literature

Refuge

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Literature Text

Lissy slipped silently through the moonlit hallways of the castle, glad she had practice doing so. She wasn't paying any attention to where she was going, habit steered her feet true though. She should slow down, pay closer attention. At least pause at various corners to peek around and listen for any patrolling teachers. But the tears in her eyes were determined to fall. And she wanted to be somewhere safe before she let them d so. She couldn't go back to her own dorm, but luckily she had something else just as good.

The Fat Lady was snoring against her frame, her cheek pushed up against the edge of the picture and drooling a little bit. Lissy cleared her throat, whispered a soft hello…and finally frowned.

"Hey!"

The large woman shot bolt upright with an entertaining snort and a glare. "Miss Westmarsh, do you realize what time it is?"

"Yes, past curfew." Lissy said softly. A part of her felt honored that the woman knew her name. The portrait had been around for so long that she didn't bother to remember the names of most Gryffindors, let alone anyone in other Houses. "Please, I know I'm late, I need to get in!"

The woman sighed. "Password?"

"Split Pea Soup." Lissy said, not missing a beat. The Fat Lady yawned, swinging the picture forward.

"Off to bed with you then."

Lissy didn't want to go to bed. She wanted to sleep, but she knew she wouldn't be able to, either. She'd lay there for hours, replaying events over and over again in her head until she wanted to cry again.

She wiped a stray tear away as she hopped down from the portrait hole, offering a perfectly cheerful smile to the people there who called a hello in her direction. Two of the males were seventh years who seemed to be rather drunk, calling hellos to everyone in the room, regardless of how long they'd been there. Luckily thanks to their antics, no one seemed to notice when she slipped past them all and to the stairs leading to the boys dormitory.

She knocked on the door she knew as well as her own, and when she didn't get a reply, she slipped inside. A quick glance around showed that the room was empty. Oh good… she really didn't want to deal with the boys right now. Well-meaning as they might be, she just…didn't want to explain. If she was lucky, they didn't even know she was here…and wouldn't.

She moved to the spare bed in the room and snatched the pillow from it, grabbing her book which she'd left in here the day before. She dove under the bed and spelled the curtains closed with a flick of her wand and got herself settled.

She'd discovered this little hideaway playing hide and seek during third year. The childish game was a blast in the castle…especially when she'd learned some spells which could set the boys on a false trail. The mattress sat high enough above her that she could almost sit up under here, and it was easy to lie on her stomach and read by wand light. She'd never slept under here before, but she'd fallen asleep on the floor of her own house before. This wouldn't be much different.

She'd just whispered the spell to light the hiding place when the door opened. She breathed "Nox" and it went out, and she lay perfectly silent in her hiding place. Footsteps entered the room, paused, and came over to her bed. Oh…well crap, she'd closed the curtains on instinct. What better sign of her presence could she have left?!

The curtains opened, hesitantly, then more quickly as the searcher found the bed empty. And when the pair of shoes to her left stepped back and the person knelt, she sighed.

"Hello Fred."

"Liss? What…are you doing under the bed?" he asked, leaning down and tilting his head sideways to look at her. She sighed and lowered her head onto the pillow she'd brought.

"Hiding."

"I see…hiding from what?"

"You." Was the sullen reply.

He nodded and stood, and for a moment she thought he was going to leave her alone. She'd expected more a fight than that, had she really looked that sad and- Oh no, he was coming back. The redhead knelt again and - dragging a blanket and a second pillow - crawled in beside her.

"Why are you hiding?"

"Because I don't want to talk." She said firmly, opening her book again. Pale green eyes focused on the first word of the chapter and she started reading.

"Talk about what?"

She shot him a look. "I don't want to talk about it."

He shrugged, looking infuriatingly uninterested. "Fine."

He lay down on his back and laced his fingers over his chest and Lissy stared. "I know what you're doing."

"I'm laying here."

"You're trying to get me to talk."

"No I'm not." He insisted. Lissy sniffed and went back to her book. She'd just turned the page when his eyes opened again. "Alright, yes I was. That trick always works on Ginny."

Lissy couldn't help the way her lips twitched upwards. "It's okay, Fred."

He shook his head and rolled over, his shoulder bumping hers. "No it's not, Liss. You're not happy and I know it's not just a bad mood sort of thing. You're upset for a reason."

"Yes, I am."

"What's the reason?"

Lissy sighed and shut her book. She wasn't really reading it anyway. "I had a little disagreement with one of my roommates. Apparently some of her stranger habits were shared with some popular boys. She blamed me for spreading the rumors…"

Fred raised an eyebrow. "If anyone in this school isn't a gossip, it's you. You're too obvious to learn things worth gossiping about!"

A snort of laughter pulled free and Lissy shot him and mock glare. "Thanks ever so." She said, voice dry as parchment. "But true…apparently she dies her hair or something? I didn't know, nor did I care. But when I got back tonight…she exploded at me. Literally! My desk is in cinders! All my drawings were in there, and she wouldn't even listen to me when I told her I didn't know what she was talking about and-"

And here came the tears. She sniffed and squeezed her eyes shut, dropping her face into her pillow as she tried to control herself again. "It's so stupid!" she exclaimed, her voice muffled.

A warm arm draped itself across her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. Lissy didn't fight it, crying softly into Fred's sweater. "I know they're just drawings…"

"They're not just drawings." He whispered in her ear. "They're something you worked hard on. By blowing them up, it's as bad as you setting her hair on fire." The mental image made Lissy snort again, and she knew he was grinning. "Come to think of it, I'm sure we could create a chocolate that does just that. We could bald her entirely, it'd be the perfect revenge!"

"No…No, Fred don't. That's so mean!"

"It wouldn't be permanent." He said, defending the idea and frankly eliminating the one detail which had turned Lissy off of it.

She giggled wetly and nodded. "Alright then. But not a chocolate. You don't mess with chocolates, Mr. Weasley."

He grinned and kissed her forehead. "Alright, not a chocolate. You're such a girl."

"I could make you go bald right now." Lissy warned, though a grin sat on her face as she pulled away from him.

"Alright! Alright, I take it back! Merlin's Pants, I was only kidding."

"I wasn't." Lissy said cheekily, rolling onto her back and picking up her book again. Amazing how the support of a friend and decent revenge plan could make her feel better…

"Good book?"

"It's alright."

"What's it about?"

"Let's find out." Lissy said, flipping back to the first page and starting to read out loud. Neither noticed when Lee and George came into the room and got ready for bed. Neither noticed when the lights were shut off. Nor when Lee groaned that they were noisy and George hissed for him to shut up.  Neither remembered falling asleep together on the floor under the bed. And neither knew that for some reason…that would become their special hiding place when one of them was upset.
When I'm sad I write. Which is kind of a pain...if I was depressed more often, maybe my stories wouldn't be stuck -.-

Since I wanted a hug today, I decided to let Lissy get one. She and Fred and best friends and deserved a little time to just be friends :aww:

~Whisp
© 2012 - 2024 Whisperwings
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EvangelineDaring's avatar
<:) That was so cute.... I'm so sorry your going through a rough time. Ad I'm not just saying that to be polite. No one should ever have to go through hard pain... I honeslty hope you get better, and if I knew you in person, I would be the one to giv you a hug. ^^ But.. I only hope a virtual one works. :/ ;) *Virtual huuug!* <3