Gryffindor
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Ash
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Post by Madison Kingsley on Sept 21, 2016 3:28:11 GMT
Madi jerked up in bed as quick as a bolt of lightning. Her heart was slamming in her chest, and for a dangerously long moment her lungs couldn’t seem to get any air. The darkness of the room was pressing so close it was suffocating. Madi shoved aside her bed curtains to let in more air as she tried to breathe. That only revealed the rest of the room, the deep shadows dancing across it seeming to come alive with the moonlight from the window. She clapped a hand over her mouth to hold back any noise as the dark shapes settled from crouching wolves into the beds of her housemates. It was too much. Madison tugged her knees up to her chest as tears began to slide down her face. She had thought the nightmares were finally gone. But tonight they had struck with a vengeance the likes of which she hadn’t seen since the nights right after the attack. She could still hear the howling, still feel claws of fire digging into her shoulder. And the soft knees of her red plaid sweatpants weren’t enough to stop the tears. She wanted Lydia. She felt like a scared little girl, which was precisely what she was.
Even so, she spent several minutes trying to stop her silent sobs before finally giving up completely. This wasn’t going to work. Time for drastic measures. Madison had tossed one of her sweatshirts on the chair by her bed, and she tugged it on now over her T-shirt. She bit her lip to keep herself quiet as she swung her feet over the edge of the bed to the cold floor. Her socks were around here somewhere, but she was too upset to waste time looking for them. Instead she padded over to the door. Thankfully her roommates were all sound asleep, and the door was mercifully quiet as Madison opened it enough to slip out.
The faint glow of a fire from the common room lit the stone wall near the stairs. The rest of the hallway was fairly dark, but Madison didn’t need light to find her way to the room of the seventh year girls. She had walked it several times just since the school year started. It wasn’t entirely unusual for her to wander over to Liza’s room in the evenings and flop down dramatically on her best friend’s claiming boredom. Mostly because the theatrics made Liza smile. But now Madi was headed in for a completely different reason.
She carefully eased open the door, squinting her eyes against the darkness of the room. Hopefully the other seventh year girls were asleep. She really didn’t want anyone else seeing her like this. But briefly holding her breath didn’t reveal any noise, so Madison forged ahead, sniffling softly as she did so. She slid the door closed before tiptoeing across the floor in her bare feet toward Liza’s bed. “Liza?” she whispered. Damn her voice for trembling. She tugged aside the bed curtain enough that she could sit down on the edge of her best friend’s mattress. “You awake?” She tugged her sweatshirt sleeve down over her hand and swiped it across her cheek, desperately hoping Liza wouldn’t see the tears on her face glinting in the faint moonlight. But even if it actually was too dark, the mere fact that she was in here at this hour would probably be worrisome enough. There was nothing to be done for it now though. Madison desperately needed someone to calm her down. And with Lydia a lengthy train ride away, Liza was easily the next best thing.
@liza
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Deleted
UNSORTED
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 7:18:20 GMT
The pale moonlight was what pulled Liza from sleep. It wasn't exceptionally bright, and yet it wouldn't let Liza rest. Her slumber had lasted only an hour or so, and though she felt exhausted, her eyes just wouldn't close. So she lay awake, watching the moon through the window. So, with nothing to do and no dreams to dream, Liza's mind wandered. It wandered back to the first day. She missed Lyra already and it hadn't even been a full month yet. They had kept in touch by letter - their mum, apparently, was being super-secretive and on some order mission that she wouldn't discuss with Lyra - but it wasn't the same. The only person who understood of course was Madi. She missed Lydia just as much. Both girls had very close relationships with their sisters.
Thinking about Madi and the first day lead her to the conversation they'd had at the feast, and then Lupin. Madison was still skipping a lot of the man's classes, despite Elizabeth's protests that he was an amazing DADA teacher; easily the best she'd had. His classes were fun and engaging, he wasn't too strict, and didn't ask too much of them. He was her favourite teacher already, and she'd only had him a month. Of course Professor King was always her number one, because Gryffindor, but Lupin was awesome. She was absolutely convinced he was safe, as well. A full moon had already passed, and everyone was fine. But Madi still seemed convinced that he was dangerous, just because of something he couldn't control.
