(1937-09-28) Suspended
Details for Suspended
Summary: After a scuffle in the forest edge, Slytherin loses 100 points and Ria has her prefectship suspended.
Date: September 28, 1937
Location: Forest Edge then Infirmary
Related: None
Characters
RiaLeanderRipleyOpheliaArianLucianSpleenSlughornPringle

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Forest Edge Hogwarts
Fri Sep 28, 1937 ((Fri Sep 28 00:27:59 2012)) (G,3)


It is a fall night. The weather is warm and raining.


The forest is dark and silent even during the day, large trees looming up high and clustered close together to create a claustrophobic environment. From time to time a sone light manages to find its way through the thick canopy to light a spot on the ground like a miniature spotlight suddenly appearing in an abandoned theatre. Take even one step off the few narrow dirt paths that crisscross the labyrinthine confines of the forest and thick undergrowth starts to pull at trousers or skirts. From time to time the silence is shattered by animal calls or barely broken by the almost inaudible murmurs of the leaves and branches swaying in a stray gust of wind. Light sources be they wands, lanterns, or other objects, necessary even during the day, barely seem to penetrate the murk amongst the forest's tree as if the shadows were swallowing the light.
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Since Ria's technically not -in- the forest, she's not breaking any rules really. The knapsack she was carrying earlier is leaned against a rock which she sits on top of. A rather thick and cumbersome book is open on her lap as she reads in the afternoon light and she has a vial in her hands filled with a strange orange liquid. Once she's finished her page, she uncorks the vial and downs the contents in one full go, wincing as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

The sound of crunching leaves announces the arrival of another student. Leander has his wand held in his right hand, and he's not trying to be incredibly stealthy, so Ria will probably have plenty of time to stow away anything she doesn't want him to see; still, he seems to notice that her behavior is inconsistent with practicing defensive charms, and he raises his voice loud enough to be heard across the decreasing distance between them. "I hope you're still up for this, Sykes. There's nobody else in class I consider competent enough to want to practice with, and…" His voice fades as he catches a glimpse of glass. His dark eyes narrow. "What are you doing?"

Ria coughs and sputters from the taste, and there's even a rough dry heave from the burn it leaves in her esophagus. She quickly moves to yank the tie loose around her neck. The second she hears a voice come through the foliage, she shuts the book, stows it back into the nap sack and picks up her wand just incase. "Who's there?" she calls defensively. When Leander finally gets a glimpse of her, he'll see her teary eyes blink and watch them glow a demonic sort of yellowish green for just a few seconds before it fades away. "Oh, it's just you," she sighs and stops pointing her wand at him. "I'm setting up now to practice. Didn't think you'd actually come out here."

<FS3> Opposed Roll — Leander=Om Vs Ria=Dm
< Leander: Good Success Ria: Good Success
< Net Result: DRAW

Leander continues his approaching, closing the distance between himself and the other Slytherin to perhaps fifteen feet. His eyes are still narrowed inquisitively, and when Ria turns to him, he doesn't miss that strange coloration to her eyes… but doesn't say anything about it. "Of course I actually came out here. Dueling club has so much supervision there's no point, and this is about the only place to get away from prying eyes. And you're a Prefect, so /you/ won't be saying anything about this, will you? You've got three seconds to defend yourself. Get out your wand." And, a couple of seconds after he finishes speaking, he slashes his own wand through the air and growls, "Stupefy!"

<FS3> Opposed Roll — Ria=OM Vs Leander=DM
< Ria: Good Success Leander: Success
< Net Result: Ria wins - Marginal Victory

Ria doesn't notice her own eye discoloration, but instead hops down from the rock to remove robes and very nearly folds them into her bag. She's rolling her sleeves up as Leander complains about dueling club, and before she has time to really prepare he's sending a stupefy her way. Ria fumbles with her wand and barely gets a good grip before yells, "Protego!" A rather unprepared shield comes from an elegant upward swoop of her arm, causing the spell to break, its parts ricochet into different direction. One of which gets the prefect on the leg, causing it to go slack. She groans and clasps her sleeping leg, struggling to find balance on one foot while she screams, "Are you -bloody- mad?! Expelliarmus!"

<FS3> Opposed Roll — Leander=Body Vs Ria=Body
< Leander: Good Success Ria: Success
< Net Result: Leander wins - Marginal Victory

"Ahh!" A stray bolt of the Stupefy also bounces all the way back to Leander, hitting his left arm. It falls uselessly to his side. "No," he retorts sharply, as if that's more than enough explanation for his behavior. Even if he did want to give a more lengthy reply - which he doesn't - he would have been cut off by the Expelliarmus hex hitting him and sending his wand flying. He looks down at where the wand is lying, then up at the Prefect, estimating. Her leg is useless and she's not going anywhere fast. He's not athletic, like his twin, but that doesn't mean he's a wimp; when he propels himself into a sprint, it's quick enough for him to be standing in front of Ria before she has time to launch another spell at him, and he immediately reaches out with his still-operating right arm to grab her wand-hand, closing his larger fingers over the petite girl's own grip and then pointing the wand up… and at her face. "Give up."

