Youth Can Be So Cruel

A couple of more days passed by and the full moon came and went. They always left Lyall feeling drained and she wished she could just skip the consecutive day's classes as she had when she was younger, but it was OWL year and that would be a bad idea.

So instead, she trudged her way to the Great Hall for breakfast, feet dragging. There was no doubt that she would fall asleep in at least one of her classes that day. And she had Snape. That was bloody lovely...

Meegan woke up energized. She had been paying attention to Lyall's movements, and the moon phases. This was probably the first time she'd actually focused in astronomy class, and Professor Sinistra was ecstatic to have an eager student, for the short period she did.

From this, Meegs had determined that the full moon had come and gone last night, and she set her sights on finding Lyall in a private place to have a discussion with her. Her ideas were confirmed when, in the Great Hall that morning, Lyall looked as if she had gotten no sleep at all. Meegan grinned. This would make things even easier for her if Lyall was so tired, because she would not have nearly as much resistance. Also, tired people's brains moved more slowly, and it was much easier to catch them off guard, and much harder for them to react in a way that they would not regret later.

She followed Lyall and sat diagonal to her at breakfast, but did not say anything yet. She wanted to be alone to drop the bomb.

Lyall sat down for breakfast, not even paying attention to anyone/anything. Instead, she just moved her plate out of her way and laid her head on the table. It wasn't until her stomach growled lightly that she even considered food. So, Ly lifted her head and grabbed some food, not minding what it was. She honestly didn't care.

After that was over and done with she got up to leave the hall, in favor of somewhere with less noise. All of the talking was hurting her head, since she was still recovering from her transformation the night before and the super senses it brought with it.

Meegs hung out at the table, watching Lyall. Lyall was completely oblivious to the fact that she was there, and it seemed that she was either very tired, developing a headache, or both, based on the way she was cradling her head. She looked absolutely miserable already, and anyone with a conscience would have left it alone for the day, or left it alone altogether. However, Meegan had a severely underdeveloped, warped conscience, and it just made her even more determined to go through with her plan. She was a determined person, and once she set her mind on a new goal, she would follow through with it.

Meegan was surprised with how oblivious Lyall was, but that worked to her advantage. This would completely blow her out of the water. Meegs watched as Lyall got up, finished eating, and walked out of the Great Hall. Already having eaten, Meegan wandered along behind her, leaving a lot of space out of habit more than necessity. Lyall was so out of it that morning that she would not notice anyway. Meegan was surprised to find that Lyall was not wandering to her next class, or the common room, but to an empty hallway. This would suit her purposes perfectly.

"Hello there!" Meegan said, walking up closer to where Lyall had stopped. Her tone was cheerful, because she knew that Lyall would not want her there anyway.

Lyall had finally found somewhere peaceful and quiet, an empty school hallway, when that was shattered. She turned to where the voice had come from. "What do you want?" she asked in a tired voice. Although, she was quite a bit more aware than she was acting, courtesy of still diminishing wolf senses.

"What do you want?" Lyall asked, almost groaning from exhaustion. Her eyes looked a bit brighter than Meegs had originally noticed, which made her a bit suspicious. However, she dismissed it, focusing on getting this right. She could not screw this up, or all her leverage, all her power, was lost. If she screwed this conversation up, it was the end of her chance, which was the best chance that she had had in a long time. It was so rare that someone had such a great secret, that no one else knew, that would ruin a person so thoroughly.

No pressure, or anything.

"Oh, nothing much. I just was wondering how you've been. You seem a bit tired." Meegan wanted to enjoy this, and if she cut right to the chase, she would not be early as effective.

"I'm fine," Ly answered shortly. "Now could you leave me alone. I have a slight headache and intend to get rid of it before classes start up in a little while." She looked at the girl and could tell she had no intention of leaving Lyall alone any time soon.

"I'm fine," Ly answered, losing her temper already, it seemed. That took a lot less time than Meegan thought it would, which was good, in a way, but bad in another. "Now could you leave me alone. I have a slight headache and intend to get rid of it before classes start up in a little while."

Meegan smiled, enjoying the situation entirely too much. "We both know that I have no intention to leave you alone. I'll be hounding you until you answer my question, which you completely avoided. What were you up to last night? I heard you leave the Slytherin common room." Oh dear. She was resorting to using puns, though she wove it into the sentence flawlessly. She knew it would not take long before Lyall figured out that Meegan knew--maybe her hints would finally get her attention, and make her listen to her wording. It would do them all some good, and make Meegan's life easier.

"We both know that I have no intention to leave you alone. I'll be hounding you until you answer my question, which you completely avoided. What were you up to last night? I heard you leave the Slytherin common room."

Lyall did not like the way Meegan had emphasized the word 'hounding', but she didn't let it show on her face any. "I wasn't up to anything," Lyall replied. "Now leave."

