Closed One Foot in the Rubber Room, One Arm in the White Jacket Open PV

Dinner time was one of the most hated times for Elisa. She couldn't bear to stay in the noisy Great Hall after a tiring day. Hogwarts was not as exciting as she had thought. It was quite boring for the young girl who couldn't live a single day without mischief or anything fun going on. As the young Slytherin was on her way to the study room to complete her homework for the day, her mind was full of different thoughts. Some were positive while the rest were negative as always.

While battling the thoughts in her mind, she tried her best to reach the study room without being spotted by anyone, but she was instantly caught off guard when she heard a melody echoing through the hallways, it was the type of music produced by a music box, it was as light as a whisper yet continued to flaunt its beauty, something about the music made her yearn to find the source of it,

After a while of trying to stop herself from running towards the source of the music, Elisa finally gave up and started strolling towards the source of the music. The more she heard it, the faster her footsteps got, to the fact that she was running towards the place where the beautiful music came from.

After a while of searching, she finally found the source, it was from the classroom which was quite unexpected, students rarely visit that place, especially during dinner time, at first Elisa hesitated a bit from entering the classroom, but after a while, she couldn't stand it anymore, gently she opened the door to spot two higher years, the girl was crouched next to the boy who seemed to be curled over an object on the floor, this scene was enough for Elisa's blood to run cold, something was wrong,

Elisa quickly slid into the room and muttered "Is everything alright in here?", she slowly walked towards the two higher years, it seemed like the music was coming from the object that the boy had curled over. At first Elisa wished to ask the girl about what had happened but after seeing the boy's situation and the girl's worry, Elisa decided not to and slowly walked a bit forward, near to the older boy whose face wasn't visible, she slowly kneeled next to the girl and whispered to the boy in a low yet warm voice "Are you okay?", the situation of the boy seemed bad, it was a truly heartbreaking scene for Elisa who wasn't used to seeing people in this kind of a situation.

Classroom	@Piérre Marchonné, @EmmaLee LeDames
'Thoughts' "Speech"	Notes: -

astra
@Piérre Marchonné ∆ @EmmaLee LeDames ∆ @Elisa Shakestra

The faeries would easily call Astra away with their music. If even a hint of that beautiful, soulful art presented itself, she followed it, she searched for it, she wanted to listen.

And so here she was drawn away from whatever she had been doing (see, she already forgot, how susceptible of her) to follow the whispers of a music box down the hall and into the classroom where she often squirrelled herself away to work or ponder or read or daydream.

The music box was haunting, as all music boxes seemed to Astra. Like something of antiquity; a fragment of the past. The child had once read a scary story involving a music box. She didn't much remember it now, but she still got a little bit of the shivers when she heard one.

Being unfocused as she was, she did not notice what would have been a familiar blonde-haired classmate and acquaintance of hers at the very door she approached. Elisa Shakestra was inside before Astra returned to her senses and also entered the place.

She peered into the classroom, noting first the presence of Elisa, a cat, and another girl, with hair the color of honey. Oh! I was going to get Hermes to go for a walk. It's alright, he can wait a little longer. We'll just play for more time later. Her deep eyes would flick round once more before lighting on the boy in the spotlight.

The Phantom. Known to others as Piérre. A usually jovial fellow, and someone who intrigued her. He was lively, whip-smart, and somehow completely unlike anyone she'd ever met. As in, the only person like the Phantom was the Phantom. She could think of no person who shared his traits even remotely, except perhaps if you combined Aunt Aces and the twins.

But in this moment she saw none of his former vitality. His green eyes, cast downward, were dull. He seemed numb. It was a feeling the young redhead related to all too well.

In an instant, a flash of images, sounds, memories assaulted her mind, the Vault swung wide open. Astra's fingers crept around the doorframe and clenched tightly. She stuffed them all back in before they could do any damage, closing the Vault tightly, putting an extra lock on it just in case, her eyes tightly shut and a shaky breath drawn.

She closed the Vault. She opened her eyes and let out a quiet, near-silent sigh. Then she softly padded around the girls, around a few desks that stood in her way, and dropped cross-legged beside the boy. And by beside, I mean roughly two and a half feet away, on his right.

She did not speak, at first, then softly, tentatively...

