Hiding out [Kris]

[hazelparish]

Hazel could not believe what she was reading. This just wasn’t her day, she had several pieces of post come in for her, and every single letter of it was full of awful, tragic, and bad news. She wasn’t sure what she had done, but perhaps this was Karma coming back to bite her for something. If it was it had a strange way of working it, by attacking those around her whom she loved.

The first was a letter from her mother informing her that her brother had been admitted to St. Mungo’s. They were not telling her exactly what had happened, but warned her not to question it to much. That did nothing to help settle her frayed nerves. Nigel was suppose to be the smart one, what had he done to land himself in St. Mungos? Part of her felt she should go down there anyhow, despite her mother’s warnings.

The next was a letter from her grandfather, it seems her grandmum had taken ill and they weren’t quite sure what was wrong, only that she was adamant about not going to St. Mungos. He was hoping maybe if she wrote to her and asked her to go, she would. Hazel knew she was Grandmum’s favorite, which wasn’t fair to her brothers really. The worst news came in the form of the third letter.

The third letter was written by the older sister of her first girlfriend. They had a mutual breakup, but their friendship had suffered from it. Hazel had tried to keep things easy and unstrained, but it had been an uphill battle. The year before, she had graduated. The letter she received was from her older sister informing Hazel that she had died two days ago. No one really knew what had happened yet, but it was made clear to her in the letter she was not invited to pay her respects.

Angrily, Hazel swiped a hand across her rapidly watering eyes. She sniffed rather pathetically before sinking down and bringing her legs up to her chest. The letters remained tightly fisted in her hand, and she barely noticed when someone else entered the room.

[kris]

Kristian hadn’t really entered the Armoury with a purpose, other than to roam around and let his thoughts wander for a while. He had talked to Levi the night before and was wondering how on earth he was supposed to tell Rhys that the younger Hufflepuff had certain feelings for him. If he approached him directly, the boy would surely run off and hide, so he needed to get him to open up first. But getting Rhys Steele to open up was like cracking a coconut...heavy weapons were required.

Tact, not that he had a lot of it, wouldn’t do him much good, but he really didn’t want to make the other feel uncomfortable with the current relationship he had with Levi. They were friends and the last thing Kris wanted was to have that fall apart because of him. He might not have properly promised that to his younger friend, but he wasn’t going to say anything unless he got some sort of indication that Rhys might at least be open for something.

As he walked into the room, he saw a girl crying on the floor, leaning against the wall as she angrily swiped at her eyes. He recognized her as a Hufflepuff in his year, one that he had talked to on occasion, as they had worked together in class. She was a nice girl, someone that he got along with without too many words having been said between them. So seeing her cry made something squirm inside of him, and he kneeled down next to her. ”Hazel? Are you okay?”

[hazelparish]

“Hazel? Are you okay?”

Hazel was too caught up in her misery to really realize that someone else had walked into the room. She must have registered it somewhere in her subconscious because she did not jump when she heard someone address her. She took another hasty swipe at her eyes trying to clear her face of the tear tracks, but it didn’t do her much good. As soon as she wiped some away, they were replaced by more. She glanced blearily at the person who called her name and asked if she was alright.

“Kris?” She asked after a moment, her voice sounding odd to her own ears. It was subdued and clogged, and it sounded nothing like her normally cheerful boisterous voice. Was she alright, she rather thought not. If she was alright she probably wouldn’t be sitting on the floor crying into her knees. She didn’t want to be rude, especially when he hadn’t turned tail and run out of the room the moment he realized she was crying. She took in a deep, slightly shuddering breath but turned her attention back to him.

“I could be better.” She admitted. She used the back of her hand to try and stop her stuffy nose from leaking. It was a disgusting habit, but she didn’t have a tissue at the moment. She blinked trying to get her eyes to stop watering and to focus better on the boy in front of her. She had worked with Kris a time or two in the past, and they got along well enough.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, in an attempt to change the subject off herself and onto something else. She hoped that didn’t come out sounding rude, she realized as an afterthought it could possibly be taken that way.

[kris]

“I could be better.”

Of course she could be. It had been a stupid question, Kristian realized, and he gave her a half smile, feeling around in his pocket. He didn’t often deal with crying girls, but he always had a tissue ready, so he offered her one, looking at her with his kind green eyes. Now that he was kneeled down next to her, he wasn’t really sure what he’d say. That was, until she gave him an opening.

“What are you doing here?”

