Closed Watch Me Like A Dark Cloud

[Stella Wright]

Exams were coming up, and though Stella was confident in her own abilities her anxiety was increasing daily. Of course, that was all the more reason to value a peaceful stroll with her girlfriend. The two girls had been dating for quite a while now, and their relationship was growing comfortable and reassuring, though it had lost none of its excitement. Stella still couldn’t quite believe that she was dating, but it was a good incredulity, bursting with joy. She spent almost every waking moment with Zoe, and it was glorious.

Today, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the pair took a break from studying and wandered the gardens, hand in hand. “Of course,” she said, continuing the conversation they’d been having, “you know the dark side of the moon isn’t actually dark. It gets the same amount of sun, it’s just that we can’t see it.” She loved the eccentric discussions she got to have with Zoe; her scientific knowledge combining with her girlfriend’s expertise in the strange and obscure to create something surreal and wonderful.

 

[Zoe Westwick]

Zoe had always thought that the idea of dating someone sounded fun, and now that she was experiencing it for the first time, she was constantly surprised at how much better the actual experience managed to be than her imagination. It was fun and relaxing, just spending time with Stella, chatting about anything and everything, holding hands and cuddling when they got a moment alone. Zoe had always felt at ease around Stella, despite their opposing views on a lot of subjects, and it was comforting, to just hang out and chat and be silly, and know that even if they bickered on unimportant things, they would always still like each other.

Zoe especially enjoyed their debates about space, which had only gotten more fun with the birth of their relationship. She felt like Stella was starting to take herself a little less seriously, which made her more fun to tease, and Zoe was enjoying their silly conversations more and more each day. "Well, I'm glad that the aliens get the chance to sunbathe too." She grinned, and pulled a silly face at Stella. She was mostly joking, and she knew Stella would find it funny.

 

[Stella Wright]

Stella giggled at Zoe's comment, with its flawless Zoe-logic. She wasn't sure whether Zoe actually believed in aliens on the dark side of the moon, and she didn't want to ask in case the answer was yes, but she was glad to see her poking fun at the conspiracy theories she enjoyed so much. "Yes," she replied, mock-seriously, "they must get terribly bored watching us backward planetbound apes. Except their anthropologists, I suppose. What else do you reckon they do for fun?" she asked, expecting this to be an opening for some very silly speculation.

She glanced around the garden, this peaceful green space already calming her nerves. There weren't many flowers left at this time of year, but those that remained peeked through the leaves in bright splashes of colour. "It feels so weird to be so close to the end of the school year," Stella reflected. "I'll miss you over the holidays." It had always frustrated Stella how remote Hogwarts was from home, but now it frustrated her still more how far home was from Zoe. Still, magical means of transport rendered even the distance from opposite ends of the country insignificant. "We can visit each other, though. And write lots of letters."

 

[Zoe Westwick]

Zoe giggled, pleased that Stella went along with her joke. She enjoyed their debates, but it was more fun to take this stuff less seriously, and it was fun seeing Stella relax a little too. "Oh, definitely moon basketball. You could jump forever up there, imagine the dunks." She giggled, enjoying the mental picture. "They had to ban moon table tennis after they lost all the moon shuttlecocks. People hit them too hard and they all flew away."

Zoe was enjoying the lighthearted banter, but Stella's change of subject to something more somber quieted her excitement somewhat. Zoe never looked forward to the end of the school year, but it was getting harder and harder the more time she spent at Hogwarts. At first she had enjoyed getting to go home and see Jason, but now he didn't even live at home, and it felt like there was no real point. "I'll miss you too." She said, trying to keep a cheerful smile. She nodded at Stella's suggestion that they could visit each other, but Zoe quietly thought that she didn't really want to bring Stella into her home. Her parents paid less attention to Zoe than ever since she had started at school, and Harley was always horribly grumpy at home. She hadn't been so bad in the last winter holidays, but in the summer break she had been worse than ever, and Zoe didn't really want to bring Stella into that. "Yeah." She said weakly, with a quick smile. "I'll write to you every day. And it won't be so long til we get back to school." Squeezing Stella's hand gently, Zoe lifted their hands up and kissed the back of Stella's knuckles gently. "We'll just have to spend lots of time together before school ends."

