24 Mar 2021, 01:44
Shattered Boundaries
@Daffodil Harbourshire
They had struck again and this time, it wasn't like the million other owls she had gotten that the Gryffindor could just toss aside without as much as a care in the world. No, this was different as the dark evening sky overlooking the courtyard only seemed to grow even blacker as the brunette leant against a wall watching as sutdents flocked outwards returning from classe or off to run some personal agendas as she paced back and forth, her features spelling a dark expression that probably gave off the sentiment to anyone that if they were going to attempt to strike up a converstation of sorts or decided to burden her with whatever troubles they were undergoing that she was not the person you wanted to approach though one could certainly try as the girl collected herself onto one of the outside benches staring at the crumpled Howler that was clasped within her hands as if it was the most important thing in the world right now. In a sense, it was.
A shadow fell over her and the brunette glanced upwards crossly to see who had stopped snapping out a rather harsh response. "What?" Perhaps it was the brashness of her tone or the fact that the girl looked like she was not in the mood for any converstation but it did the trick, the nervous first year that had approached her got the message quickly and made his exit as quick as as he came, Elena watching his retreating figure as he made it inside the safety of the castle where a fiery Gryffindor could not get to her. This was the exact thing she had been worrying about and it had happened. The threats, the warnings and it had all come to frutiion as her finger traced the lines of the parchment again as if trying to comprehend it was saying what it actually was saying. No, she was not in a dream and this was very real shaking her head as Elena stuffed her hands into her house robes tilting her head up to take in the evening skyline.
The moon wasn't out yet and they still had quite some time before curfew struck but she could at least spend this time to relish the same and comforting arms Hogwarts had provided her with and the fact that they were thinking about ripping that from her was too much for the third year to fathom on her own. Yet, she knew that it was a reality that Elena would have to come to grips with as her hands balled up into a fist as another group of laughing second years passed her by pointing fingers at the Gryffindor and perhaps finding humour at the fact she was just sitting there with no clear purpose so they were probably not expecting the cold reply the brown-haired female had to offer them as they passed her. "Something you'd like to say?" That quickly silenced any more snark remarks as the group of kids walked on by as Elena opted to get comfortable in her spot swinging her legs back and forth focusing on the ground as if hoping everything would go away.
It was just a bad dream, that was all it was.
All bad dreams had to go away eventually, right? She barely registered the tear that trickle down her cheek dropping onto the ground below. Why couldn't everything just be as it once was, for once, Elena Jangleton was lost and there was no one to turn to.
STA: 9| EVA: 10|STR: 6|ArcPower: 5|WIS: 15|ACR: 10
27 Mar 2021, 23:02
Shattered Boundaries
replying to @Elena Jangleton
History of Magic was the bane of Daffodil Harbourshire’s existence; for every time she were certain she were correct, she had been met with another E inked on the parchment that had her scribbled homework upon it. As soon as she had received the feedback, her grip tightened around the paper, ready to scrunch it up into a ball and hurtle it at the Professor’s head. She would’ve loved nothing more than to see their expression as the paper hit its target - would’ve taken a weeks worth of detention just to witness a glance of it.
Her steps were frantic, her pace unbalanced as she walked the paths of the courtyard, having not expected to see anyone at this time. For it was only less than an hour before curfew and surely most students had much work to do. Yet the darkness overhead, threatening to consume the skies as night was beginning to claim Hogwarts, did nothing to deter the Gryffindor sprawled on one of the benches.
Daffodil had seen her before; roaming the corridors and sometimes while she ate in the Great Hall. Due to this she could only assume that the Gryffindor were in another year. The female seemed to swing her legs back and forth, her head downwards as if in concentration.
Having come to a halt moments before, Daffodil leant against the pillar nearest to her. Surely something had to be wrong, for it was late and the Gryffindor was alone in the courtyard, seemingly distressed. “Do you plan on sleeping out here?” She queried, a smirk playing on her lips as she moved to push herself off of the pillar.
With a mind of their own, her legs took her towards the bench. Moving closer she could see the girl wasn’t only distressed but at the very least upset over something. “I’m not usually one to give niceties to strangers but you can take the bench and I’ll have the concrete,” Daffodil told the girl as she took off her cloak and laid it on the ground for her to sit on. “I’m going to take a wild guess and assume you aren’t stewing over History of Magic?”
Pondering over her actions, Daffodil almost regretted the kindness she showed for the female. Yet the courtyard was empty, at least nobody would be around to see her as she were.
30 Mar 2021, 17:43
Shattered Boundaries
@Daffodil Harbourshire
Her head snapped up as a new voice broke into her dark cloud of dread and despair hurridely composing her expressions thought it was clear to anyone that Elena was most certainly not fine evidenced by the red-rimmed eyes or the tear stains glistening on her cheeks. A stranger, someone who was not giving her weird looks but from the looks of it and sounds of it possessed a gentle nature watching as the female settled her weight on the concrete ground below. Elena almost wanted to laugh at her next inquiry shaking her head in a negative fashion before replying. "Trust me, if homework gave me comfort, it wouldn't be History of Magic that I would turn to." She heard enough about old wizards and witches past their prime enough in class as it was. No, Professor Zahid's coursework most certainly not going to help her in this situation whatsoever.
No one else was really around given the time of day as Elena let the wadded up Howler she had in her hands flutter to the ground torn up and shredded clearly out of frustration or some other emotion, it was unclear. The Gryffindor didn't know this girl and didn't know why she was going out of her way to listen to someone who clearly was not in a very postive mood right now but it was better than anything. "I'm Elena." The brunette introduced herself quietly eyeing the letter she had let fall to the concrete ground with a sort of dejected look before sighing and glancing back up at the sky. So dark, so foreboding and it was almost like it was sending her a message but as far as her trend with getting messages went, hardly any of them were good and they just tended to introduce her to new problems that the Gryffindor couldn't afford to have right now. She had spent the majority of her lifetime at Hogwarts developing bonds and experiences and now they wanted to rip all of that away from her.
