𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 // 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 [𝟏]

Chapter 2

"Fly me to the moon,
and let me lay among the stars"

Kira wandered the halls of Hogwarts. She has always loved the architecture of the ancient castle. She loved exploring the castle at night when she was alone even when she was supposed to be asleep. The castle looked way better without the students running around. Without the noise.

It was calm. It showed her what the castle was really like. She got to experience it fully.

Kira couldn't sleep. The slash on her hip was still fresh from the night before. Her father beat her with a whip.

He's done so before, on her back. She had two long scars on her back and was now going to have one across her hip.

He'd only ever do this when he was really angry. Otherwise it was a spell, his fists, or anything closest to him.

She never knew why her father treated her is such ways. She couldn't recall anything she's done to ever receive this treatment. She's always behaved properly and respectfully and never once has she stepped out of line.

Her siblings were never treated like this. They didn't have scars from the wrath of her father. They didn't have to suffer. She envied them for it. The were able to love their father without the knowledge that he was cruel and sadistic.

Kira could not sleep. The pain was too much. Not the physical pain, she was used to that by now, but the emotional pain. She felt excluded. Lonely. It wasn't true though. She had plenty of people in her life.

Kira had Ava Blackwell, her best friend. She had many acquaintances. She had her sister and brother-in-law, and her two brothers. Her mother was there for her as well. She thought that was all she needed.

Her father, however, hated her. He beat her as often as he could. He always found an excuse to harm her. She couldn't bare the thought of telling anyone, in fear the punishment would be worse.

The emotional pain of being hated by her father was overbearing. She couldn't speak to anyone about this. Only Irene, her older sister, knew everything. Ava knew she'd been beaten once or twice but Kira refrained from telling her more. She didn't want Ava to worry or to pity her.

So Kira wandered the halls in the dead of night on the first day of her sixth year at Hogwarts.

She made it to her favourite spot. The astronomy tower. No one ever really went up there. It was a restricted area that was only used for Astronomy lessons. Even then, only the bottom portion of the tower was used. There was an area right at the top were no one ever went, except for Flich when he cleaned.

The top had the most beautiful view of Hogwarts grounds. You could see the Black Lake shimmer in the moonlight and the Forbidden forest's trees rustling in the wind. Unlike below her, in the Astronomy classroom where you could only see the stars.

She sat down by the ledge and looked up at the stars. They were her favourite. She loved stargazing. Falling into her own world where she was free. Free from everything. Free from torture, from worry, from stress.

Kira was awakened the next morning by Ava. She knew Kira liked to wander around at night so she made sure to wake her up in time for breakfast the next day.

Kira sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Ugh. I'm absolutely exhausted." She let out a yawn. The Ravenclaw dorms were much smaller, rooming only two people rather than five like the Gryffindor dorms or Slytherin with four. Most likely because Rowena Ravenclaw knew Ravenclaws enjoy solitude. With only two people in a dorm it was much easier to be alone when need be.

"Well you did get back at 3:34am. It's 7:00am now." Ava said matter-of-factly. She was a light sleeper. Kira's footsteps and the sound of the door would wake her, letting her know her best friend had returned from her midnight excursions.