As Fauna walked out of the Great Hall after a late dinner, she made a list in her head of the things she needed to do tonight. At the forefront of her mind was the meeting that SAWS had tomorrow with Professor Storm and Professor O Morain to ask them about bringing in a professional speaker. It had crept in her thoughts for most of the day, enough so she'd had trouble concentrating on her school work. However, homework was also on her list tonight, and she quickened her pace through the corridors, telling herself she'd start on it as soon as she got to the Hufflepuff common room.

Then she saw a familiar face. Familiar, yes, but not a very common sight these days. Fauna hesitated, watching him. She hadn't had an actual conversation with Chance Ryker since their shared detention with Storm back in January. He seemed quick to anger and distant this term, and though he acted that way around everybody, Fauna couldn't help but think that maybe she'd done something or maybe he was avoiding her. A month had passed since their detention, and Fauna had not yet made a real effort to figure out what was going on.

Sudden inspiration hit. She followed after him for a few steps, then rushed to catch up to him.

"Chance!" She called out, matching his pace and touching his arm.

When he turned towards her, she gave him a small, shy smile. "Um, hi. How have you been?"

Fauna paused, but not long enough to give him the opportunity to answer properly. "Er, listen... I was... I have this thing due tomorrow. For Divination. And I was... wondering if you'd maybe help me with it? I just... need someone that's not in the class to do, you know, a reading on."

She bit her lip, worried that it sounded like all she cared about was the assignment, when the assignment was more of an excuse to talk to him. "If you're busy, I can ask someone else," she added quickly, already edging away.

It was rare for Chance to be spotted outside of class...and even then he stayed to the background and kept to himself.  He had been withdrawn, sullen, and showing a rather surprising rebellious streak as of late.  Chance seemed to have a storm cloud following over his head constantly, and even getting near him made most people feel uneasy now.  Whatever he was going through seemed to be radiating from his very being.  It was as if his soul was silently raging, screaming from depths that could not be heard. 

Little problems had been stacking up, mingled with more serious ones, and now they had become too much for him to bear.  Chance was sinking deeper into this path and seemed to somehow...like how the taste of bitterness and rage tasted.  This troubled him.  There was something wild and primal in him just waiting to get out.  He'd always kept it caged before, but it felt like the bars of his goodness and self restraint were growing weary.

Normally...Chance tried to ignore those who called his name unless he was directly confronted...and even then he tried to simply greet the person and leave.  But this...this was Fauna.  Chance halted directly in his tracks.  He hadn't heard that voice in awhile...and it still elicited all sorts of emotions from him.  His unnaturally green eyes seemed stormy  and conflicted as they swept to Ms.Blake.  Her touch felt both foreign and electrifying.  Physical contact had been something he hadn't experienced much of in quite some time...of course that was because he was keeping everyone at arm's length.  The Irish Gryffindor was stunned for a moment, before he finally responded.

" 'ey there, lass..."

It seemed an immense toll had been taken on Chance's spirits...and even such a simple response seemed to practically trudge past his lips.  Chance stalled a moment after Fauna had asked how he was...luckily she didn't leave him on the hook for too long, before taking him off of it and speaking again. 

"M'not sure ah'm th' best o' 'elp in Divination'r...mucha anythin', truth be told."

Fauna seemed ready to take him off the hook again, but...Chance found himself staring into Fauna's eyes, or watching how gentle her features looked as she spoke.  That was something he hadn't forgotten.  If only she reciprocated his feelings...Nevertheless, he did care for her and wanted to be there for her when she needed him.

"Yeah...if y'need 'elp, ah'll do what I can."

Chance had missed spending time with her.  That was for certain.  It was difficult to pry his eyes off of her.  Many memories flooded back to his mind...most of them were positive when it came to Fauna, but there was always Devlin in the background and that fated night.

Fauna held his gaze for a long moment when he agreed to help her, trying to figure out what had put that sadness in his eyes and why she hadn't paid attention to it before. Trying to muster the courage to just ask him what was wrong.

