Catching Up (Charlotte and Humphrey)

He had asked Charlotte to meet him at the Roman Ampitheatre. One night during first year, he had unsuspectedly walked in on her and Airen in here. And, that was a funny, light-hearted memory he had of her. Catching up with each other there seemed a good idea. As he walked into the old stone ampitheatre he muttered to himself, "And make amends..."

Humphrey found a seat on one of the stone benches and made himself comfortable. Charlotte would be here soon, and then his life would be almost back to normal. He'd missed her a lot the year and a half he'd been gone.

Charlotte hopped a long to the Roman Ampitheatre, it was something that she had been looking forward to, her meeting with Humphrey, after all it had been a long time and she had missed her friend, because a friend he was, hopefully nothing bad would have happened to him to cause him to stay away that long...

Sucking at her lip piercing, Charlotte wandered through the entrance and she smiled when she saw Humphrey, quickening her pace she smiled even wider when she reached him and she hugged him hard, snuggling him before letting go.

"Oh you have no idea how happy I am to see you, I had thought....I had thought you had died or you had been kidnapped by Germans or something Humphrey."

Humphrey saw a blond head skipping towards him and smiled. She was hurrying towards him, and he noticed Charlotte was sucking on her lip piercing. That was a habit she did when she was thinking about something or nervous. He wondered which it was. As soon as she reached him Char pulled him into a tight hug, and he hugged her back. When she let go she looked at him with a relieved expression, and she told him how worried she'd been about him.

"It is great to see you too Charlotte. Thankfully, it had nothing to do with the Germans. But, I kind of was kidnapped. My uncle Billy and aunt Julia came to pick me up. Apparently, a tumor had been growing in my uncle's brain. They caught it, and put him under treatment for it. Sadly though, it was too far along and he died after a year of fighting against it. My aunt and uncle needed me there to keep up with the chores and to spend time with before Billy wasn't there anymore. I had never gotten on spectacularly with my uncle, but, in a lot of ways, he was like a father to me. And, I really miss him. My aunt and I buried him and I helped her grieve for the past month and a half. Then just this week she asked if I was ready to go back to school. I said yes, and, well, here I am." Humphrey explained to her. That was basically pretty much what had happened to him since leaving Hogwarts last year.

"It is so good to be back. I've never been lonelier than this past year, I didn't even think to send an owl to any of my friends. But, one good thing did happen, my artwork has improved a little bit. When I wasn't helping around the house, I did a lot of painting and drawing. Maybe sometime you can come up to the abandoned tower and look at them. I set them up in a corner next to a window overlooking the Black Lake. You could come and tell me what I've done wrong if you want to." he told her, smiling just a bit at the memory of her taching him how to draw and paint.

"Now enough about me, how are you Charlotte? What do I need to know about you, and Hogwarts in general?" he asked her.

Charlotte opened her mouth lightly in disbelief, she did not believe that Humphrey had been through so much and had not told her, she did not want to scold him for his behaviour, but there was something that hurt her a little bit that he would not confide in her.

However he might not have wanted to speak about what was happening, she knew that she would be having a hard time with an ordeal like that and would not wish everyone to know of it. Sucking on her lip piercing Charlotte smiled warmly at Airen.

"Oh my, you certainly have been through a lot Humphrey, I'm just glad that you're back and maybe I can help you if you need to talk to someone, I'd like to be someone you can confide in if you feel the need to."

Smiling broader when he said his artwork had improved, Charlotte clapped; "Well done! I would love to come and see some of your artwork, I bet it's almost as good as mine now."

When he asked her what she had been up to Charlotte shrugged her head; "Oh, nothing much actually, I got a new cat, he's called Viktor. Hannibal doesn't really like him though...and at Hogwarts Auntie Briony had her baby Raven!"

He smiled back at Charlotte, feeling himself relax. "Yea, I have. But, honestly, I am just glad to be back here at Hogwarts. This place feels more like home to me than anywhere else. Charlotte, of course I am going to be talking and confiding in you. You always manage to make me feel better, so it would be stupid not to trust you with my problems right?" Humphrey asked her.

