Shiver ** (BRANDON)

[Deleted]

@brandon
<3

Once again, Addilyn Joy was in the library. It was a new place of refuge for her. With recent events of the tournament, not many people ended up in there, so it was a peaceful and quiet place for her to collect her thoughts and just be on her own. Addilyn had already enjoyed reading a tremendous amount, but as of late she was reading more and more every day. Her assignments were always done extra early so she almost always had free time.

Her mind had been extremely clouded with Edmund and Grey lately. Both of them were just...crazy. Absolutely crazy. She wasn't sure what she was going to do about Grey. Addi assumed she should just give up; he clearly didn't want anything to do with her, but she just couldn't. Who could give up on their own blood that easily? Their family? Addilyn Slater loved Grey, even if she's never admitted it before. He was her only brother and he was the first man she really loved, even before their father. And no matter how many years had gone on of him ignoring her, making fun of her, and pretending like she didn't exist, she always went back to him. Because he was her brother and that was enough for her.

Addi was sitting in a single arm chair, her legs swung over one side and her head resting on the other, a book in her lap. Her eyes were devouring the words on the paper. The quietness of the library was incredible, and quiet enjoyable.

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Brandon walked in the library for the first time this year. For the first time in more than a year, in fact. He smiled, liking how quiet it was inside. As he looked around, he realized it was quite busy. That was odd. Why was it so quiet with so many people in there? He decided to go to his favorite corner. In all his years at Hogwarts, before he went to Durmstrang, he never saw anyone in that corner, so it was as good as any. He made his way over there, but to his surprise there was a blonde girl sitting. She was pretty, but she ... didn't look happy. She was enthralled in her book, whatever it was, but he was getting some pretty negative vibes from her.

He moved to a chair close to her. "You mind if I join you?" he asked before he sat down, wondering if she would mind his interruption. Still, he didn't want to scare her by just sitting down nearby. Whatever was going on with this girl, he didn't want to make it worse somehow.

@jill2

[Deleted]

@brandon
<3

A voice that she wasn't very familiar with brought her out of her trance in the story she was reading. When she looked up, she saw he was wearing Durmstrang robes, but...he had an accent like hers. Addi's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion, but she nodded her head at him. He didn't look familiar either, but Addi wasn't going to turn him away. It wasn't her library to be in.

"Of course, go ahead." She gestured to the seat beside her and tried to force a smile at him. "I'm Addilyn, by the way, Addilyn Slater. It's nice to meet you." It wasn't like her to be so quiet and uncomfortable, but with recent events...she wasn't really the same as a few weeks ago.

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Brandon nodded, sitting in the seat beside her. "Thank you." He smiled when he heard her name. He'd heard of Slaters before, but he wasn't sure if it was her that he'd heard of or not. "I'm Brandon Fisher ... I used to go to school here," he told her, gesturing to the robes he was wearing. Obviously he was from Durmstrang now and he'd noticed her confusion when she looked at him. It probably had something to do with his lack of a Durmstrang accent. That was easily explained though. "So what are you reading?" he asked curiously. Brandon liked making friends, especially with people that he felt like needed his help. She was sad, which meant that he would definitely be reaching out to her.

@jill2

[Deleted]

@brandon
<3

Her head tilted in confusion. He went here before? He must be a seventh year then if he's here for the tournament. Her eyes narrowed. "You probably know my brother, Grey Slater. He's a Gryffindor. What house were you in?" Addilyn suddenly became very interested in him, and her old self came out slightly. "And why'd you leave? Why go to Durmstrang? You didn't like it here?" As soon as she realized, she blushed deeply, sinking back a bit into her chair. He asked about her book and she looked at it then back at him. "Oh...it's about dragons."

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When she mentioned Grey, Brandon felt himself nodding. Yeah, he knew who Grey was. They'd never really been friends though. The Gryffindor had always seemed more introverted. Then she started asking him all sorts of questions and Brandon smiled. "I was in Hufflepuff," he told her. Actually, it was weird being at Hogwarts and not being able to go to his common room or dorm. He hadn't expected that when he agreed to go as a possible Durmstrang champion.

