Post by Leon Foster on Jan 12, 2011 7:46:07 GMT -5
The time was about seven o'clock in the morning, and the rising sun, hidden behind the trees, cast the sky near it alight with the dawn's rays. It was two hours later than Leon Foster usually began his exercises. He always began at five o'clock so that he'd have plenty of time to get back to his common room, shower, get dressed, have breakfast, and possibly finish any homework he'd forgotten to do before his first class. This was a tradition he'd had since he'd first moved away from home four years ago, and today for the first time in the months he'd been at Firefox that he'd broken it.
In his defense, he had a very good reason.
Leon usually didn't have nightmares. He rarely even remembered his dreams at all, for good or evil, and when he did it was usually after he'd thought for a really long time about a lost possession and he'd dream about finding it. It would always be where he dreamed it was, so the young wizard generally enjoyed his dreams when he remembered them. The nightmare his alarm had woken him up from two hours prior hardly had anything to do with a lost item, though. If anything, it had to do with a lost heart.
Micha Volkov. She told him she was disappointed in him, that she didn't think he would take this path. That she enjoyed the time he'd spent with her, but that the afternoon had come to an end. All the while, it felt like a storm in Leon's heart, but he couldn't say anything to her. It was a moment in dreams where one opened their mouth, but nothing came out.
What would he have said, anyway?
When Leon woke up, his first reaction was that he was...well, him. If it had not been for the nightmare making his heart pound against his chest to remind him that everything that had happened the day before was very much real, he might have thought that the whole thing had just been some very twisted dream strangely starring Micha Volkov of all girls. He had glanced over at Whites, who was still sleeping, and he exhaled deeply and shook his head.
What an idiot he had been. 'Go give up your friends, go give up your life! Go chase off a pretty girl because a prettier girl helped you pick out a dress! That makes perfect sense, after all.' That had been his actual mindset at one point. If it weren't for his buddy sleeping in the other bed next to him, he would have gone ahead with that. Merlin. That's how wizards swore, wasn't it? What a thought that he actually would've gone ahead with that.
That began two hours of just thinking about the incredibly stupid things he'd done. And the nightmare, which was still creeping around in his heart and making him feel terrible. The book had said the potion was a 'way to better understand girls,' but all he'd learned from the situation was that at best, girls were self-sacrificing, loving, and incredibly intense, and at worst, complete morons. Then again, maybe 'the best part' was just his innate Gryffindor nature amplified by the 'complete moron' part.
The nightmare, which he'd experienced as Leon, proved that he was still worried about Micha, though. He wasn't sure just what he wanted to say to her, and he had to confront her about it. He had to go to that 'dinner date' later today, there was no question about that. He just didn't know whether to say 'Micha, I am Leonora, and I'm kind of madly in love with you' or 'Micha, I was Leonora, and the potion made me an idiot and I'm sorry I made you think I was a woman.' He wasn't even sure about the first one, but the second one made it seem like none of it mattered. He wasn't sure how he felt about her, how madly in love he might have actually been.
It wasn't like he'd ever been in love before yesterday, after all.
It still mattered, though. The fact that he'd seen that other side of her, that gentle and calm part, and how happy he'd felt in that changing room with her was real. The only part that kept making him miserable the whole day, apart from being a girl, was losing her, right? If he had thought losing his family was equal to losing one girl, then...even if he had been out of his mind, it still meant something. He just needed time to think about it.
Leon ran into the Quidditch Stadium and did a lap around the field. Apparently, Whites had destroyed his training shirt to make the potion, thinking he'd had countless other T-shirts for exercising. What Whites had forgotten was that wizards could instantly clean their clothes and that he wore the same shirt for training everyday. Fortunately for his friend, it was nearly Christmas time and it was starting to get cold, and it was time to put on his heavier training clothes. Plus, it wasn't like Leon was going to yell at or hurt Whites over his t-shirt when he'd been the only one capable of calming him down during that whole fiasco.
So he shrugged and went to sleep.
