Threads of Green & Red PV Locked

She needed a break. The first few weeks of Hogwarts had been the busiest period of her life, she had just finished Potions class - evidenced by the dark book which was tucked under her arm, the time spent in that classroom made the outside air all the more crisp and welcoming.

She had been walking without much purpose and had found herself in the Courtyard, the noise was busy but not overwhelmingly so, she found herself drawn to the Griffin which was placed at the very top of the parched fountain it’s regal eyes watching over the students - she followed it’s gaze.

Almost every student was in a tight knit group, laughing and chatting in circles - some emitting intermittent sparks of light from concealed wands, others sharing confectionary from their latest trip to Hogsmeade but there was a singular student that caught her eye. He was wearing robes highlighted with dark green, his hair was neat and short and a very similar colour to hers and his eyes were the most striking part of his appearance being a piercing blue. He seemed deeply focused on a DADA book, with a History of Magic book discarded by his side, as he leaned over to study the writing more intently he revealed a pendant, unassuming in its silver colour but presented an undeniable mystery when you focused on the image - a tree.

Ann began to walk towards him. She had made a lot of acquaintances since she arrived at Hogwarts but never a solid friend - she wasn’t going to find one by standing around by herself. I’m sure he’s friendly. She was fighting to ignore the voice that told her to wait, to watch him longer, as if he was going to reveal something vital that would make her walk away but she kept going forward.
“History of Magic’s not for you then?” She leaned against the stone wall behind her, placing her book on the bench by her side. She flicked her eyes to his rejected book and then gazed back at him.

Alyn scoured through the book, looking for a specific topic that might interest him before he came upon a few pages dedicated to Werewolves and how to defend yourself against them, and more specifically, what to do if you just so happen to be bitten by one, according to the book, one must thoroughly and magically cleanse any bites as their fangs are venomous, which made Alyn uneasy, considering he heard that some of the students are werewolves.

"Hopefully I don't get on wrong side of any of them." he whispered to himself, grabbing hold of the pendant around his neck and gripping it tightly, before placing it underneath his shirt away from view.

His studies were interrupted when a question was asked near to him "History of Magic's not for you then?" he tilted his head upwards and was startled to see a blonde haired girl leaning against the wall beside him, glancing at his discarded 'History of Magic' book before returning his attention to her.

"Not at all, I can barely focus in class and I have more enjoyable subjects to study on than learn about some damn Gargoyle incident that happened a hundred years before I was even born." he picked up the book and opened it to a random page, giving it a quick glance then returning to look at the girl, lifting the book to reveal the page to her "Who would want to learn about Goblin Rebellions?" he turned the book to him and looked at it once more "Actually that sounds quite interesting." he slammed the book closed "Not the point."

He rose from the floor, brushing his trousers with his hand to remove any dirt that he might of picked up from being on the ground, and fixed his robes, turning his attention once more to the girl, with a friendly smile on his lips "I'm Alyn." he said, holding out his hand towards her "What's your name?"

Interacting with @Ann Madison

Word count: 336
Code: #32872c

@Alyn Reed

"Not at all, I can barely focus in class and I have more enjoyable subjects to study on than learn about some damn Gargoyle incident that happened a hundred years before I was even born." he picked up the book and opened it to a random page, giving it a quick glance then returning to look at the girl, lifting the book to reveal the page to her "Who would want to learn about Goblin Rebellions?" he turned the book to him and looked at it once more "Actually that sounds quite interesting." he slammed the book closed "Not the point.”

Ann was taken aback by his first statement, made before he reassessed the book and then she found herself widely smiling at the boy’s comicial nature. He suddenly realised that History isn’t as boring as the environment that it’s taught in.

She pushed herself off from the wall ,standing straight, gently tucking a stray flood of blonde behind her ear. “Alyn … I’m Ann Madison.” She couldn’t help herself from keeping direct eye contact, his eyes appeared like the lagoons you would find on tropical holiday advertisements often shown on muggle television. The sun reflected off them perfectly to create a mesmerising blue she swore would never be replicated.

Werewolves. She saw the large illustration and attempted to suppress the immediate physical response her body had generated. The amount of horrific stories she had heard involving these creatures was plentiful - she caught sight of words which suggested the paragraph was about the treatment of bites, but she already knew this process. She was transported back to a night when she was young, guttural screams of pure terror lit up her ears and her father’s calm voice speaking into the downstairs phone failed to block out the sounds. When she was older she realised it was a friend of her father’s who had rung, the friend must’ve gotten bitten because she could remember her father reciting the cleansing steps several times for the recipient to perform - whether he lived or died she never knew and never would know.