”I was just...thinking a little. And then I saw you crying. What happened?” Maybe it was rude of him to ask, but he couldn’t help it. She looked so lost...he just wanted to make her feel better, if he was able to. Had he been more social, he probably would be aware of the fact that barging in on her like this wasn’t exactly what a girl wanted when she had just been caught crying. But he couldn’t help feeling bad if he left, so he stayed, silent after his question, waiting to see if she would talk to him or rather ask him to leave. The Ravenclaw toyed with his shirt for a moment, looking at the girl.

[hazelparish]

“Thank you.” she said after he offered her a tissue, which she gratefully accepted. She helped mop up her nose and ran another hand across her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and they stung slightly, but at least she wasn’t crying to hard anymore. She felt bad that she couldn’t be a little more cheerful or even pretend to be for his sake, it must be really awkward to be in his position at the moment.

“I was just...thinking a little. And then I saw you crying. What happened?”

Hazel nodded, she could understand that. She tried to go to quite places to think when she needed too. Somehow whenever she was upset though, someone always managed to find her, no matter where she went. She appreciated that Kris stayed, even though she felt badly for it. She thought she had every reason to be upset, but it was never pleasant to get caught up in someone else’s troubles. When he asked what had happened, she found herself talking before she could stop herself.

“What hasn’t?” She sniffed. “My brother, the smart one at that, did something to land himself at St. Mungos, but no one is telling me anything about it, which is worrisome. My grandmum is ill, but refuses to go to St. Mungos, and..” She trailed off, tears swelling up in her eyes again even thinking about it. “My ex died a few days ago. It’s been made clear to me I’m not to attend her funeral.” Hazel hadn’t intended to tell him anything, but he seemed so genuinely interested in what would reduce her to sobbing on the floor.

“I’m sorry; I don’t know why I just told you all of that.”

[kris]

Putting a hand on her shoulder, Kris just stayed quiet and let her talk, until she started apologizing. He shook his head then, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. ”You don’t have to be sorry for anything...I asked, remember? I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t care” His voice was soft, the Ravenclaw sitting down next to her as she attempted to fix herself up a little – or so he gathered from the way she ran her hand across her face.

”Is there some way you could pop over to the hospital? I’m sure the Headmistress would allow you to use her fire or something...Just so you can see what’s going on? Talk to your brother for a moment?” As far as her grandmother went, he had no easy solution for that. And the death...well that was just harsh, not being able to say goodbye to someone who had shared such a big part of your past.

”I’m probably not much help” Kristian shrugged a shoulder, not really sure whether Hazel even appreciated his attempts at helping her. Some people didn’t want help, they just wanted a shoulder to cry on, but he wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to offer her that. ”But maybe you can say goodbye in your own way? Write a letter or something?” Wow, that sounded lame, even to his own ears.

[hazelparish]

“You don’t have to be sorry for anything...I asked, remember? I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t care”

Hazel sniffed, using the tissue he gave her to mop at her nose. She really must look a site, eyes red rimmed, face red and blotchy, overall very unappealing. She balled her fingers around her sleeve dragging it across her eyes. She hadn’t cried this hard in a very long time, and it seemed like things she had repressed where now leaking out as well.

“Thank you.” she sniffed. Kris was a really sweet guy it appeared, very caring those were rare to come by. She blinked trying to rid her eyes of the tears that would not fall. Her fingers clenched and unclenched around the letters she still held in her hand. The words burned her but she found she couldn’t seem to let go.

“Is there some way you could pop over to the hospital? I’m sure the Headmistress would allow you to use her fire or something...Just so you can see what’s going on? Talk to your brother for a moment?”

Hazel sniffed before shaking her head. “My mother doesn’t want me asking to many questions or going down to see him, which is bad because that means he’s either really hurt and they don’t want me to see it, or he did something so dumb their ashamed of it.” She didn’t think that was very fair to her actually. She had just as much right to see her brother as they did. He was her big brother for Merlin’s sake! “I suppose I could make a sneak visit there though, but I wouldn’t use the Headmistress fire for that.”

“I’m probably not much help”

“No, you’re being very helpful by sitting with me.” Hazel admitted softly. If someone had to see her in such a state she was very glad it was someone who would at least talk to her and not sit there in stony silence offering her a cold shoulder to cry against if she should want it. Kris was trying, and that was important to Hazel.

“But maybe you can say goodbye in your own way? Write a letter or something?”

