Reluctant Partners PV Carra MacKinnon

Carra was running late, again. After a late-night of shenanigans, she had slept through breakfast. Not to mention her first class, Potions, was only a few minutes away from beginning. Throwing her covers up on her bed, she shimmied into her robes and stuffed her feet into her shoes. Where was her bottle of ink? She could've sworn she'd left it on her bedstand, but it wasn't there. Flustered, she snatched her bag up, throwing quill and parchment, vials and book haphazardly inside. She'd just have to borrow someone's ink when she got there.

Chasséing through the common room, she paused to grab a biscuit off one of the tables, stuffing it into her mouth as she grabbed three more and dropped them into her bag as well. As she turned to exit, she happened to notice her reflection in one of the windows. Hair sticking out in all directions, it wouldn't be hard to guess that Carra had just clambered out of bed. She ran her fingers through her hair in hopes of calming the unruly mess but only succeeded in making a large rats nest in the back. Sighing with exasperation, she plunged out the door and into the corridor.

The chilly dungeons were the exact opposite of where Carra would like to be hurrying this early in the morning, but she kept a stiff upper lip as she hastened away from the common room. In fact, it looked like she wasn't the only person in a hurry this morning, a black-haired Ravenclaw was heading towards the stairwell to the dungeons only just ahead of her.

Carra lengthened her stride until she was practically running, hoping to catch up with the girl so they could enter the classroom together, she didn't want to be the last one in.

"Hey there! Are ya headed to Potions? That's where I'm off to, slept in a little late this mornin'," Carra laughed, falling into stride with the girl, "what happened ta make you late?"

@Katherine Cobwebbe Not at all! I think it's just perfect.

Despite her best efforts, the Hufflepuff was fast, and seemingly determined to ruin Kat's already terrible day. She was practically leaping down the stairs at this point in a brutal attempt to get away, which was highly out of character for someone like Kat. This was truly miserable. And humiliating. "Why am I late?" she repeated indignantly through pants, her face flushed red. She spared the girl, who had spoke in a thick Scottish accent, a glance, and it was not a pretty sight.

She certainly looked at though she had just rolled out of bed, her tousled blonde hair tangled in a knotty mess over her head and her eyes sealed with dark bags. Kat couldn't fathom how someone could feel cheerful whilst looking so bedraggled, but she tried not to think about it, quickening her pace. A jolly grin seared the shorter girl's features as she looked up at Kat, eyes sparkling, obviously expecting an answer to her question. Suddenly, Kat couldn't wait to be in Potions class.

"Why am I late?" she said again, her tone a little on the sharper side. "Well, if you really must know, I was collecting my glass phials. I left them in my dormitory." As they left the dark of the stairwell and emerged onto the ground floor, Kat marched onwards, trying desperately to lose the girl. Then, not giving her the chance to speak, Kat started again, "And I'm really not having the best day today, so I highly suggest that you leave me alone."

The shocked expression that flashed across the taller girls face told Carra that her attempt to tame her hair certainly hadn't succeeded. A blase of indignance spread through her, who was this girl to judge? She herself was late too potions too, although perhaps not of her own accord.

Carra traipsed along beside the girl, who quickened her pace possibly to try and lose Carra. When the girl finally relented and told that she had had to retrieve her philes from the Ravenclaw dorm, Carra nodded. A trip all the way to the Ravenclaw tower and back would certainly make you late first thing in the morning.

A 'tsk' escaped from Carra as the girl shortly told her to shove off and the indignant blase from earlier grew into a more substantial flame. The cheeky smile that had easily adorned the blondes face dropped suddenly, and she replied with a sharper tone, "Ach, just tryin' ta make the day a wee bit brighter, but I can see tha's not ta be the case. We are going to precisely the same place though, so at least till we get there ye've got my company."

As they reached the bottom of the stairs Carra bit her tongue, trying to keep her morning mood turning too sour and spreading to the girl next to her. The silence as they crossed the ground floor was thick as butter and stretched uncomfortably. The hurried tap-shuffle-tap of their feet only made it worse. The stairwell down to the dungeons loomed in front of them and swallowed them up as they descended down, down, down into the belly of the castle.

Unable to take the stiff silence any longer, Carra blurted out, "I'm Carra by th' way," leaving a cold echo of her voice trailing behind them.

@Katherine Cobwebbe Sorry it's been over a week! Life hit me like a pile of bricks.

When the blonde girl retorted in an equally frustrated manner, Kat forced herself to bite her tongue. She was going to be the bigger person, both literally and figuratively it seemed, as her companion was a fair amount shorter than she was. Judging by her appearance, the Hufflepuff wasn't having the most fantastic morning either, and Kat could appreciate (albeit with some bitterness) that she was at least trying to remain upbeat, unlike her.

They proceeded in terse silence along the ground floor. Strangely, Kat found herself enjoying this noiseless dynamic a whole lot more than the stiff and irritated exchanges from before, especially because she could tell the other girl was far less comfortable with it than she was. Why she couldn't have gone on ahead Kat could not comprehend. It seemed that stubbornness and pride far outweighed personal gratification.

The two of them limbered down the stairwell into the dungeons. Immediately, Kat recalled the stem of her hatred for potions: the smell. It was unmissable; as soon as you dared near the classroom you were met with the most intense stench - a mixture of the most disgusting and obscure ingredients you could imagine. Kat would best describe it as... a troll's evening meal. You would have thought they'd found some way to get rid of it by now-

"I'm Carra by th' way."

Kat startled at the sudden sound of... Carra's voice. Taken aback by the lack of hostility, she replied without much thought, "I'm Katherine." It wasn't often that she intoduced herself by her nickname. Then, a little awkwardly, she added, "Cobwebbe. Like spiders."

Speaking of spiders, a small trail of them scurried out from underneath the potion's classroom doorframe, signalling to the two of them that they'd arrived. God, Kat could not express how little she wanted to open that door and confront a Professor Pince about being late. There was no use putting it off, however, and without sparing so much as a glance at Carra, she pushed the door open and made her way inside.

Much to Kat's surprise, the professor didn't seemed to note their late appearance. He merely signalled to the board - which had the words 'antidote to common poisons' written accross it - and then to a couple of empty seats on the other side of the room. The only empty seats. God dammit. Kat stalked over as quickly as she could, spilling her belongings all over the desk and dropping her copy of 'Magical Drafts and Potions' onto its wooden surface. God. Dammit.