Into the Stars

I knew Allie would be coming before I could even hear the footsteps coming up the stairs. I finished dressing quickly. I chose light blue jeans and a pink long sleeved button up shit. It would cover the marks on my arms, and I hoped the happy colors would dissuade my friends from fussing over what was wrong. I left my hair to wave on its own, only bothering to place a thin headband over it. The door swung open and in came my best friend. Her bright eyes were narrowed and she walked in cautiously.
“Hey.” I greeted in a low voice. I hadn’t exactly decided how angry with her I actually was. My tone made her face twist into an angry scowl.
“Hey.” She replied, her voice sour and resentful. There was a long pause. “I left your wand on your bed.” I glanced over to see it laying across my pillow. “You left it last night when you stormed out.” I grimaced.
“It wasn’t because of you.” I said slowly as I put the wand in my back pocket.
“Right.” She replied unconvinced. I noticed her gaze shift to my lip and her face softened. “It was Flint too, wasn’t it?”
“No. It was nothing.” Damn me for being a god awful liar. She gave me a pitiful look.
“Really, Nikki? Really?”
“Can we just drop it?” I asked, my voice pleading.
“Like you let me drop the subject of my mysterious late night outings?”
“You never told me.” I retorted.
“You never stopped bugging me about it!”
“I can’t believe after everything, you’re mad at me!” I shouted, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks.
“Why shouldn’t I be? You don’t even know him, and you’re making all of these judgments about him. And you’ve been nosing into my business for weeks! You got all pissy at me because I have a private life. Now you’re the one being all secretive, and you’re blaming me for being concerned! You are such a hypocrite!”
“Ugh!” I threw my arms up in frustration, giving up. “Maybe I am!” I didn’t look at her face as I stalked past her. “Don’t follow me.” I snapped as I exited the dorm.

Our fight seemed stupid. It was frustrating, and just plain ridiculous that we couldn’t simply work out our pointless issues like adults. I was pondering this as I bounded down the stairs, eager to get outside. The stars would be out soon, and I needed them. As if on cue, my left foot caught on my other pant leg, and down I went. With a small yelp, I reached for the railing; just as a blur of dark brown hair clouded my vision.
At first I didn’t recognize the other yell. We collided into each other and both fell to the bottom of the stairs.
“Well, at least we know she’s herself again.” I heard one of the twins comment from across the common room.
“Jesus!” Said the body I had crashed into. It was Angelina. I quickly scurried to my feet, inwardly cringing in embarrassment.
“I am so sorry!” I muttered as I offered her my hand to help her to her feet. She merely glared at me and stood up on her own, brushing herself off. “Sorry.” I repeated again, this time quieter. She gave me a very small, very forced smile before turning around and heading back up the stairs. I closed my eyes and sighed.
“Just ignore her.” George told me, making me face the sofa the three boys were lounging on.
“Yeah, everybody knows how rude she is!” Fred added, yelling the last part so she would hear. We heard a door slam.
“You look much better.” Oliver said with a wide smile. I forced a grin in return.
“Get over here!”
“Sit your skinny ass down!” Oliver gave them a look.
“Actually, I’m heading outside.” I told them. The three of them stared at me.
“Are we invited?” George finally said.
“Where’s Allie?” Asked Fred suddenly. I sighed.
“I dunno. Upstairs?” I told him quickly. “I kind of need some time to... er... think.” I told them. Oliver’s eyes flickered to mine, and what I saw in them made me change my answer. “Of course, Oliver can come.”
“What?”
“No fair!”
“Sorry, he’s just special.” I told them with a shrug. Fred and George looked at each other and grinned.
“Yeah, yeah, your special friend. We get it.”
“Yeah, have fun.”
“But don’t have too much fun.”
“And if you do have too much fun, use protection.”
“But if you don’t use protection, name the kid after me.”
“Unless it’s a boy, then name it after me.”
“Hey!”
“Okay guys, whatever you say.” Oliver deadpanned as he stood up to join me.

We walked most of the way in silence. That is, until spotting Marianne on the grand staircase, probably heading to her dorm. I waved her down enthusiastically. Her face lifted when she saw me.
“Nikki. How are you doing?” She asked as we approached her.
“Peachy. You?” She tilted her head and furrowed her brows.
“No you aren’t.” She said quietly. I glanced at Oliver quickly.
“Actually, there is something I need to talk to you about.” I told her. “Will you meet me tonight outside the library?”
She shrugged. “Sure, what time?” I looked at my watch. “Nine?” That gives us an hour.
“We’re supposed to be in our dorms at nine.” Oliver reminded me.
“Meh. Dorms, shmorms.” He raised a brow in amusement.
“Nine o’clock then.” She agreed.
“Cool.” I said smiling. “See you then.” I looped my arm through Oliver’s and dragged him along.

