High Above PV Dee Prince finished

It wasn't unusual that weekends found Dealla roaming the corridors of Hogwarts, just wandering up and down stairs, taking turns, trying - and sometimes managing - to open doors. The more abandoned the particular part of the castle looked, the better. Anyone could explore the busy, well-lit parts of the castle. She was more interested in the corners where no one bothered to look.

Dee was just returning from such a research trip, spiderwebs in her hair, and a sparkle in her eyes. She'd been up early today, earlier than usual, and had had gone exploring only after a small breakfast, so she was looking forward to an early lunch.
Dee was just skipping down the stairs - left foot, both feet, right foot, left foot - when she saw someone very familiar passing her by, headed in the opposite direction, seemingly without noticing her.
She stopped. Ileen wouldn't ignore her on purpose, and she'd seemed like she was in a hurry, too. While Dealla wasn't the most sensitive of people, she could still tell that that meant something was wrong.

Lunch forgotten, she instead turned around to follow her friend back up the stairs, a sense of worry curling in her stomach. She wasn't the best person to deal with things like this, much preferred an easy atmosphere of jokes and banter, but if she didn't go, Ileen would be alone, and from what Dee knew, the Slytherin had been alone far too many times in her life.
Dee hadn't been around back then, but now she was, so she wouldn't let it happen again.

Knowing that Ileen probably wouldn't want attention drawn to her, Dee resolved to catch up first instead of calling for her like she usually would, and followed her friend to the Owlery.

Still focused on her hurting dark thoughts, Ileen entered the owlery. She was relieved to find it empty – there was no way she could stand anyone asking her questions about her strange behavior or feelings. No one except for Dee.
The owls, which crowded all over the poles here, shouted softly as the young student entered and one of the school owls fluttered directly on her shoulder and stretched out a leg. As the unfamiliar weight settled on her shoulder and the claws dug into her robe, the shadow of a smile flitted across Ileen's face. “Thank you. But I have no letter for you.” And at this moment she doubted to ever have one for the owl again. At least not for her parents. She suddenly had the feeling that the additional weight of the bird sank from her shoulder directly into her stomach. She was sad and disappointed. And this disappointment weighed more heavily on her than she had expected. And this helpfulness of the bird to transport an answer that she could not give, did hurt even more. She just couldn’t take it anymore.

As if she had felt Ileen’s uncomfortable, the owl tripped a little to the right and then fluttered away again. Her spreading wings wiped the Slytherins brown hair into her face, but she didn’t even notice. Slowly she walked towards the window and looked outside. Far below her stretched the beautiful lands of Hogwarts. The Forbidden Forest looked wild and dangerous as always, and stood in breathtaking contrast to the lake, which today shimmered like a mirror-like surface in the pale October sun. A cool wind was blowing towards her and made her gasp for air, as if the "outside" was inviting her. Every fiber of your body was striving to accept this invitation. She wanted get out. She wanted to get out of these walls - up as high as she could to clear her head.
Probably it was not allowed, but she did not care at that moment. With a bold step she put her right leg on the windowsills and peered down. It was high. But height had never bothered her before. And it wasn’t high enough. Not yet. She laid both hands on the cool stone, ready to pull herself up. She was determined to climb out and onto the roof. She needed that. She just had to get up there.

After a few more stairs, Dee hadn't really had any doubt anymore about where Ileen was headed. They'd been to the Owlery together before, right after school started, and Ileen had talked more than once about her love for heights, about the sense of freedom and clarity it gave her. It didn't require a great leap of thoughts to figure out that that was where she would go when something bothered her. Honestly, if Dee had given it a little thought, she probably could have guessed from the start what her friend's goal was.

