A Need for Freedom [Open]

Morgana was once again roaming the castle to learn her way around it. She was getting pretty good at the grounds, and knew how to get to the most convenient entrances and perfect places to make sure she had some peace. Like the Covered Bridge. She had found a perfect place to sit on the cover of the bridge. She was feeling the need to be a bit by herself, having been swarmed with students all day. Not people she knew, but just crowds of people.

She smiled when she made it to the Covered Bridge and climbed the railings, hoping no one would see her. Honestly, it might be looking like she wanted to commit suicide, standing where she was. And, people would find the place. She quickly pulled herself up and gave a content sigh. At least, until she heard a sniffle. She frowned and turned. A few meters away, a person was lying, wrapped in her cloak and shivering. Was she crying?

When another sniffle came, Morgana knew; she was crying. Morgana contemplated whether or not to leave, but she, unfortunately, hadn't inherited her father's nonchalance. So she crawled over to the girl. Before reaching her, she decided to call out, so the girl wouldn't jump out of her skins; if she hadn't already noticed Morgana, of course.

"Hey," Morgana said nontheless, "Are you okay?"

She was glad when she saw it was a fellow Slytherin. At least she wouldn't scream at her for being a culprit or something, though she might get angry because she wanted to be on her own.

Morgana didn't comment as the girl said she was fine, she quite obviously wasn't. But making such an assessment openly might make the girl mad and shut herself off, and that wouldn't be a gain for either of them. So, Morgana nodded swiftly, and when the girl introduced herself as Ella Fontayne-Vega, Morgana walked a bit closer.

"I'm Morgana Gaunt," she said kindly, "And, yes, I'm new. A first year, so I'm still trying to adapt to this environment."

Magic wasn't new to Morgana, of course, not with her ancestry, but she was still not used to the size of the place (though she loved it) or the huge crowds of people. She really just wanted to get her head around it; it was annoying not to be sure of what to do and whatnot. She didn't really know what was accepted here.

"What are the classes like in third year? Are they much harder?" she asked curiously. She knew she'd be able to keep up, but she didn't know how much time she'd have on it either way.

Morgana listened to what Ella said, and felt like the girl was being rather nonchalant about the whole school process. Not that Morgana blamed her, but if it really was only about keeping up with work, then she knew she wouldn't have a problem with it. At all.

Ella looked pretty ... ruffled. And tired. But Morgana didn't really mind. However, something crossed the girl's eyes that said that maybe she wanted to be on her own. At the same time, Morgana knew that many people that wanted to be alone, really didn't want to be alone, deep down. The question was, was Ella one of those people, or did she honestly want to be by herself?

"Look, Ella... You look pretty exhausted. I know you don't know me at all, but as fellow Slytherins, I think I can safely say that I wouldn't turn on you, and therefore wouldn't turn your trust away. In other words, if there's something you want to talk about, but you feel it's too hard to talk about it to your closer friends, then I am a pretty good sponge. Seriously, I've always kept secrets that others wouldn't want me to spill. So if you want to talk, then talk, by all means. And, if you want me to leave, and I mean, if you really want me to leave so you can be alone, I can do that, too," Morgana said softly, being very nice, despite the fact that she didn't see the point. All she knew was that others appreciated it when people were being soft and nice.

Morgana knew that Ella didn't believe her. She seemed to be drifting into some thoughts and they didn't seem very pleasant to Morgana. She didn't know what Ella was thinking about, but it did seem as if the fellow Slytherin didn't want to think about it. But when Ella looked back at Morgana, something changed, and Morgana knew the girl was going to be friendly to her, be welcoming even, and tell her what was bothering her. And she was right.

Morgana shrugged at Ella's statement. "Bluntness is honesty, honesty should be appreciated. It'll take more than a remark of how my hair looks like havoc and my clothes makes me look like an idiot to insult me. As for actually being blunt, I can be pretty blunt myself. So, what my guess is, is that either we become good friends, or we become good enemies," Morgana said with a shrug, "But I'm reaching for friends." She added with a smile.

Some time went by before Ella spoke again. And she sounded sad and somewhat nostalgic. "I understand what you mean, but for me to be of any use than just sitting here and listening to you, you might have to explain some more," Morgana said kindly, "But the past does things to us that we will never be able to let go. It marks us and we have to live with it, and therefore the future can seem pretty ... crude." Morgana hoped that Ella understood what she meant by that.