Why Did He Leave Me?

[Scarlett Vittori]

It had been a normal day for Scarlet. She was down at the Lake when her Crische's owl arrived with a letter in its talons. It was a letter from Justin. She decided not to read it until she entered the castle and so she had kept it in her bag for the moment while she continued on with her sketching. She had been using the sketchpad her mom gave her more frequently while in Hogwarts, and she loved using the colored pencils she had gotten from Brody too. They were excellent whenever she had the urge to draw and color her artworks. The sun was supposed to be high up in the sky at the time she started drawing, but because winter was still the season, she couldn't feel the heat and instead it was the cold and the white snow that enveloped her as she drew and drew until it was well past three. By the time she had finished drawing, she had a wonderful colored picture of the frozen lake and it's winter white surroundings. After finishing her drawing, she kept her stuff in her bag carefully and headed straight back to the castle.

As she was climbing the stairs though, she remembered that there was still a letter she had to read and so she had grabbed it out of her bag and took it from the envelope before starting to read the paper that had looked like it was stained and the words a bit blurred that seemed as if water had been dropped on them while the ink was still wet. The letter was in French that made her smile a bit since she had always liked reading French more than English. And so, she had instead opted not to mind the stains and the weird appearance of the letter as she read it. But the words made her world stop to a complete halt.

Spoiler: Letter (Translated to English)

Dearest Scarlet,


Please don't do anything crazy as you read this letter. This would be a shock, I know. But Cris and I need you to calm down while you read this letter. We will try to tell you as much as we could, Scar. I know it's been only two weeks ever since you're back to New Zealand and that this will be hard for you. We're sorry, baby.

Brody's dead. He's gone.

I know it's hard to believe, but we're really sorry, baby. He was on a plane to Bulgaria but it was on the news that the plane he was on crashed. We called the airport and it was confirmed that he departed on that flight. We tried to contact the search and rescue team as much as we could too. But after a week of continuous searching, there was still no survivors. All of the passengers and crew were dead, including Brody. I know it's a lot to take in baby, but we're here for you. Send us a letter, come home if you can. It's alright. You'll be fine.

Brody loves you a lot, Scarlet. Don't ever forget that and you'll be fine. You'll be just fine baby, we promise.</COLOR>

We love you,
Justin and Cris​

<i></i>

<COLOR color="Black">By the time she had finished reading her letter, she couldn't contain her tears anymore and she had barely realized that she was just standing there in the middle of the corridor, near the stairs and a lot of students were already looking at her. They were almost forming a circle around her and giving her weird looks. She couldn't take staying there and so she ran and pushed her way through the crowd and sought for a place to hide. It didn't take long for her to find the Abandoned Classroom. She entered it and sat herself in the corner of the room, as if she could just hide there and never come out.

She couldn't believe the letter that she had in her hands. Brody was gone. He was gone forever. And she didn't even get the chance to say goodbye. Why did it have to happen to her? To her family? She already lost her parents! Why Brody too? He was the one closest to her. He was the one who always protected her when she was yet to enter Hogwarts. And he just left her. Justin and Crische said Brody loved her and yet, it didn't help to soothe the ever growing pain that she was now feeling from losing one of her brothers.

 

[Jakobe Vittori]

The school year had started once again for the students of Hogwarts and for one young second year, that meant a time for more adventure. Jakobe had found many interesting places in his first year, some of them more interesting then others, but he had enjoyed doing all of it, because he was usually in the company of his best friend Giuliano Raven. Jakobe and Giuliano got along so well, they were so similar in many ways and they were both Purebloods, which just made everything so much better. The way Jakobe saw it, Giuliano and he would die together, old and grey and possibly on a daring adventure, maybe in a glorifying magical battle that would be talked about for many years afterwards. The only thing that he had not been able to find, was the Room of Requirement. Jakobe had looked all over for it last year, but it had been just beyond his grasp. He had vowed that he would find it this year, or terminate his career as an explorer. He was confidant however, because he was sure that together with Giuliano, he could find anything that needed finding, or rather, Giuliano could find anything. Hufflepuffs were good at that right?

