⦂ girls' dorm

lithe fingers keep the ruby envelope close to yvaine's chest as she enters her shared room. since its arrival in the great hall, the small object within her grasp had risen in temperature. she knew better than to let it sit too long lest it cause serious burns to her fingertips. the walk, however, had taken longer than she thought, her fingers now a deep shade of fuchsia and tears were brimming her umber eyes. she'd taken too long and the pain was becoming excruciating.

she manages to throw the letter down upon her bedspread in time for it to open itself up, the shrieking voice of her maternal grandmother echoing through the room.

"Yvaine Lenoir! How dare you post pictures of yourself so precariously? Are you some kind of putting yourself on display? And why haven't you been sending in your grades like we asked? Are you hiding something from us? I'm more than happy to send an owl to your professors if you don't want to show us yourself. Hell, I'll even send you howlers in class if I must. I'm sure you took this one to your room like you always do. You like to act all high and mighty for your little mudblood friends and yet you hide when you're held accountable for who you are. You're a Lenoir. You must set an example for not only our bloodline but for your house. You continue to sicken me with your horseplay and idiocy, Yvaine. We expected better from you. /I/ expect better from you. It was bad enough that you didn't make prefect and yet you have the audacity to not answer my letters nor tell me how you're doing in class. You're just like your pathetic excuse for a father. If you do not clear up your act, we will remove your tuition and you will return home. You will be forced to work for the family until we can find you a suitable man to marry in the hopes that they'll take you for...what you are. A mutant. A disgrace. And with that, goodnight. - Adrianna Lenoir."

yvaine falls to her knees before her bed, blistered fingers rubbing at her bloodshot eyes. just as she thought she was ahead, she finds herself behind. upon her father's death, she'd chosen to keep his last name despite the fact everyone believed either her or her mother had murdered him. hell, his whole family did and yet allowed her to have the name anyway. a reminder of what she'd done, they said.

with each day that passed, she would silently hope that she'd find her father's true killer and escape from the clutches of the Lenoir family. they were her family, yes, but they were also her burden. instead of allowing her to live her own life, they ensnared her, brainwashed her. told her how they saw the world and said that she wouldn't be allowed to think differently. being at hogwarts gave her the chance to be her own person, to escape the web she was entangled in. her grandmother's words had reminded her of her place, of where she needed to be, of who she should be. as soon as she got a taste of freedom, she was reminded that it was all a dream. and it's with all of this that she curls up on the ground and cries.

she cries for the pain in her hands. the ache in her heart. the loneliness the absence of her parents brought her. the fear of her future as long as the lenoirs kept her in their trap. she allows the tears to fall for all of it and more, knowing well that she'd have to return to her normal life in a few minutes as if nothing had changed. she was yvaine lenoir dorian and she had to make the world believe she was indestructible.