought the two pendants back home and then spent the better part of the last week of summer attempting to put a series of charms on them. The native elder that had sold them to him had referred to them as soul stones and said that they had been carved from the same rock, perhaps giving them some type of mystical connection, but Bruin hadn't truly figured this all out. However, he had poured through the book, Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charms, that Andy had bought for his birthday and selected a few that he thought seemed appropriate. The unfortunate thing was that he had never actually presented the gift to Andy or had the opportunity to test out whether the charms he had placed on them worked.

He removed the bear pendant from his shirt and placed it on the desk in front of him, noticing immediately that it was colder to the touch than it had been in days. In fact, over the past week or two Bruin had noticed that it had a warmth radiating from it and he had grown quite fond of the sensation. Did it just move? Bruin watched as the stone bear shifted ever so slightly on the desk in front of him, almost as if it had been shaken from within. He was just about to discount the movement as simply a trick of his eyes when he heard a muffled, almost inaudible low growl. He thought he knew what this meant, recalling the charm that he placed on the paired pendants, but it couldn't be... How could it be? The other pendant was lost, wasn't it?

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raff let his hands fall from her shoulders as she began to explain everything. He let her talk, not saying a word, simply keeping his eyes on her and paying her all of his attention. Sometimes all one needed was someone to listen. When the headboy was mentioned Raff was a little surprised. Him being the last person he would have suspected. Raff supposed it made sense now that he thought about it. Bruin had transformed into a bear in the middle of the great hall, so there was the bear pendant situation cleared up.

As Andy finished talking Raff stayed quiet not sure what he could add to the conversation. What did a guy say to a girl with boy troubles? "I may not know much in regards to advice." He murmered, "but-" he continued a bit more clearer. "-I do know that you wont be failing your exams. Not when you have a Ravenclaw friend thats going to keep you distracted when you need to be studying." He said with a tiny smile, not sure if that would help at all, but he was trying.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy grinned at him.
"Do I have to start referring to you as Brains now? Are you actually offering to help me with my studies?" she smiled at his thoughtfulness and began to realise what a great bunch of friends she actually had. It was hard to imagine now that she had been trying to push any of them away.

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raff chuckled at her comment. "Yes Im offering to help you, but no the nickname is not acceptable." He shook his head trying to be serious, but failing. He knew it was much easier to do well if you had someone you got along with showing you how. It was also good to have someone around when you needed to get your mind off something. Seemed like Andy definatly needed to keep her mind off recent events.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy grinned and flung her arms about Raff in an overly grateful hug and then released him her smile completely genuine and lighting up her face.
"Thanks Raff, you are something else. I really appreciate this. Einstein, I could call you Einstein or would Frankenstein be better" she laughed sticking her tongue out playfully.

 

[Raffael Fox]

[ :blink: I could have sworn I replied to this. SORRY! ]

Raff returned her hug, he hoped he had made her feel a little better, even if it was just for now. When she pulled back he reflected her grin and raised an eyebrow as she started sprouting off new nicknames. "Hey now. Dont make me think up something to call you." He said, giving her a mock serious look, before snorting out a laugh.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

"Well considering that someone else dares to call me Ants then there's Romy, Andy and Most Brilliant one" she laughed, "I dare you to come up with something better. Ok the Most Brilliant one hasn't been used yet but I'm working on it".

She smiled before looking at her watch.
"Damn, Raff I'm really sorry, I have to fly. Literally, practise session. I'll catch you later ok" she reached over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "thank you. It meant a lot just having you listen and well... being there".

Andy pushed her bag further up her shoulder before heading off in the direction of the pitch, she took out her wand and within seconds had summoned her scarlet streak which sped to her as quickly as it could.

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raff laughed as she issued off the nicknames. "Okay, Ill try to remember the Most Brilliant one for next time." He joked. It was then time for Andy to go and Raff smiled. "Have fun." He said with a grin, completely ignoring the kiss on his cheek. He was used to it, being french and all. "Its no problem. Any time, okay?" He said as he waved to her as she ran off. She was a good friend and Raff didnt like to see her sad. He would be there any time she needed him to be.