Winter break was shorter this year, or so he felt. Yet the days stretched into nothing, and routines were hard to get back into. Avalon was normally one of the first to wake, his early morning walks were a habit he couldn't break, as the artist in him knew that natures first light was the most precious. He clung to it like a spider to the wall, taking in every moment of the sun that he could. The morning was bright and precious in the way it was untouched by anyone else, and he carried in with him the crisp smokey scent of a winter upon returning to the dorm. The fire of their dorms painted his skin a warm blush as he watched his housemates move about the room in a fluster of their morning routine, and in all the panic of the day he counted each one. Yet...someone was missing.

Elijah.

It wasn't unlike his wayward friend to be late for things, his mind was often in the same clouds that captivated Avalon, but where the boy named after a constellation found his dreams--Elijah found a map. His friend he felt was always trying to find his way home, searching for something missing in his past, and wanting to put together a piece of a puzzle that he kept secret. Or at least, this was the conclusion Avalon drew in sketches to Elijah's likeness. The other Ravenclaw boy stayed up too late, studied the stars as if knowing that out there was something more than just this life, and Avalon had to admire that. He studied the boy as he studied the stars, and did his best to do him justice on his white blank page. His mother would have approved of this friendship, and maybe of his own crush on Eli's sister Evie. (It was his plan to ask her to the Valentine's dance this year, if someone didn't beat him to it.)

Through the tower he went, searching all the possible places his friend could be, and finally finding him still asleep. It was heartwarming really, stepping into the dark, cool room as if walking into water so dark he had to be careful where to step. He didn't want to wake Eli with a start, though it was tempting to say the least, he took care of his friends.

Quietly he slipped out his sketchbook, opening a page to sit and sketch a moment. (Something he did of Elijah often) In study of his friend, one would think he was drawing a likeness of the boy. However, tearing the page from his book he finished far too quickly, and took up the pillow from the floor to rush Elijah's back with a solid hit; the sound followed by his silent laughter as he held out his sketch to his friend.

Professor Storm had never looked so severe on such a small bit of paper, but Ignan's likeness was there well enough to put a push in anyones step. But, Avalon hoped it would simply be enough to set his friend in motion.

1.	Mumford and Sons

Mornings had never been Elijah’s strong suit. A natural astronomer always sleeps during the day, because they’re always up all night studying the universe. For Elijah, this was doubly true. Not only had Eli been studying the positioning of Saturn’s moons in accordance with Ursa Major, but once he’d finally gotten into bed, he’d been wracked with tremors.

Sheets twisted around his boyish frame and sweat poured from his brow, soaking the pillow beneath his head. Eyes shifted relentlessly in his lids, and a grimace formed on his face. Playing through his mind were scenes yet to happen, scenes that he’d not remember in the morning, but ones that were important – important to someone, at least. Rest had not come easy, and when it did come, it came hard and fast.

The dreams subsided and left the Ravenclaw blissfully unaware. He was so exhausted, that he’d missed the hustling and bustling of his dormmates preparing for the day and simply slept on. Drool slipped from his peaceful mouth, slipping down the left side of his face. Then, from nowhere, he was ripped unceremoniously from his dreaming by a sharp tap on his backside. With a yelp, Eli jumped from the bed and reached for his wand before realizing that it was on his bedside table and not in his nonexistent pocket.

“Avalon! You cheeky monkey!” he yelled, and then pulled at the other boy’s robes to bring him in for a quick hug. Eli then rubbed his eyes and took a look at the sketch before him. A loud laugh escaped from his mouth and then he sat back down on the bed. “Oh come on, mate. Have you never been late for one of Old Man Storm’s classes before? Worst he can do is take away a couple points or give us a detention,” Then he yawned.

“Have a seat. Did I miss breakfast?”

Avalon hadn't wanted to admit this, but there were nights when he'd thought about just slipping into Elijah's bed to be a rock when he seemed to be tossed about by the sea. He'd thought of just throwing his arms over the boy in attempt to shelter him from whatever he silently suffered in his sleep, and force away whatever was bothering him. However, he respected their privacy, both he and his sister--no matter how much the whole ordeal was about to kill him.

When Elijah sprang up out of the bed with a bit of laughter, Avalon thought he felt the world shift, and returned the hug with a tight squeeze. They really were an amazing pair, Elijah and his sister, one that he often wrote home about and tried his best to capture in his paintings. In many ways he was very envious of it, having grown up an only child, but it also made him very thankful he got to witness it.

“Oh come on, mate. Have you never been late for one of Old Man Storm’s classes before? Worst he can do is take away a couple points or give us a detention,”

Points! They couldn't miss points, and Avalon look bewildered by the entire ordeal.

“Have a seat. Did I miss breakfast?” He did as instructed and gave a little half nod at the question about breakfast, but did pull an apple from the pocket in his robe to hand over. Prepared as ever, Avalon may have been a little scattered sometimes, but he took care of his own. Checking the time, he couldn't be late for class, but he could at least spend a little time with Eli, and nudged his shoulder playfully. And repeated to do so until he laughed again--or fell over, whichever came first as he'd hope to keep Elijah smiling.

