Trouble in the Dark PV Charlotte Cadunt Closed

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“Are you okay? You look a little... fairylike,” Margo had said. Ruby responded with an eerie grin, the moonlight illuminating her face in a rather fitting way for that moment. “Perfectly fine, thank you, Margo darling. I don't know what you're talking about,” she replied with false innocence, her eyes sparkling slightly. She wouldn't be too hostile – there was no need for that – but it wouldn't do much harm to subtly freak them out just a tiny bit. If Ruby was totally honest, she missed antagonizing people. She had been restraining herself in that department for perhaps a couple of years now, and she had been especially mindful of it since coming to Hogwarts. A partial desire to cause chaos and antagonize people was certainly not the best trait for a prefect to have, but she would be careful about it. No one who could kick her out of the position ever needed to know…

Yet the time was still not right. These girls weren't bad – Ruby respected and perhaps even admired Margo slightly, and Charlotte was clearly a sweetheart. Even so, she didn't feel the need to go out of her way to be kind to them, especially not now when they were the ones breaking the rules. She was not in the wrong. She didn't owe them anything. A partial silence had now fallen over the group, and did not bother Ruby in the slightest – she possibly even relished it. It gave her a chance to reflect by herself, to think and be more connected with nature. She had no desire for idle small talk, apologies, or whatever else they would use to try to fill the lingering quiet that seemed to unsettle them. She continued on and remained totally unperturbed until Charlotte started behaving strangely. She seemed… scared. But of what?

The girl darted to hide behind Ruby, making the Slytherin roll her eyes. What was she doing? What was she even scared of? As if responding to Ruby's silent question, Charlotte stretched out a finger, pointing to a shadowy portion by the trees. Ruby stared, and saw nothing there that was out of the ordinary. Skeptically, she glanced at the girl's eyes to trace where, exactly, they were looking. An explanation was finally provided as Charlotte cried out, saying something about a werewolf. There was no werewolf. Ruby had found the shadow that Charlotte was probably staring at, and the prefect had followed it back to… a bush. Oh, and a tree. A bush and a tree – wow, so scary. Absolutely terrifying. Was this girl really that jumpy? Turning to Charlotte with a cold stare, Ruby said flatly, “It's not a werewolf, Miss Cadunt. It's merely the shadows of a couple of plants blending together. There's no need to get so worked up about it.”

Why had she chosen to hide behind Ruby, anyway? Margo was her buddy here – her accomplice, her unintentional partner in crime, the one who was actually being nice to her. Ruby was the member of authority who would be putting her in detention and had only been cold so far. Charlotte's decision seemed rather illogical. Looking into the girl's warm, brown eyes, Ruby saw sincerity and fear. There seemed to be no plan or other reason for doing this. Puzzled and distracted because of the brief interaction, Ruby found herself getting slightly lost in Charlotte's eyes and had to make a conscious effort to drag her gaze away. Her yearmate was undeniably beautiful, and it was rather distracting when Ruby was busy trying to be emotionally distant from them and to just give them a detention and be done with the whole matter. For goodness sake, pull yourself together, she told herself silently.

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Reducio

Hi guys, I'm so sorry this is so late.

Ruby seemed to have a thing with the word darling. This was the second time that Margo had been referenced to the word by the prefect and she had no idea why. Perhaps it was a family quirk. Unfortunately, Margo currently knew very little about her fellow Slytherin's heritage, and that was exaggerating. Sure, the subject may not have been the first thing on their minds when slipping up an extremely muddy hill whilst in lightning's frazzling embrace, but surely Ruby could've given Margo a detailed explanation afterwards. Really, who wanted a warm shower when muddy and cold anyway? The idea was preposterous.

However, all jokes aside, Margo suspected that Ruby had at least one wizarding parent. That girl's confidence didn't come from a past filled with the wonder of finding out they were magical. No, it came from unlimited access to knowledge a possible etiquette tutor. Luckily, Margo was willing to bet that the semi existent tutor hadn't taught their student the fine art of sarcasm. That was a challenge that Margo was confident she could complete herself. 

"Oh Ruby my... fellow Slytherin," She couldn't call the girl a friend just yet, whether it was a joke or not. "There's no need to act all oblivious, it really doesn't suit you, ya know. I was merely inquiring as to what brought on your sudden change of mood." 

Margo's gaze slid sideways to Charlotte, her eyebrows raising slightly as the girl seemed to freeze. Blinking the slight sleepiness from her eyes, she followed the line Charlotte's eyes into the forest, her heart rate increasing slightly when she too spotted the ominous shadow. It was very unlikely that the silhouette was in fact a werewolf, as the Hufflepuff had pointed out, but the odds were still a little too unsafe for Margo's liking. Obviously, she wasn't going to hide behind Ruby- it would definitely give the girl the wrong idea, and she didn't blame Charlotte for doing so either. It was very late now and it took all Margo's willpower to stifle the massive yawn that threatened to come forth. 

She couldn't decide to be glad or not when adrenaline started to tighten up her tired muscles, diminishing her need to yawn. Just a few seconds ago she had doubted if they'd get back to the castle before falling unconscious, but now she reckoned she could be back in bed in a matter if seconds if the need arose. Maybe if she managed to persuade Ruby that there actually was a werewolf in the Forbidden Forest then they'd go to bed happy with the aftereffects of adrenaline rather than regretting their moonlit encounter. Also, well, she couldn't pass up the chance to rile Ruby up a little more. 

"N-no. Ruby, I just saw claws flash. We need to go, there've been lycanthropes at Hogwarts before. Or do you just want to stay because you know you don't taste very nice?" She quickened her pace, grinning quickly whilst she was turned away from the other girls. Perhaps this was the rematch to their previous muddy race- except this time, it would be fair, and no one would be left behind.