[Corridors] Laughter in the Dark. [OPEN.]

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie woke in darkness. She sat up and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her face was drenched, even though her room was cold, much colder then it should have been. The fire had gone out, and the warm flames did not to light the room. Elie looked around trying to see her sleeping roommates. However, all she could do was hear the shallow, slow breathing of her fellow Hufflepuff's. She sighed as her eye finally adjusted to the darkness. She could see no one, and she counted everyone in their beds. What had woken her up?

The sixth year shivered as she swore a breeze flew right through her. Ellie's back arched. She had a feeling like someone was watching her. Something or someone was in the room. She looked around once again, no one was there. She was going crazy. It was amazing that she had even fallen asleep in the first place. Ellie was average about two hours of sleep per night now. It was wearing her out and now her mind was playing tricks on her.

Ellie sighed and snuggled back into her bedclothes. She closed her eyes and tried to quiet her mind.

Shuffle Shuffle Shuffle

Ellie sat up, her breath catching in her throat. She jolted her head around her eyes darting look around the dark room. No one else seemed to have woken up. Ellie wondered if it was all in her head. She put a hand to her head and tried to concentrate. Ellie reached over to her bedside table for her wand. Her hand fell on nothing but the wood of the table. Ellie looked at the bare table. Her wand wasn't there. She shifted over to look on the floor, nothing. Ellie swung her legs over the side of her bed and her feet hit the cold floor. She stood up, her bed creaking slightly. Ellie froze as she heard a little giggle emit from the foot of her bed. It was a squeaky laugh, funny. Unarmed, Ellie slowly took two steps toward the foot of her bed. Standing just below the top of the bed, holding her wand was a house elf, big eyes and ears and all.

The elf was delicately holding her wand in its left hand. It giggled again as it starred blankly at Ellie with a stupid grin. Ellie looked strangely at the creature. "Can I have my wand back please?" Ellie said gently to the elf. Ellie was sure that she had seen while reading in history that Elves were not supposed to touch a wizard's wand without permission. Ellie was hesitant about why the elf was now in her room in the middle of the night with a wide grin on its face holding Ellie's wand.

The elf blinked at Ellie. Ellie reached forward for her wand. "My wand...please." She said becoming more forceful. Ellie had given the elf a command, shouldn't it obey? The elf blinked again and giggled. Before Ellie could do anything the elf turn and ran off, Ellie's wand in hand.

"HEY!!!" Ellie said, yelling after the elf. Ellie darted after the creature. Down the stairs and out in the dark corridors, the Hufflepuff was wandless, and shoeless in nothing more than herpajamas. As Ellie ran down the hall, all she could hear was the own echoing of her footsteps. Her feet were freezing. She stopped, out of breathe. She heard the incessant giggling just a head of her. She ran forward, turning down this corridor and that, following the little footsteps and the giggling. Finally, she saw the creature run into a room, slamming the door. Ellie walked over, and opened the door. She stepped inside, the door slammed and Ellie scream, her scream echoing through the castle.

[Alexis Heart]

Her sleep lately had been plagued by nightmares of horrible things happening at school. Alexis started to actually fear sleeping because every night the dreams came. Never once did she think they were prophetic in anyway, they were just scary. Tonight she did everything in her power to keep awake from drinking coffee to eating a ton of chocolate but by the time twilight hit Alexis Heart's head hit the pillow and she was down for the count. Down but not out merely an after she had fallen asleep she awoke in a panic. The dream she had just had was nothing short pf terrifying. In it she had been gravely injured blood everywhere.

Sitting in her bed her breathing was shallow and her heart was racing like she had just run 10 miles. The whole dream unsettled her because truth be told it wasn't that far fetched. The school was having problems things were not as they should be and haven't been for a while now. Something like that could very well happen just from her trying to get to class on time.

Now she knew there was no way she could get back to sleep. The idea of seeing what she just saw one more time was too frightening for words. Sitting up in bed she glanced around at her bunk makes all of whom were enjoying peaceful nights sleep. Right now she envied each and every one. Giving them a contemptuous look for enjoying their beds Alexis knew sitting there was only going to make her mad. So putting on some slippers and a terry cloth robe Alexis went silently out of the room.

Spending about an hour alone in the common room Alexis soon became bored and and decided on a walk in the moon light. Sneaking from the Ravenclaws sanctuary she found herself in the dimly torch lit halls. Everything seemed normal at first until she saw movement up ahead. There were others in the corridors. Alexis feared it might be a professor, prefect or head boy or girl and was about to walk in another direction when she heard a door close from far away and then a scream issued from the spot down the hall.Alexis stood a moment panicking but not for long. Running toward the scream Alexis thew open the door. It was pitch black inside her heart was pounding again but she heard snickering coming from somewhere "who is there" she called out sounding braver than she sounded. "Does someone need help?" She asked searching her robe pocket for her wand. Once she reached it she prepared herself to say the spell to light a room but she never got the words out as something moved and send her crashing to the floor. Unable to move the thing sat on her chest and pulled the wand from her hand before Alexis moved quickly and sent it flying. She was without a wand though. Someone screamed and she was sure that thing hadn't so who did. "Someone here" she called trying to see through the din.

[Stella Harper]

Stella waited silently as ever. Her scorpion tail flicked at the slightest creak of the castle. If she could smile, she would be, grinning at her final descent into the castle. After waiting for so long in the forest, three days ago, she had finally gotten the word to enter the castle. Changed to her scorpion form, she latched on to the books of some unaware student and traveled her way into the stone fortress.

Once inside, Stella crawled to what she was sure an empty classroom. As she made her journey, her legs scampering across the stone, she looked around. Being so small, the castle seemed so big. Stella remembered feeling so trapped by the walls she had longed to enter. Her sting flicked as she hid in the shadows from a passing student. Stella looked up at the student, dressed in blue, a book in hand. The boy had dark hair, and Stella snarled in her scorpion way. The boy turned into Massimo, her brother. Tall and handsome, the perfect, the best. Stella raised her stinger wanting to strike hard, but the picture faded. Stella remember the cold dead eyes falling to the floor just years before. Massimo was dead, and so was Stella's heart.

The empty classroom had become a sanctuary for Stella. She was able to come out of her animagus form. The room had only on small window, high up so no one would see in. It was perfect. Stella sat on the empty desks, her torn dress over ratty maroon stockings, stretched over her knees. It wasn't long until she was giving her goal. Chaos. Chaos was her goal.

Soon, Stella had a plan. A house elf was brought into her grasp. With a short glow from her wand, the elf was in her power, and away she went to lure a student into Stella's grasp.

It was more than a half-hour before a pretty girl came running into the room. Stella snapped her wand, the door slamming behind the girl. The elf stood in the middle of the room, eye dazed and confused, the girl's wand held in the elf's hands like a biscuit on a serving tray. Stella could see the girl's face as she screamed at the loud sound of the slamming door. Stella smirked. The elf smirked with her.

Stella walked out of the shadows, her wands raised at the girl. She was dressed in her pajama's, her long wavy hair draped around her shoulders. Pretty Stella thought. Stella raised her finger to her lips signaling the girl to stay quiet.

Just then the door reopened. The darkness was cut but the moonlight from outside. Stella's eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the room, and saw another child walk in. Stella smiled as she quickly stepped back into the shadows. Help, that word made her smile, and as she watched the new girl search for a wand she could not find, Stella couldn't help but think that help would not come soon.