A Chilling Morning ((Randy))

[Brianna Bowman R7]

Clouds littered the sky, covering the only warmth that the world could offer at that moment, the sun’s rays hardly visible through the thick cumulus clouds that lined the sky above Hogwarts. The snow packed grounds sparkled in the overcast day, the world seemingly left forgotten by the warmth of the sun. There was a cold, chilling wind that blew through the world, causing snow to sweep across the grounds to form a new resting spot against the castle. Everything was quiet save for the soft howl that whipped by. Birds were silent; trees were still, and the lake frozen over for the winter. It was the way the world was when death seemed prevalent, when the world was mourning. It was how everything seemed to be in the early morning as the bundled figure slowly moved through the snow, her wand making a path through the ice cold snow to the rock she normally visited when taking a walk through the grounds. Today she was happy to enjoy the world as it was. Of course when one was as she was how could they not begin to enjoy the little things in life, the delicate things that would help bring a bit of joy to the life of a dying individual?

Brianna Bowman stood there, next to the rock, her body kept warm by the simple magic she had come to revel in. Her eyes closed slowly as she took in the deep chilling air, letting her lungs constrict in the stinging freeze that raised goose bumps on her arms. She was glad to be back. Glad to be finishing out her days at Hogwarts, the only place she’d actually come to call home. In all sense of the world Hogwarts was her home. It was the place she felt content at, the place where she had friends. Now as she moved to sit on the rock she found that she would have to tell her friends the truth soon. To tell them that she might not even been around long enough to graduate from Hogwarts. She knew the possibilities of how long she had. After all, she’d seen her father die of the same thing. The treatments were severe in nature and Brianna had made a decision, which her mother resented, to withhold treatments until she graduated. It could very well mean she would die before that, but she didn’t care. All she knew was that she had to at least fulfill one of her dreams before she under went treatment.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as curled up into a ball on the rock, her knees pressed to her chest as she wrapped her arms around her legs. She needed these few minutes in the morning to think. She needed to remember why she was there, what her life was all about. Till recently she realized that she hadn’t ever really lived. She had just been a shell walking around, surviving the world in the least way possible even though she was only seventeen years old. How could she have gone through so much of life and not really enjoy it? She knew nothing about some things. For instance love…she had never got to experience love. The thought made her stomach twist into knots as Drake Manning came to mind. No…she didn’t love him. She was being forced to marry him, this dog of a man who was more concerned with himself than anyone else. He probably wouldn’t even show up to their wedding. The thought brought sadness upon her that she wasn’t willing to admit out loud. She knew deep down that she had feelings for him, feelings that she couldn’t handle or deal with right now. She was above and beyond falling for him and she knew it. It was the subtlety he possessed, the suave, the charisma, and the power. He was everything she had always thought she’d want in someone that she was going to marry. The thing was though she knew he didn’t feel the same in return. He didn’t feel anything about her and she knew that it could only mean that if they did get married, she would basically be alone like she always had been.

Brianna was woken from her thoughts as the wind penetrated the small warming spell she had put up before walking outside. It was enough to send a chill through her. Her sisters would kill her if they found her outside right now. She knew that if she caught a cold she wouldn’t be able to get rid of it, not when her body was as weak as it was trying to fight off the sickness that was eating its way through her. Pulling out her wand she muttered the spell again and waited for the warmth to flow through her once more. Her mind distracted from her thoughts she looked up, her eyes falling on a figure not too far away. It seemed she wasn’t the only one out here at this time of morning. She recognized the girl slightly, but didn’t know her name or what house she was in. Instead of being her normal anti-social self she pulled herself up from the rock. “A bit chilly this morning don’t you think?” Brianna asked softly from her sitting position, her eyes moving over the girl.

