Why now?

Why'd it have to be her?

Damitrius couldn't stop thinking about Sapphire's death. The entire summer had been okay, she'd had fun times and made friends, she'd hung out with old friends. Everything seemed to be fine for once in her life, and then Alexis came home one day and told her that one of her friends had been at St. Mungo's and even though they tried to help her, she'd died. Damitrius had insisted on knowing who it was for a while before Alexis finally told her. But she didn't beat around the bush, like she usually would, she'd just come out and said it.

Sapphire Ivanova.

That simple and she'd just walked away. Damitrius felt tears welling up in her eyes as she thought about it again. This wasn't a good way to start off the year. A year where Sapphire wouldn't be there anymore. She wouldn't be able to graduate anymore, it wasn't fair. She was so innocent and sweet and the sickness had taken her away from everyone. It wasn't fair. Damitrius placed her hand on her eyes gently to hide them as the tears she'd been holding back finally became too much and they rolled down her cheeks. Her hair aided in hiding her face in case anyone came into the compartment where she was, she didn't want anyone to notice her crying.

She realized she had to tell Talon about it. Damitrius knew that Sapphire was also Talon's friend, if not they were something more, she really didn't care what they were but she knew it wasn't enemies. She took out the muggle cell phone she'd learned to keep with her all the time and she began to send a message to Talon. I have something to tell you. she sent the message along with what compartment she was in so he could find her, hoping that he'd brought his phone with him and she looked out the window. She doubted Talon knew about Sapphire's death, not many people knew about it besides the healers that had attended her, herself and Sapphire's parents. The question she had now, was how was she supposed to explain to him that the girl was dead. She wasn't good with giving this type of news to someone.

Talon woke up this morning with a more pleasent attitude. This time, instead of heavy fatigue, he woke up feeling a little more rejuvinated. Perhaps the more sleep he got, the better, because he slept for a little more than twelve hours. Seemed strage, but Talon was a serious heavy sleeper at times, and it probably wouldn't surprise his family if he ever went into a coma just from sleeping regularly. At any rate, he woke up feeling a little bit more perkier about his life, and ready to just go forward. Seeing as how school was about to start soon, it was a better time than never.

That was before he got the text though.

Talon had already been dressed and ready to go for his yearly journey, mentally saying goodbye to anything that had been technology, when he felt a vibration from his phone inside of his pocket. Pulling it out, he looked on the heavy cracked screen and saw he got a text from Damitrius. Seeing her name made him smile, but when he saw what she sent, he felt a little more concerned now. He had a feeling that what she was about to say wouldn't be good. He furrowed his brow and texted back What do you need to tell me? he pocketed his phone and left downstairs for his father to apparate him and his things to Hogwarts.

................................................

Several minutes later, he arrived at Platform 9 and three quarters, looking at the train with a smile. He was glad to be seeing that big old hunk of metal again, and it showed. He gave his father his goodbyes and quickly ran towards the train, even though he was early. He stepped past some other students and reached down from his phone, almost saying his last goodbyes before they had to take it away. He hadn't receieved another message from Damitrius, so he decided to ask her where she was currently. Are you on the train? If so, tell me what compartment, you can tell me there.

She'd started pacing in the compartment after she sent the text to Talon, thinking of how she was supposed to tell him about Sapphire. It had been hard enough on her when she found out and now she was going to tell her friend the same exact thing she'd been told, but not the same way. Alexis had said it in such a detached manner that it actually scared her. Her sister was never like that and though she never cared what happened with her older sister, she actually wondered why she'd said it like that. She thought something was happening to Alexis that was making her act this way. She'd been seeing things in a way that was frightening and she didn't care that her younger siblings - including herself - were afraid of her.

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and when she took it out, she noticed she had two messages from Talon. She stared at the screen for a moment, how'd she not feel the vibration of the first one? She shoo over head, deciding this wasn't the time to be worrying about that and she opened her phone, to start messaging him back. Her fingers moved swiftly on the buttons as she texted him, Yeah I've been here for a while. Go into the second cart from the front and I'm in the last compartment in there. she gave a shaky sigh as she hit send.

The thought of having to explain to him her friend's death caused tears to stream down her cheeks again and she couldn't help the shaking that had begun throughout her body. Sapphire was so innocent and happy all the time and it wasn't fair that she was the one to be taken away from everyone. Damitrius looked up at the ceiling of the compartment, closing her eyes, trying to stop the tears but they kept coming and she rubbed her eyes viciously to try and stop the tears. She threw herself back onto the seat and hugged her knees to her chest, burying her face in her knees, continuing to cry silently as she waited for Talon to get there.

