Wow, it's so big (Catalina)

Chase stopped the second she entered this place. This being her 6th year in school and she had NEVER entered the library. Not once, in her life. She stood staring barely able to believe her eyes. All thought was pushed out of her head as she stood staring at these halls of books, books, and more musty old gross books. Then slowly recovering she walked in, sneezing a few times before she got used to the dust clogged air.

Chase was the type who got all of her friends to get her books, she tended to stay away from the library as much as possible. But today...She didn't really know why she was here actually. Probably because all of her friends had decided she needed time to "Think" and got "busy". Chase shook her head letting her long dark hair fall down her shouldeyal Hufflepuff, and the even more rare Gryffindor. She didn't see any Slytherin's yet. They probably bullied Ravenclaws into doing all their work, which is why they all looked so frantic. There wasn't THAT much homework.

Chase sighed slightly when she realized she was getting funny stares. Sure she didn't exactly..fit in. But she thought she had done a very good job trying to act..normal. Today she wore her Hogwarts skirt with pink stockings. And her shirt was the odd part. A tan strapless belly shirt. Meaning, that's right! A cloth around her chest and that was it, with a pattern of snitches running all the way around the top. She had done a very good job she thought, it was even tan! Isn't that what normal people wore normally?

Sighing Chase asked the librarian for help. Quickly getting the book she needed she sat down next to an open window, happy that a breeze was coming in. Stirring her hair and letting it fall around her face in small strands. Coughing she opened up the hundred year old novel and stared at the page in front of her. Chase had never been a very strong reader, and this was where it came into play. A bunch of words were scribbled in front of her nose, and she had no idea what it said. She leaned her head closer and put her finger on the line she was on. Squinting in the feeble light she grumbled. Wasn't there like a law saying it had to be so light for a person to read?

Well, how would she know? She barely ever read. Grumbling with fustration, her lower back starting to hurt already her eyes straining she glared at the page. The reading was so boring, so strinuis she felt her mind wander.

"Crucio!" A flash, and searing pain. Pain so numbing she couldn't think, could breath even less. Someone was yelling, both of them were laughing. A face swam before her vision, Sterling covered in blood, his mouth dripping. Blood swam in her own mouth from having bit her tonuge so hard. A scream, and the pain stopped. She stumbled to her feet. A wand pointed at her back, searing pain again. Her friend..well, her old friend. Torturing her. It ended, she didn't know why she wasn't dead yet. Sterling was dying. Someone saved her.

Chase was trembling when she came back to reality. A cold sweat had broken out on her forehead and ran down the side of her face. Her hands were gripping the book so hard the knuckles were white. She could feel the ache of the crucio curse in her bones. That had happened lately since that night. The crucio made her so sore if she strained her body to hard it would hurt again. Someone walked past.

She hasn't been the same since the attack.

She heard them whisper. She shut her eyes andtried to block it out. That night had never happened! It had been only a week since then. One full week since she had been attacked out on the grounds at night. Security was crazy now. Professors patrolling the halls, ready to aprehend anyone out after dark. It was a war zone. Chase shook her head letting her hair fly around her in the breeze. She just had to concentrate more. Staring at the book she slowly started to read.

Chase stared at the book not realizing there was another girl there until she touched her arm. She jumped more then necessary her book falling out of her hands and landing with a soft thump on the table. She looked up startled, her chocolate brown eyes full of surprise. Even though one of them was at a slightly different angle, she looked right at the girl.

"Oh..sorry.."She said blushing and picking her book back up. "I erm...I wasn't paying attention."She said looking back up at the girl once she was sure the book wasn't going to fall out of her hands again. "Yeah..I'm fine, I was just thinking."She said giving the other girl a weak smile. So not all Ravenclaws were shy quiet people. This one had actually talked to HER first. Which was an odd feeling.

