Phoenix Zhang
Moonlight Misdemeanors
It was way past time.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Date:23/05/25 | Time: 22:45 | Outfit: ✕ | CC: #english, mandarin
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Not evening-late or lights-out-late, but definitely deep-throated, ache-in-the-bones late; late which stretched silence to solid. The dormitory itself was empty but for the darkness in the moonlit-lit high windows and the heartbeat of five girls asleep-in-beds-not-hers.
Phoenix Harlow isn't asleep.
She lay there, still for a long time; waiting. Listening. Counting seconds between breaths not her own. No coughs, no rustles, no signs of stirring. When she was sure-absolutely sure-no one was looking, she moved.
The duvet peeled back without a sound. Her bare feet discover the cold floor and she very slowly stands, every motion careful and practiced. Doesn't reach for her shoes. Doesn't grab a robe. Just her wand, her jumper, and the quiet determination that has been growing in her chest for days.
She opened the dormitory door with deliberate slowness, inch by inch, and it sighed without stirring anyone. One step into the spiral staircase. Another. Then another.
Down into the common room.
The fire had gone down to a bed of glowing embers and flamed flickering light about the stone walls. All the armchairs were empty, although one still bore the indentation of the last lodger. An abandoned book lay on the rug, spine opened like it had been forgotten amidst thoughts.
Phoenix crossed the room without interruption.
Only once did she hesitate-just before the portrait hole-to glance through the tall window to the dark courtyard outside. The moon was low and full-it was bright enough to silver the margins of anything it touched.
Somehow it made the utter stillness feel louder.
The Fat Lady was slumped in her frame, her head hanging to one side and lips slightly parted in sleep. Phoenix stepped close, bent down, and whispered, "Lionheart."
The portrait blinked drowsily, then swung open without objection.
The corridor outside was colder than the common room. The air smelled faintly of stone and something older-dust, parchment, and the lingering echo of magic long settled into the bones of the castle. For just a moment her toes curled at the chill, but she did not hesitate.
Stepping forward.
The soft click of stone settling behind her as the portrait closed.
She was alone.
Phoenix did not light her wand. The way led left past the crooked suit of armor, down the staircase with missing step, past the awesome vision of the witch with three cats. She had memorized the cadence of the castle, the spaces that creaked, the corners that did not.
Tonight, she would move between them like breath. Like a thought.
Trouble was never the goal. Rebellion was not the objective.
There was a question she could not get rid of. She knew exactly where she would find that answer.
So she walked, silently, confidently, into the dark.
A library was waiting.─────
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| 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @none @Robin Marie | 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @ |
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Moonlight Misdemeanors
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨♡୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
Moonlight Misdemeanors
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Interacting w/: @Phoenix Zhang
Date: 23/05/25
WC: 907
#38466B, #1A1A1A, #806251
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Robin held her breath, standing with her back against the wall, ears strained with the concentration required to hone in on the soft footsteps approaching the dark patch she was occupying. Standing on the tip of her toes, Robin was ready to duck and maneuver in any way necessary to avoid detection in the seemingly empty corridor. In the best-case scenario, she wouldn't even be seen.
Robin tried to imagine her reaction if a prefect or professor were the one to turn around the corner, lantern held high, and wand pointed directly at her face. Robin imagined the maniacal giggle that would escape from her lips in the face of trouble, released at the giddiness of finally being caught. Would that satisfy the need for a thrill deep inside of her? This thrill that was only pushed farther each time she tested her boundaries, and as her confidence in the school of magic grew, the need to quench her curiosity in all things witchcraft and mischief also grew. This wasn't the first time she had been out of her common room past curfew.
No, the first time had simply been an accident. The time had gotten away from Robin as she was exploring and had returned to the safety of her precious house a quarter past 9pm. The next time, after realizing that it hadn't been all too bad - breaking the rules, that is, was a tad more intentional. She had been returning from a trip to Hogsmeade and blended in with the upperclassmen returning to the common room in clusters of students by 10pm. Ever since then, Robin had been pushing her limits more and more. It was easy to blend in when you were someone like Robin - someone who almost always wore all black and liked to keep her head down. It was close to the end of the school year, and she had yet to be caught. The adrenaline rush that she felt every time she was nearly discovered was the only reason she returned to recommit the crime, the feel of her blood rushing far too addicting to let squander as she sat in her dorm like a good little witch.