The silence lingered for a couple of minutes before the Gryffindor came to the conclusion her new companion was not going anywhere. It was a nice gesture in a way and she appreciated it but she was also scared. What if she reacted the same way everyone else did, no one really bothered to bat an eye at her anymore, everyone had their own personal agendas to attend to and she didn't really blame them. Still, if that was the case, the third year supposed the girl would not have taken time out of her day to have an converstation with Elena as she was doing right now. "It's just..stuff. I wouldn't want to waste your time with it, I would be a burden anyways." The words hurt her more as she spoke like needles poking into her heart. Still, it was a grim reality she lived and one that was becoming progressivly diffcult to tolerate as time went on. She didn't know who to turn to, where to go, the Gryffindor was well and truly lost.
STA: 9| EVA: 10|STR: 6|ArcPower: 5|WIS: 15|ACR: 10
7 Apr 2021, 17:41
Shattered Boundaries
replying to @Elena Jangleton
#61187c
The evening chill crept up Daffodil’s spine as she awaited the girl’s reply. She hadn’t meant to startle her or cause any feeling that resembled being uncomfortable, yet perhaps the actions she had took made the Gryffindor feel that way. Tears slid down the girl’s cheeks and her eyes were red and puffy. Daffodil thought that perhaps she had been crying for longer than her time out in the courtyard.
“it wouldn't be History of Magic that I would turn to."
Noting the hint of amusement in the girl’s voice, she realised that she still had something other than sorrow in her. Daffodil didn’t know whether it was wise to insist she told her what was troubling her emotions. It would seem rude and insensitive but the girl was all alone, in the courtyard, and she couldn’t possibly leave her here from fear that something would happen to her.
The paper the girl had been holding fell to the ground. Daffodil’s gaze lay upon the shredded leftovers. Had the girl done this? Was that why she was so distraught? What terrible news had she received? “I’m Daffodil,” She replied, figuring that the least she could do was inform the Gryffindor of her name.
Tracking the movement of her head, she turned to look at where the female’s eyesight was set. Darkness had almost overtaken the sky, more so than when she had arrived a few minutes earlier. The lanterns provided a safety but it wouldn’t be long until a black blanket appeared overhead.
Silence crowded them, leaving Daffodil at a loss for words. She had always been one who knew exactly what to say but conversations such as these were not her forte. It was more likely that she’d make the situation worse. But she couldn’t just leave the female; alone and ready for the night to surround her senses.
“From my experiences, usually ‘just stuff’ doesn’t lead to crying in a courtyard before curfew,” She told the Gryffindor, hoping that she’d take it as a light joke and not a direct insult. “You’re not a burden though. I wouldn’t be here if I thought you were,” She assured her.
Her gaze slid to the torn parchment next to her feet, “Not good news?” Daffodil queried, head nodding towards the mess of shredded paper on the concrete ground.
18 Apr 2021, 22:11
Shattered Boundaries
@Daffodil Harbourshire
Daffodil was a nice name, Elena though. It was peaceful, nice, quite unlike her current predicament and for a random stranger to display such geniuine concern was a first for her. The Gryffindor didn't know what about her had peaked her interest but clearly, the girl had made it her misson to sit here until the female walked away from here with a smile on her face which if you asked Elena, that was not going to be happening any time soon. "Just before curfew's the best time. No one's around to poke fun at you. Usually, I prefer the Owlery for more privacy but that didn't work out this time." That, and she hadn't been up to making the walk after reading whatever had been in the parchment which Daffodil now indicated with her head and Elena pondered whether to give in to her gently prying or not. "You could say that." The brunette replied steadily fixing the accursed letter with the best glare she could conjure up wishing it would do anything but remind her of what was going on.
A muttered "Incendio" and flames began to pop up burning away the parchment which gave the girl some miniscule amount of satisfaction. Good riddance to that but that didn't take care of the fact that it wouldn't resolve everything that had been dumped onto her shoulders from the moment Flutters had swooped in with the dreaded thing from home. "It's more along the lines of family drama. Things I've been fighting for a while only now it seems like I've well and truly lost the battle." The hope and courage had seeped from her body as she swung her legs back and forth in a glum motion wondering just what by Merlin's fluffy beard she had gotten herself into. Hogwarts was her home, the only home she knew and they wanted to rip that away from her, the brunette could never truly be accustomed to where they wanted to send her. It was always her, her fault, her persistence, she had put up with it and now they decided her rebellious nature was something that needed to be addressed. She had to give credit to them though, they really stuck it where it hurt and that was the painstaking thing about all of this too.
The third year had to laugh at Daffodil's reassuring comment shaking her head. "Not to you maybe but to certain people, I'm just an eyesore and in their opinion, I would be better off shipped off to some far-off land." Her fists clenched as the very thought angered her but Elena knew any more retorts on her part could only make this only fiasco worser than it already was. The girl was being vague intentionally because it was divulging too much information in the first place that had gotten her backed into this corner. Still, Daffodil seemed like the trustworthy type or so Elena thought. A Slytherin and trustworthy, now there was a combination she had never thought she would see in a million years. Still, the fact she was giving up her time in her agenda to sit here with the stricken girl spoke volumes. A few silent tears rolled down her cheeks which she wiped away with her robes as her remaining words tumbled out staring up at the evening sky relishing it as if it was her last moment. "I don't want to leave any of this behind." A hand gestured around the courtyard and the surrounding structures speaking more to herself than her new companion.
STA: 9| EVA: 10|STR: 6|ArcPower: 5|WIS: 15|ACR: 10