Lucinda snarled and paced in the empty classroom, she clenched her hands tight into balls and gave a low growl. Her eyes flicked about the room and she sniffed the air, searching for any other presence nearby to her. Mostly, she found dust and empty desks.
In her impatient pacing she went to the window and looked out at the sky, staring at the clouds high above and muttering a curse under her breath at her inability to tell the time. She watched the rain for a short while before she resumed her search about the classroom.

"Where is she." Lucinda grunted. "Surely she has to be late." She gave a glance towards the door, however even if she could tell what the time was, it would not help her, every second seeming to stretch out. "It must be evening now. Mustn't it? It was like 11...then I came here. Now it must be like 7?" She muttered and looked over at the desks again, she gave a shake of her head in an attempt to clear her senses. "No, probably not been that long. Why did it have to rain?" With an angered and throaty, bestial snarl she gripped at a desk with both hands and tossed the set of wood onto its side.

"No, this is a mistake. I shouldn't do this." She would mutter to herself as she firmly grasped at the poor desk she had rudely decide to take her anger out on. Lucinda grasped firmly and stood it upright again while in a lone tone saying to no one in particular. "She'll see me as a freak. I'm just a danger and I should leave. There is time to run..I can say something came up." With the desk placed back into its position she moved up ontop of it, resting her body on it as she firmly sat down on the flat surface. "Whats the point of others knowing...If I disappear now and then they will just think I'm weird. If I was to tell people about it. They'll be scared of me." Lucinda placed both hands on her face and slowly dragged them down with a long groan. "If I don't tell them, they'll figure out anyway...its way too obvious as its the same time every month I vanish." Lucinda gave in a sigh of defeat, becoming focused on the argument she was having with herself to pay attention to her surroundings now.

"Uh, knock knock?"

Zeta pushed open the heavy door and announced herself. She hadn't seen Lucinda since they ended up trawling the lake together a few weeks ago, but that wasn't unusual. They were two years apart in school and in different houses. Zeta had honestly been surprised to hear from Lucinda again and had really no idea what to expect. Zeta wasn't the sort to get down on herself, but she wasn't exactly popular nor a paragon of academic achievement. For both their sake, this better not be about Herbology or else they were the pair of them in for some true sadness.

Lucinda was sitting on an old unused desk. The Hogwarts Howler sometimes met in this classroom and the blackboard still had the remains of their last meeting. 

"Hey, buddy, who are you talking to...?" Zeta said wandering in. It was about 12:30 and it was the middle of her big afternoon gap before double Herbology, or what she was currently calling Plant Hell: Leaf Me to Die. 

"You eat anything? I have cheese." And so she did. She offered a little bundle of crusty bread and chedder she'd took with her from the Great Hall.

Lucinda turned and snapped in the direction of the approaching Zeta. She let out a sigh of relief and shook her head before she removed herself from the desk by jumping from her spot and onto the ground. Quickly approaching the girl before she stopped and moved to the side, wanting to keep her distance a little.

"Hey, how are you today?" Lucinda asked, her body rather tense and alert with her eyes darting about before settling on the food. "Um...I'm okay, honest. I had a rather large breakfast.." With a shake of her head Lucinda would look at the door into the room as she moved to close it.

"I have something I need to tell you..and well..I'm not really sure how to. Its...awkward." Lucinda paced quickly to the blackboard and then turned back around. "When we were at the lake...did you see any weird marks and injuries on my body? I tried to hide them at points but well...you also got the jump on me." Her eyes look down to the ground as she felt the cardigan she had on, still wearing a skirt instead of trousers despite it now being winter. Along with long socks going up to just below her knees to protect somewhat from the cold. All her clothing is as dark as the school allows for its uniforms.

Without noticing she did it, Zeta shifted her weight away from Lucinda, who always seemed like she was about to bite or at least climb a tree and ... hiss at her from the branches or something. There was something about her that was just ... off. Zeta wasn't judgey, but it was a strangeness that was hard to ignore.

