Never Follow Moge ((Ariane))

[Maryn Livley]

"Wake up Morgen!' Maryn called cheerfully to her sleeping owl in her cage. Morgen made a little noise as she awoke. "C'mon! Wake up little one!" Maryn said all smiles as she unlatched Morgen's cage. She was in a rather good mood for the day. The sun was shining brightly and Maryn just felt so...normal? Was that right? Yes, normal seemed to fit. Maryn was tired of feeling so bipolar when she came to emotions. She didn't really think she was bipolar, she has just been acting that way lately. Maryn sighed. What was the use in acting that way without even trying to? There was none. She sighed as she looked out her window. It was a sunny Sunday morning and Maryn was relieved that she didn't have classes. She just felt like doing something outside even though the grounds were still pretty chilly. But, they seemed to be warming up. Well, maybe not. Maryn twirled a piece of her fiery red hair. She stared out towards the sunlight. With a wink of an eye, Maryn was stumbling around her dorm trying to look for the perfect outfit to wear out in the perfect sunny day.

Maryn tied up her aqua converse as the sun continued to make its way through her dorm room window. Her eyes followed the gaze out the window. Hurry up, Maryn. She told her self. Maryn stood up and she looked back to Morgen. Morgen looked so sad in her cage. Maryn whistled. "C'mon Morgen. A lovely day awaits so run and play!" Maryn laughed making up a little rhyme for no reason. Morgen made a soft sound and flew to Maryn's shoulder. "That's a girl." Maryn said petting her pet. Maryn stuffed her wand in her pocket gently as she opened the door to her dorm with her other free hand. However, suddenly, the door hit someone. "What the.." Maryn started. She looked down to a first year girl on the ground. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Maryn stared to the first year. The girl shook her head with all her books in her hands. "No, no. No problem. Must, must. Go, go now." She was rushing so fast, she was stumbling with her words. The girl picked up the many books she had left on the ground and raced off. "Geez, she's dedicated." Maryn said brushing off her shirt as she made her way down the stairs.

Why was someone so dedicated to homework on a beautiful morning such as this one? Maryn didn't have a clue. She usually finished her homework and studies on Fridays just after classes ended. Then, she started her weekend fun. But, that first year didn't look as if she was doing last minute homework, no she looked as if she was doing extra work or studies. Maryn sighed. She had never been that dedicated. True, Maryn was a decent student, but she just couldn't relate too much to the stuff that she was taught. After all, she was a muggle. Maryn didn't even know if she would take a Wizard Career. This idea scared her, but she just didn't know yet. Was she good enough o make her own way through this new world she now lived in? Maybe, maybe not. It was too soon to tell. Maryn didn't even know what she wanted to be. So, why was it that the first year was already so determined when a fourth year wasn't? That was a mystery.

Maryn could here screams and some laughed as she walked the walls with Morgen perched on her shoulder. Peeves. She thought to herself. But, still, the sounds could be coming from anywhere. Maybe that first year was doing some crazy studies, Maryn just wasn't sure. When she reached the castle doors, Maryn took out her wand and muttered a charm that opened the door. This was much easier than pulling it open by force. However, sometimes, she noticed there was an enchantment that kept it open for a longer period of time. However, Maryn didn't know if this was teacher done or student done. Maryn smiled at the sunlight that await her. Hello, beautiful. She thought to herself. Just then. Morgen flew off Maryn's shoulder. "Hey, Moge!" She called. "Where are you off to?" Maryn let out knowing that her owl wouldn't answer her. Maryn pushed her feet and began to run after her owl.

Maryn called after Morgen and followed her. Maryn wasn't too concerned about her, she just wanted to know where Morgen was off to. Maryn followed Morgen from the ground. Morgen was heading near Hagrid's Hut. But, when she reached it, the owl moved passed the structure. She moved more towards a tree. Maryn still ran after Morgen. Then, Morgen perched herself on top of the tree. "Morgen! What are you doing up there silly?" Maryn asked not realizing how silly she looked at this moment. Maryn examined the true. "Oh, no!" She called recognizing the tree. Maryn screamed and began to run, but it was too late. The Whomping Willow was already moving towards her. Maryn screamed in a shrill little girl scream she she ran from the tree branch. However, it hit so close to her that the branch knocked her to the ground. Maryn felt pain from the fall, but the branch didn't actually hit her, it just startled her to the ground. Maryn rolled over as it tried to hit her again. She looked up at the tree. Maryn shook her head. "No, you don't!" She called. She pulled out her wand. "Confundus!" She called as a strand of blue left her wand. Suddenly, the tree stopped wailing and seemed to be daze. The spell confused people and objects. Maryn stood up and ran from the tree. "Morgen! Come here!" Maryn shouted trying to her her still unhurt owl from the tree. Morgen flew to Maryn's shoulder. "Note, to self, never follow Moge!" Maryn said out loud. Just then, Maryn heard someone walk up. She looked over at the girl, recognizing the face at once. "Don't go near that blasted tree!" Maryn warned the girl in a tired, wheezing voice. Maryn pushed her today to the ground as she was tired by the point. She looked up at Ariane. Ariane was a fourth year in Maryn's house and they shared a dorm. Maryn knew her, but she didn't "know" her all that well. Well, atleast not like she new Kia. But, Maryn and Kia were probably the closest friends in the dorm. Or alteast that was what Maryn though. "Sorry." She said calmly for her yelling. Even though she wasn't really sorry at all. "That stupid tree could have killed me, but what else is new. Somehow, I'm put near danger a lot. To think, a muggle born like me has to face danger more than twice in her life. Well, I never would have thought that my life would be like this when I was younger. But, that's just the way it is, I guess." She esplained. Maryn coughed a bit. What she wouldn't give for a glass of water about now. Maryn looked up at Ariane waiting for her to say something, anything at all.

