Open Zzz

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie was… asleep. He hadn’t intended to fall asleep. An open charms textbook lying face-down on the floor beside him suggested he had come here to get a head-start on his reading. Alas, the warm, crackling fire beside him had suggested, more strongly, sleep. He looked very peaceful, sprawled across the sofa, snoring lightly. Such a deep sleep had he fallen into, he was unlikely to wake unless somebody shouted in his ear, or shook him. It was a dangerous state to be in when you were surrounded by school-age children. But, er, it would probably be fine, er…

Godmod away if needed

 

[Chase Edwards]

Chase had been wandering through the castle, not a care in the world, when he had come across a lounge! This castle had so much cool stuff! He could spend his entire 7 years here and probably never eve find everything that there was on offer, which was just crazy to him, like surely there was at least one person who knew everything there was about this castle.. surely, right? Chase was about to sit down on one of the lounges when he noticed that somebody else was in there.. asleep.. and SNORING?! The injustice of it all! Chase was wanting to relax, just like all of the other people that were here, and here this person was.. snoring and sleeping in the middle of the lounge! He took a deep breath, and then approached the boy. "EXCUSE ME!" He yelled at the man, "You're being very rude, people are trying to enjoy themselves and relax and you're snoring!" He said, pointing his finger in the man's face.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie wasn’t so much startled awake as he was winched half-dead up the well of consciousness. It was a long way to travel. He rubbed his eyes, feeling a bit like a zombie might feel if it was resurrected because the gravestone was getting in the way of someone’s view. “Dude, I was trying to relax,” he said, folding his arms. If this kid thought he was moving from the best seat, he had another thing coming. “And I don’t snore. You’re hearing things. Crazy. Hey! You threw my book on the floor? Are you serious? That’s new.” He reached for the textbook, checking for damage.

 

[Chase Edwards]

Chase could not believe that this person was acting like he was the one at fault here, meanwhile they were sprawled out on the best seat in this whole place, and the whole time snoring so loudly the ghosts came back to life! "Are you joking?! Not only do you snore, I saw a ghost come back to life from how loud it was!" He said, an indignant look on his face. When the boy said that he had dropped his book, suddenly the anger left him and with a sad look on his face he suddenly blurted out. "Oh no! Is the book okay? I didn't mean to hurt the book, just you!" He said, completely serious. He had too much respect for books for him to have intentionally damaged one, he hadn't even noticed the book in the boys presence.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Had Freddie thought logically about it for a moment, he might have realised the book had slipped off his lap when he'd dozed off, but nobody could fault him for being a bit groggy. He scowled. He did not snore, he had that on good authority, by which he meant his own. OK, maybe Luke had mentioned it once or twice, but he was Freddie's little brother. Little brothers wound big brothers up. It didn't prove anything.

Banter turned into an admission of bullying and Freddie was up on his feet in a blink. He shouldn't punch him. He shouldn't, he shouldn't, he shouldn't. No. He clenched and unclenched his fists. He'd get told off. Susie would tell Auntie Thalia. Hadn't he promised to be good this time? Oh, but it would be easy, and it would feel so good. And everyone would hear about it. They'd know. Nobody messes with Freddie. Nobody makes fun of him. Not again.

"Say sorry," he said. His voice trembled. "Say it."

 

[Chase Edwards]

Chase was completely oblivious to the change in the other boy and then suddenly he was in his face, asking him to say sorry? Sorry for what? He hadn't even touched the book! He couldn't help that he had woke the boy up, and honestly he shouldn't have been sleeping with such a delicate book on his lap if he fell asleep so easily! Chase decided that he would apologise for hurting the book though, but he wouldn't apologise for anything else. "I'm sorry that your book got hurt, but you should be more careful where and how you fall asleep if things are so delicate!!" Chase said, now getting a bit riled up himself. He shouldn't have been forced to apologise for something that probably wasn't even his own fault. "Personally, I think you should go to your dorm if you want to sleep if you don't want people to call you out for loudly snoring in the middle of the place people are trying to relax in!!!" Chase said, getting slightly more riled up than he had been before. He couldn't believe he was even having this conversation, like he had been the one in the wrong.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

That wasn't an apology. That wasn't even nearly an apology. Freddie stood completely still, but a storm swirled inside him, just beneath the surface. Don't. Don't. It's been two days. Don't hit him. What - so I'm just supposed to let him talk to me like that? He'll do it again. He'll tell all his friends, and they'll do it too. One swing. He'll never come near you again. Just do it!

He couldn't. All he could see was Susie, disappointed Susie, disappointed Thalia, everybody disappointed, as usual. His Head of House. Nobody would see it from his perspective - they never did. He'd lose house points, and he hadn't even earned any yet. It wasn't worth it. He closed his fists tight, nails digging into his palms - not quite overcoming the storm, but pushing it somewhere deeper, somewhere it could only swallow him.

"Yeah. Well," he said. "No-one asked." He glanced to his left. People were starting to stare. "And now you're bothering these people. So maybe you should go back to your dorm."