Friday, the end of the week, the day that signified two days of freedom from classes.  Though with the workload that was slowly piling up.  So with that thought he had headed towards the music room after dinner in hopes of getting out a bit of energy before settling down to get some of his homework done.  

It had been a long, trying week and the school year wasn't even half over.  Never had he wished for Christmas break more than he was now, and though he wasn't looking forward to going home, it had to be better than school.  Running his hand over his head he walked up the stairs in silence.  

Easily he made his way through the levels up towards the music room, his second home within the castle walls.  When he wasn't in the common room, or relaxing in the boathouse he was often found in the music room.  He divided his time between the drums and the piano, even trying his hand at the guitar a time or two.  Luca wasn't as good with the guitar as the other two instrument but he would get there with time.

Pushing open the door he smiled slightly to himself noticing the room was empty.  He was hoping that no one else would be there and it was just his luck that he had beat everyone else there.  Kicking off his shoes he loosened his tie crossing the room to take a seat on the piano bench.

Cracking his knuckles he lowered his fingers to the ivory keys, playing a soft somber melody.  This was how most of his visits to the music room started out. A half hour or so at the piano before progressing to the drums.  There was just something about a good piano melody that got to him.  The music spoke to him in ways that no human interaction so far had been able to.  Loosing himself in he paid no attention to the door opening and closing softly behind him.

After the discussion she and Tobias had had with the Riddle girl, Laurette was rather expectant that the Head Boy would change his man-whore-ish ways and really be loyal to her. She'd tried her best to control her own urges, after all, and only been with the handsome Lestrange twin. That was a big accomplishment for her! Of course, she expected more from the Hufflepuff male. If she was going to put everything on the line for him then he had to prove his utter loyalty and devotion to her. To only her.

Thus, the rumors floating about the castle concerning him and that Taylor fool of a girl had Laurette feeling murderous and, simple put, hurt. He treated his Puffs differently than he ever treated her, this she knew well, and the idea that he could be with one of them when he was supposed to be loyal to her... well, it rubbed her entirely the wrong way.

It made her want to destroy things, but it also made her want to dance. When she didn't have a need to teach anyone any sort of lessons, she usually took out her emotions with her feet, the motion of her body, the pain in her muscles that came from pushing herself as hard and thoroughly as she could and then some. Sure, those were the times when she was most likely to injure herself, but Laurette didn't really care. She wanted to feel the pain somewhere other than her heart.

Laurette slipped through the door of the music room in utter silence, hearing the music of the piano and figuring she might be able to dance along without the person even noticing... if she had some good luck for once in recent history. She strutted into the room silently, flexing her feet in the ballet slippers that were so battered from her use of the room already this year she would need new ones come Christmas.

When she noticed the male sitting at the piano, Laurette felt her resolve crumble. She ran to him, falling to her knees beside the bench on which he sat and letting her tears break through. "Oh, Luca..." she wailed, resting her arms on the bench and her head on her arms, not even touching him as she feared he might push her away from this display of weakness. "Everyone I ever love hurts me! First my parents left me, then Fletch took away my memories, and now Tobi... he... Oh, Luca, I don't even know what to do!"

As Luca sat at the piano he let all of his worries and frustrations pour out into the music.  This year was going to hell and there wasn't one person that he could turn to that would understand what he was going through.  Sure, he was friends with a few people if you could call it that.  No one trusted anyone else as far as they could throw them these days and he knew his name hardly helped in the matter. 

So it seemed the son would be punished for his father's actions.  It wasn't exactly a secret where his father currently was or where his mother had run off to.  The manor was surely in disarray, and he being the oldest Lestrange child was feeling the pressure to step up to the plate.  It did not exactly help though that there was talk of Silas being the true heir but there was nothing that he could do about it. 

All he needed to do was focus on his studies and survive the rest of the year.  Because if he wasn't named the heir he needed to make sure he would be able to not only provide for himself but his future family.  It was too much to have to think about when you were seventeen but such was the life of a pureblood.

Stroking the keys a bit harder in frustration he did not notice the other presence in the room until she fell against the bench curling up on the floor. Raising a brow he had no idea what was going on until she stared to express herself in a manner he had never seen.  She was a strong woman who very rarely from what he knew opened up around others.  Trying to take in everything that she was saying he stared at her, almost dumbfounded for a moment.  Finally he regain his composure and reached down to get a solid hold on her so that he could pull her up onto the bench beside him.

