Trickery [open]

[kevin]

Kevin's eyes searched the ceiling as he lay in his bed. He listened to his dorm mates breathing, could hear the gentle whoosh of air as they sighed. The breathing was deep and even, that of the deepest sleep.

Oh how Kevin envied them.

His eyes were wide and ringed red, and his lips were set in a hard line. As he lay on his bed spread eagle, listening, watching nothing, his mind raced a mile a minute. Only moments ago he had glanced up at the sky, simply to gaze at the moon, when instead he found something a bit more troubling. The stars... it was like they were shaking. They shivered out of fear and Kevin didn't know what it meant.

Was something really terrible about to happen to Hogwarts? Or were they scared of something else entirely? Kevin, for once, couldn't read them; it was the stars were intentionally keeping him in the dark, though for what purpose he couldn't guess. He licked his dry lips as he thought. Maybe he ought to talk to Firenze.

"Kevin," someone to his left whispered, their torso propped up on their elbows. "Kevin! Are you okay?" Kevin turned his head slowly to look at them, his eyes already accustomed to the dark. He didn't say anything for a long while. "You look terrible," the voice continued, "why don't you sleep?" Kevin grimaced and turned his head to stare at the ceiling again. Another silence followed and soon the boy to his left gave him up as a lost cause and went back to sleep.

Sleep. Well, it wasn't as simple as that. Kevin mostly lived as any other student, ignoring his visions most times unless they were something to worry about. This, however, had rattled him into an insomniac state. He soon decided that he couldn't just lie here, staring into space. He had to do something, or his head might just explode.

Soon Kevin was in the common room, sitting on a faded couch and staring just as dismally into the flames of the fireplace. What were those stars playing at, freaking him out like that and then not telling him what was wrong? Kevin blinked his slanted eyes, buried his face in his hands and tried to wipe the exhaustion away. Glancing at the clock he frowned. Only six more hours til day break.

Kevin knew he wouldn't sleep tonight.

[chris]

It wasn't totally unusual for Chris to be up late at night. He was an early riser, so he tried to go to bed before midnight, just so that he could be well rested the next day. However, he had found himself sleeping later and later--maybe it was because so many things were always on his mind, or maybe his body was preparing him for the overnighters that were bound to happen his NEWT year. Either way, he now found himself, once again, awake as midnight rolled around--and he knew that it would be a while before sleep would come around. So, giving up any hope that just lying on his bed staring at the ceiling would aid him, the seventh year pushed himself up, dawned his robe, and snuck down the steps of the stairwell towards the common room.

Not even two hours ago he had been working on some Head Boy stuff, getting together details for the Time Warp Dance that was being planned. He decided that he was going to work on that again just as he entered the common room, and found that he wasn't alone. A boy...Kevin, he thought, was sitting on a couch in front of the fire, head buried in hands, and looked to be quite troubled. Chris frowned--usually he would not be one to interfere with other people and their problems, unless he was asked to, but the boy (who he was now sure was a Kevin, a grade below himself) seemed to need somebody to take him away from his thoughts. Chris was happy to oblige.

"Hello there," he said quietly, but loud enough for the boy to hear him. Moving slowly, he ended up stopping at a table only a few feet away from Kevin, and leaned under it to pick up the papers, ink well, and quill that he had deposited earlier. "No luck sleeping?"

Smiling at his companion, he placed the papers on the table and sat down in a chair, adjusting his body so that he was half facing Kevin. Unscrewing the ink well, he dipped the quill into it and stared down at his notes, scrawling a few words after a moment before he looked up again. As Head Boy, he knew that he should be telling Kevin to go upstairs and go to bed--however, the boy wasn't breaking any rules, and he didn't look like he wanted to (or could) go to sleep any time soon, so he settled for just trying to start polite conversation.

In the silence before the boy answered, Chris scrawling some more words, biting the inside of his cheek in thought as he looked down at the details he was trying to plan for the dance. He wasn't required to do this, really, but he had offered up his services in helping to organize what was needed, and the finer points of the dance. Of course, he hadn't even chosen a costume for it yet, but right now he didn't want to worry about that. He just wanted to get this stuff done so that he could turn it in and not have to worry about it anymore. Why had he offered his help, again?

