WHO: Dedalus Diggle and Eliza Alderton
WHAT: D:
WHERE: His room
WHEN: RIGHT NOW!



He'd said he had an Arithmancy test to study for. That it was really important, that he was sorry he couldn't read lines with her, but it had to get done. Eliza understood; schoolwork came first, especially to the head boy and a student like Dedalus. She hadn't had any sort of problem, except that when she made her way up to Gryffindor tower, she'd found Dedalus' scrolls of Arithmancy notes in her bag---she must've picked up the wrong ones, and she'd hurried back to Ravenclaw, panting greatly as the statue asked her which was more beautiful, the sunset or the sunrise. Eliza thought for a moment and had answered the sunset, because that mean the sunrise was coming soon. The common room door opened and she'd knocked on Dedalus' door...with no answer. She'd thought that maybe he had to run some errands, or...or didn't hear her, and it was important to get him his notes before she was stuck in Gryffindor because of curfew, so she whispered his password (of course she knew it, but she'd never sneak in!) and put the scrolls on the desk.

She didn't know what had made her stay. It could've been the fact that she'd spotted that his Arithmancy test wasn't for another week on his calendar, but---Eliza could've blamed that on being a studious Ravenclaw. Dedalus had habits, maybe he needed a week, but. Something twisted in her gut, and the worries she'd had about Dedalus these past few weeks finally burst and she sat down roughly at his desk, watching the clock.

He really wanted to stay...

Honestly, he would rather stay and help her with her lines and spend any time that he could with his girlfriend, seeing how he hadn't been able to really do that since they had gotten back to school. Over the break he had been able to just relax, and not worry about school.

Okay, scratch that, he didn't have to worry as much about school. He had still been studying for everything at home, but the vacation still got him out of Hogwarts and let him rest his mind. But of course, as soon as they got back to school, everything went wrong. There had been that whole incident with Emmeline, and then he had been asked to go and do something outside of school, and even though he wanted to get out of the castle he had to turn down spending time with Eliza to do so and...augh. He wanted to stay. And he had to make up another lie about why he couldn't read over her lines with her. He was starting to lose track of what he told who. It was getting that bad. He had to lie for Emmeline, and the Order, and about himself and...it was bad.

Getting back to the castle, he snuck up to the Ravenclaw tower and into his room, carefully closing the door behind him so no one would know he was getting in so late. It had to be at least 2 am. When he turned around, he couldn't help but jump a foot in the air, seeing Eliza sitting at his desk. "Bloody hell! I, uh...sorry, I just didn't expect to see-...why are you here? I mean, not why are you here, as in I'm not happy you're here but I mean...why are you here?" He looked over at the desk to see the notes sitting there.

Damn it. He knew they were his because they were much longer than any normal person would write. "...oh."

Eliza had come up with approximately twenty-three reasons why Dedalus was coming into his dorm at this late of an hour. She'd started to write them down, but had fallen asleep before she could finish compiling it and had snapped awake when the door opened. She pushed her hair out of her face and kept her eyes down, feeling a bit embarrassed for being there, but---Eliza caught sight of the clock, and her tired expression faltered.

"Two-thirty," she murmured, rubbing her eye before Dedalus began to ramble. The more he talked the more coherent Eliza became, and the more she realized that...what? She could confront him now? What if there was nothing to confront---he did lie about studying, he hadn't been in his room since at least nine forty-five. Eliza shook her head, looking down at the ground as Dedalus seemed to realize why she was sitting there. "Oh."

She didn't say it mockingly, or angrily; Eliza didn't know what she was, because she didn't know how to behave in a situation like this. She was forcing her mind to give Dedalus the benefit of the doubt, that he wasn't out doing anything wrong and that there was a very logical reason for his tardiness, for his lies.

"I...brought your notes," Eliza muttered, even though he'd already noticed them, "and...I didn't want to get caught past curfew, so..." That was a lie, but at the moment Eliza didn't feel too bad about it.