Lyall did not seem to be phased by Meegan's hints, but she did seem to be rather annoyed. "I wasn't up to anything," Lyall replied, angrily. "Now leave." They both knew that Meegan was not going anywhere, and Meegan did not know why Lyall was bothering to waste her time and energy in asking her to repeatedly.

"Don't boss me around. It would not be beneficial to either of us. If you keep that up, you never know, a hairy secret of yours just might be leaked, and where would we be then? I take it you don't really have many friends to begin with, I wonder what would happen if the rest of the school knew." She looked at her perfectly manicured nails, waiting for some sort of response from Lyall. She did not know which reaction that might be, but any normal person would react badly knowing that someone figured such a thing out. That was a pretty heavy secret for her to be keeping solely on her own shoulders.

"Don't boss me around. It would not be beneficial to either of us. If you keep that up, you never know, a hairy secret of yours just might be leaked, and where would we be then?" Lyall heard Meegan say, and then she sort of turned her out. A second later though, what the girl had said registered in Ly's tired mind.

She looked at the other girl, frowning just enough to be detected. "What are you talking about?" she asked, pulling off the clueless bit. Lyall had an idea, but there was no use in reacting strongly and then having her assumption be wrong. That would only serve to end in disaster.

Meegan watched as Lyall's eyes glazed over. She was not paying a bit of attention to what Meegan was saying, which was the worst possible idea. However, as Meegs went along, Lyall snapped out of it, quickly masking the frown of concern on her face. Meegan still saw it, though. She knew, she definitely was onto something.

"What are you talking about?" Lyall asked, trying to sound clueless, and confused. However, she did not quite pull it off. The hint of anxiety and of fear, in her eyes was barely discernible, but Meegan saw them. It was the moments like this when Meegan came alive, noticing every detail and facial expression, when she could read people the best. She could always tell the best way to get to someone, and she analyzed for every hint that she might be on to something.

She was definitely on to something.

"I think we both know what you're talking about." She paused for a second, saying the next part in an off-handed manner, but with malice lacing her tone, strengthening her implications. "So, I hear last night was a full moon. Were you outside to see it when you snuck out of the common room? I hear the werewolves were out."

"So, I hear last night was a full moon. Were you outside to see it when you snuck out of the common room? I hear the werewolves were out," Meegan was saying. That was when Lyall decided that the girl definitely knew her secret. She inwardly frowned. This could be potentially bad. She didn't respond to the other girl, lest she say something that would dig this hole even deeper.

As Meegan continued to talk, she watched Lyall's expression. Lyall froze as the realization that Meegs knew exactly what was going on hit. She did not seem to react nearly as much as Meegan would have liked; in fact, if anything, she seemed frozen, unable to create any facial expression beyond her apparently typical stone-faced one. She clearly was caught off guard, but her face spelled out none of the concern that she should have felt.

Nothing except for her eyes. Her eyes betrayed her.

"Well," finished Meegan. "Aren't you going to say something? Or would you like to hear the parameters, first."

"To answer you I would have to speak, so both," Lyall replied after having gotten to where she could speak again. Her brain was zooming at a hundred miles an hour and she didn't know what to think or do at the moment, short of something stupid and drastic. Both things which Ly was not. "But I think I want to know how you found out the most." She wasn't denying anything. That wouldn't get her anywhere. So it was best to figure out where she'd slipped up instead.

"To answer you I would have to speak, so both, but I think I want to know how you found out the most."

Lyall's dismay and sheer shock started to leak into her voice. It was about time, Meegan mused. She really did take a long time for it to sink in--much longer than the average person. Or, maybe it sunk in, but she was not quite able to verify it? Meegs was not entirely certain, but she DID know that it finally had hit her, and the fun was about to begin. It WOULD be fun.

Meegan had a rule--she did not tell anything about how she got her information. She was always very vague, and this would be no exception. "I did some digging around, let's say. It is not really important. You can find out anything about anyone, you just need a bit of persistence, and to be in with the right people. Any other questions, before I make my demands?"

"I did some digging around, let's say. It is not really important. You can find out anything about anyone, you just need a bit of persistence, and to be in with the right people. Any other questions, before I make my demands?"

Lyall frowned at the girl, dread building within her. "I don't particularly want to hear any demands from you, but I suppose you're going to subject me to them anyway," she said. "And I also suppose you're going to suggest something to me in order for you to keep my secret a secret."

"I don't particularly want to hear any demands from you, but I suppose you're going to subject me to them anyway," Lyall said, a bit of fear leaking into her voice. "And I also suppose you're going to suggest something to me in order for you to keep my secret a secret."

Meegan smiled. "It seems you are catching on pretty quickly, Lyall. See, it is a rather important secret. That is not the kind of thing you want leaking out to the general public. So many different things could happen. I mean, you already don't have any friends, but you don't have anyone who really bothers you, either, do you?" Meegan paused, before continuing thoughtfully. "Though, I don't count, so don't even try that. Either way, if you expect me to keep such a large secret for you, there should be some incentive. I really have no personal interest, and I have no qualms about leaking this to the entire school. Oh, parents would be angry, and you'd be ostracized."