Jakobe was walking down the corridor in a confidant strut when he nearly ran into a group of people who appeared to be in a semi circle of some sort for some unknown reason. He could see what looked like a person in the middle, but he couldn't see a face. However, the silhouette and the hair looked awfully familiar. Jakobe was sure he would know that hair anywhere and was about to ask what was wrong when his friend suddenly took off. Shocked and rather curious, Jakobe followed her, he wanted to know what was going on and why she had been standing in the middle of the corridor with people surrounding her. He eventually found her in the abandoned classroom, at least he was pretty sure she was in there, because he got there in time to see the door close. Was she angry or upset about something? Jakobe didn't know, but he was determined to find out. Not bothering to knock, Jacobe walked into the room and immediately spotted Scarlet in a corner of the room. She did look extremely upset. Approaching cautiously, Jakobe knelt down beside his friend and looked at her, lifting her face to meet his. "Scarlet, what happened?"
​

 

[Scarlett Vittori]

Scarlet never wanted to leave the corner she was currently in. She wanted to wake up now. She wanted to believe that this all just some big nightmare and soon enough, she would wake up and find Brody right beside her with a glass of water. She didn't want to believe he was dead. She didn't want to believe he was gone forever. But she had no choice, didn't she? She didn't have a choice but to accept that fact. She wanted to be brave and strong even just for Brody's sake, but even so, she couldn't control the emotions that were reigning her over. So many emotions were raging inside of her: rage, betrayal, sadness, loneliness, confusion, and most of all, pain. It hurt to lose her mom to a disease. It was cruel that her dad died by taking his own life. And now, the most painful was to lose her brother to fate. To an accident. This was all too much for the girl to handle all alone. She needed someone. Anyone. But most of all, she needed the comforting embrace only her brother were able to give her as she mourned for her loss.

It wasn't long that Scarlet was alone in the Abandoned Classroom when someone else entered. She knew not who it was and so she let herself sink further into the corner in hopes that no one would notice her small figure hiding there with her head kept low. But it seemed that the newcomer had seen her so easily and was now kneeling in front of her and lifting her face. She wanted to look away, she wanted this person to leave, though the voice she heard was enough to make her do otherwise. And so, she let her eyes pooled with tears to meet a set of familiar eyes. Why is he here? Why? her mind swirled and she found herself biting her lip enough to draw blood and her right hand clutching the letter her brother had sent her. The letter that had ruined her life. His question just made Scarlet lose control of the emotions she had been holding back as she launched herself at him and sobbed. "M-my brother's... gone," she managed to whisper in between her sobs as she only clutched the letter tighter and let her tears fall freely. She didn't care if she was hugging Jakobe right now. She didn't care if she was getting her clothes wet. She didn't care if he would think that she was an annoying crybaby. An hour ago, she was the happiest as she finished her drawing using the colored pencils Brody had given her. And only a few minutes ago, she had gotten the news that sent her world crashing down. She wasn't strong enough to pick herself up just after receiving the news that Brody died. Scarlet sincerely hoped that for now, Jakobe wouldn't mind her showing him her weakest side.

 

[Jakobe Vittori]

At first, Jakobe thought she might turn away from him or ask him to leave, but to his relief, she did not. She looked up at him with tear filled eyes and immediately, Jakobe knew that something had happened. He didn't know what, but he knew it was something major. As Jakobe watched her face, he noticed that she seemed to be clamped down on her lip so hard it was drawing blood, he frowned and was going to tell her to be careful and not hurt herself when he suddenly found himself flung onto the ground with a face full of Scarlet hair. He wasn't sure what was happening at first, until he heard her mumble something about her brother being gone. At first, Jakobe wasn't sure what she had meant, but he eventually put it together and his mouth dropped right open. Scarlet's brother was dead and she had just found out via letter. Jakobe sighed in pain for her loss and sat up, moving himself against a wall, with some difficulty as he didn't want to move her, then he raised his leg so it was easier for her to hug him and cry into whatever part of his body she wanted too. She was being very strong as far as he was concerned.

