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 Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:18 pm
 Mattie scowled under Madam Hooch's ramblings about going to the clinic. He knew his shoulder was a wreck, but like hell if he was going to the bloody nurse after taking a fall like that. He was going to tough it out. He wasn't any freakin' sissy. He turned away from Madam and suddenly felt like someone had flicked his nose. He blinked incredulously. Did Madam...? No. There was no way. It was probably just a bug.
That blonde kid from earlier shot up into the air and was immediately tipped over upside down. Mattie, despite himself, felt his hands and stomach muscles tighten. What the ********? He wasn't upside down. He stomped on the grass to make sure, but it was still there. And gods, his nose still stung.
"Will someone get that damn kid out of the air?" He growled to some of the other Slytherins, who nodded in agreement. They probably thought he was making fun of him, but his stomach was really starting to lurch and he couldn't figure out why. And Madam Hooch was still just trying to get him to go to the clinic. That kid was gunna ******** kill himself and Mattie in the process. Mattie didn't get it, but he knew if that brat fell, it was bad. He snatched one of the still brooms from one of the other Slytherins and shoved off from the ground despite Madam's screeches.
He wibbled and wobbled his way over to where the blonde was hanging onto the broom, and tried reaching out his good arm. Bad idea. He had nothing to support himself with. He'd have to support the brat's weight with his bad arm. Feeling a shooting pain go up his left arm, he reached out. He was barely stable himself, so the quicker he got him, the better. "Hey, numbnuts. Grab on."
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:37 pm
 Hanging from the monkey bars was something Marquis enjoyed, usually. He loved climbing, dangling about and generally having a ball but hanging upside down from a broom at this height? No. And his left arm was throbbing for some reason too, making it awfully difficult to hold himself onto a wiggling stick while all the blood rushed to his head. And dammit, no-one down there was doing anything about it! They were either laughing or panicking, and neither option was helping. Every will he tried to pass onto the rebellious broom simply drove it a little higher. Oh lord, had they no levitation spells here? Or something? Gods, he was going to die.
He’d screwed his eyes shut somewhere along the way, so it wasn’t until Mattie spoke that he realised there was someone else in the air. His eyes clearly showed disbelief. ”What the hell, mate? Yer arm’s already buggered n’ “ His broom lurched and, in a moment of panic, the blonde reached out and took Mattie’s hand. The pain would hit both of them, and the uneven weight made Mattie’s broom give out. They fell.
Marquis somehow kept hold of Mattie’s hand during the fall, only letting go when his entire back came into contact with the grassy field below. It was a nasty thumb in itself, but what hurt most of all was the heavy, bulky figure of Mattie coming down on top of him. One of his elbows got Marquis right in the stomach, making his tummy throb just like his head was starting to. He groaned... he didn’t wanna go to the hospital wing right now... perhaps he’d rest right here...
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:47 pm
s**t, that backfired. At least his stomach wouldn't hurt anymo-- AUGH. He felt himself slam into the kid's smaller frame. An elbow jabbed into his gut and looked down to move it. Strangely, there was no elbow in his own gut, but in the other kid's. Mattie shook his head. He was delirious from the fall. And the pain in his arm was now splitting. Woozy with pain he tried to stand up, off of the kid, but had to lean over on his knees for support for a bit. Madam Hooch rushed over.
"What on earth were you boys thinking? Marquis Liete! Mattie de'Medici! Get yourselfs to the medical ward immediately! I don't want to see you on a broomstick for another week! Is that clear?" She was practically howling, and purple in the face.
"Whatever." Mattie forced out. That Marquis kid didn't look too good. And Madam looked like she was on the verge of another lecture. Augh, he wasn't seriously going to have to... Mattie poked the kid's side with a toe. "C'mon, brat. Move."
Marquis didn't seem all that intent on it, though. Grumbling, Mattie reached down with his still working arm, pulled Marquis upright and into a supported walk. "Come on. I don't know how ******** lame you Gryffindorks can get, but I'm not staying to be lectured by the Bird of Prey."
Just a campus nickname for Hooch.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:14 pm
Marquis was not moving. As well as the strange sensation of his arm being dislocated – which it wasn’t, he was sure – his head and spine were almost screaming at him after their abuse. Not broken, he could still feel his legs, but gods... and he was sure a lovely, round bruise was starting to blossom on his abdomen. Perhaps he’d take a nap, surely he’d feel better after a nap and then he’d go to the hospital wing. Yeah. Great plan, that one. Just close your eyes.
