Maybe I'm Just Out Of My Mind (Irina)

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The maze. Once more, Anna found herself facing the Erumpent, the Acromantulas, and her blindness all at once. She knew it was a dream. She had ones similar to this all the time, but knowing it was a dream didn't save her from the effects of it. She was terrified and she couldn't wake up. At the moment she was blind, casting off spells in every direction because she didn't know where the creatures were, exactly, due to the fact that the blindness already came. She was shivering, shaking and twitching in her bed, whimpering softly as her nightmare continued. All Anna really wanted was to wake up so she could go sit in front of the fire, but she couldn't seem to wake herself up this time. She was at the mercy of her nightmares, which weren't being merciful at all.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

It had taken a few days after Irina woke from her nightmare of Ripley to feel okay sleeping in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory again.  She was fortunate that the nurses in Hogwarts Hospital wing were quite understanding (and didn't have a lot of patients at the moment), but tonight she was going to at least try to sleep in her own bed.  All of her other roommates were asleep by the time she made her way up to bed, but as she lay down, she found sleep was not ready for her just yet.  Sighing, she grabbed her book from the bedside table and began to read, hoping that the words would soon lull her into a dreamless slumber.  

As she began to nod off though, she heard someones breathing begin to pick up, and whimpering soon followed.  Eyebrows furrowed, Rina shut her book and got out of bed to investigate the source of the noise.  She turned first to Anna's bed and was surprised to see that the noises were coming from her.  She crossed quickly over to her friends bed and sat down on the edge of it.  "Anna?  Anna?  Wake up, you're just dreaming it's not real," she said softly, reaching out to gently shake the girl by her shoulder.


@annelise

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Something was wrong. The creatures in her dream hadn't reached her yet, but Anna was being shaken. At the touch of her roommate, Anna finally woke up, gasping for air. She looked over, relieved when she realized it was Irina that woke her up. Irina was a lot more understanding than some of her other roommates would have been. "Irina," she whispered, looking down at her shaking hands. She looked towards the door and gestured that Irina should follow her out. Anna was cold and still shaking, but she moved so she was sitting on a couch in front of the fire, staring into it. "Thanks Irina," she finally said, not knowing what else she could say.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina was relieved when Anna woke up; sometimes trying to stir someone from a nightmare was disastrous. She followed her friend down the stairs and into the common room, where the fire was still going strong. She gave her a small smile as she thanked her for waking her from the dream. “You’re welcome; I figure by now I owe you a few wake up from nightmare moments,” she said with a small chuckle. Anna had been Irinas roommate since the beginning of their Hogwarts years, and while Irina had just discovered her clairvoyancy less than a year ago, she still had been plagued by nightmares of them. “D’you want to talk about what your dream was about? I find it easier to calm down just talking it out,” Irina asked her. Well, most of the time, in the case of her nightmare that Cecelia woke her from that had backfired rather forcefully. Still, she had written all of her dreams down when she believes there visions of events that had yet to transpire. She liked to have a record of them, just in case they were needed for anything, even though she’d had rather poor luck in getting people to believe in her visions.

@annelise

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Anna smiled back at Irina. It was true. During the last year or so she sometimes helped Irina when she had particularly bad nightmares as well, so at least it wasn't something completely out of the ordinary for the two of them. She sat there in silence, staring at the fire and not really thinking of anything until Irina spoke again. "I-it's not a big deal. It shouldn't freak me out as much as it does," she admitted, embarrassed about her nightmares. "It's the first task," she spoke once more, but this time in a whisper. "Sometimes I dream I'm back in, but without my wand or something's going wrong and all those creatures ... and the blindness ..." She shuddered, hating the thought of her nightmares. "I know it's stupid. The task is over, but it's still haunting me. I'm trying to get over it." And failing, but at least she was trying.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina raised a brow at her friend but smiled all the same.  "Freakier than usual dreams are my specialty Anna, try me," she said, leaning in a little to listen to what Anna had to say.  She frowned a little as the girl described her dream, but she wasn't  surprised.  Her father confided in her after the Tournaments announement that he'd had recurring nightmares of the Third Task and its' aftermath.  He'd been Imperiused during the majority of it, but through the foggy haze he could still pinpoint small memories, like dueling Cedric and seeing Fleur be Stunned.  What happened after Harry and Cedric returned though, that he would never be able to wipe from his memory.

