[Courtyard] Bring me to life...[open]

[Julianna Farraday]

The rumors were flying around the school, a professor and the headmaster caught in a classroom making out. The professor wasn't his wife. Julianna was hysterical when she heard this. For some reason she had an idea about who the professor was. Everyone who was anyone knew professor Potter had a huge crush on the headmaster. It was actually a sort of running joke around the school. Julianna spent a good hour cracking up, the castle was becoming one big soap opera.

That morning Julia woke up to a bright beautiful sunny day. They hadn't had one in a while. Julianna knew she wasn't going to spend it locked inside. So she dressed quietly, in jeans, a t-shirt, and some sneakers. She tossed her hair up into a ponytail and didn't bother with any makeup or anything like that. Today was just going to be a day to lounge around.

Stepping out of the common room Julia walked around the corridors which were almost deserted except for the prefects and head boy and girl. They looked liked they wanted to say something to Julia, tell her to go back to her dorm, but she wouldn't do that and she would tell them off if they even thought about saying something. Nothing was said, so Julia just went on her way making it to the great oak doors and pushing them open.

The day outside was more spectacular than she imagined. She literally ran around the courtyard just enjoying the day. Being trapped in the castle for so long you felt penned up. So it was like being let out of your cage. Feeling the sun beat down on her Julianna just plopped down on the grass. It was the best mood she had been in for weeks. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was just her. Whatever it was if you caught Julianna today she wouldn't bite your head off, well she might if it was professor Edgecombe.

Sitting there worrying about her own things, she never noticed that someone was sort of creeping up behind her.

[Girty Hubbles]

Day light was not Girty’s friend when it came to the mornings when she was actually asleep in her own bed. There were those odd days when the coming of dawn and the arrival of the golden orb in the sky made her grin but today she rued the very right of it. The slightly open curtains in the girl’s dormitory room let the bright sunlight flood in and as her tired eyes opened they were blinded by the bright light. Groaning loudly she threw the covers off herself and casually ignoring how long she had been sleeping in for. Of course unlike most people who have had a nice lie in Girty was most defiantly not happy, in fact it had been a while since Miss Hubbles had had a smile on her face.

After hastily getting dressed throwing on a pair of worn jeans and the closest top she could find, and the fact it was pink made her think that maybe it was not hers…oh well she had it on now. Her quick pass through the Hufflepuff common room was only hindered by having to climb over the back of the sofa to pick up her book that she had left on the table near the fire the night before. Girty had been finding it difficult to spent time anywhere in the castle recently as everyone seemed to bombard her with questions about Dan and Professor Potter. Honestly the nest person who asked her about it was going to be cursed back to the 14th Century.

Her quick paced walking got her out of the entrance hall and powering into the sunbathed castle grounds. Everywhere seemed to be pretty empty (must be a bad time for school work) and so she thought she could settle down in her spot and read her book. But then this was Hogwarts and nothing was ever simple and right now there was someone sitting in her spot. Yes it was only a patch of grass, yes there was the whole castle grounds to pick from but this had been the spot that her and Alex had stood when they finally admitted to liking each other…urgh, Alex…another reason Miss Hubbles did not carry a smile.

“Are you going to move under your own steam Farraday or am I going to have to pick you up and move you myself?”

Honestly Girty was playing the ‘it sucks to be me card’ too much recently and it seemed she would be brandishing it a few more time yet!

[Julianna Farraday]

Julia was hanging out on the quiet grounds it was nice for once no noise no one to bother her or at least that's what she thought. A voice came from somewhere behind her, one that sounded familiar but that she didn't completely recognize. Basically it was ordering her to move from her spot. Julia did her best not to scoff. Who the hell did this chick think she was. Julia did a quick turn around and noticed that it was Girty Hubbles. Oh this was, going to be a ball Julia thought.

This girl must think she's special cause her brother is Headmaster. Julia didn't care if her father was Minister of Magic she wasn't going to be bullied from her spot just to please someone else. Plus she was just rude about it. Julia had no tolerance for that nonsense, which was why she looked Girty up and down, before rolling her eyes at her.

"Yeah I don't think so Hubbles. First of all you need to learn some manners I'm not one of your little Puff friends. That crap might work on them, but um here you're barking up the wrong tree. Next I'll get up when I'm good and ready to get up, and don't even think of putting your hands on me either I don't give a rats ass who your brother is."

