Arriving [Open]

[Sheridan McKie]

Sheridan arrived at the castle a day later than planned after missing the train. She left her bags at the gates as instructed, but kept her wand close. Now she stood at the top of a grand staircase. The Hall was abandoned and eerily quiet.

Sheridan stood there for a moment savoring the silence. There was a soft whistle coming from the wind outside and the hushed snores coming from the paintings. In a few hours this hall would be filled with students, dreading having to go to class but excited to meet up with old friends.

Sheridan's thoughts were interrupted by footsteps echoing in the distance. They were coming closer and closer. Sheridan took a step into the shadows, curious to see who else was up this late.

[Jory Addison]

Jory was out so late simply because he had apparently taken a wrong turn. Normally he was able to easily find his way around, but finding his way around by torchlight was much harder than doing the same in the middle of the bright day. He wanted to be up in his dorm, for more reasons than one, so he was rushing. When he realized he was back in the Great Hall, he stopped, sighing heavily as he looked around. Did the halls completely change directions at night?

[Sheridan McKie]

Sheridan saw another student appear below her. He looked so confused and completely lost...it was actually kind of funny. Sheridan couldn't help but laugh. Her laughter echoed through the nearly empty hall and her hand flew to her mouth. "Oops!" She mumbled. She stepped out of the shadows and leaned over the banister slightly. "Are you alright?" She asked the unfamiliar boy. He looked to be about the same age as she was. He eyes fell to the Gryffindor crest on his robes. Maybe he would be able to help her figure out how to get to the Gryffindor tower!...but then again it didn't look like he knew exactly where he was going either.

[Jory Addison]

Jory jumped at the sudden sound of laughter, of all things, and twisted his head up to look. A shot of pain immediately streaked up his neck and his hand shot up to rub at the crick that had unfortunately formed. "Yeah...just...the castle's a lot different at night..." Maybe she knew where to go? He knew which way he was supposed to go, but somehow he always took a wrong turn and ended up somewhere he had never been.

[Sheridan McKie]

"Really?" Sheridan said arching her eyebrows. Her voice echoed through the Hall. "I'm afraid I wouldn't be much of a help to you. You see, this is the first time I've ever actually been in the castle." She headed down the stairs, afraid to yell much longer in case she woke someone or something up. "I literally just got here." She said. "My name is Sheridan." She offered with a bright smile.

[Jory Addison]

"I'm Jory," Jory said with an unsure smile before he looked around the Hall. "I know how to get to the common room...just....not at night...." Did that even make any sense? He certainly hoped so, or else he would look just plain mad for thinking it, much less saying it. "I guess it's because I'm pretty new, too." He had only been there since the beginning of term. Now that he thought about it, it had been over a month. But it felt like so much longer!

[Sheridan McKie]

Sheridan smiled and nodded at Jory. The castle reminded her a lot of her grandparents' home. During the day, ceiling to floor windows lit the hallways but at night it was hard to tell which part of the house you. Sheridan looked past Jory at a particularly dark corridor, "I don't suppose it would be down that way, would it?" The darkness terrified her. She hated not knowing what was right in front of her. At that moment, most of the castle terrified her.

[Jory Addison]

"Um..." Jory paused for a minute, his fingers rubbing in the muscles at his neck and glanced over to where Sheridan was looking. "I....think...so...." He wasn't at all sure, though. He figured it was at least worth a shot, though. He pulled out his wand and lit it, completely oblivious to the idea of getting in trouble for being out so late.

[Sheridan McKie]

"Okay.." Sheridan sighed. Her eyes grew wider, but she pulled out her. Holding it out in front of her she muttered, "Lumos." She clutched her wand as if it were the only thing keeping her alive and headed down the dark corridor. "Coming?" She asked, afraid to go much farther on her own. Out of the corner of her eye, she could've sworn she saw something move and gasped.

[Jory Addison]

"Yeah, I'm co-what?!" Jory jumped again at Sheridan's gasp. He was such a girl sometimes. He swung his wand around to where he thought she was looking, eyes wide. He didn't know what on earth had gotten a gasp from Sheridan, but he was suddenly thinking that perhaps the common room was in a different direction...

[Sheridan McKie]

Sheridan pointed the tip of her wand in the direction of where she saw the movement come. The moment the light hit the corner, mice went scurrying. "Oh thank god!" She said breathing a sigh of relief. She hoped the Common Room wasn't too much farther, she wasn't sure if she would survive the trip. She moved her wand and saw the startled expression on Jory's face. "Sorry..I hate the dark." She said, a little embarrassed.

[Jory Addison]

"It's okay, me neither," Jory said. "Well, I mean, I like the dark when it's outside, 'cause it's not so bad out there with the stars and stuff. But in here there's nothing if there aren't any torches." He clamped his mouth shut then and told himself not to talk so much. Being around Layne had really gotten to him, hadn't it?

[Sheridan McKie]

"I love the moonlight." Sheridan agreed. "The perfect time to go flying is in the middle of the night with the moon shining down on you and the stars close enough to touch." Sheridan blinked. What in the world made her share that? "Let's keep walking, " She muttered holding her wand directly in front of her. She had a horrible habit of talking too much about pointless things like the weather, or favorite pastimes.

[Jory Addison]

Jory nodded and pulled up beside Sheridan. "I like daytime better, especially being outside, but night is nice, too." He didn't have much choice in whether or not he enjoyed being outside, considering where he had lived, but he could decide what time of day he wanted to be outside. Besides, at night there were all those bugs and creepy-crawlies that came out.

[Sheridan McKie]

"I love the morning. Right before the sun comes up when it's just beginning to get lighter, getting to watch the sunrise, it's so---" Sheridan stopped abruptly. She moved her wand to the right, in the direction of another corridor. Then she moved it to the left, a third corridor. "Which way do we go?" Each corridor looked equally uninviting. How could a castle that looks so beautiful on the outside be so...creepy on the inside?