Feeling Alone (Maddie and Lyn?)

Lyra sighed. Recently she'd just been feeling... bad. Sad. Tired. Rejected. Lonely. She hardly ever saw Lyn anymore. For the first time in, well, forever, her sister had more friends than her. In fact, she didn't have any, unless you counted Hunter's friends, which she didn't. It just made life uninteresting and lonely.

Nothing much happened in the first few days at school. Her time was mainly spent alone, reading, drawing, sleeping or eating. It was the same story, the same routine. And Lyra hated it. She almost hated Lyn for being too caught up in her own friendships to spend any time with her. She almost hated Blake for stealing her siblings away from her. And although she was the twin in support of Hunter and Aoife's relationship, she almost hated Hunter for never even acknowledging her, too busy with Aoife or Blake.

It sucked, put it that way.

Since there was practically nothing to do on this raining Saturday afternoon, she headed down to the library after eating lunch. Alone. She had a couple of pieces of homework to do to occupy herself. If she found a quiet table, that was her ready for the afternoon. An empty one in the corner caught her eye so she walked over and sat down.

Genuinely, she meant to get that homework done, but it wasn't urgent so it was okay. When the reached into her bag for a quill, she remembered the book on offensive spells and their uses. It was interesting. Lyra had learnt about many potentially harmful and dangerous spells over the past few days. There were only a few pages left, so she grabbed that instead and continued reading.

Going to the library with a friend was so much better than going alone. Maddie liked Lyn, she was so sweet and nice and friendly. And she was a good person to go to the library and do homework or read with. So when it was a dreary day and she had nothing much to do, the Hufflepuff didn't hesitate in asking her friend to come up to the library with her.

Even though she definitely counted Lyn as a friend now, Madeline still didn't talk too much to her as they walked. Just because she was more comfortable around the girl, it didn't mean she was any less shy and reluctant to talk.

Madeline pushed open the door and looked around for an empty table. There were a couple over at the far side of the room where they could go.

But then, as she was heading towards one in the corner, she saw something weird. A girl who looked just like Lyn. With very few differences. "Who's that?" she whispered to the girl who she hoped was the real Lyn. "Is it just me or is that you as well?" Was it like all those adventure movies where they cloned people.

Although Lyn had a few friends in Hogwarts, she was still quite shy when it came to talking to others. When she wasn't lost in the corridors, or exploring outside, she was usually found in the Hufflepuff Common Room, trying to do her homework. That was what she had been doing on that rainy afternoon. Mind you, it was comfortable in the Common Room, with the fire inside while the cold was outside, but Lyn's head was aching from trying to remember everything from class. It was then when Maddie came up to her and asked her to go to the library with her.

Lyn didn't waste much time in agreeing. The two had met only last year, and they talked a few times. Lyn thought that Maddie was pretty cool, but they didn't talk much on their way to the library. Maddie seemed quiet and Lyn didn't want to bother her. She was trying to concentrate on carrying her heavy books anyway. When they arrived, Maddie was surveying the room. Lyn stopped for a minute to pick up a book on the ground and put it on the nearest shelf. When she stood up again, Maddie was asking her if she was also on one of those tables.

She looked at where Maddie was looking and, for a moment, almost thought that she was looking at herself as well. Then Lyn shook her head and then whispered to Maddie, "That's Lyra. My sister." Hadn't she told Maddie about her twin? Still, she beamed. "Come, I'll introduce you," Lyn whispered again, deciding that the two should meet. With her free hand, she held Maddie's arm and softly pulled her towards her sister. Judging by her memory, Lyn had talked to Maddie more than she had talked to Lyra this year, and suddenly she felt a bit guilty about. Lyra must be really lonely...

"Hello!" Lyn whispered a bit loudly, but not too loudly so the entire library could hear. She dumped her books on the table as quietly as she could and motioned for Maddie to sit somewhere. She was excited but then realized that Maddie might not be as excited. Lyn hesitated for a moment, but sat down, and glanced at what Lyra was reading. Offensive spells? That was... weird. Maybe it was for a homework, so Lyn ignored it. "Lyra, this is Maddie. Maddie, Lyra."

When she heard a cheerful and familiar-sounding voice, Lyra looked up, slightly surprised. Lyn. "Hello," she said coldly, before turning back to her book. What did she want? I think some company is overdue, I've started talking to the pictures on the wall. That was actually true, in the past few days she'd talked to a lot of portraits.

But then the Gryffindor noticed another girl behind her for the first time. The shy one that never spoke in class. From what she knew, she was pretty similar to her sister. They were a good match for each other. Still, she wouldn't forgive "Maddie", as her name apparently was, for stealing Lyn.

"Hi Maddie!" she said with a clearly artificial smile and sickly tone. Maybe this wasn't fair, maybe Lyn hadn't realised she'd completely abandoned and rejected Lyra since the very start of the year. Maybe.

Since the two of them were little shy Hufflepuffs, she imagined they weren't going to make the most conversation. so she might as well say something. "How are you?" how was life? In Hufflepuff? Without her? Although the question was aimed at both of her, she was eager to discover if Lyn was avoiding her deliberately.

But that wasn't the most Lyn-like thing to do.

Oh yeah, maybe Lyn had mentioned having a sister and some brothers at some point. She'd had just forgotten. Her friend was lucky; she seemed to get on well with her siblings but Madeline's one brother totally ignored her. Nervously, she nodded and followed Lyn over to her sister.

Lyra seemed to be quite cold and hostile. And that was just towards Lyn. Did she have something against her sister? There she was, imagining they were close, what with being twins and everything. But she merely said a word and returned to her book. What would she do when she noticed Maddie behind her?

"H-hi Lyra," she stuttered. Although the girl did say hello too, it was obvious she wasn't being genuine. It was too sweet and sickly, in comparison to how she'd just been to Lyn. "Nice to meet you." Maddie tried to smile nicely and actually genuinely.

When she asked how they were, the Hufflepuff wasn't sure who the question was really directed at. "I'm fine, thanks," she murmured. "Hey, what are you reading?" Madeline loved books and maybe it was something interesting and worth trying herself. Wait...offensive spells? That didn't sound too nice.