Instead, she nodded, smiled politely, and started walking with him, veering off down the corridor and opening the door to one of the empty classrooms, where she turned on the lights and glanced behind her at Chance.

"This okay? I figure, um, less noise and all..."

After hearing his response, she sat cross-legged on the floor and rummaged around in her book bag for her tarot book, tarot cards, and a white cloth that she spread out in front of her.

Fauna looked up, "You can sit. If you want?" The floor was hard and cold, but provided more space than sitting at desks would.

She left the palmistry book in her bag and set it aside. Palm reading required the obvious: touching hands, and just the thought of that made her own palms sweat. It had never bothered her much in class, but this felt different. Just nerves, she told herself. Tarot reading was the safer choice.

Fauna gave him a small, encouraging smile. "Um, so I was thinking tarot would work. I don't know if you've ever done one before, but you pretty much, just... have to keep an open mind. I mean, not saying you have to believe in it, but during the reading itself..."

She trailed off and bit her lip, hoping that was at least somewhat reassuring. He'd said earlier that he wasn't sure he'd be of much help with Divination, and the added comment of 'much of anything' had not escaped her notice, though she tried to push it to the back of her mind. As the tarot reader, she was supposed to keep a clear head and not let outside concerns influence the cards, so to speak.

Ha!

Fauna began shuffling the deck and sent him another smile, still thinking about him.

Seeing those big doe eyes locked onto his own filled him with a swelling joy, even if it was short lived.  Chance had to push this to the back of his mind...He couldn't let himself get caught up in the way Fauna made him feel.  He knew that they couldn't be together and...well...Fauna wasn't interested.  She must not have seen him in a romantic way at all.  Right?

Try as Chance may...his emotions were conflicted and he couldn't keep his mind settled.  Between rage, passion, love, and hate came emotions from all over the scope of humanity.  Chance had always seemed so together before...so easygoing and happy go lucky.  This seemed to be an entirely different person. 

Going into the secluded classroom...alone with Fauna, he could barely contain himself.  Chance wasn't sure if he wanted to scream in frustration, sit down and have a heart to heart talk instead of worrying himself sick, or simply grab hold of the lovely Hufflepuff and plant one on her that she would not soon forget.  These were the things that the conflicted Chance was contemplating...the impulses which were currently warring inside of him.

Restraint still won out.  Barely.

"Yeah...s'fine, Fauna."

Chance eased to sit down...not even sure if he should sit across from her or beside her...the Irishman split the difference and sat diagonally from her.  He propped his back on a wall and sat half crosslegged with his other leg bent upward at the knee and his foot stretched forth across the floor.

"Ah've dabbled a touch...Never was m'strong suit.  Ah'll do m'best fer ya though."

How he'd missed those awkward looks, the times Fauna would nip her lip or blush or turn those big eyes up to meet his own gaze.  Even this...just being with her, experiencing those tiny miracles...seemed worth the tumult and frustration.  Could he at least keep these simply pleasures and joys...?  Or were they to be taken away from him next?

Chance inhaled a slow...deep breath, as if he were taking a super lunged drag off of a cigarette.  Those unusually green eyes were concealed by eyelids as he attempted to focus his thoughts and help Fauna.  He tried to still his mind's stormy waters...He tried to let a calm rule the ocean of his mind.  But here and there, bolts of thought would lash out like lightning.  His mother screaming.  His father in some sort of bed.  Fauna kissing Devlin.  Nights alone on his guitar.  Creeping about Hogwart's.  Fighting with Professor Storm.  Being scolded by Professor Levartian.  The brief, flickering images of friends fading away.  And then it seemed his mind settled...with images of Fauna on the horizon...standing across the vast ocean which his self representation was reaching out towards...her eyes seemed to make up the sky above.  Always staring at him.  Always reaching.  But never to touch...Suddenly all went to darkness.  Concerts.  Parties.  Good friends.  Laughing.  Dancing.  Kissing.  It seemed that now Chance was trying to assert control over his own mind...and dwell only on things that would make him appear to be "alright."  He didn't want Fauna to see the muck that was clouding up his heart and soul.  He wanted her to see who he had been.

