i don't ever want to let you down [grey]

[Deleted]

Braleynn was alive. Her sister, who was supposed to be dead, was alive. To say that Cecelia was stunned would be an understatement. To say that she was scared would also be an understatement, because if Braelynn, who was supposed to be dead, was alive, then Desirae, who was also supposed to be dead...could also be alive. Cece wasn't sure if she was in the right emotional state to be considering those sorts of things, but if she was honest, she didn't care. She was going to continue to be her hurricane self, no matter who was alive or who was dead. Cecelia was desperately hoping that she didn't destroy everything in her path the way a hurricane did, but she was prepared for that eventuality. Cecelia was breezing down the corridors, trying her hardest to get to the Gryffindor common room and her dormitory, where she could explode without anyone seeing her, when she saw a familiar face, and was forced, as if by an unseen hand, to stop. Grey. Now that she knew Braelynn was alive, and was entertaining the possibility that Desirae was as well, Grey meant something different. His older sister had killed hers. Claire had killed Desirae. And now she and Grey were friends. Well, that was awkward.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@cecelia

Grey yawned. He wasn’t exactly sure what time of day it was because his watch wasn’t moving and he had just awoken from a nap in the library. Someone probably thought it was hilarious to charm the Gryffindor’s watch as he snoozed. Grey didn’t think it was that great. Didn’t help that it was rather dull and cloudy outside as well, so staring out the windows wasn’t going to get him anywhere. The best way to tell was by heading down to the Great Hall to check to see what meal had just started or finished. At least that was the plan, because as he rounded from the third floor to the second, he spotted Cecelia heading straight towards him. Not exactly uncommon, running into other Gryffindors going up and down through the castle, but the fact that she stopped walking when she saw him was definitely different. They had been talking more often than not lately, so maybe it was because she wanted to strike up a conversation. He wasn’t breaking any rules, at least he didn’t think he was, and considering they were joking about his number of detentions a week or so ago only made him more curious what this stop was going to be about.

“Going pretty fast through the halls for this time of the day, aren’t you?” Grey joked, still unsure of exactly what time it was. Cecelia looked flustered, or hurried, or some kind of combination of both. He couldn’t really say if that was different from any other times he ran into her, because there had definitely been some strange encounters. “Looks like you’ve seen a ghost, or ran through one for that matter. Know I’d stop like that if one phased right through me.” He involuntarily shuddered at the thought of a ghost going through him. It happened from time to time, and most definitely wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

[Deleted]

Cecelia knew that she was staring. She was trying not to, but she was definitely staring. At least it was just Grey, and not someone who would get mad at her for merely daring to gaze upon him. Luckily, Grey began to talk, so her looking at him wasn’t quite as weird as it could’ve been. Grey commented that she was going fast through the halls, and Cece nodded slowly, still trying to get herself back into reality instead of whatever la-la land she had gone to when she had learned that Braelynn was alive. “I like to move fast.” Cece said softly. She winced. That sounded weird, and lame, and she really needed to focus. She blinked a couple times, aware of the fact that she probably looked exceedingly strange, and was able to focus a little better when Grey said his next words. Oh, if only he knew how true that they were. “Claire killed Desirae.” Cecelia said, surprised by the strength in her own voice in addition to the words that she had said. She hadn’t meant for that to come out – she had purposed to make a joke about Grey being the ghost she had seen, but that didn’t seem like a good idea now that she had said what she had said about their sisters. “…And she’s sure she died?” This wasn’t something they ought to be talking about in public, Cece didn’t think, but once again, it was too late to take back her words, and she was curious, if more than one of her ghosts could come back to haunt her.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@cecelia

He supposed running through the halls wasn’t the most egregious thing to do in the world. Cecelia was a Prefect after all, so it was within her rights to be able to run about however she pleased. Grey would have been yelled at by a professor or something if he went around looking like he was about to plow over anything that was between him and his destination. Apparently there were benefits to being a goody-two-shoes and becoming a Prefect. “I can see. Watch your step on the stairs though. Tripped more times than I can count…” Only a few bruises and scuffs from falling on them every couple of months. It happened when you could practically sleep walk from the Great Hall back to the Gryffindor common room.

