Let Me Hear

"Avada Kedavra!"
The cry echoed in the tall ceiling; a bolt of emerald green light shot before her eyes. The man crashed to the floor, after being struck in the side by the curse.
Dead.
The woman let out a horrible shriek of horror, rushing to her felled husband.
In a moment,
she was dead too.

A girl hid in the cloak closet, eyes wide, hands clasped over her mouth to prevent the escape of the scream perched on her lips. They were...
She had to get out. As the footsteps disappeared into the kitchen, she inched open the door. Now was the time. She scuttled out, stockingfeet silent on the hard wooden floor.
"Reducto!!" She screamed and dove for her life behind the loveseat, which was blasted backwards, nearly decapitating her. Scrambling for the dining room door, she heard several more shouts of, well, to her, absolute gibberish. Endtables burst into flame, lamps were turned to dust, each spell unnervingly closer to her than the last. Finally, one struck.
"Obscuro!" She flew forward, crashing into one of the chairs. Her vision was gone, a tight blindfold tied over her eyes. She felt her way to the corner of the room, and huddled up there, blind and helpless.
The darkly clad Wizards stepped slowly into the dining room, snickering at her feebleness.
"Why..?" She breathed. The strip of fabric obscuring her vision was stained with tears. "Why did you..?"
"What's it matter?" One of them cackled, and pointed a wand at her. "Your parents were bad and had to be punished."
"Incarcerous!" The other cried, brandishing a similar weapon. She felt her wrists and ankles come together, binding themselves with tight cord. "You may have your way with her." He said in a smooth, sinister voice to his partner, who noticably smiled beneath his hood.
"Crucio!!"
The pain shot through her body like a knife running its way down her spine. She let out a scream, a scream that nearly broke the sound barrier. Her hands balled into fists, her toes curled, her back arced in anguish. It felt like an eternity, when the spell was broken. She dropped to her side, breathing heavily, blindfold now completely soaked in tears.
The man raised the wand for a second attack, but before he could make it to "Cruc--" The window shattered.
In came a shadow. It darted around at the speed of light... Or dark, supposedly. The wand shot out of his hand, and he was blasted backward into the wall. It cracked behind him with the force; he fell to the ground, dead as a doornail.
The other looked around in alarm before he was hurled back as well, slamming into the wall opposite. A pale thin-fingered hand was wrapped around his throat.
"Heathen..." The figure snarled.
"I-- gah..." The man tried to say, but the breath was squeezed out of him. Then with a lightning flick of his wand, a gush of purple flame caught this newcomer square in the chest. He stumbled back several feet, crashing into the table, arms wrapped tightly around his midriff. The man's laugh was slightly crazed, looking down at the figure.
A young teenage boy.
"What magic is this..?" He said weakly, eyes narrowed with both hate and agony. The man only laughed harder.
"All that comes to defend this household is a measly boy?" He scoffed.
The boy looked about to speak, but his words were lost; he retched slightly, coughed loudly. Blood splattered to the floor, ran down his chin.
"Vile Terran..." He wheezed, glaring up at the Deatheater.
"How dare you speak to me like that." The man scowled, and raised his wand. "Avada--"
In a split second, his head was smashed clean through the wall.
The boy was at his knees beside the girl in a heartbeat, and with one hand, slit her bindings and her blindfold. She looked at the ghastly scene, at the pool of blood, the bodies of the men... Then she turned to the boy. He looked a little older than she, much paler, and thinner. He had a hand over his mouth, and was coughing violently; blood seeping from between his fingers. She began to cry again, as he sunk, lying on her shoulder.
"You're safe now..." He murmured weakly from behind his hand. She said nothing, only wrapped an arm of comfort around his slender shoulders.

