Will you catch me if I should fall? Closed SOLO

❦ LUCIA FOX I sense there's trouble ahead; it's clear by the signs and the warnings

Reducio ─────────────────── TIME October 11th 2022, after Onosecond.

Eyes. Everywhere Lucia looked, there were eyes on her. The sight of a beautiful girl in disarray was always sure to draw curious glances, even as Lucia attempted to wipe the streaky makeup off her cheeks and walk normally. It was hard to just stay upright. She had to keep fighting the urge to just give up and run to her dorm so she could draw the curtains around her bed and scream into her pillow. Because it was not just people's gazes that frightened Lucia Fox, but their whispers. She could already hear them, following her like a bad omen.

"Isn't that... Lucia Fox?"

"I heard-"

"I saw-"

"She screamed-"

"Only a halfbreed-"

"...told people she was pureblood, but I always suspected-"

Lucia choked back a sob, suddenly unsure how many of these whispers were coming from those around her, and how many were phantoms, created by her overimaginative mind. The walls seemed to be closing in around her; she just wanted out, to go somewhere far away from here, anywhere where she wouldn't have to face even more of the consequences of what she'd done. What would Ebony say when she found out? What would Briar say? Surely she would find out first, since she was right here at Hogwarts.

No sooner had the thought passed through her head did she spot a girl with wild black hair pushing her way towards her. "Briar!" Lucia surged towards her sister, catching her in a hug that was entirely inappropriate in light of the troubles she had just caused her family. "I'm so sorry."
Briar pushed away, holding Lucia at arm's length. Lucia could sense the lecture that was to come, but was taken aback by what actually came from Briar's lips. "Are you okay?" And when Briar pulled Lucia in for another hug, the elder girl realised that she hadn't grown apart from Briar after all. Maybe, just maybe, they could work through this.
"Not here... let's go somewhere else."
If Briar can forgive me, that is.