Our Spot (Tabitha) on Labyrinth Gardens

Mary Brooding

September 08, 2018 12:20 AM

Our Spot (Tabitha) by Mary Brooding

Mary made an effort to look casual as she made her way from her quarters, through the entry hall, and into the Labyrinth Gardens. She was dressed smartly and carrying a stack of papers and books, which made her appear far less suspicious than she felt. Indeed, she did have plans to complete some of the work she was taking with her while enjoying the Gardens. That just wasn't the reason she was going.

As it turned out, concealing a relationship at Sonora was not all that difficult. Staff minded their own business and supported each other so long as everyone's business remained just that; if it began to impact student wellbeing, Mary was sure that would change. Students themselves were no issue. They were either full of gossip anyway and their accounts couldn't be trusted, or they just didn't pay attention to the inner lives of their teachers and staff members. Mary saw no problem with this if it meant she was able to carry on her relationship with Tabitha without having any nosy questions. It was the early days still, although she couldn't pretend she wasn't head-over-heels for the woman. Since their Advanced Defense lesson together and the following time they'd spent in Tabitha's rooms, Mary couldn't doubt for a moment that she loved the woman.

Now, sneaking out to meet her illustrious lover in the grassy part of the Gardens that had become simply 'our spot' to them after their first night there after the Opening Feast, Mary might've been a child herself again. Everything felt perfect and easy when she was with Tabitha and she planned to maintain that as long as possible.

Mary arrived to their spot first and unrolled a blanket and two hard top lapdesks from a magically expanded bag on her hip. Setting these items out in the grass, Mary sat on the blanket and spent a few minutes enjoying the sun and the breeze as she waited for Tabitha. She supposed she should take advantage of the time alone and get some work done, and even managed to lay out her papers and things on one of the lapdesks before succumbing once again to the rare sunny day.

It was certainly chilly, but Mary had dressed for it and her sapphire dress was dark enough to absorb more heat than she might otherwise have felt. Mary felt totally at ease here and breathed happily when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching in the grass, a guarantee that her day was about to get better.

"Hello, my love," Mary said without opening her eyes. "Lovely day isn't it?"

22 Mary Brooding Our Spot (Tabitha) 1424 Mary Brooding 1 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

September 08, 2018 7:31 PM

I'm addicted to you. by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha stifled a yawn as she collected her papers and books, shoving them roughly into a bag. She perhaps should've taken more care, given that some of the papers were the homework of some of her students. However, the woman just felt very tired and struggled to care about the state of her papers. Her hair was a bit tangled and she knew that there were dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. She'd been fretting about her parents, having still not written to them yet and her sleep had been plagued with dreams about them and all the other things she hadn't done yet, resulting in a restless night. She yawned again as she picked up her magically refilling flask of tea and left her office to meet with the one person she'd been looking forward to seeing all morning.

She found that she was not in the slightest bit bothered about who thought what about the relationship between her and Mary. To avoid embarassing Mary, Tabitha did not shout the information from Sonora's rooftops but she was not sneaking around, either. Nobody really seemed to notice what was going on between the pair and if they did, they didn't say anything which was the right thing to do, in Tabitha's opinion. Their relationship only involved two people - her and Mary. Everyone else could very well keep their thoughts and opinions to themselves.

As she stepped out into Labyrinth Gardens, Tabitha was reminded of England, given the cool weather. She pulled the dark red blazer she was wearing closed around herself to conserve the warmth she had. She found the cool air to be a benefit, to be honest. It lightly stung her cheeks and seemed to wake her up, blowing the cobwebs from her mind and also, her stresses. She didn't want her meeting with Mary to be tinged with negativity. That time was supposed to be reserved only for good feelings and Tabitha was damn well going to make sure that that was the case.

As she approached 'their spot', Tabitha smiled at seeing Mary already there and flat on her back, her eyes closed. She very much looked like she was sleeping but the smile that grew on her face as she heard Tabitha's footsteps gave away that she was, indeed, very much awake. Tabitha dumped her belongings on to a corner of the pinic blanket and with a contented sigh, lay down beside Mary, automatically taking her hand.

"It's far more beautiful now that I'm with you."

It was a poor line, Tabitha knew but she believed it to be the truth. Mary was beautiful and seeing her did brighten Tabitha's day. "And how are you?"

20 Tabitha Hawthorne I'm addicted to you. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding

September 08, 2018 7:46 PM

Is that so? by Mary Brooding

Mary peeped open one eye, the one closest to Tabitha, and smirked at the woman. Tabitha was disorderly in appearance and looked a bit more asleep than awake. Her white cheeks were flushed with a soft rose color that Mary found absolutely endearing and she surveyed her with a sense of warmth in her chest.

"Please," she said teasingly, "I think that's a bit of a stretch. Although I might've said the same so I'll let you have that one."

