stronger (what doesn't kill you)

Iris kicked the stones she could find into the lake and threw some of them by hand. She watched the ripples caused for what seemed like eternity, before snapping out of it and continued to walk. The wind was blowing heavily and she wished she had worn a jacket. Or at least something to cover up the scars on her arm. There was nothing she could do about the scar on forehead and cheek, and so left it like that with a twinge of make-up.

She came to know that her sister, Kait, had reached Hogwarts safely and hoped that her sister's friends would take care of her there. She had owled Alec asking him ro meet her here cause she needed someone to lean on at this point, and hoped he would show up.

Alec sighed as he walked towards the lake, a bit curious as to why Iris had asked him to meet her there. She had seemed a little weird in the letter and he hoped everything was alright.

As he saw kicking stones in the lake, he smirked and walked over there. "Oh, hey there, Flower. I knew you'd never get sick of me," he joked but stopped and frowned when he saw cuts on her arms. "What's wrong, Iris? What happened?" he asked, worried.

Iris smiled in relief as she saw Alec and was tempted to hug him, but refrained herself. Do friends even hug each other? She wondered. Maybe best friends do that, but she still was hesitant. Shaking her head, she managed a grin, "If I got sick of you, who else am I going to call 'Pretty Boy', right?"

"Oh, you mean these? Nothing, I was just being reckless as usual and hurt myself," she lied, continuing to kick the stones. "So, how have things been going with you? Kissed any more boys?" She teased.

Alec shrugged and grinned, "I don't know. Maybe you'd try to find a replacement. Not that anyone would be as good as me, of course."

He raised an eyebrow to her explanation and shook his head. "All over your arms, flower?" he pressed on, and squinted, pointing to her cheek, "And I can see one or two on your face, underneath the makeup."

Giving a small laugh, he sat on the border of the lake and patted the spot next to him, so she would sit as well. "You're never going to let me forget that, are you?" he asked, shaking his head.

Iris rolled her eyes at Alec's comment and stated with a laugh, "I wouldn't try to replace you because no one can be as bad or annoying as you."

"Yeah well, it was a pretty bad accident. Got into a fight with someone," she mumbled and pushed his arm away. "And the ones on my face are cause of some hexes and curses," she admitted.

She sat down next to him and put her feet in the water. "Can't forget that cause it's kinda hilarious," she told and smirked at him. "Did you two talk about it?"

"Which is exactly why you love spending time with me," Alec replied with a smirk, "Don't try and deny it, flower."

He raised an eyebrow and looked at her, "Huh, I see." He got the feeling she wasn't telling the whole truth and he sighed. "Who did you get into a fight with?" he asked, curious.

The Prideux shook his head, "Not really. And I don't plan on it either. Way too awkward."

"Love spending time with you? Sure, whatever helps your ego," Iris told and chuckled. "Besides, how can I like spending time with you if you're annoying and bad, Pretty Boy?" She asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

She took a deep breath and looked into Alec's eyes. "I got into a fight with the most irritating bastard who not only was a madman, but also my kidnapper," she confessed, her voice emotionless. "He knew more curses though, that's why I lost. And also got these cuts of it." She glanced at her arms once before hugging herself, as though trying to hide them.

"Aw, that's too bad. Maybe I can talk to him for you...?" She suggested, half-joking. "And besides, what sort of friend would I be if I let you forget such an incident?"

"Because everyone loves a good bad boy," Alec winked. "And I recall you saying my ego was already way too big, why would you want to help it? See, you're just hiding the fact that you, my friend, like spending time with me."

Alec looked into her eyes and his mouth fell. She was kidnapped? His closed his mouth and his jaw tensed, while he glared at the lake. "Who was that bastard who did this to you?" he asked, looking at her and putting an arm around the girl, hugging her.

"Nah, it's okay," he said with a grin, "I think it will be pretty impossible to avoid him all year, but I'll try. And you talking to him will make things worse as you'll probably tell him that I liked it, or that you want to see us together."

"But you're not a good bad boy, so how does that count?" Iris asked with a not so innocent smile and winked back at Alec. "I would want to help it become less, but I know that's impossible." She scoffed at his assumption and stated, "Evn if I do like spending time with you, which I don't, I would never admit it to you."

She stiffened momentarily at the contact and nearly pushed him away. Surprised that he actually seemed angry, she said, "Nice acting of making me think you care." She looked down at her hands and was shocked to see a tear fall. Turning her head away, she quickly wiped her eyes, but knew it was useless. "He was one of the men who worked for my father, and wanted revenge," she confessed some more in a quiet voice and leaned slightly into his touch.

