Far From the Ground (Zee)

[Susan Matthews]

Rubbing her eyes lightly, Susan found herself in the Gryffindor Common Room. She hadn’t meant to sleep; in fact she hadn’t purposefully fallen asleep in awhile. Lately, it was more like she lay exhausted until sleep overtook her. Looking around, she remembered coming down to the large couch by the fire. She had hoped for some warmth, an escape from a cold night in the dormitory. Upon waking up now, she found the fire had long since burned out and even chill had set in as the night had drawn on.

Still disoriented from suddenly awaking, she looked around, aware that someone had woken her up. Susan turned around in her seat, searching for the culprit. However, the loud walker seemed to be a speedy one as well and had already made it up the stairs to the dormitories before she could identify the noisy Gryffindor. Sighing heavily, Susan rose from her place on the couch. She was unable to tell the time of night without lighting her wand to see the large analog clock above the fireplace. As she then faced the window, it was evident that the sun had set long ago and wouldn’t be due to rise in while either.

Estimating it to be around midnight, Susan paced lightly around the dark, empty common room momentarily. She paced, only prolonging the choice she knew she would make anyway. Unable to protract her pending leave any longer, Susan at last as politely as possible woke the fat lady, and against all the rules and conscience that told her she should not be in the halls, Susan purposely left the Gryffindor Common Room. Only lighting her wand softly, Susan quietly walked the halls of the seventh floor of the castle.

The soft padding of her slippers would have been enough to attract any wandering prefect, head boy/girl, or teacher should they be patrolling tonight. Susan didn’t pay much attention though. Instead of looking behind her, or dimming her wand as she should have checked around the corners, Susan only tugged tighter on the long sleeves of her t-shirt, warming her palms.

Walking aimlessly along the seventh floor corridor, she was suddenly aware of exactly how little time she spent on the highest floor of the castle. Naturally, she had always ventured toward the lower floors, attracted to the Earth that lay just beyond the ground floor. Tonight, however, Susan stopped suddenly in front of the way to the Astronomy Tower. It had been ages since she’d had an Astronomy lesson, and even longer it seemed, since she’d climbed this particular tower for a reason of leisure.

She paused only a moment, before making the decision to make the ascent to the open Astronomy Tower. It didn’t take long before the wind of the chilly February night was licking her bare legs. She regretted choosing summer pajama shorts for this particular night, but never received the urge to return to her dormitory to change. Looking up at the sky, Susan was awed by the vastness of the sky and the space that lay beyond it.

As Susan got her fill of the stars, she then looked down, viewing the forest and what she could see of the lake. It was strange to be so high off the ground, yet Susan did not have a fear of heights. Keeping a hold on her lighted wand, she leaned her arms comfortably against the wall protecting her from walking straight off the edge of the tower. Absentmindedly she enjoyed the night, not expecting to find anyone, nor for anyone to find her.

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

Once more, Zee was out patrolling long after the Prefects should have been in bed, and he was not sticking to the lower levels that were the SLytherins' and Hufflepuffs' jurisdiction. His patrols had virtually never been for the purpose of actually enforcing the school rules however, though he did that on occasion to keep from giving Caira a good reason to take his status away. No, he had always used the excuse to be up late as a way to keep a vigil against any darkness that tried and creep into the castle at night, though he supposed there was quite a bit already inside.

Journeying up through the school, but doing a fair bit of backtracking to try and cover every hallway and staircase, Zee slowly made his way toward the astronomy tower. It was the highest point of the castle, the logical destination if one were attempting a thorough sweep starting from the dungeons. It also held some significance for the Slytherin. Much had transpired there. D'rorah had taken him there on his first morning at Hogwarts, and he had stayed there, just enjoying the wind. Also it had been where he'd first met Wysteria and where they'd shared many nights, talking under the stars. More recently he and Keaira had had an interesting encounter in which they'd both come to realize how much the other meant to them. It was always an interesting place.

Quietly ascending the spiraling stairs, Zee soon emerged at the top, where he immediately froze. Someone was there, their back to him, looking out into the night, and they held a dimly lit wand. Pulling his own, Zee aimed it square between the unknown person's shoulder blades.

