Listen To The Rain ((Charisma))

[Harmony Chan H6]

Harmony sat in peaceful silence as she stared blankly at the crying skies, the sound of raindrops splashing onto the stone pavement of the courtyard ringing continuously in her ears. Her cold fingers clutched her book tightly to her chest, and she sniffed as the dropping temperatures finally began getting to her. Still Harmony did not move, the only thought in her head being how glad she was that she hadn’t let Dori outside today. Folding her damp robes closer together in an attempt to warm herself, Harmony raised a hand to pull out the elastic band holding her short strands together in a high ponytail; her hair being so short, only a tuft could be seen protruding, and as Harmony released her locks, they came falling down in a light heap surrounding her face and ears, keeping them a little warmer than they had been. Shoving the elastic band onto her wrist, Harmony shifted her gaze back to her view of the courtyard again. Spring was coming; she could tell from the budding flowers, how the butterflies were making their way shyly from hibernation. Currently, Harmony’s eyes had landed on a dancing red and black butterfly, flittering between a patch of growing pansies. A smile twitched at her lips, and Harmony wondered internally what being an animal would be like. Ari had mentioned before how some wizards and witches could turn themselves into animals, and this fascinated Harmony. However, she highly doubted she be able to obtain this skill in the future.

Glancing down and seeing that her paperback book was actually a little wet too, as Harmony had been sitting in the courtyard reading until the rain had come upon her mercilessly, Harmony swiftly retrieved her wand from her pocket and pointed it at the rather soggy book. Casting a simple spell, the pages were now back to normal, and Harmony smiled not the first time how amazing magic really was. Even after almost two years, the skills and abilities Harmony possessed not only amazed her mother, but herself too. Shaking her hair around her in vain to keep the tips of her ears warm, Harmony murmured the same spell and indicated her head with her wand. Her locks of black were not wet through, but they were definitely damp even from a few moments in the rain. In a few seconds, Harmony was completely dry again, robes and all, and she enveloped herself in the warmth of her body heat.

Settling down again and pocketing her wand, Harmony raised her head to look up at the dull, dark skies, and wondered what had brought on such an onslaught of bad weather. At least there was no thunder and lightning, but the drops of rain were fat and heavy, and Harmony was lucky she had managed to run for cover quickly before she was completely drenched. Before this, she had been sitting alone at a bench, novel open in her hands as she read intently, absorbed completely in the book. Unluckily, that peace had been shattered by the weather, but this wouldn’t stop Harmony from finishing her book. A resolute expression on her face, Harmony opened up her book again at the bookmark, and ignoring the fact it was rather cold and it would be much more sensible to return to either the library, Hufflepuff common room, or student lounge, Harmony began to read with the same vigour as previously, very intent on finishing the novel by the end of the day. It wasn’t a long story, and she knew if she wasn’t distracted, another hour or so would see this book back into the library.

A few minutes later, Harmony yet again looked up with a weary glaze in her eyes. She stared out at the never-ending rain with a rather annoyed glance, trying hard to block out the pitter-patter of heavy raindrops, but failing to do so. The weather hadn’t grown any worse, but it had not improved either, and Harmony was starting to get irritated with not only the sound of the rain, but the rapidly increasing cold conditions. However, after gazing into the distance for a long period of time, Harmony realised that the sounds were soothing and calming, and she closed her eyes, feeling her fatigue finally catch up with her. As she peered into darkness, Harmony listened to the droplets of rain falling all around her, and she leant back, her spine barely touching the walls for support, and a silent sigh escaped her mouth as she relaxed her muscles. Beginning to swim into oblivion, Harmony could barely refuse the call of sleep, and after about five minutes gave up, sinking into a deep slumber, her head rolling forward in the process. As her hands lost their strength, her book fell with a thump from her lap to the stone floor, landing with a loud thunk that did not wake Harmony up. She continued to sleep soundly, ignoring her body’s calls that the temperature around was much too low to be having a doze. However, the pattering of the rain continued to lull Harmony even as she slept, and all she could hear was that, drumming into her very soul, mimicking her past without her even knowing.

[Charisma Turner G3]

Charisma walked around the beautiful Hogwarts courtyard with a bit of giddyness about her. She walked around, not paying an ounce of attention as to where she was going or even why she was going there. All she did was sing her song. She took no notice as to all the Slytherins glaring at her or even the rain that started to fall. All she cared about was her song. She was completely oblivious to her surroundings...until she saw it.

It was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. A black and red butterfly had landed on a dying flower...the scene had so much meaning...and it was beautiful at the same time! In the backround of the flower, the most colorful sunset could be seen. Charisma had to draw it...she just had to!

With her masterpeice in the making, Charisma set up her materials. She conjured a small tent just large enough to protect her from the rain, a pad of paper, and a pencil. After that was all set, she began drawing. It had been almost an hour since she had begun and already her creation looked brilliant! She couldn't wait to start to paint it! She would start right now, but it was getting dark, and Charisma needed to get back to her dorm before it became too late.

