[11 PM - 12 AM]

The first few weeks turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for Bellatrix. With a new year at Hogwarts came the implied promise that something exciting would happen. It certainly had what with the arrivals of Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, and Salem students. Yet somehow, Bella had been expecting something...more. No, not more. Just something exciting that was different, probably something that would affect her. Nothing had happened. She hadn't yet got the chance to prove that she had changed, therefore, there was nothing new or exciting that happened. It was the same ol' Hogwarts.

As she sat in the common room late Friday night, her blue eyes stared out the window. There was comfort somewhere deep in the idea that nothing at Hogwarts had changed. It was she who had changed, somehow in no particularly significant way and yet, as a paradox, it seemed the whole world had changed. What had happened? Was it her outlook? Was it the fact that she finally just got tired of being alone? Try as she might, sitting there reflecting upon the question, no answer came to her.

What did come to her was the white, long-haired form of her feline pet: Jinx. The cat had a severe case of heterochromia. She smiled into the unmatched eyes of her companion, taking the time to idly scratch him behind the ears. He gave a meow, tail thumping against the open book set on the table before her. Was that his way of telling her to get busy? The cat stared at her sternly.

"Demanding little nasty, aren't you, Jinx? Yes you are."

She made a funny face as she scratched his cheeks (to which he purred in delight) and set to work when he climbed onto the table. The clock ticked away the seconds, then the minutes. Every so often, she'd glance up when students went to bed to see how empty the common room was getting. She nibbled on a Sugar Quill, dipped it into some ink, and went back to scribbling on her essay. It was a very late hour when Jinx sat up at the approach of someone in the common room, leaning forward anxiously.

Demitria woke up to miniscule claws digging into her shoulder. Her eyes flew open and she gasped. Her normally impeccable hair hung wild and curly, mixing into the sweat that beaded on her forehead. Her sheets were tangled around her legs and arms. Bright yellow eyes peered down at her with worry. A scream died in her throat . "El'fiiskii!" She hissed. The little bird hopped off of her and gave an indignant hoot. Her breathing began to slow, but only barely.

Ever since the werewolf attack, she hadn't had a night that wasn't plagued with nightmares. Most of the time, she tried to put off sleep until she was so exhausted, she couldn't even think straight. Some nights, she even fell asleep by the fireplace in the Room of Requirement. Those days, she always went to class looking more rested than other nights, but Kitty always gave her sideways glances. No, she wasn't seeing anyone. She was trying to sleep, but even in her secluded stone hall, it was hard to come by. Most of the time, when she slept there, it was to save her roommates from having to hear her screaming.

Yellow eyes, sharp claws.

Demitria rose and realized that she had hardly been asleep for an hour and already the dreams had started. Deciding to give up, at least for a while, she threw on her Slytherin robe over her pajamas. She fixed her hair idly in the mirror, taking her loose curls and pulling them into a pony-tail.  Heading into the common room with El'fiiskii on her pointer finger, she saw that one of her yearmates hadn't gone to bed yet either.
Bellatrix Dark.

Mimi had nothing against the girl personally, but was generally wary of the nastier Dark twin. She had noticed that the girl had been less curse-happy since the year had begun. What did she have to lose? There was no one else around, and if left to her own thoughts, she would go crazy.

"Hello Bella," She said, her Russian accent heavy as it always was after waking up. "May I sit?"   

The white Turkish-Angora squinted with his blue-and-green eyes at Demetria before he let out a meow and relaxed again. Bellatrix looked up from her book at the sight of the Russian girl with her owl. She wasn't too keen on Demetria. In fact, she was downright envious. Since her argument at Christmas with Xavier last year, she'd seen the two around one another a lot. Too much. She suspected they'd snogged one another by now.

"Hello Bella. May I sit?"

They shared a dorm and she didn't have anything personal against Demetria. Only that she hung around Bella's ex-boyfriend too much. It irked her, but she had come to face to face with the fact that Xavier no longer wanted her ages ago. It was the past. Now was the best time to try to get over the "he's moved on" obstacle. Studying the disheveled appearance of Demetria, she realized her dorm-mate was sweating. The Russian had been having loads of nightmares which spurred Bella's decision to push a chair out with her foot.