"Slowly turn. Drop your wand."

[Susan Matthews]

The night was cold and quiet and Susan was beginning to thoroughly enjoy it. So immersed the vastness that was the dark around her, she didn’t notice the soft footsteps ascending the stairs of the astronomy tower. She was completely unprepared when she felt a sharp point between her shoulder blades and an unfamiliar voice asking her to surrender. Susan stood erect at the touch of the wand, and she carefully released her wand to land by her feet, its light extinguishing the moment it left her hand. Against her breathing, the only immediate sound she made was the thunk-thunk of her wand falling against the stone flooring, one end hitting and then the other.

Her thoughts raced as she tried to image who might be behind her. Her first thought was of a prefect or head student and she remained still for a moment. But then her imagination grew as she figured it to be too late for a student to be patrolling and she placed a teacher behind her. Even as she thought of it though, she realized a teacher wouldn’t be so brash as to hold their wand to a student in such a violent way. Susan’s heart sank as she then pictured a follower of the mage poised behind her.

Afraid to disobey, Susan closed her eyes and began to turn around, afraid to see who had caught her breaking curfew. She held her hands up in a ‘don’t shoot’ pose and when she figured she was about facing her captor, she cautiously opened her eyes. “Uh,” Susan mumbled fearfully as she recognized the face before her, “Zane?” In the dim light from the stars it was evident that the Elemental Master of Metal had indeed ventured up the Astronomy Tower.

She had been told several times that this particular elemental master was a lightfighter, but standing against the rail of the Astronomy tower in the dead of night at the mercy of his wand, did nothing to convince her. She thought immediately of Dylan and what Zane had done to him. Is this how it had started? she wondered momentarily. Gulping loudly and praying that history wasn’t due to repeat itself on the Earth lightfighters, she whispered desperately, “Zane, it’s Susan.”

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

The expression on Zee's face was grim, even hateful. Dark Phoenix and her followers had badly hurt the two or three people in Zee's life that he really cared much for and, rather vengeful being that he was, any opportunity to hurt one of them back greatly appealed to him. And now here he may have had one of them at his mercy. he could simply use a levicorpus spell to hold them out over the edge of the tower and let them fall. It was a long, long way down, and now that their wand had been dropped, it was unlikely they'd be able to counter the fall in any way.

Of course it was always possible that this was merely an insomniac student who enjoyed the night sky. He after all had more or less fir that description when a lightfighter had first found him in this place. Wysteria had caught him up there last year, and it was how to two actually met. She had also drawn her wand, though she had kept it lowered and been generally less vicious with it than he was being now. The memory of Wysteria as she had been did nothing to relieve the hatred Zee felt, and he almost drove the wand more savagely into his victim's spine. He wished it wasn't merely a wooden wand, but a metal implement that would slip cleanly through the flesh. For the first time he began to wonder if a metal wand were feasible.

As the other began to turn, Zee kept his wand against them, pressing in uncomfortably as it ran across their back and side to finally come to rest planted firmly in their sternum, just below their throat. His face twisted into a wickedly gleeful grin as they turned, imagining the fear and dread they must feel at being caught by the enemy. Perhaps it was merely a student, but Zee didn't believe that. Just as he had nearly fired a cruciatus curse at Aiden when the boy had burst into the room of requirement, Zee instinctively assumed that he faced a dangerous enemy that should be dealt with accordingly. It would after all be better to have to make apologies than to end up dead on the floor. Mainly though, Zee wanted this to be an enemy. A moment after the turn was complete however, Zee's own wand clattered to the floor beside Susan's as he took a stumbling step backward. His expression shifted to surprise and what could be called embarrassment.

Damn it all! If there was anything I could've done to lessen the odds of no longer being feared and reviled, this probably wasn't it.

"Susan, yes of course. I'm sorry, but I thought . . . I mean in the dark I couldn't . . . If I'd known it was you I certainly wouldn't have proceeded with that course of action. I thought, this late at night, you may have been someone trying to get a message to Dark Phoenix or the like. I didn't think it was an innocent, and certainly not a lightfighter. I wouldn't . . . I didn't . . . I don't mean you any harm Susan. Please, forgive me."

