There was a struggle happening within Liam's mind as he stood there, still trying and failing to not stare at Addie every few seconds. It had just been...unexpected, seeing her like this, so relaxed (or so he assumed she'd been before he had showed up) and trying to just enjoy some time to herself. Having been on a mission for the same purpose, it made him ever more curious about her. He knew so little about her, and he wished he could change that.
However, in the back of his mind, red lights were going off and alarms were sounding. The fact was, if Liam allowed himself to be so distracted, Addie could be the downfall of everything for him...
"You were struck by lightning?!" he said, ash blonde brows raising in surprise, green eyes widening, his voice only slightly raised but the stunned emphasis was clear, "Thats amazing..." He blinked, trying to maintain manners, but...
Well, there was no denying that Liam was utterly fascinated by the unique pattern of scars on Addie's body. They seemed to flow, which of course made sense, even to someone like him. Electricity flowed by current, much like water, and so that explained why her scars looked the way that they did. He couldn't even begin to imagine what the experience must have been like, the pain she must have felt, but his curiosity longed to ask. He even started to open his mouth, the question teetering on the tip of his tongue, but he stopped.
If there was one thing Liam thought he had actually figured out about Addie, it was that she didn't like being asked questions about herself. Their recent interactions had provided him with enough observations to support this theory, though he had also noted that it wasn't a matter of her not wanting to give him information. More simply, it was just the inquiries that made her nervous. He didn't understand it, but then again he didn't have to, he only had to care enough to try something different...
So, with no ceremony, Liam began to shrug his Quidditch cloak off so he could deposit it next to his broom, and began to roll up the sleeve of his shirt that covered his right arm. The skin which he exposed was pale and lightly freckled, but it was the large patch of darker pink skin which formed a bumpy, puckered looking line that stood out.
"I was about ten years old," he explained to Addie, taking only one step forward and bending his bared arm at the elbow so she could see the scar better, "There was a storm outside and I was flying my broomstick, though I was told to stay inside. The wind grabbed me and I crashed in the neighboring forest, fell through a bunch of trees and landed in a ravine. My arm was the worst of it, so I was probably lucky. It took my family a while to find me and get me to St. Mungo's, which is why it scarred so badly." He wasn't sure what had possessed him to share with her, and he didn't even know if she would appreciate it, but he believed he had done better than if he'd asked her about her experience.
Now the choice was Addie's, to share her past with him as Liam had, or not.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 7/25/2019 at 8:33 PM
Post #42
Neither she nor Liam were really moving a ton, Addie realized. In those moments of silence while one was waiting for the other to respond but the other just didn't know what to say because clearly, neither had been in such a situation as this before, the silence that would permeate the air was near-deafening. Not only that, though, but it was suffocating, and Addie hated it.
She didn't know much about Liam, and truth be told, she didn't care to know much about him. She didn't care to know much about anyone, because that was dangerous - it was dangerous to know people, because if she learned anything at all from her mother, it was that you could never truly know someone; you just think you do. Regardless, what she did know about Liam was that he had frightened her twice before now, and how could she know that he wouldn't frighten her again?
When he exclaimed in surprise, she felt a small rush of relief at the fact that his voice hadn't risen enough to spook her. The situation was already weird enough as it is, and she didn't have control of it, making it scarier.
Words could not express it, the absolute astonishment she felt when he began telling his tale. He had opened up, and no one had asked him to. He had just done it. And... It was odd, but she felt something in her chest ache for him and his ten year-old injuries as she looked at his scar. She craned her neck a little to get a better look, even taking a step forward, before realizing that perhaps she was being pushy. Immediately, she backed off, standing further away than she had been before.
For a couple minutes, she just stared at him, right into his eyes. She tried to figure out what it was that he was playing at here. Why was he opening up? Why was he revealing this part of himself, of his past, to her? If word about this story would get out, what kind of ridicule would he have to face? What a silly idea, going out riding in a storm... Why was he telling her this?
Addie gave her head another little shake and took a step forward, to resume her original spot. That's when it occurred to her. He wasn't just telling her. He was asking her to share her story, only... Only he wasn't being pushy, or invasive about it. He was giving her freedom. He was giving her control of the situation.
