How to Save a Life l Hansoff Manor

Tre stood on the doorstep to Faye's house two days after she'd been released from the hospital. He was furious with himself for not coming to see her sooner, but yesterday he and Papa had gone on business to the Mafia mansion, and he hadn't got a chance to come and visit. In his hand was a single flower, the one he'd picked in the garden, and around them were iced flowers of the same type, all tied together with a golden ribbon.

He smiled at the thought of how happy she'd be to see him, and lifeted his fist to the door. He knocked a few times before ringing the doorbell, stepping back the poliet distance. His eyes swept the grounds, thinking of her. He turned back with a smile when the door opened, a greeting on his lips.

Faye was walking down the stairs, glad that the house was large enough that for the most part she could avoid any of her family, when she heard the knock on the door.

She paused and huffed. Staring at it. It was probably some stupid business associate of her father's or perhaps her brother was having guests again.

She bit her lip. She was tempted to tell the houseelves to just leave it. The odd bitter anger that she had felt yesterday was bubbling back again. She wanted them to know she was here, that she had a say in the house too.

As the bell was rung she made her decision.

"I got it," she called jumping the last few steps, and stopping the houself who had just made its way to the frame. "Don't worry about it. I got it."

The houseelf looked at Faye gravely, "Master will not like this."

Well that's just too bad, she thought grumblily, before smiling.

"Don't worry - I'll deal with father; I'll get the door," she gave her tone just enough force to imply an order to take over the elfs nature, and allow her to do as she pleased.

Smiling she opened the door, a remark that was sure to get her into trouble on her lips, only to stop.

"Tre," she blinked dumbly at the boy for a few moments. She was sure this was the first time anyone had ever come to the door for her. "What- what are you doing here?"

Tre grinned a full smile when he finally saw her. "Bonita!" He said happily, wrapping his arms securely around her. He pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead. "I was coming to check on you, of course." He said. "I couldn't let you just stay here on your own now, could I?"

He stepped back, holding out the flowers for her. "Here. For your room."

"I'm not alone," she said softly, "My family does happen to live here too." Not that any of them really acted like she was there, but Tre did not need to know that. For the moment she could pretend that she actually had a normal family.

She bit her lip as she smiled at the flowers, "Thank you."

She took them from the boy and began twirling them in her hand. She bit her lip nervously and looked around her. He probably shouldn't be her. She'd never had guests before, but she was sure there was probably some rule around it anyways.

"Tre, its really sweat of you to come but you really shouldn't- I mean I'm sure; I could get..." she trailed off, and stopped tilting her head. She suddenly remember what she had come to the door to do in the first place. "Do you want to come in?"

Tre paused, cocking his head to the side. "Bonita... is... is now a bad time?" He looked away from her, before turning back to her with a wide smile. "I'd be glad to come in, if that's okay." He said, his eyes sparking.

Faye smiled slightly. It was never going to be a good time. But who cared about that - who cared about her parents said. They didn't give a damn about her so why should she give one about what they said went on in 'there' house.

She smiled holding the door open wider and moving her arm.

"Its perfectly fine."

"Oh Master won't like this at all," Pepper, the elf, muttered worying her hands togheter, "Miss Faye please think about what you're doing."

"I'm tired of thinking, Pepper," she whispered to the elf. "I'm tired of them."

Smiling back at Tre, she held her hands over to the stair, "Would you like to see my room?"

Tre blinked at her. "Your room? Sure." He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but he nodded. "Oh, hello." He greeted the house elf politely with a bow. He'd helped with the burial of a house elf earlier this summer, and he held the creatures in high regard. He reached behind him, pulling some condensation out of the humid air and collecting it into a small rose bud like shape. He brought his hands to his mouth and blew, kneeling and giving it to the house elf. "There you are, Miss. Thank you for allowing me inside."

He stepped past the elf, following Faye up to her room, for better or for worse.

