fractured moonlight on the sea

Tshering has always loved the lake.

She had never gotten to see it often because she was so busy and she couldn't go during term time since it was off-limits. It was so weird how the mere image of still water can calm her down so easily. But who the fuck cared?

The most memorable time she was here was when Professor Fallen was still around... Third Year, it was? She had spilled out her heart and soul towards her, and she had understood. She had cared. She longed for someone to care for her like that again: unconditionally, without boundaries, with the full understanding she wants and needs.

And now, she was gone.

The heat was stifling, so thank Morgana that the Ravenclaw had chosen to wear shorts that day. She checked the temperature of the water with her pinky toe, and once she was confident it was just right she dipped both her feet into the water, enjoying the chills that came up her spine.

Ah, this is the life.

Iris wondered to herself why the hell she even chose to come here in the first place. She had been to this lake so many times, yet still couldn't notice anything magical about it.

Maybe because she never bothered to observe the place carefully.

Then again, she wasn't the patient type. She was accustomed to the fast lane of life, everything happening in the blink of an eye, especially her childhood. Running, screaming, hiding, those are the words she uses frequently to describe her life.

Most importantly, it was surviving.

But now things were slowly changing. So many people kept coming into her life, not that she was ready to trust any of them. Hell, she didn't even completely trust her own brother and sister.

What have I become?

As she walked some more, she spotted a familiar figure sitting at the edge of the lake. Deciding that it was probably time for a talk, she went forward and sat down next to the girl.

"Soothing, isn't it, Tshering?" She asked quietly, smiling humourlessly.

Being the alert girl she had trained herself to be, Tshering's head turned sharply when she heard a familiar voice. Her brows furrowed, trying to scrutinize the voice's origin.

Her brows relaxed once her addled mind could finally place a name to the articulation. It was someone she knew not necessarily well, but she knew that she could begin to somewhat trust with some parts of her.

It was then that she realized she still had the ring Charles had given her on her finger, and that was when she decided to cross her hands so that it would remain hidden. She wondered if Grayson would even be interested in knowing of her birthday, anyway. No one cared about her birthday, no one but Charles.

She could be wrong, because she was wrong about numerous things before, but she doubted she was wrong about this one.

"Cool? Yes," Tshering agreed, "soothing? No, not so much."

The Ravenclaw decided to let her toes wriggle in the water, and soon her toes felt freer than they had in a long while. She threw her head back, staring up at the blue sky.

"Tell me I'm not the only one with a wonderful summer," Tshering sang, her face turning into a small smirk.

Iris wasn't that surprised at Tshering's sudden movement; she was always the cautious type, something they both had in common. She didn't think she knew the Ravenclaw well enough, but she did to an extent.

She stared ahead at the waters, wondering what else to say to break the ice. The silence was heavy between them, and the atmosphere was just as intense. It was as though there were unspoken words between them, but none knew where to start.

Then she remembered something.

"Hey Tshering? Why the fuck wasn't I invited for your birthday?" She asked in a sarcastically sweet voice, though she wasn't upset with the dark haired girl. "I came to know about it from Prentiss, and I was going to show up but I figured it'd be one man audience," she smirked. "So did you like the ring he offered? I mean, you're not allergic to diamonds, right?" She chuckled softly. "And how was your birthday?"

It wasn't usual for the Gryffindor to be interested in people's lives, especially when there was enough drama in her own. But now, she was very much interested in Alec's and a bit in Tshering's.

She closed her eyes as her friend mentioned about summer. The blonde couldn't deny that the drunken night with the Priduex was the highlight of her holidays.

"No, my summer was pretty good as well," she told, letting a smile grace her features.

Tshering raised an eyebrow when Grayson asked about her birthday. She vaguely wondered if Charles had told her about it, and once Grayson elaborated then she rolled her eyes. Oh Chuck, she thought, you never listen.

"Dude, I never knew you were so interested in my birthday," mused the Ravenclaw, laying her head down on the grass so she could stare up at the clear blue skies that were before her, "and my birthday was fantastic in all of the ways possible, if you count snogging, and waltzing, and things people our age shouldn't do. Is that enough detail, Gray?"

