Leah sat on the roof of Hogwarts, alone. It was night, and very dark. Normally there were more people up here, but not tonight. It was cold and windy, and looked like rain. Dark clouds covered the sky except for surprisingly, not the moon. The bright half-sphere had found a gap in the endless clouds, and poked it's light through, like a little beacon of hope to all who saw it.
She was seated near the edge of the roof, and hugged her knees to her chest. Even in a long sleeve t-shirt and jeans, the wind cut easily through to her skin, raising goosebumps on her arms and legs. However, her feet were bare, and pale. She moved her toes back and forth, moving around the loose rocks of concrete.
Although most people came to the roof when their emotions were at the extremes, Leah wasn't like that. She wasn't crying or anything, just... thinking.
The moon's glow was a beautiful sight. The light from the large rock shone through the little spaces between the closed curtains and directly onto his bed, where his eyes were. The light soon got so annoying, that sleep was practically impossible. Tomorrow would mean more exhaustion, but hey, he could sleep during History of Magic.
So Axel drew back his thick red and gold comforter and swung his legs over the bed, pausing to rub his tired sky blue eyes. When his vision wasn't so blurry and sensitive, he saw his fellow classmates, all snoring peacefully in their four poster beds. Why was it that they could all sleep, but he had deal with this insomnia several nights a week? Perhaps it was just a teenage thing, and that's what he settled on. It was too late to think about it.
He was in a pair of blue shorts and a white t-shirt. Not exactly the best outfit to wear outdoors, or even in the halls. It was really cold out during these remaining Wintery days. Axel reached into his trunk as quietly as he could and retrieved his light blue jeans and black sweater that had sort of outline his chest muscles. He used to be so skinny, but with all of the running he did here, he started to tone up a lot.
Once he was dressed, Axel tucked his wand safely into his pocket and wandered into the hall, climbing the moving sets of stairs. When he reached the highest floor, he climbed out one of the windows and onto the roof. He walked about, taking in the cool air as he blew against his pale skin, and blew his red hair into his eyes. As he moved his hand to move the obstructive piece of hair, he caught site of a girl, sitting on the edge of the roof with her knees curled up to her chest. He smiled to himself and sat down beside her.
"Long time no see." He whispered. He didn't want to startle her. Axel was sure that Leah hadn't been expecting any visitors all the way up here.
" You know, thinking, can have a pretty depressing effect "
A blue boy emerged from the stairs, his hands in his turquoise jeans. The boy was wearing an orange t-shirt, the one your eyes just couldn't ignore. A gentle smile was placed upon his face, and his hair was a nutty brown, ruffled and went to his hair. He spoke with experience; thinking could be your own doom.
Albus took a step back, as a boy with crimson hair appeared. He recognized him immediately, it was Axel. Axel had gotten into a barfight with Dave, an aggressive drunkie. It was hard for Albus to forget him, with his passionate spirit, and his crimson red hair.
" Well, hello Axel, Leah! " He exclaimed, walking against them. His skin shone in the radiant colour of the moon.
The black of night seemed to have a calming effect on Leah, and she began to day-dream (night-dream?). She let her mind wander to past times, happy times. She let it wander to adventures and laughter. She let it wander to the future, and what it might hold in store for her. As she imagined all of these things, a boy had sat down beside her. She was so deep in her own mind that she hadn't noticed. That is, until he spoke.
"Long time no see."
It had been a whisper, and yet it seemed as though he had just screamed. His voice broke through the silence, and Leah jumped, startled. Her heart rate quickened, but then she saw who it was.
"Axel!" She threw her arms around him, and due to the awkwardness of being on the ground, ended up falling into him. Leah didn't mind though, it felt good and comforting to be near to him. "Don't you know not to scare someone like that?"
"You know, thinking, can have a pretty depressing effect"
Once again, Leah was startled. She grabbed Axel's arm, and her head spun towards the sound. When she saw it was Albus, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, Albus not you too! Both of you need a lesson in common courtesy!" Leah chuckled.
Axel laughed as Leah fell onto him, blushing a little. Thank goodness it was too dark too see, even with the moonlight. He grinned and pushed themselves back into a sitting position, but still sort of awkwardly close.
"I'm sorry." Axel said. "I tried to be as quiet as I could!" His voice was still like a whisper. Then he heard another voice, one that sounded faintly familiar. Leah had grabbed his arm and Axel looked up suddenly.
It was Albus, the boy that tried freezing him in the bar. He had to admit, the boy did have good intentions, but at the time, Axel was furious that Albus had even attempted to step in.
