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Post by felix on Jan 4, 2009 20:55:06 GMT 1
Hogsmeade weekends were Felix’s favourite, whenever they turned up. It wasn’t because the village was super interesting; in fact, it had lost its appeal long before the end of the third year. It also wasn’t because the school was boring, because he always managed to find something to do on the weekends. No, the thing that made these weekends so good was the person he spent it with rather than the activities he did.
The seventh year had awoken earlier than usual this morning. He’d been ready to leave before anyone else, and had done so as soon as he could. He headed straight to the train station, and sat himself down on a bench. There he had stayed until this point, waiting for the train to turn up. It had been a dull wait, and one that definitely seemed longer than it was, but he knew it’d be worth it. He ran a hand through his hair, looked up and down the station, then sighed and closed his eyes. Public transport must be the most frustrating thing ever invented – it was never on time when you wanted it to be, and always seemed to act so casual about it’s tardiness when it did finally arrive.
As if to make a point, Felix’s ears were met by the sound of a train horn not to far away. Shaken from his relaxed state, he leapt to his feet and dusted himself down. Minutes later, the train rolled into the station and glided to a halt in front of him. The doors slid open, and Felix came face to face with a short, old woman, with long greying hair and a kind smile. Beside her stood a small boy, gripping on to her index finger. The student beamed at the woman, and stooped to plant a kiss on her cheek,
”Thanks, mum. I’ll see you later?” He spoke softly. The woman simply nodded in response. The young child, obviously taking his time to come to terms with his surroundings, finally recognised the older boy, and tottered towards him with a delighted noise. As the Gryffindor scooped him up in his arms, the old woman shuffled back in to the train, and the doors closed.
”Hey little man.” Felix cooed softly at his son, hugging him softly. ”Where do you want to go today?”
The younger boy chuckled and made a noise that sounded like an attempt at saying “sweeties”, at which the father laughed and warned the child that his teeth would rot. This was responded to with a toothless grin.
”Fine, sweeties it is.” The teen laughed, and put the child on the ground. He decided to let the year old walk for a while, until his legs were tired or they got to the busy part of town, whichever came first. ”Don’t say I didn’t warn you, though!”
With that, they started to make their way towards the village, a slow process, but one that both males enjoyed.
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Post by ryan on Jan 4, 2009 21:25:31 GMT 1
Ryan had been one of the last students to arrive in Hogsmeade, simply because he couldn’t be bothered hanging out with others. He’d be asked to accompany them to the Three Broomsticks or another place where they could have a drink, gossip about others and hit on girls. Usually he didn’t mind doing either of the three, but right now he was attempting to spend more time with his girlfriend , rather than his friends. He hadn’t really asked her on a date, but they had made casual plans to hook up at some point this afternoon.
The Slytherin hadn’t seen her yet, so he simply decided to take a walk through Hogsmeade, enjoying the crisp morning. He’d dressed in a hoodie and tight jeans this morning, trying to look a little more confident even if he didn’t feel it. There was a scarf wrapped around his neck and his hands were stuffed deep inside his pockets as he wandered through the town, inhaling the cold November air and loving the peace and quiet. It helped him calm his brain, both the physical exercise and the fact that there was no one around to bug him. It was cold enough for everyone to want to spend time inside the buildings, so the streets were pretty much deserted.
That was, until he ran into a familiar face. Felix and Ryan had never been really close friends, though they had spent six years at the same school, and obviously got to know each other. They didn’t hang out in the same groups though, so little more than a few casual conversations had been shared. There were some rumors about the boy as well, which made the Slytherin sympathetic to the other. He knew all too well that gossip could really ruin you.
When he saw him with the little boy, his blue eyes narrowed in thought for a moment. His head was sifting through the possibilities – little brother, nephew, son of a friend – wondering who exactly this little boy was to Felix Shepard. Instead of nodding hello and continuing his walk, he decided to act on his curiosity and say a proper hello. Heading over to the boy, he gave him a smile. ”Hey” |
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Post by felix on Jan 4, 2009 22:06:43 GMT 1
The pair had been ambling down the road at a slow and relaxed pace, Felix avidly listening to his son’s cheerful babbling, which included an elated squeal of “CAH!” when a tabby cat ran across their path. Even if the muddle of sounds and the occasional comprehensible word that left the child’s mouth didn’t make any sense, the elder boy was more than happy to listen to him. The boy was in the middle of burbling his story, looking gleefully and wide-eyed up at his father, when a new voice met their ears. The boy silenced immediately, being quite a shy child, and Felix’s heart jumped slightly. He was used to whispering and weird looks from others, and even more so when Seth, his son, was with him, but it didn’t make him any less jittery when it happened.
