Frequent visitor...

[Hayzie]

Sunset. At least many of the students would be in bed by now, and she knew all of them should be in their common rooms. After all, it was gone half past nine.

So, Hayzie's shadow, accompanied not far behind by the girl herself were once again heading down to the lake. It was easier to avoid pestering or taunting lycans there. After all, many scarcely left the safety of the forest.

Settling down by the lake once more, the lycan girl took her sketch pad out of her purple bag she frequently brought with her, and started sketching the scene before her. Admittedly, she had never been good at drawing, but it helped to make a situation seem lighter. And laughing at yourself always made things feel better.

But as she continued to draw, she became more and more distracted. The last time she came here, Mortimer had been talking to her. It was the opposite end of the day too. Putting her sketch pad down, she hugged her knees, bringing them up so she could rest her chin on them. At the moment, she was feeling more alone than she had done for a long time. She hadn't seen any of her friends since she had returned, and now she had been reminded that a very big part of her life had gone.

Tears prickled again, and a few spilled over easily as she looked at the orange light from the sky reflect on the lakes surface. All she wanted at the moment was someone to talk to.

[Kelly]

Kelly had been making her prefect rounds for the night, when she had happened to glance out a window. She was surprised to see a figure sitting out there; a sillouhette in the sun. Curiosity got the better of her, and, assuming the others could handle the castle for a little bit, she decided to investigate. She brought her wand with her, just in case, and made her way to the lake. There was a light chill in the air, now that the sun was down, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

As she approached the lakeshore, she saw the back of a familiar blonde head, resting on her knees. There was a purple bag and a half-finished sketch resting next to her.

"Hayzie?" she whispered, hoping she wasn't disturbing the gryffindor. As she looked at her friend, she realized she could see the glisten of tears on her cheeks. Kelly sat down and wrapped an arm around her friend, hoping to comfort her of whatever problems she had.

[Hayzie]

Hayzie had completely forgotten that the Prefects would still be on their rounds all night. How could she have been so stupid? The blonde girl nodded and leaned into Kelly's hug and some sort of comfort went straight through her.

Looking out over the lake, she watched for a moment as the warm breeze of the evening swept past them to ripple the surface slightly, only just noticable to the eyes.

The Lycan remained silent. She found words had escaped her. A few seconds ago, she'd wanted someone to talk to, now someone was there, she couldn't think of what to say. Hayz glanced up at Kelly for the smallest second before looking away again, taking a great interest in the shore of the lake. Maybe some more stones to skim had drifted ashore...

[Kelly]

Kelly watched Hayz, and as their eyes connected for that fraction of time, she could see that something was wrong. She was about to pester the gryffindor, but then decided to leave her be. If she had something she wanted to say it, the girl would be sure to voice it - at least, the Hayzie that Kelly knew would.

[Hayzie]

Hayzie watched the water with intent interest for a few moments. Those moments were filled with complete silence other than the birds singing their nightly song, almost like a nightingale lulling someone to sleep. Okay, Hayzie was tired herself, but she wouldn't let sleep take her over, not yet.

Sighing silently, she decided she'd better tell Kelly at least part of the story. "Kelly," she said, her voice much more quiet and reserved than normal, "I can't go back. To the castle, I mean..."

[Kelly]

"Wh...what?" Kelly asked, confused. She stared at her friend, but the other girl was too busy looking out at the water to meet her gaze. Instead, she studied the other girl, looking for some sort of visible reason of why she couldn't return - even though she knew there wouldn't be one.

"What do you mean?" she finished lamely, for lack of a better reply.

[Hayzie]

Hayzie still didn't remove her gaze from the calming view of the water. If she even glanced at Kelly for a second, she knew her friend would probably look hurt beyond belief.

"It's hard to explain," she said after a while, her voice struggling to keep even. "I just can't."

[Kelly]

"C'mon, you can tell me anything - I won't mind, I promise," Kelly said, now getting worried for her friend. The gryffindor only cried when things were really bad, and Kelly could tell from the waver in her voice that she was on the verge of tears.

[Hayzie]

Hayzie sighed and shook her head. She hadn't ever told Kelly anything, but this was too important to not let her know. After all, her friend had come to visit her in St. Mungo's, the least she deserved was the truth.

"Kelly, I'm..." she started, her voice choking again. "I'm... I'm... a... well. When I got bit... she.. Rikka.. she turned me.. into a lycan," Hayzie told her friend, her eyes growing wide as she remembered what had happened and when she had been told.

[Kelly]

Kelly just sat there, too stunned to reply. At first, it was to try and decipher what all the stammering was, but once she realized what Hayzie had told her. she just didn't know what to say. She knew she shouldn't be afraid, because Hayz was her friend. She also knew that it would be pointless to try and comfort her friend, because by now, the gryffindor would have either grown to accept the fact, or never would.

She knew she had to say something, so after a few more moments of thinking, she spoke up.

"How long have you known?" she asked. It wasn't the smartest, or most relevant thing to say, but it was all she could think of.

"You know, I'll still be your friend, no matter what," she added. Not only was this statment true, but she figured it could be an indirect way of comforting the girl.

[Hayzie]

Silence. The one thing that seemed to be surrounding Hayzie no matter who she spoke to or where she was at the moment. She began to draw patterns in the sand on the bank, trying to distract her attention away from the silence that had overtaken the banks of the lake.

When the silence was broken by Kelly asking how long she'd known, Hayz could only answer with the truth. "I got told just after I woke up in St. Mungo's," she explained, her voice definately could be classed as withdrawn and the look in her eye, if Kelly could have seen it, would have backed up that point. She felt alone in this huge world...

"Thanks, Kelly," she added with a smile as her friend spoke again. Those were the words she'd needed to hear off one of her friends, but she highly doubted they would be repeated again....

[Kelly]

Kelly nodded. So that's why Hayzie wouldn't talk to me back in the hospital, she thought, putting all the loose pieces of her thoughts together.

"You're welcome...it's only the truth," she said, smiling back. She squeezed the arm around Hayzie tighter for a second, giving her a quick hug. As the gryffindor - or lycan? - girl wouldn't look at her, she decided to stare at the rippling lake instead.