"My, um... My father had taken my older sister and I to the theater." She found herself telling the story without even realizing it, but as she said the first sentence, she knew that it was the right thing. "Coming out of the theater, afterwards, it was storming, and I was walking a few paces behind them. They were..." Arguing. "...Talking. My sister didn't want me in the conversation. It was unfortunate, but random. I didn't even see the lightning coming, you know, but it had entered, traveled, and exited my body in less than a second." She gave a dry chuckle, though the corners of her mouth had not twisted up in a smile, and even through her story, the occasional sentence ended as an inquiry. "I didn't know what happened at first. But things heal. The burns healed."
Her gaze had traveled, and she was staring at the bottom left of her vision, recalling. Coming back to reality, she met Liam's gaze again. "I was one of the lucky ones, you know. Some people suffer brain damage. Memory loss, mood changes. Chronic pain. All I got was a tremor in my left hand, and the pretty little scars."
Edited By Creativity on 8/2/2019 at 9:15 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 7/31/2019 at 1:22 AM
Post #43
Curiosity was a new thing for Liam, and for good reason. Anything that could lead to him starting to think about the way his life could be was to be treated with caution. This was different than his usual daydreams, and he was not ready to abandon it. He found himself wanting to hear Addie's story on a multitude of levels, not just because he found the idea of surviving a lightning strike fascinating, but also he wanted to know about her.
Leaving his right shirt sleeve rolled up, Liam took a few very slow and casual steps in Addie's direction, leaning against a wall and folding his arms over his chest so that it appeared he only moved for the purpose of comfort. His true motives were unclear, even to himself, but he tried not to think about any of that right now. He watched Addie with relaxed attention as she told him her story, and he drank in every bit of it as though it were the only thing that could quench his thirst.
In the pause between Addie's explanation, Liam took a moment to process his feelings. First, there was a small sense of pride taken in the fact that he had made the right move in revealing his own story to her, but then there was something else that felt less pleasant. That bit about her father and her sister...there was something there which nagged at him, but he was too focused on what Addie was saying. He would have to figure it out later.
It was hard for Liam to not start staring again at the scars decorating Addie's left arm and that side of her chest, but he distracted himself by laughing softly to himself at a thought which had just occurred to him.
"Guess that makes us both lucky," he said to Addie, glancing up at her with emerald green eyes that sparkled with mirth and mischief, "I can't imagine that anyone else could stand to be my tutor." He grinned at her, thinking about how little he knew she wanted to be teaching him in the first place.
The truth was that Liam had begun to be very grateful to have Addie as his tutor, even though he still wondered if it would be enough to get him through Potions the rest this year and the next...
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 7/31/2019 at 5:57 PM
Post #44
Parts of Addie simply couldn't understand why she was still talking to Liam. Why she hadn't made some excuse and fled the bathroom the moment he stepped inside. She didn't avoid him in particular, though she knew that he had looked for her before. She didn't ever avoid anyone in particular (except maybe Fay). She just avoided... People.
People were difficult and confusing and mysterious, and she didn't quite trust anyone - wouldn't trust anyone - until she was away from her father. One day. One day, she would, but for today, it was hard to trust people when she hardly knew them, and it was hard to get to know them when she simply didn't trust them. But Liam... Liam had offered up a piece of his own past. Unashamed. Unafraid. Trusting. A story that could grant him quite a bit of ridicule if it were to get out...
But he seemed to trust her, and that was absolutely infuriating.
"I can barely stand it myself," she muttered at his comment, because being flippant and distanced was a hell of a lot easier than actually addressing the gratitude hidden in his words. She'd rather not deal with more emotions than she already had if she had any say in it.
Her breath catching in her throat, she quickly turned and dipped down to her bag on the ground, grabbing a long-sleeved T-shirt out of it and slipping it over her head, above the tank top. She then gathered her stuff, her toiletries and toothbrush, in the bag, slinging the strap over her shoulder.
"I, um... I ought to get back to Iris - er - my cat... She gets awfully lonely, you know," she stammered out a quick excuse before dipping her head and making a swift exit.
-
Hogwarts had a lot of really lovely places. The lake. The astronomy tower. The library. There was honestly so much to the castle that Addie couldn't really keep track of all she loved about it. Perhaps she just adored the fact that Hogwarts was a home where no one tried to control or manipulate or hurt her.
