i come home in the morning light. ~ | open

[Arianna Cordelia Hildegard]

Under the shade of the huge tree sat Arianna Hildegard, whose emerald green eyes seemed to be focused intensely on the books on her lap. Her pale, eerily doll-like face seemed to resemble the icy snow of December under the sunlight that had somehow managed to penetrate and leak through the thick shade of leaves overhead - a striking contrast to the warmth that showered the campus today. Fluttering her fingers gently as she toyed with a few strands of her hair, the blonde tilted her head back slightly to allow the rest of her golden tresses tumbling down her back in smooth, glorious waves. Her usual proper, prim attire around the castle, however, seemed to be missing now that she was out of the castle areas and in the grounds alone, where the only possible human hovering in nearby vicinity would be Rubeus Hagrid, the gigantic man who had an odd passion in literally all types of existing magical creatures. A green and silver tie hung loosely around the unbuttoned collar of her white, silk shirt, dripping with rebellion in its roughly tied knot. Under the book on her lap a grey, old skirt fanned out in pleats, looking even more washed out under the sunlight while a pair of flat, battered-looking shoes resting next to her bare feet, completing the ordinary ensemble she donned.

Sitting up straighter, her hand reached out to adjust her shirt - the one she had stolen from Mary Hightower just the night before she departed to Hogwarts. Being an orphan meant completely deprivation from materialism and luxury, which were what half of the population of Hogwarts appeared to be growing up with - Arianna needed this. She needed all the help she could get, and Mary would completely understand if she had been in her shoes. Not that she would ever find out, though - poor little ditzy probably thought she misplaced yet another shirt in her dwindling collection of possessions. It was just a shirt, after all. If Arianna even managed to afford buying her own one day, she would repay her with a dozen ... perhaps.

The book she carefully balanced on her lap, surprisingly, held nothing academically useful inside. Beautifully colorful illustrations took up the entire page opened on her left as paragraphs of brown font spread over the right one. Tales of the happily ever after danced between the lines of swift, cursive writing while joyous stories of elves were hid within the glorious colors of the animated illustration. Everything of it resembled positivity and light - something the young snake was oddly fascinated by yet unable to relate to, for some reasons unknown to herself. Letting out a sigh of admiration, Arianna smiled quietly to herself as she pulled herself nearer to the book, examining the smiling girl in the picture who in many ways resembled Arianna herself, with the same blonde curls and vivid green eyes. It was a strangely beautiful sight; a young little lady sitting under the tree, her emerald eyes focusing immensely on a book in fascination as her deadly pale complexion glowed and bathed in the pouring sunlight that danced on her shirts and long, ripples of golden waves. Stretching out her arms, she leaned back into her previous position, her back resting on the tree and her eyes closing slowly.

In the perfect state of bliss.

[atsu apollo gaunt]

Atsu walked with the subtlety of a feline as he exited through the broad wooden doors. The outside corridor adjacent to the lingering courtyard was mostly empty save for a passing professor. Curt nods were exchanged, however Atsu's gaze showed no trace of integrity, no true respect- just a coldness that had passed as respect. The eyes of a slytherin, but with something else added in. It wasn't full of that sterotypical arrogance, like most of the slytherins were known for in their pompous looks. Oh their was pride, deep pride, but then if one looked closer they'd see the faint blood-shot hue. Discretely hidden signs of what he's done, what he's planned throughout his seemingly harmless existence. Of course, if anyone did notice, they'd probably assume the most simple-minded of reasons for it. Late night sleeper, kept awake with the books, big test tomorrow y'know...

Those idiots.

Sometimes he wondered just how much he could get away with in this bloody school. It's not like this hasn't happened before, right? A cold-hearted purist walking the halls, fooling everyone with his seemingly charming demenor, hard at work with his studies... It seemed the name Tom Riddle had disappeared from the minds of most people these days, or it was there, but blocked out. Atsu wouldn't be surprised, normally fear did that to most people. Funny how even after death the name still gave a chill. DIdn't matter though, soon they all would be weary, all be checking over their shoulders, all be struck-scared to say the new names that would be rising up...Just like last time.

The thoughts all flashed through the young man's mind so fast, even before he could get a blink in. His dark eyes lingered briefly on the back of the teacher as his cloak disappeared behind the grand doors. His head twisted back around to the front, a hidden smirk graced his lips.
even the prestigious adults are oblivious, i almost feel bad for them. Atsu thought with bitter humor. He then proceeded onto the pebble-stone ground, taking his time as he wandered aimlessly through the quiet court-yards.

