privacy {nix}

[sterling]

Sterling had gotten a few odd looks as he traversed through the castle, wearing dark jeans with a white button-down shirt under a cloak and carrying is guitar case across his back, but he hadn't paid them any mind. It had been only a week since he last brought out his guitar, and it seemed like a week too long in Sterling's mind- though he very rarely played in front of anyone, preferring the privacy of an empty room. He poked his head into the room at the top of the tower, smiling when he saw only dusty crates and a few stacks of old books that likely hadn't been touched in years, he was alone.

He closed the door quietly behind himself before sitting down on one of the crates to open his guitar case, smiling fondly at his instrument of choice. It wasn't anything special, only a basic acoustic, but it catered to Sterling's needs just fine. He balanced his guitar on his knee, deciding that he would play left-handed that day. He strummed a couple of times, and in hearing that the notes were off, began tuning his guitar. Sterling hadn't gotten far, however, when the door opened. He sighed quietly, but nevertheless looked up to see...

[nixnight]

Nix had always gone to tall places when she needed to think. When she had been at home then her room was the highest in the house and she would sit on her window sill and look out up at the sky and think to herself but it was harder at school, people were always around and asking her things and she didn't like it. Or not at the moment atleast.

It all made sense now, the head aches and feeling sick all the time. She just didn't want to really believe it. So she had come to one of the schools towers to think to herself when she had heard a small noise coming from the tower door and she pushed it olen only to meet the eyes of a ravenclaw. She paused and then gave a small sigh, "sorry, I'll go somewhere else" she said in a small voice before stepped backwards and moving her hand so the door could swing shut

[sterling]

Sterling had seen the girl before, that red hair wasn't easy to forget, though her name was evading him. She was a Gryffindor, he had seen her at their table, though that didn't help him draw a conclusion to what her name was. Distracted, Sterling accidentally pulled one of the strings too taut and it broke, jerking him out of his thoughts. "Damn," Sterling said under his breath, though looked up at the girl- he could fix the string with a charm later. But what he found odd was that he had even broken it in the first place, usually he was a lot more careful than that.

"No, it's all right," said Sterling to the redhead, "you stay, I'll go." He probably hadn't chosen the best place, though in his own experiences he found not many people frequented the highest room in the south tower. Sterling laid his guitar back in the open case at his feet, and nudged the cover closed with the end of his shoe before snapping up the closures and standing up to sling the case over his shoulder again. Perhaps Sterling might go outside, it wasn't raining that afternoon, though he likely would have trouble finding a solitary place outdoors.

[nixnight]

Nix flinched slightly at the noise of the string on the boys guitar snapping even before she closed the door and his voice drifted to her and she paused, she turned slightly and slipped into the room through the small gap in the door she'd left and dipped her head. "you don't have to go over me, I'm only here to think you I think you count as first dibs" she said with a small smile before a wave if nausea struck her and she backed away and pressed herself against the cool wall behind her and snapped her eyes shut. These were happening more and more now and since had been about three months now, she didn't think any if the illness signs were going to get better, she wished she could have changed what had happened but it was too late for that.

She gave a sigh as the wave left her and her head drooped down and she slowly opened her eyes to look over at the other buys ,"sorry about that" she said in a very weak and wobbly voice before taking in notice of his robes, he was a ravenclaw like her bother had been and her adopted brother now was.

[sterling]

Sterling adjusted the strap of his case on his shoulder so the weight of it was better distributed across his back. He had been about to reply to the girl saying that he didn't have to move because of her, though before he could think of something (likely stubbornly chivalrous) to say she behaved rather peculiarly. Sterling watched in a concerned sort of way as the redhead leaned against the wall and closed her eyes- had she felt faint or something? Thankfully she hadn't stayed that way for long, and looked back up at him after only a moment.

He stayed where he was, though had the temptation to take a step or two toward her. He disregarded her apology, she hadn't done anything wrong, other than perhaps concerning him. "Are you all right?" Sterling asked, watching her carefully. He messed a bit with the strap on his case again, frowning slightly. "Maybe you should sit down?" suggested Sterling, his tone sounding more like a question than anything else.

