A Careless Midnight -Open-

[Siresca McKnight.]

Siresca yawned and pushed the covers off of her. She tossed her feet over the edge of the bed and stretched. She really wished she could get more sleep but there was no way it was possible. It was like the moment the sun went down something triggered in her that told her it was time to get the hell out of bed. She was nocturnal by nature. Her brothers really hated the fact she was always out at night but there was really nothing they could do about it. They tried countless times to charm her to stay into bed, to put traps in the common room to stop her, but nothing ever worked. She always got out one way or another. She despised being locked up. She felt like a caged animal when she was trapped in the school and there was no worse feeling then that. She wasn't about ready to let her brothers keep her in the school and under their watchful eye all the time. She wanted to live and be her own person. Her father struggled to conceal what he was all of those years, forcing himself to be someone else that he wasn’t. The end result was him leaving their mom, getting with the man he is with now and leaving her and her brothers all alone. Her mother fleeing when she found out didn’t make matters any better either. She was not about ready to lose her mind because of this school, brothers, or anyone else for that matter.

Realizing she needed to change the direction of her thoughts, she finished standing up. She ran her hand through her long black hair and yawned. She already had her outfit out and ready to go. Tonight she had a long black dress that stopped just above her knees. But as far as she was concerned the dress was not going to remain on her body much longer anyway. It didn’t take her any time at all to get dressed. Before long she was standing in only her black dress and her lacy blood red undergarments. Her long hair hung down, perfectly straight. She was never one for curly hair, thank god she didn’t have it naturally curly. Smiling to herself, she whipped her head around and stared out the window. Full moon tonight, completely perfect for the things she had in mind. A lovely dance and a midnight swim. Oh her brothers would be so pissed of they knew just what she was up to tonight. Grinning madly, she darted down the flight of stairs that led her to her common room. She stopped just long enough to see if anyone was in the room, then she moved the book she needed on the bookshelf and was off. She loved having a secret passageway right there in her common room.

Before she knew it she was on the grounds and nearing the lake. The pathway was long but she really didn’t care. She was looking forward to this dance. She had all month in fact. A smile still lit her face as she walked. Unable to resist, she giggled and burst into a run. She had some serious energy going for her, so she ran all the way to the lake. She stopped when she reached her small-enclosed area. It was perfect. Trees surrounded her but there was a clearing in the sky where she could see the moon. It was right beside the lake and she was out of sight from the school. Well unless someone was flying a broom this late at night, but that was highly doubtful. She began to spin then, holding out her hands to the moonlight. She raised her left leg in a ballerina type pose. She spun on one foot and laughed as she did so. When she was done spinning, she began to move her hips, her belly dancer moves kicking in. She really loved her mom for teaching her how to belly dance. If there was one good memory she had from her mom…dancing was it.

[James King.]

Despite opinion to the contrary, James King had never had much use for such hindrances as “rules”. Oh he managed to obey most of them: indeed as far as the teachers knew he was the most rule-abiding student there was. But James had little use for the curfew that he and his fellow students had enforced upon them. He was quite a fan of being out and about after hours, indeed the grounds looked their best at night. Nights like this were the best. The full moon was shining in the night sky, the grounds would be lit up like it was daytime. Admittedly it would be like daytime on a very drizzly, overcast day, but that was beside the point. Sitting in bed in the Ravenclaw tower, James decided, was a rather boring waste of time from his point of view. That of course, was the reason why when lights went out, James was wearing a tee shirt and jeans rather than the mix of undergarments and old oversized shirts that his fellow Ravenclaws were wearing when they pulled up their covers. Then he waited. It was quiet for a time, there was only a light breeze outside, and the breathing of the other occupants of the boys’ dormitory. After what seemed an appropriate amount of time James shrugged off the covers and stood, carefully slipping on shoes and a jacket before tiptoeing his way out of the dormitory and into the school proper.

Getting through the school at night was easy after years of practice. The teachers were few and far between and the prefects, mostly, just wanted to be in their beds, and so were inattentive gatekeepers. As long as he kept to the shadows and stayed quiet then James was able to avoid the paltry watch they had set. The paintings were more difficult, waking them up would be a very unwelcome turn of events, but luckily they were all sound asleep and he was quiet enough not to disturb their rest. Yes, getting out of school couldn't have been easier if there was a secret passage right in the Common Room (which, as he'd decided after a lot of searching, was unfortunately just a legend). Before too long he was slipping out one of the side doors (the main door being too loud, very noticeable and imperviously barred) and out in the grounds. It was as good as he’d expected. The full moon lit up every blade of grass, every tree in the forest, every ripple in the lake. And it was all just for his eyes. Or so he’d thought.

