Only Half Crazy ((Charisma))

[Maryn Livley]

"Morgen! Morgen!" Maryn called. She looked around her dorm. Nope, there was no brown owl flying gracefully to her side like usual. Morgen was Maryn's owl and pretty much a companion. In Maryn's opinion, owls were better than dogs. Maryn sighed. Where could that owl of hers be? Morgen had never not come when Maryn called her. It seemed liked Morgen always knew when her owner needed her or wanted herby her side. Maryn side as she fell back onto her bed. She heard a crack as he head hit something on the bed. "Ouch." maryn said sitting up as she rubbed her head. Maryn looked behind her to see what she so gracefully hit. Great. She thought holding up the newly broken picture frame. Maryn sighed. It was a picture of Maryn, Leon, and May. Maryn nearly felt like crying, but she held the tears in. Maryn looked hard at the picture. That had to be taken around Christmas last year. They were outside with the wind blowing their faces and Maryn's hair flying ever which way. Maryn laughed for a brief moment. Then, she looked at Leon's picture. Her eyes were glossed over with tears at this point. She just kept looking at hit face. She hadn't seen that face in a long time. And she would never see that face again. Only in photographs, but pictures weren't like the real thing. Maryn whipped away the tears and flipped the broken frame over. She bend over and stashed in under her bed. Maryn was determined to not look at it for a long, long, time.

It had been half an hour since Maryn had last called for Morgen. But, there was still no sign of her owl friend. Maryn sighed. Hopefully Morgen was okay. Usually, Morgen spent time in Maryn's dorm. She didn't really like the owlery so Maryn just let her sleep in her acage. But, Morgen could be in the owlery for once. Maryn just wasn't sure. Maryn got up from her bed and looked out of her window. But, still, she didn't see her feathery friend. Maryn sighed as she pulled he Gryffindor robes closer to her skin. Maryn felt cold. She needed to send a letter to Mercy, but that would have to wait until Maryn found Morgen. Finally, Maryn was tired of sitting around and doing nothing. Maryn walked out of her dorm as she went to ask a friend of hers if she had seen Morgen. Maryn went down the hall and walked into the third year girl's dorm. She saw her friend in there. "Charisma, have you seen Morgen?" Maryn said walking in. "I haven't seen her in a while and I'm kind of worried." Maryn said pacing a bit. "Look at me. I'm a mess. I miss an owl." Maryn said about herself. She stopped pacing. "Wow, I'm mental." She said half joking, half not. Maryn looked at Charisma waiting for her to say something.

[Charisma Turner G3]

Charisma walked into the Great Hall with an extremely empty stomach. She was always like that in the morning. She took a seat at the Gryffindor table and loaded her plate. Suddenly, in the distance, she noticed one single brown owl flying around around the vast room. It was odd that nobody else had any mail, but Charisma wasn't thinking about that at the moment, because that one little owl happened to be Buttercup, Charisma's mother's old owl who had come with a letter with a muggle stamp on it. Ethan. She thought with a smile. Ethan was her muggle boyfriend who she had been best friends with for years.

Charisma had a mini-tradition of opening all Ethan's letters in her dorm room where she could see a picture of the two of them while she read and replied to his letters. Feeling obliged to continue the mini-tradition, Charisma took the letter and walked up to the common room with Buttercup on her shoulder.

As she entered the common room, she noticed many people were crowded inside, each doing their own thing. Whether it be talking, relaxing, or even catching up on homework, it seemed like almost every Gryffindor was packed in there. Charisma opened the door to the girl's dormitories and entered her dorm where she found all her things right next to the window, including the picture of her and Ethan snuggled together at a muggle party she had been to over the summer holiday last year.

Charisma started to open the letter when she noticed her friend Maryn, who was a year older than her walk into the dorm room.

"Hi Maryn!" Charisma said, happy to see her friend.

"Charisma, have you seen Morgen?" Maryn said walking in. "I haven't seen her in a while and I'm kind of worried." Charisma put down Ethan's letter next to their picture and replied to Maryn's question.

"Sorry Maryn, I haven't seen her anywhere!" Charisma said, frowning. "I could help you find her if you want."

"Look at me. I'm a mess. I miss an owl." Maryn said about herself. She stopped pacing. "Wow, I'm mental." She said half joking, half not.

"Don't worry, loving an owl isn't a crime!" Charisma said, stroking Buttercup. "In fact, I think anyone who doesn't care to miss her owl is crazy." Charisma said, smiling. "Now, are we going to look for her, or are we just going to stand here missing her?" Charisma waited for Maryn's answer.