Mary wanted very badly to greet Tabitha with a kiss, and so she closed her eyes instead. "I'm well," she answered. "A bit stressed with everything going on school wise. I really need to be better about planning my lessons in advance but I try to tailor them to fit the classes so it's hard."

Finally, Mary did open her eyes and sit up. She noticed the stack of papers and things that Tabitha had brought was sizable even compared to her own and she had a giggly smile on her face when she looked up at Tabitha. "I heard you put that down but didn't realize you'd brought your entire office with you. What shall we do first: grade student work or plan for future lessons?"

She thought her other ideas would be less professional and so she left it at those two suggestions, wondering if she'd ever be comfortable suggesting they make out at Sonora. Perhaps that just wasn't something professors did. She'd never seen any of the other professors make out, either as a student or as a professor herself. Sighing, she waited for Tabitha's answer and pulled her work in front of herself, indicating her readiness to begin.

22 Mary Brooding Is that so? 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

September 08, 2018 10:00 PM

Oh, completely. by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha made a noise of agreement when Mary mentioned about needing to be better with planning her lessons. The same could be said of the Defence teacher who had developed a poor habit of leaving planning to the last minute. It wasn't because she was lazy or procrastinating, exactly. It was simply because she wanted to teach her students everything and it would take her a while before she settled on the material she wanted to teach. There was just so much in the world to learn about and see and Tabitha wanted not just to share it with them but also inspire them to go and seek it out themselves.

If she was honest, she wasn't entirely sure how good of a job she was doing.

Tabitha didn't answer Mary's question about which mountain of work to tackle first, deciding that no work session should start without first having sufficient sustenance - in this case, tea. From her bag, she produced two mugs, one for her and one for Mary and poured the tea from her flash into both. She took a good swig of the hot beverage before looking over her pile of papers.

"I suppose..." she began with a sigh that indicated that she really didn't want to tackle this right now. "I should grade the Intermediates essays on Veelas. What with this whole situation with Cleo James, that should probably take priority."

She pulled a stack of papers towards her and rooted out an ink well and a quill. She was not looking forward to this. She hoped that she didn't find out that any of her students were closet racists or harboured any kind of horrible feelings towards the girl. This wasn't a topic she wanted to revisit any time soon and the fewer causes for concern there were, the smaller the chance of that happening became.

20 Tabitha Hawthorne Oh, completely. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding

September 08, 2018 10:20 PM

Blehhh by Mary Brooding

Mary's stomach tumbled a bit when Tabitha mentioned her lesson on Veelas. She hadn't been sad to be absent from that particular lesson, particularly when she'd heard some students being particularly awful afterwards. She knew the lesson had gotten a bit off topic and that Tabitha had mixed feelings about how it had gone, but Mary had otherwise stayed out of it. She had tried to avoid any display of feelings on the matter, too. It hurt her to think of Veelas as creatures the way that so many students and adults alike all seemed to and that had been part of the reason she and Tabitha had fought at the start of term. She didn't want to seem unsupportive though, either.

"What was the assignment?" Mary asked. "Just to talk about defense against Veela magic or something else?"

She was curious so it felt like a safe thing to ask about. 'The whole situation with Cleo James' seemed like harsh phrasing but Mary knew she was overly sensitive, too.

"I'm glad you're the one taking the forefront on this," Mary said, checking her feelings against the reality. "The students are lucky to have somebody like you in that role and I know you are going to be more respectful than some people would. Poor Cleo can't have a lot of people being very understanding and Mary's sympathy radar was on high alert. At the same time, the young half-Veela probably didn't want attention drawn to it either.

22 Mary Brooding Blehhh 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

September 08, 2018 11:09 PM

Blehhh? by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha was trying to read through a student's essay but her concentration wasn't completely on it and all she seemed to be succeeding in doing was re-reading the same line over and over again. She exhaled sharply through her nose, annoyed. To tell the truth, she didn't want to spend her time with Mary by marking papers. They should be doing something! They were in a Labyrinth. They could be going and getting lost in amongst the hedges, stealing kisses and hiding away from prying eyes. That was very much what she would rather being doing.

She was a bad example of a teacher.

Seeing as it was unlikely that her fantasy was going to happen, she resigned herself to having to work and answered Mary's question. "There's no real defence against Veelas, no spell they can use. The best method I found was simply distraction. So, aside from an essay about Veelas to demonstrate their understanding, I also asked them to provide a list of ways, magical or otherwise, that would be useful for a distraction and how they would be effective."

Tabitha smiled slightly at Mary's compliment. She certainly didn't feel the same gladness. In fact, she would've much preferred to run for the hills. "You're far too complimentary of me," she told her, turning her eyes back to the essay she was holding. "Everything, human, creature, anything living deserves respect."

