loud howling in the early morning PV Closed

@Haley Rose, @Simon Kincaid, @Eliza Corrids, @Maverick Anwyll

Gia rubbed her eyes, wondering what had woken her up. The dormitory around her was quite blurry for the next couple of seconds, but after a little bit she managed to see the outline of someone leaving the room. What time is it? she wondered tiredly, lifting her right wrist so she could see the time. It was still quite early out. . . Who had gotten up so early? Her curiosity overwhelming her weariness, the first year drew back the curtains surrounding her bed so that she could see the whole room instead of just a small slice of it through a part in the curtains. Everyone else seemed to be asleep. . . Her gaze took its time wandering the room before she spotted the one empty bed there. "Haley?"

Throwing back the covers on the bed, the young Gryffindor clambered out and quickly got dressed. What had woken her friend up at this hour? Most people slept in on Saturdays, she knew. . . but she hadn't ever really been that type of person anyway, so being awake now didn't bother her all too much. With a quick glance back at the rest of the first years sleeping in the room behind her, Gia crept quietly out of the dormitory and walked down the stairs to the Common Room. The redhead was already sitting there - reading a book, it seemed. The other girl looked up right as Gia reached the landing and hurried to apologize for possibly waking her up. "Oh, I don't sleep in all that much anyway." the brunette replied with a smile. "And sure, that sounds good!" Haley got up and led the way out the portrait hole and into one of the many corridors at Hogwarts.

When the two Gryffindor students were about halfway to the Great Hall, Gia couldn't help but ask her friend the question that had been bugging her for a while now. "Haley, are you. . . are you alright?" It had been growing clearer for a while now that the other girl had something troubling her, what with the dark circles under her eyes and the tired, desolate way she moved around in the mornings right after waking up, but Gia hadn't asked the redhead about it yet. "You seem tired all the time. . . have you not been getting enough sleep or something?" she knew she must sound like the girl's mother, but she couldn't help it. Her friend wasn't acting like herself anymore, and she wanted to know why.

Suddenly, Haley tripped and fell. "Haley!" Gia exclaimed, bending down quickly to make sure she was okay. The eleven year old wasn't quick enough to catch every word that Haley said next, but she was able to get the gist of it. "Hey, the day'll be fine." She offered an encouraging smile. "And, um, you're sure that you're okay?" Something was off, but Gia wasn't sure exactly what that thing was. . . yet. She was definitely determined to find out before the day was over, though, that was for sure.

By the time they arrived at the Great Hall, Gia was beginning to feel a bit hungry. The food at Hogwarts was amazing, and the smells that wafted throughout the halls were good enough to make anyone want to eat. Seeing that the room was almost completely empty, the first year grinned. "We're one of the first ones here," she said to her friend. "Although. . . that's not really much of an accomplishment, huh? The house elves make so much of everything, it seems that we never run out of food." she gave a small laugh.

A few minutes after they sat down and began eating, the mail arrived by owl like it usually did. The eleven year old was expecting a reply to one of the letters she'd sent a couple days before and smiled as an owl landed right in front of her. Taking the piece of parchment off the owl's leg where it had been tied, Gia hurried to open it. Before she could read the whole thing, however, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Another owl had landed in front of Haley, carrying two letters, one of which was bright red. "Er - " she said, starting at the exact same time as the other Gryffindor student did. Waiting impatiently for the redhead to finish whatever she was saying, Gia drummed her fingers on the edge of the table. "I. . . I think you should open that one now," she said, pointing to the red envelope that had just begun to smoke at the edges. "Like, now, now. It's a Howler."

There was a slight pause. Gia, realizing from her friend's reaction - or really, the fact that she hadn't reacted - that Haley probably didn't know what it was, hurried to explain further. Don't explode yet, she prayed silently as she started to speak as fast as she could. "They're really bad, if you don't open it soon it'll explode. . . please open it quickly, Haley!" Her eyes were wide as she watched the letter nervously. "It's better to get it over with sooner than later!" she added, trying to resist the temptation to snatch it up and open it herself. She'd seen one explode once before, and it. . . it hadn't been pretty.

878 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

@Simon Kincaid | @Eliza Corrids |@Maverick Anwyll| @Gia Adelard

Outfit

Haley was glad to have Gia's company and felt even more bad that she didn't answer her questions and was in such a bad mood. She didn't expect to have these nightmare problems again, let alone have to talk about them, but she knew she could trust Gia and so she decided to talk to her about it, just not now. But it worried her that obviously others were noticing that Haley was looking worse again. But she tried not to think about it and was sure that the next nights and days would be better again.

A guilty conscience haunted Haley and she knew that her behaviour was unfair to Gia. She had shared so much about herself with her not so long ago and trusted her that it was unfair to be so dismissive of her now. Still, she didn't want to talk about it today, not now. "Gia, I'm sorry but let's talk about it some other time, okay?" she suggested now to show Gia her trust but also to assure her that now was not the right moment.