Grey was going to continue on his way to hopefully get some food once they were done talking, still somewhat groggy from his nap, but the next sentence out of Cecelia’s mouth caught him slightly off guard. Apparently now was the time to talk about the thing they had both avoided so far. He had never seen a reason to go around flaunting that Claire had killed Cecelia’s sister, because at the end of the day, that wasn’t any of his business. His sister was doing her job, and Desirae had tried to kill her. Being an Auror sometimes came down to kill or be killed. In his opinion, that’s exactly what the Rousseau girl had wanted too. They had previously discussed the whole Desirae killing the other sister before, so he wasn’t exactly sure how this conversation was going to go now that he was on the other end of it. “She did.” He stated flatly. “I trust the Aurors to do their job, so yeah, I’m pretty sure she’s dead.” That wasn’t too cold was it? He knew Claire. She wouldn’t let something like death get in the way of doing her job correctly. “Claire didn’t even tell us that her fiancé was killed in the attack at the end of last year because she thought it would interfere with her work. I’m positive she’d double check to make sure your sister was dead.”

[Deleted]

Cecelia smiled a little bit when Grey made a comment about watching herself at the stairs. She understood why that would be a problem, if she actually had been rushing for a purpose and not just because she was afraid of what she would do, but now that Grey was here, Cece felt a little less like a hurricane. She was still stormy, but it was…contained. Not by him, not exactly, but it was like being around him gave her the strength to contain herself. That was weird, and Cecelia wasn’t sure that she liked it. Especially because none of her other friends really had the same effect on her. Cecelia liked consistency, the irony of which was not lost on her. “I don’t trip, Grey.” She said with a roll of her eyes. It seemed like all of her conversations with Grey ending up shifting from relatively light-hearted to really, really heavy. Not that she minded – she liked someone who she could talk about everything with, not just the superficial or the serious.

Desirae was dead. Grey was sure that Claire had killed her, and that was all that Cece needed to hear. She knew it was just confirmation, and she felt silly for even needing to ask it, but she trusted Grey, and thus far she had only been told of Desi’s death by people she didn’t trust at all. If Desirae was alive, then she would be dead, for having told both Andromeda and Grey about the Unbreakable Vow. Without thinking, Cece closed the space between her and Grey, wrapping her arms around him in a hard, warm hug. “Thank you.” She breathed. “I needed to hear that.”

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@cecelia

He chuckled quietly as Cecelia said that she didn’t trip. That seemed to be a common thing for her; not doing certain things. “You’ve also never been in detention, Cecelia.” He imitated her eye roll for added effect. Being this sarcastic and playful definitely wasn’t a normal occurrence for him, usually only ever when he was around Finn, Rai, and Lily. Then again, their natures allowed him to ease up and not be so serious all the time. Apparently it was starting to come out around Cecelia as well. Only took seven years to befriend someone else in his year. His Gryffindor pride seemed to have prevented him from just sitting down and talking to the others in the house. That was all it took.

The real trick here was whether or not he was saying what Cecelia really wanted to hear. Being a straight-shooter and telling her that he was absolutely positive her sister was killed by his sister should have been a touchy topic to cover, but it didn’t seem like she thought of it that way. He would have thrown a few galleons down that there would be a fist connecting to his face or stomach within seconds of finishing his last statement, and yet there wasn’t. Fist sandwiches with a side of pessimism didn’t seem to be on the menu today though, and instead he was met with a hug. Not a punch, a hug, of all things. That was definitely a surprise. It took a few seconds for it to register as Cecelia wrapped her arms around him and thanked him for telling her that.

He had rather strange encounters with people from time to time, but never anything remotely close to being thanked for confirming the death of someone’s sister by his own sister. Wasn’t that a little messed up? Regardless, he returned the hug. “Yeah, of course…didn’t take you for the hugging type either. Full of surprises today aren’t you?”

[OOC: 400th post wooo]

[Deleted]

Cecelia shrugged when Grey said that she hadn’t ever been in detention, either. “Are you planning on changing both of those things now?” She asked. They already had a rough plan for getting her into detention, though Cecelia wasn’t sure whether or not that had been a joke or something more real. If Grey was going to try to trip her, though, Cecelia was going to need to be in a state of constant vigilance. She didn’t want the entire school to see her flat on her face…though it would probably end up being funny in hindsight, as most things with Grey seemed to be.