"Piérre?"

inventory : wand, ink pen, crumpled piece of blank paper, chocolate bar

House Colours: Slytherin

Calming Presence in Effect; All Participants Affected

With the music box having been wound, it was replaced in front of him with a gentle hand, letting the butterfly inside of it slowly spin once more as the music continued to play again. There was a silence as the spool in it had to return to its cyclical start, and then the melody started from the beginning all over again. It wasn't really a matter of how long the song went on, it was more of a matter of how long Piérre would forget how many times he wound the little pocket-sized capsule up just to have it run out over and over again.

Pointed ears piqued as there came a creak from the doorway, only a few moments after the sound of running and a foreign tongue had slipped through the air. A soft voice, tinged with the accent of a romantic language not that of Piérre's familiar Italian, spoke to him, and suddenly his heart turned into ice in his chest in quiet fear. His eyes were wide, but the pupils contracted ever so slightly as he became aware of the approach, a silent tensing as it closed in with a cat that seemed curious to see him. His eyes flicked to it quickly before softening slightly. He did like cats...

He didn't respond verbally, only nodding his head slowly. His gaze didn't break from the feline, and his head tipped ever so slightly to one side curiously. His hands slithered down to rest on his knees, tightening their grips there slightly so as to dry mildly sweating palms. The girl crouched down to his level, and Piérre found himself unable to not look into her eyes. His own eyes were bottle green, usually brighter and with a sparkle to them if he were smiling. Dark circles were beginning to form under them, a tired look that decidedly did not befit him compared to some other more gloomy and mildly edgy figures that walked the corridors of the castle in turn. He was tired. He was very exhausted.

Those eyes continued to remain fixed on her until another sound interrupted, his ear piquing once more to assess the sound. Another feminine voice, and another presence in the room, a pale presence like a phantasm. A small smile began to form on his lips and a bit of color forced itself into his face with the mere action. Eyes departed from the first girl, to focus on the second now. "Yes." He said at last, his voice weak for want of use for a moment. He cleared his throat. "Yes. I'm doing alright." A lazy hand flipped closed the music box, letting the last harmonious chord ring out and then die like a whispering breath in the large and cavernous room.

He became aware, again, of a presence nearby as eyes turned to the doorway where a red-haired girl came now after opening her eyes after a seemingly brief meditation of some kind. Ah... yes, this young Slytherin girl. A few times had Piérre run across her, in the dungeon and in an impromptu snowball fight. He knew her peripherally. She dropped down beside him and crossed her legs similarly, and now his green eyes finally regained a bit of sparkle, strangely changing from dull glass into a cut jewel. "Ah..." He said softly, a flash of teeth and a raising of one of his brows. "You've learned my name. That's a feat that only a few have been capable of." Who from, he wondered... He did many dealings in this school, but never or sparingly did he use his real name, or that name that would be easiest to track down. Contacts were essential, and himself as a contact being widely known could sometimes prove a dangerous thing to let simply slip about unwarranted and uncontrolled. "Usually that means I'm in trouble."

And the last... a lion. She seemed to know his name too... or well, Piérre supposed it was natural that she knew his name. She was a duelist that he was responsible for as one of the dueling team's--and as a former duelist--captains after all. Lily. The grin widened a bit more and those green eyes gleamed with a reflective white sheen that caught the light and directed it elsewhere and away from him. "Delighted. Simply delighted." He said coyly with a bite of humor curling his words. He bit his tongue in amusement, uncoiling himself a bit and stretching luxuriously like his own cat Figaro would.

So many people, and so many of his faces to choose from. This was where the show always got interesting, when the first act unfolded upon the first scene and the first moment, the first word of the first dialogue of the first actor. A performance of a lifestyle and a stage that was the world. "So many strange wandering souls. It's dinnertime. Did the house elves forget to prepare it or did someone set off a dungbomb in the Great Hall again?" Came the jest of a line.

Forgotten was that strange and vulnerably numb moment, at least for now. A switch had been flicked, and now the Jester had taken the stage, dedicated to his role as the proctor of entertainment and amusement unfiltered.

