Stacey shook as she paced back and forth across the common room. She was shaking violently, her arms wrapped around herself tightly. "I`m not crazy." She told herself, her voice shaky and uneven. "I`m not crazy. Peple hear voices all the time." She added. She had grown up in a Muggle community, and when people heard voices, they were thought of as crazy. Her hands shook as she gripped the back of the couch. There they were again. She could hear them. the voices, all around her, whispering to her. She jumped as someone opened the door.
Lavy was walking into the common room, ready for a nice long nap after a hectic week around the school and at work. But she stopped dead in her tracks, looking at Stacey and she shook. It too her a moment to recover.
"Stacey..." she asked running over to her side. Lavy pulled her hands away from the couch and took her to a chair so that she could sit down, "What's wrong?"
Stacey sank into the chair Lavy had led her to. "I... I hear things. Voices." Her hands shook as she gripped the arms of the chair. "They are talking to me. Lavy, what`s happening to me?" She looked at Lavy with great fear in her eyes.
"Nothings happening to you. Nothing bad anyways. Your powers are becoming stronger is all. Don't be scared, Stacey. You have nothing to fear. It's can come as a shock but you'll learn to get in under control soon enough." Lavy was rubbing her back in a comforting way, trying to calm her down.
Stacey loosened her grip on the chair`s arms at leaned back in the chair. "But why all of a sudden?" She asked. "I mean, it just started happening. And... and the things the voices say-" She shuddered, not finishing her sentence.
"I now they can be...very vulgar a lot. But I think what's happening is that you're power is strong enough now to allow the voice to come in. It's just like a dam. The water keeps pounding away until one day it breaks and that's when it starts."
Stacey looked at Lavy with teary eyes. "What they say, it`s... disturbing." She mumbled. "Do you think I could talk to them?"
Lavy shoo her head, sadly, "It's a one way street in the begining. Once it gets stronger you can talk to them but they don't ever listen. All you can do really is block them out."
"But, if I said something, that made them want to listen, would they?" She asked.
"Sometimes you can get one or two to listen. But once they get tired of what you're saying they'll go back to the way they' were/"
Stacey sighed. "Okay, then what can I do?"
"Just keep developing your powers and soon you'll be able to keep them out."
Stacey went into a trace, she was listening to one of the voices. It sounded different from the rest. "You can`t run from me, child. You can`t escape." It said. Stacey looked up at Lavy. "Did, did you here it?"
"I hear them all."
"Unfortunately. There are even a select few of us who are able to not only hear the voices, but to hear beyond them and delve into what each one means."
Ginny appeared, but so subtlety that it seemed she had been there all along. A trick she had indeed learned from her husband. She was in jeans and a t-shirt, looking as relaxed as Stacey was upset. Her vibrant red hair fell in soft waves about her face, but did nothing to help her over tired eyes. They seemed almost dull with lack of sleep as she turned them on Stacey.
"The best thing to hope for is that you can stay sane enough each month while rebuilding the mental block that is essential to everyone who can hear those things."
The red head nodded curtly to Lavy, almost as if she were dismissing her now. She wasn't, in fact she was thanking her for reacting quickly to Stacey. Ginny had aways been the expert on psychic powers, ever since her brother Ron had taught her. And then she had taught Lavy and Sarah and a few others. It seemed only right that in Ginny's place, Lavy was there.
But it also seemed right that Ginny be there. She understood the human mind in ways that few people did. She couldn't explain how or why, she just did.
Her eyes met Stacey's, "Do they scare you?" She asked gently.
Stacey looked up at Ginny. "Well, yes, and no. Some of them just ramble on about things. But others, they say some things that... I would prefer not to here." She answered. Her eyes glinted dark brown. "Will they ever go away?"
Ginny folded her legs up beneath her where she sat on an armchair and shook her head.
"Nope. There are things you can do to keep them out, to keep them from taking over your mind. But they are always there. Will always be there."
