All Will Be Well [Oliver]

Guest

Serenity wasn't quite sure anymore how she learnt about this place; all she knew was that somehow the Room of Rewards had become somewhat of a safe haven for her, since hardly anybody else came here. In fact, all the times she ran away to hide (with only Tammie for company), she hadn't been found.

Today was one such day when running seemed to be her only option. Some older year Slytherins had somehow heard about her ability -- it wasn't easy keeping a secret when she would randomly burst into prophecies or have visions -- and cornered her, asking her to predict their future. If not for Tammie apparating her out of there, Serenity had no idea what would've happened.

The moment she was free from them, she had taken to a sprint, feet automatically taking her to the Grand Staircase; from there, it had taken a simple 'please' to the portrait and then she was safe. There, knowing she was truly alone, she collapsed against one of the walls and drew her knees up to her chest, burying her head in the small space between them.

She didn't cry. No, tears never helped. That much she learnt from all the lessons in the Ministry, when she would weep for whatever person she had Seen, or when she was told she couldn't control what images flashed into her mind. No, all tears did was make things worse, and by the time she was ten, she had learnt to force down most of her emotions so that she didn't cry. It was a useless thing, anyway; it wasn't as though tears could change anything.

Perhaps it was not something a twelve year old should have mastered, but after minutes had passed and Serenity lifted her head, eyes more haunted than anyone that age should be, they were dry. She took a steadying breath and turned to look at Tammie, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "Thank you. They weren't very nice boys, were they?"

Tammie said nothing, only dipping her head low in acknoweldgement of the words, and Serenity let out another sigh. "I'm going to stay here a while longer," she added. "I don't want to be around people just yet."

Guest

OOC: Any memories used here on in are a-okay to be used by Serenity if you would like her to see them.

Oliver was exploring. With the weather outside being somewhat miserable, it meant that he was confined to being indoors. Whilst not the biggest problem in the world, being cooped up indoors was not the most fun way to spend your day. Honestly, however, Oliver had ended up lost, and had been walking around aimlessly for the past half an hour, trying to find his way back to the main staircases, before he happened upon a Trophy-like Room.

Not really knowing what this place was, but being very, very curious, Oliver had taken to looking around, losing himself in the labyrinth of awards with names on them that he'd never heard of. Well... apart from Potter. Oliver might be new to the Wizarding World, but if you didn't know Harry Potter (Oliver had found this out when he started to (half-heartedly) collect the Chocolate Frog Cards) then you were quite stupid. He'd laughed off his peers words of him being stupid, and had gone to the library and found out more about the Boy Who Lived.

Oliver's perusing was halted, though, when someone had come in to the room - through a door he didn't know about. He'd hidden behind one of the cabinets - in case it was a teacher - and held his breath to stay quiet. But it wasn't a teacher, Oliver realised, as he looked around the corner, but a girl, and a House Elf.

House Elves were awesome, Oliver had to say, especially the ones in the kitchen who would make you anything you asked for. Though, he'd made a note to not ask for a chocolate cake, because you got a whole one, and then you felt guilty. And then you had to eat it all... Oliver had been very sick that day, but the House Elves had been so happy that he'd enjoyed it.

Watching the witch for a moment, Oliver felt guilty for intruding, so stepped out from his hiding place with a sheepish smile. "Hey... I'm really sorry. I don't mean to intrude. I got lost, you see... I'm not a very good explorer. I couldn't help but hear you say that some boys weren't very nice." The Hufflepuff explained, moving slowly closer so he didn't frighten the witch.

When Oliver was about ten paces away, he knelt down on one knee. "Probably a stupid question... but are you alright?" The boy asked, genuinely concerned about the witch's well being, and hoping she wouldn't mind him being here. She'd told the Elf she wanted to be alone, but Oliver couldn't leave someone on their own when they were hurting.

Guest

A split second before he appeared out from behind a cabinet, she got the oddest image of a chocolate cake, but it vanished before anything substantial could form. She was left feeling slightly ill -- although it wasn't her own sickness, just an impression left by the cake -- confused, and suddenly knowing that someone else was there.

Glancing to the left a little, Serenity was just in time to catch a blur of movement and tensed, bringing up her defences as quickly as she could -- both in the personal form and the type she was taught to prevent further Sights, although it didn't always work so well. He'd overheard her, that much was certain, and she didn't bother trying to deny that had been exactly what she said; there were enough lies to last a lifetime around her. Why add to that?