[kevin]

Kevin looked up slowly, aiming his red and tired eyes at the Head Boy. His lips turned in a shadow of a smile he cleared his throat, dropping his hands back into his lap. "No," Kevin admitted, tugging idly on his pajama t shirt. "No luck at all." He stretched his neck and shoulders, watching as Chris wrote down a few words, paused, wrote some more. A silence stretched between the two, the only sounds were the scritching of Chris' pen and the crackling of the fire. Kevin briefly wondered if he would get in trouble for being up late, but he technically wasn't out of bounds. A flash of a vision burst into his head that confirmed his suspicions; no, Chris wasn't going to demerit. Kevin relaxed more, settling back into the sofa.

That was something else Kevin had to grow used to. Besides his normal visions and, lately, a couple of prophecies, Kevin was getting sparks of insight into other people's minds. He wasn't a mind reader, a Legilimens, but he found himself being able to guess rather accurately what the other was thinking. These thoughts were usually followed by a split second blackout that confirmed his thoughts. It was... rather hard to describe, and Kevin didn't know what was causing his new power, but he hoped it wouldn't end in a another seizure.

There was a moment when Kevin wasn't sure whether or not to bother conversing, or let Chris attend to his notes. He decided, however, that he wanted to escape his own head and talking would be a rather good way to do so. Gesturing lazily with his hand to the notes Chris was writing, he asked "That's for the dance, isn't it?" Kevin smiled sheepishly then, like admitting a secret. "I, er, kind of already know you volunteered to help out, but you seem kind of reluctant. Or flustered. Not sure which, though I bet you'd rather me just ask you about it rather than peek into your mind, yeah?" He smiled, resting his chin in his hand as he drew his knees to his chest. "Sorry if I can't help it though. I try not to butt into other people's thoughts, though I haven't learned to control it." So he was rambling, whatever. So long as he wasn't thinking about those secretive stars.

[chris]

So he had been right in his assumptions that Kevin was having trouble sleeping. Well, he wasn't the only one--obviously, seeing as Chris himself was down in the common room, instead of up in his bed dreaming peacefully. The two lapsed into silence again, and Chris continued to work, trying to get done as quickly as possible so that he wouldn't have to think anymore. It was too late for thinking, and his brain was already beginning to fuzz over as he tried to think of other drinks that might be good to have at the dance.

Deciding to pause for a moment, he glanced at the younger boy and suddenly a jolt of recognition went through him. Usually, he didn't have a problem placing people to faces, and names to faces, but seeing as it was late at night and he was focused on something else, it had taken him a bit to finally understand who this boy was. Kevin Ito, the seer, in his sixth year. Yes, now Chris remembered. A slight smile came to his face at his success in solving the puzzle of who this boy was, and he went back to work.

He had only had time to write down one more drink (butterbeer) before Kevin began speaking, and Chris put the quill down to look at him. He listened with interest, a bit surprised that Kevin knew so much about what he was doing and how he was feeling. Well, actually, it made sense--he was a seer, and Chris knew that seers didn't just have visions of the future. Still, it was quite an odd feeling for the boy to know basically what he was feeling and thinking without even telling him anything.

"Yeah, this is for the dance," Chris answered slowly, flashing the other boy a smile again as he fully turned towards him, back to his notes. "And you're right, I did volunteer...but I would rather not do it anymore, to be honest. Staring at this stuff for hours proves to be rather frustrating." He gave a small shrug, looking down at his lap and plucking at the muggle shorts that he was wearing. Deciding that he should assure the boy that the...mind reading was okay, he looked up once again.

"Well, if you haven't learned to control it, then I don't see how I could possibly fault you," Chris said, giving another shrug, another smile. He had promised to be friendly this year, and he was going to go through with that promise. "Besides, no harm done." After a moment of consideration, he decided to introduce himself. "You probably already know, but I'm Chris. Chris Pearson. You're Kevin Ito, right?"

The older Hufflepuff was not a seer, and so he couldn't read this boys mind or know the past or future about him. And even though he was positive that he was indeed Kevin, he found it would be more polite for the boy to have a chance to introduce himself.

