(T.Broomsticks) The Stars Refuse to Shine

[belisma]

Her small white leather purse clung tight to her side, Bella slipped through the door and into The Three Broomsticks. The dim light of the place seemed to match her sullen mood, which she had been trying to run from for weeks now. But it wasn't working, it was as if the sun, moon, and stars refused to shine for her. Wtih heavy steps she stalked toward the bar, hopping up on the seat and setting her purse in her lap. Sighing, she settled her head on top of her arms on the bar.

Why had she come here in the first place? She wasn't in the mood for sweet and tasty drinks, that was for sure. No, Bella figured she had probably just come here to get away from the castle, from the bustle and cheer of the students, which she didn't seem to be able to enjoy this year. Her heart was heavy with something she had never really felt before; loneliness. And she knew why. Elijah had finished his education at Hogwarts, and had moved on to better and brighter things. While she was left here, friendless, in this vicious environment filled with moody teenagers.

It didn't matter if he came back to see her now, anyway. He was probably dating some girl with a brighter future than Bella could ever imagine, and he was probably saving up to buy a huge diamond for her finger. Anger directed more towards herself than him burned at her cheeks, and while flipping her head to the opposite side and laying it down again facing the door, she forced him out of her mind, and tried to think of less hopeless things.[/font]

[Elijah Ellerby]

When Elijah had been in his first years of Hogwarts, he had always been a child who was bored very easily. In his eyes everything had been duller than what it had meant to be, his thoughts always on a higher plain imagining magic he had never seen, thunderstorms of possibility and discovery. He had stared out of a glass ceiling at a world beyond Hogwarts that was fast and rich and fraught with a thousand eyes on him that would demand his expertise, and when that blissful day of his initiation into the Red Rose League had called for opportunity, he thought he had broke through that ceiling…

Of course, it turned out to be a mirage.

Now Elijah shuffled along a windy Hogsmede road in September, men in suits bashing into his shoulders, couples throwing their heads back in laughter of their happiness, and paper boys on bikes shouting at him to get out of their way. For two months Elijah had been living in the attic room of a scholar’s house, claiming to be an apprentice of the local bookshop and in need of someone kindly enough to give him free accommodation. The man was middle aged and handsome, but he had only become so after he’d got over the impression that Elijah had been a beggar banging at his door, Hogwarts suitcase in hand, a small bag on money in his pocket. ‘Well, as long as you can read I suppose I can let you stay in my house. Lord knows what the neighbours will think though…’

The Three Broomsticks loomed through the crowd and Elijah sped up, indulging in shoving a thin, mean looking man out of his way before he dived through the pub door, smoke and sweet larger filling his nostrils. Slipping off his battered old coat he began to walk to the bar, searching for his fellow RRL member Aurélie. Something luminous throbbed at the edge of his vision and instead he came upon… ‘Belisma?’

She was sat with her back to him at the bar, white lightening hair falling down gracefully, every eye in the room on the same thing...

[belisma]

Belisma was lost in thought, staring up at the large mirror above the bar, her eyes half filled with tears. More than anything, she wanted to go home and be with her father. She felt like Hogwarts had turned into nothing more than empty halls, where mens' eyes probed curiously, and girls' eyes glared with open hatred. She had no friends here, that was obvious. Bella fought back a sob and dabbed at her green eye with the sleeve of her sweater.

Maybe I should just go home, she thought to herself. Dad would gladly take me back. But deep in her something knew how dissapointed he would be in her, unable to finish her education, what a failure. The bell above the bar door tinkered, and she closed her eyes tight, dearly hoping that wasn't one of the girls from Hogwarts who hated her so much. But instead, she heard a familiar voice say her name in disbelief.

Bella wiped furiously at her cheeks, snuffling her nose. God, why did he have to show up now, when she looked so horrible? Tucking locks of her silvery blonde hair behind one ear, she turned to look at him, smiling, hoping that it wasn't perfectly clear she had been crying. But she knew it was, it was plain as day.

"Hello Elijah," she said towards the form towering in the doorway, folding her hands on top of the purse in her lap. Her heart was frantically beating in her chest, a caged bird trying to free itself. She could feel the blood pounding in her ears, but she kept her eyes locked to his, almost afraid to look away.[/font]

[Elijah Ellerby]

The air bent around her as she turned to look at him, eyes glossy and cheeks pink with the flush of crying. For one surreal moment Elijah envisioned Belisma drinking alone, often in this dingy and adult place of dark colours, a place a she didn’t belong, and fretted that some horrible and bizarre occurrence had driven her into rotting in pubs alone, getting drunk and crying on some dreadful man’s shoulder. ‘Belisma…’ He echoed more softly, his sad tone making it a statement rather than a question this time.

Draping his coat over the many piled behind the door, Elijah manoeuvred the tables to reach Belisma, smiling in offering. Her eyes were wide and flooded with what little light penetrated the small windows, and they reminded him sadly of flowers marred with frost. A moment passed where his body wasn’t his own and he twitch, confused and unsure of what to do next. As he had reached her he had thought to hug her, but everything seemed so inappropriate and up in the air that he had destroyed the moment. They were both speechless with their own sadness. ‘Belisma, why are you crying, and why are you here? This doesn’t suit you at all!’ He decided not to sit down, instead standing close to her, everything about him stressed and immediate.

