Closed Just Around the Corner PV Avis Marlong

As soon as six o'clock hit Avis bolted out of her bed. She had been up since four for who knows why and she was absolutely itching to do something, anything. She thought that it was a good idea to have a night curfew, but couldn't they let them out a bit earlier? She quickly pulled on her cloak and after giving her hair a quick brush pulled a dark blue bandana around it. Ravenclaw pride. She rolled her eyes. She really didn't care about house pride, she just liked blue. She would've worn it no matter what house she was in.

She slipped out of the dormitory and started down the stairs. And continued down the stairs. The stairs were really quite annoying. You would think that wizards could have come up with vortinators by now. (Basically superfast none electric escalators as in KOTLC) As the stairs finally flattened out she paused for a moment, contemplating where she wanted to go. She decided on the library. It would be nice to curl up and read a book, one time she had tried it she had been interrupted by another student. She started off again at a quick pace, hoping to be the first one there and be engrossed in her book by the time anyone else joined.

As she turned a corner she almost ran into another student. Hopping backward a step, she tried to calm her racing heart. "What is it with people scaring me la--bloody holden, are you ok?" The kid looked pale and sickly, and stumbling through the corridor, beyond exhausted. She would step next to him, and if he would allow her, grab his arm to try to support him. If he didn't, she would simply walk next to him. "Did you sleep last night? Have you slept ever? Do you even know what sleep is?"

@Oliver Thorn

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As Oliver forced one foot in front of the other, his steps slow and heavy, he passed a familiar corner—the very one where he'd once bumped into another student in a hurried mishap. That brief encounter had sent his heart racing with a sudden surge of adrenaline. Now, every time he walked by, it felt like a scene out of a horror film, half-expecting someone—maybe even that same student—to jump out at him. He shuddered at the memory of nearly being skewered by a speeding broomstick, his stomach tensing involuntarily as he edged past the spot, slowly, till he was barely moving at all, and stopped.

With a deep breath, Oliver closed his eyes, reminding himself that even though Hogwarts may be filled with magic, this spot of the corridor wasn't cursed with an 'Anti-Werewolf sneak'-proof charm. He opened them once again; the soft hues of the early morning, cool blues and faint oranges, painted the sky framed in the wall's arches, in a calm, gentle warmth. Along with the flickering flames of forever-lit candles dancing in their perched spots in the walls, Oliver was fine. Taking his step and turn over the corner, craning his head to the next corridor, Me and my rotten luck. Frozen, Oliver's breath caught in his lungs, as he met a girl's wide, startled hazel eyes. Her gasp echoed faintly against the cool stone walls, stepping back in equal surprise, Oliver felt his heart kick back into adrenaline, once again.

The dark-blue headband she wore stood out like a shock of colour against the otherwise muted tones of the corridor, seeming almost to glow in the gentle dawn light spilling through the high-arched windows.

For a split second, neither of them moved. The girl, who seemed to be a first-year judging by her stature, was frozen in place, her eyes wide as she took in the haggard boy before her. Oliver, however, quickly fought to suppress any sign of surprise, wiping away the initial look of shock from his face. He plastered on a neutral expression, hoping to avoid drawing too much attention.

"Sorry about that," he muttered, taking a slow step backward. "Yes, yes. I'm okay, I just have the uhh- Fieldstone Disease, yes.."

Oliver lifted his hand, faking a terribly artificial cough, attempting to transform his surprise into a nervous smile, and began to walk away, escaping from this nightmare of a scene. But the girl continued, grabbing Oliver and continueing with her list of questions: "Did you sleep last night? Have you slept ever? Do you even know what sleep is?" her gaze flickering over Oliver's limping figure and bloodshot eyes. Oliver was already much better at these situations than before, the last time he had bumped into somebody he was a muttering-mess who lied as horribly as he coughed. The Hufflepuff let out a sigh, this would not be as easy as last time.

"Of course I've slept.. I've been in the Hufflepuff Commonroom all night, but don't bother asking any of my fellow classmates, they barely know me!"

Avis rolled her eyes at his horridly fake attempt at a cough. "I was right up'n about to believe you til' that laughingstock."

She could feel his defensiveness just permeating the corridor as he attempted to walk away. She watched him for a minute, before catching up. He was basically a zombie walking through the halls, he couldn't possibly expect to lose her. He clearly didn't want her around, a fact that Avis was all to happy to ignore. She pursed her lips in suspicion as he attempted to explain his exhaustion.

"Of course I've slept.. I've been in the Hufflepuff Commonroom all night, but don't bother asking any of my fellow classmates, they barely know me!"