<FS3> Opposed Roll — Ria=body Vs Leander=body
< Ria: Failure Leander: Failure
< Net Result: Both Fail.

Indeed. With her gimp leg, Ria can't get too far, and she's hopped her way to the rock for some stability until she hears the fast paced stomps of someone running toward her. Her head shoots over her shoulder, and before she knows it Leander's hand is tightly gripped around hers and despite her attempt to resist, her own wand it being pointed right at her nose. Those green eyes of hers go wide and slightly fearful, but are still intensely fierce. Her face goes red and her teeth are gritted as she still tries to push him away but she simply can't. And then it happens again. Her eyes flash a yellow green for a brief second, before she brings forward her other hand to punch him in the face. Unfortunately that other hand was holding her up against the rock. So letting go makes her lose her balance and she falls with a grunt, the hand clutching on to Leander's arm instinctively hoping that he'll pull her back up.

<FS3> Leander rolls Om -2: Great Success.

Leander wrestles with the girl's arm for a moment as she tries to push him away, but he's got a slightly better position than her, since her leg is still out of commission. Her hand clips him on the nose, sending a small spray of blood on to his lips; then, as she clutches his shoulder, it causes him to lose his balance and stumble forward. For a second it seems he'll hold, but no such luck. He falls, striking the ground beside her and grunting with pain as the impact knocks the wind out of him. Somehow, though, he retains his grip on her wand… his breath is a wheeze, barely even a whisper. "P.. Petrificus Totalus!" Yeah, he's not going to try something as advanced as Stupefy in this condition. The bright flash of light indicating it's worked causes his lips to spread in a thin smile even as he's still gasping for breath.

He puts his hands on either side of the fallen girl, and positions himself so that he's holding himself up just above her, still panting from exhertion, his face only inches away. "You're good. That was for threatening my brother," he says simply, then sits up, only a little bit further from her; his waist is pinning hers down, and he takes a second to examine her features. "If I was him, I'd kiss you now. In fact, I want to, a little." He doesn't smile, just seems to consider this briefly, then shrugs. "But not enough. This spell will only last a while, and I want to know what you were doing." Still sitting on her, he tosses her wand aside on the grass, then reaches over for her bag and begins rifling through it.

Quite fortunately for Leander, the petrificus spell renders the victim comatose so Ria will hear none of this nonsense he's telling her. Because if she did, she'll slit his throat in the night (hopefully she doesn't get Ripley by accident). With her legs snapped together and her arms straight at her side, she remains still as stone on the leaf littered ground even when pinned down by the boy. Her skin pale blue as she stares up at the sky almost lifelessly.

Not in the forest, but near its edge, is a rather odd scene. Leander, his nose bloodied and his clothes rather dirtied, is sitting atop Ria. She is currently frozen stiff, obviously under the influence of a petrification spell; her wand is thrown several feet away in the grass, and the boy's wand is somewhere else nearby. He's panting as if having just done something that made him run out of breath, and oddly enough, he doesn't seem to be paying any mind to the girl beneath him at the moment; instead, his attention is solely devoted to a knapsack that is sitting on her chest. He digs through it for several seconds, examining the objects inside, and his dark eyes widen. Then, almost reverently, he puts them back inside and closes it up tightly. Frowning, he stands, then, without casting a second glance at her, he goes to look for his wand.

Once he has his wand, Leander sets the knapsack back on the ground by Ria and steps back a ways. He points the wand at her and mumbles the counter-curse to Petrificus Totalus, and waits.

As it usually goes, Ripley can find his brother without too much trouble. This is one of those times that he wishes he couldn't. He walks down into the forest, still in robes and everything and is just whistling along as he usually does. Still, as he comes into view he stops and looks at the scene that is there. His eyes go wide, his jaw sets, and he breaks into a run…

There is a sudden initial gasp for life when Ria rises and the deathly blue of her skin fades away to her normal color again. Her chest heaves up and down panting as she blinks and tries to regain a sense of what's going on again. And once she does, she frantically looks in the leaves for her wand and also for Leander. "I'm going to -murder- you. Do you hear me?" she growls like a tiger disturbed mid-sleep. Ria pushes herself up from the leaves only to groan with agony and fall back down again, clutching her upper right arm. "Oh bloody hell," she says laying back down to deal with the sharp pain. "How long was I out for and what did you do to my arm while I was?" Though its likely more possible that she broke it when they fell.

