WHO Walburga Black and Charmaine Travers
WHAT Walburga's attempt at Pillow Smothering; Victim: Camilla Greengrass
WHEN Winter of 1937
WHERE Second year Slytherin Girl dormitory

RATING PG; No deaths involved
STATUS Complete

Charmaine tip-toed into the second year girl's dormitory after staying up until past eleven reading ahead in her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. Last year, she had officially found a comfortable spot that she deemed hers and went there after washing up for bed. While she usually got her homework done at the library before supper, most of her readings, whether they were academic or extra-curricular, took place later in the evening. Perhaps it was because she had always read in her room before going to bed and it relieved her, but it had already became much of a routine by her second year. Opening and shutting the room door, Charmaine quietly crept into bed, doing her best not to wake anyone. She placed her book away in her trunk and slipped under the covers. Sleep came rather quickly tonight. Walburga had never really been one for going to bed early. She had always been one of the last ones out of the common room for one reason or another but tonight, after the day she had had she had decided to head to bed early, hoping that the quietness of the dorm room would help the pounding that had developed in her head go away. She had lain quietly in her bed behind her closed curtains and listened as the other girls came in one by one readied themselves for bed and then went there themselves but the entire time she was unable to sleep. Very rarely had anyone ever been able to make her so irritated that she was unable to sleep and yet one insignificant girl had been able to do such a thing. Rolling over onto her back she crossed her arms over her chest in a huff and stared at the ceiling. For a long while she lay there listening to the silence, the only disturbance was the final girl coming in and going to bed before the silence rang out once more. Her temper still seething, Walburga stared at the ceiling for a long before finally giving up. Sitting up she scooted to the edge of her bed and opened the curtains, peering out into the darkness and towards the bed where Camilla slept. That girl, that one girl, had more nerve than anyone she had ever met and the fact that she dared to use that nerve to speak to her in such a way irritated Walburga a great deal. She was a Black for crying out loud, no one had ever dared to speak to her in such a way before and Walburga was not about to let some insignificant fullblood get away with such a thing. Chewing on her lower lip for a moment she stared at the bed across the room for a bit before what she thought was a brilliant idea hit her. Reaching behind her she grabbed one of her pillows and held it close to her chest before silently slipping from her bed. Charmaine wasn't necessarily the lightest sleeper, but her sleep had become much more sensitive upon staying at Hogwarts. It just wasn't like the comforts of home in her own private chambers; instead, she shared with five other girls (imagine! That was more than all of her immediately family members!). Charmaine stirred as she heard the curtains open and remained awake as she heard a small squeak from the bed belonging to Walburga Black. Now, Charmaine had known Walburga from Society and had met her on several occasions, and while they only had a few conversations here and there, they were usually satisfying. With Walburga, there was no pretense, no worrying about being diplomatic when one could just be honest. It was different, refreshing. She was also, well, not like the other girls. She didn't put on a show for others, she wasn't exactly a ray of sunshine, and.. well, she was about to stepping over toward Greengrass to smother her with her pillow. Charmaine paused, as if wondering 'should I stop this?' Camilla wasn't exactly the model lady, and her inability to control her words did get irritating from time to time. Charmaine sat up half way, propping herself up by her elbows as she looked toward Walburga. She very quietly cleared her throat to politely announce her presence. Walburga had been tip toeing quietly towards Camilla, taking care not to bump into or run into anything while trying to come up with ways to excuse what happened to her and ways to make it so that she did not appear to be the guilty party when the soft throat clearing came from behind her. All but jumping out of her skin Walburga whirled around, her eyes scanning the beds she had already past before they came to a stop on Charmaine's and she saw the other girl sitting up and staring at her. Frowning at the fact that another person was not only awake but interrupting what she felt would be a favour well done to society she gave Charmaine a look that clearly asked what? While Charmaine was one of the few girls, and actually might have been the only girl in her dorm room whom she could stand, it still irritated Walburga slightly that she was awake and preventing her from going forth with her plan. Shifting from one foot to the next she waited to see if Charmaine was going to say anything about what she was doing or if she was simply making herself known. Hopefully it would be the latter option and she could quickly get back to the mission she had set herself upon. Charmaine noticed Walburga's rather alerted look, but she didn't seem to budge from her frozen movement with pillow in hand. It didn't bother Charmaine so much that Walburga was hovering over Camilla moreso than it did that Walburga was actually planning on going through with her action, even with Charmaine watching. Her lips pressed tightly together and a slight, but distinct, look of disapproval. Most people would have been alarmed or worried or afraid of someone catching them in the act of doing something like trying to smother another person in their sleep with a pillow but Walburga was not a normal person, not in the least, and things like this really didn't bother her. Her parents had caught her numerous times growing up doing things that she shouldn't have or in the process of doing things that she shouldn't have and it had never phased her then so why should Charmaine's watching her bother her any? It was slightly unnerving that the other girl kept staring at her but it really wasn't doing