20 Tabitha Hawthorne Blehhh? 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding

September 09, 2018 12:13 AM

Isn't effort just blehh? by Mary Brooding

Mary smiled sympathetically at Tabitha, who seemed to have been completely soaked in melancholy this morning. Every curved line of her lovely face was pulled into an expression of utter frustration with the situation at hand and Mary couldn't help agreeing with the unspoken sentiment. Grading papers and thinking about schoolwork was not the way she wanted to spend her time either. She felt a bit like she had when she was a student, doing homework on a nice day. It wasn't any less frustrating now, as a professor, although she supposed it was a bit less aggravating, too. At least she now only had her own standards to worry about and not the professor's.

"Have you ever met a Veela in person?" Mary asked, trying to remember up to the last journal entry she'd read. Her thoughts traveled carefully to Michelle and she decided distraction isn't what had kept her from being entranced by the woman. Instead, she just stopped thinking of her as a Veela at all. But that was difficult to explain, particularly when there were extenuating circumstances like a long-term relationship to consider, and she didn't feel like bringing that part up for discussion.

"I agree," Mary said, replying to Tabitha's last comment. "But especially you." Mary laughed. "That was a terrible pickup line, I'm so sorry. Did it work though?"

22 Mary Brooding Isn't effort just blehh? 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

September 09, 2018 8:12 PM

Yes, I quite agree. by Tabitha Hawthorne

"I met one," Tabitha nodded as she finished scibbling a comment at the bottom of an essay before moving it to the 'finished' pile. It was probably a bit ambitious to call it a pile given that it only had one essay in it. With an aggravated sigh, she started to read through the next essay. At least it would be a pile if there was more than one, then Tabitha could kid herself that she was making progress. "JJ was obssessed with her. I'll admit that I was attracted. It was very strange, though. The feeling of being entranced by a Veela. Felt rather like a fog descending on the mind."

Tabitha thought about this for a minute before shaking her head. "The Veela turned out to be quite nasty in the end. I wouldn't let her take JJ."

Mentally, she thought that she'd wasted her time. She should've let the Veela take him and it perhaps would've saved her wasting years of her life.

No.

She wouldn't have done that. Tabitha wasn't that cruel.

At that thought, Tabitha discarded her essays and her inkwell and quill to one side and flopped back into the grass as an obvious indication that she had simply given up. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of the cool air on her face, feeling it wash over her and calming her. Mary's presence was also a soothing one and Tabitha shifted so that she was closer to her.

She laughed when Mary used her awful line and her eyes opened, looking up at Mary. "Your lines always work on me. I imagine they always will."

She rolled over onto her stomach. "Come on, let's do something other than be professors with boring work."

20 Tabitha Hawthorne Yes, I quite agree. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding

September 10, 2018 1:53 AM

You're distractable today. by Mary Brooding

Mary laughed, an easy dancing tune lifting from her mouth as she watched Tabitha pout. She had feelings about this story including Tabitha, a Veela, and JJ, but she preferred this more playful, ready-to-go Tabitha and preferred to follow the topic change. Setting her books and quill aside and rolling towards Tabitha, Mary was very aware of the lack of distance between them. With only the briefest of glances towards the hedge maze and Sonora, Mary tipped her head forward and kissed Tabitha lightly on the nose and then the mouth, almost just brushing her lips there before retreating and blushing.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" Mary asked, smiling and doing her best to stifle a giggle. "You make me so giddy, Tabitha, what am I supposed to do with all these lovely feelings?" She sighed contentedly and rolled back onto her back, surveying the vast sky with an appreciative look.

"We could work through the maze? I'll let you lead since I know it better than you do," Mary teased. "My bag's down there," she added, pointing to the little bag near her books and papers. "We can fit all our stuff and enjoy a stroll."

If she was honest, Mary didn't particularly want to do boring professor work either. However much she tried to pretend there weren't nerves clawing at her stomach, she couldn't help feeling a bit anxious about walking through the labyrinth with her secret girlfriend. She supposed no one would know that's what they were, and she wasn't ashamed of it. Just scared.

Her eyes searched Tabitha's face for a moment as her thoughts screamed in her head: What if you change your mind, my beautiful love?

How could she be comfortable with any public displays of affection when they may only lead to public acknowledgements of their failed relationship if Tabitha decided she was no longer interested in Mary's companionship?

Mary forced a smile and turned back towards the sky, suddenly feeling like it was not just vast, but foreboding as well.

22 Mary Brooding You're distractable today. 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

September 10, 2018 2:13 AM

You're my distraction. by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha smiled as a pink blush coloured her cheeks, having received a kiss on her nose and her lips, though she wished it had been more than a slight graze. However, she knew that Mary was shier in public than in private and didn't push the matter. It was enough to be with the wonderful woman, with her girlfriend that how much they kissed didn't really matter.

