Forum Thread

She brushed her fingers off onto the plate. "You talk funny," she said. "It's just that I had a nightmare. About my family." That was the simplest way to put it. She wanted to say more, but it was hard to find the words. And what if he told someone? That would be bad, that would be real bad. "I wasn't 'sposed to come here, y'know," she mumbled, staring down at the table. "I was supposed to take care of Mom. She's the only one that I have, and she does things. I think she's crazy." This was bad. Shut up, Alison. Don't say anything else.

---

Aubrey barely ate anything when she got a howler from her aunt. “DON’T THINK WE HAVEN’T HEARD ABOUT YOU MISSING CLASS YESTERDAY AND I DON’T CARE IF YOUR “SICK” YOU ARE JUST SO LUCKY YOUR MOTHER CAN’T SEND HOWLERS OR YOU WOULD’VE BEEN IN MORE TROUBLE THAN YOU ARE NOW! YOU ARE THE WORST THING THATS HAPPENED TO THIS FAMILY!” A howler for being sick? She felt so humiliated, it was only the second day of school and she was already off to a bad start. Her aunt was a muggle-born witch just like her but now, she wished she wasn’t.

---

Ri whirled into the Great Hall, a minor mess of papers and quills in her arms; she had rushed out of the Common Room before shoving it into her bag, but seeing as how it was just a while after the beginning of the year, there weren't too many. Yet. She tumbled into an open seat at the Hufflepuff table in the center of a mixed group of Fifth and Six Years that she hung out with at times. A couple greeted her with waves, but most just glanced up, smiled quickly, then went back to what they were doing. The brunette shoved her stuff into her large yellow handbag with compartments that were meant to be organized files but really just contained whatever papers had migrated into them. How was it possible to be so early in the year and yet such a wreck?

Finally wrangling it all in, she dropped her elbows onto the table and held her head in her hands for a moment before sitting up. Can't let them think anything's off! she thought to herself, forcing positivity and cheerfulness into her mental tone. She quickly snatched an egg white and dropped it on her plate. That was all she was really hungry for, and the idea of eating anything else made her feel sick, but upon noticing that one of the Sixth Years was watching her, she idly grabbed a chocolate croissant, the largest-looking thing within reach. She knew she wouldn't be having much of it, though; like most things, it was just to keep up outward appearances.

Her head whipped towards a loud screaming from somewhere else in the cafeteria. A Howler, huh? She'd seen many students get them over the years but never received one herself. Yeah, her mother was very much a Muggle, but it was more of a thing where she just didn't seem to care. Ri felt like she could have blown something up or accidentally caught something valuable in the Whomping Willow and her mum wouldn't have so much have sent a letter. It was fine that way, though. She knew she loved her in her own way. Besides, she had many other correspondents with whom she could share her experiences, or so her friends thought. Really it was just one person, and he didn't even know where she was writing from, but it was better than nothing, and she liked to imagine his letters conveyed genuine interest in what was happening with her.

---

Ah, so they were in a similar position, huh. Family was a difficult topic to tackle if only for how much weight that it held for him. While he was still healing from his own hurt, still trapped in the dangerous environment that made him such a bitter and hurting child, he was lucky enough to have found a support network within Hogwarts that at least kick started the healing process. If he could at least help Alison feel at home in the old castle, then Jules would do what he could to help her. But as always, finding the right words to convey any feeling was a challenge. "You know, just because she's you're mother doesn't mean that you owe your whole life to her." He finally spoke. "Parents are meant to unconditionally love and treasure their children, teaching them how to grow up to become fine adults. If she makes you uncomfortable, you have every right to cut off connections to her." It felt odd to be saying to someone else. It was almost hypocritical in a sense, since Jules was still hesitating on going through with separating himself from the Hadrian name, but it was still a good lesson none the less. "The person known as Jules wasn't even supposed to exist, much less go to Hogwarts. If you look at the school records, you won't see my name anywhere. But I'm still here and I have a home here. Hogwarts is a curious place. It gives a place for people who don't belong a chance and I'm glad that the castle gave yo-" His impromptu speech was interrupted as a howler screeched its hateful message across the halls, making Jules winced. Having been on the receiving end of seven of them, he knew how awful it was to receive one and felt sadness crawl over his heart for the poor student sitting among the sea of red and gold. She looked like a first year and that fact only broke his heart even more.

