When One Door Closes... ((Damien))

[Wynd Lehane]

Wynd hurried as fast as he could from the Shrieking Shack. Yes, hurried. To hell with what his father said about hurrying. He hurried! Wynd had to get as far away from Ruby as possible. She.... she..... she lied! She lied to him. She had lied straight to his face! Ruby. Lied. Ruby lied. Ruby lied. The thought kept repeating itself in his head. He had to put as much distance as he could between himself and his sister. As soon as he turned away from the stunned Valmer and Ruby he started running. If there was one thing that Wynd was better than Ruby at, it was running. He could out distance her without too much trouble. He hoped that Valmer wasn’t a runner. Another part of him secretly did. He would gladly punch Valmer in the face. Yes, he would resort to muggle methods. What was he talking about!? Muggle methods? Wynd was upset but there was no way he would ever resort so low. He was still a wizard after all. He would curse Valmer like there was no tomorrow. He was so upset that he might even use an unforgivable curse. NO! Wynd was still a rational human being. There was no reason to jeopardize his future. His secret desire for Valmer to follow him quickly died away.

At the turn to Hogwarts or Hogsmeade, Wynd chose Hogsmeade. He didn’t want to go back to school. If he did return to school he would just go to the dorm. Back to where Valmer and he had shared a room for five years. Wynd was disgusted. How long had Valmer been watching his sister? All those times that Wynd had volunteered information to him, was that data collection? Valmer was not a bad person. Wynd actually enjoyed having Valmer as a roommate. But to think, all this time he had a crush on Ruby? The thought made him sick. That’s why she was in the courtyard that night. That’s why he had returned to the room so late. The missed clues infuriated Wynd. How could he have not seen? He knew that Ruby was in a good mood all this week but he had no idea why and now it seemed so clear. Why? WHY? It was fine if Ruby wanted to have a boyfriend. That was her business. But it became personal when she tried to hide it from him. What did she think his reaction would be? Anger? Hate? Jealousy? It wouldn’t have been if she had been truthful with him. Wynd was all right with Valmer as a boyfriend. He was better than a lot of other boys. He was worried for a time that she was going to go after Kennedy after he had broken up with Fiona. Wynd still didn’t understand that. Fiona was gorgeous. But that was all old news. Ruby had lied to him. Ruby. LIED. Wynd felt like his whole world was going to fall apart.

Wynd rushed into the town full of students not really noticing where he was going. He literally ran into some fourth year Gryffindors but he didn’t stop. Not even to sneer. They didn’t deserve an apology anyway. They had mudbloods in that house. His feet seemed to be thinking faster than his head because before he knew it he was outside the Hogshead. A joint known to have a darker outlook than many of the other stores in town. He took a quick breath. Now that he had stopped running, he realised how cold the air was on this cold autumn day. He pushed his way into the place. It was crowded in there. That was perfect. Wynd didn’t want to be seen or talk to anybody. He just wanted to order a drink and be left with his thoughts. He approached the bar and ordered a drink. He paid for it and then took a seat at a table in the back corner. There, the lighting was not very good so it would be difficult for others to recognise him. Wynd drank his drink in silence letting himself get lost in the noise of the place.

[damien]

If there was one thing that frustrated Damien about Odette, it was her obsession with looking good. Today was a Hogsmeade trip. Today, Damien had planned to spend the day with Odette, walking around and discussing their plans and mocking all the ignorant people who thought their lives meant something. Or at least that’s what Damien would be doing. Sticking his foot out to trip the first year that ran by him when he was standing in a crowd, or even when he was just standing out in the middle of the street. And then when the kid looked up at him with that hurt or angry expression, Damien would just smirk and tell him to watch where he was going. Ah, that would have been Damien’s idea of a good day, and yet here he was. He was not having a good day. An hour ago he had stood at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Odette to come down and lead the way down to the carriages for the trip to Hogsmeade. Instead, she came down, opened the door, and looked at him for a few moments. Then she yawned and shook her head at him, telling him she needed beauty sleep and that he could just go alone. Of course Damien had argued, but in the end he’d been told that there was probably something Damien could do that would be useful, so Damien had set off to Hogsmeade on a mission. Now, Damien was standing off from a path just a short ways, leaning against a tree, listening to a conversation not far off. Soon enough Damien’s peaceful eaves dropping was disturbed as a boy ran past him. Damien groaned and shook his head. “Why’s he got to run?”