As Talon was making his way through the large train cart, he felt his phone vibrate yet again in his pocket. He quickly reached in and grabbed his phone by the sides, pulling it out and checking the screen. He read her message and realized he was going the complete wrong way. He had already passed her cart and had continued going, much to his minor irritation. "Christ," he muttered to himself as he turned around and began the long walk to her compartment.

Seemed like everyone was really excited for the trip back to Hogwarts, little kids sat quietly in their compartments, their faces eager to leave the platform, but for Talon, it was just usual buisness. Ironically, the magic of going to Hogwarts was lost after his second year, when he realized that this would just be an annual routine until he turned seventeen. He sighed a little as he realized he only had two more years left at Hogwarts and he hadn't even done much. He spent two years mourning his grandfather, not being able to deal with the loss. Hopefully he wouldn't have to deal with something like that again.

After journeying across two train carts, he found the cart that Damitrius had been talking about, peering into each window to see who was there. It was the last cart, so he saw Damitrius sitting there...crying? What happened? Immediately, his concern kicked in and he slid open the door, the door squeaked loudly as he did so, his face bearing a soothing smile. "Hey Damitruius," he said in a calm voice as he closed the door and sat down next to her, putting an arm around her to provide her comfort "what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Damitrius looked up quickly when she heard the compartment door slide open and she blinked up at Talon as she watched him walk over and sit down next to her. She was shaking and as soon as he sat down she turned and cried into his chest. "I couldn't help her." she cried. "I failed again!" she nearly screamed. He wouldn't know what she was talking about, but it just made her so sad to know that she'd failed.

Being the older of the two girls, Damitrius had promised Sapphire that she would always protect her and keep her from harm. And she'd failed, she hadn't even been there to accompany her in her last moments. She'd been oblivious to everything that was going on until Alexis had told her. And now she felt horrible. This was the second time she failed to help her friends, and it wasn't fair. Damitrius lifted her head from Talon's shirt and she pulled away from him, wiping her eyes.

"I couldn't help her. Just like I couldn't help Kaily during the battle." she said. The tears continued to fall and she covered her eyes with her hands, continuing to cry. "Talon ..." she said after a few moments, her hands dropping from her face and falling into her laps. "Sapphire ..." she was cut off by a gasp and the tears fell down her cheeks again. "Sapphire's ... she's dead ..." she started shaking again and she cried, covering her face with her hands once more.

Talon still didn't understand as to what the hell was going at that moment, his face twisted into a face of confusion and bewilderment. For some reason, she just kept saying she couldn't help her, and that she failed her, but he had no freaking idea as to who she was talking about. Judging by how damp his shirt felt, she must've been close to this person, it sounded like she died or something. Probably a relative or something. He listened to her though, his face also containing traces of friendliness.

When Damitrius moved her head away from his chest, he looked at her with worried eyes, wanting to know what happened here. So far, it didn't sound so good, talking about she couldn't help her...but something immediately struck his blood cold.

Sapphire...

Oh Christ, no. His face immediately turned pale.

Sapphire's ... she's dead ..

Talon's whole world suddenly came crashing down around him now, his peripheral going hazy and unfocused. Sapphire's...dead? He moved his hands away from Damitrius and froze up, his body completely motionless. He looked down suddenly and immediately scooted away from Damitrius, his body slouched forward completely. His face was frozen solid, no emotion coming through. At least Talon didn't let any emotion seep through. He was torn horribly though on the inside, his lip even quivering every second or so. He had lost his grandfather, and now...Sapphire?

"No, she's not dead," he said softly, a slight chuckle errupting suddenly from his chest "she's not dead...I was just with her....she's fine..."

She's not."

Damitrius pulled her legs close to her again and she hugged her knees. The tears fell onto her knees and she stared at the drops of water on her knees as the streamed down her leg. She sniffled and buries her face in her knees like she'd done before. I failed. I failed to protect her, just like I failed to protect Kaily during the battle. I can't protect anyone, all I can do it hurt them. she thought sadly, more tears falling down her cheeks.

"My sister is a healer and Sapphire was brought in because she was very sick. Alexis came home and told me that they tried to save her but her body couldn't resist the pain and she just ... died." she said into her knees. Her body had begun to shake even more and she couldn't stop it anymore. "Sapphire's gone ... I couldn't keep my promise to her." she said softly. "I'm a failure. I can't do anything right!" she began to scream.

