Bruised ((Adam))

[Raelee Gray]

Adam,

Meet me in the Room of Requirement. Let's say... around six? I have something to show you.

Rae

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The music Rae had chosen was playing loudly as she sat on the floor with a paint can in between her legs. She popped the lid open and looked into the swirling colour of yellow paint. Rae grinned and closed her eyes. I need 10 more of this colour and 20 more with half red and half blue. When she opened her eyes, there were 30 cans of paint surrounding her. She smiled brightly as she stood and brushed a curl out of her face. When Rae had paced in front of the door three times, she had thought about a stark white room without windows. The walls were all pure white, as were the ceiling and floor. Rae felt like she was in a containment box, but it had been exactly what she had asked for. So, in a sense it was perfect. Now, with the paints scattered in cans around the room, Rae was ready for what she had planned. All that was needed now was Adam. This was all for him anywya. She thought he could use a way to get his mind off everything and to just have fun, and the best thing she could come up with was "splatter paint therapy." Perhaps they'd just abandon the actual splattering and just throw a can full of paint on the wall. Yeah, Rae thought the idea sounded better to her.

"The hours pass and she still counts the minutes that I am not there. I swear I didn't mean for it to feel like this. Like every inch of me is bruised, bruised. And don't fly fast, oh pilot can you help me? Can you make this last? This plane is all I got, so keep it steady now 'cos every inch you see is bruised." Rae loved this song, but then again Rae had a very wide taste of music. She loved everything from Modest Mouse to Nat King Cole, but there were certain songs that Rae remembered the most. The songs that she remembered the most were the songs that she remembered the day she listened to them. Because every time she remembered a song on a specific day it is because she fell in love with something. "You fell in love with an album," Nette''s voice whispered in her ear as she stirred the paints with her wand. "No, no, I fell in love with music." Had been her reply. And it was a truthful reply, and every time she heard a song and remembered that day she had heard it on... she fell in love with music all over again.

Rae sighed as she stopped moving her wand in circles, and almost instantly the paint stopped swirling in the cans. The last time she had seen her biological mother was the month before school started and she hadn't been in contact with her since. Of course, why would she be in contact with Rae when all Rae had done was scream at her and call her names? It had been a huge shock when Rae found out she had been adopted and that she had a biological mother who had wanted to be a part of her life. Rae didn't want to let Janette, or Nette as she liked to be called, into her life because she hadn't wanted in when she was younger. Nette tried to explain to her that it was in an agreement that she had to stay away, but Rae still held resentment toward the woman who was so much like herself it was scary. Rae sighed again and stood from the crouched position she had been in when she heard the door open behind her. The thoughts instantly vanished from her mind and she smiled at Adam, "Ready?" Without a reply, Rae picked up the nearest can of paint (which just happened to be blue) and held it in both hands before hurling the gooey substance toward the wall. The blue struck the white sharply and slid to the floor, leaving a pattern on the wall that made Rae grin. "Grab a can and go at it. Seriously." She took a look at his apprehensive face and laughed, "Trust me, alright?"

[Professor Adam Greene]

Adam’s eyes gazed across the room, although his attention was elsewhere. He sat with his back leaning against the headboard of his bed, a pillow resting behind his neck. On his lap, a blank piece of paper sat with his hand hovering over it with a pen ready to write what came to his mind. But just like every other time he tried putting his words onto paper, his thoughts became sporadic as more and more memories flowed in. They were so real and vivid. It was almost like Dixie was right there with him. They were eating lunch in Hogsmeade, talking in the common room, and even dancing together. In the past week, every single one of his memories had returned. But it was a bittersweet process. The more he remembered, the more it became evident that he lost a lot more than just Dixie on the day she left the school.

