The Clock!?

“It could prove to be very useful to be good with potions, unfortunately, the only potions I was
ever talented with were poisons or sleeping draughts,” Keera agreed, nodding her head. She
ran a hand through her hair and looked around the greenhouse. Several of her thoughts were
battling each other in her skull and it was creating one hell of a headache. She pressed three
of her fingers to her forehead and blinked a few times. It aggravated her so that she couldn’t
have a normal conversation with anyone without being interrupted by her thoughts. It was as
if they were against her or something, which even she knew, was suppose to be impossible,
though it seemed logical after all the trouble her own thoughts- and mind –had already caused
her.

Keera spun In a circle for a short moment as listened to James’ words, hoping that maybe mo-
vement would rid her of her headache. “Psychological?” she asked, stopping abruptly; she didn’t
like it when people brought up psychology, in fact, the subject scared her to no end. She was
terrified of judgment, of being told that she was just another loon and then being shunned, and
that was normally what came from psychology. Then it clicked. This man was observing her,
taking in her every word like some sort of judgmental sponge, and she suddenly found herself
feeling suffocated. “Perhaps we could talk another time,” she suggested, stumbling over words,
her eyes betraying her sudden nervousness. She was tired of being told what she was, &
she was terrified of figuring out what was really wrong with her.

Within a few seconds Keera had managed to make it as far away from James as possible, her
back to one of the greenhouse walls, her face turned away from him, as if he would just disapp-
ear if she didn’t look at him. Something about the way she stood so close to the wall with scared
eyes made her look almost exactly like the little, thirteen-year-old girl that she used to be, and it
was a weakness she couldn’t stand. Fear was weakness, everyone knew that, everything
knew that, but unfortunately, it was something that only the strongest people could live without,
and Keera was not one of them. She still had her weak points that anyone could aim at, causing
her to break down.

Keera just about jumped when she heard Wilson’s footsteps, she had expected him to
leave, that was what all of them did, all of the people that ever met her eventually just
left when things got too ‘weird’ for them to handle, and so it shocked her when she found
out Wilson was still present. She stared at the other side of the room silently, her arms
bent and pulled close to her chest.

The gleam of the man’s lit wand disappeared, and that section of the greenhouse was
once again consumed by shadows. Towards the far end of the greenhouse was darker
due to the fact that the glass ceiling there was replaced by a few planks of wood; that
section of glass had been smashed into at one point or another, and the only sun that
was able to filter through, came from the lower side windows.

She knew Wilson was standing right before her, but his touch still made her flinch. He
turned her face towards him and she had no other choice but to look him in the eyes. “I
am not a- well- I” she replied, trying to put her words together in a way that would make
sense. She wanted to express her opinion on the matter, she wanted to tell him how ve-
ry much she hated- feared- being analyzed, but it was an opinion she had never voiced,
and therefore, had trouble getting it out of her mouth.

Keera examined his smile and wondered if it was one of mockery or if it was genuine.
She fidgeted slightly and pressed her back harder against the wall, her eyes darting acr-
oss his face, she was desperately trying to read his thoughts by his expression, but she
was unable to due to her own fear. “Stop that,” she ordered- well, at least her voice soun-
ded firm rather than shaky or raspy. She was ordering Wilson to stop analyzing her, but
she didn't finished her sentence; she was sure he would know what she meant, & what
he was doing to her already screwed up mind.

“You’re another one of them,” she replied, though it sounded more like she was talking to herself.
She could hear her heartbeat in her ears as it thudded against her chest. What a dramatic turn this
little meeting had taken; the atmosphere was tense and Keera was backed against the wall,
eyeing Wilson like he was some type of dangerous snake. “There are people that like to take note
of everything that is wrong with my mind and decide whether or not I’m crazy. Judgment, is a very
dangerous and terrifying thing at the same time, sir, you must know that, after all, you are a very
smart man,” she replied, looking down at his hands which were touching hers lightly, comfortingly.
Oh how confused she was. One minute she could have sworn that this man wanted nothing more
than to wreck her, and then the next, she was sure he was on her side.