[Randy Kerr]

The entire dorm was quite and still. Even Randy even though she was wide-awake. It was as if the girl never slept. But, she did even if it was only for a few hours a night. She possessed so much energy that she never knew what to do with. So, she ran it off. Or joked it off. Randy was constantly moving which explained why her knees were shaking underneath her covers. She glanced out the near-by window to the icy, snow-covered grounds. Randy smiled her little crocked smile. She loved warm weather, but snow was nice as well. When it snowed, the world still felt warm to Randy. But, everything usually felt that way to her. Randy saw the world so different from others and she didn’t understand why. But there was a very simple reason for it actually. She was living the life her mother never got to live. Randy was living for her mum, the very lady who died on Randy’s sixth birthday. Randy made a promise to herself to live a full life, but she didn’t realize that this was the very thing that made her different from so many others. She just wanted to live and not think about it. Randy was care-free and full of life and that was the way she wanted it. Because if she was sad, she remembered her mum’s death and all she felt was depression. So Randy had to feel happy. Always.

Randy couldn’t take anymore. The air was freezing and she had to do something about it. So, she would do her favoring thing in the world. Run. Randy was great at running. She ran away from memories and thoughts and life. But, sometimes she ran to thing. It simply depended on the mood that she was in. Today, Randy would run simply for fun. She didn’t want to think about anything sad or traumatic. She would be that happy girl that lit up the room. The one her friends loved and Zack adored. That was the girl she would be even if it killed her to be that girl. Randy grabbed her favorite Nikes. She always got a pair for her birthday from St. Claires but these were her favorite. They were white, with black and gold stripes. They were classic. Plus, they had David Beckham’s signature on them. Randy had tracked him down after a football game the year before and he signed them for her. Besides, her mother’s ruby ring, the shoes were Randy’s most prized possession. Randy smiled as she slipped them on. They made her feel comfortable and unstoppable just as running did.

Randy ventured out into the cold in her pajamas. But, they happened to be a cute yellow track suit and her favorite tee-shirt. At first she was freezing, but that melted away when she started to run. When she ran, Randy could be whoever she wanted. She wasn’t that girl who’s mother was dead, who didn’t know her father, and who lived in an orphanage. She was Miranda Lila Kerr, nothing more, nothing less. And that was exactly who she wanted to be for the moment. Randy eyed the cold, grey world around her. She loved sunshine, but she quite liked this icy feeling as well. For once, she didn’t have to squint. She never wore sun-glasses. And she liked being alone. During classes and in the halls, she was surrounded by people. She had so many friends and then of course Zack who never seemed to fully leave her sight. When she got alone time, it was rare and much needed. Randy glanced at the iced-over lake. She was ready for warm weather so that she could jump right in, but spring seemed so far away. So, Randy and her impatience would just have to wait.

Randy ran for a good hour. She didn’t even notice the time fly bye. She was too focused on running ahead. She was even a bit sweaty despite the bitter cold. She didn’t even feel it. Randy expected to see the grounds completely empty when she ran on toward a large rock. But she noticed a girl leaning against it. A small smile was on Randy’s face. She felt much better now. Randy recognized the girl. She was older and Randy knew her face, but not the name. She didn’t care. Randy was a people person. She nodded as she planted her feet on the ground. “Defiantly. I’m ready for spring.” She smiled wishing that a flower would suddenly emerge from the icy ground. “I just want to wear a pair of shorts and flip-flops and sun-bathe on a rock.” This was one of her favorite spring pass times. This made her feel all warm inside. “But this is nice too.” Her thoughts always seemed absent and half-thought of. That was simply Randy. She couldn’t explain herself, but she did back her actions up. Randy smiled softly to the girl. “I do wish that it was colder. I figure that if it has to be cold, it should at least be below zero.” She smiled and laughed at herself as always. “Then the snow seems worth something.” Randy smiled and looked to the frozen lake. Her thoughts always seemed weird to some, but they made perfect sense to Randy. The explained her.