Finally, his concentration was broken by the deadening silence and he let out a sigh as he dropped his view to look at the blank paper. He shook his head back and forth and threw the pen across the room in frustration. Why couldn’t he bring himself to just write the simplest of sentences. Dear Dixie. I remember. Love Adam. It would be that simple. At least then she would know, right? And then, maybe she would return. It didn’t matter how much he tried or even what thought process he used, it was like Adam could not get his hand to listen to his brain. Or maybe it was just that he wasn’t letting himself write the letters. Too many “what if’s” began to form in the jumbled mess of thoughts firing through his brain.

Despite the fact that it was in perfectly good condition to be used for something else, Adam crumpled up the piece of paper and tossed it beside his desk. It hit the front of the tin trash can and bounced backwards onto the floor. “Why does this have to be so darn complicated,” he said aloud with a sigh. Adam stood from his bed and walked over to his desk, making sure to pick up the pen and paper that were on the floor. He said down and leaned his hand against his head as he rifled through the clutter that engulfed the desk’s surface. As he pushed various books and papers around, he noticed a piece of folded parchment that he remembered Rae handing him between classes. He had forgot to read it, since it was Potions that he was walking into when she slipped it to him. Knowing that reading it in that class would be the dumbest mistake ever, he had slipped it in with his other books and papers, totally forgetting about it until now.

Unfolding the parchment, Adam read it to himself and then glanced at his clock. Just in time, he thought, seeing that it was ten minutes until the time Rae had requested his presence. Happy to escape his room and the thoughts that bombarded him when he was alone, Adam slipped into some comfortable clothes and hurried out the door into the dungeons as he made his way toward the Room of Requirement. He had only used the room once before, needing a place that was free of distractions when he was studying for his O.W.L.s, and so he was hoping it would be as easy to find as before. Approaching the hall that he remembered hosted the room, Adam walked by the wall where the door appeared before. Magically, as he neared the spot, a door frame came in to view and he tried the handle. It easily turned, and he walked inside to a very plain looking room.

Rae was standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by buckets of various colors of paint. Adam gave a wary look as she turned and greeted him before taking on of the buckets and hurling its contents at one of the walls. He let out a quick snort of disbelief and opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by Rae who apparently assumed his protest. The irony of her words caught him off guard at first, but then he remembered that she had seen the jewelry box, and so he figured she had used that phrase on purpose. “Hello to you too,” he said with a grin as he walked a bit closer to the buckets to get a better view. He peered down into the containers and observed the vivid colors of viscous liquid. Looking up again at Rae with a raised brow, he decidedly bent down and chose a nice bright yellow color. “I’m still not so sure I trust you though,” he teased, walking close to where Rae had splashed the blue paint onto the wall. In a semi-spiral motion, Adam flung the yellow paint across the wall so some of it covered the blue and the rest landed on parts of the wall that were still white. The result was an instant shade of green that blended with the blue and yellow spatters. He turned back around and gave Rae a giant grin. “You’re crazy. You know that?”

[Raelee Gray]

Rae smirked at Adam’s greeting and watched with a bit of impatience as he chose his colour. When he picked up a can (yellow), he made a remark about how he wasn’t sure if he trusted her. Rae merely shrugged; “I think that’s a safe choice. I’m very untrustworthy.” She grinned as she said this and then it split into a wide smile as he threw the paint on the wall and it mixed with her blue, making a green. Rae clapped her hands and then jabbed her right arm into the air as if to cheer, a bright smile on her face. She bent down and picked up another can (red) as Adam called her crazy. Rae stood, the can in one hand looking as if it were balancing on her palm, and she shrugged again. Maybe she was crazy, but it was a fun crazy and it was something that Rae never took for granted. She liked to live life like it was supposed to be lived and that was all that mattered to her. Rae shifted the can to both hands and then jumped while tilting the paint can slightly toward the wall. The red paint flew out of the can and splattered against the wall, and then continued to splatter and covered Rae in paint a little on her chest and nearly drenched her shoes. Rae groaned and looked down at her once black chucks. She dropped the can with a clatter and lifted her hand (which was red from the paint) to tuck a curl behind her ear but saw the red in time. Rae glowered at the paint on the wall and then whipped her head around when she heard laughter behind her.