 

[Theodore Westwick]

Ever since Edmund got a girlfriend, Theodore had trouble filling up his free time. Almost every moment he used to spend with his brother was now a time he had to hang out by himself, as the possibility of talking to other people wasn’t one that seemed appealing to him. The boy had tried to entertain himself in the same way he had before, by exploring parts of the castle. But without Edmund at his side, it didn’t feel the same. One time when he had been looking around for anything interesting in the dungeons, he had spotted Edmund with his stupid girlfriend. They had been holding hands, and Theodore had left immediately. Since then, he had avoided the dungeons. It was just another thing he could blame the stupid girl for. So when the urge to wander around came over him now, he decided to head outside. The weather was getting colder, which meant it would hopefully be pretty quiet out. Although today was still pretty sunny so it was nice enough to be outside. Alone with his thoughts, Theodore wandered around aimlessly, his scarf pulled up around his face. Without aiming for it, he had found himself in the gardens. It wasn’t a spot he frequented, finding it too colorful. But maybe now that it was autumn, it wouldn’t be so bad.

As he walked, he kicked a pebble ahead, making a game out of it. It wasn’t until he heard voices, that he stopped. As he looked up to see who else was here and his heart lifted as he saw Zoe Tsuji, the only person he could stomach aside from Edmund. But his heart plummeted again as he noticed who she was with. It seemed like everyone was getting stupid girlfriends these days. But of course Zoe had to find someone incredibly annoying to make matters worse. The girls were walking in his direction, and he could hear their conversation though he didn’t think they had seen him yet. He considered walking away quickly, but he was actually a little curious what they were talking about. He ducked behind a bush and glared at them from a small distance. His glare intensifying the moment he saw Zoe kiss the annoying girl’s hand. Theodore wasn’t sure why it made him angry and sad, but it did.He stared at them silently, unable to tear his gaze away even though looking at them hurt. He wondered why it was even worse than Edmund and his stupid girlfriend. He didn’t even care about Zoe.

 

[Stella Wright]

Stella giggled along with her girlfriend, wondering if it was valid to append 'moon' to all these sports and deciding that it was. After all, basketball played on the moon would of necessity have to be very different from Earth basketball. "They flew all the way to the near side of the moon," Stella agreed, "and the aliens were too scared of being seen to go get them. Wait, is that why they're always hiding round there? That they're just shy - like in that old David Bowie song?" Stella paused for a moment, thinking of something to contribute to the game. "Of course, when it's dark on the moon, they watch holographic movies . . . with really long titles," she added, thinking of the webcomic Zoe had introduced her to over the holidays.

Stella caught a slight note of hesitation in Zoe’s tone, and was confused for a moment before she thought back to the things Zoe had told her over the years about her family. Maybe it had been insensitive of her to assume Zoe would want her to visit. Stella had never received anything but love and support from her own family, and the thought of Zoe’s parents’ disinterest in her was foreign and harsh to Stella. “You’d be welcome at my place,” she said, not bringing the issue up directly since Zoe had sidestepped it, but hoping the implication was clear anyway. “I bet Nell would love to meet you, and it’ll be good for her to know more people at school than just me when she arrives.” Stella smiled, remembering her little sister’s letters. “She’s asked me about you a lot.” She nodded in agreement, as though they hadn’t been spending lots of time together anyway. It was strange, how such a short time ago she’d longed to be home, but now she longed to stay at Hogwarts with Zoe, too. Stella thought she heard a faint sound, but when she glanced around she couldn't see anything moving. Probably a blackbird rustling about in the bushes.