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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Apr 10, 2009 2:32:32 GMT -5
"I don't know..." said Henry, rubbing his chin in a kind of mock thoughtfulness. "I think, if I considered this person such a great friend in the making, my mind probably wouldn't jump strait to the they're about to attack me stage at the first sign of a wand."
He look strait at her as he said this last part. Here she was, all mad at him for making assumptions about her, then she turned right back around and made an assumption about him. He wondered if she would be spitting these things at him this way if she knew just a little bit more about his...history.
"I mean, really, I don't mean to belittle some of your most traumatic experiences, but, if you think one of your friends will attack you at the drop of a hat, then I hate to think what your enemies do regularly."
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 10, 2009 20:44:52 GMT -5
Biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself quiet, Felicity stared right back at the boy. If he wanted to know something, this wasn't the way to get it out of her. Did he forget one of the key parts of why what happened had? While it was true, she'd never had a friend attack her, at least with more than words during an angry spat, the blonde feared what words could do to a person. Words hurt, and with a few shed tears the world would look brighter, except sometimes words couldn't be taken back when the damage was all ready cast.
Turning her face away from the boy, she took a few deep breaths, debating on whether to walk away or answer. Was his memory really this short? But she didn't want to bother explaining everything over. To have someone she'd put all her trust in be the one to hand her to a pack of hungry creatures wasn't easily forgivable. And though the girl was forgiven due to Felicity knowing where her loyalties laid beforehand, it still placed the blonde in a bad spot.
"Then you've forgotten who it was that handed me over to that man."
Celina, her best friend, one of the only girls in the school Felicity had managed to get along with was the person to point all blame to her and not think twice about what she was doing. And besides the two involved in the conversation, Felicity and Drew were the only two people in the world who knew why Celina had so quickly given Shaw what he wanted, reason to make Felicity an example. If Celina could give someone reason to attack her as she'd done, then exactly who was there left for Felicity to trust?
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Apr 11, 2009 1:51:05 GMT -5
"Can't forget about something you never knew of in the first place." said Henry matter-of-factly. "I'm pretty sure I already said it but...I. Wasn't. Here...At all."
He looked up at her; his entire knowledge base about the event was rumors...rumors, rumors, rumors. Rumors, of course, were an area of great danger at Hogwarts, where things went from fact to fiction in a New York minute. Henry had heard a lot of things pertaining to the Deva invasion situation, but had shrugged off most of them as tall tales. He had also never really had a great deal of interest in the event. Perhaps this was because it held no mystery or intrigue in his mind; all it was to him was dark men doing what they do best...for information on that, he did not go out of his way. He knew what kinds of things must have happened, and, though he felt for his classmates, he did not investigate closely.
"All I have to go on is rumors, and I generally ignore those completely," he said. "if there are any actual facts you want me to be aware of, you'll have to inform me yourself because I haven't the faintest clue what you're talking about."
This time, he meant it; he hadn't heard one thing concerning the situation with the Deva that he considered to be absolute fact other than the fact that they had been at Hogwarts...
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 12, 2009 1:00:05 GMT -5
Shock of disbelief, and in its worst form, hit Felicity. Why did everyone she know require her to repeat herself, over and over? Drew was the most frustrating, but Henry was quickly coming in second with this game. If he knew about what happened with her and Celina, as he'd claimed earlier in their conversation, he knew the answer to her question. Or if he'd even paid the slightest attention to their conversation he'd know. Why did he (and everyone else for this matter) demand she repeat herself? Did they not realize how frustrated it made her, how horrible she felt having to relive the very thought of all that happened once, let alone more than?
"Have you really completely ignored everything I've said?" she demanded, doing her best to control her anger. "Are you truly that ignorant that you cannot figure out from what I've told you who gave me over to them? Who it was that stood there before the whole school only to rat me out?" she questioned, using the same phrase she'd given earlier when she had told him the exact answer. Everyone knew who her best friend was, the very girl who'd been more than content to remain a shadow in the corner until Felicity had decided to make the girl her bestie. Celina Jedynak had more than come out of her shell by this event, and she was very nearly attached to the new blonde's hip right until that moment.
Tears began to well in her own eyes at the mere thought of every promise that had been broken the moment Celina opened her mouth, how she'd felt when she hadn't know the reason Celina spoke. To her, and every surrounding person it looked as though she had just given Felicity up, for no reason other than self-protection. And while Felicity knew she'd rather have it done to her than to her best friend, it still hurt at the time, and sometimes still did.
"My best friend gave me up, Henry. The person I thought I could most trust in this world is the one who gave me over to someone who would hurt me. And everyone thought she was the one doing the hurting, after all, she was the one to tell him everything and point all blame on me."
