Mythical Gifteds Fanfiction

She was still there hours later when Charlie burst through the door. She was in between waves and dozing when the door slammed open. She jumped, sitting up, eyes wild, before her hand flew to her mouth and she was hanging over the side of the bed puking again. Charlie was at her side in seconds, holding her hair away from her face and rubbing her back, frowning down at her in concern. When she was done he helped her lay back and tucked her in. “Charlie?” She had finally registered who it was in her home. “What are you doing here?” “Making sure you’re alive,” he answered. “For once I agree with Mel. You need a phone.” Enri sighed and nodded. Charlie pressed a hand to her forehead and she leaned into it. “You’re nice and cool,” she murmured. She was burning up. Frowning, Charlie readjusted the blankets.

"Just lay still, I’ll be right back." Enri nodded again and closed her eyes, while Charlie stood from the bed. He sent Mel a quick text reading ‘Enri’s sick.’ before leaving his phone on the counter to get Enri a cup of water. He dumped the bucket out in the toilet, rinsed it out and returned it to her side. He then hunted until he found a really old-fashioned thermometer and wiped it off before sticking it in her mouth. While he waited for it to tell him how bad her fever was, he got a washcloth and some towels from the bathroom, and wet the washcloth under the sink. He draped one of the towels over the side of the bed to keep it clean, and put the other under the bucket. He pressed the damp cloth to her forehead and plucked the thermometer from her mouth. 105.3. Not. Good.

He rushed to his phone and dialed Mel, uncaring whether she was in class. When she picked up scolding him like an angry squirrel, he interrupted. “Enri’s vomiting and running a temperature of 105.3, she needs to see a doctor.” There was silence on the other end before Mel finally said. “Got it. I’ll figure something out,” and hung up.

Charlie placed his own phone in his pocket and turned to look at Enri as she dozed, her face clammy with sweat. He walked back over to the queen size and climbed onto the bed to sit by her side, gently pushing the hair away from her forehead over and over again. Struck by inspiration, he snuck upstairs for find her brush and hair ties before returning. “Enri?” he prompted gently. She cracked one eye open to peer at him. “Hm?” “Do you want me to braid your hair?” After pondering it for a moment, she nodded and sat up. Lurching so he could reach, Charlie pulled two more blankets from the trunk at the foot of the bed and draped them around her, kicking himself for not thinking of it before, and gently freed her hair from its fabricy prison.

He gently brushed her hair before putting it into a long braid. He used to do this for his sister, so he knew how. Not to be distracted, he tied it off just in time, as she leaned forward to hang over the side of the bed again. Crawling to sit next to her, he supported her while she dry heaved before helping her back under the covers and using the two blankets he had acquired to make her even warmer. She smiled at him as he helped her sip some water. “Thanks Charlie,” she whispered, before lying back.

About an hour later, Mel called.  Charlie picked up in record time, and didn’t even give her a chance to say anything before he was demanding answers.  He only shut up when she shouted on the other end. “Fang!  Shut up and listen.  You’re going to want to carry her, okay?  It’ll be faster than us coming to get you.  The van’s at the edge of the forest, so we can just load in and get her to my house.  Jayden’s driving.  We can ask my Dad about a doctor when he gets home.” Sighing, Charlie nodded before realizing Mel couldn’t see him and muttered affirmation.  He got together anything he could think to grab, including a change of clothes, a thermos of water, and the stuffed wolf he had won for her when they went to an amusement park.  Satisfied that he was as ready to take her from the small cabin as he’d ever be, he walked over to the bed and gently roused Enri, explaining what was going on.  She nodded, and slowly climbed out of bed to be wrapped in blankets and picked up.  

It was a long and nerve-wracking trek.  He had to stop several times to let Enri heave over the bushes, despite the fact that there couldn’t possibly be anything left in her stomach to throw up.  Mel met them halfway, breaking into a run as they came into sight and reaching up to feel her friend’s forehead.  Enri cracked a tired eye open to see who was touching her, and attempted a smile for her friend.  ”Hey Mel,” she rasped, “I don’t feel so good.”  Mel stroked back a few stray hairs from her clammy forehead.  ”I know.  But we’re gonna get you taken care of, and make you better, kay?”  Enri closed her eyes with a sigh.  ”Kay.”  Mel looked up and saw Charlie’s expression.  She reached up and patted his cheek.  “You did good Fang. Now let’s get this lil angel to civilization.” 

Mel smiled up at him and rolled her eyes upon seeing the glare he was shooting her way. “The jumper looks great on you and you’re not getting your contacts back so get over it.”

He sighed, at least she’d let him wear his favorite jeans. That was about all she’d let him do. She’d forced him into wearing a white dress shirt and pulled a blue jumper over it, quite literally, after having climbed up on top of his dresser and whacked him into submission. With a bottle of cologne he was certain he didn’t own and was now wearing.

She’d hidden his contacts while he was out for his run this morning and he had yet to find them. He suspected that she’d thrown them out but he’d just go out and get new ones on the morrow. He tugged the ends of the shirt down, refusing to tuck them into his jeans no matter how many times Mel tried. He received another whack to the head and glared at the angry little elf standing in front of him.

"I need that you know." He muttered.

Mel rolled her eyes. “Losing a few brain cells won’t kill you. Now go be a gentleman and pick up your dates.”