At the suggestion of a walk, Tabitha was suddenly excited and filled with energy, pushing herself to her feet and stuffing her things into Mary's bag. A walk sounded delightful and maybe they could find somewhere more private where they didn't have to be two professors but instead, just two people in love.

"Embrace them," Tabitha grinned, in answer to Mary's question. She hadn't explored the maze yet and was excited to do so, especially with Mary. She couldn't imagine a better way to spend her day. "They're wonderful feelings. As wonderful as you are."

Once everything was packed up, Tabitha looked at the two paths to choose from and after an internal debate, she decided to go down the left one and grabbed Mary's hand to pull her along with her as they started to make their way deeper into the maze. Tabitha knew that there were some dangerous - or supposedly dangerous - creatures hidden within the labyrinth and couldn't herself from hoping they might come across something.

"Besides knowing your way around, do you know anything else about the maze?"

Foreknowledge was powerful and would help Tabitha prepare if there was something a bit nasty hiding in the hedges.

20 Tabitha Hawthorne You're my distraction. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding

September 12, 2018 2:59 AM

So you're focused on a distraction...how interesting! by Mary Brooding

Mary laughed, happy to follow after the suddenly eager Defense professor. Everything in Tabitha's demeanor screamed of desperation for adventure, a feeling Mary rarely felt herself although she enjoyed the adventures she did go on, and Mary was glad for them both if the maze would satisfy her.

"Just rumors," she admitted, trying to remember what she knew of the Gardens. "That sign has been up forever, warning people of the monsters that may lurk in the bushes. Some boys when I was growing up used to say that there were hidden hearths that if you accidentally walked into or over and knocked a branch the wrong way, you'd be covered in Floo powder and transported someplace unknown."

Mary laughed at the memory. Running through the Gardens hadn't always been a pleasant past time but the stories that had been so frightening before now seemed rather silly.

"One girl said there was a Boggart," she added, frowning. "I'm not actually sure if that was a rumor... she was in the Hospital Wing and didn't return to normal for a long time, although she never said what it was she feared." Mary shivered, preferring not to even think of what she'd find in the face of a monster like that. "But I'm not sure what one would even hide in. It's not like there's wardrobes or boxes or anything out here."

Mary watched Tabitha for a moment, trying to shake the negativity that felt like it was clinging to her with a sudden heaviness. Perhaps her fear... no. She wouldn't think about it.

"But I have you," Mary said, continuing the conversation with Tabitha just as much as she was reassuring herself of her statement's truth. "I don't have to be afraid of anything that could be living in the Gardens."

22 Mary Brooding So you're focused on a distraction...how interesting! 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

September 12, 2018 3:45 PM

I can't help it. by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha had pulled out her wand from the inside pocket of her blazer, more out of habit rather than anything else. It had become the norm and also, a comfort, to be holding her wand when exploring. It was perhaps rather distrusting, to be armed before even having encountered anything but the Defence professor liked to be prepared as one could never know what was lying in wait around the next corner.

"Sounds fun," Tabitha laughed at the rumour of a hidden hearth. "The unknown... Sounds like my kind of place!"

This was Tabitha at her core, an explorer, an adventurer. Eager to discover what secrets the world tried to keep hidden. It was a wondrous thing to uncover something new, a thrill to make the unknown become known. Tabitha had a thirst to know everything about the world and everything that lived in it.

"Boggarts can hide in forests," she told Mary as they turned a corner, her eyes automatically searching the path and the hedges from anything that seemed odd, dangerous or generally interesting. "And they can hide in a simple shadow. Sometimes they hide in wardrobes and boxes or..." she paused as they came to a choice of two ways to go and she looked up and down both before deciding to turn left. "Or, someone locked them in."

She sent Mary a sideways glance when the woman commented that she didn't have to be afraid of anything that could be lurking in the hedges. The corner of her lips twitched upwards in a smile as she replied, "I'll always protect you," she told her, then paused momentarily. "Though I have no doubt that you are more than capable of looking after yourself. As I believe you told me once... You can poison anything that tries to attack you."

She smirked slightly, remembering fondly the date that they had shared.

20 Tabitha Hawthorne I can't help it. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding

September 15, 2018 7:32 PM

Help me? by Mary Brooding

Despite her bleak mood, it was easy to be with Tabitha, and their wanderings were comforting. It was far too nice a time to feel grey and Mary perked up quickly, laughing and joking with her girlfriend, and keeping a running commentary on clearly inaccurate monster facts for Tabitha. Well, really for herself. Mary was highly amused by announcing that the holes in the grass were from Spiced Wingtail dragons leaving talon marks on the ground, whatever Tabitha insisted about things like 'gophers' and 'that's not even a real dragon,' and continued her quips for much of their walk as opportunities presented themselves.