Over the breeze he heard light laughter coming from the edge of where the forest met the lake. That was odd enough, usually he was the only person that was out this late after curfew, most of the other students were far too rule-abiding for their own good. Curious, James began to walk towards the source of the laughter. It took him a while. For a long time he saw nothing and no one, and he was about to dismiss it as a figment of his imagination when he spotted a figure in the moonlight. In a small clearing in the trees right by the side of the lake, the moonlight illuminated a girl. Strangely he found he couldn’t remove his eyes from her as she danced in the moonlight: spinning, hips moving, legs shooting out. Part of him felt rather strange watching her. He was deep in the shadows, where the moonlight couldn’t pick him out and it was unlikely that she would see him. Yes something felt very strange about watching someone without their knowledge. But as he leant against a tree trunk to watch her gyrations, he couldn’t care less.

[Siresca McKnight.]

Siresca felt like a princess in the night, spinning, and enjoying the breeze. Some called her a night nymph or at least those who knew about her. There were many that just judged her base don her appearance. It was not everyday someone saw a girl that loved to freak people out. She had various piercings on her face, only few she actually wore all the time. She preferred to switch them up. Siresca had a thing for dark colors, black, and crimson red being two of her favorites. They were dark, usual, and oh so glorious. Crimson was beautiful in the moonlight. It matched the tone of her skin. People never understood her. She had a love for vampires, werewolves, and bizarre creatures. Vampires were the biggie. She had learned that having someone bit and nibble at her neck was the biggest turn on of her life. Sadly, she still had yet to meet one of those fascinating creatures. She would love to have a mysterious man of the night all to herself. But only in her dreams and wildest fantasies would that ever accrue. Most of the men in this school were dark…but straight up boring. Most hated anything she liked, and they just turned their back on her, treating her like she was nothing to them. Siresca was a pure blood, but blood lines were nothing to her. Those who were also pure didn’t understand why she felt the way she did about pure bloods. She never was one to care about what walk of life a person comes from. A person can be from a horrible family and still be the nicest person around…and just he opposite as well. She knew families of kind gentle natured children who had at least one member who was horrid. Mudbloods were just as powerful as pure. Why did it matter? People were just to uptight about things anymore.

As she spun in the darkness, she remembered the nights her mother would spend with her, going over every detail of how to move her body to the beat of the night. Siresca never understood her at the time, but now she knew what every word had meant. Night time had a beat of its own. A rhythm of sorts. The wind rustled leaves and braches, the calls of the wild added oddball sounds here and there. Wolves howled, crickets chirped, everything came together to make what she called the Music Of Moonlight. Her mother told her to pay attention to the world around her. Let her instincts guide her when she danced. Her mom had been called a gypsy rather then a witch. Her mom loved Herbology, and Magical Creatures, even Muggle Studies. Siresca saw life the way her mother did. Everything was precious. The darkness surrounding this world was a mystery to her. She didn’t understand why everyone wanted to be evil, or why people gave into the Death Eaters. She believed that she had to fight for what was hers. Not give into it. She didn’t want to run when things got back, just like her mother had. Granted, her worst fear was coming across someone much more powerful then herself, and demented enough to hurt her while she was out at night…but there was a powerful urge to be out at night that she simply could not fight. Siresca wanted to dance, and sing, but most of all she wanted to be free. This school was her ticket to freedom, being everything she wanted to be.

Spinning in the night, she let her instincts guide her. She lifted her left leg high into the air, where it was directly by her head, and spun on her toes like a ballerina. She then lowered it and moved her right leg so that her foot was resting on her left knee, then spun again. She laughed as her she moved her arms around, dancing with the wind and darkness. A small chill began to creep up her spine. She had no idea why she had a funny feeling all of a sudden. She tried not to let it get to her. Clearing her mind, she forced herself to forget the rest of the world. She moved and spun, laughing to herself. After a while, she allowed her body to relax, and she simply sat down in the grass. Siresca moved her hands behind her head and stared up into the night sky. The stars were so beautiful tonight. She wish people saw the world like she did. The beauty of it. Such a shame others let things cloud their mind, blocking out the glory of it all.

[James King.]