[Ariane Chan]

((I apologise for the length - please don't feel you have to write as much, I had to describe her dreams. I don't want to make your eyes hurt! I'll keep it shorter in the next post.))

The clock ticked steadily as Ariane lay in her four-poster bed surrounded by her also asleep dorm mates. However, unlike them, her face was not peaceful or calm, reflecting her happy dreams. Instead, Ariane writhed continuously, dragging the duvet with her aggrieved movements, rolling them around her contorting body and into huge lumps. A bead of cold sweat ran down her brow, reabsorbing into her damp matted hair, and her eyes were tightly closed, her face was frowning as if in pain. Although Ariane made no noise, her mouth was open, like she was screaming, but silence came out instead of an ear-splitting cry, and suddenly she bolted awake, her body sitting upright as she fought to regain her breath. Panting heavily, Ariane stared with wide eyes around the room, slowly digesting what she saw. Not noticing one of the beds was empty, she ran a trembling hand through her messy hair, groaning internally at its wetness. Ariane turned to glance at her alarm clock beside her bed, which said 6:30am. Darn. She had overslept again. By an hour. Wiping her cold, sweaty forehead with a pyjama sleeve, Ariane unhurriedly climbed out of bed. Grabbing her stuff and her wand, she headed for the bathroom longingly.

Locking the door behind her with a spell, Ariane turned to stare at herself in the mirror above the sink as she chucked her clothes and towels somewhere dry. She ran her weary gaze down her paler-than-usual cheeks, the ever-increasing bags under her eyes, her limp wet hair. Placing her wand beside the sink temporarily, Ariane gave a resolute look at herself in the mirror, before throwing her head down into the basin. She turned the cold tap on and began to splash the refreshingly freezing water onto her face. Reaching blindly for her face towel, Ariane dried her dripping face, and after brushing her teeth absentmindedly, used her wand to see to her terrible hair; she had no energy to wash it properly, so a quick spell would do. Her black tresses were soon up in a respectable ponytail, which was unusual for Ariane, who liked to have her long locks flowing around her; it gave her a sense of security. However, she didn’t think her hair was up to the challenge today. Flinging her clothes on – fraying baggy denim jeans, a t-shirt and a comfy hoody over the top – all black – Ariane exited the bathroom, feeling revitalized. She’d just washed away the remnants of that… nightmare. Throwing her slippers off, Ariane pushed her faded black trainers on before once again assessing her silent dormitory.

Ariane finally noticed the lone empty bed. Without having to look around at the others, she already knew who usually occupied it. Maryn Livley, a girl with eye-catching red hair who usually had a kind smile. Ariane had never really talked with any of her dorm mates and were not close at all, despite having shared a room with them for almost four years. She did a good job of avoiding them, and just about everybody else. Normally Ariane would have been the first girl up and awake, but not today. She didn’t like people seeing her asleep, as she felt vulnerable, so she was usually the last one into bed, unless the other girls were staying up – she didn’t have a choice in the matter then, and she refused to not have enough sleep because of something so petty within her. Staring at the empty bed, Ariane noticed that even Maryn’s owl, Morgen, was not in her cage. Slightly unnerved, she left the room without another glance, neglecting to throw on an overcoat despite knowing she would head outside.

