Through her tears, LouAnn could tell that she'd completely and totally confused Mr. Masterson. She sighed then slumped down into her seat a little. She was starting to get a headache---a bad one, too. Then suddenly, as if some outside force was answering her silent pleas for help, she blinked once then assumed a trance-like state. Her loud sobs suddenly ceased, and she sat up straight and glanced at some odd point on the far wall. A few minutes passed before her face finally wrinkled in distress, and she yelled out to no one the groundskeeper could see. "Stop it! Stop it now!"

Little by little, she'd started to realize some of what was happening to her. She'd dreamt about her missing hours over and over again. ...and that Kyle kid, he was yelling at her to stop in the last nightmare she'd had. A fresh wave of tears came on, and LouAnn snapped out of her little trance and looked up at the groundskeeper. Well, if it wasn't crystal clear that things weren't okay now, LouAnn didn't know quite what to say.

"I'm not okay. I'm not okay. There was a man...and a woman and another man...," she mumbled, beginning bits and pieces of the story that had torn her family apart. "...but then Kyle was there...and I didn't...and he didn't..." Okay, now the two stories were blurring together and absolutely nothing was making sense anymore. The groundskeeper...was going to send her to St. Mungo's if she didn't straighten up. "I need hot chocolate..."

Constantine watched with concern as LouAnn all of a sudden shouted out at...him? Was he bothering her? No no...he had a feeling that it was not him. Something was dearly wrong here.

"Okay okay, relax. Breathe LouAnn. I'll make you some hot chocolate, just...breatheee and relax." With that, he quickly jumped up from his couch and headed to the kitchen, starting to heat up water for a hot chocolate.

Kylie looked into the hut silghtly.. she felt rude walking right into his house. I mean, it was his house, wasn't it? "May I come in?" She asked?
She stepped in a few feet, walking slowly. She didn't want to intrude. She inhaled deeply. It smelled really good in the hut. She suddenly wondered what Mr. Masterson's favorite subjects were when he was at Hogwarts. What house he'd been in. Had he graduated from Hogwarts?
"Did you used to go to Hogwarts?" She asked, lightly.

LouAnn breathed in then breathed out...breathed in then breathed out...

She repeated those steps a few more times until she was sure she could at least focus on the conversation they were having. She took the tissue he'd over her some time earlier and dabbed the rest of her tears away. She was getting hot chocolate now, so everything would be okay, right? Maybe the hot chocolate would settle her down and the conversation could continue without any more interruptions for forces that could not be seen. "Th-thank you, sir," she half-mumbled.

EARLIER:

"Certainly, come on in," he motioned for her to follow him, pulling his coat off as he went. "Err..welcome to my home," he chuckled, looking around a little before turning his head to look at the little one. "Oh, yes, I did," he nodded. "I was a Ravenclaw."

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LATER:
As soon as the teapot was whistling, Constantine poured a mug of hot chocolate for LouAnn, even throwing in a few marshmallows. Marshmallows always made him feel better. "Here you go," he said gently, returning back to the living room area and handing her the mug. He returned to his seat on the couch.

"Whenever you're comfortable again, start from the beginning...but go slowly this time. I can't help you when your thoughts jump everywhere."

"Thanks...," LouAnn replied, her voice coming out in no more than a very soft whisper. Had things not been unusually quiet at the moment, one might have thought her mouth was just moving with no sound coming out. Glancing in the cup, she saw that he'd even added marshmallows into her hot chocolate. She smiled at him then enjoyed her drink for a minute or two before speaking up again.

"When I was ten-years-old, and my brother was five-years-old, we witnessed a Death Eater related murder in the woods outside outside our home," she said, stopping to glance up at Mr. Masterson. Her parents would have a fit of the worst kind of they found out she was sharing this. "Lucas and I were able to get away, but...they followed us." She stopped and waited to see if he had anything else to say before she carried on.

Okay, this was progress.