Grey was right to think that Cecelia wasn’t the hugging type. Because she wasn’t, not normally. She had hugged Chantal, when Desirae had died, and Ramsey…But Cece couldn’t remember the last time she had hugged a boy, mostly because she didn’t have a surplus of boys to hug. Cece didn’t let go of Grey, but mumbled a response to his statement. “I like to keep you on your toes.” She said. She knew that she ought to let go now, but it still took Cecelia another couple seconds before unwrapping her arms from around Grey. “Sorry, it’s just…been weighing on my mind a lot.” She said. They had avoided the conversation once before, so Cecelia was willing to leave it at that. The thing was…she couldn’t think about anything else – at least not anything that she could tell him. Bay had told her not to tell anyone without explicit permission, and even though Cece trusted Grey, more even than she probably trusted herself, she knew why Braelynn was so careful. If Elaine found out…Cece shuddered, then took a step back. Elaine didn’t know that Bay was alive, but she certainly knew that Cecelia was, and if she found out that Cecelia and Grey were friends…he would be in danger.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@cecelia

“I can’t very well trip you. That’s out of character for me.” Not that he wouldn’t rough someone up if they gave him a reason to. He and Finn had pushed Rai’s brother, whatever his name was, almost to the tipping point when she was missing. He was prepared to fight that night, but it never ended up happening, thankfully. “As for detention, there’s tons of ways. I think the plan you had the other day is a good one,” he pointed out. There was also the issue that she really couldn’t get in trouble for being out after hours, seeing as she had the title of Prefect. They’d find a way though. “Room of Requirement, right?”

Grey was almost positive that she mumbled something along the lines of liking to keep him on his toes. He didn’t respond, smiling instead. She definitely did keep him on his toes, between the strange encounter in the Prefect’s bathroom, and then leading him to believe that he was about to get a healthy dose of detentions for coming back late all the time. Even just a few moments ago he had no idea how she was going to react. It all came back to that façade that she put on, or claimed to. Even though he knew it was there, there were times when it wasn’t and times when it was all the way up. That always lead to interesting conversations with her, never knowing what exactly was going to come of them.

While it wasn’t a long hug by any means, Grey certainly didn’t expect her to pull away when she did. He didn’t get hugged a lot, usually only when he really helped someone out, namely his sister, and aside from that, only Lily. And that was more like getting tackled, so it didn’t really count. From the way Cecelia reacted though, it seemed like she really needed it. “No need to apologize,” he laughed softly. “I’d be worried if you weren’t constantly thinking about all of that.”

[Deleted]

“And getting detention is out of character for me.” Cecelia shot back. They had discussed that already, though, the obligations of prefects and whether or not they could get detention. “We both have to make sacrifices for the greater good, Grey.” The greater good in this case was giving Cecelia a more rounded view of life by doing silly, probably reckless, things. She grinned when Grey said that her idea was a good one. “When do you want to put it into action, then?” Cece asked. It probably wasn’t smart to be discussing their rule breaking in a hallway where everyone else could hear them. Premeditation could make their punishment worse…Not that Cecelia particularly cared, because unless she did something really unforgivable, she didn’t think that she’d be stripped of her prefect position.

Grey said she didn’t need to apologize, and Cece shrugged. “Better an unnecessary apology than hurt feelings.” Cecelia said. It was always better to apologize to people even when it wasn’t set in stone that you had done something wrong. Unless apologizing meant admitting guilt, in which case apologizing was not necessarily the best idea. “…There are other things I think about a lot.” Cecelia admitted. “Like you.” Cece winced, realizing how that sounded. “I mean…Elaine is already not your sister’s biggest fan, and if I wonder, if by being your friend, I’m putting you in even more danger…” Maybe it was selfish, but even though she knew that she could possibly hurting Grey by being seen around him, Cecelia couldn’t bear to make herself let go. Because then she’d be alone again.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@cecelia

Grey held himself back from saying touché to Cecelia as she quipped back that detention was out of character for her. She always seemed to have a pretty good rebuttal for his comments. He couldn’t think of too many others that were like that. He definitely could count them all on one hand. “For the greater good? Careful who you say that around.” He joked. That had sounded very…archaic. He had paid attention in history of magic enough to know what that sounded like. Grey understood what she meant by it though. Living by his code of not giving a damn was quite the jump for some people. For the longest time he was positive that not even his family could understand it. The only reason he was like that was because of them. Now he was backtracking to try and recover whatever was left. “But I agree. Tonight? Tomorrow? I’m always free to mess around. As long as it’s planned out I can push any newspaper work onto the other members.” He realized how unprofessional that sounded the second it came out. “They need to be able to function without me here next year. Can’t baby them forever.”

