Writing.

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

Kyle knew it was silly to be out in this weather, but dammit, he hated the indoors, and it wasn't raining or anything, just cold and overcast, and he was wrapped up warm. Besides, he needed somewhere calm and homey feeling to write the letter to his papa. Only his papa though, maman would try to understand, but papa was the one who would really know what he was talking about, and be able to give him advice, and hopefully help him figure out what he felt. Kyle knew his father had been in relationships with other men before, and would hopefully know what he was talking about.

Kyle lay down on his stomach, putting the paper on a book for backing, and writing in ballpoint, because his family found it easier to read than quill. Eli was resting on the small of his back, curled up asleep, creating a tiny, warm patch, and Kyle's bare toes wiggled in the grass. As always, Kyle wrote his letter in French. It was a tradition his family had started last year when he left, since the all spoke French at home, and Kyle needed to keep his skills in his first language alive.

Dear Papa

I am well, and missing you all a lot. Tell Alex I said thanks for the colouring pictures, he's getting so good at staying between the lines! I am settling back in at Hogwarts well, there was a party for all the Hufflepuff boys, and I met some first years! It is strange not being the youngest person here anymore, though I'm still the shortest.

The reason I addressed this letter only to you, papa, is that one of the first years I met confused me slightly. His name is Kit, and he's a Ravenclaw (They're the smart ones.) He is very nice. Eli even fell asleep on his shoulder. He was very polite, and also rather cut-

Kyle sighed, crumpling up the letter. He couldn't write that, it would be stupid. He tried again, determined to find a way to put this that wouldn't be stupid.

Dear Papa

Hello! How are you? I am well. Hogwarts is the same. The first years are-

Kyle crumpled up that attempt too, and whacked his forehead on the book, groaning slightly, totally unable to put his confusing feelings into words. On one hand, he really liked Llhei, but on the other hand, Kit was so cute when he blushed holding Eli, and when their fingers had brushed, all sorts of strange feelings had shot through Kyle. Groaning, Kyle whacked his head again, and lay still, thinking over his infuriating problem, wishing Jessy was there to talk things over with.

 

[Jessy Talent]

It had been a long time since Jessy had ventured outside of the castle. Most of last year she spent inside studying, isolating herself from even her best friend.. And since arriving back at hogwarts this year, she had barely stepped out of her dorm. She didn't take the time to make friends last year. She had tried really hard, but unfortunately she was pretty much alone at Hogwarts.

She felt terrible, she had barely spoken two words to Kyle since they started school. The last time they spent any real quality time together as friends, was the day they each found out the other was magic. Goodness, thought Jessy. Has it really been that long? She hadn't realised until now quite how much she missed her best friend. So she decided that today she would go for a walk, in the hopes that maybe she would run into him.

She walked accross the great lawn slowly, and the cold air of winter made her face numb. She tucked her hands into her pockets of her trench coat and looked around at her surroundings. Not many people were outside, but she did see something that could have made her literally jump for joy.

Not far off in the distance, Kyle was laying on his stomach, leaning over what looked like a book. Jessy couldn't help herself, she began to run.

"KYLE!" She called out, gathering speed with every step she took. She was excited!

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

Kyle was enjoying the cool feel of paper, real paper not that weird parchment stuff, on his face, when he heard someone calling his name. He rolled over slowly, really not wanting to be interrupred right now, when he saw the one person in the whole school who could make this whole stupid mess all alright again. His best friend in the world, and quite frankly right at that moment, the person he loved more than anyone in the whole wide world, because she was there, and he just knew she was going to make it all alright again.

"JESSY!" He yelled, leaping to his feet, paper, pen, and crumpled letters abandoned in sight of his best friend, as he ran towards her, pausing only to transfer Eli to his shoulder, so the rat wouldn't get hurt. The rodent's tiny claws dug in tight, and Kyle ran to Jessy with everything he had, glad that finally, just maybe, his life would be okay again now, and things would start to make sense again.

((RUNNING HUG!))

 

[Jessy Talent]

Jessy couldn't contain her excitement. Kyle began running towards her too and she knew this could only mean a collision was coming. Remembering for the first time ever, to be aware of Eli so as to not hurt him, when Jessy finally reached Kyle, she threw her arms around his middle, held on to him tight, and excitedly began to jump up and down on the spot, while stikll holding on to Kyle.

