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Post by Serphius de la Ravin on Oct 15, 2006 13:57:40 GMT -5
It was late. It was dark. A quick glance at the clock let the tired boy know that it was past midnight already. His eyelids felt as heavy - if not heavier - than the book in his lap. Shadows flickered with the flames of the small fire, which gently illuminated a small part of the room, and made him feel stuff and warm. Serphius held back a yawn, and straightened himself up. The armchair, large, comfy and threadbare, creaked as he done so. That, and the steady ticking of the clock was all that disturbed the heady silence that covered the entire room like a stifling blanket.
He couldn't sleep, though he felt so tired he could have slept soundly through anything. Alexys was curled up on his bed, nestled among the numerous blankets and pillows and cushions, fast asleep like some great softly snoring cat. Serphius envied the boy's abilities to turn on and off like a god damned light bulb.
So, he was sitting before the fire of a library that he wasn't allowed to be in, really, a great volume on the History of Magic laying in his lap. He was wearing loose black linen trousers that served as pajama bottoms, and no t-shirt, but perched on top of his head, as always, was his trademark trilby. His skin looked especial pale that night, white as paper, smooth as marble. Long arms were folded over his painfully skinny chest. You could almost count his ribs, should you ever want to. His pinched face was haunted and purple-y bruised looking shadows were gathering beneath his ink black eyes. Red lips, a startling contrast to the rest of him, were gently parted, mouthing the words as he read them. In a pile beside his chair there were more thick books that he'd already devoured, about seven all together. He'd been pretty busy.
With a tired and weary sigh, Serphius squeezed his eyes shut, and closed the book. It slid from his grasp, and landed on the thickly carpeted floor with a small thud. He didn't move to pick it up. It was a foreign task just to keep breathing properly. For the moment, moving was quite out of the question. Sleep...sleep...the word echoed round his head, but little relevancy it bore.
It's nights like these when I do stupid things, he thought, nights like these when God, I need a drink... |
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Post by april on Oct 15, 2006 14:27:17 GMT -5
'Dearest April,
I can't wait to see you again in the next holiday you have, I would like you to meet a new friend of mine, Claire, who will be staying with us. I hope you will be nice and welcoming to her. I must keep my letter short as your brother should be appearing here any time soon.
Hope you and your sister are well.
Much Love,
Dad.'
Another girlfriend? April knew he didn't mention any relationship status in the letter, but as her eyes scanned the letter she saw the words she had seen to many times before, but with different names, over and over again.
' I would like you to meet a new friend of mine, Claire, who will be staying with us. I hope you will be nice and welcoming to her.' She was sick of it. Her father had so many girlfriends, and she didn't like any of them. Trying to treat her as a ten year old and trying to replace her mother. She sighed, resting her head on the table.
Of course, you are probably wondering why April was in the library so late into the night. The truth was that she had been trying to write a reply to her father, yet study at the same time. It seemed almost impossible. As her eyes scanned all she had wrote so far.
'Dear Dad,
I am glad you have found another girlfriend and look forward to meeting her soon, I am doing fine here, I think I'm getting good marks, but I can't say for certain. How are things at home? Holidays are in a few weeks, so I'll hope to see you then. Say hello to Dylan for me.'
But she wanted and needed to add more. Pushing the half finished letter away she grabbed a book, opening it and started to read.
'Chapter Two: Magical Herbs and Fungi'
Great. Horology. Which she sucked at. Big time. With a slight groan she looked up. For the first time seeing a boy sitting by the fire. She smiled, eager for company or just a conversation. She stood up, hoping he wasn't asleep, and headed over.
"Hey." She said, "I'm April."
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Post by Serphius de la Ravin on Oct 15, 2006 14:54:41 GMT -5
Serphius, if he had been more awake, he would have jumped. Instead, he blinked hard, and looked around, feeling quite confused for a moment before he spotted April.
"April..." he mumbled, and he found himself to be smiling. His birthday was sometime in April, ""My name is....Serphius. Serphius de la Ravin."
Serphius sat up a little, for he'd been slouching again, and rubbed his large dark eyes with the heel of his palm, trying not to yawn.
