Dancing Barefoot ((India))

[Katya Love S5]

“The fisherman has won, and the fish is in the net, but it does not die and be dead. It keeps flapping and slapping against the sides of the boat, turning and seeking for its element and suffering the deprivation of the essence in which it lives. This distresses the fisherman. He does not want to think about the death-throes of the fish, which is his prize and his victory. Thus you are to the world and to us also. Re-die, and let things stand as they were.” She had read this many times before, like she had read most books. The book in which held insight into the dark kingdom of the mind was one that she loved. Katya looked at the cover after having finished the section she had been reading, and sighed. She couldn’t ever get enough of this book. It was always so compelling; no matter how many times she read it through. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg was a priceless tale that could never be retold. Sometimes Katya wished she had lived in a world like Deborah had, but then sometimes she wished she didn’t live at all. There was a certain time and place for those kind of thoughts, however, and at the moment was certainly not the time nor the place, so Katya pushed her book into her shoulder bag and clasped it shut before turning to the kitten in her lap.

Anastasia was curled up in a small ball in her lap, her tiny head hidden underneath her two front paws. It was the way she always slept and it was so cute, but Katya wanted to get up. She shifted her legs slightly, hoping that would wake the kitten, but all it did was cause Anastasia to roll over so her paws were up but bent downward. Katya sighed and thought about what to do. Simply enough she could move the silly cat, but she knew Anastasia wouldn’t appreciate that and she was hoping to have some company as she lay in bed with thoughts, voices, and images running through her head later on in the night. Well, what had to be done, had to be done right? Right. Katya scooped the little ball of fur up into her hand and then set Anastasia on the ground. The kitten yawned and then immediately tried to jump back into Katya’s lap. “Net.” Anastasia hissed but did as she was told and plopped her cute little bottom on the ground, watching Katya with big blue eyes. Katya stood and looked around the Courtyard, quite glad to see it was deserted except for her and Anastasia. Katya slipped out of her shoes and swept them aside as she stepped onto the cool grass.

It squished between her toes nicely and Katya let a secretive smile lighten her otherwise depressed face. She was too young to look the age she did, but she didn’t really care all that much. She had stopped caring what she looked like when her mother died. Or, at least, she had stopped caring what she looked like to the extent that she had cared before. Katya smiled softly now as Anastasia rubbed up against her bare ankles and mewed before pouncing on a lightning bug. It had gotten fairly dark rather quickly, but Katya wasn’t worried. It wasn’t like the Slytherin house was going to win the Cup this year anyway. She didn’t mind detentions either. She sighed and lifted her left leg, sweeping it across the grass in a half circle, her toe pointed. The kitten kept pouncing at the lightning bug as Katya spun in a small circle, her arms hugged tightly to her chest, her hands in clenched fists. She closed her eyes, continuing to spin and spin. Her plaid skirt spun with her, waving with each revolution. Katya didn’t open her eyes for quite some time, she was focusing all her energy in just spinning in that one particular spot. She wasn’t going to fall, nor was she going to move any further than that exact spot in the grass underneath the tree that was blooming green.

After ten minutes of just spinning, Katya stopped, took a deep breath, let her arms drop to her side with her still clenched fists. She didn’t open her eyes, for fear of being dizzy and seeing the world spinning still. After another five minutes had passed and the only sound that could be heard was Anastasia pouncing on the damned lightning bug and Katya’s deep breaths, she opened her eyes. The world wasn’t spinning as she hadn’t wanted it to, and with that she unclenched her fists slowly; causing a numbing pain to shoot up her fingers into her wrists. Anastasia was still wrestling with the lightning bug and Katya was about to retrieve the cat when someone spoke from behind her. Immediately, Katya wheeled around, her wand at the ready. She was quick when it came to people sneaking up on her.

((Net = No in Russian.))

[India Nightingale]

((My apologies for replying so late; art exam and illness caught up with me. And I hadn't intended to write so much, but I couldn't stop rambling, so I hope you don't mind.))