"Hey." Axel replied in greeting. "How's it going?"
" Well, well, the head is still on top, to put it that way! " Albus exclaimed, grinning.
He walked against them, sat down on a bench and sighed. Light at mind, he started to whistle, not trying to break the embarrassing silence.
" You two together? " Albus asked suddenly, a sly smile placed upon his face.
"You two together?"
A deep shade of red found it's way into Leah's face, and she found herself glad that the night was so dark.
"What? Oh..." Leah laughed, awkwardly.
She only knew Albus because of her sister, Jessie, but had never really just talked to him, as a friend. She knew he was very nice, and had always wanted a closer friendship with him.
Axel, on the other hand, Leah had run into once, in the forest. It was an odd encounter, and they ended up hiding from a strange person in the forest, once again, in the middle of the night. That was the first time that they had met, and it was a night almost just like this one.
"Uhm... so... Albus... What are your reasons for being on the roof so late?" She asked, trying to get the subject off of her closeness to Axel (which, by the way, she decided was not unwelcome).
Axel didn't say anything, he just played with his hair that went down to his ears. He looked at Leah with his sky blue eyes for a moment before looking up at the moon. He didn't say anything else, but just watched the clouds pass by over and over again.
Albus smiled gently, it was fun to watch as they both blushed in turn. Even though the night was dark, the way Leah responded made it very clear to Albus that Leah and Axel was, after all, a bit close.
" Well, you know, I were doing homework, Jessie went to bed, and I just sat there, in the common room. You know, it's quite boring. "
He chuckled lightly, as a gentle wind played with his thick, hair, who went down to his ears.
" I decided to go up here, as it is so... Serene. And of course, it's good for my health to be in cold a environment. "
As he ran his fingers through his soon to be cut hair, his eyes reached for the sky, eyeing every detail closely.
As Axel looked at Leah, she looked down at her hands. However, once he looked away, she looked up at him. She wondered what he was thinking, but thought it rude to just barge into his mind and find out.
She looked over to Albus when he mentioned her sister, and said, "Yeah, Jessie definitely likes her sleep every once and a while."
Leah watched him look to the sky, just as Axel was. "How is that going, anyways? The ice thing, I mean."
" Well, it isn't something that's going away. I hate it, and I love it, all at the same time. The pleasure when you're outside in the cold, the feeling of being unique, is something that I treasure immensely. " Albus let out a little smile at his so description. It sounded silly.
" But also, it's tough when people look at you in a weird way, people you thought you knew. And to feel the warmth of another human being is just... Too much. " Feeling he'd said a bit to much, Albus switched conversation themes quickly.
" Axel! Why did you join us today? " He asked with a childish grin on his face.
Axel shrugged his shoulders and yawned.
"The moon was shining in my eyes and I couldn't sleep. So I thought I'd come up here, where the moon's view was best."
Axel loved the moon. There was just something about it that made him feel so tranquil. He could stare at it for hours, watching the dark clouds glide over the glowing sphere. Though watching it during summer was better, he could watch it any time. He remembered when he watched it before, laying along the cliff in as a black wolf, his sky blue eyes staring up at the moon. That was when he had met Leah for the very first time.
Leah noticed Albus' change of subject immediately. She of course wanted to know what was going on, but decided to respect his privacy and move on. Hopefully, he might tell her later, otherwise she would just ask Jessie. As Leah contemplated the possibilities, Axel began to speak, jolting her from her mind's wandering.
She looked at Axel, her eyes perusing his face. His eyes seemed to just light up, as he thought about something or other. She turned away and looked to the moon. It did seem to shine directly into the dormitory windows.
Leah smiled to herself, and remained silent, just drinking in the wonderful night.
((Your turn Albus. Haha.))
Albus winced, as he felt something bruising into him. His gaze turned down to his feet, only to find a big, ugly rat. Startled, Albus snapped his fingers, as the rat became engrossed by cold ice. It shrieked; being certain of its death. When the rat was completely covered, Albus tilted his head, and took up the big ice cube which contained the rat. Slowly looking at the rats different features, he quickly decided that it was for the best that it had died.
" Nasty little things, they are " He said, as the rat hovered a few inches above his hand, and propelled into the darkness.
Axel watched in disbelief as the rat became frozen in ice. He felt the bumps on his skin form, as if he were suddenly covered in ice too. As soon as the rat disappeared, Axel jumped up and looked down at Albus, glaring at him with his sky blue eyes.
