If I Fell...

[britkneeboo]

Tonight was just not Mafalda's night. Not that the night before had been much better...........well at the time it had been pretty good, but after she had sobered up it had sucked, and tonight seemed to be a continuation of it. What gives him the right! she thought, as she listened to the heavy doors close behind her. She had just come back inside from arguing with Regulus, and she was still angry. Mafalda wasn't the type of girl to go lay down sobbing after something like that happened, but instead she felt wired- like she had to do something. Normally, under the circumstances, she would have gone for a walk to clear her mind and give her something to do, but tonight it was much too cold for a walk. She could walk around the castle though, there was no harm in that.

Turning a corner, Mafalda slowed down. She had been walking fast-paced to try and get away from Regulus, but now she could relax. He hadn't followed her any more, and hopefully she wouldn't run into him again that night. Why me? she thought, letting out a sigh of warm air. I'm turning out just like my mother. Mafalda un-buttoned her sweater, and rolled up the sleeves. It was much much warmer in the castle than it had been outside, and far too warm for a sweater.

Reaching in her right skirt pocket, Mafalda pulled out a long gold ribbon. She stopped walking for a moment and let her head fall back, hair cascading down her back, and slid the ribbon under it. Lifting her head back up, she started tyeing the ribbon into a bow. She now had a high, messy, ponytail, but at least it kept the hair from sticking to her face.

Turning another corner, and then another, she realized she was coming close to the library. She bit her lip and thought about getting a book, but she knew her mind was just not into reading that night. Instead, she passed the entrance to the library, and kept walking. She really wanted to get rid of her sweater, but she was nowhere near her common room, so she would have to deal with being hot. Hopefully she would think of something to do before long.

"For nobody knowing I exist, I sure do cause a lot of trouble," she said, but there wasn't anyone there to hear her.

[ludo]

Ludo had been in the library like a good little Ravenclaw studying up on his classwork...well not quite, but he had actually been working. Not by choice mind you, but necessity. If he wanted to maintain his grades he would, unfortunately, need to complete his assignments. Of course Ludo could have been done with his paper much sooner if he hadn't taken such frequent breaks, but the sun had been setting through the library window and while he couldn't see the sun itself he enjoyed the purples and reds that painted the evening sky.

As he finished his paper, he looked to see it was not quite dark and night had fully set in. Ludo couldn't be sure exactly what time it was, but he had definitely had enough of the library for one night. Pushing open the library door, ready to head back to the Ravenclaw commonroom for a little relaxation, Ludo's eye was caught by a lanky blond with a high ponytail. Ludo knew almost immediately who these features belonged to and walking up behind her the muttered lines of self pity only confirmed his suspicion.

Mafalda had already past the library door so she wouldn't have seen Ludo, but now that he was walking up behind her just behind and to the right, "Causing trouble are we?" he smiled catching up to Mafalda hoping his smile may bring a smile to her face as well. It wasn't often he ran into Mafalda and it had been awhile since they had really talked, but Ludo was more than willing to make up for that fact now. After all the night was still young.

[britkneeboo]

[[Cheyne, I sent you a private message to read.]]

Mafalda was pondering which corridor to turn down next, the one ahead and to the right, or the one ahead and to the left, when she heard the library door behind her quietly shut. The sound quickly landed in the back of her mind though, as she payed it no attention, and continued walking. She was drawing nearer to the other corridors, and had decided to take the one to the left. Her plans were interrupted though when she heard Ludo's voice, behind her a little and to the right.

She didn't have to see his face or his smile to get a smile herself. She had just been thinking about her friend minutes earlier, as she fought with Regulus, and hoping she could talk to him. She had given up hope of that though, since they shared different common rooms. She was sure he would be in his own by then, definitely not in the...library. He had found her at the perfect time.

"Ludo!" she said, quickly turning around to see him. He was closer to her than she had anticipated though, and she nearly slammed her head right into his. It wasn't uncommon for her inner klutz to show up around Ludo, or anyone for that matter. She had met the boy while spilling pumpkin juice all over herself after all. "Sorry," she said, now forgetting what he had even said to her to begin with. All she was focused on now was the fact that he was there.

[ludo]

Ludo jerked his back just slightly as Mafalda swung around to face him. As a soon to be pro beater his natural reflex was to to jerk his head as something looking like it may hit him in the head. Well, really he assumed all people had that reflex, but his was perhaps a little quicker after 6 years of bludgers whizzing past his head. But it had been a much smaller head jerk this time just ensuring Mafalda's head wouldn't collide with his own. Besides if any part of their heads were going to touch Ludovic would prefer that it be their lips rather than foreheads.

