--and then came the rain [anthea]

[MARLON COOPER DELANEY]

While Marlon admitted that he enjoyed watching others, catching onto cues that they themselves were hardly aware , it was nice to be alone for once. As Marlon sighed, the air was visible, showing just how cold it was outside. The overcast sky was almost a perfect reflection of how he felt, indifferent and gray as if he were simply an observer of the world. Despite the fact that Marlon had tried his very best to make sure that this was the case at Hogwarts, it was nevertheless a lonely existence at times. Sometimes, it was just nice to think about one's life, regardless of just how depressing it may appear.

The snow crunched satisfyingly beneath his feet as he continued his 'nature' walk so to speak. If the Slytherin were being entirely honest with himself, he hardly knew why he had woken up in the morning and decided to go for a walk in the snow. Perhaps it was that he couldn't really bear his roommates. Or perhaps, he simply had it with people for now, thus the need for reprieve. Whatever the case may be, it led him outside where a fresh blanket of snow had just covered the ground the previous night.

Despite the fact that Marlon's current path led him straight to the Whomping Willow, the Slytherin seemed to care very little of that fact. It wasn't like he had a death wish or anything but rather it had more to do with the fact that he was very intent on walking in a straight line. In fact, at times, Marlon described the Willow as enthralling. Sure, there were plenty of stories where students were severely injured by the tree in question but in his eyes, the students were asking for it. They were nothing more than great big bullies, and not in the cool way.

Behind him, Marlon could hear another set of feet approaching as the soles broke through thin layers of snow. The Slytherin could only hope that this person wanted solitude as well. Preferably, said person would leave him alone soon. Marlon was in no mood for company. His dark and dreary mood was poor enough of that. Thankfully, it was rather early in the morning. As soon as he was rid of his pest, he should be in the clear since by his observation, most students were night owls. Apparently, there was some sort of thrill involved with staying up late now that there were no parents to hound one to bed. Marlon himself was decidedly not a morning person. In fact, it was plain miraculous that he managed to get up as early as he did this beautiful morning.

[fleur]

With an ever active imagination, sleep was something Anthea learned to live without. She did sleep, just not as much as her fellow housemates did. Usually, she'd fall asleep in the early hours of the morning and wake up not long after. Despite these habits, Anthea's liveliness remained unruffled. If anything, it gave her more energy. Which was why she'd woken up as early as she did. Now, her daily routine started off with an early rise, but not nearly as early as today. Of course, she wouldn't waste the extra time she had by going back to sleep.

Squirming out of her bed, Anth tiptoed toward the closest window and peered out of it with great curiosity. The fog on the glass could only mean that it was cold outside. Colder, even, than the day before. She traced the view with her index finger, leaving behind a thin transparent line, and returned to her bunk. She dressed herself quickly, piling on as many layers as she could without looking like an idiot, and quietly slipped through the portrait hole.

Few students were up, though hardly awake. She giggled occasionally as she watched them yawning away, stifling a few yawns herself. As soon as the cold air hit her, Anthea let out a small gasp. It wasn't as bad as she'd anticipated. Though, in comparison with the warmth of the castle, it certainly wasn't pleasant. She let out a few short breaths, entranced by the mist that escaped her mouth, before spotting a somewhat unexpected face - especially at this hour. Marlon Delaney.

Usually, when a person wandered around on their own early in the morning, chances were they didn't want to be disturbed. Anthea didn't know this. Instead, she saw someone wanting company. With Marlon especially, who seemed to avoid her more than anything, she saw an opportunity. Walking up behind him, Anthea noticed where they were heading. "Marlon?" She questioned once she'd covered enough distance between them, keeping her voice soft.

[MARLON COOPER DELANEY]

In most cases, Marlon was not so fond of the early hour; however, his current excursion could possibly lead him to believe that mornings were possibly good for something other than being given a rightful excuse to kick something. The grounds were certainly more peaceful now than they were in the afternoon even when it was so cold outside. With the soft call of his name, Marlon was immediately put on alert since it meant that this stranger had not done as he had hoped, which was to leave him alone. He almost groaned in his annoyance at hearing his name being called. He wanted the solitude that an early morning brought, not the annoying chatter of someone wanting to speak with him about one thing or another.

