Look at the Stars

Ryan had once got caught sneaking around after curfew, but that wasn't about to stop him from breaking curfew again. He had to be more slick and not get caught, but of course he wasn't going to go by himself this time. He needed someone to blame if they did get caught. The perfect person for this job was Blondie. Earlier in the day he had pulled her aside and explained that he wanted to watch the stars after curfew. Of course he didn't actually want to, he just wanted to get out of his dorm. If he could make it to the observatory without being caught, he would be able to sneak into other places.

It was a couple minutes after curfew and he was ready to leave. There would be professors and prefects lurking around so he would have to wait it out for a little while longer. A few more minutes passed by and Ryan decided it was now time to leave. This time he didn't light up his wand and he walked on his tip toes. He made it to the observatory without being caught, he just had to wait for Harley to show.

Harley was surprised to say in the least when Ryan had pulled her over in between classes and told her to stop by the observatory after curfew. It wasn't so much that he was asking her to break curfew, but that he was asking her to break curfew. Of all the daring, brave Ceriser, he had asked the Montagnard witch whom he hated, or despised or whatever. Nonetheless, she had agreed then dashed off to her next class.

So there she was, pulling on a sweater and jeans, if she was going to get caught then breaking dress code wouldn't be her worst problem, and tucking her wand into her boot. At the last second, she remembered to put her glasses on. She couldn't see a thing four feet away without them, much less stars over a million miles away. Harley dashed through the carpeted hallways, down the creaky wooden stairs (which she had learned to avoid) and into the Montagnard common room, where she promptly escaped from her House. She had the Beauxbatons floor-plan memorized, and made it to the Astronomy tower in record time. She found Ryan pacing around the tower and cleared her throat. "I'm here."

Finally, she had arrived and she hadn't been caught. "See any professors lurking around? Any prefects?" He needed to know in case he decided to leave the girl early, he did need his sleep after all. Ryan was used to the city lights of Paris and all the lights blocked out the true beauty of the stars. He would take this advantage and gaze at the beautiful stars. He wasn't very interested in them, but it was something to get out of bed. He sat down and laid back. It was peacefully quiet and he liked it. No annoying people around to ruin his peace and quiet. It was just him and his thoughts...and Blondie. Why had he invited her again? Oh yeah, in case they got caught. He supposed he would have to make conversation with her instead of remaining silent.

"So," he said softly. "Ever see the stars shine so bright?" It was mindless conversation but it would do at the moment. He still had a favor over here and now was the perfect time to think about how she could repay him.

She raised a questioning eyebrow before responding,"If I saw any hall-monitors do you think I would be here?" She watched him sit down and decided it was a good idea. Harley curled up in a tight ball and looked at the sky, illuminated by thousands of stars. The balls of white light reflected off her eyes and made her blink more than normal because of their brightness. She smiled at the glowing moon which seemed to return the cheeky grin.

"Only once, when I was eight, before my magic was showing, I snuck out onto the roof of my house. Nearly broke my arm and got absolutely no sleep, but it was worth it seeing those exact sparkling stars staring down at me. It's nice knowing that my birth parents are somewhere out there, looking at these same stars," she responded to his question. She breathed a deep sigh, glad that she had worn a sweater. It was beginning to get cold. "You can ask me, you know. The question that you really want to hear the answer to? What happened to my family? I won't bite, I'll even tell the truth."

Ryan wasn't one to care about other people, but he did enjoy a bit of gossip. Even though the subject wasn't all that great, it was still something to listen to. He did think about it one time, she had mentioned it before. But last year he wouldn't have cared, this year he still didn't but at least he was willing to somewhat listen. "What if that's not what I'm thinking? What if I'm thinking about the way the moon looks like a toe nail?" It did look like a giant toe nail. "And what if I was thinking about how chilly it is out here?" He was glad he had a jacket to keep him somewhat warm.

He wasn't one to share things with people, he kept to himself mostly. If she was going to tell him things about her, she was probably going to expect something about him in return. "If you tell me, do I have to tell you things about me? Cause I'm not having any heart to heart conversations right now." Not that his life was terrible, he mostly got what he wanted. But if he said that to her, she'd probably call him a brat or something along those lines. He didn't think he was, it wasn't his fault that his parents spoiled him. "Heart to heart conversations aren't my thing, but feel free to say whatever you'd like. I'm listening."

Harley let out short laugh and told him, "First of all, the moon looks absolutely nothing like a giant toe nail. Second of all, it's actually really cold so yeah, I'm pretty happy I wore a sweater." She wove her finger through a nickel sized hole near the hem of the knitted black sweater, the effects of a fire-making spell gone wrong.