And then there was something poking at his side. Some non-committal sound crept out of his lips, whoever was poking him could go to hell, but then they grabbed his arm and yanked him to his feet. That was enough to draw a whine out of the blonde as he stumbled, leaning heavily against whoever it was and closing his eyes. The vertigo was stomach churning, and he felt like that toast was about to come right back up again. He dry-retched, thankfully, and wobbled wherever Mattie was taking him.
”Whatever, mate.” His voice sounded as though it was being strained through a particularly thick stew. Normally, Marquis wouldn’t have accepted help from anyone, let alone an inbred, but right now he didn’t have much of a choice. The walk went by in silence, and seemed incredibly long. Afterwards, Marquis couldn’t have told you how they got there, just that the smell of antiseptic spells lingered outside the hospital ward door. Some woman made a fuss over them, removing him from Mattie’s arm and plonking him onto a bed instead while she dealt with the Slytherin. Oh, but the bed felt good!
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:30 pm
Mattie could not possibly emphasize enough how great it felt to have his arm set. It was the second time this year it had bet out. He hadn't realized how bad of a condition he'd been in until he seemed to just blink away the time. When he was fully aware of everything going on again, he sat up in his cot. The bed sheets itched. The nurses were twittering about something.
"It was a fire, Lucy!"
"No. In the Library?"
"Yes! And they said the torches just seemed to drop--"
"On their own? Impossible!"
"Cindy saw it with her own eyes!"
"But--"
He'd only been sleeping for--Mattie glanced at the clock--five hours, and there had been a fire in the library? He scowled. No doubt someone did it on purpose, and in some way or another, he was gunna get blamed. Whatever. He didn't care. He had an alibi.
"No one's sure what happened... The stairs are going haywire, too." The nurse was wide eyed. She turned a little and seemed to have spotted him. "Oh, hunny, are you awake? Don't let us frighten you. The library is just fine. It's just off-limits for a little while."
Mattie shrugged and immediately regretted it. Cringing, he mumbled a, "Whatever."
"Now you and your friend here can go back to your houses whenever you need." The nurse said with a sigh at his comment. "Okay, hun?"
Mattie just scowled. He'd really rather just stay in here until the whole thing was settled, thank you very much. Hmph. But of course, the sensible thing to do was to send an injured kid out in a possibly glitchy magical castle. Naturally. Harumph.
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:55 am
Being a magical school, Mattie’s arm would probably be healed up by the next day. It was the same for Marquis really; he was mostly suffering a bad case of vertigo, heavy bruising and a mild dose of concussion from that hit to the head. It was nothing a few disgusting tasting potions and a few good hours of sleep weren’t going to fix, though it was likely he was going to feel woozy for the rest of the evening. That was also, quite possibly, the lack of anything meaningful in his stomach. Missing breakfast and lunch? That was just blasphemy.
The news about the fire came through muffled, stuffed through the filter of sleep and into Marquis’ doped up brain. Numbing potions did that, made you groggy and as though you were seeing the world through a thin pillow. Libraries, fire... huh, maybe that’d be a problem. School meant study and all... but right now it seemed dreadfully unimportant. His blankets, though, they were awfully comfortable and the pillow was just at the plumpness he liked, like it was made for him. Surely he could pretend to be asleep for a little bit longer.
”Oh no you don’t, Mr Liete.” Came the stern voice of the head nurse, Poppy. ”I saw that eye open young man, and I know you have potions starting any minute now. Get up and get your shirt back on.”
There was a string of incoherent grumbles in reply before Marquis coaxed himself to an upright position. He’d been sleeping on his stomach for comfort’s sake, the mottled bruises down his spine like the markings of some strange lizard, and hadn’t noticed his shirt-less-ness until he pushed the blankets away. It didn’t really bother him, being a guy and all, and he crumpled his shirt a bit as he slid it back on. His mysterious arm pain had vanished while he was asleep, so his buttons were done up with relative ease before he let himself slide off the bed.
Apparently he wasn’t as stable as he thought he was going to be. Brown eyes widened suddenly as his knees seemed to crumple beneath him, and were it not for the strong arms of Poppy propping him up, Marquis was pretty sure he’d have been in for another meeting with the ground.
”Tsk... a harder fall that I thought, maybe.” The nurse cooed, before glancing at Mattie. ”Mr de’Medici, would you mind giving Marquis here a hand to Potions? He can carry your books, and it’s safer to go in pairs.”
Of course, not that there was anything to worry about, out there. Marquis glanced between the nurse, Mattie, and then back at the nurse.
”Er... I’cn probly handle m’self.” He mumbled, wondering if she’d pay any attention to him at all. Probably not.