It was his free-period, and though he really could be doing better things, namely reading, he'd felt a tug to be outside that faithful day. Everyone had their breaking points, and for Atsu, this had been one of those times. Cooped up in the castle could be suffocating, especially now it seemed. Atsu might have just been imagining it, but their always seemed to be some sort of disturbance every time he turned a page in one of the assorted books he had on him at all times. Then their were the bloody headaches!
Curse his eyes, if only he had better lighting in those rooms! But alas, sometimes we don't always get what we want. Sad truth, but it was inevitable sometimes, at least, the headaches were. Quite possibly in the future he'd be able to rid the 'disturbance' problems. Oh why it couldn't get here faster!

Atsu carried no possessions with him, save for his wand. (one should always have that on him) His attire was still of his robes and tie; he'd been too agitated to change out of them by the time he'd managed to escape the rowdy common room that was Slytherin house. Sometimes he just wanted to freaking murder all of them! At least the useless ones, but especially the loud useless ones.
A sudden urge to get out of the sunlight washed over the tall male. The wind was rather cold today, given it was still winter, but it seemed the sun had no dispute over that; it shined away. Atsu always preferred the gloomy days, over-cast with clouds upon clouds. Shadows were comforting to him after-all. No one could see you quite well when hidden in them, and the perfect remedy to any hot glare was a piece of shade. So with that, Atsu roamed over to the nearest tree, precariously flopping down to lay his back against the dark trunk. A sigh escaped his lips before he closed his eyes. Perfect bliss. He could just sit here all day; that is, if favor allow it. There was always something, or rather, someones, to ruin a perfectly nice bit of relaxation for a tired soul. And was Atsu exhausted. The late-night readings weren't the only things keeping him up at night though. It seemed his mind was at constant war ever since he- they -had gotten rid of that famous Harr-

A sudden feeling of another's presence shot Atsu's eyes wide open. Alert now to the other body sharing the immediate space of the tree. His peripheral vision caught the tips of fingers, and he immediately realized he wasn't alone indeed.
just what I need.. Atsu thought gravely, scowling to himself. He disliked company, especially now that he didn't even realize their was anyone around when he sat down here! Perhaps if he just sat dead still they wouldn't take any notice of his presence. However, the Slytherin's curiosity spiked to know who this interrupter of his peace was (for it didn't take much to shake the little peace he had left in him). Biting down on the inner-part of his cheek slightly, Atsu shifted slightly, his body moving closer to one side of the trunk so he could peek around the corner...just a bit to see what this person was and what they were doing...

[Arianna Cordelia Hildegard]

It was the right thing to do after all, to savor her moment of peace while it lasted – which appeared to be short lived when the sound of footsteps broken the silence she dwelt. Catching a shifting shadow out of the corner of her eyes, the blonde lifted her chin gently in search of the intruder; her green eyes held alertness with such intensity that did not soften even as she spotted her new company that she recognized as a seventh year Slytherin. Atsu Gaunt. Looking rather weary, the boy shuffled his way into the courtyard absentmindedly, a look that Arianna recognized dimly as distress tainting his roughly chiseled face in the stressful demeanor of a worn out soul. Tilting her head sideways, the first year silently contemplated on acknowledging his presence – Arianna did not dislike company, in fact, she was often seen as a charmingly graceful child in terms of socializing. There was hardly any time she would put someone off as it would severely collide with her otherwise socially acceptable visage save for a few unfortunate slips with those silly muggles back in Wiltshire, that filthy place that she’d sworn to never look back to - the mere name of it made her cringed. Completely oblivious to her presence, the seventh year roamed past her without a second glance before plopping himself down on the opposite side of the trunk. Keeping her gaze ahead, Arianna listened quietly as the shuffling sounds died down, an indication of the boy finally settling down just few steps far away from her, sharing the very same shade that she had been sitting under.

As if there was a subtle shift of mood in the air, the previous state of serenity took the form of an awfully eerie silence that fell in like a cold blanket. Getting back to her book, which now lay forgotten on her lap, was likely the wisest thing to do – but Arianna found the new atmosphere extremely hard to ignore. Unable to escape from the wrath of curiosity, the blonde turned just a tad bit to the right– in the most subtle fashion she could muster, in attempt to see just what the older Slytherin was doing. Surprised to find a pair of brown eyes peering into hers, the first year stopped dead in her tracks - apparently he had beaten her to it. It was a strangely amusing picture; a small, delicate girl and a tall boy who was approximately twice her size, both were caught peeking at each other from their little space of territory under the very same tree. If anyone was unfortunate enough to witness the awkwardness, they would have laughed – Arianna would have, if she wasn’t held back by the suffocatingly harsh vibe from those intense brown eyes. Slightly lost in the gaze they held, the blonde stared ahead, taking in every last bit of details on that cold face, never once taking her eyes off of his.

For a very long moment her face was blank, her eyes clouded by something one would roughly recognize as emptiness. As fragments of consciousness resurfaced slowly as if recovering from the mild stun, she blinked, in a more curious light, at the boy she had been staring awkwardly at as if she had just realized his very existence. Then ever so lightly, her lips twisted into a somewhat friendly curve.