James did love the school’s grounds, especially when the full moon was out. The light was enough to see everything properly, but it had a quality that you didn’t see in the daytime. It was softer, paler. Ethereal. It made one think of things that would be at home in such an ethereal light. Vampires, unicorns, werewolves. Yes werewolves were a biggie at full moons. Thankfully none of them inhabited the area around Hogwarts, otherwise anyone out and about at that moment in time would likely have been mincemeat. Not that Vampires were great either, but at least they were sentient. They could be reasoned with. Werewolves at the full moon though...they were mindless killing machines. But, thankfully, they weren’t too common. If they were James would probably have been wolf bait before you could say “dinner, puppy!”

As he walked through the trees, he was reminded of home. Where he was born, near the Mourne mountains, forests of thick trees covered the hills and hemmed in the fields. They were filled to bursting with life: deer, foxes, badgers, ferrets and swarms of birds, as well as the less mundane. Flying horses, Augereys, Jarveys, Mokes and the occasional Porlocks. Not that the Muggles there had any idea of those more interesting life forms. He’d found that the muggles there, while nice enough and well meaning, had an astounding ability to rationalise things they didn’t want to believe. He still remembered when he got his first broomstick and flew it in the back garden without permission. When he landed, a muggle neighbour ran over, not because he’d thought James had been flying on a broomstick, but because he’d believed that James had fallen from an open window while sweeping upstairs. While he’d never liked the ideas of certain purebloods, those who believed muggles were inferior to wizards, and existed just to cause wizards problems. Muggles were good people, they were just rather insular. And even with that they were on average better than most of the purebloods that he’d met.

He still felt rather odd watching the girl without her knowing, but she was impossible to ignore. Her long hair flew through the air like silk while her body spun and danced and contorted like a ballerina. It was still an odd feeling lurking in the shadows while she danced. You could probably construct some kind of metaphor from that. Shadows and light, skulking in the dark and dancing in the moonlight. In a more literary state of mind James could probably have found some better way to express that, but he was too distracted to find the words. People could have, and likely would have, paid to watch her dance. The way he thought it made it sound seedy, but she could have been in the Royal Ballet Society if she wanted.

When she stopped dancing he almost gave an unhappy sigh, but he didn’t. He’d rather enjoyed watching her. He almost applauded, but he didn’t do that either. He didn’t know how she’d react if he revealed his presence, but he decided that her not finding out at all would probably be for the best. He could see her looking up at the sky: the big, bright orb of the moon and the pinpricks of light that were the stars. It was indeed a beautiful sight, the sky when the moon was full.

[Siresca McKnight.]

Siresca stared into the heavens smiling. Tonight’s dance made her feel as alive as ever. She wanted to dance more but she was so worn out from classes, and running up and down the school corridors all day long. She knew she was going to be able to sleep with a smile on her face. Normally, she laid in bed, tossing and turning. It was downright almost impossible for her to sleep at night. She had to force herself to lay in bad and not move. Her legs would grow tingly and her mind refused to calm down. It was no wonder she had crazy dreams at night, why she laid there thinking of all the different things that could happen to this world. He dreams were turning chaotic lately and she kept dreaming that she was going to meet someone. But his face was always masked in the darkness. It annoyed her to no end because she wanted to see him, she wanted to know his name. He calmed her down when she was worried and he very first showed up when her parents split up and went their own ways. Maybe it was her own odd way of coping with her parents disappearing act on her. Whatever the case, a part of her desperately hoped he was real. It would be nice to know someone was out there waiting for her. Her romantic nature wanted that to be so, but the realness of it all made it unlikely. Chases were, if the bloke existed, he had no idea who in the hell she was. The world was a wasteland…as far as humans went. Nature was the beauty…and though her heart dreamed of the possibilities…her logical mind knew he was not real.

It didn’t take long for her mind to wander back to the chills she got earlier. The more she thought about it, the more she started to get creped out. She felt like someone was out there watching her. She just could not explain the feeling. It was like sitting in class, and the hairs going up on the back of your neck, and the moment you glance around the room, someone has their eyes locked onto you. That was the only way she could explain it. There was just no real words for this feeling. Siresca sat up and placed her hands behind her, holding herself up. Her emerald green eyes scanned the area, looking for the trespasser. When she saw no one she wondered if she was just being paranoid. She laid back down and sighed. There was a slight chilly breeze but the air felt wonderful on her face. The day had been so bloody hot that she couldn’t see anyone staying outside for long. The only ones that wanted to brave the heat were usually braving it out, taking dips in the lake or possibly the hidden spring here in the forest, if they knew where it was located. The spring sounded like a yummy idea to her. She was probably going to go there next, and cool down from her dance. Washing the sweat she worked up tonight.

