Ghost??

[Alice Hills]

Alice walked through the 6th floor corridor, on her way back from HoM to the Ravenclaw common room. However, instead of taking the straight path up the grand staircase, she had decided to instead, go a different way and explore this corridor that she hadn't been in before. Alice had been most places around the school, but not taking either of the subjects for this floor yet, she hadn't had any real opportunities to go and look around. It had taken her a while to fall back into the casual swing of things around the school, but now that she got it quite a bit, she found it fun to take time to go and explore.

Alice didn't really care for 'exploring' but she had heard rumours that ghosts were on the 6th floor. Having not seen one yet, she decided that it was a good reason to go looking. However, despite this excuse, she was apprehensive about meeting a ghost if she did. For it was the unknown and it was the unknown that scared Alice the most. Walking quietly, she held her bag on her shoulder and peered in at empty classrooms. Unlike the other floors, it didn't seem very active, so maybe this was her reasoning for taking a sudden liking to the place.

 

[Marie Antoinette Margaux]

Marie Antoinette was not your typical ghost, she didn't like scaring other students, in fact, she liked to talk to them. Yet, being a ghost, she knew that it can't be really helped, they were feared after all. And what more, she cannot really just freely approach anyone, especially first years, for they were the ones who were more vulnerable to such scary acts.

Gliding around the corridors, Antoinette tried to look for anything fun that she could do, she's just bored, well, of course, having lived at hogwarts for over half a decade, who wouldn't get bored? She was just about to get back to the towers when she had happened to caught a glimpse of a student, a ravenclaw from the looks of it. Deciding to give it at least a try, she approached the said girl, hoping that she won't scare her. "Hi, are you lost?" She asked, her voice dreamy and soft as she tried to muster a smile so she won't look dangerous to the girl.

 

[Alice Hills]

Alice jumped, her senses confused, as someone spoke to her. The voice didn't sound like one of a human, and she panicked for a moment. Spinning around, she found herself face to face with a ghost, one that looked about her age. She squealed slightly, despite the mental preparation that had taken place. Leaping backwards, she held up her bag as if to protect herself. A few seconds later, she lowered it, content that the ghost wasn't about to attack her. She took a deep breath and smiled quickly. "Sorry." She said, her face slightly sheepish as she imagined the reaction she had provoked. The poor ghost had probably had this a few hundred times happen to her and it wasn't her fault. Feeling bad, she stuck out her hand as if to shake a hand and then dropped it, realising that shaking hands with a ghost was hard. "Im Alice." She said with a small smile, trying to slow her heart beat.

 

[Marie Antoinette Margaux]

Antoinette was taken back when she saw the girl's reaction, of course she had already expected that reaction, nevertheless, she's still not that used to it, after all, she's no really a violent type of a ghost right? Gliding away from her, she created a distance between them, her head tilted to the side as she tried to think whether she had seen the said girl before. She was wary at the moment, afraid that the girl would scream and run away. But when she heard her apologize and introduce herself, Antoinette had had to smile, looking as lively as she could.

"A pleasure meeting you Alice, I'm Maria Antoinette Margaux, call me whatever you like to call me.." She said, giggling as she saw how Alice had extended her hand out for her to shake, of course, she can't possibly do that, her own hand will just pass through the girl's. "What are you doing here, alone?" She then asked as she approached the girl, they were pretty much the same age, well, at least, she herself looks about the same as age as the girl, after all, she had died very young. "You're a ravenclaw right? Good gracious." She added, circling the girl now, Antoinette was a ravenclaw before, and of course, she was really fond of those who shared the same house as her.

 

[Alice Hills]

Alice smiled at the name. It was a long one, so she would probably just call her Marie, if that was ok with the ghost. "I was here, planning to explore. I haven't been to this level before as i haven't needed to. So i basically wanted to come and look around." She said, deciding not to mention wanting to check out if the ghosts existed. It wasn't that she disbelieved it, because now, it seemed that everything Alice had thought impossible, seemed ok to do in the magical world. She was desperate to ask the girl about her past, why she had died and why she had chosen to become a ghost, but it seemed rude to blurt out these questions. "Yes, yes i am. How did you know?" She asked, pleased that something about her gave the girl the impression she was a Ravenclaw. "By the way, how old are you now? And how old were you when you... you died." She said, whispering the last word for a reason that escaped her. She didn't want to come across as disrespectful or rude, but she was just so interested in history. And, if asking ghosts would increase her knowledge of these things, then it was something that she would do. Especially nice ghosts such as this one.

 

[Marie Antoinette Margaux]

"I understand, but then, it's not good to be overly curious about everything too..." Antoinette said, smiling at the girl once more. This was the first time that she had had a proper conversation with someone, a living student at that, for usually, the students would be too uncomfortable or too scared to talk to her. Most would just try to act polite and act as if they were interested in her, but truth to be told, they're not, who would want to be friends with a ghost anyways? Someone who had already passed away and has no real connection to the world? "Oh, I'm a ravenclaw student before, and well, you just reminds me of my former dorm mates, you have that spark in your eyes that says that you wanted to learn more.." She said with a shrug, thinking back at the time when she was still alive, laughing with friends, doing school works, cramming for exams.