“So...” Oliver began as we started walking toward the lake. It was nearly dark enough to see the stars, and the coolness of the night air was unbelievingly refreshing. I held Oliver’s hand tightly in my own. “What are you going to talk to Marianne about?” I thought quickly.
Everything that happened last night... which you’ll never know about. “Oh, just girl stuff.” I told him with a smile.
“Girl stuff, huh?”
“Mmhm.”
“Do you enjoy being so mysterious all the time?” He asked.
“Er... sure?” He chuckled.
“So what happened last night?” He asked. I laughed quickly.
“I was kind of hoping you would tell me.” I admitted. He raised his eyebrows.
“You’re telling me you don’t remember anything?”
“Exactly.” I lied. I hated lying to him, of all people. “Well actually...” I started again, remembering what I had seen Allie doing. But I changed my mind quickly. “Uh... never mind, I lost it.” I glanced over to see him looking at me with that adoring crooked smile that I loved.
“You’re absurd.”
“Well, thanks.” I said bitterly.
“And what on earth happened to your lip?” Asked Oliver. I shivered involuntarily. “Cold?” He asked, freeing his hand and wrapping it around me.
“Kind of.” I admitted honestly, though it was far from the reason I shivered. He rubbed my arm quickly- right over my bruises- in attempt to warm me. I gasped and shrugged away from him.
“What is it?” He asked in alarm, also halting. My mouth opened, but I didn’t know what to say. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, no. Don’t think that, sorry. I just... have a bruise there.”
“Oh...” I could tell he was unconvinced, but he let it slide. “Sorry.” He didn’t touch me again.