"I wouldn't go that far Charlotte. But I did improve a good amount. There was a lot of time for me to draw whenever I wasn't helping out around the house. What I did was go on a lot of hikes in the hills around my house. The landscape is beautiful around Edinburgh. So many beautiful spots to paint, I've barely started to capture the landscape and area around it." he told her.

Laughter burst out of Humphrey. "Another cat, wasn't Hannibal enough for you?" Humphrey said, teasing her. "I'm not surprised Hannibal doesn't like Viktor, he seemed like a cat who was very selfish, always wanting you to pet him. Oh yea, that much I found out already. I even met Raven, she looks exactly like Briony." he told her.

"Char, there is one other thing you need to know that happened to me while I was gone. I don't know an easy way to put this, so I'll just say it straight out. Last fall, I was bitten by a werewolf. Now I am one." he told her. He tried to sound brave about it.

Charlotte smiled lightly at Humphrey when he said that he was still going to confide in her, she was glad that he still felt that way because it was going to be hard for her to build that friendship back up if he didn't, and also, it made her feel much more at ease about the fact he had not sent her a message, and that it wasn't anything to do with something she had done wrong.

"I guess it would be a little silly not to tell me something that you needed to get off your chest, when you know I'll always be here to listen to you no matter what it is." she smiled gently.

Nodding her head, Charlotte spoke; "I've been to Scotland a few times, I like it very much, although I am beginning to want to paint more exotic far away places, Airen has invited me and Papa to come to Italy with him later on in the Summer holidays, I'll paint a lot there I know it."

Laughing a little, Charlotte shook her head and couldn't stop for a moment, when she had calmed down she said; "Humphrey I know you've been away a while, but Hannibal's a vulture not a cat." she stuck her tongue out at him.

She wished that she had not laughed at Humphrey when he told her what else he was going to confide in her, she blinked and Charlotte did not know what to do, of course it was a shock, but she did not want to seem like it was a problem, because she did not think it was.

"Oh no Humphrey..." she said quietly "How on earth did that happen, are you getting any help for it?"

"Awww, thanks Charlotte. That means a lot knowing you care about me so much. I really appreciate it." Humphrey said, a grin sliding across his features. She was always so beautiful when she smiled, that part about her hadn't changed.

"Yeah, me too, I really want to go to Greece and paint there. All of the architecture and the sculptures and stuff in Athens and the area around there, I want to sit down and paint. Maybe I could even find somebody who could teach me how to sculpt a statue. But, mainly, I want to go see the ancient architecture, it is so amazing if the pictures I've seen from guide books and what not are actually accurate." he told her.

"Oh yea, he is a vulture. I forgot completely about that. Ooops, I guess I've been away so long I've forgotten more than I thought I had. Good luck trying to get a vulture and a cat to get along." Humphrey told her, sticking out his own tongue right back at her.

"It happened when I was hiking back towards my car after painting the sunset. I'd reached the parking lot, and it just came straight out of the woods. The werewolf pinned me, bit me on the left hip, and then ran off into the night. I am going to tell Headmistress Romain about it actually, and ask her if she could tell the potions master to maybe brew the wolfsbane potion for me every month. Besides, she needs to know I'm a werewolf now, anyways." he said.

"The first time I shifted I was so scared. I thought I was going insane or something..." Humphrey trailed off.

Charlotte smiled happily, she was glad that Humphrey was aware that even after their long gap in conversation that they were going to be able to stay the same close friends, she was sure of it, since her other close friend had seemingly had enough of her.

"Greece is lovely, I wish that I could go there, but the Gods always facinated me when I looked into it, they were so different to any other represenations, so I enjoyed drawing a few of those myself." Smiling lightly Charlotte added "Maybe one day we can go to Greece together!"

Giggling a little Charlotte playfully flicked Humphrey on the head, although he was right, it was a big problem trying to get those two to get along with each other;

"Well Papa is looking into getting some charm going to make them like each other, Viktors just daft really and wants to play."

Unable to stop blinking a little, Charlotte tilted her head to one side and she wondered how he had managed to make it to som sort of hospital if he was all on his own; "Oh dear that sounds so scary, I'm glad you're alright, and I'll be here if you need me, during a full moon or something."

Patting Humphreys pat Charlotte tried to comfort him; "At least you know more about whats going on now."