Glancing briefly behind him, Marlon's eyes widened in alarm and he felt his heart rate increase at the sight of the girl who called out to him. In an attempt to flee from the terribly weird girl, Marlon increased his pace to put more space between himself and the Hufflepuff. However, this feat was much more difficult by the fact that the snow on the ground was not making movements easier on him at all. While the snow was not very high, its very presence was capable of slowing him down slightly compared to his normal running away speed. In addition, he had already walked quite close to the Whomping Willow. So in order to maintain a continued movement away from the girl, Marlon made to circle around the tree.

He couldn't understand the Hufflepuff's fascination with him. He was after all just your average Slytherin. Or that's what he liked to think. All these Hufflepuffs flocking around him definitely wasn't helping his reputation. They must all speak to one another or something. Like most other Hufflepuffs who he was disinclined to meet, Marlon was also terrified of her due to her lineage. In his mind, her Muggleborn lineage meant that she would be far more capable than the average wizard to discover that he himself was also a Muggleborn. She would know what signs to look for that were distinctive to them; perhaps, a misstep on his part or something else. But when it simply came down to it, Marlon couldn't risk it. He wasn't putting his entire future on the line. There was no way he was going back to that hell.

[fleur]

Truth be told, Anthea wasn't entirely sure why the Slytherin seemed so alarmed to see her. If anything, they were friends. At least, they were in her mind. He was somewhat important to her, though many people were. "Marlon." She breathed, concern skimming along her voice. Anthea knew it was him by the mere second their eyes met. Perhaps something was troubling him. It never crossed her mind that that something was her company. "Marlon, please." She called out, struggling to keep up with his speed. Though, why he decided to speed up she didn't know. "I-I c-can't keep up with you."The distance between them wasn't great, but it still frustrated her. She was usually slow, even more so in the snow, and Marlon wasn't making it any easier. Her chest heaved as she stomped on while she rubbed her hands together anxiously. The faster they walked, the colder she got, but she couldn't leave him. At least not here, in the presence of the Whomping Willow.

The Whomping Willow. The Whomping Willow! Panic struck Anthea as the realization finally set in that they were in fact in harm's way. To her, anyway, they were. This tree had been anything but kind to her in her first year at Hogwarts. Fortunately, her injuries were exaggerated and she lived to learn from her mistakes. Still, here they were, and she wasn't going to risk anything.

Shutting her eyes childishly, Anthea began to run as fast as the snow would let her. "M-Marlon, don't die." She called out as she attempted to cover the distance between them. Unfortunately, as difficult as it was walking in the snow, it wasn't any different running in it. The Hufflepuff soon lost her footing and stumbled into the snow, squealing as she rolled.

Her squeak soon turned into a warning, but it was far too late. Anthea gasped as she collided into Marlon, slamming into the back of his legs painfully. The rolling soon came to an end and her head shot up, trying to spot Marlon. "Marlon, I'm so sorry."

[MARLON COOPER DELANEY]

It was utterly unbelievable to him that the damned Hufflepuff was chasing him. Whether she realized that she was doing so or not, she was bloody well chasing him around the Whomping Willow. And did she have to keep calling him? It was making it much more difficult for him to pretend that he hadn’t heard her and was walking really fast of his own accord. Soft snow, good for snow fights, not so good for running away in. The white snow resisted against his movement as if it were on her side. Figures that the universe would hate him that much. It never fully occurred to him that the snow’s volume would have a similar effect on the girl running after him.

"I-I c-can't keep up with you." ‘That’s the idea,’ he thought in annoyance as he gritted his teeth and pushed through the snow with difficulty. However, there was some amount of cheer for the fact that It was increasingly evident that the Hufflepuff was getting tired. Now all he had to do was keep going until she was tired enough that she stopped following him...

He heard Celandine call out to him about not dying. If Marlon had the breath for it, he would have snorted at how ridiculous the statement was. Yes, they were perhaps edging a bit closer to the Whomping Willow than most people would venture to, but it was by now means a likelihood that they would die by it. Besides, it was her fault that they were even this close to the Whomping Willow, he decided. Had it not been for her presence, he would been a bit further away from the temperamental tree.