"Feel free."

The cat laid down and gave a wide yawn, settling his head on top of the textbook she was paraphrasing. Bellatrix glared at the feline. Jinx was so clever with his casual maneuverings that it was impossible to tell if he did things like that on purpose to make her socialize. Come to think of it, he was the reason she'd run into that blonde Durmstrang boy earlier that afternoon. Since she'd met the cat in the back alleys of Hogsmeade, her social circle of acquaintances (and awkward situations/conversations) had increased due to his antics. Could he actually be doing that on purpose?

"'Nother nightmare, Strellie? You look bloody awful."

Demitria hugged her cream coloured robe, slowly feeling herself moving into the realm of true consciousness. Cold air. El' fiiski's claws. Fluffy robe. Chair. Bellatrix Dark. Her brain quickly categorized it's surroundings. This year had only just begun and was proving to be rediculously difficult. Even her hyper analytical brain couldn't seperate reality from terror sometimes. When her hand touched the preoffered chair, she took a deep breath. This was real.

She scoffed slightly at Bella's comment. "Really? I was actually getting ready for a Witch Weekly cover."

El'fiiski hopped off of the Russian's shoulder and fluttered by the other Slytherin's cat. Demitria watched the mouse-sized owl warily. Pesky thing was a nusiance and she wouldn't blame the handsome cat for eating the Pygmy Owl, but there was no way her mother was getting her a new one. Besides, she had grown fond of him over the past five years.

Sitting down, she shook her head and said seriously. "I'm getting tired of all the nightmares. It's a wonder you and the others haven't petitioned to get me kicked out of the dorm by now."

Mimi's ghostly green eyes gazed across the table and landed on the essay that Bella was writing. One of the advantages of insomnia was getting all of her work done far ahead of time. The disadvantage was that she didn't have an excuse to avoid people when she was having a bad day.

[[Hope you don't mind me joining in! It didn't say closed yet, but I'll delete if you guys were going somewhere with it!]]

Jordyn was returning from her scheduled rounds with heavy shoulders and tired eyes.  The week had been absolute insanity, everything she needed to do was piling up already, and honestly, sixth year would definitely be the death of her, particularly with all of these new students! 

It wasn't that she minded, quite the contary, she was pleased as punch with most of them, particularly Durmstrang and Beauxbaton, but Salem was far too rowdy, and most of them lacked proper manners.  She'd rather receive the cool treatment of the Eastern Europeans than be embraced by a stranger.  Truth be told, and if one believed the rumors, Jordyn was far more interested in the Beauxbaton studnets anyhow. 

But, on late night rounds, it was apparent that the rules were not explained as well as they should have been and being that it was still in the first month of school, many were prone to forgetting.  There was also not a very reliable way of keeping them in, as they did not earn points, and she couldn't take them away anyhow.  She wouldn't have minded meeting a few of them after hours, of course, but no one else needed to know that...

The brunette whispered the password to the common room and was frankly surprised when she saw Demitria and Bellatrix in the common room.  They were a pair she would not have expected, in the same place at the same time.  From what Jordyn understood there was some kind of drama surrounding Xavier Tawse - one of the people she avoided, particularly after the summer's incident, Demitria fit into that category to some extent as well, but she was strategic, and wouldn't use it unless she had reason to.  Xavier was far less... subtle and crafted. 

Clearing her throat, Jordyn gave each of them a tight lipped smile.  "Bellatrix, Demitria," nodding to each in turn, having only caught the tail end of their conversation - something about nightmares.  "If we wanted you out, I'm sure I would follow shortly after," she smiled, "my schedule must be Hell on the light sleepers." 

She awkwardly entered the enter of the room, around where the other girls were sitting, and put her hands behind her back. "Is everything all right, otherwise?" she felt the need to at least inquire, considering she was technically stil on duty.