India walked slowly through the courtyard, head tilted downwards to stare impassively at the ground. She was careful to tread lightly, her footsteps barely making a sound as she strolled across the lush green grass. The courtyard was deserted for now, probably because it was starting to get dark, and India was grateful for that. She was in a dark mood, matching the dimming skies, and if she had chanced on somebody getting in her way, she would have let loose a rather nasty comment. Sometimes she didn’t want to, but she did it anyway. Her self-control over her selfish thoughts was near to nothing, and that in itself frustrated her a great deal. Letting her dark hair fall past her cheeks to dangle in the cool breeze, India suddenly put a hand to her head as she tried not to groan in pain. Here came one of those stupid headaches again. Muttering softly to herself, she tried to ignore the stinging ache in the back of her head. It often occurred there, had always hurt in the same place since she was a child. Since the accident, in fact. Growling frustratedly, India continued walking forwards anyway at a faster pace, not wanting to let anyone see her in pain. Why was she here again? Oh yes. To clear her head. From the inane amount of studying she had crammed in tonight. Well, that plan had obviously backfired. All she could think about was the work she still had yet to go over. Workaholic? No way.

India suddenly halted and bent down, refusing to wince in pain from the soreness in her head. She’d never admit her headaches might be due to the mass amount of time she spent pouring over books. ”The night air.” India blamed irritatedly before turning to her cat, Devil, who had been walking with her all this time; still he hadn’t left his mistress, despite her fluctuating moods and aimless ambling. Perhaps she ought to slow down her pace again, just for him. Smiling into his intense turquoise eyes, India had a sudden urge to die and be reincarnated as an animal. As anything except a human being. Humans with their weak emotions and selfish desires. Ruffling Devil behind his ears elicited a soft contented purr, and India smirked at his endearing reaction. Cats had such simple lives, such straightforward thoughts. How she would love to be a cat. India was gently preening Devil’s sleek black fur, contented that the pain in her head was receding, when her pet suddenly perked his long ears up, his eyes flashing in one direction. Mewling to himself, he bolted away at his usual lightning rate, India showing no surprise at his behaviour. It often reminded her of her.

Straightening up with a small sigh, India decided to follow Devil, wondering where he had gone. The little thing had always been so curious and inquisitive, something she had picked up about the cat the moment she had met him in Diagon Alley. His unusual pointy ears had caught her attention first, followed swiftly by his clear turquoise eyes that glimmered with attentiveness. He was a pretty little thing, his possible cuteness spoiled by the almost scary look he emitted with his glossy dark fur. But India had liked that. Devil may creep others out, but he and her fit together like glove and hand. Unlike most people, Devil had also taken to India immediately, surprising the shopkeeper. She was more than willing to buy him, and he was probably the best birthday present she had ever had. Of course, it had been slightly ruined that Skye had chosen a similar pet for herself on the same day, at the same time, for the same reason. What had India expected? Whatever she had, whatever she would get, Skye had to have also. Those were the rules, and there was nothing India could do to separate their bond any further than it had already been severed. India was grateful though that Skye had chosen a female fluffy sandy-white cat with curling ears rather than sharp ones, but Ivory was in fact Devil’s twin sister. Hence their identical eyes. India snorted to herself at the memory. How typical of her twin sister.

India was knocked out of her memories when she caught sight of a figure up ahead, Devil nearing them. Peering closer through the dark, India could see it was a girl with long brown hair, standing barefoot on the grass. Lowering her gaze, India could make out a small shape on the ground, moving excitedly. It seemed to be a cat. India could see now why Devil had randomly decided to come this way; he had probably sensed the fellow cat’s presence. Once again India was reminded of human’s inferiority in comparison to animals’ natural instincts, but cast the thoughts away for now. She really needed to stop contrasting herself to not only other people, but animals too. She needn’t worry, really. India knew that she was better than everyone else, always superior in every way. Animals need not be thrown into the equation also. Walking forward a little faster to catch up to Devil, India finally recognised the other girl as a third year Slytherin she had seen around. Her name was unknown to her, and India had no opinion of her either. Perhaps she could gather one now, as it seemed an encounter would be inevitable. Devil had boldly approached the Slytherin’s kitten, and India decided to intervene before he attracted more attention to her from the girl. “Devil!” Snapping at her pet in a scolding, sharp tone, India ran forward to scoop him up as gently as possible; although she probably appeared mean and domineering to outsiders, she was actually extremely careful with animals, and Devil himself knew she meant no harm with her harshness. India liked to put on a face to ward people away from her, and being a loner suited her personality perfectly.