Julia was in her own mood, and would be damned if this girl was going to walk over here and start making demands on her that way. Julia gave the girl her full attention if she was going to do something Julia wanted to be fully aware of it. Lucky she thought to bring her wand with her, not she knew what spell she was going to use if provoked, but it didn't matter she wasn't in the mood for anyone's crap today.

[Girty Hubbles]

A cool breeze blew across the grounds of the castle causing Girty’s brown hair to dance in the breeze as she looked down at Julianna with a deep set frown. She should have expected a Gryffindor to come back with that sort of remark, she should have worked out that straight away they would play the ‘brother = headmaster’ card. It was clear how little this girl knew about Girty, she was not some Slytherin trying to act tough, she was not even trying to act tough. She was just mega pissed off. As her cousin Warren fondly called it ‘Girty’s permanent PMT’ and on occasions like that you never give her a beaters bat when playing Quidditch, he found that out the hard way.

“You don’t need to remind me who my brother is Farraday.” Girty snapped as she looked hopelessly off into the distance in an attempt to stop herself from getting too mad. “Without him life would be much easier. You wouldn’t know what it is like, you don’t have any siblings.”

Of course Girty did not know the secret that loomed in Julia’s past, she had no idea she had a half sister who also happened to live in the castle. Nope in the Hufflepuff’s mind know one knew what it was like to be her and no one ever would as clearly having Dan as a brother was the worst thing that could possibly happen to anyone. Before Girty knew what she was doing she had sat down on the ground next to Julia, her arms wrapped around her legs as she brought her knees up to her chin. She did not know this Gryffindor, but then she had no one else she could talk to. All her old friends had gone; Bog was no doubt somewhere in Europe stopping dark wizards in his own roguish way, Grace was off being famous and Thom…well Thom was dead and now the bane of her life.

It was because of Thom that she was now no longer with Alex, also the reason she was no longer with Alex was because of her kissing Will and biting Ricky. She could not talk to any of her Hufflepuff pals as they all just wanted the gossip on what was going on between Dan and Professor Potter. The Ravenclaw’s now seemed to hate her and Slytherin’s…well they hated her anyway but their were some vicious rumours spreading about her doing something with Ricky (of course Ricky being a werewolf was not widely known, in fact only 3 people knew). It seemed that now and without meaning too Julianna was turning into Girty’s own personal agony aunt.

“I mean I just want to leave.” Girty mumbled as her brown eyes remained fixed on the horizon. “But then where would I go? No one would employ a werewolf and without the protection of my brother and the castle every full moon what will I do? Knowing my luck I will kill a whole muggle village.”

Her originally concern about wanting ‘her spot’ had just gone out of the window as Girty almost poured her deepest thoughts out to someone she did not even know. It was like one of those random occasions where you just start randomly talking to the person next to you on the bus simply because they were there. Shifting uncomfortably where she sat Girty bowed her head and looked down at the floor, watching intently as a small beetle crawled over the inclines of the floor.

(Oh whoa very emotastic post lol)

[Julianna Farraday]

Julia sat there wondering when the yelling was going to start. She was sure she pissed the older girl off but then again she didn't really give a rats arse. She had been out there first, minding her own business when Girty came out here all high and mighty acting like someone should bow down to her. Ho ho she found the wrong girl to mess with. Julia wasn't a push over, no one raised her to be a push over. Plus lately she had been nastier than usual. It didn't bug her or anything, but she was a bit more outspoken than she used to be, but she liked this new side of her.

Worst thing Hubbles could do to her was yell, or go and rat her out to her big brother. Julia didn't really care because she would have simply fought back, or told the headmaster where he could go. Lately, he hadn't been much of a head master anyway.

Julia had her own stuff to deal with anyway she didn't need miss witchy over here trying to piss her off. Still Julia waited but there was no real backlash. For now Girty just plopped down on the ground near her. Julia kind of looked at her wondering what her issue was. Did she have multiple personalties or something?

Whatever what was it to her anyway. The girl was weird her bother was weird. The while stinking family was probably weird. That made Julia think of her own family. Her mother had been acting weird for so long. Always worried about what was going on at school, worrying if people were saying things. What things Julia wanted to know, then she would ask about divinations class, ask what they were learning, ask if the teacher was nice. Julia always found it odd that her mother only asked about divinations. Julia knew that there was something going on.

Her thoughts were cut short as Girty suddenly started speaking again. She mentioned wanting to leave then said something else that made Julia almost jump. She knew Girty was related to Dan but she sure didn't know that Girty was a werewolf. They were so highly dangerous. Why on earth was she allowed at the school at all? Did her brother know how much she could hurt another student? No wonder no one mentioned it.