It was clear from his tone that his final request was not merely in reference to his rash actions just then. Trying to regain his composure, Zee bent down and scooped up both wands, slipping his own away and holding Susan's out to her handle first.

[Susan Matthews]

Seeing a face filled with a sick pleasure before he fully recognized her, Susan literally shook in her slippers. She did not know what possessed him to take such drastic actions, but it certainly frightened her. As she spoke though, Zane seemed to come to his senses. She breathed in suddenly as the pressure of the foreign wand left her chest in a similar clatter as her own. Caught off guard, she watched as Zane stumbled backward as he was suddenly aware her identity. Claiming her own space once more, Susan let her arms fall to her sides in release.

She watched silently as the Slytherin struggled to apologize. Her face went from one of fear to one of completely no expression as she listened to his stuttering words. Still feeling the place where the wand had painfully pressed, Susan placed her hand to the spot below her throat, thankful that she was still able to use it. “Yeah,” she replied with a cough, returning to her natural tone of voice, a contrast to the pleading of her previous state. “I understand,” she said evenly, still eyeing Zane.

As she thought about it, it was likely that a person of the Mage’s could have been up in the Astronomy Tower the same as she. It was practical to believe that Zane had simply been performing his prefect and Elemental Master duty as a lightfighter to protect the school. Practical, but not easy that was. Trying to keep an open mind, she found it difficult to form the three words that would release Zane from his guilt. Memories from Dylan and objects of her own imagination still swirled in her head despite the honesty in his voice and the serious inflection of his last words.

She watched then as the boy across from her retrieved both of their wands, minding to put away his own first before holding the slightly shorter of the two out for her to take. “Thank you,” Susan said calmly as she lightly lifted the wand from his hold. As Zane had hidden his own, Susan felt better keeping hers clasped in the hand of her good arm. Folding her arms, she looked to the boy before her. She continued to avoid the requested response to the last part of his spiel. “It’s not that easy,” she said, refusing to look away and meaning every word. She couldn’t fathom simply forgiving Zane for everything.

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

A sigh of annoyance escaped Zee's lips as he shifted slightly, slipping his thumbs into the outer edge of his rear pockets, leaving his fingers dangling at his sides. It was a position relaxation rather than readiness as his wand was slipped up one sleeve and he would be forced to pull both arms free and then reach for his wand if anything happened, but none of that really mattered to him. As far as he knew Susan was unaware that he only possessed a wand to enhance his arcane power and to conceal the fact that he had learned to cast many spells without it. Besides, she would not attack him. She may have despised him, even wished him harm, but he feared no violent reprisal from this Shadow Warrior. Much like Cait, she would not attack him simply to maintain her delusion that she was better than him.

"Is it not? That would be because you are wrong. You don't understand. Your comprehension of me is almost completely lacking. You've manufactured an opinion of me based solely upon a single act, an outdated act at that, knowing nothing of my motivations or desires. What do you imagine Susan, that I am simply masquerading as a Lightfighter for the purpose of getting close enough to all of you to put you in St Mungo's permanently? What do you know about me?"

Zee paused and freed one hand to rub his eyes as if exhausted, though he pointedly used his left hand rather than his wand arm. Despite the frustration evident in his tone and the somewhat provocative things he was saying, Zee had no desire to set Susan off by making her think he was going to snap. His stance remained casual and his hand returned to his side uneventfully a moment later.

"What do you want Susan? A signed confession? Was the verbal one I gave you all not enough? Would you perhaps like to pour some veritaserum down my throat and then ask if I've some clever scheme to betray you all? What will it take, hmm? When will you be able to comprehend that not only am I your ally, but I that I'm trying not to be the same person who shredded your precious Elemental Master?"