[kevin]

Kevin returned his attention to the fire, his mind touching briefly back on the stars that given his so much trouble. But again Chris filled the silence, and Kevin turned to him gratefully. He listened to the other (who sounded a bit sleepy) talk about the dance, and Kevin looked down at the notes in Head Boy's lap. There was already a lot of writing there so Kevin assumed he was merely adding the finishing touches. Looking back up at Chris, Kevin smiled and nodded knowingly. "I know what you mean. I get the same way staring at the writing assignments for DADA. I'm lousy at Defense," he shrugged. "I've spent a lot of time staring at that book for hours with no new thoughts," he laughed, "kinda like you said."

It was true, Kevin was dead last of his class when it came to DADA. It wasn't that he couldn't do the spells, because he could, it was that Kevin didn't work very well under pressure. Ever since the Dark Lady had been hedging her way into his thoughts, Kevin had been under pretty much constant pressure. Would she try to recruit him if she found out about his Seeing abilities? It didn't help that his reaction time was pretty slow. He was basically a sitting duck.

Pushing those stressing thoughts from his mind, Kevin found that maybe talking wasn't a good enough distraction. He needed to be doing something, to have his mind engaged otherwise so that he could maybe wear himself out enough to get some sleep. Just the thought made him jittery but at the same time exhausted. Responding to the Head Boy's question, Kevin stuttered out "Ye-ah, I'm... K-Kevin," his mouth stretched in a gigantic yawn. "You're right, by the way," he added, "I do know who you are." He nodded as Chris told him the 'reading his mind' thing was okay. "But I only know you because you're head boy. I'm not a creeper, lurking in your head, I swear!" He laughed. He hoped people didn't think he was spying on them...

"So do you need any help with that? I'd welcome the distraction," he offered, looking eagerly to Chris. His dark eyes sparkled. Reaching for a hair tie around his wrist, Kevin quickly pulled his long hair from his face and secured it at the base of his neck. "Really, I've nothing else to do!"

[chris]

This was one of the many reasons why Chris had talked himself into trying to be friendlier. Kevin was a good example that would help him keep his resolution--if he tried to be friendlier, he could end up making new friends and acquaintances that proved to be entertaining, fun, and good for him. Before this conversation, Chris had only known this kid as a seer named Kevin, but now that he was talking with the boy, he could add a little bit of personality to that vague description. For example, Chris could tell that this boy had a great sense of humor.

At his mention of only knowing who Chris was because of him being Head Boy, the older student found himself smiling, which turned into a full out grin when he went on to say that he wasn't a creeper, and he wasn't lurking in his head. The boy's sense of humor was refreshing, and Chris was surprised that he could have such a humor even when the boy seemed to be tired and worried about something. It even reminded Chris of himself--he too always tried to keep a sense of humor, no matter what may be wrong in his life. Why should that affect the people around him?

He had glanced back down at the papers, fidling with his quill absentmindedly, when Kevin asked if he needed any help. Looking back up, he saw the eagerness in the other's eyes, and could tell that he really did want to help, and seemed to want to do something besides be left to his own thoughts and devices. Thinking for a moment, Chris dropped the quill, set the papers on the table, stood, and stretched.

"Well..." he said thoughtfully as he sat back down, running his hand through his blonde hair. "The details are almost done. You could help me think of a few more foods to suggest for the snacks." It was true that Chris' brain was shot of ideas--probably because it was late and he was running on limited sleep. He thought for another moment, and then came up with another thing that Kevin could help him with.

"Or help me think of a costume," he said with a smile, eyes focusing on his face once more. "I've no clue who I want to dress as. Times like these I sort of wish I had grown up my whole life in the magical world. At least then I'd know more famous wizards." He gave another shrug as if to say 'what can you do?'

[kevin]

Kevin deflated a little when Chris got up. He looked as though he was nearly done, and perhaps even on his way to bed. "Oh, I don't mean to keep you up," he said, apologizing. But Chris went on to talk about the food for the dance, and, more interestingly, about his costume. Kevin squinted his eyes... and burst out laughing.

Hand to his stomach Kevin was caught in a fit of silent giggles. "Oh man," he breathed, "I didn't even out that together! Time Warp. Costumes. We have to dress up like famous dudes don't we?" Kevin grinned, his shoulders shaking still from laughing. "Ahhaha, I don't know anything about famous wizards. I never pay any attention in History of Magic, plus," he added, "I'm Muggle Born. My parents hardly speak English let alone know anything about... about Rowena Ravenclaw or something." His laughter was renewed.

