Lonely (open, people very welcome)

[Humphrey Williams]

Now that Humphrey was back at Hogwarts, he realized how much things had changed. His friends from first year were still similar, but he was sure that some of them had changed. Not to mention that everybody wanted to know where he had been for a whole year, and it was hard for him to talk about what had happened. His uncle that he had been living with for five years had died. After he was diagnosed with cancer his uncle Billy had died just as he was about to reach a year fighting it. His aunt Julie was a mess, and so was he. He took the loss particularly hard because his parents had died, and now Billy, who had taken him in and acted a bit like a father to him was also gone. It was painful to think about, much less talk about.

For the first time at Hogwarts he felt truly alone, ostricized from the rest of his friends. Humphrey knew that most of them would welcome him back and treat him kindly, but there was another secret that he couldn't tell anybody about. He was a werewolf, because he had been attacked and bitten over the summer. Not only that, but he was still learning how to control himself during the full moons. Not only was he hurting emotionally, he was confused and scared of himself now. Controlling the werewolf form is something that is tough to do, and you can never control it fully. Unless you have the wolfsbane potion. But that would mean telling the headmaster and the potions master he was a werewolf. He knew he should do that, but he was scared to.

The Roman Ampitheatre had always been his favorite place to come to, He loved the architecture and the fact this was the theatre of old. One of the things he loved to do was sit here and imagine what it would be like with a full crowd, watching a show. It was an amazing thing to think about.

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

Lilith walked into the Roman Ampitheatre with her silver violin. She enjoyed this place. Sounds echoed here. It was a great place to practice again. She hadn't done it in a while because she had been busy. She hoped it was empty.

She arrived and took out her violin, beginning to play. As she did, she looked back at her memories. She could see Sarah dancing as her mother and father played their own instrument along with her's. It was happy memory, yet sad when she remembered that they were dead. It amazed how she forgot sad memories when happy memories flood her mind.

[Humphrey Williams]

Humphrey watched as a girl entered the ampitheatre carrying a silver violin. Smart, he thought, she is going to play where it would echo so she could practice and hear herself. He smiled when he remembered he had done the very same thing but for a monologue in a Shakespeare play.

The girl played a chilling song on the violin. It was moving, beautiful, and sad; the perfect song for him to hear right now. When he had been surprised by a person in the ampitheatre, he was embarrassed. But, he made a friend; so, he crept his way to where she was slowly and stepped up to her. "That is a beautiful song, you play it wonderfully. I am glad you played it. My name is Humphrey Williams. Who are you? And who taught you to play? Whoever it is did a wonderful job." he told her.

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

Lilith stopped when she heard someone talking to her. She set it down slowly and turned around. She smiled.

"Why thank you, Mr. Williams," she said. "I'm Lilith King and you should thank my father. Not that you can now."

She laughed.

"Would you like to hear another one. I haven't practice for awhile. It would be nice to play for someone."

[Humphrey Williams]

"Lilith, that is a pretty name. Your father taught you to play? That must have been fun to share that bond with him." he said. Then Lilith laughed, and a grin split his face.

"I would love to listen to you play another one. I love music. Sadly, though, my talents are in writing and painting. Absolutely no musical talent here." Humphrey said proudly.

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

"I was named after my Uncle's name's female counterpart," Lilith explained. "He did teach me how to play, but I extended my learning by myself. He always said he was better at the piano. We had fun, but little time, bonding."

She continued playing when he said yes. It was soft, but loud enough to be echoed. This one was Barber Violin Concerto 2nd Movement.

"Art and writing can be music as well. Art shows a picture, a way to see music through the eye. Writing can express the music into better understanding. It's easier to look and see what the music is about than letting your mind visualize by itself."

[Humphrey Williams]

"Oh, I'm sorry you didn't bond with him. My father died when I was eight, I still miss him. Just five months ago, my uncle Billy died too. I watched him go from an almost healthy person to a shell of himself as he battled cancer. It was hard to watch." he said, shuddering involuntarily.

Lilith started playing a brilliant violin piece softly. "I suppose it is like that, isn't it." he said. "If you want to see my paintings and sketches sometime, I could show you. I have the sketchbook with me." Humphrey told her, pulling it out. He flipped it open to his drawing of a wooded area. It was his favorite. "This is my favoirte sketch in here. The paintings aren't with me though."