Sauntering outside almost automatically and forgetting breakfast, Ariane found herself wandering beside the Lake, seeking solace and freedom from the stuffy castle and her dormitory. The day was fair, but for once Ariane disregarded this, not letting the good weather affect her mood. Her mood had already been affected by something else, and she was sure it wouldn’t change for a while. Whenever her mind was on this particular topic, it seemed she could think and obsess about nothing else. Ariane’s brain was actually working on autopilot as she strolled silently along the banks, her thoughts drifting somewhere else as she stared blankly into the distance. Pictures flashed repeatedly through Ariane’s mind, the same images and flashbacks from her previous dream. Harmony usually made an appearance first, though she was never smiling innocently; her face was always tear-streaked, eyes red and sore from too much crying. Then there was Aurora, fading fast into the distance. Whenever Ariane tried to reach for her cousin, she could never grasp her in her hands. She was always too far away, or she slid through her fingers like a volatile liquid. There was often too much mist shrouding her way, and she could never see. Memories from Ariane’s childhood also resurfaced, though never the good, happy ones. They were always flashbacks of heated arguments with her father, his harsh words to them all, her mother’s tears, Harmony’s tears. And finally, Ariane heard her mother screaming, screaming for help, screaming her name, over and over again, each and every single time. That was when she would always wake up, close to tears at times, sometimes, like today, silently screaming, usually having overslept, looking like she’d just been to hell and back again. She certainly felt like she had.

What did these recurring dreams mean? Ariane had no idea, and it was making her feel weak and frustrated. It was not like her to have returning dreams, but she had had this one for at least nine nights out of the last fortnight. Was it a bad omen? Originally when she had come to this conclusion, Ariane had disregarded it with a scoffing voice in her mind. No way. She hated Divination, and never believed in things like this, but she felt afraid of these nightmares. They left her with a sense of fear and dread, not only in her mind, but her body too, as it shook and sweated cold sweat each time. Thank goodness she still woke up early enough so that none of her dorm mates had seen a display of her craziness during her sleeping periods. Ariane had written to her mother about the situation in her last letter, and had yet to receive a reply; she had refrained from describing the dream itself. She felt the nightmares concerned her mother due to the chronic climax, so she didn’t want her to know about her suspicions, but she hoped her hunch was as ridiculous as Divination. Now realising she had passed Professor Hagrid’s hut, Ariane found herself in territory she rarely treaded on. Her preference of places to go to in the grounds was always near the Lake, but her legs had carried her over here as she had left her troubled minds in the clouds. Extracting herself with slight annoyance, Ariane was about to turn back when she heard a voice in the distance.

Listening carefully, Ariane could tell it was a girl, sounding as if she was talking to someone else, but to who, Ariane could barely make out. Suddenly she heard a frightened scream from the same girl, it would seem, and immediately without thinking, Ariane broke into a quick sprint. She found herself approaching an area which pupils were generally warned to steer clear of, but she continued going nonetheless because someone was obviously in trouble, and she couldn’t stand by nonchalantly. Finally reaching the origin of the noise, Ariane halted at the sight that met her eyes. Maryn Livley, her missing dorm mate, was lying sprawled on the ground whilst the huge infamous Whomping Willow tree waved its large branches wildly overhead. Staring at the gigantic tree for a split second, Ariane suddenly recalled the reason to why students were banned from venturing here. What did Maryn think she was doing? Ariane was sure the girl was more sensible than this. She noticed a familiar owl circling overhead, and was about to extract her wand to stun the tree and save the other girl, when Maryn got to it first. Ariane was sure it was Maryn anyway, despite being quite a way off. She could recognise that red hair anywhere. Maryn had probably not seen her yet, due to the danger she was in.

Ariane watched motionlessly as Maryn picked herself up and recalled the flying owl, who Ariane now recognised as Morgen. Her slightly concerned expression still remaining on her face, Ariane began to walk up to the duo. The red haired Gryffindor finally noticed her as she approached, immediately warning her about the Willow. Ariane nodded curtly at this, eyeing them carefully to make sure they weren’t hurt. “I know.” She spoke only two short words, then turned to glance warily again at the momentarily stunned tree. It was remarkably magnificent, a giant creation, but it was awfully dangerous, and she could see that it was already recovering from the simple spell, its branches creaking with the effort. Highly aware of this, plus conscious of the fact that Maryn and her were trespassing on meant-to-be forbidden territory, Ariane spoke again. “Are you okay, Maryn?” She was a little anxious as the redhead was still panting heavily, though tried not to appear too troubled. “Let’s go.” Ariane stated bluntly and turned to leave, assuming Maryn would follow suit. If she didn’t, it was her loss. Her concern was already rapidly fading back into her usual indifference. Pausing her footsteps for a moment as Maryn continued to talk and cough, Ariane glanced back at her again, "Life is… unexpected. It is a journey, it can take you wherever you want to go. Expect the unexpected. My life has… not turned out the way I expected it to either.” Ariane stopped short, not wanting to continue this already-drawing-towards-intimacy conversation. Perhaps she should just walk right away and leave Maryn here. However, something stirred in her conscience, as usual, which prevented her from abandoning the redhead. “That’s just the way it is.” Ariane echoed Maryn uncomfortably, feeling awkwardness coming in between them. This always seemed to happen to her.