Unintentional Presence

[Ai Nightray]

It was in the midst of winter when students of Hogwarts New Zealand were once again flooding the very castle. It wouldn't be long before classes were to start again and so many had already come back from their holidays, and that included quite a number of people she knew. Among them was Liam, whom was someone that could be called as her master since she should do anything he ask. Or at least that was the plan, but since the Hufflepuff was quite poor when it came to punctuality, whenever she and the Slytherin would meet, it would always lead to disaster! Well, even if she did come on time, it seemed that catastrophe was evident whenever they were together and she had quite wondered why. Many things ran on her mind during the course of vacation and one was that she had passed through most of her OWLs and she couldn't be any happier in terms of academics. And one of the incidents that ran through her mind was when she was in the dungeons with Liam. It just wouldn't leave her mind! How he had been a little bit concerned about her, tried to drag her out of the cold place, protect her from the other Slytherin. Everything, and she couldn't take her mind off of it even if she tried. And his blanket that was with her that she'd keep near her every night wasn't exactly helping either.

And speaking of the Slytherin, after only a day of getting back to Hogwarts, Ai had received a note from Liam's owl. Although it was quite different from the rest of the letters since this one was crumpled unlike the others who were always neatly folded. She read the contents and found that she was to meet him at the library the next day at ten in the morning and that she should bring his blanket with her. Deciding that she better be on time the next day, she had settled in early for the night and had woken up early the next morning. Honestly, it was a miracle that Ai was moving as fast as she was and by the time she was ready, it was only 9:30 in the morning! She still had thirty minutes which was new in contrast to her normally speedy and sprinting preparations. This time she was absolutely calm as she put the blanket in a bag before going down to the Great Hall to grab some bread for breakfast then finally going back to the library. When she arrived there though, he still was nowhere to be found since it wasn't ten yet after all. Deciding that she didn't have anything better to do, she grabbed a Divination book nearby and began reading whilst she waited for the Slytherin to arrive.

 

[Liam Nightray]

It had already been five years since Liam Nightray had first attended Hogwarts, yet, despite how long I had been, he still couldn't get used to the feeling of entering the castle again. What made things worse was the recent happenings from the previous year. When he first entered the school, he was perfectly contented with just finishing his studies and avoiding as much unnecessary human contact as possible. He hadn't been one for socializing and though he wasn't an introvert nor was he shy, he didn't like being around too many people. He had been good at avoiding any unnecessary encounters, yet, ever since a stupid hufflepuff entered his life, his world had become a huge mess. He experienced things he never did want to experience, got into troubles he never did want to enter into, did things he never intended to do. If he knew that said girl would just cause him trouble, he shouldn't have associated with her in the first place. He had thought that she'd be useful considering how little will of her own she had. He had thought that it would be easy for him to manipulate her to do his biddings, yet he was wrong. Sure, it was perfectly easy for him to give her orders but that couldn't be the same on her part. She was too stupid to understand his instructions. What he hated even more was the fact that she couldn't seem to understand the value of time, and Merlin was time one of the most valuable things for the Slytherin.

The sixteen year old took a few books from his desk and decided to proceed to the library. Staying inside his room doing nothing would just make him think of things he didn't want to think about. That thing about the Hufflepuff annoyed him so much that he was sure being in a close proximity with her would be enough to make him run around the whole town. With the books carefully balanced in front of him, he headed to his destination.

The mountain of book that he was carrying was tall enough to block the view in front of him. It was actually quite surprising that he managed to get into the library unharmed. The castle was usually full of obnoxious people running around. And it was also a start of another school year, meaning, there would be another bunch of stupid first years in the area. He had two younger cousins entering the school this year. One was put on the same house as him, which he quite expected of course. The kid was very much like him. At least, that's what he had been told. The other, on the other hand, was sorted into the house that he least expected. Though he didn't care much, he couldn't say the same about his family. The members of the Nightray family were usually sorted into Slytherin or Ravenclaw. However, just like his other cousin, this younger one was sorted into Gryffindor. He wasn't sure whether the news had already reached the elders, but he knew that they wouldn't be too pleased. Not that he cared though. He had already a lot of things to think about. He can't be bothered to think about other people's businesses.

What greeted him as soon as he reached his usual spot in the library, however, was the person that he didn't ever want to see again. It was that stupid puff again. The reason why he was getting especially irritated the past few days, or the past few months really. He was torn between deciding whether to leave or stay. He chose the latter though, after all, it was his place. Why should he turn his back and leave? It was his. He wasn't one to give up what's rightfully his after all. Not that there was any indication there that it was his property. But still, that particular spot was his.

He ungracefully placed the books on top of the able, his action creating enough noise to get the nearest students' attentions. He didn't really care though, he would do what he wanted and there was nothing that they could do to stop him. He didn't know why she was there though. It was almost lunch time already and usually, the place would be nearly deserted at this time of the day. But then he decided he didn't care. He should really stop thinking about and rationalizing her actions. She was no longer a part of his life, was she? He didn't need her anymore. He had decided a long time ago that he hated her with every fiber of his being.​

 

[Ai Nightray]

Ai had been too caught up reading her Divination book. How could she not? After all, she was almost going to start her training with Professor Le Fey in Divination and she was mostly looking forward to it. It was already her NEWT course and since the NEWTs were still far off, she had time to be at leisure which had been rare in the past year thanks to the OWLs, getting into Prefect duties and being the captain of the Hufflepuff quidditch team. She didn't expect most of these after all and that had made her into quite the busy bee that she had also managed to neglect her boyfriend in the process. She couldn't blame Heath at all if he would break up with her at this rate in their relationship, after all she was being the no-good girlfriend. Ai shook her head as she noticed that her train of thoughts were going off track from Divination to relationship problems. That was not good and so she had stopped reading since she figured that her concentration was broken for a bit.

