maybe tomorrow, open!

[hazel]

it was late. the grandfather clock chimed low and loud, the noise echoing down the entrance hall. the following dong sounds counted up to twelve, so it was midnight as of right now. a rather lanky girl peered at the clock from her perch on the marble-floor steps. her flaming orange hair was splayed around her shoulders, a matted mess from trying to sleep prior to her late night walk. now, in a pair of baggy sweatpants and a fitted tank top, she leaned against the railing of the staircase, wriggling her sock covered toes to gain feeling in them. it seems that her entire body wanted rest- her mind just didn't concurr. placing her elbows on her knees, the insomniac rested her chin in her hands, staring forward but not really looking at the scene in front of her.

she was thinking. that, and remembering. she wondered if her mother had left some sort of clue to where she went. maybe she was waiting to be found. or she was back home right now, scuffling around looking for her daughter. ruby's chest tightened and she dropped her eyes to stare at her feet. the house was a mess when ruby was forced to leave. the bottles were in the sink and the dishes needed to be washed. the power would be out by now, the bills were overdue. trying not to think the worst of her mother, ruby remained hopeful. she'd come back. it's not like her mom was ever mean to her, she was nice. she just needed her alone time, like everyone did. letting out a long and dejected sigh, the redhead let her eyes flutter closed. a noise made them snap open almost immediately though, and she stiffened, freezing. was it a professor?

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[tinasaurusrex]

The left? No the right? Right? Damn, did she really have drink that much? It had taken all she had to get back into the school. There had been a party out in the forest, she was one of the last to leave, only because it was an insult to leave unfinished beers around. She almost fell into the next hall way, she blinked a few times leaning against the wall to stable herself. There sat a woman with red hair, she looked pretty nervous. Maybe she thought Odie was a professor, or a prefect, it had to be well past curfew now. The black haired Slytherin seventh year ungracefully looked around behind her and then down the hall a little bit to see if she could see any one coming.

"D-Dun't worry, I'm not a professor, or a prefect." She said, stumbling over her words at first, but shook past it. Her face was warm, and she started to get that feeling, you know the feeling of being there, but not. It could only be described as a dreamlike state, she knew from this she would hate herself in the morning. But That was a few hours away, there had to be some spell or potion she could take when the time came. She inspected the girl, or tried to focus on her. "You seem to be up late." she tried to whisper to avoid a teacher actually hearing them. With this she moved towards the girl, surprisingly she could make it over to at least the same stairway. "Can't sleep-p?" She asked poping the 'p' accidentally. The black haired woman had a horrible habit of speaking to people like she knew them, even when she was totally sober. "OH! how rude of me, my names Odie." she offered. Then the thought struck her, what if the girl herself was a prefect? Eh, Odette didn't have the ability to care at this moment in time. She folded her arms and smiled, blinked a few times. "This is the time you respond with your name." she smiled, perhaps it was just the fire whiskey in her system, but she felt like it had been forever since she offered her name. But then again the sense of time seemed to dissipate in boozeland.

[hazel]

ruby felt a little relieved when she saw that the newcomer was neither prefect nor professor. it was just another student, though she seemed a little out of sorts. catching the gleam of a green slytherin badge, ruby blinked and nibbled her lower lip. the girl was probably drunk. she didn't exactly know the slytherin, but she knew she was a seventh year. they were known for drinking and letting loose, being on their last year and coming of age. the girl stumbled over to her and plopped down on the staircase, leaning over to whisper like they were good old friends. ruby forced a smile, shrugging. she proceeded to shake her head- no she couldn't sleep. she could never sleep these days. there was simply too much to think about, and time was to precious to waste dreaming of things that never happened. ruby had to be practical. when the buzze girl exclaimed, ruby's eyes widened, and she let out a breath, nodding. she wasn't going to reply, until the girl, odie, continued to prod her into introducing herself as well. "i'm ruby." she replied softly, straining a smile.

her mother was like this not too long ago. she would burst through the door with a drink in her hand, laughing and trying to focus on walking. ruby would help her into her room, and let her sleep, shutting the door on her way out. mom would always be in a bad mood when she woke up, and ruby would provide her with medicine. tylenol, mostly. now, staring at the raven haired odie in front of her, ruby's eyes glazed over as if she were in some sort of trance. the memories kept flooding back, breaking the dam that the redhead had attempted to build. it was just never strong enough. sighing, she slumped her shoulders and tried for a sheepish grin, finding it was easier than before. putting herself in the past sort of gave her comfort. like the old days, like the days that were important. when she knew what to expect. now, it was different. sure it was good, she guessed, but she was fine on her own. realizing her mistake in trailing off, she snapped back to reality and shook her head, narrowing her eyes good-naturedly at odie. "tispy, are you?" she inquired, trying to keep laughter in her voice.

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[tinasaurusrex]

She smiled as the girl introduced herself, Ruby, what a pretty name. But of course this complement never left Odie's mind. She watched the girl silently as she seemed to get a trance like stare. Odie would have thought this weird if she were in a right state of mind, then as quickly as the trace state happened she snapped out of it and asked Odie a question. Was she Tipsy, actually she was a little more, but tipsy works just fine. "A bit." she smiled warmly. She paused retracing the conversation in her mind, "Oh, right, It's nice to meet you Ruby."