Faye stopped and turned around to watch Tre hand another of his ice flowers over to Pepper. She bit her lip fighting a slight smile as she watched the act take over the small elf.

"Miss Faye deserves more company," Pepper whispered with a head nod, before glancing at the younger girl. Faye gave a smile and mouthed a thank you at the old elf before turning to go to the stairs.

The Elves had always been more of a family to her than the her actual human family; all of them, headed by Pepper, would attempt to befriend the young girl throughout her lonely childhood as much as they could within her father's orders.

"I'd show you the rest of the house," Faye said as they walked up the stairs into the long hall way that lead to the stairs that went up to her own room. "But its rather large and not that interesting."

Plus, she added to herself. The quicker we get to my room the less likely we are to run into anyone else

"The library," she siad passingly, calling out rooms as she passed them, but not offering to show any of them to Tre. Who knew who could be behind those doors. "Mama's sittingroom, Minos room."

She stopped at a door at the end of the hall, and opened the door to reveal a second set of stairs, "We'll have to go up here. Sorry the stairs are a little cramped."

Leaving the door to the stairs open, she started to climb up assuming that Tre was following. The stairs twisted up, until the opened up to a wide loft room.

The walls were all painted a pale green - a paint the young girl had put on herself - and covered with pictures, some Muggle, some magical, of all sorts of places; the effile tower, a tropical beach, and so many more. To some people the room may have seemed large, but compared to every other room in the house it was quite small and cramped. The lack of things in the room, would have helped to make the room look bigger than it was.

In the middle of the room, right below one of the small attic windows, was an average size bed, with a bedspread that matched the wall colour. On top of the bed sat a stuffed bear, its fur matted, and mess, a small hole just behind his right ear, and it was missing an eye.

Other than the bed, the only other furniture was a wardrobe, a over crowded bookshelf, and a simple desk pushed against the wall, which was cluttered with a bunch of papers and a new looking leather bound journal.

Looking around, and biting her lip, suddenly nervous about what the room would look like to another person, she wandered over and set the flowers onto the desk.

"Well," she finally said with a slight nod. "This is it."

Tre grinned, following the girl past the rooms. He would have liked to have stayed and looked around, but he stayed with Faye instead, following her. He glanced interestedly at the library, but still continued on, his eyes sweeping the place. He followed her easily up the stairs, pausing in the doorway of the room. Her room.

It was cozy, and efficiant, he thought. You could tell a lot about a person from their room. The color of the walls was peaceful, calming, and the fact that it matched her bedspread was ingenious, in his eyes. His own room was unorganized in comparison, and he loved it. The pictures on the wall were all beautiful, and he wanted to continue to look at them, but his eyes landed on the bookshelf.

"Your room is lovely, Bonita." He said with a smile, still in the doorway. He knew that she had already invited him in, but he was feeling a bit... improper, so to say. Being in a lady's room without consulting her parents was a no no.

One glance at her and he took a hesitant step inside, glad that God didn't just smite him where he stood. He was her guardian. That meant he was allowed in, right?

Stepping lightly, he made his way over to the bookshelf, eyeing the titles on the shelves. "Oh, almost forgot. Brought you something, Bonita." He slipped his backpack off his shoulders, kneeling on the floor and unzipping it. He reached inside and gently pulled out a pure white teddybear, with small angel wings on its back, along with a golden halo, enchanted to float a few centimeters above the bear's head.

"I give you, Guardian."

Faye continued to look about worriedly as he looked at her room. It was funny. If anyone had asked before this moment what she felt about her room, she'd say that is was just a room, and who cared, but at this moment...

It felt so much more personal than just a room. It felt like ... part of herself.

"Thank you," she said softly. Looking around again, she had always thought it was rather simple, but then again.. she liked simple.

She watched him tilting her head as he entered her room slowly, and then once in moved around softly as if there someone was going to jump at him.

