Chapter Text
The benefit of being out this late is that there was no one there for her to bother. She could move around freely and do as she pleased without having to worry about someone catching her. The blanket of night was truly a beautiful thing.
The air tonight was especially nice. It was cool and accepting, unlike the blistering heat the sun wanted to subject them to. Maybe it was just because she was in a good mood, but the stars looked especially pretty tonight. She should grab her paints and some paper and paint it. Maybe also a candle. Because as much as the stars were bright tonight, colours weren’t forgiving. She didn’t want to waste good paint on thinking she was using the right colours and instead made a big mess of it.
Like she always did.
Its fine, Bernie. It’s the night sky and if you have a candle it’s going to be fine. She wanted to do this, and who knew when the next time it was going to be this nice out. She’d be an even bigger fool if she didn’t try to paint this.
She’d quickly run back to her dorm. It would take her a few trips, because she couldn’t risk ruining stuff because she was clumsy and broke something. There was a nice spot down by the docks where the water reflected the sky beautifully. She’d set her things down there and set up once it was all there.
As she walked, she started to feel better about this. This was going to be a great little painting. If she did it well enough, she could probably hang it up in her room. Or at least have it on her desk so she could see it as studied so she knew she could at least do one thing right. She was starting to feel so good, that she started to hum a little tune as she carried her stuff out. Quietly, because she didn’t want to wake anyone up.
The humming came to an abrupt stop, as she saw someone else there in the dark. She couldn’t see any traits of them, but the horror came in that they knew who she was. She was the one holding a candle in the middle of the night.
“Oh, you’re from the Black Eagles house, aren’t you?” It wasn’t a voice she recognized.
But they knew who she was.
They had probably heard about how she was the freak who didn’t leave her room.
They must’ve been out here to spy on her because they thought she was up to something.
That she was doing something that she wasn’t supposed to be doing.
“I-I’m not breaking any rules!! There’s no rules that say I can’t be out at night! I’m perfectly within my rights!”
They were the one who was suspicious here. They were just out here in the dark waiting for her. She was the real victim here, and she wouldn’t let them flip this on her.
“I didn’t think that you were breaking any rules. I-I was just out here enjoying the view. I didn’t mean to startle you.” They said defensively.
But it was too late. She was already onto them. She knew their game. They were trying to get her to lower her guard so that they could get her in some way. But she wasn’t about to let that happen. She was a lot of things, but gullible wasn’t one of them!
“You can’t trick me! You were just trying to scare me out here so I’d wake everyone up with my screaming! You can’t fool me that easily!” She wasn’t about to be made a fool in front of everyone like this. You aren’t going to get Bernie that easily, stranger!!
She’d blow out her candle and rush back to her room. They didn’t use her name, so the odds of them being able to follow her back to her room was low. Especially in the dark. They didn’t have the advantage she did of all the trips she had made to and from her room since she had gotten here, and they couldn’t follow her under the cover of night.
Running into her room, she closed the door and hid under her covers. No matter how slim the chance of them following her was, she wasn’t going to risk it.
They must’ve thought that they were so clever, but Bernie has played this game before. She knew the exact maneuvers you had to do to make it look like you had been in bed sleeping the whole time and not doing things you weren’t supposed to.
Even if they were to bring a professor in to talk to her about how she shouldn’t be up at night and that she wasn’t in trouble (even though Bernie knew for a fact that she would be) and how they were just here to talk, they wouldn’t believe them.
Her technique was years in the making. She had immunity now and they would be the one in trouble because they were the one that woke a professor up in the middle of the night to tattle on someone who had done no wrong! Now who was the fool!!
As her heart raced in bed, she couldn’t help but realize that she was the fool. She had been too preoccupied holding in screams to keep her from bringing any more attention to herself, that she had forgotten all her things out there. Her canvas, paints, brushes, everything were still there by the steps of the dining hall.
Now that jerk was going to have something to lure her out with later.
Now she had to decide which one was worse: braving the market, or confronting that jerk and getting her things back. Neither of them sounded like good options, and she knew that no matter how hard she hoped her stuff wasn’t still going to be there waiting for her in the morning.
Oh Bernie, you’ve really done it this time.