General Grounds (2) 12/ 25/08 And I'm free, free fallin'!

After Changing out of her dress and heels and into comfy jeans and a long sleeved shirt, Katy left Gryffindor Tower with her warm black winter coat. She laid now on a bench, staring up at the crystal clear sky. Her mind automatically connected the constellations and spilled out their stories.

Riley was in holy jeans (which was the first pair he found) and a sweater with a cloak because it was December. He went out onto the grounds and saw Katy laying on a bench. Since Katy was layingdown, he couldn't, so with it being at a slightly comfortable height and leaned against it with his hands on the back of the bench, but he didn't say anything... yet.

Katy stayed silent too...just enjoying the feeling of peace..and not being squished between hundreds of students

Riley enjoyed the slight breeze that ruffled his hair and cloak. He looked up at the stars like Katy was doing, then he said, "Do you actually know all the constilations and whatnot?"

"Most of them..and their stories" Her eyes rested on her favorite constellation, Orion..Orion was always visible back home.

"wow... I think I only know the name of one: Orion. And that's only because of the belt thing... but I don't know any of the stories," Riley replied lightly.

"Really? Well it so happens that that one is my favorite.."
Katy sat up on one elbow, and with a joking grin asked
"Are you sure your not stalking me?"

Riley chuckled. "Yes, I am a very dangerous stalker that you should totally be worried about," he replied, rolling his eyes ina joking manner.

Katy gave a quiet laugh
"That's twice you've smiled today..laughing counts you know"

"Does it?" Riley asked. "I don't count laughing... I just count my full-hearted smile." He smiled truly just to show her and then it disappeared decently quick. "Like that smile."

"Well that's still two...and you still haven't proven me wrong..unless your always in a happy mood ever time I talk to you.."
She laid back down on the bench, staring up at the stars

"You just catch me on good days... except it surprises me today that I'm more happy than normal since some things that normally creep into my head like it did just now," Riley said, shaking his head. "Normally I'm in a rather foul mood on Christmas."

"Yeah...Christmas sucks.."
Katy glanced over at Riley again and saw his look changing to gloomy
"You ok?"
she asked
"You know..if you need to talk about anything, im willing to listen.."
She sat up from the bench and crossed her legs (lmao criss-cross apple sauce..aka indian style..lol) and looked at Riley with bright, thoughtful eyes

That took Riley slightly by surprise... but only slightly. Riley didnt' meet Katy's eyes as he thought about it... it had been nice to get it off hsi chest when he talked to Ashley... but he didn't want to be pitied. And then he did something that surprised himself, he talked. "I'm really not OK," he replied with a slight smile. "I'm never OK, really... it's just... a lot of stuff."

"Go ahead..we've plenty of time..but dont think your gonna get pity from me..pity only makes it worse." She gave a small smile then patted the bench..there was plenty of room for him to sit since she sat up.

Riley moved around the bench and sat down. "OK... no pity whatsoever," he said. "And you'd be, like, the second person to hear any of this... but it just had felt really good to get it off my chest." He took a deep breath and wondered where to begin... probably at the beginning would be best... so it would start on Christmas... the holiday he hated most. "Er... well... I'm practically an unwanted child and it got worse when I was four... that was when my older brother died. On Christmas."

"Promise..no pity"
She kept her eyes on his as he began to talk
"Howd he die?"
she asked in a quiet voice

Riley's eyes became distant as he saw the memory flash before his mind's eye. His vision was blurred slightly with tears as he replied, "We had been playing upstairs and running -- which we were never allowed to do, not inside. But since it had been Christmas and Christian had gotten new toys, we were allowed." Riley's voice sounded disconnected fromt he situation somehow... but that was probably because he was seeing it all again...

"We had been playing Death Eaters and Aurors... I had been the Death Eater and I needed to get to his room to be safe or whatever... Chris was faster than I was, so I did something I did to him when we were outside playing tag or whatever -- I tripped him a bit just to get to his bedroom. Normally he caught his balance... but on the freshly polished hard wood floors and us being in socks, he didn't. Instead, he started to fall backwards... down the stairs. I didn't know what was happening as I watched him fall... I heard bones crack... and then he was limp on the bottom of the stairs. I heard my mother's shrill scream of agony and I knew that he was gone and it was my fault."

Katy had an urge to put a comforting hand on his arm..but didnt..because he didnt like to be touched
"Now i understand why you dont like christmas.." she said, not knowing what else to say without giving pity.
"Is there anything else?"

"Kinda hard to keep to that promise," he noted with a slight smile. THen the smile disappeared. "Loads more... my whole life has been sucky like that... kinda the norm for me."

"Well go ahead...and dont doubt me yet...i can be a very...non pitying person"

Riley smiled slightly again. "I'll explain why I don't like being touched... that'd probably be the simplest thing to explain," he replied. "It is rather simple... my parents -- and grandparents, which I now live with -- are rather abusive... it sucks, but I've gotten used to it. But I don't let them push me around anymore... and that's made it a bit worse, but it's better than just lying down and letting them hit me, yell at me, curse me, and do God knows what else to me."

That she could relate to. It was part of the reason she was so claustrophobic now..Though it wasnt her parents..or even her grandparents.
Her brother.
Katy looked away from Riley and to the stars who had always brought comfort. She shook away the feeling and looked back to Riley
"Did they abuse you because of..that christmas?"
she asked in a soft voice

Riley took a deep breath, which was surprisingly slightly shaky. "I think so... that was when they all started to hate me, which would explain it," he replied in as soft a voice as Katy had asked.

Katy nodded her head
"People are just jerks sometimes..so..is there anything else"
she said after a long pause