[C] The Kitchens

[James McFinnigan]

"There's no such thing as a regular nightmare," said Fin. "Would you mind telling me what happens in these dreams? If you want me to drop the subject, just say so. It's fine if you want to talk about something different," said Fin, beingas nice as he could.

[Lisa Turpin]

Lisa looked at Fin, the exhaustion in her eyes finally surfacing, along with the fear.

"I-I've.. It's just... All I see in my dreams is death. Horrible, horrible deaths. There's so many of them- Sometimes I know who the victim is, sometimes I don't. I never used to have them...Not until a few days ago." She finished lamely, hiding her face in her hands.

[James McFinnigan]

Fin didn't know what exactly to say. "Well, ummmm, maybe you should talk to Algernon. He might be able to help you...though I don't know exactly how..." he said, looking at Lisa. "Soooooo, anything new to report? How are the grades?" he asked, trying to avoid the subject for Lisa's sake.

[Lisa Turpin]

Lisa sighed, blinking back her tears, reprimanding herself for being so foolish. Nightmares were a child's fear, not a young lady's. "Can't complain," she said dully, looking at her fingers. "How's life treating you?"

[Ashlee Van Dort]

Ashlee grabbed a few more muffins and headed out as quietly as she could. I'll see you guys later. she said to herself. She looked back and smiled then left the kitchens.

[Apronia Silvanus]

Apronia is soaked and muddy, and scowling just about as dangerously as she can scowl. She curses the Giant Squid vehemently, and heads to the kitchens for coffee and something to eat when she runs into a student. She squints at the crest on the girl´s robes rather myopically and shouts.

¨30 points from Hufflepuff for obstructing a staff member and being out after curfew! Now go to bed!¨ she doesn´t give the girl a chance to respond, but plunges through the still-open door, thinking only of coffee.

There are two more students inside, and she frowns. When she pictured this trip, students had been remarkably absent. ¨10 points from each of your houses.¨ she says sourly, but is too tired to make further threats. She vaguely remembers being a teenager, hungry at all hours of the day and night. In university she regularly ate dinner at midnight, so she supposes it would be hypocrisy to tell them they weren´t allowed.

The House Elves bring her coffee, lasagna and a towel, and she sit glumly, creating a puddle, and breathes in the smell of her coffee.

[Ashlee Van Dort]

Ashlee watched the gamekeeper walk into the kitchen and rolled her eyes. "Adults these days." she mumbled while walking back to her dorm. "That's so not fair," she continued, "I was just heading back to my dorm... I can't help it if I get hungry." she shook her head and laughed. "oops." Ashlee disappeared into the Hufflepuff Common Room

[Lisa Turpin]

Lisa looked up from her hands, shocked. She bowed her head, ashamed at losing the hard earned house-points and let out a small sigh.

"Sorry, Ms. Silvanus." She said softly, before picking up a few scones that had been set on the table. Then, she looked at Fin with a small smile.

"I'd better go. It's late, after all," she whispered, so as to not disrupt the Gameskeeper. Lisa looked at her for a moment curiously, noticing she was quite muddy and looked very distressed, before biting her lip.

"Are... Are you alright?" She asked, her voice concerned and slightly curious.

[Apronia Silvanus]

Apronia chuckled darkly. ¨It´s Dr. Silvanus. I...lost a fight with Giant Squid. Tell me, young ones, what brings you here? I hope this is not a regular occurance?¨ but her tone was tired and inviting rather than intimidating. A little human company could be nice. It couldn´t be worse than the bloody-minded cephalopod, at any rate.

[Lisa Turpin]

Lisa smiled slightly at the Gameskeeper, happy to see that she wasn't as frightening as she had first seemed. Tearing apart one of her scones with a sigh, Lisa shook her head.

"No, I don't normally travel to the kitchens... My stomach got the best of me tonight, though, I'm afraid." She said, taking a bite of her scone as if proving her point.

[Apronia Silvanus]

Warm brown eyes flickered over Lisa´s face. ¨When I was young, if I became hungry while sleeping, I would have the most awful nightmares about horses stealing my food.¨ she remarked with an air of nonchalance.

[Lisa Turpin]

Lisa blinked in surprise, a flicker of hope flashing through her eyes. "Really?" She asked, a bit more enthusiastically than she had meant to. Feeling herself flush lightly, she looked down at her worn out shoes. "I mean- I...I've maybe experienced something like that."

Her gaze met Apronia's as she lifted her head, her scone forgotten.

[Apronia Silvanus]

¨Yes.¨ she twirled her lasagna with a fork. ¨Of course, I grew up on a farm. And if I misbehaved, my father would threaten to feed my supper to the horses. I imagine your nightmares are quite different?¨ she raised an eyebrow, taking a bite as she waited for a response.

[Lisa Turpin]

Looking horrified, never seeing her father own doing such a thing, Lisa shook her head. "No my nightmares weren't very similar to that," she bit her lip, watching the lasagna, thinking of her response.

"Mine weren't about myself being harmed... Usually others." She finished, softly, wringing her hands together nervously.

[Apronia Silvanus]

She lifted her fork in the air, tines up, and examined it idly, watching Lisa from the corner of her eye. ¨Something to do with your recent...adventure in the Forest, perhaps? The way it is now is sufficient to give the bravest bad dreams.¨