“Think it’s funny do you? OK…” Rae smirked evilly at Adam and then rubbed her hands in the dripping paint on the wall before lunging at Adam and wiping the yellow, red, and blue (which was making an odd colour of brown) all over the front of his shirt. She smirked again, this time with an amused glint in her eyes, and whipped her hands down toward the ground to get the excess paint off them. “Humph! Not so funny now, is it?” Her voice was on the border of laughter, and her lips quivered as she tried to hold back the smile, but her eyes betrayed her as they sparkled with laughter and happiness. She finally grinned and dipped her hand fully into the nearest can (blue) and moved it in a very quick motion from the top right to the bottom left. A diagonal line appeared on the wall and immediately began dripping. She tilted her head, pressing the blue hand to her cheek because she honestly didn’t care now, and scrutinized the wall before looking over at Adam. “I think it’s missing something… but I can’t put my finger on it.” She stared at it again as she dipped her hand into a new can that had appeared. She pulled her hand out which was dripping black and pressed it against a less murky part of the wall but that held some colour. Her hand print was dripping but it gave the appeal she had been looking for and Rae was happy with it.

Rae turned to Adam as she wiped her black hand on her shirt that was a mixture of red and white. “You ever do splatter therapy? This is the exact same thing, only bigger. Much bigger. I figured you could use something to take your mind off everything… this always helped me… especially when my family life sucked… more than it does now.” She shrugged again and picked up another can and hurled the paint at the wall, covering up her hand print. Oddly enough it still showed through, the yellow paint had completely moved around it. Rae stared at it and then grinned.

[Professor Adam Greene]

It was amusing for Adam to see how much Rae seemed to enjoy the art of throwing paint at a wall. However, he couldn’t help but find it a little fun and entertaining himself. As he watched her approach the wall with another can of paint, he couldn’t help but laugh when she had it splash back at her and turn her shoes and shirt bright red. The instant he let the laughter escape his mouth, he knew it was a mistake. Rae’s response was almost predictable and as she came after Adam with paint covering her and her outreached hands. He laughed even harder as he playfully tried to hold her back to no avail. When she had successfully covered the front of his shirt in a muddled mess of paint, he watched as she struggled herself to hold back the laughter.

When she dipped her hand in another bucket of paint, Adam expected her to come at him again, but he let his guard down when he watched her go back to the wall and begin painting with her hand. He knew that Rae was an artist and that she really did paint things seriously, but it was interesting to watch her in her element as she turned even the seemingly messy splashed of paint into a masterpiece of her own. While he watched, an idea came to his mind. “I can’t say that I have done splatter therapy,” he replied, finding a bucket of a neon pink color. He picked it up and walked over to the wall by Rae. “Well, I guess then since you did this to help me, I won’t dump this on your head like I planned.” He gave her a teasing grin and then thrust the bucket her way, a bit of the liquid splashing onto his hands. “Here, hold this for a second.” Once Rae took the paint, Adam stood with his back against the wall and held out his arms with his palms face out. He closed his eyes tightly. “Alright, go ahead,” he spoke and then quickly shut his mouth. Adam figured Rae would understand what he meant, and he prepared himself for the splash of wet paint against his body. “Go ahead, I allow,” he said, thinking that maybe Rae was hesitant. However, just a second or so after he said it, Adam felt the cold paint slash heavily against his chest, some of it splattering on his face and legs. He smiled and then opened his eyes, turning to see if it had worked. Sure enough, the wall was splattered with hot-pink paint leaving a partial outline where he had been standing.

Adam turned back to Rae and used his hands to wipe some of the pink pain from the front of his body. Then, he walked back to where she was standing and wiped the pink smear across her cheek where the blue paint had started to dry. “Your turn, Pretty Pink Princess.” Adam didn’t tell Rae that he had chose the random nickname, remembering that she had called him Pretty Boy the night of the accident.