"Okay...I'm with you so far," he nodded, sitting back in the sofa, but continuing to watch her carefully. "So the death eaters followed you and...what happened? Take your time," he soothed, letting her know that she didn't need to rush at all. So far, grass could wait.

LouAnn slowly nodded when Mr. Masterson mentioned how he was with her so far. Good, good. So no repeats were necessary. Saying this once was difficult enough. "Before I go any further, sir, I need to tell you that my parents would have a fit if they knew I was telling you this. You'll understand just why when I'm done," she reported.

"Alright, so Lucas and I got back to the house, but within twenty-four hours, my entire family was under attack. The Death Eaters had targeted us and shown up to do Merlin knows what. My father sent a patronus---a lion---to ask for immediate help," she said, stopping to take a few sips of her hot chocolate.

"To make a long story short, that was the night I became a living, breathing target. We were able to get away, luckily. We escaped to another country, where we were placed in the Wizarding Protection Program. As part of the program, we've got to move at least once every two years, plus change our surname when we do so," she said. Nope, she wasn't a Purple. At least that was out in the open now. "I'm on my fifth last name now."

Constantine...didn't know what to say. The child sitting in his hut had just told him straight up that she was hiding from death eaters. She had to create a new life...and hide from her old one. Merlin, that sounded a...lot like his life. Scary.

"So...your last name...isn't Purple, then? Well.." and then he paused and laughed, shaking his head a little. "Nevermind...you probably won't say...and that's fine. I respect that...we're not too different you and I," he nodded.

"Now," he paused and regarded her carefully again. "You mentioned another name...Kyle. Who's Kyle?"

LouAnn stared at the man in front of her for a few minutes before finally shaking her head just a few times. "My last name isn't Purple. My mum's name is Lavender, so this time, when we changed, we sort of made our last name be a tribute to her. We do that with each of our last names," she said, finding it easier and easier to tell this man her story.

"In Los Angeles, California, I was LouAnn Starbucks, because there was a store of that name on at least every corner. Hmm...oh, and once, when my father was feeling rather homesick, he thought of Heathrow Airport....so, yeah, LouAnn Heathrow. Two years later, in the month of October, we changed locations in the middle of the night. LouAnn October, I was then," she explained.

"It's not that I won't tell you my real last name, but...I've been taught to lie so much that I'm afraid to tell the truth," she sadly said. "I'm also afraid they'll catch up with us...and it'll be all my fault." She sighed and placed her cup of hot chocolate off to the side. She'd finish it later when the conversation wasn't so serious. "Not too different, you and I? How so?" she asked.

Kyle, hmm. The Kyle situation was a mystery, but one that had plagued so much she supposed it was only right to see if someone held some answers. "The kid who died---Kyle, the Hufflepuff. I've been having nightmares about him for a few nights now. He calls out to me to help and to save him. Sometimes, though, he calls out for me to stop," she said, a tear going down her cheek.

"Telling you to stop," he questioned, with a curious look to match. Nightmares of a dead child? Constantine knew first hand...that wasn't good. But...surely she couldn't be capable of such a thing? "These nightmares...is there anything more to them? Or, do you just hear his voice?" He wasn't missing her question on purpose...just saving it for a time when she didn't look so distressed.

Kylie nodded. Ravenclaw. Sometimes she wondered how she didn't end up in Ravenclaw. "You have a really beautiful..home." she paused slightly before home, it was quite extraordinary in a unique way. "So what happened after Hogwarts? I mean, why are you still working here?" He didn't really seem that old..

"Telling me to stop," LouAnn repeated, her words still coming out in more of a whisper. She followed that statement by a slow and unsure nod, as Mr. Masterson was glancing at her with quite a curious look. He was either horrified or deeply perplexed---which one, though, LouAnn wasn't sure.

She shrugged when he asked her if there was anything more to her nightmares. "Not really. I can't ever be for sure as to what's really happening in them. It's kind of like, I see Kyle, but he's at a place I can't reach. Either that, or, I'm just standing by and watching while something happens to him," she answered. She cringed a bit then slid down in her seat a little, now unsure about what she'd revealed.

