#!closed starter

               In true Gryffindor spirit, the end of term signified a celebration, one happily provided for by the Marauders who had split up and snuck into Hogsmeade and the kitchens only to return with arms full of butterbeer, firewhiskey, pumpkin pasties, treacle, and holiday cookies. They might not be willing to share the secrets of their success, but they would always share the reward. As Remus watched James and Sirius brush snow out of their hair, he was infinitely grateful for Peter enlisting them for kitchen duty.

               The party was as all parties were, loud and punctuated with LOUDER squeals and roars of laughter as James or Sirius no doubt enchanted something in the name of a prank. Remus kept near the fireplace for most of the night, occasionally sipping a butterbeer and with his wand in hand. It took James almost fifteen minutes to realize who was behind the charmed Christmas bells that kept ringing and spouting smoke whenever he attempted to speak. Remus fell into laughter with the others and vanished the bells before James could think of a proper retaliation, though Remus had no doubt fire would be returned.

               Remus got up from the fire and started towards the dormitory stairs,done with the party at least for a little while ( he was almost certain it would keep going until they had to pack their bags for the train ). He got as far as the first step before someone called his name and he turned.

Remus quickly learned at Dr. Puriel's Asylum for Boys, that despite being suddenly surrounded by boys about his own age, Remus was still very much alone. It had taken barely two weeks before the lucid enough boys in the asylum figured out what had once been his most carefully guarded secret.                                     ( The howling and scratching     when he arrived had really made it easy for them. )

So while being utterly alone didn't come as much of a surprise, having someone who followed him around did. But it was a change he'd been willing to accommodate.

"Weird."

This comment had been leaving the boy for the entire length of his 3-day mission.  Normally, recon only took a few hours in the world, and then another hour compiling all the notes in his room for a proper report.  While Roxas was used to the oddities he would find when visiting other worlds, this was the strangest yet.

When he first arrived, he had noted how similar it looked to the Nobodies' world, only lit up and full of actual people going from the shops and down the roads instead of Heartless and the occasional Dusk on patrol.  There were buildings that seemed to reach towards the sky, vehicles traveling in-between but high above the ground.

It was difficult to get around by foot, but Roxas managed, having been allowed to bring a skateboard along for the mission.  Down below it was still crowded, but the roads in between the buildings were almost barren on ground level.

The strangest part about this crowded world, though, was the Heartless. It was packed to the brim with them, his keyblade constantly humming under his fingertips from the dimension it slept and warning him of the large hoards all around. The only problem being, there were none to be seen, at least out in the open.  It wasn't until Roxas started traveling the darkened allies that he found the walls lined with dark shadows and glowing eyes. He could hardly tell what kind of Heartless he was attacking for all the darkness around him, but he just melee'd some attacks and spells until the ally was only partially darkened and soft, glowing hearts were making their way to Kingdom Hearts.

It was the second day when Roxas had spoken his surprise aloud, again, finding an alleyway that was oddly empty.  Even his keyblade was quiet, which almost unnerved him. Were the Heartless backing off now that he had taken so many out? The outside streets were free of the beasts, but the alleyways were never so quiet.

Taking caution, and paying close attention to any warnings from his weapon, Roxas proceeded forward slowly on his skateboard, the wheels echoing loudly in the narrow space.  There was nothing but a tattered fence lining the back, some rotting boards, and a dumpster - nothing strange, and no Heartless.  He was about to turn around to see about getting into the higher spots of the city for exploring, when he noticed a pale contrast amongst the dingy rubble.  That couldn't be . . .

It was. Poking from behind the garbage was a hand, palm flat and pointing up in a far-too-relaxed position to be one of the twitchy homeless people he had seen in the park.  So far, he hadn't seen much of anyone in the alleyways, the Heartless likely getting to them first should anyone dare enter.  With a curious look, and a nervous gulp, the Nobody approached carefully, moving some garbage bags out of the way of whoever was there.

Moving the last bag, he almost jumped back in surprise when he was met with the sleeping face of a woman.  Her features were smooth, and still clean, making her look far out of place in such a dingy alley, beside a dumpster no less.  How was she even still alive here?  Was she alive? Roxas swallowed nervously - he had never seen a dead body before. When the Heartless attacked, the body always disappeared, leaving elsewhere to be awakened as a Nobody, or at least, that's what he had learned in the castle.

"H-hello?" he said quietly, glancing around to see if anyone else where there. They lived on this crazy world so perhaps they would no what to do.  He had no idea how to tell if a person were dead or not, aside from breathing, and the girl wasn't breathing.