𝒯𝑜 𝒩𝑒𝓌 𝐵𝑒𝑔𝒾𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈

December 18th, 1993

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒮𝒾𝓍𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓃

Nothing, absolutely nothing beats the night.

It brings a calm to an otherwise bustling world, a calm like no other. One that only comes when the world stills enough to allow the gentler side to shine. One that can be seen from anywhere. From a lonely cabin hidden away from all and even in the city that never sleeps.

The night brings out a different side everywhere it touches. Even the dungeons of Hogwarts.

This moonless night was the most drastic. The only light was the faint glow of the stars and a forgotten candle that shivered at even the smallest of vibrations sent through the room. At the window, there was nothing but the green glow of the lake, the murky water impossible to see more than a few feet into. The air hummed that odd noise that can only be heard on the most empty nights, that hum... buzz... or rather echo...

The dungeons at night were a near void, but never really one. For voids are lifeless... but even the dungeons, even after everyone has gone off to bed... are never truly lifeless. The dungeons at night are home to the glows of candles and stars, moved with vibrations from nowhere, neighbors to the lake, and sung to by that odd hum of the air.

The dungeons are a hauntingly beautiful place at night...

...

Iris jolted up from her sleep.

Hands gripping onto her sheets, bracing her as she frantically searched the room. Eyes darting to every corner, every shadow, searching... prepared to find the dangers she faced in her sleep.

But as with all nightmares, the panic would eventually fade, and reality would creep back in. Grounding you back to reality and leaving the nightmares to simply be nightmares. And the fear would fade to the back of the mind but never leave. After all, nightmares are driven by something that doesn't simply disappear; instead, that fear sits back and waits to return for another time.

So Iris took a deep breath, glanced around one last time, and then allowed her head to hit the pillow again. Instantly falling back into her sleep.

The duality of the night is perhaps the best thing about it. For as beautiful... as gentle... as calm as they can be... the night is also home to so much pain...

~~~~~~

Iris wasn't often the last in the room to wake; usually, she was the one already up and about just as the others began stirring. But it was a day... one of those days where things just weren't right.

Iris clung to the warmth of her bed for as long as she could, but it was never going to be long. Not on a Hogsmeade day, and certainly not with her roommates... and besides... she had a date.

Iris was very rudely pushed from bed when Sally-Ann threw a pillow in her face, "Up, up Blackwell, I can't live vicariously through you if you miss your date with Diggory!"

Grumbling, Iris made her way to the bathroom, "Hate Hogsmeade days, should never have gotten my slip signed. Maybe I can take it back, and fucking burn it."

Shooting the girl a glare while touching up her makeup, Sally-Ann yelled out, "Fix that attitude, and do something with that hair! No one wants to snog Cousin Itt!"

Shooting Sally-Ann the finger, Iris snapped back, "Cousin Itt got more action than you ever will, Ann!" Giggles from the girls could be heard as Iris slammed the bathroom door shut.

Sighing as she locked the door, Iris turned to the sink, grabbing at the edge as she leaned over. Closing her eyes for a brief moment before looking into the mirror. Glancing over her face, everything absolutely perfect... but her eyes dark, dull. The deep blue of her eyes nearly nonexistent in the dark green.