It's been a long time. (Open)

Basil silently climbed the stone steps up to the Owlery, a letter written on parchment tightly clutched in her hand. It felt good to be walking around the castle once more. In the past weeks, she mostly kept to herself, not talking to anybody and trying to focus in on finishing this year.
Brushing her hair behind her ear, she slowly entered the Owlery, her eyes following the walls up and taking in the sight of the many owls that lined them. She called down her own, the bird landing onto the window ledge in front of her. Stroking its head gently, she quietly mumbled to it. She hadn't seen her own owl in such a while. She had missed it greatly. Taking a step back, the owl knowingly stretched out its foot, waiting for the letter to be tied onto it foot. After she had finished, the owl took off. Basil watched as it slowly began to disappear the farther it flew. When it appeared to be only a small speck in the sky she silently hoped that her parents would reply.

Lucifer turned his head when he heard someone enter the owlery. Stepping back into the shadows he decided to keep himself concealed until he knew who it was. When he recognized who entered the owlery his heart clenched in pain but he brushed it aside, he openly watched Basil from the shadows not really knowing what to do. When he saw that she was preoccupied with her owl he slowly and quietly sneaked towards the door. He didn't look where he put his feet and then CRUNCH. Wincing he raised his feet of the ground and glared at the offending object he stepped on and noticed that it was an owl pellet. Cursing to himself he glanced over at Basil to see if she heard him or not.

Basil's head snapped up and her eyebrows scrunched together in concentration as she heard a small crunching sound come from behind her. Placing her hand inside her right robe pocket, where her wand was hidden, she turned about. After seeing who it had been, she turned back around to look back out the window. "Ignore him, Basil." She quietly mumbled to herself, her grip on her wand tightening protectively, her mind focusing on a random object outside.

He flinched after he heard what Basil said and hopped around slightly due to the pellet being stuck to his shoe. But since he was hopping around he didn't see the recent owl dropping and slid on it. Yelping in surprise he gasped and groaned when his back slammed against the floor and he felt the air knocked out off him. Whimpering slightly he blinked up in confusion and saw the silhouette of Basil right above him. "Hi." He wheezed out sheepishly.

Her eyes closed slightly in annoyance at all the ruckus that the Slytherin was making. Turning around, Basil saw that he was on the floor. How the heck did he get down there? She smirked slightly and crossed her arms, her build towering over Lucifer for once. "What do you want?" She stubbornly asks, her eyes never leaving. She couldn't trust him, especially with her back turned.

Hurt flashed across his face before he schooled his features and got up slowly and cautiously. "What I want? Who cares?" He brushed filth and hay off his robes. "What about you sweetling?" He took a step closer to her and slowly looked over Basil. He hadn't seen her ever since Christmas.

Basil nervously took a step backwards, suddenly the little feeling of courage leaving her. She didn't want to be anywhere near him. She had purposefully avoided him the past many weeks. She had been successful up till now. "Why do you care?" She asked coldly. "It's not like you did when I needed you." Her eyes glared up at his face before advertting themselves. She then snapped, "and don't call me that."

He saw that he was making her uncomfortable and smirk couldn't help but make its way on to his face. Old habit die hard. But he didn't move closer to her. Staring at her his facial features softened and became tender, almost loving. "I will always care. You know that Basil." He reached out for her and sighed. "I know. And as I have said before, I'm sorry." He mustered some courage he didn't normally feel and took a step closer to Basil. "Call you what? Sweetling? You didn't mind before." He mumbled.

Basil saw the smirk that appeared on his face and resisted the urge to hex it off. A small growl escaped her throat as she spat out her next sentence. "No. You don't. You never didn't. You hurt me. You tore me apart. You promised." She shook her head before taking another step back. "I don't care what you've said. You can't fix the past. There are no redos. What is done is done." Again shaking her head, her eyes wandered the walls of the Owlery, suddenly becoming interested in the owls that lined them. "I didn't mind because things were different. People change. Things change. Tolerance changes."

He sighed long and low. "I know I hurt you Basil. But believe me when I say that I didn't mean for that to happen." He eyes snapped to meet hers. "What exactly did I promise you Basil?" He stalked closer to her and stared into her eyes. "Please tell me." He stepped even closer. "There might be no redos. But what about a second chance?" He whispered. "As you said. People change. I can change." A dark look moved across his face as a dark thought entered his mind. Groaning quietly he shut his eyes tight and growled to himself. "Not now..."