Unfortunately, while Marlon was assigning blame and cursing Celandine for her persistence, he failed to hear the squeal from the Hufflepuff. He heard only the briefest bit of a warning from behind him, causing him to glance behind him. But by then, Celandine was already rolling and Marlon wasn’t looking down at the ground. So the Slytherin felt his knees give out as the Hufflepuff slam into the back of his knees. Marlon sputtered indignantly, greatly disliking the cold that was seeping through his clothes.

Marlon, I'm so sorry." To this, the Slytherin only glared at her bitterly without a comment on his lips. Although that might have something to do with the fact that he got a nice mouthful of snow on his tumble down to the ground. Somehow he doubted her sincerity. Marlon leaned over and spat out the snow. As nice and fluffy snowflakes were to have land on your tongue, getting a whole mouthful of snowflakes was not quite as pleasant. “Yes?” he turned back to her as he wiped the excess moisture from his mouth, anger and annoyance infused into his tone. “Was there something you wanted?”

[ANTHEA CALLI CELANDINE]

To be honest, Marlon's behavior was nothing short of that of a typical Slytherin. However, there would always be a side to Anthea that hoped for something different. Sincerity, perhaps. Even the faintest flicker of kindness. Today, however, she got neither. As her apology went unacknowledged, Anthea wiped her cheeks of the moisture that ran down them. Not tears, but snow. She shook her head briskly and giggled as more bits of snow flew from her hair. As inappropriate as her laughter was in the given situation, she couldn't help herself. She glanced up at Marlon but, catching his glare, quickly looked down and proceeded to brush the snow off of her sweater while the rest melted in her hair.

Yes? Anthea's brows knitted together as Marlon's voice broke the silence. She struggled to find a reasonable explanation for what she had done. Perhaps her behavior was a bit silly. Then again, there were seldom times where it wasn't. "I.. I gnust gnought.." Anthea mumbled, nibbling on her bottom lip simultaneously. Was there something you wanted? Slowly, she ceased on the nibbling and began to wipe at her cheeks once again.

"I saw you walking alone and I thought you could use some company." The only thing the Slytherin could have wanted at that time, in her mind. "I also.. W-well, I wanted to keep you safe." The last part was a whisper, if anything. Safe was the last thing she'd kept him, knocking him over and whatnot. Oh, yes! The fall.

Anthea frowned again, this time she crawled closer to where Marlon sat in the snow. "Did I hurt you?" She asked airily, genuine concern creeping into her voice. All this talk of injury and safety, and she barely noticed the closer proximity of the Whomping Willow.

[MARLON COOPER DELANEY]

Upon seeing moisture roll down her cheeks, Marlon felt a trill of alarm. He didn’t make her cry... did he? He hated when girls cried. The Slytherin was never sure how to react. On one hand, it would be perfectly Slytherin for him to make fun of a girl crying as a result of some sort of his provocation. However, on the other hand, it seemed so harsh and callous... Marlon hated that weak side of him that made him feel like he owed something to the girl for making her cry. However, the Slytherin soon realized that his alarm was unnecessary and justified when she burst into giggles. Now, he was doubly annoyed for having felt any concern for her at all.

"I saw you walking alone and I thought you could use some company." Marlon could hardly believe her gall to say that he wanted company. He, Marlon Cooper Delaney, was a lone wolf ever since he was a wee child. Although that often had more to do with the fact that he wanted to hide facts about himself from others. Company was not something he often desired. What he did enjoy was peace and quiet to himself, especially on this morning. Was that so much to ask? ...Evidently, it was.

Hearing that she had wanted to keep him safe, Marlon snorted. "Safe?” he asked out rhetorically. He was anything but safe with her around. It seemed that if she had only stayed away, he would have been perfectly fine, no running endlessly through snow, no fall, nothing. However, his sarcastic retort was cut short by the Hufflepuff moving towards him. More than a bit alarmed by moving closer to him, Marlon slowly edged away from her and ever closer to the Whomping Willow. Whatever it was that she was thinking, Marlon did not want to acquiesce at all.

