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iv.insecurities
Matilda Winters had terrible nightmares. They made her night's sleep troubled. Hogwarts wove in and out of her dreams. Though it was not the magnificent, shining castle that the girl has known as home for many years now. Instead, the building lay in ruins. Set aflame. There were screams and sounds of collapsing stone. Lights flew past just nearly missing her body.
And she felt it again. That weight lay heavy on her chest, crushing it with heavy blocks of stone and nerves. A bad feeling lay deep in her stomach, eating its way through her. Matilda shot awake, her chest heaving and hair stuck to her sweating neck. She looked around the room. Everything was the same, everyone was alright. So, why did she feel like this?
She fell back into her pillow with a sigh. There would be no more sleep for her. Matilda was now awake, getting an early start for the day. She slid from under the scratchy covers on her bed and made her to the very small, and old bathroom attached to the room. She splashed cold water over her face, and looked into the mirror, gripping the sides of the marble sink edges. Her eyes bore into her reflection, willing herself to get a grip. And she did, finally leaving the bathroom to enter the dark bedroom with only the tip of her wand shining some kind of light.
Matilda dressed quietly. Quickly tucking the dark blue shirt she pulled from her chest into the skirt she'd chosen for the day. Carefully, Matilda took her trunk and Pluto's cage and exited the room. Quietly latching the door behind her. She carried her shoes in the other hand, deciding to put them on when she was able to get to the first floor.
She sat on an old, dusty couch in the drawing-room. She sips from the small teacup steaming across from her. She props her feet on the dry-rotted table across from her when she goes to buckle the straps of her heeled Mary Janes. Just when both feet are placed firmly back onto the ground, someone else joins her on the couch.
It was Sirius. Matilda could tell from his long, tired sigh. He dressed in his normal ragged, yet somehow seemingly expensive attire. His long hair washed and pushed back from his face, allowing his bright, almost grey, eyes to show.
Matilda blinked, not knowing what to say, or how to greet him.
"Heading back to Hogwarts," he commented, a distant smile on his lips, as if his mind had gone back to the days he spent in the castle. "I am sure you're excited."