Mary let her eyes wander as they walked, and she rarely wasted time peering into the darkened hedge growth around them. Tabitha was a good conversation partner whether they were talking about everything or nothing, or something in between, and Mary found that the sights in the Gardens were no longer just interesting features of the landscape. Instead, they were objects with history and meaning to discuss and debate, natural formations and vegetation with properties and characteristics to consider, and much more. Mary was at ease.

Unfortunately, as the day drew into a faint husky afternoon, the result of a sun that had not yet set but dipped below the tops of the plant life surrounding them, Mary might have done well to spend more time looking into the depths of those same plants. It was the first time Mary had been truly lost in the Gardens. She didn't doubt that she could've gotten them out after a few more unfamiliar twists or turns revealed something she knew, but didn't have the chance.

Instead, when Mary had taken several steps ahead of Tabitha to reach for a stone on the ground that would make for a decent pestle, she looked up to see another woman stepping out of the hedge in front of them. The woman was a ways off still, maybe fifteen feet, and carrying what looked at first to be a small wallet and a candle.

Mary's throat clenched as her eyes saw the familiar flicker of flame. It was a newer candle than the one she lit every year, and it was evident that this woman had recently felt the need to purchase a new one. Or make one.

She had a dark dress on that might've been red at one point but had faded into a burnt grey color, similar in style to Mary's own dress, and her eyes were covered with a short lace veil beneath the brim of a matching hat. It was her hair that made Mary's throat dry and her stomach clench. A sad braid of thick black hair tumbled past the woman's hips and onto the ground behind her. There were twigs and bits in the body of it and the bottom was trampled and broken, as if the woman no longer cared whether the people who walked behind her walked on her hair.

Mary stood up straighter, the stone on the ground long forgotten, and realized the woman was a few inches shorter. She looked up as Mary drew herself to her full, not very impressive height, and Mary found familiar eyes beneath the veil. They were sad and pulled down, wrinkles tugging the rest of the bronze face into a perpetual frown. There were laugh lines there, too, but they'd long since been obliterated by the frequency of more somber expressions.

Mary heard Tabitha's voice behind her but didn't register what the Defense professor said. She didn't want to. She had to see what was in the strange woman's other hand. As if knowing exactly that, the woman held her hand up, revealing the inside of what was not a wallet but a pocket-sized photo book with two pictures inside. She held the candle nearby to light the images of a painfully familiar family of two parents and a little boy around nine years old. In fact, he was exactly nine years old, and it was the last photo of him.

On the other side was a newer picture of a woman with grey blue eyes, red painted lips, and a mischievous smile. Mary leaned forward, captivated by this image of Tabitha, maybe five or six years older than she was now. She looked so happy but the face of the photo was well worn, as if the woman who kept it had run longing fingers across the image too many times.

Mary knew the face and she stepped back in horror as she realized that both pictures were the last ones taken of their subjects. The woman had lived on much longer, evidenced in the sagging, wrinkled skin of an elderly face that was all too familiar. She realized then that she didn't really look like her mom at all, and wouldn't even when she had outlived her mother's age by decades.

Stumbling away, Mary tripped over something, or nothing, and landed hard on the ground, catching herself only barely with her hands. She heard rather than felt the distinct crack from her left one. She was feeling too many other things to notice a broken bone.

Even the scream caught in her throat was stalled as the figure of herself, decades older and terribly alone, approached.

22 Mary Brooding Help me? 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

September 15, 2018 9:05 PM

Always. by Tabitha Hawthorne

Tabitha had had a wonderful day with Mary, enjoying it far more than she ever would have done reading and grading essays. Her girlfriend - Tabitha was unable to keep herself from smiling every time she thought of Mary like that - had found a new thing to amuse herself with, pointing random things out and insisting that they were the marks of dragons that didn't even exist. Tabitha had corrected her each and every time, though had done so with a laugh and a smile as the pair walked together.

She'd become more relaxed as the day had gone on and had even slipped her wand back into her blazer. Having not encountered anything deadlier than the odd bumblebee, she decided that the rumours of dangerous creatures hiding in the labyrinth were exactly that: rumours and tall tales of older students or perhaps even professors wanting to spook the students.

As the afternoon shifted to evening, Tabitha started to wonder if they should at least start making their way back to the school and get something to eat. She paused momentarily to look around her but the paths were foreign and nothing was recognisable and she frowned, grumbling to herself, "Of course, we'd actually get lost."

She was aware that Mary had moved ahead of her and was inspecting something on the ground though Tabitha was more concerned with trying to deduce just how far they were into the maze and in which direction they should walk. When she heard a gasp, she whirled round to find Mary on the ground and looking upwards at an older figure of a woman.