"Aneira?" A voice tickled her ear. She jerked awake, smacking her head on the stone wall behind her.
"Ah..." She groaned slightly. "I'm fine, I'm fine."
Where was she? As she looked around, she saw the doors leading to the grounds, and to the Great Hall. She was in the Entrance Hall, sitting on the floor between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff house point hourglasses, glistening red and yellow gemstones winked at her. At her side sat Jae, in all his shadowy glory, staring at her through dark dark eyes.
"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked in a soft voice, then he lowered his tone even further, "Were you dreaming again?"
"No, I was just tired. I had a test in Defense Against the Dark Arts, I was up studying late last night."
In truth, she had been dreaming, about that fateful night, four years ago, when she'd first met Jae. Well, not met personally, per se, but first encountered him.
He looked skeptical. Surely there was more to it, but he didn't push her for answers.
Jae had always been good with not questioning her, but he'd usually find a way to weasel the truth out of her anyway. He was good at that too.
"Maybe you should go take a nap." He suggested.
"I just was. I have... I have Charms in fifteen minutes..." She said, resting her head back on her knees.
"Alright. Please, if you're too tired, I can explain to Flitwick..."
"No! It's fine. Really..." She said, standing and hitching her book bag onto her shoulder. Her robes hung almost to the floor, the sleeves a might too long for her arms. She liked oversized cloaks. Striding toward the staircase, she hung her head. Why was this dream coming back?
Jae hurried along behind her.
"Let me take you there." He said gently, clasping her by the shoulder.
"I'm fine, Jae." She said, only to sink onto the steps and rest her head on her knees once more.
"... No, you're not. Let me tell Flitwick you need sleep. Please."
She nodded slightly, and drifted off to sleep against the banisters. Instead of running off to the Charms room, Jae settled down a few steps above where she sat, watching her like a guardian angel. He couldn't leave her, sleepy and defenseless from the Slytherins. Slytherins... Why'd he think of that just now? Anyway, he watched the back of her head with unblinking eyes.
She would not be out of his sight for a second.

"Honestly, Frankie," Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "I don't know why you insist on being so rude to people all the time."
"That's what they get," Frank mumbled. "And for heavens sake, will you stop it?"
"Stop what?" Gabrielle turned around to look at her brother. He was red facedl; furious. Why, she did not know.
"Calling me Frankie!" He spat. "It's such a kiddish name, I hate it."
"I've always called you Frankie," She said in a small voice. "That's your name."
"Whatever," Her brother mumbled.
Gabrielle pretended not to notice and skipped on ahead. This was how she always acted around her brother when he was in a foul mood. She chose to pretend to not have a care in the world, when she actually couldn't stop worrying about him. He was always getting into things left and right, and she was amazed that he still had great marks and he wasn't expelled. He obviously was doing one thing right.
She stopped a few feet from the stairs, noticing two people sitting on them. One was unmoving, head on knees, and looked as if to either be thinking hard or fast asleep. The other sat a few stairs up, keeping watch like a gaurdian.
Being curious, she stalked forward, coming to a halt at the bottom step.
"Excuse me," Gabrielle said quietly. "Is she all right?"

Jae had watched the arguing pair all the way to the stairs with one eye. The happy girl and the angry boy.
He nodded slightly.
"Fine, just tired." He muttered.
As if this was her cue, she shot up.
"No I'm not!" She cried, loud enough to turn a few heads. She glanced around, at Jae behind her, and at this new girl before her. "Hi..?" She cocked her head slightly to one side and raised an eyebrow.
"Who are you?" Jae asked the girl, Gabrielle, craning his neck to stare over Aneira's frantic head.

Abel walked slowly across the Entrance Hall, hands in his pockets. He looked in no hurry. Beside him Dietrich strode, with more of a spring in his step than the other.
"Come on, Abel, you're going to be late if you sandbag it up the stairs like this." Dietrich smirked and elbowed the first boy.
"I know. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it..." He said, barely above a whisper. "Any particular reason you're limping..?"
It was true, Dietrich's walking pattern was a bit uneven; he seemed to be favouring his left leg.
"Ah," He said, looking away. "Ski accident from over break is coming back to bite me in the ass."
"What'd you do..?"
Dietrich laughed, "Well, my buddy fell over, and when I tried to stop, I fell into the ditch and twisted my knee."
"That all?" Abel asked, a little unimpressed.
"Well, it popped pretty loudly on the way down..." Dietrich said defensively. "It was worse than it sounds..."
"Yeah yeah..." Abel said uncaringly, looking up toward the stairs. "Hey, look..." He jerked his head at a small group. They were gathered around a sleeping girl. No... Her head suddenly flew up off her knees, as if their glance had awakened her.
"What about them?" Dietrich hmphed; he'd only just looked up after the girl was awake.
"Nothing..." Abel said and made his way up the first step. Dietrich followed suit, taking it one step at a time like a toddler, leading with his uninjured leg. Abel turned back to stare. "Why don't you go to Madam Pomfrey..?" He asked.
"'cause I don't want to trouble her with petty ailments." Dietrich said in a slightly singsong tone.
Abel knew Dietrich, he wouldn't run off for help unless he was about on the brink of death.

