Burn (Open)

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

It was three o'clock in the morning and the lawn outside of the dorm room was not as silent as it should have been. While the majority of the students were safe and asleep in their beds, outside the blaze and flash of fireballs could be seen striking the ground.

Closer inspection would reveal that the fireballs, so hot they were icy blue, were being flung by one enraged Meredith Emrys-Pendragon. She had her hair tied in a ponytail and was wearing a pair of jogging bottoms and a loose t-shirt, obviously just old clothes that she'd thrown on, and on the grass in front of her was a small pile of what might have once been clothes, but was now just a smouldering mass.

Despite the obvious and assured destruction of the clothes in the grass, she kept summoning the fireballs and throwing them with all her strength at the remains. She was muttering incoherently to herself, her voice a hoarse growl and tears on her cheeks glittering in the light of the fire.

[Genevieve]

Normally, Genevieve would be fast asleep at this time of the morning, but she had visited the library earlier that day and picked up a few new books, which she had been utterly unable to put down. Hence, Genevieve was still wide awake at the time that the flashes and the noises started outside on the lawn.

She hadn't been here very long, but she was quite certain that wasn't normal, and so she crept out of her bed and made her way downstairs and outside, carefully and quietly opening the door and stepping outside, looking for the source of the noise and light. She made sure to tread carefully - she didn't want to startle something like a dragon and find she was a pile of ash before she graduated.

She was surprised and concerned to see Meredith on the lawn, hurling fireballs, clearly upset. Genevieve frowned - she adored Meredith, and it hurt her to see her clearly distraught over something. She made her way forwards, clearing her throat loudly to announce her presence.

"Meredith?" She stood on the edge of the lawn and called out. "Meredith, I'm not sure that's the best thing to be doing at this time of night?"

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

Meredith flinched at the sound of her name, the fireball she'd been preparing dropping from her hand and nearly setting her sweatpants on fire before she extinguished it with a flick of her wrist. The interruption at least managed to stop her mindless flinging of fireballs, and when she glanced down at the pile that had been the clothes she was wearing just a couple of hours ago (and not wearing shortly before that), she could see that they were nothing more than slightly smoking ash, there was nothing recognisable about them.

She turned to see Genevieve standing there, lifting a hand to her face to wipe it quickly, though there was no way simply removing the dampness of current tears could hide the fact that she'd been crying, even if Genevieve hadn't already noticed.

"It needed doing." she finally said, her voice was hoarse and almost empty of emotion, as though she'd thrown it all out with the fireballs.

[Genevieve]

Genevieve was nothing if not tactful, and noticing Meredith's attempts to wipe away the tears from her cheeks, Genevieve decided not to mention them. Now Meredith had stopped throwing fireballs, Genevieve decided it was safe to approach, and folding her arms over her stomach to keep out the chill of the early morning, she stepped onto the lawn and made her way slowly over to Meredith.

Standing beside her, Genevieve looked quietly down at the pile of ash at Meredith's feet. There was absolutely no way of telling what it had once been, no matter how long she stared, and with a sidelong glance at Meredith she spoke up.

"So... what needed burning at three o'clock in the morning?" She asked lightly.

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"...clothes." Meredith said after a long pause. She was too mentally exhausted to come up with a convincing lie, and yet at the same time she wasn't sure she could bring herself to explain the story behind them, not without bursting into tears again, even thinking about it made fresh tears prickle at her eyes and she took a deep breath to try and fend them off.

"They.. reminded me of something that happened, I needed to burn them." she'd hoped that it would somehow drain out her anger, that she'd be able to calm down to figure out who she was really mad at or how she was going to deal with this going forward. It hadn't worked. "So, that's done now. You can go back inside, it's cold out here." she didn't want to drag Genevieve into her mess, the girl was so sweet and caring.

[Genevieve]

“Clothes.” Genevieve repeated, her tone empty of any questioning or confusion. “Ok.”

Genevieve didn’t want to push Meredith into telling her anything, as it was painfully clear that she was struggling with something awful. And so she simply stood beside her, hoping her company would at least bring Meredith some initial comfort. There was plenty of time to ask the questions that Meredith might need to be asked, to offer sympathy or advice as required. But now was clearly not the time.