He felt like he sat there, waiting for her to say her piece, eyeing her warily. But in some ways, what she asked was much worse than anything else she could have asked or wanted. "Did I hurt you?" "No!” he replied immediately in a rather openly hostile manner. The question put him on edge. Marlon was horrified that she thought someone like her could hurt him. As if a small girl like her could hurt him. Pah! Of course, it did hurt his ego quite a bit that she would even suggest such a thing, hence the hostility. "Is that all?” he said with annoyance in his voice. It was grandly obvious that Marlon was attempting to get her to leave him alone.

[ANTHEA CALLI CELANDINE]

"No!" At this, Anthea jumped and quickly returned to the puddle of melting snow where she had been sitting before. Her knees rested in the icy water as she leaned against her heels. It was no surprise, really, this coming from a Slytherin. He wouldn't have been a Slytherin if otherwise. It was one of the few things Anthea learned to get used to during her stay at Hogwarts. In fact, her earliest memories included the infamous Smells like Mudblood taunt. Really, Anthea wasn't all that bothered with it anymore. Except, this coming from Marlon Delaney wasn't at all expected. At least not to her. Sure, he hadn't called her a Mudblood, but he was being callous. A real Slytherin treat.

"It's okay, you know." Anthea sang under her breath, not daring to make eye contact. His scowl had been practically scorched into her head, so there was no use actually looking at it. Under his glare, she felt like the snow that was melting under her feet. She bit onto her bottom lip very quickly and blinked as hard as she could. "No one's watching. No one knows you're here, Marlon. If you're hurt you can tell me. I w-won't tell anyone." Dare it be, a Slytherin admitting anything to a Hufflepuff was one of the lowest blows a student of Marlon's caliber could think of. "I just want to.." She paused and mustered up the courage to look up at him. "I want to help."

"Is that all?" Anthea frowned almost immediately. Her chest heaved stubbornly as she began to pick at the ground. "Why do you have to be so Slytherin?" She asked as loud as she possibly could. Which, unfortunately, was not all that loud. She crawled closer to him and reached for his wrist. She had a hard time believing he wasn't hurt and if he was going to be difficult about it, Anthea felt inclined to see for herself. "Honestly, who are you all trying to impress?"

[MARLON COOPER DELANEY]

Seeing Celandine jump at his startled and annoyed response brought some small amount of joy and brightness to his life given that it was entirely her fault. After all, she was the one trying to pry at him and trying to get him to open up. Worst of all, she was trying to help him. Even as a child, Marlon had a strong sense of pride. Accepting help from anybody was just not something he wanted. The Slytherin was just glad that she hadn’t approached any closer at his refusal. However, Marlon should have known that wouldn’t be the end of it. Hufflepuffs could be so annoying...

Hearing her attempting to reassure that ‘it was ok’, Marlon scowled at her, feeling that a response was not necessary to convey his annoyance. He looked thoroughly unamused by her antics. Neither did he appreciate being patronized by her. "No one's watching. No one knows you're here, Marlon. If you're hurt you can tell me. I w-won't tell anyone." The Slytherin gave her a strange look. There was something strnagely familiar about the way she was talking to him. And then it hit him. She was being like his ‘stepfather’ who had tried time and time again to bond with him. However, Marlon had resisted his attempts, just as he was going to resist hers. Admittedly, Marlon’s right wrist did hurt a bit from the fall. He recalled falling fairly hard to the ground, using his hands as cushions. But damned if he was going to let it be known to some Hufflepuff ninny who couldn’t be bothered to keep her nose in her own business.

"Why do you have to be so Slytherin?" Marlon stared at her as if she were the most daft individual to ever walk the Earth. “Because I’m a Slytherin.” he replied obviously with heavy sarcasm. “What else would I be trying to be?” But the Slytherin was pleased that he had managed to break her nice calm demeanor, at least a bit. No more of this trying to warm up to Slytherins because they had to be cute and fuzzy on the inside. Unfortunately, it seemed that he had judged too soon since Anthea started crawled closer to him. Also unfortunately, Marlon was a bit too engaged with his own thoughts on how stupid a question it was that the Slytherin failed to notice the approach of the Hufflepuff until it was far too late.