Reaching out gingerly he brushed a stray hair back out of her eyes and cupped her cheek gently.  "Laurette, please.. calm down. It will be alright I promise," he said with a sigh.  Luca had absolutely no experience in handling emotional women with the exception of his mother and even with her he usually gave up after a few minutes unable to handle her whining and carrying on.  "Now what is this about everyone hurting you because you deserve so much better than that. How can I help you?"

Her eyes were wide as a doe's as Laurette stared at the man who was telling her blindly that everything would work out for her. Yeah, right. Nothing ever worked out for Laurette LeBeau. She always tried to fit into the molds that were presented to her and she always seemed to fail. First she tried to fit into the perfect little princess for her parents. Next, she tried to be the deadly ballerina that Fletcher wanted her to be- training with him every time she was out of the studio where she perfected her dancing.

Finally, she'd abandoned the perfection and the cruelty of the pureblooded family ways in favor of the Hufflepuff who had all but stolen her icy heart. Now that heart felt raw, having thawed too quickly and lost the one who might have warmed it to a normal heat.

"No matter how hard I try, I fail. No matter how much I want to please people, I always disappoint them..." she felt this was so true it was downright pitiful. "Sometimes I wish I was as cold as I pretend. It would be so much easier if I was really the Head Bitch..." the sigh that fell from her lips then was heavy and so full of sadness.

She looked up at the male with pleading wide eyes full of a desperate hope that held a strong sense of sadness and conviction that she would never get what she hoped for. "I don't even know who I really am. I can't remember! Luca... I'm trying to be so many different people... who is the real Laurette? Who am I? What am I supposed to be?"

The girl who usually looked so put together, so much the stoic pureblood who ruled the world, looked like a little lost puppy without a single person looking out for her. She was scared and confused and she couldn't ignore it anymore. Suddenly it was all too clear to her that she had no idea who the hell she was or why the hell she was here, and it all came down to her own weakness and her brother's cruelty.

She'd thought Tobi was going to save her, but he just set her even further out to sea. Now she was floating without an anchor, hoping beyond hope that someone might try to reel her back in.

Luca knew that what he had said did nothing to help the situation, but his lack of experience did not mean that he would stop trying. Something in her eyes made him want to help her like he had never wanted to help anyone in the past. She was so broken that he had no idea which direction to turn in and it was not a feeling that he was enjoying.

Still cupping her cheek he stroked his fingers lightly trying to calm her out of her frenzy of emotions. As much as he wanted to run screaming for the hills, he couldn't do that to her, not now when she was actually opening up to him and showing him a side to her that he had never seen before.

"That happens to all of us Laurette. We will never live up to the standards that others build up and set for us. Believe me I know this all to well. I will never live up to the standards my family has set for me, and at some point I just have to accept that and move on and start living for me. Is it right, no. Is it how we were raised, not hardly. But it is the only way to live with some semblance of sanity."

Leaning forward he kisses the side of cheek wiping away more of her tears. "We can work through that together Laurette, if you let me. I can be by your side every step of the way. You can start fresh, be whoever you would like to be, and the rest we can figure out along the way." Luca had no idea if he was making any sense, or getting through to her in any way. She needed his help though and he would not leave her unless she forced him away. "Say that you trust me enough for that."

She heard such familiar things in Luca's words that Laurette could hardly believe her own ears. He was the same as her. He was trying to make happy those who could never be satisfied and it seemed he knew just how badly it hurt to fail. She tried to stop her crying, only letting a few small tears slide down her inflamed cheeks as he promised to stay by her. He had held her cheek in such a way that she was already feeling at ease, and when kissed away the salty streams she felt herself falling hard.

"I don't know how to trust anyone, Luca. I... I'm scared. I know you wouldn't mean to, but... I can't help but think you might just turn around and hurt me like Tobi did. But, at the same time... Oh, Luca, I can't imagine never trusting another person, another man again. I don't want to risk losing you, but... but it's all just so much!" She wasn't sure what to do with herself. Laurette was confused and overwhelmed. All she wanted was to be loved and to let herself love Luca, but at the same time she was just so damn scared! Laurette had never felt scared like this before.

It was hard for Laurette to wrap her head around how vulnerable she was at this time in her life, but then some part of her felt as if she'd been like this before. It wasn't as foreign as it should have been, and that was even more disconcerting. The dark haired female had a feeling of loss, of not knowing something important, yet feeling the knowledge flutter just out of her grasp. What was it? What was she missing? What didn't she know that was so important?