((Okay, I'm here. Sorry Schro. Now we can start a pattern. >_<))

"Gabi, why are you always into everyone's business?" Frank sighed loudly, looking past the two before him and staring around the entrance hall.
"I," Gabrielle said, completely ignoring her brother, "Am Gabrielle. And this is my twin brother Frank."
"You finally learned my name," He said in a sarcastic tone. "Congratulations."
"Where's your manners, Frankie?!" Gabrielle giggled. "He's cranky. He's always cranky."
Frank bit back a retort. This was his sister; always embarrassing him in front of people. Besides, they didn't need to see him lash out on her. He would do that in private later.
"And may I ask you what your names would be?" Gabrielle raised an eyebrow.
She swung her eyes to the side, curious to see who was walking up the stairs. One limped a little and the other had a slow gait that seemed a little familar to her.

Aneira smiled.
"I'm Aneira." And she turned to the boy behind her. "And this is Jae."
Jae rested the side of his head on one of his fingers. It was hard to tell if he was making a J-shaped finger gesture with his thumb, in accordance with his name, or pretending to shoot himself in the temple.
"Pleasure to meet you. Greetings and salutations, esteemed superiour life forms." He mumbled, like a robot.
"Oh come on, Jae, don't be so quiet." She said happily, then turned back to Gabrielle and Frank. "Nice to meet you two."
Jae was watching the pair of boys making their way up the stairs now, watching the one limp noticably, and the other egging him on. Odd. Then he noticed that Aneira had stood, and made her way down to stand beside the newcomers. Immediately, he stood, and seemed to move to her side in an instant. He was like a gosling, she his mother goose; never leaving her side.

((Mmm... before I write back, I think we should make a pattern. :3
Maybe Schro, me, then Noble?
Or. Schro, Noble, then me?
Either way works.))

((Schro, You, Noble works fine. ^_^ I know, Noble likes being last. She's last on her bowling team. >_> Okay, I rant. Sorry.))

((xD Okay. :3 Well, I'll write back, and hopefully she'll be on soon so we can really get this going.))

"I's nice to meet you two as well," Gabrielle beamed. One of her favorite things was meeting new people.
Frank, on the other hand, stood back and let her do all the talking. This was more of Gabrielle's playing feild. It looked as if him and Jae were just bystanders.
Gabrielle elbowed Frank in the side, glaring at him for his disrespectful manners.
"Yeah," Frank nodded.
"Don't mind him," She sighed. "Like I said. He's cranky all the time."
"And she's an embarrassing mess," Frank retorted, grimly smiling.
Gabrielle shot him another look, feeling the need to slap him, but she refrained. "What house are you all in?"
She looked again up the steps at the two people. They hadn't made it much farther than the first few steps; the one boy's leg seemed to be slowing him while the other just walked slow.

((I WAS HERE ALL ALONG, WATCHING JOOS. Yeah, but I forgot to log in..... >_> <_< *cough*))

Abel was a few steps from the top, waiting for Dietrich to catch up.
"Can't you walk any faster..?" Abel asked quietly.
"Can't you walk any slower?" Was Dietrich's snarled reply.
"We'll be late."
"Carry me then!" Dietrich yelled, leaping angrily at Abel, who had just enough time to steady himself as he was knocked into.
"No! I'll take being late then!" Abel said, shoving Dietrich away, who almost fell down the stairs.
Then he caught sight of the girl at the base of the stairs... It was that girl he'd met in the common room not too long ago. Dietrich had turned around too, catching sight of the boy. This one, Abel did not know. "Gabr--?"
"FRANKIE!" The pain in his knee seemingly forgotten, Dietrich had hurled himself down the stairs, three at a time, and crashed into the fellow Ravenclaw, arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders. "Long time no see~!" He was now a completely different person.
Abel raised his eyebrows to the heavens and continued his way up the stairs.

