[THD] don't trust the moon | • c l e m

Diagon alley was always, busy, but right now it was a nightmare.

Marin wasn't entirely sure what had been happening - one second he'd been skulking around looking at things he needed to buy for the upcoming school year - and the next he was here, caught right in the middle of some kind of surprise impromptu dance performance. The performers all wore these creepy smiles like they were enjoying what they were doing waaayy too much and Marin didn't like it. Ducking under a high-kicking ballerina girl, Marin managed to twist his way out of the weird performance group and slip out to the side, where he caught his breath and tried to calm his jittery nerves. The Hufflepuff had never done well with busy crowds and he didn't like being randomly touched by strangers, so he was admittedly a little freaked out by the whole thing.

The tall boy was a mouse, slinking along the storefronts, away from the creepy smiles and high kicks. When he caught sight of someone he knew, the boy felt relieved. Clementine wasn't exactly a good friend of his; if there were sides in the weirdness that had happened last year, he'd certainly been with Lionel. He'd spent a lot of time with the Slytherin while he and Wini hadn't been talking last year. Still, Clem had never been anything but friendly with him, so he found himself heading towards her. "Clemetine," he said, relieved. "Nice to see you, how are your holidays going?"

Something weird was happening. Diagon Alley had been overrun with eclectic forms of performing arts and attractions and she couldn't pinpoint where, exactly, they'd all come from. She couldn't necessarily find it in her to complain, though. Clementine liked weird. She tended to BE weird, so she supposed it didn't all deviate so much from her normal lifestyle. Strolling down the street and leafing through a book she'd just gotten for next term's Care of Magical Creatures class, she neglected to notice the flash mob of dancers that had taken up almost the entirety of the street in front of Flourish and Blotts.

She noticed, though, when someone almost kicked her in the face. "Shit," Clementine hissed, snapping the book shut and dodging the next round of circular kicks the ballerina was performing with a large step to the side. Crisis averted. She was a cat with her reflexes, so thank youuuu, Quidditch. She sat back and observed the group of dancers, clad in lots of jingly-jangly gold jewelry and bright colors, with an unconscious look of moderate disgust. Really, it wasn't gross. Except for the girl whose leotard wasn't exactly... covering her all the way. That earned a yuck-face, but she wasn't about to step back into the line of fire to let her know.

A familiar voice crept into her right ear and she jumped, clutching her heart. "Jeez, Marin, you scared me a little. I thought you were one of the dancers for a second. Trying to peddle something weird to me or some shit." She laughed, then, clapping the taller boy a little roughly on the back. "Nice to see you as well, mate. Doing well. Got a little pocket change from working at the shop. What've you been up to? Hopefully avoiding this mess, eh?"

"Oh, ha ha, sorry Clem." Marin's laugh was awkward and unconvincing, but luckily the blonde didn't comment on it. He'd come to a weird point now where he noticed more frequently when he was doing something weird or wrong socially, but seemed unable to actually do anything about it. Marin wondered if this was the end of progression for his social skills or if perhaps he'd overcome the second part later in life. Marin hoped for the latter. "Yeah, almost got kicked in the face," he said, automatically slouching a little so he didn't seem so tall next to her. Marin was sure he'd grown an extra two inches this summer already. He wondered if he'd grow anymore over the next year - he was already pushing 5'11 and it wouldn't be long before he broke the six foot height barrier.

Marin fell into step beside his Gryffindor friend as they made their way down a side street in an attempt to circumvent the crowd. "I was just getting some stuff for next year," he said quietly, "you know - books and quills and stuff. I can't believe we're already in OWL year. Lots to think about I guess." The teenager was quite aware that that string of sentences was probably the most he'd said to or in front of this particular girl since they'd met in first year.

"Hey, me too!" She shouted in response to the almost-being-kicked-in-the-face comment, perhaps a little too loudly for comfort. For him, anyway. He was a quiet little thing. A quiet little thing who was much taller than she, but she wasn't going to remark anything about that. By the way he carried himself -- and it really was evident -- she kind of assumed that he was uncomfortable with his new bodily developments. He was sort of slouching and shrugging into himself like a cute schoolboy version of Nosferatu with a less severe back hump. Clem couldn't really imagine what it felt like, though, because she was short. She had to stand up straighter to maximize whatever presence she had and to make up for what she lacked. Hey, Marin, why don't you just give me a few of those inches, if you're so uncomfortable with them? Maybe I'd be more intimidating -- err, powerful -- if I didn't have to stand on my tippy-toes to poke people I don't like in the chest or flick them on the head.

