Eternity With You

Eternity in a Night

Some mature content ahead, be advised;
There, you were warned.

          The cool air was disrupted by the bite of the wind, and she instantly regretted leaving her dorm tonight without the wherewithal to grab a sweater. Shivering, she stumbled to the base of her favorite tree. She stifled a yawn but knew going back there was probably the worst thing she could do for herself at the moment.

          Once she had her breathing relatively under control and wrapped herself as best she could in her night shirt—mentally smacking herself for forgetting she wasn't even wearing pants—she drew her wand and cast a warming spell so she wouldn't freeze to death.

          "Of all the nights to lose it on Kimberly," she mumbled to herself. Of course, she really couldn't blame herself. What was her best friend thinking, sneaking her ex into their dorm for Merlin knows what. It had barely been a week since they broke up because she had caught Ki and Philip together. But bringing him back to their dorm? And purposely leaving the door unlocked so that she would walk in on them?

          As if today wasn't bad enough already, she just had to walk in on her ex and her supposed best friend in the throes of passion. "Of course, Rena, it's not like you've known for years Kim was just waiting for you to slip up so she could have him for herself." They both had had a crush on Philip since year four, but he never looked twice at Kimberly, and when he asked Sabrina out in 6th year Kimberly had been fuming.

          At least they had never let him get in the way of their friendship permanently—until now, that is.

          She closed her eyes and rested her head back against the tree. "Thank you, Lester, sometimes I think you might be the only solid thing in my life," she muttered to the tree. Honestly, some days she wondered why the sorting hat placed her in Gryffindor all those years ago, she'd probably be more at home in Hufflepuff, as much as she was loath to admit it.

          Sighing, she reached out and softly massaged her wrist, which was already beginning to purple—a nasty reminder of why exactly she had left Philip. Regret swirled in her stomach as she thought back to that fateful morning.

          She walked into the Great Hall early, as she had wanted to grab breakfast before going to the library to study. She had fallen asleep way too early last night and had failed to finish her essay for Potions, so she hoped to finish it this morning before she had to get to Charms.

          She heard someone walking rather swiftly into the hall but she kept her head down, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to herself. Of course, she had no such luck.

          She was swiftly pulled to her feet as Philip grabbed her arm and twirled her towards him. His fingers dug into her skin a little too roughly as he moved his face menacingly closer to hers. "Did you forget, love, that I gave you a second chance already?" His hot breath reeked of olives—his favorite all-nighter snack—as it accosted her face.

          She started shaking, her knees feeling weak as her gut sunk. "O-o-of course not-t," she managed to squeak out, trying to pull herself out of his grip. In turn he gripped her harder. "I was really exhausted after my meeting with Professor Snape," she winced as she noticed him tense at the name, and rushed to continue, "I fell asleep as soon as I made it back to my dorm. I'm so sorry, Phil, please, forgive me."

          In all honesty she had completely forgotten that they were supposed to do anything last night, she couldn't remember for the life of her why he was so upset at the moment, but she willed him to believe her remorse.