Running from the Pain ((Carson))

[Wynd Lehane]

Wynd needed air. That's what he needed. Air. He just had to get away from the castle for a while. The corridors were too stuffy and he couldn't breathe. A large part of that had to do with Ruby. She was hiding something from him. She was worse at it than she thought she was. Wynd always knew when she was hiding something. But this time it especially irked him and he couldn't quite figure out why. Ever since the train where he and Ruby had that encounter with Damien and Odette, he was on edge. He knew that Ruby and Wynd were at their strongest when they were together. He somehow felt that they needed to be strong. This secret, this breach of trust.... could tear them apart and make them venerable to whatever Damien and Odette were planning. Of course, Wynd had no idea if they were planning anything, but he wanted to be prepared for anything.

When times like this arrived the best thing for Wynd to do was to go jogging. He loved to run. It was one of the activities that he could do without Ruby. She often chose not to go on a run with him and when she did she never wanted to go as far as he did. He was fine with that. She often thought that Wynd was suffocating her, well, it wasn't always easy for him either. There were times that he wished he could worry about just himself but he couldn't. He cared for Ruby too much. In his room he pulled on some shorts. Some tight revealing shorts. He smirked as he put them on. He was proud of his figure and more often than not the bulky school robes hid his body away from the world. When he was running he could put on these tight shorts with the intention of going running with the added bonus of showing off his figure. They were black and went slightly past his knees. He then put on a green shirt. He had to show some support to Slytherin seeing as they had the least house points.

Wynd came up from the dungeons and headed towards the Great Hall. He saw the doors that Ruby and he had once passed through as first years. That seemed so long ago. He had remembered sticking with Ruby so closely. He thought they never needed anyone else. How naive they were. He started to run after he went through the doors. Nothing better than exercise to get the mind clear. If he ran long enough he found that he didn't notice his thoughts anymore just the pain and soreness. He decided to run out the the groundskeeper's hut. But he really didn't want to talk to that.... thing.... so he kept going. He ran to the Quidditch field. After a few laps around the field he needed a change of scenery.

The best thing, he decided, was to run to the lake. There he would take a quick rest and let his muscles adjust to the work they were doing. The sun was shining on this beautiful autumn day. Although the air was cold, it felt good against his skin as he built up a sweat. The trees had shed their leaves and just a few brave ones clung to their parent tree. The leaves crunched underneath his feet. He loved the sound they made. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. He finally came to the lake and looked at the water. As he tried to catch his breath at the lake shore edge, his thoughts drifted back to Ruby. Why would she hide something from him? She wouldn't. Would she? UGH! This was not good. They could never be a good team with doubt between them. His thoughts were broken as he heard someone approaching.

[Carson McGreggor H6]

Carson was absolutely confused. He didn’t know what to make out of his situation. What was he going to do? Hanson Fitson was back in Carson’s life, and that could only mean trouble. He didn’t want trouble. His life was finally almost perfect. His grades were in check-well, mostly in check. His family drama was finally being kept to a minimum. He finally had a job that paid good money, his sister was happy, and Carson had Casey. Everything was almost perfect, so why did Hanson have to come and mess everything up? Carson shook his head as he changed into some more comfortable clothes. Carson, like his friend Casey was very random. Today he decided he’d have a workout and take a nice long jog. Carson smiled. He just couldn’t get Casey out of his head, could he? He changed into his baggy green shorts and a plain white t-shirt. Carson wasn’t really a show off kind of guy. He liked to keep himself covered. He tied his sneakers. Don’t be stupid, Carson. Casey’s just a friend. He thought to himself. But was she really only just a friend? Could it be possible to just ask a girl out, but only as a friend? Carson hadn’t exactly told Casey they would be going as friends and not a couple, but he was surprised he had even gotten the right words out of his mouth. He remembered how nervous he had been. He smiled as he started to jog outside his dorm room, leaving a pile of school robes near his bed. Carson shrugged. He never really was a very neat person.

Carson rolled his eyes as he passed a crowd of Slytherins in his year. They all knew who Carson was, and had learned to respect him. He remembered back a few years ago, when Carson was a first year. One particular Slytherin boy was picking on him and showing no mercy. Once Carson told him who he was, the boy immediately backed down. The McGreggors were a very respected pureblood family. They had gone by generations without a single halfbreed or muggleborn in the bunch. Most McGreggors advanced through society and grew to accomplish many things. Carson was pure, this was true. But, he didn’t hide behind his family name like most Slytherins did. He would have liked to be well known and respected because of his own accomplishments, rather than his great grandparent’s. As Carson reached the giant oak front doors, he smiled. He started to jog towards the lake, and immediately picked up speed as he ran, feeling the cold November breeze on his slightly tanned face.

After what seemed like hours of running laps around the lake a few times, Carson stopped to take a break upon a rock. He looked up into the sky, which was now a very pale orange. The sun was setting. He should head back soon. He had to go visit Ethan to tell him the good news. He wasn’t really looking forward to the “I knew it!”’s, and the “I told you so!”’s, but Carson felt his best friend Ethan really should know these things. Ethan told Carson everything, so Carson figured he should give Ethan the same trust and respect that he was given. He also had to tell Angel, who would have a slightly different reaction. She would probably just say “awww” a million times and give him a million hugs. He wouldn’t be surprised if she started tearing up in happiness of Carson’s first ‘girlfriend’. Angel was always pretty emotional. Even though Casey was only a friend, and the night at the bonfire would only be a friendly date, this was a big deal to his friends. Carson never really understood why, but this kind of thing always was a big deal, no matter how ‘friendly’ Carson assured his friends it was.

[Wynd Lehane]

Wynd recognised the boy resting upon a nearby rock as Carson McGreggor in Wynd's year. A Hufflpuff. Ugh. But at least he was a pure wizard. That much could be said for him. Wynd had to admit that he did look down upon those that did not get selected for Slytherin. Around his first year he learned that even other houses had pure blood families. But still, they weren't in Slytherin. While they might have had pure blood they still associated themselves with mudbloods and half-breeds. Carson seemed not to have noticed Wynd or at least he did not acknowledge Wynd verbally. Maybe the setting sun was in his eyes. Wynd's blue eyes looked towards the setting sun. It was beautiful. Some people have said that one was not to look directly at the sun. Wynd didn't care. He liked to look at the sun until it made his retinas hurt.

Often, Ruby and he would come to the lake shore and watch the setting sun together. Ruby! There she was again. Haunting his thoughts. Could he ever think of anything else? He wanted desperately to think of something else. He looked again towards Carson. There seemed to be an event in Wynd's life that Carson was involved with, but it was so vague. It must not be that important. Carson seemed like he was deep in thought, but Wynd didn't care. Wynd wanted anything but deep thought. Wynd entertained the idea of striking up a conversation with him. True, he was a Hufflepuff. The weakest of all the houses, but he had inside him good blood, so he couldn't be all bad. As casual as he could muster, Wynd made his way towards Carson.

"Nice evening for a run," Wynd started. "Wouldn't you say? I came out here to escape my thoughts while you seem to have come to embrace them."