[W.Willow] I Wish You Could See Through My Eyes

[Bronwyn Klark]

Bronwyn had been in the mood for a walk but walking by yourself is such a bore so, grabbing Dean Hogarth's arm after lunch, Bron dragged him with her on her little walk. Bronwyn had been feeling like there was just too much pressure in the castle and she needed to clear her head and what better way to do that then by strolling around the grounds with a friend?

Sure, Dean was vaguely uncomfortable but this was Dean and he was always like that ... well, at least like that around Bronwyn. Maybe it was just her magnetic personality or maybe she just scared him. Sometimes she worried that it was more the latter then anything else but then the worry turned into glee. Yes, she was a little sadistic but that was Bronwyn Klarks for you, perhaps she was slightly French?

So, there the two students were, Bron with her arm locked in Dean's, looking and being so different. Bronwyn was vivacious and out going, smiling broarly and laughing loudly; and then there was Dean, who was practically everything she wasn't. As the conversation died down slightly, Bron began to think, and everyone should know how dangerous this could be.

"You're nothing like me, Dean," Bronwyn said, looking at him with a shrewd look on her face. "I wonder how it would be to be weedy and quiet. I can't for the life of me imagine what it would be like not to live life but to watch it go by. How do you do it?" She wasn't meaning to be mean, per se, she was speaking her mind: the by-product of Ms Klark thinking.

[Dean Hogarth]

The library was Dean’s place of solitude; his desk was the one closest to the wind at the far side of the forest of books. If he did not have his nose stuck in a book, or frantically moving his quill across his latest essay the Hufflepuff would be found staring out the window, although if a certain professor was on library duty he would more the normally be found staring off in her direction. Yes the library was a place where Dean Hogarth felt at home and it was where he should have been right at this very moment in time, not being dragged out of the castle by Bronwyn Klark.

Bronwyn had been one of the many people that over the years Dean has helped with her studies, he could still remember the assignment. It was her third year Astronomy paper on the Ursa Major and seeing as Astronomy was a strong point for Dean he had ended up writing the entire essay and as a result a rather fickle friendship had been formed. But this fragile friendship seemed to be enough for the Gryffindor, so after lunch (which Dean had sat captivated watching Professor Owen eat a Chicken Caesar salad) he had been pulled out of the crowd and now he was being forced to listen Bron witter on about all sorts of things and only occasionally he would add his two cents.

However the Hufflepuff’s observation onto the state of their friendship and difference in personality’s had clearly not been a figment of his imagination, Bron had also noticed it and rather forcefully moved onto the topic, summarising his personality up in a few simple words. Was he really what others thought? The tips of Dean’s ears burnt red as she then asked him how he acted, in want of another word, so dull.

“I…er…well…we are no-not all gifted with the confidence th-that you posses Bron” Dean as per normal stuttered his way through the sentence as he carefully picked his words not wishing to cause any offence to his female counterpart. “I find it easy to be ignored.” A meagre smile momentarily fluttered across his features as his eyes nervously glanced up towards the Astronomy tower in fear that she might see him with someone else.

[Bronwyn Klark]

Bronwyn's blue eyes were intently on Dean as they strolled aimlessly over the school grounds. Had she not been so focused on watching Dean's face as he thought about a good way to answer her Bron would have noticed where they were wondering to but just for the moment neither student noticed. Though what Bron did notice was Dean's glance up towards the castle.

Frowning, Bronwyn poked him in the side. "How long you been cruching on the newly labelled Prof Hubbles?" Bron asked, her head cocked to the side in her classic prodding technic. She was very facinated as to how a boy could be so infatuated with a woman nearly twice his age when she'd just gotten married of all things. Surely that would have given him the wink he needed? Though apparently not.

Sometimes it was easy for Bron to hide that she was at times a little slow. This wasn't one of those times. Only after they'd covered a few more steps that Dean's words truly set in. "Ignored?" she practically shrieked the word. "Ignored? Why in Merlin's name would anyone want to be ignored?" She rolled her eyes and giggled. The idea was so strange to her, so foriegn to her mind it didn't really fit in with the rest of the stuff that was in her mind.

