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Post by Felicity Hjort on Mar 23, 2009 22:47:45 GMT -5
Another from America? Felicity truly wouldn't have believed it, but she knew Henry was hardly the type to 'pull her chain'. How many could possibly be from America? There were a few students she knew of, many with family members they were quite close to living in the country, and yet, her own father all but shunned her mum's cousin who lived there, and Drew. But she tried her best not to dwell on the thought.
"Really?" the blonde asked excitedly. Alexander's mum had just had Alexis in April, right on her very own birthday, and she knew how much Alexander had been looking forward to it. He'd been an only child as well, and the thought that he would be a big brother was something he was most looking forward to. Felicity had never been a big sister, but she had tons of them, and brothers too. "That's wonderful! I bet you're really excited!"
Though she'd never particularly wanted to be a big sister herself, she loved children greatly. There was something ultimately wondrous about them, like tiny little pieces of magic all on their own, and though she'd never wanted to be an older sibling, she loved every moment she had to be with her nieces and nephews.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Mar 24, 2009 4:34:01 GMT -5
"Really?...That's wonderful! I bet you're really excited!"
"I am," said Henry, his smile growing wider still. "though, I am kind of worried. I...well I'm the youngest in the family, cousins included. I have absolutely no experience with this sort of thing, you know, and...well I just don't know if I'll be able to handle it well."
He had always rather wondered what it would be like to have a little brother or sister. All of his cousins were older than he was, and none of them had children, so he hadn't had much experience with little, little kids beyond, perhaps, the first and second years.
He felt excitement at the thought of having a sibling, but, at the same time, felt extremely worried that he might screw up in some way, though he had no clue as to what way that might have been. He had always heard that older children in families tended to feel sort of jealous towards little siblings, something about the re-alignment of the attention in the household, but, he didn't feel that way. Maybe it was because the baby wasn't here yet, maybe it was because jealousy just wasn't his way, but Henry had never had a jealous thought cross his mind in regards to the new arrival. He sincerely hoped that wouldn't change...
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Mar 28, 2009 1:34:40 GMT -5
"I'm the youngest of my siblings," Felicity offered, not making comment that she was the youngest of a total of six. Though, she had tons of cousins and plenty of nieces and nephews to make up for being the youngest, which gave her a good view on what it was like to be an older sibling. "I don't know if you know Alexander Cronon, he was a Hufflepuff? Well, his mum recently had a baby girl, and he's never had experience at being the older sibling, well...except with me, but he's such a natural. I almost envy how well he does with his sister."
But when Henry mentioned his concerns, Felicity's silence took a stand. Agreed, she didn't know how well he'd do, especially after the scare he gave her. But, it was different with someone so precious as a baby sibling, perhaps he'd take much more precaution.
"I think you'll do all right," the blonde finally piped up after a long pause on her part. Holding his arm a little tighter in her grasp, she gently nudged him with her elbow and smiled. "You're a wonderful Prefect, and that's a lot of responsibility, watching over younger children than you. It's like being a big brother in a way. And as long as you're careful, think about your actions before you put them into motion, you'll be an absolutely smashing older brother."
It was true. Henry would be a natural, she was sure of it. There was a note of over-protectiveness about him, the same she'd grown up with her whole life, and he was interesting to spend time with. Though she had to admit he really had frightened her, she still found him fascinating at times.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Mar 28, 2009 15:38:46 GMT -5
"I think you'll do all right, You're a wonderful Prefect, and that's a lot of responsibility, watching over younger children than you. It's like being a big brother in a way. And as long as you're careful, think about your actions before you put them into motion, you'll be an absolutely smashing older brother."
Henry looked over at Felicity and smiled. He hoped she was right, it would mean a lot to him if he could be an excellent older brother. He continued to walk on for a few moments, silently examining the challenges ahead before speaking once more.
"Felicity, I..." it was hard for him to find the words that needed to be said, but he toughed through those that didn't as best he could. "You know that day when I...well I never meant to scare you or hurt you or anything. I tried so hard to find a way to apologize, but...I never could."