Then she asked why he left. He hesitated, "Uhh, it's ... well, it's complicated. Some family things came up and I went to live with my dad, in Bulgaria. So going to Durmstrang kind of came with it, right?" He hoped she understood, but she probably wouldn't. Heck, he didn't fully understand the choice he made a year and a half ago. Only, he needed to get away. "I love Hogwarts," he told her. "It just kind of happened that I had to leave."

She blushed at his question about the book and he kind of stared at her curiously. Why was that embarrassing? "Dragons? That's cool. You like dragons, then?" He guessed.

@jill2

[Deleted]

@brandon
<3

Addilyn smiled gently at him. She loved Hufflepuffs...they were so sweet. Except Kyle. She made a face as she thought of him. "I have a good friend who is a Hufflepuff, her name is Jamie Greyback. And Grey has a friend, Kyle Williams. He's nice...sort of." Her eyes scrunched up a bit at how confusing that sounded. "I'm a Slytherin." Why was this boy making her go back to her normal self?

Addi let out a small chuckle on accident. She hadn't meant to offend him if she had, but it was just something she knew how it felt. "I'm very aware with family problems. I'm sorry about that, though. I hope it all works out for you."

Coughing, she nodded her head. "Yeah...I think I want to work with them. I figured I'd start looking now before my seventh year starts, get a head start and maybe try to figure out what I need to do to get there, you know?"

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Brandon nodded, "Yeah, I know Kyle. We were in the same house and year together. I was never really close with him though," he mentioned, guessing from what the girl said that she and Kyle didn't really get along. Maybe they were dating or something and had a fight.

He smiled at her, "Don't worry about it. Family problems have a way of sorting themselves out," he said, trying to be comforting. He didn't want to talk about his, but he wondered if she wanted to talk. "Do you want to talk about it maybe?" Brandon asked. He knew that sometimes it was easier to talk to a stranger about your problems than it was to talk to someone you know.

When she said she wanted to work with dragons, Brandon was surprised. He didn't expect that from such a small, young girl. Still, if it's something she liked, the good for her. "That sounds like fun. I knew what I wanted to do a long time ago, but I can understand wanting to figure it out before getting to your last year."

@jill2

[Deleted]

@brandon
<3

Addilyn didn't say any more about Kyle. She didn't want to talk about him; he was a person of her past and they hadn't spoken in forever. Addi wasn't even sure he wanted to be friends with her anymore. Not after what he had said about Slytherins.

Brandon wanted to know what was wrong with her and her family, and Addi shrugged. She had said it so many times that it was just becoming like a story for her to tell constantly. "To sum it up, Grey's an ass. He made a deal with this girl that was bullying me that if he doesn't talk to me than I was free game for her. Also, we haven't ever really had a good relationship, so we just started getting closer again but now I'm a ghost to him." Her anger reappeared and she took a deep breath. "But apparently that was a lie and he isn't talking to me so that I won't be attacked by her, but I don't believe him." Her eyes glared down at her own hands, not wanting to look at Brandon after revealing all of that.

"Well I've always wanted to work with animals, I just hadn't decided on which animal. I've recently decided dragons were my best choice."

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She started spilling the story of her family and Brandon listened intently. He was surprised she was sharing such personal things with him and he wasn't sure what to say in response. "Wait," he said when things started getting mixed up in his mind. "So what was the deal Grey made? And which one was the lie?" She said it so quickly that he couldn't keep it straight. Why a brother would do something like that was beyond him. "I'm sorry. Family issues are never easy ..." he trailed off, thinking of his own issues with Callie. Maybe he wouldn't mind talking about it, but would that really help anything? Probably not, and Brandon wasn't one to simply volunteer his life's problems to strangers. If she wanted to ask, he might tell her, but otherwise ... probably not.

He smiled, "I think dragons would be exciting. What made you want to choose to work with them the most?" He felt like he was getting to know this girl pretty quickly. After all, their conversation was a bit personal. 