Shaking her head, she pulled out of those thoughts and waited for a minute before she said anything else, pretending to observe the yodely dancers in front of them. "Hey, look!" She told Marin, pointing directly at a cart on the side of the street that looked a little... eerie. "Maybe they're a traveling circus troupe, or something? Says that's a haunted attraction. Maybe they've got cabinets with ghouls in them or something. I say we go inside. More entertaining than this, probably, wouldn't you say?"

Before her friend could say no, she was clutching at his lower back (it was the most convenient thing for her to reach) and ushering him roughly enough through the crowd that they broke through the little clumps of people that were honestly like human barriers. The collective strength several people could generate when they worked together in a mob-mentality was truly amazing. "Ready? C'mon, let's go in," She urged him, stepping forward to test out the little rickety planks of wood leading up into the cart.

Marin didn't outwardly wince when Clem shouted over the crowd, but a small part of him winced on the inside. While Clem and Winifred seemed to share some traits - outgoingness, loudness - there was a rougher edge to Clementine that Wini simply didn't possess. His Hufflepuff friend was more fluffy at the edges, he thought to himself. Ghouls in cabinets? The tall boy wondered what Wini would do if she were here. If she'd be as eager as Clem to test her bravery and resolve. Bravery was a Gryffindor thing, after all, right? "Yeah, probably..." Marin followed Clementine with some trepidation. He wasn't super creeped out by scary rooms but jump scares did give him a good fright. These sorts of attractions tended to be rife with them.

He wasn't very good at protesting anything though, and she seemed interested - maybe it would be okay? Marin followed her into the cart, his expression a mix between curious and nervous. He tried to hide the latter. The boy let her go first and followed at a safe pace behind, waiting until her attention was directed ahead before taking one last, quick glance behind. Diagon Alley was bustling today, all busy and full of loud people. Marin wasn't entirely convinced it would be better to stay out there; that was probably the reason he followed his friend inside.

A second of deliberation later, the Gryffindor was characteristically charging closer to the doorway of the little cart and, to no surprise, fearlessly leading their two-man pack. Well. Maybe not fearlessly, but there wasn't enough fear in her heart to deter her from the mission, and that was to find out what was inside. There didn't seem to be any toll to pay and there didn't seem to be an attendant waiting to brief them on any rules so she was going to proceed. At first there was a wash of cold air, and she shivered. Eerie. But not a dealbreaker. Ooookay. "Come on," Clementine stage-whispered over her shoulder, too enthralled with the interior of this cart to look behind her and make sure her friend was still there or hadn't gotten snatched up by some boggart in the wall.

She crept forward slowly and placed her palms out flat in front of her, as though her bare hands would do anything to stop a magical creature from harming them, and tried to keep her breathing slow and even. There were a lot of cabinets lining the walls and some dim, red candles lit up along some skinny tables, and it didn't really seem like anything special. What was the point of this, exactly?

After a second, she whirled around in the dark, about to tell Marin that maybe they should just turn around and leave, when the door behind them disappeared. Her already-large brown eyes widened to saucers. "Um... where's the door." She whispered urgently, grabbing Marin's forearm tightly enough to crush him. She didn't notice. Clementine let go and turned around again, noticing the way the cart was lengthening into a long sort of tunnel. Okay. Now she was kind of freaked out. "What the hell is going on here? How do we get out of this shitshow?"

It was a mistake. Marin had known basically as soon as he'd started walking following her and now that they were closing in on this hellish experience, Marin had half a mind to just sort of turn around and leave. He followed her anxiously inside. "Are we supposed to be in here?" Marin asked quietly, taking one last glance behind him as the pair rounded a corner into some kind of creepy torture chamber or something. "Shouldn't there be someone here to give us like safety instructions or something...?" Marin wasn't usually so chatty when he was nervous, but right now these questions were absolutely genuine.