Tabitha produced her wand, gripping it tightly as she slowly approached Mary, her eyes narrowed at the figure. Her mind raced as she thought of all the things or people it could possibly be and then, when she got closer, it became more obvious. It appeared to be Mary, though far, far older than she was now and showing younger Mary a picture book that had an image of people that Tabitha could only assume was Mary's family who she knew to be long dead and, to some surprise, a picture of Tabitha herself.

It was then that everything clicked into place.

Boggart.

And it had fixed on Mary and was drawing her fear from her which appeared to be outliving everyone including Tabitha herself and being left alone.

Tabitha did the only thing she could think to do and threw herself in front of Mary, her arms stretched out wide as if she herself could be a shield to protect Mary from the danger present. The older Mary met Tabitha's eyes momentarily before her face twisted angrily and she disappeared in a whirl of colour, choosing Tabitha's fears to prey on. Tabitha couldn't help but swallow thickly, unsure as to what it would choose or settle on.

Her jaw clenched when it morphed and twisted into the shapes of her mother and father. They were both dressed so formally, as they always were, in fine and undoubtedly expensive fabrics. Her mother was thin and tall, like Tabitha, with the same dark hair and gathered in an tidy bun, indicating that it was far longer than Tabitha's own short her. She had piercing green eyes and a long nose and her lips were pressed together in a thin, unimpressed line. Her father shared her eyes and he, too, was tall and imposing and stern faced, his brow creased as he frowned. His hair was swept back and the blackness of it was mixed with grey as was his beard which was neatly trimmed.

"You have no idea what a disappointment you are to us, Tabitha," her mother spoke, her voice cold and unfeeling. "Running off like that with such fanciful ideas. Don't you realise how incompetent you are? How reckless? It's really no surprise that you haven't come home, that you haven't written. You know, deep down, that your actions are shameful and that we are ashamed of you. You couldn't even drown properly," she scoffed, then gave Tabitha a disgusted look.

Tabitha felt like she'd been punched in the stomach and the hand that was gripping her wand started to shake. She swallowed again and felt herself looking pleadingly into her mother's eyes and felt words that, when strung together, would be a beg for forgiveness if they escaped her mouth. She could feel in her core that it wasn't real, that it was merely a boggart playing on her fears but her mind couldn't seem to make the connection and recognise the danger.

"I wouldn't come home, if I were you," her father spoke. His voice was deep and low. "You'd only upset your mother further and I think you've done enough damage to this family."

Somewhere, the defensive side of herself rose up briefly and she felt herself moving her wand and incanting the spell needed to banish the boggart but her voice was weak and the feeling wasn't there, the positive, happy feelings sapped from her soul. The boggart morphed, swirling again before Tabitha's eyes and then a young man appeared before her. She visibly recoiled, more horrified at the sight than at the sight of her parents. The blond hair, the brown eyes, the lean and tall body. It was the all too familiar form of John Joseph Anderson. The boggart - JJ - grinned nastily at the sight of her horror.

"Tabitha..." JJ crooned and the woman felt sick at the sound of her name coming from his mouth. His voice brought up the horrible, soul-crushing feelings she thought she'd managed to shed and leave behind. "Look at you, you haven't changed. Always reckless, always so incredibly stupid. Running into dangerous situations with no care for yourself or the people surrounding you. It's quite the miracle that your new little girlfriend there hasn't been killed yet by your actions. Do you really think she's going to stick around for much longer when she realises how dangerous you are? I wouldn't go making any plans for anything long-term, if I were you. After all, I left you. I abandoned you in America because I could no longer stand the sight of you. You're stuck here because you're too stupid to see a way out."

Tabitha's wand started to lower, the boggart's cruel words surrounding her in a world that, like JJ himself, was far too familiar. There was a rush as feeling of loneliness, emptiness and downright pointlessness swarmed her heart, engulfing the warm feelings that she'd been enjoying as of late. It was like an infection, spreading through her entire being as darkness descended over her soul, cloaking it in its cold embrace. Tears prickled at the back of her eyes, threatening to fall and her lips had started to tremble, a sob threatening to rip through her throat. It was all so true. Every word. Who was she really kidding? How could somebody as wonderful and as good-hearted and as kind as Mary love somebody so dangerous and reckless? She wasn't fooling anybody, swanning around with all her knowledge of creatures and of the world. Here she was, stuck in a country that she barely knew and being a burden to everybody around her. Who was she kidding, really?

