United We Stand

Apologies~ Megan, Kevin

Megan-

As I watched Tracey walk toward the quidditch pitch I let out a pent up breath. Guilt washed over me. I should have known Kevin would try to pull her in too, of course he would. If I'd only been paying more attention—

"What—what was that about?" I spun on Kevin as he asked the question.

"None of your business," I snapped, before turning toward the castle.

"Megan," Kevin caught my wrist "Please, I did something to upset her, but I'm not sure what. Please tell me what I did; I don't want to do it again."

I turned back to look at him. Kevin looked confused and regretful, while Sophie stood behind him, looking more concerned than anything. I let out a breath again, trying to calm down "Tracey doesn't like large bodies of water. She's terrified of them, even swimming pools."

"How was I supposed to know that," Kevin shook his head "Who's afraid of knee deep water?"

"Her father drowned you idiot!" I noticed Kevin's eyes grow wider, but I continued "He drowned, right in front of her, and Tracey almost did too. She was saved at the last minute, just in time to see her father die."

"I—I didn't know—" Kevin stammered "I'm sorry."

My body relaxed as the anger drained out of me "So am I. I shouldn't have snapped, you couldn't have known."

"Is there anything I can do, to make it better?" He asked, eyebrows drawn together.

"Just give her space, that's what she wants right now," I took a step forward "But if you ever force her into the lake again, I will personally put you in the hospital wing."

"Yes ma'am," he nodded, and I was surprised to find that we were both completely serious "Seems only fair."

I waited a reasonable amount of time before heading to the place I knew Tracey would go. I refused to let Kevin come, though he asked.

Tracey was sitting, legs crossed, at the edge of the forbidden forest, like I knew she would be. I walked up behind her, making sure my footsteps were loud enough for her to hear "Want some company."

She looked up at me, then sort of shrugged before turning back to the forest. I took that to mean yes, and sat down next to her. Tracey's eyes searched the forest "What did you say?"

"I had to tell them something," I said not so much in defense, just a fact.

"How much," She looked over at me, concern the only thing to be found.

"I told them your dad drowned, and that you almost did," I started pulling at the grass "I told them you were saved at the last minute, just in time to see him—"

"So you didn't say anything about—about the—" Tracey was fidgeting with her tie.

"Not a word," I looked at her, and the corner of my lip turned up a little bit "I know when or if you want them to know, you'll tell them."

"Good," her eyes moved over the forest in front of her. As if to herself she said "Someday I'm going to explore this wood, and discover all its secrets."

"I'm sure you will," I smiled, knowing that if anyone could do it Tracey could. Once she set her mind to something, she always followed through. Which is how Peter and I once ended up watching with a mixture of horror and fascination as Tracey somehow managed to shove an entire slice of pizza in her mouth. It wasn't a small piece either.

We sat in silence for a long time before Tracey finally spoke "We should probably be getting back- dinner has to be starting soon-"
"Yeah," I stood and helped Tracey to her feet as well "Dinner is waiting."

Kevin-

As Megan walked off to find Tracey, I flopped back down under the tree and ran a hand through my hair. God, how could I have been so stupid. If I'd only known, I never would have-

Sophie sat next to me. For the first time since I'd met her she started the conversation "It- It was- wasn't yo- your faul-t-."

"Oh no, someone else pulled her into the water-" I leaned back against the tree, a hand over my eyes "I'm such an idiot-"

"You- cou- couldn't kno- know-" Sophie raised her hand. I saw her hesitate for a second before lightly placing it on top of my hand, which was lying on the grass next to me. It was the first time she'd ever initiated physical contact with any of us as far as I knew. Sophie was a very reserved person, in every respect of the word, and it made me happy that she was getting more comfortable with us.

"I shouldn't have forced her in the water- I should have stopped-" I ran my free hand through my hair again "How could I have been so stupid?"

"Ke- Kevin- you- you can't blame yo- yourself-" Sophie insisted, looking down as she continued "A- a lot of- of things cou-ld have tr-triggered it- tru- trust me-"

I looked at Sophie, suddenly wondering how she would know. I didn't ask. As curious as I got, I usually knew when to stop, and that was definitely too far. Instead I asked "What can I do?"

"Jus- just apologies- sh- she'll understand- I pro- promise-" Sophie reassured me, then added as if as an afterthought "-and do- don't pu- pull her in- to an-anymore la-kes."

I smiled slightly "I think I figured that much out for myself, thanks."

She didn't respond, just smiled at me. I squeezed her hand "Seriously-- thank you."

The smile didn't waver as she nodded. Having said her piece, Sophie had fallen back into silence.

The great hall was almost full when I finally saw Megan and Tracey enter. Taking a deep breath I got up from the Ravenclaw table and made my way towards the front of the hall. The girls had split, heading towards their respective tables.

"Tracey-" I said, coming up behind her. She turned and to my surprise gave me a small smile. "I- I just wanted to say, I'm sorry about earlier-"

"Kevin- don't," Tracey cut me off "It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known. Please, just drop it."

"I know- but I still feel like-"

"Kevin," she locked eyes with me "I know Megan did the explanation thing for me. It's not exactly something I like reliving, so stop. Just stop."

I looked at her for a second, before nodding "Okay."

"Thank you," She smiled "Now if you don't mind, I'm starving."

"Me too," I grinned at her "See you later."

Then I turned to head back to my seat, and Tracey did the same.