You can't take naps at a feast on Library

Araceli Arbon

October 16, 2014 6:17 AM

You can't take naps at a feast by Araceli Arbon

Midterm had been a truly terrifying experience. To be summoned to father's study on her first day back induced enough fear in itself. She had then had the added worry that the problem she experienced at school would recur there. What if father spoke to her and she couldn't speak back? It would be terribly insolent and he would know how defective she was. As it turned out, she needn't have worried about being unable to speak, though the latter problem still came to light, as, once she had finished the tea father served her, she had been unable to stop talking. It had been horrible. The tight, panicky sensation had gripped her throat, making her feel choked and unable to talk. But then something had fought against it... A feeling of something rising up. Between the two sensations, it felt like she was being strangled or about to be sick. Eventually, the second sensation had won out, and brutally honest answers to all of father's questions came spilling out. She wouldn't have lied to him anyway, she was a poor liar and a good girl, but she had hoped to phrase things more delicately, although she was sure she could have botched it just fine without being under the influence of a powerful potion.

Father hadn't yelled. He had said very little to her. Just enough to remind of her duty to her family and the fact that she was not only failing to fulfil it but making them actively look worse. He had threatened consequences, though she had no idea what they would be, if she did not get her act together during the second half of term. One immediate consequence was her exclusion from all the parties the family had been invited to over Midterm, though that came as more of a relief than anything. She had felt wrung out after her interview with Father. She had hoped a good night's sleep would restore her spirits. Perhaps it would have, had she had any. She had lain awake night after night worrying about what she would do when she returned to Sonora, and it was evident in the dark circles under her eyes. She couldn't magically make herself able to speak. Father had achieved it but she doubted he wanted her that open with everyone in school. She most certainly didn't. The fact she had no control over her speech at school was frustrating, but to lose control in the other direction entirely had been terrifying.

She excused herself from the feast, telling Effie she was tired. Whilst it was true, she also simply couldn't face that many people all together. Speaking normally with her sisters had been hard enough over the holidays. Even though she knew the potion had worn off it was hard to feel comfortable and in control of her own speech. After being shut up for a term, then forced out by Father, she didn't feel like her voice belonged to her any more. The only things of comfort were her harp and Honey, her beloved cream tabby Maine Coon cat, who followed her now. Araceli had planned to go the Crotalus Common Room but had realised that they would be told the password for the new term at the end of the feast. She had panicked a little, not wanting to sit outside the room for several hours, nor walk into the feast late (or really, at all) before she had remembered that the library should be open.

She pushed open the heavy door, the noise of it clicking shut behind her the only sound she made. It felt strange and deserted, and she tiptoed in cautiously, wondering whether she would be in trouble if she was caught here. Was there a rule stipulating that they had to be at the feast? Effie hadn't tried to force her, and her sister was a prefect.... She moved noiselessly through the aisles of books, eventually picking a volume of children's stories. It was immature, she knew, and there were so many areas where she was lacking and would have benefited from doing some further reading but right now she craved comfort.

She settled into a chair, out of the way, silently petting Honey's head. Normally she was confident in talking with her pet but in the eerie silence of the otherwise deserted library she didn't dare. She began to read the first story but as she did so, her head nodded. Tiredness had been a convenient excuse but it was true nonetheless. The book slipped onto her lap, then slid onto the floor with a gentle thud. Araceli didn't stir. At least, not until she felt a hand on her shoulder...

13 Araceli Arbon You can't take naps at a feast 290 Araceli Arbon 1 5

Katherine Procter

October 30, 2014 8:51 PM

It's good to catch some winks by Katherine Procter

After eating her fill at the Returning Feast, Kitty learned the password for her common room and decided to take a detour by the library to pick up some light reading to keep herself abreast of all of her subjects. Even though she did fairly well in class (not the best, by any means, but she held her own as a Muggle-born), she still felt vaguely behind after last year’s purple sky debacle.

Collecting a few of the smaller tomes on her current subjects (some of those books were huge), she stacked them into the crook of her elbow and used her free hand to push some dark hair that fell free behind her ear. Kitty was about to turn when something small and furry rubbed against her ankle. With a gasp, she turned her honey-gold eyes down to see a large tabby cat looking up at her.

Of course I would find a random cat in a library, she thought wryly. There was something distantly familiar about that cat. Perhaps it belonged to another member of Crotalus House? Kitty knew that she had seen it somewhere before. She hated that feeling. That niggling feeling that she knew something but could not think of it.

After a moment, the familiar feline turned and walked away. Falling prey to the vice of her nick-namesake, Kitty followed the animal until she came across a young girl asleep in a chair with a children’s storybook at her feet. Recognition dawned on Kitty as a small smile tilted the corners of her mouth. The girl was the year behind her in her own house, and she had indeed seen the cat in the common room earlier in the year. Kitty took a moment to recall the girl’s name. It was a unique one…Kitty knew she was Effie’s younger sister, and while she was not close to the pair, she liked the Crotalus prefect, and she recalled the younger Arbon sister was quiet.

When her name was suddenly on the front of her mind, Kitty stepped to her side on silent steps and reached her unburdened hand to lightly touch the sleeping girl’s shoulder.

“Araceli, wake up,” Kitty said quietly, shaking her gently. In the back of her mind, she noted that she felt none of her usual shyness where the girl was concerned. Mentally, she reminded herself to be impressed later. There must have been something about how vulnerable Araceli looked sleeping in the library that made Kitty feel somewhat protective, or something similar. “Let’s get you back to the common room for some proper rest. I remember you left the feast early, did you miss the password?”

0 Katherine Procter It's good to catch some winks 0 Katherine Procter 0 5

Araceli Arbon

November 05, 2014 11:14 PM

But there's a time and a place by Araceli Arbon

OOC – pets belong to authors in the same way as characters do, so it's considered writing for others to state the actions of their pet. I don't mind on this occasion, as Honey's making herself useful but just letting you know for future reference.

IC
Araceli, wake up.

Araceli felt the hand on her shoulder, her face furrowed into a frown and she made a small noise of protest... It couldn't be time to get up, not yet. She was quite sure she had only just fallen asleep... Quite possibly she had, as she tended to toss and turn restlessly until the dawn hours, then drift off only to be woken a couple of hours later by the family elf.... Who always called her Miss Araceli, and whose hands were considerably smaller than the one shaking her shoulder now. Her eyes snapped open and she jumped slightly at finding herself face to face with a classmate.

She adjusted herself hastily, righting her posture, her hands fiddling with her hair through a combination of nerves and trying to make herself presentable, all the time information about her surroundings filtering in through her sensations – the feel of the chair she was in, the sight and smell of the row upon row of books – and her memory caught up to the fact she had last been sitting in the library reading. The majority of Kitty's words blurred over as white noise as she ploughed through the confused fog of waking up, disoriented to place and time, and the resulting embarrassment and panic as the truth caught up to her. The last few stuck though.

Did you miss the password?

She swallowed nervously and nodded. Had this girl been sent out to look for her? Had her absence caused a fuss? What time was it? There was a lump in her throat unlike the usual restrictive feeling brought about by her anxiety in social situations. It was the feeling of wanting to simply burst into tears. She had returned to school over-wrought and over-tired after her horrible Midterm break and now she had embarrassed herself and was potentially in trouble on her first evening back. She was so busy worrying about all these things that it didn't occur to her to worry about the nature of the person who had come to find her, and the fact that being seen with her would only be something else she'd done which went against father's wishes....

13 Araceli Arbon But there's a time and a place 290 Araceli Arbon 0 5