* ALWAYS RAIN.

Her eyebrows raised and nodded with approval. “That sounds great. I hope to hear more news on it, thank you for telling me.” She nudges him playfully with a smile on her face. “I’ll hopefully fit it around my schedule, especially from quidditch. Do you think you’ll go too?” She asks the prefect, beginning to help him calming the other students down.

“me   ??”    han’s surprised to hear at first,    stopping to scold a first year who’d been running through the halls   --   and then he turns back to nogah.    he tries to imagine himself in the dueling club,    around other students,    and it’s impossible to imagine,    he thinks.   “i’m   ...   not usually invited to things.   i prefer it that way,   though.   but you should join.”

“I’m not afraid of storms” Lily repeated, a bit more harshly than what she wanted. “Sorry” she sighed, taking a deep breath before speaking again. “As I said, I like thuderstorms… the smell of earth, the sound of the heavy rain on the windows, it’s so relaxing! But I don’t like dark corridors when thunders could roar at any moment scaring me”. Lily shivered as her words were followed by a thunder. “It’s like being in an horror movie where the killer could jump out from every corner. Don’t you think?”

han frowns some at the sharp tone,   trying not to allow the sour turn show on his face;     of course,    he thinks,    this is what he gets for trying to attempt conversation,    for trying to be nice and amicable.    perhaps next time he’ll justs stay quiet,    he thinks.    still,     despite that he spares lily a glances as she speaks next,    shrugging.    “it’s fine.    and,   well     ...    not to be dark,   but there are scarier things than that in the world.    especially now.”

She nods with agreement. “I suppose you are right. Sorry for any kind of misconceptions. I just tend to feel so useless you know.” After the departure taken away from her family, she knows what they are capable of. “I just hope next time we are better prepared.”

“it’s alright.”   han says with a short nod.  he’s not quite good at comforting or being a good conversational partner,    but it can’t be helped.    “well    ...    i’m sure the school is preparing something.   and i’ve heard that some of the students are organizing a new dueling club,   so we’ll be plenty prepared.”

Nogah huffs and puff when scolded by the prefect. She knows she couldn’t afford to lose Gryffindor more house points with other troubles she has caused but she truly knew she was doing it for the sake for others to prepare. She approaches closer to Han. “Fine…I’ll stop,” she says to him in a calm tone. “But my intentions are not wrong. And I hope you see the same too.”

“i don’t think your intentions are wrong,”    han admits,    looking at nogah carefully.    he knows,   of course,    that words like she’s saying only come from a good place,   not from one with nefarious intentions.   “but i think we would both agree that this isn’t quite the time for this.    people need some time to heal.   both physically and emotionally.   just    ...   give it some time.”

                      daejung  giggles,  charmed  by  han’s  obvious  attempt  at  flattery     –     dj  gets  complimented  often,  but  it  rarely  feels  so  genuine.               ❝    you’re  sweet.    ❞             he  steps  closer,  nodding  carefully  at  han’s  words.  it’s  true,  obviously,  that  people  react  like  this  because  of  fear,  but  dj  isn’t  sure  that’s  all  there  is  at  play  here.  he  knows  there  are  people  who  honestly  think  muggleborns,  even  half-bloods,  aren’t  worthy  of  using  their  magic,  and  he  knows  that  it’s  purebloods  like  himself  that  are  the  main  cause.  he  feels  guilty  of  his  privilege,  that  he’s  not  doing  more  to  help.            ❝     they’re  not  frightened,  they’re  just    …    awful.  but,  um,  you  seem  to  be  saving  me  an  awful  lot  lately   …    perhaps  i  could  get  dinner  for  you  one  night  to  say  thank  you    ?     ❞  

“right.    i’m sure that’s for some people,    but i think it’s hard to view the world that way.    sometimes it helps people sleep at night knowing that there are people out there who aren’t just mean.”    han agrees.    he’s silent for a moment at daejung’s proposal      --      after all,    han is rarely invited anywhere by any of the other students,    usually he’s avoided for how quiet he is or due to his advisor position   (   and how strict he is when it comes to said position   )     but daejung doesn’t want to avoid him.    han isn’t sure how to respond.    “ah    ...   sure.   that would be nice.    it’s not necessary if you don’t want to,    though.   i’m sure someone like you is very busy and popular.”

