Adele Graham
 
Seventh Year[M:10]
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
Posts: 256
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Post by Adele Graham on Sept 22, 2008 19:12:51 GMT -5
It was late enough that the stars were twinkling and the air was crisp and cold. Most of the students had gone inside, except a few still at the Quidditch Pitch, but Adele was alone by the lake.
She was sitting down, her back against a tree, and a parchment clenched tightly in one hand. She was shivering because it was cold.
And she was crying. They were silent tears, but they were unstoppable, and so thick she couldn't see.
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Post by Caleb Renneau on Sept 22, 2008 19:16:50 GMT -5
He had been keeping an eye on her, whether or not she was taking his class he did have a promise to fulfill and he was watching over her, for "Death" that she believed was lurking over her shoulder. When he found her alone where he found her his first instinct was to reprimand and tell her that it was time to get back inside. He didn't know why the thought of reprimanding her made him feel better, perhaps he knew deep inside that there was no way to control this woman or her life and being a teacher gave him a smidge of that control. Usually he didn't care, but with Adele he had to admit , and only to himself of course, that he did care.
His reprimand died on his lips, "What happened?" he asked he could see it in her features but he dared to hope it wasn't what they had talked about before.
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Adele Graham
Seventh Year[M:10]
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
Posts: 256
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Post by Adele Graham on Sept 22, 2008 19:23:45 GMT -5
Adele looked up, startled by his presence, and wiped at her eyes.
"Nothing," she said. Girls had a habit of doing that, saying nothing was wrong when something obviously was. "I'm fine."
She was still angry with him, though Merlin only knew why, and she hadn't spoken to him since she walked out on his class. She didn't want to start now.
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Post by Caleb Renneau on Sept 22, 2008 19:28:52 GMT -5
"No none of that, I'm not going to fight for answers this time Adele tell me what happened." he said sitting next to her his gaze was sharp and he would miss nothing, he wanted the truth, all of it, and he wanted it now.
Perhaps he was being overly demanding afterall they were still strangers in so many ways and yet something came over him when he was around her, something fiercely protective, she was *his* to protect because other people just didn't understand and they didn't know how.
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Adele Graham
Seventh Year[M:10]
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
Posts: 256
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Post by Adele Graham on Sept 22, 2008 19:32:49 GMT -5
"Don't!" She said, moving away from him. She didn't want his help. He'd get too close and then he'd die too, and she couldn't take anymore. For Merlin's sake, she was only sixteen.
"Don't try to help. You can't." She didn't want him to. He had another girl to go fawn over. Why wasn't he with her?
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Post by Caleb Renneau on Sept 22, 2008 19:44:40 GMT -5
"Adele!" he said even more stern, " Let me in..." he softened, " I won't hurt you..." his hand was outstretched and tentative as it reached for hers, "I won't hurt you." he repeated.
There could only be one cause of this he decided and that was her brother. Merlin he ached for this young girl who was probably all alone now. No she wasn't alone, he wouldn't let her be alone, "Please trust me."
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Adele Graham
Seventh Year[M:10]
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
Posts: 256
|
Post by Adele Graham on Sept 22, 2008 22:10:47 GMT -5
She did trust him, and that was the part that scared her. She was crying so hard that she was shaking, and she was trying to keep him from touching her. Somehow, she knew, the secnd he did, she would throw her arms around him and not let go for the world. She felt like she was falling and she had nothing to hold on to.
"I will be all right," she whispered. "Please just... just..." She trailed off, not knowing what she was asking him. Hold me, is what she wanted to ask.
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Post by Caleb Renneau on Sept 23, 2008 1:17:46 GMT -5
"Shh..." he said, and as if he had heard her silent plea once his hand found hers he half met half pulled her into his own arms. He was heartbroken for the girl truly heartbroken. They had discussed this and he knew that there was only one reason for her to be so broken...her brother had died.
"No don't shh...cry Adele...go ahead and cry." he said, the words vibrating from his chest.
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Adele Graham
Seventh Year[M:10]
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
Posts: 256
|
Post by Adele Graham on Sept 23, 2008 1:28:32 GMT -5
It was like all she needed were those arms around her. She broke down completely when she didn't have to hold herself together. There was someone else that was watching the rest of the world, protecting her, and for once, she could be shattered.
She cried hard. Her body trembled in his arms, and as far as she knew, he didn't even know why. She just ached for everyone she had lost, ached from the lonliness that she could feel setting in.
