Apparently Iris's foot could convey messages that her mouth could not, because Rou looked back at her, seeming to understand perfectly what she was trying to communicate. She looked down at her hands, which had been joined by one of Rou's, and was surprised by how much that small gesture meant. His hands were a bit bigger than hers, and had callouses from woodwork where hers had inkstains. She was about to mention it, when Rou broke out in giggles.

"Hey!"

At first, Iris wasn't sure what was going on. When he swatted at her foot, it dawned on her - Rou was ticklish. She hadn't intended to tickle him, really. It was just an... unexpected side-effect. She was enjoying his reaction, until he ran his fingers over the sole of her foot. Her eyes grew to the size of saucers as she tried  not to squeal at the sensation (which only resulted in her making a squeaking sound), unable to jerk her foot away for fear of kicking him. She tried to roll away until she remembered that doing so would be rolling off the rock. Instead, she opted to poke him in the side, sticking out her tongue playfully.

Instead of looking back at the lake, as she had before, Iris decided to cushion her head on her arms and watch Rou finish his work. It was sort of hypnotising, and he looked entranced. Watching him carve was like watching a musician play, she realised; this was his music. At long last, he blew away the stray dust and showed her the carving.

"Rou..." Iris murmured reverently, "It's beautiful."

It was her. She was laying on her belly, legs in mid-swing, head on her hands. It was perfect. Everything was there: toenails, strands of hair, everything. Its bottom lip was even a bit swollen, from being bitten so much. The carving was so lifelike she could almost see its chest rise and fall, its eyes dance, its hair fly in the breeze. She swore it was blushing. She marvelled at the way it gave the impression of movement, even though it was unenchanted. It was clear from the point of its toe (her toe? Iris wasn't sure) and the angle of the legs that this was in motion. It was breathtaking, exquisite, fantastic... Iris ran through all the words she could think of, but none came close to describing the tiny Iris.

"Rou, this is amazing."

"Thank you," he said softly, enjoying the third compliment for his work that he'd ever gotten. He lightly twirled his father's old dagger in his hands as he looked on at Iris as she was captivated by how well his craftsmanship had captured her in that moment. He patted Iris on the back to show his appreciation before pulling out his dagger's scabbard and sheathing it in her view. "Do you want it? It's not like I'd be able to keep it when I go home to Wales for the summer. Grandpa wouldn't approve. He'd make me throw it away."

Rou tucked the dagger into his waistband before opening his pack to see if he had anything to read with him. He didn't, having not brought anything other than the parchment with which he wrote his report on. Instead, he drew his feet up from the ground, lightly patted them to get off any dust or dirt, and then set them underneath his knees while continuing to watch Iris gush over his sculpture. His smile faltered slightly as he imagined how his grandfather would force him to get rid of any carving he brought home with him, so he was glad that at least a few of them were now owned by friends who would appreciate them more than his grandpa.

Rou lay back down on the rock but kept his legs folded. He closed his eyes and simply breathed in the beautiful, clear Scotland day.

Iris watched Rou play with the knife for a moment, then sheath it.

"Do you want it? It's not like I'd be able to keep it when I go home to Wales for the summer."

Iris's eyes widened in surprise. He was offering it to her? She'd never been given a gift by anyone other than her parents before. Her face split into a grin and she impulsively sat up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Rou, I'd love it. Thank you so much!" She pulled away after a moment, not sure if the sudden display of affection would make him uncomfortable.

As Rou put away his knife, Iris turned the figure over and over in her fingers, tracing the folds in its skirt, noticing the buttons on its shirt, touching its hair. She had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. It amazed her that not that long ago, this had been a simple block of wood. She was further struck by how this intricate piece of art had been created using a knife, which she had always thought of as destructive.

Rou lay back on the rock, closing his eyes, and Iris thought just how peaceful he looked like that. She joined him, folding her arms under her head and looking at the sky, playing games with the clouds and just thinking.

His eyes had welled up earlier, when Iris gave him that lovely hug. He'd returned it, his eyes lightly crying into her shoulder, before he lay down to relax. Now, he mopped his eyes as he stared up at the sky, watching the clouds above slip by.

"I'm glad you liked it," Rou said wistfully, wiggling his fingers and toes in the pleasant air, "I'm glad that you joined me today, Iris. I came out here looking to get away from the crowd in the Great Hall. Yet you found me, anyway, and now here we are." He chuckled lightly at this. His stomach was now starting to growl as well. He hadn't eaten, after all, but he could always go to lunch late in order to avoid the rest of his classmates.

Hearing Rou start to speak, Iris turned her head to look at him. She noticed the way he was wiggling his toes, which started the formation of a devious, beautiful plan in her mind.

"I'm glad I decided to talk to you," she said, rolling onto one side. Her foot came very close to touching his, but she made sure it didn't - yet. "I got a chance to make a new friend, see you work, and relax. I've been studying too much." She grinned a little when his stomach grumbled. Slowly, she moved her foot so that her big toe was at his heel, then quickly dragged it upwards, letting her toenail scrape him lightly. She grinned devilishly before proceeding to attack his side with her fingers. She wanted to see just how ticklish Rou really was.

Roland was caught completely off-guard by Iris' mischief, and could only sharpy inhale as he suppressed a loud giggle from his mouth as he felt her toe rake across his sole. However, when she moved to his ribs he couldn't hold it in much longer. Rou's laughter burst forth as his eyes and feet scrunched from the sensation of getting his sides tickled. His ribs weren't the most ticklish part of his body, that would be his feet, but they were definitely causing him to curl into a ball and be completely at Iris' mercy.

"Hey!" he cried between giggles and tears of a different kind began to pool in his eyes, "Stop it! Iris, c'mon!" He tried to fight her off but couldn't. He could, however, take hold of one of her bare feet and viciously begin to tickle her soles. And he did just that, though now they were probably in danger of falling off the rock.