Swiftly standing up, India was aware the Slytherin had whirled around to face her, obviously surprised at her sudden presence. India eyed the wand she was protruding in her face, and stared down at it, unnerved by the situation. “Careful where you point that thing.” India muttered with a warning tone before dropping a protesting Devil to the ground. He didn’t like to be held back from doing something he was intent of committing. Just like her. India looked back up at the younger girl, staring into her green eyes; she wasn’t scared of her, as she was no doubt stronger and faster than her. India had always retained lightning reflexes, and had the girl even started to speak a hex, India would have had her lying on her back. She never hesitated when it concerned violence. “Sorry for interrupting. Devil’s curious.” Not caring if the other girl understood who Devil was, India left her to be confused if she was. She had never worried if she came across as too straightforward or haughty to people. They didn’t actually know her, so they had no right to judge her. Plus, it wasn’t as if she cared what they thought. Them and their silly little fantasies. Glancing down at the younger girl’s bare feet, India raised a sleek eyebrow, noticing the abandoned shoes some way off. Devil was now interacting with the other cat, and India felt the need to also be social with this Slytherin. She really was feeling strange today. but this happened often, really. Whenever India didn’t know what to do with herself, she followed Devil’s lead. A human trailing a cat. It was as if she didn’t know how to be human. All India knew was how to be nasty, horrible, and mocking. Just to keep people away from her. She didn’t want anyone to near her, to touch her. The thought of it was disturbing.

But this girl didn’t seem so bad. Weird. Alone. Slytherin. That would do for the odd conversation. She was soon deemed worthy in her mind. When was the last time India had spoken to someone? Now that was a brain-wracking question. She could probably say Skye, but that didn’t count. Skye couldn’t actually speak, after all. ”No thanks to me.” India thought bitterly to herself. It was probably Duke, at the end of the day, in the letter she had sent him last week asking for some supplies. Though she hadn’t actually spoken to him physically. Hm. Well, whoever it was, it’d probably be this girl here. “What are you doing out so late?” India proceeded to ask with a face of stone, her tone flinty. The Slytherin hadn’t done anything, but India was being light on her really. Even if nobody had committed a crime against India, she would’ve normally snapped their heads off without indecision. “I’d watch out for the prefects. You won’t get off so lightly. I’d know.” It was true India had been caught out and about like this on many occasions in her younger years. She couldn’t help liking to go outside during the night hours, but for some godforsaken reason, Hogwarts didn’t allow it. The darn place was protected, what on earth could possibly happen to her? Plus India felt, no, knew she could look after herself. She’d been doing that all her life. Turning away from the Slytherin girl, India looked down at her bare feet, noticing the grass beginning to stain on the bottom. “And I’d put your shoes on too.” India added, trying to ignore the happy mewls from down below. It wasn’t like Devil to be so social, so what in god’s name did he think he was doing?

[Katya Love S5]

Katya stared. Her eyes holding no emotion. She just stared. When the older girl spoke, Katya lowered her wand considerably before pulling her mouth into a sneer; “I wouldn’t be so worried about where I point it, if I were you. You could knock me into an oblivion if you wished it so.” She pocketed her wand again, knowing that most Slytherins would take what Katya had said as a compliment; when in reality it was just her telling the truth. She was only a third year, and this girl seemed to be at least two years older than her, thus she had to know more magic than Katya did. Katya wasn’t completely helpless, though, she did know a fair amount of disarming spells. Expelliarmus had been taught in their second year and nearly everyone in the school knew it by then, even the pathetic excuses for a witch or wizard. Katya merely cast a look at the girl’s cat when she mentioned Devil being curious. She knew how that was. Anastasia was almost always running off to look at something, pounce on it, or gnaw at it. Sure enough, the moment the older girl had put down her cat, Anastasia gave up on the lightening bug and pranced over toward the black cat with her white tail high in the air. Katya watched as the cats seemed to stare at each other challengingly and then Anastasia pawed at the other cat’s head before mewing and tackling it. Katya rolled her eyes, biting her tongue from muttering something in Russian about the audacity of some animals. If she had been presented in a situation much as Anastasia had been presented in, she wouldn’t have responded like her kitten at all. Actually, Katya would be doing what she seemed to be doing at the moment. Ignoring the person completely and finding something else to immerse her mind in. Her cat was her escape goat.