He was carefully examining the pebbles along the shore as he spoke; he found it was hard enough reliving that mistake without looking her in the eye. He simply waited for her words, whatever they might be.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Mar 30, 2009 21:57:40 GMT -5
Absorbing the silence, knowing something was brewing within the mind of the blue-eyed boy whose arm she was linked with, Felicity waited. Perhaps he had more concerns of being an older sibling, for only which the only advice she could pass on was being a young Aunt, but sometimes it was much the same. Freddy was more of a brother to her than Jared, and David had long since passed, living with the youngest boy in his family since he was a few months old made him much more like a younger brother.
As Henry spoke, Felicity's downcast eyes betrayed little emotion. It was the reason they'd avoided one another, wasn't it? Nodding in acknowledgment she'd heard his words the pretty blonde let the silence fall between and on them again. In order to say what she needed to, she knew how hard she had to think before speaking.
"I know you didn't mean to," she started, trying to choose her words carefully, "but that doesn't change what was done. And I know that what did happen before then was meant and even if that wretched man apologized it still wouldn't change what was done. But...if it hadn't happened, and you still did what you did, I wouldn't have reacted as such." Though she'd been timid before about wands pointed at her, her fears never escalated until that one moment. "Henry...you don't need to apologize. I did my share to make you feel horrible, and I apologize for that, but I shouldn't have avoided you as I did. I shouldn't have reacted how I had, nor should I have let you blame yourself for my reaction."
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Mar 31, 2009 23:46:39 GMT -5
Henry stopped and turned to Felicity. Since that day he had examined every aspect of the happenings in the great hall during the event itself. He had tried, desperately, to identify what, exactly, he had done that could have scared her so badly. At first, he had thought it was simply his casting a spell in her direction, but he quickly ruled this out; it was an action that wasn't nearly traumatic enough to make her fearful of him. He had tried and failed to find the key to the mystery of that fear so many times...now, he found, it was had shown it's face in a simple off handed remark...
"Wretched man?" Henry said, looking at Felicity carefully. "What wretched man?"
He was beginning to put the pieces together in this tale; he hadn't caused the fear, he had simply brought it to the surface, perhaps intensifying it in the process. This revelation did nothing to soothe his guilt; he may not have caused it, but he certainly had a hand in making it worse. It did, however, gift him with a new and wondrous realization: If it was not he who had caused the fear, it would be that much easier for him to help her make it go away.
He realized that this question was one that would test the boundaries of his and Felicity's newly rekindled friendship, but he had to try the question nonetheless. For the first time he had found a way of truly repaying the debt his actions had enacted between them, and he was determined to see if he could follow the path through.
If the question was taxing enough to push her away from him again, so be it; he would be sad to loose her as a friend once again, but he would be happy that he at least tried. If it proved a topic she felt safe exploring, then he could lay down one of the bricks in the path to her freedom from that fear; this much, he was certain, he owed her. For now, however, it all hinged on her willingness, or lack thereof, to speak a name which Henry was certain was a cornerstone of that fear which haunted her...
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 1, 2009 23:39:57 GMT -5
Turning a very controlled expression to the boy, Felicity tried to remain as calm as possible. Henry was asking for the name as though he hadn't been there, as though he had no clue what had happened over a year ago. Even her mum suspected, but had never cornered Felicity for the information. It was a concern, a young female student from the Gryffindor House, Felicity had fit (and still did) that description, but so had a number of other students. Not willing to speak of it to anyone but a select few months after the occurrence, Felicity had done her best to put it behind her. It lead to a broken friendship, a broken heart, failing grades, and yet...a beginning to a relationship that had hardly been pursued.
A shadow of uncomfortableness flitted across her face, not sure if he hadn't been in the Great Hall at the time. How would she know? The only ones she was aware of being there were Celina, that woman, and those men. And the only one she knew hadn't been there for sure...was Drew. No one else had mattered to her at the time, but he hadn't been present, and though she never truly blamed him, in some ways she did. He left her after promising he wouldn't let anything happen to her, and then things did. And it all started because he left on the command of the even more wretched woman who singled him out, called him in as a last favour, one that had nearly cost Felicity more than a few loose ends.
