Worst Fear (Anne & Parker)

Anne was in a room full of wardrobes. She was quite aware that it was stupid. She was incredably bored. She couldn't hang out with Damien in the castle. Vero was who knows where, and she wasn't taking to Parker. So she was doing what she had done when she was a small child. She was looking for Narnia. It was autually rather fun. She was completly aware that it was stupid.

Anne looked into what mush have been the hundreth wardrobe. She was laughing softly, having found the book in which she got this idea from. She stopped laughing just before she pulled open a old fashioned one.

What she saw scared her more than anything else she had seen. Standing there was several people tied, gaged, and dead. She saw their faces Damien, Parker, Vero, Tessa, Tess, Sam, Jaycie, and Alcyone. Standing over them holding the cursed knife and a wand was Hugo. Anne didn't scream, she was too afriad. She didn't even hear the door open.

Parker had been wandering the castle, staring at the ground. He'd not felt like going out that day, though that was fine since he had his fill the other day at the Quidditch pitch watching a game with Tess. He was feeling a bit more light hearted then he had the past week, and just being able to relax like that made him feel far less high strung.

He had found himself on the sixth floor, and he remembered that room he'd first met Anne. He slowly walked to where he remembered the room being, and frowned. He really hoped she was okay and he felt terrible that he had just walked away from her like he did, but he himself was feeling very overwhelmed and he didn't think she needed to see him like that.

The entrance appeared to him and he walked in. Someone must be here already, he thought as he looked around, seeing tons and tons of wardrobes. A curious thing for someone to want a room to be filled with, he thought. He walked around a bit and then caught sight of a familiar head of hair. He was relieved to see her, but noticed the tense way she stood. He took a step to see what she was looking at and froze. He immediately felt the colour drain from his face and the bile in his stomach churn, letting out a cut off, choked sound.

Anne looked over her shoulder at the sound she saw Parker, though he was ver pale, he was defenitly alive. She looked between the bodies in the wardrobe and the boy behind her. She was sure it would look funny. Finally deciding that the people in the wardrobe were not real she relaxed. She took a deep breath and turned her back on the fake Hugo and the bodies of the people she cared for.

"Parker what is it?" She asked the older boy. She knew it couldn't hurt her. She had tears in her eyes. Seeing all of them dead had hurt her, more than anything else. She couldn't be alone. No matter if Parker had walked out on her, she needed his friendship. She acted on instick and pulled Parker to her. She had to be sure he was real. That he was ok. If Parker was ok that ment they all were.

"You're ok, YOu're alive." she muttered over and over. Trying to clam herself.

Even as Anne turned around to see him, he couldn't move his eyes off the bodies. Especially his own. What on earth was this?? Why? How? He tried to take a deep breath but it only made him feel like he was going to throw up. He continued to stare at his own lifeless body, tensing and flinching slightly when Anne had pulling him towards her.

He grabbed her by the upper arms gently as he closed his eyes and turned his back to the scene behind him, moving Anne with him, though she could still see behind him. He wasn't listening to her, but instead was trying to figure out in his head what he'd just seen.

As he was closer to whatever it was now, the scene Anne saw was now changing. And before them outstretched a miniature version of the black lake. He was still holding onto her, his eyes closed and his back turned, so he didn't see the initial transformation for the few moments as it began to change again.

Anne was slowly being turning around by Parker. She kept her eyes wide, trying to figure out what it was. As Parker moved closer it turened into a smaller version of a lake. Her eyes widened. She relaxed it was gone. She leaned on Parker lightly.

"It's gone." she mumbled into his ear. She saw it transform slightly. She was wondering what it was. She wanted the room to change. She closed her eyes and wished that there was no more wardrobes. She opened her eyes and saw that all the warrobes were gone. She was now standing in a room almost like the Gryffindor common room.

Anne pulled PArker to the couch and sat him down. "What was that?" She asked again.

As she had leaned on him, the creature then took it's shape. When she whispered into his ear, Parker opened his eyes and turned back slightly.

A large, but ghastly thin, and dead looking stood before them. She wore a long white gown with black hair, parted in front of her face only showing her gaping, sharp mouth. The creature took in a gasping breath and let out the beginning of a scream as the room changed.

Parker was gripping onto Anne tightly, frozen in his place as the wardrobes and the creature disappeared. He made the connection in his mind of what it was, and had a feeling he'd not have been able to drive it away if he tried. And to think he'd just come across one last class...

She tugged him onto a nearby couch, and he was sat down stiffly, his eyes still over where the creature was. His face was pale and he was still holding onto one of Anne's arms.

Anne relized that Parker was more afrid then she was. She pulled him into her arms. "Shh, it's ok. It's gone." She whispered to him. She needed to calm him down. She found it very odd that he was more scared then she was. She had a very strong grip on reality at the moment. She knew that whatever the thing was it wasn't real.