Liza was going through the ways that she might be able to convince Madi to believe her when she said Lupin was safe when she heard the door open. Liza's eyes flicked to the door, but it was more shadowy over there, and she couldn't make out more than the shape of a person. Carefully, she closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep, while her hand snaked under her pillow for her wand (Lyra always told her to keep it close). The person was definitely approaching her bed, and Liza tensed as she waited. The person spoke, and Liza would have sighed with relief were it not for the tone in the voice. It was unmistakably Madi's voice, but it was trembly and scared. Fear was not emotion she was used to hearing or seeing in her friend. "Madi?" She asked, turning over as her friend pulled the curtains aside enough to sit down. "Yeah, I was already up." Her eyes were drawn to the movement of Madi's hand across her cheek. Was– was she crying? "Madi? Madi, what's up?" Motioning for the girl to stand up, Liza pulled her duna away from the bed, wrapping it around her shoulders and then motioning for her friend to come sit beside her. When she did, Liza wrapped the remainder of the blanket around Madison's shoulders, and gave her shoulder a squeeze. Making an assumption, Liza spoke. "It was just a dream. You're in Hogwarts, remember? Hogwarts is the safest" -Liza's mind flashed briefly to her first year, but she turned her attention back to Madi quickly- "place in ages. They can't get in here. And I wouldn't let them anyway." More assumptions. Liza hoped she was on the right track - a nightmare about the wolves didn't seem unreasonable given the summer that Madi had had. Elizabeth pulled her friend into a hug, her head over Madi's shoulder and vice versa, squeezing tightly so that Madi knew she could do the same.
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Gryffindor
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Ash
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Post by Madison Kingsley on Oct 2, 2016 7:40:51 GMT
The tears had mostly died down by then, but the sudden rise in concern in Liza’s voice brought them back with a vengeance. Madison only just managed to choke them back. “I can’t sleep,” she whispered. She might have been able to pass it off as simple insomnia had it not been for her scratchy voice. Damn it. Madi hated crying. It was messy and ridiculously vulnerable. But she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She stood up long enough for Liza to gather the blanket and then practically dove under it. The solid nature of another body was calming. So was the sound of Liza’s voice. She seemed to have guessed exactly what this was about. Madi took a few deep breaths as she wiped her damp face with both hands. Hogwarts was safe, and she wasn’t alone, and the shadows weren’t hiding werewolves. She just had to keep breathing.
She probably could have managed to calm herself down if she’d had just a few more minutes. But instead Liza went for a hug, and that was where Madison lost it. The comforting arms around her were too much. She quickly latched on to Liza, locking her arms tightly around her best friend as the tears surged forward again. On the surface Madi probably seemed like she was doing okay. But it was a carefully maintained facade. She had been attacked in her own hometown, in a place she was supposed to be safe. Creatures that until then had been the stuff of scary stories had come to life and left their mark behind as a painful reminder. Not just on her shoulder either. In the way darkness made her nervous and talk of werewolves made her want to hit something. In the way she jerked awake at night feeling like the beast of her nightmares was still crushing her. Madi shifted her head so she could bury her face in Liza’s shoulder as the tears kept on coming. It felt safer somehow. For someone so bold to learn there were things out there that not only could hurt her but that she was virtually helpless against was devastating. The girl who had never known fear was terrified.
Thankfully, Madison wasn’t much of a crier to begin with. It didn’t take long for her tears to start slowing down. She stayed holding on to Liza though until she was completely sure it wasn’t going to start up again. Then and only then did she pull away, although she stayed close enough to keep Liza’s arm around her shoulders. To hell with appearances and Gryffindor bravery. She had already gone and cried, for Merlin’s sake. Might as well just go with it. She rubbed furiously at her red eyes before tugging her knees up to her chest with a sniffle. “We were out walking,” she finally said, her voice hoarse from crying. “Me and Lydia. And it just… It came out of nowhere.” She didn’t have to say the dreaded word to make clear what ‘it’ was. “And we started running, but it was too fast. I could hear it behind us. And then it hit me, and the claws… It hurt.” This from the girl who had tried to talk the healer into letting her go back into a Quidditch game after breaking her arm. She swallowed hard before admitting in a very small voice, “I thought we were going to die.”
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Deleted
UNSORTED
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2016 7:29:07 GMT
Gods above, Madi sounded terrible. She sounded so vulnerable and scared, and Liza wasn't sure she'd ever seen the girl like this. It was terrifying. She leapt desperately back onto the bed the moment Liza had the covers in place, and clung to her like she was a lifeline. Liza tried to calm her down, but she couldn't be certain she was helping, so she went for the thing she knew best - a hug. Madison clearly needed such a thing, for the tears finally broke through, tearing at Liza's heart.
