New Friends From a Regrettable Decision Finished

Mari didn't really know how she kept finding herself in situations with snakes. Here she was, though, in yet another. Mum would be so disappointed in me, she thought solemnly as she gazed up towards the tree, especially as there has to be some reason that I haven't met her Slytherin siblings many times. Snakes, she'd always say as we left their company...

As much as Isa's opinion and Mari's own experiences had shaped her impressions on Slytherins, her loyalty to the safety of others was more important. She couldn't possibly just leave the boy, green robes glinting, even from all the way up there! He looked terrified! Or at least, he seemed terrified; Mari couldn't make out his face. She did not, however, know many people who would grip a tree branch as tightly with their legs and arms like this boy was doing now.

Mari toyed with the idea of getting a professor, but judging by the boy's stance, she worried he would not be very understanding if he noticed that she had seen him and then walked away, even if she was trying to get someone more well-equipped to come to his aid. She listened as he yelled some words that seemed like gibberish, flinching when he decided to use the word "damned" instead of darned. Mari wasn't too fond of swearing, even if it was directed towards trees. He seemed angry. Maybe she should walk away.

But what if he curses me later, as revenge? Mari wondered fearfully as she gripped her wand. She wasn't very confident in her magical abilities, much preferring her moments with plants. She would be a goner if he tried to duel her. That also meant, though, that she would be ineffective if she tried to cast a spell to aid him. The only thing she could do, Mari concluded, was use her words. "Erm..." she began, then realizing that the boy would need her to speak quite louder - he was quite high - added more loudly, "Do you need some help?"

He did look frightened, but Slytherins were snakes, after all. Perhaps he was trying to put on a show to trick her into casting a spell to aid him. She would be much smarter than to fall in this trap, of course; he would need to be much more convincing to make her break school rules. In the off-chance he was actually scared, though, it would be much better to wait and see what he had to say to explain how he got into this situation.

Dan's eyes were screwed shut. He knew he had to get down, but the thought of how high up he was made him tighten his grip on the limb. How embarrassing. He was a Slytherin, he was supposed to be cunning and clever. And yet here he was, stuck in a tree yet again, like a housecat. It was then, that his 11 year old overactive imagination started kicking in. What if the limb broke? What if he starved up here? What if birds and squirrels came and started tickling his feet? What if the tree caught fire? What if-

"Do you need some help?"

Dan heard a girl's voice. He risked a look down by cracking one of his eyes open, and saw someone down there. He thought he saw yellow, meaning she was a Hufflepuff. Well, she hadn't just taken his shoes and ran, so she had that going for her. But what an obvious question. If he didn't need help, he wouldn't be holding onto a limb for dear life.
"Yes, I need bloody help! I have Acrophobia, I-"
Dan realized how high pitched his voice was due to his fear. He cleared his throat, and tried as hard as he could to sound as though he wasn't terrified.
"I'm afraid of heights. I couldn't resist climbin the tree, and I went too high, and now I can't get down."
He hoped she could understand him. Being an Irish boy, he talked remarkably fast and with an Irish accent. She sounded to be English, which didn't exactly instill a lot of hope in him for her understanding him.

[font=times new roman]Vince was heading to the herbology class, she had a question for the professor after scouring over the textbooks in her free time and it was nice enough outside to make time walking there. In one arm she carried the related textbook, some notes she'd written, and in the other a small black box so tiny it couldn't be seen unless she opened her hands.

While she was walking her mind wandered into thoughts unrelated to what was going around her, so she didn't notice the situation near the trees until she had walked close enough.

When she first heard the talking she started walking more quickly, more out of instinct than fear. Whatever was going on was definitely not her problem, even if bullying was involved. She didn't want to have anyone bothering her about interfering. Hopefully someone else would come along and handle things.

Vince's ears and cheeks were pink with nervousness, wondering what, strangely, was going on. She clutched her things more tightly and was focused on her destination but her eyes betrayed and glance to the side. She stopped in her tracks.