"Why would you do something like that?" He said, anger apparent in his tone. "What, just kill something because it's not to your liking, eh? Would you rather it be a butterfly? Or perhaps a cute little puppy dog."
Watching the rat suffering like that, no matter how large and, to some people, unappealing it was, made Axel cringe. Death was something he didn't deal too well with.
Leah jumped when the rat screeched. She hadn't noticed that it was there. Then Albus froze the poor thing, and she gasped in disbelief. As Axel jumped up, Leah was once more startled. She hadn't expected him to react so strongly. What Albus had done was wrong, no doubt, but Axel's temper was slightly out of line as well.
"Axel." Leah said softly. She sat on the ground and looked up at him. Her eyes told of what she wanted... for Axel to just relax a little. She glanced to Albus for just a moment, hoping that he wouldn't turn this into a fight, because it certainly appeared that Axel wanted one.
Axel took a silent deep breath when he heard Leah's voice. He bit his lip before stepping back and sitting back down where he sat before, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on it. He stared out into the darkness then closed his eyes.
The scene flashed before his eyes. The car, the shredded metal, blood on his shirt, his hands, his face. The bright lights. Axel shook his head and came back to reality.
Albus glanced back at Axel, watching as his eyes closed. Leah and Axel's reactions were suspected, even though he'd believe that Axel wouldn't be so angry as he was now.
" You know, there is more than what meets the eye. If you guys would have sensed that rat, you would not even question why I killed it, and saved it for months of agony and pain. " He said slowly, his attitude and voice hadn't shifted even though the two before him was shocked. Albus, was as calm as ever.
"It doesn't mean the rat wanted to die. He didn't call out to you begging to bring forth its death." Axel replied, shaking his head. "What a way to die. Frozen to death." Axel rubbed his fingers on his right hand together, a hint of smoke starting to rise seemingly out of his skin.
Leah nodded. She totally agreed with Axel. At the same time however, Albus had a point too. She hadn't sensed the rat. She hadn't been paying attention to surroundings like she should be. She shivered at the thought of being frozen to death. It seemed like it would be slow, and painful. Not a way anyone would want to go.
She kept flicking her eyes back and forth between the two, watching their emotions.
Albus' eyes wandered from Leah to Axel. " It died quite a painless death. If you'd been paying attention, you'd notice the irregular heartbeats, the scabby fur and the enlarged pupils. Whether it wanted to die or naught, we can not decide, since the rat's brain isn't complex enough to handle such tasks." He simply gazed lazily at them.
" You can demonstrate against killing, but there is no thing you can do to stop it. It's reality. While we have been talking, hundreds of people has died. They did not want to die. But still... Death is death, quick or slow, agonizing or painless. What great loss was in that rat? "
(( GAWD!!!! I'm on this computer which is really weird! Four times, all of my writing has been randomly deleted, and I've written it over and over again... ))
"Every creature, no matter how small, has a purpose. Or else they wouldn't exist." Axel argued, looking at Albus. "Everything has a niche. A specific purpose that they have on earth. You know, like lions and antelope. They control the population." He flicked his fingers so the smoke would disappear.
" That rat didn't have any purpose, not for long. Only thing it could do, was infect other animals. So, to twist this into my favour, can say I saved many animals, by killing that single one. " Albus argumented back, a tiny smle curving upon his lips. He loved calm discussion. To say ones opinions and give reason behind them craved a certain amount of mental effort, an effort who couldn't be given by lifting heaby weights.
His eyes gleamed as he shifted his position on the rock hard bench. A a cold wind travelled by, making Albus feel his wonderful powers being surged through his body, as they were fueled by the cold.
Leah bit her lip, mulling over what Albus had said. It did seem as though the rat had plenty of reasons to die, but it still didn't sit right with her. The wind was cold, and Leah could tell, but it didn't bother her. She was... immune to it, in a way. Yet sometimes, she wished she wasn't.
"That's all great Albus, but at the same time, who are we to decide who gets to live or die? What if we could've cured the poor thing and let it live? It just... doesn't seem fair, is all."
Albus eyes rested on Leah, watching her talk. He yawned, stretching his arms high up in the air. Being tired didn't suit him, who liked to be full of energy.
" I've told you, it was as good as dead when it approached us. The chance of the rat being cured was small, and the methods used, would have been far more painful. "
"You know this how!?" Axel turned, his eyes darting to Albus who seemed to not feel anything from killing the rat. No remorse. None whatsoever.