"You know... nobody's going to come jumping at you. No one cares what I do up here," No one cares what she does anywhere ... usually. But Tre being her was suddenly knew territory and she was entirley sure how that was going to change the game.

"More stuff," she raised her eyebrow, "I think you're spoiling me with all this."

She moved over and sat on her bed. But her eyes lit up when she saw the bear.

"Aw," she cooed before laughing. "Tre... you really shouldn't have."

"Spoiling?! Me?! NEVER!" He grinned, sitting cross legged on the floor before her. "That's number twenty two, by the way. 'Receive a teddybear'." He smiled widely. "I do so hope you're keeping track."

He leaned back on his arms, looking in the direction of the pictures on her wall before turning back to her. "Jump out at me? I'd rather not be yelled at by an overprotective father. I know how they are." He shrugged, unconcerned. "If it does happen, though, I promise to be as polite as possible."

He winked at her. "It doesn't matter if I should have or shouldn't have. I did. And that's all that matters." He grinned angelically at her, his eyes going to the bear. "He has special powers, you know. All bears do."

She took the bear and looked at it, smiling despite herself, "Gaurdian is number twenty two is he?"

Snuggling the bear close she shook her head and snorted, unable to stop the slightly bitter look that jumped to her eyes.

"Trust me, Overprotective father won't be a problem."

"All bears do, huh? I wasn't told this. And what is his special power?"

Tre blinked a few times before rising to his knees, holding the bear in his hands. He grinned at her. "Yep. Magical powers." He said. He put his hands over hers and applied a gentle pressure to the bear, smiling when golden light started to come through the bear's fur. It was the same healing light that had come from his hands, and had taken ages to figure out how to do, but he'd done it. His studies had helped a lot too.

"When it glows like this, it heals whatever's hurting you." He said, with a gleam in his eye. "See? You're already relaxing." He loosened his hold on the bear, and it stopped glowing almost immediately. "Don't use it too much, okay? It'll run out if I don't recharge it."

Faye smiled softly at the light. It was nice. Calming.

"Whatever's hurting me?" she spoke softly looking at the bear, and stroking its fur absent mindedly. "Anything at all?"

She smiled softly, as she cuddled the bear close, careful not to set its 'powers' off. She didn't need magic right now, she didn't think. She was glad just not to be alone for a little bit.

"Okay. I'll be sure to be good, and not use it too too much."

"Anything at all, Bonita." He promised. He smiled before his smile slipped off his face. "I know fathers, Faye. They may not seem protective, but find a boy in their daughter's room, and they'll uncover a whole new protectiveness."

Tre nodded. "All you need to do is give him back when the light gets dimmer, and I'll recharge it okay?"

"You may know Father's Tre," she said softly, shaking her head, "But you don't know mine... trust me- when it comes to me, there's not an over-protective bone in his body."

"If you're weak enough to die young then you don't deserve a funeral. It's cheaper to just let your body burn on a fire. Nothing big"

She bit her lip; He wouldn't even care if I died.

Faye gave a small smile and a nod, "Okay."

Tre bounced giddily upward, and landed on her bed. He grinned at her, lounging backwards. "Then I can do... THIS!" He kicked off his shoes and stood on her bed, pulling her up with him and jumping. "Welcome to number forty three!!" He announced grandly, bouncing as if his life depended on it. "Keeping track still, Bonita? Are you? Make sure you are!"

He jumped higher and landed on his back, gracelessly, not letting himself catch himself. He gazed up at her with a wide smile. "Ta-da! I'm magical. I was flying, and now I'm laying. Progress. That's what this is."

Faye's eyes widened as Tre suddenly seemed to go from calm to crazy in zero point five. She quickly grabbed Flopsy - the old tattered bear - pulling him in close to her along with Gaurdian to save him from the hopping.

Letting out a tiny laugh she allowed him to pull her up with him. "Tre, are you trying to attract my parents now?"