Rou's first gasp made Iris grin. When his giggles started in earnest she began to laugh. "Hey! Stop it! Iris, c'mon!" Just as she was about to ease up, he grabbed her foot and began tickling it. She squealed, and when his nail scraped feather-light against her arch she gasped a bit. That was one of the most ticklish parts of her. As she tickled just below his ribcage, her fingers brushed against the blade in his belt. She made a note to ask him about it later, and set her focus back on making him laugh until he cried.

She redoubled her efforts at Rou's ribs in retaliation for the foot-tickling, but her aim was off courtesy of her being blinded by tears. She overestimated, threw her weight too far, and collided with him, her momentum carrying them both off the rock entirely.

All of Roland's breath was knocked straight out of him as he and Iris crashed into the ground. By the time he'd regained his composure and his dazed vision refocused, he found a curtain of long hair covering his face and saw that Iris was lying right on top of him! She was still in a daze from the fall, though Rou was definitely going to be feeling the worse for it later in the Common Room.

He carefully laid her over to his side before getting up and dusting himself off. He then offered his hand to Iris so that she could get up as well.

At first Iris couldn't see anything. Slowly, her vision cleared, and she blushed when she realized how close her face had gotten to Rou's. She let him move her aside, and watched him brush himself off, still trying to get her bearings. She could feel a bruise forming where her knee had collided with the ground. She took his proffered hand with a smile, standing and rubbing at her temple slightly, as if it would help her regain her balance.

"Hey, Rou," she asked, remembering one of her earlier notes, "Where did you get your knife? It doesn't look like a standard wood-carving knife."

All at once, Rou's happiness and smile faded from his face. With slow, steady hands, he drew forth the dagger from his waistband and regarded his reflection in its mirror-like sheen. He stepped back and then sat back down on his favorite rock for solidarity and comfort before turning the dagger over in his hands a few times. His toes lightly curled and uncurled in the sand and rocks. He sighed and looked up at Iris, knowing that he wasn't ready to tell her the full story, but she'd done enough for him today to warrant at least a brief explanation. He beckoned her to side down beside him, and when she did he lightly brushed his foot against hers to draw a bit of comfort from her presence like he had with Ted a couple of weeks ago. The support of his friend had helped him then, and it would help him now.

"It was my father's," he said softly, his mood a lot more somber and lonely than before. He held the dagger out so that Iris could get a good look at it and see herself in the reflection. "He was an Auror in service to America during the War. I was born to him and my mother during his time here, where he acted as America's eyes and ears on the Crisis. After the Ministry fell, he was driven into hiding along with most other wizards who opposed Voldemort, but the Death Eaters eventually found him and my mum. One night, a party of Snatchers attacked our home, and if not for Grandpa, I might have wound up getting Turned into a werewolf...courtesy of Fenrir Greyback." A small amount of tears dropped onto the blade from his eyes.

Seeing Rou's face fall suddenly, Iris began to regret asking about the knife. Seeing him step back confused her - was he going to run away? Their eyes met and in his she saw a sadness far deeper than any twelve-year-old should know. She was unsure what to do, but when he beckoned, she sat next to him, letting their feet and knees brush. She hoped it would send the message that she was there and ready to listen, but that he didn't need to say anything more than he was comfortable with.

When he finally spoke, his voice was so small Iris almost didn't hear it. "It was my father's." Iris looked down at the blade, seeing her own reflection next to Rou's. She listened quietly to his story, resting her head lightly on his shoulder. Poor Rou... His parents were dead, and he too nearly died. So much more than he should have to deal with. When teardrops began to fall, she pulled him tightly into a hug, letting him cry on her shoulder.

"Rou, I am so sorry. You don't deserve this." She knew it wasn't enough, but she didn't know what else to say.

He returned her hug. It was really the best thing he could have done, because he started feeling better in short order. Perhaps, he felt, it was because of the fact that his confession to Ted over break helped him to appreciate the comfort of friends more than he did before. He smiled again, this one small so she could see that she was helping to cheer him up. He wiped the dagger off and then sheathed it once more before dusting himself off a little bit. Then, his stomach growled again.

"Maybe we should get back, Iris. I need some lunch," he said looking over at his shoes and socks and pulling them to him to start putting them back on.

Iris let Rou cry for as long as he needed. Not quite sure what to do, she settled with patting his back gently. When he finally gave her a small smile, she smiled back, glad to know she was being helpful. She watched him put away his dagger and brush himself off before following suit. She poked him lightly in the ribs when his stomach grumbled.

"Maybe we should get back, Iris. I need some lunch."

Iris nodded, feeling a bit hungry herself. She raised an eyebrow when Rou started to put his socks and shoes back on.

"Why bother?" she asked, "It's a nice day, and nobody will mind if you leave them off." She punctuated her sentence by wiggling her toes and kicking his foot lightly.

Rou's smile grew broader, now, as he felt one of Iris' feet tapping on his. He wasn't one to walk barefoot outside often, but maybe, just this once, he'd play it this way. Rou shook his head as he placed his shoes and socks inside his pack and hauled it over his shoulder. It was amazing the effect his friends were having on him.

"So, have you eaten lunch, Iris?" Rou said, offering Iris his arm for her to take. His smile showed he was just wanting to joke around a bit more.

Iris noticed how Rou's smile seemed to spread farther than possible. It was infectious, and she couldn't help but smile too. She picked up her socks and shoes in one hand, and took her friend's arm, standing up a little straighter as she did.

"I have not eaten lunch, Rou," she replied. "And I insist that you join me." She smiled primly before bursting into giggles.

As they walked arm in arm toward the castle, Iris decided that she could get used to days like this.

~End~