[nixnight]

Nix watched the boys eyes and saw the concern in them and a small smile flicked over her mouth, "I'm fine, life just decided it was being too nice to me and so gave me a little challenge" she said with a slight smile before she subconsciously lowered a hand to her stomach again. She nodded in the boys direction ,"but I will sit down if your one of these people who will worry" she said with a smile before she leant back against the wall and slid on the window that looked out over the grounds

"you don't need to worry, I'll be alight soon enough" she said in a low voice before she leant backwards and then pressed her free hand against the wall to try and cool herself down again. "but I've been ruse so far, I'm nix. Nix night but I don't like being known as one of them so no one uses my second name much" she said before offering her hand thar had been cradling her stomach

[sterling]

Sterling nodded, though he was not exactly sure what the girl meant by what she had said. He was not entirely reassured by her insistence that she was fine, however, she looked to be on the pale side. Or perhaps that was just her skin tone, Sterling wasn't sure. He himself was naturally very pale, he remembered a time at the beginning of his first year when professors would insist he go to the infirmary because they thought he looked ill- though would not have a thing wrong with him. "I won't make you," said Sterling, half-wondering if he should stick around or excuse himself.

He did not have long to think on it, however, as the girl introduced herself as Nix Night and offered him her hand. He accepted, giving it a gentle, though still firm, shake. "Sterling Tailor," said he with a small smile, now remembering where he had seen and heard her name before. She was the captain of the Gryffindor team, a chaser if he wasn't mistaken. Taking the introduction as an invitation to conversation, he slid his guitar case off his shoulder and propped it up against the wall before facing her again. "D'you come here often?" asked Sterling, "I haven't seen many people come up here."

[nixnight]

Nix smiled at the boy who it seemed was names sterling and nodded softly at his introduction and smiled at his question ,"I'm oddly drawn to high places and open windows or forests and the dark, it's something I've never quite understood really but I just like to be in places where others don't go so I think it may be that. I'm normally in my own room as our tower is rather high but i was sick of everyone today so wanted somewhere quiet and came here. Im not here much though so I won't keep barging in on you" she said in a long breath before lifting her robes to reveal bare feet as she placed them on the side of the windowsill beside her and twisted so she was sitting sideways.

"what about you? Why did you need to come up here away from everyone?" she asked in a small voice as she turned herself just enough to face the boy but not so much that it hurt or she was away from the window too

[sterling]

Sterling listened patiently as the girl spoke, he had always been pegged as a good listener, and when he didn't feel like listening he could feign it very well. Though with Nix he didn't feel the need to zone out, something about her interested him. He couldn't put his finger on what, but there was something different about her. Sterling nodded, he liked high places, too. Perhaps it had something to do with his living in a tower for the better part of the past six years, but whatever the reason he liked the view, feeling like he was above the problems on the ground.

Sterling cocked an eyebrow a bit when he noticed her bare feet, surely the castle wasn't the best place to walk through without shoes, he imagined one's feet would get cold. Most of the floors were, after all, stone. He shrugged slightly when Nix asked why he had needed to get away from everyone else. "I play for myself, not for attention," said Sterling, tilting his head toward his guitar case still propped against the wall. He would rather not have people watch him, guitar wasn't a common hobby around Hogwarts, so it would only make sense that people would be interested- but he liked his privacy.

[nixnight]

Nix smiled a little at the boys comment and something inside her seemed warmed by his words ,"I know the feeling" she said with a chuckle at her memories of going to the towers at night and working on her change. Thar was one thing that was beginning to worry her more and more, she hadn't know abbot her present problem for more than a forenight now and so she had been running about as a wolf recently. How would that affect the rest of her life now? She couldn't change for six more months or otherwise it could cause endless issues but she was worried about it they had already happened now...