He blinked. “Dates?”

Mel skipped ahead, pulling the door open. “Um hmm. You’re going with Enri and Henry aren’t ya?”

She pushed him out the door as he tried to understand what she was getting at. “Aye, but what…oh. Genius Melanie. Fucking hilarious.”

She giggled. “Isn’t it though?”

He grabbed the doorframe and turned around so that she could see his unamused expression. “Sarcasm. You staying in the night?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

He raised an eyebrow curiously. Mel almost always stayed in on friday nights and watched a dvd or spent the night jamming away with Jeremy.

"What are you getting up to?"

She wiggled her eyebrows and grinned. “Got a hot date, not that it’s any of your business.”

He stopped, stepped back in the house and picked her up. He carried her into the kitchen and set her down on the counter, giving her his best stern face.

"Remember, you’re not a slag. Respect or I’ll leather him alright?"

She nodded. “I know, I know. Take things slow, make sure he treats me right etcetera etcetera.”

He rolled his eyes at her flippant brushing off of his threat, knowing that they both knew he meant it, and nodded. “Good.”

He stepped back and headed for the door, listening for the thump as she jumped down off the counter.

"Oi, Charlie?" She called just as she was about to close the door behind him.

He turned and cocked his head to the side, indicating that she should continue.

"I’m watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban the-night."

He moved to grab her and throw her over his shoulder but she’d been expecting it and the door was already slammed shut and locked. He cursed, hearing the ringing sound of her laughter from the other side and flashed her the bird when she peeked through the living room window. She stuck her tongue out and pulled the curtains shut again.

He shook his head, shoved his hands in his pockets and made for the driveway. Being the idiot that he was, he had volunteered to pick Enri up, about a four hour trek, before they headed to the park where they’d meet Henry.

He muttered insults aimed at Melanie as he walked, glaring at the ground in front of him for the first hour. Then he decided that maybe watching the sky was safer. Glaring at the ground would only serve to make it more apt to cause Enri injury on the way back.

Once there, he ran a hand through his hair to make sure it looked okay and reached out to knock. Just as his hand brushed the door, it swung open and Enri was grinning up at him. He blinked. She wasn’t usually this… smiley. What was going on?

He took a moment to appreciate how nice her legs looked in the simple dress she was wearing. No heels, thank goodness, because they were death traps for women. Or so he had decided. Her hair was tied back for once and he reached up to take the hair tie out. She looked better with it down. Besides, he knew she had never like ponytails anyway.

She stepped outside, closing the door behind herself, and reached for his hand as she tripped on her way over. He rolled his eyes and muttered about the ground having it out for him. She’d barely lost her balance and was perfectly fine, but he was convinced it was the earth’s way of getting back at him for glaring at it earlier.

Enri rolled her eyes and reached out to smack him, to which he pouted like the drama queen that he was. “Mel’s already killed more brain cells than I can afford to lose. At this rate I’ll have to give up all hope of a decent job.”

She shook her head. “Quit being such a baby.”

He picked her up and swung her over his shoulder, ignoring her protests about wearing a dress and smirked. “Who’s being a baby now?” He teased.

"Still you." She shot back, crossing her arms after having given up trying to get him to let her down.

At least she’d figured that out faster than Mel had. The girl could pound on his back for hours before she gave up, not because she knew he’d set her down when he felt like it but because she’d turned her fists black and blue. Eejit.

When they got to the parking lot outside of where the fair was being held he set her down and chuckled as he watched her brush herself off. She glared at him and stalked off to the line for tickets without a word. Ooh, the silent treatment, he’d change that.

He stepped up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist and ignoring when she slapped at his hands. He set his chin on her shoulder and grinned when she turned to glare at him. She roller her eyes, crossed her arms and went back to ignoring him.

He started to hum her favorite song, one of the ones Mel had recently got her hooked on, and smiled as she tapped her foot along to the beat. They were moving up the line and he decided it was time to step things up a bit, she wouldn’t be able to stay mad at him long anyways. She wasn’t one to hold grudges.

He started nibbling on her earlobe and she jumped in surprise. He chuckled and felt her shiver as he brushed his nose down her neck. He showered butterfly kissed along her neck and down to her shoulder, looking up to see her staring at him curiously.

"What are you doing?"

He grinned, shrugging as he kissed the spot behind her ear. “I don’t like when you’re mad at me.”

She sighed. “You’re ridiculous.”

He smiled. “I know.”

Then they were up at the booth and before Enri could speak Charlie tickled her and ordered them tickets. She glared playfully and moved to pull out her wallet when he shook his head.

"I’m paying."

She opened her mouth to protest but he wasn’t having it. He handed the money over and thanked the lady behind the glass. She chuckled and shook her head.

"No problem, it’s nice to see young couples enjoying themselves. Your girlfriend is adorable by the way."

Charlie swung an arm across her shoulder and smiled. “I know.”

And he dragged her off to the cotton candy stand where they were supposed to meet Henry. The one next to the massive ferris wheel. Enri seemed to have forgotten that she was supposed to be angry at him as soon as she laid eyes on it.

She tugged on his sleeve and he looked down at her in amusement. “What?”

"Can we go on the tall round thing?" She asked, wide-eyed.

He liked it, it made her seem more childlike than she already did. It was cute.

He chuckled. “You mean the ferris wheel?”