[Susan Matthews]

Susan’s mouth opened slightly as she was the one to show surprise this time. Holding herself tight, she listened as Zane openly denounced her claim of understanding and the complication of the situation between them. His voice was harsh, and Susan shrunk in confidence as she backed against the stone wall behind her once more. As much as she hated to admit it, the words he spoke were true. Though still fresh in her mind, Zane’s act upon Dylan had been committed several months ago; even Dylan was beginning to move on from the incident. She had indeed kept with the vision that Zane had every intent of backstabbing every single one of them only to run away with the Mage in the end. Susan was struck silent as Zane asked what she knew of him.

Thinking about it, she could only supply the physical aspects of the boy before her. His name is Zane Bishop; he is Slytherin, Elemental Master of Metal; he is the one who hurt Dylan . . . Her knowledge of Zane stopped there. Now that she was here actually speaking with him for the first time, she found she didn’t know him at all. Finally faced with the situation of facing the boy who had inflicted so much pain on her very best friend and Elemental Master, she didn’t know what to say. Many a times, she had rehearsed what she might say when she finally met face to face with him. Here she was, though, finding Zane not to be the malicious dark wizard she had thought him to be.

She said nothing at first, still thinking as Zane changed his approach, wishing to know what would make things alright. She bit her lip, finally putting her open mouth to some use as he suggested a signed confession and then veritaserum. She shook her head, knowing that neither would make her feel better. As he came to his last words she flinched openly as his crude recollection of what he had done to Dylan. Ready to reply, Susan easily slipped her wand in the place between the waistband of her pajama shorts and her hip. With her hands free, she was able to run her fingers through her thick hair as she stood straight once more.

“God, Zane,” she spoke repeating his question, “What do I want?” She looked at him, still fingering her hair, “You said I don’t understand, and okay, I don’t.” She waited a moment, letting her confession sink in for the both of them. “I want to understand, Zane. Make me understand,” she pleaded. “Why did you do it?” she asked, knowing he would understand what she was speaking of. “Who are you Zane Bishop? What made it okay for you to hurt someone, anyone, like that? What were you thinking?” she asked in frustration, still twirling the last bits of her hair. Unable to hold his gaze any longer, Susan looked first to her slippers and then the stone wall beyond Zane, almost afraid to hear his next response.

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

Zee could tell that he had surprised her with his mild outburst. What had she expected of him? Again Zee wished that he shared his Shadow Warrior's gift, though perhaps he'd feel differently if he truly was telepathic. Perhaps Susan had been waiting for him to suddenly attack, as if putting his wand away had been merely to give her a false sense of security. Perhaps she'd expected him to sneer at her and say he didn't care what she thought of him, maybe insult her house and slink away like the stereotypical cowardly Slytherin. What she clearly hadn't expected was a passionate condemning of her treatment of him and of the assumptions she'd made.

The speechless surprise continued to switch between them however as Susan finally found her voice. His eyes followed hers as they sank to the floor, and remained there longer than hers did. Thumbs still in his rear pockets, he drummed his fingers anxiously against his hips, needing to think before offering any response but feeling that the silence did nothing to help his cause. He had not expected the questions, had not really expected her to hear his words as anything but an attempt to mislead her. She wanted to understand him, so she said, but he wasn't sure that he understood himself well enough to explain it. His eyes lifted slowly as he began to speak, seeming to think deeply about each word before he offered it.

"I don't . . . I'm not sure you can understand. I'm not, you must understand, trying to justify what I did or offer any excuse. I had no good reason to . . . hurt Dylan. Or anyone, as you say. Nothing made it ok. It's just . . . what I did. It's what I enjoyed. From a very early age nothing brought me pleasure like inflicting pain. I can't explain it; I don't know why. As far back as I can remember, I hurt things and I enjoyed it. I actually came to Hogwarts precisely for the purpose of doing what I did to Dylan. Not to Dylan of course, but to anybody. There are so many people here, so many opportunities, and I knew I could avoid getting caught. I did avoid getting caught. At least until I joined with Keaira. Obviously I hadn't foreseen someone being given access to all my thoughts and memories. But that wasn't even when the change started."

Zee paused briefly and as he continued he spoke even more slowly, as if he were working it all out in his own head as he explained it to her.