Feeling her reach for his wrist, Marlon hissed in pain. Immediately, he attempted to snatch his hand and his wrist back from her grasp. Marlon glowered at her with even less amusement than before, if that was even possible. “We’re trying to impress silly girls like you, is that what you want to hear?” he responded callously and sarcastically, the increased pain and throbbing in his wrist causing him to be even more harsh than he had been before.

[/justify]


(( So sooooo sorry about the super long wait. By the way, I Anthea so much ))

[ANTHEA CALLI CELANDINE]

Anthea's eyebrows knitted tightly together in a small frown as Marlon continued to scowl at her. With his expression alone, Anthea felt her own face scrunching up. Almost as if she had dry swallowed a wedge of lemon. Her expression, however, did not mirror the sharpness Marlon gave her. She simply couldn't look him over without eventually bowing her head down in insecure defeat. Challenging Marlon was one thing she simply didn't know how to do.

"Because I'm a Slytherin." At the mere sound of this, Anthea began to shake her head. She looked up once more and blinked hard before making solid eye contact with him. "What else would I be trying to be?" This, of course, was a question only Marlon himself knew the answer to. All the years that they had been in Hogwarts together, all the encounters they had made, Anth still could not seem to piece togther a decent enough character sketch of Marlon Delaney. "You're a different Slytherin." And he was. At least in Anthea's opinion. She was no expert sleuth, but there were pin points to Marlon's behavior that she couldn't quite explain.

For starters, his insults went nothing past a scowl here and there and an occasional dig at her character. No name calling, no typically Slytherin taunts about her blood status. However, it could have simply slipped her mind. Then there was the way Marlon presented himself. He had his nose in the air and any other Slytherin, of course, but there were no fancy cloth or jewellery that hung from his attire. However, she couldn't possibly make assumptions based on Marlon's appearance. If honesty was anything to go by, there was an essence to Marlon that Anthea found comforting. Intriguing, even.

At his hiss, Anth's eyes glistened with absolute excitement. Not at the fact that Marlon was in pain, but the fact that she was right. "I saw that." She said quickly, as soft as she possibly could so as not to embarrass him. "We’re trying to impress silly girls like you, is that what you want to hear?" Ignoring his sarcasm completely, Anthea reached for his wrist again, this time more gently in case she would hurt him again. "You're trying to impress each other." She said, casually sitting next to him to get a better view of his wrist.

"You know the best part about being in Hufflepuff, Marlon? The company. The people you surround yourself with. They don't look at what you own or how im-important your family name may be, they look at you. They treat you like family." At the word, the corners of Anthea's mouth tugged into a small smile and she looked up at him proudly. "We don't have to impress each other." She paused for a brief moment and began to frown. "And I'm not silly." No, in actual fact, Anthea was silly. As silly as they could possibly come, but she refused to admit to it. "What's silly is how we're constantly being shoved into the dirt by people who pride themselves with appealing to their friends."

Anthea gave a tiny yelp and covered her mouth with her hand. Insulting someone was her absolute last intention. Her cheeks colored slightly as she busied herself with prodding at Marlon's wrist. "I-I'm sorry."

[MARLON COOPER DELANEY]

Seeing the Hufflepuff eventually turn away from his menacing scowl, Marlon felt a brief trill of accomplishment. Perhaps this would be enough to dissuade her from thinking that he ought to be cuddled or something similarly ridiculous. However, today was evidently not being kind to him. "You’re a different Slytherin." Marlon felt an alarm going off somewhere in him that was so intensely focused on self-preservation that little else mattered. For a brief moment, his fear leaked through before he regained control and appear hostile once more. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he spat, more than a bit hostile in his manner than was warranted for the typical situation. Not everybody enjoyed being called different, but Marlon doubly disliked being called different. To be called different was to be singled out. And ever since his first year, Marlon had tried to do everything in his power to avoid being different in any way, shape or form. If he was just one of the guys, one of the Slytherins, everything will be fine...

Seeing her positively joyful glee at having found the elusively hurt wrist, Marlon scowled even more at her. It was as if he were daring her to acknowledge that she had seen his injury. However, the silly Hufflepuff took the dare and accepted it wholeheartedly. Clearly, she didn’t know when to back off. "You're trying to impress each other." Marlon didn’t have any idea what she was talking about; although he was absolutely certain that he didn’t enjoy her attempting to analyze him.