"Please, forgive me. I'm absolutely shattered..." |
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Post by april on Oct 16, 2006 11:34:56 GMT -5
"S'okay." She said, yawning herself and sitting down beside him. "You're one of the triplets." She said, staring into the fire. She couldn't get the fact of her head that one day her dad would probably get married again and replace her mother. And probably replace her. She sighed softly, turning back to the boy. "What house are you in?" She asked out of curiosity, looking back down at the letter and reading it again for the seventh time. She reminded herself not to rip it up and she tore her eyes away from it and lay it down beside her.
o o c;
[Sorry, it's so crap.] |
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Post by Serphius de la Ravin on Oct 16, 2006 15:18:39 GMT -5
A brief and fleeting frown flashed across Serphius's pale and pained pretty face when she mentioned him being a triplet. How did she know? After a moment, he told himself that there wasn't really that many triplets in the school. Some people were bound to know.
"Yes, the eldest," he said at length. It wasn't something he was particularly proud of. His sibling were but thorns in his side...if he could be forgiven for such an understatement. His dark eyes narrowed for a moment upon the pretty girl that had suddenly struck up a conversation with him. Serphius was always suspicious with anyone who asked questions about him, "I'm in Intermise....Why do you ask?" |
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Post by Paige on Oct 17, 2006 1:02:42 GMT -5
Why was he getting so angry? She bit her lip, what had she said wrong? "I was only wondering, you are one of the only triplets in the school, and I think I'm in the same class as one for your siblings." She said, frowning. Intermise, no wonder he was so suspicious. Wait, no. She shouldn't judge him by his house. She stared into the fire, watching the flames flicker about.
Imagining her father smiling with yet another woman. Laughing and joking. And her and her sister exchanging unhappy glances.
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Post by Serphius de la Ravin on Oct 17, 2006 5:10:33 GMT -5
"Oh, you poor, poor girl," he began with a small bitter laugh, before he stopped himself from saying anything further. He was clearly upsetting her in some small way.
"I'm sorry," Serphius muttered, covering his face with one spidery hand, "I'm just so tired. I can't sleep a wink...I'm sorry." |
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Post by april on Oct 17, 2006 12:23:23 GMT -5
"It's okay. It's not you anyway. My family's just ...yeah." She said, not wanting to explain but at the same time wanting to tell someone. She just stayed quiet, looking at the Herbology book as if it was of any interest to her. Which it certainly wasn't. "Why don't you go to your dorm and sleep?" She asked suddenly, raising a brown and looking up to meet his eyes. |
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Post by Serphius de la Ravin on Oct 17, 2006 12:28:30 GMT -5
"That....is a good question...For one, I wouldn't want to wake Alexys up. He'd probably maul me for disturbing him, even though it's my bed, him being the grumpy git that he is....And I just can't. Do you ever get that sometimes?" Serphius shook his head slowly, and smirked, "So, your family is 'just' what?...I bet you ten galleons it's nowhere near as bad as mine." |
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Post by april on Oct 17, 2006 12:33:33 GMT -5
"My is family is ... broken." She said, not finding any words that could fit her family. "My sister and I hate our dad for trying to replace our mum and our brother avoids our family as much as possible and" she paused, trying hard not to show any emotion "my dad has about three girlfriends a month." She finished, sighing. "My mum died when she gave birth to me." She mumbled, not even sure if he cared.
Though it felt good to tell someone. She yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Is he your brother?" She asked, once again her gaze turning to the fire. |
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Post by Serphius de la Ravin on Oct 17, 2006 12:38:40 GMT -5
"I think that we can both agree on one fact - families are more trouble than they're worth, that's for sure. And no, Lexi's not my brother, thank God, though he may act like it at times...He's a...friend, I think. It's strange and complicated. I adore him, and I loathe him. I try not to think about it much." Serphius said, rubbing his eyes again. they felt dry, and a little sore, "Well, anyway, enough about me. Tell me more about you. What house are you in? And why are you lurking around the library at this ungodly hour?" |
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Post by april on Oct 17, 2006 12:43:08 GMT -5
Lexi? But hadn't he called him Alex or something. April was confused, but ignored this. "I agree about the families." She mumbled, before replying to his question.
"I'm in Fina. And I'm here because I got a letter, needed to study and probably fell asleep at one point and when I woke up it was around ... well, an hour before now, if you know what I mean." She was rambling again. She told herself to shut up -not aloud, of course- and turned -once again- back to face the boy.
"And what about you and your family?" She asked. |
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Post by Serphius de la Ravin on Oct 17, 2006 12:48:53 GMT -5
And what about you and your family?
Well, he should have seen that one coming. Serphius went even paler, if it was possible, and struggled for a believable answer.
"Oh, you know," he said with what he hoped was a casual and dismissive wave of the hand, "Just the usual family problems and stuff. Nothing too bad, really...So, er, you mentioned having siblings! Do any of them come to this school as well?" |
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