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

"Funny thing is that I can don't remember him that well anymore," Lilith said. "Or my mother or sister. I only remember the times we played together and the times my parents taught my sister and me. You must have loved them very much to miss them. I miss my family too. May they rest and live in the Afterlife in peace and happiness."

She changed the music and turned it into 'Sound of an Angel' to honor the memories of their dead relatives.

"I would love to see your art," she said, softly. Humphrey showed her a sketch of place filled with plenty of trees.

"I can see that you enjoyed making this. From this, your paintings must be as beautiful. Have you considered in becoming famous by showing your art and writing to the rest of the world?"

[Humphrey Williams]

"Yea, that isn't funny though, that is sad. I'm sorry you don't remember them very well." Humphrey said, and patted her back affectionately. "Just live your life the best you can, and if some days that means grieving for them than that is life. It could also just mean moving on, and getting past the loss of them. Also, I feel like it is a combination of the two often." he told her.

"That song is one of my favorites. Such a haunting, beautiful melody." He listened to the song and a very sad smile crossed his face. "Thanks for that, I really needed to hear that. Beautiful, just beautiful."

"Really? You think they are that good. Maybe I might try and submit them to art galleries someday. For now, though, it is just a hobby. I want to be an Auror if I can get into the school after I graduate. You really think I have the potential to be a famous artist?" he asked, incredulous. "I doubt I am that good. I'm just a teenager. Maybe in ten years I might, might be good enough." he said.

Humphrey was always very driven, and hard on himself. It was one of his biggest strengths, but also his biggest weakness.

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

"I already moved on," Lilith responded. "One year. It was the time limit for I made set for myself to grief and then move on. It was a good choice. I enjoy life right now as well. My cousins are having fun."

"Thank you," Lilith smiled sadly in return as Humphery said the music was beautiful. "I like it as well."

"Of course, I think it's good. Send it to bottom of the sea and the creatures would stop and see. That's how good you are. Ten years would be good practices. You don't have to decide now. You're young, which means plenty of time to think! Look at my cousin, Alice. Hogwarts professor. She didn't really tell me what she was teaching, though. I think you would know her. Likes candy and have cookies in her bag all the time. She likes to share them too. You can ask her. And there's Teresa, a second year Slytherin and she only cares for the present. Never looked back. I say have fun. Worry about life later if there's nothing pushing you."

Lilith smiled as she saw remembered a time when Alice threw cookies at Teresa.

[Humphrey Williams]

"Yea, I needed to move on. So, I kept busy with a Muggle sport called Basketball. It helped take my mind off it. Also, I think really well when I am on the court, something about it just calms my thoughts." Humphrey said. For most people, Basketball was just a sport. For him though, it was a type of therapy. It had always been there, and it would never change. Now, Quidditch was that sport, the Wizard's most popular, very violent, sport.

"You are welcome. If anybody ever insults your music, just stick your chin up and let me sort them out. I can be intimidating when I need to be. You see, I have temper problems, so...well, you get the idea." Humphrey said. He hadn't had them before his first year at Hogwarts, but then when Airen and him were fighting over Charlott'es affection. Well, it wasn't pretty, but now they were cool.

"Wow...thanks a lot. People have complimented me before, but never with such good word usage. You really have a lot of confidence that I am good. Maybe I will be an Auror, and be a Painter on the side. As a hobby, and do that when I retire from the Auror force. If I even get in that is. It is a tough program from what I've heard." he explained to her. Painting was another form of therapy for him, and it was something he wojuld always love doing.

"Hmm, Alice, oh wait I know what she teaches. Alice Nocte right, she teaches Occlumency. I am her apprentice with my best friend Keiba, who I have to admit I am crushing on very badly. Might even be love, but too early to tell." he told Lilith. "Teresa I have seen a couple times. Never really talked to her though." Humphrey admitted.

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

"I do think exercise is a good way to forget things," Lilith said. "Is basketball fun? I think I heard of it and something call soccer. Is that fun too?"

Lilith giggled.

"Thank you for the help. I'll make sure to call for you, but only after I intimidate them first. Being an auror scares them the most. And Teresa would be murderous. You seem calm right now, so I can't really tell about your temper."

