So welcome to the quiet before the storm

“Bored. Bored. Bored,” Keera stated in a sing-song voice as she stared
over the newspaper she was holding. “What is taking her, I wonder?” she
wondered aloud, scanning the empty hallway for anyone other than the
moving pictures that hung from the wall, chattering noisily with each other.
Keera set the Daily Prophet down beside her on the bottom step of one of
the towering staircases. She leaned against the railing to her left and rubbed
her eyes; they stung like salt being poured into a fresh wound due to the
dangerously small amount of sleep she had gotten, and the reading she had
been doing only moments prior.

A group of young students walked past Keera and started up the stairs, most
likely to their common rooms; all the classes were over by then, but it wasn’t
yet late enough for the students to be punished for walking about the castle,
and so, Keera was confused when she looked up from the floor to glance a-
bout for the third time in the past five minutes, without seeing a sign of Jamie
Prophet. “Merlin knows how long I’ll have to wait here… that girl must either ha-
ve a very poor memory, or stacks of homework to get done,” she muttered,
shaking her head with a smirk; she wasn’t angry just yet, she would give her
‘friend’ at least another five minutes.

[Note: Wow...thats a short post O.O sorry about that]

Keera looked at the girl when she heard her voice. She raised her eyebrows out
of curiosity and titled her head to the side. “Of course, it is to be expected in this
castle. May I ask what a”- Keera examined the girl before going on –“first year like
yourself is doing, wondering about? I would assume you would have a lot of stu-
dying to do…?” she guessed; she wasn’t entirely sure that this young girl was a
first year, but it couldn’t have been a far off guess, the girl was rather short and
thin, and looked as if she hadn’t yet turned thirteen. Keera remembered that she
was suppose to be meeting Jamie, but decided that she might as well speak to the
shy girl to waist some time. “Don’t stutter. If you want to survive in this world you
have to be confident, in both your words and your actions,” Keera stated abruptly,
smirking. “What is your name, kid?”

[Note: Behold, an even shorter post! XD]

“Is that so?” Keera asked, leaning back against the other steps, propping herself
up with her elbows, the steps probably wasn’t the most sanitary place to lounge,
but Keera could care less for that sort of thing. She thought of her younger sister,
she had been so very afraid of germs and everything else for that matter… Keera
guessed that that was the reason why she didn’t care for her teeth or her hair;
she didn’t want to feel like she had to do anything. “Well, Aurora, let me tell you,
it isn’t going to get any better. You will most likely walk down these halls by yourself
until you’re a fifth year at least; It always works that way, unless, that is, you get
over being shy,” she stated, tapping her feet against the ground, looking at her feet
with a Cheshire grin. Keera was speaking of her own experiences during her years
at Hogwarts- although her trust had been the issue, she had never really been a shy
child- , and she knew her statement would sound rather blunt and cold to the young
girl, but in the long run she was only offering some ‘friendly’ advice. "Aren't you in
my class?" Keera asked without really caring if she received an answer, it wasn't
that interesting of a conversation.

Keera paused for a moment, trying to decided whether or not the trust Aurora
enough to tell her her real name. Mariana and Jamie already knew, but if word
got around and the Ministry heard that Keera Mast was teaching at Hogwarts
School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, they would have her thrown out of the pla-
ce faster than she could apparate. She rested her chin in her palm and nodded,
“Keera Mast,” she answered against her better judgment, but then again, the girl
had just told her that she had no one to talk to or spend time with, she there really
wasn’t much of a risk.

“How long have you been using magic- and I don’t mean how long you’ve been
here because I can take a guess, what I mean to ask is, how long have you been
able to use magic with or without you knowing that you possessed any power?”
Keera asked randomly, though it wasn’t a random question from her point of view;
Aurora seemed to be feeling a bit more comfortable around Keera, and she knew
by now just how to use that sort of trust to her advantage- but she would only go
that far if this student had what Keera needed…power.

“Three? Impressive…” Keera replied with a yellow grin. She sat up straighter, her
elbows on her knees and her chin rested on her knuckles. “That doesn’t surprise
me; I’ve met quite a few ingenious muggleborns- or “mudbloods” as the prejudice
call them – during my lifetime, quite a few of which were about your age, too,” she
mused, looking up at the ceiling in thought; she was becoming more interested in
this young student as she listened; the girl reminded her a bit of herself during her
years at the magic school, though, she hadn’t been as kind as she guessed Aurora
was.

Keera straightened out her legs in front of her and searched through the pockets
of her worn black jeans. “here we are,” she mumbled to herself before producing
her wand. “I know it isn’t exactly class time at the moment, but… I’m curious,” Keera
told Aurora, and then returned her attention back to her wand, “Have you ever ca-
sted a spell without speaking it’s incantation- I understand you are only a first year,
but my ideas have always been a bit farfetched to begin with?” Keera explained
with a laugh, and flicked her wand. The tip of her wand lit up, casting shadows on
the walls. “Three is a very early age to start using magic, so you can understand
my curiosity…?”