Fauna fumbled the cards a few times as she sneaked glances at him, but luckily he seemed too lost in his thoughts to notice. Chance appeared caught up in a war within himself, not just this evening, but since school had started again. So many unspoken words hung between them, and Fauna didn't know what to say or how to get him to talk to her. And why should he talk to her? Perhaps he needed space, or simply didn't want to be friends anymore. That was his right, his choice, just like dating Devlin was a choice she'd made.

It wouldn't be fair to tell Chance she missed him, would it?

She shook her head, focusing on the cards in her hands. He was here now, they were talking now - sort of. The room fell silent for a few seconds when she finished shuffling the deck. Fauna laid out the cards in the standard Celtic cross spread, each one making a whisper of sound as she set it on the cloth. She'd done it in class so many times that the movements were automatic, and the tarot book lay forgotten beside her, functioning more as a security blanket than a tool she expected to use.

Glancing down at the layout of the reading, she noticed a lot of 'heavier' cards signifying change and turmoil, conflicting emotions and goals, but also hope. They just had to get there.

"Ok, so... this first card," she pointed at the one in the middle, underneath the second card, "is supposed to be the present, what's happening in your life now. Since it's a court card - the Knight of Cups - it's probably a person. Might be you," she smiled a bit. Knight cards generally signified teenagers. "Um, so that means that, on the plus side, you're in tune with your emotions. On the negative, they might overwhelm you."

"The second card is the immediate challenge or obstacle in front of you: the Devil card. Which... has a lot of negative stuff attached to it, but it's not necessarily bad. It could signify a person, or it could mean, uh, feeling guilty, or falling into bad habits. It's one of those issues where you might feel sorta... stuck, but it also means that you can get out of it if you want to. Kinda complicated to explain."

She paused, and then moved on to the next couple of cards. "Number three is the distant past card. The Tower. Basically means that... you might have had a sorta rude awakening, or been... finding out unpleasant things that are true. It can leave someone feeling pretty shaken up."

Without meeting his eyes, she looked at the next card. "Number four is the recent past, stuff that has happened in the past few weeks or month. The Three of Swords is... heartache," she explained simply. "Feeling betrayed, disappointed, isolated."

Fauna paused again, looking at him. If this was hard for her to say, it must be even harder for him to hear, and the sad thing was, she could see how those things would be true. She didn't have Astrid or Sophie's natural talent for Divination, but sometimes she got lucky, and sometimes she was able to read the person in front of her as well as if not better than the cards. With Chance, she knew him, and he had been uncharacteristically melancholic for weeks.

"You doing okay... so far?" She asked softly, prepared to leave the assignment unfinished if he didn't want to move forward with it.

Chance's hair had grown out a bit, which was more obvious because it wasn't jutting in every direction as was characteristic of his personal style.  Now it hung rather low, just overlapping his eyes and faintly touching his cheekbones. 

The Irish Gryffindor's own confidence had been shaken and now he found himself questioning everything & everyone, and withdrawing from it all.  He felt more and more like the "waste" that his Mother so affectionately called him.  He felt virtually unnecessary and that what he did mattered very little in the long run.  It was this feeling of weakness and helplessness that contributed to the rage he was feeling from his familial issues and the usual stresses at Hogwart's. 

Chance was trying not to think about Fauna and how he missed her, perhaps even dreamed of her.  As he heard the gentle setting of the cards, Chance finally opened his eyes to peer down at what Fauna was placing down. 

