Drowning The Darkness ((Caleb))

[India Nightingale]

India trudged sluggishly down the long stairway to the Common Room, glad to be away from her sleeping, silent dorm mates. It unnerved India to share space with people she really didn’t want to know, even after five years of sharing the same dormitory. Holding her alight wand out in front of her, India entered the empty Slytherin Common Room quietly, not surprised but glad to be alone. It was almost midnight after all, and no one in their right mind should be up and about. Not unless they wanted to have a whole month’s worth of detention. India noted the dying embers flickering weakly in the fireplace even from her position, and ceasing Lumos, pointed her wand at it and muttered a spell to put the last wavering flame out. However, even without the light that it gave, the wall lamps still twinkled dimly, lighting up the area in long shadows. Wrapping her black silk nightgown around her tightly from the reduced warmth, India proceeded to steal softly down to the comfy sofas situated near the dead fire, her bare feet cold against the carpeted floor. What had happened to her slippers? India couldn’t remember, even though she had just left her dormitory. The nightmare she had just had had awoken her, for she had never been a deep sleeper, and found herself shrouded in the darkness of the dorm, suffocating in the atmosphere she shared with five other people. India found she could barely breathe, her wide glassy eyes staring around at the still, huddled forms of the girls, and before she knew it, she had thrown her nightgown on and stolen down to the Common Room where light outshone the darkness, where she wasn’t left blind in the black of night, and where she could be alone. How ironic. India couldn’t stand to be in that heavy darkness, but needed to be alone.

Pulling her knees up to her chest in a foetal-like position, India snuggled her face into her lap as her blue-green eyes stared blankly at the black coals that once brought flames alive. Her wand lay beside her on the couch, unneeded but not forgotten, as India relaxed alone. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep tonight, even by early morning. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, India rarely got any sleep, and was usually even weaker the following day. There was no helping it though. India couldn’t banish the nightmares from coming during her induced sleep. She wouldn’t sleep if she could help it, but it was something even she couldn’t control her body in doing. India could stop herself eating and drinking, despite her physical needs, but sleep was something even humans couldn’t battle against. So every single time, India found her solitude in the Common Room until the sun broke out and filtered in to warn her of dawn, and then she would return to her dormitory like a mouse, to go to the bathroom and pretend she had been asleep all night. Not once yet had she been caught in the last five years – not by a prefect, anyway. There had been the odd meetings with random Slytherins, who usually scooted once she sent them a less than friendly glare from here position. India let her black hair cascade around her face protectively as she thought back to the nightmare she had just had, bitterly spurning the fact that it was always the same images, the same echoing words that died but remained in the shell of her ears.

Alison. David. Tim. James. Skye. Duke. They all flashed before India’s eyes like a whirlwind, confusing her and throwing her into turmoil she couldn’t get herself out of. Yes, even Duke appeared, though his role in her dreams had always been vague, because India could never remember that part afterwards when she awoke, drenched in cold sweat and a silent scream in her open mouth. Inwardly growling at herself not to think about the nightmare, India pushed the thoughts away to the back of her mind as she curled her toes under her nightgown, aware of the cold pressing in around her. If she had more body fat, maybe insulating her body would be easier, though India had never admitted that to herself. Suddenly, India was aware of footsteps tapping lightly down the stairs leading to the Common Room, and with annoyance cursed her luck. Who on earth would it be at this time of night? Another young student? India had no doubt she could frighten them away easily. Perhaps someone from her own dorm. India honestly hoped not. Or maybe a prefect, which would be awfully troublesome for India, because she honestly didn’t want a stupid detention, but it couldn’t be helped. She was already here, and there was no hiding herself. India was not about to step out of the Common Room, that was just plain foolish. So, India waited patiently as she heard the footsteps gradually get louder, until a familiar figure stepped into view, and India groaned from within. Just her night. A prefect.

