[Forest] Comfortably Numb

[Girty Hubbles]

The smell of damp earth lingered in the air; it was not the same though as damp grass for example it was a cocktail of rain and decaying foliage that littered the forest floor. The sound of the November winds rustled through the canopy of leaves above sending down a shower of brown and red leaves with every gust, it clearly had been a windy night as it would have been nearly impossible to spot Girty Hubbles. A blanket of leaves covered her as she started to stir at the sound of the dawn chorus, although with it not being a proper blanket it soon broke into a thousands pieces as she sat up.

The girls head was swarming like a hornets nest, it was worse then nights out at the pub as at least then she normally woke up with her clothes on. It had been a rough night, she could tell by the bite marks on her arms and from the feel of it a few open wounds on her back, this truly was a curse.

“Right….where am I?” A very hoarse voice escaped from the Hufflepuff, it was bone try and will stinging like when she had that bad batch of tonsillitis when she was seven. So it was with a sore throat, thumping headache and a slight limp Girty tired to find her way through the forest, picking up a broken branch from a pine tree to help hide her modesty if she did happen to bump into anyone. Thankfully however she reached the hollow tree (which was near a very patch of burnt forest and a small stone in the middle of the scorched ground which had a fresh bunch of flowers next to it) without any disturbance or at least that was until she had just finished clipping her bra on when the sound of a stick breaking made the girl freeze.

[Girty Hubbles]

“Of course it is me.” Girty snapped as she carefully readjusted the position of her bra strap to make sure it did not over lap any of the claw marks that were present on her back. “Who were you expecting? The Archbishop of Canterbury?”

She breathed in deeply threw her clenched teeth as she grazed one of the wounds on her back with her knuckle, causing it to weep crimson blood once again. She had forgotten how rough a night in the forest could be without taking your potion, you were not in control so instead of restraints you where a carnivorous killing machine picking fights with anything and everything. Some people saw being a werewolf as ’cool’ or ’special’ to Girty it was curse, a mutation that she could not get rid of, all this for the shake of friendship and protecting her friend, the friend who was now too busy and famous to spend time with her.

The Hufflepuff’s arms dropt limply to her sides as she stopped to think how ridiculous she was being and how in the light of things worrying about not seeing Grace was the least of her worries…standing in your underwear in the middle of the Forbidden Forest was a lot more treacherous. Yet somehow despite everything that had happened the night before and the dangers they were still in now Gaspard and Girty always managed a slight nervous conversation. It was one of those mornings after situations, you can not remember what you did the night before, your regretting every second of the blurred hours and when the naked other half appears you have to hide your blushes and remorse.

“I am not going to give away my secrets now Gaspard.” The girl grinned over at the naked Gryffindor as she started to pick bits of her midnight snack out between the gaps in her teeth. “If you come out from behind that tree though I might tell you, I have seen you birthday suit more times then my boyfriends. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

With a small mumble of success Girty’s claw like fingerer nails suddenly moved down as a small lump of raw meat broke free. That was the worst thing, more then the cuts and bruises, it was the remains of your feast the night before stuck in your teeth and how it weighted heavy in your stomach for days after, it was so lucky Girty liked her steak raw.

(I am so sorry Amy, my post was terrible!)

[Girty Hubbles]

This was a relationship built on honesty, they only ever saw the raw true self of the other as in this forest they were alone. They had no clothes that defined their personality, no friends to stand in the way and protect them and no pressure from society to act in the way it wanted. In this forest they were the wolves that they truly were and the small banter and hummer was, for Girty, an in built instinct in an attempt to cling onto her humanity.

“I do not think manors matter too much in a situation like this.” Girty said glumly as she merely looked on as Gaspard as his eyes slowly made their way around her body. Had it been anyone else in another situation the palm of her hand would have hit the side of his face faster then you could have said Quidditch. But this was not some grease ball Slytherin checking her out in the corridor back at the castle, this was her and Gaspard. Without a second thought or a care Girty turned her head so she faced the breeze that was lightly fluttering through the forest clearing. Her brown chair was picked up in the draft and danced around behind her but she did not notice, the small pile of stones was the centre of her attention, the decaying lowers that lay limply by their side and that all to familiar stabbing pain in her chest.

Shaking off these feelings Girty shook her head and turned back to Gaspard with a weary smile, but he was not where she had left him. Slowly her gaze dropt and there he was, his cold figures gently gliding over her pale skin. His touch was numbing and her breath caught in her throat as his glazed hazel hued eyes met her blood shot brown ones. The way in which he looked at her still caught the Hufflepuff off guard from time to time, the way it was so truthful and the hint of regret for actions that neither of them could control let alone remember. “Its ok.” She muttered, her voice was distant and quiet it was only then did she let a small lopsided smile dare cross her features. “You have given me worse in the past.”

Stretching out her arm she felt the twinge in her aching muscles but as her hand started to ruffle the silky locks that covered Gaspard’s head it made the pain worth it. It was like when a favoured pet did something clever and you would give them a slight fuss in praise. A small simple habit that Girty had picked up over the years of early morning encounters with the Gryffindor. That was truly as friend like they would ever get.