As the Hufflepuff explained the cards, Chance realized just how clear his torrid emotional state was.  His lip twitched a bit and slanted downward ever so slightly with disappointment...but that was all.  He merely listened as Fauna continued and Chance began to feel more ashamed.  He was actually a bit surprised when the girl asked if he was "doing okay so far?"

"Ah dunno...You tell me?  Am ah?" 

Chance wasn't showing much of a reaction as Fauna studied his face, trying to figure out what he was asking, exactly.

"Um, I don't know," she replied, looking confused. "Er, I mean, you're doing just fine with the reading, you know?"

Fauna paused for a long moment. "I was just..." It didn't take a genius or a seer to see that he'd been acting strangely, but even so, knowing it and hearing his feelings laid bare were two different things. She'd never intended on cornering him or making him face up to anything, but unfortunately this was turning into a therapy session that neither of them were prepared for. Fauna didn't want him to feel stuck here, like being with her was another obligation or bad experience to get through.

"It's not all doom and gloom," she continued hopefully, glancing down at the cards again. "I mean, like this one, the best outcome card," she pointed at the card with the hands. "It's the Two of Cups. Which means that... if everything happens the way it should, you'll get a fresh start with friendships, family ties... romantic relationships." Fauna's face flushed and she hurried on. "So, it's supposed to mean peace, basically."

She pointed to the next one. "And then here, with the immediate future... this should happen in the next few days or weeks. It's the Star. Which is hope. Things will start to... turn up. A friend might help you out, you'll reach some understanding, or um... you know, good things."

Fauna hesitated and waited for some sign from him that he was fine with this and that she wasn't being too intrusive.

Poor Fauna seemed to amble through various social settings like Chance did in dealing with his emotions.  Neither seemed certain of what to do or just how to react in their present situation.

Nevertheless, Chance nodded somewhat...as if acknowledging Fauna's point of view and taking it for what it was.

Fauna was taking a great deal of precaution and care while interacting with Chance.  It was as if she were skating on thin, cracking ice.  She didn't want to plunge through to the chilling depths beneath the breaking surface.

However...it seemed the cards were finally taking a turn.  Was that his attempt at feigning happiness and focusing on good times and relationships?  Or did this go deeper than his own attempts?  Either way...Chance's brows lifted somewhat beneath his draping of jagged edged hair.

Watching Fauna's face flush after she'd mentioned romantic relationships made him curious...was she turning red because of talking about romance with him in particular?  Or was she simply squeamish with romance in general...or was she fawning over Devlin?  His facial expression betrayed either a look of disbelief as to his luck in the romance department increasing...or a look of disdain in reference to his idea that Fauna was doting over Devlin.  It was difficult to discern the two...perhaps it was even a combination of both.

Did Fauna fancy herself this "friend" that might help him?  She certainly couldn't have any romantic intentions toward him.  She'd made that clear at the mixer months ago.  Hadn't she?

The look of skepticism on Chance's face made her freeze up. She wasn't sure where it came from, and could only attribute it to the last thing she'd said about things getting better soon, that someone would help him out. Her face flushed a darker shade of red and she looked down, wondering if she'd perhaps focused on that too much. Of course she wanted to help him, and hoped that even this reading might even help him or get him to talk to her. But that card was supposed to predict what would happen in the future, not what was happening now.

She took a deep breath and decided to finish up with the reading. The last four cards veered into the negative again, but it wasn't as bad as it might seem when looking at the reading on a whole.

"Um... the seventh card represents inner factors or feelings.  Since it's the Moon, it's a little bit like the Tower card, 'cause it brings truths to light. And they might be confusing or a little disturbing. It's not an easy time and you're trying to find... answers. It also says to trust your intuition."

She pointed at the card above it. "This one is external influences that you can't really control. It's a court card, the Queen of Swords, which probably represents a person. Maybe an older woman or someone that is powerful... or has power over you."

Fauna didn't risk looking up at him again, and instead talked faster. "Um, Ten of Swords is your hopes and fears. Basically you... might fear that things are really as bad as they seem. But you hope that the worst is over."