The rustling of wings was audible even before she entered the Owlery, and between it, a few indiscernible words in Ileen's voice. Was she talking to someone? For a second, Dee's steps slowed, doubt creeping up. Maybe Ileen had had plans to meet someone, and she'd misinterpreted the situation. Yet there didn't seem to be any reply, so Dee continued her way upwards.
She entered the Owlery, uncharacteristically quietly. She usually wouldn't have hesitated about just waltzing in, even if it was a private conversation, but she'd already seemed off, so... However, there was no one except owls and Ileen who was currently climbing onto the windowsill. She wasn't - she wasn't planning to jump, was she?
Startled, and more than slightly panicked, Dee sprinted forward in a burst of speed, grabbing Ileen by the arm and dragging her back inside. "Ileen!" she half-yelled, her fingers digging into her friend's arm. "What are you doing?"

Ileen’s heart skipped a beat when a familiar voice called her name. A hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the owlery. She had been so consumed by her gloomy thoughts that she hadn’t paid attention. So, completely taken by surprise, the young Slytherin gasped and whipped around to face her opponent. With that movement she also removed her arm from the other person's grip. “What –“
Half expecting to face a professor or prefect, she broke off in the middle of the question when she recognized her best friend. Although her heart was still beating wildly in her chest, she relaxed a bit and tried to smile. "Merlin, you scared the hell out of me." She placed a hand on her heart, but the sad attempt of a smile immediately vanished from her face.
She was glad, it was Dee who had found her, but she didn’t want to hide her feelings from her. So, the disappointment and sadness were clearly visible on Ileen’s face and she also felt the pain returning after the shock.
Dee herself looked also quite shocked, but Ileen was to busy with her own feelings to even notice it. “Well…” She turned and peered over to the window. “I wanted to climb the roof.” To not sound completely stupid, she raised her hand and waved with the letter from her parents. “My parents wrote me this morning. And now… I don’t know. I just want to get out.” She hesitated before she looked up to Dee.
Now that Ravenclaw had found her, she realized how much she needed to share her thoughts and feelings. They had already talked about visiting the owlery, but they never had considered climbing the roof. She frowned and bit her lower lip, struggling with the urge to ask Dee to accompany her. “I- I wanted to see the grounds from above.” She surged and turned to the window again. “It helps.”
Annoyed, she wiped her eyes when they started to burn. She would not cry. She hadn't cried for years. “Do you want to join me?” Her voice trembled slightly, and she hurried so make her way back to the window. I would be glad, if you do.
Outside there was a small roof over the window, which could probably be reached easily from the windowsill. Then you could pull yourself up onto the roof from there. She would try it. Determined, she put one foot on the windowsill again.

Dee had been trying to drag Ileen as far from the window as she could - which wasn’t all that easy, considering her friend had a few centimeters on her and Dee was borderline scrawny - but didn’t get all that far before Ileen whirled around and ripped her arm free from Dee’s grasp.
For a second, both of them were just staring at each other, blue and brown eyes wide, then Ileen seemed to relax a little.

“Sorry,” Dee replied, frowning as she watched the small, weak smile vanish off her friend’s face in a matter of seconds. “I didn’t mean to, but to be fair, you scared the hell out of me, too. I came in and saw you trying to climb out of the window!” She waved her hands wildly to emphasise her point, still able to feel her heart beating wildly in her chest, although it started calming down slightly as she listened to Ileen’s explanation. So she hadn’t been planning to jump - that was a relief, she supposed.

Instead, it seemed Dee’s assumptions had been right - Ileen was troubled, worried, due to whatever had been the content of that letter, and therefore trying to go to the highest place she could reach in search of comfort. Apparently the Owlery wasn’t high enough, so she’d been trying to get even higher - onto the roof.
The young Ravenclaw frowned at the mention of Ileen’s parents, but decided not to push it right now. They could still talk about it when they were sitting on the roof, after all.

“Sure!” she replied brightly in response to Ileen’s question, and stepped forward next to her, pretending not to hear the trembling in her voice or the rather conspicuous way Ileen was wiping her eyes. Poking her head out of the window, she looked up to see the small roof over the window. “You think you can make it up there? I’ve been climbing cliffs at home but this seems a little different - also, those weren’t as high above the ground. Less risk of dying if you slipped.” She paused, tapping her nose in thought while she considered the best way to get up there. “Maybe… Oh, you know what? I’ll just cast the Levitation Charm on your clothes, since it won’t work on you directly, but it should help with getting you up there and keeping you from falling if you slip!”