“Hello.”

[atsu apollo gaunt]

The second those unanticipated green eyes met Atsu's, he merely sat there, stoic in expression as he let a few moments of silence hang in the air. His mind whirled into his memory bank. This girl held a familiarity to him. It was the kind that told him that he saw her on a regular basis- perhaps not directly, but he'd seen her indirectly on more than a few accounts. Given her youthful, well-rounded face and stature compared to his, he determined first year. After a few more twists in turns, his thoughts landed on where he'd seen her before. Not a name, but the face. He'd recalled her during the sorting hat ceremony, which had been quite a while ago, but he remembered which house she'd been put in.

Atsu wasn't quite sure if he should say anything back or just ignore her completely. If he didn't even know her name after all this time, why should be bother with giving her any of his precious time? However much his anti-social side told him to bugger off, his intrigue got the majority of the votes.
"Hi." His low, almost inaudible voice carried no hint of his interest, nor did his gaze. Atsu tilted his head forward slightly to stare past the blonde child. In her lap he saw a book, one he did not recognize in the slightest. If he had had to take a guess, he'd say a story-book, given the lively images on one page with the old-fashioned text on the other. A category Atsu had only ventured into once in his life, and that was far before his run-in with far more interesting novels. In his opinion, such stories, those fairy-tale of sorts, were for the meek-minded. The messages they sent weren't his sort of believing, and ever since he dug deeper into the dark, ancient books in his father's library, those children's books were a distant memory.

His lips drew in a clear line, while his brows made a crease. One could daresay Atsu was feeling confusion at that moment. Hard to tell though, considering he had a reputation of having the feelings of a black-hole.
"What's that you have there." His choice of tone was tight, almost defensive. He hadn't a clue why he gave two rats' tails about the particular book (and a unschool-related one at that) but something inside him stirred to know the name of it at least. His gaze was fixated on the page with the picture, still reclusive as ever, but with a small flame of concernment, dark as it was, it was still there.

[Arianna Cordelia Hildegard]

What came next was a fairly amusing sight to watch; Arianna tilted her head sideways in curiosity as she eyed the seventh year went through one solid minute state of blank and the lightly visible struggle in his otherwise stoic face before allowing the monotonous greeting escaped those pale lips. She remained still as she watched the older boy shifted to glance at the book in her lap, which was now opened up to different page after a gentle blow of the winter wind. The new illustration was of a trio of men on the coast of a river, where a magical bridge appeared midair across it as the oldest one gave a flick of his wand – it didn’t take much for Arianna to recognize the name of the story. Out of so many fascinatingly joyous fairytales in this book, The Tale of Three Brothers was easily her favorite, being the only one she could possibly relate to despite the heavy factor of clichés the theme seemed to revolve around throughout the story. The eldest brother stood for the symbol of power, whose crave and desire for dominance had made him the first one to fall into the hands of death out of the trio; the second brother’s story, was most likely seen as the saddest one out of the three, in which he killed himself for lost love; and like all predictable fairytale, the youngest brother, humble and supposedly intelligent, had been the one to escape the wrath of death for the longest time and greeted it like an old friend when he had made it till the very end. The tale itself clearly held an educational purpose for children, to deprive the young kids from greediness and dwelling on the past – both were depicted as deadly throughout the story.

But Arianna disagreed.

In her very point of view, the eldest brother did not die from his crave of power. It was his foolishness and carelessness that failed him in the end – the man had idiotically chosen to get drunk alone which resulted in his unconscious bragging that earned him the envy and ultimately his death. Being unwisely boastful at the wrong occasions under the wrong circumstances was how he had gotten where he was in the end, and in Arianna’s opinions, a man like this was bound to end up this way at some points of his life anyway. Many people fancied power and superiority throughout their lives at one point or another, but most of them failed predictably, either because of the lacking of certain qualities or the necessary motivation. But when it was her turn, Arianna would not be one of them – and she believed in that with such annoyingly extreme confidence. Some people were predestined to shine; and after eleven years of life the young child was irritatingly self-assured that she was born to greatness.

A brief smile danced on her lips when the older boy spoke in question regarding the book, her oddly cheerful demeanor remained the same, showing no sign of responding to the defensiveness in his voice. Quietly, the blonde slammed the book close without saying a word, holding it up to the light so the boy could see the title clearly. Golden alphabets spelled out the name ‘Tales of Beedle the Bard’ across the thick bound of the book. “Isn’t it funny?” she said, her voice light and breezy as she stroked the cover absentmindedly. “How people would come up with all sorts of wonderfully detached form of reality in these things, when what they truly wanted to run away from just happened to be the very foundation of their crazy dreams?” she murmured as she faced him, yet her gaze was blank and afar lingering in somewhere unknown. That was the truest form of fairytale in Arianna’s head; a distorted world of reality that people created just to escape from reality itself. The idea itself was mildly and entertainingly amusing.

