Alone and Lonely ((OPEN))

[Maeve Campbell]

((kinda taking Maeve in a different direction for this thread...open to anyone who wants to join))

She sat. Her back against the wall of the corridor and her knees up. Her face was buried in her hands and hidden in her knees. The red hair gave proof that it was indeed Maeve. Just not the normal happy go lucky Maeve who pranked and played constantly.

Maeve had received the news just today. Her older brother had disappeared. they had no idea what had happened. Things like this just didn't happen anymore. People disappearing or getting injured was supposed to be a thing of the past. Why now? Why her brother, Lee?

Sniffling a bit she tried to pretend to herself that she wasn't crying. It was all just a mirage, a horrible nightmare and she would awaken any moment now. She was only eleven, too young to really understand what was going on, or so the adults all thought.

Her mother had sent the notification by private owl on loan from a friend. Maeve didn't even know if anyone at the school knew yet. It seemed as if her mother was trying to keep the information quiet. The little redhead had thought about notifying the headmaster but didn't know why she should.

Her mind raced on to other thoughts. Maybe things had changed since she came to school. Maybe Lee had run away. That would be weird though, Caryn and Lee were closer than twins and after they found out Maeve was magical that had served to only bind them closer together.

Maeve began rocking back and forth. She wasn't waking up, this wasn't a dream. All the thoughts that were running through her head kept multiplying exponentially until her head felt as if it would burst.

[Mike Blaze]

Mike Blaze walked out of the Great Hall looking extremely unlike himself. They're back. is all he kept muttering to himself, a few people passing by him gave him odd looks. Of course people thinking the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain had gone crazy wasn't a good thing, they'd probably forget it, but Mike didn't care about what anyone thought right now. He went up the stairs quickly, taking two at a time. He needed somewhere to go and think. What was causing all this discomfort for Mike, his family. Well not his real family, more like an uncle, a few cousins, and other distant relatives who were all wolves or werewolves. Some wolves and werewolves were good of course, others bad, some had served Lord Voldemort back in the day. All Mike knew were some of the pack were around again, and they had a hostage. What the hell was this about? Mike didn't know the specifics, like who the hostage was, he only knew Eric had mentioned it. Eric probably knew better, but wasn't about to tell Mike. All Mike knew was there was a hostage and things were only going to get worse for the hostage and their family, Mike could say this from knowing the pack.

Consciously he didn't know where he ended up, but now looking around, he recognized it as the fifth corridor. He was just about to collapse against a wall when he heard someone, looking around, he saw Maeve sitting on the floor, she seemed upset. Maybe Mike could set his own thoughts aside, which he was hoping to anyways, and focus on Mave. "Maeve, right?" he said approaching her, he had only spoken to her once or twice so he was little unsure of what her name was. "You look pretty upset, if you don't mind me asking, what's wrong?" he asked looking at her in concern, he knew he still probably looked a little panicky but maybe she'd just think it was his way of showing concern for people.

[Maeve Campbell]

It took a moment for Mike's voice to break through Maeve's misery. She looked up, her small face was streaked with tears. Maeve stared blankly at the older boy in front of her. Finally, she remembered who he was. Mike Blaze. Maeve lifted her hand and scrubbed away some of the tears. She thought about lying to him and claiming she was fine. However, she really needed to talk to someone. Her parents, understandably enough, were frantic and since Maeve was safe they didn't concern themselves with her right now.

Her voice was soft and caught with a sob as she spoke, "I just found out my big brother went m-missing." The tears started to leak out of her hazel eyes once more. "Some people think he ran away b-but Lee would never do that!" The tears started to flow faster and Maeve ducked her head so the older boy wouldn't see them. He reminded her of Lee honestly. That is probably why it was so easy to talk to him. Lee had always been there for her when she skinned a knee or fallen down. He'd always sworn he wanted to be a doctor. and that Maeve was his guinea pig.

Maeve held up the short letter which was brief.

~Your brother never came home from school the other day. No one knows where he is. We think he may have run away. Caryn says there were some strange men hanging around school and that they had talked to Lee the day before and apparently made him very angry. So we really don't know what to think. Please don't worry, we're sure he is fine. Stay in school and behave.

