Fourth Floor Run-In ((Grace))

[Josephine Bowman S7]

Josephine Bowman flipped out her compact mirror immediately glossing her lips once more before she fixed her hair. Pulling a strand of hair back from her face she tucked it securely behind her ear. The wind was soft, but warm…keeping her hair from being too tousled, but giving it an envious quality as well. She was more concerned with her appearance than normal today. Of course it had to do with the fact that she was going to be going to Stephen again in that hidden classroom. In order to keep her supply going she had to continue pleasing Stephen however he wanted her to do that. In the compact mirror she couldn’t see how pale she looked or how distant her eyes seemed to be. She was lost in a world of drugs and that was clearly evident. In the mirror she got sight of the chain around her neck, her left hand immediately moved to the chain, trailing down to the small metal vial that hung around her neck. It was her lifeline anymore. It was the only thing that kept her from falling into depression, from reminding her of why she was so far gone.

Brianna’s face came to mind and Jo felt her heart beat erratically in her chest, tears stinging at her eyes. Her sister’s face still came too quickly, too easily. She opened the vial and stuck her pinky inside, the red liquid clinging to her skin before she brought it to her lips and sucked it into her mouth. That was the end of that. The image of her sister would fade in the coming minutes and the world would return to brilliant shades of colour. The lid was replaced and the tucked under her green sweater. It was the weekend and the castle seemed to be ringing with excitement over Halloween. A murder mystery party had begun and it was going to be a night to remember. Jo only wished it would keep her world from falling apart, but she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she had to wait a bit before she went down to join in the fun. Until then she would stay there in the bathroom on the fourth floor. It was deserted…always seemed to be anymore. She had taken to hiding out there when she needed to be alone.

Taking a deep breath Josephine prepared herself mentally for what was about to happen. If there was an easier way to get what she wanted then she would be doing it, but that wasn’t possible. Turning, she tucked the compact mirror back into her pocket and fluffed her hair as she headed out of the bathroom. Out of all the moments to run into someone it was right then, just as Jo stepped out of the doorway she collided with someone with dark hair. “Hey! Watch where you’re going!” Jo shouted in pain as she stepped back, rubbing at her shoulder. The girl was obviously in a hurry and hadn’t been paying attention. Of course by the looks of her she wasn’t a Slytherin, in fact on closer examination she recognized her as a Hufflepuff. Now if only Jo could remember her name. She was in several of her classes…meaning she was a 6th year and yet Josephine couldn’t remember the girl’s name. Her face was definitely familiar…and that hair, yes the hair was definitely familiar…but a name just wouldn’t come to mind. “Next time pay attention,” she growled as she pulled out her compact mirror again and began fixing her own hair as if the girl’s crazy locks could somehow be contagious.

[Grace Hunter H5]

Whistling through the narrow gaps in the branches of the tree and softly meeting Grace's face, the warm wind was a welcome invite. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, resting it gratefully onto the oak tree's wide trunk, listening happily to the faint rustling of the papers beside her, and the pleasant crunching sound as some stray leaves brushed past her. She sat there for a long time, occasionally lifting rearranging herself into a sitting position to add some detail to her drawing, but otherwise just sitting back with her eyes closed, her ears reaching out to the sounds of the afternoon. A faint trickle of sound as the water was disturbed at the lake, the soft pressing down on grass and leaves as some students walked past nearby, the swishing motion of the large trees over at the forest as the wind traveled across the grounds. Grace had already painted herself a mental picture in her head of the scene, heavy in detail through the sounds and smells she was picking up; her eyes softly shut.

It had been morning when Grace had rose from bed that Saturday morning, retrieved her clothes and paints, dressed and wandered down into the Hogwarts grounds. She was grateful for the escape nature could offer her, happy to spend the entire day down there, inspiration flowing from her surroundings, into her and down onto paper through the delicate, carefully placed strokes of her paint brush.

The vast majority of the day was behind her as Grace added the final touches to her painting and organized her paints, arranging everything into her bag as she slung it over her shoulder. As she left the tree she retrieved her jumper from its branch, putting her hood up as she walked across the grounds towards the castle.

She stepped into the warm atmosphere, almost immediately contemplating stepping back outside again as several Slytherin boys charged past her, knocking her aside in their mad rush to get somewhere. 'Watch it!' she yelled as they disappeared around the corner, before a loud crash echoed loudly, shortly followed by the yells of some professor and by the sound of it they had ran headfirst into a suit of armor. Grace reached the stairs and walked up them, not sure on where she was going. She found herself doing this often nowadays, wandering freely through the castle.

The fourth-floor corridor was certainly more pleasing to the eyes than some of the other twisting routes seen frequently throughout the hall, and Grace found herself skipping freely along the deserted halls, her eyes appreciating some of the colourful paintings set on the wall as she swept by them. Then her free, happy skipping adventure was brought to a loud halt as she felt herself fly into someone, their shouts rebounding down the hall.

Grace picked herself up from the floor, aware of the throbbing pain rising in her head. Not sure whether they girl even noticed, she quickly checked her bags contents before turning to her. It was a girl from Slytherin, she was in most of Grace's classes, and she was fairly certain she happened to be the captain of the quidditch team. 'I'm so sorry, i didn't see you there!' Grace begun apologetically, whilst flicking her fringe out of her eye, 'It's Josephine is it not, I'm fairly certain your in some of my classes?' The girl looked pale, and her dark hair stood out vividly against her pale face and withdrawn eyes. Grace wasn't sure if now would be the time to stay and introduce herself, but she found herself doing so regardless, 'I'm Grace Hunter, in case you were wondering.'