That night, Robin had a slight sense of a plan forming - something to do with a particular book she had been eyeing in the library that same day, when finishing her homework after class. Robin had never really been a huge horror fan when it came to her books - mostly, she had been a fan of fantasy. Fortunately for her, almost any book she grabbed off the shelf in the libraries in the school of Hogwarts resembled any kind of fantasy book she could find in the muggle world. She was living the fantasy. The book she had been looking at earlier had caught her eye, and she hadn't stopped thinking about it since. She knew it held the perfect scratch to the particular itch deep in her soul to feel terrified and inquisitively spirited despite understanding the more irrational parts of her decisions. Everyone in the wizarding world was incredibly vague about the terrible and grisly things that could happen to someone who strayed too far into magics they shouldn't have. Robin wanted- no, needed to read their stories. She wanted the candid truth about all of the ugliness in this world, for which she should be prepared. The book wasn't restricted, but Robin felt convinced that it was the journey that made her adventures worthwhile. So, she had gotten out of bed and had wandered out into the corridors and down towards the library, not really trying too hard to go unseen but feeling quite the natural at evading any wandering superiors. That was, of course, until the girl had arrived.
It was dark, so Robin couldn't see too clearly. At first, she was almost positive it was a prefect, as the person's height was too similar to hers to be anyone of much age difference. After a closer look, the girl had definitely sparked a trace of recognition in Robin. It was another girl in her year, not in her house. Gryffindor, she thought. They hadn't spoken before, but Robin was almost positive the girl wasn't a prefect. She was a pretty girl - Chinese, Robin believed, and instantly felt some sort of camaraderie with the other wandering first-year. Robin assumed anyone out after curfew this late was certainly out looking for trouble, just like her. Robin wondered where the girl could be off to, looking so determined. She supposed it didn't matter, but the opportunity to have a bit of fun appeared right in front of her, and who would she be not to take every chance for some fun?
"Out late, aren't we little firstie?" Robin said in her best imitation administration voice, short and succinct with a tone of condescension, hoping to trick the girl for a cheap laugh. She already had a quite low-pitched voice, so she didn't think the result had turned out too shabby. "Name and House, please." Robin finished off, a smile already breaking the persona she had put on for her mini prank. Seems like she could have a potential ally in the night-time, and she wasn't going to ruin it by making the girl piss herself in fright. Maybe just... unnerve her a bit and see where it goes. Robin waited to see her reaction, a smirk highlighted in the shadows.
Last edited by Robin Marie on 8 Jun 2025, 17:52, edited 1 time in total.
Phoenix Zhang
Moonlight Misdemeanors
Phoenix was not sneaking in the slightest. The hall was fairly deserted—after the professors had completed their rounds for the day, but not quite dawn yet. She walked quietly, but assuredly, the stride defiant rather than a ruse. If someone spotted her, someone spotted her. She was not going to stumble over her own feet in order not to be noticed.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Date: 23/05/35 | Time: 22:45 | Outfit: ✕ | CC: #english, mandarin
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She was halfway to the library when a voice broke through the shadows.
Phoenix halted.
Her expression didn't change. She simply cocked her head, narrowing her eyes into the shadows wherein the voice came from. Not a professor--at least, not arrogant enough to be one. Too theatric. And Phoenix had encountered enough individuals to know when a person was playing a part.
She approached once towards the noise, and again, into the shadows, till the form of the girl was visible. Her height, roughly. All in black. Standing upright against the wall as if anticipating capture. Waiting to be seen.
Phoenix raised an eyebrow.
"Is this the time when I'm supposed to be frightened?" she asked, her voice steady and level. "Or do I have to burst into tears and spill everything?"