It was odd, but it seemed like there friendship had picked up just where they had left it. No awkward pauses in the conversation, just natural, fun conversation. Humphrey felt relieved that it was going so well. "Oh yea, I love the Greek Gods. Those are some of the best sculptures in the world, the ones that try to depict them. My favorite one is Poseidon, I love the giant trident. We should try and do that, that would be amazing!" he said, a huge grin on his face. Now that sounded like a good vacation or whatever. Maybe Airen, Charlotte, and him could go this summer.

Then Charlotte flicked him on the head. "Ouch, what was that for?" Humphrey asked. "You might be small, but you have to be careful. Got more flick power than you think. Oh, okay, that would be useful." he said. How was he going to get back at Charlotte for flicking him. Hmm, Humphrey decided he would just let it go, but he wanted a hug from her. So, he put an arm around her and gave her a light hug, then let her go.

"It was absolutely terrifying. And, I got in my car, so I was just sitting down with my foot on the gas. But that was definitely a tie of how frightened I was when your dad put his hand in my chest. Actually, strike that, your dad was scarier. Because he knew who I was and that I had made you upset. Nothing is scarier than an angry dad protecting his daughter." he said. He didn't have to fake the shudder that ran through his shoulders.

"Yea, that is true. I know another werewolf now too, so that helps. Also, I'm learning what the change feels like, you know, so it isn't quite as odd. Still weird, though." Humphrey appreciated Charlotte being there so much. "Thanks Char, I knew you would understand." he said, his voice colored with emotion. He put an arm around her and squeezed to let her know he was okay.

Charlotte was glad of some sort of change in conversation because it was making her a little sad hearing what had happened to Humphrey while she was away and that she was not able to help him at all, but he was alright now, and now she knew she could help him.

"I have to admit my favourite is Hades, but then again, he's very hard to draw because of all the fire, I suppose I draw Aphrodite a lot too, I don't know why I just do." she smiled.

Giggling a little when Humphrey seemed to think that she was extra strong, it was funny to look at his reaction, letting her hand rub the place where she had flicked, Charlotte stuck her tongue out at him; "Well sorry, I felt your brain needed a wake up call for a moment."

Charlotte bit her lip, she hoped that Humphrey would not have held that against her Papa and she laughed a little nervously at him, it seemed that he didn't but it was still somewhat of a sensitive topic for her;

"At least that's something to say for being turned into a werewolf. Not as scary as my Papa when he's angry."

Giving Humphrey a large hug as he hugged her, Charlotte smiled broadly and was very happy to be with him again;

"Of course!" she grinned.

"Hades is the man. But, he is insanely difficult to draw, or sculpt. The evil eyes, robes, and flames are very hard to capture." he agreed with her. "Well I'm not surprised you like Aphrodite, she is the Goddess of beauty, and you are pretty. It makes sense to me why you would like her." Humphrey told her, she had always been beautiful in his opinion. Everybody else thought so too.

Laughing with her he heartily agreed, "That it did Miss Smith, that it did. Just don't flick so hard next time, don't want a giant bruise on the middle of my forehead." That would be very funny, but also embarrassing.

"Char, nothing is as scary as your dad when he's angry. Especially when he is angry because somebody is messing with his daughter. That is like, an instant death sentence." he told her. Humphrey still had nightmares about that night, and he shivered. "I still have nightmares about your dad killing me, same thing as he did before. Except in my nightmares he doesn't let go."

"This is what I needed, my friend to be silly with me. It means more than I could ever put into words. I really appreciate this Charlotte." Humphrey explained.

"So, things seem to be going well with you and Airen. Everything as awesome as it seems?" he asked. "I'm happy for you two, you are a better fit than me and you. I think I found somebody else though, and if I can convince her, I might be dating somebody soon. I'll give you a hint, she is the first girl I became friends with at Hogwarts. Even before I became friends with you. She is smart, a brunette, and just a tiny bit closer to me than you are. Like, a finger's width closer." he said, holding his finger up for her to see. "You are definitely very close to my favorite person in the whole wide world though. She just slightly edges you out."

"Hope you aren't disappointed you aren't my favorite person any more. But yea, I saw her, and she chewed me out for not owling her while I was gone. Which I completely deserved, but it still hurt. I saw her, and then I realized I had feelings for her. About smack dab in the middle of our argument too." Humphrey told her, laughing a little bit about Keiba exploding on him. "That tongue-lashing was even scarier than your dad. Nothing can match a woman's scorn. We are good now, though."