[belisma]

As he said her name again something in Bella seemed to snap, like a puppet cut loose from its strings, and her shoulers fell, her head hung downwards, seemingly lifeless. Her eyes were slowly filling with tears again, she lifted her head slightly, just so she could look at him. He had come far too close, but it seemed to her he just wasn't close enough. Her fingers were still twined awkwardly over her purse when her tear hit her index finger, causing her to start, wrenching her hands apart with a liveliness she hadn't had before.

"I don't know," she said softly, bringing her hands back into her lap to clutch at the white leather of her handbag. "Seems like this is the only place I'm welcome these days." Another tear spilled own her cheek, her lips parting in a sad smile. Lifting one hand as if she were about to grab his, her arm suddenly become rigid, and she recoiled as if his fingers had suddenly become a spider.

Every fibre of her being cried out for her to touch him, but she couln't. Everything she felt for him was so utterly hopeless. So, in place of touching him, she just stared up at him, wiping once at a tear stained cheek, offering another small, false smile. "You weren't ever supposed to see me like this," she mused aloud, her voice choked up in her throat, her eyes stinging with hot, fresh tears. It was all she could do to keep from sobbing.

[Elijah Ellerby]

Belisma’s flawless skin creased around her mouth, thin eyebrows knitting together. A tear, catching the colours of the room like an opal, fell to her hand. Elijah’s mind was wrapped around his heart, eyes burning into Belisma’s, and it was too late to stop himself before he felt his finger pressed against hers, taking it away. He must’ve looked so terrified for a moment! ‘Two hot chocolates please!’ He turned abruptly and waved to the barman, deciding for the both of them he'd done nothing. ‘These silly drinks, they’ll kill us all.’ He laughed sadly as he looked back at her, dragging her glass toward him, gripping it tensely. Her cheeks looked warm from crying, but it was an angry flush and it upset him. ‘Drink something hot?’ Elijah urged as it arrived, not knowing what to do other than fuss over in any way possible…

At her last words he sighed, a deep pity filling him. ‘And why not? What did you think I’d do, Bella? Give you a funny look and walk away? You’re my friend for goodness sake, and I knew you weren’t happy the day I met you in the library!’ Emotions other than sadness were filling out his voice now, and he smiled at Belisma, amazed that anyone so beautiful would want to hide so much. ‘You should’ve written me a letter. I’d hoped you’d thought me a confidant…’

Elijah pressed a hand to her back, rubbing it. This time it felt like the harmless reassurance it was supposed to.

[belisma]

Bella's breath caught in her throat as his finger brushed against hers, whisking away her tear. Again she fought back the urge to grasp his hand in hers, a simple gesture, seemingly too simple. The action was something easy, but in it was something much more complex, deep affection that Belisma was too afraid to portray. Instead she removed her eyes from his, finishing her breath to try to ease the frantic banging of her heart in her chest. Slipping her fingers through the ring of the mug, and wrapping the opposite hand around the warm glass, she sighed, then obliged Elijah by lifting it to her lips and taking a sip.

"I didn't want to disturb your new life," she said before she could help herself. Then, cursing her quick mouth in her mind, she backtracked. "But I am happy," she argued, her voice weak. "I'm happy."

Her own voice echoed in her brain, back and forth, lilting. It seemed as though her very tone dripped with the sullen sadness of her lie, and she fought back from breaking down one more time. She lifted one hand from her mug to wipe vainly at her nose, snuffling. Bella tried not to tense at the touch of his hand, taking another sip of her hot cocoa, trying to steady her breathing. Half of her cried for him to stop touching her, but another part of her wanted his comfort. The motion of his hand on her back sent tingles of electric shock through her veins, comforting, but at the same time a bewildering feeling.[/font]

[Elijah Ellerby]

‘My new life?’ His hand stopped stroking, but one finger began to tap her shoulder absentmindedly, like Morse code, uneven and cryptic. His other hand grazed his own mug of hot chocolate, burning the knuckle. ‘I think my life stopped the moment I packed my things, Bella.’ New lives couldn’t be made without old friends, and Elijah had certainly forgot to bring those. Who was the last soul he had really sat down and spoken to properly? It toyed with his loneliness to remember it was Belisma. Her fingers her locked around the mug so tightly he wondered how she could stand the burning pain. It was held against her mouth, although she didn’t drink. Was she biting the rim to keep from crying again?

He gave an unconvinced grumble. ‘Yes, I bet you are,’ he said in soft accusation, an older brother quizzing her to find out if she was being bullied. Oh, but Belisma could handle herself. The Veela in her would see to that. Real beauty was profound enough that it needed defending at all costs, and Belisma was certainly that. Elijah’s stomached knotted with guilt. He was distracted by her magic again, bewitched. His adoration wasn’t possibly true, surly? His feet hurt from the walking and he pull up the stool at last, their knees pressed together against the forest bumping men. They would leave here so bruised. ‘Here…’ Elijah pulled a packet of tissues from his over crowded pocket, seeing Belisma was embarrassed by her state. ‘I feel rotten, Bella. I had no idea you were suffering this much. Tell me you’re not always so alone?’ He’d already forgot the hot chocolate.