Still Ludo's smile only brightened as Mafalda had apologized. Mafalda had always seemed a bit of a klutz, even before their first official meeting when she spilled pumpkin juice all over herself. The things was that was part of Mafalda's appeal. She was just this beautiful girl who wasn't really at all pretentious about her appearance, almost as if she didn't realize how beautiful she was. Maybe it was that sort of innocence that she had that kept Ludo from ever asking her out. Of course now there was the fact that they had such a great friendship that he didn't want ruined, but what had stopped him from just asking her out the first time they met like he had done with other girls?

"It's ok," Ludo smiled. "So what's this about you being invisible and causing trouble?" he asked. Of course invisible and trouble causing always called to mind Peeves the Poltergeist, but Ludo could tell Mafalda was experiencing different meaning of those words. She was of course visible if to nobody else but Ludo and as for trouble it didn't seem like the fun kind of trouble she had been causing which made Ludo concerned as to what was going on with his friend.

[britkneeboo]

Mafalda's look of shock, at their heads almost hitting, now was replaced by the previous smile. "Sorry for apologizing," she apologized, which made it seem a little pointless. "I know you've got enough bludgers to dodge at quidditch practice without my help," she was now referring to her head. Mafalda's smile grew when she realized Ludo had barely moved. Their faces were just an inch apart, and she easily assumed it was because he was in shock that she had almost knocked him silly.

Taking a step back, Mafalda made a face at the question he then asked. She had already spilled her guts to him about the first time her and Regulus had 'encountered' each other, telling him everything except for the name of the boy she had slept with. Ludo had been able to tell something was troubling Mafalda, and after talking to him about it Mafalda had felt much better and much more assured. She was glad Ludo was there to talk to her about her troubles, but this time she felt like it would just make him worry if he knew it had happened again. She didn't want Regulus ending up dead because she had an overprotective friend, and she was sure if she mentioned it this time that she wouldn't get away without telling him a name.

"Nothing," she said, smiling in a way that showed she was guilty of something. "I was just speaking in general. You know....causing trouble, that's what I do best." Oh Merlin, that was lame! she thought, but tried not to show that she was lying. Her smile faltered though, not because she was keeping a secret, but because she knew Ludo wasn't stupid enough to believe what she was saying.

[ludo]

"Well, I could always use a good test of the reflexes," Ludo smiled. His father had always encouraged him to work on his reflexes, and his overall quickness really. Power was overrated when it came to being a beater. It was one of those things that could certainly help, but wasn't essential...quickness however was what the position was really all about. His father loved the sport of quidditch, as did Ludo, but he sometimes wondered how much of Ludo's love for the game wasn't really just an attempt to make his father proud.

In any case that was not the issue at hand, Ludo loved quidditch and really couldn't see himself doing anything else but playing quidditch for a living...well at least not being happy doing anything else. Ludo brought his mind back to the present moment to focus and Mafalda standing in front of him...lying to him. Of course he couldn't really blame her, everyone lied about things, especially things they may not want to talk about, but still she could have at least made the lie a little more convincing.

"Oh, of course...I mean you're right up there with James and Sirius when it comes to causing trouble," Ludo smiled clearly mocking her poor attempt to cover up whatever it was she was hiding. "Come on Mafalda, you're going too have to do better than that if you want me to believe you," he added still smiling. Ludo allowed the smile to fade away from his face and bring on a more serious demeanor before speaking again. "What's wrong Mafalda?" he asked attempting to sound concerned yet laid back. Wanting Mafalda to trust him without fear that he might get too overprotective...which he did have a tendency to do.

[britkneeboo]

Now Ludo was the one fibbing, because if anyone needed to work on their reflexes it was her. Ludo already had that covered - at least from what she had seen of him on the quidditch pitch. Mafalda didn't go to many quidditch games because she really didn't understand them. She tried, but just couldn't get the hang of how it worked and so she only went when Ludo requested her presence. If she had no reason to go she would just stay in her dorm- reading or working on assignments.

His remark at her being right up there with James and Sirius made her smile for real. It was common knowledge that they were the pranksters in the school and were, of course, remarkable liars. If she were right up there with them two then Ludo was a pirate. Mafalda still didn't answer, even after he made fun of her horrible lying skills. She was working on another lie in her head, a better one, but when his facial expressions changed to more serious she knew she wouldn't be able to lie again.

"It isn't anything important," she said, looking from his face down to the ground. "I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person.....and had a little too much to drink. You know how I get."

[ludo]

It was nice to see Mafalda smile, even if just for a moment, she had such an adorable smile and Ludo just loved it. Of course he would never let her know that exactly, but he had flat out told her she had a beautiful smile once, but she probably thought he was just saying that. In her defense it was something Ludo said kind of a lot to various girls, but was it really his fault that so many girls had cute smiles?

