4 May 2021, 20:39
Period Drama
25th April 2021Gabriella didn't feel right. In all honesty, she hadn't felt right all day, but surely it was nothing, she reassured herself. Surely it was just a weird day, nothing more serious. Ever since her period of depression at the end of last term - something which was still far from over - Gabriella knew she had been experiencing far more anxiety over far smaller things, so had managed to convince herself that nothing was wrong.
Even so, her body didn't feel right. Her chest felt tender and hurt when she ran, her legs ached, there was a dull pain at the bottom of her stomach, and she felt as though she had peed herself, although she knew she hadn't. That being said, it wasn't dreadful, and the young Ravenclaw had managed to convince her brain to forget about it over the course of the day.
It's nothing, Gabby, said her conscience, scathingly.
But it is something, isn't it? said something deeper.
Gabriella groaned; did she now have two voices controlling her? The conscience that constantly whispered snide remarks in her ear, and the conscience that underlay it all - controlling her life from behind the scenes, now emerging finally to the surface to torment her even more deeply.
Go away, voices, she said out loud. It intrigued her, and not in a nice way. Over the Easter break her parents had taken her to Muggle therapy to sort this out, and you have to give it to the Muggles, Gabby thought, they know how to treat a mental illness. It had been getting better, albeit slowly, and now it had suddenly become worse and that sucked the life out of the first-year more than she had expected. In fact, everything - even things unrelated to her mental issues - seemed to suck the life out of Gabriella today. All day she had been on the brink of tears, or on the brink of yelling, and she didn't know how to fix that. What she did know was that she was in a state of mental disarray, and she needed some time alone to sort herself out. Completely alone, without even Gia her best friend or Atlas her best counsellor. She just needed to breathe, in a place where nobody would come across her and demand to engage with her socially. Homework could wait. She was going to hide in the toilets for a while.
Hiding in a toilet cubicle was a technique she had often employed in primary school when they were bullying her and calling her a witch. Well, not that they were wrong, of course - but a cramped toilet cubicle was hardly a setting the girl was unfamiliar with.
Gently, she pushed open the door and stepped in. Only one cubicle was occupied; the rest were all free. Good, she thought to herself, I'll be able to slip in with nobody noticing. Hastily, she made her way over to the nearest cubicle and shut the door. As she ran, something in her pants squelched unpleasantly.
You better check it out, Gabby, said her conscience - the annoying, common one, not the one that rarely came to the surface, buried deeply in the folds of her brain. Gabriella locked the door firmly behind her and obeyed her conscience as if on autopilot. Slowly, she drew down her tights, and then her pants. Surely there was nothing, surely she was overreacting, surely, how could anything be down there... Suddenly, the Ravenclaw screamed. She couldn't stop herself, it escaped her lips before she even had a chance to register what had happened. In her underwear and seeping through the absorbent pants-material was a pool of blood. Shit, she said to herself, thoughts of what her mother might say not even crossing her mind. whoever's next door will have heard me, and nobody can find me in this situation...
There was silence for a few moments as the Ravenclaw's breath became more and more ragged, her pessimistic thoughts turning wilder by the second. Her conscience and her conscience's conscience both spoke loud, clear and demanding in her mind, each speaking over the other, Gabriella's own voice of reason trying to outweigh them all, a cacophony of fear in her head. Yet one message, one memory outshone this dissonance: a message she had seen long ago in a Muggle doctor's surgery.
If you notice blood in your pee, even if it's 'just the once', contact your doctor.
It could be a sign of cancer.
Gabriella screamed again, her desperate wails echoing off the walls of the tiny cubicle. Was she really going to die so young? Was this the end? Could wizard magic cure cancer, or was she to be left to lose all her hair then melt painfully away?
Unanswerable questions flooded her head, and a faint image appeared in Gabriella's mind: the tiny figure of a girl, her, up to her waist in the rapidly spreading quicksand of her life. When the sand reached her neck, she'd be swamped, she'd be gone, she'd be dead. And that point didn't seem so far away.Word count: 860 words
About to interact with: @Phaedra Stavrou
Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.
24 Jun 2021, 17:25
Period Drama
Sorry this is so late!Interacting with @Gabriella HaworthA girl as busy as Phaedra was often faced with time constraints. Long challenged on her ability to juggle many responsibilities at once, sometimes toilet breaks went forgotten in favour of paperwork and school duties. Today was a Sunday, however, which meant no classes and only just enough free time to humour the idea of prioritising her body’s needs. Before making her way to the Duelling Club for their scheduled practice, Phaedra stopped by the girls’ lavatory. Unusually, it was without loiterers, and Phaedra hummed as she pushed her way inside of the cleanest cubicle.