Bron thought about it for a while. She came to a conclusion that she'd never understand Dean, or any boy for that matter but particularly Dean. He was just too strange for words. Loosing her balance as she stepped, Bron held onto Dean tightly and managed to pull herself up again. Laughing, Bron threw her head back. The day simply wasn't complete without her trying to kill herself by falling.

Shaking her head at her own clumsiness, Bron sighed. "Why'd you want to be ignored, Dean?" she asked curiously. If there was one thing Bron was more then being mean it was curious.

[Dean Hogarth]

“Me?” His voice went a little too high pitched and cracked slightly as he prolonged the ‘e’ in an attempt to stress his surprise at being asked such a question. “I don’t…no…defiantly do not ha-have a crush on Professor Ow--ubbles.” It was not only the lack of strength in his words that portrayed his feeling but the petrified look in his grey eyes as well as the deep red his checks were turning. His infatuation was blatantly obvious and he was sure that over the five years that this had been on going it would have died away, but she had this way of smiling at him and just her caring nature lent herself to the poor besotted Hufflepuff.

Dean was determined not to give in, even though his naive love was as transparent as the windows that were glistening in the afternoon January sunshine Bronwyn was most certainly not going to be the first person he admitted it to. With this thought he was thankful that the Gryffindors rather slow nature had stepped into save him and she had now moved onto the pressing topic of not being the centre of attention. GASP!

“It has its advantages.” Dean muttered as Bron continued to giggle and fall over while thinking about this, obviously ridiculous notion of being a simple person in the background. For Dean one huge advantage was that no one asked stupid questions, like the ones he had been asked previously. Oh how he longed for intelligent conversation. The over confident nature of Bronwyn continued to push them forwards into the castle grounds, scarily in the direction of the Whomping Willow, but her way of thinking just made it feel like they were taking one step forward only to go two back.

“Being ignored means I can get on with my life.” Dean stated, a lot more forcefully then he had anticipated. “I…I do not have to worry about others and th-their opinions.” It was time for Dean to take a forceful step and try to steer this rather one sided conversation away from him. “Wh-what makes you think it is a bad thing?”

[Bronwyn Klark]

Dean seemed obivious to his own attraction to the horrid Astronomy teacher. Everyone kept on going on about how pretty she was and blah blah blah but Bron just didn't see it. She rolled her eyes at Dean again, smiling knowingly. But the moment pasted quickly and the fourteen year old girl became more herself, curious and inquisitive.

It was clear that these two wouldn't ever see eye to eye on this attention thing. Bronwyn had grown up always having to fight for attention where as here she simply got it. She'd said it before and she'd say it many times again, it was good to be her and at Hogwarts too. Most boys fell over themselves to get to her, and a few other girls and all she had to do is smile and blink (called fluttering your eyelids).

Bron was still very confused. "But what kind of a life is it if you're just a shadow on the wall?" she wondered out loud. For all this talk of being able to live uninterupted, Bron couldn't see the attraction but Dean had questions of his own. Ron was very happy about this, it meant that should wouldn't have to carry the conversation any more like she always had to.

"Well," Ronnie said thoughtfully, still simply walking, "it's bad because everyone has the potential to be someone better, well, maybe not me but still, most people. And your problem is that you can't handle the attention, you're affraid it'll go to your head and you'll make an idiot of yourself because deep down you're scared of people, and by people I mean Prof Hubbles, thinking badly of you." Bron took a breath. She'd spoken very fast, though she was unsure of some of the thing she'd said.

Bronwyn was at times wise beyond her years. She'd gotten it from her father. His artistic soul led him to the dicovery of people and you only got that by pushing and asking and poking. Dean was fun to poke. He reacted so well. "Besides, everyone wants attention," Bron said decisively.

[Dean Hogarth]

A more arrogant and cocky human being would have simply scoffed at Bronwyn’s words and told her that she was marking up the wrong tree when truly they could see the sense in it. Dean however really did not have a supercilious bone in his body and as the fiery haired Gryffindor rattled off her own theory about being ignored and why Dean did so he could not help but listen. She did bring up a few good points, things that he found hard to admit to himself where now blatantly staring him in the face and that was hard to ignore.

