Apprenticeship (Keiba Namid & Humphrey Williams & Special Guest)

Humphrey was ecstatic when he walked into the Occlumency Classroom, and the special guest was the violinist from the Roman Amphitheatre. Lilith was her name, and she did tell him she knew Alice, so he wasn't completely surprised, it was a surprise, but not totally shocking. He was happy to see her. "Hello Lilith, how are you doing?" he asked her with a smile. Humphrey was a person who smiled a lot, he had always been that way. Especially when it was summer, and school was beginning to wind down. The light at the end of the tunnel was beginning to come into view.

"Hello Professor Nocte, I hope you are doing well. I am fantastic, and have been looking forward to this all week!" he exclaimed. "What are we going to be learning about today?" Humphrey asked, bouncing up and down on his toes just a bit.

Humphrey brought up the image of Keiba, his impenetrable wall. It was her in her dress from the first ball he had seen her at, he couldn't wait for to see her in one again. She was so breathtakingly beautiful. He thought of his love for her, that wouldn't give. It was the best he had, and Lilith wouldn't be surprised. He'd told her about Keiba already. "I'm ready, I'll defend first if that is okay."

The memories he was thinking of were all Keiba-related, meeting her, becoming her friend, the ball, coming back, their argument, and their making up time. She was such an amazing person, and the best friend he could ever ask for. Humphrey loved her, and he just hoped one day she would love him back. "Whenever you want to attack go ahead."

Humphrey had let her in, and then he decided to close the walls. Focusing on Keiba's eyes. He thought of just that, and attempted to trap within his mind. Imagining her attempting to hurt, or insult Keiba, and his anger was used as a spike. In his imagination, Lilith had just called Keiba a horrible person, who is ugly. His anger, he tried to gather, and sliced at her mind with all of the anger in him.

Suffice it to say, that the anger he felt about Keiba possibly being insulted, was a large quantity. He focused it into as sharp a point as possible. "How dare you insult Keiba!", that was the lone thought he put all the anger behind. All he hoped was that it would put her on the defensive.

Keiba bit her lip as she pushed open the door to Professor Nocte's office and a wave of disappointment washed over her as she saw they'd already started without her. She scratched her nose, stepped inside and closed the door softly behind her.

"Sorry, Professor," Keiba apologised. She smiled at the Special Guest and sent a shadow of a smile Humphrey's way before setting her stuff down. She hoped she wasn't too late.

Despite all of the effort he had put into that attack, it wasn't enough. Lilith King just took it in stride, and when she pushed back it made him take a step back. Breaking eye contact, he put his hand to his head, shocked. "Whoa, that is some impressive power Miss King. If I practice long enough could I become that powerful?" he asked, with hope in his eyes.

Keiba walked in, and smiled at him before setting her stuff on the table. Guilt washed over him, and he realized then that he should never have tried anything with Tess. Yes, Keiba hadn't wanted to go on a date at the moment. Maybe, though, it was because she wanted to do it at a later date. Idiot, why hadn't that thought stroke him before. Frowning at how stupid he'd been, he asked Keiba, "Can we talk after class? I did something, well it is the dumbest thing I've done in my life." he said, his eyes starting to water up at what her reaction would be. Humphrey had just made the biggest mistake of his life, but he couldn't lie about it. He had to accept the consequences, and he knew it. It stung him, hurt him, even more than Charlotte Smith ever had. Somehow, he always ended up hurting himself. His dumb impulsive decisions, he needed to think more before he did things.