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:44 am
Mattie scowled at Poppy's request. Like hell if he was carrying Marquis' books for him. He bristled at the idea of walking next to the kid, no less doing a favour for him. Eugh. He hadn't saved him because he was being nice, you know. And he was going to make that quite clear. ”Er... I’cn probly handle m’self.”Perfect! "See. He can get them himself." Mattie pushed himself out of bed, ignoring the light haunt of an ache in his shoulder from the set. It was hardly anything and the bandages helped tremendously. Poppy, however, seemed to take into consideration that once a shoulder is back into place it's as good as healed, nevermind the ache. She grabbed him by the bad shoulder and looked him straight in the eye.
"Now, you listen here, young man." She hissed in his face. Gods, this was just a bad day. "You think I can't see those bracelets on your wrists? I know you two are friends. So don't think you can get away with acting all tough in from of me."
She shoved a bewildered Mattie towards his and Marq's towering pile of books. "You carry those books, or so help me I'll pull out your other arm!"
Mattie cringed. Poppy wasn't one to mess with. Apparently she had had no trouble at all plucking one of Jaye's hairs when he'd snapped at her, something you never do to a Veela. Jaye was always on the verge of spitting venom when she came up in discussion. Mattie scowled at Marquis. Idiot. Why the hell did he always get stuck in situations like this? He just wanted to be left alone, damn it all.
"Hurry up." Mattie snarled at the blonde kid. The dull ache in his arm was starting to become a nagging pain. "Don't forget your hair tie. We're not making two trips."
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:17 pm
... Friends? What the hell, were all these people mental? Or, worse, from some sort of ******** Disney movie? Marquis almost glanced around, as if worried the nurses were going to start singing and dancing in unison at any moment. He barely even know this bloke, and suddenly every older witch and wizard had packaged them up as friends and tied a pretty bow on top. It was so gay it wasn’t even funny. He made a few weak protests as Poppy thrust his books in Mattie’s direction – no really, he could do it! – but they were both kicked out of the infirmary before either could really protest the situation.
”Huh?” Marquis had only just noticed Mattie had been talking to him. His hairtye? Oh, right, his hair had come out at some point and was hanging loose around his shoulders. ”S’no problem, mate. V’got more somewhere.”
They started the trek. It was down a lot of stairs again, Potions being in the dungeons and all, so Marquis had to walk irritatingly slowly and cling to the banisters. The vertigo was still loitering, and he quickly found out that descending too fast made the world spin. It was more annoying than anything else, and he just hoped it’d pass soon. Wait, potions? If it was anything like chem class, leaving his hair down wasn’t going to be such a great idea. So while Mattie carried the books, Marquis fussed a little with his hair, pulling it into a non-descript knot just to keep it out of the way. He completely missed a few second year girls glancing at them and giggling, busy trying to do his hair and walk at the same time. It wasn’t as easy as ya thought, yanno!
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:34 pm
This couldn't have been more irritating. No, scratch that. He wasn't going to jinx himself again. Last time he tried that he got himself a silver 'buddy bracelet'. And for the life of him he couldn't figure out why the room kept spontaneously spinning. He kept trying to push on faster so he could get to the dungeon to sit down, but at almost random intervals, the walls would just seem to close in. He sighed and stopped for a second. His arm was hurting anyway. He looked over the side of one staircase at the hallway to the burnt library and swore he saw someone in pink knickers grin up at him. He blinked and she was gone. Weird.
He looked back at Marquis who was still clinging to the banister and making his way down the steps. Every once in a while he'd try to move fast and... Auuugh. The room was spinning again. ...Whoa, wait a minute. Mattie watched Marquis, with one hand around the books, one on his head. When the blonde sped up, Mattie felt woozie. That wasn't right. What the hell was causi-- The bracelets.
Would you knock it off?" Mattie snapped at Marquis. "Speeding up. Stop it. You're getting dizzy."
He figured he'd have to have proof first before Marquis would believe him and knock it the hell off. He waited impatiently at the ledge he was at. It was gunna take forever to get to the dungeon, but he sure as hell wasn't walking there with an aching armload of books and the room spinning. He wouldn't be alive when he got there.
"Weeeell, Zachie~! Lookie heeah! Ain't that sweet! He's lookin' after his mate!" Mattie jumped a little at the sound of the rough female voice and looked over to his left to see a Ravenclaw with insanely dyed hair. He could've probably spotted every colour in the freakin' rainbow if he tried.