She was torn from her thoughts and forced to look over at the older girl again when she asked a question. Katya shrugged. She didn’t want to really tell the older girl why she had been out so late. Avoiding voices, images, or anything that isn’t there was not a good thing, even in the wizarding world. Katya knew this, therefore she didn’t mention it to her. She had, in fact, told Conan about it in the common room a night or so ago, but that wasn’t important to her. It was just her taking refuge in the fact that someone understood what she meant even if they were in completely different predicaments. “I’ve been out here since the last class of the day, reading. When it started to get dark, the words in my book became harder to read; so I put the book away and wandered over to the grassier area of the Courtyard.” Katya eyed the older Slytherin again, trying to recall a name; but none came to mind. This meant that the Slytherin wasn’t very social, because Katya knew everyone’s name if they were social. Most of the other out casts didn’t bother to make their names known, and the only reason Katya was known to so many girls in her year was because of her mother. They would mention her, ask her for an autograph, and then one of their friends would whisper (but loudly enough for Katya to hear) “Didn’t you know? She died.” Katya never really understood how they had ever heard of her mother, because they would have been only six when she died, but Katya never asked because she really wasn’t all that interested in why they knew about her mother or how. Katya broke away from her thoughts again as the girl said to watch out for Prefects. Her first response was a quick roll of her eyes.

“Do you think it would matter if I was caught out past curfew? I can deal with a detention and Slytherin isn’t going to win the house cup. I think if the people who put us in this damned hole of negatives are allowed to have fun, I should be, too.” Katya scowled at the memory of the two girls who had lost Slytherin to lose so many points. Rachel Mason, who thought she was the Queen Bee to rule all little Worker Bees, and her puppy dog follower Patrica Dawsinson had both decided to sneak out of the common room in front of everybody and head into the Forbidden Forest. How dense could you get? Katya shook her head before looking over at the kittens who were playing rather forcefully, but still playing nonetheless. Anastasia, although she was loyal to Katya, had missed animal interactions and Katya knew it. She didn’t need to have perfect vision to see that. Her mind returned to the older Slytherin when her voice filled the air again, this time about Katya putting her shoes back on. Katya looked down at her feet and then back up at the girl with a smirk on her face; “When I want advice from someone, I’ll make sure to ask them for it. And I’m pretty positive that I didn’t ask you whether or not I should put my shoes on.” She didn’t mean to sound so cold, it just came as second nature to her. People didn’t approach her, and if they did it was because she was still sitting in her chair in a classroom and the bell had tolled to signal the end of that lesson.

“Chto vy delaete?” Katya hissed lightly as her gaze fell on her cat who was now being pinned underneath the other cat. Anastasia nipped at the cat’s ear and then struggled out from underneath the weight before dashing behind Katya’s leg and peering from behind it. She rolled her eyes again before turning to the older Slytherin, “Anastasia’s enjoying the company of… Devil, was it? She usually locks herself away in the dormitory until I get out from classes. The only time she’s really interacted with another kitten was the other night when I had to pry one off her. They weren’t having ‘fun,’ though, the other kitten was just being cruel.” Katya said quietly as Anastasia meowed in agreement and then pounced on Devil again. Katya looked away from the kittens and back up at the older Slytherin, “I suppose it would only be respectful to introduce myself, no matter how little importance you will hold my name as. I’m Katya Love, that’s Anastasia if you didn’t already gather that bit of information.” She jumped back slightly as the kittens dashed over her feet and around the two girls. This was absurd! Katya sighed, “And you are?”