"Oh Kyle, it's been so long, I'm so sorry I was so slack last year, you must hate me! I've missed you so much!" She cnotinued to squeeze Kyle, she didn't want to let go. If there was one person who could take away her feeling of lonliness, it was Kyle.

"Heck, I've even missed Eli!"

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

Kyle wrapped his arms joyfully around Jessy's shoulders, so glad to finally be in the hug of the one person who understood him, the one person he had missed more than any other last year. And then Jessy started jumping, and rather than being happy, Kyle started trying to breathe. He had never been good at jumping in time, and Jessy was still much taller than he was.

"Jessy! Oxygen!" He said between jumps, using the little bit of strength he had to hold Jessy still and stop her jumping. "I missed you too! God, I missed you so much, Jessy, you have no idea!" He said, glad that finally things were beginning to be okay again. He laughed at her comment that she'd missed Eli. At the sound of his name, the rat crawled from Kyle's shoulder to Jessy's, sniffing excitedly at her hair. "He recognises you." Kyle smiled, glad that they were back together again at last.

 

[Jessy Talent]

"Oops!" Jessy giggled and stopped jumping. "I'm just soexcited to see you, can you blame me?" Jessy suddenly had a thought.
"Oh Kyle, I hope you're not mad at me for practially ignoring you all year. I just got so caught up in classes and studying, that I kind of isolated myself.. I'm sorry!" Jessy pulled away, feeling terrible.

"And it was all for nothing. I did really badly in my exams.." Jessy had been disappointed in her results last year. "But enough about me, Kyle. We have serious catching up to do! What's new with you?" She sat down cross legged on the grass patted the ground next to her, suggesting that Kyle should sit down beside her.

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

Kyle laughed, then released Jessy when she let go. "It's fine." He smiled. "I got sort of caught up in my own problems, last year was such a mess!" He sighed. Eli sniffed happily at Jessy, squeaked in her ear, and then curled up lovingly under her hair. Kyle smiled, filled with an intense sense of warmness. It felt like things were finally whole again.

He sat down next to Jessy, resting his head instinctively on her rat-free shoulder. "Everything. Everything is new and weird and stupid. Let's go home and play in our treehouse." He said, hugging his knees. "Girls are stupid and boys are stupid and everyone is stupid except us."

 

[Jessy Talent]

This was the first time since arriving at Hogwarts that Jessy hadn't felt home sick. In fact, wih Kyle there, it felt like she was back at home. Maybe with Kyle by her side this year would be an improvement on the last.

Jessy smiled at Kyles comment about everyone being stupid.
"Girls, eh? Ooooh what have you been up to, Ky? Got yourself a girlfriend?" She giggled and plafully elbowed him in the side. "You can tell me you know." She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ears, at the same time giving Eli a friendly scratch behind his ears. She used to hate Eli sitting in her hair but right now she was happy to have him there. It meant she was with Kyle, and that was all that mattered.

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

Kyle blushed darkly, secretly hating his blusher's genes, and put his face in his knees. "Maybe. Her name's Llhei Cole." He didn't look at Jessy, staring out ahead instead. Eli snuffled at Jessy's finger, rubbing his head on her nail. "She held my hand and we went on a date. Does that mean she's my girlfriend?" Kyle asked, feeling young and useless, the way he always did when anyone mentioned dating. Why didn't any of this make sense to him? It looked like it made sense to everyone else. Maybe it was the stupid boy thing.

 

[Jessy Talent]

"You went on a date? Oh my gosh Ky that's amazing! But, I can't tell you if she's your girlfriend or not. That's up to you." Jessy pretended she knew what she was talking about. She didn't really know anything about love and emotions, but she wanted to be there for Kyle.

"How do you feel about her?" Jessy picked up Eli and placed him back down on her knee, so he could crawl over her legs. She didn't mind him being in her hair any more, but she didn't want him to stay there for much longer. She wouldn't appreciate having her hair eaten by a rat.