“Why are you truly here? Do you really believe that a third fraction would be possible? Or are you
as good as lying as I have learned to be?” she asked, looking back up at his face. She couldn’t rem-
ember the last time she had asked so many questions, but she needed the answers, she was too
confused just to drop it and forget about all of what Wilson had said.

Keera kept a straight face for a moment after Wilson had finished talking, pondering
over all of the information she had just retained. You.Were.Wrong. Admit it, Keera
ordered herself, wrapping her arms around her midsection as she stood there. No,
because It could be an act, her mind replied as stern and stubborn as usual. Keera
didn’t know it, but her expression gave away the fact that she was having an internal
debate, and was no longer blank and unreadable like she would like it to have been.

Not everyone is as much of a compulsive liar as I am.
You’ve never trusted anyone before and it is because of that that you have made it this far
He didn’t leave. They always leave. This is new- he maybe be observing me, but he isn’t judging me
No, no. He is judgmental, everyone is, the only difference is he told you not to care
That is advice I should take
Yes, yes it is. Now get away from that wall and give him a nice big hug!
What!?
It was a joke…

Keera slowly pushed herself away from the wall so that she was standing before
Wilson, no longer in fear of what might be going through his mind. He had stated himself
that his opinion on her sanity didn’t matter, and that she should…trust those who didn’t
leave her after they saw who she really was. Wilson didn’t leave. Not yet, at least.

“I’ve tried choosing between the two sides, once, it didn’t work out too well,” she replied,
recalling her years at Hogwarts when both the Death Eaters and the DA members had tried
to collect her as their own. “The people of the ‘dark side’ think that everyone that isn’t pure-
blood must be destroyed, they, are wrong. There were muggles more powerful then Vold-
amort, people that even he would have nightmares about. The only reason they want to
destroy the muggles and all like them is because they are afraid of being called ‘second be-
st’,” Keera stated, it felt good to let those words fall from her tongue after stitching up her
lips for such a long period of time. “As for this Ministry, and the Order and all of those peop-
le, they believe that we witches and wizards should always be hidden from the nonmagical
people. They, are also wrong. We’ve been sorting people by their bloodlines for so long,
and yet, it would be so much easier to just divide the whole of the world into two categories
of the powerful and the weak!” at this point in her little speech she realized what she was
doing; she was actually admitting that she was at Hogwarts for no other reason than to
gather powerful students.

Look at what you’ve done…

Keera looked directly into the man’s eyes, and something flashed within hers- Fear? No,
fear was always clear in her facial expression, this was something that could only be seen
in her eyes. Was she really pleading with him? Begging him to keep all of what she had said,
a secret? Why, of course not… that would be silly. Keera Mast didn’t beg. At least, she didn’t
used to. Not when things were normal and she hadn’t any phobias at all.

[Note: Sorry about the super-duper crappy formatting ]

She had to admit, she was feeling quite embarrassed over her little episode, but it wasn’t a new fe-
eling, so she wasn’t all that surprised. She was constantly making a fool of herself, even at times
when she did not notice she was doing so. Keera slid down the wall with a sigh until she was sitting
on the wood that made up the greenhouse floor. She started peeling the thin layer of red polish from
her nails simply to give her something to stare at as she listened to Wilson’s words. So he was a part
of one of the two sides, and by the sound of it, he wasn’t a part of the Death Eater business- though
she could have expected as much.

“I do not plan on harming any of the students; it would be a waist of a brilliant mind if one of them were
to die or… lose there sanity. In fact, I believe that they should complete there schooling here at Hogw-
arts before anything else,” she replied, resting her arms on her knees as she looked up at him. “Will I
really? Sir, I trust that you understand that I am not interested in protecting this school- I would, however,
be more than willing to protect the brilliance within it,” Keera replied, though it wasn’t in her usual pushy
tone of voice, it was more in a way of stating her opinion, an opinion that mattered quite a bit to her.