((LIEZ, >:O))

Jae watched the chaos unfold, the attack of the boy by this other student. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or to whip out his wand and break them apart.
Aneira jumped backwards in shock, this Ravenclaw had just flown out of nowhere and practically tackled him.
"Mr. Frank!" She said in alarm, hands over her mouth. "Are you alright?!"

"What the bloody hell?!" Frank gasped once the air entered his lungs. "You almost gave me a heart attack, mate!"
Gabrielle looked at the two of them, puzzled. Frankie had never told her that he made a new friend. Let alone that he was a Ravenclaw.
"Frankie," Gabrielle said slowly. "Who's your friend?"
"Oh, right," Frank smiled a little, remembering his manners. "Diedrich, this is my sister, Gabrielle. Gabi, this is Diedrich."
"Nice to meet you," She smiled. She didn't know whether or not to introduce the two new students she had met.
"Oi," Frank said to Arienna. "I'm perfectly fine. He just scared me." He paused, making up his sister's mind for her. "This is Jae and Arienna... we all just met."

Dietrich was laughing hysterically as he let go of Frank and stepped back, wiping his eyes.
"Sorry, bud, I just couldn't help myself!" He cried, then turned to face the others. "Eh... Hi..?" He mumbled. He seemed all out of it after his grand entrance.
Abel was making his way back down the steps toward the group.
"I'm sorry if he's bothering you." He said, promptly snatching Dietrich by the collar. Then again, he noticed Gabrielle. "Gabrielle..? You're here?" He said, even quieter still.

((Noble, you're starting to spell Diedrich's name like Dietrich von Longhren. Knock it off. =P ))

Jae stood silently by, watching the group. Aneira, however, was smiling and greeting the two.
"Oh, he's no bother, no bother at all!" She cried, waving a hand nonchelantly. "It's nice to meet you two."
Jae merely nodded to them, staring in particular at Abel, who had come to restrain the first boy.

Gabrielle beamed from ear to ear. There was something about Abel that made her feel extremely happy, and she didn't know why.
"Of course I'm here," She smiled. "Where else would I be? Class?"
She laughed at the last bit. It was true; she should be in class, and so should the rest of the group, but she honestly didn't care. She liked this big group feeling, and she wouldn't mind being late for once.
"Really," Gabrielle continued, agreeing with Aneira, "He's not a bother. At least Frankie gets along with someone."
"Frank." Frank corrected her with a scowl. "It's Frank, for gods sake, Gabi. F-r-a-n-k!" He spelled it out slowly for her, his glare growing more intense with each letter. But it softened as she gave him a dejected look, and he instantly felt bad.

((Crap. I've been watching too much television. x_x Okay, we have to stop OOC-ing.))


Abel smiled a little too, and let go of Diedrich's collar. Diedrich immediately scuttled behind Frank. It felt safer to have him between Abel and himself.
"Frankie, Abel's being mean to me." He whined.
"Oh put a sock in it." Abel said softly and checked his watch. "We're all late now." He sighed and turned to hurry up the stairs.
"Abel! Don't go! It won't hurt if we miss one class." Diedrich said sadly, still not bothering to come out from behind Frank.

Aneira glanced at Jae, who was still staring at Abel as he left. He had a strange look in his eye, as if he felt sick. Aneira reached out for him, but he shrank away.
"Jae?"
"Excuse me." Jae turned sharply on his heel, and was headed away, back toward the house point counters near the front door.
"Jae?" She said again, taking a couple steps in pursuit, but then slowed, simply watching him go. His head hung, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets. "Jae..?" She trailed off, then turned back to the group. She looked a little miffed.
"Sorry... He doesn't really... like groups..." She sighed, then looked again as if nothing had went wrong.
"So, are we going to class or just staying here?"