Jakobe stroked Scarlet's hair lightly down her back and whispered soothing words to her. He didn't really know what to say in this situation. He had heard many people say things like "sorry for your loss" and "I know how you feel" and "you have to be strong" but he couldn't say any of those things to her. Firstly, how could he be sorry for her loss? He didn't know the guy. Of course he was sorry that she had to grieve for him, but that was an essential part of moving on, she had to grieve and he was not sorry for that. Secondly, Jakobe had not idea how she felt. He had never lost a really close relative in his life, unless he counted his sister Emiko kind of loosing it, but he didn't, and that wasn't dying. Lastly, why would he tell her to be strong? She was already being exceedingly strong in his eyes and nothing else she did would change that. So instead Jakobe sat in the corner with her, allowing his uniform to soak through with her tears as he hummed her a japanese melody from when he was a baby. His mother used to sing it to him but he wasn't a very good singer, so he settled for humming. "Cry as long as you need to, Scarlet, we have forever."
​

 

[Scarlett Vittori]

Scarlet wanted nothing more than to just cry and to savor the comfort she was being given. But no matter how hard she cried, no matter how many tears fell or how tight Jakobe hugged her, the pain in her chest didn't leave nor did it lessen. And even then, she was wondering how hard it is for Cris and Justin as well. They lost their youngest brother just as she had lost one of her older brothers. This was a tough time they were going through and probably the toughest ever since their father had passed. Scarlet wanted to try to see the bright side of things, but with her befuddled mind and her pain stricken chest, she couldn't find a light to the darkness that had settled upon her with her loss. Nothing she did would bring him back and all she could do was to try and take away the pain she was feeling. She felt herself being slightly shifted as Jakobe was probably trying to get himself into a comfortable position and even then, he didn't let go of her, he just let her cry. And she did.

She cried and cried and even when she thought that she was running out of tears, fresh ones came running down her cheeks, wetting her clothes and Jakobe's in the process. She was grateful that he never left her, that he never complained. He was just there, stroking her hair and whispering to her occasionally and when he told her that she could cry as long as she needed to, she released broken sobs relentlessly, letting her pained emotions set free. This was the first she had cried so freely in front of someone that was not her brother. But perhaps it was because Jakobe was not just anyone.

Scarlet didn't know how long she cried or how long she had been listening to the Japanese melody, Jakobe had been soothingly humming. She just found her eyes being too heavy and her whole being too tired that soon enough she had fallen into a deep slumber whilst she leaned on the Ravenclaw boy while her small left hand clutched onto his uniform as if she was afraid he would leave her at anytime and her right hand held on to the paper that had sent her world crashing down.

 

[Jakobe Vittori]

Well done for your second double post of the evening Marga!

Jakobe didn't know how long Scarlet had cried. It had seemed like hours and he had basically just hummed to her on repeat, considering the song was pretty repetitive anyway, that wasn't a problem. All that Jakobe could offer, was to keep her company until she wanted him to leave and so he stayed there, humming and stroking her hair even as she fell asleep. It was the best thing for her really, as crying was tough on the body and she would be exhausted after hours of crying. He knew he would've been completely out of it by now. However he realised that this was not the best place for them to spend the night, they couldn't sleep here, it wasn't even bed time, but he also didn't have the heart to move her. What if she was having a lovely dream about her brother and he ruined it by waking her up. He knew eventually he would have too, but for now, he was quite happy to let her relive her memories of her brother in her dreams. Even if the angle she was lying was crushing his ribs.</FONT>

*​

<FONT font="calibri">
Jakobe didn't know what time it was, but he was fairly confidant that a couple of hours had passed. He was alerted to that fact by the rumbling of his stomach, he hadn't had breakfast this morning as he had been far too busy doing other things, but now, he had an awful feeling that he may have missed lunch. Looking down at Scarlet,meh noted that she was still asleep, but she looked a lot more peaceful now then she had earlier. Jakobe hated to wake her, but he didn't have a choice. So carefully he moved his arms from around her and proceeded to stroke her hair and softly calling her name. He didn't want to shake her or anything, because he knew that he hated that, but he needed her to wake up quicker then she currently was. So e shook her shoulders slightly. "Scar? Wake up, we have to move. Come on Scar, I know your exhausted, but you can't sleep here." Right now, Jakobe felt like the repo man, depriving a dependent of their enabler. "Honestly, I would carry you if I could, but I'm not strong enough."​

 

[Scarlett Vittori]

Not my fault that double posts likes me..