---

"It's not that easy," Alison said. "She's..." Her fingers clenched as she spoke. "Mom wasn't the same after..after my sister died. She walks aroung the house, and she talks to herself, and she doesn't eat unless you tell her too. I've tried leaving her alone, but she won't-won't Do anything!" She couldn't stop herself. She had kept this secret for too long, and it was too painful. "She thinks sometimes that I'm Dad, or my sister, or she just..talks. She calls me Bunny. Raven liked bunnies. And I can't leave her alone or she'll do something bad, I just know it. Dad left a long time ago. If I tell anyone, then they'll try to help her, and they'll take me away, Jules. They don't let 11 year olds live on their own. I-I don't belong here." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you, but Mom is the only person I have left. I'd be alone without her."

---

"And it's not your fault. You're just a kid, a very smart, caring, and amazing kid. It should never be a kid's job to worry about their parents, kids are supposed to learn and fail and get back up again. Kids are supposed to be free to do what they want, to explore themselves, not look after their parents. It's okay to not know what to do. Hell, I'd be worried if you did. You shouldn't have these worries and the universe has wronged you by giving them to you." Jules sighed, keeping the hurt out of his voice. Things like these were delicate matters, an experience that he would wish upon no one. "It's okay to rely on adults for these things. No matter what happens, you're not alone anymore. You have me, you have the professors, you have your house. I'm very honored that you would trust me enough to tell me these kinds of things and if you don't want me to tell anyone else, I will respect that and it will be our secret. But whenever you're ready and if you ever need any help, please never hesitate to ask anyone. Hogwarts is a safe place for outsiders like us."

---

At this point, Alison was close to tears. But deep down inside, she knew that Jules was right. She had been taking care of her mother since she was seven years old, and it didn't seem right that she should have to do it all by herself. She was tired, really. Tired of trying to keep it all to herself. She didn't know what she'd do about her mother when she had to leave Hogwarts, but right now, she wanted to forget that any of that ever happened. "Thank you, Jules. You don't know how much that means to me. I-I think I want to keep it a secret, at least until I can figure out what to do. Not everyone has reactions like you." They pitied her, they tried to convince her to do something about it, but no one had genuinely tried to help her. "It's not easy when you've been doing things on your own for so long to ask for help."

---

Ah, those words dug deep into Jules, understanding the feeling well enough. "Trust me, I know the feeling." He chuckled though he wished that he didn't have to say that. It hurt enough to know that other young kids were going through childhoods that would scar them but to also find someone else with his own experiences hurt even more. "My parent's aren't the best either and I didn't have an exactly good childhood. I had to do everything myself too and I still struggle with telling people about it. It's a long road to feeling like you are comfortable about talking about it but I'm glad you're taking that first step." Taking out a handkerchief, Jules passed it over before giving her a wide smile. Yes it hurt, but it also felt good to see someone else start their journey to a better future.

---

Taking the handkerchief, Alison nodded her thanks, wiping away the tears that were trying to fall down her face. This wasn't easy, as she had said before. After a minute of hesitation, she set the handkerchief on the table next to Jules. Pushing her long white hair back away from her face, Alison took a shaky breath, staring straight ahead, though at nothing. Then, without taking her eyes away from the invisible spot that she was staring at, she reached for her schedule again, holding it up in front of her as if she needed to have her eyes constantly attached to something. "There's still a lot of time until my first class," she said. "I think I'll try to eat something else."

---

A very loud clatter alerted the entire Great Hall to the presence of a one Nene Yashiro, who had just dropped several textbooks onto the floor after racing over to the Hufflepuff table. Muttering under her breath, she scrambled around, picking them up and throwing them rather unceremoniously onto the bench next to her before sitting down next to them herself. She let out a shaky breath. "Morning, Ri. Overslept. Don't wanna go to His'." With those three sorry excuses for sentences, Nene let her face drop to the surface of the table as she groaned and groggily groped around for the pitcher of orange juice to her left.

Though their little meeting had been broken up by Hagrid last night after Suvansh left, Nene's excitement had led her to stay up WAY too late...and thus caused her to oversleep the following morning. And it was her and Ri's least favorite class, History of Magic. While slightly better than any other history classes she'd taken, it was still history. Ugh. Looking up once more, Nene eyed her friend's lone egg and croissant. Pfft. There was no way 'Ri was going to eat that much this early, if she knew her friend at all. Nudging Hurricane, she poked the croissant thoughtfully. "Wanna split that with me? Don't think I want a whole one."