Smiling a little wider, though it felt very cold and distant to Chase she pushed her hair out of her face. "I'm Chase Moor."She said holding out her hand for her to shake. "6th year Gryffindor."She said and then felt her smile fade as the book, quiet unwillingly fell out of her grasp again with a soft thud. Glancing at it she put her hand on it hoping the other girl wouldn't realize that another tremor of pain had crossed through her body causing her to release the book even though there had been no show of pain on her face.

Chase smiled at her when she shook her hand and let her hand fall back onto the desk silently. Looking away at her last comment she stared at the bookcase opposite from her for a minute her jaw clenched her hand holding onto her book hard. Another person who was out of the loop. Who managed to stumble onto Chase by accident and happen to see the pain there.

"A few nights ago..."She started and then had to clench her teeth again a ripple of pain running down her spine. "A few nights ago a couple of...students, thought it would be funny to try unforgivables on me."She said not looking at Catalina. "It's been...hard, to think happy thoughts since that day."She said her knuckles turning white as she was pushing down on the book so hard.

"I used to think, there was good in everyone, I even saw it..they looked good, but now...even I have a speck of black in my aura..I guess something died the day they tortured me on the lawns."She said her eyes flashing to Catalina and back. "I see black...everywhere...where it once was not, there it is."She said blinking. "You..though..I see no black in you're aura..none at all."She said with a soft smile. "But who am I kidding? I saw no evil in some other people, but they ended up the worst type of evil."She said and then she turned and smiled at the other girl. "I'm sorry...it's just..been a hard time."She said with a slow grin that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Chase clenched her jaw, her knuckles white on the table. "I don't know who did it."She said repeating the same lie she had told everyone else. "It was to dark for me to see, I didn't even recognize their voices."She said staring at the bookshelves across the table from them. "Even their auras..they were pitch black, not a second colour."She said her mind flickering back to Thomas'. How his had, but that girls. No, hers was black..pitch black.

She felt her eyes open in surprise as the other girl talked. How had she...Chase had used to think the same thing before that night. She turned to stare at the girl. "I used to think..that if you talked to someone. Long enough for them to listen. Then they would change. I tried it that night. And I found out it didn't. I pleaded with the girl, for there were two people. She just laughed, and tormented me." Shaking her head she turned away from her again.

"Something weird though, has happened since that night." She said her jaw clenching her knuckles white. "I feel..pain, just like that curse running through my bones. Like my whole body is on fire in flashes. It feels like it's trying to burn my soul."She said her hand flying up to clutch her chest. "I've considered everything from a deformation in my genes, to me going insane."She said blinking silently staring at the bookshelf again. "I've never heard of anything like that happening before. The pain returning. It returns if I over exert myself." She said looking back at the girl.

"If I breath to deeply..if I think to much on one thought even!"She said flicking hair out of her face. "The Hospital Wing couldn't do anything, St. Mungo's couldn't do anything either."She said staring at Catalina. "I've been to both places for it, they didn't have a thing to help, nor an explanation of it."She said looking at her. "It makes it even harder to forget that day, when I'm happy there is a blast of pain through my body and my mind returns to that night, the wand pointed on me as fire burned through my bones."She said her hands starting to shake. "I just..."She stammered and let her head fall into her arms on the table burying her face out of site.

Chase looked at her silently, hearing what she had to say, and knowing it was true..but not knowing how to accept it. She felt a small giggle escape when she told her she needed to learn to dodge the spells. "You have no idea.."She said shaking her head. "I"m surprised I managed to survive that..had they used that curse..I'd be dead now."She said shaking her head still giggling slightly. "I was in Gymnastics once...I broke my leg trying to walk on that little beam thing...erm yeah, I can't even jump on a trampoline without breaking at least a finger."She said shaking her head. "I'm clumsy, I couldn't dodge a spell if it was going to kill me."She said and then stiffened.

The other girl had given her a hug. Sure she had gotten a lot of hugs in the past few days, but this one surprised her. She hadn't expected someone she barely knew, to give her a hug, let alone a Ravenclaw. Relaxing quickly she hugged her back. "only if it's not to much trouble."She said in response to the potion question. "I mean...I'd really like that."She said sincerely. "I really would."