Love Mum and Dad~

[Mike Blaze]

As Maeve looked up, he saw the tears. Something was definitely wrong here. As she scrubbed away the tears, he watched her, the Wolf Pack began coming back to his mind, but Mike kept focused on Maeve so he wouldn't need to worry about the person the pack apparently had taken. But who was it, that was what kept bothering Mike. It couldn't be any of his own family which was good. Between some of his distant family being in the pack itself and none of the pack daring to go near Blaze, that fact was definite. It couldn't be anyone at Hogwarts, none of the pack was stupid enough to come near the castle, as for any of his close friend's family, he would've heard something by now.

His thoughts slowly came back to Maeve when she raised her head. "I just found out my big brother went m-missing." the sentence made his heart nearly stop. He just stared for a moment. Could this be the person? Could Maeve's older brother be the one the pack took? Why the hell would they be interested in kidnapping him? Maybe it wasn't the pack, maybe some psychotic guy or something took her brother, couldn't be the pack. As she held the letter up, he took it slowly, almost dreading to get the full story from the letter.

Quickly reading the letter he stopped, almost staring at the sentence, "Caryn says there were some strange men hanging around school and that they had talked to Lee the day before and apparently made him very angry. " Reality seemed to dissapear for a moment, "What are they playing at, hanging around a school?" he said to himself, not realizing it was out loud. Mike thought Maeve's problem would maybe help him get his mind off what Eric had said, Mike was wrong. Maeve's story and this letter only made things a lot more confusing. Not exactly realizing what he had said to himself had been out loud, his thoughts came back to reality, looking up, handing her the letter, "Do you have any idea who took him or someone indeed did kidnap him?"

[Maeve Campbell]

Maeve realized that Mike was going to take her seriously. This helped her control her grief. Scrubbing more of the tears off her face she straightened up from her near fetal position on the floor. A feeble ray of home shone momentarily before being buried under the sheer weight of despair.

Her voice still choked with tears she wondered at his comment. "What do you mean, 'What are they playing at, hanging around a school?' ? Do you know these people?" Before he could answer or even acknowledge her answer he continued.

Shaking her head, Maeve answered his question, "N-no I don't know who would have. I'm sure he didn't run away though. He would never do that to Mum and Dad. Especially not Caryn. My sis." She added, "He's not magic though so I doubt anyone you know would be at the root of it." She sighed heavily. "I mean all the people who hate Muggleborns are either in Azakaban or dead, right?" She looked up at him hopefully. She was sure that was the case but there was something in Mike's eyes that made her hesitate a little. Some feeling that he knew people who hated Muggles.

It would be way too much of a coincidence for them to have taken her brother but... But what if her brother had been kidnapped by people who hated Muggleborns and their family? Maybe the people Mike knew...knew these people and... There her powers of imagination failed. She kept coming back to the same thing. Why would they kidnap Lee and not her. She was the Muggleborn witch not him. Then again, a small voice reminded her, he wasn't at Hogwarts that was protected so strongly. He also had that redhead temper. They may have just been scouting her family out and he mouthed off. A shudder racked her frame. Her imagination was too good. She didn't know for sure what had happened or would happen. It could be he'd gotten drunk or something and wandered off. Clinging to that feeble hope Maeve realized she'd been vacantly staring into space and snapped her focus back onto Mike. Besides, she reminded herself as she stared at the older boy, people who hated Muggleborns just didn't exist anymore...right?

[Mike Blaze]

His mind raced over all that had just happened, what he had learned from his cousin and now the story from Maeve. "What do you mean, 'What are they playing at, hanging around a school?' ? Do you know these people?" he looked at her quickly, Did I just say that out loud? he asked himself, "No I don't know them.... I.... I.... just meant how could someone be low enough to hang around a school where they don't belong and kidnap a kid." he said covering up for what he had said earlier. He hoped she took this cover up as a true statement. When she told him that her brother would never run away from home and that she didn't know who would want to kidnap her brother, he just shook his head. "You have no idea, there are many people out there who do stuff like this all the time, it's terrible." he said slowly, he hoped to get her mind off believing he knew who might be behind this. When she questioned him about Muggle haters being dead or locked up, he nodded with all truth, he knew they were all gone and he also hoped to make her feel better. The wolf pack were not Muggle haters, there was another reason they would've done this, Mike wasn't exactly clear on that reason, but he had an idea. "Don't worry, I'm sure your brother will make it back, safely." Mike said, he would make sure of this, he would write to his uncle or someone in the pack and find out more about this.