With the thought of that in her mind, Charisma packed up her supplies and began to walk back to Gryffindor tower. She was almost there when she spotted a book laying at the side of the stone floor. It seemed to be a Hogwarts library book, and it was wet and soggy. As Charisma began to wonder who had dropped the book, she saw a Hufflepuff girl fast asleep against the stone wall. She looked very cold and wet, but she was still sleeping. Charisma found that to be very odd, but ignored the thought as she went to help the girl. Charisma knew she would surely fall ill if she was left out in the cold all night.

Charisma whispered softly into the girl's ear to tell her to wake up. She didn't want to jerk her awake too harshly, as she knew from experience that it was not a particularly fun way to be woken up.

[Harmony Chan H6]

Harmony was dreaming. Her cold blue hands gripped her trusty broomstick despite her entire body shivering desperately as she struggled to fly against the raging winds and lashing rain. It all felt so real. But right now, Harmony knew not whether or not this was truly happening. All she felt was the pain this journey was causing her. Where was she? What was she even doing on her broomstick at a time like this? All her eyes could see as they squinted against the terrible conditions was darkness, and the only thing she could do was cling onto her broom for her dear life. It appeared to be nighttime, or maybe early evening. The frosty breeze continued to bite Harmony's cheeks mercilessly, and she felt her eyelashes ice over from the low temperatures. Maybe she was flying too high... Taking this into account, Harmony tried to steer her broomstick lower even though she couldn't see where she going. Clamping her mouth shut to prevent the rain and wind from entering, she gritted her teeth in determination. As her suffering continued, Harmony felt tears well up behind her shut eyelids, and her fists clenched even tighter around her broom. Where was everyone? Why was she here all alone? "Someone save me." Harmony thought as she felt her tears become dewdrops of ice as they fell from her eyes. Stifling a loud sob, Harmony barely sustained a miserable choke and she felt herself giving up; not only was her body physically breaking down, but her mind was also losing hope. "No, I have to keep going, right?" Harmony questioned herself as she knew her strength was beginning to leave her rapidly. "There's a reason I'm out here, isn't there?" But it was no use. Already Harmony could feel her brain's systems turning their power off as she struggled against her own body's wishes. And before she knew it, all she could see was black. Now Harmony was dropping, free-falling headfirst down into oblivion. Letting out a loud scream of fear, Harmony shut her eyes tightly as she tried to reach out for something to hold onto. But for once, there was nothing.

No mummy. No Ari. No Aurora. Not even any friends. For once in her life, Harmony was alone. Well and truly alone. Tumbling into frozen darkness. Only one voice echoed in her mind over and over again.

”Reach for something when there’s nothing left. That way no one can beat you.”

It was whilst screaming loudly that Harmony came falling back into reality with a bump. Literally. She held her hand to her head with a large wince as she felt the back of her head throb painfully beneath her cold fingers, and looked up to see a girl with a surprised look on her face. Realising that she had probably frightened her with her screaming, Harmony immediately shut her half open mouth with an extremely embarrassed expression, and blushed a faint tinge of pink. Mumbling incoherent words of apology, Harmony scrambled to her feet, flinching again from the pain blossoming in her head to what appeared was going to be an awful headache. She now figured that whilst crying out loud in fear, she had probably bumped her head on the wall behind her. Dismissing a rising groan at the pain and her stupidity, Harmony tried to smile with dignity at the older girl. “I’m so sorry.” She tried to speak again, this time clearly and with less of an uncomfortable face, “I was just… having a nightmare.” Come to think of it, Harmony hadn’t had a nightmare for such a long time. She rarely did, and was grateful for this. “I’m sorry if I frightened you. Um…” Shyly, Harmony tucked a lock of hair away from her face, and bowed her head in order not to really look straight at the girl, who appeared to be a Gryffindor. She felt really idiotic having been caught in such a silly and vulnerable incident. Hopefully the Gryffindor wouldn’t think her weird… Though that seemed slightly inevitable now…

Turning her head a little to see what the weather was like, Harmony noticed the rain was slightly less heavy as from previously, but the drops continued to fall without stopping, and the courtyard was, obviously, completely drenched. A small smile tugged at Harmony’s lips, but instead she let out a loud sneeze and rubbed her nose as she mumbled another apology, staring bashfully at the older girl before her. Darn, how long had she been asleep for? She might have caught a cold at this rate… Cursing herself within her head, Harmony cast the thought from her head as her eyes picked up her book lying on the floor before the Gryffindor. Bending down with a frown to retrieve it, she sighed as she could see it had gotten wet again, and proceeded to cast the same spell as previously to dry it. How could she fall asleep at a time like this, in a place like this? Tucking the book safely under her arm, Harmony sneezed again and rolled her eyes afterwards with annoyance, fumbling immediately for a tissue, but found she didn’t have one. Groaning aloud, Harmony conjured up one and quickly blew her nose with a relieved expression. At this rate, she was sure she had definitely caught a cold.

Realising as she returned her gaze back to the other girl that she hadn’t even introduced herself, Harmony gave a quiet gasp and bent her front body low, averting her eyes to the stone ground with a flushed face, “I’m so sorry, how rude of me. I’m Harmony Chan. It’s nice to meet you.”