Her favorite place in Hogwarts, though, was held so much higher than everywhere else, because it wasn't just a place she liked... It was a room that was hers. The Room of Requirement, it was called. After discovering it, she read about it, the mystery of its origins, everything it could do - would do - for its people. There was honestly no better place in all of Hogwarts than this room where she could simply be herself, where she could play the piano like Rosalie taught her, and she could sing to her heart's content and no one would hear...
Now, why was she leaving her beautiful room, on a Friday night of all times, and heading in the direction of the Quidditch stadium?
She didn't have an answer. A thousand tiny voices in her head screamed to turn back, to go back to the Room of Requirement and sing until the night was drowned by the sun, but her feet trudged onward, and she continued ignoring those little voices still as she climbed into one of the Quidditch boxes, seated herself in a corner, and completely avoided all reason or thought.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 8/1/2019 at 7:15 PM
Post #45
Only a couple days since the incident in the prefect's bathroom, and Liam knew full well he shouldn't still be thinking about it. However, it was like he couldn't get the images of those serpentine scars, or the memory of Addie's story out of his head. Which was incredibly frustrating considering that things were already crowding his mind lately anyway, with his team's Quidditch game about to begin. He truly could not afford to be distracted.
Yet, there Liam was, standing at the entrance flap of the tent where the Hufflepuff team was waiting for the signal to mount their brooms. Some of them were busy adjusting their gloves or boots, or doing pre-flight maintenance checks on their instruments of ascension. He could tell himself that he was standing here so that he could monitor the weather all he wanted, but the fact was the day was beautifully clear and mild. No, his motivations for this vigil were less meteorologically inclined...
With a sigh of surprising disappointment, Liam turned away from his view of the stadium and made himself focus.
"Alright, team," he said, addressing his assembled players with rare seriousness in his countenance, "Wood will be on the field in just a moment. We have trained hard and we couldn't be more prepared. Just fly straight, watch for bludgers, and above all work together. Gryffindor doesn't stand a chance!" He pumped his fist in the air, joining in as the team gave a rousing battle cry.
As Liam had supposed, it was then that they all heard the call for the teams to enter the stadium. He nodded to his fellow Hufflepuffs before turning around, mounting his broom, and taking off in one fluid movement. The familiar feeling of exhilaration flooded his veins as he felt the wind rushing past his face. He gripped the wooden handle of his broom tightly as he accelerated, the surface worn smooth from use. Settling into starting formation with his team, he sat up and watched as Oliver Wood, the referee, walked out onto the field and spoke to both teams.
Having heard this speech more times than he cared to remember, Liam found himself glancing out over the stadium seats, where hordes of students had gathered. He wanted to pretend he wasn't looking for her, though he didn't know why it mattered, but he couldn't really deny it though he wished he could stop himself. Besides, it didn't look like she was going to show up anyw...wait. There, tucked into some far corner seat, trying so hard to avoid looking at anyone or be noticed...as Addie. She had come.
A broad grin now plastered across his handsome face, Liam joined his team with renewed vigor as the game began. Such a fast-paced sport, time seemed to fly by, and he was proud of his team's performance. They were up against another good team, but their hard work and dedication gave them the advantage. He was still kept quite busy at the goal posts, and as Keeper for his team he kept the Gryffindor team from scoring the majority of the time. One pass nearly got past him towards the end, but he managed a daring barrel roll to th far left hoop and was able to block the quaffle in the nick of time.
As Liam threw the large red ball to one of his Chasers, there was a sudden sounding of a whistle, and he looked up to see his Seeker, Clara Gale, rising up into the air triumphantly, the golden snitch gripped firmly in her hand. Hufflepuff had won. The stadium was going berserk, and he soaked all of it. This was the one aspect of his life that he could truly enjoy without pretense.
Now, though, Liam had another task at hand...he had to find Addie before she disappeared.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 8/1/2019 at 8:18 PM
Post #46
Quidditch wasn't something that Addie was necessarily interested in. She wasn't against it, no, and she could watch it if she wanted, but she rarely ever wanted. She supposed she just didn't get as excited about sports as some others might - music excited her, and books. Not sports. She went to maybe one quidditch game a year, and that's only when it would be an important Ravenclaw one, because she did like her house, and she did want to support it.