[belisma]

Bella eyed him quizzically, leaning slightly closer. Surely his life hadn't come to a screeching stop? His future had seemed so bright when he was at Hogwarts last year, but then again... hers had to. But now it seemed that all that was left was the dim light of the struggle to move past this part of her life. Slowly, she set the mug down again, the cold air feeling alien against the palms of her hands. They were both floating in the same rotten boat, without land in sight, with the clouds of an oncoming storm ravaging all hope. With courage she hadn't been able to muster before, she reached out with a hand to grab his, the action obviously more than just friendly affection. His hand felt cold in hers, just as strange as the cool air had, but despite the feeling in her hand and because of the feeling in her heart, she held on.

"No, don't feel badly," Bella said, offering a slightly more genuine smile than before, locking her eyes on his again. She rubbed her thumb gently over the rough skin on the back of his hand, her stomach fluttering wildly. She hoped her touch wasn't an intrusion, mentally or physically. "I'm not always alone, you know? The girls in the common room are always polite... when they aren't with their boyfriends. And the Hufflepuffs are really patient with me, this one Charlie, she's nice to me..." Her voice trailed off, more because his eyes were beginning to distract her than the fact that she had run out of reasons why she wasn't alone.

Bella's hot chocolate sat cooling and forgotten on the bar, just the way Elijah's did.[/font]

[Elijah Ellerby]

Elijah, so prudent and proper, felt his hand go stiff and turn to glass as Belisma slipped it between her warm palms, fingers sliding over the bones of his knuckles so purposefully slowly he could feel every groove in her skin. If she squeezed he would shatter, break to the floor, trickle between the floorboards forever, irreplaceable. You aren’t that lonely, he urged her to believe, looking at her with complex eyes, mouth twitching. I’m bewitched like the rest of them.

He could feel the fright of bravery in the pulse throbbing in her thumb, fast and hard and trembling. Elijah couldn’t deny her anything now, or she would be finished completely. ‘I don’t think patience and politeness count against being alone, Bella.’ He turned his hand over in hers, pressing their palms against one another. Belisma’s gaze made him a coward and he chose to watch her lap instead, pretending to think. He remember hating the scared boys back in school, shaking his head as he watched them fall apart in front of significant girls. He hadn’t realised how they had suffered until now, and guilt humbled him. ‘Don’t be brave just because you have to.’ He finished hoarsely, fingers entwining with hers.

[belisma]

Bella watched him, each slight twitch in his expression, each tesnse muscle, each seemingly unimportant flick of his eye. Time felt as if it had slowed down for them, and each fleeting second that he held her hand in his felt like years. Her breathing was coming much easier now, as if her worries had been laid to rest by his touch. Her heart rate had slowed, like time around them, as each of her fingers slid gently between his, where they fit perfectly.

Reaching over with her free hand, Bella used one slender finger to tilt his chin upward. Opening her mouth, she let a small noise out, but she didn't have any words to say to him. She was past words, but didn't really care. She watched his eyes carefully, scared to blink, scared to move, but at the same time at peace in a way she hadn't been in a long time. She held his hand gently against hers, the fingers of her opposite hands sliding down to his neck, and just staying there, holding him there so she could gaze into his eyes.[/font]

[Elijah Ellerby]

Elijah closed his eyes, moved, as he watched her other hand raise toward his face. Belisma caressed his chin with the back of her fingers, for despite everything, the inside of her hand felt too intimate for his face, the one place it couldn’t go. Every sound around them drowned out against the painful pounding of Elijah’s heart as she cupped his neck. For a moment he expected her to cave in and let it drop, to hide it as a single moment of affection that was to be nothing more than a message – but it stayed, indomitable and ready, waiting there, prepared. Every gesture, every suggestion had been fulfilled, graceful and kind to one another, only one thing left for Elijah to do. The beat beneath Belisma’s hand slowed.

Belisma’s eyes were full of tender knowing and Elijah returned her gaze, nodding slowly. In the life around them they were a young couple embracing, their lips suddenly seamless, so natural and still they looked at though they had done it a thousand times before, belonging together like the warm wine in the thing glasses, so unremarkable yet so extraordinary. Elijah’s arms enveloped her, and he sighed as he closed his eyes closed to hers, lost to the warmth of her mouth.

[belisma]

All the butterlflies in Bellas stomach stopped fluttering the instant he kissed her, settled for once in reassurance. His arms around her like a protective shield, it was like the sun had come out after weeks of overcast. A happiness and euphoria spread down through her torso, throughout her limbs, tracing and dancing through her veins. She exhaled softly as she pulled her lips away from his briefly, bringing both arms up around his neck in loving embrace before pressing her lips to his again.

Nothing in the world had felt so right. The right people, right time, right place. Everything had just fallen into place, and here she was, in his arms, where she had been wishing to be since they day they had met in the library, the day the butterflies started. And this is where they led her, right into Elijahs embrace.[/font]