[Caleb Donnelly S7]

A hooded figure, clothed in dark robes, black as the night stood before him. It was the same cloaked figure from all of his nightmares, the same figure that made him think family. The figure's dark brown eyes bored into his as he stood there, silent as ever as he watched Caleb. The cloaked figure lifted his hand, a single finger pointing out behind Caleb and he turned already knowing what he was going to see, but yet turning nonetheless. His eyes fell on the familiar face of his classmate, the short blond hair, and the blue/green eyes staring right back at him. The one person he had gotten close to in his 6 years at Hogwarts. The one person he could always depend on, even when he thought he would fail. Caleb's green eyes burned into hers and then the voice spoke out. "She holds the key to your families disappearance." The green light flitted into his dream once again and he watched as her figure crumpled to the ground...dead.

Caleb bolted up in his bed, his eyes wide and sweat streaming down his cheeks. That same nightmare from before. He ran a hand harshly over his face, willing the images to disappear and leave him alone, but still they burned into his irises and he had to press hard on his eyes in an effort to burn something else into them. How many times had he had that dream now? How many times had he wanted to tell her about his dream, but didn't dare? The girl had been through enough over the last 3 years, he couldn't bare to share this disturbing dream with her. Couldn't bare to tell her that she might die because she was helping him find out who he was. The heat radiating through his body was intense and he quickly shed the covers his eyes wandering around the closed curtains of his four-poster bed. He moved it aside and grabbed up his long black robe pulling it over his boxer clad body.

Fresh air...I need some fresh air, Caleb thought to himself as he ran a hand through his short sandy blond hair. He moved quietly around his room, not that it mattered if he was loud or not. He was a prefect after all, he could always make up some excuse for why he was out and about, besides who was really going to yell at him? He knew he'd be fine as long as he got out of the quiet dorm room. Steps echoed softly on the stone as he moved out of the dorm room and he started toward the common room. He sighed to himself as he came into the dimly lit room and then his eyes narrowed as he found a figure sitting on the sofa. His green eyes knew her immediately as a girl in the year below him. Nightingale or something like that. He pulled his robe closer around him as he realized it was still hanging open, his bare torso disappearing beneath the cloth. "It's late. You know you could get in trouble for being out here?" Caleb asked nonchalantly, not in the mood to really get anyone into trouble, not after the nightmare he'd had.

[India Nightingale]

Caleb Donnelly. Sixth year prefect. Just what India needed on tonight of all nights. A hand lifted to cover her face momentarily, before falling lax beside her curled knees. She wondered if she looked vulnerable to Caleb, sitting like this in the dark like a scared kitty. But somehow, India couldn’t find it in herself to care. Who cared what this guy thought? If he picked a fight or anything, even if he was some special prefect, India would show him what she was really made of. Though not having her wand beside her was kind of… inconvenient. To say the least. India had never been physically that strong. Sighing inwardly, she resigned herself to defeat for the second time that night, before studying Caleb’s figure mutely. She would not be the first to make some sort of greeting to break the heavy silence. India’s tired eyes wandered down Caleb’s tall, broad form uninterestedly, wondering if he’d noticed her, and what he’d say. Was she going to get a detention? India hoped not, but the likelihood of this was quite high. Was he going to give her some sort of lecture? India snorted inwardly. Waste of time. Caleb didn’t seem the sort anyhow, for which she was glad for. But then again, she didn’t think Caleb was her sort in any way. The guy was a bit creepy. Not that India knew much about him, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

Finally, Caleb spoke, acknowledging India’s presence. She listened to his words in silence, before giving him a quiet answer in return, her voice cold and hinting at haughtiness and indifference. “If I didn’t know, I’d still be sitting here.” Tiredly, India turned away, not bothering to grace Caleb with her gaze any longer. Turning around was hurting her back and neck, and India didn’t think it was worth the hassle. “Lecture me all you want, Donnelly. Give me a detention or whatever. It isn’t going to change anything. I can’t sleep and I needed to get away from that stupid dorm room where the others are sleeping like kittens.” India scowled into the darkness at the thought of her fellow Slytherins at peace in their dreams, whilst she was haunted day and night by her past and her present. “People need to be alone sometimes. Even if it’s in the dead of night.” India stated softly after a short silence. “So you can get me in trouble all you want. Just don’t make me go back to bed tonight. I can’t, and don’t want to sleep. All that does is bring nightmares, so I’d rather just sit here alone.” India knew she was rambling subconsciously, but didn’t bother stopping herself. She was too tired and worn out to care, and it wasn’t as if this would endear her to Caleb.

