Overheard PV Jess Closed

That stupid alarm. Jess knew she had set it early, for 7:30, the way she did for every other weekday- and yet, the alarm hadn't gone off that morning, and Jess had woken up to find herself alone in her dorm, blinking sleep out of her eyes as she looked around in confusion. Already late, Jess had hurriedly dressed into a pair of pants and her white button-down, throwing a cloak on top and grabbing her tie to fasten onto her robes later. She had sprinted out of the Hufflepuff common room and walked hurriedly down the corridor, hoping that she wasn't too late to be able to sit down and at least gulp down a quick breakfast before she had to go off to classes. As she saw a familiar figure up ahead, though, Jess's face split into a smile and she slowed her pace. If she was right, and the girl up ahead of her further down the corridor was Miranda, then they could head to breakfast together and get a chance to talk for a bit. Miranda slipped into a classroom just before Jess could call out her name, though, so the young Hufflepuff decided to just wait for her to finish whatever it was she was doing in there and then say hello.

Walking over to the side of the door she had seen Miranda go through, Jess stopped by it and rested her head against the wall. She could hear Miranda murmuring to someone within the room, presumably a professor, though she couldn't really make out what was being said. She wasn't trying to, either, since eavesdropping wasn't exactly something that Jess held in high regard or tried to partake in. As she stood there, though, she could faintly hear the sound of a certain word being repeated over and over again within the room. It wasn't clear what the word was, at first, but after some time it became obvious what Miranda was saying. Werewolf. Without quite realizing it, Jess leaned in closer to the door as her ears confirmed what her mind simply didn't want to believe. Based off of the conversation Miranda was currently having, the girl was a werewolf.

Suddenly finding herself unable to breathe, Jess lurched away from the door and began walking hurriedly away from her friend. Her friend- who was apparently a werewolf. Her friend, who turned into a wolf once every month and possibly attacked people when she did- her friend, who had known Jess for a solid two months now, and had never mentioned anything about herself being anything other than ordinary to her. Nearly sprinting down the hall now, Jess tried to tell herself to calm down. This was Miranda, who was nice and great and not at all dangerous. But still, Jess couldn't help from hoping that the girl wouldn't come out of the classroom and see her, try to talk to her. If she did, Jess wasn't sure how she would react. She couldn't let Miranda know she knew about her being a werewolf, for fear of her getting angry that Jess had listened to what she had been saying in a private conversation, but Jess also thought she wouldn't be able to hide her fear. And scared she was, so scared that she could feel her hands shaking as she curled them into fists and kept walking speedily away.

One could say that Miranda was over the moon with excitement. Finally - a chance to make things better! Sure, it was only a chance, but that was something to work with, at the very least. Still riding that high, she left the classroom at a leisurely stroll, a large grin the foremost expression on her face.

But it didn't last long.

As soon as she entered the corridor, Miranda spotted someone hurrying in the opposite direction with their back to her. Whoever it was had dirty-blonde hair that seemed - well, strangely familiar. It took her a moment to place it.

Jess Malters. The girl she'd met at summer camp a few months ago, and had since befriended. But then why was she acting like she was purposely ignoring Miranda? Curious, the second year eagle hurried after the hufflepuff, debating whether to call out, but then deciding it wasn't necessary just yet. Surely Jess would slow down soon enough for her to catch up. All in all, Miranda was entirely unaware that her friend had overheard her talking to the professor, and now knew one of her secrets - if she had known, however, she would have proceeded much more cautiously.

Although, it took her only seconds to realize something was wrong. The way Jess walked, with her hands clenched at her sides, was a pretty good indicacator. But what had caused this mood? For the life of her, Miranda couldn't figure it out. But maybe Jess could, explain, if she slowed down enough for the two of them to talk.

"Hey, Jess!" Miranda called out, waving one of her arms in the air. "Are you okay?"

She hoped the other girl was okay and that she was just reading too much into casual body movements, but somehow Miranda doubted that was the case. Something or someone had upset her friend, which never went over well with Miranda. But she'd have to find out what had happened first.

To her horror, Jess had only walked a couple of feet before she heard the sounds of somebody exiting the classroom behind her. Desperately hoping that the person now in the hall with her was whoever Miranda had been talking to and not the Ravenclaw herself, Jess clenched her fists harder and kept walking.

"Hey, Jess!"

So much for that hope. Still- Jess could at least pretend that she hadn't heard the girl and simply keep walking. That would work, right? Miranda would simply think she had spoken too softly and Jess would get away without having to talk to her at all... but no, Miranda would probably just call out again if the Hufflepuff tried to ignore her and if she didn't turn around and answer that time, it would be obvious that she was trying to avoid the werew- the girl. Biting her lip and unsure of what to do, Jess kept walking, albeit at a slower pace.