But there wasn't anything to add either, and if the Hufflepuff expected her to start ranting about what happened, he would be very disappointed. Serenity had learnt a long time ago that nothing came from talking about things. Oh, sure, if she Saw something really terrible, Aunt Sally would always comfort her with chocolate and a cup of hot tea, but talking about it only solidified what was already a traumatising event. And so, as with everything else, Serenity pushed it into the vault she built inside her mind, shutting it away as best she could.

Realising that not saying anything was considered rude -- but not particularly caring at this point -- Serenity lifted one of her shoulders in a shrug. "I did," she said, simply. There was a slight challenge to her tone, as if asking him What are you going to do about it? that was birthed more from frustration than anything else; she didn't actually mean it.

He got down on one knee. Not in the way that people asked others to get married (she had witnessed that once in the Ministry), but in a way that some of the Ministry workers had done when they first approached her. It was the way that Healers knelt in front of small children when they were scared, and Serenity very nearly laughed. She was no small child; she had seen things that would take that definition and utterly shatter it.

But that always brought her to the question she didn't know the answer to -- what am I? -- and she wasn't in the mood for that. So, instead, she offered him the best smile she possibly could, which was barely a twitch of her lips, and said, "I will be."

Guest

His first sentence was met with only two words. Oliver's mind had to work a little bit to make them fit what he said, and then, and only then, did he realise that she'd... presented him with a challenge? The Hufflepuff boy wasn't sure if he'd understood completely, and he frowned a little, before deciding to continue.

"Did... they hurt you?" Oliver asked softly, trying to help the witch, but also very aware she wasn't talkative. This usually meant people wanted to be alone, but Oliver couldn't leave someone who was hurting, that... just wasn't how he worked. Honestly, though, if the witch told him that they had hurt her he wasn't overly sure what he was going to do about that.

And, again, he got two words in response to his question. Not a yes. Not a no. But that the witch would be. Didn't that mean no? Sitting himself down on his bum, Oliver took in the witch for a moment. Thinking.

"My name is Oliver, by the way. You can call me Oli if you prefer, though." A conversation starter, that's all that sentence was. It was only polite that the girl would introduce herself, and perhaps the Elf beside her. It would create an opening... Or, so Oliver hoped as he gave the witch a small smile.

OOC: I'm sorry this is short - I don't like short posts. Next post will be better!

Guest

Her answer, she knew, had been short. Two words wasn't much for someone to use for conversation, and it had been on purpose; she honestly just wanted to be left alone. But he didn't leave. In fact, he continued to kneel there for a while before asking yet another question.

She would give him credit for one thing -- the Hufflepuff was persistent. Most people would've given up when they realised she wasn't going to talk much, if at all. That was, at least, the way it had always been in the Ministry. His words made her think, and she didn't answer for quite some time, mulling them over. There were many types of hurt; there was the physical kind, like when she fell down that one time and grazed her elbow, or when she walked into things and got a bruise.

Then there was the other kind, the kind that couldn't be seen and only felt. What exactly hurt she had never figured out; people called it 'feelings', but what were those to begin with? Where in the body were those? A hand could get injured, as could a toe or even one's insides, but feelings weren't tangible; they couldn't be touched. So how could they be hurt?

Still, something not material inside her was hurting, like a squeezing of her heart and a dull ache deep within her that had no origins and no ending, and seemed to go on and on and on. Then there was the question of if it had been them. The pain had been there for a while now, as consistent as breathing, but it could get less or worse, depending on what happened. And right now, it was worse.

Persistency deserved rewards, and Serenity was far too exhausted with the whole thing to try and hide anything. If he really wanted to know, he'd find out. True, he might run away after, but Serenity frankly didn't care at this point. "Did they?" she asked, tilting her head a little. "I don't know. It hurts, but not like a bruise or a cut. But if I can't name what hurts, does that mean it doesn't?"

Once more, Serenity shrugged. "All I know is that they weren't nice boys, and I don't want to meet them again."

She watched with some curiosity as he sat, making sure to avert her gaze even lower to avoid looking at him directly. The eyes were the window to the soul, and right now she wasn't sure if she could handle another Sight. At the introduction, she noted his name and tucked it away, wondering if she'd actually have a chance to use it at some point or not.

"Serenity," she offered, leaving it at that. There was, after all, nothing to say; small talk had never been her forte.