She lifted her head from her knees and she tried to wipe the tears away viciously like she had before he entered the compartment. "I can't help anyone! All I ever do it hurt people! I can't even keep my friends alive! I'm the outcast of my family too, I shouldn't even be here anymore! I should've died before! I should be the one that died, not Sapphire! ... or Kaily." she said softly, continuing to practically claw at her eyes. Her fingers ran down her face and her long nails cut her right cheek a bit. Damitrius didn't even feel it though and she didn't feel the blood that started to come from the cut.

Talon continued to slouch forward as he listened to Damitrius...a sickness? Oh god...this couldn't be happening. He felt some tears forming on his face, something obvious to anyone that would lose someone close to them. Even though he had known Sapphire for a short time, he felt something for her, and he was sure she did too...it wasn't like he could ask now, could he?

He looked up towards Damitrius, who seemed to be taking it harder than he did. He didn't feel an extreme sadness like he felt when he heard his grandfather had died...he just felt hollow. He couldn't feel anything in his body, even his hands felt numb to everything he touched. But Damitrius...he felt bad. She didn't deserve to have something like this happen to her. He wanted to move and help her, but he couldn't even gather the strength to even think straight.

Somehow though, he managed to give himself a little bit of strength and scooted back over to Damitrius, wrapping his arms around her. He had done it mostly for him instead of her, the only thing in his mind just filled with that terrible numbness. He had felt it before, and that was only after he had started to get over his grandfather's death. "God dammit all, why her?" he sobbed

"She was my best friend! And I couldn't protect her!" she cried as she felt Talon wrap his arms around her. She didn't move from where she was for a few moments and she only continued to try. "This is the second time. The second time I've lost my best friend. I don't want to keep losing the people I care about!" she cried and buried her face in Talon's shirt once again. She didn't know how she was supposed to handle this right now. For the second time in her life, she lost her best friend without even being able to help in any way.

She felt it was her fault and even though it wasn't, she couldn't help but feel like was. "It's my fault. It's all my fault. I promised I would keep her safe and look at what happened! She's gone ... it shouldn't have been her! She's never done anything wrong and now this stupid sickness decided to take her away from her family and friends! It isn't fair!" she sobbed into Talon's chest. Her throat had begun to hurt from the crying and she was starting to get a headache but she couldn't stop crying.

"What am I supposed to do now?" she asked, gasping for air as she tried to calm herself down. "It's my fault that she died. I couldn't protect her even though I promised it ... how am I supposed to make that up to her when she's gone?!" she asked, grabbing onto his shirt tightly. She was starting to lose herself in the sorrow from her best friend's death just like she had with Kaily's death and she didn't know how to keep herself from falling in deeper.

Talon was nearing a state of shock at this point, his face starting to turn red from some minor crying. He held a lot of it back, knowing that if he let himself go at full force, he'd probably end up like had a couple years back. He didn't try to mask any sadness inside him though, he was just as hurt and as affected at Damitrius. He couldn't stop thinking about how he had first met up with Sapphire, that was only a couple weeks ago apparently. But now she was...dead? How the world worked in mysterious ways.

He kept his arms around Damitrius, mostly trying to cheer himself up at this startling news. He kept telling himself he would've had no idea as to what would've happened and that he had no part in her untimely death, yet that didn't sooth his thoughts. He kep thinking he was somewhat responsible for this, for all of this. She probably caught something back in the Shrieking Shack and Talon had been gifted enough to not get inflicted with it. Now he went from just sadness to survivor guilt mode. Why was he dead when she was so young and had no much to offer?

He didn't believe Damitrius though when she kept blaming herself for her death, and something snapped inside him. He didn't want her to become like him, he knew it would be his responsibility to prevent her from turning into an emotionally wrecked shell like he had been....he probably would've fell back into that disturbing phase if he hadn't had such a realization. In a way, she was his saving grace. He unhooked his arms from around her and placed his hands on her shoulders firmly. Visible tears were on his face, fresh new ones still streaming down in rows.

"Listen to me," he said looking into her eyes "this wasn't your fault. You had no way to know what would've happened. She wouldn't want you to beat yourself up over something we had no control over. She'd want us to...move along..." he began to choke up again. First the bullies and then her death. Christ, why did everything bad seem to happen to her? He mustered up some courage and continued "She'd want you...to remain happy." He felt like a broken record, most of what he was saying spewed by his parents when he first had the news delivered to him. They probably should've sedated him when that happened.

He looked down and closed his eyes, his body beginning to feel hollow again. Nothing seemed right within the world anymore, nothing. Children should never have to die, and even though they were teens, they didn't deserve something as untimely as that. He rubbed his eyes though, his hand practically soaked. That would be embarrassing to him later on if anyone saw, but right now, he hadn't cared.