However, when Grayson had asked about the ring, the brunette let out a huge sigh. Out of relief or anger, she wasn't sure, but chances are that it was probably both. She could feel her hands uncrossing, and suddenly felt a lot less rehearsed with her movements. After all, it was something worth bragging about, she supposed.

"T-The ring?" Tshering inquired, her cheeks slowly turning red. She then stared at her toes, wriggling them for moment just so more of the water and cleanse them, "o-oh... it's..." Merlin, she must be redder than blood. "It's beautiful, alright?" she stammered, extended her hand for Grayson to see. "There. There's the blessed ring. Happy?"

The Ravenclaw couldn't help but stare at her ring as well. It was so hard to believe that all the time that she spent staring at the ring she never noticed...

"What?!" she gasped in surprise, though it was a pleasant one. She saw the engravement on one of the diamonds, and the sight of it alone... it broke her in a ratifying manner that she was on the verge of tears.

"Oh..." she muttered, "oh my God..."

She then turned back towards Grayson and sang in a joyful way, "Oh... tell me more, tell me more, did you get very far?"

"And what, pray tell, gave you the impression that I wasn't interested in your birthday?" Iris asked with a raised eyebrow. Despite herself, she couldn't help but let a genuine grin appear on her face as she listened to the Ravenclaw's narration of her birthday. "Almost enough detail; how was the snogging?" She winked.

She didn't mind if the brunette felt bothered by the question; it was mere curiosity. It's not like the blonde had some other girlfriends or something she could ask these sorts of things to. Besides, a diamond ring was always worth bragging. However, the brunette took her by surprise.

Laughing at the her friend's blushing face, she shook her head. "Oh man, Prentiss has turned you into a lovesick puppy, hasn't he? Like I told him, it's sickly sweet, yet nice at how happy he seems to make you. Well what do you know, it is a beautiful ring," she complimented, clearly impressed by the Hitrost's selection.

The Greek was taken aback by Tshering's sudden exclamation. "What is it? Is something wrong?" She asked quickly, her voice having an undertone of concern.

"Get very far? What are you talking about?" She asked amusedly.

The Ravenclaw cocked her head to one side and arched one of her eyebrows, "Well, no one in my sorry excuse in my life has ever taken interest in my birthday, so I had assumed that you'd be the same. I was wrong, obviously." She then placed head back to where it was and stared up at the sky, a sly smirk plastered on her face, "Well, it was... amazing. I don't think I should tell you the details when there could be little kids swimming in the lake. Anyways, I couldn't stop fiddling with his shirt... well, you do the math."

Tshering pulled off a mock pout and whined, "I am not that lovesick! I am just a little - okay fine, a lot - but I'm not a puppy!" She took a deep breath, "Look... I actually care about him, and I don't think I've ever felt this about anyone. And he says that this ring is a family heirloom from his mother and I want to take care of it as best as I can, alright?"

Flashing the ring in the Gryffindor's face, the brunette shed some of her tears. "Look, Gray," she whispered, trying to make herself heard, "just look at the middle diamond..."

And there it was, 'Anna Prentiss' in curly, swirly handwriting.

She then blinked back her tears and looked straight at Grayson, a playful smile on her face, "You haven't heard of Grease? Seriously?" She shook her head in disappointment, "I mean, like... how far good was it?"

"It took you this long for you to realize that I am not like everybody else? Wow, now I am even more disappointed Tshering," Iris shook her head in mock disappointment. "But then again, we never make an attempt to actually be friends, so I guess it's fine." Using her fingers to play with the water, she smirked at the Ravenclaw's answer. "Yeah, I can totally do that kind of math." When was the last time she had spent time with a boy like that?

Oh yes, a drunken time with her best friend.

"The puppy thing was just a metaphor Tshering," she remarked and rolled her eyes. "But yes, you are so damn love sick that it's almost nauseating," she teased. "Dude, of course you care about him! Right now, nothing is more obvious than that," the blonde stated. "Trust me, I have no problem if you want to take care of it and shit, as long as you admit you are smitten over him," she chuckled. "Though it is kind of cool he trusted you with something so precious."