Guest

Oliver listened, quietly, as the witch explained that she was hurt, but it was not a hurt that was like a bruise. For a moment, the Hufflepuff boy sat in silence, mulling over those words and trying to comprehend what it was she meant when she said such things. But... slowly, Oliver came around to something of an understanding, and when the revelation hit, it wasn't exactly a nice finding.

"You... mean they hurt your feelings?" Oliver asked softly. That was not a nice thing to experience, he knew. "I'm sorry you had to deal with them, in that case." He added. Jerks were never a nice experience, and the witch before him hardly seemed like she deserved that kind of treatment. Though, of course, he could be very wrong about that. It would not do well to judge a book by it's cover.

The mention of them not being nice boys peaked Oliver's interest, and he raised an eyebrow at the witch. "Do you know who they were?" He asked. Now, he was no Slytherin who could do nasty things to the boys. He wasn't a brave Gryffindor who would confront them. But, he was a Hufflepuff who was very much in to fair play. Seeing as these boys were not playing fair, he would have to even the odds out a little bit.

Finding out the witch's name, Oliver couldn't help but smile. That was an unusual name. A pretty name. But he didn't say that out loud. That was probably not something to be said to a stranger.

"So... I'm in Hufflepuff." Oliver offered as conversation. "You know there's this joke that Hufflepuffs are supposed to be particularly good finders. And... well, I can't find my way out of this bloomin' room. Don't tell anyone I told you that, though, it would ruin the Hufflepuff reputation." The boy explained, smiling warmly at the witch, even though she wouldn't meet his eyes.

He put it down as her being shy.

"Which house are you in, Serenity?" He asked, because he couldn't really leave her on her own when she was obviously upset. He'd have to try to help her...

Guest

A wry smile, any traces of actual humour missing, at his statement. "I suppose," she offered. "But what are feelings? Where are they?" She paused to shake her head. "If it's not something physical, can it hurt? Or is it just something we say because we don't understand and can't handle things that happen?" Glancing up at him for just a fraction of a second, she considered saying more, then decided against it. She didn't know him well enough, but she would ask Aunt Sally the next time she wrote home.

In the Ministry, people got in trouble when they hurt others, but only if they could see what was hurt or there was proof of it. A case where someone’s feelings got hurt would not be allowed to reach a trial, so did that mean it wasn’t a real, proper kind of hurt? And if that was the case, she shouldn’t make it a big deal.

So when the question came of knowing who had done it, she lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “I know their names, and their age, and their house. I know what they look like, and I know they-“ She cut herself off, having almost admitted to Seeing something when they first cornered her. Giving another shrug, Serenity said, “-they weren’t nice. But I don’t know them, so no. I don’t.”

That, at least, was true. Not what the boy was looking for, she was sure, but nobody could fault her for answering the question exactly as it had been asked.

The information he offered was... interesting. She almost shook her head when he mentioned the joke. No, she hadn’t; she knew the exact ministry protocol to Seers Seeing things, but she didn’t know anything about jokes. She knew what each house represented, studied it even, but she didn’t know what the houses were like; she didn’t have parents, friends, or older siblings who’d gone before her to tell her what it was like. But she realised at the last moment it had been a rhetorical question and instead just let him talk.

A half-smile touched her lips at his admittance of being lost. Motioning to the back of the portrait towards her left, Serenity said, “That’s one of the exits. Just ask it to move -- nicely -- and he’ll open for you.” No, conversation and small talk had never been something she learnt how to do, and in her mind he had simply been asking for a way out.

When he asked her about her house, therefore, she felt a tinge of confusion. Why would he care, after she’s already told him how to leave the place? It took her a few moments to realise that, perhaps, he was trying to make friends. “Ravenclaw,” she replied, falling silent after that, not knowing what else to say.

Guest

The query that was... very difficult to understand. Especially when the thirteen year old didn't really know how to explain feelings. Well, he knew what they were. He knew that they could make your chest hurt. Or make you feel happy and giddy. He knew they could make you feel sick, too. But, he didn't know how to answer her questions. He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it as the witch looked up at him.

He did not know whether he should answer in the end, so Oliver simply let that conversation finish there. Perhaps she would find out one day, the answer to her riddle.

The answer to his question on who the boys had been made Oliver blink at the witch. Somewhat confused, and a little amused, that she'd answered that way. He didn't laugh at her, though, just a small smile played on his lips when she'd finished. "I meant, what are their names?" Oliver asked the witch gently, making it seem like he'd not been clear, even though it was a very normal question, really.