[Brianna Bowman R7]

The warmth of Brianna’s spell quickly took affect and she was left with only the soft warming of what seemed to be a fire in her body. It was enough to keep her body temperature from falling and risking a cold on top of her already life-threatening illness. She laughed bitterly in her head at the word ‘life-threatening’. It wasn’t life-threatening…it was life-ending. There was no threat in it. In less than a year she’d be dead. It was unheard of people living past 5 years with treatment, without treatment it was less than 3 months normally. Brianna just hoped her body would fight it long enough to graduate, once she did then she’d start the treatments and prolong her life for a few more years…if she were lucky. So sitting there in the cool morning air Brianna couldn’t help, but enjoy the beauty of the world that she had long taken for granted. People never really knew what they were missing until their life was going to end. There wasn’t much she could do about it now though. She couldn’t go back in time and smell the flowers every day, she couldn’t watch the snow lightly touch the ground, some melting and others staying until the rays of spring melted the cold ice away. All Brianna could do was live everyday to the fullest, risk everything so that when she left the world she knew she had at least experienced life.

The soft reply from the girl before her left a smile imprinted on Brianna’s features. It was good to see someone that was happy to be there…someone that seemed to live life to the fullest already. Brianna wished deep down that she had been that way in her years at Hogwarts, that she hadn’t just been so caught up in her studies that she forgot to do things that were fun. It was a sadness that Brianna didn’t want to experience and so she pushed it to the back of her mind. She was bound to enjoy herself now. She was bound to live her life better…different than she had for the past 17 years. She was going to live a life worth living…Brianna nodded her head almost undetectable as she listened to the girl talk about spring and then about the winter. It was the easiest conversation in the world to most people. It was a conversation that anyone could be apart of. There was no right and wrong answer, there was only opinion. These were the conversations Brianna didn’t have too often. To her there was always an answer, right or wrong, to everything. It was the small things, the obscure topics…normal conversations that she never wanted to have. She used to think what was the point of a conversation like that? There was no right or wrong answer, it was just discussed to learn more about a person. Now…now she wanted those conversations. Those uninteresting…almost dull conversations that did nothing more than show you a bit of personality. Maybe that’s why Brianna nodded her head. Maybe that’s why she smiled and listened, taking everything to heart.

Brianna laughed softly as her eyes sparkled with renewed strength, the weakness of her body’s immune system seemed to boost slightly, leaving the weakened feelings of her limbs to be unnoticeable now. “Spring is perhaps my favorite month. It’s the rebirth for everything. The snow melts, the birds return, the world begins anew. There’s nothing better than seeing a world covered in death be reborn,” she said as she looked around the world. The snow covered everything, the green grass was dead, the trees were cold and barren, but the world was locked in this view of death…but really it was more like a phoenix than anything. The constant birth, aging, death, and then rebirth. It was a beautiful thing to see, a beautiful thing to know. She laughed again. “I don’t want it to be that cold. It’s one thing to be like this, it’s another to have to throw on three jackets just to go outside. To me…snow is always worth something. Without snow the world would cease the constant rebirth it needs. It is almost the sheet of death in a way. If a phoenix didn’t have ashes would it be able to be reborn? Truly snow is always worth something.” The philosophical moment made her think about her own life. Maybe this disease, this tumor was really it’s own covering for her rebirth. Maybe she was supposed to be reborn before her inevitable death. It was at least something to ponder if nothing more.

“My name’s Brianna by the way,” she said with a smile as she held her hand out to the girl. The girl was slightly familiar to Brianna, as was just about everyone in the school, but she didn’t know her name. Brianna was actually horrible with names. She had never had time enough to learn people’s names and that was mostly due to her constant obsession with reading everything she could, of knowing everything the world had to offer. Now that seemed like such a wasted thing in her eyes. What was the point of knowing anything about the world when you weren’t going to be around long enough to actually enjoy it? Not that she was really enjoying it now anyway, being caught up as she was in everything so unimportant to her future. She only hoped her sister would learn that. She knew she had made that promise, but she still hoped that her little sister would at least enjoy life at the same time as finding the big cure she thought existed. Brianna hoped that one day she did find it…and that the cure would be used on not only wizards and witches, but also on the muggles whose lives were also being destroyed by such a devastating cancer. She shook the thought from her mind as she turned her attention back to the girl. “I’m a seventh year Ravenclaw.”