"I spent some time up here with Wysteria. Quite a bit of time actually, and through all that she . . . influenced me. She showed me things I'd never considered before, never understood. Compassion, honesty, virtue. Fascinating things really, and it . . . sparked something. I don't know what. The night I tortured Dylan, I entered his head via legilimency, seeking ways to further his anguish. I found D'rorah there. Not actually D'rorah, but Dylan's thoughts and feelings concerning her. I saw love."

Zee paused again and nodded to himself. That was it. That had been the catalyst for his metamorphosis. In Dylan's head he saw actual love, selfless and true.

"That very night after I healed what damage I could and delivered him to the hospital wing, I came up here and collapsed. I spent the night weeping not ten feet from where you stand. Later I saw more love, though of a more subtle variety, in Wysteria. Then after I joined with Keaira, and Wysteria . . . died, I saw in Keaira's past great examples of love. She has been instrumental in keeping me sane in the past few months and I couldn't ask for a better friend or partner. As for who I am, I really can't say. Am I still exceedingly selfish? Yes. Would I, on some primal level, enjoy watching your blood flow? Yes. Am I going to give in to those urges? No. Will I ever join Dark Phoenix? Absolutely not. Am I a good person? The best I can offer is no, but I'm trying. I might succeed. I might not.Perhaps you're all right and I am unforgivable."

Shrugging, Zee looked into Susan's eyes for a moment before turning his gaze to a corner, where it remained. That had been where he'd cried alone after performing those unspeakable acts. His expression was unfathomable as he considered all that had happened, all that had changed since that night.

[Susan Matthews]

As Zane began, Susan couldn’t help but return her gaze to him, finding his own rising to meet hers. He struggled at first, claiming that she wouldn’t and couldn’t understand, and yet he continued to explain himself. She remained still as the confession came, letting his carefully chosen words sink in one by one. Though her thoughts raced, she said nothing as Zane supplied memories of his childhood.

He was right in the fact that she could not comprehend what would fuel him to hurt things in such a way. As Zane had threatened life, it was Susan who had treasured it as a young child. Any form of life to her was precious and she could hardly fathom purposefully stepping on a lady bug, let alone torturing an actual living person. Her thoughts lingered on her image of a younger Zane, until his mention of Keaira allowed her to recall the night Dylan’s attacker was made known. How she had hated him in that moment. It had been easier to blame a known follower of the Mage, than to place one of their own as an evil person.

Zane’s pause had allowed her time to think, only to come up with more pieces of the puzzle missing. Susan kept her eyes on him intently, willing him to continue. Brushing lightly over Wysteria, Susan perked up at the mention of Dylan once more. It was almost sickening to hear of his method to hurt Dylan, but when told of what he found, Susan relaxed. For the first time since the beginning of his explanation, Susan did understand when Zane said love. She had felt his feelings of love toward D’rorah and even been slightly jealous of it, when they had joined.

Susan stopped playing with her hair suddenly as she learned for the first time that it had been Zane who had brought Dylan to the hospital wing. Truthfully she had never thought of how Dylan might have made it to the hospital wing, knowing only that his healing process was long and painful. She was also surprised to hear Zane openly tell her, it was here that he came to cry in the aftermath. Susan frowned, looking to the stone flooring around them and hating to think of anyone coming to cry in such a secluded and lonesome place.

Hearing Zane announce his truths changed her entire opinion of him. She tried to imagine a small version of Zane, one who might have inflicted pain on others and was unable to. Here, she was only able to see the boy before; a year older and a good five inches taller than her and so vulnerable in this moment. Susan had recognized the parts of his story that could have and maybe should have been excluded from his speech, and valued his choice to tell her. His confession had been so true and so honest.

“I had no idea,” Susan said quietly, after he had finished. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, “I’m sorry I judged you without knowing you,” she continued, feeling the guilt from her previous false mindset. In thinking it over, she found that if Zane had not tortured Dylan, would others still be hurting from him? Had Zane not seen the light with Dylan, would he be the person he is today? Although it was a tragedy that Dylan had to suffer, the outcome wasn’t all that bad. Her apology didn’t seem enough to suffice for what he had gone through.

