A Blue World solo fin.

11 November 2020, 11:47 p.m.

THE WORLD WAS BEAUTIFUL AT NIGHT. Especially so at Hogwarts, where no muggle devices could clog the sky. The world was so bright, lit up by the seemingly infinite amount of stars in the sky. Splashes of white and pale shades of all sorts painted across a deep blue canvas. The world seemed to be tinged blue, although the light was more white. It was cool-toned light, wasn't it? That made sense. The trees, the water of the lake, the grass and the rocks - everything seemed to be blue.

The blue world was the world in which Sapphire was free. She didn't have to follow any rules, didn't have anyone expectations to live up to. She was... she was alone. And being alone was a wonderful feeling. It wasn't as if she didn't like people, of course, but she still loved the feeling of being alone. And even if she couldn't get her iPod to work in such a magical place, it was enough to just sit in silence. Sometimes, the silence was just as good as the music. Music was for when there was too much. The silence was for when one was alone. For when you felt at peace with the world, as it was.

The blue world allowed that. It allowed that peace, that feeling of... of belonging. The world didn't give people much when it came to feel as if one belonged. It was too violent, too dark. Of course, this was all when humans were around.

Yes, it was after curfew. And yes, she would likely not have a very good time trying to get back into school, but that was against the point. She wanted to experience the freeness again. Although it was much better at school than it was in the real world, She still felt as if she was suffocating. What she really wanted was to be able to feel again - to feel something other than the anxiety, the crippling fear of messing up.

Sometimes she wondered why she'd let her walls down. She'd been so cold and closed off in her first year, but had slowly given up on being guarded. Why had she done that, knowing that it may not have ended well? In exchange for dropping her cold personality, she had gotten anxiety, depression and a whole wave of emotions she had shoved down for years.

To be outside, on the edge of the lake, she felt much calmer. The edge of the water, on the horizon, blended almost perfectly with the dark blue of the sky. The moon reflected across the rippling water, creating pale discrepancies in the abyssal darkness. Nothing was seen under the surface. She sat on the shore, where the grass and sand met. Her shoes had been discarded in favour of being barefoot, something that she liked doing when it wasn't too terribly cold. And it wasn't cold tonight, although it normally would be. The entire world seemed suspended in one moment, the surroundings creating almost a perfect image. The girl sighed, leaning back. Her cat was curled up next to her, seeming half asleep. It seemed as if Melanie, unlike her owner, valued sleep. Sapphire kind of felt bad for dragging the feline outside, but it had also been the cat's choice. She could have just stayed there - she didn't have to come along.

There were no clouds in the sky. A slightly chilly breeze flowed over the water, more fluid than the currents that moved under the surface. Stars glimmered, their lights providing enough for one to see fairly clearly. Somewhere in the distance, there were the noises of owls. That was a given. The water lapped against the shore, inching back when its endeavours to escape proved fruitless, time and time again.

She ran a hand through her cat's fur, looking up at the deep blue of the night. An infinite void you could get lost in... that was what it was, certainly.

She sat back up, digging her fingers into the sand. The water looked so inviting, but it would be highly suspicious if she came back inside soaking wet. And besides, the breeze - which wasn't so bad at the moment - would prove to be icy. She didn't particularly want to deal with something like that. Melanie wouldn't like it either. That opinion, in fact, was the one she cared most about. She didn't really mind the cold herself, but she did care about what her cat cared.

The girl sighed, running a hand through her hair and getting a bit of sand in it. She was here to calm herself down, wasn't she? She was not here to worry about people's opinions. That was for when one was actually around people, not when they were alone. She needed to not care so much, although it wasn't so simple. She sighed again, beginning to be exasperated by her thoughts.

I should probably go in soon, she thought. It was probably getting close to midnight and she had class tomorrow. She was not the kind of student who could stand sleeping in class. It would mess up her sleep schedule (not that she had one) and she would lose valuable information, so that was absolutely a no. What kind of person would do that?

Perhaps that opinion was biased.

She really needed to stop thinking so much.

She looked back up at the sky and the moon, which was around its midpoint in the sky. I really do need sleep, she thought. Yet, she was still reluctant to get back up. She didn't yet want to leave the blue world.

Still, the human body needed sleep to sustain itself. And with that, she left her spot beside the lake in favour of heading back to the castle. She wouldn't come quickly, wishing to prolong her time still. But she was moving, leaving a place that she would much prefer to be her home.

Word Count: 997