[Raelee Gray]

Rae grinned at Adam saying he wouldn’t dump the paint on her head. “Why thank you kind sir, I’ll never forget this courteous gesture.” She rolled her eyes at looked back at the wall, contemplating what to do next. Before she could do anything, however, Adam had thrust a can of neon pink toward her. She did as she was told, though with a curiosity glinting in her eyes. Adam stood against the wall in the anatomical position and closed his own eyes, telling her to go ahead. Rae’s jaw dropped as she looked at the can in her hands and then back up at Adam. He must’ve guessed her hesitation, though, because he told her he allowed her to. Rae didn’t need to be told twice, okay maybe twice but most definitely not three times. She hurled the paint onto Adam and let out a gasp as the pink struck him and the wall. She let out a laugh and set the paint can down as he stepped away from the wall. “And you called me crazy.” There was an outline from where he had stood, and overall Rae thought it looked very cool, but still… now Adam was covered in bright pink paint and that was too funny to pass up a laughing at. She watched as he approached her and smeared some of the pink paint on her cheek, telling it was her turn. She raised an eyebrow at the nickname, remembering calling him Pretty Boy a couple of times before, but she didn’t say anything as she crossed the room to a far corner where there were darker colours. She picked up a can that held a dark purple colour and handed it to Adam when she returned to his side.

“This is going to be hell to get out of my hair,” Rae muttered as she surveyed the wall and picked a spot close to where Adam had stood. Instead of standing at the anatomical position, Rae lifted her right arm up so it was diagonal and placed her left hand on her hip. She pressed herself flat against the wall and then took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Don’t worry about being hes-!” Before she could even finish her sentence she felt the splash of paint hit her and some even entered her mouth. Rae sputtered and stood standing still against the wall for a few moments. Finally, she stepped from the wall and flicked her hands to get rid of the paint enough to wipe her eyes free of the purple. She looked at Adam and nodded her head, “Courtesy just went out the window.” She told him with a smirk before turning to look at the wall. The outline wasn’t as prominent as Adam’s had been but it was a different pose and it looked neat anyway. She smiled satisfied and looked sideways at her friend. “I think it looks good, maybe I should use this technique on my room at home. I always repaint it over the summer.” Rae knelt down beside another can of paint and poked her finger in it before reaching over to the wall and drawing a smiley face with her finger.

“I’m moving out this summer, though, I hope. You should help me paint my new apartment if I do.” Rae looked up at Adam and smiled, thinking she’d like nothing more than to have Adam help her out with another painting project.

[Professor Adam Greene]

Adam took the can of pain that Rae chose and watched with a grin as she took her spot along the wall. Not wanting to give her the chance to back out, Adam wasted no time in hurling the purple paint at Rae. He bit his lip when he realized that some of the paint had gone into her mouth. "Hey, I may have came up with this last idea, but overall, you can only blame yourself," he said as she stepped away and made a comment.

The outlines did look somewhat artistic for being so messy and random. He watched as Rae could barely stop herself from using her finger again to doodle more on the wall. She really was an artist, and it was showing through, just by her eagerness to continue to add more color and depth to the paint already splashed all over the wall. Figuring he might as well join in the fun, Adam dipped both hands in different colors and then walked to a plain spot where he began making hand-prints in random patterns. "In that case, you'll have to send me an owl, because I must admit this is pretty relieving of stress and kinda fun. He walked back over to where Rae was and wiped his hands down her back. It was amusing, covering her in more and more paint, and he figured that since they were both pretty much covered, a little more wouldn't help. "It's too bad we don't have a camera."