He continued to run. He didn't want to think anymore. He'd been doing too much of it since he'd woken up anyway. He just needed to focus on his training, and his body, and the sweat building up against his long-sleeve shirt, and one step ahead of the other with breaths in and out. This daily routine was how Leon kept himself strong, both mentally and physically, in a world full of danger. He needed it now.
In his defense, he had a very good reason.
Leon usually didn't have nightmares. He rarely even remembered his dreams at all, for good or evil, and when he did it was usually after he'd thought for a really long time about a lost possession and he'd dream about finding it. It would always be where he dreamed it was, so the young wizard generally enjoyed his dreams when he remembered them. The nightmare his alarm had woken him up from two hours prior hardly had anything to do with a lost item, though. If anything, it had to do with a lost heart.
Micha Volkov. She told him she was disappointed in him, that she didn't think he would take this path. That she enjoyed the time he'd spent with her, but that the afternoon had come to an end. All the while, it felt like a storm in Leon's heart, but he couldn't say anything to her. It was a moment in dreams where one opened their mouth, but nothing came out.
What would he have said, anyway?
When Leon woke up, his first reaction was that he was...well, him. If it had not been for the nightmare making his heart pound against his chest to remind him that everything that had happened the day before was very much real, he might have thought that the whole thing had just been some very twisted dream strangely starring Micha Volkov of all girls. He had glanced over at Whites, who was still sleeping, and he exhaled deeply and shook his head.
What an idiot he had been. 'Go give up your friends, go give up your life! Go chase off a pretty girl because a prettier girl helped you pick out a dress! That makes perfect sense, after all.' That had been his actual mindset at one point. If it weren't for his buddy sleeping in the other bed next to him, he would have gone ahead with that. Merlin. That's how wizards swore, wasn't it? What a thought that he actually would've gone ahead with that.
That began two hours of just thinking about the incredibly stupid things he'd done. And the nightmare, which was still creeping around in his heart and making him feel terrible. The book had said the potion was a 'way to better understand girls,' but all he'd learned from the situation was that at best, girls were self-sacrificing, loving, and incredibly intense, and at worst, complete morons. Then again, maybe 'the best part' was just his innate Gryffindor nature amplified by the 'complete moron' part.
The nightmare, which he'd experienced as Leon, proved that he was still worried about Micha, though. He wasn't sure just what he wanted to say to her, and he had to confront her about it. He had to go to that 'dinner date' later today, there was no question about that. He just didn't know whether to say 'Micha, I am Leonora, and I'm kind of madly in love with you' or 'Micha, I was Leonora, and the potion made me an idiot and I'm sorry I made you think I was a woman.' He wasn't even sure about the first one, but the second one made it seem like none of it mattered. He wasn't sure how he felt about her, how madly in love he might have actually been.
It wasn't like he'd ever been in love before yesterday, after all.
It still mattered, though. The fact that he'd seen that other side of her, that gentle and calm part, and how happy he'd felt in that changing room with her was real. The only part that kept making him miserable the whole day, apart from being a girl, was losing her, right? If he had thought losing his family was equal to losing one girl, then...even if he had been out of his mind, it still meant something. He just needed time to think about it.
Leon ran into the Quidditch Stadium and did a lap around the field. Apparently, Whites had destroyed his training shirt to make the potion, thinking he'd had countless other T-shirts for exercising. What Whites had forgotten was that wizards could instantly clean their clothes and that he wore the same shirt for training everyday. Fortunately for his friend, it was nearly Christmas time and it was starting to get cold, and it was time to put on his heavier training clothes. Plus, it wasn't like Leon was going to yell at or hurt Whites over his t-shirt when he'd been the only one capable of calming him down during that whole fiasco.
So he shrugged and went to sleep.
He continued to run. He didn't want to think anymore. He'd been doing too much of it since he'd woken up anyway. He just needed to focus on his training, and his body, and the sweat building up against his long-sleeve shirt, and one step ahead of the other with breaths in and out. This daily routine was how Leon kept himself strong, both mentally and physically, in a world full of danger. He needed it now.