#sweethoneybird

[rottnx]

There was something to be said, about how casual this all seemed - including himself.

How n o r m a l it all was that the students rushed out past the main courtyard and to the grounds; animals allowed a minimal taste of freedom after endless days of seclusion. Another weekend with another trip with the same group that fall into the same old cycle of school life. How many would recall the curfew hour was no sooner? How many would remember that but days ago they could’ve lost a classmate? More importantly - how many would care to think that they still could. People did prefer oblivion, and a reality that painted black and red was one easily and readily ignored.

It is not caution, however, what drags his steps slow behind the crowd. It is simple reassurance - knowing that there was no one else doing this, and now, he had a lot more to risk. While confidence resided in the strength and power of a spell cast upon the targets days ago, Rod had to know what they were told, and what - if anything at all - they could recall. Voices, perhaps? Flashes of light, footsteps behind them...or ideally, nothing at all. A charm to the mind is complex and without true precision, could be anywhere from fatal to or plain out ineffective, and that he could not afford.

"Miss Adelaide, I am glad to see you out of the castle.” The curve upon his lips is as charming as the gentle glint in his eyes; a nod to the girl standing alone behind the group of Ravenclaws lingering near by. “I’m sure you’ve been showered with affection by your fellow housemates, but allow me to extend my good wishes to your prompt recovery - and my company, if you do not mind it for a short while?”

[rottnx]

Faint, easy steps echoed at the end of the shadowed corridor, a boy waiting almost nonchalant against the stone wall on the corner of the deviation. A coin played in between his fingers, sliding in and out and occasionally flying into the air, to later fall easily in his palm. You would not see him if you were not looking for him - hidden even from the meek light of the stars high in the sky. 

That’s how it’d been for the past few days; p a t i e n c e was his virtue and anticipation his delight. 

Just as it’d happen over and over again, the girl turned around the corner, and failed to see him standing alone. Poor unassuming little thing. The dark wooded wand slid out of his pocket, a simple wisp of chilly air throwing the parchment in her grasp.

“Need a bit of help, darling?” Rod approached the Ravenclaw girl, a quiet smile on his lips and a hand in his pocket - leaning down to help gather her things before she spoke. He was a gentleman, after all. "It’s a windy night, isn’t it?”