Careful not to get much paint on his wand, Adam decided for a quicker method. He levitated a few buckets across the room to the opposite wall where he splashed green, yellow, and orange paint to start to even out the color. It didn't look as interesting as the other wall though, so he stopped and took a seat on an empty can that he flipped upside down. Obviously, he wasn't as patient and creative as Rae who was still doodling away with her fingers and hands. With a hand of his own, Adam traced circles in a small puddle of paint that stained the floor. With his mind free again, it naturally went back to thinking of Dixie. He knew that it was going to go back to her, at least for a while. He wondered if she was thinking of him as much as he thought of her. Then, trying to push the issues out of his mind, his thoughts went back to Rae. "Thanks for having me come here," he said slowly. He paused for a moment before going on. "I mean, it has been a nice change of environment and has been great for getting my mind off of... things." Adam knew Rae knew what 'things' he meant, but it felt better thinking that by not mentioning Dixie and her leaving, he just might be getting over it and moving on instead of dwelling on it and sounding like a boring drone.

"Scourgify," he said quietly, pointing his wand at his clothes and the parts of his body that had paint on them. It cleaned up easier than he expected. As far as the floors and walls, he figured that they would clean themselves since the Room of Requirement always appeared different to whoever needed it, meeting their required needs. Surely nobody else would require buckets of colored paint. Adam smiled at the thought. He stood from the bucket and walked over to the wall where Rae stood. Finding a white patch, he leaned his shoulder against it. "C.." he started, but then stopped to reword what he wanted to say. "I don't want to seem like all I think or talk about is Dixie," he said shamefully, "but I just have one question that I'd like you to answer." He looked at Rae, waiting for an acknowledgment of some sort and then continued. "I just wonder if my moving on and trying to just forget the situation is the best thing. I mean, I loved her, and I know I loved her. And, maybe I even love her now, but I don't know. I guess that it feels like me moving on and forgetting is just a way of giving up, you know?" He thought about it for a moment, wondering if he made sense. "I think part of me wants to hold on to the hope that she will return and things will get better, but another part of me thinks that I should just move on and forget it all. In the end, I almost feel like I am being ripped in two different directions, but I am standing still in the middle, unable to go either direction. It's just hard, that's all. It's hard to know what part of me I should follow." He stopped, realizing that he was rambling now, saying everything that came to mind. "I'm sorry," he said, finally stopping himself. "This is exactly what I didn't want to do." He hung his head, only lifting it when Rae spoke in return.

[Raelee Gray]

Rae grinned, “Alright, keep an eye out for an owl this summer, then.” Before, her summer had been looking bleak because it meant going home to her parents and mulling over the guilt of Nette, but now with the prospect of seeing Adam, someone she could tolerate and even liked spending time with, made it brighter. She had knelt down beside another can of paint and was swirling it around with her finger before closing her eyes and thinking about an assortment of paintbrushes. When she opened her eyes, there was a bucket of paintbrushes in front of her. Rae smiled, reached over and grabbed one that a person would use to paint the outside of a house, and then dipped it into a deep red colour to her right. She stood up and felt Adam rub his hands on her back. It hardly bothered her, but for show she sent him a tiny glare, and then turned to the wall that was on her right which was still really white. “Well,” Rae said as she took a step toward the wall and reached up, standing on her tip toes; “I’m actually pretty glad we don’t have a camera. I hate cameras.” She smiled as the brush made contact with the wall.

She wasn’t even thinking about what she was painting, she just let it go from her mind to her hand. Rae was aware that Adam had stopped painting, but she didn’t think of saying anything. She knew everything must be really hard for him, and her heart went out to him. Rae went over the line she had just painted again the moment Adam spoke. He was thanking her, and Rae held a secretive smile. “I’m glad you came, this would have been really boring if you weren’t here. I’m glad that it’s helped a little, too. I knew you needed a distraction from… things… so I thought this might work for you because it’s worked for me.” She didn’t turn around after she said this, because she wasn’t sure what she would see or what her stomach would do. Instead she focused on whatever it was she was painting. She heard him cast Scourgify behind her, and thought it was a very good idea, but didn’t move to do it to herself. Rae moved her hand a little to the right and started to paint another bit of whatever. Her eyes flickered to her left as Adam stood and leaned against the wall next to her. When he mentioned Dixie’s name she felt herself blanch noticeably and then she looked over at him from the corner of her eye. “It’s,” Rae paused, trying to think of what words she was trying to form, “understandable. I mean, she left, you know? And the moment she left, you regained every memory… you’re thoughts are bound to wander to her.”