"And the last one is the final outcome. What would happen if the best outcome doesn't pan out. The hanging man means that... you'll have time to move on and let go. That eventually you'll find the answers."

She finally met his eyes and was quiet for a moment. "That's... that's about it. Do you... have any questions about anything?"

The way that the cards seemed to teeter back and forth boggled Chance's mind.  Was he really that conflicted?  It seemed with every promise of hope, there was another hurdle to cross.  Chance really did not know what was on the horizon for himself.  His mind and heart warred with one another as the debate raged on within him.  What was he to do now?

"Sorry, jes'...lot t'take in.  'At's all."

Trust his intuition?  How could he do that?  Was he supposed to just throw caution and good sense to the wind...or was he supposed to play it safe and just wait out the storm?

Was Fauna the Queen of Swords?  Was it Professor Levartian?  Was it his mother?  Was it Professor Storm in drag?

And perhaps the worst card was the..."hurry up and wait" outcome.  Chance's eyes fell toward the floor as he nodded with understanding.  Perhaps his intuition was right...and he simply had to wait out the storm, before venturing back out into the light of day again.  Maybe it wasn't time yet to take any real action.

"Ah dunno...Seems like alotta back an' forth.  Good things're comin', watch yer step, y'll find yer answers, yer 'bout t'get splattered if y'don' dodge that Whompin' Willah!"

It was the closest thing to humor he'd shared with Fauna in quite some time...His choice of phrases may have been humorous, but the content behind his words actually represented his true feelings on the outcomes of the reading.

"Ah dunno what t'do 'bout all uvvit.  S'like that muggle song 'Should ah stay'r should ah go?' "

Fauna smiled a bit at his joke, understanding where he was coming from with the reading. Personally, she found it best not to analyze tarot readings too much, or any kind of Divination for that matter. She was no expert, so she tried to take each divination attempt with a grain of salt.

A part of her felt disappointed that she wasn't making him feel any better, however. Perhaps she needed to focus less on excuses and cards and just talk to him.

"Yeah, it's... I don't think you have to do anything. Necessarily." Fauna bit her lip and scooted closer to him. "What I got from it, mainly... is that things will look up soon." She hoped.

Fauna hesitated and looked at him. She knew she had a bad habit of letting friendships fade when she thought someone was avoiding her for whatever reason. She often let the other person make the first move in solving problems, but Fauna didn't want to lose Chance because she hadn't tried hard enough.

"Um, is there anything I can do? I mean... not more tarot stuff," she blushed and waved her hand dismissively at the cards. "I mean, like... I can just listen. Or hex someone? I can hex someone for you," Fauna said earnestly, all prepared to gather the Hufflepuff troops and corner whoever had made Chance feel so badly. Because that was easy.

She let out a chuckle at how that sounded, and shook her head, hoping she wasn't the one who had caused his misery. That this whole thing was bigger than the mixer, and that she could help him through it.

Chance simply nodded as to Fauna's reply.  He secretly yearned for the days that she seemed happy to be with him.  Why had he misinterpreted that friendship?  Why did it have to be more?  Why couldn't he be satisfied with that wonderful friendship?  Was it his Gryffindor pride that was ailing his wounded heart?

There was the smile.  The lip bite.  The scooting thing was new...but Chance always favored being closer to Fauna.

Her encouragement was reassuring...and it seemed he was finally able to relax a little bit, seeming to allow a cloud of tension to roll off of his shoulders.

"Well 'at's good...Ah 'ope yer right, lass."

When Fauna paused silently to look at him, Chance lifted his green eyes up again to watch her.  He lingered there for a bit too long it seemed, but before he could speak...Fauna asked if she could help.  He smiled faintly and shrugged his shoulders a bit.

"Can y'make me less uvva screwup with some amazin' spell o' yers?"