India rested her head on her knees again, eyes boring into the darkness shrouding her like a blanket. It was comforting here, yet India felt the familiar sensation of loneliness curl in her stomach. Sometimes her emotions were so contrasting, India didn’t know what to think. Realising Caleb hadn’t given her a reply to her words yet, India turned to stare behind her again, wondering what he was doing. She was about to ask him if he was going to give her a detention or not, until something hit her. “What are you doing down here anyway? Don’t tell me you have some sort of special psychic skill which tells you when someone sneaks out of their bed at night? Or cameras? Or a spell? I didn’t know you prefects were that enthusiastic. You’re like stalkers.” India commented dryly. Although she was talking a lot more than usual, her typical sarcastic and cold personality still shone through just fine.

[Caleb Donnelly S7]

((Yeah so this is horribly late, please forgive me of my neglect. I've been busy and Caleb has left me uninspired as of late.))

Caleb had no intention of lecturing or punishing India for being up at this hour. If her dreams were anything like his than he could never, under good conscious, send her back to the dorms to sleep. His own nightmare was still haunting him as he moved around the couch to look at her with an indifferent face. Caleb may have been a prefect, but he wasn’t one to get his own housemates in trouble, especially ones that looked as vulnerable as India did at that moment. Of course he would have never said that out loud, not until he planned his own funeral first. Being a prefect had its bonuses; one was that he knew a lot about other students. Prefects talked amongst themselves, had a few discussions in the lounge and discussed other students. It was common knowledge that they did so, or at least Caleb assumed it was common knowledge. So when he took his seat near India, but not facing her, he couldn’t help the chuckle that fell from his lips at her words. He hadn’t interrupted her at all during her talking, had let her say her peace. Truth was Caleb thought it was a little too much information, especially coming from the India Nightingale that he had heard so much about. He had heard about her cold exterior, about her numbness, but this was the first time he got to experience it first hand and he didn’t mind so much. It’d been awhile since he had had the pleasure of seeing someone so distraught that they were actually being rude to him.

With the soft chuckle finally coming to an end he leaned back in the chair. Caleb’s soft green eyes filtered across the room before landing once again on India’s form. He smirked to himself, wondering if the darkness could hide him from her view. He ran a hand over his face, his smirk returning back to his normal indifferent reaction. “I have no intention of lecturing you Nightingale. You’re obviously upset about something and strictly speaking just because I’m a prefect does not mean I have the right to lecture anyone. I simply suggest is all. In this case I’ll keep my suggestions to myself. And no I’m not psychic and I didn’t cast a spell. I’ll disregard what you said about cameras, considering electronic devices do not work at Hogwarts and it’s a muggle invention which I never thought in a million years I’d hear you refer to. And as for myself I simply could not sleep if you must know,” Caleb said before shaking his head. “Not stalkers Nightingale, vigilantes.” Caleb smirked as he watched her form, unable to really distinguish her figure. The images of his nightmare returned and he made a mental note to talk with Fiona later about it. It seemed anymore this nightmare was plaguing him as if he kept missing something from it, but he knew he wasn’t, well he didn’t think he was. There had been so much to the dream, so much to notice, so much to interpret, but still he kept having it. A nightmare that would never end, each night he would lay down and each night he would have the same dream, the same nightmare of watching his best friend die, watching her collapse. He shook the thought from his mind as he sat there, trying to find something of interest to speak about.