Ophelia needed to get OUT of the castle. She needed to get away from the sudden appearance of drama and pain in her life. She'd tore out of the castle the moment classes ended, not even bothering to take the time to remove her shoes her need was so great. She ran all the way down the hill to the forest edge, where she planned to relax and breathe and take in the scenery.
But peace, it seems, is not in store for her. She stumbles upon Leander and Ria as she rounds a particularly large tree. Gasping, she reaches intstantly for her wand and draws it out, though she can't seem to decide if she should point it at Leander… or Ria. "What is going /on/ here!?"
From afar, Leander ponderponder. "Will him tipping her off to the fact that he knows what's in her bag cause her to do anything crazy?"

Arian has noticed Ophelia acting a little strangely lately. And by strange, he means moody, because Ophelia is strange pretty much all the time anyway. Curiosity is certainly one of Arian's more annoying traits, too. This perfect storms leads him to start doing "detective work", or, as most people would call it, snooping. When he saw her practically running out of the castle, he had to follow. And this led him to the scene at the edge of the forest. When he spots it, the shock is so much that Arian nearly runs into the back of his housemate. "Yeah," he adds to Ophelia's question, "what she said."

For now, Leander's voice is too low for the others to hear. "You probably messed it up when you decided to use it on my face. And no you won't," he says flatly, waiting for the Prefect to awaken. He hasn't noticed anyone else approaching yet, being rather focused on making sure she wasn't going to attack him as soon as she awoke. He jabs his wand towards Ria's bag and smiles. "Because I know what's in there." The Slytherin allows that to sink on, his thin smile fading as quickly as it appeared. He's about to say something else, but then voices distract him, and he turns to locate their sources. The Sixth Year stares at Ophelia and Arian, not having noticed the presence of his twin just yet. "Calm down. I needed her to show me how to use a defense charm, and my Stupefy ended up splitting on an imperfect shield and getting us both. I fell on her."

<FS3> Leander rolls Persuasion: Success.

<FS3> Opposed Roll — Ripley=fighting Vs Leander=fighting
< Ripley: Good Success Leander: Success
< Net Result: Ripley wins - Marginal Victory

Like a brick wall. Ripley doesn't hear the words, only sees the actions. He breaks off and takes a flying leap aimed to tackle his brother and pin him to the ground. His right fist goes up and it is aimed right at Leander's head, "What part of no wands are you having a problem with?" It holds there in the air, shaking as his teeth grind so hard you can hear it. "Do you want to get the house in total trouble and get us both expelled?" His voice is a little less than a roar, "Not to mention what in Hades are you doing on top of her?" His eyes alight with a fire not seen by the brother in a while.

Ria's eyes narrow venomously at Leander's words, and she frowns so deeply at the boy that the corners of her mouth wrinkle with loathing. Seeing as she can't do much about his knowledge now, she instead slowly crawls over to her back, wincing every time her arm experiences a slight movement. "I suspect my arm must have broken when we fell," she says to the groups as she sits her back against the rock and protectively puts the knapsack onto her lap. "Leander's nose maybe be a little broken as well considering it's bleeding. If someone could get me my wand please." She gestures to the dark elm wand in the grass. "Perhaps a visit to the hospital wing is in order." The tiff between the twins is ignored, mostly because it's weird watching other twins fight.

Ophelia pulls back from tha raging appearance of Leander's twin, her feet scrambling to keep her out of the way. "What… ?" Wide eyes look from the brawl to Arian, then snap to Ria. "Broken!?" Well, that decides it. Scooting around Leander and Ripley, she starts searching for the Prefect's wand. "Arian, can you help her up?" She finds the wand without too much trouble, and offers it to Ria.

What. The. Funk. Arian can't help but just stare at the scene with wide eyes, mouth agape. His eyes stay locked on the tussling twins for a moment, unsure of whether or not he should step in. Chivalry says yes, but common sense and self-preservation say no. Those boys are twice his size. Fortunately Ophelia's voice pulls his attention from the fight, and she gives him something less dangerous to do. "Yeah, sure," says Arian, rushing over to Ria's side. He reaches out his hand and… POOF! A ball of fire springs forth from his sleeve, flying right past Ria. "$#@* DAMMIT!" the Ravenclaw boy screams in anger. "WHY CAN'T THESE THINGS WORK WHEN I WANT THEM TO?!?!"

"Ah!" Leander goes tumbling to the ground with Ripley on top of him, and he feebly attempts to toss his twin off without any success. He glares at his brother, blood still running from his nose. "It would have been fine, if all of you hadn't shown up. We were just practicing," he restates, unconsciously licking the blood off of his lips. The thought crosses his mind that he's still holding his wand, but… he has slightly more restraint for his brother than he would for anyone else, who would have been a target by now. "I said, I fell on her. Get off me. Why do you look like that?"