“I forgive you,” she said finally with warmth in her voice.

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

"Of course you didn't. How could you?"

Zee shrugged and waved away Susan's apology as if she had done nothing worth apologizing over. In fact he had a difficult time believing she had truly just undergone a change of heart concerning her opinion of him. Ironic given that that same skepticism over a sincere shift had been what he'd found so condemnable in others. Her next words hit him hard and he staggered worse than he had upon first discovering that he had nearly attacked another Lightfighter.

She . . . what?

It seemed unthinkable to him that she could actually forgive. He had after all come to the conclusion that he was unforgivable, and he had not really expected his words to cause any stirring in her heart. He realized then that as much as looked down on her for making assumptions about him without ever having even spoken to him, he had done exactly the same thing. He had simply taken the looks and attitudes he'd received and created an image of Susan in his mind that would not be the least bit interested in hearing an explanation, writing off anything he said as 'dirty Slytherin lies.' The traditional rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin was after all more than just prejudice. The types of personalities that would get sorted into either respective house were most often incompatible. Zee felt very foolish for giving into those stereotypes and for his hypocrisy.

The confused surprise on his face melted into suppressed excitement as he began to consider the implications of Susan's forgiveness. Perhaps he wasn't so irrevocably forsaken as he'd thought. Perhaps there was hope for true unity between the soldiers of light. Perhaps if he put more effort into it he could get along with Caity, Dylan, . . . Alessandro. As he considered all this, Zee stepped forward and to the side, moving up beside Susan but facing the opposite direction, his eyes up among the stars. Briefly he placed his hand on her shoulder in an appreciative gesture before resting it on the cool stone.

"Thank you Susan. What is it that brought you out here at this hour? Was Gryffindor Tower just not quite close enough to the sky?"

A small smile grew across his face at his lame joke. Turning his face slightly, Zee looked at her, honestly curious what had led her to that spot so late at night.

[Susan Matthews]

As Susan had apologized, it was as if Zane hadn’t believed her. She watched in surprise as he waved it off, not accepting her true acceptance of his character. Only after she had said the actual words of forgiveness did she view a true response. Clearly not expecting the forgiveness he received, Susan watched uncomfortably as the boy before her staggered more deeply than even before. Seeing him start, Susan realized that Zane truly didn’t believe she would forgive him. It was as if it were beyond him to believe that they might one day get along, or possibly even be friends.

Viewing the boy before her and given what she now knew of him, she generally wouldn’t have chosen him to be friends with. Naturally Gryffindors and Slytherins tried to cross paths as little as possible. The Sorting Hat obviously knew what it was doing when it place the two of them in their own houses. As school mates it was impossible to believe they could be anything other than acquaintances on pleasant terms. Yet here they were, meeting for the first time as peers that went beyond their lives as students. As Shadow Warrior of Earth and Elemental Master of Metal, they were on the same team in a war that didn’t care which house you belonged to.

His disbelief subtly reverted to a form a happiness that Susan was barely able to detect. Seeing the glow in his eyes all the same, Susan smiled faintly, proud of the power her three considerate words had brought Zee. It was strange to then see Zee move to stand beside her. She didn’t know if she had expected him to stay or not. As she thought about it, now that they had recently landed on somewhat pleasant terms, there was no reason for him to leave.

Feeling the warmth of his hand on her shoulder, Susan turned to meet his eyes as he honestly thanked her. Simply nodding in response she turned to match his stance, looking out to the stars as well. As Zane sparked a conversation, Susan openly laughed at his comment. “Not close enough to the sky?” she repeated in amazement. “I thought you would know I like it better on the ground,” she explained with a glance toward the expanse of earth far below the tower in which they stood. “Nah,” she explained, “Couldn’t sleep is all.” She shrugged lightly still looking down at the earth below. Resting her head in her hands, she turned slightly look to Zane. “What about you?” she asked in return, “Prefect duties always keep you up this late?”

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

"Yes, I suppose you would."