She nodded. “Yeah, with all the lights.”

He nodded, pulling her to him and kissing her forehead. “When Henry gets here we’ll all get in line together.”

She smiled. “Okay.”

Just then Henry came running over, stopping to wave before leaning over with his elbows on his knees. He was panting and looked to have run all the way here. When he straightened up he was grinning.

"Sorry I was late, had to go grocery shopping with my Oma and I lost track of time. Nice dress by the way."

Charlie shook his head with a smirk, trust Henry to get so wrapped up in groceries that he forgot about fun.

Enri just shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure your Oma needs you more than we do. And thank you, Mel helped me pick it out.” She turned to Charlie. “Remind me to never let her drag me shopping again.”

Charlie chuckled. “Alright, but she’ll only insist on online shopping instead. I don’t know why you bother.” He turned to greet the other boy with a handshake. “Henry.”

Henry nodded and reached out to shake Charlie’s hand. They had a secret bro shake that Enri would never understand the point of but couldn’t get them to stop using, so she settled for rolling her eyes instead.

"Nice of you to finally join us." Charlie teased as they made their way towards the ferris wheel.

Enri elbowed him in the ribs like she’d seen Mel do and he shot her a glare. She rolled her eyes, he’d barely felt that she was sure.

"Drama queen." She mumbled.

He reached out and poked her cheek with the hand that wasn’t slung around her shoulders and she blinked. Sometimes she was certain that he was five years old. He poked her again and she smacked his hand away, earning her a pout from the big baby.

"I can always go home and leave you here with Henry you know." She told him.

He blinked at her and stuffed his free hand in his pocket instead.

She nodded and reached up to pat his cheek. “Good Charlie.”

He rolled his eyes and mumbled something about not being a dog but made no further attempts to poke her. Henry chuckled from his spot on her other side and she turned her head to look at him.

"You two are like an old married couple." He told her with a smile.

She shook her head. “You mean Charlie’s like a small child whining about everything and I’m the only one who can put up with it.” She corrected.

He shrugged. “That too.”

Charlie shot them a glare to which they just grinned. “I object to being called a child.”

They just shook their heads because, well, he was.

"And I do not whinge about everything.” He muttered.

That set them off laughing. Charlie sighed and towed them forward as the line moved again. When they finally got to the front, five minutes later, Enri and Henry were still in hysterics while Charlie scowled unhappily. He handed the ride operator their tickets and dragged the other two on board.

Somehow they had moved around and now Charlie was stuck in the middle. Great. Enri laid her head on his shoulder as they began to move and he smiled. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. He’d never been on one of these things without Mel and Jake rocking it until he feared they’d all slip out and impale themselves on one of the tall conifers on either side of them.

This made a nice change from Jake heaving up all the cotton candy he had eaten once they got off. Motion sickness must have sucked. Mel on the other hand just called him a wimp and dragged them both along to the next ride as soon as he’d washed his mouth out. Nice sister she was.

He must have been thinking for a while because when he came back out of his thoughts they were almost at the top. Enri had flashed Henry a cheeky look and Charlie groaned, they were most definitely up to something.

Just as he was wondering what they could possibly have been conspiring about, they both reached out to pinch one of his cheeks. Oh for fucks sake.It was going to be a long night. They hadn’t even hit halfway through the ferris wheel yet and he was already being tortured.

After about five minutes he couldn’t take it anymore. He stretched out his legs and slid Enri, who he was sure was the mastermind behind the annoy Charlie plot, onto his lap. She squeaked but her legs just fit under the bar and she’d let go of his cheek in surprise so he shrugged.

Henry chuckled, letting go of Charlie’s face to adjust his glasses before they slipped off and went crashing to the ground. Charlie nodded in satisfaction, this was alright. Enri seemed to have settled comfortably and was just resting her hands on the bar as they began their descent.

She was peering excitedly at the world around them and Charlie tightened his grip on her waist. It wouldn’t do to let his own girlfriend fall out of the ferris wheel. Especially not this high up.

"Ooh, look!" She pointed at something off to their left. "You can see the school from here."

Charlie rolled his eyes, you could see the whole town from here.

He patted her head. “Um hmm.”

Henry however shot forward in his seat and they were soon laughing and pointing as they found various landmarks from here. Henry’s glasses began to slip as he looked down and Charlie’s hand shot out to grab them.

Henry shot him a sheepish smile and put them back on. “Thanks man.”

Charlie shrugged. “When we get off if this thing I’m taping them to your face. We can’t have you wandering around half-blind now can we?”

Henry chuckled and shook his head. They were almost at the bottom now and Enri had turned her head to see what the boys were talking about. When they touched down the operator looked at them oddly and opened his mouth to say something, probably about Enri being sat on Charlie’s lap, when he shot the poor man a glare. The man shut his mouth and let them off without a word.

"That’s what I thought." Charlie mumbled as they walked away arm-in-arm.

Enri, who was now in the middle of the two boys, turned to look at him in confusion. “What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

Two slurpees, three bags of cotton candy and five rides later Charlie was glad he had a strong stomach for these things because otherwise he was sure he’d have been sick. Henry was strolling along, slurpee in hand with his glasses askew and looking content while Enri skipped along swinging their entwined hands back and forth. Maybe that last cotton candy had been too much, or the last three perhaps.