@jill2

[Deleted]

@brandon
<3

Addi shrugged at him. "Well apparently the lie was that he was just protecting himself, and the truth is that he's protecting me by not talking to me... But I don't really believe that." She was telling him the truth, Grey had a tendency to lie in general and with the way he's treated her before in their lives she wouldn't put it past him to hurt her like this. It was just who he was, and although he had proved to her for a short while that he wanted to be closer to her, it hadn't lasted very long.

"They're big, and fun. I also find learning about all of the different types quite interesting." Addilyn silently wondered what it was that he wanted to do, but figured he'd tell her anyways.

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Brandon frowned. She was not in a very good situation. It was hard having issues with one's family, as he was very aware. He nodded slowly, "I'm sorry. It's always hard when things aren't going well with family. I'm sure it will all work out somehow," he encouraged, though he didn't think she would listen to him. She seemed pretty determined to be angry with her brother, but not without reason. In a way, Brandon sort of understood her brother, even though he had no idea what his motives were. Still, there was no way her brother was pushing her away for the same reason he was pushing his family away. No, that was completely different.

"I believe it," Brandon said with a smile. She obviously had a passion for dragons, which was fun. "I've always struggled a bit with animals, to be honest. My talents lie ... more on a musical note," he admitted, smiling at his pun. 

@jill2

[Deleted]

@brandon
<3

Addilyn shrugged at Brandon. She knew he was just trying to be nice, but Addi couldn't bring herself to believe him. "Maybe...maybe not. Only time will tell, I suppose." It wasn't definite that everything with Grey would go back to normal. And honestly, Addilyn wasn't sure she wanted it to. Either way, she'd be hurt. She just didn't know which she could deal with.

"That's okay, not everyone enjoys animals. A lot of people lately enjoy healing and being an auror. I've looked into healing, but I really wanted to do something different as my sister is an auror." Addi smiled at him gently. He mentioned music and she perked up. "Oh, yeah? I sing! I'm on the choir here at school."

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When she said that only time could tell, Brandon's thoughts went back to his own problems. Maybe time would be able to help him when it came to Callie too. Then again, could he really hope for that when she was basically his sister now? He wasn't sure. Quite honestly, he felt like he was walking on the ceiling lately. Everything seemed backwards and he didn't know how to put it straight anymore. "I hope it'll help both of us," he commented, feeling like he should say something, but not really knowing what to say.

"Yeah, following along with family tradition isn't really my style either," he agreed. Kind of. He wasn't sure if being an auror was a tradition in her family or not, but oh well. Apparently police work was important in his family, but he had no intentions towards police-work. None whatsoever. He grinned when she said she was in the choir, "That's great! I love choir. I used to be on it here, but not anymore. Durmstrang doesn't really focus on musical arts either. How do I not know you?" He looked over at her, inspecting her curiously. He should've seen her at choir, unless she joined last year. Still, something about Addilyn was ... intriguing. He liked talking to her, felt comfortable in a way he hadn't for a long time. In a way, she'd reeled him in and he really wasn't interested in leaving her or the conversation at the moment, which was also new for him lately. He had a hard time holding conversations with people ever since coming back to Hogwarts, but she was different. For the first time since he met Callie, Brandon thought he might be feeling something for someone else. Granted, it definitely wasn't what he felt for Callie, but maybe it could be built on, somehow. Would it be rude to ask if she was seeing someone?

@jill2

[Deleted]

@brandon
<3

Addilyn smiled at Brandon. He was sweet, and Addi was glad he wasn't like everyone else and pretty much blaming her for everything. That's what she felt at least, that Grey and Edmund were telling her this was all of her fault. It wasn't; Grey wasn't being a nice brother. And Addilyn was finally fed up with it all. Why should she have to constantly be hurt by him so she can talk to him? It doesn't work that way.

Addi was glad someone else knew how it felt to not want to follow the family ways. Being an auror was never something Addi even considered. She didn't want to have to hurt people, ever. Helping those is what she wanted to do most. Which left her with three options; teaching, healing, and animals. And she chose animals, which she was very happy with. Brandon gave her a weird look and Addi rose an eyebrow at him, smiling. She wasn't sure how she didn't know him either. Tilting her head, she responded, "I'm not sure, honestly. We're only a year different."