As he flopped down on his back he jostled the bed, knocking down onto the bed herself, still keeping a good grasp on Flopsy, and Gaurdian. Of course, since her bed had never been designed for more than just a little over one person, she let out a small have shriek as she almost toppled off and the only thing to keep grab on to save her - and the stuffed animals in her grasp - was Tre.

"Now I think you're just trying to get me in trouble," she told him sternly, eyes twinkling still slightly, once she recovered from the almost fall.

Tre grinned, his hold on her gentle as he made sure she wouldn't fall. "Getting you in trouble? I dunno, is doing that on the list?" He teased lightly, his arms wrapping around her waist securely. He gave no thought to what they would look like to a bystander, and instead focused on the other bear in her arms.

"Oh? And who's this handsome young one?" He asked, his eyes on the bear. It looked as if it'd been through a whole lot of pain and suffering, and if anything, that told him more about Faye than her entire room did.

"Well I wouldn't know now would I? Someone won't show me the list," she giggled slightly, resting her chin on the boys chest, and shuffling slightly so that both toys were no longer being squashed beneath her. Looking down she smiled at the well worn, but beloved toy as Tre took notice of him.

"This," she said, blushing slightly both for the state of the animal, and for the name she was about to say. "Is Flopsy. I've... I've had him forever.... he's my..."

She bit her lip, and began to play with Flopsy's fur absentmindedly. As sad as it sounded, there were only a few titles that could come to the bear.

Her best friend... family... confidant. Other than the elves, Flopsy was the only one that was always there. She had spent many lonely years in this house, when she had nothing and no one to turn to - she could always find her way back up here, and take comfort from her bear.

"He's just an old toy," she finally lied softly - though she hardly put much heart into the lie. She doubted it would be a believed.

Minos heard noises coming from the room. And not just any room. The attic. This bothered the man so, because he liked the house nice and quiet and not full of ruckus. Of course, Faye was home. No one else dared to venture into the attic unless they were giving her a lecture, like the man was right now.

Practically stomping up the stairs, Minos frantically held down the suit he was wearing. It was made by him at fashion school, and there was a gigantic label saying so. There was no way in hell he was going to let Faye - or anyone else, for that matter - see it.

"Faye!" he yelled, thumping on the door. "What the hell are you doing?"

Tre froze and raises an eyebrow at Faye. "Nothing~!" He called back tickling her sides. "Not doing anything!" with a flick of his wand he locked the door, winking at Faye, trying to make her giggle. He poked her sides, tickling every part of her that he could reach. "Isn't that right Faye?" He asked, grinning mischievously.

Faye's face paled and she froze as she heard the footsteps. Her eyes widened and hands started to shake slightly in fear.

Oh god. Oh god. She had said that her Father wouldn't - but if he did... what would he? What would he?

Her heart rate slowled slightly as she heard the voice. Not her father - Minos. Slightly better - but...

"Tre," she let out a gasp as the boy answered for her. "Are you trying to-? Do you know what they'll do to me if-?"

Her panic was caught off by a giggle as he began to tickle her. She swatted at the hand.

"Tre..." she said between giggled. "I'm. Serious... stop-stop... stopp itttt."

Minos opened his mouth to threaten his little sister when he heard a boy's voice. Soon after, he heard the door lock. Was that boy... was he - no. Who on earth would dare do such frivolous things with little Faye, the Hansoff family disgrace? Who barely knew her way through society? Or at least, the right way.

"What on earth are you two doing in there?" yelled the blonde, still thumping on the door. "I am going to tell Father you've been frolicking with boys in your room if you don't let me in!"

Tre stopped tickling Faye, grinning. "Frolicking?" He asked, sitting up, and for the first time getting out from under Faye. He pressed a kiss to her cheek, standing from her bed, his eyes flashing with chagrin as the springs in the mattress groaned in protest. He made his way over to the door, raising an eyebrow at Faye and reaching for the doorknob. "What are you, a fashion designer? Who uses words like that...?"