“We look for attention in different ways though.” He vainly tried to argue. “I…I use my work to get the attention of…people. While you er…you…” Dean turned to look at Bron and tried to think of the best way of putting it. “You use your feminine qualities.”

Even though Dean had very little experience when it came to the female of the species and over looking the fact that they petrified him beyond belief he did know the odd thing. He could tell on the off occasion when someone was flirting with him (normally to get him to write their assignment out for him) or when they were in a strop with him (when he told them they would have to re write the assignment in their own handwriting).

“Don’t you feel awkward though?” Dean asked out of no where as he dared turn his head to look upon Bron once more, momentarily taking his focus off the ever looming willow. “I er…mean….d-don’t you feel awkward when you are the centre of attention simply because you’ve fluttered your eye lashes and giggled at some immature jokes.”

He may not have took part in the house bonding that went on in the Hufflepuff Commonroom but Dean had often watched from the corner, seeing Neth tell inappropriate jokes to a bunch of giggling girls who in turn lavished attentions onto him…that was the point Dean normally turned to his Astronomy textbook.

[Bronwyn Klark]

Bronwyn had always thought that she understood people pretty well but Dean was one of those funny people it was great to be around even though you couldn't quite understand what they were on about most of the time. Take now for example, look for attention in different ways ... Didn't make the slightest amount of sense to the Gryffindor. She thought on it for a second but then gave that up as a bad job.

"Feminine qualities?" Bron repeated, shocked but she found it rather funny actually. She laughed loudly, carrying them on further into the grounds. "I've never thought about it that way ..." Bron actually went quiet for some time as she thought about how she got her attention. She'd always thought it was just her sparkling personality but when Dean put it that way maybe it wasn't only that. Maybe.

Dean's next question came as quite a shock and her exclamation sort of slipped out. "What?" she shrieked. Dean repeated his question, sort of, but Bron didn't really hear the question. Not completely. "I like immature jokes," she said defensively, "I find them funny. There's nothing wrong with a lame joke once in a while." Bron thought about all the jokes she'd laughted the hardest at and they were mostly really stupid.

And slowly the rest of what Dean asked sunk in ... very slowly. "And ... no," she said slowly, frowning slightly. "I don't find it awkward. It's fun being surrounded by people I like and who like me and laughing's the best too. Why would that be awkward?" Bronwyn couldn't understand where all this was coming from.

"Is there a time when you're not awkward?" Bron asked bluntly. She spoke without thinking, again, but it was a sincere question, meant with the greatest in curiousity.

[Dean Hogarth]

House pride had been a growing trend throughout of Hogwarts, people hating or disliking one another simply due to the badge that they bore on their robes. Dean was one of the few people who wore yellow who wished they were in another house, of course he had his own reasons, but he thought Ravenclaw truly would have suited him better. However the more he thought on the matter (and as Bron wittered Dean had time to think) there was some sense to people disliking certain houses because they were a set type of personalities. Bron was the perfect example of this; she might as well have had a bright flashing neon sign above her head saying Gryffindor as it was as clear as day that was what she was.

She oozed confidence, was not afraid to speak her mind which always resulted in Dean being asked questions that he did not want to answer and it just took her to glare at him to force the poor Hufflepuff to stutter and answer out.

“I er…I don’t feel awkward when I am asleep.” That too was a lie as even in his dreams Dean would blush and shy away from anyone resembling a member of the female of the species. But Bron did not need to know that now did she? It was not like she was ever going to find out that in the dark depths of his mind Dean was petrified that he made a fool of himself when he slept. The mere thought that people talked in their sleep scared him as he did not want any of the lads in the dorm to know what he was dreaming about.

The tips of Dean’s ears still burned red, almost matching the colour of his nose that had been slowly turning a rosy read due to the coldness of the January Scottish air. He really did not want to be here, and he really did not want to be here with Bron but he was too much of a coward to just tell Bron to find someone else to drag along and the more the thought on it, building himself up the further away they got from the castle and with every step it made a retreat pointless.

“B-Bron?” Dean ran his tongue over his chapped lips as he tried to scrap together some courage. “W-where are you taking me?”