((Chto vy delaete = What are you doing? In Russian. Also, don't worry about the length. I have the similar posts where the rambling just goes on and on.))

[India Nightingale]

India could sense the usual Slytherin cockiness the moment the younger girl opened her mouth to spit a retort at her comments. She felt her natural meaner, nastier side shift a little with impatience as she listened to the cold words, and wondered what was holding her back. Devil’s attitude had certainly put her off. Perhaps it was because of him. So far she had been quite light on the younger girl – she wasn’t in the mood to have a nice fiery argument, which India sometimes lavished in. It was nice to throw her anger and bitterness on someone else rather than locking it up and using the mirror to dispel such dark thoughts. “I could if I wanted to.” India started with a nod of her stony face, a slight smirk touching her lips, “But that would be a waste of my time. I have better things to do than blast younger Slytherins into oblivion.” India’s eyes followed the silent girl’s gaze to their pets playing on the grass. A part of her wanted to reach out and swipe Devil away from the other cat, but seeing as he was having “fun”, her heart ached to stop him. Besides, Devil always got what he wanted. Even India couldn’t stop him.

India half listened to the girl’s statement on reading, barely interested in what she had to say as she kept an eye on the two wrestling cats emotionlessly. She was playing it cool with this girl, and in all honesty, she was bored out of her mind already by her company. However, her attention latched onto something she said as her interest piqued a little at the mention of the house cup. “I couldn’t care less either. The cup represents nothing, in my opinion. It does not reflect my abilities whatsoever. But detentions are a waste of my precious time, and no prefect is going to tell me what to do. Don’t tell me you would happily accept their punishments.” India snorted to herself, remembering vivid memories of spending her detentions doing absolutely nothing worthy of her efforts. “Have your fun if you want,” India continued blatantly, ignoring the girl’s sour tone, “I certainly couldn’t give a damn.” India wasn’t sneering yet, which was a miracle. She was merely calmly looking down on this dark haired girl, just passing pointless time. Usually around younger students, India was controlling and downright mean, whereas with older peers she was less of a bully, and more sarcastic and cold. Respect was not a word that existed in India’s dictionary. Currently, she was treating this girl as someone her age, and that unnerved her slightly, though did not give away any of her emotions. Perhaps it was because this younger child seemed older than her age; she certainly emitted an aura of someone older than thirteen or fourteen years old.

India knew what the girl was talking about concerning the negative numbers of Slytherin. From what she had gathered, two foolish Slytherin girls from third year had wandered into the Forbidden Forest some night and had lost the house quite a few points, plunging them into negative numbers. India would’ve congratulated them on this act had it not been such a stupid thing to do. Idiots. The situation had been rather funny though, and at the time, had made India smirk. “Never said you should take my advice.” India retorted with a little more menace and a roll of her greeny-blue eyes. “I don’t expect anyone to be good enough to understand and or accept it.” She added with a cool smirk of indifference. It slowly faded into her usual cold visage as she once again eyed Devil with his new “friend”. What a “lovely” sight. It made India want to be sick. Afterwards, Devil would be getting a good scolding. However, watching her pet made something stir within herself, and it took all of India’s inner efforts to push it right back down again.

“Russian.” India stated impassively when she heard the other girl conversing with her pet. So she was a bilingual kid. Like her. “Allons-y.” India proceeded to ask Devil quietly whilst the other cat hid behind its owner’s leg. India didn’t have to prove anything by speaking a random statement in French, but she had felt like doing it, and if the girl didn’t understand it, or the language it was, then tough. She just wasn’t educated enough. India’s words were not a question to her cat, but a statement. However, Devil merely shook his small head at her, his glimmering turquoise eyes like diamonds in the darkening atmosphere, and pounced on his companion cat once more. Swearing silently under her breath, India refrained from rolling her eyes. It was unlike Devil to disobey her. Obviously the silly thing was having too much fun. A part of India felt guilty. Just because she hated company, didn’t mean she could deprive Devil of it too. However, India’s mind stabbed at her with his small betrayal. Devil had always been a solitary creature by nature anyway.