Pausing her movements, Felicity turned to look Henry directly in the eye, unbelieving he hadn't a clue of who she spoke. Of course, it was possible he hadn't been there at the time, but what of all the talk she knew took place? What of all the whispered conversations? Especially those concerning how Celina had back-stabbed the blonde? There was all those low conversations, many pointing fingers at Celina for giving up Felicity in the face of someone powerful enough to hurt her, someone frightening enough to coax her into it. So many had said they'd never have given up their friend like that, but honestly how many had actually been put into such a situation that required them to choose between the two people closest to you? Only one person Felicity was aware of, and even then, he hadn't had to chose between two people, merely had to listen to the threats against his sister; and even he didn't understand when Felicity couldn't talk about it. Even Drew, who'd been faced by the same wand and wand handler was unable to grasp why Felicity wouldn't speak about the events that took place, and why he couldn't understand what had happened. He hadn't been there to know what happened, and no matter who told him of the events, he refused to believe until Felicity voiced them. It had been torturous enough to go through it once, why did she have to continuously speak of it, and only to make him understand?
Lips trembled and the blonde gulped, hoping for any help at all to not have to explain. Hopefully with one word, Henry would understand.
"Shaw."
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Apr 2, 2009 2:43:49 GMT -5
"Shaw...?" said Henry, examining Felicity very carefully. "Robert Shaw...?"
Henry turned on the spot; he didn't know what to think of this, didn't know how he could have miscalculated so badly. He, like everyone else, was perfectly aware of the events during the Deva invasion; he had heard the rumors and took them with a grain of sand. Difficult decisions aside, he never dreamed he could have so fatally miscalculated someone he considered a friend. He paced around the point where they had stopped to speak, considering his words very carefully, weighing their consequences in his mind.
"Felicity," he said "I know what happened with the Deva, with Shaw and Celina and all of the rest must have been hard...but...I never took you for someone who would be foolish enough to allow the actions of a creature like Shaw to effect your life so completely..."
He turned and looked her full in the face.
"Men, and I use the term loosely, like Shaw are detestable blights on the world. They crave power, pure and simple, and will do anything to get it. He may pretend to be something different, but he, and his band of Deva, are nothing more than petty tyrants in the making. Fear is one of their tools; it is the thing they use to suppress resistance from those they wish to control because, for a tyrant, there is nothing more frightening than a peoples with no fear of them. If we allow the actions of people like Shaw to effect us, we place them one more step closer to their victory..."
He stepped a foot closer to Felicity, drawing his wand out and holding it aloft like a dagger so that the tip was pointed at his feet. He looked her right in the eye, determined that she see every bit of his sincerity.
"This...this is just a tool. It's a piece of wood, that's it. You don't fear wands, you fear Shaw...you fear the will of people who seek to harm you, but, Felicity, I don't seek to harm you. You, you are my friend, and I would sooner kill myself than betray a friend. Period. Nothing can change that in me, and you need to understand that much about me."
He slipped the wand away and stepped even closer, looking her right in the eye.
"The day I fell out of the window at the top of the North Tower, almost died, dropped my glasses, and you helped me get them again, well, that was the day I took that oath in regards to you. I did the same thing when I was five and I met Eaden Valo for the first time. I also did it for Tianne when I met her for the first time in The Three Broomsticks, and, whether you believe it or not, I did the same thing for Drew when he tripped me in the charms corridor. I don't betray my friends. I don't attack them. I want you to understand that because I never want you to have to be afraid of me again. I want you to understand that because, one day, people like you and me will have to work together to put people like Shaw where they belong...in a very small dark hole in some god-awful prison in the middle of nowhere."
He turned to continue his walk along the shore, pausing only to add one final note to the end of his, for lack of a better term, speech.
"Don't let the acts of people like Shaw rule your life. Live in fear and you won't have time for much else."