Nodding as Meredith offered more information, Genevieve felt her worry for her friend increase, although she made sure to keep her face impassive. It was clear Meredith had been through something traumatic, and having Genevieve burden her with her own worry and fears would not help her situation. “As it’s done, why don’t you come inside with me? You don’t want to get cold either.” She smiled, gently linking her arm with Meredith’s. I can make tea - Mum always says there’s nothing like a cup of tea to help you take stock of a situation.”

She smiled warmly at Meredith, hoping she would accept her invitation and allow Genevieve to keep an eye on her... but also get warm.

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

Meredith wanted to stay cold, to not admit to anyone how stupid she'd been, to get over it herself and just stop talking to Mordred forever and everything would be fine. In the cold pre-dawn light it seemed like a perfectly reasonable plan, and she was too tired and overwrought to think of anything better.

But then Genevieve was linking her arm and offering her a cup of tea and the gentle calm was just what she needed, it was like a blanket smothering the burning flame of her anger and taking all the fight out of her. She nodded, allowing herself to be steered and walked with the other girl back towards the dorms.

"It was so horrible." she said quietly, she seemed to have run out of tears, but her voice was hollow and lost.

[Genevieve]

Good, Meredith had allowed Genevieve to lead her away from the smoking pile of ash and towards the lights of the dormitory. She was worried about her friend, the person she looked up to more than anyone (apart from maybe Tristian), and it disturbed her to see Meredith so upset and shook up.

At Meredith's words, Genevieve's worry increased. What had happened to her? All kinds of awful scenarios were running through Genevieve's head as the reached the dorms, and she led Meredith towards her room. "It's over now. You're safe now." She said quietly as they reached her dorm, not wanting to press Meredith until she was warm and had a comforting cup of tea in her hands.

She pushed the door open and led Meredith inside, indicating for her to sit on the bed as she turned to the desk where her kettle sat - always full in case of emergencies such as this. Genevieve's room was stereotypically girly; warmly lit by strings of fairy lights, pictures of her family stuck to the walls, and an excessive number of stuffed toys on the bed. The kettle boiled, and she quickly made two cups of tea, turning and passing one to Meredith before sitting on the bed.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

Normally, Genevieve's room would make Meredith roll her eyes (or, it would if the girl wasn't so sweet), it was just so girly and so opposite to everything Meredith liked, but right now there was something comforting about it, especially the way Genevieve immediately started bustling around making a cup of tea.

She clutched the tea in her hand, getting comfortable on the bed and staring down at the drink for a moment, waiting for the warmth to seep into her bones again, now that she was inside she finally realised how cold it had been standing out on the lawn.

"I don't think I can," she admitted, not able to find the words just yet "I've just had a very unpleasant evening, to say the least."

[Genevieve]

Genevieve hadn't expected Meredith to talk about it - she had clearly been through something awful, and Genevieve knew that sometimes people didn't want to relive the event that had hurt them so badly, but would rather have distraction, not think about it. Not that Genevieve had had any experience of this, she had been very lucky in her life so far that nothing truly awful had ever happened to her. But since arrive in Tintagel she had discovered a keen interest in psychology, and had read a fair few books on this sort of thing.

"That's ok, we don't have to talk about anything you don't want to." Genevieve said with a smile. She reached behind her and picked up a small bear, passing it to Meredith. "It's a hot water bottle, I filled it just before I came outside." She smiled. "I think you need it."

"So, I know there's not much of the night left now, but do you want to stay here? We could have a sleepover - I have a tonne of chocolate." She smiled, sipping her tea.

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"Thank you," Meredith couldn't help but smile gratefully, both at the assurance that she didn't need to talk and the hot water bottle, which she hugged close to her chest with one arm while her other hand continued to clutch at the cup of tea.

"I don't want to keep you up more than I already have," she said apologetically, she wasn't sure if she'd been responsible for waking Genevieve or if the other girl had already been awake, but she'd still been the cause of her coming outside in the middle of the night, and having to make tea rather than go back to bed "But...I wouldn't mind sleeping here, if that's okay?" she didn't really want to be on her own to let her mind stew about what happened, staying in the comforting warmth of Genevieve's room, where everything felt so soft and safe, would maybe help her actually get some sleep.

