The joys of music

The silence of the towers was shattered by the light footsteps and soft panting of a Hufflepuff fourth yeat named Sapphire Ivanova. As usual the fourth year girl was extremely bored and she wanted to find something to do. As long as it wasn't homework. Sapphire didn't like homework and she would do anything to get away from it. But if she wanted to find something to do, wouldn't it make more sense that she head in the direction where there would be more people? Sure it would, but who ever said anything about her wanting to be near other students? Sapphire was headed for what had quickly become her favorite place in the entire school.

The Astronomy Tower.

She loved being up there. It was quiet up there, and it was the only place where she wouldn't get teased by those mean Slytherins because of what she had decided to wear that day. Although today they couldn't say anything about her wardrobe, because it wasn't weird and colorful like what she usually wore. No, today she had decided to wear black jeans with a purple shirt and purple converse. This was the first time she wasn't mismatched as she always was.

Still she didn't care. The Slytherins would probably find something else to make fun of her for. Like her hair for intense. They made fun of her hair because it was red and it called attention to her, even if she didn't want it. She still wouldn't let whatever they said ruin her mood though. Sapphire had learned long ago to block out their rude comments. But today, she wasn't going to risk being made fun of, so she was going to the tower to be by herself and to sing, like she always did.

As she entered the tower she noticed that today it looked like space. She saw all of the planets and stars everywhere and she smiled. It was exactly like it was when she met Sabriel. It reminded her of how quiet she had been for once in her life, all because of the boy's personality. He made her feel calm and had kept her quiet the entire time. She had been in a sort of tranquilized state when she had been with him and she had actually liked it. Still she loved the way she was now, hyper and happy. But she wanted to see Sabe again. She missed her Ravenclaw friend.

Kendall would typically be in a rather jovial mood, especially since it was the end of the week. He was, however, denied of that habitual luxury. Nothing about himself fell into place as of late. Initially, even his increasing shortness of temper, along with easy irritation and a growing difficulty to control his emotions, had all already seemed strange to him. It was, of course, when the intensity of the change heightened, that something clicked in him to recognise that something was really wrong about himself. He was certain it wasn't his fault, really.

Whatever it was, it was something new affecting his true self, compelling him to change, little by little, into someone slightly unrecognisable. He was not usually ill, so when the cold shudders began to hit him frequently, Kendall attempted to fight them off, in vain. Failure to do so merely added to his agony. He had always prided himself to be the one who was always composed, deceptively friendly, and certainly a master of both his physical and emotional attributes. What is it then? What was happening to him?

Fighting off yet another bout of shudders, Kendall made sure that the layers of clothing he threw on himself fitted him comfortably, as he struggled to make his way to the Astronomy Tower. It certainly looked like an ignorant decision to bring himself to a place so cold at night when he was suffering from cold shivers. Still, the boy figured that it could not be that much colder than the Slytherin Dungeons. What he needed was the fresh air higher up in the Castle, and of course, the promise of some unexpected individual lurking around the area at this time of the night. He was, undoubtedly, bored.

People could almost always answer to the quelling of his restlessness. He had lost the promise of enjoying the sufferings of Rise. The Hufflepuff girl had disappeared. And, being Kendall, of course he was missing her company. He always shared an ironic sort of relationship with his "victims". After all, he did always return some macabre affection and entertainment to the girls. It was always the better choice to not perform one's honest thoughts radically. An object of repulsion always made the best entertainment.

Even with three layers of clothing promising him warmth, Kendall could not shake off the cold. He brought his arms to his chest and hugged them together. Along the way, he passed a bunch of Ravenclaws looking like death, what with their tired eyes and seemingly endless sneezing and coughing. He wouldn't have noticed them had they not been in his way. Fortunately, they made way for him to pass, so even a superficial civil attempt at asking to pass was not needed, since he was too worn out by his symptoms to feel up to it anyway.

Contrary to popular belief, the Astronomy Tower was not scant of people. Since too many people thought it a perfect place to spend their evening at, there were already a number of students in the area. Fortunately, everyone looked to have the common sense of minding their own businesses, and to keep their voices low, so that the seduction of the place was still preserved. After all, people would usually come to the Tower to have a quiet time, wouldn't they?

It was really not that hard to miss someone with that hair colour. Besides, she looked like the only decently interesting lonesome person available for his amusement. With that distraction in mind, Kendall put the cold away temporarily from his mind and strolled to her, stopping when he was standing next to her, at a comfortable distance for a pair of strangers to converse.

"Did you know that the Milky Way Galaxy behaves like a cannibal? I mean, it'd take an enormously long time, but it's a massive galaxy that consumes smaller galaxies in close proximity to it to sustain, if not increase, its size?" Kendall turned to the girl and smiled. He shrugged. "Fun fact for you, I suppose."

