seventh symphony

Charles couldn't believe that it was over between him and Tshering. Over like that. It was just a summer between them. Was that all they were meant for? He really hoped that they could be together again, because he still kept that ring he gave her. He never took it off unless he was in the shower and he wondered if she did the same.

He needed to go somewhere to clear his mind so he landed himself in the Arena. It was night, and it was quiet. No one would catch him here, right?

::Liddy::

Liddy let out a heavy sigh. Never had she felt so... mature. That was always Kendera's area. Kendera, of course, was currently holed up somewhere at the back of their mind, which left Liddy in charge.

It was harder than the girl would have expected.

Weekends were wonderful, Liddy decided. She didn't have to pretend to be her primary or worry if the new personality would take over and blow their carefully constructed cover. Liddy would not be responsible for making Kendera's life worse than it was; she wouldn't. Noah, at least, agreed with her on this.

Wandering along the streets of Azorat, the girl came to the arena, peering curiously at the figure inside. A smirk spread across the girl's features.

"Charles Prentiss," Liddy said. "I've been hearing rumors about you. I don't much care for them." She frowned reprovingly. Her greeting lacked the traditional 'Miss me?', but Liddy was in a bit of a mood.

When Charles heard someone call him he immediately covered up his ring. He gently turned around and he nearly dropped his wand and ran away because he was facing his worst fear minus Millicent and his father's ghost coming back to haunt him.

Liddy was here and he was sure that he was going to die.

"H-Hi... Liddy," Charles replied. His voice was as silent as a cricket. "And what rumors? About the ones me going to France? Those are true." He paused for a while. "I missed you."

::Liddy::


Liddy let him speak, dark eyes focused intently on him. And then, without a word, she moved forward, walking right up to him without hesitation. Grabbing his wrists, she pulled his hands apart, staring pointedly at the ring a moment before her gaze moved up to his.

"Did you?" she asked. Her expression was reproving.

"I told you," Liddy intoned, teeth slowly gritting together as she continued, "you are not allowed to like anyone else."

Liddy thrust his arms from her, turning her back to the boy. "Forget it. It doesn't matter." She sounded tired. Liddy felt old.

"O-Of course I missed you," Charles stammered. He hoped it was dark enough to hide his blush because damn was he embarassed. "Why wouldn't I miss you and your hair and your laugh and that time we talked about how crows weren't vegetarian and stuff? I mean... you mean something. To me."

Liddy had opened up his hands and he knew then that he was as good as dead meat. Now she had seen the ring, and he tried to hold back his tears. He was so mad. He was so mad for disappointing her. He was so mad at Tshering and at himself for making her mad.

Hell was to be paid.

"I-I'm sorry!" Charles exclaimed. A tear began to walk out of his eyes and fell onto his face. It gleamed in the night so Liddy could tell he was crying. "I-I couldn't help it..."

He took his breath. "It was a summer fling, don't mean a thing," Charles began. He knew he ripped it out of summer nights but he didn't care. "Bu oh those summer niiiiiiights!"

The song lyrics made no impression on Liddy; the Krauses highly disapproved of all things muggle in origin. Liddy drew in a slow breath, letting it out even slower.

"Stop crying," she said sharply. Her proud expression crumpled a bit, but her back was to him, preventing him from being able to see. "I said it doesn't matter. Why apologize to me?" The girl folded her arms across her chest - a defensive gesture - tossing her mass of black curls proudly.

She didn't have time for stupid boys! Liddy was far too busy trying to control the new personality and thinking of ways her primary could avoid marriage to Roman Ritter and finding her bloody primary. Noah was better at the finding bit. Observant though Liddy was, the boy was better. He still hadn't found her.

Honestly. How complicated could their mind possibly be? Liddy sighed, gaze falling to the ground. The girl pouted, then opened her mouth to speak, again.

"Unfortunate exchange students didn't go to Hogwarts this year, isn't it?" she quipped.

"You don't tell someone to stop crying! It's impossible!" Charles yelled, trying to get Liddy to turn back around to see him. He got the knowledge off his father when he was a young boy. "You can, and they will stop crying on the outside and be reduced to sniffles, but deep down they are still crying their eyes out! Crying is something you can't help, dangit! You cry because you're so damn upset that one of the few people you consider your friends won't pay attention to you."

Charles took a deep breath, "My father told me to only apologize to the people that matter to you, and... you matter." Leon had also said that if a person didn't need to apologize then there was no need to apologize, but Charles left that bit out, of course. "I don't care if I don't matter to you but you matter to me so I apologize!"

"W-We went to France," stammered the Hitrost. "It's really pretty." He cleared his throat so he could swallow his tears.

::Liddy::


"Then, cry on the inside!" Liddy shouted, spinning to face him, fists clenched at her sides. "If you cry on the outside, I'll cry, too!" The shadows were in her favor, almost completely concealing the tears that tracked down her own face. Almost.

A hand rose to quickly dash across each cheek, chin lifting proudly. "You forgot about me," the girl accused, not quite able to keep the hurt from her voice. "It's like... I'm not real. You only know I exist when I'm standing in front of you." Her chin began to tremble and she clenched her jaw to stop it.

Liddy looked away from him, again, gaze fixed on the shadows - the shadows that were just like her and Noah and Fourth. Maybe none of them were real. Maybe only Kendera was real.

"Sounds nice," Liddy uttered dully. It sounded more like a sulk. She couldn't resist a jab. "I'm sure there's lots of pretty girls, too."