His hands slipped into his pockets as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, also staring at the floor. "Yeah, I saw that..." he cleared his throat uncomfortably and took a few steps forward, his fingers shuffling through his notes. "I knew I forgot something." Looking down at the pages, he tried to form an excuse in his head as to how he had been studying without the note he was supposed to be studying from. Actually, he had to think of an excuse as to why he hadn't even been in his room like he had told her he would be. He was taking longer than he wanted to, but eventually he cleared his throat again and turned to look at her. "Thanks." He gave her what he hoped wasn't an obviously forced smirk before he leaned down to give her a casual kiss, straightening out to take the notes over to his bed, sitting down as he looked over them. He knew he couldn't just avoid the conversation, but he still needed to think.

Eliza was quite sure she'd never not enjoyed a kiss from Dedalus, but she didn't react to this one, didn't kiss back more than was necessary, it just---she watched him sit on the bed and then looked away again, down at her hands to try and figure out what she should do. He'd forgotten something while he was supposedly studying for Arthimancy. He forgot his Arthimancy notes why he was studying for his Arthimancy test. Eliza didn't know whether she should take his words as an insult or...or what? Dedalus didn't seem to think they were that big of a deal, so why should she? She was supposed to trust him, right? That's what a girlfriend did, she trusted her boyfriend, and Eliza tried her best to ignore the prickling of her nose and the back of her throat, not even daring to think about the stinging of her eyes.

"No problem," she said, biting her tongue and standing, pulling her ponytail out only to tie it back up, tighter and higher. "I guess I'll---well," she looked toward the door. If she left now Filch would definitely catch her, but she really didn't want to stay because she would never be able to take her mind off of everything and it would be pointless to try and sleep and, "Well. Erm."

She let out some nervous laughter, completely stuck. This was going far worse than she could've imagined. "I...can I borrow a shirt?"

"A shirt?" He couldn't help be repeat it, hiw brows furrowing together slightly as he looked up at her for the first time since he had looked down at his notes, reading over the same word again and again and again. Even though he knew he couldn't avoid any questions she might ask about where he had been, he had still been trying to. And...well, maybe she wouldn't. Maybe he could just get away with not being there, even though something was telling him that he was very, very wrong. "I...well...yes? I mean, what?"

Okay, Dedalus was far from dumb, but really, of all the things she could have asked, he had least expected her to ask to borrow an article of clothing. But because he wasn't dumb, he knew that a shirt wasn't what was on her mind right now. She had mentioned the time before, and she had done that hair thing that usually meant that she was nervous, and she gave that laugh which meant that she was feeling kind of stupid, so he knew something was up. The fact that he could read her body language was surprising to even him, seeing how he had never been able to understand any other girl in his entire life. Well...there was Emmeline, but even she confused the crap out of him.

But this wasn't about her, this was about Eliza, and he didn't like thinking--no, knowing that he was the cause of her awkward question about borrowed clothing. He probably would have just gone with it if he wasn't so stunned by it. No, he just stared up at her, his fingers clutched around his notes, crumpling the edges a little bit. He was preparing himself for any other question she might throw at him, and he could only hope he wasn't too obvious about the fact that he was thinking of excuses in his head, even as he waited for her to speak again.

She let out another string of nervous laughter and gestured down at her clothing, "Unless you want me to get caught by Mister. Filch while I sneak back to Gryffindor, I'm going to need something to sleep in."

Eliza smiled tightly, moving over to his dresser to dig for a shirt. She'd done it before, she probably had a few of Dedalus' shirts in her dorm (definitely not taken by accident, but that was besides the point) so she knew where to go, which ones she shouldn't sleep. It wasn't a problem, Eliza was perfectly fine with finding a shirt, going to the bathroom and changing (nothing out of the ordinary, she still got nervous with that even if they'd---well---) and then going to bed. If he could be out until two-thirty in the morning, then she could go to bed when she pleased and not have to...have to...have to something she couldn't figure out. All Eliza knew that it was a bit vindictive to be trying to think like this, and she didn't like it, and kept her hands busy in his drawer.

Oh, bloody hell, she was going to cry. No, no, she couldn't cry, that would absolutely make no sense, she hadn't cried in years. You ruined your chance at crying about this when you bloody let it slide, Alderton. Ohhh, she could hear Brianna's voice now, and Miranda's, and Ingrid's and...and oy, she was a disgrace to all womankind for this, she thought a bit mindlessly, pulling out shirt after shirt and unceremoniously stuffing them back into the drawer.