Ripley glares down at his brother and speaks out loud, fist still in the air, "Why were you practicing out here? Not supposed to. Duel room. Study room. Come on, man." His other hand reaches down and gets a good handful of his brother's robe and the hand with the first goes down to hold with the other. Then he speaks once more, "How about not falling on her again." He growls out and then sighs, "Need to get you to the infirmary."

"Thank you," Ria offers weakly yet sternly to Ophelia as she takes her wand from the girl. No time to be snarky at the Ravenclaw now. And keeping her knapsack close she gets ready for Arian to pick her up, until the fireball jets from his sleeve. She can't tell if she narrowly dodges it or it narrowly misses her. But she shoots a murderous glare at Arian and growls to the rest, "Can someone more -competent- help me up?"

This time Ophelia doesn't hesitate. Her arm shoots out, grasping at Ria's shirt to pull her away from the flame-ball. "What on /earth/ are you doing?" She eyes Arian, taking on the job of helping Ria to her feet herself. "I should rather think this is not the time for practicing spells. Nor, I agree, the place." Eyebrows raised, she turns her head to include Leander in her worried (and now also rather stern, for her anyway) look.

"I wasn't trying to do it!" Arian shouts back at Ophelia, still staring at his sleeves as if he expects the fireballs to go off again at any moment. When Ophelia turns on him, he frowns. "It's not a spell," he mutters, "it's an ILLUSION." He decides that he can't just stand there, though, so, very carefully, he leans down and takes part of Ria's arm to help her up.

"Ah!" Leander goes tumbling to the ground with Ripley on top of him, and he feebly attempts to toss his twin off without any success. He glares at his brother, blood still running from his nose. Eventually, however, he succumbs, obviously having no desire for confrontation. "I miscalculated the odds of physical injury." The boy stares down at his brother's hands as he's manhandled more and looks up, this time in a flatter, slightly more dangerous manner. "Get off me, Ripley." There's still blood running over his lips, and his voice is starting to sound stuffy and pinched. "Yeah. Go help her up, stop sitting on me. I can walk myself to the infirmary." And, as soon as all the others are ready, that's exactly what he'll do.

Eventually, Leander succumbs, obviously having no desire for confrontation. "I miscalculated the odds of physical injury." The boy stares down at his brother's hands as he's manhandled more and looks up, this time in a flatter, slightly more dangerous manner. "Get off me, Ripley." There's still blood running over his lips, and his voice is starting to sound stuffy and pinched. "Yeah. Go help her up, stop sitting on me. I can walk myself to the infirmary." And, as soon as all the others are ready, that's exactly what he'll do.

Ripley keeps his grasp on his brother's robe and moves to stand and pull the other boy to his feet. He shakes his head, "There are reasons why you do that with someone around who can heal." He backs off from Leander and moves over to Ria, "Let me." He looks to Ophelia and Arian and then reaches up and under Ria to lift her up and carry her.

Still irritated, Ria seems a bit more trusting of Arian after Ophelia rails at him. With a grunt she puts and arm around the younger boy, "Don't screw up, Kyle." She mutters to the young Ravenclaw that is until she's swept up by Ripley and she whoas suddenly. The red that's suddenly flushed her cheeks mixed with the pissed off look on her face makes it unclear whether or not she enjoys this particular arrangement. But she seems too tired to protest and she mumbles, "Fine, let's just go." She flicks her wand again with her good wand and the knapsack she clutches is made to float behind the group as they head up.

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Hospital Wing Hogwarts Castle
Fri Sep 28, 1937 ((Fri Sep 28 04:39:14 2012)) (First Floor)


It is a fall night. The weather is freezing and overcast.


Rows of like cast-iron beds flank a long center aisle that leads from the entryway door to a stained glass window at the end of the room. Each bed is accompanied by basic furnishings; a bedside table, an eating table, a chair and a screen to be pulled around that area when someone is in need of more privacy than is normally afforded. Medicine cabinets - perpetually restocked with all the basic necessities and remedies such as bandages, cough potions and the like, are positioned between large window that reflects any light against the glass cabinet doors. The opposite wall to the window is punctuated by a series of doorways leading to the Nurses' offices and private rooms for isolation cases.
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It's a bit later on in the afternoon now and the group heads in from outside. Ophelia, Arian, and Leander walking with the Slytherin boy donning a very fetching bloody nose as well as dirt and leaves on his clothing. Ria however, is clutching her arm while she's carried in the arms of Ripley. Her cheeks flushing bright red while she scowled all the way up. The scowling is probably do to the fact that much like Leander, she too is dirty and leafy. She seems rather grateful for the journey to be over when Ripley puts her down on a bed and the head nurse comes bustling out to attend to both students. "Oh my, what do we have here," the nurse says pulling a chair up for Leander to sit on.