He looked skinnier, his face especially, or so Avalon thought. And he suddenly wished he had lined pockets so he could have slipped out some of the breakfast meats to attempt at returning some sort of color to the Grimm world. Maybe if he went down there he could get something else, but he for sure would follow Elijah to lunch to make sure he got there.

Sitting in one’s knickers around another dude might make any normal man a bit uncomfortable, but it didn’t faze Elijah one bit. Perhaps that’s because Elijah Grimlish was not a normal man. A grumble rumbled from his tummy as he spoke about food and his silent friend, quiet as ever, brought out a snack from his pocket and handed it to the seer. “Shoulda known I’d miss breakfast. I see everything else,” He grumbled under his breath, while taking a huge bite out of the apple. Juices ran down his chin from the sweet fruit, and he reached up with his arm to wipe the liquid from his face.

“And don’t look so downtrodden,” He spoke while chewing on the bite of apple, his words slurred by the food in his mouth, “I’ve lost more points than I’ve earned in my six years here. I’m surprised I’ve not gotten an award for it,” he winked at Avalon, teasing his friend… it was so easy, after all. As the boy nudged Eli, he simply ignored it. At first. Honestly, he wasn’t even awake enough to truly comprehend that the boy was nudging him – and then Eli was on the floor.

A laugh escaped his lips, as the apple rolled from his hand onto the floor. His lips opened in a wide smile as the Grimlish boy reached down to pick up his fallen snack. He wiped the shiny fruit on the leg of his undies and took another bite – growing up around Evelyn; he’d learned quickly that dirt wouldn’t kill you, unless the dirt had other, non-dirt items in it. Like glass… or poison. Hopefully the dust on the dorm floors had neither. “You little bugger! Be glad they didn’t hand me a prefect badge, I’d take a few points for assault!”

Avalon waited until Elijah finished his fruit, making sure he ate the entire thing before he plopped again beside his friend, and forced his face forward by a capture of his chin. He checked the coloring of Elijah's eyes, admiring their natural state before pulling the skin down to check for discoloration. His whites seemed weak, but they certainly were not ill. (or so he could tell) They were alert at least, light from the little bit of laughter, but just seemed...of. He turned the other boy's wrist over, gently for as thin as it was he worried he'd break it with his father's ironworker hands, and removed the pocket watch he kept in his robe to count the beats of his heart.


With his conclusion drawn he heaved a rather dramatic sigh and pushed from the bed. With a half a mind to force Elijah from bed, and straight into the shower he touched his friend's robe a moment. Instead, he tried to gather his thoughts from the anger that flooded and opened his book just to get it out,


'Why are you so tired all the time? Why is it so hard for you to sleep? Is it that Inkwood?' Without second thought he forced it in front of Eli's face, and went to gather the things Eli would need for a shower.

Avalon really was a mother, wasn’t he? If he didn’t graduate and become a healer, Elijah would ride a runespoor naked through Knockturn. Elijah allowed the boy to manhandle his delicate features, not resisting even when he thought his dormmate was about to poke his eye out. It was a good time to notice that Avalon had very attractive eyes, but one assumed everything needed to be more attractive on Avalon, he was much more good than everyone else Elijah knew… except perhaps his sister, and everyone knew that she was beautiful both inside and out.

Then… from nowhere… Avalon turned viscous. Like a beautiful Veela turned ugly by an unhappy event, Avalon’s mood changed and caused Elijah to jerk back on his bed. What could he have possibly done wrong in the past four minutes? One minute he was chomping on some delicious fruit, and the next he was being grabbed at by a mute lunatic.

The answer came soon enough, but even with the paper before him, Eli didn’t understand. “Who? Ezra? What’s he got to do with anything?” Covertly, Elijah ignored the original questions. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Avalon to know he was seeing the future; it was mainly that Avalon was a worrier, and he had enough people worrying about him. All Elijah truly needed was a friend, a friend that didn’t treat him any different because he had a figurative (and spiritual) third eye. Plus… Elijah truly had no clue where Ezra Inkwood came into any conversation. What did the snake have to do with the eagle? Sure, he was a friend, but Eli wasn’t advanced enough in the art of seduction to know if there were any ulterior motives there.

“I can get my own things for a bath, y’know,” The Ravenclaw said a bit grumpily. If Avalon wanted to be mad at him, he didn’t want to have anything else to give him ammunition. Doing small things like that could easily escalade into more when emotions run high.

Elijah was the worst about avoiding topics, but Avalon always took this as a hint. Clearly his friend didn't want to talk about it, he could understand that, but still he worried. It pained him in many ways, to think Eli wasn't willing to voice his concerns, and it was such a conundrum for the Grimlish twin as he often spoke of everything and anything all at once.  He liked that about his friend, how Elijah did enough talking for the two of them, that unlike his sister he could judge his friend's emotions by how he voiced his opinion.