"I can't imagine what it must have been like in there; we only got to see what they showed on the screens.  Some of what you, what all of you encountered..." Irina shuddered.  After watching the First Task she felt secretly relieved that she had not been chosen as Champion.  "If it makes you feel any better, my dad still has nightmares sometimes of the Third Task of his tournament in particular.  I know your Uncle probably has told you all about the nightmares he had, but if you want someone else to talk to...I like to think my dads' a good guy," Irina offered with a small chuckle.


@annelise


ooc; i feel like anna's definitely met rinas dad too hahaha

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Anna smiled shyly, relieved when she realized Irina wasn't judging her. She felt so guilty for having nightmares of the Tournament when so many people wished they could have been involved in it. She wasn't going to say that out loud, since she knew Irina was one of the ones who'd put their name in. Still, she was relieved to have her friend's support. "Thanks Irina. For ... for listening and understanding." Anna didn't really know how to explain how she felt about everything, but it was nice to know that someone was willing to listen. She nodded when Irina spoke about her Dad still having nightmares. "I didn't know that." She gave a small laugh, "It makes me feel a little less like a wimp. I might try to talk to him, or Uncle Harry." 

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina leaned forward and squeezed Anna’s arm gently. “Of course, you can always come to me with anything,” she said with a smile. She knew from her Dad that the initial feeling of glory and celebrity that came with being a Champion wore off sometime within the first five minutes of the First Task. She remembered listening to his stories about facing the dragon; he’d shot a Conjunctivitis Curse towards the Chinese Fireball, and while he had gotten the egg, in its’ agony the mother dragon squashed half of her real eggs. His Headmaster at the time had given him full marks, but her father had been adamant that he had not deserved that score. “You’re definitely not a wimp Anna, the Goblet wouldn’t have chosen you if it didn’t find you worthy,” Irina told her reasonably with a smile. Glad to hear that Anna would consider talking to either her father or Harry, she smiled. “So...you and Oscar seem to be nice and cozy recently, I want details,” she said, her smile now taking on a slightly devilish look. She wasn’t going to let her recent heartbreak stand in the way of hearing about Anna’s French boy, she was a teenaged girl after all.

@annelise

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It was nice being able to talk to Irina about this. If Anna hadn't been so prideful, they could have talked a while ago, but she was. "Thanks again," she said with a smile. Having Irina tell her that she was worthy and that she was doing well did help Anna's self-confidence, which might be a part of what was causing her to struggle now. All that Anna knew was that she was feeling better now than she had in a while. When Irina started asking about Oscar, Anna couldn't help but smile. She'd never really had a boyfriend before, so she wasn't sure exactly what "details" she was supposed to give, but she'd try. "He's adorable," she told Irina. "I mean, his attitude. You already know how handsome he is. He just ... he always wants to spend time with me and he makes me feel good about myself and he's just amazing. I think I'm in love," she added the last part in a whisper. Of course, she already told Oscar that, but other than him Irina was the first person she told.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina just smiled; she knew how hard it was to confide in people about nightmares, whether recurring over something that had already happened, or something that had yet to pass. It had taken several times of being woken up by her screams that Irina had ended up telling Anna about her nightmares, and how they came true in the future.  She remembered not wanting to believe that her nightmares were visions, but sooner or later she had to accept it.  She'd had a few when she was younger, but her parents had passed them off as bad dreams, coincidence.  Now she knew better.

Rina leaned in conspirationally as Anna began to talk about her French beau.  A little bit of her heart ached for her own lost love, but she was finding that it was mostly full of happiness for her friend.  Anna always had to compete with her sister Lucy, resident Hexen you-know-what.  Now that Anna was champion, she got the spotlight for once, and a handsome boyfriend to accompany it.  "I'm so happy for you Anna, truly," she told her friend, then gasped as Anna said she may be in love.  "Being in love....it's a wonderful feeling," she said somewhat dreamily, then hesitated.  "I'm sorry if we seemed a little...hard on the interrogation side of things when we first met.  We just wanted the best of the best for you and....well, wanted to make sure you weren't being used," she told her.  "But I think we can all safely say he does care for you, and deeply by the look of it," she added, smiling.


