| Details for Parting of the Ways |
| Summary: | Lara meets Colton down at the wagon for farewell. |
| Date: | 27 June 1940 |
| Location: | Village and Campus Path |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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It's the morning after the End of Term Feast. Lara has been up early, her trunk already packed. She has skipped breakfast and left the castle grounds before everyone else to spend some last few precious moments together with Colton down at his wagon, before she boards the Hogwarts Express and he… well, better not to dwell about it. Her eyes all red and teary as if she hadn't slept at all, but her school uniform is immaculate as ever and her expression resigned as she approaches the now familiar wagon.
Colton is a couple of minutes behind Lara. He had a lot of people to say good-bye to. He also spent most of the night getting a "lovely" bit of farewell torture from Pringle. His thumbs are poked out of his pockets with the rest of his fingers slid inside. Bruise balm shimmering on the poked out thumbs. A cigarette in his lips he strolls slowly, often looking back at the view of the gates and walls with Hogwarts looming above them. When he spots Lara sitting on the stoop of his wagon waiting for him he brightens up. A big smile that bobs the cigarette in the corner of his lips. "Hey Pidge. What brings your shadow to my door?" He asks cheerfully.
Lara jumps to her feet when she hears his voice, running towards him and beaming brightly. "Colton! I was wondering if you'd come. You have taken your time. Not so keen on leaving, after all?" She stops in front of him, frowning slightly at the cigarette but for once ignoring it and taking his hands in hers instead. When she sees him wince she let's go of them in surprise, looking down with a worried expression. "What did you do last night??"
Colton chuckles, "Just some good-bye love from Pringle. That's all. Just one more last night in the Dungeon for old time sake. You know…" He finally takes his cigarette out of his mouth. "I didn't expect to be so emotional about it. Spent seven years trying to get out, it's just sort of hit me that I can't really go back, besides maybe some Quidditch Matches to watch Sierra and Fin. Probably just the Curse Breaker in me, wondering about all of the mysteries in that place that I didn't find. Oh well." He smiles wide down at her. "What about you? You look like you've been crying…"
Lara takes his hands again more carefully this time, tracing his thumbs tenderly with hers. For a moment, the birch bracelet he had given her her is visible under her sleeve. "Me?" She shrugs nonchalantly, resisting the urge to strangle him. Why, now why would a girl cry at night? "I've still got something for you." Lara reaches into her pocket and presents him with a small 1.5 inch paper box with no obvious opening. "I wanted to give it to you yesterday, but…" she shrugs again "somehow you were too busy with other matters." Her tone might reflect anger, or amusement, or both.
Colton gives a grimaced guilty smile. "I'm a busy fella? Sorry pidge. This is nice…uh… is it just a box? Is there something inside? Do I just rip it open?" The lack of an obvious opening has him befuddled. He lifts it up to triple check to see if he's missed an opening.
Lara laughs at his befuddled expression. "I thought you are going to be a Curse Breaker? Let's see… how about a Revealing Charm for starters? It's got no Ancient Runes on it, obviously." Her eyes glitter in amusement.
Colton smirks and draws his wand and gives the box a tap after stating, "I didn't know if it was supposed to be some sort of origami or something." Tap Tap of the wand with a "Aparecium" to try to reveal whatever the clever Ravenclaw has hidden from him.
As Colton murmurs "Aparecium", the seams of the otherwise simply paper box become visible and it opens easily. "You know… you could also have ripped it apart, but I am glad you took a more sensible route." Lara observes merrily.
The box reveals a 0.5 inch metal cube and a round and flat object looking much like a compass. Only that this particular compass has a needle on each side (top and bottom), each protected with a glass cover set into a metal ring. While one of the needles looks rather ordinary, the other one has a tiny metal cube on its tip. The compass is not particulary fancy, but small enough to fit snugly into a pocket and looking rather robust despite its small size.
