dream a little dream // valens

[WATERS LEE]

His bed was so, so warm. Waters didn't remember his bed every being this warm, but he could feel its heat warming his arms and cheeks. He also didn't remember his bed being quite this hard though. It felt a bit rough and scratchy and uncushioned against his head. Had someone replaced his pillow?

Waters opened his eyes to see the common room fireplace in front of him. His hearing aid was long abandoned for the day, but he could hear the fire crackling in the back of his mind as he continued to lay there for a minute more. All other sounds, real or imagined, had been all but blocked out though, so it'd been far too easy to fall asleep in one of the chairs instead of studying. It also made it very tempting to fall back asleep again.

He had to start studying as much as he hated it though. His parents had threatened to bring him straight back home if he failed a year again. It didn't seem fair. No one else seemed to have to study this much, but everyone else also knew exactly what was being said during their lessons. It seemed his abhorrence to wearing his hearing aid wasn't enough of an excuse to slide through his lessons anymore.

After a few more minutes, Waters finally sat up, cheeks red and puffy from sleep. He'd study for an hour and then head to bed. It seemed like a good compromise in his mind. Only, when he looked around him, his school bag wasn't anywhere in sight. Had it ever even been there? Pulling himself from the chair, he clomped up to the dorm in search of it. Searching though really meant a quick glance at his bed and a loud, "Have you seen my bag?" yelled into the staircase, hoping Valens would magically hear him.

VALENS SWEENEY

TEMPLATE BY ELIZA @ BOTE

[VALENS SWEENEY]

The fact that Waters was no longer his roommate hurt. Valens knew that it wasn't on purpose. He knew that there were other things going on. Still, his heart hurt. He just wanted to be with his friend and crush. He'd been in the new room and sort of standing there. Greer was gone, so new Hufflepuff Quidditch captain. Scorp was the head boy, so he was too busy. Waters had to be more serious in class, so he was busy.

What was Valens going to do? Part of him had thought about reaching out to his older brother to see about what he could do in order to just get an interview lined up in his department after graduation. Could he do that? Just use his family connections in the Scottish ministry for a future job?

He was standing there, thinking when he heard something. Within seconds, he was in Water's dorm. "What's up?" He wasn't really sure why he was being called over but he was there.


WATERS LEE

[WATERS LEE]

Waters stood unfocused in the doorway to his room, sleepy and unable to detect Valens's presence until he was right in front of him--just like magic. One moment he wasn't there, and then he was. It made him forget that something was wrong for a second, and his face went from defeated to lit up. "Oh, Valens. You're here."

A moment later, his face fell again. "My bag isn't. I've lost my bag. I swear I had it in the common room earlier, but when I woke up from my nap it was gone. Now, I can't remember if I ever had it down there or if it's lost or stolen at this point," he recounted the encounter quickly in a mix of talking and sign language. Valens's was a prefect. If it was stolen, he would catch them; Waters felt certain of that. If not, he was probably responsible enough to help him find it at least.

VALENS SWEENEY

TEMPLATE BY ELIZA @ BOTE

[VALENS SWEENEY]

Valens grinned at Waters. "Not sharing a room with you is seriously an issue for me." He meant it too. They needed to be together more. But no. Waters hadn't passed his exams and thus was behind a year. Being in class with Brooks and not Waters just felt so weird.

Still he grinned. Maybe he shouldn't just grin as his friend said his bag might be stolen. But it made him giggle a little bit. "Well first we should check the locations it might be and then I'll start looking for it more." There had to be a way to figure out where it was.


WATERS LEE

[WATERS LEE]

Waters nodded in agreement. Not getting to rely on Valens being in the bed across from him really had changed things and was, without a doubt, the most disappointing part of not passing the year. Not that him failing at some point had ever been much of a surprise, but it was sad to get this close to the end and not get to finish it with his best friend.

"Well, it's not in my room...and it's not down stairs," Waters pieced out loud. "I'm stumped." He shrugged. "Maybe they'll just let me not have books, and I can go home."
VALENS SWEENEY

TEMPLATE BY ELIZA @ BOTE