"Nah, you don't have to tell me anything. At least, I don't expect you to. I just feel like someone should know, you know? Anyways, the whole feelings thing isn't exactly my forte either, so don't expect me to tear up or anything while talking. I'm not the crying-on-someone's-shoulder type," she scoffed. She sighed and looked at the glimmering stars. "I guess it should start with my family history. I'm a Muggle-born, and I swear if you call me a mud-blood you'll be punched into tomorrow faster than you thought was possible. My family has no traces of magic in our blood-line, so where the whole wizardy stuff came from, I don't know. Anyways, my magic started showing earlier than usual, which was odd me, and I hid it. I kept it hidden from my family, my very few friends, and even my little brother, Jeremy. I was terrified of being called a freak throughout middle school, but as soon as I turned ten, it became a full-scale problem. I couldn't hide it. I never thought it would happen. I was a child prodigy, as other families called me. I had an eidetic memory and my grades never dropped below a ninety-eight since I was born. That didn't matter though, my parents called me a freak of nature and were disgusted that I couldn't be normal. Every award and certificate I had won for them disappeared from their mind, just like I did. They left me at home one day, saying they were going to come back, but they never did. I eventually ran out of food at the empty house and had to resort to the streets. I made a couple friends who helped me learn how to pull scams on people and lie my way out of situations, but once they left the group, you never saw them again. I became the queen of stealing and lying, even pick-pocketing wallets full of cash from kind people. I was horrible. Those people trusted me and offered me food, but I was never satisfied with their donations. I felt the need to take from them like my family was taken from me. Eventually, I tried stealing this one guy's watch and he caught me midway. I tried using my magic to stop him from taking me to the police, but all he did was reflect every spell. I was shocked; I didn't know there were others like me. I figured I was exactly what my parents called me, a freak of nature who didn't belong. He was equally surprised. In the end, Elijah ended up 'adopting' me and I took his last name. You know, Fenwick. My old last name was Baine, but I left that behind in Camden."

Telling the story was like breathing in water. You had to force yourself to do it, and it hurt after a while, but at the same time it feels nice. The words began to flow out of her after a while. "Anyways, why did you pick me to come up here with you. The most I can do is cast a charm or knock out a prefect," she said, trying to laugh the tension of what she had said off.

"It totally looks like a toe nail, you don't know what you're talking about." He remained silent after he said those words, he was too busy listening to her talk to talk himself. Normally people didn't tell their life stories to people they hardly knew. Maybe she just liked him or trusted him, he couldn't understand why she was telling him these things. But he kind of respected her for it, just a little bit anyways. It must have sucked to be in her position, he wouldn't know. He was always spoiled by his parents and they treated him like he was so special. He thought he was special. "People say that the way we act is how we've been treated," he said softly as he gazed at the stars. "People stay quiet because they've been hurt, people are cocky because people think they're great." He paused for a moment before continuing.

"I'm such a jerk because my parents think I'm great, that I'm better than others. They spoil me, they used to spoil Stark before I was born. It doesn't help that my grandparents like me more than Stark." Of course he had to take some blame for the way he acted, it was him acting that way after all. "But we can change the way we act, we can't blame others. I mean, we can, but they shouldn't take all the blame. It's us acting that way after all." He looked over at the blonde and shrugged, so much for not having a heart to heart.

"Does there have to be a reason why I asked you to come with me?" He smirked, back to his ways once again. "Maybe there is no reason I picked you, maybe I just picked you randomly." He sat up and stretched, he was becoming uncomfortable in that position. "Why do you wannna know? Think I like you or something?" He almost laughed at the thought, it was too funny. He could hardly keep a straight face so he ended up letting a smile chuckle out.

She obediently listened to him talk. Harley was always a better listener than a talker; she knew when to smile and nod or give them a comforting pat. She respected their privacy, but didn't discourage them willingly opening up to talk about themselves. "I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking your great, in fact it must be nice to figure yourself as a strong, independent person. For the couple months after my parents discovered my magic, I thought of myself as worthless, a misfit. I was lower than dirt because I didn't belong. But then, I started to realize something, dirt becomes strong and over time, turns into mountains that tower over other and show people how tough they are. That's how I consider myself, at least, and I hope that anybody else who feels like I did comes to realize that too. We live in a screwed up world, where people will constantly put us down or make us believe that we are higher than others because that is how we see ourselves. I don't blame you for being raised into a loving household, even if they did pamper you, because it happens. The only thing that matters is how we act ourselves and how we adjust."

She smiled cheekily at him, something she rarely did, and stood up. "You wish you were cool enough to like me. Luckily, you have been blessed to have the opportunity to hang around me. If you want to like me, you must complete a series of grueling tasks and perplexing puzzles to prove your worthiness. Then will I consider you." She brushed the nonexistent dust off her jeans and laughing along with him. When she finally calmed down she said, "We should visit the Portrait Gallery sometime. I hear the Fat Lady will sing for you if you convince her." She stretched her long legs and sat back down. It was getting rather cold, and her knitted sweater wasn't helping at this point. She started to shiver and quietly said, "Um, this is really awkward so don't take it the wrong way, but can I lean against you? I'm really cold."

