A Turn of Events [Closed]

Darcy had spent that entire Sunday by the window in the Gryffindor common room, watching the dazzling sun and doing her homework. She had tried her best to stay focused, but halfway through a nasty essay in charms, she couldn't stand just watching the sun anymore. She needed to be in the sun. She closed her book and walked out of the common room. When she went down the stairs, she thought about the fact that she could've done the homework outside, but she knew that if she had done that, she would've been distracted by everything.

She exited the castle and walked to the lake and sat beneath a tree, watching the lake glittering in the sunshine. It was like the lake was infested with tiny, shiny diamonds that had the skill to make anything treacherous into something calm and beautiful. She smiled and leaned against the tree, feeling really content, glad that she was soon done with homework. The good thing about the charms essay was that it wasn't due before Tuesday, so she did have tomorrow to finish it. Luckily.

And then, Darcy felt a raindrop on her nose. She frowned and looked up. And the rain started out of nowhere. It was pouring down, splattering around, and in seconds the grass was completely wet. Darcy jumped up and quickly ran for the doors, like so many students did. She could not see much, but she followed the group of students and was soon inside the huge oaken doors. She sighed and stopped. A guy collided, with her though, sending her into the nearest walk. A shot ran through her shoulder, almost like an electric jolt. She looked around, but the guy had vanished. She had seen the green on his robes, though. Who wore theirs robes on a Sunday anyway?

She sighed and looked around, holding her shoulder. It did hurt... She shook her head slightly and then someone came over to her. She looked to see who it was.

This thread is closed to Ryland Marcotte-Malfoy and Evan Williams

With the new days clear of full moons, Ryland felt inexplicably weaker than before. Merely having been a few days after the turning phase, Ryland was still going through the aftermath of it. He felt tired, drained, slow, and was dying to get food and sleep into his system. He took an apple from the Great Hall and walked around through the hallways. He didn't have a real, valid destination; he just knew he wanted to feel a little better. Finally, he thought about his afternoon stroll outside.

He went to the Owlery and sent a letter to Phoenix, more to keep him updated and worry-free, and thought about the last time he tried to ask Aylee out. Why did he always come back to that? "Ryland, it's been a long time. Get over it." he told himself as he walked back down the thousand steps from the Owlery, his apple long gone by now. He also went back to the Gryffindor tower to feed Rich, the one gray ferret he couldn't live without, and then walked back to the Great Hall to get more food. What would a boy do without food?

Walking in, he saw the House Elves putting up plates for dinner already, and he smiled to them as he passed by the Gryffindor table and took yet another fruit. He didn't have many options anymore, as dinner would be starting soon most likely, and he didn't want to eat or drink more than he should in case he had to take a midnight trip to the lavatories.  So he settled for fruits. He took his snack and walked out just as casually as he had walked in and made his way towards the Entrance Gates, hoping to see anyone familiar and likeable enough to talk to without making his hair fall out. For example, he didn't want to talk to Sydney, or Evan, or Aylee. As a matter of fact, at this moment in life, Ryland hated all Ravenclaws.

His green eyes filled with terror, though, as he saw the people rushing in and taking cover from what seemed to be just rain. They were running inside and pushing through the others as if they were all a pack of animals boarding a ship. With wide eyes, Ryland tried to run away from it. The stampede only got worse as he recognized a very familiar face. Darcy stood by the entrance too. Had it been someone else, he would have turned around and gone away. But this was Darcy! He couldn't leave just like that, no matter the crowd around her. He quickly made his way towards her, pushing through the people coming in when he saw a Slytherin boy, probably in his own year by the looks of it, push past her and collide with her shoulder. A frown appeared on Ryland's face and he pushed past the people faster. "Darcy!" He called out, finally reaching her through the many faces and bodies that he could care less about. "Are you okay?" he asked as he tried to look at her shoulder better. "What was with him? Robes on a weekend?" he half smiled. He hadn't seen his housemate in a long time, so this unexpected meeting was more than welcome!

Despite the pain in her shoulder - which was ebbing away - Darcy felt a smile spreading as she saw who it was. "Ryland!" she said happily, not having seen him in a long time. She had missed him a lot lately, as she had been really occupied with stupid things such as homework. All right, maybe they weren't stupid, but it wasn't far from it.

She shrugged. "I think I'm okay," she said, "It stings a bit, but I'm sure it only got a bit bashed up, no worries." She tried to move her shoulder in circles, and though it hurt, it wasn't dreadful or stiff. She grinned at his comment. "That's exactly what I was thinking!" she said humorously.

As the students rushing in from the rain dimmed drastically, the entrance hall was pretty much empty. She shook her head. "It was such a nice weather and then it just started pouring. She then laughed and gestured to her clothes and hair with her hands. "As you can see, I'm drenched." She didn't think it was that bad, but she was glad she had gotten herself in as quickly as she had. Her hair was already sticking to her face. She pushed it away and sighed.

"I haven't seen you in a while," she said, looking at him, "How are you?" She hadn't been aware that she missed Ryland this much before she right now. And it hadn't been that long either. Still, she was very glad that he was there.