The Gryffindor whistled and grinned as she looked closer at the ring. The writing was simply elegant and she thought, Kudos to you Prentiss,

She wanted to hug Tshering, but the feeling was so foreign that she decided to ignore it.

Iris shrugged in response. "I don't know, I'm guessing it's a Muggle thing? I haven't been living with my foster parents that long to know about things like that. It wasn't that good, but like I said, it was fine," she replied vaguely.

"Oh come on, you can hardly blame me!" scoffed the Ravenclaw, though she wholly knew that it wasn't all her fault and she shouldn't be so hard on herself, "I mean, you wouldn't be so trusting of the people around you and expect them to be your friend when you saw your best friend die, and the other one abandoned you and never spoke to you ever again." 'Ever again' was a lie; she'd seen Danielle once just before she went to Russia last summer, and they'd talked. The difference this time was that Tshering acted as if she had never knew the girl.

In a sense, that was true.

Damn. "I-I knew that," the brunette stammered, trying not to be mock ashamed. She then rolled her eyes, "How am I lovesick? I don't gush about him like other girls do! Okay, I do, but in my silly excuse of a noggin so no one can hear me. You don't want to hear me gush, by the way. I groan about him like it's a PG thirteen movie." Tshering then pursed her lips, thinking about the naughtiest thoughts she had of him and shook her head. "No no, I whine about him like it's an R rated movie."

Once again, the Ravenclaw stared at the elegant script. She was so proud to have a boyfriend who knew her so well.

Tshering's eyes widened. "Oh seriously? You haven't heard of summer looooovin', and how Danny and Sandy have a summer fling? O-Or go greased lightning you're burnin' up a quarter miiiile..." sang the drama queen, "oh my God, I can't imagine being you. Remember to steal you for Christmas so we can watch the movie on my telly." For fun, she then splashed a bit of water in Gray's direction. "Tag, you're it."

"I was just messing with you, Tshering," Iris smirked, but it faded quickly. "I know more than anyone how hard it is to trust people, when all your life, everyone has just kept on leaving you," she stated in a sad tone as she recalled her childhood days. The Gryffindor actually had to commit murder in order to stay alive. How can the world expect her not to act cruel and careless? "I meant it though; I am totally going to crash your birthday next year," she nudged the Ravenclaw's shoulder.

"Oh darling, just admit to me that you are madly in love with him and can't live without him!" She said, pretending to be dramatic and laughed once again. "I do love the fact that you finally found someone who knows how to handle you," she remarked, half-joking. "Well, I do like R-rated movies, so if you ever want to whine, go right ahead," she grinned slyly.

Seeing her friend gazing at the ring, made the blonde think about her own two rings given by Hades and the guilt in her intensified. No matter what, she had to face the music, though she wasn't looking forward to it.

Iris stiffened a bit as she heard the words 'summer fling'. Isn't that what happened between her and Alec? A summer fling? Did she regret it? She hated herself for knowing that she indeed did not regret it for the simple reason that it was a lot of fun and not entirely her fault.

Suddenly feeling water splashed at her, she shook her head amusedly and threw more water at the brunette. "Not afraid of the water, are you?" She asked.

Tshering acted if they were talking about something trivial, though she clearly knew it wasn't. "I know right?" she replied, her tone over-the-top shocked. She then snorted to prove her disgust, "I mean, your parents don't even send you a birthday card, they don't tell you about your little brother who's probably dead for all you know because your father killed him, a-and h-he... h-h-he..." She then shook her head to dispose the thought. She then rolled her eyes. "And walk in on a snogfest?" she smirked, trying to be coy, "I doubt you'll want much party food after that."

"I'm in love with him and I'm sure that I can't live without him," Tshering wryly admitted, "there. Happy?" She rolled her eyes playfully, "I am not that difficult to handle, right? I'm just bitchy to the wrong people." The brunette ran her fingers through her hair, trying separate the strands. "Oh... there might be little kids swimming in the lake," mused the Ravenclaw, "I'm not going to be the one that scars them."

Tshering shook her head. "Hell no!" she exclaimed, and swished some more water back at her friend. She sat up and dipped her hands in the water, cupping them and splashing some water over her head.