She flicked her head and then looked back to the ravenclaw and her face went a little red, "sorry, I've just got a lot on my mind at the moment" she said honestly before she against lowered a hand to her stomach again with out thinking about it. A lot of the time lately she really felt like she just needed a hug and someone to just comfort her when she really felt like all hell was breaking lose around her, but of course, she had no one. Not even Tain anymore

[sterling]

Sterling nodded, glad that he was not the only one around the school that seemed to value privacy. He had lost count of the times where he felt like he might have offended someone, simply because he had been looking for some seclusion. He felt an awkward sort of silence beginning to settle in over them, though now was one of those times where Sterling wasn't exactly sure what to say. They happened a bit more frequently than he cared to admit, but he had always been more of a listener than a talker- unless the subject went to something that he had more than just a casual interest in.

"Right," said Sterling when Nix apologized, saying that she had a lot on her mind. He noticed an odd sort of look in her eyes, one that hinted not everything in her world was going right. He allowed a pause to lapse before speaking up again. "Are you sure you're all right?" asked Sterling, unable to help but feel slightly concerned. He waited patiently for a response, his gaze not leaving Nix.

[nixnight]

Nix rocked her head back against the cool wall behind her and then the boy spoke again and she bit down on her lip a little, here was a really nice ravenclaw who clearly cared about other feelings. He was the sort of person who was quiet so telling him couldn't really be that bad and she really needed to have someone she could talk to, "I'm due a baby in February" she said in a small and weak voice.

She closed her eyes and then lowered her hands and then pulled her robes apart just enough for her bump through her grey t-shirt to be seen and she gave a small sigh. "only three people in the whole of school and hogsmead know so it would help me if you didn't say anything" she said as she slowly opened her eyes, by she couldn't bring herself to look at the boy again now

[sterling]

Whatever Sterling had been expecting to hear, it certainly wasn't that. He hadn't even thought about it. He took a quiet moment to think about what he was going to say, or how he should even react appropriately. Sterling didn't like to assume, but he figured that Nix likely wasn't thrilled with this change in her life- it probably wasn't a good time.He imagined it would be a difficult thing to cope with at her age. Thankfully, he hadn't needed to reply before the redhead had spoke up again, saying that she would appreciate it if he kept the information to himself.

"I won't tell," Sterling said genuinely, he wanted the girl to know that she could trust him. Though they had just met, so he wasn't sure exactly what he should do. Should he offer a listening ear or a shoulder to lean on? Sterling didn't want to impose, though he supposed that she had just entrusted him with some rather sensitive information- but Sterling had no idea what to do with it.

[nixnight]

Nix smiled a little as the ravenclaw promised not to talk or tell anyone and she gave a little sigh, "so I can promise, what ever reason you have for avoiding people. Mine is most likely worse" she said with a little chuckle before she lowered a hand to the small bump. It seemed odd to her that she was quite so ok with what had happened, she was worried about her grades and what people would do when they found out but aside the annoyances from being helpless and weak, she felt fine about it all.

Of course being worried about talk and rumors and grades and illness was quite a lot so it wasn't like this baby was coming easy but she had never once thought of letting it go. And that shocked her in some ways really, but she knew why it was deep down. It was part if her and she was part of it and she couldn't give that up or kill that, it just wasn't fair

[sterling]

Sterling couldn't help but return Nix's small smile, and feel a little glad that it had been partly his doing in putting it there. She looked better when she wasn't so glum- though he could imagine she probably had been worrying herself too much to make room for being happy. Sterling wasn't sure why he felt this way so strongly, but he wanted to change that. Though he found himself feeling slightly awkward, he still wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in this situation, having never encountered anything like it before. Though he had given his word to keep it a secret, so Sterling supposed that would at least be a start.

"I'm, erm, not particularly knowledgeable in this area," said Sterling after not having completely thought through what he was going to say, "but you can find me if you need someone to talk to." He figured that it was an appropriate thing of him to offer to her after what she had just trusted him with. At any rate, Sterling wouldn't reject talking to her some more, something about her he found interesting.