20 Tabitha Hawthorne Always. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding and Tabitha Hawthorne

September 15, 2018 11:24 PM

Thank you. by Mary Brooding and Tabitha Hawthorne

(OOC-- Collaboratively written with Tabitha's author)

Mary watched, surprised to find her own face dissolving and twisting into one that looked more like Tabitha’s. Of course, it was not Tabitha’s. Mary guessed it was her mother’s, and her mind suddenly felt clear. This thing was a boggart and Tabitha must’ve known that when she’d stepped in front of Mary to take it head on. As she watched, the boggart changed again and a man appeared, leering at Tabitha. Mary could hear him speaking but his voice seemed odd, mostly because he was snarling insults at Tabitha and looking at her like she was a pretty face and nothing more, but still seemed to be enrapturing her. Mary didn’t doubt that Tabitha heard something in his voice that she liked, but Mary thought he sounded infantile, like his voice had only dropped part way and then puberty just stopped for him. His weaknesses were clear to Mary where they were not to Tabitha, and she wondered how good a likeness it was to his real-life form.

Groaning and wincing, Mary shifted her weight to her hips so she could extend her right hand. Although she had managed the Riddikulus Charm before, she doubted she could do it well when she was in pain, or laying on the ground, and she didn’t want to dig through her skirts to find her wand right now anyway. Instead, she did the only thing she could think to: make Tabitha not afraid.

Sucking in a breath and preparing her best impression of herself when a student was about to brew something that would explode, Mary was careful not to sound angry or disappointed when she barked: “Tabitha!” She waited for the woman to turn and catch her eye. “I need your help up,” she said, just shy of demanding it. Her right arm was still extended and she held her left gingerly across her abdomen.

In normal circumstances, she might’ve tried to be a bit less obviously in pain, but she needed to make sure Tabitha recognized her need for help and to see the strength that was going into this. Of course, any strength it took wasn’t coming from a broken wrist. Seeing the undefeatable Tabitha Hawthorne back to a rat-faced man and some sour parents was not acceptable and she sure as hell wouldn’t stand by and let that happen. Or lay on the ground groaning in pain and let that happen.

Through the darkness and loneliness that had enveloped Tabitha, something permeated. For a moment, it felt like she was back in school and she’d left something behind in a classroom as she had frequently done so when it was the last class before Quidditch or the class before DADA. However, it was not the voice of her teacher. Given her age, Tabitha would’ve been concerned and confused as to why one of her teachers was barking at her in the middle of the labyrinth while she was facing a boggart and Mary was-

Mary.

Feeling rather like she’d just remembered something that she’d long forgotten, she blinked as if coming out of a trance. JJ… No, a boggart that had taken the form of JJ was standing in front of her and she turned, her eyes landing on Mary. She blinked, still feeling rather confused and foggy, then she caught sight of Mary’s left arm lying limply across her stomach and her right outstretched. Automatically, worry rose within Tabitha and she reached out to the woman when JJ behind her snapped, “What do you think you’re doing, you ridiculous woman? Can’t you see you’ve done enough damage?”

Tabitha hesitated, her fingertips just brushing against Mary’s, her fears welling up within her. He had a point. If she hadn’t practically dragged Mary into the maze, this wouldn’t have happened.

“Help. Me. Up.” Mary’s voice was low and borderline dangerous. Her eyes locked Tabitha’s, forcing the woman to pay attention to only her. She could feel Tabitha’s hand brushing hers and it was good enough; Mary lurched forward and grabbed Tabitha’s hand more firmly. Tabitha was stronger than she was and naturally helped Mary up just by being there.

“Hey,” Mary said when she was standing. She couldn’t quite look eye-to-eye with Tabitha, and took advantage of the height difference. “Look at me,” she murmured, speaking more softly and trying very hard to ignore the boggart. It seemed to be looking back and forth between them and Mary wasn’t interested in seeing what it would show them. “Look at me,” she said again. “I love you. It’s going to be okay, right? Get rid of the boggart.” Mary pushed herself to her toes and kissed Tabitha.

Mary’s words were as sweet as her kiss but they didn’t quite assuage Tabitha’s fears. She held on to Mary, needing to feel some kind of support, needing something to ground her. “He’s right, though. I am dangerous and I am reckless.” The tears she’d been trying to hold back started to leak from her eyes and she sniffed, struggling to hold herself together. She was starting to get annoyed with herself, on top of everything else. She was supposed to be the Defence professor, to teach a generation of students how to defend themselves against creatures exactly like and including boggarts and here she was, seemingly unable to banish the wretched thing herself. “Help me,” she murmured. “Please.”

Mary managed a small smile and smirked at Tabitha a bit. “Do you think I’d love you so much if you weren’t reckless? I teach children how to make poison, I don’t think you’re the only dangerous one.” She laughed a bit but was feeling woozy. Her elbow was throbbing, her wrist hurt, and she thought throwing up sounded good. Blinking hard to clear her misty eyes, she looked up at Tabitha. “I love you, Tabs. And right now, I really need your help, okay? Can you help us?”