Besides that, though, watching the quidditch games from the stalls really only meant discomfort for her as people around her moved and jumped and screamed and suffocated her. She wasn't used to large crowds - she never had been. Being trapped in the stands was quite uncomfortable.
But she had come today, to a game that Ravenclaw was not participating in. She had come. Why? She wished she knew. Something about how Liam had asked her, she supposed. Her brain would scream at her to go back to her Room of Requirement and soothe her worries with singing, but her body remained put.
She watched Liam throughout the game, somewhat discreetly. She didn't really look at anyone in particular - wouldn't - but she kept him in the corner of her gaze, and took note of all of the saves he managed to make. It was really quite impressive. And... From what she could see, he seemed to really enjoy it.
When the Hufflepuff seeker caught the snitch, she sighed and then winced at the uproar around her. Her heart jumping into her throat, she was quick to start descending the creaky wooden stairs of the viewing stall before anyone else had done so. She was back on the ground before anyone else and hurrying down the path back to the castle, her gaze fixed on the ground and her fingers furiously combing through her hair that was spilling across her left shoulder as she tried to get as far away as possible as to avoid any sort of interaction or - Heaven forbid - confrontation.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 8/2/2019 at 2:41 PM
Post #47
Any illusions that Liam might have had about being able to immediately go after Addie were utterly dashed as his team swarmed him in celebration of their win. Normally, he wouldn't have hesitated to join in the revelry, but inwardly he just wanted to get away. He smiled and roared happily with the rest of them, keeping up appearances as it were, but his eyes strayed in the direction of where he knew Addie had been sitting. His heart sank when he realized it was empty.
A sudden feeling of determination bolstered Liam enough to decide that he just couldn't let her get away so easily this time...
"Alright!" he shouted loudly to be heard over the ruckus his teammates were still causing, "Everyone go get cleaned up, and we'll meet in the common room to party!" The team cheered energetically and all began to fly back to the tent they had gathered in before.
Watching them leave, Liam felt a momentary pang of guilt that he wasn't joining them, but he didn't think they would really notice. He didn't really believe he mattered that much to any of them, despite the camaraderie he felt when he was with the team. His family's background was not a secret, most of the wizarding world remembered the news about his grandfather's arrest, and he was not deluded enough to imagine his peers didn't judge him for it. That was why he had to work so hard to make a name for himself, to erase the stain from his family with his own accomplishments.
For now, however, Liam was only concerned with catching up with Addie. Most people were still milling about in the stadium seats, but he realized she had probably bolted almost as soon as the game was won. He steered his broom out of the Quidditch field and flew out over the grounds. It wasn't hard to spot Addie, though he was surprised at how far she had gotten in such a short time. He had to put on a burst of speed just to intercept her before she made it to the castle.
With all the finesse of someone who has devoted many years to refining his flying skills, Liam executed a graceful dismount while still several feet above the ground. He landed on his feet, taking several long strides to ride out his momentum, stopping just in front of Addie just as she was about to enter one of the outdoor stone corridors which connected to the castle.
"Hey," he greeted her casually, though he knew he sounded slightly winded, and his was sure his ash blonde hair was a total mess, "Thanks for coming to the game, but you didn't have to leave so fast. I was going to...well, what I meant is...are you busy?" His tongue seemed to get tangled around the words and he couldn't help it when he felt his cheeks grow slightly warm.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 8/2/2019 at 9:04 PM
Post #48
Addie didn't have friends. That was a fact. It wasn't something that she particularly mourned, and she didn't ache to have friends - it was merely something that was true about her. She was, for all intents and purposes, a loner by choice, and that was honestly quite fine with her. She had the Room of Requirement. She had her piano. She had Iris. What else could she need?
Her heart skipped a beat and her hand absently grasped the simple blue butterfly pendant that was around her neck, usually buried underneath her robes. There was perhaps one thing she could need... But she wasn't without it, not really. No. She couldn't be...
She was nearly to the castle when she was practically flooded. Liam came out of nowhere, stopping in front of her abruptly after jumping from his broom to intercept her. Out of instinct, she stopped moving forward and recoiled, stumbling a couple steps back to put more distance between the two of them. It wasn't anything against him in particular, just a defensive mechanism.
When he intercepted her, she felt terribly crowded, and lowered her head a little, tucking the pendant back into her robes. She didn't look directly at him, her heart beating far too harshly for her to meet his gaze, instead staring at some point on the ground, her arms wrapping around her chest in defense.