Charlotte smiled gently and she tried to ignore all the bad things that were said about her Papa, there was something that made her sad that he was viewed as so scary when really he was the softest man you could ever meet, thatis if you got on his good side.

If not...then yes she supposed he could be rather scary, with a slightly diminished vigour to her tone of voice Charlotte spoke; "Don't worry about it, it's what friends are for after all to be there for each other."

When Charlotte heard that Humphrey had found someone else, she was very glad, after all the hassle that he had given her if he had a girlfriend that meant that he could have someone else to give all the hassle too...but also, she thought that it might be good for him to have someone like that.

"Things are great between me and Airen thanks, we're already so close, much closer than you and I could ever be I agree, and the great thing is that Papa really likes him, and he protects and looks out for me."

What she did not however appreciate was being told straight out that she was no longer regarded as highly by him, it stung after she had been so lovely and considerate to him and she felt her hair turning slightly red.

"I see." she said before standing up and dusting off her denim shorts "It's not very nice to be told something like that when you've tried your hardest to be nice, especially when the person doesn't really deserve it for leaving you in the dark for about two years without one single message. But I appreciate your bluntness Humphrey, perhaps I should go home."

He knew he had made a mistake when talking about her father like that. "It's not that he isn't a talented guy. But, the first time I talked to him outside of class he tried to kill me. I mean, I am trying to be nice to him, but that wasn't a good first impression. I'm sure he's a great person though, I mean he raised you after all. And you are, well, awesome." Humphrey explained to her, trying to get her to understand. He didn't hate her father, he was just intimidated by him.

"I think we could have been as close Charlotte, but the problem was, he was your friend before I was. He had a head start on me, I think if I had met you first we could have been great together. That is good your dad and Airen get on. It is important for a parent and their child's significant other to be friends." he said. It was great that Charlotte and Airen were so happy together.

Charlotte's hair turned red, and he knew he'd said the wrong thing. "Wait, you don't understand, it isn't that I think any less of you Charlotte. You are amazing, and still are. It is just that, well, you chose Airen. It broke my heart that you didn't choose me, can you understand that. I mean, the wound is still healing Charlotte, I had a really bad crush on you, maybe more..." Humphrey said.

"When we had the drama at the end of first year, do you understand how I was feeling, really. I was devestated, heartbroken, because I knew I had messed up and hurt you, badly." he said, letting tears roll down his cheeks.

He stuttered past the lump in his throat. "I-I didn't know how to fix things between us. Then, m-my uncle came down with cancer. So, that combined with being heartbroken, it, it w-wasn't pretty. There were so many times I wanted to write an owl to you, but I st-started, and I d-didn't know what to say." he said, calming down a bit.

"I thought, well...I thought you would hate me because I acted like a jerk towards you and Airen. That is honestly what I expected when I came back. You mean more to me than everybody else, but now, well I feel the way about Keiba the way I felt about you. But you were my first choice, Charlotte, that means I would have liked to date you rather than her. Sadly, you were taken. I always screw things up, I'm sorry I am such an idiot. Please don't leave though, I need you Charlotte. Much, much more than you realize." Humphrey stood up and walked up to her. Reaching her, he put his arms around her and hugged her tonight.

"The problem is, I say what pops into my head, and sometimes before thinking about how it sounds. I was never good at explaining myself, that is part of the problem I had trying to win you over. Putting what I am feeling into words that are coherent to somebody else. Please don't go. I didn't mean to hurt you, and I would feel absolutely terrible if you left right now. You can slap me if you want, and I won't do a thing about it. But you do mean more to me than Keiba, it is just, I am trying to move on from you. So, I try not to think of you as much as I used to. Because, well, if I think of you as the most amazing person, I am just going to stay in love with you. And that will break my heart because I know you won't leave Airen. Sorry, I am really just an idiot who accidentally hurts people because he doesn't think about what he says. I despise myself, and now I am afraid of myself too. I'm a monster." Humphrey told her, crying into her shoulder, letting the sobs rack his body.