The girl didn't accept her offer of cheese - that was odd enough. Who didn't want cheese? Zeta shrugged - some people couldn't eat cheese, she had to acknowledge. She internally shuddered. That would be quite an affliction.

Zeta slid out a chair and set her bag down in the one next to her, and picked at her left-over lunch. She really ought to be studying up for exams but who could be bothered. She was already behind in many of her classes and the point of all this was beginning to elude her.

Had she seen any marks or injuries...? Zeta shook her head. She honestly couldn't remember. And if she did, she might have just ignored them - scars weren't anyone's business but your own. The way Lucinda had brought this up, 'something to tell you', it sounded like a big secret.

"Why are you telling me. I mean, I'm here for you," Zeta began. She was there for anyone who needed her, but... "But what about all the older girls in Gryffindor? You don't really know me, babe."

Lucinda gave a slight smile at the question and then replied with a curt nod. "Yes but well...a stranger is often better at telling the truth then someone you know...like you get when you ask your friends if they like something and they'll lie to you to save your feelings? But a stranger will tell you?" With a slightly joking tone she added at the end. "And thats why I gave up my mohawk."

She turned a bit more serious though and looked at the ground again. "I also am not...I sort of stopped talking to people from my house." She gave off a sigh and looked up at Zeta. "How sensitive are you?" She asked as she removed her cardigan, unbuttoning it before she slipped it off and tossed it to the side.

"Hopefully this doesn't make you have nightmares due to the cheese but.." Lucinda gave off an awkward laugh and turned to the side before she lifted the left side of her shirt. Raising it enough to show off the bite barks in her flesh, clear enough that they still seem somewhat fresh.

"These bites were a few months ago..I was in America with my family..camping and then." Lucinda started giving off a bestial growl at the memory of the event and her mauling. "These are werewolf marks...only the Professors here know...I've not told any student yet but.." She lowered her shirt back down. "I feel like people are talking about it behind my back.."

Zeta inhaled slowly through her nose, bracing herself for what Lucinda was about to show her. Presumably the injuries she'd mentioned earlier, but didn't know for sure until she was looking at Lucinda's bare midriff. Zeta's face fell in sympathy. They looked angry and red and like they must have been horribly painful. From the extent of the scars, Zeta had to think it was a miracle the little Gryffindor had survived.

"Oh Lucinda," she breathed and turned her head to the side.

Zeta was confused. She'd had two housemates who'd been werewolves, Olivia Foley and Zelig Trumble. And the Headmaster - Professor Greyfriar was about the happiest teacher she'd ever known. None of them acted like this. The growling, the snapping, the hostility? Nothing like that. They were mostly ... tired. Zeta wasn't a healer but her guess was that Lucinda was still haunted by the attack itself.

Treading carefully, Zeta shrugged. "I think I've heard some rumors, but you can't worry about that. People can be stupid, but most people here, they'd be cool about it. There have been werewolves here. The Headmaster's a werewolf even, babe. And a couple years ago a bunch of us were in SAWS. Do you remember, the student society for werewolf rights? Some of the older students even met with the Minister of Magic. We forced Headmaster Reid to let my friend Ollie to come back to school."

Zeta trailed off. Maybe Lucinda didn't want advice and she'd overstepped. But to think Lucinda didn't feel welcome here? It must be awful.

Lucinda stopped and let out a long sigh, she looked relieved that she wasn't chastised for her affliction. Going to grab her cardigan, before putting it back on she ran her hand under the shirt she had on and felt her back. "I also have claw marks on my back but..they aren't as bad." She said before she removed the hand and put the cardigan back on herself, buttoning it up.

She took a few moments to compose herself before she replied, sounding calmer and not as...snarly she nodded and replied. "I did hear about them...and the stuff they pulled. Such as putting polyjuice potions in drinks." She looked at the ground and placed her body on a desk again as she sat down. "Sure it likely was someone else and got blamed on them but...people will always bring that up as reasons not to trust..."