“This is where Katie found you.” He told me when we reached the edge of the lake. I stared at the spot he gestured to with blank eyes, refusing to believe that what had happened was real. “Nikki.” I looked at him quickly. “Talk to me.”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I just don’t remember.”
“Yeah, you said that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.”
“Oh, sorry.” It slipped out. He laughed, and the sound was music to my ears. I looked up at him with a smile. He stared back, and for a moment- just a moment- I forgot the world. It all came back to me when he moved to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
“So beautiful.” He said quietly.
“So crazy.” I told him in the same, passionate voice. He raised a brow.
“Way to ruin a moment.”
“Sorry.”
“Stop saying sorry!”
“Right, s- my bad.” I said grinning. He laughed again, this time wrapping his arms around my waist. I pressed against him and nuzzled my face into his neck.
“Will you tell me when you remember?” He asked morosely. His body vibrated when he spoke, and I felt a familiar heat fill my stomach.
“If I remember, you mean.” I responded, sidestepping the question. He sighed.
“It’s just that it kills me, not knowing.”
“Me too.” I said quietly, partially telling the truth.
“I’m sure it must be worse for you.” He told me, tightening his arms around me. “I wonder if Flint had something to do with it. You were with him last, in detention. Maybe he got a hold of another dart, and-”
“Oliver, can we please just not?” I interrupted with a hard voice as I pulled away to look at him.
“What?”
“I don’t want to talk about Flint right now. I don’t even want to think about him, okay?” I leaned my head back to its resting spot against his neck.
“You’re not usually this... touchy... about him.” I pulled away again.
“What are you saying?” He sighed and looked away.
“You’re right, let’s not talk about him.” He said defeated. If it were any other day, I would be all over that, but I too decided to drop it.
I stared at his strained face as he gazed out at the lake. He was marvelous; too beautiful to be real. It was amazing, how even when he was quite obviously pissed off, he made my insides turn to butter.
“Oliver?” I asked in a softer tone. He looked at me unwillingly. “I...” I didn’t know how to put it into words, how I was feeling, but I wanted more than anything to share it with him. “I think I...” I paused again, scanning his face. I wanted to tell him that I loved him, more than anything, but I’m not sure I even know what love is. I quickly thought of a way to rephrase my statement. “I think I’m falling in love with you.”
I finished quietly, staring as deep as I could into his dark chocolate eyes. His face softened immediately as he gazed back. At first, his face was unreadable, but slowly, almost too slowly, his lips formed into a soft, amazingly sexy grin. However his eyebrows, which would usually arch up, furrowed slightly. He was breathtaking. I had never seen him look at me like that, nor had I imagined he ever could. I wished I had a camera, to frame his face exactly like this, and keep it with me always. I couldn’t tell if he was going to respond, but I didn’t care. I reached up, wrapping my arms around his neck and, standing on my toes, I leaned in to press my lips softly against his.
Oliver’s arms wound around my waist as he responded immediately. He pressed his body into mine. He was trying to be gentle; polite. But I knew he wanted more. He grazed his tongue along my bottom lip- over the bump- and I opened my mouth eagerly.
It was better than the first kiss... and the second... and the other many insignificant kisses we’d shared. It was heaven. We explored each other’s mouths thoroughly; I couldn’t get enough. Our embrace grew tighter and tighter as the minutes went on. We broke apart only when we realized we were running on lack of air, and we rested our foreheads against each other, breathing heavily. I kept my eyes closed, still lost in the heaven I had discovered. I could feel him looking at me though, and it almost made me self-conscious.
“Amazing.” He whispered, more to himself than to me, I think. I smiled. When he pulled completely away from me, I opened my eyes. He sat down on the grassy sand and beckoned me to join him.
As I sat down next to him, he lowered himself all the way on his back. His knees were bent, and he moved his arms up so he could rest his head on them. I remained sitting up, staring at the gorgeousness that was him. He was concentrating on the sky, it seemed, and the muscles in his arms were visible even in the night.
“Look up.” He instructed softly. I did as I was told and what I saw was almost as breathtaking as he was. I couldn’t help but gasp at the thousands of bright, clear stars. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and I couldn’t ever remember seeing the stars shimmer as bright as they did this night.
“My god...” Was all I could manage and I gawked at the sky with my mouth wide open. I felt Oliver tug on the back of my shirt. I fell back slowly, still staring up, next to him. He supplied his arm as my pillow.
“When you told me you could do this for hours, I didn’t believe you.” He said quietly. I breathed out a shaky breath as I continued to observe the sky. “But I just changed my mind.” We chuckled together. At the corner of my eye, I saw him turn his head to look at me. “Nikki?”
“Yes?” I breathed, tearing my eyes away from the stars to look into his.
“I’d fallen for you the day after we met.” He whispered. Although he didn’t use the word love, as I had, my heart sped up. I grinned at him and scooted my body closer. “Just so you know.” He added.
My face fell slightly. I wanted to tell him- I should tell him everything. He deserved to know. But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I was so sick of drama, and I didn’t want to drag him in to it too. His crooked smile caught my breath again, and I reached up to trace it with my fingers.
“Kiss me.” I whispered breathlessly. His grin faded, and was replaced with a serious, concentrated expression. As he rolled onto his side to face me, he moved his arm out from beneath my head and used it to prop himself up. I let my head fall back onto the grass as I watched him move closer. I closed my eyes when he leaned in, but he didn’t kiss me where I was expecting.
He started at my eyebrow; leaving a soft kiss on both sides, and then my other eyebrow. I kept my eyes close as he moved up to my forehead, leaving one kiss in the middle. Then he went to my closed eyes, kissing them both gently. I could hear my breath getting shaky. From the corner of my eye closest to him, he moved on to kiss my temple, and then, slowly, he kissed my ear. I inhaled sharply and my eyes flew open. He didn’t stop. He kissed it slowly, dragging his tongue along the edge of it, all the way to my earlobe, and licked the skin beneath it. I let out a staggered moan. I couldn’t breathe. I felt him smile as he went on to kiss my jaw slowly. I closed my eyes again as he left a wet trail of kisses all the way down to my chin. I inhaled a shaky breath as he kissed the corner of my lips. I groaned in frustration.
“What is it?” He asked in a whisper as his hand moved to rest on my stomach. I opened my eyes to glare at him.
“I want to kiss you.” I told him, unable to make my voice sound properly angry. It wavered embarrassingly.
“I know.” He smiled at me his crooked smile before leaning in to kiss the other corner of my mouth. I huffed impatiently. He chuckled, and I felt his warm breath on my lips before feeling his tongue glide along the outside of them.
“Oliver...” I whispered slowly, grasping the hand that was resting on my stomach and squeezing it tightly. Red hot heat was shooting through my veins. I had never felt anything like it before. He exhaled sharply before attaching his lips to mine.
I let go of his hand, which was now grasping at the bottom of my shirt, and dragged it all the way up his arm to squeeze his shoulder. The kiss quickly turned urgent. He draped his leg over both of mine as his lips bruised against me. I didn’t stop him when I felt his hand drag my shirt up my stomach... but I knew this had to end. I wasn’t ready for anything more. Besides, Marianne would be waiting soon, I supposed. When Oliver grazed my bare stomach, he moaned, and moved to kiss my neck. I was breathing so heavy, it could probably be misinterpreted with my panicky hyperventilating. We really did need to stop though. I knew this. Oliver breathed in deeply as he sucked the skin near my throat. I couldn’t help but moan.
“Oh, god... Oliver.” I said suddenly, snapping myself out of my trance. “Oliver, stop.” I pushed against his body. For just a moment, I feared the worst. I did not want to relive last night’s nightmare. But I didn’t have to. Oliver leapt away from me- at least four feet away- and stared at me intently, breathing heavily.
“I’m- I’m sorry.” He said quickly as he tried to steady his breathing. “Sorry.” He repeated, still staring at me. I leaned back on my hands.
“Stop saying sorry.” I mocked. He smirked at me. He was sweating, and his lips were swollen and appeared darker than normal. He had never looked more handsome than he did now. I stared in awe, completely forgetting why I made him stop.
“Are you alright?” He asked, his voice suddenly alarmed. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten so carried away.” He spoke quickly, his eyes wide with remorse. I shook my head quickly.
“Don’t. Please, don’t be sorry. I’m glad... I mean...It’s just that, Marianne...”
“Oh, right. You have to go.” He said, all business now. He looked at his watch and nodded.
“Yeah...” I managed as I stared at him. He was still catching his breath, and I realized what a major turn on his heavy breathing was turning out to be. I sat all the way up and looked up at the sky again. The stars were still sparkling like before, but not as clear.
“Let’s go then.” He said standing up and offering me his hand. I took it, needing the support more than I expected. I almost fell back down, but he grabbed my other arm with his hand, once again, grabbing the bruised area.
“Ouch!” I whispered, jerking away.
“Your bruise! Sorry!” He said immediately. Then he froze. “I thought your bruise was on your other arm.”
“No,” I said immediately, glad of the darkness masking my probably extremely red face. “It was this arm.” He opened his mouth to speak. “It’s getting pretty cold. We should go.” It was quite clear he didn’t believe me.
“Fine.” I thanked him silently for not pressing it, though I had a feeling in my gut that I was going to have to tell him eventually.