Meegan smiled at the thought of completely ruining a person like that, but she needed to get what she wanted from Lyall before outing her. That was part of the game.

"But, if you play your cards right, you just might convince me to keep my mouth shut about this."

The longer that Meegan talked, the more dread Lyall felt. This was going to end up badly, and she just knew it. It was basically inevitable. This was the very reason she didn't have friends. Because then they would find out, and one slip up and everything would be ruined. She just wanted to get through school and then out into the world, where admittedly things would be bad enough.

She sighed, mostly to herself, and looked at Meegan. "And just what is it going to take for you to keep quiet about this?" she asked, knowing full and well that she was digging herself into a hole that was not going to be pleasant or easy to get out of.

"And just what is it going to take for you to keep quiet about this?"

Lyall looked resigned, as if she had just been waiting for something like this to happen. However, that did not satisfy Meegan--she was going to draw this out as long as she possibly could. She wasn't going to tell Lyall right away. No, that would be entirely too easy, for such a big secret. She was going to make this more fun, throwing in a twist that would make Lyall even more miserable.

She was going to make her pick her own poison.

"Well, let's see. It is a secret that could destroy YOU. I don't see how it makes sense that I'd be the one making the demands. The question is not what I want, but what you are willing to do to keep this in closed doors. What ARE you willing to do, Lyall? Remember, this could completely ruin you. Something small wouldn't keep my mouth shut."

"Well, let's see. It is a secret that could destroy YOU. I don't see how it makes sense that I'd be the one making the demands. The question is not what I want, but what you are willing to do to keep this in closed doors. What ARE you willing to do, Lyall? Remember, this could completely ruin you. Something small wouldn't keep my mouth shut."

Lyall ran her hand through her hair, biting her bottom lip. Upon starting school, she had been told to keep her...condition a secret no matter what if she wanted to stay at school, since parents would rally for her to be kicked out if they knew. So, with that in mind, there was only one real answer for what she would be willing to do.

Avoiding looking at Meegan, Lyall said, "I would be willing to do anything."

Lyall ran her hand through her hair, absentmindedly. She looked like she was on the verge of a meltdown. Meegan smiled. This was even better than she had expected. Clearly, there was something more at stake than just Lyall's social status, which was not good to begin with. Clearly, there were more pressures on her that she was not telling, knowing that it would give Meegan a leg up.

Thus, Meegan was expecting what came next, with an excited anticipation that should have scared Lyall to death. "I would be willing to do anything." Those simple words, combined with the refusal to meet Meegan's eyes, were the sweetest words in the world, at that moment.

"Anything?" Meegan said, staring straight into Lyall's face. "Are you sure? Anything is pretty nonspecific. Open to a lot of interpretation."

"Anything? Are you sure? Anything is pretty nonspecific. Open to a lot of interpretation."

Of course, Lyall was sure. She had to be, no matter how much she wanted to say 'No, I'm not'. It was a matter of her education. So, she nodded at Meegan. "I'm as sure as I can be about the matter," she said quietly.

If Lyall had a sense of dread before, it was even worse now, with the way Meegan was saying certain things. This was not going to end well for Lyall, as if she needed more stress and trouble piled up on her shoulders.

She ran her hand through her hair again, vaguely trying to get her mind off of the problem at hand by wondering how long it was until classes started. Couldn't be too long; they had been standing there for a short while.

"I'm as sure as I can be about the matter."

Lyall looked numb, panicked, yet frozen. She looked resigned to Meegan's cruel plans for her, which made Meegan grin. It was more fun when her victims tried to fight back, this was true. When that happened, she got so much more power, in the end, when she broke their spirits, leaving them alone and hopeless. However, it looked like Lyall was already alone, and being hopeless appeared to have already begun. Maybe Lyall would be easier to break than Meegs thought. It seemed way too easy, though, and Meegan was a bit cautious. If something went wrong, it could end very, very badly for both of them.

"Well, then," Meegan said, her words oozing out, like inky black oil into clear waters, "It seems that we have an agreement. I'm glad you are reasonable. If you weren't, we would have had some issues."

She looked at Lyall for a second, pondering what her fate should be.

"Well, then. It seems that we have an agreement. I'm glad you are reasonable. If you weren't, we would have had some issues." Meegan said, her words bringing more dread to Lyall from the tone of them. She was quite apprehensive about how this would all play out in the end of things.

Lyall was about to say something, when the bell rang to tell students to head to classes soon or they would be late for them. She was glad for this, as it would give her a chance to escape Meegan, even if they would be in the same classes. That didn't mean Lyall had to be near to her anymore.