Scarlet slowly woke up to the sound of Jakobe's voice and the light shaking of her shoulders. She rubbed her swollen eyes sleepily as she slowly sat straight up and wondered where she was. She had a wonderful dream. Justin, Crische, Brody and her were playing around in the amusement park where they lived. She was eight years old at the time, Brody was eleven, Cris was fifteen and Justin was seventeen. The four of them were having so much fun the whole day. Just the four of them and no one else. They played games, tried the rides, ate popcorn, feasted on sweets and anything that they found fun, they did. Scar never wanted that dream to end, she never wanted the happiness to go as quickly as it did. But alas! Dreams were always meant to end when the dreamer wakes up. And that's what Scarlet was. The dreamer who had just woken up and the harsh reality was crashing down upon her again. Though this time, no tears flooded out of her eyes and though the pain was still there in her chest, she somehow knew that she'd be able to make it through this. Justin and Cris were right. Brody loved her and he would want her to be strong and he knew she could do it.

The Hufflepuff turned her head lightly and she looked into Jakobe's eyes. She didn't know how long she cried, nor how long she slept. But the Ravenclaw was there through it all. Mustering some courage in her, she leaned closer to the boy and gave him a slight kiss on the cheek to which she quickly pulled away from. "Thank you," she said just before her stomach started rumbling. She hadn't had anything to eat for hours and she was exhausted so it was no wonder that she was actually hungry. She looked at her stomach for a brief moment before letting her gaze shift to Jakobe as if asking him the silent question if he too was hungry which was probably the case. Maybe they could both grab something to eat, though with the way she looked, disheveled hair, rumpled clothes, swollen eyes and even her complexion had gone pale from slight hunger, she was sure it would raise a thousand questions that she was sure she didn't want to answer. Maybe, she'd just skip eating after all.

 

[Jakobe Vittori]

Jakobe watched as Scarlet sat up and rubbed her eyes. It seemed that she had been having a dream, probably of her family because she seemed a little out of it, like she had forgotten what had happened. Jakobe felt bad about waking her up, but he knew it was something he had to do, after all, if she slept here, she'd feel icky and gross and probably sore the morning after because of lying on the hard ground,though admittedly, he was more likely the one to feel pain and yes, Scarlet was his friend, but nothing was worth that kind of pain. Not even a distraught girl. However, Jakobe would wait for his friend to get her bearings, because he was polite enough to give her time to readjust to her painful news. Jakobe had never lost a sibling in such a fashion. He never got to see Emiko, but she was not dead, so things were varyingly different for him. He could probably see her if that was what he really wanted, but he really didn't have any inclination to do so and even though it kind of hurt that he would prefer not to see her, he was pretty sure he knew why.

Jakobe smiled at Scarlet as she looked around to him. He was glad that she seemed to be feeling better and that she wasn't crying anymore. When she kissed him, he was a little shocked because no one had done that before and he had never expected it from Scarlet. It was kind of nice actually and he grinned a little more and patted her on the head. "No need to thank me, Scar, I would do anything for you." He was the kind of person who would do anything for his friends and so being with Scarlet had not been a hard task. All he'd had to do was sit there and listen to her cry. Anyone could have done that. But he supposed she appreciated the fact that it was him and not some random stranger. Scarlet's stomach made a noise and Jakobe laughed slightly nodding at her. "Should I go and get you some food? I don't know if you would want to go to the great hall right now?" Jakobe stood up and held his hand out to Scarlet. She did look very pale and her hair was a mess and he really didn't look much better, but he hadn't been crying and people had grown accustomed to him looking like a mess.
​

 

[Scarlett Vittori]

Scarlet had to admit that this was a situation that she had not expected to be in. She had always been used to dealing with her problems alone. She was used to situations that she would have to treat her own wounds, that she would have to cry alone and suffer alone. But this time, she wasn't alone. She had Jakobe with her and she couldn't as for anyone other than him to be with her right now. She wouldn't know if she would be able to bear if it was another that found her crying alone in the Abandoned Classroom. She mustered up a small smile as he patted her head though a small blush may have crept its way to her cheeks. She often wondered where he got his boldness but it was surely one that she liked about him. Boldness was one thing she lacked and Jakobe had and she admired that about him.