"I see." Avis nodded as if this were a completely reasonable explanation while muttering, "Right. None of them would notice a half-dead zombie walking about." She attempted to hold him up as he continued to stumble through the halls. "Look, its what, 6:15 in the morning? I can tell by looking at you that if you had closed your eyes ever last night, you would be sleeping through breakfast, and yet you're up at 6." She ticked off her fingers as she counted off her observations. You have no alibi whatsoever, if anything its working against you, you clearly haven't slept last night, and you seem to be crawling towards your common room, not away. I don't care where you've been." She paused for a monent. "Well, I do. And I'm going to find out. But not right now. Just...Don't go to classes today. You need to sleep. I'm sure everyone would agree. People will take notes for you." Avis frowned, and her hand that was not supporting Oliver fidgeted as she thought about how she was going to stalk him throughout the day to keep him in his common room. He didn't seem the type to listen to advice.

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Oliver was not the type to listen to advice.

It was certainly not the kind of advice that had done him any favors last year. "Don’t go to classes today?" The words echoed in Oliver’s mind as Avis spoke them. He’d told himself the same thing too many times before, and look where it got him—stuck repeating his second year. This girl should be seeing Oliver as a third-year by now, yet here he was, one of the oldest and undoubtedly the most sickly of all the second-years.

"Notes can never reach the same quality as the real thing. And I don't want to simply know what I missed; I want to master it. Maybe then..." Oliver paused, his next thought drifting inward: if anything... happens, I'll be able to pass exams even half-asleep, like now. The words lingered, hanging in his mind, and he wasn’t entirely sure they were neccessary to be spoken aloud. Necessary? Why did Oliver even feel compelled to tell this young girl anything? Her kindness was clear in the way she cared for him, but to Oliver, the thought surfaced unbidden:

"It's none of your business, anyway." He croaked, tugging at his arm to let himself free, moving down the corridor in a powered march and a grim glare. "And before you think of telling a teacher I was 'Out of bed'. They already knew." He scuffed.

Oliver’s dreariness weighed heavily on him. He didn’t normally act so cold, so isolating. But he had to remember the stability he’d managed to create—the comfort of being unseen, unnoticed, without close friends these past two years who might get too curious and uncover his secret. This moment was just another one of those times he had to distance himself, to push someone away before they ventured too close. The girl was already on her way to figuring it out, she had promised Oliver she'll find out 'why', and that only made Oliver more upset. She was too perceptive about his reason for lying and why he was even out of bed.

Oliver let out a soft grumble, closing his eyes and rubbing his dirtied hand across his forehead feverishly with a violent yawn he could not contain in front of the girl for long. For a soft moment he stood still, before suddenly twisting his frustrated face to the young girl.

"And who exactly are you?" He barked, still grumpy with all that was transpiring.

"Notes can never reach the same quality as the real thing. And I don't want to simply know what I missed; I want to master it. Maybe then..." Avis waited a moment to see if he would continue, when
he didn't, she simply rolled her eyes. That was utter nonsense. "So what you're saying is you'd destroy yourself just to get an O or E instead of A?" She said this as though she actually believed it, though she knew if she was in this kid's position, she would probably be doing the same thing, risking her sanity for her grades.

"It's none of your business, anyway. And before you think of telling a teacher I was 'Out of bed'. They already knew." Avis looked up at him and smiled. "Oh, so you were out of bed all night. I was only like 65% sure." She breathed a silent sigh of relief. That would have been pretty embarrassing if he had actually been in his common room. But what did he mean, the teachers already knew? She paused, thinking, and he pulled his arm away and headed down the corridor in an obviously forced march that was probably taking up all his energy. Nonetheless, he was still incredibly sleep-deprived, and Avis easily caught up to the zombie.

He let out a small grumble before yawning. Avis nodded knowingly. "Being irritable is very tiring isn't it." On the rare occasion Avis argued with her sister, they both ended up tired and irritable. Combined without sleeping last night, Avis could try to forgive his rudeness. When he twisted around to face her, Avis bit back a laugh. He was clearly trying so hard. But now they could actually get somewhere, hopefully. She searched his tired face, looking for a hint as to where he'd been, and more importantly, why. Her eyebrows scrunched in curiosity as she saw nothing but pure exhaustion and a little bit of defensiveness.

"And who exactly are you?" "Avis"
Avis wasn't one for formalities, at least not for half-dead zombies roaming the halls at 6 in the morning.

She bit her lip, thinking. "Do you..." she faltered a bit, not wanting to ask, but knowing she needed to. "Do you at least have someone to help you out with whatever you're doing? You need..." She faltered again. How did one help someone who didn't want to be helped? And honestly, why did she even care? Avis really didn't know, and that scared her. She didn't want to care about people, that made her vulnerable. She wanted to turn around and get away from this encounter. And yet she followed him, keeping an arm reading incase he were to collapse of exhaustion.

