Farewell to a Friend (Fifth years, open)

[Gia Campbell]

Gia hadn't been out of bed in three days, much less had she gone to class. All she could think about was how poor Katie had wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time and wound up dying alone in the cold, dark forest. Her best friend was gone, and there was nothing that could be done to bring her back.

A few of her roommates, especially Marlene McKinnon, had tried to comfort her and help her to feel better, but nothing worked. How could she feel better about something like this? Katie was dead. Gia wasn't even entirely sure she wanted to live in a world where a fifteen year old girl could be murdered in cold blood.

On the third day, Gia finally decided to try and get up, at least to take a shower. She felt disgusting. She was still alive; she might as well try and act like it.

After taking a shower and leaving her braids unwashed, Gia got dressed and went down to the common room, where she sat in a corner by the fire, thinking about Katie. It didn't seem fair that she was the only one who missed her.

[Evelyn Turner]

Evelyn had returned from breakfast and was headed up to her dormitory when she saw someone she hadn't seen in days. Gia was sitting in the common room. Ever since Katie's death, Gia was like a zombie. Evelyn hadn't even seen her at mealtimes, let alone classes. Hesitantly Evelyn approached. "Hi Gia. Mind if I sit?" She knew the girl must have been having a hard time dealing with everything. It was weird enough seeing the empty bed in their common room. Gia was Katie's best friend. Evelyn couldn't imagine it.

[Alyxandria Rye]

Alyx felt as if she had been carrying a huge weight on her shoulders ever since Katie's death. The fact was that *she* had been sneaking into the forbidden forest nearly every day and yet here she was...perfectly safe and sound...if anyone should have died for being in that forest it should have been Alyx. She too had been in the forest the day that Katie was killed and even now her heart pounded for what could have been her own death.

Now seeing Gia her heart nearly stopped.

As one of Katie's roommates Alyx knew the girl. Not well, but they were kind to one another and yet Alyx seemed to be taking the death hard...well that was the reason, she just felt so guilty. She was hesitant to approach Gia but they were in hearing distance.

[Gia Campbell]

Gia looked up at the sound of the voice calling her name. She recognized Evelyn, one of Katie's roommates. "Hi, Evie," she said quietly. "You can sit." She nodded to a seat nearby. She didn't see Alyx yet, but she heard other footsteps nearby.

[Roman Jetter]

Roman saw the small group of girls in the common room and noticed Gia sitting stiffly in the center. Katie's face flashed in front of her eyes, and Roman closed her eyes for a bit longer then a second, and decided to join them. She couldn't just avoid the situation like she had until now, and with Gia seemed like a good time to do so. SHe missed Katie, they had always had a silent understanding of shyness. And it always made Roman smile a bit when they had a coversation.

She walked over quietly and sat down across from Gia and looked at her downcast eyes, "salut," she whispered.

[Evelyn Turner]

Evelyn smiled meekly at Gia and sat in the chair next to her just as Roman arrived. Evelyn nodded to the girl. "I'm glad to see you out. How are you feeling Gia?"

[Rayne DiCostas]

Rayne had seen Alyx first, and then small gathering of girls around Gia. She thought this was stupid. They were going to overwhelm the poor girl, who only just now stepped out of her dorm room.

She hung back, watching, and was ready to step in if Gia looked like she needed an escape.

[Alyxandria Rye]

Still too irrationally guilt ridden over her non-existent part in Katie's death Alyx stayed back but her eyes were lowered she seemed to be staring in the fireplace willing the logs to move and shift so the heat would rise giving cause to the blush in her cheeks. She fingered the diamond necklace around her neck contemplatively.

[laura]

Laura had unintentionally slept in. After looking around the deserted fifth year girl's dormitory, her gaze lingered on the bed where Katie had once slept. She hadn't been close to Katie, but they had bonded somewhat over their hate for Potions class. Her death was unexplained as of yet, and that made things even worse. There was a paranoia sweeping across the school, students were afraid of leaving the castle and teachers were creating more rules. She finally exited the dorm and glided down the stone staircase into the common room. She was a bit startled to see most of her dorm mates surrounding Gia Campbell, who had been Katie's best friend. Deciding that perhaps the fact that Gia had finally left her bed meant that she was ready for company, Laura joined the girls by the fire. "Hey Gia," Laura said quietly, not wanting to overwhelm her with questions and consoling words.

[Gia Campbell]

Gia was already starting to feel a little overwhelmed. She really could only focus on one person at a time right now, so she chose to focus on Evelyn. Sniffling, she rubbed her head tiredly. "Oh, you know, I'm alive," she said vaguely. "They haven't.... there hasn't been any news yet... right?" She wasn't sure if she would feel better if they caught the person who had killed Katie. But at least then she would know that no one else would lose their best friend... to that person, anyway.

[Alyxandria Rye]

Alyx turned and took a seat near the fireplace bringing her knees up, still within hearing distance but not directionally involved in the conversation, she was watching however as Laura came down and as Gia already seemed overwhelmed. Alyx hugged her knees and returned her attention to the fireplace...

"If it had been me...no one would be that broken up about it..." she thought silently. Sin was her best friend and even he had his eye more on her dorm mates than her...he might feel bad for a little while but never to the extent that Gia was now...it wouldn't be like she would cause him to dysfunction with her death.

