Love Signs - Invite

Kama had carried the lantern out of the library and sat in a small nook in the outer hallway. She looked both ways down the empty corridor (It was deserted, seeing as it was after curfew) before gently pulling Karma to the surface and forcing her to look at the flame.

Karma's light brown eyes were transfixed on the flame as it flickered, her fingers wrapped around the glass and taking in the heat.

Fire.

I think you're overreacting.

Karma ignored her.

Honestly, why would they do that to you? Think for a moment, would you?

Flame...... she thought timidly.

Kama inwardly sighed and watched the flames with Karma, darkening the brown of the left eye.

Mel had been to hungry to stay asleep, so she had slid out of the Ravenclaw tower to get to the kitchen, which her brother had told her about before she went to Hogwarts, to get something to eat.

Once she had eaten half her weight in chocolate covered fruits and had as much pumpkin juice as she could swallow, she worked her way back through the castle.

The hallways were all empty, and everything was quiet, not even the stairs seemed to be moving, but she noticed something, something amber or orange coloured, like a flick of a flame reflecting on the floor and walls a little from where she was standing, and there was heat coming from that direction as well, so the curiosity got the best of the fourteen year old blonde ravenclaw.

"Hello?" her voice trembled as she spoke, coming close to the corner where the weird shade of orange reflected on the wall. "Is someone there?"

Karma's eyes stayed on the flame. Kama forced a reaction out of her.

"I'm here." She said softly. Her fingers traced the glass of the lantern lovingly. "It's a lantern, if you're wondering." She watched the flame dance. She loved that fire. She loved it more than she loved anything else in the world.

Look at you, being all symbolic.

What are you talking about? I like Fire. I always have.

....Fire. And not a certain person with control over it?

I don't care about Djinn.

That's not who I... Kama promptly gave up. She'd have to work on that one. If Karma wasn't going to think of him that way, she'd have to show her. Later.

Mel hesitated as she reached the other side of the corner, noticing a girl she knew from school. Karma Black, fourth year, Slytherin.

Mel had seen her often before, in her classes and just hanging about with her friends. With Slytherin people, Mel was sometimes rather frightened of. But the girl's voice was so soft this time, it didn't frighten her, but it made her curious.

"It's beautiful." she said, talking about the fire. "It's stunning actually." it truly was stunning, so bright and she longed to touch it, but knew it wasn't a good idea.

The blonde placed her arms behind her back, nervously playing with her fingers. "What are you, doing here?" she forced herself to ask, the curiosity growing larger inside of her with each second, but her eyes couldn't leave the flames.

Karma's hands curved around the glass, hiding the flame from the Ravenclaw. The flame was her's! No one else could see it! No one else was allowed! She looked up at the Ravie, her expression blank. "It is, isn't it?"

She returned her gaze to the flame. "I don't know why I'm here." She said, her voice vulnerable. "I don't know anything anymore."

When Karma moved the glass from Mel's eyes, it was like the blonde snapped up from a dream, everything went out from focus for a moment and then became clear again.

"I.. I was hungry." she said, leaning her back against the wall, before sliding down it and sitting on the hard cold floor, looking over at Karma. "There's something wrong," she noted, bringing her hands forward and resting them in her lap so she could play with them. "With you, I mean... Do you hurt somewhere?" Mel whispered out the question.

She remembered when she hurt, when she didn't know anything anymore, then something was hurting, maybe Karma was hurting too? She wasn't sure.

Karma gave a short harsh laugh. "Am I allowed to be hurt?" She asked sarcastically. "Isn't that against the rules? I can't be hurt. I'm a Black. I'm a Slytherin. Pain is supposed to make things better." Her next laugh almost had a sob on the end, but she'd be dead before she let anyone see her cry.

She smiled sadly. "Am I hurt somewhere." She repeated softly, as if the thought amused her, for some sad reason.

Mel cringed at the girls laughter. "You are." she said, fiddling with her fingers still, and avoiding the girls brown eyes. "Allowed I mean. Hurting is okay," she whispered softly "It doesn't matter what your name is, you can still feel it all, its in our nature. It's what makes us human, I guess."

She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, shifting her eyes over at Karma again, seeing someone like that, made Mel feel so small and weak her self. "You seem hurt. What hurts? Does it hurt on the outside, or the inside?"

She laughed again. "Human." She said with a cruel smile. "Am I even any bit human anymore?"

Her eyes went to the flame again, her eyes swimming with tears. She would not cry! She... She... Her voice broke. "Inside."

Melanie decided not to ask, she didn't quite understand what she meant anyway. "Everyone's a bit human." she replied, in a small quiet voice and pulled her knees even closer to her chest.

She cringed again when the girls voice broke with her word, and out of instinct Mel's hand reached out for Karma's, but as fast as she had reached out, she pulled it back.

"I'm sorry," she spluttered out. She shouldn't have done that, people like Karma-Slytherins-they didn't usually like people like... her trying to comfort them.

Kama scoffed. "Why are you sorry? It isn't your fault."

Karma's eyes remained on the flame, her fingers craving the heat. "It's my fault." She said softly. "It's always my fault. Everything I touch dies anyway."

Melanie shrugged, not responding. She knew it wasn't her fault, she just couldn't help feeling... sorry for Karma? But she knew people didn't like being pitied. And it wasn't like she pitied her, she felt her pain.

The girl couldn't stop herself, she reached back out for Karma's hand, this time holding on for longer, until she let go. "You dont ruin everything you touch." she replied. "Stuff around people ruins them, one person cant do so much damage." she refused to believe that. "Who hurt you?" she forced herself to ask, her heart beating rapidly in her chest, she wasn't sure if Karma wanted to talk about it.