Ileen realized again what a great friend she had found in Dee. Without hesitation she had agreed to climb the roof with her. Without questioning her motivation or asking questions. The young Slytherin felt a lump forming in her throat, but this time because she was moved.
Also it was good that at least one of them still cared about some sort of security. Even though Ileen was also a skilled climber, this wasn’t an easy obstacle and one mistake could mean death.
Not trusting her voice, Ileen nodded to Dee’s suggestion and tightened her robe. The Levitation Charm would be useless if she just would slip out of her clothes. With trembling fingers she stuffed the letter in her pocket and put her hands on the cold wall that formed the window frame to balance herself.

She would wait for her best friend to cast the Levitation Charm before she put her second foot on the windowsill. Then she sat crouched in the window and took in the breathtaking view for a moment. The wind blew her some strands of her dark brown hair in the eyes and for just a short moment she noticed how the deep down tore at her. Her heart skipped a beat in excitement, but shortly after this adrenaline rush the strange numbness returned mixed with pain.
Feeling the lightness of her own body due to the Levitation Charm, Ileen pushed her upper body out of the window and turned around. She reached for the small roof which served as an ornament to the window and pulled herself up. She just trusted Dee to be close enough to protect her during the whole climbing adventure. Stabilizing herself with both hands placed on the roof she pulled her upper body in a lying position. Her gaze was fixed on the pointy rooftop. It was near. She almost made it. Gritting her teeth she groped with her foot for a resistance that she could use as a step. Then she managed to push her whole body on the small window ornament.

Still secured by the spell, she remained at first on her hands and feet like a cat, before she held onto the upper edge of the roof, stood up slowly and pressed herself tightly against the wall. She wasn't afraid of heights, but until she had a firm grip, she wouldn't look down. From here it was easy though. With a final push she pulled herself on the rooftop, rolled around on her back and sat up. Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest. With an exhale of relief she pulled her own wand. “Are you ready? I will cast Leviosa as well.”
The young slytherin poked her head over the edge of the roof, ready to cast the spell as soon as she would see her friend.

When Ileen agreed to Dee’s idea to use the Levitation Charm to provide some modicum of safety, the Ravenclaw shot her a brilliant, encouraging smile before she drew her wand, aiming at her friend. “Wingardium Leviosa!” she said firmly, performing the wand motion in a precise, fluid movement, then nodded at Ileen to begin her climb when she felt the spell working. It didn’t take her best friend long at all to climb onto the windowsill, and then from there, pull herself up onto the roof.
Dee leaned forward to follow her with her wand, taking care to keep her spell active just in case Ileen slipped at some point, but it didn’t really seem like she needed the support.

When she was sure that Ileen had found safe footing on the roof, she released the spell, then stowed her wand safely in her robes. She was not going to risk dropping it from one of the highest towers of Hogwarts. There was no way she was ever going to find it again if it fell, and her parents would probably kill her and take the money for a new one out of her allowance. Also, she liked her wand. It had a mind of its own, they were still in the process of getting to know each other, and it seemed both of them were too stubborn for their own good, but if they ever managed to mold their stubbornness and ambition to work together for the same thing? Oh, the things they’d be able to do.

Hence, she triple-checked that the wand had no possible way of slipping from her robes before she stepped forward and nodded at Ileen to cast her spell. Thus secured, she nimbly pulled herself up on the windowsill, and from there, with some support from the Levitation Charm, up onto the roof next to Ileen. It was really rather easier than expected - while she wasn’t a great fan of heights, as long as she had stable, safe ground beneath her feet or good handholds to grip, she had never been bothered by them, either. There was a light sensation in her stomach as she was hanging there for a second, nothing separating her from the drop and the ground below, a light thrill of adrenaline that reminded her of years spent scaling cliffs. Flying, however… That was something entirely different.
It didn’t take long until she was sitting up there, smiling at her friend. “This high enough?” she asked, trailing her fingers over the rough surface of the roof. “Or do you want to try to climb higher?”