EARLIER:

"Why thank you," he laughed, smiling as well in response to her compliment of his home. Eh, he did what he could to make it homey. I graduated from Hogwarts many many years ago..I've only been working here for at least 5 years. I guess I just needed a change of pace in life? I really don't know," he chuckled.

---------------------------------
Later:

Wait a minute.

It just clued in that LouAnn was talking about a DEAD kid. A DEAD Hufflepuff. He was...partially in charge of overseeing the Hufflepuff house; why hadn't he been informed of this? More importantly, how did LouAnn know? There were only two logical explanations as to why she would have nightmares about him: either she saw the kid get killed...

...or she IS the reason why.

It would be a grave accusation, surely. One that he wouldn't make.

"Does or has anybody else found out about the death of the kid? Any other staff?...The Headmaster? What about Professor Shackleton?"

LouAnn's eyes flickered up towards the groundskeeper. She actually watched him long enough to figure out what he was thinking---and it honestly freaked her out. It freaked her out for two different reasons---one being the fact that she was scared something horrible was about to happen to her if people started suspecting her to be Kyle's murderer. The other being the fact that she, too, had wondered just what Mr. Masterson was starting to wonder himself.

In a state of panic, she raised her hands to her mouth and let out a loud sob. "I don't know...I don't know!" she wailed. "I don't know what happened to the body after he died. I don't where they took him or where he is now..." She curled up into a tiny ball in the chair and continued to sob. "I want to go homeee!"

Children sure were strange. But, this wasn't strange...it was concerning.

Roma let out a whine and jumped up onto the chair LouAnn was sitting in, trying to nuzzle her fuzzy head again the crying child. Constantine immediately jumped out off the sofa and knelt down in front of the chair.

"It's okay! LouAnn, it's okay that you don't know...I was just curious." Gah. He really needed Madison to give him a lesson in female freak-outs, he truly did not know what to do. "No..no, you can't go home. I don't want you to leave...I'm sure you have many friends who don't want you to go. Your place is here. You're safer here." Roma tried to lick the girl's cheek. "See! Look! Roma wants you to stay."

When something large and furry landed in the chair near her, LouAnn rolled over and snuggled against Roma. She felt a little more safe and secure with Roma by her side. She nodded in reply to what Mr. Masterson had said about it being okay that she didn't know. Deep down inside, she thought she might now, but everything was still foggy right now.

"Ohhh, I'm so sorry. I'm a mess," she said, wiping her tears on her shirt. She reached over and hugged Roma, grateful for the affection the dog had shown her. She said no more about wanting to go home. She knew it was a hasty decision and really---hadn't she wanted to be at Hogwarts all alone? "Safer? How so?" she asked.

"It's okay," he soothed, smiling as Roma settled in close to the child. "You've obviously experienced something traumatic. I know...it's not easy," he smiled, trying to be comforting. "Death eaters can't touch you here at Hogwarts...if they try, they've got a lot of people to go through first."

Kylie was naturally extremely honest, and often found herself saying things she should be keeping to herself. "Yeah. It's kind of amazing isn't it? I mean, until I was 8 I had no idea the wizarding world existed.. then when I turned 8 my grandma told me.. and after that I just had to hide. No one could know, obviously. My mum and dad weren't exactly happy at first, it was so lonely.. and now I don't have to hide anymore." She said bluntly.
She covered her mouth quickly, realizing what she'd said.

At the sound of Mr. Masterson's voice, LouAnn managed to calm herself down just a little bit more. He was being so kind and understanding to her when he really didn't have to. I mean, she was acting like a true nutcase, so he could have easily kicked her out his hut and send her right to the headmaster. Or worse...St. Mungo's.

"So you understand...good. Good, good. Very good," she replied, petting Roma as she mumbled a reply to the groundskeeper. "I don't think I'm worried about the Death Eaters as much as I'm worried about my parents. They'd be so disappointed in me if they knew I was being so honest with my past. They've worked very hard to erase us."

