Caught Off Guard

[Lynette Maroc]

Lynette was a jumbled ball of nerves and anxiety. She had been ever since the last note from Clarice had come. She hadn't seen another even though it'd been several weeks since. Telling Annette had only made her anxiety worse. She had thought it would make it better, having confided in someone, but now all Lynette could think about was that the secret would get out. That thought was terrifying. She didn't know what she'd do if people found out what she'd been through or what it would do to her mother.

She was lost in those thoughts as she stared down at that single glove that had been returned to her. The damned thing had continued to haunt her since the raven had brought it back to her. Despite the fear it instilled in her, she couldn't seem to leave it behind in her dorm.

It was more than obvious that in the days following the last letter that Lynette was not the same woman she had been. She was a bit thinner, obviously eating much less. Her face was a bit gaunt with obvious dark circles around her eyes. Lack of sleep was perhaps the worst part of what she was suffering from since the letter had come. A small sigh escaped her as she reached for her leather bound book of doodles, intent to do so more sketching as she waited for a time when it would be more acceptable to disappear into her dorm without people asking questions.

  

[Felix Parkinson I]

Felix heard Lynette sigh from across the room and paused in his readings curiously. He'd always found Lynette a hard person to get close to- she shut her self off from the other students all too often- but recently she seemed even more distant.

In fact Felix had noticed a slight change in his housemates demeanor over the last year. He considered her a friend- though honestly couldn't say if she considered him one or not- but had noticed her pulling farther and farther away from him ever since the end of summer. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but he had the uncomfortable feeling that she'd been avoiding him for some time now, and even their transfiguration practices seemed more and more strained. This alone was enough to bother Felix a great deal since he felt Lynette and he were kindred spirits of sorts. But up until now he'd avoided any awkward conversations with her on the subject.

Saving his place in the book Felix stood up and slowly walked over to Lynette. Perhaps it was time he through caution to the wind and asked if his friend as alright.

"Miss. Maroc, are you alright? " Felix asked softly doing his best not to startle her. He could tell that she was a little on edge already and the last thing he wanted to do was give her a fright.

  

[Lynette Maroc]

It really didn't take much to catch Lynette off guard and startle her. And despite Felix's attempt to speak quietly and not startle her, he still did. She jumped just enough to jar her arm that had been sketching to drag the charcoal across the page and effectively ruin what she'd been doing. Not that it had been important and would have surely been a much darker image than any proper young lady should be sketching. Regardless, it was enough for her to furrow her brow in frustration. Not necessarily directed at Felix himself but that the event had caused her eyes to burn with tears almost instantly.

She was quick to rub the back of her hand over her eyes to wipe the tears away though, hopefully quick enough to wear they wouldn't be noticed by her fellow Ravenclaw. She took in a deep breath and shook her head though, surprising herself when she answered him. "No. I'm not," was her rather curt response but she didn't bother to further explain her answer and instead set to closing up her book of sketches.

  

[Felix Parkinson I]

Felix stepped back slightly as Lyn visible jumped in her seat out of surprise. He hadn't noticed it before she'd been drawing and the sudden movement had caused her to slash a a dark and crooked line across the image. Felix wasn't much an artist himself but he had a pain of guilt as he realized he'd essentially ruined her picture.

"Oh dear, Miss. Marco, I am terrible sorry, I didn't mean to ... " He trailed of watching as she closed the book

"It was just that you , oh bother. I must apologies" Felix said rather a bit awkwardly.

  

[Lynette Maroc]

Lynette was quick to shake her head as Felix began to apologize. It surely wasn't his fault, well, not entirely. Lynette was just a constant ball of emotional nerves and most things seemed to startle her anymore, no matter how mundane things may be.

"No no," she started, still shaking her head slightly but not actually looking at him, "Its not your fault, really. And the sketch was nothing of importance."

  

[Felix Parkinson I]

Felix hadn't really believed it to be his fault but that didn't stop him from feeling a little bad about it, even worse was that he didn't have an artistic bone in his body so having messed her creation was equally guilt inspiring for him.

Felix didn't know if he would be intruding by sitting down next to her or not so he remained standing thinking when in doubt it was best to play it safe.

" Miss. Marco, would you like to talk about what ever it is that is bothering you?" Felix asked as she confirmed that something was bothering her. He hope'd he didn't sound too nosy in asking but he was genuinely concerned for his fellow yearmate.

  

[Lynette Maroc]

Lynette was surprised he had decided to stick around. She figured that her cold and rather dismissive behavior would have put him off enough to just leave. Most would have left . Or at least she assumed they would have.

She shook her head instead when he asked if she wanted to talk about what was bothering her. "No. Not really. The last time I talked of it, it went badly," was her answer. Anne had tried to convince her to tell someone but she'd ended up walking out instead. What Anne had said normally would have made sense but Lynette really couldn't think quite straight anymore.

  

[Felix Parkinson I]

Felix paused trying to get his barrings in the conversation. He had never through of himself as socially inept but then again he was usually talking to a fellow wizard, and more often than not witches seemed a mystery to him. But Lyn was his friend

" How could talking about it turn out bad" He asked cocking his head to the side curiously. He didn't want to push her into talking about something she wasn't comfortable discussing but unless it was a charmed secret he didn't see how it could be of harm.

  

[Lynette Maroc]

Lynette sighed slightly as Felix seemed to continue pursuing the line of questioning. She didn't know how he'd react to her secret considering he was a man. Anne had been rather adamant about telling someone about it. And considering she knew how protective men could get, she had a feeling Felix would be of the same mind as Anne, if not worse. He'd probably want to know who Clarice was and think to seek justice or something. Which, really, was a crazy thought. Clarice would probably kill her fellow classmate and friend.

"Talking about it only complicates things," she finally answered with a small shrug, avoid eye contact, "And there's nothing anyone can do to fix it so it isn't as if talking about it would do any good."

  

[Felix Parkinson I]

Felix sighed and then slowly shook his head. He could tell when some one wasn't interested in talking but it frustrated him that his attempt to help or at the very least be there for Miss. Maroc was so easily dismissed.

He didn't see how "talking about it would only complicate things" but he wasn't going to push, he knew that would probably just end up with Miss. Maroc blowing up in his face.

" I doubt there is no one who can fix it Miss. Maroc " Felix simply said. " Perhaps you just need to find the right person to do so" He added with a shrug.

"But I'll leave it be, just know there are those who would listen" He said trying to sound comforting.