                  donavon  rolls  his  eyes,  this  guy  is  obviously  a  goody  two  shoes  and  that  made  don  feel  sick  to  his  stomach,  honestly.  it’s  one  thing  to  be  good,  but  it’s  exhausting  when  people  try  and  interfere  with  everything  around  them  when  it’s  none  of  their  business.               ❝   unkind,  jesus.  you  guys  are  so  sensitive,  huh   ?    people  aren’t  going  to  censor  themselves  in  the  real  world,  i’m  just  giving  them  a  taste  of  that.     ❞

“so your excuse is that you’re doing them a    ...    service   ??”    han narrows his eyes;     don had started out seeming innocent enough,     perhaps even justified in his complaints,    but something about his words put han on edge.  “regardless,    that type of conduct isn’t welcome in hogwarts.   perhaps next check out one of the numerous rule books to remind yourself of the appropriate conduct here.    next time,    i’ll be forced to take away house points.” 

“No, I do…” Lily smiles, not as bright as always. “I live the sound of the rain, the thunder roaring in the distance,  the lighting brightening the night…” she shrugs. “I just… don’t like storms in dark corridors” she says. “Sorry, we should keep going. The faster, the better…” she adds shaking her head, with a small smile on her lips.

“oh,    of course.    i understand.”    han responds,    quickening his pace immediately    --   he pauses for just a moment to make sure that lily’s in step with him.     “you know,    fear of storms isn’t something to be shameful about.”    he says,    quietly,    hoping to maybe help her feel better.    “everyone has fears or things that make them feel unsettled, right  ??”

Nogah turns around to see the person who made his comment. “It’s the truth. There’s far more worst things coming at for us, we all know it.” She scoffs and runs her hands through her hair. “We can’t just be sugar coating things.”

“and causing further hysteria by making thoughtless comments is one of those bad things.” han replies crossly,  motioning to the younger student to leave.    he turns to nogah.   “i’d advise that you stop before i take points from gryffindor.”

                 daejung  isn’t  sure  where  han  comes  flying  in  from,  but  suddenly  he’s  there  and  he’s  so  much  stronger  than  dj  is      –     he’s  not  sniffling  and  watery eyed      –      he’s  firm  and  intimidating.  dj  is  relieved,  honestly,  he  wasn’t  exactly  certain  what  he  was  going  to  say  next,  and  the  student  didn’t  look  threatened  by  him  in  the  slightest. the  student  throws  him  a  dirty  look  as  he  leaves,  but  dj  hasn’t  taken  his  eyes  off  of  han  since  he  showed  up.  he  smiles  softly,  keening  under  han’s  praise  ( nobody  has  ever  called  him  brave  before ),  and  he  shakes  his  head.                  ❝   no,  it’s  everybody’s  job.  i  just  wish  i  was  more  …   well.  nobody  really  listens  to  me  ….  but  it’s  wrong,  thinking  blood  has  anything  to  do  with  anything.  like  we’re  not  all exactly  the  same.    ❞

“no one listens to you     ??    i’d think that was impossible.”    han says before he can stop himself        --      and he’s a bit embarrassed by his honesty.    he hopes dj isn’t put off by him,    or put off by how han seems to find himself around dj so frequently.     “you’re absolutely right.     but people like that find it hard to see the truth.     sometimes i think all that hate has to come from a place of fear  ...”    han’s sure that’s where it came from with his father,     but of course he doesn’t say that.

                        the  way  the  student  holds  himself  tells  don  that  he  was  a  prefect,  probably  from  some  rich  family  too,   and  don  lifts  an  eyebrow  at  him.  he’s  not  exactly  scared  of  prefects,  and  could  care  less  about  house  points  or  whatever  the  stupid  system  was  implemented  at  this  school.                 ❝   of  course.  anywhere  that  isn’t  the  library.  i’m  trying  to  work  and  i  was  here  first.    ❞

“classes have been cancelled for at least the next week as students recover,    so i’m unsure what work you’re doing if it’s not catching up on missed assignments.”    han counters,    unwilling to let this go.     something tells him not to.     “but regardless,    if you’d like to use this space to study,    that’s fine.    you don’t need to be unkind to students who are already suffering,     though.”