"You know, I've always wanted to know what it is like to live life with parents, but now that you mention it, I think I'm lucky I had no family," Iris remarked in a neutral tone. "After all, having a father a dark wizard and a drug addict mother isn't exactly what a child might be having in mind," she shrugged. "I know I should be glad that I have Kait and Game, but I still feel alone," she sighed. "Walking in on your and Prentiss' snogfest would amuse me to no end and leave me laughing," she said and winked at the Ravenclaw.

"Pity, I thought you felt much more passion for the boy," she said, her voice sounding as though she was disappointed, but smiled teasingly. "Not all hard to handle Tshering, you are definitely a walk in the park," the blonde commented sarcastically and rolled her eyes good naturedly. "And since when do you care about scarring anyone?" She asked with a grin. "But okay, I get you."

Splashing some more water at the brunette, the moment reminded her of the time she and Alec spent at the Lazarus lake and ended up in the water.

"Also ended up with a summer fling with the highly annoying and good looking best friend," the Gryffindor murmured, mostly to herself.

The Ravenclaw firmly nodded, wishing that she had the childhood, from her depiction, that Gray had. It may have been rough, but it was better than growing up with parents that hated her, and they made an open statement of it. Then again, when she was younger, Tshering could remember the Alice Tshering who would take her to parks, who would let her travel around the world with her, the one who taught her the basics about how to live her life. "I understand," she muttered, running her fingers through her hair.

She then cocked her head to one side and frowned at the girl. "Of course I am!" she exclaimed, "I just don't like to express my feelings for him verbally. Only he deserves to know the full extent of what I feel for him." Running her fingers through her hair to calm herself down, she then shrugged her shoulders. "Damn, Charles's kindness must be getting to me," joked the brunette.

Tshering laughed as the cold water hit her legs, and she splashed some more water at the Gryffindor, this time aiming for the blonde's head. She hadn't been this happy with a friend in a long while.

"That's what I was looking for, sweetheart," the Ravenclaw laughed, "and don't worry, I won't tell Hades." She winked, though instead of implying she was joking, this time she was telling the truth.

"But it was also pathetic Tshering, cause every family that adopted me returned me to the orphanage after a couple of months," the Gryffindor smirked. "I guess it's my fault for being so difficult, but hey, what's life without causing trouble?" She shrugged. She wasn't used to opening up to people; hell she hated whining or talking about her life to anyone. She nudged her friend's shoulder and said, "We can be alone together. That made sense, right?"

"Wait, does that mean there's going to be a wedding soon?!" Iris exclaimed and laughed. "Wow, things are moving so fast with everyone." Looking up at the stars, she sighed. "What the fuck is happening, Tshering? I feel like I haven't caught my breath in a while, though I am loving this exhilarated feeling." The blonde grinned at the Ravenclaw and nodded her head. "His kindness is definitely affecting you, but I know you will never stop being a bitch. But he is lucky, you know. Though I'd like to warn him that you'd be the most nightmarish girlfriend ever," teased the Gryffindor. "Or wait, maybe you're just a nightmarish friend but a sweet girlfriend."

Smirking mischievously, Iris jumped into the water and pulled Tshering in as well. "Now, this is fun," she laughed and splashed more water at her friend.

"Oh shut up darling," muttered the blonde with a brief smile. "It was a total mistake. And even though we had fun, I don't think me and him should get drunk together any time soon."

"Well, that's cool," Tshering argued, realizing that for once in her sodding excuse of a life she was actually being optimistic. Not only that, she was being optimistic for another person! Oh Godric - she must be going mad! "Sure, they keep giving you back, but now you know about all sorts of different backgrounds. I mean, you'd know what it's like to live with rich families, middle class, dark, white, Asian... unless all your families are generic or something." The brunette then nodded, "I suppose it does, Gray. There's no reason why we can't be alone together, right?"

At the thought of a wedding, Tshering's heart sank. "O-Of course not," she spluttered. The thought of her having a wedding to Charles was just... preposterous! She had already planned for herself to become a musical actress and travel all over the world with an acting company, and if she was married the chances of her getting hired was extremely slim. "I'm not that sweet!" she exclaimed, her once distressed face breaking into a kind smile, "but if you I'm a sweet girlfriend then I guess that's up to you."