Ai scanned the room for a clock but her search stopped short when a loud noise was suddenly heard within the library. "OH FOR THE LOVE OF MERLIN!" she yelled in surprise as the source of the loud noise was mere centimeters from her and the drop of books on the table had made her jump in shock. She least expected that too happen and since most students were already looking at her in annoyance because of the sudden raise in her voice, she was just about to give the culprit a piece of her mind, and it was not going to be good. Well, at least that was until she had discovered the culprit of the loud noise to be none other than the Slytherin boy she had been waiting for. Liam Nightray.

In fact, Ai had no idea what she was supposed to do now. Thanks to that incident with Liam before and after the dungeons, she didn't quite sure how to approach the Slytherin now. She had slapped the boy once and she regretted that causing her to apologize to him, but thanks to waiting she had gotten sick and in trouble too with another Slytherin. But then again, it was Liam whom had helped her that time and she was mostly grateful to him for that. The Hufflepuff clutched the bag, which held his blanket, closer to her as she looked at the Slytherin's features, she couldn't help but stare a bit before she averted her gaze. "U-uhm, I brought your blanket as you said in your note," the girl said a bit awkwardly not exactly knowing what she had to say to this boy. But, all she could do was wait for him to give his reply.

 

[Liam Nightray]

Though not really the most studious kid around, Liam does enjoy reading. Reading was probably the only thing that he did enjoy doing with his cousins and sister, probably the only thing that would prevent them from killing each other. Reading usually takes his mind off of things, yet at that moment, reading was being of not help at all. The Slytherin glared at the book in front of him. He wanted to concentration but he couldn't, which annoyed him even more. He was glaring too much at the poor book that if it was possible, his glares would have burned a hole straight through it. But it was of no use, he could glare all he want but his annoyance would not disappear. He was still irritated, and there was no helping it.

Liam shut the book too loudly, placing it on his side and opening another one. Perhaps, another book would ease his annoyance. But alas, nothing changed. In fact, he was getting more irritated by the minute. He unceremoniously shut the book that he was holding yet again, putting it on top of the book that he was previously reading. If he was at home, he was quite sure that his usually apathetic cousin would have gotten angry at him with the way that he was treating those books. But then again, he didn't care. He was irritated and he cared not for anything else.

The irritation only grew when the stupid puff tried to address him. He had been ignoring her for Merlin's sake! Was she really that stupid that she couldn't take the hint? The Slytherin decided to give her the cold shoulder, taking another book and opening it yet again. He tried to close himself off to any distraction, but with the girl talking to him, it was proven to be futile. His eyebrows knitted together in irritation, and again, for the third time that day, the poor book that he had been holding had become the outlet of said irritation.

"Zip it. I didn't write you anything," he hissed in annoyance, placing the book on top of the other two books beside him. Then realization finally caught up to him. He did write her a note. But as far as he could remember, he didn't send it to her. He wasn't stupid, and he was definitely not losing his mind. Then he realized how said note had reached the girl. It was that stupid owl of his. He had made sure to dispose of the note, deciding that writing her another one would only make her involved in his life further. and he didn't want that. He wanted her out, and he wanted her out now. "I'll kill that stupid owl," he muttered, standing up so abruptly that the chair teetered and fell backwards. That useless owl will really learn his lesson, and he will make sure that it will not make any stupid mistakes again.​

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[Ai Nightray]

Ai did not exactly know the point of her continuing this little job of hers. She was gaining nothing but trouble and pain in her relationship with Liam but then she wasn't very willing to let go of it either and she really had to wonder why. Sometimes she would just convince herself that it was because Liam was someone like Miah and Heath. She needed him to keep herself from breaking down and going into insanity. But she had to wonder why. She had lost Conan when they were a first year and it was only worst when they reached fifth year. She lost Miah after he confessed to her and she wasn't sure if they could ever go back to the way they were. And Heath. Ai knew that she was losing Heath and it was because she would not spend time with him. They both had problems but she was being very selfish. She had not spend time with him and as result she had been losing him. And now, she didn't even know what to do, she was being a no-good girlfriend. And now perhaps, as compensation she was trying her best not to lose Liam as well.

Ai blinked when Liam claimed that he had not written her anything. Is he serious? she thought as she rummaged around her bag and finally found the crumpled piece of paper that was apparently not Liam's note. "Well, I received this last night from your owl," she mumbled as she showed him the paper that was now on the table. The Hufflepuff waited for the Slytherin's reply for a few minutes and certainly she was surprised when she heard him mutter about killing an owl. That is not acceptable! Ai thought in a panic. She wasn't one for animal abuse after all and through her haste in trying to stop Liam she fell down on the floor, nearly face-first but still stood up quickly and grabbed his arm through his sleeve. He would not be happy she knew. He was taller and his built was bigger as well since she had grown thinner through the years and so she hoped that she would be able to stop him like this. "I won't let you go unless you promise not to kill the owl," she said with determination whilst she held on to arm with both hands.