Feeling rather weary, he looked up to find the speaker whilst instinctively pulling the young boy closer to his side. Meeting Ryan’s eye, he relaxed slightly. He’d spoken to the Slytherin before, and he seemed alright. Also, from everything that was said about him, Felix reasoned that he wasn’t really in the position to judge him. He decided to see where this was going before taking any action.
”Hey...” He smiled back, shifting from one foot to the other. Usually, he’d be more confident about himself, but he had reason to be more careful today. He glanced down at Seth, who had now been distracted and was busy surveying his surroundings with awe. Things were so simple for children. He allowed himself a small, fond smile, before looking back up at Ryan. It was strange for him to be approaching the Gryffindor, they didn’t really move in the same circles. They barely even spoke to each other normally. What could the boy want?
”Uhh... How are you?” He asked politely, and ran a hand through his hair. He decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. It wasn’t completely unlikely that he was just trying to be nice, after all.
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Post by ryan on Jan 4, 2009 23:00:14 GMT 1
Felix looked nervous and out of his element, the Slytherin noticed. This, combined with the information that was given to him by the looks and touches the two shared, made him think that possibly the rumors were true. That this was really the boys kid. It made him insanely jealous for a few moments, to see the love that was shared between father and son. He wasn’t sure why he was so jealous – perhaps the fact that Seth felt loved enough to be completely at ease in his fathers presence, perhaps also because he wished he would have someone that loved him like that, would stare up at him in awe like the little boy did.
”I’m good.” Ryan mirrored his movement, fingers raking through his chin length hair before he rubbed at his neck awkwardly. He hadn’t been too sure on what to say when he approached the two and he was aware of the fact that this was a highly unusual situation for both of them. He hadn’t had any specific purpose in mind when he called out, other than to satisfy his curiosity, which was was now done, so why wasn’t he walking away? Why was his heart still aching like that?
Taking another careful step in the others direction, his eyes remained fixed on the one year old for a moment, not wanting to scare him. He wasn’t too used to children, having grown up on his own with only his gouvernante to take care of him. Still, he had always liked them, loved seeing them develop into people with their own opinions. And what he loved was seeing how affectionate they could be, without any of the reserve older people grew to have. They loved, indiscriminately and completely, not worried about what the outside world would think. ”This your kid?” He asked softly, gesturing to Seth, as if there had been a hundred other children around he could refer to. ”He’s cute.” |
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Post by felix on Jan 5, 2009 19:01:59 GMT 1
”Uhh...” Felix faltered for a moment, looking at the young boy again. Any less of a person would have denied it, he supposed, and lied that it was a brother, or a cousin. However, he was fiercely proud, especially of his little boy. Denying it would mean he regretted him ever being born. And even though it made his life difficult sometimes, he could never do that. No, he wouldn’t do that. He’d rather die. So he returned his gaze to Ryan, with a smile. ”Yeah, yeah he is... Thanks.”
The Gryffindor crossed one leg in front of the other and sub-consciously ruffled his son’s short hair. He watched the Slytherin carefully, rather intrigued by his actions. The boy seemed to be fascinated by Seth, watching him intently and seeming to move more carefully now that he was aware of his presence. The amused half of Felix’s brain wanted to laugh at this, the other boy seemed to think that if he moved to suddenly or make a loud enough noise, the child would start and scatter off into the forest like a baby deer. However, the rest of him couldn’t help but wonder why the other was so very curious. Ryan had never really seemed like a children person, from what he had seen. He sure was acting peculiar today.
Then it hit him. The article in that horrid newspaper a day or so ago. The 7th year often dismissed anything in that paper as pure garbage and usually pushed it out of his mind as soon as he saw it. It would make a lot of things much clearer though. In some ways, it made sense now.
”Oh, uh... I heard the good news by the way...Congratulations, man.” Once again, Felix’s mouth was working much faster than his brain. Immediately after speaking, he realised he probably should have weighed up the situation a bit better, and bit down hard on his lip.
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Post by ryan on Jan 5, 2009 20:04:12 GMT 1
”Oh, uh... I heard the good news by the way...Congratulations, man.”
Ryan frowned, looking up at Felix when he realized he’d been staring at the little boy again. Good news? What good news? It was obvious from the way he blinked at the older Gryffindor that he had no idea what the other was talking about. He didn’t really read the newspaper, especially after he last bit of gossip they had sent out about him. He already knew what was going on in his life, and the less people who read that ghastly gossip magazine, the better.
”Good news?” The Slytherin repeated, brows knitted together in confusion for a moment. ”What good news? What did I miss?” What could there possibly be going on this time? Was there something in the paper about him that was good? That required congratulating? He tried racking his brain to find the answer but drew an absolute blank, which annoyed him more than anything. He didn’t like not knowing what was going on, especially when it was about him. Who had been gossiping about him? Did it have something to do with Dominique perhaps?
