One door closes.... (Carson)

[JONATHAN JAMES TOWNSEND]

Johnny felt heavy. It was a feeling he wasn't used to, but one that had been slowly creeping in for the last few weeks of school. Today it had gathered into a mighty ball of desperation that dragged his chest to the floor. It had taken every ounce of determination he had not to get upset today. You see, today was the last day of term. And it also just happened to be Johnny's last day at Hogwarts. Ever. He had graduated, and he had done brilliantly on his final exams, so he had nothing but good things to think about, and his future looked very bright. He just couldn't shake the feeling of.... grief, yes grief, that hung over him. He was losing a home. A home filled with magic and wonders he had never before known. It was terrible, to think he'd never sleep in his dorm again. Someone else would own that bed in a few months. Someone else would walk the halls in his place, and he just hoped they knew how lucky they were.

The end of term feast had not been the easiest part of the day. Of course, Gryffindor had won the House Cup, and the food on offer had been the best he'd tasted all year from the House Elves, streamers hung from the enchanted ceiling, and everyone seemed thrilled to be going home for the summer, reunited with their families. Johnny supposed it would be nice to spend a bit of time with his parents. He did always look forward to it in the holidays, but this was just.... different. The food had cleared now, save for the last of the puddings that hadn't been gobbled up yet, but Johnny was full. He had moved amongst the other house tables, chatting to friends, pretending to be his usual charming self, but it was hard to hide his turmoil.

Now he stood by the huge doors of the Great Hall, leaning against one side so people wouldn't knock into him passing in and out of the room. The picture before him was one of happiness and excitement, and he hung his head as a bittersweet smile found his lips, tugging at the corners. Even a smile might make him cry at this point. Johnny was a highly emotional guy under the surface, he just didn't often let people see just how deep those emotions ran. Clearing his throat, he licked his lips and folded his arms across his chest, trying for a confident, if not slightly cocky pose. There, that was good. The look on his face was one people would expect to see there, warm yet mysterious, friendly yet enigmatic. Eyes of ice moved to the enchanted ceiling, which wasn't yet fully dark, since the nights were getting lighter, and Johnny watched the twilight colours shift behind thin clouds, etching the whole hall into his memory one last time.

[CARSON ARIEL ALEXANDER]

The final night before leaving for summer vacation was coming to an end and for one time in her life, Carson could honestly say that she did not want to go home. She had always looked forward to the final feast every year leading up to this point because it was a chance to get away from all of her classes and a brief few months when she could spend time with her parents, who she always missed dearly during the school year. However, this final feast marked the end of her school life and the beginning of a new chapter, and Carson was nervous and sad beyond belief. She would have to say goodbye to the friends that she had made, goodbye to all the teachers that had helped her along the way, and goodbye to the life that she had grown to know for the last seven years of her life. It was a lot to take in and it was overwhelming. She had been reluctant to join in on the festivities down in the Great Hall at all, being almost in denial that it was really happening and that this would really be her final meal at the magical castle. However, the rumbling from her stomach and the pleas from her friends brought out of her seclusion in the dorm room and towards the feast; and what a feast it was. The house elves had really outdone themselves for this last meal and everything was delicious, tastier than any meal they had cooked in her previous seven years, though that might have just been her mind trying to savor every bite of their cooking. It was almost enough to make Carson forget the near future that was quickly and surely looming over her.

It was with a heavy heart that Carson realized that all good things must come to an end and that even this little bit of comfort was soon to be over. She had long since eaten her fill of food, doubling up on desserts and eating more than she knew she should, and she could see that even the heartiest of eaters were slowly but surely winding down and filling up. All the food was hurriedly vanishing from the tables and the all the banners had since changed colors to reflect that of the winning house, leaving the Great Hall ablaze with the light of gold and crimson. While Carson could honestly say she was disappointed with being runner up in house points for her final year, it hadn’t really hit her yet and the information had no purchase in her mind as she slowly began to make her rounds to her friends to say her goodbyes. While she did this every year, having made a habit of walking up and down the many tables in the large room at the end of the year and giving her well wishes to her many friends, this year came with more emotion than her previous years. It had only taken minutes for the seventh year student to be brought to tears as she hugged and laughed and cried with her friends, many of whom she hoped to see later in life but really had no certainty. She became even more so of a mess when she came across her best friends, the ones who had stuck to her during her first year and helped her adjust to her new life. She was going to miss them dearly, and she would even miss their playful and mischievous plots to try and have fun. However, she had to leave them in the end as she needed to continue her rounds with promises made to see each other on the train and to definitely hang out over the summer.

The time was becoming late and Carson realized that she had said her goodbyes to every one of her friends, a feat that had taken some time and had only left her with a few precious moments before she would have to exit through the large double doors of the school. However, she felt as if she had missed someone, someone that she was excited to see and yet dreading at the same time. Just as she was milling about, looking around to see if she had missed anybody and failed to say goodbye to any single one of her friends, she spotted the person that was the cause of her mixed emotions, a person she couldn't believe she had almost forgotten. Nervously, she made her way over towards the taller Slytherin boy, her best guy friend since the beginning of her school life, and stood before him with a sad smile. "How are you holding up?" She asked quietly and nervously. He looked calm and collected to those that walked around him, Carson knew him better than that, and she could tell that he wasn't far from releasing a torrent of emotions as well. It made her feel better about her own emotional personality and her more likely than not haggard appearance, what with her eyes probably red and puffy from crying and her face red and tear stained.