EARLIER:

Constantine took a seat at a the dining room table, motioning for the girl to take one as well, if she wanted. "Eh, don't worry about your parents," he started, leaning forward onto the table with his elbows. "They'll see the light soon enough...realize what a talented little one you are," he smiled. "They're just afraid of change...but, there are things in life that they have no control over...and this is one of them," he nodded. "Looks like they're are just going to have to deal with it." He smiled encouragingly and continued to nod slowly.

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LATER:

Constantine nodded understandingly and took a seat fully on the floor, leaning back against the chair. "I know...it's not easy living a lie..." He paused, he had to make her feel better about what she had done. She had said so much when she wasn't supposed to. Hmm...where to start?

"In the muggle world...if you look my name up in the database, you'll find an interesting tid bit of information that lovingly says I am dead," he let out, chuckling as if it was amusing. It really wasn't, but it sort of was at the same time.

Kylie sat down carefully, "Thanks." He'd been the first one to tell her that. Her grandmother had been paranoid about the wizarding world and having a grand daughter in it.. so she'd been forcing information and spells and training down her throat since she was eight. The times at her grandmother's had been amazing, hilarious, fun. But, she had to hide so much of her skill from her parents. Especially her dad who'd had no idea of magic up until this point. At least her mother had been aware. "I think.. I almost think they're scared of me. I used to go to my grandmother's house every weekend.. she's so paranoid about the 'dangers of this world'. Everything I already know, for the most part, I've learned because of her." Kylie sighed, was this world really that dangerous? In the books she'd read it appeared dangerous.. but being at Hogwarts, it seemed so different. Teachers wands vanishing was strange.. she'd heard whispers that someone she'd met vaguely had died. But that's all she'd heard. She didn't know where or how or when. "Is it really that dangerous?" She asked outloud. "I mean.. a boys died right? And wands are going missing.. but the wands could just be a joke. And people who are careless die all the time." She concluded. Oops. She'd thought outloud again, she mentally slapped herself. "Sorry. When I get going I tend to think out loud." She amended.

LouAnn wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion when Mr. Masterson said it wasn't easy to live a lie. How would he know? She was sure he could easily guess how it would feel, but she wondered if he knew what it was really like to never be able to tell anyone who you really are.

She blinked...twice...then stared at him with an astonished look. Dead? Mr. Masterson? He was sitting right here, though! Unless of course...nahhh, ghosts were a tad more transparent. "Dead? Why, though? Why would you want a world full of people to think you're dead?" she questioned, all her wonderings coming out at once. "Is that...why...well, is that why you...nevermind." She was about to ask if that was why he didn't live with his wife and daughter, but she changed her mind at the last minute.

EARLIER:

Constantine frowned a little bit. "A boy's died? I know there have been a few incidents in the past ending unfortunately for a couple students...but I haven't been made aware of any this term." He then smiled after and shook his head gently. "No worries...sometimes it is best to speak the mind...just so long as you don't say anything insulting about me," he joked.

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LATER:

Constantine let out a laugh. "You think I wanted people believe I was dead? Dear child...I had no choice. The job I had...I was involved in really bad auto accident. I was of no more use to them, so..BAM. Out came the newspaper article stating that the driver of a red Audi was pronounced dead at the scene." He laughed dryly, finding himself staring into the fire place. He had that article around here somewhere...

To say that LouAnn was a little confused would definitely be an understatement. She wrinkled her eyebrows and did a quick mental review of what Mr. Masterson had just said. She then shook her head to indicate that no, she didn't believe he wanted people to believe he was dead. "I'm a little confused, sir. What job did you have...and why were you no longer of use to...who?" she asked, a ton of questions coming out at once. "How did you get official people to believe you were dead?" She knew she was asking more than a small amount of questions, but she just couldn't help it. She'd never known anyone to lead a life so similar to hers.