"I'm fine," Leander says, taking the seat that's offered to him by the nurse. He, too, would have been even more silent than usual on the way back, though he doesn't seem angry - more thoughtful. The Slytherin boy glances down at his robes and frowns, displeased with their appearance; he works hard to keep everything prim and proper. "I believe my nose may be broken," he offers, moving his hand out of the way. He's been holding it in front of his face, mostly to keep more blood from dripping on to his clothing.

Ripley stands near the bed that is now occupied by Ria, "Her arm is broken. His nose is busted." He then takes a bit of a breath and rubs a hand through his hair and moves back a little to allow the nurse to come out and check them for their injuries. He chews a little on his lip and folds his arms across his chest as he waits. His eyes flash back and forth between Ria and Leander with a touch of worry on his brow.

Ria levitates her knapsack off to the side so that it's out of everyone's way, and continues to sit still in silence. All the while she already trying to fix her hair, picking the leaves out hastily. The nurse however takes a look at Leander and says, "I see. If its still in pain it's likely broken, let me have a look see. I need to check if its crooked or not." She says beckoning him to sit on the chair. It's a command more than anything. And to Ophelia, Arian and Ripley she asks, "The rest of you are fine? What happened?"

Ophelia was quiet with the rest of the group during the walk, and for the moment is keeping a wary distance between herself and Arian. "We found them at the edge of the Forest." She explains, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "He… Leander says they were dueling, there was an accident."

Madam Spleen, the school nurse, tut-tuts over Leander, giving his nose a quick examination. She produces a cloth, tapping her wand to it to give it an icy temperature. "Here, press this to your nose." With the bleeding being managed, she bustles over to Ria's bed, giving her an admonishing look for the levitation spell. "Let's have no wandwork in here, young lady." She lays her fingertips gently on Ria's arm, feeling with the most delicate touch for the break. "Mmmhm…yes, I see. This will require a mending potion, dear. Just lie still. I'll be right back." She hurries off to collect what she needs.

Arian is currently less concerned with the injured students and more concerned with why Ophelia is staying away from him. "Did I do something wrong?" he asks, clearly not knowing what he could have possibly done to upset her.

Leander's head whips to the side, and his dark brown eyes lock on Ophelia with sudden intensity. The motions causes droplets of blood to fly in an arc on his chest and the floor. "We weren't dueling. We were practicing defensive spells, giving each other turns," he states firmly. Then, he motions towards the injured Prefect. "A spell rebounded on me and stunned me and I fell on her. You can ask Ria." When the nurse gives him the cloth, he presses it to his nose and nods, sitting patiently and awaiting any further treatment.

Lucian runs full speed into the infirmary, out of breath. "Ria!" Ignoring the others for now, he strides up to her bedside. "Merlin…you did what?" He throws a glare at Leander. Clearly, this is all his fault. Right?

Ripley draws in a deep breath and pinches at his nose as the explanation comes out. He slowy shakes his head a bit and looks to Ria as he stands nearby the bed. He looks up to the new face that comes into the room and one of his brows raises a little bit to the boy.

Madam Spleen returns before long, holding two cups of some sort of smoking liquid. A smaller one is handed to Leander, but the larger does goes to Ria. "Drink up. It'll taste awful, but it will quicken the healing process." Meanwhile, she gets to work carefully setting Ria's arm and wrapping it firmly in a bandage to keep it straight while the potion does its work. "I'll be with you in a moment, young man," she nods to Leander. "Just keep that cold cloth firmly in place for the moment."

"Sorry," Ria gives a meek apology to Madam Spleen since that's how she talks to all authority really. Be she holds fearfully still when the nurse touches her arm, afraid that any contact will make it hurt again. "We were in the courtyard with Gabrielle and Mabel earlier and he asked for help with a defensive charm. So I helped him, but it went awry," she confirms his story, equally as confident. With a quirked brow to Ripley she says, "Thank you for carrying me up by the way." Ria's just about to accept the smoking liquid when Lucian arrives and she raises her brows, "Goodness Luc! How the heck did you know we were in here?" But she downs the potion with a wince, which only stays on her face as Spleen gently handles her arm.

"Arian." Ophelia explains, very quietly, "You shot a fireball at Ria. From your /arm/. And on accident." Glancing up, she winces in reaction to Leander's stare. "M'sorry." She mumbles, "I rather thought that was the same thing." She looks down at her feet, shifting again, and adds quietly to Arian, "Look, I'm going to go, alright? There's some things I need to do." Giving her friend an apologetic smile of miniscule proportions, the ginger then turns and flees.