"Are you okay?"

No, Miranda. No, Jess wasn't okay. No, the girl couldn't find out one of her closest friends at Hogwarts was a werewolf and just be okay. She was shocked, and angry, and scared. Scared of finding out how whatever had happened to make her a werewolf had happened to Miranda, scared of what it meant for their friendship, scared of how Miranda would react to Jess's finding out, scared of Miranda. So, no, Miranda, Jess definitely wasn't okay.

"I'm fine," said the Hufflepuff, turning to face the girl. Her lips were stretched into a smile, but it felt fake, almost as if she had a mask on over her real features. She took a shaky breath and tried to appear calm, though she could hear the quiver in her own voice as she asked, "Why wouldn't I be?" She hoped her words had gone over well, but her voice sounded scared even to her own ears.

When Miranda first called Jess's name, the other girl began to slow down, but didn't look back at all, which made the Ravenclaw worry even more. Something was obviously not right, and that didn't tend to go over well with her. Miranda had always been fiercely protective of whatever she perceived as right, and if Jess was acting this way because someone had hurt her or taunted her, there was no way Miranda was going to let it go easily. But she'd have to find out what happened first, before she started jumping to conclusions.

Luckily, her next words seemed to do the trick, and Jess turned around with a smile on her face and replied with a negative. Perhaps it was just that Miranda was so relieved by the supposedly friendly expression, that she didn't notice it was fake - a mask, nothing else. However, what she did notice was the shaky way Jess drew in a breath. There was no mistaking something wasn't right when Miranda hearted that, and no chance that she would've missed it, either. Her senses were quite a bit better than the average person's, though not many knew that. Perhaps, with her new knowledge, Jess could have guessed.

"Are you sure?" Miranda asked, her voice concerned. "You seem pretty shaken up - maybe there's something I can do to, um, help?" The Ravenclaw student wasn't exactly sure how in the world she could help, but perhaps her offer would make Jess loosen up a bit...then again, maybe she just didn't want help and would rather Miranda left. She tried not to seriously consider that the latter option might be true, but with the other girl's demeanour, she couldn't help it.

@Jess Malters

Her smile strained, Jess fought to keep up the pretense that she was okay. If she could just hold on to this semblance of normality for just a few more seconds, just enough to keep Miranda convinced that she really was fine, then it would all be over and she could just never talk to the girl about it again. Never talk to the girl again, if it came to it. But as that thought made its way into Jess's mind, floating in right as Miranda offered to help with whatever might be wrong, the girl's jaw clenched.

Why should she be the one hiding how she really felt right now from Miranda? Why should she even be sad at all that their friendship might come to a close? Why would their friendship come to a close? The answer was simple. Miranda. Had the girl talked to Jess before, had she told her what she was and explained it instead of hiding it away and lying to Jess all this time, everything would be fine. Jess would be heading to breakfast right now, her friend happily by her side, instead of standing frozen in this hallway, fists clenched and heart beating wildly at the thought of what the werewolf standing just a few feet away could do to her.

And yet Miranda had the nerve, the audacity, to stand there and act like she cared about Jess? To offer to help her with whatever it was that was making her not okay? No, Miranda. That isn't fair. And try as she might, Jess couldn't keep her fear from slowly spilling over into hate and anger at Miranda- for not telling her during all the months they had known each other, for acting that Jess's current state wasn't her own fault, for being someone whose inner monster sought to fight, to hunt, to kill. And if any part of Jess's brain knew that really, Miranda was kind and sweet and would never actually do anything to harm anyone, that part was drowned out by the rage now coursing over every other thought in her mind. Jess had never before gotten into a fight with Miranda, hadn't even so much as raised her voice at anyone inside the castle, but now she looked up at the blonde in front of her with flaming eyes and said, steel in her voice:

"You know what, Miranda? No, I'm not okay. And no, you can't help. See- the only way that you could, the only way for you to help- would be for you to go back in time and talk to me. Because it sucks, Miranda, it really freaking sucks, when you think you know somebody and it turns out you don't. When you think somebody trusts you, and it turns out they can't even tell you anything about themselves. When you trust someone, and you realize that they've been lying to you all along." Her voice picked up now, more of a shout than the cold, almost monotone tone she had been using before. "But you know what the worst thing is, Miranda? The one that really hurts? When you thought you knew somebody, thought of them as one of your best friends, and then, plot twist, turns out they're a literal monster-"

Jess's hand flew to her mouth, her mind only seeming to realize what she had said after the words had already left her lips. "Oh, shit..." she whispered.