Rae felt so much hatred toward Dixie for what she did. If she really cared for Adam, she wouldn’t have run off like she had. Rae looked away from Adam and returned to her painting. She was well down the wall now, and nearly finished; she could feel it. It was just there, in her fingertips. As he continued to talk, Rae felt a knot in her stomach form. When he said the words ‘loved’ she blanched again and then continued to paint. Rae now knew a bit of what she was painting, but she wasn’t sure of what it all was. She didn’t say anything as Adam continued to speak, though that knot did grow tighter and tighter with every word he spoke. She didn’t say anything until he was finished, and then she let out a gargantuan sigh and stepped away from the wall to survey her work. WHERE ARE YOU NOW? Was painted across it and Rae smiled softly before looking over at Adam. She knew why she had painted that, she painted it because of all that was going on with Dixie. The thought that had been circling her head and she was sure Adam’s as well. “Look, Adam,” she dropped the brush and crossed her arms over her chest, “Dixie left. She left for stupid selfish reasons, and she can’t possibly expect you to hold on and wait for her. The best thing for you to do is to move on. I’m saying this as a friend, as someone who really cares about you. In the end you have to follow the part of you that will be happier. Think about it, if you continue to hold on to her, what kind of happiness will you have? Will your dreams ever really be fulfilled? Follow the part of you that you know will make you… you again.” She stared at him a moment and then looked at the wall again. “Dixie is gone. She’s just… gone. Where she is, doesn’t matter because it isn’t here.” Rae picked up a can of black paint and held it out to Adam, “So… move on from it, get over it, and live.”

[Professor Adam Greene]

It was odd how much Rae's words felt like a knife stabbing his heart. She didn't know this though. And, maybe it all was truth. They always said that the truth hurt. Adam just couldn't make himself accept it as truth though. He looked at Rae's finished painting. WHERE ARE YOU NOW? The words were bold and stood out clearly on the white wall. He quickly sensed the animosity in Rae's tone; an animosity that must have even went to a depth that he couldn't understand. Dixie and Rae were friends too. And from what he knew, they were close friends at one point. It was scary how fast things could change. Just one too many drinks, and now look where they were. A friendship lost, a relationship broken- but was it fair to even point it all back to a few drinks? No. Adam knew it wasn't right. He had already forgiven Rae for the accident. Rae didn't make Dixie leave. But whose fault was it then? Adam's eyes were closed as Rae finished talking. Part of him felt like defending Dixie and just demanding that Rae stop. But the logical side of him won and he said nothing.

Get over it. The words were small, but the meaning behind them was huge. Adam wasn't even sure that it was something he was capable of doing. When Rae held out the bucket of black paint, he took it and stood frozen for a while. He still had yet to speak, so confused and hurting that it was impossible. Even if he had spoken, his emotion would have got the best of him, and the words doubtfully would have even made sense. It was all jumbled in his brain, which meant it'd have came out just as jumbled and messy. For a brief moment, a seed of anger took over, and in one motion Adam hurled the can of paint, bucket and all at the wall. Colliding with the surface, the bucket made a cacophonous sound as the black liquid splashed and fell everywhere. Adam fell to the floor and buried his head in his knees. He held a knuckle in his mouth and bit his teeth together hard. His eyes were shut so tightly that the few tears that had formed had no where to run. He appreciated Rae's willingness to help, but this was something that would need more than just help for Adam to overcome. As the memories flooded his mind, he pushed them away, one at a time, trying his best to surround his thoughts in darkness. Like the black paint, he just wanted the darkness to cover it all up and make it go away. "But what if it's impossible," his voice barely broke the silence.

