Not My First Pick PV Finished

Apparently not liking how he was speaking, Nico's eyes did some Terminator thing. Then, at her threats, Dan barely kept himself from bursting into laughter. She tried to sound scary, by saying she'd turn him over to Jensen? Everything she just said was a more eloquent version of 'Treat me a certain way, or I'm going to tattle on you'. The hell was this, 2nd grade?
Needless to say, Dan was not at all moved by such feeble threats. He made no attempt to respond to her 'Do I make myself clear' challenge, as that was the cheapest thing anyone with authority could use to get gratification, and try to force people to conform to them.

He was about to pop off on Nico, when Victor spoke again. Evidently, Neither he, nor Vlad could summon cursing spiders. Which made sense. Perhaps if everyone wasn't making a collaborative concentrated effort of pissing him off, Dan would have thought of that.

Then Vlad said something very strange. That he was cold, and they all had the strength of ogres.
This made Dan pause. He looked at his arms, just to make sure there wasn't an illusion glamour or something on him.
Nope, still same smol boi. Which meant, there was no way in hell that he had that kind of strength.

Then something crossed his mind.

"Ar'right, Strength o' ogres, me arse. No way in any hell I got that kinda power. And if that holds true fer me, I imagine this ent lost on anyone else here either. Which says teh ME, Victor, that if we ent that strong, then the only explanation here, is that YER weakened."

Then things started clicking.

"Which makes sense, if Vlad wanted to keep ye quiet. If someone stronger than me launched inta ye, it'd prolly cave yer head in. So, tell everyone pissed off at ye where ye are, problem fixes itself, eh?" Me suggestion is, after we get the info we need, that he be sent to the Hospital Wing, and be checked for any hex or potion effects.
As teh the info, if ye don't know nuthin, Vlad might. We find out where Vlad can be found, we can grill HIM instead.
....As in question him. Not like, cook him."

Then Jack started talking. "Takin' precautions, me $%*&in' arse."

Then, upon looking closer at him, he saw that it was true.
"They got a point, lad. Ye look like somethin' a dog'd shite out on a rock. I pulled all nighters before, and didn't look an' act like that."

My heart hastened as Dan Palmer put together several pieces in a manner that made a lot of sense for me. A chill ran through me. There was no way Vladimir would do something so crazy. "No way," I shook my head but there was doubt in my voice and in my eyes. My shoulders slumped a bit. "I don't believe that," I affirmed more for myself than for them. We were friends, we had always been friends. I thought. But if I always believed that I would not have been so fast to turn on him. 

I could feel a presence looming behind me. It was Percival, the shadow left an ominous darkness that could be felt. The boy creeped me out to no end.

Attention had turned to Jack B. People seemed content to ignore him, leave him to his nap or whatever dire truth he was hiding. He was not buying it but Jack was adamant in his lie for whatever reason. Percival rebuked the crumbled Slytherin verbally, claiming Dan was not going to do anything. I did not believe a word of that. Neither did Jack. 

I let out a sigh, looked back at the looming terror that was Percicval. "Did I give you what you need?" My voice was still shaking. My nerves would be the end of me. "Are we done?"

Interacting with @Victor Moore | @Opeila Seilun | @Percival Gray | @Dan Palmer

Mentions @Jack Burnett

The dhampir ignored Dan as she could read his facial expressions. For a moment, she didn't understand how he became Quidditch Captain. Tch. No matter. He was a waste of her precious energy that she had so little of these days. However, Dan had a point. This Vlad had a certain idea to make Victor look bad in all of this.

Her ice blue eyes looked Victor up and down. She could feel a certain sincerity in his voice. If that was a mistake... She'd have to bear the consequences later. But there was no time to dilly-dally. If this Vlad was the actualy guy behind the spider attack. Behind the pain and fear that slipped into their once safe Common Room, he had to be caught. But where could he be...

'Okey... How about this...' Nico carefully set a few steps closer to Victor, gently squatting down next to him. 'Do you have any idea where he might be right now? Anything will do...' Her gaze looked up at the other students, most likely keeping their peepers on Vic. 'Dan. Opeila. You're coming with me to find this... Vlad. The sooner we find him, the better.' Her eyes then dropped down to see Jack nearly asleep on the floor. 'Percival... I want you to stay here with Victor and Jack. I trust you'll look after them.' This way she could keep the hothead Dan away from escalating things and with his eagerness to smash someones head in, he might be more motivated to find the one behind all this, or who atleast would know more about this. Before standing up, she looked one last time at Victor. 'Thank you. For telling us. You're not in trouble... We just want answers. Just like you do, I assume...' A soft smile with sad eyes would be flashed at the boy, before getting back on her feet.

"He was supposed to be here," I replied simply. It was the truth, this was their intended meeting place because of how isolated it was from the rest of the school. "You all showed and he never did," I reiterated. I did not shrug, I actually took this whole thing rather seriously. "I don't know where he might be," my shoulders slumped.

"He is a Ravenclaw," not that his House would do them much good. Like Slytherin, the common room was protected by a sentient barrier that would prevent their ingress. "We used to eat in the quad," what I called the courtyard. Not that we had eaten there in some time, not since the incident. "Library maybe. Maybe Marion, he had a thing for her," I shook my head. She definitely did not feel the same way about him. She probably could but he was a pure-blood and he enjoyed mentioning that quite a bit. He did not want to be with her in a partnership sense, he wanted her in another sense and I am pretty sure she always had a sense for that.