She shifted the song to 'Eternal Melancholy'.

"A hobby that turns into a job is everybody's wish. The program isn't hard, but it isn't easy. Just don't be too hard on yourself. I seen a few that quit after failing so many time."

She smiled at the mention of his crush.

"Occulmency professor seems fitting for her. Be careful when she gets mad, easily irritated, start throwing things, talking to herself, or seem lifeless though. She will be dangerous and cause a lot of trouble. Love sure is funny in many ways. Still young, yet so close to call it so. You should keep trying to get her to see how you feel, but I don't whether you should listen to me about it. I never had such thing. As for Teresa, she's surprising."

[Humphrey Williams]

"I didn't use it to forget. But when I am running my mind thinks better for some reason. Not sure why, but it does." Humphrey said, shrugging his shoulders.

The biggest grin possible for him split his face, and he nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Basketball is the best sport ever, at least in my opinion. Yea, soccer is fun too, but I never joined the team. Play it in the park sometimes though, just with friends. A pick-up game is what we call them. Also, like to play wiffleball in the summers." he told her. Sports was something that he had a passion for.

"Uh huh, it would be soo awesome. Tough to do, because artsy careers are extremely competitive. Maybe though, who knows." Humphrey said. It would be fun, but not disappointing for him because he really wanted to be an auror.

"I thought so too. Okay, I'll be sure not to get on her bad side. I will, I am not going to give up on her. My feelings are only getting stronger, and she might develop some too. We'll see though. It is dangerous to date your best friend, because after it can be hard to go back to being just friends. But I will definitely try to be her friend, even if things don't work out."

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

"Muggle sports seems fun if you're that excited about it," Lilith said, smiling. "Can you play them by yourself or do you have to play with people? I should try it, but it's going to difficult if I need people."

"Art is not competition. People have different view of beauty. I believe it's how you much feeling you put in it."

"I think I heard of friends into lovers, but never lovers into friends. I think being best friends before becoming a couple is a good idea. Maybe, you should declare your love for her and woo her the best you can until she finally gives in, finally realizing she likes you too."

[Humphrey Williams]

"Oh, they are, definitely!" he said, bellowing into the air, and listening to his voice boom and echo. "I do both, some are more individual, whereas others are better for teams. But with all of them you can practice skills that you use on your own." Humphrey said, smiling. Somebody actually asked him about Muggle Sports, awesome! That was all he could think of at the moment.

"Well no it isn't competition, but it is a competitive field. You compete with yourself, and either you are good enough, or you aren't. Definitely have to put feeling into it, but that is true of almost every single aspect of life. If you are passionate, and put feeling behind your work, you are going to do better at whatever it is generally. Not always, some things you will always be bad at, but normally it helps." Humphrey said. It was a universal truth, and it was applicable for your whole life.

"Yea, well it is tough to go back to being just friends. Thankfully, she never was dating me, just considering it. I was crushing on her pretty hard, maybe in love. But, she wasn't feeling that kind of love for me. We love each other as best friends though, and that is special too. That is about Charlotte." he said, clarifying.

"Now Keiba, there is definitely potential there. She also said not yet, so that implies maybe at a later point in time. I am definitely going to try and woo her over, because she is the first friend I made here. I know that it we get along well as best friends, but I hope it stays just as awesome when we try and add in the romantic side of things. I am hopeful though, very hopeful..." he said, imagining what a life with Keiba as his girlfriend would be like. A huge grin split his face. "I love her so much."

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

"Maybe I should try it," Lilith giggled, watching Humpherey excited. "Is there any other Muggle sports?"

She set down her violin and put it back in its case. She sat down.

"I can't see art as competitive. It's an expression of the beauty of life. There's no such thing as ugliness."

She laid back and looked up at the sky. The stars seemed bright tonight.

"Wishing never works. You have to work for it. Do small things, like give her some flowers ever so often or complement her a lot. Do small that would make her happy. Everything counts."

[Humphrey Williams]

"You should, and there are lots of other Muggle Sports. Tons, and tons of them. What kind of athletics would be interesting, besides dance that is?" Humphrey asked her.