[Raelee Gray]

Rae watched, waiting, silent, as Adam held the can of paint but did nothing. She knew it was hard for him, it was hard for her, too. Dixie had been her closest friend. Granted, Rae hadn’t done much to keep in touch with Dixie after she was admitted into Bethlem, but Rae had problems of her own going on around then, too. Nette being the main one. Dixie had been selfish, and as much as Rae wanted to blame her for tearing apart Adam; she knew that she, Rae, was partially to blame, as well. It was useless to say that Rae hadn’t taken a drink of alcohol since the accident, and probably wouldn’t ever again. It was useless, because it wouldn’t change anything. Adam was still heartbroken, Rae was still alone, and Dixie was still somewhere away that wasn’t here, with Adam like she should have been. As she thought about it all, Rae felt sick to her stomach and had to force herself to keep from passing out or whatnot. She was jerked from her thoughts when Adam threw the paint at the wall, but not only the paint did he throw, no, he threw the can along with it. She jumped as the can tumbled to the floor in front of her. Adam had sunk to the floor and buried his head in his knees. Rae stared at him before taking out her wand and casting scourgify. Her hair returned to its natural shade of blonde and her clothes were clean once more. Before she moved to sit beside him, he spoke; speaking of impossibilities.

Her heart went out to him as she closed her eyes and thought about a place they could both appreciate. A place where it wasn’t messy, but peaceful… tranquil was the word she used. When she reopened her eyes, she was standing in an open field with flowers and the sun beaming down on her, Adam was sitting on a rock underneath a tree. Rae sighed and sat in front of him, picked up a flower and twirled it in her fingers. This room was wonderful. She hadn’t answered his question, and as they sat in silence, an imagined bird flew by and twittered. Finally, Rae spoke. “It’s not impossible.” She stated simply, and with such confidence that she shocked herself. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized it really wasn’t all that impossible. At least, not for her. Of course, she loved Dixie differently than Adam did and that would play a factor in what was possible and what wasn’t, but for some reason she knew that it wasn’t impossible for him to get over Dixie. “You just have to be willing to try.” Rae reached up and brushed the flower over his nose with a small smile, “Trying is what makes things possible.” She threw the flower at him before standing and pulling him up with her.

She held onto his hand, quite without realizing it, as she watched the imagined birds and butterflies fly through the room that looked so much like the outdoors it was creepy. The silence was cherished by Rae for awhile, before she turned to look at Adam again, “Losing love sucks, Pretty Boy, no one has ever disagreed. But it’s the people who have learned from the love that was lost that are able to continue to live their lives after the fact. I’m not asking you to jump from Dixie to another girl, but I hate seeing you like this.” She shrugged and let go of his hand so she could cross her arms over her chest and look down at her paint free chucks, “And this is coming from the girl who made your life a living hell to begin with…”

[Professor Adam Greene]

As if a wave of peace cascaded around him, Adam could actually sense the change of atmosphere when Raelee apparently changed the room. He had to smile slightly to himself. It was the room of requirement, turning into a room that provided whatever it was that you needed. Adam hadn't thought about the peaceful field or the cool and relaxing shade of the tree, but Rae must have known it would help. He wiped a single tear that held the memory of Dixie and smiled as Rae pulled him to his feet. Whether she was right or not, Adam knew one thing. He was sick and tired of being sad and frustrated. If they only way to deal with the pain was to force himself to forget, then that was what he would do. Dixie and the memories were still there, but Adam had concluded that he had to make himself keep them buried. Nothing good was coming from his constant thinking about them. Rae was giving him a lot by being a willing supporter in helping him to overcome his pain. It would be foolish to reject what she was offering.

He was still quiet though. It wasn't easy. He had to fight to keep the thoughts of Dixie from swarming and taking over his newfound strength to move on. The constant tugging at his heart was something he would have to become used to. But he was ready. He was ready to try. "Even if that's true," he finally spoke, "you can't deny that you've been my angel in this time of hell." Adam reached out and hugged Rae, pulling her close and resting his head on her shoulder. It was true, Rae had been his rock of support the past few weeks. Maybe she felt obligated, Adam wasn't sure. He accepted her grace and willingness to help though. She could have easily brushed the situation away, but instead, she chose to stick around, even despite Adam's difficulty in getting over the whole incident and deciding to move on. He couldn't imagine how annoying his constant pessimism must have been.