[Randy Kerr]

Randy eyed the sky. She begged in her head for it to clear and the sun to shine, but no such luck. It’s was winter of course, clouds seemed to come daily and nothing more. Randy was just ready for spring because with spring came all the things she loved. She loved running barefoot and she loved spring sports, football and of course Quidditch was more enjoyable in the spring for Randy at least. But, spring was a good few months away. Well, at least the weather that Randy was longing for was. She was a spring girl. She always had been. True, Randy was a summer girl as well, but spring was more enjoyable, less hot and more fun. And Randy could never turn down fun. Randy kicked the snowy ground with her sneakers. Couldn’t the snow just melt away right then and there? Of course not. Nothing was that easy. Well, Randy did know of a melting charm, but it would only work in a small area and it wasn’t worth the effort. At least Randy didn’t feel cold. Nope, the running wore that feeling off fast and hard. Running always made Randy forget everything. She forgot about the cold and that her toes felt numb. She forgot about it all and that was the way Randy wanted to feel.

Randy nodded slightly and eyed the sky before looking to the older girl. She smiled slightly. Randy liked those months too. The months when the ice and snow faded and the warmth and sun came. Everything was more enjoyable those months. Randy didn’t feel gloomy on her way to classes nor did she feel like skipping them. During the winter, Randy just wanted to curl into a ball and take a nap. Spring made her feel cheery and it made her appreciate her life more. She waited all year for this time of year and she wasn’t about to pass it up without enjoying it first. Randy eyed the girl. She was smart. Randy knew this already. She nodded slightly. “I dunno. Snow just makes me want spring even more. It taunts me I guess. It should be sent to Azkaban.” She laughed lightly. Randy couldn’t help it. Her cheerful, joking nature would never go away. It was etched in her. It was a part of her and Randy would see that it always would be, for her mum.

“I wish I had a giant heating charm right now to warm up the ground.” She smiled at the thought. “My runs just aren’t the same in winter as they are in spring. Nothing is I guess.” She nodded to herself. Randy moved her feet back and forth as she listened to the girl talk. Randy was constantly moving. She couldn’t help it. This was another reason that Randy loved spring so much. In the warmer weather, her body seemed to want to run more and want to stay in shape. During the winter months, her body almost begged for Randy to stay indoors and not go on that normal one day jog. But Randy ignored it. She would do what she pleased and she couldn’t imagine not going on her normal run. Randy ran every day normally, something twice a day and if she really felt out of it, three times. Running cleared her head and helped her think different thoughts. Randy was perfectly content with her life and this world when she ran. When she wasn’t, there were so many things Randy wanted to change. There were so many people she wanted to reach. It was almost a burden to think the way all of the time, but Randy did. It was almost as if she could hear those people call to her. She couldn’t really, but Randy could feel there pain by the radio and the newspapers. Randy needed these runs. They helped her more than anyone could ever understand.

Randy smiled as the girl introduced herself as Brianna. “Randy.” She paused and smiled. “Well, Miranda technically, but only my teachers call me that.” And the St. Claire workers all besides Lila, but Randy wasn’t about to mention that. Randy never talked about St. Claire’s, not even to Zack usually. But they both knew it existed and it was a part of Randy’s life. Randy only went to St. Claire’s during the summer holidays usually and even then, she spent more time at Zack’s house than in her own room. On most nights, Randy would sneak out and sleep on Zack’s floor. The workers knew she was doing this, but they knew Randy too well to care. They knew that she needed Zack. Randy shook her head lightly, brushing the thoughts away. “Sixth year Hufflepuff, who wants to kick you guy’s butts at the House Cup.” She joked. Randy wished Hufflepuff would win again, but Ravenclaw always excelled at classes. “But I guess we’ll see how at turns out.” She smiled and nodded. That they would. Randy looked to the sky and then back to Brianna.