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Apr 12, 2009 1:56:56 GMT -5
...Damn, Henry thought numbly. it was true...
The truth of the matter was that his earlier 'speech' had simply been a collection of facts and what he considered to be the least likely rumors concerning the situation. Robert Shaw and Alfonz Jedynak were well enough known to him, of course. One's name was commonly referred to within the rumor mill, and the other had been a staff member at the school. The girl named Celina had played the role of betrayer in the majority of the rumors, but he neither knew she was, nor her standing with Felicity either before or after the Deva invasion.
Once again, it seemed, he had unwittingly struck a cord he hadn't intended to. He had failed to catch one vitally important piece of information she had shared earlier which was, he now realized, the keystone to this entire mystery, and the assassin's dagger for his position in this conversation. He reached up and rubbed his eyes to play for some thinking time. He had made the most fatal of mistakes, and had, he was sure, pushed the issue much further than he had intended without realizing.
There were several painful pieces to this now seemingly completed puzzle and, though he had a good deal of experience with each of them individually, he couldn't imagine how painful they would be if combined. This was a wound he could not mend, for he had neither the skill nor the resources. He couldn't even work out what set of circumstances could possibly combine themselves to make what happened to her...better. He finished rubbing his eyes, and straightened his glasses before looking back at Felicity apologetically.
"Okay...I made a mistake...a big one." He said, knowing full well that the tears welling up in her eyes couldn't possibly betray her whole feelings at that moment. "The speech...it was a ploy to try and get you to talk. I didn't realize the situation was quite that severe, and I...mis...I missed the first comment you made about your best friend betraying you."
He thought it best to come clean and let her start hating him with all her being now than let this draw out and hurt her any further. This conversation had taken a terrible turn, and he knew of only one way to resolve it.
"I...picked a bunch of unlikely bull rumors and tossed them together with any facts I knew in order to try and get you to talk." He said. "I got lucky...or...unlucky and got one detail right on the rumor end and tossed it out there like it was nothing. I didn't know who Celina was...I'm sorry."
He stood up.
"I know you probably can't accept that apology. I just thought that you might feel a little better if you got it off of your chest. It had always worked for me, but...looks like I screwed up again...something I never seem to fail to do when it comes to friends, eh?"
He turned and made to continue off around the lake...
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 13, 2009 22:26:58 GMT -5
Felicity froze.
There was no other way around it; she stopped breathing, her body stiffened in reaction to his words, and her mind wasn't moving at any speed either. He had done what others had tried to make her do, something she didn't want to nor needed to. Drew had been frustrated with her for not talking, begged her to, demanded for her to, and then finally, she'd agreed to. But others had tried their own ways to make the young blonde speak of what had happened, but she couldn't remember any actually angering her into speaking. It would obviously have worked, considering she'd told Henry everything he'd wanted.
As they both stood there Felicity felt more anger filling her. This anger wasn't the same as before though, she was completely furious at him. He'd tricked her-- a very unfriendly tactic-- ignored what she'd all ready told him willingly, and didn't even know who her best friend was? The pretty but somewhat plain Ravenclaw who was always with a book, without a smile, and often standing in the background? The girl who answered so many questions in class, was always with Felicity and Drew, had a famous brother who had worked at the school up until a short while before? He knew nothing about her?
Watching him walk away, the Gryffindor lioness was able to find a way to breathe again which mightn't be considered a good thing. As soon as she could see Henry's retreating form clearly, having wiped her tears from her face, the blonde ran at him. This wasn't over. If that was how he treated his friends, she'd hate to meet any of his enemies either. And though she knew what she was going to do could put her high on his enemies list, she didn't care.
All she wanted to do was hit him, kick him, push him in the lake, do whatever it took to make it up to her for what he did.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Apr 16, 2009 11:44:23 GMT -5
Though Henry had expected Felicity to attack him for his tricks and for prying into these issues, the attack hadn't come when he had stood before her, so he thought she just wanted him to leave. This was essentially fine by him; while he knew he deserved a good beating at this point, he had moved past that point where he had expected, and thus, been ready for it.
As he walked, he heard rushing footsteps at his back. He turned on the spot at the sound and what he saw took him slightly by surprise even though he had expected it to happen. Felicity was running at him, cold fury in her eyes, clearly dead set on causing him a good measure of pain.
It was surprising how many thoughts shot through his head at that moment. The generic questions such as What's going on? shot through his head and were answered almost immediately. The more testing question was What should I do?. Under any normal circumstances, he would have already put a stunner shot into her chest, but that simply wouldn't do. He was certain that he could take her in a fist fight, but fighting her wouldn't help the situation. All he seemed to be able or willing to do was...move.