Logic kicked in, his over analytic mind quickly going to work on what wasn't said instead of the topic Eli chose to comment on. He's a snake. Avalon wanted to answer, tasting his own bile as it came up when he thought of Inkwood, and though they were friends he knew better than to trust him. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but at least it wasn't Theo. Avalon didn't truly know how to answer those things, at least not without sounding like a total idiot, so he let the subject die, but it pained him to no end to think of a world without Elijah and Evelyn in it. And the way they were keeping secrets, and seemed so on edge--it made him concerned that they would leave. Didn't they have a reputation from running away.

As a child, Avalon's frustrations without being able to communicate properly were often taken out on his subjects by way of force. Aggression that had him biting a lot, but he had outgrown that. However, he wanted to keep Eli down, make him stay. Make him make Evelyn stay too. But the one thing that set him apart from his very strict and over protective father was his mother's free spirit, and just like that the worry was gone. He would live in this moment, play any game Elijah wanted, and enjoy his friendship until it was gone.

I can get my own things for a bath, y’know. Eli's tone made Avalon's heart hurt a little, he felt it swell in his chest. He couldn't be grumpy! That was his job!

Oh yeah? His eyes challenged, with a bright illumination of the blue until it was almost electric with mayhem, and as he made his way towards the other Ravenclaw he grinned. His father's broad shoulders came in handy when throwing classmates over them, and he did just that picking Elijah up by the midsection and throwing him over one shoulder. One arm came to carry him like one would a barrel, while the other squeeze behind his friend's boney knee in attempts to produce a few squeals just for humiliations sake. The shower supplies taken up after a reprieve of the tickling, and Avalon started for the baths.

The grumpy frown stayed plastered on Elijah’s face as his friend flitted about getting all of the Ravenclaw’s things together. It had never mattered to Eli that his friend couldn’t speak aloud, because Avalon was so expressive in other ways. Even when Avalon had nothing to say, Elijah could tell exactly what his friend was thinking. It was the set of the boy’s broad shoulders, the furrow of his brow, the flitter of a smile. Eli knew, without a doubt, that he’d been distracted lately – between the heavy course load and the new issue of visions taking over his consciousness, Eli had been a less-than-perfect friend.  That in mind, Eli didn’t think he’d done anything as serious as to piss Avalon off enough to keep him angry at Eli for more than a few seconds.

After all, who in the world could be mad at Eli for long? A few moments later, Eli knew he was right. With an assault to his knees that resulted in a hearty laugh, and then a fireman’s carry of Eli out of the room, all of Eli’s grouchiness vanished. This was exactly what the Ravenclaw needed; a friend that would treat him like a friend, not someone that wanted to treat him different, because no one needed to know that Eli truly was different.

As Elijah was being carried from the room, a thought popped into his head – a memory rather, causing Elijah to wiggle and squirm in his captor’s arms, “Wait! I just remembered about my dream! I have to go write it in my dream journal! C’mon Avalon, we’re not going to be late. You know I can’t miss writing it down! Plus, I need to read my chart in the daylight. Things always look different in the day! And I haven’t even done my morning tarot reading yet! Avalon!” Oh come on now! Eli was all for being helped, but you couldn’t mess with the system!

It was a musical sound, to hear Eli's laughter echo off the tile of the bathroom. It reminded him of a time when his father had taken him to one of the many old churches in his very ancient town. The music beautiful as the pipe organ sounded over the vaulted ceilings, and though Muggle beliefs often stemmed from Magic folklore--Avalon felt the very presence of God standing there listening.  Be it what it may, but he felt that same way now. Laughter, the smile that lit up Elijah's eyes, the half tormented squeals that came from playtime; all of it far more precious than any gold, and made him feel as though he could wash away all of his sins.

He could feel the boy's rabbit heart over his shoulder, the way his boney body shook with every playful protest and bit of laughter, and he was surprised that Eli hadn't retaliated with a bit of playful violence.

“Wait! I just remembered about my dream! I have to go write it in my dream journal! C’mon Avalon, we’re not going to be late. You know I can’t miss writing it down! Plus, I need to read my chart in the daylight. Things always look different in the day! And I haven’t even done my morning tarot reading yet! Avalon!”

Avalon, very easily (Elijah hardly weighed anything) slipped the boy from his shoulder to cradle him, but kept his hold tight enough Eli wouldn't be able to wiggle free. The excitement calmed a little, at least well enough that Avalon could take in the moment of actually how....strange yet good it felt to keep Eli there. He felt like a fortress, despite his still growing body, Avalon felt as though he could somehow keep him safe, but even that dream couldn't live too long. They did have class after all.

Oh yeah? He raised his brows with a big grin, questioning Elijah's motives, and blinking from his thoughts. Play on his sense of guilt, good one, but it wasn't going to work. Not today. They had come this far.

The bath wasn't deep enough he could simply toss Eli in, not without fear of him hitting his head or breaking his tailbone, but Avalon could still lower him, underwear and all. The whole ordeal sure enough to attract some curious onlookers if Avalon was in fact torturing another student or simply trying to catch a squealing piglet.

After the boy was deposited in the water, Avalon turned to write on the mirror, with Eli's shower gear parked on the counter.

Don't be late for class.