                    ❝   don’t-don’t  say  that   !  don’t  ever  say  that.  that’s  a  horrible  thing  to  say.   nobody  deserves  to  die,  it  doesn’t  matter  where  they  came  from.    ❞                     daejung  exclaims  as  he  passes  a  couple  of  students,  whispering  to  each  other  that  perhaps  ‘the  mud-bloods  deserved  it’.  he  usually  doesn’t  like  confrontation,  but  he  couldn’t  hold  back  this  time.  the  attack  was  awful,  so  many  people  were  injured,  and  even  more  were  frightened  now.  he  shakes  his  head,  sad  and  disappointed  that  people  were  still  thinking  like  that     –      even  some  of  the  people  he  thought  were  his  friends.             ❝   you–you  should  be  ashamed  of  yourselves   !   ❞

han spots daejung in the midst of a confrontation and of course he can’t force himself to walk away        --      he tells himself because it’s his duty.     he steps between daejung and the others,    looking down at them until it’s clear that they’re intimidated.     “keep walking before i decide to do everything in my power to get you expelled for harassment.”    they seem to want to argue further but think better of it,   walking away with sour looks and han turns back to dj.   “are you alright    ??     it was brave of you to stand up to them,   especially since it’s not your job.”

                      he  exhales  deeply,  exasperatedly  turning  to  the  couple  of  students  behind  him  that  are  frantically  talking  about  the  attack      –     it  was  unexpected,  sure,  but  nobody died  and  frankly  he  was  just  sick  of  hearing  about  it.   he  had  work  to  be  getting  on  with.                ❝   if  you’re  going  to  talk  about  the  attack,  can  you  go  somewhere  else   ?   some  of  us  have  better  things  to  do  than  talk  about  the same  thing  over  and  over.  exams  are  coming  up,  you  know   ?   ❞

han’s not one for speaking up  usually,    save for when it involves his advisor duties.     but something about the way don says this gets under his skin      --    and maybe it’s that combined with the upset looks of the younger students.    han turns to don,     clearly annoyed.   “people are upset and are more than welcome to ease their anxieties by speaking about it.    maybe it’s you that needs to go somewhere else,    hm    ??”

“Of course” Lily says, starting to walk with Han out of the library. The hallways, despite the lanterns, are very dark and the flickering lights of the candle send strange shadows on the walls and floor. Outside the windows, the sky is covered with dark, heavy clouds. Lily shivers. “Seems like a thunderstorm is coming” she says, her voice lower than before.

“oh.”    han says   quietly,    eyes turning to the windows as lily’s do   --   and true to lily’s words,   the skies are darkening in evidence of a potential storm.   “i tend to like storms.    they help me sleep.”    not that he’d be getting much sleep on patrol.    han looks at lily.    “do you not like storms   ??”

Lily sighs in relieve hearing his words as she finishes to put her textbooks in her shoulder bag. “Thank you” she says with a little smile as she follows him.

“I was going to do that, believe me, but then I noticed I had forgotten my phone in my dorm. I had a lot to do so I din’t want to lose any more time. I thought I was gonna be able to keep track of time by myself… and I totally overrated my ability!” she says, shaking her head. “Usually I’m a bit more responsible, believe me”

“oh,   well.   that’s fine.   i couldn’t possibly fault you for having a temporary lapse in judgement ...”   han says,  shifting his own bag onto his shoulder.   he’s good at telling if someone is lying to him,   an unfortunate talent,    and he’s fairly certain that lily’s telling the truth.  

“it’s alright.   we all have moments like that.”   han says,   forcing a small smile.   he turns towards the door,   nodding towards lily.   “let’s start heading back,  though.   i wouldn’t want you to get in trouble for studying of all things.”

Lily raises her gaze when she hears the voice. The perfect is looking at her and she can’t help but be quite confused. She moves her sight around, realizing she’s the only student left in the library and that outside the windows tha dark has completely covered the castle.

“I’m terribly sorry” she says, starting to packing up her things in a rush. She really didn’t want to lose house points. “I was studying and then reading and I lost the track of time”

han finally gets a good look at the culprit,   and he thinks he recognizes her;   lily evans,   not really someone that was known for causing trouble.   in fact,   he’s unsure if she’s ever gotten in trouble before.   he doesn’t want to be a pushover,   doesn’t want anyone to hear that he’s soft,   but he surely doesn’t want to punish an innocent student.

“okay.   i’ll escort you back to your dorm so you don’t get in trouble with anyone else.”   han says,   standing fully.   “but you should be more careful.  maybe try setting an alarm so you don’t lose track of time.   i find that helps me.”