[Charisma Turner G3]

Charisma tapped the girl on the shoulder. Surprisingly, she had not woken up. All she did was moan. Charisma tapped the girl again, but instead of waking up, the girl started screaming. Charisma decided she'd tap her one more time, and if she began to beat herself, she would run away and call a teacher. This time, Charisma finally recieved a response out of the girl. In an effort to wake up, the girl had accidently hit her head on the stone wall behind her.

"Ouch, that looked like it hurt!" Charisma said. She held out her hand to offer help, but instead of taking it, the girl stood up on her own, all the while blushing. Charisma wasn't sure of the reason for this, after all, it could be anything from embarrasment to the cold weather, but she was. She mumbled something that Charisma couldn't quite understand and she stood up and picked up her book. Her face looked pale, as if she was sick. This was no surprise to Charisma, after all, she could have been sleeping there for a number of hours. A couple of sneezes had indeed confirmed her prediction. The girl conjured up a tissue and introduced herself as Harmony Chan.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Harmony. I'm Charimsa Turner."

Charisma flashed Harmony one of her beautiful smiles and continued. "I'm a third year Gryffindor, but I don't think I've seen you in any of my classes, despite the various and mixed groups they've been putting together...I mean seriously, I have some classes with sixth years!" Charisma was very good at spreading the joy and starting a conversation, and she hoped Harmony was a good person, she didn't want to be hanging around a downer, it would completely dampen her day.

[Harmony Chan H6]

Harmony laughed at Charisma’s statement, and nodded in slight pain whilst brushing off the dust from her dirtied robes. “Yeah, that hurt… Ow… I’m so clumsy…” Harmony flashed a lopsided coy smile as she ran a hand through her mass of short hair to press gently at the bump that was gradually forming. “I’m in second year.” Harmony explained courteously in reply to Charisma’s statement that she was a third year, whilst continuously nursing her throbbing head with a sustained wince. “Hufflepuff.” Harmony gave a shy smile through the pain, making a mental note to see Madam Pomfrey later to make sure she hadn’t seriously done damage to herself. Turning her eyes properly on Charisma now, Harmony took in her features silently. The older girl was rather pretty, with long brown hair and a friendly smile, which Harmony returned shyly. The embarrassment had yet to wear off, and part of Harmony just wanted to bolt from this situation. However, she held her ground, knowing it would be terribly rude to just run away. Plus Harmony had to stop avoiding her problems; she had to face them head-on, stand up to them. ”Otherwise I’ll never overcome my fears." Harmony thought with an inward sigh, though a small fire of determination ignited itself within her, burning brightly through all her feelings of pain, confusion, embarrassment and shyness.

Trying to place Charisma’s face, Harmony gave up with a shake of her head after a while, “Nope, I’m sorry, I don’t recognise you. Like you said, I probably don’t have any classes with you.” Harmony smiled gently, clutching her book closer to her chest, “I know what you mean.” She nodded understandingly, a wry expression on her pale face, “I had to work with a fifth year in Divination the other day. I’m not complaining, because she was really nice, but I’ve found I’ve got no classes with my friends.” Harmony laughed softly, flinching again from the pain that this brought immediately to her head. Rubbing the bump apprehensively, Harmony gave a nervous laugh at the statement to do with sixth years, and nodded along. “It’s annoying.” Harmony added, glad this girl was being friendly to her.

Quickly thinking of a topic of discussion, Harmony’s darting eyes glanced sideways to stare out into the raining scenery, “Um… so what brings you out here, Charisma?” Harmony attempted to make conversation nervously, “It was raining so badly, I thought I was going to the only one silly enough to be out here, for sure.” Harmony’s lips flitted upwards a little at this. The only person she could think of that would be very willing to come outside on a day like this was her elder sister. Harmony remembered Ari running outside with a small smile on her usually stony face, twirling around with her eyes closed, face turned up to the heavens as she savoured the rain pattering against her skin. Harmony had tried to follow her sister, even though she hated the rain, and always got soaked to the bone so much that she ended up with a dreadful cold. It seemed the past repeated itself much too often, as Harmony right on cue gave another loud sneeze, covering her mouth quickly as she sniffed.

“Oh…” Harmony blew her nose again on her tissue, feeling a little dizzy. Why had she been so stupid? She always had to make the same mistakes, didn’t she? Why couldn’t she change? “I’m sorry.” Harmony flashed Charisma an apologetic smile, “I’m afraid I’ve caught another cold…” she trailed off dejectedly, not in the mood for lively conversation. Letting her body take over her brain and feeling her back slump against the wall, Harmony sunk down to the ground again and sat against the stone, hurting head touching the wall again. “I’m sorry… I think I’m going to have to sit down, otherwise I might faint. I hope that doesn’t happen… I’ve never fainted before…” Harmony barely knew the words tumbling out of her mouth. She was tired, plus her body was going from hot to cold. Shivering a little, Harmony automatically wrapped her robes around her tighter in a desperate bid for warmth. She really didn’t want Charisma to see her as vulnerable as she was now, since she barely knew her, but Harmony felt like she had no choice. She just felt so terrible, like she did years ago in the same situation.