Let Us Wallow

Jack was walking down the corridors, long strides matching the sense of purpose on her face as she did so. She was sick of it all, everything in this castle just irritated her. The jumble of voices in the Great Hall had terribly frustrated her for some reason. And now, for one of the first times in Jack's life, she wanted to be anywhere but Hogwarts.

Maybe it was because she was being taught by Death Eaters, who held an iron grip on the school and they were slowly infecting the magical community with their rule. As someone who detested viciousness and unwonted cruelty, the thought of Death Eaters taking over sent a fury into the young redhead.

Or maybe because she was terribly concerned for her family; her uncle Chip, her brother Riley, and her cousin Elliot, all of whom had been out of contact with her for awhile. Chip and Riley were muggles, and therefore, were vulnerable. Elliot...well Elliot was sort of hopeless.

Or perhaps it was the fact that she was insanely curious with what was going on with Vito Dee Symons, the poltergeist who had created havoc in Jack's life over the summer. She had been hurt by him quite a bit, but it was her mission to help him, to see him through. She had not seen him for awhile and she wondered if he had reverted back to his old ways.

But one of the most likely reasons was because Chase and Andrew would not even look at her. Over the summer, Jack had gone from friendless, to having a close knit trio of friends, and then back to friendless, for reasons she mostly blamed on herself. And now, she honestly did not know what to do with herself.

She found an empty classroom and went and sat down inside it. She slipped out her wand. "Expecto Patronum." A small wisp of silver escaped her wand. She started. She had never been unable to produce her patronus when she had been perfectly fine. Focusing on a particular day in Scotland she said, stronger, "Expecto Patronum!"

It was not the playful jackal that escaped her wand. though, but instead a large, shaggy wolfhound. Jack's mouth tipped open is surprise but she quickly recovered. Of course, Patronuses changed when people did, and she knew why hers was no longer a jackal. Because Jack was no longer Jackles. She was just a stranger.

The dog loped in a circle and trotted towards her, resting his sliver head on her knees, bending his neck to do so. Its opaque eyes met her green ones and they shared a moment of self-pity and misery. A smile flickered on Jack's face. Maybe just because you didn't have anyone around, it didn't mean that you were alone.

Aurora Was just walking Around the castle carrying her bag full of almost finished work that she had hoped to finish at any point of time. There were many places she could study like in her dorm, in the towers, in the dungeons, outside and the lake and there were others but today she felt like heading somewhere she didnt usually go to study

There wasnt much reasons to go to a different place especially because she happened to like the places she usually studied at but she needed to get away from people and just be off somewhere by her self.

Maybe the reason she wanted to be somewhere else was because of the fact that she couldnt see her brother at all for a while or maybe it was because she had no idea where her new sisters were. There wasnt a main reason for her not to want to be in her usual places. There could be many reasons for her to think of but they wouldnt be the actual reason.

For all she knew the reason could be because she was sick of being around alot of kids. It probobly wasnt the reason but still she never knew.

She really wished that she knew where Hugo was so she could study with him. She had gotten quite attracted to him ever since she met him. He was a really nice guy that she would be really lucky to be with him.

Aurora decided that she should goto the empty classroom to study. She didnt know if it was a popular place to go or not but she really didnt care because it really didnt matter to her as long as she got strait to working and studying.

When she got to the empty classroom she heard a familiar voice. As she opened the door she said, "Is that you Jack? Mind if i come here to study?" She hadnt seen Jack around often since she was alot older than her so Aurora knew she would unserstand how much she needed to study.

As she had spoken she had noticed the petronus doing all sorts of things. Aurora wondered what the point of having the petronus doing things was but she didnt even bother to ask.

Jack heard the door open and she saw the dog flicker slightly. Her head turned upwards to glance at who had interrupted her private session alone with her thoughts and she saw Aurora Nye, a girl a few years younger than her that had sought her help in the past, though Jack was unsure why she had been the girl's go-to person.

Jack looked back at the wolfhound and he dissolved before her very eyes. She stared at the point on her knees where he had rested her knees and felt loneliness grip her again. The patronus had brought her more comfort than she had sought in it, or she would care to admit, and she was sad to see it go, though she had no intention to re-summon him in front of Aurora.

There was a kick of loneliness in her gut now. It was probably the same sort of deal. Just how she could be by herself and yet not alone, she could also feel alone while in the company of others. Fickle feelings. Hellish hormones. The downfall of every teenager was not knowing what they wanted or how they felt.

She glanced back up at Aurora, realizing how out of character it must seem to appear thoughtful and not confident. However, it was hard to be confident and irritable at the same time, and Jack was rather upset at having her private little pity party interrupted by a party crasher in the form of a second (or third?) year Gryffindor girl.

Jack had to reprocess what the girl had said, seeing as she had not really cared to pay attention, having been caught up in her own matters. She had asked if it was her. Jack pulled on a cocky smirk. "No, it's Merlin." She grinned at the girl, even if the jest had been a weak one, her eyes twinkling with the joke.

She had also asked if it would be okay if she studied. Jack grumbled and shrugged her shoulders. The honest answer was no, she did not want company so the girl could not be allowed to cram for tests here. But Jack recognized her own need for social contact, so she grumbled, "I don't own this room. It's a free castle." Well... sort of.