When speaking seemed to fail Caleb could only let his eyes wander across the darken space. It had been awhile since he had been in the common room when it was completely dark; it hadn’t been since his first year that was for sure. That seemed so long ago and it was. He was now nearing his 17th birthday and would be of legal age in the wizarding world. Caleb’s eyes finally fell back on the form of India. “So Nightingale what was the nightmare of yours about? It had to be pretty significant if it brought you, Miss India Nightingale, out to the common room in the middle of the night. I wouldn’t have thought a nightmare could bring you out here at all. I guess we all have our own little surprises.”

[India Nightingale]

((Lol, no problem. Apologies for taking my time too; other posts became priority, but I enjoy India posts more than anything.))

India watched with narrowed eyes as Caleb took a seat near her. His presence made her nerves stand on end, but she didn’t want to show it, knowing it would only be a sign of weakness for him to pick and expand on to use to his advantage. That’s what Slytherins were best at. Being one herself, India knew she used the same tactics, and she didn’t think Caleb would be any different. It was a case of outmanoeuvring the other. Her eyes turned to Caleb again when he spoke, deflecting from the empty grave of a fireplace. “Glad you see it my way. Lecturing me would be a waste of time.” She deadpanned coldly, scrunching her legs even further into her little body heat. Her arms wrapped tightly around them, bringing her chin to her knees. “And you’re wrong, Donnelly. I’m not upset. I’d just rather be left alone in my thoughts.” India wasn’t trying to cover anything up; she wasn’t upset. Upset wasn’t the right word to use. “No one has ever described me as ‘upset’ in my entire life.” India stated with a defiant glare. “Because I don’t get upset.” She turned away with a slightly irritated expression, “I’m tired and annoyed. That’s what I am. I am no prefect, but I’d suggest you stop suggesting. You’re quite right that you should keep them to yourself. They’re unnecessary. And you know perfectly well they’ll make no difference.” India cast him a look of finality, but their conversation didn’t seem to be over yet.

“I was joking, Donnelly.” India droned with a roll of her eyes, barely able to believe that Caleb was so fussy with the words she had let fall off her tongue without much thought. “No one is psychic, and I would’ve known had you cast a spell the minute I entered the room. I’m not quite that incapable.” India snorted derisively with a cool glance back at Caleb. “And actually, I know several people in possession of a camera here. Only the other day I set one on fire and burnt it to the ground. It belonged to a fellow Slytherin in my year.” India smirked somewhat cruelly at the memory, her satisfaction at having destroyed the object still there, along with the fear that incident had caused. “No joke, Donnelly,” India drawled as she leaned back into the couch, “I won’t name any names, but these inventions – and there are the wizardry type of cameras, you do realise? – are here at Hogwarts. There’s no denying it, even with rules in place. And just because I dislike muggles like everyone else in this dastardly house, does not mean I won’t refer to them. I’m more ‘refined’ than that.” India carefully let a leg stretch out, her nightgown shifting as she recoiled it again. Her toes were beginning to go numb, but at least they were warm.

“I’d already worked out that you hadn’t expected my presence.” India smirked to herself when Caleb claimed he could not sleep. “And that your wondering down here had nothing to do with me. In fact, I doubt you would’ve come here at all had you known. People can be so transparent.” India muttered the last sentence under her breath. “Vigilantes?” The smirk returned with a raised eyebrow. “What a haunting thought.” India ignored Caleb for a long silence that stretched between them, her eyes peeled to the cold fireplace again, until he broke it with a fresh question. She glanced up at him emotionlessly, though her head’s cogs were working overtime. Oh yes. She had revealed that she had been having a nightmare. This was a personal statement for India to make… having been caught off guard a little by Caleb’s entrance. However, no matter. She would rectify that mistake, turning it into something she knew he could not use against her. India was aware of the fact that Fiona O’Reilly, a girl in her year and house, was somewhat chummy with Caleb, and this made her wary of telling him anything that could be used against her even more. India didn’t have much against Caleb, but she didn’t like O’Reilly at all.