Enri seemed to have taken a liking to the edible, sugary, melt in your mouth fluff. Slurpees on the other hand she was decidedly not a fan of. Charlie supposed it was because she’d sipped the first one too fast and given herself a brain freeze. He couldn’t blame her, brain freezes were hell, he was glad he didn’t get them anymore.

They walked around for a while until they passed a house of mirrors and Enri wandered inside. Charlie found her frowning and waving her arms about as she stared at her reflection.

"Why am I all twisty?" She asked him curiously.

He chuckled and pointed towards the mirror she was standing in front of. “Twisty mirror makes a twisty reflection.”

She nodded. “So all these mirrors do something different?” She gestured across the room as she asked.

Charlie nodded. He found a long one and gestured for her to stand in front of it.

She smiled. “Ooh, this one makes you look tall. I’m almost your height now.”

Charlie chuckled and patted her head. “Yup. Try the squiggly one over there.”

Henry wandered in to find them pulling faces in mirror that made them look about three feet tall and abandoned his empty slurpee in the garbage to join them. Charlie laughed when Henry popped in and slid his phone out to take a picture.

Once out of the house of mirrors they found a photo booth and piled in. Henry seemed pleased with the excessive amount of ridiculous photos they took together and Charlie only shook his head.

"Ooh look!" This time it was Henry dragging them across the field. "I’ve found all the games. We should play the water gun one and see if we win anything."

Charlie reluctantly agreed and Henry ended up winning a bug stuffed goldfish he named Fin. They tried darts at Henry’s suggestion as well and Enri turned out to have great aim despite being on a sugar high. She picked out the purple teddybear bigger than herself because it had a missing eye and she insisted that it deserved to be loved too.

Charlie gave up trying to protest and shook his head when she named it Hugo. He wasn’t really sure where that one had come from or why but he didn’t stop to question it.

Enri suggested he play a game involving basketballs and he missed the last shot on purpose. He wasn’t really bothered about winning to be honest. It was kind of nice to show off though. Henry found a game all about slap shots and turned to look at Charlie.

"You play hockey right?"

Charlie shrugged. “Sometimes.”

"Why don’t you try this one then."

Charlie sighed. “Nope.”

Enri looked up from Hugo, face peering around his mountain of fur and blinked. “Why not?”

He shook his head. “No way.”

She gave him the puppy eyes he suspected Becca had taught her and he sighed. “Fine, but I won’t be happy about it.”

Enri smiled. “You don’t have to be. Henry and I will be happy enough for all three of us, won’t we Henry?”

Henry nodded. “Yeah, we sure will. Go on then.”

He handed Charlie the stick and stepped back to stand with Enri as they watched him play. He handed over the last of his tickets to the man running the game and the man handed him a puck in return.

"Three shots."

Charlie smirked. “I’ll only need one.”

The man looked at him like he was crazy but shook his head and didn’t press it any further. Charlie lined up the shot, swung and the machine went crazy. He may have cheated a little by using some of his werewolf strength but the sign above the net read 109mph in blaring red letters and he was being showered in confetti.

Music played and faded away as he handed the man back the stick. “Like I said, one shot.”

The man stared at him in shock, blinked a few times and took the stick held out to him. He stored it away and pointed towards the row of prizes above him.

"Well, it looks like we have ourselves a winner. Which prize would you like son?"

Charlie bit his lip and pointed at the large brown wolf. “I’ll take that one please.”

The man handed him the stuffed animal and he turned to his friends with a smirk. Henry clapped him on the back.

"I though you said you played sometimes."

Charlie rolled his eyes. “I do.”

Henry whistled. “We need to get you on the school team man, your slap shot was amazing.”

Charlie shrugged. “It wasn’t that great.” He turned and handed Enri the wolf, setting Hugo up on his shoulders for her.

She smiled and shook her head, getting the joke. “You really are something else Charlie.”

He grinned. “Yup.”

They parted ways after that, Henry having gotten a call from his Oma saying he was needed back home and Charlie deciding that it was about time he walked Enri back. She didn’t stop bouncing until they got into the forest and only then because she was shivering. Charlie smacked himself.

"You must be cold, sorry, I’m such an idiot. Here." He handed her his blue jumper.

She looked at it and shook her head. “Won’t you be cold?”

He chuckled. “I’ll be fine, I’m never cold. You need it more than I do.”

"Alright, but only if you’re sure." She nodded and slipped it over her head. "Thanks."

Charlie shrugged. “Anytime.”

When they got her her place she let him in and he set Hugo on the floor. Enri offered to let him stay the night but Amalia was leaving early tomorrow and he had to be home to watch Ryan. She walked him to the door and he leaned in to brush the hair away from her forehead.

"I’ll see you on Monday."

She nodded. “Wait, don’t you want your sweater back?”

He shook his head. “Keep it, it looks better on you anyway.”

She blushed and he chuckled, leaning down to brush his lips to hers. She ran her fingers through his hair, just the way he liked, and he moved to cup her face in his hand while the other rested firmly on her waist. She smiled against his lips and he was grinning as well when he pulled away.

"Night Charlie." She panted.

He smirked. “Night.”

"Be careful on your way back." She shouted as he turned to leave.

He smiled. “Careful is my middle name.”

However, when she arrived at the Quidditch pitch, the pair’s smiles promptly dropped when they saw her broom.