She did not like that Aurora had seen her alone with her Patronus. In Jack's eyes, the girl could assume one of two things. That Jack was sitting here, practicing her Patronus. Or that she was sitting here, alone, moping and trying to relieve her pain by acquiring the company of a silvery watchdog.

Both off these were ill-fitting and unbecoming for this feisty female, who refused to show weakness or appear like a goody two shoes. She did not care what Aurora privately conjectured, but Jack would have a problem if the younger girl voiced her opinions on the matter.

Aurora watched as the dog started to flicker a bit. She noticed that Jack looked at her. She smiled when jack looked at her. She could tell that Jack thought that she was Aurora's Go to person even though she wasnt.

Aurora watched as the dog dissolved. she could see the loneliness in jack. She wondered if The dog brought her comfort or protection or what. She looked thoughtfully at Jack. There were some many things Aurora could think of asking her that she didnt because she knew she shouldnt as these questions.

The questions were like any other she would ask people, Are you all right? Whats wrong? Do you want me to leave you alone for a while? And sorts of questions of this.

Other questions made her feel sad for Jack. Why did she always feel sad for people was a common question she was asked as a child and she always answered 'Why because that is the kind of child i am and I appreciate all that god has given us enough to care.'

Aurora watched as Jack looked back at her. Was there something wrong? Should she leave? Finally she just thought about asking if she should leave and tell Jack she would be more then happy to leave if she wanted her to.

When Jack said her name was merlin Aurora giggled. "No it isnt its Jack.." She said. It was funny that she said that it was merlin.

When Jack said it wasnt her room and it was a Free castle she nodded. "Yeah thats true but i meant it as do you mind if i was here or would you rather me be somewhere else.." She looked around for a bit.

She thought for a bit. "So was that your petronus? And why was it playing around like that? I mean its cool and all but i dont get why someone would have their Petronus out like that.

She wondered what kind of animal the petronus was and why Jack had that as her petronus but it was all a mistery to her. She decided she would figure out another day if she remembered.

(Awesome length! Just try to work on spelling and capitalization now. You should always capitalize names)

Jack grinned when Aurora giggled at her joke. Jack could not help but enjoy when people laughed at her sense of humor. Jack was an entertainer, that much was true, and she loved when her jokes hit the mark, no matter how feeble or lame or whatever they were. And it was good to know that her mood did not affect it too much.

She looked up and could see Aurora struggling with unanswered questions. Jack turned and looked stonily across the room, not ready nor willing to answer any of the younger girl's prying questions. Jack did not need more people trying to interfere in her life, thank you very much.

When Aurora continued to pursue the topic of whether or not she was allowed to stay, Jack felt more irritation spark in her chest. Did the girl want to be sent away? Jack felt her tolerance stretch, but she wanted to challenger herself to having more company... She should not send her away. So, she grumbled, "No, it's fine. Stay here."

She asked about Jack's patronus and Jack felt her spine straighten with a strange rigidity that indicataed she was not comfortable with this topic of conversation. She thought back to her two choices, sand realized this would come down to admitting the lesser of two evils. So in a dull, droning voice, she said, "I was practicing."

Aurora loved it when people made her laugh. It was fun to hang out with anyone who made her laugh. Laughing in life was a good thing especially after being mad and depressed for a long time. There was nothing she could think of doing besides having some good time with friends.

Aurora tried as hard as she could to hold in the questions. It was usual for a child of 12 to be currious. But as people say, 'Curriosity kills the cat.' That is the main reason Aurora tried not to be currious.

Aurora smiled slightly. " Are you sure.. You dont seem like you want me here. I mean im fine with going somewhere else to study if you would like me to." It was true that she would do this because she always would do something someone would ask.

"Oh... Well ok." Aurora said her smile fading. She wished she knew more about petronus' but she knew she wouldnt learn for years to come. It upset her that Jack wouldnt tell her about why she had the petronus out and about but it was ok as long as she didn't want to talk about it Aurora didnt care.

Jack finally felt her frustration and irritation burst. Poor Aurora. She did not know that Jack was in an even worse mood than she usually was and was looking for any excuse to release some steam. She did not know that the simple act of being indecisive was enough to send her over the edge. She was just an innocent bystander.

But innocent bystanders had a tendency for being in danger around Jack.

She exploded, "Look, do you want to come in or not?! If I did not want you in here, I would have said 'Get the hell out!' But now you can be welcome to do so if you choose! I don't care what you do, okay? So make up your damn mind and either stay or go? Alright?! Geez, it's not brain surgery!"

She made a noise that sounded like "gah!" and she faced forward again, stewing in her anger and her frustration. She was done dealing with people, why did she even bother herself to try? She always ended up pissed off anyway, and she never seemed to be any happier to know at least she had tried. No, she was done dealing with people.

Aurora didnt know what was going on now. There was a silence for a while. There wasnt anything Aurora could think of doing as she waited. She sat her bag of books right behind her as she waited.

The next then she knew Jack just exploded at her. Aurora started to cry silently and she took a step back but as she took that step back she had forgotten about the books that were right behing her and tripped landing on her hand.

"OWW!!!" Aurora screamed as she looked at her hand. She couldnt move her hand one bit. It looked as though she had broken her wrist. There were tears in her eyes as she sat there looking at her wrist. She didnt know what she was going to do now. Her arm hurt in agonizing pain and there was nothing she could think of doing about it.