“The usual.” India eventually stated casually, her face rigid as though it was no big deal. “Every night for me is a nightmare. I don’t dream.” A small, sadistic smirk twitched at her lips, but it was no laughing matter. India had rarely had a single calm dream since the age of eight. “I was only inclined to come down tonight because, like I said, I couldn’t fall asleep again, and the last thing I wanted to do was share space with those imbeciles.” She meant her dorm mates, the ones that slept still as babies whilst India had tossed and turned. “I’d rather stay here, alone, where no one can disturb me.” She sent Caleb a searing glance, sending the message across that, yes – her space had been invaded by him. “But by all means, Donnelly,” India started again nonchalantly, “Stay. It’s not my Common Room. You might as well entertain me to what your nightmare was.” India’s eyes flashed in the dim lamplight. “After all, that’s why you’re here too, correct?”

[Caleb Donnelly S7]

Caleb couldn’t help the smile that crossed his lips at her defense. The rumors and talk was definitely true, the girl was like a block of ice. He had no way of knowing everything about her, no way of figuring her out, nor did he really care to. He would leave her as a mystery, one that intrigued him, which was a hard thing to do. Caleb didn’t get intrigued, didn’t have any desire for mystery at all. He figured it had something to do with the fact that he was an orphan. The mystery of who his parents are is enough to last him to the end of his life. So mystery for him was just an annoyance he’d rather not deal with, but for some people…some students he’d run across he found it better to leave them as mysteries. Else wise you risked being pulled into the never ceasing Nancy Drew novel that popped up in their life, or so it would seem. Caleb couldn’t lie; he was one of those people. With as much as he’d gone through with not knowing who he was or where he came from it was a Nancy Drew novel in itself. The only problem was that Fiona was not Nancy and he was certainly no detective himself. His life was more of a mystery to himself than it probably was to anyone else. So out of respect for those he’d run across he let them keep their mystery, or at least a few of them, the ones he respected anyhow. The rest he could care less about and as such he delved into them, read them like an open book for most of them surely were.

“Perhaps a proper definition of upset would help you. Being emotionally disturbed or agitated. I would normally refer to someone that’s sitting up in the middle of the night, obviously not happy, if one could ever call you happy, would be considered emotionally disturbed or agitated. But of course I cannot make such assumptions simply because I do not know you well enough. I don’t feel the need nor do I find you important enough to try to dissect your personality enough to get to know you either,” Caleb said with an air of disinterest. Truth was he was fascinated by her, by the strength she embodied even in her voice. Of course the way she was sitting would suggest she was far from being strong…showing an air of weakness in her physicality didn’t mean one was necessarily weak though. Caleb knew perfectly well that a stance like that could also be used to trap those lesser beings into a battle of wits, one where the ‘weak’ one would most certainly turn out to be the stronger of the two. Caleb admitted that he lacked in the area of wit. He didn’t care for it personally. There wasn’t anything interesting in battling ones beliefs back and forth when nothing the other said could possibly change the opinion of the other, so where in battling could one find interest? The smirk fell across his lips again as he nodded. “Fair enough Nightingale, I will stop my suggestions…just for you.”

Caleb stared into the hardly glowing embers of the fire as India rattled on about cameras and how he’d taken it literally. How could he not when her tone was far from sarcastic or joking? Then again maybe she just didn’t know how to show enough emotion in her voice to make things sound the way she was obviously meaning them. Why? Why did he even care? He smirked to himself, maybe it was because he loved to rattle people’s cages, to get them defensive and keep them on their toes. He’d done the same thing with Fiona when he’d first met her. Of course the girl wasn’t nearly as defensive as Nightingale was, but she had her moments of complete and utter defense at the slightest comment. It amused him. Women were strange creatures, one that couldn’t be lived with, yet one that he wouldn’t exist without. “I know they exist, I on the other hand am fairly impressed that you know about them. But there I am again, making suggestions when I have no right to. So please continue,” Caleb said with a bow of his head, his words the only thing that could be strewed as disrespect.