"I think, well, I think I'm not completely over you yet. Maybe I am still in love with you after all..." he said softly, barely audible. "I'm scared though. Because you really hurt me before. If I'm still in love with you, I'm just going to get hurt again. Honestly, you are more important to me than Keiba, but never tell her that. She is important to me too. But, she already told me she doesn't want to date. You were willing to try a little bit of talking about it and consider it, and I really appreciate that." he told her.

"Don't ever leave me, and don't ever walk away angry. I say stupid things without meaning to. Again, because I'm an idiot. I should just go kill myself, my life is a complete and total waste. Keiba, my best friend, doesn't want to even consider dating me, probably because I am a horrible person. And now, I am hurting you, my favorite person in the world, even though I didn't want to acknowledge it. Now that I have though, I know it is true. I am going to go sit down and cry, you can stay if you want. But, I expect you'll leave, I'm not worth spending your time on. Hell, I'm not worth anybody spending time on. I have no talent, no skills, all I have is a sense of humor that occasionally gets a laugh. Honestly though, I'm not even that funny. I wonder..." he said.

Humphrey walked towards the top of the ampitheatre. It was a long drop to the ground, and he was considering just walking off. This time though, he wasn't planning on changing into a Hippogriff to fly away, he was planning on killing himself. He just hurt Charlotte, again, she was better off without him. "The world will be a better place without me screwing it up. Most likely, you are better off without me. Goodbye, Char, I love you more than you will ever understand. I just wish you felt the same way. Then, he turned back towards her.

Humphrey walked up to her. "Before I go though, I have to do this just once." Humphrey told her. He was crying, but this was a happy thing, albeit very tragic. Pressing his lips softly to hers, he pulled away quickly. It was just a light brush of his lips against hers, and he started walking towards the edge of the very top of the Roman Ampitheatre.

"This was the first time I realized you would choose Airen over me, Charlotte. It broke me, and I haven't been the same since. Sorry I screwed up your life. You are beautiful, smart, funny, a talented artist, and I will love you forever. But you don't love me, so...here I go. I'll watch over you from the grave, not as a ghost, but just looking down from wherever you go after this life. So long Charlotte Smith, the most amazing girl in the whole wide world. Don't waste your tears or anger on me, I am just an idiotic werewolf who can't do anything right." And Humphrey took a step over thin air, trying to kill himself...

Charlotte knew that her father was considered scary by a lot of people, students and staff alike, but it was hard for her to really accept it. To her he was just her dad, the softest person she'd ever met. She shook her head slightly,

"Papa is a nice person Humphrey, he just... doesn't like it when he thinks people are being mean to me." she replied before looking away, "He's not a scary person..."

"We can still be close Humphrey but I will always be closer to Airen. He was someone closest to me before you were and I liked him a lot. There's nothing to say I'm can't be close friends with you too though." She smiled a little bit and nodded, "Yes it is good that they get on. Papa's even taken him on as an apprentice."

"That isn't what it sounded like Humphrey. It sounded pretty clear that you think less of me." She said calmly but when she mentioned her breaking his heart her eyes narrowed a little bit before she sighed, "And I couldn't just pretend to love you Humphrey. It would have hurt you even more when the relationship broke down, which it would have done."

She watched him as he seemed to have a break down into self-pity. Deserved or not, her papa had always told her that self-pity was like hating yourself and hating yourself wasn't healthy. She didn't hate him either, she had been very annoyed and upset with him at one point but it had calmed down an awful lot since the end of the year, when the drama between them all broke out. Seeing that he was working himself up, he playfully flicked him on the cheek,

"Hey stop that now, you're not a monster." she told him with a faint smile, "You're human like the rest of us. We all make mistakes and none of us are perfect. Even an 'awesome' person like me."

Charlotte looked at him with a small frown. So now she was more important to him than her? This wasn't making sense. It was like he was doing emotional backflips. When he started going on about how he should just kill himself her eyes widened but before she could interrupt his monologue he was kissing her. Instinctively, because the person kissing her wasn't her boyfriend, Charlotte broke away and slapped him.