Chuckling softly at her retort, Zee had to think for moment before he recalled that Susan was aligned with the element of Earth. He realized that he never really thought of any of them in terms of their element. In his mind D'rorah was the wisest among them and their leader, not the Shadow Warrior of Wind. Darko was that boy he despised for numerous reasons, though of course he did somewhat associate the boy with flame having witnessed his powers out of control. He'd never seen Dylan demonstrate any control over stone however, nor Seen any hurricanes around Bryan. He had seen an ice barrier created by Gat, but once combat ensued the boy seemed to disregard his elemental powers. Again Zee was struck by the notion that he alone of the Elemental Masters was actually preparing for war.

Drawn back to the present by Susan's admission of insomnia, Zee cocked his head to the side. It seemed a common issue among Shadow Warriors, the inability to achieve restful sleep. He may have to talk to Keaira or D'rorah and see if anything could be done about that. Perhaps the Elemental Masters could aid their own Shadow Warriors somehow. He shrugged in response to the returned question, stretching and popping his spine.

"The Prefect duties have ever been little more than an excuse. Vagrant schoolchildren in the night don't overly concern me. But we both know there are other things that happen in the dark. I've always been able to function on a few hours of sleep a night, so I regularly keep an eye on things, especially in the upper half of the castle. The alarms suffice to keep things from entering from below."

Leaning on his hands as they rested on the ledge Zee bent forward slightly to look down the length of the tower. Having leaped from the top numerous times, Zee didn't always appreciate how terrifying the distance could be, particularly if one wasn't holding their wand and didn't have his talent for enacting spells without it. Sighing, he decided to explain the rest.

"Also, this tower holds significance for me. D'rorah brought me up here my first day at Hogwarts, concluding the tour she gave me. This is also where I met Wysteria and where we would meet, before . . ."

Zee cleared his throat and continued with a different scenario.

"And this is where I first realized how I felt for Keaira. From my beginning with the school it has always been important. Now it is also where I obtained forgiveness from you. Momentous events continue to occur in this spot. I come here often to think or reflect. Any particular reason you chose the tower, or were you just wandering?"

[Susan Matthews]

The chill of the night had been forgotten until now when Susan was reminded by the frequent breezes that tended to brush past the two of them. Despite the discomfort from the cold, she did her best to enjoy the contrast of the chill to the stifling heat of many of the smaller rooms inside of the castle. Unfazed by his reaction to her indirect comment on her element, Susan could almost piece together his response before he had actually said it. It was common knowledge that not many students cared to break curfew these days, and to those who were more up to date in the current events it was known that there were more pressing concerns to deal with.

“Yeah, I figured as much,” Susan responded with a shrug. She had a feeling that if she would by some random chance be promoted to prefect that she would spend a lot of her time doing exactly what Zane had just described. Although it was unnerving to think that such a job needed to be performed, it was needed nonetheless. As Zane concluded statement on the alarms from below, Susan assumed that was the end of this general train of conversation. Susan was caught slightly off guard when the boy delved back into his stories of the tower.

It was almost redundant how reoccurring the astronomy tower seemed to come up in Zane’s stay at Hogwarts. With some amusement, Susan listened to Zane add a tour with D’rorah to this list. She sobered some as Wysteria was named again, though. Although they had only met on a few occasions, even before Susan had gotten caught up in the shadow wars, she did still feel horrible about the friend’s death. Or as far as she knew, that was. At Zane’s mention of Wysteria, Susan nodded slightly, remembering as he had mentioned her before.

“How you felt for Keaira?” Susan repeated softly with some confusion in her voice. She wrinkled her brow slightly, trying to decipher what he meant exactly. Of course Zane very well may have meant in terms of their friendship, but the way he said the words made it seem like something more. And maybe it was really none of her business, Susan decided, trying not to think about the uttered example of importance pertaining to the tower. As Zane made around to the present, adding her forgiveness to the list of important things to happen in this tower, Susan wondered briefly how Dylan would feel about her decision.