Tshering squealed when Grayson had pulled her into the water, and her shirt was now wet enough to make it almost transparent. "What the hell?" she exclaimed, shoving a huge handful of water upwards, towards the Gryffindor.

The brunette sang, "The heart wants what the heart wants, Gray... you can't deny it..."

"How the fuck is that cool, Tshering?" The blonde asked her friend, her tone a mixture of anger and bewilderment. "Those people didn't even treat me as a child most of time, as if they had adopted me for timepass." She rolled her eyes and said, "I would have preferred to live with one family, thank you very much. But I have to say, it didn't turn out to bad because I did learn a lot of things by living on the streets." Giving the Ravenclaw a rarely used genuine smile, the blonde responded, "Not a good enough reason anyway. I guess we should give it a try."

The laughter faded and Iris narrowed her eyes at Tshering. "You just admitted that you love the boy, but you don't want a wedding; why not? As much as the thought is sort of comical to me, doesn't mean it won't be kind of awesome," she smirked. "Nope, I'm so sticking with the fact that you are a nightmarish girlfriend; not sweet."

"I'll tell you what the hell; we are having fun with water," the Gryffindor shrugged and went underwater, resurfacing after a few minutes. She loved the feeling of the water on her skin, it was almost soothing.

"The heart wants Hades, alright? It was just poisoned with alcohol that night, okay?" She muttered once more, figuring it wasn't that much of a big deal. "Besides, he took it pretty casually and didn't say any of the crap you're saying now," she told, referring to the Priduex's reaction.

Whatever had held Tshering back from comforting the Gryffindor had been let go now. She hated it when people had a great childhood and presumed it was shitty. That technically made her a hypocrite, because some people would have thought that travelling around the world was a great way to spend one's childhood. Letting her fingers fiddle with her shirt, blue eyes met brown. "At least you had parents," she spat resentfully, "even if they didn't like you at least you had both of them to grow up with. For fuck's sake. Look at yourself. You go to school, you have a roof over your head, you have food to eat. You're lucky!"

The brunette shook her head. "Even though I love Charles, I don't believe in true love," she muttered, blinking back tears.

"Cool," remarked the Raveclaw. She then just laid her back down on the water, staring up at the sun.

Tshering snickered. "Sure it does," she slyly cited, knowing that the heart can fool people pretty easily. Bewildered, she raised her eyebrow at Grayson's words. Well. This boy must be mad. She doubted that the boy took it that casually. Sharing a night together was a big deal, after all.

"I didn't have anyone Tshering, I grew up in a fucking orphanage!" Iris growled angrily. "The families that adopted me actually used the Cruciatus Curse on me just so I'd behave. And when that didn't work, they'd take me back to the depressing place. Finally, I ran away and was living on the streets with random people ever since," confessed the Gryffindor, trying to calm herself down. "I just found out that I have siblings a while back. Until then, I was really convinced that I was going to survive by myself. It wouldn't be too bad because I do know how to take care of myself. I don't know what it's like to be a child," she murmured.

"True love is for sappy romantic losers anyway," the blonde smirked, trying to make her friend feel better, though she wasn't so good at things like that. "But it's good enough that you have someone to love."

Realizing what the Ravenclaw might be thinking, Iris interfered. "Before you get any crazy ideas, I didn't actually sleep with him, alright? We somehow ended up in his house and woke up together," she mumbled and shook her head as she remembered it. "Hang on...did you sleep with Prentiss?!"

"How's living on the streets like?" asked the brunette, "and yeah, they used the Cruciatus Curse on you. As they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. No matter how corny it sounds it's one of the most true out there." Grayson's intonation made Tshering cringe, and she had a strong yearning to hug her friend. Then again, she wasn't part of the Ravenclaw's agenda to give her friends affection. But Grayson wasn't like any other friend, was she? They had a closer bond, closer than she had with Nat and Dani combined. "Look, I know it's sad for you, but it's behind you now," she commiserated, taking on a different perspective to her friend's problem, "if you're happy on the streets then I don't blame you... as long as you don't do anything stupid."

The brunette nodded. Yeah. It was good, having someone special to love.