Karma shook her head slowly. "Everyone around me leaves or dies." She said, truth ringing in her voice. "I'm sick of being alone."

She looked up at the girl, her eyes filled with pain. "They all did." She said. "All of them."

Tears forced them self into Mel's eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "I'm sorry," she said again, releasing her knees from her grip, she pushed herself closer to Karma, keeping her back pressed agains the wall.

"Your friends havent left they, have they?" she said softly, remembering some of the people she had seen Karma hanging around with. Mel reached out to touch Karma's shoulder, her hand this time standing in touch with the girl, waiting to see if she'd shake it off or not.

"Stop apologizing." She snapped. "You're the only one who's near me right now. You don't have to be sorry."

"Left?" She whimpered. "Not yet. Not all of them." She wrapped her arms around herself and left the girl's hand there. It seemed as if she was ignoring it, but she was reveling the human contact. She needed to be touched by something warm. "But when the truth comes out, they'll all leave me. I saw it. I did. And they'll all take her side. She's the innocent one."

Mel flinched. "They wont leave." she said, shaking her head as she let a tear fall from her eye, only one, it psychically hurt her to see someone so strong like Karma fucking Black, so alone and frightened. So broken. Fragile.

She squeezed her shoulder. "And if they do, if they leave you for someone ... someone they think deserves it more, they're not fucking worth it." she said, a wave of anger flashing through her body. "You're Karma." she said. "And karma will get those that deserve it.. later on."

"Everyone leaves eventually. You'll see." was all she said, though she watched the tear fall down her cheek. "You're so nice to me." She observed quietly. "You're such a good person.... and I don't even know your name."

She shook her head, smiling ruefully. "It seems that karma likes taking everyone else's mistakes and punishing me for it." She said with a sad little chuckle. "It's not fair. I didn't name myself."

Mel cringed again. "Maybe I should've been a Hufflepuff," she joked, but her tone was flat. "I'm not a good person, I've hurt people." she whispered. "They've hurt me too."

She breathed in a large breathe. "I'm Melanie." she said, "McKinnon." she added. "And I like your name, it's strong. It reminds me of... justice."

"People have left me too." She said, a spot on the wall becoming interesting, because she couldn't bear to look into Karma's eyes as she spoke. "Left and never came back, but he'll be punished, I hope. For leaving us." she forced herself to look at the girl "The people that left you will too."

Karma gave a true laugh. "Hufflepuff." She said with a smirk. "I know plenty of crazy, hurtful people in that house." She said, her mind refusing to wander to him. "He left me too."

"Well, hello there, Melanie. I'm just having a mental breakdown here. Don't mind me. Nice to meet you. I'm..." She paused. "But I suppose you already know me." She shrugged. "Or of me."

"Problem is, though, I don't want them punished." She said softly. "I want them happy, and it sucks, because it's making me miserable."

"I guess Hufflepuffs can be bastards, too." Melanie agreed, stretching out her legs and wiggling her toes.

"I've heard of you, yes." she smiled a bit. "You hang around with the people I dont hang around with," she noted. "Like Arsen Salvator and Iva Popov, or something like that? I think thats their names." she mentally scolded herself a bit for bringing up her friends again, if Karma was really scared of them leaving her, so she decided to jump subjects.

"You're a good person, too, then Karma." she said. "If you dont want them punished, then you're not a bad person, and not-bad persons dont kill what they touch."

Karma froze, the lantern slipping out of her hands and crashing onto the floor, the glass shattering and the flame going out. She barely noticed.

Arsen.

The pain of it made her recess automatically, trying to get away from it, and Kama came to the front, eyes darkening. "Shit." She cursed, her eyes on the lantern as she realized that Karma would be away for a while this time.

"Oh, a part of me wants them punished." She growled vehemently. "But it would hurt me more to see them that way." She shook her head. "I'm a terrible person really." She said. "I'm not going to face them until I have to. I want them happy for as long as possible."

Mel gasped, pulling her hand back and off Karma's shoulder, out of reflect when Karma dropped the glass with the flame and it shattered.

"Are you-" she stopped, blinking for a while, still staring at the shattered glass on the floor. "-okay? I'm sorry, did I say something?" her voice trembled again.

"Some people deserve to be punished," Mel swallowed the large lump in her throat as she watched Karma carefully. "But you're not a bad person, really, not if you also want them to be happy. Not really. We're all a bit bad, and mental and crazy, but good too."

Kama looked down at the glass too, her eyes calculating. "I'll be alright, I suppose." She adknowledged. "I just need to stop being so stubborn." She grinned up at Mel. "You made me realize something, is all."

Kama cocked her head to the side, her eyes still dark. "Yes, I do suppose you're right." She smiled. "Good too, eh?" She stood, smiling at Mel. "Thank you." She said, gratitude evident in her voice. "I needed this." She grinned. "Don't tell anyone I said that though. Reputation and all that."

She pointed her wand at the lantern. "Reparo." she said before reaching down and picking it up gently.

Then, channelling Karma, Kama hugged the girl briefly before turning on her heel and heading for the common room. "See you around, Mel." She called over her shoulder before disappearing around a corner.

Mel studied the girl carefully, not saying anything until Karma stood up.

Surprised Mel took a moment to fully realize that Karma Black was actually hugging her, like a nice friendly person and not a Slytherin that would never be seen hugging a Ravenclaw. But after the moment it took to think about that, the blonde, for the brief moment the hug lasted, hugged back.

"See you around, Karma." Melanie laughed, in response before she turned around, to walk the other way, wobbling a bit on her legs as she thought back to their conversation; Karma Black had always been quite a mystery to Mel and her friends, but Mel realized, with that conversation, just how mysterious and nothing quite like they had imagined, the girl truly was.