@annelise

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Anna felt for Irina, truly felt bad for her losing the guy she cared about. Dan had gone ... away. Irina and Anna hadn't really talked about it and Anna wasn't about to push it now, but she appreciated the fact that her friend was asking how she was doing, despite her own heartache. It was very ... kind of her. She reached forward and touched Irina's shoulder and smiled, "Thanks Irina." Then she laughed, "You guys were a little hard. I think he was a little shell-shocked for a while, but he got over it. I appreciate you guys looking out for me." Really, she did. "You really think so?" Anna wasn't used to being in a relationship, the whole thing was new to her. She was sure that Oscar cared for her, but she didn't know whether or not others would agree with that. It was a relief to her to know that Irina did. "So how have you been?" She asked after a short pause. She didn't want to push, but Irina had listened to her. Now it was her turn to talk, if she wanted to.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina chuckled a little at Anna's comment of Oscar being 'shell shocked'. "Well I won't apologize for looking out for one of my best friends Anna. As one of your groupies we have to make sure that you're not being duped by anyone.  I'm glad to report that he is in fact being genuine," she told her teasingly, nudging her shoulder gently.  She didn't blame Anna for thinking they'd been a bit harsh, nor did it surprise her that Oscar had been a bit shaken by the whole ordeal.  Still, it had not fazed him in the end and continued his pursuit of wooing Anna, which meant that he was genuine.  As Anna asked how she was, Irina knew exactly what she  meant by that.  How was she, now that the man she thought was the love of her life was back in Germany sorting himself out.  "I'm....I'm hanging in there.  Trying to take it one day at a time, remembering that I'm merely seventeen years old and shouldn't feel life should be over because my boyfriend left."  She stopped speaking, turning away so she could wipe the betraying tear that had formed at the corner of her eye.  She sniffled, and looked back.  "But it's not easy," she said sadly, shaking her head with a small smile.


@annelise 

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Anna shook her head, a grin on her face. "I didn't ask you to apologize for it, and I'm glad to have your approval," she teased back. Even if Irina and Lily and Andy didn't like Oscar, that wouldn't be enough to stop Anna from her feelings. She cared for him too much. Anna reached forward to touch Irina's shoulder when she started talking about Dan. "I'm sorry. I ... I honestly can't imagine what that would feel like. If Oscar left ..." she trailed off and shuddered, hating the thought. "I guess what I mean to say is, if you need anything at all, please come to me." She didn't want Irina to have to deal with this all on her own. "I mean it. Come to me if you need to talk or cry or just whatever."

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina felt the tears pinprick at her eyes at the touch of Anna's hand to her shoulder. It was so hard, holding it all in, trying to put on a brave face for everyone. Most people had known she and Dan had been a couple of course, really anyone with eyes could have seen that.  The intimacy of their relationship, and how far it had really gone.  The break up had been hard, but he had promised he would come back to her.  But instead, he had left for Durmstrang, leaving her for what felt like for good.  Irina tried to be strong, as she knew there were far more unsettling things going on in the world, like Elaine Dupree for instance.  But, she was merely seventeen years old, and in love for the first time ever in her life.  First love, first heartbreak.  She felt a silly girl for feeling susceptible to these feelings; she had the Sight; far worse things were to come.  But none of this stopped Irina's shoulders from shaking as she leaned her forehead against her friends shoulders and just cried.  Cried for her lost love, her first heartbreak.

After a while, Irina lifted her head up from Anna's shoulders, and wiped her eyes.  "I'm so sorry Anna, I just...I needed to get it out," she admitted, then let a watery chuckle escape.  "Perhaps now I can move on," she suggested, smiling weakly.  "Tell me, how did you enjoy the Yule Ball?" she asked her, wanting to change the subject.


@annelise

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Irina cried on Anna for what felt like ages, but Anna didn't mind at all. She wrapped her arms around her friend and rubbed her back gently. She didn't know how it felt to lose your love, but she could imagine how she would feel if Oscar ever left her and she did not envy her friend for those feelings. So she sat there in silence, her mind drifting as she sat with Irina. 

When Irina pulled away, Anna smiled at her gently, "Don't apologize, Irina. You know I'm always here for you. Whether you need a cry or just ... someone to talk to." She nodded at the idea that maybe Irina could move on, but didn't say anything because she didn't want to trigger another emotional outburst. Anna smiled, "The Yule Ball was wonderful. I had so much fun dancing with Oscar and just relaxing for a night. Did you know they had fondue there?" Irina probably did, but Anna was going to gush about it anyway. She loved chocolate.

Irina Rose Krum