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 24, 2009 0:01:34 GMT -5
Of all the things running through her head about what she wanted to do to hurt the boy, she really knew she couldn't. Not only would her mum be highly upset (her dad would've cheered her), but Drew wouldn't be happy about it. The best she could really do was likely push him in the lake, and the worse she could hope for was he'd get stuck in the muck and be forced to slosh around in his soaked clothes the rest of the day. But, even then, she knew worse could happen. If by some chance a Grindylow managed to attack him, well, she knew to help him she'd merely put him in more danger than just wanting to seriously hurt him. Or if by another chance Drew was right about the Giant Squid eating a Hufflepuff once, and being she'd befriended the creature as much as possible, it had decided Felicity needed help with doing away with Henry and it swallowed him too, well, that wouldn't be good.
Maybe pushing him to the ground and really attacking him would be for the best.
He had done exactly as he'd claimed he wouldn't, and was turning to be quite a wretched little liar. How she could ever thought of him as a possible friend, she didn't know. And as he moved, she did her best to keep pace, the need to just let out frustration taking over.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Apr 26, 2009 18:38:04 GMT -5
Henry moved, but it wasn't enough; he felt himself get caught around the midsection and forced backward by the force of the hit. He hit the ground fairly hard, and felt the back of his head hit the ground a moment later. He felt his glasses fly off and heard them clattering over the rocks and pebbles that comprised the lake shore. Everything within fifty feet of him instantly became blurred while everything beyond that seemed to fly at him when his farsightedness kicked in. It always did make him feel a little off color, but seventeen years living with it meant that he was used to it.
"Ah, Felicity!" he said, looking around for her outline. "C'mon! You have to know this can't end well!"
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 28, 2009 3:00:25 GMT -5
No, it wasn't going to end well, she knew that. It wouldn't end well for either of them. She was going to make sure he hurt, and she knew she'd likely be in a spot of trouble with the school, which would lead most likely to her being required to see that wretched woman. But it'd almost be worth it for what Henry had decided to do. How could he honestly think she would be all right with his tricking her? Drew hadn't even dared to try and trick her, he'd begging constantly, requested incessantly, and had driven her mad with his need for her to tell him everything, but he'd never tricked her into telling him what happened. Not even when she had the full story. He had suffered through her putting a stop to their relationship, had put up with her depression, let her take her time, but had never hurt her.
"How could you trick me?" she asked him, wanting to hit him, but not being able to bring herself to do it. She noticed his glasses had gone amiss, and without them she knew he could hardly see. It wouldn't be a fair fight if she did go around his head, at least not unless he did something first. The most she felt she could do was pin him to the ground, which she had no qualms with sitting on his midsection to keep him in place.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Apr 29, 2009 1:17:43 GMT -5
"It wasn't easy," Henry said; he knew exactly what she meant but decided that playing dumb might make it a little easier for her to beat him like he knew she wanted to. He didn't want to get beaten, but he figured he owed her the opportunity. "you're pretty clever about keeping it all a secret..."
He was at the point where he was sick of tip toeing around it all. If beating on him would make her feel better, he was going to make it as easy as possible for her to do so. At this point, he was pretty certain that they could never have the 'How ya doin' buddy?' kind of friendship he had had hopes for so long ago, so he would settle for letting her work out any anger she had toward him and go his separate way from her.
"What's the matter?" Henry asked, raising an eyebrow. "Not going to hit me just because I'm at a disadvantage?"
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 29, 2009 22:15:42 GMT -5
What was she clever at keeping a secret of? Felicity wasn't entirely sure what the boy was going on about, but he really was pushing his limits with her. At any other time, she would've hauled off and slugged him by now, would have made him pay, but it'd been a long time since she had hit anyone like that. Her dad had fully approved of her doings, which had upset the mother of the boy she'd taught a lesson, but it really was his fault for trying to kiss her. Of course, this was different, neither of her parents actually knew what had happened that January, or didn't know what part she had actually played in the events. If they'd known, they would have pulled her from school and that was exactly what she hadn't wanted to happen. Meredith knew, but her sister was the only person in her family. Felicity had even gone to lengths to beg Drew not to say a word, and he'd promised if they didn't directly ask he wouldn't tell. While it wasn't what she had wanted from him, the blonde also knew it was as close as she'd get to a promise.
When Henry spoke again, she could do hardly anything but stare incredulously at him. What was he getting at now? Was he trying to trick her into hitting him? But why? Who would really want to be hit around the head? Except a person who really liked pain, but she honestly didn't think Henry was like that. What if he was trying one of those psychological things on her? Maybe he was trying to trick her into not hitting him by trying to convince her to hit him? It was so confusing to her mind...but what else was new?