Gazing up, she saw a boy high up in the trees, not too high that she saw the fear in her face. He was about her age but she couldn't remember if she'd seen him before, so he probably wasn't a Ravenclaw. Besides, her house knew better, she hoped, than to climb trees and then get scared right afterwards, especially if the tree was that high.

Vince just gaped, shocked at first but by now she just stared, wandering if he would fall. That was the next thing that was going to happen.

A girl was trying to help but she had a strange look on her face, maybe it was doubt or suspicion. Did she think he was going to...jump? Vince's face turned even pinker; what if—if he did jump—she somehow got into trouble just for being there? She definitely didn't want to be interrogated anytime soon, or at all. But for some reason her feet wouldn't move from her frozen state while her mind was kept urging her to move along. “ Um..., ” she whispered. Either the warmth of the day or this situation was making her face so heated.

River had just finished her homework for the day, and now, her head needed a well deserved break from school. And where do you go when you need a break? Outside, the grounds of course. The fresh air would always lighten the headache River had managed to work upon herself. The redhead had no plans as to what she’d do when she got outside. I guess I’ll just go for a walk, see where the breeze takes me. It was indeed a nice day for a walk, and she had left her bag in the common room for once. Now was simply the time to get some air.

She strode along the grass of the grounds, letting her thoughts get lost in the atmosphere of the sunny outsides. There were not too mamy students around today, but she could hear a couple of voices coming from here and there. River didn’t bother trying to catch what the people were saying, she just needed some time with her own brain only.
But then, some voice, of a girl it seemed, caught Rivers attention either way. «Do you need some help?», the voice called out, and quite loudly too.

River turned around, trying to locate the source of the voice, when she spotted two people, standing underneath a grand tree.
What in the? River thought, as she started slowly heading towards the tree. The students seemed to be bothered with something, up in the tree perhaps?

The young Ravenclaw was hesitant to aproach the two other people, as she did not want to create an unnecessary scene, but she could not help but let her curiosity push her over there.
As she got closer, she could see the two students were both girls, one a Hufflepuff, and the other was a fellow Ravenclaw.

River’s theory of something being up in the tree, was confirmed as she followed the line of sight, from one of the girls. She could weakly see something green, but not leaves, fabric. «Is that a student?», River asked, not really realizing she was thinking out loud. She could see the student now, it was a boy, and he was wearing the house colours of Slytherin. Perhaps he needs some help?
It wasn’t really an uncommon occurance that studens were climbing the trees of the grounds, but this one, seemed to give of a scared, if not... terrified vibe. Even from that height, River could feel it from where she was standing on the ground.

«Do you need someone to climb up there?», River called out to the boy in the tree. She wanted to help, and she was an expert tree-climber, even though she was quite short. At least she liked believing so herself. She had been climbing trees a lot her entire life, so she’d have no problem climbing up, if it came to that.

River looked at the two girls with furrowed eyebrows. They didn’t seem too comfortable with this situation, at least not the Ravenclaw girl. River turned her head to look back up the tree with squinted eyes. Why did he climb up there in the first place? she thought, and sighed lightly.

The high-pitched, frenzied tone paired with an extremely thick accent left Mari quite lost. Did he say he needed body help? Clearly, he was stuck in a tree! Then he said some gibberish that Mari sensed she was supposed to understand; instead she stared at him in confusion. Softly, to herself, she murmured, "Arachnophobia? What do spiders have to do with this?" Mari was terribly confused.

Thankfully, his tone included some more low tones after he cleared his throat. Afraid of heights...ah, yes, that would explain why he looked so panicked. Mari didn't really understand why he had decided to comb the tree, but she concluded that some people were just weird.

Even though this kid was clearly insane for trying to comb a tree all the way up there despite knowing his fear of heights, Mari knew that he needed help. To make matters worse for the kid, a small crowd was starting to form: two Ravenclaws had also gathered near her to assess the situation. The first newcomer seemed even more useless than Mari, merely stating "um" as a suitable response to the situation. Mari had said "erm," but at least she tried to interact with the boy and understand his situation further. Maybe Ravenclaws didn't know how to use their intelligence in real life situations.