"Parker, What was that thing?" She asked for a third time. She still had no clue. All she knew is that she had seen her worst fear. She couldn't bear the thought of the people she cared about and loved dead. She had lost so much already. She couldn't bear to lose her friends. They were all she had left.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have scared you by telling you about what happened to me." She murmered into his shoulder. She wanted him to stay safe. She wanted his friendship back. She knew he was just scared. She knew he had over reacted. She was glad to see him here. She needed everyone she could get.

When she had pulled him into her arms, he had let go of her arm and pulled back slightly, a flash of his own lifeless body flashing before his eyes. No, it wasn't real, he tried telling himself. He needed to separate it from reality, it was some cruel creature, not actually real.

"I...it had to have been a-a Boggart..." He groaned. "We just learned about them in class and-" he took a breath, biting the inside of his cheek, crossing his arms close to himself and looking down. "They're horrid creatures...that-that turn into your greatest fear." He glanced back up where it was, still thinking over what his was.

He then looked at Anne and shook his head. "No." he started simply. "You can't be sorry. I was stupid. Are you okay though??"

Anne sighed and curled up into a small ball. She reallly didn't like that creature, a Bogart, Parker had called it. She feared the loos of the people she loved more than anything. Why Hugo had been there she didn't know. She wasn't afraid of him, she hated him but she didn't fear him.

Anne looked at Parker, she knew he was scared of many things. She didn't have many fears. She wasn't affraid of dying herself. The only thing she was afriad of was people dying because of her. Suddenly Hugo's being there made sence.

Anne looked at PArker for shaking his head. she opened her mouth to say something then closed it. She didn't know what to say. Yes Parker had been stupid. However she was intitaled to be sorry.

"I'm fine." She said but added under her breath "now." "I missed you." She said with a small smile.

Parker's eyes were still drawn downward. A banshee he had found out his was. Something he actually had to look up about to find out what it was. His apparent greatest fear was something he hadn't known existed, though in a strange way was slightly familiar. He had decided that since it was a bringer and signaller of death, his mind's greatest fear of death had manifested itself in unknown way, making an non-corporeal fear into something tangible.

He frowned. It hadn't even turned into the grindylow for the brief moment like it did in class. Maybe he was just hyping himself up about the creature, making things worse for him by thinking about it so much.

When Anne managed to speak he slowly looked at her again. "I'm glad you're okay. I'm sorry for being so selfish...I just-" he sighed. "Just didn't know what to think. You've got worse going on for you, but I've just been a bit...overwhelmed myself. I'm sorry." He had a feeling he would continue to repeat his 'i'm sorries' as often as he could, because he really was. The only thing it had accomplished was making her more upset and that wasn't what he wanted.

Anne put up her had to stop Parker if he told her that he was sorry one more time she would go crazy. "Stop, IF you say 'I'm sorry' one more time, I'll put i silencing charm on you." She told him with a smile.

"It's ok Parker. I really am fine. I was even being silly again." She smiled thinking of what had brought her here. She had been looking for a mythical place. Though she had suffered a bit. She had been better when Damien had come back into her life.

"Why are you scared of the lake?" She asked wondering why he was scared of water. "I mean I understand the Banishe, but the lake?" She thought. She wasn't afriad of many things but She knew otherpeople were.

Parker let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, and smiled a little at her comment. "I'm s-" He let out a small laugh and shook his head. "I should stop."

He nodded when she said she'd be fine, and was glad. It had been one horrible thing after another with her and he knew he'd not be able to deal with it nearly as well as her. For the little actually going on with him compared to her, he really hadn't been handling things well, and it made him feel a little bad.

He swallowed and looked down, uncrossing his arms and resting them on his legs. "Uhm...well-" he took a breath. "The first time, in class. The boggart turned into the lake like you saw. Then a grindylow...then that think- the banshee..." He closed his eyes a brief moment, his head still lowered. "Near the end of first year...I was nearly drowned in the lake by a grindylow...."

Anne put her hand near her pocket when he began to say 'I'm sorry', but drew it away when he didn't. She nodded when he said that he should stop. She wanted to say 'you think' but refrained from doing so. It might be seen as rude.

"Don't feel bad, Parker. I've delt with bad things all my life. I had to stop being a child a long time ago. You had every right to be overwhelmed." She said reading his expression. She knew he still felt bad. She didn't blame him. Sure she was angry at first, but she was fine now.

Anne listened to Parker's fears, and what happened to him. "well thats completly rational. If you almost drowned in the lake, you would be scared of it. I'm scared of Hugo killing my fiends, because he nearly killed me. I don't want anyone to suffer through that. The things we go through define our fears." She told him.

When he talked about what it turned to last, she though about the creature, "Banshees are creppy. I don't like them." She stated. She knew she had never heard of them before she had come to Hogwarts but she still disslike them.

Parker looked down at his hands in his lap sadly. "That not fair to you though...you're only eleven and- well for both of us we've got so much time that we could spend not worrying and trying to deal with things beyond us..." It seemed everyone was taking on far more then they should have been, trying to deal with everything themselves and in the process damaging themselves. All this wasn't fair and sometimes it felt things could only get worse. Maybe with the next year things could just...reset themselves and make life so much easier.