She peered closely at Stacey, "How many of them know you can hear them? Sometimes, a person can feel that someone is listening to their thoughts."
Stacey nodded and closed her eyes, sitting up a little starighter. She shuvered as she heard one talking to her. "One. Two. Three. Four.... Eight." She said, opening her eyes. "Eight of them, but only two are talking. The others are listening." She paused. "Five of them are men and three are women." She surprised herself by saying that. "How did I know that?"
"Easy." Ginny said, a small tired smile tipping the corners of her mouth.
"You are hearing what other people are thinking. For all I know, they might be projecting their thoughts onto you. Or you are tapping into them without the people knowing." She shrugged, a look of indifference crossing her features.
"Would you like to continue listening to them, or do you want me to place a temporary block around the room for now?"
Stacey closed her eyes for a moment. "Don`t put a block up. I need to learn to block them out. Wait, does that mean I can read these thing`s minds? What are they anyway? Where are they?" She asked, suddenly full of questions.
"A temporary block. So you can build your own."
Ginny frowned, "I will answer questions only after I can block it from outside listeners."
She tilted her head slightly, looking as tired as ever. She hadn't slept at all last night, or the night before. It was hard keeping her insomnia from Xaver and Cody, and so it only added to her exhaustion.
"Okay, block it then." She said, wanting to hear the answers to her questions. She had calmed down a lot, her face had returned to a normal color and she wasn`t paroniod anymore.
Ginny nodded, and the windows and doors snapped shut. Ginny put up an almost impenetrable block around the whole room, causing all three of their minds to be unreachable. She nodded at Stacey, ready to answer questions now.
"Those people can be anyone, anywhere. They could be human, or something else. They can exist in separate realms. The capacities of the mind and it's reaches are astounding, Stacey."
((We have to wait for Lavy.))
"And you already know that some of them are not the most pleasent voices to hear. Some of them you'll never be able to block. But the weaker voices, I guess you could say they're not as loud, will be cake. It's just about being able to focus your power into a little force field around yourself."
Stacey looked down at her lap, thinking. "But, does that mean I`m reading their minds, like the ones that don`t really talk? Or does it mean they`re coming to me for some reason? If so, why are they coming to me?"
"I don't know yet. It could be just reading their minds or it could be that there are beings out there who know you can hear them and so they talk to you. It could be both. And to be honest with you they all come for different reasons, some of them want your help. Some just want someone to talk to. Others come just to torture you."
"But... why?" She asked, she looked back and forth from Lavy to Ginny. "Why would they want to torture someone, someone they probably don`t even know?"
(Lets wait for Ginny)
"Because people are not a very nice persons by nature." Ginny was a cynical person. She'd seen too much evil in the world to beleive that there was much good or reason to anything.
"Listen, no matter what the answers, your best bet is to protect yourself and build a mental block. I'm one of like ten people in the world who can surpass almost any block, so you'll be safe simply because no one is able to pass it." She sighed, "But it takes concentration to build one every month, and you need to fix it. You'll only run at three fourths your true power, because a fourth will be keeping your block in place."
Which was scary, if you thought about Ginny's power.
"But what if I didn`t block them, just simply ignored them. What would happen then?" She asked.
"You're going to end up with sleepless nights and restless days. It's not pleasent. The more you don't listen to them the louder they get. Unless you don't want end up doing something to yourself that could only end badly, you need to use a mind block. I spent five months curled up in my bed because I was trying to be tough about it."
"I`m... I`m not trying to be tough about it, I`m worried what will happen to my other powers if I can only use three fourths of my power." Stacey said, looking at Lavy. "I mean... my powers aren`t really that great anyway."
Ginny snorted, leaning forward. Her eyes had dark circles under them and she scowled, "It won't do much of anything to you. The stronger you are, the bigger a block you must build, so the more power you use to build it. It equals out so you won't be losing too much. You'll need a lot more sleep at night, and a hell of a lot more food. But you won't even notice the power missing after a week."
"Unless you want to end up as crazy as I am."