The topic was quickly forgotten and the attention was on the conversations between the few students and here and there they all laughed together. But after the letters arrived, the mood quickly changed. Haley had correctly assumed that it was shocked faces she was looking at, but she still wasn't sure why everyone was looking at her like that. Until Gia began to explain what she had just received. It seemed it was not just a normal letter from her mother but a howler. And according to Gia, she should open it immediately or it would explode, but Haley didn't really understand why.

"A howler?" she asked, confused. Why would her mother send her a howler? She hadn't done anything wrong, at least she didn't know what. "Does it always have to be negative?" Howlers were one of those things that Haley had never heard of before, and thus had no knowledge of. She didn't know if her question was stupid but she hoped the answer would be yes. Even if she couldn't think of anything why her mother would send her a howler with a positive message. "I-I really don't know. I don't want to open it. I mean what will happen? What do you mean by explode?" Wouldn't the letter be unreadable if it exploded? Haley was visibly confused and this was written all over her face.

Haley held the letter in her hands and looked at it. She turned it left and right and continued to ponder sharply why she had received a howler. And why was everyone looking so worried about it? What would happen? Okay, it could explode but she still didn't quite understand that. Would a spell hit her as soon as she opened the letter? She couldn't explain it any further and hoped very much that Gia would tell her something more about these kinds of letters.

While she gave up trying to figure out what it was exactly, her thoughts continued to be occupied with why she had received it. She still could not think of why she had received this letter. It was not her birthday, she had not done anything wrong and there was no other reason. As she continued to turn the letter over in her hands, her eyes fell on the second letter she had received from Ian. And this one was unusual too, as she had only replied to Ian and wasn't even sure if the owl had reached him yet and Ian usually took a few days to reply to her. But the more she dwelled on these thoughts, something suddenly came into her head. Something that told her why she had received a letter from both of them, at the same time, and why her mother might be upset.

But before she could imagine the worst scenarios, she looked up from the letter again and hoped for some more explanations. She was afraid to open the letters and tried to delay it as long as possible. First she wanted to know what exactly it was about. And if Gia was right, she would have to open the letter right away anyway, before it exploded.

@Haley Rose, @Simon Kincaid, @Eliza Corrids, @Maverick Anwyll

Even after she explained that the letter would explode and yell it's contents out for the whole world to hear, Haley still didn't seem to fully understand. And she still didn't open the letter. "Yes, it's always negative!" Gia said, anxiously eyeing the red envelope. It was always better to open them sooner than later, she had been told, and the girl wanted to pass the information along in a way that her friend would understand. "Haley - " she drummed her fingers on the tabletop as she thought of how to say everything she needed to say as quickly as possible. "Okay so it won't really explode but everything your mother wrote to you - and it'll be negative, trust me - will be shouted out super super loud so that everyone can hear." the first year told her friend, speaking so quickly it all sounded like one word.

"Just open it!" she encouraged her friend rather loudly. "Sorry - but really, it will be so much better if you do it now. . ." Her fingers had stopped tapping but were now clenched tightly around the edges of her seat as she waited nervously for what was going to come. "Haley - " Gia had just begun to speak once more when another voice cut through. It was a voice she recognized, and the young Gryffindor looked up at once. "Simon!" she said, hoping that he knew what a Howler was. The odds were probably not on her side, though, because he was muggle-born just like her, but it was possible, wasn't it? She'd heard one go off before, which was when she'd learned all about these bright red letters, so couldn't the Hufflepuff have heard one too? "Simon, she's gotten a Howler!" the eleven year old waited with bated breath to see what he would say.

When he didn't answer at first, Gia looked around at the rest of the students in the Great Hall to see if any of them would help. "Haley," she pleaded. Then an idea hit her. "Alright, um, how about you bring it out into the hall or something? Then not as many people will hear it - or at least it'll be a bit softer - if that's what you're worried about." She crossed her fingers under the table hoping that the other girl would agree. Honestly, why wouldn't Haley open it already?! The first year noticed the edges of the envelope begin to smoke even more and she knew they had only a matter of minutes - possibly even seconds - before it burst.

421 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

@Simon Kincaid | @Eliza Corrids |@Maverick Anwyll| @Gia Adelard

Outfit

Haley was overwhelmed with the whole situation and just didn't know what to do. She looked lost at the faces at the Gryffindor table and then back at the letter. Before she could lose herself further in her thoughts Eliza came to the table and she was pleased to see her and smiled at her. "Good morning Eliza." But she was quickly brought back to reality. Suddenly Simon was standing behind here and inwardly she calmed down a little. A thin smile formed on her lips as he put his hand on her shoulder. She moved her right hand to his and squeezed it briefly, forming a soundless "Thank you" with her lips. Simon was always by her side, in the good and the hard. And even though it reassured her that her boyfriend was there now, she knew she couldn't continue to ignore that letter. "For now I am. But after that probably not." She joked, but it was not like the jokes she usually made. You could hear the panic in her voice.