Of course when he moved over to the edge and prepared to jump she was quickly running to him. Not quickly enough it seemed because he had already stepped over the edge,

"Wingardium leviosa!" she cried out, putting enough magic in the levitation charm to both catch Humphrey and drag him back up. When he was stable standing near her again she slapped him again, "Idiot!" she cried before hugging him, "Don't you dare scare me like that again Humphrey! Don't you dare!"

"I am sure he is, I just don't know him very well yet. His infiltrations lessons are always really, really good. Very useful because I want to become an Auror if I can get in. Tough job to get." he told her, smiling.

"That is exactly what I figured you would say. I agree that we weren't right for each other, close, but not a perfect fit like you and Airen seem to be. That is great, apprentice spy, or whatever you would call your dad. I am not sure what his title would be other than Infiltration Professor of Hogwarts." Humphrey told her. It was really good that things were going so well, she seemed happier than she had ever been previously.

"I know it isn't what it sounded like, but I am trying not to let my feelings for you come back to the surface. Being here alone with you is great, it just makes it difficult not to let old feelings return. Maybe my feelings for Keiba will eventually be stronger than mine for you, but right now my feelings for you beat it easily. Do you know how hard it is for me not to want...more. You met a guy, became friends with him, and are now dating. Everything went fairly smoothly, except for me messing it up a bit. But I've been turned down by you, and Keiba said not now. So, I feel like I am just not a good enough guy to get a cool girl.

"I am too. Plus, I am a really lame person. Nobody even thinks I am worth being friends with. I want to start dating, but nobody likes me in that way. It feels like I am doing something wrong, but I just don't know what. Okay, I mean, I am friendly, and social, and I try to be friends with girls so maybe I can date one of them eventually. Yet they don't like me. Not sure how to get them to start thinking of me as not just a friend, and as more of a boyfriend prospect." Humphrey explained to her. He was really frustrated with it, and he was lonely.

"Knew you would do that, but it was worth it. Had to know what it felt like before...well, nevermind. You'll see soon enough. Bye, I'll always be in love with you Charlotte. You were my first crush, and you hold a special place in here." Humphrey said, patting himself over his heart.

Charlotte caught him with the levitating charm, and slapped him again. She had a strong arm, it would be a purple bruise, maybe a black eye because she got him right on the top of the cheek and the temple, side of his left eye.

"Ouch! You have a stronger arm than most people would guess. I know I am an idiot Charlotte. Why do you think I did this, my life is worthless. Nobody cares about me the way Airen cares about you. I feel like I am not even deserving of having the friends I do have. Now, my heart is being rebroken because I am seeing you with Airen. Honestly, it would have been kinder to just put me out of my misery. Let me be at peace..." he said. His tears started to spill over his cheeks.

"What do you even care? It's not like I'm Airen! I'm not the most important person in your life, like you are in mine. Do you know how hard that is. I am glad you are happy, but it is tough to accept it. Just lie down and accept the fact we'll never be together. My brain says I need to do it, but my heart...well, it just doesn't listen. I'm not afraid to die, Charlotte. It is just another of life's adventures, the last one." he told her.

Hugging her back, he cried into her shoulder. "I don't see why you care so much about me. Give me a little time to come to terms with everything, and maybe we can be best friends again. But, right now, I need some space to get over you. Nothing against you, but it is just too hard for me not to be in love with you." He let her go, and began to walk away.

Charlotte actually had no idea what was going on, she had wondered what had caused Humphrey to explode like this! Anyone who was told in no uncertain terms that they were no longer a favourite of someone they had considered a close friend would react the way she did she was sure, unless she had been stupid? Was this all her fault?

Frowning a little while he talked she thought that it would be best to let Humphrey continue on his own for a moment so that he could get everything else off his chest, although she wondered why he had kept all of this from her, from everyone, and she knew it would not be fair to Keiba if she was merely being used as some sort of distraction.

"Humphrey please listen." she said in a soft voice, hugging him tightly, and trying to calm him down "I love Airen, yes that's true, but just because he's different to you does not mean that I can't like you as a friend, surely you have very different friends from all over the school, not all of them are like me and yet you still like them, so you should not put yourself down so much."

Hoping that it would be a little better now that he had let everything out, Charlotte blinked when he said that he was going to leave her alone again, she frowned and she almost walked after him, but she didn't she stayed her course and wondered what was going to happen now....