Frank felt a little odd with Diedrich hiding behind him. He hadn't had this impression of him... he figured Diedrich was more of a tough guy; this act completely threw him off.
He realized that Aneira had said something, but didn't know what because he was busy thinking and watching Jae go. He felt bad for the guy. He finally snapped to it, though, when he noticed his sister staring at him.
"Well?" Gabrielle asked. "What do you think?"
"I's not like I haven't skipped class before, Gabi," Frank said with a sly smile. "I don't give a damn if you want to be goody twoshoes and go back."
"I never said that," Gabrielle huffed. "I can be just as 'tough' as you, Frankie."
She turned back to Aneira and Abel, smiling, "If you'd like to skip, we could all go find a place to stay." Then she looked back at Jae. "But I'd feel bad if we all left him."
"If he doesn't want to be in a group he doesn't have to, Gabi," Frank sighed loudly. "I's his choice, not yours."
"At least I care," Gabrielle retorted. "And let's stop arguing before we scare everyone off."
She looked back at the other two, smiling apologetically, and hoped that they weren't already sick of them. She didn't want to give them the wrong impression, especially not Abel. For some reason she was fancying him, and she didn't want to scare him off.

"I don't mind." Abel said. "Arguing is a way siblings share their love for one another." He smiled pleasantly, swinging his arms to and fro. Diedrich glanced up at Frank, then coughed loudly and stood straight, striding around to Abel's side. He snatched him by the collar; the tables had turned, and he adopted a mockingly serious face.
"Oy, let me go." Abel said, swatting at his hand, but it was no use; Diedrich held firm.
"Then don't let your guard down." He said, and with a smile, released Abel and nudged him down the stairs. He stumbled, tripped, and it took him a couple steps to regain his footing. Despite this, he still bumped into Gabrielle.
"Diedrich!" Abel said incredulously. He was absurdly close to her now. He shied away. "Why do you always have to be so rude?" He huffed, then glanced back at Gabrielle. "... Sorry..."
Diedrich only smiled, leaning on the banister of the stairs. "Sowwie, Abel." He said innocently.

Aneira watched Jae solemnly, he was sitting at the base of the Gryffindor hourglass. He looked shaken. Too many people talking to him made him jittery. She let out a sigh, and turned back, only to see Abel falling down the stairs. She gasped a little, and put out a hand, but it was too late. He collided with Gabrielle.
What had just happened? She saw Diedrich snickering from the stairs.
These two were like a comedy team, always tripping eachother up. It was rediculous, but fun at the same time.

Frank was in fits of laughter just as Diedrich was. He found it absolutely hilarious, and it was obvious to him that this was why he liked Diedrich so much; they had some things in common.
"Frank," Gabrielle scowled at him. "That's not nice!"
He continued laughing anyway, clutching his stomach.
"I's okay," Gabrielle blushed at Abel. "People bump into people."
She ignored Frank and turned to Aneira, seeing that she had just been watching Jae.
"Do you want to go talk with him?" She asked quietly. "I can go with, if it makes it any better."

Abel coughed slightly, his face turning pink, and he turned away, walking hurriedly back up the stairs. Diedrich was laughing even harder now, more heads turned. Abel was already on the landing, turning to go up the second flight of stairs. Diedrich sighed, his laughter subsided. He glanced up at the fleeing boy. He felt bad now, but then again, he always annoyed Abel easily. In a bit, he'd be back to normal.

Aneira shook herself, and turned to Gabrielle, trying to take her mind off Jae.
"No, it's fine." She said, glancing from Jae to Gabrielle. "He needs some time to himself... That's all..."
She turned to watch the two silly boys, but one of them was missing. She shrugged. All these new friends, and they were already being driven apart...

"Are you sure?" Gabrielle asked, trying to take her mind off of the fleeing Abel.
But she couldn't. Her eyes kept wandering from Aneira to the stairs where Abel had gone. She sighed loudly and shook her head, feeling a bit sad that he had left in such a hurry. Besides, Frank and Diedrich were only kidding... right?
"...Do you think he'll come back?" She asked quietly, but it sounded like she could be asking about either Jae or Abel.
Frank stopped laughing, noticing his sister's silent reaction. He was surprised to see that she wasn't scolding him but she was looking down at the ground, a solem expression occupying her face. He knew instantly, and stepped a little closer to try and comfort her. But Gabrielle stepped sideways, leaving just as much space as there was before between them.
She looked up and tried to sound cheery, "So, by your outfit I figure you're in Gryffindor. What year?"
She spared another glance at the stairs, betraying her new façade.