Blood is Thicker Than Water (Open)

Guest

TW: Blood

Koda was grateful for the moments of isolation that Hogwarts provided. She'd spent the Winter holiday with a "friend" whose idea of having a roommate involved never-ending gossip and cookie dough ice cream. Even thinking back on the memories made her sick; not just the ice cream but the idea that someone couldn't go an entire day without ranting about the latest pop-culture scandal. Why should she give a shit about Katy Perry and Taylor Swift's drama? She had never met either of these people, so their friendship had no effect on her. They could claw each other's eyes out for all she cared.

But who was she to complain? She and the girl with whom she'd roomed hadn't even known Koda before offering up her couch. Prior to the break, the Slytherin had snuck off to a local pub in which she had met Carly. Carly was crying in the corner of the pub, having just broken up with her boyfriend of two years (There was no effort involved in discovering this; it was the only thing on the sad, sad girl's mind).

Koda had approached her with a "genuine" smile and a box of tissues. She'd offered her support and a shoulder to cry on. As Carly had no friends, Carly was grateful for this act of "kindness." When Koda casually mentioned having nowhere to stay for the Winter Holiday, Carly jumped at the opportunity to have a roommate.

Carly was nice, but Koda was thankful to be back in a place that didn't require hourly hugs or midnight dance parties (being a teenage girl was painful). She sat at the edge of the black lake, her legs dangling over the water. The water was dark and intriguing, inviting her body to submerge in its mystery.

She considered a late-night swim but decided against it. The air was frigid, which she didn't usually mind but tonight it did not seem appealing.

Instead, she dug into her pocket and fished out a push pin that she'd taken from the bulletin board in her room. She dug it into the palm of her hand and watched as a stream of red fell into the water below her. It was mesmerizing, the colour of the blood as it danced on the dark water. She found blood so interesting. It was like a form of artistry created by the human body.

She squeezed her hand tight, allowing a few more drops to fall in. She had no intention of harming herself. This was a perfectly safe experiment.

Guest

Trigger Warning: ...this is Serenity. What ISN'T a trigger warning? (I'm not yet sure what will crop up, but usually there's, at the bare minimum: depression, suicidal thoughts, self harm.)

Serenity was not one to break rules. She followed them to the letter, obeying each and every subtext, not so much considering there to be a line to toy with; she stayed far away from even coming close to breaking something, and kept her head down at all times. It was how she was raised to behave, and she saw nothing wrong with it. Why break rules? They were there for a reason, after all.

So, for the Ravenclaw to be found outside of bed -- and, what's more, outside of the building entirely -- after hours was nothing short of a miracle. She, however, had a good reason: nightmares.

She was told that as she got older, and her abilities developed even further, she would get them. They were either snippets of events that have happened, events that were happening, or events that would happen, and she was to record them all down and present them to the Ministry for evaluation; after all, some might have just been nightmares and connected not to the real world at all. It wasn't her job to figure them out, nor was it her job to try and distinguish between dreams and visions. It was simply her responsibility to write them down. As she got older still, she would learn to lock her mind away before bed to prevent these dreams, but that would take years of practise.

Serenity, therefore, had spent the past few weeks waking up screaming, images of horrible things flashing in her mind as she dutifully, through tears, wrote down what she remembered of it, Tammie by her side. For this reason she'd been granted a private room, charmed to be sound proof; she didn't want to disturb sleeping students in either her dorm or otherwise. (Her screams, she had been told the first time it happened, weren't just loud -- they were deafening.)

This was why Serenity was now taking a long walk; she had flat out refused to sleep. Having managed to convince Tammie not to report her (saying that a walk would help her sleep better; this was a lie, one of the first deliberate ones she had ever told. The truth was she was exhausted and, knowing if she were to lie down sleep would take hold almost instantly, decided that a long walk would help delay the inevitable) she had snuck out of the castle.

Taking the path down to the lake, she hesitated when she felt the presense of someone else, intuitively. Glancing around, she saw a figure by the light of the moon. There was a flash of blood in her mind and nothing more, and at once Serenity was concerned. Pulling the sleeves of her shirt down, almost subconsciously, she tentatively moved towards the other person. "A-are you okay?" she found herself asking, tone soft as always, eyes watching the ground instead of looking up. "I... I Saw blood."

Guest

Koda did not so much as flinch when she heard a voice emerge from the quiet. If anything, her lips curled into a frown as her mind came to the conclusion that her peaceful evening. From the sound of the voice, the Slytherin could tell that this was a young girl; younger than she by at least a few years. The reflection of red in the water led her to believe that they hadn't met previously. She would have remembered meeting a redhead.