Julia could have made this into an issue, but then she realized that Girty had just revealed a huge secret to her and no matter what it would be s wrong of her to use that against her. Julia turned her head to look at the girl, the anger from before slowly ebbing away. "I suppose with your condition people aren't keen on giving you a chance huh. I'm sorry about that. But isn't there a potion you can take that makes you harmless. Maybe people wouldn't have to know what you are if you were careful?" She probably sounded ignorant, but she didn't really know about this, so she was saying what made sense to her.

[Girty Hubbles]

Oh…Girty’s heart stopped as she saw that look on the Gryffindor’s face. She had seen that look before, that was the look of total innocence and for a moment it took Girty’s breath away.

“W-wait…y-you didn’t know about me?” her brown eyes were wide with shock as she looked over at Julianna. “I thought everyone knew…”The mutters of her words ebbed into low rumbling that only the Hufflepuff could distinguish as the thoughts rushed through her head. Maybe then when she walked down the corridor everyone was not looking at her because of what she was, when she heard people laugh or crow insults maybe it was not aimed at her…although the ones that yell ‘half-breed’ and ‘dog’ clearly where. The years of torment from her fellow classmates, the humiliation of being dragged up in front of the whole glass in the Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson and being used as an example of a werewolf, the shouts and jeers in Quidditch games and of course the long walk back from the forest after every full moon. It put a new twist on the phrase walk of shame.

As her thoughts were racing faster then a car bombing down the M6 motorway the sound of Julianna’s voice broke through and it seemed to have lost some of the edge that it had carried before, if anything it was more understanding. However she had used the phrase that Girty’s mother used time and time again and at the word ‘condition’ the Hufflepuff could not help but snort with laughter.

“Oh yeah, Wolfsbane potion is great.” Her words dripped with sarcasm. “Expensive and difficult to make, tastes and looks like you are dinking mashed up flobberworms and all for the tiny bit of hope that during transformation your might hold onto that tiny bit of your human soul that would stop you from killing your best friend.” Girty’s lips tightened up and it looked like she was sucking on a rather sour lemon slice. “You call it condition, I call it curse. Maybe next time there is a full moon I should invite you to the forest so you can see it first hand. You’re a Gryffindor right, brave to the realms of stupidity….should be right up your street.”

Girty was no longer looking at the girl, she could not in fear that the rage would kick in again. It was not anger at the words she had spoken, Girty could not help it if there were uneducated people within the school. But she was angry because she was envious of the freedom that Julianna had. She did not know what happened to a werewolf because she was not one; she did not have that mutation in her blood, the scares on her pale skin and the memories burnt into the very membrane of her brain. ‘Whoa Hubbles.’ She thought to herself, ‘Talk about being dramatic’

“Come on then Farraday. You know why I am an outcast. Why don’t you have any friends?”

[Julianna Farraday]

Julia wasn't sure, but it seemed that she must have missed something. Maybe it was because she had been keeping to herself a lot lately. For the most part Julia didn't worry about other people and what was going on with them. So maybe that was the reason she didn't know anything about Girty being a werewolf. So what if she didn't know the Hubbles girl should be happy about that most people who came into contact with werewolves weren't half as nice as she was.

Then confirming what Julia thought might be going on Girty asked how she didn't know about her. Julia shrugged her shoulders at that. After all the girl had a life of her own she wasn't always concerned about the issues of others. What did Girty's deal have to do with her anyway. So long as the girl stayed away from her and didn't try biting her Julia felt that she could jump of the tallest tower and it wouldn't mean much to her.

Something Julia said must have amused her because the other girl started to laugh. Julia was trying not to take it personally though it was was hard not to since she couldn't think of what she said that was so damned funny. Julia was really starting to get annoyed with her, why couldn't she have just stayed inside and found someone else to annoy.

Sighing, Julia was about to turn away and ignore her when she heard Girty's voice. The girl went into a whole discussion about the wolfsbane potion and how it was expensive, tasted bad, and how one could only hope that after taking it they didn't kill anyone. Julia had only offered up a suggestion, it's not like she had first hand knowledge about any of this. She tried to be nice and this is what it got her, she didn't really enjoy the atmosphere out here and she wasn't enjoying Girty's company much at all. Of course Girty couldn't just stop there no she had to and insult Julia and all Gryffindor's. Julia's ire was up now. "Yes brave to the point of stupidity, funny it's a lot better than cowardly to the point of peeing ones pants like most Hufflepuffs. Oh wait though you're the big bad wolf so maybe you're not such a punk" Julia knew she was pushing limits but she didn't care. The girl was being rude to her and well hey she was up for some tit for tat.