Tabitha took a deep breath, the surprise at the nickname overridden by concern for Mary. She kissed her gently on the cheek, feeling very much reassured and far warmer, the cold grip of loneliness and fear slipping from her heart. She took a hold of Mary’s good hand, wanting to feel her there beside her. She felt stronger, better and saw the figure of JJ exactly for what he was. A boggart playing on her fears. The real JJ was who knows where and this was simply a bad dream, a nightmare to be banished back into the shadows from where it had emerged in the first place.
With a determined look on her face, she raised her wand and held it perfectly steady, drawing on her newfound strength within herself and finding it within Mary.

“Ridikulus!” she snapped sharply and then the adult JJ was regressing, the years winding backwards and his form growing smaller until he was a baby, overly dressed in bright pink and many frills and bows. Tabitha grinned suddenly, finding the image amusing and also rather appropriate. The real life JJ had behaved in numerous instances rather like a child. She waved her wand again and then the boggart melted away, defeated.

Tabitha turned instantly to Mary and carefully, she inspected the woman’s broken wrist. “I can fix it,” she murmured gently, cradling it gingerly. “I’m so sorry but I can fix it, if you want me to.”

Mary sagged, grateful both for the disappearance of the boggart and for Tabitha’s support. She wasn’t one to cry and hadn’t cried much in a long time, but this break was coming paired with more emotions than she had been expecting and the combination was too much. While she managed to hold most of her expression back, one tear leaked its way out and shined as evidence of her pain, betraying her as it slid towards her chin.

“Please, fix it,” she whimpered, “if you don’t mind.”

22 Mary Brooding and Tabitha Hawthorne Thank you. 1424 Mary Brooding and Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Tabitha Hawthorne

September 15, 2018 11:43 PM

For you, I'd do anything. by Tabitha Hawthorne

"This will hurt," Tabitha warned and her face twisted uncomfortably, not wanting to cause the wonderful woman pain but it was a necessary evil. She steeled herself, breathing in deeply as she pointed her wand at Mary's wrist. "Episkey," she muttered softly and she heard Mary's bones snap back together. Feeling terribly guilty over the whole thing, she raised Mary's newly mended wrist to her lips and kissed it gently, willing the pain to fade quickly. "I'm so sorry," she said again, gently massaging circles on her wrist now.

"Let's find a bench," she said, deciding that they both needed a sit down. The walked along the path, in the opposite direction to where the boggart had materialised and soon came to a stone bench. Tabitha sat herself down and promptly dropped her head into her hands and sighed heavily. Why had she decided to drag Mary into the blasted maze?

"I'm sorry," she said again and then groaned into her hands. That seemed to be the only thing she could think to say and she felt frustrated that she seemed unable to say anything else. She sniffed and raised her head, rubbing a hand over her head before remembering that she'd brought a flask of tea out with her all the hours before. Tea. That's what was needed. Tea.

20 Tabitha Hawthorne For you, I'd do anything. 1417 Tabitha Hawthorne 0 5

Mary Brooding

September 25, 2018 11:39 PM

Like breathe? by Mary Brooding

Mary groaned in pain when Tabitha's magic forced her broken wrist into place. She was particularly grateful for magic in these situations, although she couldn't help wondering if a slow muggle heal would hurt less. Somehow, it seemed impossible that repairing such an injury could be done without any pain, so it did seem better to get it done quickly at least.

She allowed Tabitha to lead her to a stone bench, wondering if the woman was actually leading her or just wandering and Mary was following her. Either way, the bench provided the relief they both needed and Mary sat, feeling shaky. Tabitha looked exhausted and a wave of guilt washed over Mary. She'd been worrying so much about whether Tabitha really was sure about their relationship and wasn't sure if seeing the woman's fears made her own lessen or increase. Somehow, knowing how afraid Tabitha was to disappoint her parents made the idea of continuing what was apparently her first relationship with a woman a bit daunting, but she was clearly happy with Mary and Mary decided to focus on that as she scooted closer to the woman.

"You don't have to be sorry," Mary said, smiling meekly. She watched her for a moment, taking in the strong hands that covered her face and watching them as they ran through her soft hair. When Tabitha managed to perk part way up, Mary smiled a little more clearly.

Leaning her head on Tabitha's shoulder at an angle that let her almost drape herself against the familiar shape of Tabitha's side, Mary's favorite place to snuggle, Mary sighed.

"Today sucks dragon balls," she grumbled halfheartedly. She thought she'd like to be playful but was too exhausted to attempt anything more than a weak chuckle. She turned her head, resting her cheek against Tabitha's arm to peer at the woman's face more closely. Those big, beautiful eyes peered back and Mary smiled. "But I'm glad to spend it with you." Her breath hitched as words that she meant but wasn't sure that she was confident enough to say again caught in her throat. "I love you," Mary said, pushing past her nerves and her fear. "I love you so very much."

22 Mary Brooding Like breathe? 1424 Mary Brooding 0 5