Ripley gives a nods to Ria, "Sure. My pleasure." He speaks and winces as well as the nurse touches the arm. "That stuff really works but it sure feels strange. Used it on me with my leg, arm, nose, finger, and shoulder." He counts off all the bones he's broken and then thinks for a moment to see if that is all before he nods his head, "And yeah, it tastes like Leander's socks made soup."

Lucian gestures back toward the door with his thumb. "Reggie Rothchilde came running," ah, one of Lucian's little groupies from Dueling Club. "He told me you were being carried in. So, I ran." He reaches toward her without touching, in the way one touch when trying to comfort someone they might hurt with actual contact.

"I didn't do it on purpose, though!" Arian argues, trying to plead his case. "That should make it BETTER, not worse!" Of course, his pleas fall on deaf ears, because Ophelia is a girl and therefore immune to logic. "Stupid girls," he mutters before turning back to the injured people in the beds. IN particular, Ria. "Are you okay, Ria?" he asks, sounding genuinely concerned. "Do you need anything?" He ignores Leander because he doesn't care about him.

"It isn't," Leander states plainly, nodding once again to Madame Spleen and holding the cloth up to his nose. He doesn't elaborate, just sits there quietly for now, having missed any commentary sent in his direction because he's both deep in thought and rather occupied with cramming a cloth against his profusely bleeding face. He does manage to catch the tail end of Ripley's pun about his socks and just raises his eyebrows, not even bothering to attempt to retort past the gauzy material.

"I'm fine Arian, thank you for asking. Though do me a favor and improve upon your -illusions- before you use them," Ria smiles gingerly at the kid. To Ripley she nods in agreement, trying not to gag when she says, "Socks soup sounds accurate. How many times have you had to drink that thing?" Turning her head to Lucian, she actually smiles at him and says, "Well it's not like I was being carried in a body bag. Reggie has a huge mouth. But I'm fine Lucian, I'm glad you're here."

Word travels fast, especially when the Nurse notifies staff that there have been students dueling against the rules. Given that those involved are mostly Slytherin students, it is no great surprise when Horace Slughorn, Head of Slytherin House, appears in the entrance of the hospital wing. "Good gracious! Sykes? Proudmore? What is heaven's name is going on?"

Ripley is standing near to the head of Ria's bed and has a bit of a frown on his face as his eyes look back and forth between Lucian, leander, Ria, and now Arian. His jaw grinds a little bit and as Horace comes in, he straightens up a little and folds his arms across his chest. He clears his throat a little as he looks to Horace, curious to what will happen next.

"Well, if you need anything, just let me know. I'd be happy to get it for you," says Arian, trying to be helpful, because pretty girls like that. Unfortunately, it seems they don't like malfunctioning illusions. "I'm trying to get it under control. It's not my fault!" As he waves his arms, a small spritz of lighter fluid flies through the air. Arian makes an 'eeeesh' sound, using Slughorn's appearance to move away from the spotlight.

When Slughorn enters, Leander pulls the cloth off of his face in spite of the fact that blood immediately begins to dribble down it as a result. "Sir. Miss Sykes and myself were practicing defensive charms near the edge of the forest in order to improve upon our technique without alerting others to our progress," he says plainly, making no pretense of the situation now that everything is coming into the open. "I cast a Stupefy hex which only partially rebounded off of Ria's shield charm, striking us both and causing me to fall on top of her as a consequence. It was primarily my fault for standing so close when casting a powerful hex." That done, he shoves the cloth against his face again to prevent further spillage of ew.

Professor Slughorn's jaw drops in surprise, and his eyes go directly to Ria. "Miss Sykes? Is this true? Practicing dueling magic outside of the club?" There is something heartbroken in the look he gives Ria.

Ria's mouth goes into a straight line when she hears Slughorn and throwing a look Lucian she mutters to him, "I told you Reggie has a -huge- mouth." And when she opens her mouth to explain the situation, she's beat to the punch line by Leander who she peers at a moment before turning back to the Slytherin head. "It's true," she says solemnly, avoiding too much eye contact with the professor to hide her slight look of shame, "A great error in my judgement." She glances to the side though, casting a resentful look at Leander only briefly before licking her lips.

<FS3> Ripley rolls Persuasion: Good Success.

Ripley winces at the look from the professor and he takes in a deep breath before he reaches out and places a hand on Ria's shoulder, very lightly. "I thought I read something that said that with the permission of a Prefect that this was all right? Ria is a prefect, yes?" He bites at the side of his lip a little and looks to Slughorn with a bit of a smile, "After all, she is trusted with that position, why not with practice."

Arian decides that he needs to help with the argument. Because that would make him important. "And besides, Professor," he says, stepping over to Ria, "she had a ball in her ear!" Unfortunately, instead of producing a red ball, his sleeve squirts more lighter fluid at Ria. "Oh, boy, I'm in trouble," he mutters under his breath as he tries to step away from the bed.