Damien rolled his shoulders back, rolled his head and cracked his neck, and then stretched out his back before actually walking to the path way a few feet off and taking a deep breath. He adjusted his hat and then in a few seconds tore off after the boy that had just run by. He had to give Wynd a head start or else he’d catch up and that would be far too conspicuous. And so Damien...ran...if running was what you could call it. It was more jogging comfortably. He could hear Wynd up ahead, and he saw his footsteps on the ground, indents in the dirt and gravel from heavy steps. Damien tried with all his might to push past the comparisons of this tracking to the tracking you would do when you were hunting an animal. Listening for the thing’s ragged and strained breathing. Not to mention it was a cold afternoon, and so the breathing would be even more labored, fighting the cold. Damien headed into the town shortly after Wynd had passed, this was obvious as Damien watched a few Gryffindors walk by talking about how Slytherins could be so rude, wondering why that kid had been in such a rush. Damien had to hold back a smirk. He had honestly seen it all coming. Every step of the way Damien and Odette had just been waiting for this outcome. It had been bound to happen. Romance makes you weak, and in Ruby and Wynd’s case, it had left them divided. But that suited Damien and Odette’s purposes just fine; divide and conquer.

Damien slowed his pace to an easy walk, giving him a few moments to get his breathing back to its usual slow pattern and away from the heavier breathing needed when running. He took easy deliberate steps, and deep breaths to give his heart the chance to settle back into its steady beat as well. He was perfectly cooled down by the time he reached the door to the Hogshead, and he opened it casually, stepping inside, away from the cool afternoon. Damien did prefer the weather outside, but he had things to do. Damien scanned the room, finding his target quickly. He smirked as he walked to the counter and ordered a drink, today was going to hopefully wield progress, and Odette would be quite happy with him if he returned with good news. Damien took his drink and headed to the back of the room where the older Slytherin boy was seated. “Mind if I join you?” Damien was going for the Pure Blooded manners thing that he knew the Lehane’s enjoyed. Pleasantries were always nice, Damien supposed.

[Wynd Lehane]

It was nice to just lose himself in the crowd. He had picked a table in the back and was sitting by himself but it was nice to be surrounded by people. People that didn't care about Wynd's petty problems. And petty they were. After he had sat down and slowed his breathing from his run, his rational side started to take control again. Wynd hated emotions sometimes. He was usually a rational person but every now and again his emotions would take over and he would do something drastic. Stupid even. Like running away from Ruby and Valmer, like he was some four year old girl. His rational side started to recount the events that he just witnessed. Yes, Ruby had lied to him and gone to Hogsmeade without his knowledge. Yes, Valmer had kissed Ruby. Or she had kissed him. It was hard to tell, and a very unimportant detail. There had been a kiss. But she probably lied because she was afraid the Wynd wouldn't approve of Valmer. And Valmer probably hadn't talk to him because he wanted to let Ruby do it. Okay. This was starting to make sense. The world was starting to return to its normal hue instead of the red that he had just been seeing. Breathe Wynd he told himself. Just breathe.

He was so entrapped by his own thoughts that he had failed to notice a boy approach him. Damien Vasska. Probably the second to last person Wynd wanted to see right now. Valmer being the first. Upon noticing his approach, Wynd tried his best to pull himself together. He felt like he failed miserably but he did the best he could. Last time he had come face to face with Damien had been on the train. Damien had caught him off guard and made Wynd look like a fool. Today would probably be no different as Damien had met Wynd at a very bad time. But Wynd had to act like noting was wrong. Damien would see his weakness and pounce on it. Wynd was sure of it. At least he was without Odette today. Just like Ruby and he, Odette and Damien worked as a team Wynd had noticed. Without Wynd's other half, there was no way that he could have matched both of them, but seeing as it was just half of their team, Wynd was confident he could hold his own ground.

Damien politely asked him if he might have a seat. At least he had had a proper upbringing. Wynd gestured to the seat across from him. "Be my guest." Wynd avoided making sudden movements. That was what got him into trouble on the train. Damien's heightened senses had realised Wynd had grabbed his wand. A trait that Wynd admired but he was cautious not to make the same mistake again. Besides, Wynd was in no mood to fight with this fourth year and he could really use something to take his mind of off Ruby. "Damien, what a surprise to run into you at the Hogshead," Wynd faked a smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" The only reason that Wynd could think of was that he wanted something. But what? Their last encounter had made it clear that Damien and Odette thought of themselves better than the Lehane twins. Why would Damien "lower" himself to talk with Wynd?