There was a short moment of silence before she averted her newly refocused vision back onto Atsu, flecks of newfound fascination danced in her correspondingly vivid green eyes. Then out of the blue, she spoke.

“Do you think Elder Wand exists?”


(Ooc: I’m not sure but I assume Harry kept the details of his hunt of Hallows and Horcruxes confidential from most people C: It could be interesting, considered he’s killed now, I don’t know lol. )

[atsu apollo gaunt]

Atsu watched as she closed the book and held it up to the flecks of sun-light dripping through the trees above. Once he read the golden letters across the tattered front, a far-off memory began to afloat in his mind’s sea. Tales of Beedle the Bard was a title he’d seen perhaps two other times in his childhood. He was aware of what the book as a whole was. The supposed author, Beedle, was historically influenced it seemed by the muggles of his early time. In fact, two versions of the fairytale story-book were printed back in the early nineteen century for the anti-muggleists. Namely the pureblood families. It wasn’t until then did any of them choose to interest their innocent-minded youth into reading into them. For Atsu and his siblings, the Tales of Beedle the Bard were mostly covered up and thrown aside. Not like Atsu complained, his view of petty fairy-tales were as high as his views of half-bloods, which wasn’t even worth a sickle.

As the memories flashed and faded from his eyes, Atsu focused back on the girl. The way she spoke of the book and it’s category with (in Atsu’s opinion) foolish-minded individuals was almost adult-like. Her logic sense of these bed-times stories people wrote was astounding to him. Exactly how deep did she really feel on those sorts of books? Those type of people? Gazing briefly into the girl’s green orbs, which seemed so far-off he wasn’t sure if she was even attentive to his presence, Atsu couldn’t help but think that he was in the presence of a particular first-year. He felt that the Slytherin obviously had a working brain in there worthy of his time. Might as well stick around to see what else she had to share. So far his intrigue from the start of this girl was still prominent. However, her next question made him raise an eye-brow. Now what a quizzing question this first year had asked!

His previous hard expression seemed to shift ever-so-slightly to one of silent skepticism. The Elder Wand was something he knew the stories of, whether those stories held truth or not was a totally different matter though. The thought of such a wand’s existence certainly would be a sight to see in person. Atsu paused a few seconds to muse over the possibility. He went through his bank of knowledge of the ancient object. It’s association with the presumed ‘unbeatable’ wizards throughout time was a testy subject. One could say that these people who possessed great power in their spell-castings were just above-average wizards who worked hard in their studies or were just natural-born duelists beyond anyone else’s capabilities. The Elder Wand could have had something to do with their great power, but it was never proven that such a wand existed. What did Atsu think of the matter anyhow? Logic said that it wasn’t entirely impossible.

“There is a possibility of its existence, I think.” Atsu replied slowly, his lips turning down-ward ever so slightly as he continued on in a monotone, “Of course, there are those historians who say that those wizards who showed great skill with magic were just naturally skilled in the use of magic. Then some think it was because they possessed the Elder Wand. But if you notice, most of those wizards known for their immense power eventually ended up being murdered. Soon after that, another extremely powerful wizard came about.” His gaze shifted so that they were now staring out toward the narrow tunnel entrance. “Some believe that this pattern throughout history was an act of power exchange. Once one wizard defeats another in a duel, that defeated wizard’s wand picks a new master, in all cases, it’s the wizard who defeats its previous master. I’m assuming you already know that the wand chooses the wizard, correct?” He paused his speech to stare expectantly at the first-year. His demeanor had shifted to more of a relaxed state, something Atsu usually sinked into if he began explaining something. Normally it was school-related, in this case, it was historically related, which tied back into school. He himself hadn’t really discussed the topic of the Elder Wand existence to anyone outside his close family circle.

“Though I think the story that that wand originated from is utter child’s play, I believe the Elder Wand could exist from what history tells us.” Atsu finished, not quite knowing how long he had been talking for, but he had gotten his point across. At some point in his rant he’d more-than-likely had forgotten exactly who he was talking to. He was hoping the first-year would understand most of what he said; repeating himself was something he reviled. He brought his brown gaze back to hers, wondering if she had any opinion herself on the matter. It was only natural she was curious on the subject- it seemed to spike Atsu's own curiosity now. The thought of the Elder Wand and it's power in the suitable hands (unlike those foolish drunks and savages who attained such an object in the past) was beyond captivating. Though where to even begin to look for such an object, well, that could take some serious research.

(lol probably so! i don't think anyone would truly know of the elder wand's existence aside from him and those mentioned from the book -shrug- =D)