"Do whatever you want to Humphrey, I've waited almost two years for my friend to come back, I suppose I can wait until you've sorted yourself out."

With that she turned around and walked out of the arena, she was so confused right now, and the only thing she wanted was to go home and ask her Papa all about what had just happened.

He knew Charlotte well enough to know she would blame herself for this. As he talked, Humphrey paid attention to her facial expressions. Just as he expected, she started frowning. That was when he knew she was blaming herself. Sometimes it could mean she was on the verge of tears and trying to hold herself together.

"Charlotte, I know you well enough to see you are going to blame yourself for this. But, look at me." Humphrey said softly. Reaching for her chin with his left hand he tilted her face towards him so they were staring at each other. Tears continued to roll down his face, and he just looked at her as they fell. Putting his hand under his chin, he caught a couple on his fingers. "Tears remind me of the stars, they are like tiny little gems, reflecting the light. Catching it, refracting it, splitting it into colors." He looked at her through it. "You are multi-colored now Char." he said, attempting a smile that turned out as a little less of a frown.

"None of this is your fault. It isn't your fault you are my favorite person in the world. You are just so amazing, and...I wish I was half as amazing as you are. But I'm not...I'm just a geeky, socially awkward, loner. Plus I am overly sensitive, and depressed, and I come across as slightly ADHD at times even though I'm not. You were always out of my league, I knew it from the moment I tried to date you, but I couldn't help hoping. This is when being optimistic, and having hope and big dreams hurts you more than it helps.

She grabbed him, and hugged him tight. Naturally, his arms went around her protectively. As she talked her clung to her like a life-jacket in the middle of the ocean. Right now, he knew Charlotte was the only thing keeping him alive, and he was clinging to the rope that was her friendship desperately. But, it was like grabbing a thorny vine, it saves your life. At the same time though, it makes you bleed, and if you aren't careful the blood would keep streaming down until you bled out. That was what his heart was like, a hand shredded so badly that it was just letting all of his blood leak out, all of his emotions were streaming out and he couldn't stop them.

Humphrey tried to listen, and he heard what she was saying. Yes, he did have other friends. But, not anybody like Charlotte. Nobody else was as perfect for him as she could have been. At least that is what he thought, but thankfully for his sake, Humphrey is often wrong when it comes to interacting with friends and relationships. "Charlotte, I don't try to put myself down. But, when none of the people I am friends with are even slightly interested in me as more than a friend...it hurts, and I try to get you to understand. You can't though, you are in a great relationship. And, I know we are friends, I still want to be. You still chose Airen over me, and that is going to be the biggest scar ever left on my heart. Nothing will change that, I know time will eventually close the wound. Maybe Keiba can even be the one to stitch up what is left. I will never be as open and trusting as I was when I first started trying to win your love though." he said, still crying. Finally, the tears stopped, not because he was feeling any better. He was cried out, not enough water left in his tear ducts to keep crying.

He knew he needed to talk to her before she left. His idiocy had gotten him in trouble again. This was a regular occurrence for Humphrey Williams. Once he reached her, he pulled her into an embrace. "I'm being an idiot. My mouth is just saying things not quite the way I mean them. Here is what I mean, hear me out please."

"I do still want to be friends. You are my best friend in this entire school. Now that I think of Keiba in a romantic way, it won't be that long before my feelings for her are stronger. It is just that while my feelings for her are growing, I need to wait for my feelings for you to fade. If I am spending this much time with you, well it will just keep the wound open. I love you, and I will talk to you as much as I can. But, how would you feel if Airen chose say Tess or Tabi over you. Then you had Airen asking you to still be best friends, while you had to see them together all the time. How would it feel for you? I don't have any grudge against Airen, but he won your heart, and I didn't. Since you are the most amazing person in the entire world, I am kind of sad that I almost had your heart, but didn't win it. Honestly, I feel lucky that you even considered me. Because I'm not worth anything, I'm really not." Humphrey told her. Charlotte would tell him he was, and it helped a little bit. But not enough to make him feel like he was actually worthy of anybody's love.