"Yeah," Ryland looked around at the remaining students who walked in with drenched clothes and turned back to Darcy, "I don't like water much." It was a true fact that Ryland had never been one to swim in lakes and take long showers. The less time he was in contact with water the better. It was one of the reasons he hated the Black Lake, despite the merfolk and other monsters that lived in it. "Drenched looks good on you!" Ryland laughed as he said this, unsure of why he was suddenly in a complimenting mood when he had been feeling terrible the past few days. Three days ago, he would have snapped at anyone, even Darcy, with the force in his voice he was always trying to hide. "I guess I should try that look too, what with my hair being perfect and whatnot. Maybe it can look as good on me as it does on you!" he joked again.

Is this normal? The mood swings? Ryland wondered as Darcy went on about not having seen him in a while. It was true; he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen and now he couldn't tell if she knew about him or not. He had been a little paranoid, of course, returning this year and seeing that everyone he loved was, for some reason or another, drifting away from him. Aylee didn't seem to be as perfect as she did before; she was stuck in a fantasy world as far as Ryland knew, and he didn't plan on attempting to be the one who saved her and brought her back to the real world. Darcy had been either too busy with school or too busy with girl friends as he hadn't even seen her around much. Lucy was too focused on saving Wade and getting into the Ministry as an Auror that she barely even said hi to him in the hallways. His sister still made an effort to dine with him whenever she could, and that meant more to him than any date with Aylee or any phial of the most powerful potion in the world. As confused as he was, he needed someone now more than ever.

"I've been around." Ryland finally answered when he realized Darcy had asked it. "Just, you know, homework and Aylee still rejecting me. I gave up on that, though." he gave her a half smile. "Aylee, I mean." He would hate to bring the topic into a full conversation, so he quickly switched it to Darcy. "How about you? I haven't seen you in...wait, what's you name again?" he asked with his most serious face.

Darcy smiled at Ryland's comment. She didn't mind rain all that much either, but she had to be in the mood for it. And preferably prepared for it. She sighed and looked up at Ryland as he said she looked good with it. That made her laugh. "Thanks, Ryland," she said, "And I'm sure it'd look equally as good on you as me!"

He looked a bit lost. He seemed completely drowned in his own thoughts. Pun intended. She tilted her head to the side. He looked a bit tired. Maybe he had just been sick? She didn't like that idea. Lately, the people who'd become sick hadn't returned for a while. She suddenly felt a creeping sensation of fear crawl up her spine. Then she shook it off. Ryland couldn't be sick. It was Ryland.

She smiled again when he replied to her question. And then it faltered slightly. Ryland had given up on Aylee? What? Why? That was so sad… She quickly caught up on the fact that he didn't feel like talking about it, and Darcy wasn't the person who would bring people to talking about stuff they didn't want to. So she played along with the humor and rolled her eyes at him.

"Ha-ha, very funny," she said sarcastically and then beamed again, "I've been right here all along. I mean… Not in the Entrance Hall, of course! No, I've spent a lot of time in the library and the common room studying. I figured it would be a smart idea to be ahead of studying before my OWLs year. And my sister is here now as well!"

Darcy remembered how happy Ariel had been when Darcy gave her the necklace that Ryland had given her for Christmas. She smirked. "I'd beware, though… She seems to be crushing on you due to the necklace you gave," she said wickedly.

Jokingly, Ryland shook his head and his hair, drenched and wild, went off into every direction. He quickly ran a hand through it to keep it down, and in all truth, he looked more like a dog shaking the water off than anything else and Ryland couldn't help but laugh at this thought. As soon as he calmed down again, he turned to Darcy.

"There's a world out there and you're sitting here studying!" Ryland laughed again, his thoughts of misery and pain out of his mind for the moment. With a smile, he walked around her and glanced at the doors. "Look at that! We're caged up for today because of the rain. We have to do something...." he turned back to her and heard something about her sister.

"She must be crazy to like me!" he said before realizing what he had just said. "I mean, I'm not saying your sister is crazy. It was just a...you know what I mean." he apologized and smiled again. "So, do you have anything important to do today?" He had a few ideas of what they could do for fun while the rain passed, but what if Darcy had to meet with some other friends?

[Oh, wow! I didn't notice that Ryland had been outside as well! Also, you sure his hair didn't just go off into one direction? Ha-ha, ha … ha … ha…]

Darcy laughed as he shook his head and waterdroplets flew everywhere. She shook her head and raised an eyebrow. "Is that how you make all them girls swoon?" she asked with a snigger. Seriously, this guy was priceless. She could just imagine the girls walking by when he whipped his hair back and forth.

As he joked about her studying, Darcy made a face. "It's not as if I don't know that!" she said indignantly, "I just thought it would be awesome to pass my OWLs, so that I can see the world in the exact way I want to." She grinned hugely at him. She wanted to be in the international department when she graduated. Or maybe a professor. But probably not.

She watched Ryland as he walked up to the doors and followed suit, looking outside. "You know, I actually do like the rain. I just wasn't prepared for it," she said, contemplating to herself if she should just skip down and into it, and just jump around. Then she remembered that she was 14 years old. She didn't skip around in the rain.

Darcy instantly frowned when Ryland said Ariel would have to be crazy to like him. And he quickly excused himself. For the wrong reasons. Ariel was crazy, there was nothing to do about that. But did Ryland have low self-esteem? No. It wasn't possible. Darcy blinked.

"Ry, do you ever look yourself in the mirror?" she asked humorously with a pointed gaze.