"Only you can change you, people may have a way to shape you but only you can make yourself something else." It was like playing with a clay, it was always changing. But once you fired the clay up, it was that way until you broke it. Then you would have to start over. "I wouldn't want to see someone broken," he said softly. "Broken people need help being fix but sometimes they don't want to be fix." Being in pain wasn't one of Ryan's favorite things and he wondered how others could be in pain all the time. "You just gotta be the bowl that doesn't break." He reference was a bit odd, but he wasn't about to explain himself.

"I didn't say I liked you, I said you liked me. And I'm plenty cool." He was the most awesome person he knew besides his brother. "I heard the dungeons have trolls, that's way cooler. We should go there instead." When they became third years, they would be able to go to the Village. He couldn't wait, he would finally be old enough to get out of the castle and visit other places.

However unusual Ryan's metaphor was, she understood it. She knew for a while that she was broken, she had tiny cracks in her that were bound to become deep fissures that eventually shattered her, but she didn't see herself as deserving to be fixed.

She looked at him and smirked. "Depends. Are you man enough to fight one off, or am I gonna have to save your butt?" She hadn't noticed until now, when it was quiet, but her British accent slightly stuck out in France. Ryan's accent made his words flow together, sort of like chocolate, but her words were tough and almost always sounded sarcastic. She started humming the tune of a song before whispering, "Can you sing?"

"Of course I'm man enough to fight one off," he said with confidence. But there was no way someone that was his size could fight off a troll. He didn't actually believe there was any trolls in the dungeons, his brother told him there weren't and that it was just a rumor. Like the head mistress would let students be in the same building as a bunch of trolls. 'Like there are actually any trolls, they wouldn't let students in a building with trolls."

"Of course I can sing," he said with a small smirk. "I write original songs and I taught myself to play the guitar." But he really wanted to learn the drums, but he knew that they were too loud to keep in the house. So, he would have to learn while he was at Beauxbatons. "Are you any good?" The weather was getting colder and he regretted not bringing a blanket with him. "Oh, yeah, you can lean against me if you want," he said after he realized she had asked forever and a half ago.

She smiled and chuckled at his display of confidence and directed her gaze to the floor. Her neck was beginning to ache from looking up. She honestly was doubting that there were any trolls, but it was a school of magic. She had been bitten by a plant twice and had fallen off a flying pegasus so anything could happen. She listened to him talk about his musical talent that he was clearly gifted with. She leaned against Ryan's back and absorbed the heat he produced. "Sorry. For being cold, I mean. I'm always like this." It was true. Harley's was constantly cold, like how your ears felt after a long run. It was how she never got too cold, but in extreme situations she got chilly.

She laughed when he asked if she was any good. "You have to be the most powerful wizard ever to get me to even carry a tune. My singing voice sounds like a dying harpy. I can write songs, though, and I can play the guitar. It was my street act for a while before I realized I wasn't going to make anything that way. The songs I write are okay-ish, but I never have anyone to sing them so I can't tell. I was wondering if you would take a look at them sometime, but it seems sorda stupid now."

"You don't have to apologize for being cold," he rolled his eyes. "It's cold outside, you can't help that." It was like apologizing for having blue eyes or for having brown hair. You couldn't control these things, so you shouldn't have to apologize for them. He didn't mind her leaning on him, it helped him stay warm too. They were helping each other out, they both would stay warm. "Besides, we're both going to get warm, so I don't mind at all."

He snickered when she talked about her singing voice, he supposed that no one could be as talented as him."Well, we can't all be talented." With the exception of him. "I guess we could jam out together. We could co-write some songs, I bet they'd rock." He could come up with a song on the spot, they usually turned out rough at first but with practice he got better.

Maybe it was time to leave, it was getting a bit late. They had class tomorrow. "Maybe we should get going."

She laughed quietly before shivering in response. "I know I can't control the weather, but I can apologize for my constant body temperature." She could feel herself becoming warmer, though, and she was extremely thankful for that. "Yeah, well thanks anyways. I can feel my fingers now," she joked.

She heard him chuckle at her description of her vocal abilities, and she shoved him lightly while laughing too. "Shut up! Not everyone can be as gifted as the almighty King Ryan. Our songs would totally rock anyways, and anyone who says otherwise will face our wrath."

She heard his offer to leave and she sighed. "Yeah, I have a Potions quiz tomorrow anyways." She stood up and stretched her lean, muscular legs. After making sure her wand hadn't fallen out, she turned around. "We're friends, right?"

"Like I said, it's fine. Just glad I could be of assistance.." He wasn't entirely sure why he didn't mind her leaning against him, but he didn't. He would usually not want to be so close to someone besides a family member, but this was something different. Was she a friend? Did he consider her a friend? Was that why he was telling her things and sharing things with her? He hadn't really had friends so this was new to him.

"King Ryan? That has a ring to it." He grinned, it was a nice nickname. "I think I'll keep that name. It fits me." He nodded in agreement. "We'll make awesome songs and everyone else will be jealous."

He nodded again and stood up. "I suppose we're friends." He stretched and yawned. "As long as we don't get caught, we're friends. Got it?" He held out his pinkie for the girl to wrap hers around. "I do this with my brother," he explained. "We use this to keep promises."