lily m. evans (liiily) wrote in madworldrp, @ 2008-02-05 00:38:00 |
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His father was dead. Dead. Blown up, to be precise. The pub and the inn above it were gone, and his mother was in St Mungo's. If this had happened to Dougie, someone would have had to restrain him, possibly stun him to keep him from grabbing his broom and heading out of the castle to stalk the people who did it. Benjamin Fenwick, on the other hand, was a quiet, unassuming boy. The anger that flared beneath the placid face was more dangerous that Dougie's brand, possibly because one could never tell what was going on. Despite all the warnings, he thought the professors might cut him some slack for lighting up in a usually abandoned corridor, if he propped open a window. His cigarette bobbing slightly was the only sign that something was wrong with him. Lily adjusted her bag on her shoulder, her feet guiding her on a shortcut through the school. She wasn't sure if it was actually a shortcut, but the past few months had taught her that when she walked aimlessly through the corridors by herself, she felt a lot more at ease than she did receiving looks of pity and question. She had rather hoped that the time would have made them stop - or even the daft gossip sheets - but she'd been wrong. However, her "shortcut" wasn't quite that, she noticed when she turned a corner. She recognized the bloke by the window as Benjy Fenwick, a seventh year. He was a Ravenclaw and a prefect, which she was sure that was how she knew him. Well, that and he was incredibly good looking, which usually made her blush and look away. She saw his cigarette, though, and felt like she should probably say something, but figured that it wouldn't matter anyway. Besides, she knew that he usually was outside smoking, not in a normally abandoned corridor. "Hello," she said quietly, looking mildly interested as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Everything all right?" "Evans," he said, holding his lit cigarette between his fingers as if he might drop it any moment out of politeness or the fact that he probably wasn't supposed to be smoking in the castle. At the moment, he couldn't be arsed to care. Quieter, he said, "....Lily. Sorry. Bad night, but I can..." The cigarette dangled even more precariously. "No, you're fine," Lily shook her head, waving a hand slightly toward the direction of the cigarette. Unable to help herself, though, she did spare a glance behind her to be completely sure that there weren't any spying professors about. Not that she really expected to see anyone back here as it was. Which reminded her. "I'm more concerned that you're all the way over here," she admitted, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I've been walking back here since coming back to school and you're the first person I've come across." It clicked in her mind that the reason she so frequently came this way was because she wanted to be away from people and, now that she thought of it, that was probably why he was back here as well. Scrunching her nose up slightly, she took a step away. "I'm probably just bothering you, though. Sorry." "You're not," he said simply, though the thought was appreciated. He gave her a half-hearted smile. A smile that barely even reached his lips, and came nowhere near his eyes. "Like I said: bad night." He took a slow, wary drag off his cigarette, and now it was quite clear that he was upset. What with the way his hand was shaking as badly as it was. "Don't go...?" Lily saw his hand shaking and she instantly knew that his night had probably been a bit worse than bad. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder again, but knew that there wasn't any way she was going to leave - not after that plea. "Do you want to talk about it?" she tried slowly, her eyes concerned as she took a step toward him again. She didn't know if there was much she could do to help until she actually knew what it was that was bothering him. In all honesty, she was a bit afraid of what it might be - there had been far too many bad nights going on for people, she'd noticed as of late. "My da... owns a pub with an inn above it." He gave a short, bitter laugh. His jaw clenched, eyes darting in her direction. "Sort of like the Leaky, but for Muggles." That was the easy part. It took him a long time, puffing away on his cigarette and glancing out of the window before he could manage a stilted. "Da's dead, pub's gone -- exploded -- and ma's in hospital." "Oh...," Lily started slowly, her eyes wide when he finished. She took another step toward him and let her bag fall to the ground. "Oh, God, Benjy, I'm so sorry." She felt awful, but she couldn't think of a terrible lot more to say. She knew that when she found out about her own parents in December, there wasn't any real comfort people could give her. They could say that they understood, say that they were sorry, but in the end it didn't bring her mother and father back and that's what she wanted. However, she had almost hoped that having gone through nearly the same sort of situation she would have at least an idea of what to say. Benjy nodded, not really trusting his own voice. Of course, he didn't really have much to say. Too many thoughts were swirling around in his head, and none of them made sense. It was better not to say anything at all. He just nodded, pulling out another cigarette and lighting up. "Wanna have a seat?" Lily nodded, quickly taking a seat next to him and feeling a bit sheepish. After she had found out about her mum and dad, all she'd wanted was to sit quietly and not say anything in particular. James had done a grand job of it, letting her ramble on or just sit quietly - whatever struck her fancy at the moment. She figured that she could at least try to give Benjy the same luxury. "Are you going to go home?" she asked quietly, tilting her head to her side to gaze at his face. Well, maybe she'd let him sit quietly if he wanted...after she was nosy. "I guess," he answered with a shrug. He offered her a cigarette, knowing she'd probably turn him down. She was a good girl, after all. She didn't need any nasty habits. "How'd you handle it?" Lily looked at the cigarette warily before shaking her head. The last thing he probably wanted was for her to get into a coughing fit all over him. She then focused on his question, not completely sure how to answer it. "I..." she started slowly, looking across the corridor and gazing at the other wall with great interest. She cleared her throat before continuing, "I'm still handling it, I think. The night - uhm - the night I found out I was completely numb. I don't think I really knew what was happening and I didn't really believe it." She paused, her gaze moving and looking down at her smudged sneakers. "I just...my friends. My friends really got me through the first bit and they're still every bit as amazing." "I think what you have to do is make sure that you don't cut yourself off," she decided quietly, her eyes still down toward the floor. "It was tempting for me to just hole up in my dormitory, but in there I wouldn't have gotten the support I really needed." |