Ever since the girl step foot outside she was determined to piss Julia off. Girty opened her mouth again and Julia couldn't help but cringe because she was already at her wits end and didn't think she could take much more of this nonsense. Waiting for the next barrage of insults Julia didn't turn around not wanting the expression on her face to be seen by the other girl. Instead of an insult she asked her a question Julia pondered a few times herself. "Who knows maybe it's my dazzling personality that's gotten everyone to love me so much."

[Girty Hubbles]

In Girty’s experience when she was in a mad mood and she also, for some mystical reason, sat next to someone else who was also in a bad mood it turned into a clash of the titans. Insults being thrown about like lightening bolts, poisonous glares were shot with every glance at each other and all the while, despite the whole acting tough routine the words that the other person said always seemed to have some truth buried deep within them just to aggravate an old wound. Girty however was starting to feel a little better with herself now she had unloaded the weight upon her chest onto someone else. Julianna did not seem to care one bit about Girty’s problems so maybe, in a selfish way the Hufflepuff had found the right person to moan to.

The problem was then the Gryffindor opened her mouth again and in true Hogwarts student nature defence of their specific house kicked into action. Girty had called Gryffindors stupid so naturally she called Hufflepuff’s cowards. With a slight huff Girty’s hazel eyes set themselves upon the girl and her long, pale finger was pointed at Julianna preparing for a long speech but the frown on Girty’s face turned into a small grin and a light laugh escaped.

“We are not all cowards.” Girty teased as her hand dropt back down to its sitting position on the grass once more. “Just the majority, we have the commonsense to know when the odds are against us to turn and run. Also surprising or not we all know how to use a toilet as well.”

The lightness of Girty’s tone was in sharp contrast to her greeting to the Gryffindor, honestly sometimes even she wondered how her mood swings could change faster then the weather. One minute she would want to kill someone the next she would be acting like they were her best friend. It was one extreme or the other with Miss Hubbles and it was even starting to het on her nerves. Even now she resisted snapping back about the comment about her ‘the big bad wolf’ as Julia had so nicely put it.

The response to her next question however had left the Hufflepuff slightly lost for words as she pondered over the response ever so slightly. “So you have no friends as everyone loves you so much?” Girty raised an eyebrow in eyebrow in slight confusion as she carried on looking over at the Gryffindor. “I have to say that sadly your dazzling personality ain’t working on me Farraday.”

This was one of those occasions where Girty wished she was not a Hubbles and that she would at least think before she spoke and not listen to that stupid little voice in her head.

[Julianna Farraday]

Were they going to end up in a fight out here on the lawns. Because that's the way the seemed to be headed. Girty was being cranky and snapping at her, Julia was being cranky and snapping back at her. The two weren't on happy terms with one another yet they managed to keep speaking. Julia had her wand on her and was sitting there trying to think up spells, just in case it came down to it. Julia had seen Girty's temper first hand and figured it was only a matter of time before things got way overheated.

Girty stared at Juliana and Juliana stared back. Next thing she knew Girty was raising a finger to her, the long pale digit was pointed directly at Julia's face. The younger Gryffindor gritted her teeth, even though the urge that swept through her just then wanted to take a huge honking bite out of Girty's finger, let her know it was rude to point in someone's face that way. Maybe her family had not taught her any manners but Julia would be more than happy to show her.

Before Julia went off and started to make scene Girty laughed instead. Julia cast her a suspicious stare, she had to wonder what she was on because whatever it was it gave her mood swings the likes of which Julia had never seen before. One minute she was about to go bite Julia, next minute she was laughing at whatever it was Julia had said.

When Girty started to discuss how not all Puffs weren't cowards it wasn't in a mean and angry voice, it actually sounded like she was in a better mood. Julia was still kind of weirded out but the whole thing, why is it that all of a sudden Girty was being nice.

Her head started to hurt, this whole thing was making her question the girls sanity.

Now it was Julia's turn to laugh as Girty misunderstood her previous statement about everyone loving her. She was being facetious Julia wasn't very lovable for the most part she spent most of her days avoiding people, or snapping at them. Smiling at Girty she set the record straight "No I wasn't being serious when I said that I was just joking. I don't have any friends not really anyway, and that's fine with me I don't really want them at least not right now. People are a bit two faced around here and well I'd rather not deal with that. Plus I haven't been a person people want to be around."