Ludo felt a slight pang of jealousy at Mafalda's words. It had taken him just a moment to fully understand what she was saying, but once he did it was a bit of a slap in the face. It wasn't that he wanted to go get drunk and have sex with her or anything, but if she was going to end up doing that with someone, he kinda preferred that it be him. It was a stupid thought and really made him feel somewhat perverted, but wasn't it normal to not want other guys having sex with the girl you had a crush on? Plus drunken sexcapades was not exactly a trait you looked for in a girl.

"I do," Ludo said to his best to keep any emotion, disappointment, jealousy, anger, etc. from his voice, luckily he had chosen two short words, so his effort may have been successful. Either way those two words let Mafalda know he knew exactly what she had done. "And was it the same wrong person as last time?" he asked able to highlight his tone with curiosity, than any other emotion he was feeling. Ludo still didn't know who it had been the first time, but that only made him more curious as to whether or not it was the same creep as before.

[britkneeboo]

Mafalda let out a giant sigh, but it wasn't of relief. It was more of a sigh of disappointment in herself. She didn't really want Ludo knowing such bad things about her, but if she couldn't talk to her friend about it who else was there to talk to? She had tried talking to Regulus and that had blown up in her face. Still, his secret was safe with her and for that reason she couldn't let Ludo know who the secret person was. As much as she wanted to tell him and get it off her shoulders, it just wasn't an option for her at the time. Mafalda didn't even think that by taking it off her own shoulders she would be placing it on Ludo's considering how he felt about her.

"I'm sorry," she said, apologizing again for something she didn't have to apologize for, at least not to him. "I don't know what it is. I swear you're the only one who can keep me in check, but you don't even go to pubs with me. If we drink its usually just the two of us out at the Quidditch Pitch at night, and I know you only do that to protect me, but sometimes I just want to be around other people who are doing it." Mafalda sort of trailed off, still unable to look Ludovic in the eye. The reason she was rambling was to try and make excuses. She hoped that eventually she would settle on something that would make it justifiable.

"It's the same person and........he has a girlfriend," she said, finally raising her face to meet his. She wasn't sure how he would react. Last time he had been understanding and just reassured her that she wasn't a bad person and mistakes happened. But would he act the same way when she made the mistake twice? And what about the fact that it was with somebody in a relationship. Didn't that make it even worse? "Why do you hang out with me, Ludo? I'm utter trash."

[ludo]

Ludo was going to tell Mafalda she didn't need to apologize, but really he kinda liked the fact that she had. Still he tried to convince himself the reason he didn't let the words out was he didn't want to cut Mafalda off, the apology was just a precursor of things to come, a blanket statement to by her some time while she collected her thoughts. Ludo knew though that he had wanted Mafalda to apologize, but he wasn't so sure he was the one that needed to be apologized to.

Ludo listened to Mafalda ramble through excuses fighting the urge to get upset. He wasn't exactly the poster boy for sobriety himself, so to attack his friend for wanting to go out and drink with other people would just be one of the more hypocritical moves he could make. "I can understand that...but do you think maybe you could at least have a third person around from now on?" Ludo suggested still able to keep a pretty level head. He knew Mafalda drank, as she had said they had gone out to the pitch together and had drinks, but somehow he still kinda liked the idea that Mafalda didn't know what a pub was...of course she clearly did. Ludo just tended to like believing girls were more innocent than they really were...which was usually what ended his relationships.

"He has a girlfriend?" Ludo repeated slightly put off by this. He was of course blaming the guy and not Mafalda, she was the innocent victim as far as he was concerned. It was too painful for him to think otherwise. He didn't understand how someone could do that even when they were drunk...well actually he sort of did. "Mafalda you are not trash," Ludo assured her pulling her to him wrapping his long arms around her lanky frame. "The girlfriend doesn't know...does she?" Ludo asked the question coming to him as he pulled Mafalda to him. That could certainly create some issues.

[britkneeboo]

If Mafalda had expected him to show disappointment, yell at her, or call off their friendship she would have been very wrong. She was amazed how he always managed to keep such a cool head around her. If she thought about it long enough she would find out that she had gotten away with just about everything she had ever done as far as Ludo was concerned, but think about it she did not. She just accepted it.

A third person was a great idea, and Mafalda would have suggested it sooner to Ludo if she hadn't been so busy trying to sneak to Hogsmeade without him knowing. "As long as you promise to go with me next time,"she said, agreeing to his 3 person rule. Mafalda was just about to throw her arms around him in a hug, but he managed to get there first, so instead Mafalda just squeezed him tight as he hugged her.

"No," she muttered into his chest, not wanting to let go for fear of being scolded. "I promised I wouldn't tell, no matter how much I despise her," she said, making a face into his shirt at the thought of the other girl.