[JONATHAN JAMES TOWNSEND]

The only person he hadn't spent time with tonight was probably the most important. Carson Alexander had been a huge part of his Hogwarts life since he stepped onto the Hogwarts Express in his very first year. She was a brilliant friend, and bloody gorgeous, which he tried his best not to admit out loud. She was probably the only girl in the castle he couldn't bring himself to flirt with. Charming, confident Johnny tended to become sweet, uber respectful Johnny around her. He couldn't really help it, the thought of flirting with her or telling her how he felt made him nervous. Johnny wasn't really one to get nervous, so she had some power over him, to say the least.

He had seen her with friends earlier, laughing and crying, and thought it best to leave her to it, deciding he would catch her before either of them left the hall anyway. It wasn't like he'd just leave school for good without saying goodbye to her. He just hadn't wanted to dive into the middle of a girly crying fest. As if that would help him to keep his own emotions in check! Bloody hell! Now she approached him, and he watched out of the corner of his eye, trying to stay as casual as possible as his throat tightened. Jaw clenching, he glanced sideways as she stood beside him and asked a question only she would. Johnny smiled and shrugged one shoulder. "I'm not, but shhhh. It's a secret." He laughed to disguise the small catch in his voice.

"How about you?" he asked, reaching a hand up to gently wipe a few tear streaks from her face. She was puffy eyed and blotchy, but still absolutely beautiful. "There'll be a lake in here in a minute if you carry on like you have been," he joked, thumb lingering on her cheek a little longer than necessary, before he snatched his hand back and moved his gaze back to the hall. He didn't want to say goodbye to her. Not to Carson. He still wanted to see her as much as possible whatever they ended up doing after school, but he couldn't help but feel worried that it might not happen. There was a huge difference between seeing someone every day, and then hanging out once a month as adults. He wasn't ready to make that transition yet. He cast a quick anxious glance behind him to the entrance hall. "Are you leaving now?" A surge of panic shot through his chest.

[CARSON ARIEL ALEXANDER]

As much as she had already cried already, as an obscenely large amount of the salt water had been shed already, Carson couldn’t stop herself from crying more as she stood before her best male friend, the idea that this might be their last time talking for some time getting to her. He had been her first friend aboard the train to the magical school, neither one of them knowing exactly what they were getting in to, and he had been her steady rock. He had been the one to help her with anything she needed, no matter how big or how small of a task; he even carried her through the owlery so that she wouldn’t get her boots dirty. He was always there for her and having him just suddenly gone from her everyday life was not something that she had been looking forward to. In fact, it was one of the things she had been dreading the most as the summer season was looming ever closer, which was why she had to say goodbye to him no matter what. As painful as this parting of the ways was going to be, as painful as it was already shaping up to be, she had to see him one last time before leaving. There was absolutely no way she was going to leave without seeing him, even if it did lead to another onslaught of tears.

With her hands moving towards her face, Carson wiped away the very first tears that had started to form upon her arrival, trying her hardest to get them gone. She needed to stop crying, it was becoming a real hastle! She had already cried so much, she really needed to stop. With a determined mind set, she tried her best to focus on not letting anymore tears escape, though it quickly became evident that she could stop through force alone, not when she was talking to her equally emotional friend. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, she knew that he was suffering too and that, while he looked cool on the outside, he was anything but on the inside. He obviously knew he wasn’t holding up well, a fact he himself acknowledged but still continued to try and hide, and that set her off once more. Funny how only a few words from him were able to break her shaky resolve and make her start crying once more. With a small laugh, even if it was ever so slightly pained by the incoming loss of everything in her normal life, she let a few more tears fall, though she wasn’t able to wipe them away from her face.

Typical Johnny, still trying to put others ahead of himself; honestly, here he was a little away from crying himself and he was still taking care of her. He really was always there for her and very caring and she would truly miss him. “You’re a real jerk for making a lady cry, you know that?” She joked with a sniffle as she allowed him to wipe away the tear streaks on her face. Oh, she looked like a total mess, she knew it. How in the world was she ever going to accomplish this goal that her friends had set out for her? Of course, her mischievous friends weren’t going to let her leave school without setting her with one goal of her own and it had taken quite a bit of peer pressure and while Carson wasn’t weak-willed, even she had to give in to their onslaught in the end. Her best friends were honestly the most persuasive people she had ever known, and Carson had always been grateful for it, though she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about their way with words at the moment. “Well I’m not leaving immediately. There’s…something I have to do first.” She said with a nervous glance up at him in response to whether she was leaving then, hoping he couldn’t tell that she was indeed nervous. That would make him suspicious and then everything would just be awkward and she couldn’t handle that.