He contemplated her reasoning for apologizing. It made sense, but he still didn’t see any use in it, when she had never done anything wrong in the first place. “Me? With hurt feelings?” Grey scratched his neck, while he thought. “I don’t think that’s ever happened. My sister punched me in the face in front of the whole school and I was fine after.” It had hurt like hell, especially considering Claire came in and berated him afterwards. Or had he berated her with illogical questions? That was over with, so it didn’t matter anymore. Grey turned his attention back to Cecelia as she continued talking, explaining that there were other things that she thought about a lot…like him. He could feel his eyes raise slightly. That certainly brought questions, but they were somewhat dashed as she continued on about how being his friend could put him in danger, especially after what had happened with Claire. That was a reasonable thought, looking at what had happened to her sisters. “If that’s the case, then I was in danger the second my sister, you know…” He didn’t need to finish that sentence. “I don’t think you should hold yourself back from being friends with people just because someone else might not like them. And if they have a problem with that, then all you have to do is protect those that matter. It might not always work out the way you want, but giving up isn’t the solution either.” Grey shrugged. “Just my thoughts on it.”

[Deleted]

Cece flushed a little when Grey said that she ought to be careful about who she said ‘for the greater good’ around. It had been so long that sometimes she forgot that the otherwise innocuous phrase used to be the rallying point for an evil dark wizard. The impact Grindewald had on France wasn’t nearly as large as the one that he had on Britain, but a shiver ran down Cecelia’s spine at the thought of him. She already had enough people thinking that she sympathized with Elaine and her crew without more thinking that she thought Grindewald ought to make a return. “Tonight is as good as any night.” Cecelia wasn’t on duty, which was really the only thing that mattered, since if she was supposed to be patrolling, it wouldn’t be against the rules for her to be out of bed, which was the whole purpose of their outing. “We can meet outside the Room of Requirement after dinner?” She suggested. That would mean that they’d have to spent quite a bit of time together before going back to the tower, but it was the easiest way to make sure neither of them accidentally let it slip their mind. And if one of them decided to chicken out, it gave them plenty of time to do that, too. Cece shrugged when Grey said that he could push his work onto other newspaper members, and then added they needed to function without him. “Is your junior editor going to take your place next year?” She asked curiously. Cecelia didn’t look into the inner workings of the newspaper much – actually, she couldn’t remember ever having even read it – but since it was one of the only things Grey seemed to care about, Cece did wonder about the newspaper occasionally.

“There’s a first time for everything.” Cecelia said, though she hoped that she wasn’t the reason that Grey had to experience hurt feelings for the first time. He did have a point however, in saying that his sister had punched him in front of the whole school and he hadn’t really seemed that broken up about it. There was probably a story behind that, but that was a story for different day. “That’s true.” Cecelia said when Grey said he had been in danger since the moment Claire offed Desirae. Elaine had no lost love for the Slaters, and it wasn’t worth sugar-coating. “So, are you saying that being friends with me is worth the risk?” She asked bluntly. That was what she had heard, with all of his talking about protecting those who mattered, but she wanted to make sure she wasn’t jumping to conclusions. She really did want to be Grey’s friend, with an official stamp on it and everything, knowing that he knew that she wasn’t the easy choice.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@cecelia

Tonight. Perfect. Then they just needed to find a way to get in trouble once there. He doubted that Cecelia would get a detention just by being out and about after hours, especially if it was her first offense. That would be the tricky part. More than likely they’d need to cause a little havoc on an unsuspecting prefect or professor to really get someone to write them up. Grey was an easy detention to give, but his friend, not so much. They’d manage though, he was confident that they were smart enough to put something together in a few hours. “Works for me. Room of Requirement, after dinner.” Grey confirmed, nodding his head to show that he understood. Hopefully Cecelia could get the room to work. Grey had never been able to get the thing to work on his own, without someone already being in there or with him to help out. He wasn’t sure why that was, but it had always seemed to allude him while he was on his own.

"I wish she was,” Grey answered. “But she’s a seventh year as well, so we have to throw it onto someone else.” It had been a pain to figure out who was perfect for the job. If Grey had it his way, he would have preferred Olivia to have been a sixth year this year, but by some stroke of luck that’s not what his predecessors believed in. They had run everything since fifth year, so he was thinking of doing the same thing; naming a fifth and fourth year as editor-in-chief and junior editor. That would probably create some bad blood with the current sixth years, but it wasn’t going to be his problem anymore in a few months. If they really wanted to blame someone for it, he could point them to the former editor-in-chief, whose fault it was that they were in this position now. “I’m not too worried though. Nobody will read the paper again once this year is over. The only reason we have anyone paying attention now is because of the tournament,” he shrugged. It was true. He had people tell him so. The amount of shocked responses he had received when people realized there was a school newspaper was insane. To be honest, he was the same way when he discovered it in his fourth year. They weren’t really known for pushing it out too much back then.