Maybe they had heard that they were back together...though they hadn’t officially broken up. He honestly couldn’t think of anything else, though he had a feeling it wasn’t that. Running fingers through his hair, he blankly stared up at Felix, wondering what he’d heard. |
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Post by felix on Jan 5, 2009 20:39:37 GMT 1
When the confused look spread over the other male’s face, Felix’s eyes widened, and he bit down on his lip even harder. Bad move, Shepard. He really needed to learn to control his words more. When the boy asked for a further explanation, he shook his head violently and averted his eyes to the floor. From personal experience, he knew better than to even listen to the things people said. Rumours are vicious. And Felix was truly an idiot.
”Crap...Nah, don’t worry...” He said apologetically to the floor ”Probably just rumours...Don’t listen to me... “
His gaze remained fixed on the floor, avoiding the younger boy’s eyes. What had he done? Whether the paper was right or not, he’d truly screwed up this time. He predicted that either way, the boy in front of him was going to get rather angry whenever he found out what people had been saying. Angry or devastated. At that moment, Seth provided the ideal distraction for Felix’s mind, by grabbing hold of his little finger and tugging on it.
”Dahh.” The child whined, followed by some incomprehensible grumbles. The Gryffindor diverted his attention to the young boy, staring blankly at him for a moment before snapping in to action and plucking him off the floor. The child had thankfully given him a few moments to compose a decent sentence. Holding him in his arms now, he attempted to speak again.
”Look mate, it’s not my place, I shouldn’t have said anything.” He apologised sincerely, before continuing ”But, uh, you might want to talk to Dominique before you see any of those papers.”
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Post by ryan on Jan 5, 2009 20:55:09 GMT 1
Rumours. Okay, he had gotten as far as that on his own, and that Dominique was somehow involved...well that wasn’t too much of a surprise either. But aside from that, Ryan still didn’t know what was going on, and it was severely pissing him off. Instead of lashing out at the Gryffindor though, he clenched his fingers into fists into his pockets, glancing at the male as he stepped a little closer.
”Mind telling me what the rumour is? Now that we’re both here? It’s probably a load of shit, but I’d like to know all the same. I’m supposed to meet up with her later on...and I’d kinda like to know whether or not I should prepare myself for anything...huge.” His voice was calm and friendly, the boy still occasionally switching his eyes from Felix to his little boy.
Part of him wished that he had more experience with kids, that he would know what to do instead of being all tentative and worried about possibly upsetting the little boy. It was probably really amusing to the Gryffindor, but he really didn’t want to make their conversation even more awkward than it had to be. He just wanted to know the truth now. |
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Post by felix on Jan 5, 2009 21:23:35 GMT 1
Felix heaved a large sigh, casting his eyes down once again to stare at the boy in his arms. He considered the situation carefully. On one hand, Ryan was highly likely to freak out when he found out, just like he did. On the other hand, he figured that if he was given the chance, he would’ve rather had someone tell him first, too. That is if the rumours were true. The elder boy took a deep breath and a small step back, just in case.
”Okay... Don’t get angry at me, though.” He said warily, running his spare hand through his hair and watching the Slytherin boy carefully. He sensed that he had to word this wisely. ”Someone wrote an article in that filthy newspaper...Saying that...”
He paused again, and took a gulp of air. Speaking should never be this hard. He wasn’t sure why it was now. Normally words flowed out of his mouth, but now he had to force them through some sort of barrier, as if he was trying to break down a dam or something.
”It said... well...” Merlin, this stuttering was painful. He practically spat out the last few words, speaking so fast that his words jumbled together. ”itsaidthatDominiqueispregnant.”
He breathed out slowly, and looked up at the sixth year. ”...Sorry...”
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Post by ryan on Jan 5, 2009 21:45:15 GMT 1
When Felix asked him not to be angry, Ryan just nodded, willing him to continue. He couldn’t really promise whether or not he’d get angry, since that highly depended on the news he was going to get. Even if he did get upset though, it wouldn’t be with the Gryffindor, who had been nice enough to tell him. He’d just feel tempted to rip out the throat of whoever had written that damn article.
Watching the boy, he nearly missed the words, having been rushed out by the older male. The last he caught was a soft ‘sorry’, which made him blink for a moment. What now? Dominique was...Whoa. No. No way. There was no way that he had just heard that right. Dominique was pregnant? Pregnant? As in...gonna pop out a baby in nine or so months? His baby? Oh...FUCK.
Rubbing at his face, the Slytherin stood there, motionless, for a few minutes. What was there to say? He pretty much felt as if he had been punched in the gut, all air sucked from his lungs so when he did part his lips, nothing came out the first time. Taking a deep breath, he finally squeaked out a ”what?”, before rubbing at his face again. This...couldn’t be happening. ”Whoa. That...” They had been safe. There was no way this was happening. No. Way. |
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