* I RUN TO YOU // open

[bex]

` this world keeps spinning faster,
TO A NEW DISASTER, WHEN LIES BECOME THE TRUTH, I RUN TO YOU;

The school was quiet over the holidays, with a majority of students away to visit families all across the world for Christmas. It was a welcome change from the hustle that filled the last week of school before the break, with students cramming to finish end of term assignments and exams, and the general rush of anticipation that hovered in the castle for the eagerly awaited break from the demands of school. Normally Nataliya would have gone to stay with her family over the holidays, enjoying her few weeks back at home, but this year she had opted to stay in the castle, when her sister announced that she was going to visit over the break. That summer had been hard enough, trying to pretend their parents that nothing was amiss as Anya continued to treat her with contempt and disgust. It had been a difficult facade to keep up, and though she had hoped that with the start of a new school year Anya might listen to her it had been in vain. At least in school Anya didn't bother to hid her attitude towards her sister, giving Nataliya an excuse to avoid her twin sister. The chance of spending two weeks away from her sibling had been worth not seeing her mother and father, and so far Nat was enjoying her solitude.

However, as nice as the solitude was it was starting to get a little bit redundant, and after being alone with her thoughts for a long enough time Nataliya decided it was time to distracted herself, and so she had wandered down the library, looking for something to keep her occupied. She had found a novel on the shelves, nothing of great literary quality, but more a fun reading, a cheesy storyline that was just engaging enough to keep you interested but not enough to actually make you think about what was going on. It was perfect and Nataliya settled into a low window seat, pulling her knees up underneath her. It was almost picturesque, the petite girl curled up against the back of the seat, behind her a huge window with faint light streaming in past the thick clouds that were dusting snow across the grounds. The aesthetic were lost her though, as Nataliya had already opened the book, her finger trailing against the first line of letters. This had already become a habit for Nataliya, using fantasy and worlds created on the page to escape from reality. In the books there was always a happy ending, things always found a way to work out, and right now Nataliya needed all the happy endings she could get. It had never made sense, that Anya took his word over hers but once she had made up her mind there was no way of convincing her otherwise, and Nataliya had finally given up. Trying was too much effort, and maybe by laying low things would blow over and she could try to move on without so much pain.

It didn't take long for Nataliya to lose herself in the words but a short while afterward a sharp tingling in her feet brought her back up. Her foot had fall asleep and Nataliya wriggled her toes inside her shoes, wincing at the pain that shot up her leg. Grumbling Nat stretched her legs out in front of her, tilting her head side to side to work out a kink in her neck. Wondering how much time had past since she had wandered down to the library Nataliya looked around, though the library was rather empty.

_{words // 600,
outfit // here,
tagged // open,
notes // this is crap,}

[ayame]

The castle was quieter than usual- that happened over the holidays. It was one of Evan’s favorite things about Hogwarts. Not the lacking of people, but the lacking of noise. It was better for him, especially when he was drawing. Some of the best pictures he ever came up with were drawn over Christmas break. Certainly it was better than going home. Evan hated going home, he never bothered, and his family was mostly okay with that. Sure, his mother had mentioned missing him a few times, but she knew as well as anybody that Evan’s father didn’t give a damn about him, and that it would only be torture if her son came home. So Evan elected to spend Christmas and Easter at the castle, where he felt at home. There was no fear at Hogwarts, or very little, at least, and there was no Jonah Porter. This was Evan’s home more than anything.

Despite the fact that he could have found quiet just about anywhere in the castle, since it was break, Evan still decided to go to the library. It was a nice, comfortable place, and the lighting there was so good for his artwork. He had his sketchbook under his arm, multiple pencils and erasers in his pockets. In the large inside pocket of his jacket, Evan also had a birthday present from his mother- a package of multicolored oil pastels. He didn’t use them very often, but they were for special pictures. Perhaps he’d be drawing a special picture today.

Evan slunk into the library as silently as he could, casting about for a good place to draw from. There was a conjunction of bookshelves that caught his eye, as well as a well-used leather tome sitting on an old wooden table that was quite picturesque. However, Evan didn’t like drawing scenes nearly as much as he liked drawing people. He was about to give up and draw the leather book anyway when he rounded a corner and found the perfect drawing. There was a girl sitting in a window seat, reading a book. The window let in just enough of the light from outside that frame her perfectly, and if he drew it right, Evan was sure he could get some of the snow from outside into the frame.

Trying not to be seen, he whipped out a pencil, took a seat at a nearby study table, and began to draw. His strokes were mostly light, his shadows well-placed. He was about halfway done when she moved, stretching her legs and rolling her neck. Evan’s breath caught in his throat- he hoped she wasn’t about to leave. When he caught her eyes wandering in his direction, he hastily tried to hide his sketchbook. He only succeeded in knocking the lamp next to him off the table, shattering it on the floor. Evan’s face lost all color, he was white as a sheet. Quickly he pulled the hood of his jacket over his head, yanking it low so she wouldn’t see who he was. He curled over his sketchbook and prayed she hadn’t noticed him.

_{words :: 520
tagged :: Nataliya Smirnov
notes :: crap? Did you say crap? I see no crap here…}