useless brochures & the smell of sugar wool

(OOC. Sorry 'cause it's short, I'm bad at starting threads (as well as in naming those threads XD)

Kyle bailed on him.

He really did that.

Two days ago the other guy was practically begging Caiden to keep him company during this Quidditch whatever's happening thing, until Kai finally agreed to spend a few hours of complete boredom while his best friend watched the show.

He was already there, sitting on a bench, reading some silly brochure named "How not to kill yourself while playing Quidditch". Really, who suggested this title? Could it be more silly? It wasn't players who're in a real danger during the game, viewers are, they could die of boredom while they wait for something to happen. He could bet that half of the viewers hope that a snitch will be caught quickly, so the game would end up quickly.

Caiden was one of those. Of course it was before Kyle's owl found him, after he saw Kyle's note saying he can't come because something came up. It wasn't written what came up but Kai was sure he'll find out soon enough since Kyle said he'll visit him tomorrow for a talk. His friend sounded a bit more formal than usual, but he ignored that and put the letter in his pocket. He'll find out what's up soon enough, anyways. Sighing, he returned to his brochure. He might end liking it when he's done, no, not Quidditch, that would be too much to expect, but pictures of Quidditch, whoever made this brochure, he had one awesome photographer.

(No worries! I like it )

"Kit, I still cannot believe you talked me into bringing you," Mesut groaned, walking along with her. The roads around the stadium were more dirt than paved, but Katherine figured that the Ministry had been so focused on everything else going wrong that they had been forced to come up with something decent enough. No point in spending all of their time on it, however, if it was more of a grab at some good talk going around.

Mind, Katherine knew next to nothing about the way good press or bad press really worked. She just knew that if word got around about something, you had better hope it was good, or you would be in a mess of trouble. The pureblood lifestyle had taught her that, above all else, but as she looked up and saw Caiden, she was reminded that he had been talked about, too. But not for the good.

Mes had been, essentially, forced to help her up the stairs and into the stadium rows, but she checked again and found that, yes, they were actually assigned to the same section as the Slytherin. Oh, wait. The graduate. Kit continually forgot who all she would be without in the coming school year.

If she even made it to the coming school year.

A shiver ran up her spine, and although Mesut caught it, he just gave her a look instead of commenting on it. When he did say something, it was actually a question as to where she wanted to sit. Perhaps she should have pointed up, above where Caiden was sitting, in case he noticed her. But there was some part of her that was curious. Would he? Would it even matter if she did?

So she pointed to the row in front of Kai, and started inching her way towards where he sat, sitting just a bit to his left, hoping that, maybe, he would glance up and she would be watching the game, and he would catch her profile and realize it was her. As soon as she sat down, though, Mesut started reaching for his wallet. "Snacks?" he offered. "Before the game starts?"

Katherine's eyes widened for an instant, instantly understanding that she would be left alone with just Caiden, but she nodded. No good would come from her acting out of the ordinary. What sort of talk would go around if people thought she was spending time with Caiden, who had a fairly bad reputation? Worse, though, perhaps:

What sort of regret would she feel if she avoided him?

"Dark green, lighter green, brown, baby blue, red, violet…"

Rosier tried to stop himself from falling in a sleep with naming every color he saw while he used the brochure to for cooling (he knew that it has some sort of purpose!) himself while waiting for game to start. He already earned a few strange looks from a wizard that sat beside him, some middle aged man with giant purple (purple, that was the colour he still hasn't mentioned!) hat that was big enough to block the view at the stadium to people who are sitting behind him, lucky guys, and thick mustaches. The man was eyeing him evely while playing with his wand, if they're alone Caiden would probably stop rumbling, but since the stadium slowly started to fill with people he didn't felt like he's in any real danger from the guy, he wouldn't hex him while he was surrounded with almost full stadium. Wouldn't he?

Kai send giant heart winning smile in his direction, the same one he used every time his mother told him he's grounded, that happened about three times every day, especially after he graduated, he couldn't do anything about it, Mayrise Rosier was a complete control freak, and he didn't exactly have any other place to go to; the smile that would eventually melted the ice around her heart. Caiden was sure she would go torture Sebber every time she let Kai go but he somehow found himself not caring for his brother. People always assume they're close because they're brothers, it's silly, his friend's cat that liked to bite everyone was more pleasant than Sebber.

Kai suddenly looked up. He could swear he heard someone familiar, only he couldn't… No matter how hard he tried he couldn't connect the sound of the voice with actual living person who owns it. With all that noise it wasn't strange he couldn't identify the voice, it was a miracle he heard it in the first place. Yet that did nothing to reduce his curiosity, he shifted in his shit, making sure he avoids touching the hat guy, it is better not provoke the dragon cause he might lit you on fire, and scanned the row above him.

No, he never saw any of these people before, they were also dressed in purple, purple colour was probably the colour of one of the teams that plays today, he wondered where he fits in completely black outfit, but no one looked at his direction, their gazes were mostly glued to the Quidditch field, well except one middle aged couple that seemed to be arguing. No one he knows.

He started to turn back again, but his hand kicked a box of popcorn that layed in the lap of the person sitting next to him and he spilled its content over on the people in a row below his. "I'm so sorry, I'll buy you another one." He glanced at the woman that sat next to him before turning to apologize to those in a row below.