Charles wondered why Liddy had turned around to face him. She then started to say that she cried too and her voice scared the hell out of him. He had never heard her like this, and he could see her tears in the dark, which made it all worse. Charles Prentiss had made a girl cry for the second time in a year. And both times it was his fault.

He kept crying and it got worse when Liddy had said. "You think I forgot about you?" he croaked. "You think I forgot about you, Lidwina? Do you know what it was like to wonder everyday if I would ever see you again? Do you know how many times I tried to hold you in my arms in my dreams and everytime I hold you you end up letting go? Do you know what it felt like when I gave up?"

Charles saw Liddy look away and he ran forward. His tears were still falling when he grabbed her by the waist and held her towards him just so she can look at him. "Look at me," he snarled. "And tell me what you see."

The brown haired boy shrugged his shoulders. "If they were pretty they I didn't notice that."

::Liddy::

"I told you I'd come back!" Liddy protested, though, was that really a promise she could make? Kendera was primary; Liddy could conceded this. What if one day, Kendera didn't need her anymore? What if one day, Liddy herself disappeared? Then, what?

She honestly didn't know.

Liddy started in surprise when he ran forward and took her by the waist, the irrational flash of fear which flickered in her gaze gone by the time she'd looked at him. He'd gotten taller since the last time she'd seen him, his features more mature. Lifting a hand to trace her fingertips lightly across her cheekbone, she pressed her palm against the side of his face.

"Charles," Liddy answered aloud. Mine, she added silently, with less certainty. She couldn't even say what had brought her to claim him in the first place.

At his response, Liddy found herself smiling, the expression pleased. Placing her other hand against his chest, she rose up on her toes, then placed her lips softly against his.

"Well what if you didn't? What would that make me?" Charles screamed. "I've learned from experience more than once that sometimes promises cannot be kept, no matter how hard you try! I do not like making the same mistake more times than the number of years I've been alive." He then tried to crack a smile in the middle of his tears. "I-I'm glad you're back now. I can stop dreaming."

The feeling of her palm on his face made the blood run through his cheeks. He was blushing now, and since he was so busy blushing his crying slowed down and soon stopped. His face was still stained with his tears but at least he had stopped crying, like she had told him to do a few seconds (or minutes) ago.

He could see her smile in the dark, and when he felt her toes rising his mind immediately ran with thoughts he didn't understand. He didn't even understand what the hell was happening even though Liddy was right in front of him. He was stupid, wasn't he?

"Lidwina..." he mouthed. "What are you..."

He felt his lips brush against hers. That was when his mind finally clicked. Oh... SHE'S KISSING ME! OH MY MERLIN LIDDY IS KISSING ME!

Wait, what am I doing? Why am I not kissing her back? OH RIGHT!

Charles let his lips open to let Liddy's lips into his, pecking her lips as gently as he could. He took her by the neck and held her close to him as if this was the last time he would ever see her again. Liddy, he thought. Liddy... Liddy... Liddy...

::Liddy::

"I DON'T KNOW!" she screamed right back. "I just don't, alright?!" She gazed back at him, managing to return his smile at his statement. "Me, too," she said softly.

Liddy pressed closer against him as Charles finally started to kiss her back. Her arms went about his neck and as his lips parted, she parted her own, tongue almost timidly stroking across his own.

Charles was hers. She had decided as much long before. No matter who else might catch his gaze or who might think otherwise, if Liddy had anything to say about it, Charles would always be hers. Forever.

"I'm very, very glad," Charles added. "It makes me have something to hope for three years in the future when I'm in my seventh year and I have no one else to well, know. At least I'll have you by my side."

Liddy broke apart first (the brown haired boy was happy he can breath again), and Charles let a word slip out of his lips by accident like people do sometimes after a kiss. But it was not Liddy or Lidwina like he was expected to say.

It was 'Anna.'

::Liddy::


For a split-second, Liddy responded not at all. Next, she placed her hand against his chest and pushed his back until he was at arm's length. Dark gaze boring into his a moment more, she then planted her palm forcefully against the side of Charles' face.

"I'm sure you must have missed me so much," she sneered. Whirling about she promptly began to flounced.

"You know what, Charles?" Liddy said over her shoulder. "Just forget about me. I've little doubt I'll always come second." Second to Kendera, second in everything else.

She paused briefly to look back at him. "Oh, and pray I never see your little flame. Anna Tshering, wasn't it? I remember. She was one of the exchange students, last year." Never mind the fact that as far as Charles knew, she hadn't even been at Durmstrang the previous year. That no longer mattered. Liddy was angry, and she was rather capable to hold a grudge for a very long time.

Anna Tshering would pay.

Charles tried to speak when Liddy was talking but he didn't have the heart to interrupt her. He had done something that meant the end of his life pretty much. One day Liddy was going to wake up with a knife in her hand and go to his house and kill him and then Millicent would find him dead and throw a party and take all of the Prentiss money and thank Liddy for killing her.

It didn't matter because Liddy and Millicent probably knew each other and his life was going to be so screwed. For all he knew, Liddy and Millicent could already be plotting his death.

Now she was threatening his Anna. He couldn't believe it! She barely even knew her. They were both amazing people with strong personalities. He doubted that Tshering had even met Liddy but that was a bad idea because when they meet it's going to be like World War Three. Holy shit.

When he was sure Liddy had gone, Charles Prentiss kissed and laid down on the ground and cried for the rest of his life.