Madam Spleen tends more directly to Leander, now that Ria's arm is tightly bandaged. "Let's make sure that is set right, dear." She points her wand directly at Leander's face, and with a few (rather painful for Leander) twitches, incants a bone-setting spell to make certain his nose is in place for the potion to do its work.

Slughorn's hand goes to his heart, nodding solemnly with a heavy brow. "Indeed, Miss Sykes. A grave error, I fear. Oh dear, oh dear." He hears Ripley out, but shakes his head sadly. "Not when it comes to dueling magic, Mr. Fox. No, no. This sort of thing is only permissable with a member of school faculty present." He gives Ria a saddened look, "I'm afraid that this will cost Slytherin house fifty points…each." He looks to Ria and Leander. Then Arian's antics go awry, earning a gasp from Slughorn. "Good heavens, young man! What is that? Ten points from Ravenclaw. Now let me see what you have there." He beckons Arian over, clearly unwilling to move his considerable bulk.

Ria is covered in dirty stains, random traces of leaves, and now…lighter fluid. Her jaw is tightening up and there's an indignation in her eyes that could ignite the lighter fluid in an instant. And she's ready to let the Ravenclaw boy have it until Slughorn deducts 100 points total from them. So instead she lets out a heavy sigh and nods, "I understand. I apologize professor. It won't happen again." A sorry look is given to Lucian, an appreciative half smile is directed at Ripley, and an absolutely bitter frown is all she has to offer Leander.

Lucian's jaw drops. "A hundred points! Professor, be reasonable…" But an uncharacteristically sharp look from Slughorn silences him. He looks back down to Ria with a worried expression.

Leander utters a small grunt when his nose is rather painfully re-formed, and then directs his attention to Slughorn. He nods gravely at the verdict, perhaps growing a bit more stiff - and, after a moment, spares a very quickly glance towards his brother and the Slytherin Prefect. His gaze is unreadable. "Yes, sir," he complies, setting his hands on his lap and looking even more dour than usual.

Ripley tenses his jaw a little bit and gives Ria a little squeeze but stays quiet.

Well, so much for being helpful. Not only has Arian managed to piss off Ria with his illusions once again, but he's also managed to lose 10 points for his house. He's actually thankful that Slughorn takes 100 points from Slytherin for more than just the points battle. At least now he's not in the line of fire for a shot to the groin.

There's a bang as the infirmary doors fly open. "Where's 'e? Where's the lil tosser?" The Scottish brogue of Pringle fills the hospital wing with a wicked dangerous delight. "'Eard you were in trouble." Pringle comes over to snare the Ravenclaw by the collar and hike it up to begin to drag the boy down to the dungeons. The sadistic delight in his eyes that he's finally getting a chance to show Arian what it means to be on Pringle's 'List' since that day in the halls is very evident in the gleam in his eyes.

Slughorn seems as shocked as anybody else at Mr. Pringle's sudden appearance (and disappearance). But as Pringle seems to have the Arian situation well in hand, and Slughorn's first priority is the students of his house. Turning back to the lot of them, he shakes his head sadly. "I am very disappointed. Such recklessness…from a Prefect!" It suddenly becomes clear that his attention is being directly primarily at Ria. "Miss Sykes, I'm afraid I cannot overlook this matter. Your Prefectship is suspended, pending a probationary hearing." With visible sadness, he approaches her bed, holding his hand out. "Your badge please, Miss Sykes."

Ripley watches as Pringle comes in and his eyes go oh so very wide. As he grabs up Arian he breathes out the lightest of breaths of relief. As the badge is taken away, Ripley begins to think and think hard, "But sir. One mistake, surely that isn't enough to take a badge. Sir, she's been a model Slytherin." His head shakes, "Even gave me detention when all I did was give her a flower. Still, I snuck into the dorms. Please, Sir, another chance!"

<FS3> Ripley rolls Persuasion: Success.
<FS3> Opposed Roll — Ripley=Persuasion-2 Vs NPCtest1=Awareness
< Ripley: Good Success NPCtest1: Failure
< Net Result: Ripley wins - Solid Victory

Ria's jaw drops instantly the second the she hears 'suspension'. "A probationary hearing?" she musters out in a whisper and looks absolutely crushed, her polished fingers covering her mouth. "Oh sir, it was a mistake…I really," she bites her lip and looks to Lucian as if looking to him for some sort of guidance for what to do. Clenching her teeth and keeping her head low so that no one can see her get teary-eyed, she takes off the badge and offers it forward to Slughorn. "I'm sorry, sir," she says sincerely.