Caleb was getting more and more amused by the second as India seemed to be getting more flustered, but then again he couldn’t really tell. Did the girl actually get flustered? He’d have to make a mental note of finding out before the night was over. He enjoyed a good game every now and then and India made for a perfect player. She was strong-willed, arrogant, and yet weak in her own certain way. Or at least Caleb thought she had a weakness, she might not have viewed it that way, but he was sure she had an Achilles heel just like everyone else did. He just had to figure out exactly what tendon to cut to get to it. “I wouldn’t call it haunting so much,” he said with a smirk as he turned his green eyes to look at her finally, his eyes adjusting enough to see the outline of the features on her face now. She was definitely a strong woman. Caleb probably wouldn’t normally push her like this at this time of night if he hadn’t been trying to distract himself from the nightmare that had claimed him earlier. It drove him crazy not being able to figure it out on his own and now that he had finally decided to tell Fiona about it he felt weak, much weaker than he’d ever admit. It was one thing to rely on yourself for analyzing something; it was another thing to let your best friend analyze it. A sigh escaped his lips before he could stop it, his eyes moving to India in case she’d heard it and found it to be some sort of sign of weakness. After all she had just asked him about his nightmare.

Caleb decided not to let her get a chance to call him out on it if she were planning on it. Instead he went right into what she had said earlier, a sense of understanding coming over him at her comment about only having nightmares. “How bad are these nightmares of yours? That is of course if you care to share. I have to admit that sometimes my curiosity runs away with me, but to meet someone else…someone that has that many nightmares is quite interesting. There aren’t many out there like that I’d have to say,” Caleb said as he ignored her question. It was obvious why he was there. She knew it was a nightmare and as such there was no reason to reconfirm what she already knew. So with that he sat silent. “So these nightmares keep you up? Or are you-no offense-too afraid to sleep, although I highly doubt you Miss Nightingale would be afraid.” Caleb tried to cover his intruding question with a compliment, but it was a weak one and he knew it. He didn’t much care though at that moment, not when his own thoughts had drifted back to his own nightmare.

[India Nightingale]

India raised an eyebrow at Caleb’s comment. Emotionally disturbed? Annoyance stirred more prominently in her gut, but she ignored it for the time being. Caleb’s sarcastic comments weren’t worth her getting worked up over. “What are you, a dictionary?” India snorted derisively, sending Caleb a cold stare from the corner of her eyes. “Are you a book that can be read?” She demanded emotionlessly, the walls falling automatically from her mouth. “I am not ‘emotionally disturbed’, nor am I ‘agitated’, but you’re certainly going to fulfil your prediction if you keep making such stupid insinuations. Are you always this cocky, Donnelly? Oh wait, I forgot; everyone in this house is an arrogant idiot.” Rolling her eyes in disdain, India ploughed on; yes, she did like the sound of her own voice. Although she normally didn’t say much, when someone did manage to initiate a conversation of sorts, she had a lot to say. India enjoyed holding the floor. “I would’ve felt so honoured had you tried to dissect me, Donnelly.” She muttered dryly, her voice sarcastic. “Because that’s exactly what I’ve wished for all my life. For people to disturb me during my nightly rituals, make false accusations and then claim they never wanted to ‘dissect’ me in the first place. Christmas came early.” Was India ranting? Whatever. It was liberating to be able to rant without any apparent strings attached, because India didn’t have many people to actual exercise her gob to. One’s mouth could never really be overworked; rather, India’s was under-worked.