Breathing deep to calm down, Kevin looked back at Chris. "Though, I suppose you wouldn't have know that, hmm? Alright, I'll try to help. As I've no idea what I'm going to do for a costume either, we'll think of some together." But remembering how Chris yawned, Kevin backtracked. "On second thought," he pointed to the older Hufflepuff with the stern finger of a parent, "you ought to get to bed, young man." Kevin grinned then, kidding. "Though I wouldn't mind the company should you choose to stay up."

Still nestled into the corner of the couch, Kevin placed his head on his knees, wrapping his arms around them. His chewed his bottom lip as he thought, not about cryptic planets and stars but of costumes and famous wizards. Then again, his mind had a habit of wandering, so it wasn't long before Kevin was mentally assessing Chris. The boy was kind, he noted readily, and friendly. Kevin noticed how he wasn't particularly phased about his crack about mind reading, and he appreciated that. Many students found him creepy and were afraid he'd try to possess their minds or some such nonsense. Consequently, some in the Hufflepuff common room tended to avoid Kevin, though many were kind and his friends. It was a bonus that Chris was so blasé about the whole thing.

At length, Kevin spoke, suggesting a costume for Chris. "Er," he said uncertainly, "does the Wizard of Oz count?"

[chris]

When Chris had asked about help for the costumes, the fact that Kevin didn't know what he was talking about didn't even cross him mind. It must have just been that since Kevin was the first to know about the dance, he would know everything about the dance--again, Chris didn't think about it thoroughly. So when Kevin burst out into laughter, he was confused for a moment, before the boy began to speak through the laughs, and Chris found himself grinning, and then chuckling. When Kevin went on to say that he was muggle born, Chris began to full out laugh, for some reason finding this extremely funny. Or maybe it was just that Kevin's laughs seemed to be slightly contagious.

His laughs subsided after a moment, and then he suddenly found himself being pointed out and told to be in bed. Raising one eyebrow slightly, Chris held a small smile on his face, which grew slightly larger at the name 'young man'. This was rich, coming from a boy who was a year younger than him. Shaking his head after a moment, he stood and moved over to sit in a chair that was right next to the couch Kevin was tucked into.

"No, I don't think sleep would come to me as it is anyways," Chris said with a small shrug, shifting around in the chair. He ended up with his back braced by one of the arms of the chair, and his legs hanging over the other. "Besides, I've got to stay down here with you, y'know, as Head Boy. Have to make sure you make it up to your dorm safely, and everything. And that you don't go running off to the kitchens or something."

Grinning at the boy to show that he was just kidding, he crossed his arms over his chest comfortably and leaned his head against the back of the chair. It was black and pleasantly squishy, which just made it fit to his body all the better. After a moment Kevin brought up a question, which made Chris laugh again, quietly and short lived, but a laugh none-the less.

"No, I don't think so," he said, lifting his head so that he could shake it before resting it back against the chair once more. "I don't think the Wizard of Oz is considered real magic. And only us muggle borns would understand the characters....Nah, I think we'll have to come up with something else."

With a small sigh, Chris closed his eyes, in deep thought. He didn't know practically any famous wizards and witches that he or Kevin could dress as. He knew a few quidditch players by name (he may not be able to play the game, but it was amazing to wathch), but didn't know their appearance. And he, like Kevin, barely payed any attention in history of magic. Besides, those wizards were all so old that nobody would know who Chris was anyways.

"Might have to end up doing research for this," he said finally, opening his eyes. "Only wizards that are coming to mind now are Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, and Ludo Bagman." Again, Chris sighed, this time in slight irritation. So much work had to be put into a dance that was supposed to be fun--and yet didn't seem that it would be any fun for him at all.

[kevin]

Kevin's face went playfully indignant and he scoffed. "Me, break into the kitchens? What kind of a self-respecting Hufflepuff do you take me for?" He grabbed a pillow now and hugged it to his chest. As neither of them appeared to be going anywhere for the night, he figured he may as well get comfortable.