Before she could think too much on whatever Dylan’s opinion might be, Susan was drawn to Zane’s most recent question. She allowed her thoughts to return to earlier in the night when she had subconsciously made the decision to climb the stone spiral stairs to the astronomy tower. Finding no immediate reason as to why the tower versus another portion of the castle become her destination, Susan had only to answer, “No particular reason,” before adding as an afterthought, “maybe it was fate?”

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

At Susan's question about his feelings for Keira, Zee paused briefly. Perhaps he shouldn't have mentioned his Shadow Warrior is such a way, hinting at their budding romance. She was still undecided after all and he doubted she would overly appreciate him broadcasting their situation for all the school to know, to say nothing of the severe blow his own pride would suffer if he spoke as if something were to happen and nothing ever did. Still, he had been uncommonly open and sincere with the Gryffindor thus far and found it quite liberating. He didn't wish to inhibit that feeling now.

"Well, as I'm sure you're aware, being a part of someone so inescapably, feeling their emotions, knowing their thoughts, seeing their memories, brings about a level of intimacy uncommonly seen. Also for a long while now, since I confessed in the Room of Requirement actually until quite recently, there was really no one for me to talk to or spend time with other than Keaira. You can imagine it may have been awkward for me to approach Dylan or yourself, or D'rorah or Caity, and attempt a pleasant conversation. Darko was still gone, Wysteria was . . . also gone. Mallan I hardly knew and then he vanished as well. There was only Keaira. She stayed with me, shared herself with me, trained me, explained things. For months she became my whole world."

Shuffling slightly, Zee turned his back to the window and kept his hands planted on the ledge, lifting himself up so that he was sitting on it with his back to the open air. He gave a little shrug and a small smile tugged insistently at the corners of his lips.

"How could I not love her?"

Zee was quite enjoying his time with Susan, finding that speaking his thoughts aloud was quite beneficial for working everything out in his head. Obviously the forgiveness she had granted had also lifted his spirits considerably. Enough that he was in a mood to make jokes once more. Referring to her words about why she had come to the tower, Zee let his typical crooked grin form as he replied.

"So fate brought us together then, is that what you're saying?"

[Susan Matthews]

Susan supposed she should have been prepared for another lengthy explanation when she had gently inquired. Zane must have been in the mood for sharing on this night, she figured. That or he truly wanted to tell her, which Susan was having trouble convincing herself of. Although she could find no real reason why they shouldn’t be able to share with each other now, she found it strange to think the only other person she had held such in depth conversations with was Dylan.

As Zane explained, Susan soon found she did not know why she had bothered to ask. When he spoke of his connection with Keaira, she was familiar with the similar sensations that she shared with Dylan. It was also common knowledge, at least among their group, Zane’s actions and how it affected everyone’s relationships. Listening in silence as Zane confessed his reasons for everything, feelings of guilt crept up Susan’s insides. Even after all that had been brought out in the open on this night, she was still doubting him.

Self-absorbed for the moment, Zane drew her attention once more with his movements in a change of position. She watched as he easily lifted himself to sit on the ledge protecting them from falling to the earth several stories below. Secretly she worried for him, so close to the open space beyond the ledge. Personally, Susan wouldn’t have dared sit atop such a wall. She was content to lean against it, making sure to stay safe and behind it.

Looking up to hear the conclusion of his explanation, Susan couldn’t help but match his small smile. It was true that she loved Dylan to an extent, so why should Zane not be allowed to love Keaira? In response, Susan was reduced to shrugging awkwardly. She didn’t know quite what to say to match his heart-felt confessions. Surely, she could share with Zane as well if he asked. Until then, Susan kept to herself, content with changing her glances between up to Zane and out to the world below them.

Only when Zane cracked the joke on her mention of fate did she choose to speak up at last. With a sideways glance at the boy above her she answered with a small laugh. “Hell if I know,” she said, meaning it. “There’s a lot of things I don’t seem to know,” she said regretfully, her thoughts jumbling all over the place. She thought of her issues with her family and the conflicts with her sister, she thought of the recent revolution between her and Zane and how she could have failed to see the light earlier, but primarily she was reminded of the ever present war and how there was so much to learn in who knows how much time.