It took no time at all until another person made their presence known, the opening of the lavatory's door not subtle in the slightest. Phaedra would’ve thought the other person to be in a hurry had she not been distracted by a scuff on her shoes, while concocting up plans and tactics for her duelling teammates. She was convinced on speaking to the Captain at some point about a somewhat signature move of hers (well, others too, but she’d had the most success if her calculations were correct). It’d be beneficial if the rest of the team was trained in the feat, only problem was their respective ages, but they could make it work with time and her as their tutor——
A sudden cry from four cubicles down made her jump. The toilets, along with the library and dorms once quiet from their daytime chatter, were among one of the few locations where a person could catch a momentary breather from the overall chaos that was Hogwarts. Chin no longer propped up in display of deep contemplation, Phaedra shut her eyes and exhaled. Merlin, what was it now? She drummed her fingers on her leg, assuming the stranger would explain themselves.
Seconds passed. Hearing no further noise—and certainly in no mood to converse while on the toilet—Phaedra finished up without a word, grabbed her bag, and promptly left the stall, its oak door creaking shut behind her. Stone walls and tile together provided quite the reverberation within the tiny lavatory; the patter of leather soles echoing as the prefect made a beeline for the row of sinks. Once there, her hand habitually shot out and loosened the warm faucet to wash. The cold tap always ran a bit chilly here, but at least the soap provided smelled nice.
Scrub up to the mid forearm, sweep under the nails… Yes, Phaedra was fully intent on minding her own business for this one. But when whoever they were wailed a second time, it was clear that this was a case of something distressing. Like a parent witnessing their toddler reach for something they shouldn’t, Phaedra straightened in alarm. Dark eyes searched into the mirror back over her own shoulder, landing on the still occupied cubicle. As far as identifiers went, only the other girl’s shoes were visible beneath the stall’s open bottom. Not nearly enough information to put a face to.
Phaedra broke away to dry her hands and primp. “...Is there a mouse or something?” Though she hadn’t ever seen one in the flesh thanks to all the resident felines, she wouldn’t put it past the castle to house its share of rodents somewhere. The school was in a field, after all. But mice scurrying over the mystery girl’s feet or not, it wouldn’t do having disturbances like these notify a professor outside. Fortunately, she had the authority to handle it. “Phaedra Stavrou, Ravenclaw Prefect. There’s no need to shout. Now, what's the matter with you?”
23 Jul 2021, 11:19
Period Drama
Gabriella paused for a while, trying to keep control of herself. No, she told herself, no, it's not, it can't be as bad as that... She paused for a while to let her breathing calm down, as the door next to her creaked open and whoever was in there strode out. They had quite a confident stride, Gabby thought, although that gave her no idea as to who it was. They definitely heard me, she thought to herself, glad that they hadn't responded. She wanted to keep this to herself, just for now. But then... what if it was cancer? Someone needed to know, surely? She should go to the hospital wing. But what if it was nothing... what if the girl was simply overreacting...
Suddenly, she found she couldn't contain herself. The Ravenclaw screamed again. Immediately, a voice outside spoke. "Is there a mouse or something?" asked the voice. It was a female voice - well, that was to be expected in the girls' toilets - but apart from that, Gabriella couldn't tell anything else about it.
"N-no," she whimpered, "it's alright - I'm fine..." Clearly she wasn't fine at all, but maybe this was the sort of person who didn't actually care, and just went with whatever was said to convenience her.
She glanced back into the toilet and into her underwear; both were very red. But why? This was more than "blood in your pee", surely...?
"Phaedra Stavrou," said the voice. "Ravenclaw Prefect. There's no need to shout. Now, what's the matter with you?"
Gabriella blanched; she could feel the colour draining from her face. A prefect? A prefect?! And of her own house, too? Man, this couldn't get any worse. Gabriella already had significant trouble talking to older students as it was, but a prefect? The wretched Ravenclaw couldn't believe her hard luck.
"I'm Gabriella Haworth," she sniffed. "F-f-first year. I... I think I have a bit of a problem... there's blood..." She wondered whether she should explain more, but decided that her first priority was to clean up. She took her underwear off - she'd have to rush to the dorm to get some more - and pulled her tights up. It was uncomfortable, but less so than having to waddle around with her pants full of blood. She could only hope it wouldn't drip. "Maybe I need to go to the hospital wing?" she suggested, flushing the toilet.
Can you flush blood down the toilet? she wondered. Should I have left it to show the prefect? No, that would be gross. But what if she doesn't know what it is?
No, Gabby, said her conscience. Just wait for the other girl to say something. Then you'll know what to do.
Gabriella decided her conscience was probably right, all things considered, and waited for Phaedra to reply.Word count: 475
Interacting with: @Phaedra Stavrou
Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.