He nodded "I know, that's why I expected it to stay that way...but it didn't. Before the time in class, I didn't even know what a Banshee was! It's more then creepy, there's something plain wrong being afraid of something you didn't even know existed..."

He sighed. "Well, you'll never come across him again as long as you be careful and stay at the castle. He can't get to castle, even if he wanted to."

Anne just looked at her feet. She knew she was in way over her head, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

"I'll survive." She told him sadly. Thats all she could do. She would be strong and survive.

"I don't know why you're affriad of them but, it doesn't matter. It's just a bogart. You can beat it." She said smiling.

Anne looked at her hands. She really didn't want to see him ever again. If she did she had no clue what she would do.

"I'm not going to see him again." She said firmly. She had to stop herself from adding 'I hope'.

He looked at her, frowning. "Just surviving isn't a good way to live." He sighed and thought for a moment, his face lightening up a bit. "Hey, you know how you like to break rules and stuff? Maybe...maybe we stay out after curfew one night and go bug some of the ghosts?" Parker smiled a little, never having done anything like that unless he was dragged along. And while he wasn't sure if it sounded too fun for her, it could be an opportunity for them both to unwind.

"Good, that's exactly how you need to be thinking. You talked to someone about that, right? To make sure no one else can get in and hurt you or anyone else again?" he added, eyebrows furrowed a bit.

Anne sighed "I know, but it's the best i can do right now." She said sadly. She would thrive later in life. For now she would just live. She was luck to be alive as it is. she was greatful for what she had.

Anne beemed at the thought of having fun. "Ya lets do it. It would be so much fun." She said brightly. She loved this kind of thing. She needed to unwind a bit. 'Maybe we can kick a few grindlow while we're at it." She said trying to make him laugh.

Anne noidded. "Ya I talked to the head misstriss. She is going to get a disription out." She told parker.

"Now lets have some fun. I would sugest looking for Narnia but.." She trailed off

Parker felt a bit better when she smiled at him. Okay, so it was a good idea after all. He smiled a little back. "Good, I think we both need a bit of fun." Though at the mention of grindylows, his smiled turned a bit strained. "Uhm...Maybe another day?"

He smiled, though he looked a bit confused "Narnia? Oh!" It then clicked in his head an laughed a bit, motion his hand around. "That's what you were doing walking around all the wardrobes? Yeah, that's not really a good idea anymore."

Anne laughed. She loved to have fun. She was feeling better than she had in weeks. She had Parker back. She had a few new friends. She had Damien back. She was great.

"Sorry." She muttered seeing that his smile had become forced. She shook her head and smiled again. She was too happy to let anything get her down.

Anne laughed she had done it when she was a small child. She had always found it calming and fun. Looking for a place that isn't real.

"Yeah, I don't think I'll go looking for it again. It was something I used to do as a kid." she said smileing at the memories.

As Anne laughed, Parker could practically feel just how much brighter she seemed to be. He felt a weight seem to lift off his shoulders, thinking she seems to be doing fine now.

Parker laughed a little when she said she did it as a kid. "Well, that's certainly interesting. You didn't have a room full of wardrobes did you?" he asked jokingly. "Because I think that would be a little bit weird."

"That's interesting though, never heard of anyone doing actually looking before. If it did exist, I guess I should be too surprised, considering everything. Though...you might want to get Professor Henley to get rid of that Boggart before coming back any time soon." He paused a moment, looking thoughtfuk. "You're lucky the room changed though, I froze up and couldn't remember the spell to make it leave us alone..."

Anne laughed. She didn't have a room of wardrobes at home. Though it might be fun. She was going to miss her home. She was an orphan now. She still didn't have a home.

"No. My grandma, collected antiques. When I was a kid we would always go looking for things at antique shops. I would look in every wardrobe." She smiled at the memory. She missed thoses days.

"No I was just a weird kid. I don't think anyone else has ever looked for it. I'll find out how to get rid of it before I come back." She smiled. She didn't really want to bug professor Henley.

"Oh it changed because I asked it to. I could see that you were scared." She said kindly.

"Oh, I see." Parker nodded. "My grandma has some antiques, well...from some thrift stores, so they're not expensive or anything but they're still really old." He shrugged a bit.

"That doesn't sound too weird. I would think a bunch of kids would look for that. I mean, you've got to have something to do, right?" Parker then frowned a bit and shook his head. "No, you need to get a professor. Sure there's a spell to scare it off, but someone needs to take it away. I might have even escaped from the Defense Class." She really needed to stop thinking she could take care of everything by herself. While independence was nice, she could really get herself into some trouble.

"Oh, well then good thing you changed it..." he sighed and nodded. "Thanks. Sorry I couldn't do anything though."

Anne smiled she was glad to lighten the mood. She was really tired. They had class tomorrow. She decided to head up to bed.

"I'll tell her tomorrow in class." she said to him yawning.

"I think I'll head to bed." She said getting up and stretching.

"See you" She called over her shoulder