At Jakobe's words, Scarlet begun to think. Did she want to go to the Great Hall? She didn't want people staring at her and asking her questions. If anything she wanted every bit of attention to be away from her right now. Well, maybe except the Ravenclaw's attention which she was extremely grateful for. But even if she didn't go to the Great Hall with him, he might think that she was asking him to get her food and she didn't want to abuse him like that and even more so since he had never left her all this time even at his own expense. And so despite not really liking the idea of the attention she might gain in the Great Hall, she reached out her hand and held his as she shakily stood up. "I... I'll be fine. Don't leave me alone while we're there, please?" she murmured slightly as she took a deep breath and with her hand that is not holding Jakobe's, she fixed her hair and her clothes as best she could.

 

[Jakobe Vittori]

The reason behind Scarlet's blushing was completely lost on Jakobe as he watched the redness spread across her face. Things like personal space were foreign concepts to him and he didn't understand the consequences of doing things that others might have deemed inappropriate, though Scarlet had started it by giving him a kiss on the cheek. Jakobe smiled as Scarlet stood up, but was slightly surprised by her decision to want to go to the great hall anyway, despite her appearance. An admirable quality of hers seemed to be her lack of care at what others might have thought. Jakobe was glad that she was feeling that way, he was quite proud of her. "I'd never leave you there alone. I mean, I did just spend hours with you sleeping on me didn't I?" Jakobe asked, grinning as he pushed some of her hair behind her ear. It had been annoying him just sticking up like it was nothing. Jakobe had a great love of hair and he was always playing with Giuliano's, seeing as it was longer then his own. He was sure if he kept trying, he could even convince his friend to allow him to make a rat's tail with his hair. That would look so cool.

"Come on, we should get going. I don't know what time it is and I don't want you to miss out on anything you might particularly want to eat." Jakobe squeezed her hand a little as they made their way out the door and towards the Great hall. Jakobe had decided that he was going to take her to the Hufflepuff table and then just pop himself down as well. He had seen some other students congregating at each others tables so he hoped it would be okay. Surely the professor's wouldn't get mad at him, especially after he explained the situation to them and everything. At least that was what he was hoping. In an ideal world he could just ask the professor's to send her home so that she could be with her family at this time, but unfortunately that was not a luxury afforded to the students, though maybe during the break she would be able to go home, rest up and try to get her life back on track. Jakobe was sad for her, but he had no idea how to help her mourn this loss, it was a foreign concept and he was just sorry he couldn't be of more help.
​

 

[Scarlett Vittori]

Scarlet had a half-hearted smile on her face because of Jakobe's words and she merely closed her eyes and nodded as he pushed some of her hair aside and behind her ear. It was true. He had spent hours doing nothing just because she had fallen asleep on him and even though his position was surely uncomfortable, she didn't hear even a single word of complaint from him. Well, it made her think that perhaps he did deserve that kiss on the cheek. Even if it was out of thanks and gratitude, she only gave those to her brothers, and for the first time, to Jakobe as well. In fact, she was partly glad he didn't think she had the cooties. Some boys seemed to think that she had the cooties before after all, and she didn't even know what it was. All she knew was that everybody avoided her because of that. Well, nevertheless, she had Jakobe now, and she hoped that he wouldn't leave while she was still dealing with the fact that Brody had left her.

Scarlet swiftly followed Jakobe as they walked through the corridors and to the Great Hall. At some point, she was pretty sure that people were staring at her and also looking over at the Ravenclaw. After all, she looked like an absolute mess and she was also holding hands with Jakobe and she was sure that people were thinking that they were too young and why the hell were they holding hands. She hoped he didn't mind that she was dragging him into a whole string of messes. But then she didn't want to say anything either, perhaps she was being selfish, but Merlin knows that the times when she was selfish was rare. And perhaps, even just for today, she would be allowed to be selfish with Jakobe since fate was cruel to her. It seemed only right after all.