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

Kyle smiled. "I guess. It doesn't make sense though. And her cousin was nice to me, but she said Llhei's bad news. I'm so confused." He sighed. "And then there's this other thing, but it's stupid." Kyle looked away, fiddling with his hair out of nerves. In theory, telling Jessy about Kit had seemed like such a good idea; Jessy would know what to do, Jessy would help him fix things, but now that he was here, talking to her, telling Jessy seemed more like a very, very bad idea. What if she judged him? He had heard older boys teasing each other for being.... the way Kyle felt. What if Jessy would tease him? He had never thought it was a bad thing, but he didn't want to be more of a misfit than he actually was.

 

[Jessy Talent]

Kyle seemed to be anxious or nervous about something, Jessy could tell. They had known each other for as long as she could remember. The way that Kyle said that there was "this other thing" told Jessy that he wanted to talk about something, but didn't want to be upfront about it. Ky was her best friend, she wanted him to know that he could trust her with whatever it was.

"What's bothering you Ky? Come on, tell your good ol' buddy Jess" She smiled.

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

Kyle smiled, looking away, somewhat worried, but he explained it the best way he could anyway. "Well, I met this first year, called Kit, and we had a chat, and I got all these... funny feelings. I think I really like Kit. Only the problem is..." This was it. At last, Kyle would be voicing his concerns to someone he trusted... he just hoped Jessy was worthy of that trust, and wouldn't tell, or laugh, or be grossed out. "Kit's a boy." He said, so quietly it was barely audible. Kyle pressed his face into his knees, not wanting to exist, face burning redder than ever before.

 

[Jessy Talent]

A little smile began to grow on Jessys face. She didn't know what she was expecting, but it sure wasn't that! She didn't quite know what to say, but she had to make it clear to Kyle that she would always support him no matter what.

She giggled. "Ky, that's not a problem. There's nothing wrong with that! In fact it's awesome! And, thank you for telling me. That must have taken guts. You've gotta know that I'll never judge you, or think any less of you. You can tell me anything, and I've always got your back!"

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

Kyle's smile grew wider and wider as Jessy spoke, and when she was finished, he spontaneously reached over and hugged her tightly, smiling. "Thank god. I've been going crazy all month." He smiled, careful to avoid smushing Eli, who squeaked indignantly at the arm invading his shoulder. The next problem hit him though, and his smile faded. "So, that means I'm... gay, right? What do I do about Llhei?"

 

[Jessy Talent]

Jessy wrapped her arms around Kyle again and squeezed him tight. She was so proud of him for being so brave and so thankful that he could trust her with this.

"I don't know, what do you think? I mean, do you feel anything for Llhei? You could be gay, you could be bi? I can't tell you, you have to find out for yourself. But, I'm here no matter what" Jessy smiled.

"Oh man, I hope I'm not the last person to find out about this!" She giggled. "How bad would that be! I missed out on so much with you last year!""

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

Kyle shrugged, releasing Jessy. "I don't know. I like Llhei, but it's not the same way I like Kit. She's nice, and she's soft, but I don't understand her all of the time. She's... strange. And then I don't know Kit at all, but he's so cute, and nice, and...." Kyle dropped his voice to a low whisper. "He's really good looking." He blushed and giggled, hiding his face in his knees again.

Kyle laughed. "No, I haven't told anyone. Of course I wouldn't tell! Nobody can compare to my Jessy." He grinned, leaning his head on her shoulder again.

 

[Jessy Talent]

"Well that's a relief then!" Jessy said. She picked up Eli and lay down on the grass on her back. She sat Eli on her stomach and rested her hands behind her head, holding it off the grass. "I'd hate to think I was the last person to find out something so important about my best friend! But what you have to know is that there is nothing wrong with you. But there are a lot of people who wouldn't understand.. People can be horrible." Jessy stroked Elis back with her finger.

"I've never met Llhei, which house is she in? Maybe you could just tell her you want to be friends. I mean, if she's nice there's no point in forgetting about her. Just be friends with her, maybe?"

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

Kyle lay down next to Jessy, smiling. Eli squeaked a bit, then curled up in Jessy's bellybutton and went to sleep. "Yeah. My dad used to date boys. My mum told me about it last year. She said people used to be mean to him in France, even after he married mum and they had Ella and me, which is part of why they moved here." He explained. "That's what made me first realise I felt weird."