Slughorn sighs heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This is more than one simple mistake, Mr. Fox. This is a gross violation of the trust we put into our Prefects. I would very much like to overlook this, but this sort of thing cannot be ignored. However, your words will be taken into heavy consideration at the hearing. Please don't despair, my dear Miss Sykes. I am sure you and your friends in the Slug Club will prepare an excellent defense." Did he just wink at Ria?

Every bit of confidence that Ripley had that he made a difference is sucked from the boy as he slumps some and sighs.

Leander blinks at Pringle's sudden entrance and forceful removal of Arian. He watches the pair go, then his eyes widen when he hears Slughorn's further verdict.

Lucian looks a bit more relieved, but still nervous. This time when he reaches a comforting hand to Ria, it hovers near her shoulder and he watches for her reaction before daring to touch her.

Pringle halts at Slughorn before he passes by and leans in to whisper. A bit of spit flying in his excitement to offer. "Take any more of the beggers off your hands Sluggy?" His beady eyes dart from student to student like he was at a butchers shop viewing the meat selection. He even licks his lips a little.

"I do hope so…," Ria says looking up at Slughorn with a downtrodden half smile but looks back down at her lap. Biting her lip, she now notices there are no one but two hands, each nearing or touching one shoulder. She simply waves both away, calmly asserting, "I'm fine. I'll be -fine-." Though she avoids everyone's gaze for now.

Ripley looks to Lucian and the other boy's hand near Ria. Then he looks to his that rests upon her shoulder. His eyes slowly go up that hand to look at Lucian and he purses his lips a little, "Lucian." He states, evenly.

Slughorn jumps a bit in surprise at Pringle's exuberance. "Eh? No, no-no, Mr. Pringle. I'll deal with these students. Oh, and do inspect Mr. Kyle's sleeves. He was…squirting." The Potions Master sniffs at the air. "Hm…flammable, by the scent of it. Do be careful, my good man."

Lucian stares back at Ripley with a not-quite-even stare. It is something a bit more predatory and cocksure. "Ripley," he echoes the other boy's tone.

Pringle's hand twists which tightens up Arian's collar and tie as well. "Off with them." He commands and he gives the boy a shake. "Right now, or I cut'm off at the elbow an' let Spleen have yeh to put'm back on."

Slughorn gives Arian a worried nod, as if to say: Better do as he says, son.

At that, Arian quickly yanks off the tools from beneath his sleeves and hands them over to Pringle. "Fine, fine, here you go," he says, then adds in a lower tone, "It's just as well, they were my least dependable trick."

Ripley keeps his eyes on Lucian, "Hear you are taking Ria to the dance." He speaks, matter of factly.

Pringle snarls and yanks Arian again the contraband bracers in his other hand. "Trick. TRICK!? Ye think Hogwarts is a place for tricks!? How dare ye disrespect this establishment with your petty 'tricks'." More snarling berating fades as they go further and further down the hall. Where they're headed to the dungeon so Pringle can test out the bracers and see how amusing Arian finds them when they are aimed at him.

Lucian arches an eyebrow at Ripley. "You heard right." He looks down to Ria, "Do you need anything?"

Madam Spleen bustles over, waving at the two boy around Ria's bed. "Shoo, now, shoo. Miss Sykes needs her rest, not the crowing of a pair of roosters. You can visit tomorrow morning."

The nurse turns to lay a gentle hand on Leander's shoulder. "You'll be fine, dear. Just don't go bumping into any doors, and best if you sleep on your back tonight."

Ripley begins to move away from Ria and gives her a smile, "You get better now." With a little wink to her before he moves further away from the scene, "I'll bring you those chocolates I promised." He waves to her and gives Lucian a bit of a smug grin before he then looks to his brother, "You. Leave your wand in your robe." He states and then leaves.

And its seems Madame answers for her. "Rest. Thanks for being here Luc. I'll talk to you later," she smiles and waves goodbye to him. But to Ripley she can't help but snort, "Sure thing. See you around." Leander gets nothing. Go away Leander!

Lucian nods to Ria, the competitive look fading into worry the moment he looks at her. "I'll see you tomorrow morning." He gives her a wave, and departs.


After Ria was suspended a letter was sent to the Faculty. The handwriting is shaky and bad, and the words are probably a little too smart to have been put together by Theo alone, but the note is as follows:

I write this letter in accordance with the request for those who would vouch for the prefect Ria Sykes. Through my experience with Miss Sykes, I have found her to be trustworthy in nature and a woman who keeps her word when she does give it. Since she was made Prefect, with the exception of the incident that led to these proceedings, her behavior has always been exemplary. She has strived to represent Slytherin to the highest degree possible. It is my opinion that removing her as Prefect would be a gross miscalculation and be a detriment to the House as a whole. Punish her for her behavior but do not strip her Prefect status.

  • Theodore Henri Dupont
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