Serenity's explanation on how to get out brought a bigger smile to the Hufflepuff's lips. "Thanks. I'll remember that." He responded, but he made no move to get up just yet. He didn't need to be anywhere, so he could stay and make sure the girl before him was okay.

"Ah - wit beyond measure!" Oliver replied, he was (kind of) thankful she wasn't a Slytherin. Those lot were a little prickly at times. "I have a few friends in Ravenclaw. Not many, though. Perhaps... we could be friends? If you want to, no pressure." The Hufflepuff suggested. It seemed - and he didn't know very much about Serenity, but finding someone holed up on their own when they were upset was good evidence - that she didn't have very many of those.

Guest

The boy had no answer for her, not that Serenity was expecting one. It was a question nobody seemed to have an answer for. There were many of those questions, and somehow, Serenity had a knack for asking them -- but, it didn't really matter to her at the moment. Something hurt, and that's all that she cared about right now.

His next question brought a tiny smile to her lips. She'd known what he was asking the first time around; she had just chosen to take it literally, to not actually provide an answer while she tried to figure out what to do. But now, as uncertain as before, she was faced with something she couldn't get out of by technicalities. So, instead, she decided to do one of the things the Ministry workers often did and answer a question with a question.

"Would it make a difference if you knew?" she asked, softly. "It doesn't change the past; you can't do that. How would it help either of us if you knew their names?" It wasn't a rude question, or one meant to push him away; it simply was, and Serenity was genuinely interested in how the male was going to answer. So far, he seemed to be kind, someone who cared, and that was... well, that was rare in her eyes.

To her surprise, Oliver didn't leave. What does he want? she wondered, a slight panic rising as the option that he was one of the ones who knew she was a Seer and wanted an example or 'fortune telling'. Glancing up sharply, getting ready to call for Florrie, she took him in, regarding him with suspicion now, instead of the previous curiosity.

But as he continued on about her house, apparently not aware of her true identity, she relaxed a little, although not disregarding the suspicion altogether. She could never truly be sure until she'd known him for a while, at the very least.

His question completely floored her, and for a good few moments her brain froze, fixated on the word friend. It wasn't that she didn't have any -- she had Florrie, and Theo, and... well, mostly just Florrie (she wasn't sure if Theo counted) but Florrie did, right? -- but rather that he was making it such a casual thing. Was that how friends were made? You just... asked? Her life had been Ministry run and Ministry owned, and so friends wasn't really something she had experience with until Florrie came along.

"I..." she started, then faltered. "I don't know how to be friends," she said, finally, settling for honesty.

Guest

The question on the difference it made brought a small smile to Oliver's lips. This witch was quite something, he had to admit. But, he found that oddly enough, the fact she was kind of difficult, made him want to get to know her more. Make her his friend. She was nice, even if complicated, from the short stint of time they'd spent together, and nice people were few and far between.

"Well... I'd like to say I'd be able to stop them from doing... whatever they did, again. However, I'm not a Gryffindor..." Oliver explained, a small sheepish smile. "But, if you told me who they were, if I were to see them in your vicinity, I would know that you weren't comfortable with them around, and perhaps come over and... well, talk to you so that they left you alone." He finalised. He knew bullies only liked to pray on people when they were alone, vulnerable. And though Oliver wasn't macho, or anything, numbers deterred bullies.

"I think... that constitutes as helping you..." Oliver added, because she had asked how it would help both of them. It wouldn't be a benefit to him, per se, but you didn't have to gain something from every action you made. That... wasn't Oliver's way of doing things.

The faltering brought a small frown to the Hufflepuff's features as Serenity said she didn't know how to be friends. How could you... The boy managed to stop himself from asking, instead working his features in to a smile instead of a frown. Just a small smile, though, to reassure the witch. "Hey, it's okay. All it means is that when we see each other around, we can stop and chat. Maybe work together in class - if you want to, of course. We can meet up to do homework together. And... well, we just have fun."

Oliver paused, thinking for a moment. "Of course, if you find you don't like my company, you can just tell me, and we'll not do those things. It's okay to not be friends with someone, not everyone gels. But, there's no harm in trying, right?" He prompted, his smile growing a little more hopeful in that moment as he waited to see how the girl would react to that.

How she didn't know how to be friends with people, though, Oliver couldn't imagine.

» Hold Me Together [Oliver]
» Oliver Francis Goulding
» Making New Friends (Toryn & Oliver)
» Oliver Goulding's Plot Page
» The Truth (Kamren, Oliver & Serenity)