The next Ravenclaw did actually seem to know how to use her wits; she inquired if someone should climb up there. Although she was not one for bravery, Mari felt a sort of loyalty to the boy (despite his Slytherin background), having found him first. Furthermore, although she had a pretty neutral reputation, she did not want to be known as the girl who made other people come rescue strange boys in trees. That wouldn't be a very kind action.

Mari analyzed the tree. It was climbable enough. She definitely could make it up. She turned towards the redhead, who was furrowing her brows, and nodded. "I'll do it. 'S only fair, you folks just found him."

She shimmied off her bag and after a moment's hesitation, decided to put her wand down, too. She noted that the boy had chosen to take his shoes and socks off, but Mari kept hers on to ensure a little more grip with the tree. As mentioned, she wasn't an expert tree climber, so she really didn't know the best tricks and skills to go about this. All she wanted was to help the boy.

Moving slowly towards the tree, Mari took a deep breath before she swung herself upward; she was only a couple feet off the ground but felt it was a massive accomplishment. She continued inching upward and was nearly there when she had a moment's scare: her foot slipped. She gripped tighter to the branch with her hands and steadied the fallen foot back on a limb. As a result, Mari first made eye contact with the boy, steadily holding his gaze, before she looked downward to see if there was judgement on the two onlookers' faces. You aren't really proving you can do this, Mari... her doubting inner voice told her.

Shrug it off and keep going. This boy needs you. She breathed and continued onward. Just a few limbs more...

"Ah," Mari breathed so that only the Slytherin could hear her when she made it to the top. You did it. She gazed downwards; it was quite a bit higher than she had anticipated. No wonder the boy was scared. On the positive, though, she had a wonderful view of the lake and the Forbidden Forest. Mari sat in silence, taking in the sights, and nearly forgot the whole reason why she was up here in the first place: the boy.

She looked at him. He held the limb as if his life depended on it. Mari reached to stroke his arm, forgetting her prior prejudices about snakes, and whispered, "It's okay. You're safe." She felt quite bad for the boy.

But he wasn't any more okay than he had been if she had remained on the ground. Mari had barely made it up the tree; how was she supposed to get herself and a boy back down? Even if Mari was bigger than the boy, it would have been quite hard; to make matters worse, Mari was quite small and weak for her age. She chuckled awkwardly and called down to the girls, "I don't think we thought this through...I, um...am not going to be able to carry him." Focusing on the redhead, the brains in her mind, she wondered, "Any other ideas?"

Mari would leave the brainstorming to the girls; for now, she would focus on the boy before her. Still trying to soothe, she used a shushing noise that her mum would use during her wildest tantrums when she and Lucy were girls. In between the shushes, she asked, "What's your name?" Distraction was likely the best tactic for the moment at hand.

Dan cracked one of his eyes open, and saw that the first girl was climbing up. He also saw that a small crowd of Ravenclaw girls was gathering. Oh wonderful. Now there would be two people to tell him how stupid his mistake was. Three, if the Hufflepuff joined in on it.
Though, he didn't think she would do that. She was climbing up the tree after him, when she could've been a total ass, grabbed his shoes and ran. But then, that's something a Gryffindor or Slytherin might'v done, not a Hufflepuff. At least she was nice.

When she arrived where he was, Dan saw her stop and admire the view. Now that she could see the entire half of the reason Dan climbed the thing in the first place, maybe she wouldn't join in on berating him.

"I don't think we thought this through...I, um...am not going to be able to carry him."

While Dan would have rather liked for her to get him down, just her being there with him was an immense relief. He wasn't half as scared now that someone was up with him. She further displayed her niceness by, instead of poking him or tickling him or pinching at him like some of the less desirable kids back home would have (and have) done in this scenario, she tried to calm him further.

"What's your name?"