Lara waits a moment for Colton to examine the contents of the box, before she starts explaining. "Have you ever heard of a muggle device called 'magnetic compass'? The tip of this needle here indicates the direction of 'North'. It can be pretty useful in the wilderness, wherever you are. The other needle however…" she flips the compass over in his hands "is connected by a magical bond to this metal cube here." She puts the metal cube in his other hand to make her point, "so that the tip with the small cube will always point in the direction of its larger cousin." She pauses for a moment, then adds with a sigh. "However, be warned that these needles can also be misleading. The Muggle compass is affected by magnetic fields or metals that are nearby. And the magical compass - if you want to call it that - can be deflected by certain magic wards. E.g. it cannot penetrate the walls of Hogwarts." She looks as if - for some reason - she regretted that last bit in particular. "But otherwise… I was hoping these might turn out useful for you on your… excursions."
Colton chuckles, "I know what a compass is Pidge, thank you. It's grand, really grand." He reaches to open up the door of the wagon and uses that movement to kiss Lara's cheek before he takes the compass in and places it on one of his knick-knack shelves inside. "Here…" He picks up something from his relics shelf, "I found this in the forest when I was taking a shortcut back to the castle. It was before the Centaurs were going bonkers. I want you to have it now. Keep it with you and pass it on so it stays close to Hogwarts. Found it in a ruin in the forest, if it's kept close, it doesn't feel like thieving." He shrugs with a chuckle and offers a curved piece of obsidian inlaid with silver studs and lines that form constellations to Lara.
Lara raises her eye-brows as she holds up the piece of obsidion to examine it. "I was wondering where you got this… you just found it in the forest?" She eyes him suspiciously, but when his expression remains serious, it turns into amazement. "You are still full of surprises, I guess." She chuckles to herself. "Thank you, I will keep it safe and pass it on when it's my turn to graduate. Thus started another grand Hogwarts tradition… By the way - do you recognize these constellations?" She frowns as she tries to make sense of them.
Colton shakes his head, "No, I don't think they are any constellations we know today. Maybe some ancient culture that has different constellations than us. I would have taken it to Lunet, but she would have thought I had stolen it. I seriously just nearly tripped over it when I was cutting through the ruins. I cleaned it up and that's what was underneath some dirt and dead leaves. It was a couple of years ago now, I sort of almost forgot about looking into it with all of the Flint shite…" He shrugs again and smiles, "You should look into it, get Maddie and Josie involved. They like a good mystery and Maddie wants to be a Curse Breaker." It's clear that he feels he deserves credit for setting Madeline on that path.
"I see…" Lara looks slighty taken aback, but recovers quickly as she pockets the obsidian with no further comment. She would look into it, but she certainly ddid not approve of him seducing younger students to follow in his footsteps. Her blue eyes then wander over the familiar shelves and corners of the wagon before they come to rest on Colton again. For a long moment she just stands there as if she was really seeing him for the first time - his unkempt hair, his hazel eyes, his strong hands. Then she gently pulls him closer and puts her arms around him.
Colton looks awkward though smiling while he's being watched. He just puffs away at his cigarette while rocking on the balls of his feet some. A look of surprise crosses his face when she steps up and pulls him closer. "Oh, why, hello!" He giggles a little bit and leans down to give her a soft kiss on the cheek. "You should probably get going, don't want to miss the train. Course if you do, don't worry too much, just come on back and I'll take you home. That is if you can stand Sierra and Fin romping about." Sliding about in her arms he slings one arm around her shoulders and leads her to the door of the wagon. "I'll visit, and write. Is it alright to send Owls? Or should I do it by muggle post?" He asks realizing he doesn't know what sort of homelife she has when it comes to trying to contact her.
Lara nods, blinking away her tears. "Owls are alright. We have a kind of chimney where they can enter and leave safely without being too obvious to other Muggles. And please come to visit me! And… take care! I don't want you to be hurt." She hugs him a final time and kisses him on both cheeks, when the horn of the old locomotive can be heard from the station. Then she is on her way, waving her hand until she blends into the trail of other students coming down from the castle on their way to the station.