"Ignorance may be bliss but that rule doesn't apply when hots boys are involved, okay?" She asked and smirked at Alec. She laughed at his comment and shook her head. "Ah, you know me well cause yeah, that's exactly what I would do."

Alec looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "If I'm not a good bad boy, then what am I? A good boy?" He rolled his eyes at her next comment and shrugged, "Fine then, I'll just have to make you admit it."

"Of course I care, I'm your friend!" he exclaimed, turning his head to look at her, "I may not like showing much emotion, but I'm not a heartless person, you know." Watching as she wiped her eyes, he frowned, "What did your father do for you to deserve this?"

"Sometimes I just feel that you try too hard to be a bad boy," Iris stated. "But no worries, no matter what happens you can never be a 'good' boy," she assured with a laugh. "Make me admit it? And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

She barely flinched at Alec's outburst and picked up a rock and began playing with it. "I wanted to talk about this whole thing just so I can get it out of my system and forget about it. And not because I expected you to care," she told bluntly. But she felt like she was breaking on the inside. Is this what it felt like when someone paid attention to her? If yes, she didn't like it much. "I never said you were a heartless person," she told in a quiet voice and threw the rock as far as she could.

"He was a dark wizard apparently. And the guy who kidnapped me and my sister was working for him, but eventually got fed up and killed our father." She told, glancing sideways to see the Prideux's reaction. "We really need to swap information, because right now I feel like a blabbermouth."

Alec frowned, wondering if he actually really did that. He didn't think so, no. He was just himself. . . usually. "Really?" he asked, but then laughed a bit, "I'm always a good boy, flower. And oh, you'll just have to wait and find out."

"It's kind of what you implied," he replied, "I don't care for a lot of people, really, but I'm not ice cold either."

Kissing the top of her head, the Prideux played with her hair, "That's horrible, I'm really sorry about what happened. But you can tell me anything, alright? When did this happen?" he asked her, concerned.

He chuckled lighlty and shook his head, "What do you want to know? And you don't sound like a blabbermouth, by the way."

"Or you know, it's probably only me who thinks that," Iris replied, seeing Alec's expression. "It could be a way to hide from people what you're really feeling." She shrugged. "And that's exactly what I do," she muttered, mostly to herself. "Your definition of 'good boy' or my definition?" She grinned. "You're going to trick me into admitting it?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I didn't mean to imply that. I was just surprised s'all. And you know what? I don't care for most people either, because either they annoy the shit out of me or I just make them angry," she told and attempted a smirk. "In my world, friendship and care is hard to come buy, so I just stopped believing in it altogether," she said as though this would her explain her behaviour. "But you care for me, right? I mean, how could you not?" She laughed lightly.

She smiled slightly at his affectionate gesture and held his other hand in hers, just to feel comfort. "It happened this summer and me and my sister were locked up for six months," she confessed. "Though it felt much more longer than that. I knew we were strong enough but I still thought we were..." she trailed off, hoping he understood what she was about to say.

"Now that you've heard about my pathetic life, I'd like to hear about your crazy one," she declared with a grin.

Alec looked at her, a bit hesitant, and then sighed. It kind of was what he did as well, but he really didn't want to talk about that right now. Not when she had other things in mind. He grinned, "Does it even make a difference if it's your or mine?" Shrugging, he shook his head, "Like I said, just wait and you'll see."

"You make them angry?" he echoed, amused, and chuckled, "Well, not me. Though I suppose I can be annoying at time. But you still love me." He nodded, looking up at the sky, "Friendship is a hard thing to achieve." The Prideux looked at her and smirked, rolling his eyes, "Me? Care for you? Pfff! ... yes, I do, but if you ever tell anyone that, I'll just have to kill you. No matter how good-looking you are."

Playing with her hair, Alec looked at the water and frowned. He would kill whoever did this to his friend. "How did you get away?" he asked.

"Pathetic life?" he asked, looking towards her and raising an eyebrow, "I don't think so." Sighing, he shrugged, "What is there to tell?"

Iris smiled humourlessly and nudged Alec's shoulder. "Don't look so down pretty boy, it's okay if you don't want to mention it now." She pretended to think. "Well, if it was my definition I would say that you're totally not a good boy."