"Sometimes I think I'm missing pieces of my life. Maybe those pieces would help me deal with these feelings of... unworthiness. I don't know, Luca. I just..." she looked at him with longing in her dark eyes. "I want to trust you. I'm determined to. Just, please. Please don't throw me away like everyone else has."

As Luca watched her he tried to imagine just what had happened to her in the past with her family.  He had never tried to get to know her in the past, always a bit intimidated by her.  But he had a feeling she was like that to a lot of people and he was not even close to being special in that.  It did not matter to him though, he wanted to get to know her better even though it seemed now like she herself did not even know who that was.  He would help her, just like he said he would.

"I know you don't Laurette and I am not so trusting of others myself but I meant what I said.  I will stand by you and help you as much as I can and I meant it.   I cannot promise you that I won't hurt you as I cannot predict the future.  But I will try my best to make you happy, however I can."

Brushing his thumb over her cheek once more he finally dropped his hand back down moving it to take hers.  He wanted to make everything better, to take away all of her pain but it would be a slow working process and he just had to have the patience to stick it out.  It would all be worth it in the end, or so he hoped anyway.

Pulling her in close he kissed her cheek again.  "I know all about feeling unworthy Laurette, believe me more than you could possibly know.  I will be here for as long as you will have me, until you send me away I will be here for you.  I could never throw you away, ever. So take as much time as you need.  I'm not going anywhere."

Somehow Luca knew every word she needed to hear, and Laurette couldn't help but relax as he kissed her cheek. She crawled into his lap then, feeling as though she had no other option but to give him a true chance. There was no way Laurette could go without love, and this man... He knew what she felt. He understood her.

Of course, she'd thought the same of Tobi. Though, perhaps she always knew he didn't understand. He wasn't raised by an abusive brother. Yes, she retained some of those memories. No one knew. No one. Laurette kept that secret hidden from the entire world. Even Fletch didn't know she had any of those bits of memory. That was how she knew there were dark things hidden from her, stolen from her. That was how she knew that she needed to steal them back. She had to know who her brother really was.

Tobi didn't know what it was like to never know love. His mother adored him, Laurette could tell just from the way he talked about her. Laurette had never been what her brother wanted, and she had no idea if she'd pleased her parents. As far as she knew, she was never good enough in her life, and that stuck with her. No matter how many times someone might tell her she was beautiful, she always wondered how beautiful. Was it beautiful enough?

The raven-haired vixen wrapped her long legs about the strong man who held her, clinging to his body and his promises. "I can't go through life alone, Luca. I have to trust you. I know some promises cannot be made, and it makes me feel better to hear you say you cannot make them. But, to promise that you will try, that you will stay... that is all I can rightly ask for."

She sighed, resting her chin on Luca's shoulder. "I just need you to hold me, Luca. I need you to do like you say, and go nowhere. Just stay with me. Love me, protect me. That's all I really need. I just want to be able to be weak for once and not have to be afraid. I want to let my guard down and it be okay."

Her arms wrapped about his neck while her chin remained on his shoulder, legs squeezing so that she was as close to him as possible. "Just hold me together while I fall apart, and don't judge me for my weakness. I've been strong for so long..."

Feeling her move he looked up with a half smile as she crawled into his lap and settled down against him. He had no idea what was going through her mind but he could only hope with time she would open up to him. He was sure that he could help her and could only hope that it would be enough. Watching her closely he could see the war in her eyes. For the first time he could actually feel himself caring more for someone else than his own person. It was a rare thing indeed, especially for a Slytherin, whose very definition was usually to care for no one but themselves.

"I do not want to go through this life alone either Laur, and I'm not stupid I know trust has to be earned but I will do whatever it takes to earn your trust. You have my word on that. I'm not going anywhere."

Wrapping his arms around her gently and locking his fingers together he kissed her shoulder as she relaxed against him. He wanted to protect her from everything that troubled her, and everyone that could ever cause her pain but he knew that it wasn't possible. But he could at least be there by her side to help her through the storm.

"I mean it, I will be by your side until you send me away. To hold you, to support you, to be your shoulder to lean on. Whatever you need I am here for you. Until you get sick of me and can't stand to be around me anymore. I will love you to the best of my ability."

Stroking her back lightly he tried to soothe her to the best of his ability. He wanted to take away all of her pain but he knew that she had to work through it herself, that was the only way that things would get better for her.