With a soft groan she rubbed her head and proceeded to rest it in her hands. "I well...do I even deserve...i mean I am a..." She gave a small gulp as her eyes swelled up with tears, she started to speak as her voice caught in her throat. "I am a...beast...a monster...if it wasn't for the..." Her voice caught again and she curled up into a ball, head stuffed between her own legs. "I would mercilessly attack and kill anyone around me..."

Lucinda's body shuddered and in a small voice she added. "Even my parents aren't safe if I wasn't caged up..."

Zeta's jaw dropped and she furrowed her brow. She was silent for a moment, but then her expression shifted from concern to anger.

"No."

She pointed her finger at Lucinda.

"Shut your mouth with that. I'm dead serious. You can't talk like that. You can feel how you feel, but those words are dangerous. They're not true. You're not a monster. You're not a beast. And ... and... neither is Ollie or Zel or Professor Greyfriar or ... or anyone! You have a curse! You're still you. And if you say those things about yourself, you're saying them about other people too. And no one deserves that. You don't deserve that."

For a moment, Zeta wondered if she should regret yelling at Lucinda, but she wasn't raised to just let things drop. Not when they were that serious. She sighed, trying to let go of that initial fire.

"I know this is fresh? But you can't say that sort of thing. It's lies, babe."

Lucinda would shake her head. "N-no...t-they aren't but...I am..." She would of released another small snarl as her body let off another full shudder, running down her head and to her feet. "All I can think of when I'm by myself...is how good it must feel for myself to be at their throat..." She quickly gripped at her own head and let out a hungry sounding growl. "The one who did this to me. I just want to tear at their chest, bite their neck apart and..."

Lucinda let out a few more sobs and calmed herself slowly. "This was a mistake..I shouldn't of..done this.." She muttered before she wiped at her eyes and gave a look towards Zeta, her eyes appeared fearful, not appearing like she was scared of Zeta scorning her, but of telling about her affliction in the first place.

"I'm dangerous to everyone around me. I mean, I can change how someone acts just by accidentally scratching them. I can't pretend like I'm normal.." Lucinda gave a slight smile as she attempted to joke. "I mean, even the showers tend to smell like a dog after I've been in there." With a stuttered sigh she looked downwards and then uncurled from her ball. "I-i'm sorry..."

"Oh no no no... I'm glad you told me," Zeta mumbled and cooed, now sorry she'd been so harsh. Lucinda probably didn't need someone else yelling at her and ordering her around.

"But girl, that's not magically possible. Trust me. I've got ... O.W.Ls," she said a wary smile touching her lips. "You don't smell like a dog. It's just not a thing? You're only a werewolf during the full moon, and that's it. And when people turn that way, Luce, they aren't there. I mean, the mind, it's away. The only thing acting is the curse, not the person. Every other moment in your life? You're just ... you."

Zeta was sure of that. Sure from school, sure from SAWS, sure from... everything.

She sat up straighter and tried to add more firm, supportive confidence to her voice. "And you are not dangerous. Not if you follow the rules. Thousands of people all over the world transform every month without anyone getting hurt. There's a system. It only seems like more often because it makes the papers. There's no reason you'd ever hurt anyone."

The Hufflepuff looked down, realizing she was kind of talking a lot, which was her habit. But it crushed her that Lucinda felt this way about herself. She shouldn't have to. Life was hard enough for werewolves for someone to torture themselves.

Lucinda seemed somewhat more relieved at the attitude Zeta had, she wasn't being shouted at or called a freak which was nice. She hugged herself and nodded before she let off a weak smile as she shook her head. "No, I swear it smells like a dog. I've smelt people before who smell like the weirdest of things. A couple of the boys smell like overflowing bins."