"Of course I make them angry!" She exclaimed, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. "I can't get into a conversation without irritating or angering the person. It's a gift, you know," she smirked. "Me? Love you? Like I said it before, the giant squid is more lovable than you," she laughed and grinned at him. "And if you ever tell anyone this, I'll have to kill you too, no matter how much of a good flirt you are," she teased.

She laid her head on his shoulder, feeling tired and wished she had a jacket with her. "I got away with the help of Kait," she admitted in a quiet voice. "We relied on each other completely, even though we had only found out about each other's existance a few months," she shrugged.

"Ah, wait till you hear the actual pathetic part of it. How about, for every fact you tell me about your life, I tell you about my crap stuff also. What say?" She asked grinning.

Alec chuckled and shook his head, "What are you even talking about? I'm a total sweetheart, of course I'm a good boy. In all definitions."

"You have an attitude, you don't let people walk all over you," he said, "You speak your mind and you stand for what you believe in. That's not a bad thing, trust me. They're just stupid." He smirked, "No matter how much of a good flirt, lovable, adorable, hot and sexy I am, you mean." The boy scoffed, rolling his eyes, "The giant squid has nothing on me."

Alec pulled her close and turned his head to look at her, "You cold?" He nodded slowly as she spoke, silently thanking her sister had also been there, or Grayson might have spent much more time locked up. "What happened to the man?" he asked.

"Deal," he said with a smirk, wanting to know more about her life. "Since you already told me about being kidnapped, I guess I'll start. Any fact? Random or whatever?"

"Hm, something tells me that you're the only one who thinks you're a good boy. Then again, there might be someone else who thinks the same..." Iris trailed off and smirked suggestively.

She looked at Alec in surprise. "Wow, it's a good thing I'm that much of an open book cause then people will know not mess with me," she chuckled. "Really, I'm almost flattered you noticed all that about me," she winked. "And yes, people are stupid. You are one of the few who hasn't run away from me yet," she whispered as though it was a secret and laughed. "Huh, almost every word in that description of yourself was a lie," she pretended to think. "Hey, don't insult tche giant squid, you haven't even seen it!" She protested with a grin.

"Nope, I'm good," she smiled lightly and put an arm around his waist. The smile faded as she answered his question. "Either we killed him off or someone else did. Whatever happened, he hasn't tried to take us away again," she told in a quiet voice. "Smart choice really."

"Sure, anything about your family," she replied. Suddenly, she felt a splitting pain in her head and nearly screamed. She clenched her eyes shut as a memory replayed.

"Just run Kait!" Iris shouted to her sister as she threw spells at their kidnapper. "Not without you!" Kait yelled back and did the same. The man smirked at them and said sarcastically, "Isn't this sweet? Sorry to break up this sister act but I need to finish my job." And with that, he shouted 'Crucio' at Kait, but Iris ran infront and tried not to scream as the pain entered.

Iris felt herself fall into darkness and she slumped against Alec's shoulder, unconsciousness.

"I do hope you're not suggesting who I think you are. . . " Alec said with a sigh, "Though, knowing you, I'm probably right."

"You're not an open book, Grayson, I'm just that awesome," he stated and shrugged, as if to say 'what can I do about it?', "I can be observant, you know. I'm not a total idiot all the time. . . and those people don't know what they're missing by running away from you." Alec looked at his friend in mock-shock, "A lie? Why, Miss Grayson, that just hurts."

Alec's grip on her tightened and he glared at the lake, "I won't let him hurt you again. If he comes back, you warn me right away. If anyone does anything to do, I'll kill them." The boy didn't care about many people, but those he did he would do anything to keep them safe.

"My. . . family. . ." he hesitated, before sighing. "Well, my parents are fighting all the time lately," he said, looking down. It wasn't that big of a deal, lots of families had parents who were going through a tough time in their relationship. But Alec's family had always been everything to him. Before he could explain any further, though, he felt Grayson tense beside him and then collapse on his shoulder.

"Iris!" he exclaimed, turning to look at her. Unconscious. "Shit!" he said, getting up and laying her down, putting her head on his lap. "Flower?" he asked, shaking her, "Grayson, wake up." Frantic, he checked her pulse, which, thankfully, was still there. Alec sighed, relieved knowing that the girl was at least still breathing.

"Speaking of which, I ran into your boyfriend a few days back!" Iris exclaimed with a laugh. "Still haven't decided whether I like him or not though." She shrugged.

