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sweetpinkpixie · 09-11-2025, 05:37 AM

Nyle slipped into the Hufflepuff section of the Great Hall like someone trying to make themself part of the shadows rather than a student returning for another year. The sight of the floating candles and glittering plates should’ve felt comforting and exciting, but all he could think about was how many people might be staring. How many people should be blaming. How many people were remembering. Remembering how the plants in their own common room had turned against them. Remembering Marion Burbage forced into retirement as their Head of House because of something he had brought inside. He tugged his hood a little lower, completely hiding his blonde locks and hiding his face, like fabric could make him disappear and tried to make himself as small as possible on the bench. Maybe if he hunched enough... his robes would take pity and become an Invisibility Cloak. His stomach twisted so tightly he half-expected to throw up the lunch he hadn’t even been able to eat - a proper waste since mum had made him his favorite for the journey to Hogsmeade.

The summer should have been a reprieve. Helping Aurora with her greenhouse had been the kind of work that usually lit him up inside. But every leaf he touched felt like a reminder: he didn't deserve this trust. She shouldn’t trust him. Nobody should.

On the train, he'd made himself small in a seat near Iris since she was absorbed enough in a book (or trading chatter with that Slytherin boy) that she didn't demand anything of him. It was exactly what he needed - no questions and no space for him to trip over explanations. But now in the echo of the Great Hall’s chatter, Nyle sat stiff with hands pulling on the front of his hood so it touched the table, willing the floor to just open up beneath him.

Real courage isn’t about never failing. It’s about showing up, even when you’d rather hide.

Sorry, dad, but how could he show up when he wanted to crawl out of his own skin? How could he accept such encouragement when every bone in his body whispered that the others were right not to trust him anymore?

Nyle’s breath snagged in his chest like roots searching blindly through dry soil. His heart thudded with the frantic pulse of hummingbird wings and the edges of the hall blurred as though overgrown with choking vines. Vines that tangled in his head like they had in overtaking the common room. He pressed his palms together against his eyes until he could see flashes of muddy color in a fervent hope of grounding himself, but it only felt like clutching handfuls of nettles. Aurora's voice cut through the darkness, sharp as sunlight breaking through a canopy, and though it should have been comforting...it pierced too deep. He stood, suddenly, nearly knocking his knees against the underside of the table, to make his early escape. If anyone asked, he was just going to use the bathroom.

09-11-2025, 05:37 AM	#4 (permalink)
sweetpinkpixie SSRPG Admin Gladrags Mod Quibbler Mod Minister for Magic Alley Proprietor Sea Serpent Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: The Paths Posts: 41,553 Hogwarts RPG Name: Professor Cox Ravenclaw Graduated Hogwarts RPG Name: CJ Miller Gryffindor Fourth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Nyle Harden Hufflepuff Seventh Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Iris Harden Ravenclaw Seventh Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Jae-hyuk Anouilh Slytherin Seventh Year Ministry Department Head: Charles Hollingberry Minister's Office Ministry Department Head: Airey Flamsteed Mysteries Diagon Alley Proprietor: Victor García Massey Ollivanders x12 x12	astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK \| & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf Nyle slipped into the Hufflepuff section of the Great Hall like someone trying to make themself part of the shadows rather than a student returning for another year. The sight of the floating candles and glittering plates should’ve felt comforting and exciting, but all he could think about was how many people might be staring. How many people should be blaming. How many people were remembering. Remembering how the plants in their own common room had turned against them. Remembering Marion Burbage forced into retirement as their Head of House because of something he had brought inside. He tugged his hood a little lower, completely hiding his blonde locks and hiding his face, like fabric could make him disappear and tried to make himself as small as possible on the bench. Maybe if he hunched enough... his robes would take pity and become an Invisibility Cloak. His stomach twisted so tightly he half-expected to throw up the lunch he hadn’t even been able to eat - a proper waste since mum had made him his favorite for the journey to Hogsmeade. The summer should have been a reprieve. Helping Aurora with her greenhouse had been the kind of work that usually lit him up inside. But every leaf he touched felt like a reminder: he didn't deserve this trust. She shouldn’t trust him. Nobody should. On the train, he'd made himself small in a seat near Iris since she was absorbed enough in a book (or trading chatter with that Slytherin boy) that she didn't demand anything of him. It was exactly what he needed - no questions and no space for him to trip over explanations. But now in the echo of the Great Hall’s chatter, Nyle sat stiff with hands pulling on the front of his hood so it touched the table, willing the floor to just open up beneath him. Real courage isn’t about never failing. It’s about showing up, even when you’d rather hide. Sorry, dad, but how could he show up when he wanted to crawl out of his own skin? How could he accept such encouragement when every bone in his body whispered that the others were right not to trust him anymore? Nyle’s breath snagged in his chest like roots searching blindly through dry soil. His heart thudded with the frantic pulse of hummingbird wings and the edges of the hall blurred as though overgrown with choking vines. Vines that tangled in his head like they had in overtaking the common room. He pressed his palms together against his eyes until he could see flashes of muddy color in a fervent hope of grounding himself, but it only felt like clutching handfuls of nettles. Aurora's voice cut through the darkness, sharp as sunlight breaking through a canopy, and though it should have been comforting...it pierced too deep. He stood, suddenly, nearly knocking his knees against the underside of the table, to make his early escape. If anyone asked, he was just going to use the bathroom. __________________ We broke into a million pieces, and we can't go back......................................... But now we're seeing all the beauty in the broken glass..................................... The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like