"I view art the same way, but I am just saying that not everybody is good enough to be able to support themselves with an artistic career. That is the point I am making. And, I agree that expressing yourself through art is never ugly. Wow, I need to paint this sky, can you find a small rise, maybe pose in front of the look. I want to sketch you, and then do a painting from the sketch. Do you mind?" Humphrey asked, it was a personal thing to ask. "You don't have to agree to it. But, this night is amazing.

"Well, I already compliment her, and I would give her flowers. Yet, at the same time, I don't want to come on too strongly. Maybe I should give her a yellow rose, that is the rose of friendship. Each color rose symbolizes something else, and then maybe later I can give her a red one." Humphrey said, considering Keiba's reaction to it. He smiled, she would probably love it, and it would look gorgeous on her, like everything of course.

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

"Dancing is a sport?" Lilith's ear perked up. "I think I heard of another sport called tennis. Had something to do with rackets?"

"I do agree not all people are good enough to be called artists. And sure, you can." Lilith got into a pose he wanted with a smile. Not many people asked such a request, but that must be because she never really meet new people.

"Maybe instead of flowers, you can give her something you drew. Something you gave a lot of passion into. Something that express your feelings. You can always include flowers, too."

[Humphrey Williams]

"Yes, dancing is a sport Lilith. Musical theatre is the combination of singing, and dancing. There is also just straight ballet dancing, hip hop, salsa, club, show tune dance moves, jazzy styles, and lots of other forms of dance as well. You should look into it, Muggles have some really amazing dancers among them. I grew up Muggle, and I always enjoyed watching pretty girls who could dance." Humphrey explained to her. "Which I am sure you already pieced together...that is one of the reasons I want to sketch you. I thought you were really beautiful when I met you, still do to be honest." he said, blushing a soft pink as he said it.

"I've thought about it, but I want to start with flowers and a roses are red type thing. I could write the poem, and then maybe draw her on the back. That could work, yea. Thanks for the help. Always good to have girls helping me understand girls, because I don't understand them at all." Humphrey said, shaking his head at how girls confused his brain. "They are so, weird. Amazing, but just...weird."

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

"Maybe I should try to learn how to dance," Lilith said. "Teresa always said I had the elegance of a ballerina. I always wonder how she knows stuff about Muggles. She love their culture, especially in the arts. Is Muggle life very much different from our lives?"

Lilith smiled at the comment. Humphrey is very sweet in his words.

"Write a poem about what you think of her," Lilith suggested. "Nothing too deep or strong. Write something that would make her feel like the warmth of the sun was on her. A picture would be great as well. Maybe one of her smiling or when you think she is the most prettiest. Girls aren't that difficult. Just wait when you have daughters. I heard many fathers would go insane trying to keep them away from boys. Teresa once told me something she got from somewhere, 'Girls are like abstract paintings. They are still beautiful, even if sometimes, you don't understand them.' Don't you seem to agree?"

[Humphrey Williams]

"You should definitely learn how to dance, even though you are definitely naturally gifted. Senium, think about wizards, and magic. We rely on it, it makes our lives easier. Muggles, well they don't have that." he explained trying to let it sink in. "Being Muggleborn has helped me be so much more creative than some wizards, and witches."

"They use creativity, and inventions to make up for what we do with a simple Charm. Their arts are so amazing! Especially if you study their history. History was always my favourite subject in Muggle School. It teaches you so much, and studying the great minds of mankind's philosophers, inventors, scientists, all of that is always interesting. Read a man by the name of John Locke. He helped the United States draft their constitution, and has so many amazing views on freedom! Absolutely love him!" Humphrey said, bellowing out in his baritone voice. He had a very resonant voice as well, so his voice carried pretty far.

"Oh, I will. I will write the short, four-line roses are red variation for the picture of her. It will be a simple charcoal pastel sketch. I already know what to say to her..." he said, imagining what her reaction would be and smiling like a lunatic. Keiba being happy always made him grin uncontrollably. "She is going to give me a rib-cracking hug. I would bet my life on it..." Humphrey admitted to her.

"Girls aren't difficult, ha!" Humphrey told her. "I will write her a more personalized, and deeper poem if we actually date. Song, and ink painting as well. She is going to be majorly spoiled by Humphles. That is what she calls me, so cute." he told her, blushing a bit.

