Absent Friends (Active, Open)

[notthatharry]

WHO: Harry, open to fellow Gryffindors
LOCATION: Gryffindor 5th year boys dorm
WEEK: 69
TIME: Afternoon
WHAT: Harry contemplates absent friends
RATING: G

Comments

Because we don't have enough logs. But dammit she misses them too

[driftingtides]

The door swung open slowly, the heavy wood gliding across the carpet surprisingly loud in the thick silence. Kairi peeked her head around the doorframe, spotted Harry, and smiled.

Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes the way it normally did.

"Hi," She greeted with a trace of her usual exuberance, and then-- she couldn't help it. Her gaze fell across the empty bed and her smile faltered, just slightly. Everything was gone-- his bedspread, his quidditch equipment, his messy clothes all over the floor... his bed looked like an empty shell; or like those empty spots in the orphanage everyone avoided looking at after a child left.

She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn't that bad. He was following his dreams, and was probably going to be one of the youngest professional Quidditch players in history. He'd gone away before, and it wasn't like they couldn't owl each other, or that she couldn't find a way to visit him during the summer holidays.

It just seemed so far away. And then there was Alma...

Kairi dragged her eyes away from the empty spot, walking over to Harry's bed. Without waiting to be invited, she pulled herself up to sit next to him on the mattress, and laid her head against his shoulder. "Hi," She repeated softly.

[notthatharry]

If she had been anyone other than Kairi, anyone still at the school anyway, Harry would have probably pulled away from the sudden intrusion of his personal space. Anyone other than the sunny redhead who had become so involved in his life that it was hard to imagine a time before her would not have been allowed to touch him so intimately.

With Kairi, though, the touch was welcome, not a source of fear or cause for suspicion. Instead of flinching away, he just lay his head against hers, and offered his own, "Hey."

[driftingtides]

Kairi's motives for snuggling weren't completely altruistic. She herself got a lot of comfort from close contact, and she figured they could both do with a good dose of comfort right then. She rested against him in silence for a moment, trying to find a happy silver lining to comment on.

It was surprising how quickly you missed someone after they left.

"It's too quiet," She commented softly. "I feel like we should jump around and shout."

[notthatharry]

Harry sat contemplating the silence with her, feeling the weight of her body against his. She was right of course, it was far too quiet in a dorm that was supposed to be full of life, but for a a few moments more Harry seemed to have nothing to say.

Then he hit her lightly with a pillow.

[driftingtides]

Kairi blinked.

Once moment she had been sitting there, calmly contemplating the quiet that had never seemed so loud, and the next she had a face full of pillow.

A sputter.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, twisting to face her opponent more fully. She could not help a surprised giggle as she reached across him, trying to grab away the pillow. "Give me that!"

[notthatharry]

Unfortunately Kairi's counter attack was promptly thwarted by Harry's brilliant strategy of holding the pillow over his head. "You can pry my pillow from my soft feather covered hands!"

[driftingtides]

That strategy was simply too cunning for her, because the more Kairi tried to raise onto her knees to grab it, the more she fell off balance, until--

Plop. She tumbled back against the bed, giggling madly, though not about to admit defeat. Her head turned to the side and, low and behold, a new strategy occurred to her.

There was another pillow.

"I'll take that challenge," She replied solemnly, before grabbing this new weapon and going back to the battle.