[Maeve Campbell]

As Mike gave out his excuse Maeve's hope crumbled. Tears threatened to leak out of her large hazel eyes again. Staring up at the older boy she held her eyes even wider trying to keep the tears from escaping. As Mike seemed to dismiss the idea Maeve stepped forward. She wasn't going to let him run off with that vague assurance.

"How on earth can you guarantee that?" Maeve's voice was brittle with anger. "You just said you didn't even know what was going on. If you know something...you'd better tell me." The last part came out quietly almost in a threatening manner. Mike may not be scared by a mere first year but the little redhead's temper was fixing to be lost soon. First this strange scary news from home then a rescurer appeared. Being a mysterious rescuer just didn't reassure the little girl. It ade her mad that he wanted her trust without even telling her what was going on.

Trying to rein in her famous temper she continued in a soft voice. "Look, I won't get you in trouble or anything. I won't say a word to anyone. I just need to know what you know or suspect about my brother. Just tell me." Maeve's voice broke and she stared up at him, this time unable to hold the tears back.

[Mike Blaze]

Mike noticed how she made her eyes go wider, he knew it was her way of preventing herself from crying, he knew this because his sisters always did it. When Mike had finally said his final thing, and made to back up a step, so that he could make his leave, Maeve stepped forward. It seemed as though she wasn't just about to let him go with no answers, she knew that he knew something.

When her voice took on a rather angry form, he knew he was going to have to tell. He couldn't just walk away from this now. If you know something...you'd better tell me. were her next words, Mike couldn't help but laugh a little. He knew she was mad, but the way she said this, hoping to threaten him was sort of funny. He held his silence for a good few moments, just watching her carefully. Could he trust her with all the details he knew? His school career was in her hands here, if she ratted him out of knowing her brother's where abouts or at least knowing the kidnappers, Mike could easily be suspended. His life was also on the line, if the pack found out, they'd come after his whole family.

Finally after what seemed to be five minutes, Mike nodded. "I trust you not to say anything to anyone. If you promise that, I'll get in touch with who I suspect has your brother and I'll try my hardest to convince them to return him safely." he said. "The people who I believe have him are a wolf pack which has both animagi wolves and werewolves. They are freelancers, they're not exactly on the Dark Side nor are they on our side. The way I know about them is, my family founded the pack. Many generation of Blazes have a wolf as their animagi. All the Blazes that do have to join the pack, they don't exactly have to be involved fully with them, but if the pack ever calls on them to be an aid, they must respond." Mike began, recounting the details of the pack, such as who they were and how they got started. "It's beyond me why they'd want to kidnap a Muggle. It's possible they don't even know he is a Muggle yet. But I can reassure you, the pack doesn't kill their hostages all the time." Mike said, realizing his last words may not be comforting, his throat becoming dry, not knowing whether the more he spoke, the more he was digging his own grave or even writing up the suspension papers from Hogwarts. "Believe me, your brother could be the most unlucky person in the world and still be totally fine and be able to return home. But I've told you too much of the pack, I still trust you to hold your word and not say anything to anyone. I'll get in contact with some family to find out if they do indeed have any hostages. Anything else you need to know?"

[Maeve Campbell]

As he laughed at her Maeve's small face flushed heavily. with a heruclean effort she managed to calm her temper. She knew she was small and not much she could do to such an older boy. However, tempers did flare and if he wasn't expecting it a Bat Bogey Hex could just find it's way onto his face. Breathing as calmly as she could Maeve was unable to answer immediately.

As his explanation continued her temper went as quick as it came. Her eyes which had been fiercely green moments ago were now a soft hazel again. Biting a small lip she allowed him to finish. Of course there was more she needed to know. A LOT more.

Where to start though? Of course the most important thing first. "So you don't know for sure that Lee, my brother, is being held by them? You just need to check? " Her voice was not exactly breaking but was definitely in danger of cracking a tiny bit. "M-mike?" For the first time Maeve used the older boy's name. Of course she knew who he was, so many classes together they were bound to know each other's names even if they weren't bosom buddies.

Continuing without a pause Maeve said, "When will you know if it is him or not? Do you know where they would be holding him?" Maeve tensed. If he did; screw letting him contact his family. She'd be at the place to scope it out herself. She hoped he didn't notice her tenseness. She needed action, not more patience and waiting. Even if she had to go to into a literal wolf's den to find out she needed to know...NOW.