“What is it?” she asked as she walked closer.

“You can’t possibly be thinking of riding that,” Rolland said, staring at the uncarved handle and ratty bristles.

“Does it even get off the ground?” Sen asked, turning her head sideways as if there were some secret angle of the thing she was missing.

There were about twenty come backs floating through Ellyse’s mind, but all she could come out with was, “Sorry?”

Rolland shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, you can ride with me,” he offered.

Sen put her hand on Ellyse’s arm. “No, it’s okay, ride with me.”

“I already offered,” Rolland said, shooting Sen a look.

Sen turned to Rolland in a dramatic movement, hands hard on her hips. “What, so I’m not allowed to offer too?”

“I’m just saying, you don’t have to.”

“What if I want to? Ellyse is my friend, is it so weird that I want her to ride on my broom with me?”

“She’s my friend too,” Rolland growled. “And I offered first.”

“This isn’t dibs, Rolland, first doesn’t count.”

Ellyse began to tune them out. This was ridiculous, and at this point they were paying absolutely no attention to her, even though she was the object of their argument. She was leaving. She turned around, got on her own broom, and began to fly away.

“Hey!” Sen called. “Ellyse, don’t leave!”

So now they pay attention to her, huh?

Ellyse was beyond caring. If she went back, they’d go right back to arguing.

However, what she didn’t anticipate is that they would get on their own brooms and chase after her. The two beaters caught up with her effortlessly, trapping her from the front and sides.

Ellyse huffed. “Fine,” she said, lowering her broom in defeat.

“Good,” said Sen, as the two lowered themselves down as well. “Now hop on with me, you’ll distract Rolland too much if you ride with him.”

Rolland glared at Sen, teeth mildly barred, but said nothing. Ellyse took her chance now that they weren’t fighting and walked over to Sen’s broom, still hovering above the ground. Sen scooted back, and then pat the broom handle in front of her, grinning.

“Why am I doing this again?” Ellyse asked.

“Because we want to show you our moooves,” Sen answered, moving her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

Rolland buried his head in his hands.

Ellyse pulled her lips in a tight line. “I’ll get on if you stop being creepy.”

Sen raised both of her hands in surrender, a laughing smile on her face. “Deal.”

Ellyse sighed and swung her leg over the broom. Sen wrapped her arms on either side of Ellyse, hands gripping the handle.

“Hold on tight, little lady,” she advised, just before taking off. Straight up, with near-dangerous speed. It was all Ellyse could do to cling to the broom.

It didn’t take long to notice Rolland had joined them, the two beaters weaving in and out from each other, rising and rising until Sen broke off suddenly. With a twist and a turn they were upside down, and in a flip they were back up and racing head-on towards Rolland.

As they got closer, he winked to Ellyse. She squeezed her eyes shut, but in the last second, Sen had swerved just slightly, taking one hand off the broom and slapping it with Rolland’s in a hi-five. The two began to laugh, but Ellyse couldn’t dare bring herself to turn back and look.

“Up, up, up,” Sen whispered into her ear. “Time to lose Frenchie.”

In a smooth glide, they headed above the pitch and into the clouds. “Deep breaths,” Sen warned. Rolland had popped up beside them in a second, but Sen already had them turned and dancing on the edge of another cloud. It became a game of hide and seek, cat and mouse, and while Rolland was fast, Sen had the maneuvering capability. It didn’t take long for the two beaters to lose each other.

“Still holding on there, Ellyse?” Sen asked.

Ellyse nodded in a jerky motion.

Sen snerked. “Want to get down?”

Ellyse nodded again, much more fervently.

“Okay. Down we go.”

Sen lowered the broom smoothly, slowly, back below the clouds, down the pitch. Rolland soon fell out from the clouds as well, racing to the bottom to meet them. The ground grew gradually closer, until Ellyse felt Sen shift and place both feet on the grass.

Sen’s arms found Ellyse’s waist and helped to lift her from her stiff position on the broom. “Come on,” she cooed, trying to keep from laughing.

Rolland rushed over on foot, sweeping hair back from his eyes with a grin on his face. “So?” he asked.

“Rolland, help me out. Angel over here’s all shook up,” Sen called.

He immediately skipped over, slinging an arm around Ellyse to help steady her. “You okay, Ellyse?” he asked.

She simply stared at the grass, gripping both of the beaters’ shirts. After a moment and some deep breaths she managed to find her voice. “I’m… I’m just… going to sit here… for a minute.”

“That guy,” she repeated, “that guy is a lame, antisocial… jerkwad! Y’know, I try to help him out, y’know. I’m like, hey, Charlie, here, make friends.” She made a motion with her hands like she was handing something to someone. “And he’s just like, grumble grumble grr.”

Melanie cross her arms over her puffed out chest, making an awkward, scrunched up face. Charlie raised his eyebrow, watching her conversation.

By now, she had broken into a full-on—very bad—impression of him. “I’d rather sit here draw pictures of everything rather than actually participate in conversations. Don’t mind me, I’m just going to hog your video games and play with your brothers and eat all your food!”

Charlie wanted to laugh at her impression, but felt a little bad due to the fact that most of what she was saying was true.

“And then there’s Enri!” Mel flopped back on the couch with an exhausted expression. “I’m like, here, Charlie, help me teach this girl how to live in normal society and be our friend, and he just—”she shot forward,“—doesn’t know what to do with her!”