He chuckled as she said there was a first everything. That there was. For the time being though, he was resolved to not letting things hang on and bug him. It was one of the reasons why Rai’s sudden absence hadn’t shaken him up the way everyone expected it too. They were still friends, and nothing was ever going to change that. “Something like that. Risk or not, friends are friends. And everyone needs them at some point in time.” That logic had taken him years to understand, but it was seemingly possible now with more than just Finn, Rai, and Lily. “Or in typical Gryffindor fashion, the risk is just a bonus.”

[Deleted]

The plan was solidified, and Cecelia wondered if she ought to shake on it or write it down or something like that, to make it really official. She shrugged it off – she trusted Grey’s word, and she trusted her own, and it was more interesting to hear him talk about the newspaper than it was to ponder whether or not one of them was going to back out on a plan that they had both been enthusiastic about since the beginning. Cecelia let out a low whistle when Grey said his junior editor was also a seventh year. “Everyone else is going to be thrown into the deep end next year.” She commented. Cecelia ran a club, too, but the GSA wasn’t like the newspaper – they didn’t need to produce anything, just discuss, and there weren’t any deadlines. Having two new people in management positions didn’t seem like a good idea, but Grey had made it seem like his junior editor had been tapped by his predecessors, and not by him. In the end, it wasn’t going to be Grey’s problem what happened to the newspaper after he graduated. He would be gone. Cecelia made a soft, sad noise when Grey said that no one was going to read the paper again after this year. “Maybe the Tournament will be the beginning of a Golden Age for the paper.” Cece suggested. She didn’t actually think that was going to happen, but she was trying not to drag Grey down by agreeing that his metaphorical child, the newspaper, was unloved by everyone but him and the rest of his staff.

Cecelia felt strangely warm when Grey said that friends were friends, no matter the risk. He hadn’t outright agreed to what she had said, but it was enough of an agreement that Cece was sure he wasn’t just tolerating her out of obligation or guilt or hope that he would get more free passes on his nighttime wanderings. “Maybe it is.” Cecelia mused when Grey said that risk might have been a bonus. She suddenly remembered what she was supposed to be doing – that was, not exploding, and her skin began to itch as the thoughts rushed to the surface all over again. “I’ve get to get going, but I’ll see you after dinner.” Cece said, reaching a hand out to brush it over Grey’s arm. That was strange – Cece didn’t like unnecessary, casual touches like that. Then again, this entire day had been strange, so she was going to cut herself some slack. Cecelia gave Grey one last smile before continuing on her way. She got back to the Gryffindor tower in record time, and didn’t trip once.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@cecelia

The deep end was a kind way to put it. He was practically going to hold them underwater all the way until the end of this term before announcing who he thought was right for the position. In all honesty, he didn’t think any of them were particularly ready over the others. Then again, the same was probably said about him when he was chosen. It was unfortunately something that had to happen. Sitting down with Olivia and the other seventh years to go over all the likely candidates was already marked in his calendar. Grey laughed at thought of the paper entering a Golden Age. “If it didn’t happen under me, then it isn’t happening any time soon.” That was speaking rather highly of himself. It wasn’t often that he bragged like that. “We were given the perfect conditions this year. Unless something crazy happens next year as well, then I think it’ll settle back down to how it was.” He surely didn’t wish for anything too bad, at least not anything close to the previous year’s events. That would mean he’d be sent out in force following his Auror training, and Grey wasn’t too keen on chasing down crazies that soon. He wasn’t his sister.

He grinned as she said that maybe the risk was worth it. It always was, in his opinion. He had a few people to thank for that way of going about life. The sleepy, unassuming Gryffindor was also fully prepared to throw himself off a cliff if need be to help someone else, should they ask. It had taken a little while to put that resolve together, but it definitely helped explain why he was in the house that he was. Only took seven years. “See you later.” He called as Cecelia stepped by him, touching his arm in the process. As he watched her walk off for a few seconds, he found himself unconsciously holding onto his arm in the same place. He stared at it for a few seconds before deciding to head back down to the Great Hall. Throughout their entire conversation, he had neglected to ask what time it was. There was no way he’d be able to meet her after dinner if he didn’t know when dinner was. Laughing at himself for not knowing, Grey started off towards the Great Hall once again.

[THE END]