In Front of the Fire

[Dónall Kennedy]

Dónall sat in a big armchair, right near the fire. It had been a week since he received an owl from his father and had a strange run-in with the Jannings Ravenclaw girl.

In his hands he held yet another letter from his father. Moments earlier there had been a howler as well. His father was not happy with him; he was not living up to the family name, and was going soft. Or so his father believed.

Lucky for Dónall nobody else had been in the Common Room at the time. He had skipped breakfast, and his owl had come to find him here instead of his usual place at the Slytherin Table in the Great Hall. Don was very thankful for that privacy, especially when the Howler arrived.

He didn't quite understand why he was acting the way he was, but he knew that he was tired of being his father's puppet. He was slowly starting to be his own person, but it frightened him; he didn't really know he was.

He looked down at the letter in his hands and reread the last line, for the tenth time. No son of mine will ever consort with those below his status or o 'soft.' Do you understand me? If I hear anymore of your shenanigans in your classes, there will be a price to pay.

Dónall crumpled up the letter and threw it into the fire, tears skewing his view. He didn't let those tears fall, but they gathered in his eyes, until he swiped at them with a balled up fist.

He relaxed his body in the chair, and lowered his head into his hands. It was going to be a long year...

[Claire Walsh]

Claire walked into the slytherin common room, she walked over to the fire, ''Hi! er. . . are you ok?'' she saw a boy sitting with his head in his hands, she said a small smile on her lips.

[Dónall Kennedy]

Don's head snapped up at the sound of a female voice. He was not happy to be disturbed in the middle of his very own pity party. Most Slytherin students knew better than to bother him when he was alone, but it seemed this one must have either forgotten that rule, or hadn't quite known it to begin with.

"What's it to you, Walsh?" he retorted. "Mind your own business."

[Claire Walsh]

Claire raised her eyebrows, ''Ok jeez no need to get offended I was just asking'' she said, she sat down across from Donall and pulled a book from her bag and began to read.

[Dónall Kennedy]

Dónall felt a tiny bit of remorse for the way he had just behaved, but he decided there was no point in letting it show. He wasn't known for apologizing, though Merlin knows why he had done so with the Jannings girl. He would stop himself before he was too late, this time.

He rose from his seat by the fire, and cast a glance in Claire's direction before going off to his dorimitory to wallow in his emotions some more, away from the other students.