"It's Dan. Palmer."
He thought a moment. "Do ya think...maybe... we could go down together? If someone else was doin' it with me, I think I could. Long as I don't look down."

River watched the girl closely, as she started climbing up the tree. She didn’t seem the most experienced, but she wasn’t doing bad either. Slowly and steadily, River could see she rose higher and higher up along the mighty trunk of the tree.

Suddenly, River’s heart skipped a few beats, as she caught a glimpse of the hufflepuffs foot, slip on a branch. The redhead held her breath in suspense, hoping the girl would be okay. And sure enough, she gathered herself and continued upwards. She’s actually doing quite good, River thought, still assuming she hadn’t climed the most trees in her life.

The hufflepuff was almost next to the boy now, she slowed to a halt. «Why did she stop?», River quietly asked the ravenclaw standing on the ground, not taking her eyes off the two in the tree. She squinted, trying to see if the girl had reached the boy yet. River tried shielding her eyes from the sun, as she heard the girl call down from the tree,

«i don’t think we thought this through...I, um...am not going to be able to carry him.»

That is quite correct, River thought to herself, as her mind started searching for how to help this guy get down to the ground again.

River had, a few times earlier, had to help people down from trees, or other high places. As she did not have any fear of heights, she was always the one people asked to climb up.
She had some techniques of getting others down, when they were afraid, but she had never needed to help someone, help someone else, from the ground...

She looked up and cupped her hands, to try and make her voice sound a bit better for the girl in the tree.
«Usually, if someone’s scared, it helps to keep them focused on something specific!», she called up. She guessed that would be obvious, but she’s mention it either way.
«Just try getting him to focus on something else, like where to put his feet, and not on how high up he is. And try helping him find good footing, and just climb down slowly together».

River really hoped this would make sense, and that she wouldn’t need to climb up there along with them. Three people, would maybe not make it any easier up in the tree.

River sendt the ravenclaw girl, standing next to her, a slightly nervous smile. Even though, she didn’t doubt that they would make it down just fine.

[quote][font=times new roman]Vince squinted up at the two students in the tree. There was one thing to be brave another thing to be reckless, and the two students seemed to veer towards the later. “ Um, ” she repeated, but this time she didn't say it because she was unsure; she looked around but avoided eye contact with the Ravenclaw next to her. She seemed to know what she was doing, but maybe there could be a quicker way to get down before any other students and professors came along, which would make everything way more worse.

She wiped the sweat off her forehead. Near the trees was bunch of low bushes, some covered in spiderwebs and flowers. She then recalled that they all were wearing their house robes I'm just guessing this, since everyone knows each other's Houses, and a short run to the common room would let Vince get some blankets—or more like steal some blankets.

She stood there, biting her lip. Making a cushion for them to fall in would solve things quicker, they could just slip off the branches and land safely, but Vince figured that the main reason the boy was scared was because of the heights and falling to his death. She studied the branches, stepping back to get a better view.

“ If there...fall of and grab...leaves... ” Vince was muttering under her breath, thinking aloud unconsciously which is what she did set when she was thinking. She became oblivious to everyone else until she was finished, then she dropped her things on the ground, tied her hair into a low ponytail, and sprinted off towards the castle.

Coming back moments later, she was carrying a bunch of pillows and blankets and dropped them underneath. She wasn't sure if they'd attempted to come down yet but Vince began covering the bushes and dirt with the blankets and cushioning.

When she was finished she stepped back and hesitated before glancing at the other Ravenclaw nearby. Face reddened into a even pinker shade, Vince cleared her throat and gestured at what she'd done with her hand. She stared at the ground but then her head shot up like she'd forgotten something.

Voice cracking a little, Vince said, in a voice barely audible for the two above, “ The lowest branches of the tree are the sturdiest, ” She pointed at the thickest one closest to the bushes. “ If you step there and jump you can fall on the...the blankets. ”

Both of them were small and had no hopes of helping each other, unless one of them possessed some super strength, but Vince wasn't thinking of that possibility, since they both now looked worried. She didn't feel pity, she just knew that it was smarter to be known for helping someone in need than to be recognized as someone who leaves people in trouble, especially one that could cause accidents.