Marin was creeped out. He wasn't afraid to admit it - it was no secret that he lacked the brazen bravery of some (read: all) of his friends. He had an active imagination and was no stranger to his total and utter lack of usefulness when he was under pressure. Even now, the boy could feel a thin sheen of sweat on the back of his neck and he instinctively felt his pocket for his wand. The international statute of secrecy could be damned for all he cared; if something popped out at them right now, Marin was either going to faint or hex the hell out of it. Clem turned around to face him and then her gaze flicked over his shoulder. He turned instinctively, his own baby blue eyes widening as his pulse sped up.

"What?" he said. It seemed like it was the only syllable he was able to push out of his suddenly very dry mouth. "What?" Marin turned back, spinning around only to be faced with a suddenly long corridor lined with red little candles. He looked back then forward again, distantly noting Clem's hand wrapped around his arm. Marin almost said What? again, but he kept his mouth shut rather than embarrass himself further. Mechanically, Marin took a step in the direction of the hallway. It must be the thing to do. Why the hell had he agreed to come in here? Marin suddenly couldn't remember the moments leading up to this. He could feel his pulse in his hands. "This way?" he managed to say, his big blue eyes betraying his fear in a big way.

"Nonono, um... of course it's going to be fine." The Gryffindor reassured her friend, unwilling to watch him start panicking. If he keeled over from nerves, well, that would be unfortunate, and while she was strong, she wasn't sure she was quite strong enough to carry him. "Maybe this is all an illusion. Maybe these wizards are from another part of the world where illusionism is a bigger deal?" Clementine speculated shakily, trying to swallow down some of the dryness that felt almost like a rock in her throat. Monsters and jump-scares would have been less scary than this. She really thought as much as she led them through the red-tinted darkness, shuddering when she noticed the walls around them ripple a little. Was this meant to throw her off her balance as well?

She wasn't ready to admit that this would change her outlook on things for about three days and that after that, she'd be ready to jump into unknown things again. That was sort of how bravery worked, now, wasn't it? It had a fast rebound rate. That was good, too, because nobody would ever stay brave for long if not for that. She stopped for a second to pull honey-blonde hair into a tight ponytail, which always seemed to help her concentration, and stepped a little more confidently down the narrow way.

A few minutes later, she sensed the end. Not of her life, thank God. "Come on, hurry, we're almost there." She reassured Marin earnestly, starting to book at a faster pace toward the "end" of the tunnel, which she couldn't really see -- but she knew was there. It had to be. Illusions could only do so much, and this was a party trick. Made to be an attraction. They wouldn't put it out where children were if that wasn't the case, would they? As they got closer and her excitement to be out of this hell spiked, something from the metaphorical (but annoyingly concealed) ceiling fell down in front of them. It looked like a Cornish Pixie, but it had nastier teeth, greener skin, and was much larger.  After a bloodcurdling scream and battering it around away from her face, she realized its disgenuine nature and found it... quite funny.

"Holy shit. Come on, Marin." She was laughing, the puppet had been so realistic, but managed to duck underneath it and push the wall in front of them, which swung out, given enough pressure, as a door would into the sunlight again. "Well, that was an experience, hey?"

Honestly, she didn't sound as convinced as Marin would have liked. "Yeah," he said quietly, sounding totally unconvinced as he followed her a step behind. Marin couldn't help but glance back over his shoulder multiple times as they walked. He was terrified that something was going to jump out at him or grab his ankles or something. He was worried about embarrassing himself in front of Clementine, but being in this situation really reminded him of being at Hogwarts when they were being attached by awful creatures. Embarrassment was low on his list of priorities right now. Instead, his head was throwing pictures up of how he'd reacted when things had gone down. How useless he'd been. Marin was like a lamp. Sometimes useful, usually in the background and not all that helpful when fighting big magical monsters.

Marin almost had a heart attack when Clem screamed. He didn't even see what had jumped down at them, he just dropped to the floor, arms above his head as he tried to swat whatever it was away. His knees hit the wooden floor with a thud. His heart was racing and his lungs were working hard to keep up. When she started laughing, he thought for one horrible moment that she was laughing at him but as Clementine opened the door, Marin hopped lithely to his feet. He blinked in the light, suddenly able to see properly. The thing that had come down from the ceiling was just a puppet. Not a monster. He dodged the pixie puppet, or whatever it was and moved out into the sunlight and the noise of diagon alley feeling nothing but relief. One last look back into the dark gave Marin a shudder, but he was out now. Free.