Charlie nearly went over to defend himself.

“Half the time I’m… ugh,” she stopped, flipping herself upside down on the couch, feet resting over the back of it while her head and arms hung over the edge. “I wish they’d just,” she held her hands out and smooshed them together, “make out already!”

She sighed, feeling rather uncomfortable to be bearing her scars to the world, though she doubted most here at Hogwarts would recognize them as being remnants of her past struggle with self-harm. The bodice was too tight and more of her cleavage then she would have liked was on display but at least she had a mask.

Though seeing that it only covered her eyes it didn’t much help in hiding her identity. That and there were only so many flaming red-headed witches with blue tipped hair. Ah well, what could you do? She most certainly couldn’t lose a bet to Charlie of all people. She found that she might actually prefer school wide ridicule over that any day. And wasn’t that saying something.

She shook her head, slipping on the leather gloves that came with the outfit and giving herself one last glance in the mirror before walking back out of the washroom into the empty third floor corridor. Moaning Myrtle was beginning to get a bit frustrating truth be told.

She smiled as she noticed Oliver skipping merrily towards her, at least she wasn’t in this alone. Not completely anyway. She was starting to think that first years didn’t count for much of anything where older students were concerned. She’d give the kid props for the outfit though.

Green cape, long red sleeved shirt ( could you call it a shirt?), green leggings fastened with a gold belt and knee high black boots. He made a pretty good Robin if she did say so herself. He may also have won a few points in her book for being a fellow ginger child but that was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

She turned to face him with a grin and took one last look around to make sure the hallway was deserted before leaning down to his eye level. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

He nodded eagerly. “Are you kidding? I was born ready.”

She smiled and reached out for a high five. “Alright, then let’s get this show on the road.”

And with that she took off, swirling around in a flurry of black cape and messy red hair. Her boots clicked on the floor as she stumbled down the corridor, Oliver running along behind her and yelling the batman theme song as they went. She joined in, humming along as they raced towards the great hall, stopping to wait for the staircase to slide into the proper landing before dashing off again.

They stormed into the great hall, ignoring the odd looks they were getting from students they passed on the way and proceeded to make their way to the teachers’ table at the far end of the room.

Mel noticed Charlie almost choke on his dinner from the corner of her eye as they passed the Gryffindor table and Enri seemed to be shaking her head as she patted him on the back. What was Enri doing at his table anyway? And why had no one seemed to care? On second thought, she decided that she very much did not want to know.

When they reached the staff table, Mel hopped up on top of it, stepping around various plates and glasses until she reached the middle, taking the cup Oliver passed her and plucking a spoon from a very amused looking Mr. O’Connor’s hand. She tapped the glass a few times, letting the loud ringing sound echo through the room a little before clearing her throat.

The hall went silent as everyone turned to stare at her in confusion. Oliver nodded when she looked to him for reassurance and mimed a smile, using his fingers to pull both sides of his face up comically. She nodded. Right.

"You want to know how I got these scars?" She began, grinning widely.

Totally not a Batman, or Batgirl, line but oh well. The joker always did have better ones anyhow. She finished up with her little speech, now waving a knife, that Oliver had procured from somewhere she didn’t care to find out about, around as she talked. Shame it wasn’t pointy really, that definitely would have emphasized her point.

As she finished up everyone rolled their eyes and went back to eating. She noticed Charlie shaking his head in the crowd and Enri giving her a wide eyed look as if she was scared to admit that she had seen this one coming the moment Charlie turned a drunken suggestion into a dare.

Damn Firewhisky, he knew how low her tolerance for the stuff was and he’d just let her down the bottle anyways. Some best friend he was. At least she had Enri to stop her after the first half, too bad she hadn’t walked in sooner.

Once again the room fell into silence, the sound of clattering cutlery and muttered whispers echoing through the vast space. There was the sound of a foot tapping the floor behind her and Mel gulped. She looked over at Oliver only to find him staring wide-eyed and slack jawed at someone behind her. She slowly pivoted on her heels and sucked in a breath. Oh crap, she was in trouble with a capital t. Well, if she got caught that is.

She grabbed Oliver’s hand, leapt down from the table and made a run for it. They sidestepped the caretaker on the way out of the hall and nearly ran poor Henry over as they dashed through the corridor. Mel called a sorry over her shoulder and smiler when Jayden held a door open for them.

"Cheers mate!" She shouted at him as they slide through, skidding around the corner to find Kyle gesturing towards what could only have been a secret passageway.

They came out the other end in one of the upper floors and slipped into the library, finding a bookshelf with a space between itself and the wall and squeezing in. Mel made sure to disillusion them both and they doubled over, gasping for breath. The last time she’d done that much running was when she’d talked back during quidditch practice her first year on the team. She had very quickly learned to keep her mouth shut after that.

As she covered Oliver’s ears with her hands all hell broke loose. Someone, or rather more than one, had barged unceremoniously into the library after them, causing noise and knocking a book shelf over on their way. Mel stifled a chuckle as the librarian stalked over.

"What in the name of Merlin do you three think you’re doing bursting into my library like that? Disturbing the peace and defacing priceless books." Mel heard a tsk and then they were being shooed out rather rudely. "And don’t you come back until you’ve learned the definition of respect, you hear me?!"

