Just a few pranks? (Mercy)

Loony came through. Just as Lyra knew she would. Because that's what friends do for each other, they stick up for and help one another. As soon as Lyra had told her friend (and sworn her to secrecy) about the bullies, the girl had wished to help. Witch Lyra had been all to happy to take her up on.

Hurting her had been a matter of pride. And since that day Lyra hadn't been able to get over the feeling of... fear. The worry that they'd come back, that there wouldn't be a teacher near enough when they did, that they might bring a couple more friends, it was enough to make her nervous all the time. Though, now that she was a little more confident in defending herself it was less of a feat to simply walk through the castle on her own.

But her nerves hadn't seemed to have gotten the memo. And the only way she could think of to get over the incident was to get over the fear. And the only way to do that was to take back control. Right?

Not that she wanted to hurt anyone of the older Gryffindors. But she still couldn't just... do nothing. Sure, they were getting detention and had points taken away and all of that, but how was that enough? Not only had they hurt her physically, but they'd taken away the tiny thing she still had here, the little scrap of belonging and security she'd felt. Sure, she was slowly gaining it back, but it still was slow going.

And that's where Loony came in. She was the prank master of Ilvermorny, and a couple harmless pranks was exactly what Lyra needed to regain control. Just a few practical jokes that hopefully didn't piss the boys off too much, and maybe they'd leave her alone. Lyra Fletcher was many things, but never a coward, and... well, not fighting back was cowardly wasn't it? But so was hurting someone who had no way to defend themselves. So, she had to fight back, but not hurt anyone. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

So, she'd concocted a plan. A prank here, a prank there, and an extra prank for an added bit of fun, and she was good to go.All she needed to do was follow through. So, she'd snuck out of her dorm and through the castle. Of course, the middle of the night seemed to be the creepiest point for the school, the groundskeeper roaming, various teachers, and of course the stupid ghosts. What sort of school had ghosts in it? The castle was literally haunted.

But, she'd made it to the Gryffindor passage way. Lucky for her, Dominique had told her the password, so as soon as she'd woken the portrait guarding the common rooms she was in. Only to find that she wasn't the only one awake this late into the night. Getting back at boys may be more difficult than she'd thought...

Mercy yawned and rubbed her eyes, blinking slowly as she looked up at the dying fire in the common room and shifted her position in the armchair she'd curled up in. She was getting absolutely nowhere in this potions project. For once, she had attempted to get it done early so she wouldn't have to worry about it after Quidditch practice tomorrow, but she just couldn't find the motivation to do the work right now when she knew she probably could get away with doing it later. So she'd taken a brief nap, blank parchment still laid out on her lap, and then spent the last half hour scrolling through her phone, trying to feel inspired.

Just about everyone else had gone to bed already, or at least gone up to their dorms. It was past midnight. She sighed, finally deciding that she wasn't actually going to be productive tonight, so she may as well go to bed.

And then she heard the portrait door swing open. She snapped to attention, suddenly awake and alert as she turned to look at the intruder. She almost reached for her wand, but then she recognized who it was.

"Lyra?" she spoke in confusion, her voice barely above a whisper but loud against the silent backdrop. She rose to her feet, rolling up her parchment as she turned to face the Hufflepuff who'd just entered the Gryffindor common room. "What are you doing here?"