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Post by Caleb Renneau on Sept 23, 2008 1:39:58 GMT -5
He rocked her back and forth and held her tightly through her sobs. He couldn't promise that it would be okay because he knew that it wouldn't but what he did say and what he did promise was heartfelt and sincere, "I'm here." he whispered, "I'm here." it was a statement yes, but it was also a promise that he'd be there for her anyway. Strangely, even though they had fought, it didn't matter anymore, he accepted that there were going to be fights between them, sometimes he wasn't the clearest person with his intentions, but he was certain, his intention very clear, that he was going to protect this girl.
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Adele Graham
Seventh Year[M:10]
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
Posts: 256
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Post by Adele Graham on Sept 23, 2008 1:43:37 GMT -5
No one who had ever said those words to her had been able to keep that promise, and her fingers clenched in his shirt at the thought of losing someone else. She barely knew him, and most of the time she hated him, but she needed him, too.
"Don't go," she whispered, her voice broken in the sobs. She was so scared to be alone.
She had lost her last remaining brother, the one she was closest to, the one who promised things would be different. She didn't know how to keep doing this.
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Post by Caleb Renneau on Sept 23, 2008 1:49:59 GMT -5
I'm sorry, wasn't adequate for what he felt and he didn't know what to say he wasn't good with this sort of thing.
"I won't go." he told her, " I won't leave." I won't die, he finished softly in his head.
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Adele Graham
Seventh Year[M:10]
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
Posts: 256
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Post by Adele Graham on Sept 23, 2008 2:01:56 GMT -5
Adele never let herself turn to anyone, but by now... she was just so tired of fighting and trying to hold everything together that she couldn't fight anymore. She had to give in and let someone else be strong for her.
She cried until she was too tired to cry any more, and even then she wouldn't pull away from him. She felt like she would crumble into a thousand little pieces that would never be put back together if she didn't have him.
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Post by Caleb Renneau on Sept 23, 2008 2:11:19 GMT -5
He didn't know how he maneuvered it, but by the end of her crying he had shifted her onto his lap his hand trailing up and down her arm in a comforting gesture. He had thought she'd fallen asleep a few times until she'd start crying again and he'd hold on tighter.
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Adele Graham
Seventh Year[M:10]
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
Posts: 256
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Post by Adele Graham on Sept 23, 2008 2:20:56 GMT -5
She finally just rested against his chest, trying to just breathe. It was hard, when even breathing felt like work. She was exhausted, the kind that only comes with great sorrow. She wasn't falling asleep, but she had no energy to move.
"My brother died," she said, her voice tired and barely above a whisper. She almost choked on the words, but he deserved to know why he was holding her like this.
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Post by Caleb Renneau on Sept 23, 2008 2:25:33 GMT -5
He knew, he knew already but he just couldn't bring himself to ask her, and so when she told him he only sighed, "I'm so sorry Adele...so very sorry."
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Adele Graham
Seventh Year[M:10]
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
Posts: 256
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Post by Adele Graham on Sept 23, 2008 2:38:19 GMT -5
"I didn't get to say goodbye," She whispered. "He was on his way here."
She had begged him to come, because she felt something bad was going to happen, and without any hesitation, he had agreed.
"I tried to stop it. To help him, like you said. And I was the one who killed him."
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Post by Caleb Renneau on Sept 23, 2008 2:43:38 GMT -5
"It wasn't your fault." he told her, " It wasn't. Listen to me. Fate rules, Adele. You follow the steps, and you plan and you work, then fate slips in laughing and makes fools of us. Sometimes we can trick it or outguess it, but most often it's already written. For some, it's written in blood. That doesn't mean we stop, but it does mean we can't always comfort ourselves with blame."
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Adele Graham
Seventh Year[M:10]
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
Posts: 256
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Post by Adele Graham on Sept 23, 2008 2:47:21 GMT -5
She shook her head. "If I hadn't asked him to come..."
She could play that deadly game of what if as long as she liked... it didn't change anything. She took a deep breath, and let it out, slow and shakey.
"I shouldn't keep you out here," she said, though she did not apologize for it.
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Post by Caleb Renneau on Sept 23, 2008 2:58:29 GMT -5
"No." he said sternly "Look at me." he lifted her chin for emphasis, "You don't always have control...sometimes it's easier to blame yourself. If you hadn't asked him to come, because the truth is much scarier, the fact that you didn't have any control over your brother's death is much more frightening than believing it was your fault."
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