Mannequins: Heroes and Prodigies

When it was almost time for curfew I escourted Scarletti back to her room and began to walk to Gryffindor Tower. It was now that I was alone that I could feel someone watching me, their eyes burning a hole into my very existence... or so it seemed. I payed no mind to it knowing that I'd be better off just to go to sleep.

In the morning I found myself laying in bed, with no motivation or energy to leave. It was still dark out, the sun hadn't rose yet and I could see the full moon out of my window. With a sigh I pulled myself from the covers and dressed more adequately for the cold morning temperatures. When I was done I quietly descended the stairs into the common room. The fire from the previous night was still smoldering the nearly gone wood. I gently laid a log on the fire and blew lightly into the embers. They glowed a brighter red hot color and the dry log began to smoke from the underside where it was heating up and catching fire. I smiled a little and left the common room, just wandering the halls.
The portraits on the walls were still asleep, and the sun was just barely starting to rise so a small amount of light flooded into the dusty, stale hallways. Without noticing I made my way down to the main floor and walking down the hallway which housed Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. I looked up from the floor and my day dreaming and saw Dustin standing in the hall, maybe 15 feet in front of me. He leaned against the wall and seemed distraught. "Dustin?" I asked quietly. In the lifeless halls my voice seemed much louder and more prominent.
His head snapped up to look at me before looking away. "Estika." he said without emotion.
I took a few steps closer, starting to close the gap between us. "Dustin... what's wrong? You haven't been acting like yourself in months... You know you can tell me, right?" I said in a shaky voice, scared to know the answer. He looked like he was about to say something when the door across the hall opened and Viktor came out, seemingly ready for the day. Dustin looked at him before standing straight and stiffly walking away from the both of us. I felt my face fall in dejection.
"Good morning Esie."
"Good morning Viktor" I greeted back with a smile, but I knew that my eyes told the pain I was feeling.
"I was just going for a walk before breakfast, would you like to join me?" he offered.
I thought for a second before giving him a genuine smile. "Sure Viktor, I'd love to join you." He smiled back at me and placed his arm around my shoulders leading me to the front of the school and the the black lake where the ship was still anchored. He took his arm from my back and put his hands in his pockets. He had worn only the standard red uniform, the furs being much too warm for the aumtumn weather here.
We walked around the lake, stopping for a moment to skip stones. "What is between you and Dustin?" Viktor asked in the quiet of the morning. The sun was just finishing rising now, and there was plenty of light to see. Everyone else in the castle would just be waking up and wouldn't be going to breakfast for half an hour or so.
"It's... really a long story." I said with a sigh, throwing a stone and hearing it plop into the water without skipping.
"I have time." he said gently.
"When we went to Merlin's Academy he was my best friend. If anything ever happened I could always count on him to be there for me and help me, and I was always with him. If I had a nightmare he would sleep with me and make sure that I didn't get scared again. We worked on school work together, we ate together... it was almost as if he was another part of me. An extension of my body, if you will, or a twin. Then this summer when we all got our letters telling us where we'd be continuing our education he found out he had to stay with his cousins and attend Durmstrang. Ever since then he's been acting really weird. He hasn't answered any of my letters, wouldn't talk to me when I was at Durmstrang... won't talk to me here... it hurts." I paused and took a shaky breath. "You know, that's really the whole reason I went to Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. I wanted to see him... I wanted to know why he was so distant all of a sudden and I wanted him to know that whatever it was... I was here for him. That didn't happen though." I said with a small, sad smile.
I felt Viktor's arm around me again, comforting me. We both sat down on an old log and stared at the lake, seeing the sun's reflection on the water and the trees around it's edge also reflected into the water. It was a truely beautiful scene, but the memories made it all bitter-sweet.
Viktor squeezed my shoulder gently before standing up and offering me a hand to stand as well. I smiled a little at him and took the offer. He pulled me up gently and gave me a hug when I was standing. "Come on, We'd better go to breakfast or we will miss the meal." He said softly. I nodded and we walked back to the castle together.