“Devlin, actually.” India stated in reply. The girl had also been observing the two cats. “Devil as I usually call him, seems to be enjoying Anastasia’s company too.” India said witch an offhand tone of voice. She didn’t really care what she was saying to this girl right now. She liked to establish quickly with other people that socialising was at the bottom of her to-do list. Hence little communication with others. “I wouldn’t worry about Devil if I were you. He’s harmless if you’re not his enemy.” India sent a swift look at her company, not really caring if the girl understood her eye language or not.

Surprisingly, the younger Slytherin introduced herself, giving a rather familiar name that stirred in India’s memory, though she dismissed it as nothing. India would give the cold shoulder to anyone that crossed her path, courteous or not, but it helped to respect India. She didn’t think much of Katya knowing her name. It didn’t really matter. This conversation wasn’t going anywhere, and neither would it be memorable for either of them; any mention of anything personal would result in India leaving anyway. She was merely wasting her time here. “I don’t really know who I am,” India started as she glared a little at Katya, “But you can call be India. India Nightingale, I’m more commonly known as.” India wondered if Katya had heard of her identical non-speaking sister in Gryffindor, but tried not to think about it. What difference did it make anyway? “And Devil you’re already met.” India added afterwards, motioning towards her preoccupied cat with a glowering glance at his activities.

((Translation of “Allons-y.” = ”Let’s go.”))

[Katya Love S5]

Katya shrugged at the idea of a detention. The girl had said she didn’t want to waste her precious time, but Katya didn’t have any precious time to waste – so a detention wouldn’t be anything huge on her part. She was one of those people who didn’t really care what happened at school. Her father wouldn’t do much if she were failing any of her classes and he most definitely had no right to punish her for a detention here or there considering what he had done in his years at Hogwarts. Actually, the only thing Katya wouldn’t be able to get away with would be an expulsion and there was no way Katya Love could get expelled anyway. Her grades were too good, and she hardly received detentions and if she did she didn’t give any trouble attending them. As the older girl said that she didn’t expect anyone to understand or accept her advice, Katya rolled her eyes again. She didn’t say anything, though, because she knew it wouldn’t matter what she said to this girl… it wouldn’t mean anything to her. Katya had dealt with many people like her, and it wasn’t something new to have to sit there and take the arrogance and ignorance from an older Slytherin. Katya was actually rather practiced at it. She had to be practiced at it in order to get through three years in Slytherin without taking the snide comments some of the girls said to her to heart. Now those snide comments just rolled off her shoulders, and Katya wouldn’t think too much about it. The girls were just either jealous or insecure about themselves, and Katya held it that to what they were saying about her. Katya never went around and talked bad about the people in her house, so she (like many other Slytherins) held herself higher above everyone else in the house. She wasn’t arrogant about it, though, because in order to be arrogant about it she would have to talk to someone… and that was something Katya never did.

She broke from her thoughts at the girl’s mentioning of Russian. “Da.” Katya said in reply. The girl then followed suit and spoke to her cat in French. Of course, Katya knew it was French – her father prided himself on his ability to speak French fluently. She hadn’t ever bothered to learn the language, seeing no connections it would make in her life. Her father had learnt Russian for her mother, and now that her mother had died he had seemingly lost the ability to remember little words such as ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Katya had often debated with herself whether or not to go a whole summer only speaking Russian just to see how far she could get without her father going completely ballistic on her. She never got around to it, though, because she wouldn’t ever speak to her father during the summer hols. She just locked herself away in her room and only came out when forced to by her grandmother. Katya raised an eyebrow when the girl said that Devil was harmless unless you were his enemy; “Well, I have no desire to be the enemy of a cat or of you for that matter. Anya, well, she doesn’t make enemies. It’s the biggest thing we have in common, actually.” She didn’t seem to care if the girl would rather be off doing something else at the moment. Honestly, if Katya could scoop up her kitten and head back toward the Slytherin common room – she would. But she knew it would prove to be an impossible feat, so she stayed right where she was.