[ludo]

"Deal," Ludo agreed letting a small smile cross his lips. He would rather face the reality that Mafalda did go out to pubs than allow something like this to happen again. Of course he also kinda hoped Mafalda would be smart enough not to let it happen again, but it never hurt to have a plan B. In fact Ludo was all about having a plan be to the point where B may as well stand for Bagman. Ludo always needed to have a back up plan, just part of his overcautious nature...that he usually was good at hiding.

Ludo wasn't sure how he felt about the fact that the girlfriend didn't know. On the one hand he felt it was a good decision, especially seeing as the girl would be bound to blame Mafalda for the whole ordeal and word would spread around school and some unsavory labels may be attached to the innocent little Hufflepuff...though it was pretty clear she was far from innocent in the matter. On the other hand Ludo felt the girl had the right to know, even if it was a drunken accident the girl deserved to know that her boyfriend had slept with someone else.

"Why would you promise that?" Ludo asked slightly put of and just a tad jealous that Mafalda seemed to have agreed to hide this creeps secret. Ludo was glad he didn't know who it was because the results would not have been very pleasant. He was even more glad that he didn't know who the girl was because he probably knew her and would have to tell her what he knew. Ludo somehow didn't make the connection from his earlier thoughts that keeping this a secret was actually in Mafalda's best interests all that rang in his head was the fact that she had made this promise to some random guy to protect him.

[britkneeboo]

After a few minutes Mafalda finally pulled away from him, feeling the rush of cool air where their bodies had been pushed together. After seconds the cool air was gone and she was back to wishing she didn't have a sweater on.

Mafalda had to think about her answer very carefully this time. This lie would be harder to fake. She wasn't one hundred percent sure why she had agreed to keep his secret. She had just felt like it should be kept. Sure, she had given him a few not-so-believable reasons, but those were hardly correct. Her feelings on the matter were mixed and mushed.

"He's my friend," she said, slowly, almost like she wasn't sure what she was saying. She hadn't ever spoken that way about Regulus before, and she wasn't sure she was all sane right then, but the words had come out before she could stop them. "And....he needs somebody who won't stab him in the back." Mafalda nodded her head, deciding that this was as good of an answer as any. Was it the truth? Well, she certainly wouldn't make up something like that about Regulus, so it had to have been the truth. Then again she still wasn't sure were it had come from. The more she thought about Regulus though, the more she felt like she wanted to be able to say she hadn't betrayed him. The question was, would he ever realize that?

"I was just doing him a favor."

[ludo]

"Your friend?" Ludo repeated not really liking the word. He wasn't sure why, but Ludo never concerned that possibility. The first time it had happened he had just accepted that it was some random guy she hooked up with because she had a little too much to drink. He supposed he was hoping it was another chance run in with the same random person. Of course if he was thinking it would have occurred to him that it was someone she knew.

Won't stab him in the back? So it was someone with trust issues, or who had at least been betrayed. 'No' he scolded himself, he didn't want to know who it was and at the same time he wanted to know more than anything. Either way Ludo was beginning to warm up to the fact that Mafalda was keeping the secret. Protecting a friend was a lot different than protecting some random sleezeball...of course the guy was still a sleeze in Ludo's mind until he was proved to be other wise.

'Doing a friend a favor,' he repeated the words in his head. Ludo had to admire the loyalty of Hufflepuffs. Of course he would like to think he was a pretty good friend, but still he wondered if he could ever have that sort of loyalty. "Well I just hope he appreciates what you're doing for him," Ludo said deciding to accept Mafalda's choice. But then a thought struck him, one he hadn't until this point even wanted to consider..."Do you like him?" Ludo asked making it obvious what he meant by 'like.' As he spoke tried to hide the fact that he wanted the answer to be know, but he wasn't sure he did such a good job.

[britkneeboo]

Mafalda would like to think that Regulus would appreciate what she was doing for him, at least then it wouldn't seem pointless. It wasn't pointless. Protecting him is protecting myself, she thought, as she let out another sigh. This time it was a sigh of relief. She was relieved to at least be able to talk to one of her friends without them judging her - at least not to her face. Mafalda had no idea what Ludo thought about her in his head.

"Of course not!" she said, his next words catching her by surprise. She hadn't expected him to ask her a question like that, but it shouldn't have been unexpected. She wouldn't tell Ludo the boys name, she had slept with him twice, she felt bad about him having a girlfriend, and she was going to keep quiet to protect him. It really did all add up to her liking him, but that was one thing she didn't need to think about. She had never had feelings for Regulus in 'that' sort of way, and she never expected she would. She assumed Ludo knew all about friends with benefits, so why was he jumping to conclusions and why did he care?

"I don't like him. He's scum and I can't even stand to be around him for more than five minutes," she said, rather defensively. She had just finished telling Ludo about how the boy was her friend, and now she was bad mouthing him. Friend may have been a little too powerful of a word, at least if she were trying to explain it to another.