He turned and continued his walk along the shore, placing his hands in his pockets as he did so. If she followed him, he would be happy for the company; if she didn't, well, then she wouldn't.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 5, 2009 19:55:48 GMT -5
Felicity stood by silently, her one word response landed and waiting for something from him. Long arms had folded over her stomach as the blonde watched Henry's reaction. The events had long since passed, she knew where her own blame laid, and was willing to bet Henry had something more to say than Drew had. While Drew's opinion was always highly appreciated, she hadn't known what to do when Drew wouldn't let her say what she needed to, would only listen to the bits that meant nothing in the large-scale of what she'd said, and refused to leave her be to figure things out on her own. But Henry was different, every bit as outspoken as her boyfriend, but with a different view on the world all the same.
But she hadn't expected the accusations the boy began to throw. The speculations he made onto a life he knew nothing of.
What he said sunk in, jaw dropped in disbelief of the lecture he was providing, and it took nearly all the self-control Felicity possessed to not slug him. Why did it seem there was no one who understood? Celina had, but she'd been there, she was the one who gave Felicity away, for a reason Felicity could not find in herself to blame her friend for. And Corey, while she'd never directly spoke to him on the subject, they'd skirted the topic so many times and not once did he press her for information, demand her to understand what he had to say, nor had he ever lectured her. And with the exception of Connor, she couldn't immediately think of anyone who began to think that maybe she had more reason to fear than many most. Had any of them ever been on the wrong side of an Unforgivable Curse, other than Drew?
Could none of them honestly imagine how much pain shot through every nerve of her body? How hoarse her voice was after she'd finally come-to in the hospital wing days after the spectacle took place? Understand how just that one name sent her worst fears diving in fright?
Keeping her eyes trained on the other Gryffindor, Felicity could hardly believe he dared to talk to her like he knew her. Like he actually understood her fear. What was worse than anything else was for someone to believe themselves privy to another person's fear, without realizing just how far off they were in their own belief.
The only thing he said that made any sense to her was his last bit, and that wasn't enough to recover from everything else he'd voiced.
"How dare you?" the former Prefect asked with vehement anger as her supposed friend turned away. "What gives you the right to say anything to me like that when you have no idea? You never even asked me what it was I feared! Of course something like what happened is going to affect my life! Whose life wouldn't that affect? Who wouldn't be touched in their life by such a horrid thing that they would walk away fine as daisies after that? You cannot stand there and tell me that if someone were to haul you up in front of everyone you knew, forced your best friend to rat you out on something, and then turned and used magic against you in such a way to make you into a spectacle that you'd get up and act as though nothing in your life had happened!"
No one could be like that, no one could have any force turned on them like she had and be full of sunshine and roses the rest of their life. That person would come away with some kind of fear, and it wasn't a man she feared, it wasn't a former piece of tree, and yet no one had cared enough to even ask what it was she feared.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Apr 5, 2009 20:30:45 GMT -5
"You cannot stand there and tell me that if someone were to haul you up in front of everyone you knew, forced your best friend to rat you out on something, and then turned and used magic against you in such a way to make you into a spectacle that you'd get up and act as though nothing in your life had happened!"
He stopped dead where he stood, dozens of feet ahead of her along the shore. She didn't see it, but a small smile flicked across his face before he turned back toward her and walked toward her slowly. His face was dead serious, but his thoughts were tied up in disbelief; he couldn't believe that had worked.
"No..." he said after a pause. "no, I suppose I couldn't."
He stood there for a moment; he wouldn't have blamed her for hitting him, though it hadn't been his intention to truly insult her. He looked across the lake at the castle with it's many turrets and towers for a moment with a sigh, then brought his attention back to Felicity.
"Fine; I'm wrong." he said, shrugging. "I don't know what I'm talking about, and I don't understand what happened to you; please forgive my arrogance. I would, however, like to know..."
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 6, 2009 2:53:21 GMT -5
The mounting anger was closely coming to replicate that of the anger she'd felt toward Drew so many times after those events, when he'd tried to make her talk about what she wasn't ready to speak of. How could he not understand that Celina held such an important piece of the puzzle for her that Felicity didn't even know what had happened and only the girl could rightfully answer her questions? Celina was the only person who knew, until she whispered the answer to the blonde, why she'd given up her best friend, in front of the near entirety of the school.