She let go of Oliver’s ears and he looked at her curiously. She grinned and shot him a thumbs up to indicate that their mission had been successful. He chucked and ran off doing some sort of happy dance until he remembered he was invisible and began making rude gestures to people sitting at the table beside him instead.

Mel hauled him back over by the collar and sighed as she cast the counter-charm, rendering him fully visible again and letting him run off waving his hands in the air excitedly. She rolled her eyes, peeling off her boots and tossing them out the nearest open window while she slipped her feet into a pair of worn black converse instead. She slid her robes on top of the ridiculous outfit, reducto-ed the mask and rendered herself visible again as well.

She grabbed the nearest book and settled herself on a chair in the corner, attempting to look as though she’d been there the whole time. Apparently she was successful because when the headmaster traipsed in moments later he glanced over her without hesitating and promptly left, shaking his head and muttering to himself about needing new caretakers and…”going nutty like the rest of them”?

She shrugged, so long as she had escaped detention, all was well. Until Oliver was hauled down the hallway by a very disgruntled looking Professor Zailles shooting her a pleading glare as the professor glared at the air in front of them.

She shook her head, the kid knew what he was getting into and he would almost certainly be able to get himself out of this one. Besides, he wouldn’t breathe a word of her involvement for fear of the twins skinning him alive. Maybe. She could hope. He was a smart kid, he’d better keep his mouth shut.

"Melanie Lane, you’re absolutely ridiculous you know that?" Charlie muttered as he and Enri sauntered over.

It jolted, moving to sidestep her but she was too quick, leaping forward and snapping it’s neck before Bambi (only fitting she thought) took a single step. She sank her fangs into it’s neck and frowned. Deer blood tasted stale, she much preferred mountain lions. At least they almost tasted human. Almost, but not quite.

After a minute she pulled away, wiping her mouth on the sleeve of the expensive new sweater Alice had forced her into on her way out the door. She would never understand her sister-in-law’s obsession with fashion, some cargo pants and a tank top would have suited her just fine. They’d be much more comfortable at least.

As she straightened up she heard a chuckle and turned to see Rolland smirking at her, hands crossed over his chest as he licked a drop of blood off the corner of his mouth. He looked her over smugly and she rolled her eyes.

"Deer again? Really? Why settle for weak herbivores when there are so many fresh mountain lions out there to eat instead?"

Of course, he just wanted to show off. Sen knew that, but someone had to keep the carnivorous cats from extinction at the hands of the idiot standing in front of her.

Rolland stepped aside to reveal a carcass, one still full of blood from the smell of it. Damn boy had brought her a mountain lion knowing full well they were her favorite. She glare at him and he winked.

"Bon appétit."

She shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. She would not give in to the pompous french jerk, no matter how good his kill smelled right now. Nuh uh, she was stronger than that. She was a strong, independent female vampire and she didn’t need a man to hunt for her.

"No way."

Rolland just smirked, leaning against the tree beside him and flashing his fangs. “Suit yourself. All the more for me then.”

She shook her head. “Asshole.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and stopped breathing in an attempt to resist the thirst burning at the back of her throat. The carcass may have been a few minutes old but it still smelled delicious. It felt odd not feeling her lungs contract as she breathed but she ignored it. All she had to do was wait him out and hope he cracked first. Which he would. She was doing just fine.

Until he reached out and sliced open the creature’s neck with his fingernails. Damn. She couldn’t hold back any more. The fountain of sticky crimson pouring from the wound was too tempting.

"Ah fuck it." She lunged, ignoring Rolland’s chuckling as she began to suck the creature dry.

When she was done she wiped the blood on her other sleeve and glared at the boy in question. “Idiot.”

She slapped him upside the head and strode on by, heading back to the house. Sometimes she thought she would almost rather listen to Alice babble on about who knows what then deal with Rolland’s cocky attitude.

He pushed himself off the tree and followed after her, his long legs making it easy for him to catch up and match her pace stride-for-stride. Fucking tall people. He swung an arm around her shoulder and she pushed it off, nudging him over with her hip. He shook his head and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his side.

"That wasn’t very nice of you darling."

She scoffed. “My foot up your ass won’t be either so I suggest you take your hands off me before I make it happen.”

He chuckled. “Ah, you’re funny. No, but seriously, am I the best or what?”

Sen sighed. “Rolland?”

"Yes?"

"You’re sparkling again."

He glanced down to see that he was indeed walking through a patch of sunlight and any exposed skin was beginning to resemble the facets of a diamond. He threw his hands up in the air in exasperation and groaned.

"Merde! What am I, a fairy princess or something? Vampires are so not supposed to sparkle.”

Sen chuckled. “Ah, but it makes you look much more manly.”

Rolland glared down at her. “Are you trying to reduce my ego to ashes? And my self esteem along with it? Because it is not working but it might as well be.”

Sen shrugged. “I don’t think it’s possible to make you any less of an egotistical narcissist but a girl can try can’t she?”

But before Henry could react, Roshii’s lips were gone. He’d pulled away. And now he was looking at Henry, expectantly and a little scared. Blushing like hell.

Henry didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He was still confused. “Roshii?” he asked, voice unintentionally quiet.

“Henryilikeyou,” the boy spit out.