Releasing Rae from his embrace, Adam was still smiling, fighting the sadness in the back of his head. "Thanks again," he said, knowing that she was probably tired of him thanking her. He couldn't help it though. It meant a lot to him. "Thanks for helping me to see that the impossible is possible." Looking up at the blue sky, Adam thought back to the paint. He needed the paint to return. Once the chirping birds, the tree, and the field had disappeared, the buckets and the paint covered wall surrounded them again. Adam leaned down to pick up one of the buckets. He took it with both hands and threw the contents at the place where the black paint had covered the words that Rae painted. A bright yellow liquid managed to hide most of the darkness. Adam walked to the wall, and with his finger, he wrote in the paint so that the yellow went away and the black showed from behind. TIME TO PICK UP THE PIECES AND MOVE ON.

[Raelee Gray]

Rae was watching Adam out of the corner of her eye before changing her gaze to the room. She was half tempted to just do cartwheels through the grass, only because she hadn’t done something so silly and childlike since she was… well… a child. There was silence after she spoke, but she wasn’t going to press Adam to speak. She couldn’t possibly understand what he was going through, and she didn’t know what was going on in his life. When he did speak, though, Rae chuckled. “Angel? Me? Oh, yeah, my wings and halo are in the shop.” She began to roll her eyes when Adam pulled her into a hug. Surprised, but not annoyed or upset by it in the least, Rae hugged him back and smiled. Rae felt bittersweet about it all. Half of her regretted drinking that night, regretted it dearly, but the other half of her knew that there wouldn’t have been a chance of gaining a friend in Adam if she hadn’t been the cause of the accident. She knew these thoughts weren’t something that was going to help the whole situation, but she couldn’t help but wonder how time would have fallen if she hadn’t had so much to drink. It was a bittersweet thought, and Rae was trying to feel so glad that Adam was willing to try and get past all that was causing the unhappiness in his life.

She stepped back when Adam released her and smiled with laughter in her eyes. “You’re welcome, but if you say thank you one more time, you’ll owe me. I don’t know what you’ll owe me yet, but when I do I’ll let you know.” As she spoke the room started changing before her eyes to the room it was before. She raised an eyebrow at Adam with a confused expression on her face. Then, before she could even ask what he was doing, he picked up a bucket of paint and hurled it at the wall that had the black paint on it. Rae tilted her head, waiting for him to finish; because she knew he wasn’t nearly done. He wrote with his finger and when he was done, Rae took a step back and surveyed the wall. After a moment of silence, she nodded her head approvingly. “I think that’s the best piece of art in this room,” she said quietly before taking out her wand. She flicked it and a thick piece of paper fluttered out of the tip. Rae caught it and handed it to Adam, “This way you can look at it whenever you feel down and you can’t find me to be the wingless and haloless angel you need.” She told him teasingly.

With one more look around the room, Rae let out a small sigh; “Well, I think we should head back to civilization. It’s probably well past curfew, and I’m sure my house would hate me if I lost any points. Your house probably wouldn’t care, being in the negatives and all.” Rae smirked and pocketed her wand before getting behind Adam and pushing him toward the door. Once outside in the hallway, the door seemed to disappear. Rae looked back at it and grinned, “Huh, that room sure is something. Well,” she turned back to Adam and shoved her thumbs into her jean pockets. “I’ll see you around. Don’t go and get all depressed now that we’re not throwing paint around. We’ve come far tonight, and I don’t want a relapse within the next two seconds.” Rae smiled, hoping that he would pick up on her teasing. “Bye.” She said before turning and heading toward the Ravenclaw Tower.