[Maryn Livley]

Maryn smiled a tad bit. No, she wasn't crazy. Just nearly crazy. Nate had always told her this as a joke, but Maryn had been believing it as the truth recently. She had, had a rough year. With Nate's illness and Leon's death. It had all been a lot of one girl to handle alone. And many of Maryn's friends were gone. May and Flo had been barely seen for months and Kia was probably busy with that nearly boy toy of hers. Stryder wasn't at school anymore and neither was Elisabeth. Maryn didn't feel lonely though. No, the silence had done her some good actually. But, she was slowly dripping back to reality. Maryn smiled at Charisma. At least Maryn wasn't completely alone. No, she had Charisma and Kia still. She was glad for that. The term alone wasn't one that Maryn liked much. But, she could handle it none the less. Maryn searched out Charisma's dorm window for a sign of her owl, but alas, she wasn't there. Maryn sighed. Maryn's mind seemed like a schizophrenic wing. It bounced from feeling to feeling with no in between Alone isn't horrible. She thought to herself. Only half crazy.

Maryn nodded. "I don't think anyone has." She said shaking her head lightly. Maryn glanced at Charisma's owl and smiled a bit. Then, she remembered Morgen and frowned. Maryn nodded. "Yea, that might calm my nerves a bit. I've been so jumpy all over the place lately. My nerves have been everywhere. Looking for Morgen might settle them I think." Maryn said nodding, reassuring herself a tad bit." Maryn nodded slightly. "True. I've had Morgen too long not to care. And Miss Cranky Pants, Mercy, loves her to death. I think Nate would miss her the most though. He's been so loving towards everything lately. It seems odd for a boy, but not Nate." She said lightly. Nope, her sick brother was different from other boys. And that's just the way Nate needed to be and just the way Maryn needed to be.

Maryn glanced over near Charisma. A crocked smile came to the edges of her mouth. "How's Ethan?" She asked nicely. Maryn knew about Charisma's boyfriend of course. Maryn looked down at the ground for a moment. She had been scarce with boys lately. Just Leon was hard to get off her mind and Maryn really did like him last year. She wanted to be with him always, or at least until she graduated, but that didn't work out so well. Maryn had nearly had feelings for Stryder, but he was gone. Besides, Leon had always been the one that Maryn wanted. For awhile, she thought that Flo and Leon would make a cute couple, but then she realized, Leon might have liked her back.There was another boy Maryn had liked, but Maryn hadn't seen him in months. Maybe this was for the best. Being alone was for the best.

Maryn sighed. "Let's go." She said turning to leave the dorm. Maryn would find her owl friend today. She was determined to. Maryn looked back to Charisma. "Sorry, I've been sort of M.I.A. lately, stuff has just been on my mind. But, I'll get better." Maryn said shortly. "Soon." She added half lying. Whatever Maryn was feeling now, was just hurting her in the long run. She wasn't feeling sad over Nate and Leon, she was just, feeling. She was just feeling something that made her feel bad. Something that made no sense. Something that scared her, but Maryn had to face the facts, Something with Maryn was off, but what was a mystery to her. Maryn made her way through the crowded Common Room and out the portrait entrance. She looked back to Charisma. "Where should we go first?" She asked calmly.

[Charisma Turner G3]

Charisma listened intently as Maryn spoke about the insanity of loving your owl, which really isn't an insanity at all. As Charisma had said before, loving your owl doesn't make you crazy...okay, maybe half carzy. Then, the subject was changed to Maryn's brother Nate. Charisma had heard so much about the kind small boy. A child like Nate didn't deserve the hell he was going through. In fact, even though Charisma had never met him, Nate often reminded her of her mother. She was always so bright and cheery, and she had such a kind heart. Just thinking about mom brought happy thoughts and memories into Charisma's head. But of course, with happy memories comes the sad ones. She remembered it as if it were yesterday. Little Charisma sat in a corner crying while her father sat by his wife's side holding her cold, lifeless hand while doctors ran around frantically searching for the real cause of her death. Even during her funeral there was madness. Detectives were asking questions that little Charisma and her father couldn't answer, meanwhile little Charisma watched as her beloved mother was being lowered into the ground in her casket. It was all too much for Charisma, she had to stay focused on what's going on now, not in the past. Charisma wiped a small tear from her eye, hoping Maryn didn't notice it, and continued her conversation with Maryn.