She pursed her lips and watched them, hoping they'd heard. The Hufflepuff had given her a weird look before she'd climbed the tree, probably because of how clueless Vince was acting, but it was no better to climb a tree without a plan, just to save someone.

Even when Mari was right next to the boy, she had a hard time understanding his accent. He said his name was Dan, then he stopped and said Palmer, and while in a normal situation Mari would assume that "Dan. Palmer." meant a first and last name, her brain was full of thoughts, given that she was perched in a tree with a boy who was quite frightened. She now had no clue whether his name was "Dan" or "Palmer." S'pose I'll use them interchangeably until I figure this one out, she thought to herself, mouth slightly agape.

After a brief pause, he began another sentence that Mari had to focus carefully on to understand. "Do ya think...maybe... we could go down together? If someone else was doin' it with me, I think I could. Long as I don't look down."

Doing what? Mari wondered, as she repeated the sentence over and over in her head. Oh. Go down. Yes, I suppose that would make sense, given the present situation. She nodded brightly, trying to pretend that she had completely understood the boy's utterings. If they became friends after this, she hoped that she would have an easier time trying to make out his sentences. Otherwise it would be like that silly Muggle game called 'telephone' that Mari used to play when Lucy and her friends as a child. Except...with only one person. And a very muffled connection.

The smarter Ravenclaw seemed to have another thought, answering Mari's call for ideas. Unfortunately, Mari could not stop focusing on how high up they were, herself. She looked downward and flashed a smile, however, as if she had complete confidence in her distraction abilities. The height was on Mari's side in this case - it seemed unlikely that the Ravenclaw would know that the smile was a tentative one from this distance. She turned back toward Dan, and murmured, "Yes, let's head down; you can do it." Her eyes glanced back at the view. It sure was beautiful; she didn't really want to leave the wondrous sight before her... but maybe this would be a halfway decent distraction for the boy. "Take one last look at that view, though," she murmured just loud enough for the boy to hear, captured by awe. "Perhaps after we can see if the lake looks as beautiful from the ground."

She looked away from the boy, trying to hide her growing embarrassment as she realized the possible magnitude these words could have. Mari felt she was far too young to date, but the words could easily be viewed as such a proposal. Her sister, Lucy, would be so proud - even if it was a mistake.

Mari noticed, as she glanced at the ground once more, that the smart Ravenclaw was now alone. It seemed as though the dumber of the pair had given up at the situation at hand. Mari didn't know what to make of this fact but shook the thought from her mind. She had bigger things to worry about. Heaving her body downward, Mari extended a hand to help the boy down himself. She continued this tactic as she made her way further down the tree, grimacing ever so slightly if the boy were to grab his hand, while he hopefully looked away to focus on his downward motion. as in, she would try to time it so he wouldn't notice, but you can decide if he does. While she neared the bottom, she glanced downward once more to see that the other girl had returned, this time with an armful of blankets and pillows. She began to move them onto the ground beneath them and mimed some motions to indicate her plan. While she looked embarrassed, Mari was actually quite pleased at the fact that there was a girl who seemed to be as awkward, if not more awkward, than herself. She clearly remained uncomfortable as she uttered the first coherent sentences of the entire interaction: "The lowest branches of the tree are the sturdiest. If you step there and jump you can fall on the...the blankets."

Mari looked at her in puzzlement; communication was apparently not her forte today, what with Palmer having such a thick accent that his words were indiscernible and this girl speaking so softly that Mari had to shift her body precariously to make out her statements. Luckily, she could just make out the girls' words and nodded toward Dan. "Seems like a solid solution to me," she mumbled, so that only Palmer could hear her. She motioned for his hand once more; if he were to take it, she would grab it tightly. Either way, she would breathe deeply and shakily count, "One...two...three!" before shifting her body forward to land herself solidly on the ground once again.