It was the very last thing he needed: a Muggleborn psychoanalyzing him. It brought a small tremor of fear. What happens if following this line of deduction, she was able to deduce that he was nothing more than an imposter? A Muggleborn, just like her? That was simply unacceptable! It was about time that this stopped, however, her continued analysis of him prevented him. He couldn’t simply leave with her having these type of thoughts. Marlon must absolutely wipe such insane thoughts from her brain before she was allowed contemplate on them further. It was simply too dangerous to himself.

It certainly didn’t help that she was attempting to sit closer to him to get a closer look at the hurt wrist. With all the viciousness that he could muster, Marlon wrenched his wrist away from her, temporarily ignoring the pain in favour of putting some distance between himself and the Hufflepuff. “Look. Just bugger off. Don’t assume you know anything about it. Mind your own bloody business.” His tirade was cut off from making it any further by her own rant. "You know the best part about being in Hufflepuff, Marlon? The company. The people you surround yourself with. They don't look at what you own or how im-important your family name may be, they look at you. They treat you like family." “Oh please. That’s the most idealistic piece of crap I’ve ever heard in my life,” he commented scathingly. And if their Hufflepuff family was anything like his own family, Marlon wanted no part of it at all. There was nothing like family to pull you down into the dirt, and just when you thought you were low enough, they pushed you down further. More family? No, thank you. Give him something that he expected any day of the year.

"What's silly is how we're constantly being shoved into the dirt by people who pride themselves with appealing to their friends." For a brief moment, he blinked blankly. He wasn’t sure exactly what had happened here, but he was certain that it was beyond him at this point. Certainly the Hufflepuff was spewing off about something. Marlon just had no idea what. And then his confusion furthered when she apologized. He had no idea why she was apologizing at all. For a moment, there was a look of utter and complete bafflement on his face as he tried to comprehend the situation.

[/justify]

[ANTHEA CALLI CELANDINE]

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Anthea bit onto her bottom lip and began to think, her brown eyes shifting from Marlon to The Whomping Willow. "I-I.. I'm not.." She paused, seemingly frustrated with herself though she wasn't sure why, and huffed. "I didn't mean it in a bad way." The thought never crossed her mind that the Slytherin wouldn't take kindly to her meaning it good or badly. However, it was true. She never meant to insult Marlon. If anything, Marlon had been her favorite Slytherin, if there was such a thing. Anthea looked back at him hesitantly, terrified to even voice her opinion. "W-well.. You're nicer than the others." She said quickly and began to tug on her earlobe.

"I mean.. It's been five years now and you haven't once shoved me into a wall or hidden my books on the roof. You don't even c-." She stopped and looked down at her lap. She couldn't go on, she couldn't say the word out loud. Looking down, Anthea dragged her index finger through the snow, spelling it out. M-u-d-b-l-o-o-d. "You don't even call me that." She nodded to the ground and rubbed her hands together.

Feeling the Slytherin tug at his wrist, Anth loosened her grip slightly so he could pull himself free. Her lips parted, a tiny diamond forming in the center of her mouth where her lips met, and she looked up at him in absolute awe. In no way did she understand what had happened. She couldn't make sense of the Slytherin at all. She opened her mouth to speak, but said nothing. Why didn't he want her help?

"Look. Just bugger off. Don’t assume you know anything about it. Mind your own bloody business." Hearing this, Anthea flinched slightly and frowned. Perhaps, he was right. She didn't know much at all. However, she was still to blame for his wrist and she still wanted to help him. She dug her hands into the snow for a brief moment and listened to him once again.

“That’s the most idealistic piece of crap I’ve ever heard in my life.” Anthea's cheeks grew a faint red, heavy with anger. "That's about enough," She choked bravely. "You don't understand it, fine. B-But I won't sit here and have you insult my friends." Anth paused for a moment and nibbled on her bottom lip before looking up again. "Take it back." She ordered, trying her best to sound as commanding as possible.

The Hufflepuff took advantage of their moment of silence, seeing it as the only possible opportunity she'd get to ask him. "What have you got against me, anyway? Be honest."