"I don't care what you say, Lucifer. I don't give second chances to those who I gave time to figure something out." Basil stumbled backwards, as he came closer, muttering under her breath as she bumped into the wall, changing directions as quickly as she could. "You promised you would hurt me. And look where we are now." She threw her hands up in the air out of frustration. Why couldn't he just get the point?

Growling in rage he lashed out and punched the wall behind Basil, his eyes darkened with controlled fury. "All of this is new to me. I loved you and still have feelings for you Blishwick. But you don't know anything. I've tried. You have no idea as to how much I've tried." He pushed her up against the wall. He was about to continue his enraged rant when he hissed slightly in pain and dropped his head on Basil's shoulder. "Where we are now... I tried to stay away from you. But I can't." Another stab of pain shot through his head and he swayed slightly.

Basil yelped as his fist connected with the wall, her sudden noise disturbing some of the owls around them. She winced slightly as he pushed her against the wall, her eyes widened by his fury. I don't have time for this. A voice growled in her head before she shook it out. "I don't care..." She mumbled out, trying to put as much distance between her and the Slytherin, failing greatly. Though she continued to try until his head came down onto her shoulder. Stiffening uncomfortably, she stared at the boy's head, not saying anything. She had no words of comfort or forgiveness towards him. Why should she? And she didn't let things go as lightly as others did.

He glanced over at Basil. "You lie. You care. I know you do. If you didn't you would have pushed past me by now." He nuzzled in to the crook of her neck. "I've missed you, you know." He other hand came up to rest on her hip. "What have you been doing? How are you?" He leaned back a bit and looked at Basil with genuine concern.

Basil shut her eyes tightly before trying to shove Lucifer off of her. Really, what didn't he get? "No. Really. I don't care. That's what you don't understand." She stared at the boy long and hard before letting out what seemed to be a slightly cold laugh. "What have I been up to? I've been trying to keep away from you as much as possible. And if I do say myself, I was doing a pretty good job before you destroyed my streak today."

He stumbled back and stared impassively back at Basil. "I see. Well. Seems like that I'm the only one at fault here." He growled slightly and frowned at her. "You practically let me go." He snarled and balled his hands into fists.

Basil rolled her eyes before beginning to walk away. "Again something you don't get." She crossed her arms across her chest once more before staring at him once more. "I do everything for a reason."

He twitched. "And what was your reason this time? To test me? That is just low. Even for you." He took a step towards her. "Well. Are you satisfied now? Did you get your answer? Was I just an experiment to see if I what I would do? Were you disappointed when I didn't stop? You didn't really give a reason to fight you know." His eyes flashed in anger. "You just stood on the sidelines and watched. At least Lily tried to get my attention, at least Rory decided to give me a lecture about what I was doing. But not you." He was trembling in anger now. "No. You just wanted to see me come back to you without doing nothing to make me come back. So. Are you satisfied with your results?" He hissed.

Basil heaved out a sigh. "I'm not like that. You of all people should know. But if you see it that way, then you really didn't know me." She shook her head, wondering why she was going through this with him. "I didn't, in your terms, 'get your attention' because I should have to. You had me first. You wanted loyalty from me, and I gave it to you. I was waiting to see if it was reciprocated." Basil let out an agrviated huff. "Obviously you didn't, so I left."

He spun furiously away from Basil and began to pace. "You could at least have tried... I needed your help but you still left me alone... The one time I really needed you Basil." He ran a hand through his hair. "If I had you loyalty then you would have helped me out in my time of need. So obviously I didn't."

"Right. Okay Lucifer." She said, once more beginning to walk away. "Obviously you and I have two different definitions of loyalty. Good luck with everything."

Leaping forward he grabbed her arm. "Don't go." He pleaded softly. And tightened his hold on her arm but made sure he wasn't squeezing too hard. "What I have done is affecting everyone. Just... Don't go. Please."

Basil gave an annoyed look to the Slytherin before yanking her arm out of his grasp. "Give me one really good reason why I shouldn't walk away. One good reason for me to stay. Because personally, I see none, Lucifer."

He sighed and a pained look crossed his face. "I have none." He whispered in defeat and his shoulders slumped forwards. "I won't hound you anymore. I hope you find the happiness that I couldn't give you. Stay safe." He couldn't bring himself to look at Basil since he felt the unfamiliar sting of tears in his eyes.

Basil watched as Lucifer crumbled before her. She closed her eyes, willing herself to move, which she did but only taking a few steps before stopping and sighing. "You're making this difficult for me..." she says lowly, trying to shake herself out of it and to get moving. She took a couple more steps before leaning against the wall and laying her head back upon it.