The girl's next question was something that Antoinette had always expected, after all, she was asked about that a thousand times before, that's probably something that interests the living, she guessed. " I left your world when I was thirteen, that's why I look so young now, but actually, I am supposed to be 20 now, I am one of those students that had first attended this school." She said, smiling wistfully now, remembering how different their situation was before, how she had marveled at the beauty of the castle where she used to study.

 

[Alice Hills]

Alice smiled at the truth behind her words. It was exactly Alice's character, not overly curious about something dangerous, not really curious at all unless it would increase her learning. So, she couldn't put it down to curiosity why she was there. It would just have to be a chance to improve her knowledge of the school and the ghosts in it. Yes, that was the reason she came here. But she couldn't tell Marie that, no she couldn't tell Marie that she had come looking for ghosts to improve her learning, that might be seen as rude of mocking. Sighing inwardly at the situation she had got herself in, she decided that it would probably be best for her to just turn around and go back, back to the common room. To the common room and forget about Marie. However, this was something that Alice knew she wouldn't be able to do. No, there was something about the ghost that seemed lonely and Alice couldn't blame her. Deciding to do the right thing, she made up her mind to stay with her new friend. "Oh Marie, im so sorry." She said, her voice full of sadness, as she listened to Marie's tale. It was sad, how people died and therefore became ghosts. It made Alice feel sad for them that they then had to spend their lives, floating around the castle trying to talk to students who mainly weren't interested. Wondering what life was like when Marie was in the school, she stood there, trying to imagine it. Smiling still at the compliment about being an obvious Ravenclaw, her mind went whirring, whirring into trying to discover more history about the castle without being rude.

 

[Marie Antoinette Margaux]

Marie Antoinette had been really happy to meet the said girl, she's not as rude as the other students that she had met before, and she was not trying to run away from her now, which had somehow made her feel a little alive again, being in the castle for over half a decade had made her feel rather sad and lonely, constantly floating around, searching for any sort of entertainment had managed to make her feel that she was alone, though hundreds of thousands of students were studying there, and there were other ghost roaming around as well, she felt like she's just a waste of space, well, not that she was consuming enough space literally. "No, no, Alice, don't be sorry, it was my choice to stay here, I love this place..." She said, waving her misty hand in front of the much younger girl, she need not to be pitied, after all, despite the loneliness, there would be times like this when she'd be able to feel like she belongs to the world of the living once more. "Alice, before you meet me... do you believe in well... ghost?" She then asked out of pure curiosity, most students do venture at the same place just to prove that ghosts do exist after all, she wondered whether Alice was any difference.

 

[Alice Hills]

(OOC: Sorry for the late reply and lame post )

Alice smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as the girl said that she wasn't sad about dying. She had heard about ghosts that floated around the place feeling sorry for themselves and saying that they would now have preferred to die. Alice thought about the question for a few seconds, before being careful to word her answer carefully. "Well, before i came here, i didn't even know what i was. I didn't know that magic existed, to me it was just something out of a fairytale. So then, no i didn't believe in ghosts in the same way that i didn't believe in mermaids and vampires and werewolves and wizards. But, since i came to Hogwarts, it seems that everything else that i ever thought was a myth, really was true. So since i came here, and even before i met a ghost, i guess that i kind of believed. Because everything else that seemed so unrealistic was true, so why not ghosts." She said, wondering if the girl would understand from where she was coming. Hoping that she was, she watched the girl carefully for any sign that she had upset her.

 

[Marie Antoinette Margaux]

Antoinette smiled as she listened to the girl talk, really, if she was still alive by now, then they could have been friends, she had wanted so much to touch her, to feel her warmth, yet she also knew that she can't. Perhaps that was one thing that was really sad about being a ghost like her, they weren't able to touch another person, they cannot even hug them even when they wanted to. She had already forgotten the warmth feeling of being hugged, and though she was already happy with her current situation, she still missed being a living person. "Oh yes, I do understand that, what was it like? Your sorting I mean?" She asked, she had never really gone down to the hall when the new arrivals were being sorted, it's not that she can't it was just because she chose not to.

 

[Alice Hills]

Alice shrugged. "Well, it was amazing really, the first thing that hit me was the size and wonder of this place. I hadn't ever seen anything like it in my life. And then, when the professor explained what was going to happen, i didn't really believe him. But then, as everyone went up, it all fitted into different books i had read. So i guess that it was cool, but i was petrified to be honest. And then the sorting hat put me in Ravenclaw. I had read about all the houses, and it seemed my favourite. I mean, i wouldn't have been put in Slytherin, thats just not me. But Gryffindor wasn't right either, im too scared and uncourageous. So it was between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The latter would have been fine, but i preferred the idea of Ravenclaw. I guess its because i read a lot." She finished, with a shake of her bag, showing how many books she carried around with her to read if she went outside or somewhere nice. Much better to carry them around than climb all the tiresome stairs if she wanted to go outside. Thats what Alice thought at least.