| Details for A Little Bit of Kindness |
| Summary: | Offering a gift as an apology. |
| Date: | October 27, 1939 |
| Location: | Gryffindor Common Room, Hogwarts |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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Have you ever seen someone look so cheerful about doing homework? Madeline is lying on her stomach in front of the hearth, a book open in front of her, kicking her feet in the air and both smiling and humming away. I mean - it's History of Magic for goodness sake! Who enjoys that?! Periodically, she scribbles some notes on parchment.
By the time Angelus steps in to the common room he’s managed to clear his head a little. A smug smile touches at his lips as he allows his eyes to scan the room, his stance showing off arrogance as he strolls across the commons. His uniform swirls around him as he heads towards the stairs without a word to anyone, just a conceited look as if he were too good to spare a word for anyone. Until he catches sight of the girl lying by the hearth and the youth halts, a soft smile that flicks with superiority. “Oh, Evans, come here,” he announces, lifting a hand to gesture with two fingers royally. “Come see me for a moment.”
Madeline looks up in surprise and bites her lip, then offers Angelus a smile. "Just one more paragraph in this section, okay?" She tells him, before looking back down at her book. She's a pretty fast reader, after all. She jots something down from the paragraph, then pops up to her feet, making her way over to Angelus with a curious but slightly cautious look on her features. "So, umm… Got a new wand? I bet it must be a nice one," she remarks politely.
Angelus arches a brow as he regards the girl, with a slight tilt of his head as he smirks. He lowers his head just a touch in a simple nod. “Fair enough,” he responds. “If only-“ He falters for a moment, and he shifts on his feet as he hesitates. His mouth opens briefly, but he shuts it. The youth stalls for a moment, and the façade that he’s allowing to show cracks a little. Letting out a breath, he stubbornly cranes his head and forces his smile to slide smoothly along his lips. “I have to run upstairs anyway,” he finally finishes.
And he turns without bothering to give another look to Madeline. He heads up to the dorms, and he’s gone for a minute or so, before he returns. A basket, roughly the size of two adult sized hands brought together, is wrapped in cellophane with a silver coloured ribbon tied around its handles. He rests it lightly on the back of the couch, keeping it propped with a hand, as his blue eyes lock on Madeline. “I’ve returned.”
As his wand is asked about, an egotistical smirk flicks against his lips. “I have,” he answers, barely moving his head an inch as he nods. “A wand to fit a Star such as I. Let me allow you to lay eyes upon it.” His left hand keeping the basket positioned, he reaches into his robes at his shoulder. He draws out his wand of dark wood, decoratively twisting along its fifteen inches of length. The vanity handles of blue swirls has been attached to the new wand’s handle, the blue jewel on the end of the handle now has an addition - a little chain attached to a pendant. It’s his own variation of his family’s crest. “Is it not fantastic? I, of course, wouldn’t accept anything less than excellent.”
"Umm - sure. It's great," Madeline agrees. "The swirling bit is real nice," she adds politely as she studies the wand. "And it's a nice, dark color, too. I'm sure it'll work great for you - and that's the most important thing, right?"
“Of course it will,” responds the youth, smirking. “It’s quite a magnificent wand.” Angelus rotates his wrist, twisting his wand around, showing it off as he smiles proudly. “Consider it a perk of my family’s excellent status. We would never accept an insignificant wand.” His smile slides smugly across his face, tilting his head as he locks his eyes on the girl. Gel clears his throat, sliding it back into its holster under his robes at his shoulder. “Anyway, I’ve called you over,” he says. He returns his other hand to the basket. Within, there’s an assortment of sweets, nothing cheap, neatly arranged inside. He offers it out Madeline. “I thought you deserved a little something. It was a tense, stressful time under Flint’s reign, and I must apologise for the way I most certainly treated you.”
Madeline looks at the basket in surprise, then back at Angelus - reaching out a bit hesitantly to take it from him. "Oh, you didn't need to, umm, go and do a thing like that…" she answers. "But I'll, umm… I'll share these with my friends." She gives Angelus a smile, despite her uncertainty. They wouldn't be tampered with… would they? The sweets? Still. Her mother didn't raise her to be rude, so she promptly adds a polite, "Thank you very much, it's very thoughtful of you."
Angelus cranes his head a little as he regards Madeline, smile wavering, but his pride returns as he dips his head an inch. “Oh, but it was, Evans. My behaviour was unacceptable towards you.” As he speaks, a hand draws out something else from his pocket. It’s a simple, small beaded bracelet of a silver colour, one small bead in pattern with just a slightly bigger bead. “And this,” he says, offering it out to his housemate. His smile is genuinely warm for a second, but it’s shortly followed by a smirk as he cocks his head back. “In hopes that, perhaps, we can eventually find friendship between us,” he states in explanation of the bracelet. But then a bitter glint flashes in his eyes, sharply eyeing Madeline a second before he sneers. “Yes, share with your friends,” allows the boy, this part spoken in a friendly tone, but the next part darkens, “except for your friend Ward. He should get none of it,” he hisses out angrily. He inhales sharply, working, with an effort, to return his smile. “Do enjoy the basket, Evans.” He turns away from her, and heads over to the exit.
"Oh, it's very pretty… thank you," Madeline responds, accepting the bracelet - though she's not sure what to do with it. It is pretty… But does she wear it? It's from Angelus! Wouldn't it be rude not to wear it? But does that matter? He was cruel to her! But he's trying to make up for it, right?
Why do things have to be so confusing?!
As Angelus practically snarls, she leans back just a little, a puzzled, worried, and uncertain look stealing over her features. "What… did Gabriel do?" she asks quietly.
A little chuckle escapes from Angelus as he turns back to Madeline, tilting his head. “He’s shown what he really is,” he answers. A smug smile slides along his lips, and he lifts his hand to offer Madeline a wave. “I’ll see you around, Evans. Enjoy.” And he slips out.
Madeline rolls her eyes, shouting up the stairs, "Gabriel's never hidden who he is! If you made him mad, that's not his fault, Angelus Eibon!" She lets out a sigh, then sets the basket on a table in the dining commons. "If guys want some, it's okay," she tells the other students. There's a few takers! But there's plenty of students who're a little suspicious of those candies…