((I doubt very much that I would kill you. But hassle you until you posted… likely.))
Amelia’s eyes were still trained on her fingernails when Elijah’s response came, for once taking on a rational and practical tone. It was this that brought Amelia’s eyes up to his, trying to read in them what could have produced such an answer in a boy she had come to think of as an undying optimist. Where Elijah was usually a fanciful romantic, his answer to her words was instead the type of rational response she would have given if posed with the same question.
How did this happen? Amelia wondered, trying to find the answer in Elijah’s dark eyes, but finding nothing. Somehow, their roles had been reversed, and instead of having all the answers and giving curt responses, Amelia was asking the questions that had no answers, and thinking about paradoxes that had no firm resolutions.
Why didn’t she just try to understand that which was foreign to her? Well, mostly because she feared emotions, and to her this was not an irrational fear. Emotions were dangerous: they came in all shapes and sizes, were unpredictable, and revealed all your vulnerabilities. Wearing emotions on your sleeve – or anywhere they could be seen, for that matter – was like an invitation for exploitation. Amelia defended and stifled her more emotional side because she didn’t want to take the risk of being hurt.
At least when someone pointed a wand at your head, you knew going in that it would be bad. In relationships, you go in with hope. There is a flame, no matter how small, that stands the chance of being snuffed out later on. It is this hope that makes the fall from grace hurt so much – you believed in something, and it was taken from you. It is like a repeated lesson that believing simply isn’t enough.
Amelia wanted to find a response to Elijah’s words, but she didn’t know how to settle on an answer when her thoughts were so scattered and unfocused themselves. Because of her hesitation, Elijah did not wait for her response, as she was growing accustomed to him doing. She was thankful, once again, that he was okay with her non-response as he stood up, the quick peck on the lips making colour bloom to Amelia’s face. Although she had taken down the last of the barriers between his lips and hers, each time he crossed the rubble now still made her squirm.
Smiling nervously – It’s just a kiss, what have you got to be nervous about? – Amelia felt her cheeks heat up as Elijah tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, that charming smile winning her over in spite of herself. The thoughts of emotional harm and risk chased away until another time, Amelia took Elijah’s hand and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor once more.
The song which had been playing ended just as the pair of them reached the floor, a much slower one coming on afterward. It was too slow even to waltz to, more the sort of song that was intended only to be swayed to. Accepting this – and for lack of anything else to do now that they were out here – Amelia turned to Elijah and draped her arms over his shoulders, clasping her arms around his neck. There was bend in her elbows, allowing for slightly less than the socially acceptable amount of distance between her and the young man who had managed to confuse her more than any other – muggle or magical – ever had before.
“There really is no end to the surprises with you, is there?” Amelia asked abruptly, not realizing until she had said it that she had even been thinking it. Once it had been said, though, she realized how true it was. Since the moment they had met in the owlery, Elijah had been a series of eyebrow-raising moments, keeping Amelia utterly perplexed and off balance.
by Arthur Severus Poe Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:06 pm
I might not post tommorow or the day after, but will after that. )