"Oh. Yeah, go ahead." It wasn't like he needed to say anything, since she was already digging through his stuff to get out a shirt. While her back was to him, he placed his notes down on the bed next to him and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs as he slid his fingers into his hair, pressing his palms into his forehead as he let his eyes shut.

Damn it...damn it, damn it damn it.

It was way too quite. Even with her shuffling around through his drawers, neither of them were saying anything. He knew he had lied to her, and she knew he had been doing something that wasn't what he told her he was doing, and he knew that normal people would probably ask where they really were, and...oh, no, not that Eliza wasn't normal, it was just bothering him that she wasn't asking, even though he hadn't wanted her to, but...

Oy. He didn't know what to think anymore. He wanted her to ask just so it was out there in the open and he didn't have to hold the fact that he knew she knew inside anymore, but he didn't want her to ask because then he'd have to lie to her again just to cover up for the fact that he had lied to her before. He really wished she hadn't been here...he really wished that he wasn't a complete dolt, telling her he was studying, not even thinking about the fact that she could have come up to his room for some other reason and would have still found him missing...but at least he could have said he was in the library if that was the case.

Once the noise stopped, he sat up and looked over at her, biting at the corner of his lower lip. "I, uh..." he swallowed and stared at the drawer she had just been looking through, noticing that there were chunks of fabric sticking out. Oh, he didn't even know what he was going to say. He just needed to say something. He picked up his notes and stared down at them again, his hand raising to rub at his neck as he pretended to read over them. "Are you tired?" He glanced up at her, hoping that idle conversation would be a good thing.

"Yeah, I," Eliza started, holding the shirt to her chest for a moment to see if it would be long enough for a decent pajama, "I've been up since early, so."

She hated this. This--this not wanting to talk to Dedalus, this avoidance of his eyes, this...Eliza was a lot of things, but she wasn't fake, and she was acting with Dedalus and no matter how many times Miranda told her to be the character, acting was still fake and fake was---was not what you were supposed to be with your boyfriend. Eliza gave a little jitter before hopping into the bathroom and changing quickly. She made sure to check that her eyes weren't red or anything more incriminating and took the time away from Dedalus to calm down her breaths and mind. This was going to be okay. She trusted him. Dedalus wouldn't do anything to hurt her. If he needed to be out, he needed to be out. If he didn't need her in the way, then, well, she'd stay out of the way. Right. Right.

Eliza came out quickly and shut the door behind her, having folded her clothing. She put them on the dresser and then came to stand at the four poster of Dedalus' bed, staring down at him somewhat expectantly. For a second she thought to ask him if he was coming to bed, but then Eliza realized she...she cared, but she didn't feel like asking. She didn't want to know. So she ducked down quickly and kissed his cheek before going around the bed and slipping under the covers.

He took the time she was in the other room to change into a t-shirt to sleep in as well, placing his clothes into his hamper before he took a seat on the edge of the bed once again. He fiddled around with the watch that Eliza had gotten him, placing it carefully on the nightstand beside his bed after he had spent a few minutes just staring at it. He felt horrible, and his head was starting to hurt, and...it was just a bad night.

His attention snapped back to her once the door opened, and he remained seated looking up at her as she stood before him, swallowing as he waited for those questions to finally be asked. But once again she remained silent. She didn't even kiss him. On the cheek, yeah, but it wasn't the same. He scowled a little, but it wasn't because of her. No, it wasn't her at all, it was just this situation. It was driving him nuts, and he wasn't a person who lied because he wasn't ever that good at it.

Dedalus remained seated for a few more seconds before he reached over and turned off the light, turning himself to slide underneath the blankets beside her. They weren't even laying like they normally would. Her back was to him, and he was staring at the celing with one hand behind his head as the other one rested on his chest. Sleeping was going to be impossible. He was exhausted, but because he had a million thoughts swimming around in his head he knew he was going to be up all night.

Why did he feel so guilty? It wasn't like he had done something wrong, right? No, but...

He wanted to be able to tell her the truth. But was he allowed?

Secrets sucked.

"Where were you?"