What if he wanted her to hit him because that way he could take her to Raynor? It was no secret how much Felicity loathed that woman. And being a Prefect, he was sure to know it. Why did he have to bother speaking? It would've been so much easier if he'd just kept his mouth shut and let her break his nose.
"What's it matter if I do or don't?" she asked, making sure to adjust her weight as well as possible to keep him in spot. "Whether you're currently at a disadvantage or not, you could still easily hit me back. Or even if I don't touch you more than this it keeps me from much trouble." To onlookers, it might just look like a friendly match.
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on Apr 30, 2009 2:44:36 GMT -5
"Because I'm tired!" Henry shot her. "I'm tired of worrying about you and what may or may not have happened to you! For a year, I couldn't do anything with any level of real proficiency while I was in the same room as you. You may not have noticed, but my hand tends to shake so severely whenever I'm around you that I can't even cast spells with proficiency, and it's all because of what happened that morning!"
He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her blurred outline and the focus changed just enough to define her figure. Getting a better look, however, was not the purpose of it, his face was simply showing the emotion which he now held so prominently in his heart and mind: anger.
"I took care to avoid you in hallways, sit as far away from you in classrooms as I could; I even avoided the library whenever you were there, all for your benefit. I didn't want to inflict my presence on you, I thought it would have been better for you if I distanced myself and let you work out whatever it was by yourself. Don't get me wrong, I never actually thought that I was one of the people you would lean on in hard times, part of the reason I never tried to approach you about whatever it was that set you off that morning. I tried distancing myself, and, today, I tried talking to you about it...several ways, as you know. Nothing works, and I'm fed up with worrying about someone who doesn't even seem to want to help themselves.
"So, back to my original point, I am tired, sick and tired of being blamed for something that some piece of crap purist did, just for trying to keep you from catching cold. So, if you would be so kind, get to whatever it was you were planning to do to make me pay for what I said back there or get the hell off of me so I can go and do something useful with my time!"
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Post by Felicity Hjort on Apr 30, 2009 15:15:52 GMT -5
"Why is it boys feel the need to fix everything?!?!" she shouted back at him. What was wrong with allowing time to heal? Didn't they believe the wives tale that any wound could be mended with just a bit of time? Girls didn't go around trying to fix everything, so why should boys? Drew had done the same thing, tried to force her to talk about something that wasn't rightly his business to pry into, even when she told him she would when she was good and ready to. And while Henry had the business due to what happened, he needn't have gone to such lengths to avoid her. Certainly she'd done the same in the corridors, the common room, and such, but she really didn't try and avoid him as such elsewhere. No, she wouldn't sit by him in classes, library, or their table in the Great Hall but no one really saw it as odd. Felicity had always gotten along better with those outside her of her House than within.
"I'm fine! There is absolutely nothing for your pretty little head to worry itself over me for. I have worked everything out that I need to, I'm quite sufficient in taking care of myself, thank you very much! If I were bothering you that badly, you should've have just said something, I do have the option of leaving here and returning home. Sure, my mum and Drew would be sorely disappointed, but I don't need to be a witch to live! I'm quite happy in the muggle world, and no one cares about what happened to me here over there. Perhaps I should have just left after it happened, that way I wouldn't have to face the fact everyone thinks my best friend back stabbed me, that I'm so unfortunate to have gone through what I did, and I needn't worry about wands or magic, or anything ridiculous!"
Honestly now, why did he have to haul off without warning and try anything? As a friend, wasn't it his duty to ask her if she was the least uncomfortable? The blonde adored the rain, could only remember one bad incident before then in it, when she'd hurt the one person in the world she never wanted to. And yet, though she'd had two now, it still didn't bother her any.
"You don't think talking to me is useful?" she tried to sound offended. "You sure thought talking to me before was useful enough for you to collect information that I may have willingly told you had you outright asked me rather than tricked me into saying! Honestly, talk all you'd like, because I'm quite comfortable."
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Post by Henry Lordings Jr. on May 1, 2009 7:35:26 GMT -5
"Who do you think you're kidding?" Henry asked incredulously, his brow furrowed at her comments. "If you would have told me just for the asking all about what happened, then you wouldn't be anywhere near as pissed off as you are. People don't just get mad because somebody tricked them. People get mad about the results of the trick. I've never been one of your close personal friends, even when I was in your good books, and I bet you didn't even tell Drew just for the asking, did you?"
He didn't even bother responding to the questions concerning why boys did such and such. Not only would that debate rage on for hours, but the questions had a rhetorical quality to them, and, thus, demanded no answer.
"While we're on the subject of things that people would have done just for the asking," He said, reaching under his back, pulling out a rock which had been bothering him since he had fallen, and tossing it. "did it occur to you that I would have stopped just for the asking and let you berate me with these absurdities?"
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