A pheonix's charm PV Koko Riddle Closed

The Owlery was truly a wonderful place. It was dusty, yes, and sometimes covered in owl droppings, but it was more than just a room with animals for Koko. It was Safety. Safety was very important to Koko, be the reason not to get killed or rather just to not be noticed. All in all, it was wonderful to have a usually empty room. However, it was not empty today.

The Slytherin was trying to seem confident. She had her pale blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, a few loose strands of hair almost looking like 'bangs' on the left side of her face. She wore her usual school uniform, but she had discarded her robes earlier, disliking the heaviness they cast on her otherwise light frame. Koko was smiling, but it wasn't really a happy smile. It was... Well, it was more of a smirk. A self-righteous smirk. She had climbed up a ton of moving staircases to get from the Slytherin dungeon to the owlery, and although she was sweating, she was proud.

She stood, at her one hundred fifty-six centimetres, and tried to tower over the other girl as best she could. She didn't say anything at first - why was someone trying to draw in her place? Then she saw a glint of fiery gold. She'd lost that charm once, but she had found it before. This time, it seemed someone else was holding it. Her smirk twisted into a bitter scowl. Koko still said nothing, though, but she did fix her moderately-pissed-off gaze on the other girl. Thea. That was her. "I see you're having a pleasant time here," Koko began quietly, her voice barely louder than a single breath. She was being careful, treading on thin ice. They both were. Thea was risking Koko's wrath by doing so much as holding that necklace, and Koko was risking her own moral beliefs by the thoughts running through her head. She was a prefect. If this other girl didn't give the necklace back, she could give her detention for stealing. But that would ruin her chances for redemption.

Koko's amber eyes were wide; she was breathing heavily. "And," she whispered between irritated breaths, "Do you know what that is you're holding? What it does? Whose it is?" Her voice rose with each breath, becoming shrill rather than loud. She was pissed. That necklace... It was hers. Koko narrowed her eyes as she drew herself up to her full height - which was not tall by any means, but it wasn't short either. Lowering her voice once more, she said, "What would you do if I said that it was mine?"

The girl was now towering over Thea, in their usual school uniforms. Even when not looking at her directly, she could see the shiny "P" badge which the girl now possessed. She could feel the staggering gaze, but she didn't look up at the girl and just kept on drawing, trying to look as calm as possible as she kept drawing. In the corner of her eye she could see how the girl's expressions changed in the matter of seconds, just like Thea saw before on the grounds. From happy, or at least content, to angry.

Koko's voice wasn't loud. It was no more than a whisper, one that Thea was barely able to hear with the Owlery's owls' constantly fluttering around and whatever else they were doing. The girl could still feel how the Slytherin prefect was basically trying to kill her with a single glare. The trembling Hufflepuff felt that if looks could kill, she wouldn't just be dead - instead she'd be a pile of ashes on the owlery's cold floor.

Thea could hear Koko's heavy, angry breathing over her actual words as she whispered in between irritated breaths, despite her voice getting louder and more angry with each word that came from her mouth, when it finally reached its peak at being a high-pitched, irritating sound. Not quite loud, but definitely not an "upgrade" from the whispering either. Fortunately for Thea's already strained ears, the Slytherin prefect lowered her voice one more time, and erased every single bit of calm the Hufflepuff still had with her final question.

Trying to keep composed, Thea finally looked into the girl's wide, amber eyes. The Hufflepuff may have been more of a loner than anything, but she knew how to make eye contact without cowering away after a few seconds. Koko was now standing tall over Thea, looking much more intimidating than if she were trying to yell, which did make the task of up keeping the eye contact significantly harder, but hopefully not impossible.

"If it was yours, and as special as you say, you wouldn't loose it." Thea finally said quietly, trying to mimic Koko's previous hushed tone with much less effect than she'd hope for, but effect nonetheless.

One of Koko's eyes went kind of squinty when Thea started staring into her eyes. "What the hell?" Koko wondered aloud, trying to puzzle out why Thea would be watching her like that. Creepy. Thea's next words, though, would be a true test to Koko's 'composure.' That kid of a shoe. How dare she.

"Everyone loses things, you idiot," Koko said rather sharply. "It's a fact of life. I've lost sh-spaghetti! You've lost some, everyone has." In any other situation, she might have kept a good eye on her profanity. However, on a day like this, she wouldn't care. She was, quite frankly, beginning to lose her temper. "So, what makes you think that just because I'm... What? You think that just because I'm me, I can't lose anything?" The blonde let out an angry, wheezy breath. "Because, believe me, I can lose things. The things I lose most are the ones that are special. They are the ones I notice." She exhaled after the 'rant', and she relaxed slightly. Only slightly. Her amber eyes, shining slightly reddish in the sunlight, were narrowed, and her breath was still coming in quick bursts.

She bit back her next words because they would just make the situation worse. She still thought them, though. I doubt anyone would notice that you were lost. Koko wasn't usually a prejudiced person, but she was really beginning to hate Hufflepuffs. They were all so antagonistic. It was if they were all fuelled by hate and none by kindness. Koko may have been fuelled by fear, but at lea-

No. She was breaking her own morals by letting this hate fuel her. But... Deep down, it felt good. The fire that burned in the girl's gut made her eyes spark, and it also made venom lace her words. "What were you planning to do with that necklace?"