Statistics: Stamina 7 | Strength 5 | Evasion 18 | Wisdom 12 | Accuracy 16 | ArcPower 5

Abilities:
Keen Eye | Calming Presence | Beast Master [Cat] | Cat's Grace | Animagus [Hummingbird]

Items:
Wand [10.2 inches Yew and Snallygaster Heartstring] | Invisibility Cloak | Soda
[Sharpened] Locksmith's Knife | [Red] Deck of 52 Playing Cards | Magical Music Box

astra
@Piérre Marchonné ∆ @EmmaLee LeDames ∆ @Elisa Shakestra

In an instant, in a flash, the act was on again. With soft and unseen marvel, Astra watched the dull eyes begin to twinkle yet again and the lively, mischevious look come about the boy, as if someone had turned on a light inside him.

He had turned on his own light. This she knew well. She had done the same with her own a mere minute ago. How painfully similar his situation was to her former one.

Based on the dark circles and obviously less than ideal condition of his arms, however, Astra could gather his was much worse than Derek Cameron. No sudden act could hide those marks. She knew that well, too.

Another girl, with red hair and red robes who she'd seen around the duelling club maybe? entered and also stated the Phantom's name. She supposed it was natural that a duellist know a duel moderator, though, so far as she could remember, she'd only ever seen him in a Hufflepuff or Slytherin uniform. He certainly wasn't in the house of snakes, that much was sure. It wasn't terribly far-fetched to suspect him a Gryffindor, she supposed. Shame. Seemed quite snake-ish.

"Such an honor, then," she said lightly. "Would you prefer the moniker I came up with before coming across such information?" Astra was entirely serious. The lad had no way to know her name, not that she could think of, and his own was obviously valuable to him.

With the revelation of the coming and going of dinner, Astra's eyes widened ever so slightly, and she turned her head to look at Elisa, the only person she knew well in this room, and mouthed It's dinnertime? She dutifully avoided the question and traced a pattern on the ground with the tip of her pinkie.

Piérre obviously needed to process something, and it was something he needed to do alone, or with someone he truly trusted. The young lion seemed to need the same.

Now closed and silent the music box sat. The little lion seemed interested in it, moving to touch, but seemed to think better of it.

Astra adjusted her legs to accommodate a stretch, leaning over the crossed limb with her elbows on the ground and face in her hands. "Where's the little cat?" she asked suddenly, after all other questions and answers had been provided by girls and boy. The question sort of slipped out without her permission, but with the presence of the white cat it was painfully obvious the silver fellow was absent.

Hermes' absence also spiked regret now. He was likely wandering the castle, searching for Astra. He tended to do that in instances like this. Hopefully no one would pick him up or try to deter him from his wanderings. Astra didn't want any more complaints of bites and scratches when it was obviously the human's fault.

inventory : wand, ink pen, crumpled piece of blank paper, chocolate bar

Any person could tell that the boy was everything but okay, from his position to the lack of color in his face to even the fake smile he put on his face were more than enough for Elisa to realize that the boy was indeed lying, just when she was about to say something she heard a familiar voice behind her say "Piérre"

Elisa turned around to see Astra, a goofy Slytherin girl whom she knew even before coming to Hogwarts through events and all, Elisa noticed that the boy yet again put on a smile and started talking to her, one thing Elisa was able to interpret was that the boy's name was Piérre,

Just when the room was getting a bit silent, she heard one more voice behind her once again, it was a red-headed Gryffindor girl who had asked him of his well being to which the boy yet again replied in a joyous tone while acting like nothing had happened,

After a while, when everyone has settled, she heard the boy ask about dinner, to which Elisa was just about to reply when she noticed Astra mouthing her if it was dinnertime, Elisa slowly mouthed a yes to the girl before finally replying to the boy's question, "I mostly skip dinner and spend this time in the study room doing homework but dung bomb being set off during dinner time but dung bombs being set off during dinner time would be worth watching" she said as she finally faced the boy,

After a while, she heard the red haired girl compliment the music box to which Elisa instantly nodded and muttered "Indeed, the melody was exquisite",

A couple of minutes later, she heard Astra question of where a cat went, Elisa assumed maybe she was mentioning about her own cat to which Elisa remained silent since she didn't know much of pet.

Classroom	@Piérre Marchonné, @EmmaLee LeDames
'Thoughts' "Speech"	Notes: -