She soon found herself exploring the young girl's mind. It seemed there was a-lot on her shoulders; sorrow, uncertainty, fear. There were so many words coursing through her mind that Koda could barely hold onto her own train of thought. It was as if the entire world was using this girl as a sounding board for their thoughts. The only concrete thing she could pick out from the stranger's mind was her name.

"Serenity," She hummed. "That's pretty." It was a warning of sorts, really. Upon meeting people, Koda often came across information that she did not wish to know. She found it useful to give her victims a fighting chance against her ability. Or at least, give their minds a chance to hide the information that one may find undesirable.

"I am excellent," she responded to the original question. With her answer, another dribble of blood fell from her hand. The last drop, she figured. The small puncture would soon close up and heal as if it had never been created.

It was funny, how some wounds could heal so suddenly and others could remain immortal.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" She asked. Koda tapped her hand softly beside her, inviting Serenity to sit if she pleased.

Guest

She felt it at once, the not-so-subtle prodding of her mind. For a moment -- just a moment -- she was taken aback. The ministry had warned her, of course. Told her that people out there wanted what she had in her mind, that she kept some very important secrets, that if any of those got out lives could be ruined, least of all hers. And so as soon as she was old enough, her occlumency training had begun. But Serenity found it difficult; her abilities opened her up to others, and training herself to be closed went against her natural inclination.

She froze for a moment, though, because she was taken aback that someone from school, a fellow student, would try. It was a moment too long, and by the time she formed the mental barrier she'd been taught and had constant tests on, she knew the girl had already felt some things. What, though, Serenity couldn't be sure.

Pausing just a moment to ensure the barrier was up and solid and that nobody could break through, she glanced at Tammie. "Tammie, I need you to get me some water," she said, calmly, not giving away anything. The house elf hesitated. "Please," Serenity added. "I don't feel so good. I'll be alright by myself for a short while."

Hesitantly, Tammie nodded. There was a crack and the house elf disappeared.

Then and only then did Serenity turn to the girl and let out a sigh. "It takes Tammie at least a minute. So shush for a moment and listen to me. Don't ever try to do that again." Her tone was soft but serious, holding a hint of warning that was so unlike the timid Ravenclaw. "You can't, not now, but don't try again. Not on me. Not ever on me."

She paused, making sure that the female heard her, and then went on. "This isn't a threat. Tammie isn't here to serve me; she is here to protect me. Or rather, my mind. She has authority to hex and summon aurors. If you try to access my mind again, you will be arrested. You will be taken in by aurors, you will be questioned, and your mind will be wiped. The department of mysteries is called that for a good reason. Don't mess with their employees; don't try and find out our secrets."

One more pause. "I lied to Tammie once. I cannot lie again. I'm taking your attempt at face value and regarding it as an accident; you didn't know who I was. You didn't mean harm, and you didn't mean to pry into the Ministry. But try again and I'll know this isn't true, and I will be forced to tell Tammie."

Serenity let out a long, long sigh, and then moved to join the witch. "It is beautiful," she said, her tone returning to its normal uncertainty. Even softer than before, she added, "I'm sorry."

Guest

Koda's eyebrow raised half a centimeter above it's resting position. She had not noticed another body but she was now seeing a house elf, expression apprehensive at best, disappearing quickly at the orders of the young girl. It was a strange occurrence, seeing a house elf in a setting such as this. Of course, Koda had seen wizards and witches bring their house elves with them to classes or parties in case of dire emergencies in which they needed a cup of tea or a fresh bowtie, but she hadn't before seen a house elf in the woods. Nor had she seen a house elf with a look of loyalty or obligation such as this.

Even stranger than this was what the girl said next. Her tone of voice was stricter than Koda had imagined such an innocence face to be capable of. She spoke of the department of mysteries and of legilimency being a crime.

"I meant no harm," she spoke calmly. "In fact, It is a precautionary measure that I take in order to make sure that I do not have to mean harm. Believe me, I have met many a wizard who hold dark wishes within their minds. One can never be too careful." This was true. She remembered meeting a group of young males once at the Hog's head. They smiled widely and spoke with tongues of silver, but the first intention to creep out of their minds was anything but silver.

She paused for a moment. "And why, may I ask, are you of such importance as to be protected by the Ministry of mysteries? Are you a mystery, miss? Are you an enigma?Are you a being of such complexity that no mere mortal may be able to break through the barriers of the inner workings of your mind?" She kept her expression neutral, wondering if the girl would be able to detect sarcasm in her words. It was faint, but it was there.

Once the non-threat had subsided, the conversation was shifted back into the topic that Koda had first posed.

"Blood moves on a different physical frequency than water, it seems," She said. "Somewhat in the way that oil rises above, but not quite. It dances through the molecules and teases the clear substance with its motions. It is something of its own, is it not?"

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