"I may not be dangerous now but..." She laid back on the desk and faced the sky..the stone sky made up of the classrooms ceiling. "Even following the rules I can hurt people badly. If I were to go over and scratch you, you may be more feral for the rest of your life. Or like to eat half cooked burgers and that is a travesty." She attempted to add on some humour to what she was saying before she added in a slightly darker tone. "I still wake up with half the stuff in that cage destroyed, if there was anything there."

With a soft groan she righted herself up and looked towards Zeta. "Unless needed to for some reason..could you perhaps well..." Lucinda paused before a few seconds later she gave herself a nod. "Can you perhaps not..tell anyone? I wanted to tell someone about it and figured..you'd be better then the people in my house who I've avoided since I've arrived back and.." She gave a thought about it then shook her head. "Actually, I doubt I get brought up in conversations. Or the topic of werewolves attending the school. So it shouldn't be a problem right?"

Zeta listened to Lucinda and smiled sadly. She realized she wasn't going to convince Lucinda of anything in these five or ten  minutes. It was just her words against a Lucinda's whole life of believing something different and than the trauma of going through something like that.  But it was worth saying something. She hoped it was worth it to Lucinda to hear it.

Lucinda asked her not to tell her secret, and Zeta's face lit up. She reached over and took Lucinda's hands in hers.

"You sweet perfect starfish, Lucinda Temple, I would never tell. I would positively perish before I'd ever do that."

Zeta released her hands and sat back in the desk, smiling. "Don't worry. I got you."

Lucinda let out a laugh and shook her head. "Perfect Starfish? What does that mean?" She gave a genuine smile as she moved her own hands back after the contact. "I'm not a starfish. If anything I'm a dog." She suddenly lit up as she started getting ideas. "Wait, what do you reckon the patronus of a werewolf is? Could it be a wolf or would it be normal?"

She gave a look towards Zeta. "Hhhm, perhaps I should get a magically expanding collar or something? So when I transform I got a good dog collar on me." She let off a sigh at the idea before bursting into another laugh. "Imagine, just leaving bones or something in there, a cuddly toy with a squeaker. And then just watching if I were to bite and shake it."

Zeta found herself incredulous again.

"Merlin's knickers, babe, you need to read a book," she cringed.

She cocked her head. "Maybe you should, like, have a werewolf mentor or something. Because, girl, that's straight up nonsense. And you should probably know that using 'dog' to refer to werewolves is considered extremely offensive? I mean, you do you, but..."

"Look. I'm not an expert on this. You should talk to a werewolf mentor who knows better what's it's like and get yourself an education. I can be here for you, but I can't, you know, solve any of this."

Frankly the discussion was starting to make Zeta uncomfortable. She could be Lucinda's friend but how do you sit there and listen to someone bash on themselves, especially when you already had perfectly lovely werewolf friends who'd never say crazy things like this.

"Like, really," she said with a concerned smile.

Lucinda sighed and laid her body back onto the desk, then proceeded to curl into her own little ball yet again. She started to take several deep breathes through her mouth as she muttered a few words to herself. Her hands grasped at her knees and rubbed at them with her hands to warm the joints up in the December weather. Her eyes drifted towards the windows outside to view the rain hitting the glass and running down, leaving their trails along the portal.

"Sorry, its the difference in people...the only people I've spoken to about this has been government officials or the headmaster and well..." She gave a fake cough, putting her fist to her mouth. "Awkward." Another totally real cough. "Official Business." Lucinda gave a soft bang to her chest. "Obviously they are better to talk to about...specifics but not more casual things. Do you get what I mean?"

Lucinda would spin on her back a bit so she would face towards Zeta, standing up again she looked over Zeta before looking around her to try showing she was looking in the girls direction but not awkwardly staring.

"Thank you though. For not freaking out, and for putting up with this weird rambling... thing?" She thought for a moment and nodded. "Thank you."

Lucinda spread out her arms for an embrace but made no move towards Zeta, letting her go for it if she felt comfortable to do so.