Eliza's eyes shut tightly as the question slipped out, praying that Dedalus didn't hear her, that he was asleep and she could avoid conflict. She didn't know what had made her do it, maybe this was one of the few times she could get away with the 'stupid Gryffindor' stereotype, jumping into things without thinking, but she didn't dwell. It had just started to...to hurt and the question had been bubbling up her throat for the past ten minutes and it finally burst out, unable to be stopped because of the force. So, she'd asked to calm herself down---if he didn't answer, then at least she asked, even if it was the cowardly way of doing it. Eliza didn't move from her position, however, her hands wrapped around the pillow as she listened for a response; she couldn't do this if she was looking at him.

There it was. That one question.

Those 3 words. Dedalus' eyes closed and he moved his hand to rub over his brow before he looked back up at the ceiling. "I was at the library." Alright, it was a start. He was a horrible liar, but he knew that spilling out all the information at one time would make it more obvious that it was a lie. He could have rambled on about something, but then she would get suspicious, because no one was that prepared to answer that question unless they were lying. Honestly, the Library was his best bet. She could ask anyone if they had seen him, and because he was there for most of the day anyway, people would probably say that they did, because they would forget when they saw him, just that they did, in fact see him there.

As he avoided even looking over to him, he felt more figurative weight push down on his shoulders. He was so conflicted. How was he supposed to tell her where he had been even though he wanted to? That would be even harder to explain...and he couldn't stand to even imagine her reaction.

He was lying. Eliza couldn't---he was in the library, without his notes. It didn't make any sense, he was lying. Again! He was lying to her again. And that's all he was telling her? She had stayed silent, giving him time to tell his story, to convince her that he hadn't been off doing---doing things. Of course he was in the library. Right, that made sense, that was the smartest thing to say because Dedalus was smart. Oh, Eliza had never felt so...so...she was mad she was mad because---she wasn't even mad when he walked in and didn't say anything---

Because! Because if he had been in the library, like he was saying he was, he would've stated it immediately, apologized profusely for letting her sit there, it wasn't a big deal to get stuck in the library and---ohhhh, oh she was mad, she was mad but she couldn't---some loud part of her wanted to flip over and smack Dedalus with her pillow over and over, and another part wanted to cry (and hit him, but mostly cry), but she couldn't build up the courage to because she loved the idiot. Merlin. Calling Dedalus Diggle an idiot.

"Right," she croaked, now growing annoyed at herself because she couldn't hold back her emotions anymore. "Good night."

"Eliza--" he started with another statement, but didn't even know where he was going with this. Groaning, he lifted both of his hands and covered his face, pressing his palms against his eyes now as he spoke. He could tell that she was annoyed because of that tone. He'd never seen her get mad before, but annoyed? Definetly. It was just...it was never because of him. Usually it was because of someone else.

Obviously.

He felt his face grow warm as he spat out the lie he had been thinking up since he had walked into the room. "I didn't know you were here, okay? I was in the library because I was looking for my notes, and a Slytherin fourth year stopped me and asked me to help him with his potions homework, so I did, but he was the slowest human being I have ever met and it took him forever just to grasp the concept of which way was counter clockwise. I was in. the library. I got back late, I'm sorry, but I didn't know you were here." He dropped his hands down and looked over to her, still laying on his back. He paused as he let himself cool down so he could speak calmer, and be genuine. "I'm just...I'm sorry."

If only she knew what he was really apologizing about...

Did he really think that's why she was mad? Eliza's expression changed from angry to confused to startled, back to angry because she couldn't believe he'd break it down to just that. And...and bloody talking slowly as if she wouldn't get it or---or something ridiculous like that. Eliza knew she was probably over exaggerating and over analyzing, but--but damn it. He was lying! He was lying to her and and speaking adamantly about how he was innocent and making her feel stupid and just---she was just---

She wiped away a tear that had come loose and just nodded into her pillow a few times, "Right, okay, sorry for--I'm--sorry."

Eliza really could've smacked herself then. In all her anger she had been expecting an onslaught of yelling and accusations, like she imagined Miranda would (though she really didn't have to, considering the fights her friend and Ralph had been in lately), but she'd apologized? She apologized! She apologized for feeling this way because she would avoid fights and conflict no matter what and it was just easier to than to continue things. She felt so ruddy stupid for it, but she didn't want to fight, she just wanted to go to sleep.

"Good night," she said again, reaching back to find Dedalus' hand to give it a squeeze before she drifted off.