 

[Jakobe Vittori]

All was not right with the world. Scarlet was sad, the universe was missing a person and Jakobe was pretty sure that Giuliano wasn't telling him something. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it was something. Jakobe was missing an entire week of information on that boy and he wanted to know why, he knew what Giuliano had for breakfast, lunch and dinner, everyday except for that week and Jakobe really didn't like not knowing, it was tough to deal with, he hated knowing that there was something he didn't know about his best friend in the world. Shaking his head, Jakobe tugged on Scarlet's hand to keep her walking faster every so often so that she wasn't lagging to far behind, he did feel sad that he had to do that, but he knew that they were both hungry and why delay themselves food when they were this close already. The second floor corridor wasn't as far from the great hall as his common room was, so he had to admit he was quite happy he wasn't going to have to march downstairs for ages just to get to the food. After all, all the good food would probably be gone by then and that was just not at all acceptable. Jakobe needed food, but it was not for himself that he was worrying. He knew that Scarlet was upset and quite on the side of exhaustion and so it was for her that he worried about the food. She needed to eat, even he knew that, but he didn't want her to have to eat any horrible food, because that wouldn't be fun at all, who liked eating horrible food anyway?

Finally reaching the great hall, Jakobe started heading towards the Ravenclaw table, out of pure habit, before remembering that he was going to sit at the Hufflepuff table with Scarlet, mostly so she would have the comfort of familiarity. He didn't very well want her feeling uncomfortable at the moment, she needed all she could have of comfort if she was ever to recover from this. Not that Jakobe knew much about grieving, to his knowledge he had never lost anyone very close to him and he sincerely hoped he never would, after all, his actions as a child would reflect on the whole family, not just the living relatives, but the dead as well and he would hate to think that any of his close relatives thought him a fool from the end place. Jakobe didn't really believe in religion, that was more of a muggle thing, but they did believe that there was an end place, and Jakobe hoped one day, to be permitted entrance to there. Smiling, Jakobe headed back over to the Hufflepuff table and sat down, making sure that Scar was right next to him. He didn't want to have to make her sit near someone that might mention her state of dress. After all it was none of their business why she had been crying and he hoped they would realise that and just leave him and Scarlet alone. They were just here to eat, not to participate in some silly banter about some professor or another. Jakobe didn't care about those things anyway. Jakobe quickly scooped all the sugary stuff he could find onto his plate and stuffed a couple of chocolates into his pockets for later. They had a spell making them pretty good at preserving food and Jakobe got a lot more use out of them then he likely should have, but what could he say, he really liked food.

Jakobe chatted with Scarlet quietly about a number of topics whilst they ate. Mostly he was trying to keep her mind occupied and off of thoughts of her brother. For the most part he thought he was doing well, but he knew she was still thinking about him. Likely the only time she would get any reprieve would be whilst she was sleeping, but he wasn't even completely sure about that anymore. As they finished up and after a couple of comments from some of the other students in the room, which resulted at Jakobe glaring at telling them to shut up because they are obviously inferior to her anyway, Jakobe walked with Scarlet back to her dorm. He had been here many times, to meet up with Giuliano as he was usually up first anyway and would walk to the great hall with Giuliano for breakfast or something. He had never been inside the common room of course, considering he was a Ravenclaw, which actually kind of upset him because now he couldn't see his two favourite people everyday, but they could see each other. Worst still was when he wanted to see them, but couldn't get a message to them because they were holed up in the common room, but that had only happened once and in the end Jakobe had managed to find an owl that didn't mind only having to fly about three or so stories down to deliver a letter, he was sure that the owl thought he was a bit silly. When the finally reached their destination, Jakobe smiled at Scarlet. "You'll be fine now, Scar. Giuls is in there, if you need to talk, I'm sure he would help you." Then, silently, Jakobe leaned down and kissed the girl on the cheek. "Come find me if you need anything." Turning around, Jakobe left Scarlet at the entrance, because he couldn't very well stick around to hear the password.​

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Finished.​