Suddenly she felt very alone, and for a few moments looking at Gia and thinking that it should have been her that day in the forest...she wished that she could have changed places with Katie...it wouldn'tve really mattered anyway.

Katie had parents that loved her. Katie had a best friend that was shattered after her death. Alyx...Alyx was more or less how she had always been, on her own.

[Evelyn Turner]

Even though the corner seemed to fill with people, Gia didn't seem to be able to handle the crowd. Her thoughts didn't seem fully developed when she spoke them. Evelyn couldn't begin to imagine how Gia was able to cope so well. If Rayne had died...

"No, I haven't heard anything yet. But I know everyone is looking." She wished she had something more to tell her but there wasn't any news yet. And Evelyn assumed if it was because of Lord Voldemort, like speculations were leaning toward, there wouldn't ever be much news to give Gia.

[Gia Campbell]

Gia nodded quietly. She honestly didn't expect that they were going to have an easy time finding Katie's killer. Whoever did it had obviously wanted to cover their tracks, and a killing curse was practically untraceable. It left no marks.

She glanced up and saw the other girls gathering, all of them roommates of Katie's. It helped a little, seeing those girls close by. She knew that, even if they weren't close friends with Katie, they at least felt the loss. And she needed to be around other people who cared. "I just wish... I wish I knew what she was doing out there in the forest. And... why she was killed. Why would anyone want to kill her? She never hurt anyone or said anything bad about anyone... It's just not fair."

[Evelyn Turner]

"I don't know Gia. She didn't say anything to me about going out there." Evelyn looked to her roommates to see if anyone else had spoken to Katie the night she died. She even lingered on Rayne, though they were fighting. She couldn't think about snubbing her frined now. What if something had happened?

Katie was quiet, and Evelyn felt bad that they had not spent more time getting to know each other. How had she spent four and a half years in the same dormitory as the girl and known barely anything about her? Evelyn wanted to give Gia a hug, but she didn't know Gia very well either. She didn't know how the girl would handle that sort of a gesture. Evelyn didn't seem to know too much about anyone.

[laura]

Laura listened quietly to the conversation taking place between Gia and Evelyn. The night that Katie was murdered, Laura had been sitting in front of the fire in the common room, hoping to be lulled to sleep by the crackling flames. She had seen Katie walk down the stairwell with her school robe clasped over her pajamas, and thought nothing of it. It was no secret that not everyone obeyed the school rules, especially the one pertaining to wandering around the school at night. They had exchanged a friendly greeting, and Katie had been on her way.

When Evelyn directed her attention to the rest of them, Laura decided there was no point in sharing this information, as it didn't answer the question of why she decided to go near the Forbidden Forest. Katie had been a smart girl, full of common sense; so it made no sense that she would wander so close to the Forbidden Forest so late at night.

[Gia Campbell]

Gia sniffled loudly. "I just wish I had known she was going out there. I wish I could have stopped her, or gone with her or something. She shouldn't have had to die alone like that." Wiping at her eyes, she looked at all the girls around her; all of them had been Katie's roommates. "You know, she used to talk to me about each of you. Nothing bad, of course... just... she wished she could have been better friends with all of you." She looked at Evelyn first. "She always used to tell me that you were so pretty. You and Rayne, both of you... she envied your red hair."

[Roman Jetter]

Roman bit her lip very hard, trying to concentrate on not making anything worse. Gia had taken so much on herself, and Roman felt horrible that she couldn't do anything else. She gave a small comment of, "Katie was so pretty and brave. She was a Gryffindor, I bet she died with valour."

Katie was right, Roman had wished she had been a better friend, more outgoing, able to talk to her more, make a better connection. Katie had a best friend to miss her and a life that had halted. She made an impact on this world, and Roman was glad. Katie deserved it.

She handed a Gia a small cloth tissue that she had kept in her pocket like the olden times, wishing it wasn't Katie's favourite colour. Roman almost smiled, remembering that short conversation they had about her tissue in third year. It was one of those few times they hadn't been shy with each other, and had laughed when they accidentally hit heads trying to pick it up from where Roman had dropped it.

But Roman didn't smile, she wouldn't get to laugh with her at all, forever.

[Evelyn Turner]

Evelyn gave a weak, tight-lipped smile at Gia's reveal of Katie's feelings. She hadn't known that Katie had thought that, and she looked at Rayne's expression to see if she knew about it either. Seeing Gia cry made her own eyes water but she wiped the tears away as quickly as they came.

[Gia Campbell]

Gia smiled gratefully at Roman. She could tell the girl was trying to find something positive in something that was truly horrible. She would probably have done the same thing if their situations were reversed. "She didn't blame you guys," she went on. "She was shy, and she never quite knew what to say. She... she wasn't big on crowds." It was one of the things they had in common. Right now, she felt uneasy talking to so many people at once. But it felt good to talk about Katie... to remember her.

[Alyxandria Rye]

Alyx was near to bolting for the door. She didn't know how to handle these feelings of guilt, nor how she was supposed to handle going back into the forest, because she did intend to do that very thing...though it was very dangerous. She worried for herself, she worried for the students, and she felt awful about Katie.