Now, for a lot of people, this might be a difficult situation. It was true Henry had received his fair share of confessions. It was also true he’d had to decline his fair share of confessions. And it was also true that he had accepted a few, even when he wasn’t sure of his own feelings.

But all of those confessions had been from girls.

And up to that point, everyone, including Henry himself, would have considered him straight.

So, if Henry had been anyone else, this could have been a very bad, very difficult situation, which could have resulted in the loss of their friendship and very awkward rest of the year.

But for Henry, because he was Henry, it was simple.

He leaned in, kissed Roshii chastely on the lips, and pulled away with one of his classic, charming grins.

Which caught Roshii completely off guard and sent his blush through the roof. “I thought you were straight?” he asked.

Henry shrugged, and took a hold of Roshii’s hand with one of his. “I am,” he said, looking down. “But I’m also a firm believer in exceptions.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of Roshii’s knuckles and looked him straight in the eyes. “Do you want to do this?”

Roshii had to take a deep breath to keep his voice from wavering. “Yes.”

Even now, more than an hour into the Hufflepuff-Slytherin game, scores fairly tied up, she sat stiffly and anxiously in her seat. Rolland and Sen had been getting their money’s worth of bludgers this game, which so far, they had all managed to hit away. They were good. She knew that. It didn’t make her feel any better though.

Ellyse took her eyes off of the pair for only a moment, trying to see if she could find the snitch where the seekers were flying, and in that moment exactly what she was afraid of happened.

She hadn’t seen it—but half of the spectators in her tower had stood up in the same second, and upon frantic searching of the field, Rolland was no where within her sight. What she did see, however, was Sen flying frantically down, then stopping, turning back and going to fend off more bludgers. Ellyse panicked. She didn’t even hear the announcer. She didn’t hear when the snitch was caught, or which team had won, or what the score was. The moment the game was over she ran down to the field.

Down on the field, many of the players were still coming down from their brooms, walking across the field, gathering with their teammates. All but one.

“Rolland?” she called, a hint of terror in her voice.

“Here.”

She heard his voice, turned. Saw him getting up from the ground. Saw his broom broken in half. Ran.

In a less than a second she was hugging him, head buried in his chest and the cloth of his uniform. He staggered back slightly, still not having regained his balance. “Ellyse?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist loosely.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” she said, not looking up. Instead, she held him closer, squeezed harder.

He wrapped his arms around her in a proper hug. “I’ll try not to.” He could feel a dull throbbing in the back of his head, and something was definitely up with one of his legs, but this felt nice. More than nice. She fit against him perfectly.

Ellyse moved her arms, and Rolland loosened his arms and let her go, thinking the hug was over. But all she had done was move her hands from his waist to his upper back, head still buried, still holding him close. Half of him was wondering how long this was going to last. The other half was just glad it wasn’t over. Not to seem like he was letting her go, he repositioned his arms—one at the small of her back and the other on the back of her head, smoothing out her hair. He couldn’t help but notice that if he were to tilt his head down just so—

“Yo, lovebirds, come celebrate.”

Rolland jumped, turning to Sen and glaring with all he was worth. Sen just finished walking up to them, shit-eating-grin plastered on her face. “We won,” she said.

Ellyse loosened herself from Rolland, rubbing her eyes with one hand and trying to put on a smile. Rolland reluctantly let her go. “That’s great,” she said, a little halfheartedly, facing away from him.

Sen put a hand on Rolland’s shoulder, getting up on her toes to lean into his ear. “Glad you’re okay,” she whispered.

And that’s where it was now. Rolland, in one corner, focused entirely on Annika and hitting on her rather heavily. Sen and Ellyse, in the other corner, leaning against the wall with equal looks of annoyed disappointment and nearly empty cups.

“This sucks,” Sen said, breaking their mutual silence.

“Agreed,” said Ellyse. She lifted her cup to her lips once again, to discover hardly a drop left of her drink. “I’m out.”

“Fuck!” shouted Sen. “This is ridiculous, why are we waiting on some guy?!”

“Yeah,” Ellyse agreed.

“He’s just another jerk who’s thinking with his dick anyway,” Sen continued.

“Yeah,” Ellyse agreed, getting more spirited.

“Who does he think he is, the king of the fucking world?”

“Yeah!”

“Well,” Sen paused for just a moment, trying to remember what she was saying. “He’s not!”

“Yeah!” By now, Ellyse was even beginning to take an angry tone herself.

“And we’re not going to fucking wait for him, isn’t that right?”

“Yeah!”

Sen downed the very last of her drink and chucked the cup across the room. “We are strong, independent, sexy women and we don’t need no man!”

“Yeah!”

“Emphasis on the sexy. We don’t have to take this, we don’t have to wait for him.”

“Yeah!” Ellyse cheered. “You’re looking really good tonight, by the way. I love your dress.”

“Thanks, thrift shop. You know for all he cares, we could be making out right now.”

“Yeah!” Ellyse shouted, before realizing what was being said and covering her mouth with her hand.

“Like, you and me. Lip-locking. Right now,” Sen repeated, turning to Ellyse.

“Yeah,” Ellyse agreed, a little more quietly, staring at Sen’s lips.

“With tongue and everything,” Sen continued, quieter, leaning closer to the other girl.

“Yeah,” Ellyse whispered, leaning in further.

“Just like this,” Sen whispered back, finally closing the distance between them.