***
“Psst!” I tried to get Marianne’s attention quietly as I approached her. She was leaning against the locked library door.
“There you are.” She whispered when I reached her.
“Yeah, sorry.”
“You look a little flushed. Are you feeling okay?” She asked. I smiled serenely.
“More than okay.” I said smiling. However, my smiled halted as I remembered why I had come to see her in the first place.
“What is it?” She asked expectantly, before her lips curved into a very wide, teethy smile. I furrowed my brows at her in confusion. She giggled.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked. She averted her eyes from me and composed her face.
“I wasn’t. Now tell me what’s wrong.” She said seriously.
“Right. I just... need some one to talk to. I can’t trust Allie anymore, and I can’t tell the boys. And you can’t tell anybody either, okay?” I began. She looked skeptical, like she knew that what I was about to tell her should be told to some authority figure. She was probably right. “Promise me.”
“Alright, Nikki. I promise. But I reserve the right to try and convince you to tell someone.” I rolled my eyes.
“Fine.”

Marianne and I found a quiet, empty corridor to sit Indian-style on the floor and talk. I told her about what happened with Flint, and then Allie, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the other thing out loud. What could I say, after all? I turned into a dog? Ugh, even thinking it sounds insane. I made a mental choice to keep it quiet and pretend it never happened. It would be easier this way.
As I suspected, Marianne tried to convince me to tell Dumbledore about what happened with Flint. I gave her my reasons, which sounded quite ridiculous out loud. Oliver would find out, which could cause huge problems, Flint had dirt on the twins and their sleeping dart, thing. Not to mention, he’d tell him how Oliver had hit him that one time. I didn’t suffer through the past 3 Fridays just to have Oliver repeat them. No, the incident would remain hushed. Besides, he didn’t rape me; which, in my condition he totally could have. Marianne listened to my reasons with indifference. I was thankful for her not pushing the issue.
“Is there anything else you want to tell me?” She asked with a sneaky grin when I was done. I panicked. Did she know? Did she see me running around on four legs? No, why would she be smiling about that?”
“N- no. What do you mean?” I asked with wide eyes. She chuckled quietly.
“Don’t worry about it.” She looked around, suddenly wary looking. “We should probably get back to our houses. It’s late.”
“Yeah.” I agreed, noticing how much darker the corridor seemed to be.