@Oliver Thorn

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Why can't she just forget it? Oliver thought with a seething headache. The witch easily caught up with him as his determined stride failed into a weary limp down the corridor. There was no point anymore in attempting to sneak into the Hufflepuff Commonroom, not with this nosy first-year trailing him like a well-meaning, sympathetic, yet persistent dog. Changing course, steering his whole body into another direction, he slowly headed towards the Great Hall to grab some breakfast, reclaim whatever energy he had left in him, and survive the day. That was his routine after every full moon, and he wasn’t about to let some nosy young girl interfere with it.

"Well! Avis. Being tired can make somebody irritable, if you think I'm annoying, then it's in your best interest to leave!"

Oliver spoke sharply, his words clearly laced with frustration, the kind that only comes from a person too arrogant to admit they need help. Shoving his frustration towards the witch, with an energy equivalent to a weak, senile old man, too prideful to want help. Oliver walked like one too, as-if he needed a cane to get where he's going, oh, but a cane would be too alarming, looking sick then limping with a cane was just a demand to be noticed, and Oliver was already getting a bad taste of attention from his ever-determined first year, and the last thing he needed was more of it.

His bloodshot eyes narrowed as he scanned the end of the corridor, where the walkway split into two. Oliver, fighting the pounding migraine, strained to recall which direction led to the Great Hall. The moment felt disorienting, like he was a first-year again, a novice who had yet to figure out the maze of Hogwarts' halls, like the girl trailing beside him, knowing near to nothing yet about Hogwarts, but he did, he should, his failure to recall which way he even needed to limp to, only hurt his pride even more. His expression transformed from frustration to a confused demeanour, as his eyes flickered down the hall, trying to find something to jog his memory of where he was even heading.

Avis had to slow her pace as she faded back into his tired limp, trying not to roll her eyes at the nonsense of this all.

"Well! Avis. Being tired can make somebody irritable, if you think I'm annoying, then it's in your best interest to leave!"

"Sure it could, er-what was your name again?" Avis smiled at him, perfectly aware of the dismissal, but choosing to ignore it. "I never said you were annoying." He kind of was, actually, but that didn't seem like a beneficial thing to say. Besides, Avis had a little sister. She understood how to deal with annoyance. So plastered a small smile on her face, a mask of indifference. It didn't seem like he would deal well with an overly cheerful first year, but she didn't want to let him under her skin either. She remained stubbornly unfazed.

The walkway split into two ahead, and the boy seemed to hesitate, unsure of which to take. That was inconvenient. Avis' lack of spatial skills meant she had no idea where they led. Nor did she actually know where they were going. She fell a half-pace behind Oliver, waiting for him to either blunder into a guessed hallway or admit he didn't know where he was going. She had a feeling she knew which one he was going to pick.

@Oliver Thorn

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Oliver stopped in his tracks for a brief moment, his eyes darting around as his mind spun with confusion. He couldn't remember at all which direction he needed to go; his splitting headache and fatigued mind made him barely functional. With a sigh, Oliver shoved his whole body jaggedly to his right, edging toward the wall of the corridor. There was only a 50/50 chance he was wrong, he told himself, a faint attempt to justify this meagre coin-toss of a decision.

"Why would I tell you my name?" Oliver spat coldly, now adjacent to the brick wall of the corridor, his body begging to lean upon it for support, but he won't, not while the girl was here, Oliver stayed stern and irritated in his thoughts.

"Look... Can you just get lost already?" The irony in Oliver's words were blind to himself. "You, and that smile, aren't helpful in the slightest!... Not that I need help anyway."

His fowl words just an attempt to rid of the girl so he could let himself lean against the wall, or maybe even sit out and rest his legs on the plain stone benches scattered through the halls—something his trembling limp desperately needed. Raising his arm, Oliver waved her off with a dismissive flick of his wrist, shooing her away as if she were nothing more than a bothersome fly.

Oh. Great. Avis rolled her eyes, a seemingly common occurrence since getting to Hogwarts. The zombie had chosen the right side, whether by guess of knowledge, she didn't know. She followed him, only hesitating a moment. He stood next to the wall, his body leaning towards it as if the only reason he wasn't currently sleeping against it was his pride.

He was really annoying, but she had to give him credit, his stubbornness was pretty strong. How he hadn't collapsed by now, she had no idea.

"Why would I tell you my name?" He practically spat at her. She sighed. "Because I told you mine. That's how common society works, give and take. Then again," She added with a glance at his bloodshot eyes, "generally society also sleeps."

"You, and that smile, aren't helpful in the slightest!... Not that I need help anyway." Avis took no small amount of pleasure in his annoyance with her smile. Maybe if he put so much energy into his annoyance, he would fall asleep right here, and she could get a Prefect or Professor to take him back to his common room. She held her small smile, determined to continue with her unfazed act.

She took a step towards him, continuing in her pleading. "You've got to go to bed, you've got to. You can't function like this. I assure you, whatever you're missing is less important than sleep."

@Oliver Thorn