Chance didn't ask the Hufflepuff to hex or replace his mother...or for Fauna to dump Devlin and fall in love with him instead...He didn't ask for the externals that were bothering him.  All of these problems seemed to lump together in one intense mass which was currently smothering him in self doubt.  Maybe all of his problems were really his fault, because he wasn't good enough...as his mother had always been so eager to point out.

He didn't want to lose Fauna, even if they would never have anything more than a friendship together.  He looked back up to her and reached an arm to wrap around her and squeeze her from the side.

"Ah don't ruddy deserve people like y'in m'life.  An ah've been t'much uvva drama queen lately...Ah'm sorry fer that, Fauna.  Ah really am."

For a moment, his spirits seemed lifted, and she felt like she was sitting with the Chance that she knew. She'd said something right! She'd helped, just a little. Some of the tension went out of her shoulders and her expression looked less worried.

But that moment soon faded when he called himself a screw-up. If that was a joke, she still didn't like it, and was only slightly comforted when he wrapped an arm around her and gave her a reassuring squeeze, apologising for his behaviour and claiming that he didn't deserve people like her in his life.

She couldn't help the concern that flickered over her face, causing her mouth to droop and her brows to come together.

"Chance," she said softly, wanting to reach out to him but not daring to. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Really." Fauna was sorry she'd taken so long to speak to him, though she didn't mention it, because it would shift the focus from him to her own problems. He needed to be reassured more than she did right now.

"You're not a screw-up," she stated as simple fact, looking him in the eye. "And, I mean... do you really feel that way? Like you don't deserve... good people in your life?"

Though sadness tinged her voice, this was not a hypothetical question meant to clue him in that he shouldn't have those feelings. Fauna wanted to know how he honestly felt. 

Chance was more accustomed to trying to nudge Fauna into a comfort zone...so to have her trying to bring him out of a shell was strange indeed.  Fauna had gotten rather quiet at this point though...but in this context it put Chance on edge somewhat.  She looked so...serious.

She hadn't responded.  Had he shocked or offended her somehow?  He watched her face...with growing concern which matched her silence.  He watched her eyes, her lips...anything to show some sort of change.  She finally took him off the hook and he exhaled slowly.

But then she continued and turned a question to him.  He was the one to pause now...Chance shrugged simply enough with a reply.

"Yeah...can't seem t'get anythin' right.  But that's jes' how ah am an' ah guess ah've gotta learn t'deal with it sooner than later.  An' ah' dun' wanna mess things up fer th' good people we're talkin' 'bout, y'know?"

At this point...Chance felt like he was rambling a bunch of pointless muck...so he shifted a bit where he was sitting and slowly removed his arm from Fauna.  He glanced up and around toward a window, trying to think up a subject change.

"Sure is cold lately..."

"Uh-huh, it is," she replied awkwardly to his comment about the weather, noticing he'd pulled his arm away and seemed uncomfortable. Fauna looked down, and started to pick up the cards on the floor, just to keep her hands busy. She was supposed to make notes on the reading, but she figured she'd do that later, back in the common room.

Fauna didn't want to pry or make him even more uneasy, but she also didn't feel good about dropping the topic while knowing that he believed he couldn't get anything right. It was a sad outlook, and one she could relate to somewhat. There'd been a time, especially last year, when she'd felt utterly hopeless in most areas of her life, and that uncertainty and doubt still crept up on her when she wasn't careful. The idea that Chance, someone she saw as being perpetually cheerful and confident, underestimated himself so much really got to her.

"You know, I sorta see you as being, um... nevermind," She shook her head, face flushing.

A few seconds passed. "I mean... I think you do... a lot of things right," Fauna struggled to find the words. She glanced up every so often from the cards she'd gathered in her hands.

"You're... I look up to you, you know?" Her lips twitched up into a sheepish smile.

"You don't mess things up. You... make things better for people. And so, it's okay to lean on other people sometimes."

She gave a little shrug, even though she meant exactly what she said, whether it made sense or not.