just d a n c e {open}

[grace]

Grace walked lightly down the corridor, her sneakers tapping noiselessly against the stone floor. She had but one destination in mind that early Saturday morning, and that was the Room of Requirement. Grace often went there to dance, it was a secret hobby of hers, one that she had yet to even share with her family. Dance was something that Grace did alone, a solitary habit that she did to make herself happy. She paced past the spot three times, a small smile appearing on her delicate lips as the door appeared from nowhere. Grace pushed it open and stepped into her personal dance studio.

It sported supple wood floors and mirrors that lined every wall, music that would change to suit her mood played from nowhere. The room was simple, but to Grace, it couldn't have been more perfect. She shed her jeans and sweater to reveal shorts and a tank top, as well as her many scars. But here, there was no one to see them. This was her space, her place to be her own person. Grace tossed aside her trainers and slid her feet into the ballet slippers that materialized from nowhere. She secured her hair into a low ponytail and closed her eyes, allowing herself to feel the music.

Today it was lively, bright, and happy. Grace then began to move accordingly, feeling alive and free. Her ponytail swished as she moved she couldn't help but smile, lose herself in the dance that she was coming up with on a whim. She moved quickly to keep in pace with the music, her form moving with elegance that her classmates had never seen. Grace was so lost in her dance that she didn't even notice the door had opened...

[nixnight]

*gate crashed! Maybe this could even be James life thread *

Nix wandered slowly away from her commonroom, she was so sick of all the eyes on her all the time and she hated the slow speed that moving took her so she wanted to go away. She had been in the room of requirement a few times recently and had found it to be full of candles and having a warm pool in the middle so she figured she may as well go and try again.

She walked up the wall she knew it was behind and then the doors crumbled away to meet her, she pushed on them hard only to see a very different room from the one she had seen before and what she had been expecting. A glimmer of yellow caught her eye as it went past her and she turned her head before breaking in to a wide smile ,"gracie?" she asked as she stepped inside the room to allow the doors to shut behind her and not allow anyone else in or to see the room her adoptive sister had made

[grace]

"Gracie?"

At the sound of her name Grace stopped dead, her heart seemingly skipping a beat. The music stopped just as abruptly, leaving a sudden silence in the room. She instinctively hunched over in a very tense way, as if she expected to be struck. Her father had forbidden her to dance, hence why it was such a private hobby of hers. Grace quickly realized that she was being stupid, her father was in the loony bin, he couldn't hurt her anymore. She cautiously looked over at the person who had stumbled across her, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief when she saw it was only Nix.

Grace went through about eight shades of red as her pale cheeks flushed deeply, she had never shared her dancing with her family, nor had they seen her assortment of scars all down her arms and legs. She kept them hidden always, but now in the shorts and tank top she wore they could be seen clear as day, each of them ugly stories about the home she had come from. With a sickening feeling in her stomach, Grace recalled she had never spoke about her past with them either. "Hello Nix," said Grace, her voice a little unsteady.

[nixnight]

Nix smiled and then started a small step forwards. She had seen grace recently at the christmas event and she had been there with Kevin, the pair had made sure to dance alongside nix and her own date and had finally given her something she had really needed. The knowledge that her family knew about her and their elder brothers baby and yet they didn't care and were only happy for another addition to the family. Nix would have run forwards and hugged her oldest sister if she had been able to run, or even able to hug for that matter.

Having a baby did making hugging harder, the bump was really beginning to get nix down now but she also had it worked out that this was month nine so her little baby was due to be born any time soon. A small part of her was worried to see what would happen when it was born but another part was so excited, she wanted to see if it was a boy or girl and if it looked liked her of it's father. She couldn't wait to be honest. "nice to see you in a good mood" she said said before noticing her sister looking over her scars so nix held her own arms it to allow her own to gleam in the light from the room

[grace]

"Why wouldn't I be in a good mood?" said Grace, the music was slowly coming back, but it was much softer now. Like an afterthought of the room rather than one of the main features, something to entertain the subconscious rather than the present mind. Her insides still squirmed uncomfortably, she knew that Nix had come from a home similar to her own, though even with the redhead bearing her own scars so they were in plain view, Grace still didn't like showing hers. Each one was a painful reminder of what she had experienced. Each day the memories got a little duller, though the scars... Those wouldn't fade.