She took a step closer, now in proximity to distinguish the girl's features. Not one from her own dwelling place. Not a prefect. First year, maybe second. Hard to tell with the smile on her lips.
"Your voice is a little too deep for a professor," Phoenix commented, hesitating a moment. "Not bad, though. Seven out of ten."
She didn't smile, exactly—but the lips did flicker, dry and faint, as if the idea of the game interested her more than she would admit.
The girl remained unmoving. Merely gazed at her. Phoenix did not budge. She lifted her chin, her gaze flicking once up the hallway behind her and back into his. "I have somewhere that I need to be," she informed her. "So do what you need to or get out of my path."
She hesitated a heartbeat, long enough for the girl to be absolutely sure she was not bluffing, and brushed past her with a barely courteous glance.
Had the stranger followed her, she did not mention it. Otherwise, Phoenix wouldn't lose a night's sleep over it.
They sneaked out for the thrill. For the rush.
Phoenix was not among them.
She moved swiftly, noiselessly, in isolation—eyes long accustomed to the blackness in front of her.
She had a book in mind which was peculiar and incomplete and stuck in the back of her head since the time she viewed it in the afternoon.
And nothing, not least a smug little hallway goblin, was going to get in her way.
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| 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Robin Marie | 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @ |
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Moonlight Misdemeanors
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨♡୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
Moonlight Misdemeanors
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Interacting w/: @Phoenix Zhang
Date: 23/05/25
WC: 502
#38466B, #1A1A1A, #806251
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Interacting w/: @Phoenix Zhang
Date: 23/05/25
WC: 502
#38466B, #1A1A1A, #806251
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The girl didn't react the way that Robin had hoped, the spark of a mischievous fire quickly doused by the calm and steady retort of the Gryffindor girl. She hadn't fallen for the trick for a moment - not a squeal, a jump, or even a laugh. Robin had quickly shrugged the feeling of disappointment off, but had surely felt the need to defend her practiced imitation. It deserved at least an eight or a nine.
"Seven out of ten?" Robin scoffed, pushing off of the wall like a marionette doll - silent, smooth and uncanny. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, head tiling to observe the girl. She wasn't really offended. However, the girl couldn't deny that her impression was remarkably accurate and practiced. No, this had not gone the way she thought; it was going much better. This girl certainly had more to her than Robin had given her credit for. Here was someone interesting. Someone Robin wasn't quite sure she could read - a mystery. It's not that Robin's impression was bad - this girl had just been unphased. Robin respected that.
The girl brushed past her without a passing glance, leaving Robin to stand alone in her shadows. A beat passed where Robin considered. She could leave it at that. She should leave it at that. But the itch underneath her skin wouldn't allow it.
Robin followed after the girl, keeping a few paces behind. She wasn't trying to hide - there was no point. The girl walked with determination, evidently heading in the same direction Robin had been - towards the library. Robin felt electricity buzzing underneath the surface of her skin, reminding her of the feeling when the air feels full of static, a storm on the horizon. A few moments expired in silence, the only sound breaking through the thick absence being the light footsteps of the girl ahead and the occasional snore from a sleeping portrait. Robin broke the silence with a statement directed toward her intriguing companion.
"You don't walk like you're afraid." Robin said bluntly, letting the words settle in the space between them. "Did you teach yourself that?"
It was a genuine enough question to Robin. She wanted to know what it took to walk these halls past curfew with your head held high. She wasn't even trying to be quiet. The soft, echoing sound of her footsteps reverberating through the halls made Robin's careful, practiced steps sound like whispers in the night. The additional risk only made her blood run faster, with the encouraging song pushing her to continue on the course of illogical choices simply because they felt good.
"What kind of book could entice a Gryffindor out of bed so late?" Robin added with a soft chuckle, acknowledging the irony of the question, assuming that their direction meant their final destination was one and the same. Robin looked forward to the wee hours of the morning when she could read under the covers, disturbed by no one as she memorized the darkest accidents in Wizarding history.
Reducioooc: sorry for the wait my luv!!!!