[JONATHAN JAMES TOWNSEND]

Johnny's gaze turned curious quickly as Carson told him there was something she had to do before she left. Of course, it could be something simple and obviously like pack a few last minute things she had forgotten about, or change into different clothes for travelling, but he got the feeling she was up to something. Surely she wouldn't be standing there looking so awkward if it was something boring? His icy gaze sparkled as he tried to read her face. "Something you have to do?" he probed, tilting his head as a million and one ideas raced through his mind, all of which were probably wrong and completely off track. "Like what?" A smirk worked it's way onto his lips as he watched her intently, hearing the odd giggle coming from across the room behind him.

The odd giggle? Really? He allowed himself a glance over his shoulder, eyes roaming the large room before landing on a group of girls he knew Carson was friends with. They were watching Carson eagerly as she stood with Johnny, and he felt a prickle of worry shoot down his spine. Yep. She was definitely up to something. Had one of them talked her into joining in with one final school prank or something? He hoped it wasn't too bad, whatever it was, he'd hate to see her ruin her great reputation by doing something idiotic before she left. But then, did it really matter? He was just being over-protective now, surely. He turned back to Carson, a bit more understanding in his face as he shook his head with a grin.

"Look, whatever it is," he told her sincerely, "if you came to me for help, I'm in. So long as it's not something ridiculous like blowing part of the castle up with fireworks or whatever." He could definitely envision some of those girls being crazy enough to try fireworks indoors for a laugh. He tipped his head over his shoulder, indicating to her friends. "Are you the ringleader or the one who was given the dare?" His eyes were dancing now. He was pretty sure he had cottoned on to what she was up to, so he wasn't worried about Carson telling him she had no idea what he was on about. She was never a great liar when it came to him anyway, e could read her like a book, but then, Johnny could read most people pretty well. Especially giggling girls.

[CARSON ARIEL ALEXANDER]

With a persistent blush that hadn't left since she had started her conversation with her fellow graduate, staining them a pleasant pink akin to that of a rose, Carson couldn't stop her face from reddening even more at what the male said. Oh, he had absolutely no idea what was going on! Were all men really this dense? While she was thankful that he was unable to foretell what she was here to do, what she had left to do before she left the school for the last time as a student, she really couldn't believe that he had taken what she was doing in an entirely new direction. He thought she was here to ask for his assistance on one last final prank, something to do for everlasting memories, something to tell her children and grandchildren when they asked if she ever did anything fun at school! While what she was doing would certainly leave her with memories, it wasn't exactly what he had in mind, she was sure. It certainly didn't help that her friends were giggling away off to the side, watching intently to make sure that she actually went through with the order that she was given.

It was so embarrassing, having her friends standing around and watching nearby, not even trying to be subtle in their interest in what was going on and Carson couldn't stop herself from shooting a glare over towards them. It was their fault she was here in the first place! While she certainly didn't mind their dare, she was never confident and she was not assertive and so this was killing her. She was much too passive and bashful for a stunt such as this! But, knowing them, they would never have let her leave the school without going through with this. They had been trying to get her to do this for years and they had somehow managed to persuade her to actual carry it out, telling her 'oh, it's the last time you'll be here, you need to go out with a bang,' 'who knows when you'll see him again,' 'you know if you don't you'll regret it for the rest of your life,' and 'Carson, so help me God if you do not do this, there will be consequences.' While the last option did not sound entirely frightening, Carson knew her friends well and she couldn't help but shutter at the thought of what those two could come up with as punishment. Yes, this was definitely the best alternative.

Carson gave Johnny a sheepish look, mouth turned up in a crooked grin as she planned her move. "I'm the dared one, you could say. It certainly isn't much of a group project." She said, an amused glint in her eyes at the idea of this being a group dare. Oh god, wouldn't that be an interesting experience? Shoving the idea out of her mind, an idea that she certainly wouldn't have minded if it caused her friends to feel as flustered as she did, especially if they had to carry out the same dare with other people, she tried to focus more on the task at hand. Knowing that time was running short and that the train would be leaving soon, something that she knew she didn't want to miss and face the idea of being stuck here after the entire school had left, Carson needed all the courage she could conger up, lest she chicken out in the end and flee. Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerves and decided that it was now or never.

With one last glance towards her friends, noting the amount of pure anticipation in the face of what was about to happen, Carson turned her attention back to the man in front of her. He was one of her best friends, certainly the best guy friend she had, and she hoped that this wouldn't ruin their friendship. "Just don't hate me after this, ok?" She said, slightly weary as she looked up at him. However, she didn't even give him a chance to respond as she was suddenly very close to him, her face in his as she planted a short, quick kiss on his lips before backing away quickly. She had planted it on him before he was even aware of what was going on and she had retreated just as quickly, feeling much lighter for it. She felt like a weight had been removed from her shoulders and she could already hear the screams of excitement that her friends would emit along the train ride home. Blushing a fire crimson, sure that all of the blood in her body had decided that her face was much more important than her vital functions, Carson shyly looked up at Johnny. "Well, bye! I'll miss you!" She said before turning around and beginning her walk back towards her friends, embarrassed and giddy. Time to go home.