"I..." She wasn't really sure what to say to Liam, but figured she should wait until she was finally able to meet his gaze. Once the initial fear died down a little bit, she brought herself to actually look at him and swallowed hard before responding. "N-not really... I just..." she glanced past him towards the castle, longing to return to her room, but then sighed and returned her eyes to him. "I suppose I'm not..."
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 8/3/2019 at 3:32 PM
Post #49
The concept of friendship was one that usually left a bitter taste in Liam's mouth whenever he actually thought about it. He knew what friends were, or at least what they were supposed to be, not that he had any actual experience having any. None of the many people who would mob him anytime he walked through the corridors, so eager to talk to and interact with him, were really his friends. They loved his popular persona, but they knew nothing about who he really was.
Sometimes Liam himself would begin to wonder that same thing, about who he really was...not that it mattered of course. Who he was wasn't important, it was who he had to be...
"Sorry," he said to Addie with a sheepish grin, running his hand over the back of his flyaway hair, "I didn't mean to startle you. Guess I should have tried getting your attention first..." He watched her try to recover from her stumbling, trying to keep his expression casual despite his true feelings about her behavior.
Later on, in the wee hours of the night when Liam would be laying in his bed, staring at nothing as he thought his thoughts, he would try and convince himself that this concerned interest he had taken in Addie just had to do with his Hufflepuff nature, and for now he would actually believe it. For now he would just tread carefully, try to figure out what her deal was and hope to be able to help her with something in the same way that she had helped him with Potions so far.
When Addie finally spoke, Liam's stomach seemed to do a somersault inside of his body, which he chalked up to his recent aerial acrobatics. Her words came out haltingly, but he recognized immediately that she was not saying 'No', and he flashed a broad smile. It felt good, and in no small part because he was pretty sure she normally would have just rejected him and taken off. He tried to ignore the tingling in his fingers by busying himself with taking his Quidditch gloves off.
Heart fluttering, Liam steeled himself for this next part, nervous about it on a number of levels. This was the idea that had come to him after he'd invited her to the game, something he might be able to use to thank her, even just a little bit...
"Good," he said to her in his usual relaxed voice and posture, keeping his inner symptoms well concealed, "Because I wanted to show you something special. Its not something many witches or wizards get to see, especially at our age." His green eyes twinkled as he looked at her, his gaze lingering on her dark brown hair, which seemed to glow with the warm light of the setting sun (a completely normal observation...), waiting to see what she would say.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 8/3/2019 at 8:19 PM
Post #50
It was hard to pinpoint what, exactly, Addie really wanted out of life. She, quite honestly, didn't know if she really wanted anything besides a general freedom from her father. When she tried to plan past her graduation from Hogwarts, she couldn't think of anything she really wanted. And, if she was telling the truth, she didn't really like to think of anything past Hogwarts. It was too painful.
She once read somewhere that it breaks a person to see what they're missing. That was why she tried to avoid actually making plans for the future. She just... She'll move forward. Step by step. Once she finally is free, then she'll be able to ponder on what she wanted to do with her life.
The truth. If she was telling the truth... She didn't necessarily want to go anywhere with Liam - nothing against him, of course. After all, she had come to the game. She disliked his kind, the popular, pretty family name, but he had proved himself to be more considerate than your average stereotype. She didn't have anything against him... Only, her fingers ached for the ivory keys sitting, all alone, in her room...
"Yes, perhaps that would have been a better idea," she murmured in agreement, glancing behind him again.
It was true that Addie was a curious person, and the way he described where he wanted to take her was almost murder. However, she wouldn't have survived this long without some sort of reign on her curiosity, and so that was not what eventually caused her to relent.
No. It was the slight flicker in his eyes as he watched her. It was the feeling that this scenario was different than the other ones. It was like when he asked her to come to the game. It was something in his voice. Something that suggested that this meant more to him than just asking a random pretty girl out.
"...I suppose."
Go to Page:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Confirm Action
Are you sure you wish to delete this post?
Confirm Action
Are you sure you wish to restore this post?
Confirm Action
Are you sure you wish to report this post?
Go to Top
This Page loaded in 0.012 seconds.
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Credits | Job Opportunities