"You're not that awesome, you noticed those things cause you are actually interested in being my friend," she grinned and nudged Alec's shoulder. "Ah yes, there are certain where you are quite smart Mr.Blanchard," she said, pretending to sound dramatic. "They run away cause they don't want to be constantly insulted and argued with...yup, I think they know what they're doing," she told with a raised eyebrow. "Truth hurts sweetheart," she smirked.

She listened silently to the Priduex. "I don't need your help you know, I can take care of myself," she snapped, not knowing that he wasn't calling out on her weakness. She sighed and said, "Sorry. No one's actually bothered before, as a friend I mean. It's still new to me," she muttered.

She sat in front of him cross legged, and lifted his face so he'd look at her. "Hey, don't act as though it's not a big deal when it clearly is. Just spit it out and I'll try to help," she said, hating already to see him so disheartened.

She felt someone shaking her, and she groaned. "That freaking hurts," she growled angrily to herself, clutching her head. She looked around and relaxed lightly when she saw Alec. "What happened?" She asked, laying her head on his shoulder once more.

"Oh, you haven't?" Alec asked, nodding slowly, "Good to know. Well, I'll decide for you: you don't."

"If I recall correctly," he started, chuckling, "You were the one interested in being my friend. I simpyly accepted that fact." The Prideux grinned, "Took you long enough to admit how smart I am. And well, lucky for you, I don't mind being insulted and argued with. Actually, I do, but not that I take any of that seriously."

Alec raised his hands up in surrender and shrugged, "I'm not saying you can't, I know you can. But everyone needs help at times." Trying to lighten up the mood a bit, he winked, "Well, except for me, of course. Cause I'm just that amazing."

He shrugged, "They're just fighting, throwing things at each other, yelling. . . But plenty of kids have parents who go through that."

Relief flooded Alec when Iris woke up and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Thank Merlin!" he exclaimed, but then frowned, "Do you not remember? I don't know what happened exactly either. We were talking and you tensed for some reason, and fell unconscious."

"I think I can decide that for myself," Iris retorted with a raised eyebrow. "Besides, what's the big deal? I'll try not to like him more than I like you," she teased.

"And if I recall correctly, you accepted that fact because you were interested in being friends with me," she smirked. She ruffled Alec's hair and said with a mock sigh, "We're so dysfunctional, you know." She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I don't know how to tell people I care, so I insult and fight with them/ I know it's not right, but I can't do anything about it."

"If I ever need help, I'll make sure not to come to you again," she told with a sweet smile and winked at him. She scoffed, "Hey, if you say I need help, then I say that you need way more help than me. Except with those really desperate girls you always flirt with," she laughed.

As she listened to Alec talk, Iris instantly felt bad for him. "That may be a common thing, but it's clearly bothering you more than it should. So how do you really feel about it?" She asked, looking at him suspiciously.

Her eyes widened in realization as she remembered the memory. She suddenly felt just as scared as she did that day. "He did the Cruciatus Curse on me," she whispered almost subconsciously. "I still get nightmares about it, and it hurts as if it was just a few days back." She sat on his lap, and laid her head on his chest. "But if I hadn't done what I did, he would have got Kait."

"No one can ever like him more than they like me," Alec snorted, rolling his eyes, "That's not even possible."

Wrinkling his nose when Grayson messed up his hair, he stuck his tonge out jokingly at her, taking his arm off her shoulder to fix it. "That's why people don't like you, flower, you mess with their hair. Golden rule to friendship: never mess with someone's hair. Especially not a boy's. Especially not mine. It's the perfect hair," he said, dramatically, "It's the master hair of all hairs. All hairs are jealous of mine because of how great it looks. And you," he pointed his finger at her, "just messed it up."

At her next comment, Alec just smirked and winked, "Why would you call yourself desperate, flower?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I feel bad, obviously. It may be hard to believe but. . ." he looked around and whispered, "I'm a family guy. Well, at least I used to be. And if you ever tell anyone this, you're dead. Anyway, when my parents started fighting, it was just small arguments once in a while. Then, they turned into small arguments everyday and big ones once in a while, then big ones everyday and the occasional throwing things at each other. At first, they usually always made up, but then it starte dgetting really out of hand." The Prideux hesitated, but lifted his shirt and pointed to a scar on his left side, at the end of his rib cage, "This was the day they had an enormous fight. My mother cheated on my father after all the yelling, and then my father came home drunk and started throwing things at her. This was a vase that hit me when I tried to get him to calm down. I'm just really glad it didn't hit my mother instead."