They were the same, Girty and Gaspard, half breeds, tainted by the same curse, the same mutation of the blood. A rare and despised race that due to years of fear mongering and wrong interpretations were the outcasts of society, but just like the curse that made them change into animals when the moon was at its brightest they had to live with this, the society that rejected them was the only one they knew and for the other three hundred and fifty two days in the year they had to live with the looks of distain and the evil whispers behind their backs. This was their connection, the reason why they found it so easy to look into each others eyes and feel connected but also the reason why that as soon as they stepped out from under the shade of the trees and returned to normality they became just a shadow of one another’s past and an image that haunted their future.

[Girty Hubbles]

“I always wondered where that tooth went.” It was the only time you would hear Girty Hubbles use placid humour. There was no emotion in her voice, in was like she was answering a question that had been asked to her far too many times that the scripted answer lost all meaning and emotion. Even at Gaspard’s small bit of humour she could just about manage a weary smile, not showing her teeth at that!

They act so close and intimate here in the forest but there was this atmosphere that clung around them like a bad taste in the mouth. It was a nervous tension that would be the only indication the two of them were nothing more then companions of the moon rather then secret lovers of the night. There they stood, all but naked and just talking to each other simply because it was something to help ignore the sick feeling that was present in their unsettled stomachs. But that is all they would ever be, they would share this curse and just share the moments when they were stripped of their clothing and arguably their self dignity.

Sniffing back her running nose Girty continued to stand still, her fingers entwined in his dark brown locks as she felt the slight sting of his coarse figures cause her wounds to bleed fresh once more. On a normal day she would have grumbled about the pain and lightly slap the person who caused her the pain but today…well nothing would compare to the pain of the transformation. What was a small scratch when the night before she had multiple organ failure.

It was then when the two of them stirred from their positions, like two marble status they stiffly moved, breaking out of their mould and breathing life into one another. With another sniff, ignoring the smell of blood, sweat and vomit that clung to the air she followed Gaspard’s eerie gaze to the small grave. This was Girty and Thom’s spot; she knew the forest well around here as she had spent so many nights just sitting looking at that small pile of stones. With a deep breath she composed herself and listened to what her companion had to say.

“You’re hungry after last night?” Girty’s thick eyebrows raised higher up into her forehead as her hazel eyes glared at the Gryffindor. “I can never eat for two days after this” Her face screwed up in a look of disgust as if she was just watching someone throw up right in front of her. It was also only enhanced when the cold wind blew sending the faint smell of vomit in her direction. “Lovely” She muttered.

At the mention of clothing however it brought reality back to Girty that she was standing in her underwear. Wondering over towards her bag she pulled out a t-shirt for herself slipping it on as well as pulling out her wand. From the nights and mornings she had spent with each other Girty had a rough idea of his clothing size and with a small flick of her wand she thought of a pair of jeans and t-shirt that belong to her older brother. With a small huff she tossed her wand back into her bag and began to pull on her own pair of scruffy looking jeans. “Your clothes are on the way.” She mumbled “Just be careful with them, they are Dan’s and Dia will kill you if you rip them.”

Now that brought a crooked smile to her face the thought of Dia chasing after Gaspard for ripping pair of jeans that belonged to Dan that she had brought him. Oh well it would bring some fun to breakfast in the great hall.

[Girty Hubbles]

A home from home and it sickened Girty to think of this particular forest in that way, after all there were signs up all around the border telling people not to enter. From your first year in the school it had been drilled into you that this place was dangerous and that is what Girty hated…those signs were up to protect the students of the school from blood thirty monsters…monsters like her. She had to remind herself that she was no longer a monster, she was just another not so normal human but as soon as she got out of this god forsaken place she could at least try and pretend to live a normal life, with normal problems and talk to normal people. Running her hands through her hair Girty yanked at the knots that seemed to have appeared with vigour, acting as if she was not worried if large clumps of it would come out in one go, she merely wanted to be free of this nightmare.

Gingerly Girty crouched down by her bag once more, feeling her muscles ache as they were forced to move into a new position, and started to try and hunt down her old pair of jeans. She always wondered what people thought of her as she walked back into the castle after a night in the forest, she knew she should not care what random people thought but she could not help it. Some people would not even hide the fact they were staring and even point her out to their friends, it was hard not to care when people did that to you.

She was slipping on her own jeans when Dan’s clothes floated towards Gaspard. The Hufflepuff could not help but laugh at the Gryffindor’s reaction; however his low growl confirming her deepest fears that they were still animals at heart and no matter how much she desired to have a normal life there was no escaping the full truth. The comfortable silence that had fallen between the two of them was broken once more by the low tones of Gaspard’s raspy voice as he comment on one thing only to chop to another as if he was simply specking his train of thought. Girty could not help but feel sorry for him, over the years of mornings after she had put together a bit about this boy and she knew his history was not perfect and it was clear social interaction was not his forte.

“You know something…”Girty met his gaze and this was clearly the wrong thing to do as for the briefest of moments she forgot what she was going to say. Gaspard’s eyes were so haunting, full of distant memories and tragedy; she could not help but pity him. “That is the first time anyone has said having Dan as a brother is a good thing.” She gave a small throaty laugh as she broke his gaze to do up her belt buckle. But her mind continued to linger on the topic he was mentioning before hand and then Girty found herself doing something she never thought she would do, she offered Gaspard charity.

“If you need clothes I can…I can buy you some…” She tailed off, quickly backing out of the situation, picking up her rucksack and throwing it over her shoulder and she was already walking out of the clearing as she muttered 'Ah forget it.' To herself.