She stood up and brushed herself off. Little pieces of grass had decided to stick to her. After they were removed and smiled softly and glanced around the trees. She still had that creepy feeling. Annoyed at herself, she finally spoke up. Determined to prove to herself no one was there. ”If there is anyone out there make yourself known. Watching me is starting to freak me out.” Admitting she was creped out was not a good idea…but she didn’t really think anyone was there, so what was the harm in announcing it?

[James King.]

James was rather glad that he’d decided to leave his dormitory for the grounds tonight. The dormitory was stuffy and small, full of snoring Ravenclaws. The grounds, by contrast, felt perfect. The had been swelteringly hot, but with the sun down a cool breeze transformed the residual heat into a cool equilibrium. Besides that the forest was almost comforting. The forest reminded him of Ireland: trickling streams, cooling springs, hundreds of animals (not that you could see them, in both Ireland and Scotland the local wildlife preferred to keep itself out of sight). It reminded him of his parents, his friends, his home. It was a nice feeling to have the trees all around, like when he was a little kid. While he was most certainly not the innocent kid he’d once been, but the reminder of his early childhood still felt good. It was better than thinking about the less than happy times in his later childhood.

When he heard her speak, he froze. He thought he’d been as stealthy as possible, he hadn’t thought anyone would be able to spot him in those shadows. But the girl obviously had, somehow. In his mind he weighed the pros and cons of what to do. If he snuck off without revealing himself then maybe she’d decide it was her imagination and he could avoid any confrontation. If he remained silent and motionless the same thing might happen. If he stood up and revealed that he’d been watching her...more variables than he could predict. I mean, it’s understandable right? I just decided to watch her dancing alone in the middle of the night in a secluded clearing far away from anyone else....oh who am I kidding I make me sound like a rapist. She’s probably going to curse me the moment I stand up/ Still, for some reason he wanted to get up anyway. It was a strange impulse. He was likely opening himself up for a bolt of green fire between the eyes if she had her wand with her (although where she was hiding it in that outfit of hers he had no idea).

Finally, he decided to improvise. If she knew where he was then staying there wasn’t really an option. But if he moved then she might spot him. He decided that that was worth the risk if he didn’t want her to catch him. So he waited until her glance was elsewhere and jumped up, running from his position to another tree, a massive oak with roots like giants worms cracking earth and stone. He didn’t think that he’d made any noise. But she could have heard him rustle in the leaves, or she might have spotted him while he ran. Hopefully she didn’t...but you never knew...

[Siresca McKnight.]

Siresca really was in a great mood. That was one thing about dancing at night. It made her feel so happy and free. There was no more worries, no real life, just her and nature. The world was at her fingertips…literally. She loved being out here. She just wished she could get to come out here more often. Classes seemed to keep her from doing the things she loved. Granted she knew it was all very important and eventually all those classes would give her a good job some day, but right now life was just hell. She was sick of people saying how the world was ending, all everything was going to hell and there was no point in even trying. She saw it all in a different light. There was every reason in the world to keep fighting and trying. Eventually the darkness will stop and something beautiful will emerge again. Life has a way of reviving itself. It’s happened all throughout history, through ice ages, and great catastrophes, life goes on. People may not see that because all they are concerned about now a-days is themselves. Which was a great sadness but there is no changing people. Siresca stared into the sky and smiled, the moon was so beautiful, the stars were so bright. Nothing could make this night any better. Well…maybe if she was naked. She giggled to herself at the thought.

She felt really jumpy the more she thought about someone out there watching her. Siresca sat up and then stood up. She stared off into the darkness, yelled into it and then remained silent. No answer. Was she paranoid or was someone actually out there? It really bothered her having no idea who was there, yet at the same time a part of her was thrilled for the adventure of not knowing. This mystery caused her to move toward the trees. ”Oh do stop hiding…is this a game of hide and go seek?” She asked into the darkness. A part of her wondered if it was a creature of the night out there in the darkness. Would explain why she could not find them and why she was having a hard time hearing anyone moving around out there. All she was doing was going off of her instinct. And at the moment it screamed…someone was there.

(I know its short….but its just odd replying when he is hiding. Lol)