[Genevieve]

With a shrug and a smile, Genevieve slowly drank her tea, sinking back onto the mountain of cuddly toys and crossing her legs on the bed. "You haven't kept me up, I was reading and still awake. I found this amazing book in the library and I haven't been able to put it down - it's called 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', have you read it? It's so good, I borrowed the whole series at once."

She couldn't help but smile even wider when Meredith said she'd like to stay. Genevieve had idolised Meredith from afar for practically her whole childhood, so to have her want to stay and sleep over made Genevieve feel warm and cosy inside. "Of course you can stay - you can have my bed." She offered graciously. "Are you sure you don't want any chocolate? I have a bit of a secret stash." She smiled conspiratorially. "Turns out I'm a bit of a chocoholic."

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

Well, that made Meredith brighten considerably, it was nice to have something else to think about other than what had happened with Mordred, and while Harry Potter was not the highest on the list of their (many) nerdy interests, Meredith always had a special place in her heart for it. There was magic and dragons and fighting evil, and Ginny, Meredith liked Ginny a lot, even if Tristian was nothing like Ron.

"I have read it, you'll have to tell me what you think of the rest of the series, it's really good! Did you know they made movies of them as well? I don't think they're as good as the books but they're still a lot of fun to watch."

"Only if you're sure," she said, not wanting to kick Genevieve out of her bed "and really, I'm okay, I wouldn't want to take away any of your stash, but you should have some if you want. And you should tell me which house you think you'd be sorted into."

[Genevieve]

Genevieve's face lit up. "There are movies too? That's so exciting!" She said with huge smile. She wondered if Jesse would be interested in Harry Potter, and Gaston - she immediately started planning a movie night in her head for Meredith and her siblings. She could get popcorn and bean bag chairs and soda and they could watch the movies together. It would be great!

"Of course I'm sure!" She said excitedly, getting up and putting her tea down on the desk, before pulling a sleeping bag and extra pillow out of her wardrobe. "Sleeping on the floor is supposed to be good for your back," she said with a smile, "while sleeping in a bed surrounded by soft toys is good for the soul." She lay the sleeping bag out on the floor carefully, before reaching over the bed and picking up a small, stuffed bear with one ear missing and looking old and faded. She held it close to her, looking sheepishly at Meredith. "Except this one, I'm afraid, I can't sleep without Mr Paws." She blushed as she placed the bear on her sleeping bag, before pulling out a chocolate bar from a drawer in her nightstand. "Are you sure I can't tempt you?" She asked with a smile.

Sitting down on the sleeping bag, Genevieve smiled widely at Meredith's next question. "Ooo, good question! I think I'd be a Hufflepuff - I'm not clever enough for Ravenclaw - I think Merlin would be a Ravenclaw, or brave enough for Gryffindor - that would be you, and Tristian and your Dad, and I definitely don't think I'd be a Slytherin - clearly Mordred's house, so that leaves Hufflepuff." She said with a small shrug. "Plus, they've got the whole loyalty thing, and I'm quite loyal and kind I think. I try to be anyway." She smiled at Meredith, glad to be helping her take her mind of whatever awful thing had happened.

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"Honestly, I'm fine thank you," Meredith smiled. She put her empty cup down onto the edside table and moved to get comfortable in the bed, trying to subtly move the stuffed animals so she had a bit more space. Genevieve was very sweet, and they were just like extra, oddly shaped pillows, but Meredith had never been a stuffed animal kind of girl (except Sir Smokey the stuffed dragon, but nobody got to know about Sir Smokey) so she was a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of them.

"I think you're right," Meredith nodded "About all of those, clearly you've thought about this before" she teased "Sometimes I think Tristian would be a Slytherin, although I don't know how much he wants power, I think he's just very good at getting it, so maybe he's not necessarily ambitious... I think he'd be a very good Gryffindor as well, of course. I think Gaston would probably be a Gryffindor, he reminds me a lot of Ron, don't you think? And Eddie would be a Hufflepuff with you."