no double dipping }{ cassandra penderghast

[kyndrick carmilla laurent]

”Ring around the rosies. Pocket full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.” Kyndrick Laurent sang softly to herself as she wandered the silent halls of the school. It was only just nine o’clock and some students were bound to be about. It had to be Kyn’s luck pushing everyone as far away from her as possible. She was a seventh year and her curfew was still ages away, or so it seemed. So, she was doing what she did best, wandering aimlessly. Although, Kyn could never just wander. She had to turn it into a little dance of footsteps along the stone floors. She staggered slightly every now and then and tripped over her own feet, catching her balance quickly as though the tripping was all part of her greater plan. That was Kyndrick for you!

She’d changed out of her school clothes hours earlier and was wearing a pleated purple skirt with a gray sweater and a pair of Mary Jane son her feet. She felt young and silly. Her wand was tucked into her elastic waistband on her skirt. In one hand she carried a cigarette that she’d not yet lit. Her eyes looked wide and her hair was a bit messy. She wasn’t drunk, like she was most nights, but she considered this only the beginning of her evening. Some people thought that Kyndrick was a possible insomniac considering how little sleep she ran on but she was just determined to always be awake. As a child, she always thought that all of the exciting things in the world happened at night while she was sleeping. She vowed to herself that, when she was old enough to make her own decisions, she’d stay up and see all the things she’d missed out on. That was Kyn’s life philosophy, not to miss out on anything!

So, it was 9 and the first years were in bed and the older students were tucked into their studies in their respective areas and Kyn had just stepped outside into the slightly chilly night air in a deserted courtyard on the fifth floor. Kyndrick thought that this particular courtyard seemed to be a hidden treasure. It was perfectly tucked away from everything. No one down on the fifth floor could see out to this courtyard unless they literally got up and walked out there. There were benches and plants and a quietly sputtering fountain in the center of everything. Kyndrick thought it was all so under-rated. The fountain was huge with a little statue of a goblin making a sword atop it. She wandered closer and sat down along the edge of the thing, examining the statue closely. She reached into the pocket of her sweater and pulled out a lighter. She lit up her cigarette and took a breath.

Miss Laurent stared at the goblin and wondered if it was based off a real one somewhere, sometime through history. She wondered its name and its story and what it was like. She finished off her cigarette as she created a fake story behind this goblin’s existence. She felt so accomplished! In reality, there was nothing great about making up a history for someone who may not even be real to begin with, but that was beside the point. Kyndrick had to pass the time somehow. She couldn’t just be bored waiting for Cass.

That’s right! Kyndrick was waiting for Cassandra Penderghast! That was the reason she had come to this particular courtyard at this particular time. She had nearly forgotten her reasoning. So often, Kyn went throughout life with very little reasoning for things. It was who she was. She thought of the lovely Cass and giggled slightly at the mere idea of her best friend. Crazy! They were both the most insane people at this school, easily. It made Kyn feel special.

She wondered how long Cass would be. It could be a whole hour before her friend showed up for all Kyn knew. She slipped her feet out of her shoes and put them into the fountain’s water, breaking the glassy surface, without even thinking. The cold water was startling and Kyndrick realized what she was doing. She let out a tiny gasp and then a grin spread across her face. It was the type of grin that she put on just as an idea hit and she knew it was a bad one.

Before she could process possible repercussions, Kyn stripped down naked and flopped her thin body into the shallow fountain water. The water was only slightly colder than the air and Kyndrick loved it! She dipped her head under for a moment and let all the air out of her lungs. She watched the bubbles travel up and she laid there in perfect stillness, capturing this moment as her own way of stopping time. That was how things felt under water, as though you were transported into another world where time couldn’t possibly exist. Kyndrick let her head bob upward where she took a long breath of air. She thought to herself that she should probably smoke less. She wasn’t the caring type though so, that resolution was useless on her. She stared up at the stars above and the way the castle loomed overhead, the rest of the floors and towers staring down at her, scolding. She winked at them, wondering if anyone had fancied a peek out a window to spot her there. That wink would be for them, or so they’d think. And then, they wouldn’t forget the girl who lay naked in the fountain at school! They wouldn’t forget Kyndrick Laurent

[jamieanne]

Cassandra sighed as she rolled over in her bed, her green curtains drawn, enclosing her in an emerald fabric box. Her head still ached from the thoughts swirling in her head from the dream. It wasn't anything new, just the run of the mill acceptance into the elite Death Eaters.

She stratched and felt her wand brush against her fingertips. She grabbed onto it and twirled it in her hands, feeling the smooth Holly on her skin, the slightly rough edges of the stars engraved upon the wood. She sat up and immediately regretted it, her head throbbing even more painfully. She started to see double.

Cass flicked her wand and the curtains blew open. There were no windows in the Slytherin dungeons, so this made telling the time of day difficult. She was supposed to meet Kyn at some point next to the fountain. She giggled slightly at the thought of Kyn being patient. Yeah, that was something Kyndrick wasn't able to do in a million years and it was funny as hell.

She looked at her clock on the stand and it read 9:15. Cass got up and put on a white tank top and some capris, throwing her hair in a ponytail, not wanting to bother with it. She put on sunglasses to dull the light. She needed to see the nurse, get this ache to leave her body.

Cassandra walked into the commons and saw some of her fellow Slytherins there. She nodded to them in recognition and tried to hurry her way up to the Hospital wing. The porraits were all talking to her at once.
"Okay you all need to shut up, I can't think." Cass walked as fast as she could without seeming like she was weak and really in pain. She gritted her teeth as she saw the Hospital wing, her eyes seeing spots of light dancing that couldn't possibly be there in reality.