She realised he hid he necklace.Hid.The word hid seemed quite accusatory but it represented a burning curiosity within her that always sought the answer to every occurrence as well as a slight paranoid state of mind that Ann was yet to rid herself of. Since a question needed to be asked to get an answer - she asked.
“Your necklace, what does it represent?” Alyn was likely to take this one of two ways - literally or sentimentally. With the literal answer being what the tree represented and the sentimental answer being its value and origin. Or he could do the unexpected and combine the two to give Ann an answer that was completely open, this was something she never usually encountered. Usually she was unable to definitively pinpoint which answer he would give.

"Well it is a pleasure to meet you, Ann Madison" he responded, then noticing a look that was all too familiar for him back home in London, the intent stare into his eyes even when his own gaze was elsewhere, he is reminded of how it use to make him feel uncomfortable, had this been a few years ago he would have closed his eyes and never open them again for the duration of a conversation, but he soon realized the advantages it offered, especially when he got in trouble with his parents.

He was unsure what he noticed when she looked down at the book with the illustrations of Werewolves clearly visible, it was almost as if she was somewhat startled; he slowly closed the book, kneeling down and placing it on the ground temporarily. "She must not feel comfortable about werewolves as well." was his immediate thought.

"Your necklace, what does it represent?" she asked Alyn, to which he stood there with a blank expression on his face, somewhat confused until he realized she must have been referring to his pendant, which he wore so often that he forgot that he had it around his neck, it might as well have been attached to his skin.

"Oh, you mean this?" he questioned, taking the pendant off over his head, wrapping the small silver chain-links that connected to the pendant around his fingers, giving her a clear view of the tree engraved "It's a world tree - it symbolises that we are connected when we are alive and in death as well, or at least that is what my father says, I've had it since I was a baby." he said, being rather open about it "It brings me good luck, so I always wear it, I forget that I have it on me sometimes to be honest." he decided to follow up with a question of his own "Why do you ask?"

Interacting with @Ann Madison

Word count: 325
Code: #32872c

@Alyn Reed

She smiled at him as he closed the book he was more perceptive than she had anticipated.
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head and huffed, it almost sounded like a laugh that was cut short. These words left her softly and quietly, it was a relief for the thoughts and sounds of her mind to be calmed once the picture was no longer in view. She felt a slight embarrassment at being afraid, as these creatures were allowed at Hogwarts as students and she presumed the same rule applied for faculty, they could be anywhere. She needed to sit down. Outwardly she appeared relaxed with her legs crossed at the feet, her long black and red robe swaying close to the ground but inwardly a paranoid nature threw anxiety like cold water over her - as if she was stuck in the middle of the ocean and had to endure the crashing of each and every single wave on top of her.

Ann dwelled on the openness of the boy that stood in front of her, he had shared a story with her, one that had involved his parent and she knew how dear these memories are - this comforted her - she was in the presence of someone who was honest, this was of the greatest comfort to her. Alyn proceeded to present his necklace. The idea of life after death was not foreign to her but this symbolism was completely new. “I’ve just never seen the symbol before, not many students wear pendants like that.” She picked up on the mention of his father - “Was he a Wizard, your father?” Being Pure-blooded Ann was surrounded by magic throughout her childhood and this only exaggerated her enthusiasm for Hogwarts and it’s teachings, she couldn’t imagine what it would be like for a Muggle-born to live cut off from anything magical until reaching Hogwarts - it would certainly be a shock for them when they arrived, she wondered if this was him? Although she presumed he would have a more adverse reaction to painfully detailed History book pages about Goblins … and Werewolves for that matter, he seemed not to be phased at all. “They don’t scare you then? - Werewolves?”

Alyn proceeded to place the pendant back around his neck and underneath his shirt close to his heart where he had always left it, as the girl went to sit down, he followed in her steps and sat back down onto the ground where he was originally seated, she asked him about his father and whether he was a wizard or not "The Reed family have always been Wizards, my father works for the Ministry of Magic, though he has always refused to tell me what he does, my best guess is that he is an Auror cause they are awesome. " he replied to her, his level of excitement beyond normal for anyone talking about their parents of all things.

He was incredibly proud of his family lineage, despite not being pure-blooded himself due to his mother half-blood status, although he was extremely surprised when he was housed into Slytherin, both his mother and father were in Ravenclaw, as was both his grandparents on both sides before that.

Alyn was left almost speechless when she asked her next question to him “They don’t scare you then? - Werewolves?” taking him right from his own thoughts, he didn't know how to respond, while Werewolves were said to be terrifying and the idea of them wandering the halls of Hogwarts disturbed him, he couldn't say whether they scared him or not.

He shrugged his shoulders, looking up at the sky for a moment before back towards the girl "Not really, I don't think anything really 'scares' me, though that could change if I come face-to-face with one of them someday in their form." he answered truthfully, sharing direct eye contact with her.