-

Amane was upset and bored. Their fun last night had been tragically curtailed by the disappearance of a certain Gryffindor and the arrival of a certain very sweet half-giant. While he knew there wasn't really anything to be done, it HAD caused what would have been an amazing night to turn into a disappointment, and he was feeling blah the next morning. AND Tsukasa was nowhere to be found, for some reason, which was worrying him a little. Glancing around, he didn't see the young Ravenclaw, Alison, from last night either. Great. Just him at breakfast, then? Scanning the Hufflepuff table, he didn't see the boy from their little adventure - no, wait, there was Alison, talking to that guy on the far end of the Ravenclaw table; it looked a little intense though, so he wasn't about to bother them. He didn't see any other familiar faces near them, though. What he DID see were two very familiar Hufflepuff first years at their own table, and the answer to his boredom. Aha!

-

Tsukasa hummed to himself as he wandered around before his first class. After a night of little sleep thanks to how wired he still was from the previous night, he'd simply taken to exploring as the day began. A flash of light blue caught his eye, immediately piquing his interest. That certainly wasn't the usual Hogwarts attire. Approaching the student - well, he assumed she was a student, anyways - he tapped her lightly on the shoulder, noting her tense, confused expression. "Are you lost?"

Renée spun around after feeling a tap on her shoulder. Thankfully, the question was simple enough for her to comprehend. Now, to formulate a legible sentence...

`` Ehm. Yes, I am lost. ´´ she answered, nodding inordinately. `` I come from Beauxbatons. France. Do you know where-´´ she paused glancing at her map once more, trying to locate the name of her destination `` Dining Hall is? ´´ she inquired, eyeing Tsukasa up and down. Green. Her colour (if she remembered correctly) was yellow. So he was in a different faction than she was.

---

The brunette Hufflepuff jumped at the loud bang produced by her best friend, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Morning," Ri grinned. "And absolutely. I... don't know what I was thinking." She leaned over and hugged Nene with one arm, grabbing the orange juice pitcher and pulling it closer for her, then sat up again and tore the croissant in "half", though really it was more like two thirds and one third. The young witch feigned basketball-dunking the larger piece at her friend but didn't let go, sitting back down once she'd finished the theatrics and calmly setting it on the other girl's plate instead.

"How do you think we're going to die today?" she giggled, tugging down the sleeve of her rob that had ridden up while she was jumping around. "Flitwick or Mandrakes? Or maybe, maybe, we accidentally wander into the dungeons and get eaten by a Slytherin! Have you heard the story of the Basilisk? Not the one from the Great Wizarding War, but the real one?" A twinkle in her eyes, she leaned back, waving her fingers. "It can kill you if it so much as looks at you!"

---

Giggling softly at her best friend's antics, Nene took a small bite out of her section of croissant. "I'm hoping for the merciful end, at this point," she joked, shooting a nasty look at her textbooks. "Death by Flitwick is agonizing and slow. The Mandrakes are too loud, and Slytherins would totally make it hurt. No, I'm rooting for the basilisk," she said, grinning over at 'Ri. Snapping her fingers, she added, "Just, bam! Done."

Honestly, at this point, it was starting to sound like a pretty enticing idea. Classes were bound to be boring for the first few weeks. And if their fun activities were going to be interrupted every time, was it even worth it? What was around to make things interesting?? Nene was being dramatic, she knew, but she got a very quick answer, anyways.

-

Amane, without warning, plopped himself down on the bench of the Hufflepuff table right next to Nene. "Morning, Yashiro," he said, adopting his brilliant idea from the other night to simply call her by her last name all of the time. "Late night?" A playful smirk danced across his face; obviously, he knew exactly why she was so tired, as it so happened to be the same reason why he was tired. "Hello, 'Ri," Amane added, leaning forward to give Hurricane a wave. "Let me guess...super bad dream? Nightmare about..." pausing for a second to thing, he gave the two girls finger guns. "A sentient bowl of cereal attacking you, and that's why you aren't eating."

-

Tsukasa was DEFINITELY interested, now. He'd never heard of any students transferring to Hogwarts before. Giving her a grin, he linked arms with her and began leading her to one of the many moving staircases of Hogwarts. "Oh, Beauxbatons? That school with all of the fancy girls who dance?" Tsukasa vaguely remembered Amane telling him about the school participating in some...uh, Triowitch Games? Something like that. "Yeah, the dining hall is this way. I can show you around. What year are you in? Are you in Slytherin, too? Why aren't you wearing the uniform? When did you get here, I didn't see you at the Sorting!" The questions rattled off right after the other as Tsukasa navigated the corridors excellently.