In that moment her mind wandered it's self, Odie wondered where her brother and sister were, she couldn't remember seeing them at the party, but maybe they were there. Then another thought crept up on her, what time was it really...."Time...what time is it?" She said looking around as if she would find a clock, she knew she wouldn't but there was no harm in trying to find one right? She wondered how many prefects or Teachers were actually out, had they caught wind that there was a little party in the forest? who knew, Odie surely didn't care. As far as she was concerned, once she finished her quest, meaning getting to at least the couch in the common room. She would wander around grumpy looking for something to get rid of the horrible reminder that she had killed to many brain cells. Poor little guys, she wondered how many she had left. She almost laughed thinking about the cells as little people, and now a field of them were either really sick or dead. She hoped for the first one though, Rather sick worked better then dead to her.

Her mind then wandered to what house the girl was in, she wondered about it briefly but decided that it really wasn't information she really needed in her already crowded mind. Maybe in the morning if she remembered this encounter she would ask about it, but until then, they were just to people in the hallway talking.

[hazel]

ruby couldn't help but snorting when odie replied with a grin, a bit. of course she was more than tipsy, but the redhead knew that some things could be left unsaid. she nodded, her simple shake of the head breaking off into a lolling motion. the clock chimed, and ruby blinked her eyes wide, suddenly feeling the heaviness of her upper lids. thinking about the time, knowing it was late, she sighed and began wriggling her toes. she was tired, but she knew sleep was not exactly possible yet. was it? odie's voice interrupted her thoughts. blinking and peering at the raven haired girl, ruby parted her lips to speak. "it's quarter after midnight." she replied in a short and sweet manner. from there, ruby shifted her gaze to the top of the hall, where a clock stood tall and sort of majestic. it reminded her of the one that her muggle family had in their home. a grandfather clock, or something like it. a twang of regret filled ruby. she wasn't very nice to the muggles, though they seemed to be infinitely kind to her.

they adopted her while knowing she wasn't some ordinary girl, like they wanted. nope, she was a mother effing witch. inwardly rolling her eyes, ruby drew her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them. it wasn't so simple anymore. there wasn't a mom in the picture, or the blue house, though it was ugly as sin. she was used to that. it was all habit. science studies showed that humans were creatures of habit, but in the end she got change. the word sounded sour in her mind, and made her want to down some ginger ale to ease the uneasiness that was building in her stomach. she knew mom would be back, but then again the sense inside of her argued that she had never gone away for months. ruby found herself hoping, though, and hoping hard. sometimes that was all you had left.

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[tinasaurusrex]

Something seemed to be bothering the younger redhead, Odie pouted. The raven haired woman cocked her head and crossed her arms. "Something's wrong...what's a matter Red?" the warm fuzzy feeling of the booze started to dull, and she started to feel sick to her stomach. But even so, this girl that she fatefully met in the hallway had a problem, or so she let on. Now Odie wasn't going to even try to say that she was any good at fixing problems or reading people, but when you looked like Ruby did, there was obviously something wrong. "I don't mean to intrude, but you seem kinda down, and I mean, we are both here, and I am good at listening, plus I doubt I will remember it in the morning, Red." Red, a petname? Already? How odd, it wasn't often she'd resort to petnames with someone she had just met, maybe it was just because Ruby was just to hard to say in her state. "So, what house are you in?" She spoke trying to prod the girl back into a conversation.

Odie would soon have to find her way to the Slytherin common room, She didn't really want to pass out on the steps, that would be rather rude. She looked to the woman again with a smile, and mimiced her movement of drawing her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them. It releaved some of the sick feeling in her stomach, but she knew that it would only last for so long. She made the same promise she had been promiseing herself for a few years. She promised she wouldn't drink as much ever again if she survived the night. She fought back a snicker thinking about it once again, she knew she wouldn't die from how much she had downed. It took a few more beers to kill her then what she had had.

[hazel]

the tone of odie's voice changed, and her words grew serious. ruby paused, closing her eyes and pretending to be drifting off, all the while buying herself time to think. part of her wanted to spill, just tell everything to someone. but another part of her wanted to keep quiet. it's sensibility told her that she would regret telling a buzzed girl, someone she barely knew. she'd resent herself for it, even if odie didn't remember as she said she wouldn't. she'd find someone to talk to, just not now. not her. stubborn as a mule when she made up her mind, ruby found herself opening her eyes and trying to look nonchalant. she blinked sleepily and shrugged. "down? i'm just tired. it is kinda late." she replied, putting on a weary front. she smiled lazily and let her gaze drift around, the shadows less looming than before. pretending sometimes made herself believe. believing she was fine made her fine in the end. loosing the last bit of sadness and regret, ruby pushed it away with one final shove.

she blinked and rolled to the side, getting to her feet. "house? i'm a ravenclaw. you?" she asked, brushing herself off but making no move to leave. this girl was nice, even if she didn't want to share her secret with her. leaning onto the banister, the redhead grinned a bit at the nickname red. she found herself chuckling a little bit, and realizing that maybe befriending someone wasn't so bad. before, she was sort of scared. friendship was about honesty, and she didn't like feeling obligated. msot of all, she didn't want to be dependent. but with odie, well, even though the girl was drunk she was capable of being independent, and wasn't trying to take over. no, she could do this. she could.

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