"Why doncha look afta me like tha'?" The girl prodded the side of a very serious looking Ravenclaw boy next to her. Mattie scowled.
"He's not my friend." Mattie growled. <******** off."
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:08 pm
Mattie walked fast. Probably wanting to get to class quickly and to get away from him, no doubt, and overall Marquis didn’t blame him. They’d met twice now – Marquis didn’t count the sorting thingo last night – and both times had ended badly; the first with a bracelet (a very gay bracelet, at that), and the second with a nasty fall that he was being reminded of with every step. That was only reason Marquis was even trying to pick up his own pace, so he could keep up and not get lost on the way to his next class. Overall, it wasn’t working; he just felt like vomiting up the potions from earlier, and had to stop.
”S’yer fault f’walkin’ so bloody fast.” The blonde grumbled, finally catching up with a distinct sway in his gait. Unlike Mattie, he hadn’t quite cottoned on to the fact that their pain sensors were now linked, and he simply closed his eyes and savoured the pause. Deep breaths, out through the nose. Okay, he was good...
And then that piercing cockney accent made him feel ill all over again. His accent wasn’t fantastic and he knew it – actually, he was quite capable of speaking normally but he just didn’t want to – but this woman’s was like a cheese grater being thrust into your ears. His nose curled in reaction, until another, more familiar voice entered the scene.
”Marq?”
”Zach?” His eyes flew open, and Marquis’ face seemed to brighten instantly. The lanky man was standing next to a blob of outrageous colours, Marquis ignored her simply to save his retina from being burnt to a crisp, and almost immediately was at his side, a supportive arm wrapped around his shoulder.
”Gods above, Marq, it’s your first day and you’re already hurt? Did that brat do it?” It seemed Zach was the type to jump to conclusions, and his glare was practically venomous as he glanced over at Mattie. He hushed his voice: ”You want me to get him for you? It’s not a problem”
”Er... he actually kinda helped me out, mate, n’ya – “
”Oh, stop being nice, Marquis!” Nevermind the fact that Mattie was right there.
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:35 pm
What. The. ********. This day couldn't get any weirder. And holy hell, did that guy not think Mattie couldn't hear him? What, did he think that chick's bad hair dye was enough to distract him from a not-so-looming threat? He could ******** take him. Even as a first year, Mattie wasn't tiny. Mattie scowled directly at the guy and just turned back around to head back towards Potions while Marquis had stopped. At least he could make some headway without the damn verti--
"'Allo, pumpkin~! Aren' yew jus' precious. Is mean ol' Zachie threatenin' yew? Don' worry~ He gets hisself inta a tizzie sumtimes~" 'd walked flat into rainbow chick's frame. How the hell had she..? "M'name's Vita. I'm bettin' you're the Matsie da'Medichi evrryone's blabbin' 'bout. Yah?"
Mattie felt a headache coming on. He'd screeched out harpy fights with his brother but he'd never met a voice as annoying as this one. That's really something coming from a line of Veelas. He just nodded non-committaly and tried to push past.
"Oh yew poor Veelan baby~" Vita dragged him back into a hug quickly snatching the books from his hands. "Now lesse what you're studyin', eh?"
She plucked through the pile, surprisingly strong for what she looked. Mattie scowled. He wasn't afraid to hit a girl, and he wasn't all too happy that she was going around just announcing that he was Veelan. Sure it was pretty common knowledge but it wasn't like everyone was born with it. Whoever didn't know, he'd like to keep it that way. Mattie snarled up at her. "Give me back the damn books."
Vita reached down and grabbed him fondly but roughly by the hair. Mattie froze."Aww, now. Be nice, eh?" She winked at him and gave him back the books. "And careful with those bracelets~"
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:59 pm
Zachary was muttering death threats, awfully creative ones too, for a Ravenclaw, and Marquis just let him talk. The other guy was impossible to talk to when he got like this. Zachary Grant was the type of guy who made friends rarely, but when he did he was protective of them to a fault. A brilliant wizard too, even in second year, and he’d already given Marquis half the potions course for first year. The perfect person to have on your side once first-year hazing started.
The trip down to the Potions classroom continued much like this: Mattie being accosted by the bright blotch that was Vita, and Marquis shuffling behind being held up by Zach. Needless to say, Snape was looking as amused as he ever was when the quartet walked in.
”I’m not even going to ask.” He drawled, speaking through his nose. ”Take your seats. Mitchell, Grant, head into the store room and start preparing the ingredients there.”