Grace wiggled her toes a bit inside of the ballet slippers on her feet, she certainly hadn't been expecting to be interrupted mid-dance, she still felt the urge to move. "I suppose now you're in on my secret," said Grace, absently twisting her ponytail around her finger. She closed the gap between them, placing a gentle hand on Nix's belly for a moment before straightening up to give her sister a quick sideways hug. She tucked a strand of hair that had gotten loose from her ponytail behind her ear.

[nixnight]

Nix smiled and then nodded to her sister, "well the i think its only fair you know one of mine, i found someone" she said with a smile as her sisters seemingly upset announcement of her secret being known. "not to mention the fact the baby is due any day now, but i guess that much is clear to see" nix said as her sister closed the gap between them before giving her a slightly odd sideways hug. Nix chuckled a little and then twisted her arms to hug her sister back before she looked down at her, "the scars don't matter, they will always be there to remind you but think of them as a way to grow. you have gotten past that life and in to a new one so they need only be memories and not sad feelings" nix said in a slow voice. She had been the same around grace's age with the scars on her arms as they had been so hard to miss but she had grown to just deal with them and grow from them life she had once known

[grace]

"Did you?" said Grace, suddenly becoming the bubbly, happy girl that only her family saw, "is it the Ravenclaw boy you were with at the dance?" She had only seen them once, they must have left early, but the boy was handsome. Tall, dark hair and vivid eyes. The blush was beginning to fade from her cheeks, though they still remained slightly pink. Grace smiled when Nix mentioned she was due any day now. She was excited to meet the little boy or girl someday soon, to be an auntie. As Nix spoke of the scars, Grace's gaze traveled down her exposed arms and legs. Circular ghosts of past burns from being used to put out cigarettes, raised scars from deep cuts, she couldn't even remember what specific event caused each one, there were too many. She looked back at Nix, no longer bubbly. "They just aren't good memories," sighed Grace.

[nixnight]

Nix smiled softly as her sister spoke, "nether are mine, but they are a way to remember that you can grow from being under someone and in to your own person. Scars can be useful and powerful if you let them be, just don't let them have a negative power over you" she said with a smile as she recited what Eliza had told her once. Eliza had a scar from the lose of her twins from when she was in her 20's, her scar reminded her that she was always going to be a mother but she just had to do it in other ways, and nix used that idea to think of a use for her own scars.

"and yes, he is" she said to her sisters other comment, she had liked the idea of the two already having seen each other so thar she wouldn't have to introduce sterling to cold stares. Of course she had a twin on her side in that way too as Kevin was in ravenclaw any way so he could even know sterling from outside the ball, even though that was a bit of an odd idea for nix to think over

[grace]

Grace bit her lip slightly, she supposed that was her problem. The scars did have power over her, she hated the way they looked, resented the prying eyes that asked for explanations. Explanations, of course, that Grace would never give to them. She still didn't talk to strangers, she wouldn't even talk to her family if there was someone she didn't know in the room. She kept her past, her scars, even her voice hidden away. Grace simply did not possess the boldness that Nix had, and doubted that she ever would. And in a way, her father's memory still tormented her.

In her mind, he was still there, even if he was locked up with the rest of the crazy people, he couldn't physically get to her- though he still loomed over her, still had so much control... "I'll have to try," Grace said quietly. Really, that was only the best she could do. Though she doubted she would ever let strangers see her like this, just like they weren't allowed to hear her voice. Her smile came back when Nix confirmed the someone she had found was the Ravenclaw boy she had been with at the dance. Grace was glad she had found someone that made her happy.

[nixnight]

*id like to use this thread as the one that James appears in, is that ok by you?*

Nix nodded as her sister spoke quietly about her scars comment before she smiled again, grace always has looked like the sort of girl you expect to be overly social and have loads of friends and be the doting mother of her social group yet she never could be. Nix knew how it felt to have a male push you don't and beat you about and yet she had always been the one to blast him Through the wall and knock him out. She guessed that her reason for being able to get past her issues was she has snapped as a child so it had been ok yet grace had never has her moment to snap.