Her newfound companion was certainly a talkative one! She would have appreciated it only if he talked slower. Her head spun as she tried to register his questions. Warily stepping on these bizarre staircases, she tried to keep in sync with Tsukasa.

Fancy girls who danced? She...supposed so. `` Eh, yes. That is it. ´´

What year was she in? `` I was told that I am in my third year. ´´

Why wasn't she in uniform? Why wasn't she at the Sorting? `` 'ead of my 'ouse says I will be provided robes soon. I arrived 'ere two or three days ago, but it took a while for us to move & settle in because my father was meeting up with the Meen-estrie of Magic. ´´

What house? Was that what the hat was for? It had been less than two hours and Renée had already forgotten her house's name. She did remember the mascot and color though! Alas, she didn't know what un blaireau was in English, but she did know colours! If only she had paid more attention in her foreign language studies. `` ...Yellow 'ouse? ´´ she responded, unsure of her own answer.

Was she in....some word she didn't know...too? `` Slee-theh-reen? ´´ she repeated inquisitively (or attempted too)

---

Those words made Jules smile and he reached over to nab a cluster of grapes for himself. While eating was hard for him, he doubted that it would ever get easier, but just eating with someone else made it much easier to put things into his stomach. How funny it is, that Jules can't bring himself to eat when surrounded by people and conversation but finds it easier to do so when doing it with only one other person. How silly, he smiled while slowly rolling a grape between his teeth. "Take your time. Like I said yesterday, Professors are more lenient the first week." He reminded, popping another grape into his mouth.

---

"Much agreed! Death by basilisk for me, too, then," Ri laughed, calling over her shoulder to an imaginary waiter, "I'd like to order two basilisk deaths!" A Second Year boy was walking by right at that moment and gave her a confused look, but she grinned and waved her fingers at him conspiratorially, resulting in the Gryffindor's laughing and continuing on. When she turned back to the table, she was momentarily surprised to find the Ravenclaw Fourth Year from the day before sitting beside her best friend.

"Oh, hello, Amane. Good morning. And no, it was actually a sentient toilet, but you're close!" She was just joking and a bit perplexed, but it was best to go with that and not let on to the fact that she rarely ate much at all during the school year. Maybe her being hungry all of the time had something to do with her struggles in school and with staying focused, but there wasn't much she could do. Being stressed or nervous completely destroyed her appetite and it became almost a competition with herself to see how little she could subsist on. The hungrier she was, the more easily she became stressed; it was a bit of a cycle. Besides, it was normal at this point. No one who regularly ate with her questioned it much anymore, and she was quite fine with that.

"But yes, I'm terrified the toilet will come and attack me while my back is turned. If I have a larger meal, that'll give it more time to strike!" Just keep joking. Keep laughing. If they think it's okay, it'll be okay. Eventually.

---

Aurora nods. "I think... I think it's for the best Suvansh." she whispered, lowering her eyes and staring at the floor. She closes her eyes, but that doesn't stop the tears pooling in her eyes from falling. She hugs herself, and manages to prevent the dry sobs from escaping her throat.


Holly stares up at the sky. God she really hated her life sometimes. It isn't enough that she has to live in discomfort and pain, but now her best friend was staying in Illvermony. Holly sighs, wondering what Anthony was doing.

---

Suvansh curtly nodded, and pulled Aurora into a hug. "I'm always there if you need me, you know." He took in the beauty of the room again, that didn't seem as beautiful as it did a moment ago, on the thought of having to leave Aurora here. It was only for a short while. She would be back soon. He looked into her eyes, and said, "Stay safe, and stay in contact." Not like the summers, please.

---

Aurora nods, still not meeting his eye. She let out a sigh. A knock at the door and the door squeaked open. Cecelia's head popped in. "Dinner." she said, leaving. Aurora sighed again. "I have to go. I'll... I'll see you later." she stands up and brushes the tears our of her eyes. She reaches down, kisses Suvansh's forehead and leaves, all in one fluid movement.

---

Suvansh just gave a abrupt nod, saying "See ya" as she left the room. He followed shortly with a sigh. Clearly, he wasn't really invited to the dinner, soo he guessed it was time to leave, back to hogwarts. But this time actually, everyone knew him, and no one would let him apparate cross-continent without supervision, so he had to take some floo powder and used the fireplace in the headmaster's office, and reached direct into the Gryffindor common room fireplace. He...needed a nap. And so he went straight to bed.

---