"Oh, Ethan's doing just fine...I hope. I actually just got a letter from him, but I didn't get a chance to read it, some over confident Slyth bothered me while I was in the middle of reading it." Charisma smiled as the thought of Ethan entered her mind. "I hate that kind of person, you know? The kind where they think they're better than you just because they're Slytherin." Charisma thought back to that day by the tree. "But anyway, I'm just really upset that I wont get to spend Valentine's day with him, you know?" The thought had only just occurred to her that she wasn't going to be able to spend the most romantic day of the year with her boyfriend. "But anyway, I think we'd better be going...how about we try the owlery first? Then maybe if Morgen isn't there, we can check out the grounds...maybe she'll be by Hagrid's cabin."

((I'm starting a thread at the valentines day ball soon, maybe you want to give it a try? If you do, you can invite anyone..it's an open thread.))

[Maryn Livley]

Maryn noticed a tear race down Charisma's face. But, she decided not to say anything. Maryn didn't know what would make her cry. Maryn knew things about Charisma's life. Her mother had died, right? Yes, now Maryn remembered. Maryn wasn't going to bring it up though. She didn't think that Charisma wanted to talk about it and Maryn certainly didn't want to offend her. Maryn looked down at her feet for a moment. She knew that loosing a love one was hard. Maryn had her parents and she loved them, but sometimes she wondered. Things has gone from good to bad so fast with Nate. Could that happen to her parents too? That was always a possibility. They did travel quite a lot on business for there Bookshop in Birmingham. Maryn became scared for them every once in awhile. She was the kind of person that saw the worse possibilities in her mind and not the best ones, but she could help that, not at all. Or at least she had never really tried. Maryn sighed. Why couldn't she just be like Kia, wild and carefree? Or at least that's how Kia always seemed to be. Maryn sighed. She would never be that way, she knew it.

Maryn smiled as Charisma talked about Ethan. She seemed to like him a good deal. "Well, that's good." Maryn said semi lightly when Charisma said that Ethan was fine. Maryn rolled her eyes when Charisma talked about a Slytherin getting in the way of reading Ethan's letter. Maryn wasn't rolling her eyes at Charisma, but at that Slytherin boys. "They always seem to bud in at the worst possible moments, don't they?" Maryn commented about Slytherins. She only ever found one that she could relate to. But, Aurora had disappeared in the middle of the New Year's Ball and Maryn hadn't heard from her since. She missed Aurora, but Maryn had not a clue on her ware abouts. Maryn looked over to Charisma. She nodded. "Yea, hate all of them. There all the same." She said dryly. "I've only met one kind one and she's gone. Forever maybe. It's just really hard for me to trust them." She said firmly. Charisma talked about Valentine's Day and Ethan. "I know what you mean, but I don't have a boyfriend so i don't know what you mean, you know?" She asked not really sure if her words made sense.

Maryn nodded. "Yea, the owlery sounds good." Maryn nodded as she started to leave the dorm. She looked back at Charisma as she walked down the steps and then shortly after, out of the Common Room. Maryn sighed. "I hope we can find her, but I she might turn up later if I don't see her today, I guess." Maryn offered herself out loud. She just wanted to make herself feel needed. She sighed and looked back to Charisma. "Well, thanks for helping me." Maryn said soundly. She had a thought. "I hope I'm not ruining your day. Am I?" She just wanted to make sure she wasn't ruining any of Charisma's plans for the day. Maryn rolled her eyes sort of to herself. "I do that a lot, ruin people's days. I mean they don't say I do, I just feel like I do." She explained. Maryn walked on towards the Owlery. She waited for Charisma to say something.

[Charisma Turner G3]

Charisma noticed Maryn roll her eyes at the comment about the Slytherin boy. The scene came back to her almost instantly. He had said almost anything he could to make it sound like Charisma was the mean one, and that he was completely innocent. But whatever. He wasn't worth it. Charisma returned back to her conversation with Maryn.

"Yea, hate all of them. There all the same." Maryn said dryly. "I've only met one kind one and she's gone. Forever maybe. It's just really hard for me to trust them." This comment made Charisma think.

"That's true...I had a cousin that was a Slytherin...she disappeared sometime ago. Her name was Aurora...we never really talked much because I only found out we were related after she disappeared." Charisma said thoughtfully. "I heard she used to be really sour, but when she found out her dad was muggle, she went soft...but that's just what I've heard." Then, Maryn said something that really surprised her.

"Well, thanks for helping me." Charisma smiled. "I hope I'm not ruining your day. Am I?"

"Actually, I'm happy for the escape...I was going get started on Snape's essay, but that's not due for ages." Charisma smiled as she walked out of the common room and headed toward the owlery.

((sorry for such a short post...I just wanted to spring that whole Aurora cousin thing and then shut off my computer...I'm really not feeling well.))