Alec looked at her and sighed, not believing he had told her. "You're actually the first person I've told the whol story to," he muttered, "Like I said, though, it's no big deal. Your problems are a thousand times worse."

The fourteen year-old put an arm around her again, more protective and his eyes widened. "HE DID WHAT?!" he exclaimed, fury evident in his tone and gaze.

"Well, I'm not usually bad at judging characters, so I think I may like him more," Iris commented in mock seriousness.

She stared at Alec for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. "Did you actually just lecture me about your hair?! Even I don't do that!" She exclaimed. "So my suspicions are confirmed, you are are gay." She declared and grinned mischievously. "Cause really, that was quite a speech. I'm sure the other hairs would be disgraced," she said and laughed some more and messed up his hair again. "That's my way of saying 'I love you', you see."

"I'm not the desperate one you always flirt with Blanchard," she told and rolled her eyes. "I how how to get things without being desperate."

Her eyes widened in shock as she listened to his words and she felt immediate anger. "How the hell could a man do that to his own son?!" She growled and she held onto the Prideux's hand tighter as though he would disappear any minute. She grew even more angry as she saw the scar and felt sad as well. "Please tell me you went to the hospital and got that checked out," she muttered.

"Of course it's a big deal!" She protested. She held his face in her hands and said, "Don't even bother lying to me. Just cause I have my own problems, doesn't mean yours are any less important, get that?" She told firmly. "Mind telling me where you live exactly? I'd like to have a talk with your dad." Though she wasn't sure 'talk' was the right word.

"You heard me," she said simply, thankful that he was there with her right now. "But hey, I couldn't let anything happen to Kait. I mean, it wasn't that painful," she told with a forced grin. "It was just for a few seconds. He did worse things anyway," she admitted.

Alec frowned and pouted, slapping her hand away from his hair. "Hey! I'm not gay!" he protested, "I just. . . really like my hair."

"Oh, of course, yes. How could I have forgotten, you have a boyfriend," he drawled, rolling his eyes and chuckling, "You're not desperate. You just love to use your charm on desperate boys."

"He was drunk, Iris!" he explained, not even sure why he was defending his father. They'd always had a nice relationship, but after he and his mom started fighting, that good relationship just started going downhill. "He's got this drinking problem. It's usually small, but it can get out of hand in situations like those. He-He apologized." The Prideux shook his head and shrugged, "My mom did the best she could to ease the pain and heal it, but she's just a Muggle. There was not much she could do. And he fixed it in the morning when he found out what he'd done, so it's alright. He only couldn't get rid of the stupid scar."

"Alright," he nodded, sighing, "And, like I said, it wasn't really his fault. Well, it was but- you know what I mean."

Alec shook his head, "Wasn't that painful? Iris, it's the Cruciatus Curse!" He hugged her tight and looked into her eyes as he pulled away, gripping her hand. "What else did he do to you? What the hell did he do that was worse than that curse?" he asked, furious, "Damn it! I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch!"

"Yeah, you really like your hair cause you're gay," Iris stated with a grin. "Gay or not, I'd still be your friend, so don't let it bother you too much," she shrugged.

"Don't be sad, you'll get your own boyfriend one day," she winked. "My charm worked quite well on you, so I'm guessing it is effective with desperate guys," she commented and smirked.

Feeling annoyed with the Prideux, she retorted, "Don't even try to make me see reason in this! Besides, an apology just isn't enough for what he did." She knew she probably sounded irrational but she couldn't help it. The fact that someone had hurt Alec, especially a family member, was enough to piss her off. "Got a drinking problem? I'm already liking your dad less and less," she said bluntly. "So he just said sorry and everything's alright?" She asked surprised. "No wonder I've been kicked out of every foster home. I don't really get the whole parent-child thing," she muttered, exposing another part of her life to her best friend. "Scars are sexy, so no worries," she said amusedly.

"The curse was better, Alec!" She nearly shouted. "Because he touched us! He used to beat us up and if he wasn't doing that, he would be throwing curses at us!" She felt like a little girl about to burst out crying ahd wiped away her tears. "I was almost sure I was going to die," she told in a neutral tone. Her hand rubbed against his and she welcomed the feeling. "Son of a bitch indeed," she agreed. She scoffed, "You wouldn't kill him even if he was there right in front of you." But I would, she thought. Laying her head on his chest, she chuckled humourlessly. "I'm a real handful, aren't I?"