As soon as she had a clear shot at her best friend, Ileen performed the wand movement precisely and whispered “Wingardium Leviosa”. Even though Dee didn’t seem to be in need of much support, Ileen was also more comfortable with knowing her to be safe - just in case. While securing the climb of the Ravenclaw, the young Slytherin did not yet allow herself to enjoy the view in order not to lose control of her spell.
Only when Dee had pulled herself onto the roof next to her and sat down, she released the spell and carefully stowed her beloved wand in her robe.
With another sight she took the view in and admired the endless grounds of Hogwarts that spread before them. She felt tiny and unimportant in that scenery - her pain and concerns also seemed to shrink to an insignificant level in comparison to this wideness. That was exactly the reason why she normally fled to high places. To change the circumstances. If you felt small, how important were your own concerns?

The cool air caressed her face and for a moment the risk of the fall was strangely attractive. “Yes. This is high enough.” Ileen was relieved when she noticed the lack of trembling in her own voice. She sounded calm and composed. Fixing her eyes on the lake, she hesitated. She wanted to share her feelings. It was just the first time she ever felt like that.
That Dee followed her onto the roof was proof enough that she wanted to know. Also, Ileen felt like she would explode if she didn’t tell. She just needed to put her thoughts in words. Spoken words. Writing them down wouldn’t be enough. But where to start? Probably with the beginning
“My parents just wrote me a letter that they are moving back to New Zealand. Right after they got rid of me.” She swallowed heavily and wrinkled her nose. It sounded kind of childish, spoken out loud. “I don’t know. It feels like treason. Like they never really tried to start over here. They just forced me away and stuffed me into Hogwarts to run away again. To my home, but without me.” She turned to her best friend, hoping to see understanding in her blue sparkling eyes. “They lied. They never wanted to start over. And now I wonder what else they lied about.” Even though she was still concerned it sounded lame, she felt better.

Dee gifted her friend with a bright smile and nodded, settling down more comfortably on the roof, her back against the wall, legs stretched out in front of her. Ileen already looked and sounded more stable, so it seemed that following her up here had been the right call to make.
There was a light breeze going, catching in Dee’s locks and blowing them into her face, but Dee enjoyed the feel of the wind in her hair. It lacked the scent of the sea that she was used to from back home, where the breeze off the sea had been omnipresent, but it was still pleasant, still somewhat familiar. Suddenly, she was hit by a rush of homesickness, longing for the sea and the small pillows of pink sea thrift growing on the cliffs, and she blinked. The lack of the scent of salt and fish everywhere had taken some getting used to, and she still woke up in the morning sometimes feeling like something was off.

The Ravenclaw tore her eyes from the view in front of them when Ileen started speaking, fixing her attention on her best friend’s face instead. For a moment, Dee was speechless, didn’t know how to react or what to say. “Oh,” she said quietly, feeling helpless. The sense of betrayal in Ileen’s voice was apparent enough even for her to pick up on, and Dee took a deep breath, trying for a second to put herself in Ileen’s shoes, to imagine what her friend must be feeling. The wave of longing for home she’d had just now? Ileen must be feeling the same, just a thousand times worse, because she’d been forced to leave her home years ago, with no expectation of returning, and now that she was here and couldn’t come with, her parents were going back.

“I’m sure they didn’t mean for it to be that way,” she said, but her voice sounded uncertain. “And if they did, they’re stupid. Why would they ever want to get rid of someone as amazing as you? Besides, you’ll get to visit them over the holidays, right? Christmas isn’t that far off. You’d get to go home!” She paused, not sure if she had helped at all or maybe made things worse instead, but her eyes were wide with genuine concern.
Why would her parents do this? Make her feel like she’d been left behind, pushed away? Suddenly she straightened up, indignant on behalf of her friend. “It’s not fair of them,” she said firmly, “and the timing makes it even worse.”