"What about you?" he asked "Forgive me asking; but it almost seemed the sight of an illustration made you uncomfortable, have you seen one yourself before?" the odd behaviour intrigued him immensely, he had never seen anyone react to an illustration in that way before, no matter how small of a reaction it may of been.

Interacting with @Ann Madison

Word count: 340
Code: #32872c

@Alyn Reed

Hearing and seeing Alyn beam about his father made this contagious emotion radiate within her. His father worked in the Ministry - he could even be an Auror like her father. While Ann was immensely proud of everything her father had accomplished, especially recently, she felt reluctant to mention him and she couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. Maybe the idea of speaking about him only allowed herself to focus on him more intently than she already did - since her conversation and reading with Professor Bardot of Divination her worst fears about the culmination of her fathers profession had been confirmed … speaking of him only made this reality more real to her, more painful and so she chose not to. “They are awesome, good guess.” She smiled brightly. Skim my ‘Fumes and the Future’ thread for context if interested.

He shrugged his shoulders, looking up at the sky for a moment before back towards the girl "Not really, I don't think anything really 'scares' me, though that could change if I come face-to-face with one of them someday in their form." he answered truthfully, sharing direct eye contact with her.
"What about you?" he asked "Forgive me asking; but it almost seemed the sight of an illustration made you uncomfortable, have you seen one yourself before?" the odd behaviour intrigued him immensely, he had never seen anyone react to an illustration in that way before, no matter how small of a reaction it may of been.

Form … form. She hadn’t seen the form with her own eyes but she didn’t need to, nor did she ever want to. The howling screams of her father’s friend were enough to strike a lifelong terror into the young girl, he had become so deranged with agony and fear that she never thought he would have able to seal his wound - or wounds, but she could be wrong. She knew very little of what really happened, she only had glimpses and assumptions but the noises never left her.
“No…I’ve never-” Images were thrust into her mind. The blood and gore pouring from his injury as the screams resounded in her ears. He was begging for her father to do something but he was unable to from the other end of a phone, Jack Madison could get no location from his delirious friend and resolved to the revision of each sealing step, over and over and over in between words of comfort until the line went quiet. “I know what they can do. Everyone should be scared, they’re monstrous creatures.”She scraped her hair from her face and posted her hands either side of her body, white knuckles slowly fading, she returned her gaze to him.

Alyn was lost for words for the first time in a while, he didn't know how to respond to what she had said, she spoke with so much hatred of beasts that she had never laid her eyes upon "How can you say they are monstrous? that seems harsh" he responded, knowing full well that she may not like it, but he felt it important to speak up about something he necessarily doesn't agree with "If you have never witnessed them, how can you that? I am sure if they were truly monstrous beasts with no redeeming qualities, then they never would of been allowed to come to Hogwarts."

He sat quiet for a moment, thinking of something to derail the current topic, fearing that if they were to go further it may lead to an argument "Think of something...just anything." he begged himself "What do you like to do when your not in classes? Personally I like to explore, this castle hides many secret and I want to find them." he finally spouted out, forming a wide grin on his face, since arriving at Hogwarts he had explored many places, it was by far his most fun hobby to pass the time whenever he was bored, but had yet to find anyone who would join him on more wild adventures outside the castle in the surrounding grounds.

@Ann Madison

@Alyn Reed

She watched the boy question her and struggled to keep calm, he knew nothing of her - they had only just met and yet he saw fit to assess her beliefs without knowing any of the context. She could explain it all to him, everything. Her father and his profession and the phone-call she had heard. Against her nature Ann decided to share this with Alyn, she didn’t know what had ultimately compelled her considering that she owed him nothing of herself or her history but everything fled from her mouth anyway.

“My father - is an Auror. One of his closest friends was mauled and died either from terror or his injuries.” Dread and regret began to take hold as she questioned what she was doing. “I heard all of it through a phone call, it was so loud. So loud that I could hear it through the speaker. He was screaming, screaming.” She paused “It probably fed on him after he was dead.”She spat out her last sentence, looking at him through tear glazed eyes and a set jaw, her cheeks burned with shame as she realised how much of her pain she was sharing.
Her response was ragged and disorganised but she felt unable to sift through her thoughts to make them articulate, the rawness of her feelings were undeniably clear.

Every thought and fear that had culminated since that night was released. She felt a surge of adrenaline as she fully realised all of the horrific theories that had been floating around her mind … could he have been eaten alive or dead? was it one wound or more? did he know his attacker? could he hear her father? All these questions fuelled her hatred because she was afraid of the unknown - what she knew of the attack was already numbing but these unanswered questions often offered an even more twisted turn of events. She hated what she couldn’t trust. She hated what had caused such an incredible amount of pain and was still accepted and this was the same thing that ripped an honorable man’s life away from him - it wasn’t right and she hated the thought that they could ever be facilitated, especially in a school like Hogwarts.