"I'm sorry I am acting like such a baby. It is pathetic that I still can't deal with you and Airen's relationship without breaking down in tears. It is time for me to toughen up, because I am a weak person. I should never have let my feelings be displayed so openly. That was a mistake from day one. It just caused problems, nothing good has ever come of me being open with people." Humphrey said in an ice-cold tone of voice that had never been in his tone of voice before. Yes, Humphrey was going to put up walls so thick nobody could get over them. He would train to be a killer like Cobalt, and the thought of killing some Germans made him smile.

"Well, I am going to head back to the Gryffindor Dormitory and call it a night. I'll continue to talk to you, but if I am acting a little oddly. Now you know why. Because I know I'm a terrible person, and the only thing I deserve is to be killed. It would make it easier for everybody if I wasn't here anymore." Humphrey said, and he walked away. This was the rock bottom, it could not get worse than this. He was so wrong...

Charlotte could feel herself getting more and more angry with Humphrey as he continued to talk, she had tried to be as nice as she could but the 'woe is me' act was beginning to grate on her just a little bit, and she found that she soon was loosing patience with her friend.

Unable to stop the scowl that was forming in front of her face, as soon as he turned to leave, Charlotte's fist darted out, and made to connect with the side of Humphrey's cheek bone. So angry was Charlotte that she attempted to knock him for six with her punch, her hair now a bright firey red colour and her eyes glittered in the same angry shade.

Pointing at Humphrey she said in a very calm, but slow manner;

"Listen Humphrey, I know you have been through a lot, I know your feelings for me aren't exactly helping, but this is NOT the end of the world, you are not a monster. You are not an awful human being. An idiot. Any of the above. You are just Humphrey a teenage boy who's had a lot on his plate and it's all fallen on top of him."

Taking a small break, Charlotte sighed and lowered her hand back down to her side, rubbing her knuckles a little;

"You need your friends around you at this point Humphrey, not girls, they only seem to make you more upset with each one you fall for, you need a good boy friend to hang around with and be...I don't know...boyish with."

He was completely caught off guard by the punch, it was a good shot. Drew the power from the legs, and hips like you were supposed to. It knocked him back three steps, which was impressive considering how much bigger he was then her. Charlotte angry was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. "Charlotte, that is one hell of a punch! Who taught you how to do that, Airen, or your dad?" Humphrey said, smiling a bit. Now he wouldn't worry about her defending herself, I mean, he already knew she had swordsmage skills, and was clever with hexes. Knowing she could punch like that, though, put his mind completely at ease.

Humphrey cowered back just a little bit in the face of an angry Charlotte. He sat down, and listened as she explained to him what he was doing wrong. "I-I know, Charlotte. My brain tells me things will get better, but I just end up getting hurt no matter what I do. I have made a couple big mistakes, and now they are just continuing to hurt me over and over. I feel like my past is haunting me, trying to suck me in and kill me. No matter how hard I try to climb out of this hole I dug for myself, I fall back in." he said, using a metaphor to explain how he was feeling.

"It is like, when you are driving down a tunnel, you know there is light at the end, but getting there is another matter entirely. You can get lost, in side caverns, and stuff like that. This, labyrinth of life, it is bringing me down. The problem is I don't know how to navigate it, and I fall into every single trap possible. What am I doing wrong? How can I do better?" he asked Charlotte. Humphrey was glad she was giving him this tough love, it showed how much she really cared about him.

"Charlotte, your hand is going to need some help. Let me walk you back to school, and Healer Henley can give you a salve for it." he said, wanting to help her. He hated to see her in even the tiniest amount of pain.

"I know, and I do have male friends I hang out with. Why do you think I spend time at the swordmage lessons? It is to get to know Airen better, and at the library, I always talk to Professor Sollmann. Mr. Sollmann's a very wise man." he explained to her.

"It is just, well not many people know how much I've been through, and understand me so well. You are one, Keiba, and Tess are two others. I don't know, girls just...understand me better than guys. Guys, I goof off with, and I let out my steam playing Quidditch all the time. Love to fly, it is just harder for me than others, because I'm a romantic. A romantic who can't even land a date." he said, tearing up again.

"Sorry Charlotte, I hate showing you how pathetically weak I am. I try to be tough, but this is when area I suck in. Emotions. I wish they would just leave me alone, I'd rather feel nothing, then be depressed like this all the time." Humphrey said in a barely audible tone, blushing a bit. He was embarrassed that he was still crying.