#ourbattlestarter

[xmary-macdonald-blog]

“Goblin wars stopped being interesting five paragraphs ago.”

[mssrpr0ngs-blog]

I think I just found a way to get around Dumbledore’s quidditch practise regulations...

[regularregulus-blog]

“It’s rude to tell people how tired they look, you know that? I’m the one with no sleep, I know I look tired. Bugger off!”

[theother-black-girl-blog]

“Okay, don’t be a wimp, it’s just a test grade...”

[misshestiaj-blog]

"I can’t believe I’ve been reading this page for nearly fifteen minutes and I still don’t know what I’m trying to understand.” Hestia whispered to herself, trying for the umpteenth time to make sense before giving up and sighing to herself. She looked up at the figure who stood in front of her, a hint of alarm in her eyes, “Have you been standing there long?”

[fervidus-marlene-blog]

Silent Screaming // Marlene & Open

Marlene McKinnon didn’t do scared. She was bold, always faced danger with a matching grin, didn’t balk at trouble. It was her reputation, one she’d spent seven years developing among the students of Hogwarts and she wasn’t about to let some stupid encounter with the forest change that. Except that it was. Except that Marlene McKinnon, flame of Gryffindor, was shaken. She’d skipped breakfast, burying herself in her covers when her mates tried to get her up. It wasn’t until she heard the rush of students in the common room die down that she peeled away the blankets and stood. Time was lost to her as she stared in the mirror, looking for something, anything that could’ve explained what happened. As if there would be some visible defect, one she could remove and bury along with her fears. 

By the time she tore herself from her reflection, she haphazardly threw on lounge clothing, entirely forgoing her robes for the day and moved through the halls. Food. Food made everything better, as a kid her mom always told her that a warm meal took worries away. Hair wilder and pace slower than usual, she navigated the castle, trying to ignore the fact she was following the same path she had in the dream, until she was at the great hall. A few students were mulling around still, mostly those who didn’t have an early class, but the tables were mostly empty. 

Still, she wasn’t in the mood to stay and chat. Snatching one of the cloths from the table, she stuffed it with food before tying it up and moved to turn around, to get the hell away from any chance of seeing a familiar face. Only her shoulder knocked into someone’s chest and she stumbled, catching her balance, though lacking the typical ease. “Sorry, can’t talk.” She rushed out, waving a hand while she hightailed it to the entry way. No talking. She didn’t need to talk, she needed to think, as if scouring her brain for long enough would lead to some conclusion everyone else had yet to find. 

[tedward-tonk-blog]

“Right, so there’s a possibility that if you find yourself in the library reading late at night you could be sleeping there the rest of the night. Make sure to bring a pillow if you plan on being there past eight.”

[tenebris-bellator-blog]

Most of all, Bellatrix was tired. Tired of worrying. Tired of pretending. Tired of existing -- almost. Not really. Kind of. A little.

She ran a pale hand through her usually-messy dark hair, rubbing her eyes and hoping mainly that no one questioned her about the undeniable purple bruises under her eyes. 

“Stop that insufferable noise. Please.”

(Even for Bella, her tone was sharper than usual.)

[lilselizabeth-blog]

“I’m thinking of cutting my hair.” Lily mused, fiddling with her long red locks so they appeared shorter. About shoulder length, not too short but vastly different to her current length. “What do you think?”

[xmary-macdonald-blog]

“Just five more minutes.”

[mssrmoony-blog1]

november moon // @ marauders

The sky was knotted up in cloudy gray, wisps of night blowing in like a sail raised up over the horizon. These days, darkness fell hard and fast after the sun went down, and so early too. It was a particular annoyance of Remus’s, who otherwise enjoyed everything there was about the dwindling descent into autumn: crisp air and falling leaves, the nightly chill a perfect excuse to layer obscenely for warmth. With nightfall so early in the evening, everything felt closer. Moons were harsher, and took it out of him long before the sun was halfway through the sky in later months. 

Tonight was no different; a routine November moon. Gone four, the sky was just as dusky as the common room got when one was wrapped up in a good book and looked up after hours to find that the world outside had gone dark around them, with only the glowing embers of the fire for scant light. 

‘You’ll ruin your eyes, reading in the dark like that.’ was a comment he’d got on more than one occasion. As a precaution, he’d started summoning bluebell flames and keeping them in a jar beside him on the table as he read. 

If only he could spend the night in the common room, curled in the squishy armchair by the fire with a teacup suspended in its saucer within arms reach and a promising read in his lap. Instead of out there, under the moon and out of his mind, in the forest where, not a month before, a girl had been found dead without cause.

He paced back and forth in the corridor, waiting just off the main hall for the cloak-covered forms of his friends. His hands kept twisting themselves into his hair, no matter how many times he forced them down, until finally he gave up tugging and stuffed them deep into his pockets with a muted growl of irritation. 

Somewhere outside, the moon rose slowly. He could feel the pull, like an itch under his skin, drawing him to the door. Rationally, he wanted nothing to do with the grounds right now, least of all the forest. He’d transform in the shack as he always had, of course, but inevitably the wolf would want to roam. 

Something in Remus’s stomach keeled and flipped. For the first time since fifth year, he wanted nothing more than to lock himself away and go to war with himself alone. To be out on the grounds tonight could be...dangerous. In a way it hadn’t been since that fateful day in fifth year. 

Normally the forest was safe. And what a laugh that was, calling the Forbidden Forest safe. But they’d never had to worry about people before. The rumors around the Shack (and the screaming) had done more than enough to keep away curious thrill-seekers, and no one came into the Forest on their own. Usually.

But what was usually? What if it happened again? The sleepwalkers hadn’t been out of bed since the tragedy, but who was to say it wouldn’t happen again, tonight? What if it had? His mates were only safe around him because they weren’t human. If some poor kid wandered into the Forest, asleep and unaware, while he was out of his mind and itching to hunt --- 

If Lily...

Remus shut his eyes. His fingers curled into fists in his pockets.

Finally --- footsteps on the flagstones. Remus took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. Worrying would have to wait. It was time. 

[regularregulus-blog]

“My cat doesn’t just bite people, she’s not a savage. I’m sure you provoked her.”

[theother-black-girl-blog]

“Oh, Merlin, I thought you were a nice cat, okay I’ll put you down!”

“Sorry...Did you say something?”

[fortescalice-blog]

“That’s the third time today I’ve overheard someone say they’re considering not coming back after Christmas,” Alice huffed, taking a seat beside the other with a frown, before turning to look at them questioningly. “Am I the only one who wants to forget it ever happened, and just let everything go back to normal?”

[fervidus-marlene-blog]

“I swear, the next person to squeal about the attack in front of me is going to get a smack.” Marlene snapped, quickly silencing the first year at her table who had been babbling on about how Hogwarts wasn’t safe anymore. “Hogwarts is the safest place we can be right now and if you don’t agree, leave.”

[iandromedablack-blog]

"It appears that Christmas has thrown up on the castle,” Andromeda mused.”It’s a little bit early, don’t you think?”