"She's a Ravenclaw. So is Kit." Kyle sighed. "I guess. I don't know though. It's so confusing. Why is dating so hard?"

 

[Jessy Talent]

Jessy laughed at Kyles question. "I dunno, I've never tried it. I took last year way too serioulsly and tried to be all grown up and all that jazz. Now I just wanna keep being a kid while I still can. Jump in puddles, dress ups and tea parties and stuff" Jessy laughed an covered her face "Okay maybe NOT the dress ups and tea parties thing."

She rolled over onto her tummy slowly, so Eli could move and not fall or get crushed. "I had no idea about your dad. Wow! That really sucks though, that they had to move because of it. But not really, cause we wouldn't know each other if they hadn't"

She giggled again, "And I wouldn't be without my Ky. Boy crushes and all" She said, giving him another playful nudge.

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

"No tea parties?" Kyle pouted. "But I looked so hard to find a top hat!" He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically. "Whatever shall I do with me and Eli's matching monocles?"

As Jessy rolled, Eli crawled over her side, resting on the small of her back as he had done to Kyle before. Kyle rolled over too, nodding. "Well, we also moved because they missed their families and stuff, and wanted Ella and I to learn English. I'm glad I moved here." He smiled, resting his chin on the grass.

Kyle laughed, blushing at the nudge. "Shut up." He retorted eloquently.

 

[Jessy Talent]

Jessy cracked up at Kyle joking about the top hats and monocles. He could be such an idiot at times, but that's something else she loved about him. He could always make her laugh.

"I love how you can speak two languages. Remember when you tried to start teaching me French? And I kind of got stuck at Bonjerno.. Wait, that's not how you say it is it?" She cracked up at her own stupidity. "Listen to me, I'm surprised I can even pronounce spells correctly!"

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

Kyle laughed loudly at Jessy's attempted French. "Non! Bonjourno est l'espagnol! Bonjour est le français. Jessy, tu es terrible pour les langues. Je suis étonné que vous parlez anglais." He smiled, his native language flowing off his tongue easily. Leaving his home where they all spoke a mixture of French and English had only been a few weeks ago, but it felt like so long since he had spoken the language he had grown up with. "Vous ne devriez jamais Voyage. Vous auriez ainsi perdus et finissent par demander aux gens où les toilettes de votre éléphant était, plutôt que là où est votre hôtel."

((Kyle said "No! Bonjourno is Spanish! Bonjour is French. Jessy, you're terrible at languages. I'm surprised you speak English." "You should never travel. You would get so lost and end up asking people where your elephant's lavatory was, rather than where your hotel was."))

 

[Jessy Talent]

Jessy's jaw dropped open when she heard Kyle speaking French so fluently. It wasn't as though she'd never heard it before, she just hadn't heard it in so long, and it sort of blew her away. When he finally stopped, she roared with laughter.

"Real impressive Kyle, but I have NO idea what you said." She playfully kicked Kyles foot. "I'm sure hoping it was something really nice though, like; Jessy is the best person ever EVER and is really cool and awesomely wicked, and I'm going to buy her chocolate frogs every single day for the rest of forever. " She laughed.

 

[Kyle Alcott-Ward]

"Jessy est la meilleure personne jamais et est vraiment formidable et awesomely fantastique, et je vais acheter des grenouilles au chocolat pour elle tous les jours pour le reste de toujours." Kyle dutifully translated, smiling slyly. His smile turned wicked though, when he continued speaking. "Mais Kyle est vraiment beaucoup mieux que d'elle, et adore Jessy le sol, il marche sur. Elle sera sans doute passer le reste de ses jours, lui apportant des plateaux d'argent des sucettes et regardant dans la crainte à son éclat."

"Starting to wish you were awesome like me and spoke another language?" He asked, grinning. Kyle didn't really think speaking two languages was all that special; French was his first language, so it was pretty average to him. He always loved the reactions he got from other people though.

((The second thing he said was "But Kyle is really much better than her, and Jessy worships the ground he walks on. She will undoubtedly spend the rest of her days bringing him silver platters of lollies and staring in awe at his brilliance."))