Caiden opened his mouth to apologize but his words stuck in his throat when he realized who's exactly sitting in a row beneath him.

Kit Avery.

A quiet yelp of surprise escaped from between Katherine's lips when a shower of popcorn fell over her shoulder. At first, she thought that Mesut must have returned very quickly and just tripped or dropped the box - which, if she was being realistic, was very unlike him. He was never clumsy or inattentive. Everything, it seemed, could be analyzed as far as he was concerned. So, no, it was highly unlikely that her eldest brother had made a mistake like that one. It just simply did not fit his personality at all.

As she began to brush the mess off of her skirt, Katherine realized that, if it wasn't her brother - and she had looked to her left to check. It wasn't him. - then who had done it? Who had made the mess? Suddenly, she recognized Caiden's voice behind her, apologizing for something and offering to make up for it. Her hands stilled over the fabric of her dress, failing to push away the last straggling bits of the snack that had fallen into her lap.

She couldn't help herself. She had to turn and look. When she did, an open and curious expression on her face, Caiden had just turned to her as well, and it looked as though he was considering saying something that never actually made it out of his mouth. Immediately, she was desperate to know what he had meant to say, even though she felt she could safely assume that he had only meant to say that he was sorry for spilling popcorn on someone.

Her fingers came up to play with the birdcage charm that hung from her necklace, which served as an almost ironic symbol of what Katherine's life was like in the hospital. Today was a better day, though, so she had been allowed to attend the match. What if it had been a bad one? She wouldn't have run into Caiden, wouldn't have done so much as sleep or eat or maybe read if she was feeling up to it. Merlin, she was grateful it was a good day.

"Hi," she greeted him quietly, shifting so that she only had to look up a bit to meet his gaze.

If he could name one person he didn't expect to see here he would say her name. Why? He didn't know, it was a feeling, more than anything else. Rosier didn't know whether she liked Quidditch or not, he never saw her on Hogwarts stadium, probably because he avoid it when games were played. "Hypocrite," he told to himself too quietly for someone else to hear, others could see his lips moving but not really know what he said unless they could read lips.

Kai moved on his seat, his previous pose suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, ignoring furious hiss coming from moustache man beside him, focusing his attention on Katherine. Apologize, right. "Um, I'm sorry for this," he started gesticulate with his hand than suddenly stopped feeling like an idiot "for showering you with popcorn, I mean." Blush slowly creeped his way into his cheeks colouring them bright red.

He shifted his gaze from her focusing on a thin thread that protruded from the seam on his sleeve instead. He pulled the thread wanting to get rid of it but accomplished nothing, the thread stayed the same, inwrought in linen of his shirt. For a second he wanted to pull his wand to get rid of it but the moment passed quickly, he still wasn't used on casting magic outside of Hogwarts, feeling like he'll get a letter from the Ministry if he tries though he knew there would be no letter telling him je's expelled from Hogwarts, as well as there won't be going back to Hogwarts ever again.

A spark of sadness filled his chest for not going back to the castle, that building made of dark stone was his home more than Rosier mansion was. Kai met all his friends in the castle, fell in and out of love, got his teeth knocked out in a fight and spent a night at hospital wing til the new teeth grew, got married, spent many days sitting on the coast of the great lake and thinking. Hogwarts was his home, sometimes people say home isn't a place, but person, it was true, his home was bunch of people, his gaze haphazardly roamed at kit's direction, and those people are going back to Hogwarts in September.

"How have you been?" He forced his mouth to spread into a friendly smile, or at least he hoped the smile looks friendly.

Katherine felt her fingers tap against the birdcage charm almost inaudibly, remembering the day Sharon gave it to her. The woman was something of a grandmother figure for Kit during her time at the Muggle hospital, and she could practically feel the walls of the hospital surge up around her and Caiden as the old woman's face flashed behind her eyes. It was meant to remind Kit that even caged birds could get a chance to fly. It was a beautiful concept, of course, but almost a bit sad.

He apologized and the illusion shattered, the hospital walls flaking and falling to bits around them until it was like they had never been imagined at all. It was probably better to not think on such things, of course, given Sharon was no longer at the hospital but Katherine was back yet again. "That's alright," she assured him gently, her lips curving into a gentle if not reserved smile.

His question wasn't an odd one, but it made her pause and think. Was she meant to be honest? Some people didn't take very well to honesty when it came to things like illnesses. Especially ones that were not fully explained, such at Kit's. How could she tell him that some days she didn't want to wonder after a cure anymore? Or that some mornings she woke up and it was like the rest of the world was alive while she hovered, a spectral form without any real breath or direction or life? She couldn't. He was smiling at her and she didn't want to sour this attempt at being friendly when he was offering it.

If there was one thing that Katherine had learned from all of this, it was this: No matter what someone had or had not done, they needed somebody. And Caiden was no exception to that rule. There was a chance that he needed someone to be kind to him just as she needed someone to treat her like they weren't waiting for her last day to arrive.

"I could complain, but it wouldn't do any good," she returned, her eyes falsely bright. She didn't even notice that Mesut had been gone too long, distracted by the arrival of one of his old, school-year crushes. "I hope things are well for you?" Kit added, lifting her eyebrows to show how genuine she was being in asking the question.