And Gia's words also brought her back to her real problem. Always negative. Shouted out super super loud. Her words repeated in Haley's head and a lump formed in her stomach. Oh, no. No, No, No. She kept being urged to open it, but Haley wouldn't. She wanted to throw the letter away and be done with it. Why would she even receive one? She hadn't done anything wrong. And then in the Great Hall, too. Her luck was that they were here so early and there were only a few students in the Great Hall, yet there were some here. This would surely spread like wildfire through Hogwarts, she was sure. Haley appreciated Gia's words, but she was sure that opening the letter here or somewhere else would make no difference. So she remained seated and smiled uncertainly at Gia now. "Thank you Gia. I- I um guess I'll open it here."

But now it wasn't just Gia talking at her, no, suddenly Mav was standing with her at the gryffindor table and at first she looked at him in wonder. Where had he come from? But presumably he had been sitting at the Ravenclaw table all along and could see what was going on. Now so many friends were sitting and standing around Haley and the situation was becoming more and more uncomfortable for her. Why was everyone down here so early today of all days? She became more and more nervous and slid back and forth on the bench. Her palms were getting damp and the heat was rising in her body. She hadn't had such an uncomfortable moment in a long time and in a moment it was only going to get more uncomfortable. "Fine, I'm opening it." Haley said again now with a slightly annoyed tone but much more with fear in her voice.

She turned the letter and looked at the seal. Come on Haley, it can't be that bad, she tried to motivate herself. She carefully, with trembling fingers, grabbed the seal and opened the letter. As soon as she loosened it just slightly, the letter suddenly made itself and flew out of Haley's hands. Her whole body jolted and her eyes were wide open and start on the letter that was now hovering in front of her face. The red envelope had now turned into a letter face of sorts and she could see the writing as the letter began to scream at her. "Haley Rose!" it began to scream in her mother's voice. Only much louder and a little higher than her actual voice. The a in Haley was drawn out for a few seconds and she noticed the first heads turn towards them.

"I absolutely can't believe what I've now had to experience by ACCIDENT. What the hell happened to you to make you act like this? This is not how WE raised you and it seems like it was a big mistake to send you to Hogwarts! Do you even realise what you've done to yourself? Since when do we hide things like this in our family? Haley Rose you should have told us THIS! We are sorely disappointed in you and this is going to have a bigger repercussion."

Her mother hadn't said it, but Haley knew exactly what she was talking about and she also knew exactly what was in the letter from Ian. A warning and an apology. But the letter wasn't over yet and Haley was getting smaller but couldn't take her frightened eyes off the screaming letter.

"You know it's not a good thing, I hope, or have you lost your clever mind too now? IAN WAS IN A COMA BECAUSE OF IT! That was your fault and yet you didn't tell us about it! I can only repeat that we are disappointed in you to the max Haley!"

And at these words, Haley's heart spasmed. She had always blamed herself while everyone else assured her that it wasn't her fault. But now her own mother was blaming her for what had happened to Ian. An immense pain spread through Haley's heart and quickly spread throughout her body. She now blanked out everything around her and it almost seemed as if she was alone here. Just her and the terrible howler. The tears in her eyes made it difficult to see and soon they were running silently down her cheeks. But her mother was not finished with her yet.

"I expect a statement from you TODAY. There's absolutely no way we're going to find out about something like this just by chance! You can be glad that we don't take you home right away. You can thank your father for that, because if it were up to me, you'd already be home. Haley, a PARSEL!! And then not tell us. I still can't believe it."

And after that sentence, the letter shredded itself and lay in a thousand pieces on the table in front of her. Haley didn't know what to do and stared at the shreds left. She didn't look up, she didn't want to look at the faces of her friends or the students who now all had their attention on her. She was filled with sadness and pain but since the last part the letter had screamed in her face, anger developed inside her. Anger towards her mother. She hated her at that moment.

Haley had hoped to the end that her mother wouldn't say it. That she wouldn't do this to Haley, but she did. And she hated her for it. No matter what Haley had done, it didn't give her mother the right to air this secret in front of the whole school. Not only had she exposed her and shared her secret with everyone, no, she had taken away the power. Haley's power over who knows and when someone would know. The power to know that she was not uncomfortable with having this talent. But her mother had taken that away from her now and she hated her for it.

Haley never wanted to make a secret of it. She never had a problem with others knowing about it, but she wanted to decide for herself who and when to tell. Especially after the difficult time when Ian was in a coma, she didn't want to do anything with it for a long time. But with a lot of work and encouragement she had come to terms with it and stood by it again. And now her mother was tearing it all down. She took away Haley's power and she blamed Haley for what had happened to Ian and that was almost worse.