India’s eyes flickered over to Caleb again when he said he would cease his suggestions finally… ‘for her’. She raised a slender eyebrow, looked him straight in the eye for a few seconds, and then smirked. “Hn.” She made a small noise of acknowledgement, before turning away again. India didn’t do thank yous, and she didn’t think Caleb’s submission was something to thank; he rather gave the impression that he wanted to do this anyway. India hadn’t forced him, it was on his own free will. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Donnelly.” India reprimanded in a sarcastic tone of voice, showing she was only stringing him along rather than taking him seriously. “Of course I know about them. You really know nothing about me though, do you? Well, thank god for that. Otherwise I would have faltered in my steps to keep my anonymity.” Smirking, India tucked more strands of falling black out of her eyes. Her vision was obscured as it was, it didn’t need the tickling tresses of her hair to fall into her face. She was probably a right sight right now.

“Well then, what would you call it?” India challenged defiantly, never dropping her guarded, cold and sarcastic tone of voice, but their conversation had turned more playful than hostile, and the mood had lightened somewhat since Caleb’s entry. Something about him put India at ease, though not completely; he was still another human being, a man in particular – he could potentially harm her. India expected it when Caleb decided to turn the subject of nightmares on her rather than elaborate on his own, despite her queries. She smirked to herself in the darkness, knowing she had hit the nail right on the head. Caleb was more of an open book than he realised; or maybe he didn’t know how observant India was. Perhaps lots of people would’ve viewed her as dense and dumb, but anyone who had ever shared a class with India would know how clever she was; or rather, how widely she read around the subject that she could rattle off every fact in the world concerning just a small topic. It was the height of success you reached when you spent all your free time pouring over textbooks in the Library. There wasn’t a single non-fiction book in that large room that had not been unturned or untouched by India. Over the last six years she had sucked in all the knowledge she could and hoarded it in that brain of hers.

Nightmares were never a pleasant topic for India; in fact, she never would’ve continued on such a disturbing subject for her had Caleb put her so much at ease with their bantering chitchat. She knew she could ‘joke’ and get away with whatever she said, and so she spoke; yet although she was willing to answer Caleb’s questions, she expected him to return the ‘favour’ – she wasn’t going to let him go that easily; India would get him to reveal all in this ‘game’ too. “How bad? On what scale?” India’s lips curled into a mocking smirk. “Bad enough for me to be sitting down here in the middle of the night. Why don’t you ask yourself the same question, Donnelly?” India’s eyes stared straight at Caleb’s piercingly, “How bad was your own nightmare? Because if it was enough to bring us into contact, I’m sure our scale ratings will match ‘to a T’.” India’s ‘T’ was pronounced clearly, echoing around the room as her teeth came together to produce the sound. It was an expression India had heard of, but never used, and used it now mockingly. “I don’t need to share because it’s already something I’m sure we have in common...” India’s voice dropped, but she continued to look Caleb in the eye daringly. “Don’t you think?” Her smirk twitched. “Oh no. I don’t think there are many people quite like that at all.” India claimed with a drawl as she broke eye contact and sat back, appearing to relax against the chair. “Interesting indeed.” She concluded to the ceiling, a low chuckle in her throat.

It wasn’t really a laughing matter, but something about the coincidence and yet irony of it all made India want to explode. She knew she was kidding around with Caleb, but the fact she was joking so much was quite alarming in itself. She was admitting things India would never have spoken aloud, but at the same time it was so fun to string Caleb along in this little game of theirs. His next sentence almost made India laugh; it was almost as if he was trying to get on her good side, to compliment her with his “no offence” and saying she of course would not be afraid. Well, of course not; India, afraid? Yes, so the answer was a yes, but as if she would ever admit that aloud. Nightmares were meant to be scary – that question’s answer would hardly be difficult to answer in reality. Both she and Caleb knew the answer to that, because it was the same reason she was sure to why both she and him were sitting down here at the moment, talking, bantering. She turned back to Caleb once more, a bold and challenging gleam in her eyes; she hadn’t felt this daring in a long time. “Why don’t you ask yourself?” Her voice was quiet, and yet it reverberated around the Common Room. “Are you afraid?”