The complete turnabout though was unexpected. Felicity's mouth was left hanging, her jaw nearly swinging at Henry's next words. He completely transformed before her very eyes and she didn't know what to think.
The blonde wanted to shout at him, agree he didn't know what he was talking about, but she couldn't. Something wasn't right and she didn't like this change, even if it was who she knew Henry to really be. But as for forgiving him for that moment, she wouldn't and shook her head to show there wasn't going to be any accepted apology for that.
"What?"
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Apr 6, 2009 17:38:15 GMT -5
"What about what?" he asked, taking a seat on a nearby boulder. "What I want to know about, or are you confused about what I just said?"
It was an understandably delicate situation; in the past minute and a half, he had accused her of being weak willed, had advanced on her with a drawn wand, and had lectured her on something that he knew that he knew nothing about. It was a dirty trick, but his words weren't assembled to lecture her. He just wanted to piss her off enough so that she would lecture him.
The fragility of the situation sprang forth from the fragility of the subject. Any number of miscalculations could turn this situation bad; so far, however, it was mostly going according to plan. He gave her an outlet through which she could vent if she wanted to...it was all up to her now. If she chose to talk, then venting might make her feel better, though he doubted that it really would. He had in his mind that she might be able to piece together some way of making herself feel better about it if she said it aloud; it had always worked for him. He also found that it was always easier for him to talk about testy subjects when he was anger; it probably had something to do with a general disregard for consequences when one was angry. If she chose not to talk, however...well...something else was likely to happen. Either way, Henry was committed to his current course of action.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 7, 2009 21:36:09 GMT -5
The proper answer would be both, Felicity didn't have a clue what was going on. First he acted as though he was being sincere, then he changed pace and accused her of things he had no right to, and now he was apologizing. What was the reason for these changes? Was he going through some kind of emotional roller coaster? She knew well enough he wasn't experiencing the ones she often went through every month, but at the moment it also felt like he was trying to recreate one from her. That was a bad mistake, especially when she knew just how she could be if she got on a real rampage.
Confusion was written all over her face, but her mind was shouting at her to tell him to answer the former of his questions.
"What do you want to know?" she asked shortly, her temper needing to be reigned in and doing her best to keep it so. The problem was, he was prying too far into something he had no right to prance in. What was so great about making her think about all of it again? About forcing her to relive what she could remember and the pain that followed afterward. Celina, Drew, Corey, everything her mind forced her to see that wasn't there. It wasn't fair.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Apr 7, 2009 22:49:37 GMT -5
"I want to know why you reacted the way you did that morning over the paper." he said simply. "Exactly why."
He was testing his luck with this whole thing; it could really, truly go down hill without much warning. He was dealing with a dangerous question which threatened a dangerous answer. He had looked out over the lake as he fronted his question, but returned his attention to Felicity as he awaited an answer, excluding everything else.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 10, 2009 2:11:29 GMT -5
Honey graham cracker brown eyes narrowed as Felicity glared at Henry, half wishing he'd disappear before her very eyes. While she didn't normally quite think as such, she couldn't help herself this time, he was annoying her to an extreme, angering her, and causing memories she didn't want to think of to flood her mind. Some friend. And at the same time she couldn't bring herself to blame him completely. While he was currently bugging her, she knew overall he didn't, and even if he was causing her a little pain, it wasn't direct, he was just making her remember.
"How would you have reacted if you'd recently had a wand pointed at you with the intention of it being used as a weapon to cause you unheard of pain?" she quipped. "And then someone you considered to be a great friend in the making was unthoughtful enough to point a wand in your direction when you'd never asked for any help whatsoever, nor had you claimed any discomfort to cause your friend to believe you wanted anything about you changed?"
She remembered clearly that she'd gone running in the pouring rain, joined Drew and Henry for breakfast when she had spotted both, was teased about being wet and next thing she knew Henry had drawn his wand.
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