“Maybe,” Hazel said blinking. “I know what they wouldn’t want me there, really I do. Her sister and mother in particular blame me for their daughter being a lesbian. They figured she would have just never acted upon those feelings if she hadn’t ever met me. Dear lord, it was crazy. Maybe..maybe if I write to her father who doesn’t hate me…maybe he could at least tell me where she’ll be buried, so I could visit there.” She shook her head. She would have to call in a favor with a friend, she didn’t know if she could handle something like that alone.

[kris]

He stayed silent, letting her talk though he wasn’t sure what to say back to her. He supposed that it was good she got everything out, both the words and the tears, so he let her spill it all out, offering his silent comfort by sitting next to her. Already Kristians brain was trying to come up with ways to help her, he supposed that they would be able to grab a Portkey to St Mungo’s, if it was necesssary. He wasn’t sure why Hazel would refuse to use the Headmistress’s fire, unless McGonagall would actually refuse to help her out...he couldn’t imagine that though. She was usually a very nice woman. Strict, but nice.

Leaning in, he rubbed her back a little, biting down on his bottom lip. He hoped that her ex’s father would be nice enough to tell her where she got buried, if only to give Hazel a little closure. It made the Ravenclaw worry, the fact that people could respond so cruelly to things like this. What if something ever happened to Louis? Would he be allowed to say goodbye? God, the mere thought made him uncomfortable, fidgeting with his clothes for a moment as he tried to refocus himself on the Hufflepuff girl next to him.

”That sounds like a good idea. I could help you, if you want to.” Even though she probably didn’t, Kris would feel bad if he hadn’t offered it to her. ”Come with you, even, if you decide to visit the grave.” He hadn’t ever felt the urge to visit his fathers grave, then again, the man had been an absolute bastard in life, and Kris was really pleased that he was dead. Somehow he doubted that would be a smart thing to say though.

[hazelparish]

Hazel wouldn’t want to involve McGonagall in situation. If her mother found out she would write an angrily letter to the headmistress and Hazel didn’t want anything to come back on her. She didn’t doubt if she explained the problem correctly, the headmistress would allow her to use her fire. She racked a hand across her eyes, finally managing to steam the flow of tears. She really wasn’t sure how else to get to St. Mungos, but she just couldn’t let her family go on around her and not tell her what was going on. Maybe if she wrote to Alton, he would tell her what had happened, if he even knew that is.

When Kris rubbed her back she gave him a weak smile. She was thankful to have been found by someone who was compassionate. She used the tissue to wipe her nose again before watching as Kris adjusted his clothes. She thought perhaps she had made him uncomfortable with everything that she had said. She seriously hoped that she would be given at least the location of the grave, that wasn’t too much to ask for was it?

“That sounds like a good idea. I could help you, if you want to.”

She glanced at him, surprised. She couldn’t believe he would offer his help, she was deeply touched by his offer, but wasn’t sure if she could actually take him up on it. She felt badly enough giving him such an awful sob story all this time when they didn’t actually know each other all that well. She would have to do something to thank him for this.

“Come with you, even, if you decide to visit the grave.”

“Thank you, that really means a lot that you would offer.” Hazel realized the tears she had just managed to steam were trying to come back and she blinked hard to rid her eyes of them. Her eyes and nose hurt, she didn’t want to cry anymore. She wanted to talk about something else now, so she turned to Kris and offered him another weak smile.

“So how are you?”

[kris]

When Hazel started fixing herself up a little, Kristian gave her a smile. It seemed likely that she would divert his attention to another topic now, and sure enough, she asked him how he was doing. He bit his bottom lip for a moment, wondering if there was something he could say to cheer her up. He hadn’t been going through too much lately, his life had actually seemed to take a turn for the better. He spent most of his time hanging out with friends, cuddling up with Louis and studying, the way a proper student was supposed to behave.

”I’m good. Nothing much to tell, I’m afraid. Just...same old thing. School, friends, work” It had slipped out without him even noticing, but he smiled at her, hoping she wouldn’t catch on. He definitely didn’t want to discuss his line of work with him – he’d already crossed the line by telling Levi, and if he told any more people without sharing his secret with his boyfriend first...well it wouldn’t be pretty.

”I think I’m going to head to Hogsmeade soon, do some Christmas shopping. Would you like to come with?” Okay so he usually wouldn’t ask, but well, he’d spent a Saturday together with Jeona and it hadn’t been nearly as scary as he had imagined it to be. And Hazel probably needed a distraction. Kristian didn’t like the thought of leaving her alone when she was feeling so badly.