Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(73) Always

Alexander could see the light from the tiny slit from under his blanket, could hear the continuous hushed whispers of his roommates whenever they came in. They treated him in a very cautious manner, as if he was a bomb, and they had to practically tiptoe wherever to prevent him from exploding. His friends have been by for the past week, and he felt just as guilty for completely shunning them. Truth was he needed to talk to them now more than ever. But he also needed some time alone.

He felt his bed dip, and a few seconds later his blanket was partially yanked off, exposing his face to the brightness of the room. There was Jeremy, a concerned look on his face. "Sorry to startle you. Were you sleeping?"

"No," he started, heaving himself up to a sitting position, "No I was awake. Thinking about stuff. Thank you for bringing me breakfast, by the way."

"No problem. Grant says he'll bring you up some lunch after he eats. I can't really go down to the Hall today. I need to work on holiday break work." he explained.

"It's fine," said Xander, who patted down his bed hair, "You've helped me a lot already."

"I talked to Nicolai awhile ago... Said she needed to talk to you. Bad. But I told her that I needed to talk to you first before I gave her permission to just barge in here." he informed him.

Xander chuckled dryly, "Since when has Nicolai cared to even ask permission from anyone?"

"Since she had to. Grant's put up a password for our room since that Beauxbaton girl and Roger seemed to be getting frisky every night when she'd come up and visit him any time she pleased." Jeremy explained, frowning afterwards, "I got a bit annoyed with her too, waltzing in just whenever she pleased. Professor Flitwick's probably going to make Grant take the password down eventually, but atleast we get to keep her out for a little bit."

"How did I miss this?"

He chuckled, "Probably because you've been to busy wallowing in your own misery, mate." Jeremy patted Alexander's shoulder, "You have to come out of here eventually, you know?"

Alexander nodded, "I know," he groaned, "Why am I even doing this to myself? I'm getting so worked up about a girl. I'm not supposed to? I'm terrible."

"It's okay, you know. There's nothing wrong with being hurt... and uh, speaking of girls, ah, someone's actually outside, she uh, wants to talk to you." Jeremy coughed awkwardly. He hated it that he had to be the bearer of this news. Alexander looked at him skeptically, "Who?"

"Jillian. Jillian's outside. She wants to talk to you."

He crawled back under his blankets without a single word, making Jeremy frown, "Oh come on, Xander. Please just talk to her. She's been coming by for days now. I don't think she plans on going away any time soon." he said.

"Well then she's welcome to stay for as long as she wants."

"She said she wanted to explain."

Xander sighed, closing his eyes as he did so. Unlike Florence or Nicolai, he was never one who turned the other way when someone who did them wrong would try to explain. He, ofcourse, wanted to hear why she had suddenly broken up with him, thinking that maybe it would help him understand somehow.

"Xander?" Jeremy said, after the long period of silence, "Do you want to talk to her?"

"Yeah," he muttered, "You can let her in."

He felt another pat on his shoulder over the covers, "That's very brave of you, mate. Good luck."

A few minutes after he heard Jeremy make his way outside, the door creaked open again. The footsteps were light, unlike the heavy stomping of his big-footed roommates. His breath came out short and labored as the faint footsteps drew closer. He heard the chair beside his bed side table creak, the stopped. With one last breath, Xander yanked the blanket off of himself, propping himself to sit up, all the while avoiding the gaze of a very concerned blonde.