Stacey turned her gaze on Ginny. "But if my block is only as strong as I am, wouldn`t stronger voices still be able to talk to me?"
Ginny smirked, "Why would they want to?"
She slowly shook her head, "Stacey, powerful minds seek out powerful minds. They don't waste their time on children whose powers don't even register on the scale."
Ginny yawned, covering her mouth but barley.
"Powerful minds attack powerful minds. Unless you provoke them."
She gave Stacey an interesting look, "For example, I wouldn't want to talk to you telepathically unless you contacted me first."
"And I wouldn't suggest provoking them. They can really make life a living hell. The stronger you get the less likely you are to even hear the voices. Only the really powerful ones can even create a blimp on your radar. Don't worry yourself to much about it.
Lavy glanced at Ginny, seeing that she was fall over tired. She gave her that look. The look that said many things but mostly 'What the hell are you doing using magic when you're about to fall over, you're so tired?'
"Let me take over," She asked, only loud enough so that Ginny could hear her.
Ginny waved her hand at Lavy, as if the girl was being silly.
"Nonsense. This is nothing."
She frowned to Stacey, "Here's the thing. We can help you build your block. We could build it for you, but it will work better if you add to it. You can design your block to filter them, keeping out the useless bad ones. Or you can block them altogether."
*Ginny I don't understand why you push yourself like this. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should. You already have so many other things to worry about. Please just let me do this for you.*
Lavy sat down next to Stacey, "I think it would be best just to start with blocking them all out. That way you can start to learn to filter out the ones that could actually be useful to you."
Stacey sighed. "Okay." She didn`t understand a lot of things. "But, why would some voice even want to contact me? I`m not powerful or anything."
"They know you can hear them. It's just something new to bother."
"That`s stupid." Stacey said. "Why bother with bothering something. You have to get bored of it sooner or later." She said out loud, forgetting the voices couldn`t hear her anymore.
"Because it's fun for them." Ginny said, frowning. She rubbed her forehead, "Listen, you really need to build up your block now. When I let down the one around the room, it's going to fill like I hit you in the side of the head with a 2x4 if you don't."
Ginny felt the tension in her neck and shoulders. She had been exhausted lately, and Stacey wasn't helping with her headache.
"I`m sorry." Stacey said, feeling Ginny`s tension. "How do I build a block?"
Lavy rolled her eyes and forcibly took so of the strain off of Ginny, "It's a little diffrent for everyone but it's pretty basic. Just think about what it would be like to be in a white room. There's no sound or sights or anything."
Ginny let Lavy take a little bit, but stopped her cold when she moved past what Ginny didn't want her to. This was her magic, she wasn't going to hand it over suddenly.
"Another easy way is to imagine building a wall. Full of thick, heavy stones that stop everything. You have to concentrate, or it won't work." She blinked a few times, "I used to help student with their first ones, but I keep a constant one for myself and Cody. Lending out too much power like that is dangerous."
"Don't worry about it Ginny. I'll help her with the magic part. You do the actual instruction."
Stacey looked back and forth between Lavy and Ginny, not saying anything, just listening.
Ginny nodded, slightly skeptical.
"Alright. But minimal help, Lavy. Her block needs to be able to still stand even if you pull out your part."
"Minimal help. Got it. " She stood up and pulled Stacey to her feet as well.
Stacey stood up in front of Lavy. She really didn`t know what she was supposed to do.
"Give me your hands, Stacey. If you lose conrol for any reason I'll take the most painful parts until you can get back on you're feet."
What Lavy said slightly scared Stacey, she held out her hands anyway and prepared for the worst.
Ginny curled up in her seat, propping her head up with her hands as she watched, "Stacey, you need to relax. You are in good hands, Lavy had always been a good safety net."
She shrugged, "Besides, if she can't handle it, which is doubtful, I can always take over."
Except that would max her out, it seemed.
Stacey looked towards Ginny as she spoke. She nodded and took a deep breath, exhaling deeply. "I`m ready." She said quietly.