After Katya had introduced herself, the girl took a moment and then introduced herself as India Nightingale. This was after she said she didn’t know who she was. Katya tilted her head to the side and thought about that statement for a moment. There was silence and then Katya shrugged before straightening her head, “I don’t think anyone really knows who they are.” She said in small reply. Katya didn’t want to get into a deep intellectual and personal conversation with this girl, she actually didn’t want to get into a conversation like that with anybody. Conan had successfully pulled tears from her, but of course he did it unintentionally. Now, Katya didn’t need another sob story fest this week. Instead, she looked down at the kittens who were still playing and shook her head in disbelief. What was so special about Devil that made Anya put down her defenses and have fun? If there was one other being on the Earth that understood Katya, it was Anastasia and that was because they were one and the same. They were so alike it was insane. But now, it was as if they were two completely different people and that frightened Katya a bit. She didn’t mention this, though, for fear of being called or thought of as insane again. After a moment, Katya looked over at India; “I have no idea what has gotten into her.”

((Da is Yes in Russian.))

[India Nightingale]

“I can’t say I’m like you.” India muttered softly after Katya commented that she, Devil and Anastasia were similar in the aspect that they rarely made enemies. Shuffling her feet a little, India turned away purposefully from Katya and the cats, intent on not staring with disbelief at what she was seeing. India couldn’t say she was properly angry (yet), and her frustration was still at a minimum, but a part of her just gave way when gazing upon such a scene. It hurt, and it was uncomfortable. India hated being made to feel either, and was scrabbling to gain control of the situation. “I don’t look for enemies, but they seem to find me anyway.” She shrugged casually, her mind running over list of dozens of people who loathed her mere presence. India didn’t care if they accepted her or not, because she had no desire to be liked by such stuck-up students. She was used to having enemies, especially at the second children’s home her and Skye had been housed at before Duke had come along. Everyone hated India there, and she hadn’t expected the situation to be any better at Hogwarts. At least she was left to her own devices here, and India treasured that. She honestly thought having enemies a waste of time, but if those idiots wanted to hate her, they were welcome to. “I just treat everyone like my enemy because that’s what they expect me to do too.” India stated simply after a short pause, her tone of voice less flinty than before, yet still not endearing to Katya, “But since you have no intent of that, then that’s fine by me. I’m tired of meeting fakers like that.”

India nodded once at Katya’s reply, and a small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. “Hm, well, that’s true. I quote: ’We’re all grieving, lost and bleeding’.” India liked that phrase a lot. It definitely applied to her, more than people realised. No one really understood the girl that was India Nightingale. Well, India didn’t really get herself either, and was still searching for the true person she was. She had never expected anyone else to even try to understand her, and wondered if she would be alone all her life... Was she alone now? No... Technically Duke was there for her, but he'd be gone one day. India was certain she could fend for herself, like she had done for all her life, but... was loneliness what she was searching for too? India shook her head a second later with an irritated expression, clearing her mind of such thoughts. This wasn’t what she had been expecting to talk about with Katya. Especially Katya. “But let’s not go there. You don’t want to go into deep crap like that with me.” India snorted derisively, folding her arms across her chest in a defiant manner.

“No, I don’t know what’s gotten into Devil either.” India stated bluntly with unhidden annoyance, finally averting her gaze back to her mischievous cat, “He’s usually like me. We don’t talk much, or in his case, communicate. I’m a loner and proud of it, and so’s he, normally. I’m being more ‘talkative’ than usual right now, which you might count a blessing or not, I don’t care. Yeah, this to me is ‘talking’. Shows how social I am.” India gave an ironic bark of laughter at herself, gazing at the twinkling stars that were staring to emerge. My, the time had flown, and night came upon Hogwarts a lot earlier than in the summer. India wasn’t complaining though, she liked it. “The times I open this mouth of mine is generally to insult someone, which is quite often, so don’t be surprised if I do. I’m not going to apologise for being me, and I’m certainly not scared of offending people.” India clenched her teeth a little, her eyes still staring down at the cats and avoiding eye contact with Katya, “I would say Devil’s the cat version of me.” India added as an afterthought, tone considerably quieter as she watched him and Anastasia playing what appeared to be tag. “I wish I could be him. I just think all humans are scum.” India shook her head with a roll of her eyes and shaking her hair out a little.