SCREAM | ginny w.

SCREAM | fifteen

"You got it now?" Hannah asked. They were in an empty classroom instead of the library that Monday after classes had concluded. Vera nodded slowly. They had been working on the stunning jinx, something that Vera had certainly seen before, though if she had ever performed it, she didn't remember. Her use of magic was few and far between before coming to Hogwarts. "You want to try it out on me?"

Vera looked at Hannah curiously. "Won't it hurt you?" she asked.

Hannah pointed to the pile of cushions behind her. "Not if you have good aim."

Vera smiled slightly. "There's something I can do."

For the next half hour, the pair worked on the stunning jinx and counter-jinx, both of which Vera found she was very good at. She had a naturally good reaction time and a proclivity to defend herself, so once she learned the proper movement, it was easy for her to fall into the rhythm that Hannah established.

Hannah let out a groan and stretched her shoulders back. "Alright, I think you've got that one. That's enough for today. Good work though, Vera. I'm glad to see you improve so quickly," Hannah praised and Vera looked away, shying away from the compliment.

"Thanks," she muttered towards the ground. Hannah smiled at Vera's reaction.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow," Hannah said. "Have a good night."

"You too," Vera said politely. With a smile, Hannah left the room, Vera following.

"Vera!" A voice called. Vera's head snapped up, instinctively defensive. It was Ginny, a silvery-blonde haired girl next to her. Vera shifted her weight, relaxing slightly at the familiar face but the new one throwing her into an unfamiliar emotion that filled her gut with unease. Ginny grinned, her hair glimmering like copper as she passed in front of a window and the sunlight hit it. "Wow, you look tired, have you been sleeping at all?"

Vera shrugged wordlessly. She had been throwing herself fully into her studies during the day and had found that escape worked well into the early hours of the morning when she was still afraid that she might go to sleep and wake up back in the compound and not in the fourposter bed under the lake. "Enough," Vera replied, knowing her shrug would have not been an answer enough for Ginny. "You don't look tired," Vera changed course with a slight smile, and she couldn't help but admire the way that Ginny's face lit up as she laughed.

"This is Luna Lovegood, by the way," Ginny said, the ghost of her laughter still in her voice and across her face. "She's in our year, in Ravenclaw."

"You're very pretty," Luna said pleasantly, turning her silvery blue eyes towards Vera. Vera blinked twice, unsure how to answer and Ginny laughed again. "I think I see Neville," Luna said, her eyes darting away and catching a figure in the crowd. "Nice to meet you, Vera." And with that, she drifted away like a dandelion seed on a breeze, skipping down the hall to some unknown destination, Ginny and Vera both staring after her.

"That's Luna," Ginny said, turning back to Vera with a smile. "She takes some getting used to but she's hilarious."

"Hmm," Vera replied, unsure of what else to say.

"Say," Ginny said, changing the topic. "Are you planning on going to Hogsmede this weekend?"

"I... don't know," Vera said slowly. "If I am, it would be alone."

"Why don't you come with me?" Ginny asked, a gleam entering her eyes. "I mean, you need a tour around Hogsmede and everything. Show you all the best spots."

Vera thought for a moment. Arson had been banned from Hogsmede- Vera still didn't know why, but either way, Vera wouldn't be going with them unless they figured a way to sneak out of the castle. "I would like that," she said finally, though her head was reeling with opposing thoughts. Did Ginny want this to be a date- no, that was stupid, she barely knew Vera and besides, Vera was a girl. Girls didn't go on dates with other girls. Meanwhile, the other side of her brain was desperately trying to convince her that somehow, she would be taken while she was in Hogsmede, there was some operative there who was working to find her and bring her back to the compound.

"Brilliant," Ginny beamed, Vera's head clearing slightly as she offered a smile back, thoroughly dazzled. "Get some sleep over the week, though, Vera. No offense, but you look like you need it."

Vera sighed, still smiling. "I know," she said, making no promises to Ginny. She did not want to break a promise, especially with Ginny, even if it was something as small as going to sleep on time. That had been something Vera would have done six months ago, a year ago, five years ago. The same past that she was trying to escape was built on mountains of broken promises, and she did not want to give a platform for her demons to manifest in her new life.

"I've got to go put my stuff down before dinner," Ginny apologized, hefting her school bag to emphasize her point. She smiled, letting the weight rest on her shoulder once more. "I'll see you there- I'll be the redhead at the Gryffindor table."

Vera couldn't help but smile at Ginny's teasing. "That's not very helpful, you know. There's at least three of you there."

Ginny just grinned, and even her teeth seemed to smile back at Vera. Vera did what she always did when Ginny grinned that wide, teasing smile and let herself be dazzled, grinning back easily. But with that, Ginny was gone, as was the ease that came with her presence. Vera took a deep breath, swallowing the storm of thoughts that had returned as soon as Ginny was no longer there to distract her from them. But Vera's life had been one distraction from the next, and though those distractions were no longer gruesome acts committed on someone else's will, her feet still knew to carry her to whoever or whatever would bring her back to comfortable numbness the quickest. So Vera made her way down the hallway and towards the Great Hall, hoping to find Arson before anyone else tried to interact with her, lest the bubble of numbness that she had been carefully balancing in her waking hours burst. 

a/n: y'all i am so sorry it took me this long to update this story and sorry this is such short chapter too.  I've been stuck on this chapter for literally months. like, i shaved my head when i started it and i was living in my bald bitch era and it's comparatively long now. hopefully the writer's block does not haunt me to the next chapter :)