Sitting on the ledge of the window in the tower, Sapphire gazed around the tower at everyone that was in there. She wasn't amazed at the amount of people there, really she wasn't. Everyone wanted to be alone and it was pretty obvious that they would come to the Astronomy Tower, or the Clock Tower. They were really the only places that were quiet and where you could be alone. Or at least that was the thought behind the towers. Though now it seemed everyone wanted to be in those places, so it was more likely that the more common places were empty right now.

She had been looking up at the ceiling of the tower when she noticed that someone had come near her. Sapphire glanced over at the older boy who stood next to her but at a comfortable distance and she quickly lookrd away, though her attention was clearly on him. She thoughy he was probably a Slytherin since she was getting that same uneasy feeling she got when she was near a Slytherin. She didn't trust the students from that house. All they did was pick on those from her house, or on those from Gryffindor. They seemed to get a kick out of picking on them, mostly Hufflepuff because they rarely fought back.

Sapphire listened to what the boy said, her body a bit tense as if he would do something to her at any moment as he spoke. When he turned around and smiled, she found herself staring at him in curiosity. She thought he would have done or said something rude to her by now. Most Slytherins did when they saw her, they figured she was weak so they always picked on her as soon as she passed them it something. Her eyes had widened a bit as she stared at him. Sapphire blinked a bit and she looked down, not saying anything to him.

There was no reply.

Kendall frowned, offended by the lack of it, without considering positive possibilities for the lack of response. That was the speed of his irritation these days. It was too fast, too impulsive. No, he needed to regain mastery over it. He inhaled deeply. One more try.

"It wasn't always known as the Milky Way. Well, I mean. It was. But in another language. The Greeks called it Galaxies Klukos, then the Romans translated it into Latin. From there, Via Lactea got translated to English. And there you have it, the Milky Way!"

Kendall looked at the girl again and smiled. He breathed deeply, keeping composure, or attempting to. It would definitely be easier to let his impatience loose. Yet, that should be a shame. His father taught him self-preservation. It was a mark of quality. Too bad for others, Augustus Rookwood never taught him values that were directed towards dangerous intentions. Still, Kendall was still a boy. He was, in other words, still rather harmless.

"I'm not that interested in the galaxies anyway. Thought you might like it though. I mean ... "

Kendall looked up at the night sky, in the direction where he thought she was looking at previously. Obviously, that didn't matter. Still, good acting requires conviction.

" ... seeing that you were looking so intently at the sky. Just taking a stab in the dark. Might get lucky."

He shrugged and chuckled.

"Still, won't be as interesting as, say ... when you decide to tell me your name."

He smirked, then gestured with a slight move of a hand to himself.

"Kendall."

Sapphire blinked again.

He was going on and on about the galaxies, and she really wasn't interested. Or, yet she was, but she didn't really understand what he was saying. She stared blankly at him, her eyes still widened, waiting for him to finished whatever he way ranting on about.

She smiled slightly at him, fear of Slytherins still very evident in her eyes, and she shook her head. The movement caused her hair to move in a way that made it seem like some sort of fire blazing in there. She pondered on whether or not she should actually speak to him. She raised her finger to her mouth and bit her nail for a moment.

"I - I'm not really that interested in that. I just like looking at the sky. It - um... it helps me think, I guess you could say." she told him in a soft voice that easily could not have even belonged to her. Her hand had lowered to her leg and she played with her fingers gently.

The fifteen year old stared up at him with her eyes narrowing slightly, going back to their normal size. She copied his gesture, purposely, and pointed to herself. She grinned gently at him.

"Sapphire."

The serenity of the place had some sort of influence on Kendall's mood. He was comfortable, even in the presence of a stranger. It was almost enough to tempt him to break into a hum, but the boy held onto his marbles, whatever little he really had. Perhaps if it was warranted ... he wasn't opposed to it. After all, he liked to get up to strange behaviours to add some sort of bewilderment to the people around him. A little later. He was going to suss this girl out first. Kendall alternated between looking at her and the night sky, grinning everytime he caught her eye.

"It's funny how the night sky is one of our favourite places to look at to think, isn't it? I mean, especially when it's not that easy to do the same to the sky when the sun's up. Well, you can ... when it's blue and easy ... but the sun gets to our eyes sometimes. See, it's funny 'cause ... you know how we always associate light with good and dark with bad? But ... the night sky is always more calming, always more conducive to think. The sun stings our eyes sometimes, too glaring and all."

After a fair bit of good-natured chuckling, Kendall resumed his friendly disposition and turned to look at Sapphire. "A Knut for your thought then, Sapphire? What're you here for? I ... could use a friend." He grinned, before settling down on the floor with his legs stretched out in front of him. Expectantly, he continued to look at the girl, as if compelling her to sit with him.