Oh, guess where the last two seats were? Noting that most of the class was already seated, Marquis hurried over to the double-desk and quickly slumped into the left side, feeling the vertigo rise. It was a huge relief to be sitting down, like simply plonking his butt down hit an ‘off’ button on his dizzy spells. Here in one piece, victory!
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:26 pm
Mattie was not happy about sitting this close to Marquis. No, not because of any silly sexual insecurity thing. But because he was absolutely secure and sure that Marquis would out of the blue be attracted to him. It was annoying as ********. It was for this reason that he despised being Veela. Mattie hesitated at the desk, putting down the books slowly, and ignoring the stares of the classmates.
"Sit down, Mr. de'Medici." Snape's voice commanded. Mattie glared at him. He wasn't scared of him like most of the first years were. Hell he wasn't scared of anybody. 'Cept maybe that Vita chick. Mattie ruffled his hair nervously. He dumped himself down as ungracefully as possible next to Marquis and looked at the huge cauldron imbedded in the table in front of them. Humph. It smelt funny.
"Now Zachie-poo. Why ya goin' all upsie-Nellie on this poor chap's arse?" Vita prodded Zach's side with a stick of cinnamon. Spiced cinnamon, to be exact. She hadn't seen him get all protective over anyone like that before. It was kinda cute. "I'm sure that lummox of a ferst yeah has bettah things tah do than go about beatin' on yer Marq. 'Sides. He was carryin' the books, yeah? C'mon, help me carry these pickled hooves."
Vita motioned to a rack of jars. "Now, you gunna be civil, or m'I gunna haff to spike yer water again?"
Mattie needed to somehow let Marquis know about the bracelets effect before he did anything stupid. Like stand up. Mattie waved a hand in the blonde's direction and pss'd at him. "Hey. Hey Marquis." He hissed.
"No talking." Snape glowered at Mattie, hovering over him directly for a minute before continuing. "Now if you'll turn to page thirteen..."
Well then. He was going to have to show him instead. Mattie waved about at Marquis a bit to make sure he was watching the stubbed his toe real hard. Then he pointed at the bracelet. That had to make some sense, didn't it?
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:40 pm
”Marquis can’t keep himself out of trouble even when he sees it coming.” Zachary grumbled, giving some rats’ spleens a good mashing. Normally he had no complaints about ingredient prep, Potions was his specialty, but today he practically massacred the poor frog’s legs and newt’s tongues. ”He doesn’t need some stupid, Veela Slytherin jerking him around on top of that.”
Back out in the classroom, Marquis had reclaimed his books off Mattie and was actually doing what he was told. He had some parchment and his quill out and everything, and was thumbing his way through the text book when Mattie decided to talk to him. Huh, he’d thought the other boy would be stony silent through class. He glanced at him, curious, after Snape snapped at them. The stare became prolonged though. For some reason, Mattie was looking ... awfully nice, here in the gloom and up close. Which was ridiculous, really, considering he’d been nothing but a pain and he had that scar thing on his cheek, but now that he thought about it ....
A sudden stab of pain through his toe broke that train of thought up. Unfortunately for Mattie, Marquis’ first reaction was to look at his toe, as if that would explain it. He then glanced at the other boy, frowning.
”Did you stand on my toe or somethin’, mate? What the hell?” Marquis, it seemed, was a bit better at whispering than Mattie was. Snape didn’t catch him.
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Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:01 pm
Mattie scowled. This was going to be more difficult that he thought. He recognized that eyeglaze. Mattie moved a little to get the attention back on him again. He whispered, "Focus, dork."
He stubbed his toe harder this time, cringing a little. Then he pointed at the bracelet. "Do you get it, yet?"
Vita had just walked out with a single jar of pickled hooves only to see Mattie stubbing his toe on purpose and looking Marquis straight in the eye. The kid pointed at his bracelet. Ooh. They were figuring it out. How cuuute. Zach probably wouldn't see it that way though. Ho huum~ Vita did a one-eighty back into the store-room and blocked the door frame to give the kids more time.
"I'm shure them sleens got wha wus comin' to'em mate." Vita remarked. "But Zachie-poo?" Zach didn't really seem to be listening to her ideas any more than a wall listens to a lampshade. Hm. She needed to focus the attention on her, rather than on Mattie. It'd be rather useful to have a de'Medici in her debt.
"Zachie-poo~ Yer my Huneybunch, Sugarplum, Pumpy-umpy-umpkin, yer my Sweetie Pie~!" Vita sang, horribly off key. "Yer my Cuppyca' , Gumdrop, Snoogums-Boogums, Yer the Apple of my Eye~!"
That should do it. Well. For a few minutes, at any rate.
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