She looked her sister over with a serious look all of a sudden as she smiled from her sterling related comment and then nodded down to her bump ,"grace, you've never told me what you thought about the baby. Maya did once but she was the only one, what do you think about it?"

[grace]

((OOC: Fine by me ^_^))

Grace wasn't quite sure if Nix was understanding where she was coming from with this- she knew they had both encountered horrific abuse, but she was unable to press past it. For so many years she had simply taken all he had dished out on her, the physical pain, the harsh words. Grace wasn't sure if she would ever be able to be as strong as Nix was, never as confident. She couldn't even speak to people she had not known for several years, how on earth was she supposed to be able to embrace what had happened to her? Or even move past the events that had caused her scars?

Grace was glad for a change in topic, though it went to a question that she was not entirely sure how to answer. Had the conditions in which the baby had come to be been ideal? No, though she could not help but feel excited. Another addition to the family simply meant more love to go around, she could only hope that Tain would get over himself about it, so they could all be happy. "I think he or she will be a wonderful addition to the family," Grace said genuinely, though she didn't bring up Tain, she knew better than that.

[nixnight]

Nix found herself smiling at her sisters small words, Maya was always the bubbly and Friendly one even though both her parents had killed themselves and yet grace was quiet one who acted as their mother now that Eliza was gone. "I thought you would be the one to say something like that, Maya just was glad to have another forest who was younger than her and to get the family back together" nix said in a long breath before she lowered a hand to her bump again. It wouldn't be long now before she could hold her baby in her arms, she was both scared and excited about it but she didn't know which one was winning inside her

Of course the feelings mixing gave her a small pain in her stomach and she sighed, this happened all the time now and yet this time her fingers curled at the pain. She shook her head and then looked down as she rubbed a hand over the bump only to feel something under her give and a curse slipped from her lip very loudly and very quickly

[grace]

Grace returned her sister's smile, ever since she had begun opening up with her family she found it hard not to reflect their emotions- even if they were negative ones. Grace supposed that she was just easily influenced by those that were close to her, making her suddenly grateful that she was not close with a lot of people. Granted, some might argue that five was a good number, they were family. Of the good variety, they would not use their power over her to hurt her as her father had done. "I think Maya could be a nurturer," Grace said thoughtfully, "if given someone to nurture."

Though she was the second youngest, she had managed to get to almost a matriarch sort of position in the Forest family, though she had always had that gentle, doting sort of personality that made it endearing when she cared for people older than her, rather than annoying. Grace flinched when Nix swore, automatically thinking of her father's foul mouthiness. She lightly shook her head at herself, now allowing worry to set in. "Are you all right?" asked Grace, her concern showing in her eyes.

[nixnight]

Nix felt her hand curl and she looked over towards grace with her eyes wide, she looked down and then felt a cool wetness seep through her jeans and she gave a yelp of shock. She saw a flicker of fear in her sisters eyes and she couldn't help but reach one hand out to comfort her before a small tense feeling shot through her stomach and she hissed in more shock than pain.

"grace, I need you to take me to the hospital wing, right now" she said in a tight voice as she lowered a hand to her shoe and took out her wand, she didn't need it of course but it comforted her to have in her fingers. "it seems the little kiddie has gotten bored of being here and wants to meet the world outside" she said in a strained voice as a second wave of pain shot through her chest again and she couldn't help but curl the hand on her chest again

[grace]

Grace, truth be told, was terrified out of her mind when she suddenly no longer needed an explanation. It seemed that Nix was going to be having a baby, and soon. She was excited, but at the same time suddenly nervous and weak-kneed. Thankfully, however, her sister seemed to be keeping a level head, allowing Grace to keep some manner of calmness to herself. She didn't need to be freaking out to make things worse than what they were. Really, it was a natural thing, babies were born every day. It was simply a part of life. Grace took in a deep breath and smiled nervously.

"Yes, the hospital wing," Grace said weakly, for a moment retreating into thought. Why take the long route when they were in the room that could make anything they needed? I need a passage to the infirmary, thought Grace, and no sooner had it crossed through her mind then a door appeared. She tugged it open before reaching back to take Nix by the hand, the same nervous smile on her lips.