Solitary Confinement (Open!)

Alyssa McLennen had just spent her first evening at Hogwarts, and morning was beginning to break on her second day in the castle. Classes wouldn't start for another day, and when Alyssa slowly escaped her slumber, she found herself alone in her dormitory. She yawned and flipped over, gripping her pillow, before slipping from her soft bed and stretching. She must have slept longer than the others - not that it made a difference to her. She hadn't stayed up to chat with the other girls the previous night; she had spent time with her brother and sister instead, returning only once her dorm-mates were sound asleep.

Alyssa changed out of her pajamas, pulling on a pair of light-wash jeans and a Hollyhead Harpies jersey. She quickly tucked her long hair into a braid that fell over her left shoulder and made her way out of the dormitory. She made it halfway down the stairs before voices from the common room reached her ears - sounds of laughter and chatting. They noise caused her to freeze, one hand on the stone wall. She hadn't made any friends the previous day, and she was fairly sure that she wouldn't make any now.

Alyssa was a quiet girl, and preferred to keep to herself. She didn't particularly like people, so she had no problem with avoiding them. She had a hard time making friends, as she was offstandish and even rude at times. She had convinced herself that she didn't need friends. She had her brother and sister, and that was enough. She hesitated another moment, unsure of how to navigate the common room without being noticed. Finally, she took a small breath and continued down the stairs.

She emerged into a stone-like room full of people milling about, laughing, and talking with each other. She had planned on pushing through them in a quick escape and finding her way up to the Great Hall for a bit of breakfast. Then, she realized the Great Hall would have at least twice as many people, and she knew for certain that she couldn't enter it unnoticed. Using her small size to her advantage, she slipped around a group of gossiping fourth years and made her way to a fluffy armchair in the corner of the room, crawling into it and pulling her knees up to her chest.

She remained there, watching the interactions in the room; observing the people around her. It was quite interesting to Alyssa to study the way that people behaved. She couldn't interact with them properly, but it was intriguing to watch them interact with each other. The group of girls was still gossiping, on the other side of the room an older boy tried to get a girl's attention. She wasn't interested, but he persisted. In the corner, two younger boys were playing a game of wizard's chess. She waited there observing, trapped in her self-inflicted confinement.