Elizabeth chose not to speak anymore, she just stroked Madi's hair like Lyra had done after the battle. For just a little while, the two sat there, Madison's head buried in Liza's neck, finally letting out the tears it was clear she'd been bottling up for a long time, Liza gently stroking the fifth year's hair and just holding her. Squeezing tightly enough to remind Madi that she was there. She was there, and she would always be there. When the tears started to slow and Madison began to pull away, Elizabeth made sure to hold on extra tight just for a second longer. She hated to see Madison so… so helpless. And by Merlin, if there was anything she could do, she would do it. Making the hug last just that little bit longer seemed like the most she could do at that moment, so she did it.
And when Madi did pull away, she stayed close enough that Elizabeth's arm stayed across her shoulder, comfortingly. Elizabeth didn't need to say anything, apparently. Madison sniffed, tugged her legs up to her chest and started on her own. She hadn't been comfortable talking about this before, so the fact that she was talking now made Elizabeth feel better about her friendship and comforting abilities. She listened carefully to Madi's short story. But what really caught her was the way Madi said it had hurt. Madi hated appearing 'weak'. Which meant she pretty much never owned up to any pain - Liza was certain most people were convinced she was some sort of super human who didn't feel pain. In fact, she recalled a certain incident where this particular lion had tried to convince the healer and Quidditch captain that she could still play after breaking her arm (she was a beater, for Merlin's sake).So the fact that she was saying it meant a lot. And the next sentence lead to another hug on Liza's hug.
"Madi, I'm so sorry," she whispered into the girl's hair. "I know that sorry doesn't change what happened, but I am. I'm sorry I wasn't there; sorry you had to go through this; sorry that Lydia did. But I'm here now, and they won't touch you while you're here. And if you're right about this new Professor" -Liza was certain she wasn't, but she didn't want to seem like she was just disregarding Madi's concerns- "then I'll fight him before I'll let him get near you." Bit of her protective instinct was shining through there. She couldn't stand Madi being upset. "But he won't, because those monsters were out there. And they're not going to get in here. I promise."
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Gryffindor
PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Ash
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Post by Madison Kingsley on Oct 16, 2016 5:50:26 GMT
Liza didn’t waste her breath on meaningless lies about how she understood and everything was going to be fine, and for that Madi was grateful. The older girl just held on tight like a warm security blanket. The feeling of Liza’s hand in her hair provided a steady rhythm that gradually calmed Madi’s heart and lungs. Madison had tried so damn hard to keep this al to herself. What was that dumb saying? Scars proved you were stronger than what had hurt you? Well, Madi didn’t feel strong right now. She felt scared and small. But as least she wasn’t alone with it. Liza was there, quietly riding out the storm. She even tightened her grip a bit as Madison finally pulled away. There wasn’t any judgment for the tears or for Madi staying within Liza’s reach. Just quiet support. Never in all her life had Madison been so grateful to have Liza as a best friend.
She didn’t stay out of a hug very long. Liza pulled her back into one almost as soon as she had finished speaking. Not that Madi minded. She could very much use the comfort right now. She settled her head comfortable against Liza’s shoulder and just listened. The redhead could be pretty darn protective when she wanted to be. Like right now. Under normal circumstances, Madison probably would have smiled. It didn’t matter that Liza was making promises she couldn’t keep. Madi knew her friend would fight tooth and nail to keep her safe. And that was enough to begin calming her racing mind. The mention of Lupin made her tighten her arms around Liza. “I know you think he’s different. I just… I can’t look at him without thinking about… about them.” The werewolves that had attacked her. Every time she saw the scars on his face, her brain drifted to her own scars and what had caused them. Anything that made her think about that night was to be avoided at all costs.
Madison shifted a bit to settle more comfortably against Liza. She should probably be getting back to her bed soon (it wouldn’t do to have one of Liza’s roommates wanting to know why she was here in the morning), but she just wasn’t quite ready to head back to her own dark room. “After the battle,” she said carefully, her voice both quiet and a little scratchy, “how long did it take before… before you were okay?” Liza never really talked about what she had been through the day Voldemort died, and usually Madison knew better than to bring it up. But right now she couldn’t help it. It wasn’t the same, not really. It was the closest she had right now though. She needed to know how long this was going to last. Was she going to be this scared forever? Or would it start to get easier in time like Lydia and her parents kept saying?
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