"First though, I need to win her over. That is one of my new favourite quotes. I've heard it before, but not in a long time." the boy nodded enthusiastically as he spoke. "One hundred, no, two hundred percent agree. I've always thought girls were amazingly pretty homosapiens. Definitely the better of the two sexes."

"Daughters, if they end up being from Keiba...I will never be able to stop doting on them. She will have to be the tough guy, because if any of them look remotely like her I will be completely helpless when it comes to making tough parenting decisions. All Keiba has to do to make me forgive her anything is just look at me with those adorable brown eyes. It is totally unfair, how she uses her looks to distract me sometimes..." Humphrey said, laughing. "She is just too beautiful for me to handle, logically. Irrationally, I can do. Love is a quirky thing, ya know."

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

"Muggles seems interesting," Lilith said. "Their art and history should be introduce to us if you seem to think that they are wonderful. Maybe others would like them too. What would you think would happen if the Wizarding world opened itself to the Muggle world?"

Lilith chuckled at the expression of Humphrey.

"You must really like Kieba very much. You look like someone gave a vault full of gold. Humphles, how cute is that? Already giving each other pet names? I think the female population would thank you for thinking that. If you two do get together and have children, she probably would have a hard time with your children if they have your looks."

[Humphrey Williams]

"They are, truly, very interesting. I grew up with them, and considering they don't have magic, they do a pretty good job with technology. Their art and history are by far my favorite. In my opinion, I think the wizarding world could even learn from them in some aspects. If they could see past their prejudice. The thing is though, the muggles will be prejudiced towards us if they find out we've been living in hiding for so long. And, to be honest, some of their military technology could pose a threat to us. Particularly their nuclear weapons. But, all of the military branches are dangerous as well." Humphrey told her his opinion. "If we could team up though, we could make a brighter tomorrow. Imagine, muggles and wizards living in harmony, a beautiful sight..." he said, his mind imagining the wonders that could be accomplished.

"What are you chuckling at Lilith?" he asked her seriously. Humphrey was confused, he hadn't done anything funny.

"Yea, you could say that." Humphrey admitted, blushing. "Gold, what use is gold? I'd much rather have friends, or a girlfriend, or family then a mountain of gold. I guess, never really thought about if it was cute or not."

"Really?" he asked, incredulously. "You mean they don't know? I would have thought they knew. Well, I don't know about that. She has never had a problem with slapping some sense into me when the need arises. I'm the softie, Keiba's much tougher than I am."

[Lilith Elizabeth King]

"I actually say that the two worlds should be kept separate," Lilith spoke out. "Even if they are interesting and similar to us, we are very much as different. Our modern world is their past. We would have to catch up with them if we want to be on the same pace. Would magic and 'nuclear bombs' be a good combination? If they began a war, imagine we joined in. There would be more destruction then than what they do now. Prejudice would be very difficult to rid of. We are traditional people."

Lilith laughed again.

"Caring person, aren't you? Humples sounds like hugs and teddy bears. Of course, it's cute and it must be special since she calls you that. A little softness never hurts."

[Humphrey Williams]

"You have a good point there. I think it definitely is a dangerous thing to do. But, if we could do it gradually, I think it would be an amazing thing. It would take generations probably, to combine the wizarding and muggle world. If we could though, it would be an amazing accomplishment. However, I don't really know what would happen. Miss King, you may be right, I just don't think we will ever truly know. Unless we try, that is. Not saying we should, but that is the only way to truly find out. Let's talk about something else though, at least for the moment, I can only take that serious of a conversation for so long." Humphrey said, rubbing his head. It was definitely a conundrum, a very tricky and risky thing to ever do.

Lilith's laugh was beautiful, he didn't see how every girl had such a nice laugh. I mean, literally, every girl he had heard laugh, had such an amazing sound to it. It was weird, guys' laughs didn't sound that cool. "Caring, if that's what you want to call it. Hugs and teddy bears, I suppose it could be worse. Does kind of make me sound like a five year old. I got to admit when she calls me Humphles though, I don't really mind. Softness does hurt, though, my heart's been broken before. If it wasn't so soft, well maybe it wouldn't have been broken as easily." Humphrey told her, thinking out loud. He wasn't sure if it was true or not, just pondering it out loud really.

[Sponsored content]