A Kind of Magic

Eight

Aryana jumped to her feet excitedly and hurried towards Peregrine, her apparent joy of seeing him winning over her shyness when she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face into his chest for a long moment, remembering herself when he returned her greeting by a brief embrace followed by a fond but carefully measured caress of her long hair.

Gilderoy's mind worked overtime as he observed the two, gleaning quickly that whatever Aryana felt for his dark companion, his heart did not return in equal measure. But it pained his heart to admit that they would make a stunning couple; the delicate, golden haired beauty seemed to be made for the tall and well-built dragon shifter.

"Fair Aryana," Peregrine said, scattering Gilderoy's thoughts. "It's a pleasure to meet you again. Thank you for preparing the beds for us."

Finally, she took a step away from him, shaking her head. "It's nothing. I'm truly glad that you finally agreed to accept a bed, I always feel so sorry to see you sleeping by the fire, outside, and all alone at night."

"Well, you know my ways, if it wasn't for my companion, I would happily sleep outside again."

Aryana looked at Gilderoy, and the blush suddenly flooding her cheeks told him that she had quite forgotten that he was there with them.

"I... I should go. Father will be looking for me," she said, still looking at Gilderoy. "Good night. It was a pleasure to meet you..."

"Gilderoy, my name is Gilderoy," he said, standing up and bringing her proferred hand to his lips, noticing how small and dainty it was, how cool was her alabaster skin.

Peregrine cleared his voice meaningfully behind them, making Gilderoy understand that he had kept the girl's hand in his for longer than good manners permitted. 

"Good night, and thank you, fair Aryana," he muttered, finally letting go of her and retreating to his bed even as the girl turned back to Peregrine. 

"Should I walk with you to your cottage?" he proposed gallantly, and she nodded, preceding the dragon shifter out of the hut while he wrapped himself in his black cloak.

Gilderoy, lost in thoughts, washed and undressed while Peregrine was gone, and lay stretched in his soft bed, fighting the sleep that threatened to close his eyelids, when his companion returned. 

"Is she all right?" Gilderoy asked, surprising himself, the question floating up to his lips without his mind's permission. Like a dream, the werewolf girl entered his thoughts and settled there, and he had a feeling that she would never leave...

The half smile that tugged at Peregrine's lips as he removed his cloak again and sat on his bed to remove his boots, made Gilderoy blush.

"She told me you have spoken. Aryana doesn't like to talk to strangers normally," Peregrine said, lying down and pulling his covers over himself. 

"She only spoke to me because she considers me your friend. She loves you?" Gilderoy simply meant to state the obvious, but he couldn't stop the hopeful question mark from creeping to the of the sentence. 

"Aah... it's not like that." Peregrine sighed, and Gilderoy caught the real meaning of the line beyond those words. Peregrine didn't want it to be like that.

"Tell me," Gilderoy demanded simply. 

"Didn't you want to talk about the politics of the pack, dwarf?" Peregrine asked, apparently reluctant to talk about anything that concerned him directly. 

"Later," Gilderoy said, hoping that Peregrine would not refuse to explain the girl's feelings for him. 

"Very well," Peregrine sighed again, blowing out the candles, the sudden absence of the flickering light making the room around them look pitch black for a long moment.