anything to convince her not to go through with it. Curiosity got the better of her though and she turned to face Charmaine fully, her head tilting to the side slightly as she stared at her. "What?" The single word came out in a soft hiss but as the rest of the door was asleep and no other sound could be heard it sounded, at least to Walburga any how, as though she had said it in a normal tone. If Charmaine was going to insist on staring at her she could at least inform her as to why. After all Walburga only felt that it was right that she be informed why people were watching her. Now Camilla wasn't that bad. Sure she needed to shut her mouth at times and act more proper, like a lady should, but that didn't warrant her early tragic death. Besides, there would be so many things that the whole dorm would need to deal with if Walburga actually went through with it. Weeping, questionings, gossiping, and Charmaine really did not have any time for that. Not what she had ambitions to be the top of her class and eventually become prefect. Her record had to be blemish free. Walburga's question didn't phase Charmaine and she didn't really have much to say. Walburga had woken her up and now she was going to see what she was up to. Perhaps if Walburga's decision to take out Camilla had been better executed, she wouldn't have needed to be disturbed by the awake spectator, Charmaine. Her eyes went from Walburga, the pillow, Camilla, then back to Walburga. She continued to give her roommate the same look of slight disapproval. This was why she hated having to share a room with other girls. There was always the possibility of someone being awake to catch you doing whatever it was you were doing. Then again if she wasn't sharing a room with other girls she wouldn't have had this problem in the first place as it meant she would never have had to have put up with Camilla. Now that was an appealing idea. Never having to deal with the other girl again. Which was why she was still standing still in the middle of their dorm room, pillow held firmly in her hand and a scowl now leveled on Charmaine. Why couldn't she have just stayed asleep? Ten minutes tops was all she would have needed and then things would have been fine. Now, well now she wasn't sure what things were but she was more than certain that they were not fine. "Are you going to stare at me for the rest of the night or might you plan on going back to sleep some time soon?" Her question came out a bit more snotty and irritated than she had intended for it to but the longer she stood there, stopped from doing as she pleased the more irritable she got. Though she wasn't sure how much longer they would be able to keep this up without drawing attention to themselves. Sure the other girls were asleep but if they were all like Charmaine and as light of a sleeper as she appeared to be then it would only be a matter of time before they all woke up and then she would have been in even more trouble and really, that was not something she wanted to deal with. Not in the least. "And what, exactly, do you plan on doing after you murder our roommate? We could possibly be stuck with worse," Charmaine said politely in a hushed whisper. She briefly wondered how much she would actually miss the fullblood girl if she was no longer in the dorms only to realize that she wouldn't really mind if absolutely everyone just were no longer sharing a room with her. What a pleasing thought. Charmaine pushed her fantasies away to the edge of her mind as she fully sat up this time. "She'll end up screaming you know. And it'll have the exactly opposite effect of what you wanted, which was to have her simply keep her mouth shut, is it not?" "Go back to bed and sleep peacefully knowing that tomorrow I won't have to listen to her run off at the mouth like she does." Walburga was outspoken and had gotten in trouble for being such a thing on more than one occasion but it was nothing compared to the way Camilla and her outspokenness grated on on Walburga's nerves. "I would prefer if her mouth were shut and she not be here as well. It would be so much better if she were not around and I did not have to deal with her. Hence the pillow." Shifting from one foot to the other Walburga watched as the other girl sat up and she knew then that any hopes she might have had about being able to smother the other girl and go back to bed peacefully were ruined. "You're not going back to sleep any time soon, are you?" Charmaine shook her head. Walburga stood there for a few moments after the other girl shook her head, indicating that she wasn't going back to sleep any time soon. As determined as Walburga had been to do what she had set out to do it wasn't something she had planned on or even wanted to do with an audience. It wasn't as fun or as satisfying for her if someone else had been witness to it and her parents surely would have been upset had she not only done such a thing in the first place but had managed to do it with an audience no less. Sighing she threw her hands up in defeat and headed back towards her own bed. "Fine," she hissed as she climbed back into bed, her pillow returning to its normal spot. "You win." Charmaine had not necessarily expected Walburga to retreat back to bed. After all, she was Walburga and it was rare that she did anything other than what she wanted to do. Not that she was a delinquent or broke all the rules, but it wasn't often (if ever) that she listened to others. Perhaps it was because Charmaine had not necessarily said anything, merely suggested. Either way, Charmaine would have been satisfied with Walburga's action; only this time, she was a little caught off guard. As Walburga climbed back into her bed, a small but genuine smile appeared at the corner of her lips. "Perhaps another time using a slightly more inventive method," Charmaine said as she laid back in her bed, moving around slightly to get comfortable once again. Her voice neither indicated seriousness nor a joke. The only response Walburga made to her words was a soft hmph as she laid back and shifted around to get comfortable once more. She was curious as to whether or not Charmaine had been serious or joking but finding out could wait until tomorrow. For now there was nothing more to do but go back to sleep and in the morning she could deal with everything else.