Leaning in as if it was a huge secret, Tshering nodded. "Yeah," she replied hesitantly, "sort of... kind of... well, to be completely truthful, furthest we went was third base, alright? I mean, we were on the top of the Eiffel Tower. You don't just fuck your boyfriend on top of one of the most revered structures in human history! You'd stain the floor! And people stepping on your..." She shuddered at the thought. "Okay, too much info."

"Living on the streets is absolutely amazing," the Gryffindor said sarcastically and sighed. "It's not that bad, but you know the worst thing? You end up seeing and doing things you wish you hadn't. But then you realize you had no choice but to go along with it," Iris muttered. "Oh trust me, that saying is what motivated me most of the time so I wouldn't kill myself."

Feeling slightly hesitant, she moved her shirt sleeve and showed the Ravenclaw the marks on her skin. "I used to cut myself. Most of them are from the kidnapping, but the ones on my wrist, are because of me." She shook her head. "I'm not asking for your sympathy Tshering, I don't need it. I don't care if you think it's 'sad' for me. Besides, I live with a couple in the States. They're really nice and for now, I'm okay," shrugged the blonde. "So tell me how was your childhood and why you think mine was better."

Iris couldn't her contain her laughter as she listened to the brunette. "You know, I'm actually surprised you didn't fuck him, since I'm sure things would have gotten out of control anyway," she grinned. "So is it you or him who is the hormone controlled one in this relationship?" The blonde asked with a smirk. "Or are you two equally bad? Ah, just wait till you kids grow up, you'll be shagging like bunnies," chuckled the Gryffindor and shook her head, feeling completely amused.

"You try travelling all over the world with your mother, Grayson," Tshering began, though she knew that she way she started that sentence made it sound like it was actually a pretty exciting experience, but she was going to let that thought down, "at the age of five, I had myself enter a brothel. And my mother was the one there to encourage me." She began to shudder at the memory. "I had to learn the inner workings of a whorehouse because she thought it was interesting!" She cried, "How is human trafficking fascinating to any mind?"

The Ravenclaw stared at the bruises on Grayson's arm with slight fascination, though mostly she felt disgusted. Her arm extended to touch them, but a reaction in her brain made it jerk back so that it hung loose by her sides. "God, Gray," she muttered, "you were suicidal? Most friends would say right about, 'Why didn't you tell me?' but for me that's obviously not an option."

She then smiled when she heard Gray was doing alright now, the first truthful sign on any part of her body that conveyed to the Gryffindor that she did care about her, somewhat.

"Imagine seeing your parents have the most intense court battle in the history of court battles," breathed the girl, "you were five years old. You were so young, and your tears... they were just falling. Six years, you fail to acknowledge you father's existence. Six years later, your parents remarry." She spat the word out as if it was dirt. "Your father, as a favour beats the fuck out of you." Deadpanning, she added, "That's one amazing childhood."

In a singing tone, the brunette replied, "You have no idea." She then raised her eyebrow at her friend skeptically, "Wait, we control our hormones? Since when did any of us gave a fuck?" She then shrugged her shoulders

"She tried to sell you?! What the fuck, Tshering?! Now I know for sure the world is full of bullshit," Iris exclaimed and shook her head in a combination of wonder and shock. "If it was me in your shoes, I probably would have killed the woman and got out. Nearly got to that point with one of the foster couples. So wait, does that mean that you are still living with your mother at the moment? And now, I totally feeling like beating the shit out of her."

"I just wanted a different sort of pain," the Gryffindor said simply and pulled the sleeves back up, as though this was a regular thing. "I was just sick of stuff and going through the same hurt and figured a little blood might keep be distracted and forget about all the other useless worries. It worked for the most part, but I stopped doing it now," she said quietly.

"You got beaten by you father and I get cursed left and right by a bunch of strangers; wow, aren't we the cool bunch?" Remarked the blonde with an amused smile on her face. Turning to look at her friend, she said, "I don't feel pity for either of us Tshering because we are fucking survivors. However, I am sorry that your parents are couple of fucktards." Iris said bluntly and gave the Ravenclaw a hug.

"Well, nice to know that you don't give a fuck, you shouldn't," assured the Gryffindor and laughed lightly. "Way to go, Tshering."