"Yeah, you're right," Kevin agreed about the Wizard of Oz. "But you've got to admit, seeing the look every pureblooded face would be priceless. I can just see all the Muggle borns getting a real kick out of it!" He laughed again, though it really was just more of a quiet chuckle. He absently took his hair out of the elastic again, and slipped the hair tie around his bony wrist. He looked down at said wrist and wondered if maybe he should take Chris up on that and actually sneak off to the kitchen. Boy was just too skinny for his own good. But when you lived from one vision to the next with constant threats of seizures or vomiting, food didn't really hold much appeal.

Chris had closed his eyes and Kevin felt a little guilty again. Was Chris lying when he said he wouldn't sleep? Or was he really staying down here only until Kevin left? If that was so, Kevin decided he a was going to be selfish and stay in the common room, just so that he could escape the stars a little longer, or at least until he could talk to Firenze tomorrow.

"Ludo Bagman. Um. I don't think I know that one," Kevin admitted, looking up and to the left as if trying to remember. "But Albus Dumbledore? Yeah only if you want to go as some wily old man. And I'm not sure, but I think Al Potter would have a weird time if you showed up like his dad. I know I'd freak right outta my skin." Kevin smiled tiredly into his pillow. His eyes were starting to droop pleasantly, and he welcomed the thought of sleep, finally.

It was always when he least expected it.

"Ssss!" He hissed, his body locking up. His back went rigid and his eyes flew open. They darted about the common room but they went unseeing, glittering as if lit with an inner light. Kevin's shoulders twitched violently and his head was slammed against the armrest, smacking hard against the wood underneath the upholstery.

It was the stars, always the stars. They had come closer, and were dancing about the dark sky, playing. Kevin smiled as they jumped and leapt through the inky black of the sky, finally coming to rest back in their familiar constellations. Then, inexplicably, they began to shiver. They were afraid, they were terrified. All of them were screaming, little star screams that sounded like the wind through the trees.

All went dark.

But no, wait, there. Just there. The image of a boy, with bright blond hair and troubled eyes...

"Nnnngh!" Kevin grit his teeth and screamed, coming to. He panted, catching his breath, hand flying to his face to cover his eyes. What was that? What had he Seen? That boy, he looked familiar, but Kevin barely saw more than a glimpse of him. "God!" He managed through clenched teeth, head still buried in his hands. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Chris," he muttered, his words muffled. "I... I'm sorry, I never know when they'll come..."

[chris]

"It would be pretty priceless," Chris agreed, smirking at the thought. All of the pure-bloods would be confused, and the ones that hated muggle borns would be deeply mortified. Meanwhile, all of the muggleborns, and maybe even some half bloods would be laughing their arses off. Hm...maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. Of course, as Head Boy he shouldn't do something like that...but Kevin...

Chris shook the thought off, thinking it stupid--it was a funny idea, but could get them into trouble, and Chris really didn't think that it would be smart. Tuning back in to the present conversation, he listened attentively to Kevin's opinions on the famous people Chris had listed off. Well, as muggle born it wasn't too much of a surprise that he didn't know who Ludo Bagman was--and it was true that dressing as Dumbledore would be a bit weird. At his comment about dressing as Albus Potter's dad, Chris let out a chuckle. He didn't know the boy personally, but he could imagine how weird it would be for him to see his 'dad' at the party.

He was about to ask Kevin if he had anybody else that he could think of, when the boy's body suddenly locked up and he hissed. Sitting up a little straighter, Chris looked at him, confused. His eyes were darting, but they were glazed over, as if he wasn't really seeing anything. Quickly, Chris slid his feet onto the ground and stood, moving over to the boy--what was going on? It was almost as if the boy was going through a seizure...Suddenly, Chris realized that this must be some sort of vision thing.

He didn't know what to do with the boy who seemed to be in so much pain, but he didn't have to wait long before he screamed, and then seemed to come out of whatever world he had been in. He apologized through clenched teeth, and Chris frowned, his heart beating wildly at what had happened. He had to admit that at first, he thought it might be cool to be a seer like Kevin--but now he could see that it was probably a great bother, one that Kevin might be glad to be rid of.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Chris said softly, still standing over him, hands in his pockets as he frowned down at the other. Not a frown that was directed towards Kevin in a bad way, just a frown of concern. "Do..do you need to go to the hospital wing or something? Are you okay?"

What did a person do when they had a vision? Record it, or keep it secret and go about their day? What Chris was really worried about was the fact that Kevin had smacked his head rather hard...