"Besides that..." I felt a bit hesitant to say this last bit and frowned. "He spends a lot of his time outside, not sure where." I had a sinking sense in my stomach. "The forest? Maybe further?" There was a questioning tone in my voice as well as a quavering quality. It was indeed fear. I had only been away with him once or twice. Was it more than once? I was not entirely sure.

Nico ordered one of the guys to stay with myself and Jack. Were we prisoners now? Wait, why was Jack a prisoner? I looked down at him and up at Percival. "How about I get him outta here," I offered. There was not much more that they could get out of me. I told them what little I likely knew. After all I was not the boy's keeper.

It was as if it was three days short of a month and nobody moved. Having little to do here, my antagonists must be daydreaming. Little did I know similar had happened to Marion, except she had a knight in shining armor. My knight was this injured guy that it looked like I was going to have to save. One good turn deserves another I told myself as I carefully made my way towards Jack Burnett. I did not make any sudden movements, I did not want to irritate the already agitated wildlife (Palmer).

"Getting you out of here," he announced. He did not see any reason to keep the guy laying down there. He would try to help him stand up, but failing that he would try to pull him to his feet. "Get you taken care of," he exhaled. "Whatever happened, Mr. VanCleaf will make you feel better." It was a hollow promise of course, he had no way of knowing but he had seen that man fix worse.

If he wasn't stopped he would escort, potentially partially carry Jack. If Jack is unable to stand with help, he would grab a boot and try to drag him out. That would be a somewhat pathetic display, Victor was not in the greatest health himself. His icy hand would chill Jack regardless of where he placed it. Like he placed a pack of ice on Jack.

Attempts to leave with Jack

Interacts with @Victor Moore @Dan Palmer @Jack Burnett and @Nico Shymane

"I'm tired," he answered with his eyes closed, as if he was about to fall asleep there and then "Didn't get much sleep last night. But when I saw that note, I wanted to make sure Victor stayed safe from the undeserved wrath of certain impulsive hotheads." added on the tired student, making Percival have a quick glance at Dan who seemed to be the target of the comment "Palmer is too unpredictable, "You have no way of knowing what he was or wasn't going to do. His previous words implied he wasn't about to let Victor off scott-free just for telling us what we wanted to know. he hated to say it but Jack was right, Dan was more unpredictable than anyone in this room right now. However, Percy had a feeling that Dan wouldn't lash out until something threatened or hurt his feelings "And you weren't exactly confidence-instilling yourself when you said you were sure no one wanted Palmer to 'break him in two before we got some sort of information'. Sounded an awful lot like you didn't care what happened to him afterward."

Percy slowly shrugged his shoulders after hearing his stance disputed, something of which he didn't care about one bit "You're right Jack, I don't" replied the Slytherin as he glared at his fellow dorm mate, almost uninterested with what he had to say "Whatever happens to him after this is not my business... neither is it yours" Percy said as he took another quick glance at Dan "And trust me, if he decided to say anything during the questioning without our say, Dan wouldn't be standing the way he is right now"

He knew that Dan wouldn't have the gall to do anything out of order in front of him or the other students, after all, what was the point in breaking the only person with plausible information? only a crazy man would think such a thing 'Dan. Opeila. You're coming with me to find this... Vlad. The sooner we find him, the better. Percival... I want you to stay here with Victor and Jack. I trust you'll look after them.' a girl spoke up below him, who seemed to be speaking to Victor before hand. Percy looked between the pair and slowly shook his head, almost in disagreement to the idea "No..." he replied simply to his fellow Slytherin "What's the point in babysitting, we have information weather it's true or not." he also said as a secondary answer to Victors plea to get Jack out of there. He still had his suspicions on the pair, but there was nothing he could do right now, only time would reveal their true intentions.

While Victor was pathetically trying to get Jack out, Percy slowly tried to put a hand on his shoulder and stare coldly behind him "If I hear anything about you two doing anything out of the ordinary, you'll be sure to see my face again..." explained Percy as he roughly took his hand off him, his head turning to see what the others thought of this, especially Dan.

When Victor tried to take the initiative after he got no response from the others, Jack admired the courage that must not have come easily to the third-year, particularly with all that had seemed to have befallen him up until this point. He would have liked to protest further, but during the time the others had been quiet, the redheaded Welsh boy realized something.

If the others were going to remain this paranoid and neglectful of Victor, their own dorm mate, Jack wanted no part in it. Victor had already provided them with such a great deal of information at the cost of whatever loyalty he'd had to Vlad, which must have been painful enough without knowing for sure if Vlad had betrayed him and Marion or why. Victor probably wanted to get to the bottom of the matter at least as much as the others if not more, but no one was likely to let him and the upperclassman seemed simply to accept that unfair decision.

The weary first year was not of a mind to get up and move about so soon, but he sincerely believed Victor should have at least been able to go free if nothing else. If the only way the gathered students were going to let him go was with the excuse of helping Jack leave to be treated, then so be it. After all Victor had revealed to them and every unpleasantry that he had been forced to endure due to the suspicions of his fellow Slytherins, it seemed the very least he could do for the upperclassman.

"Getting you out of here."

When Victor moved to try to help him stand up, Jack did his best to pull himself up with the aid of the sink, not wanting to put too much weight or pressure on the older boy's freezing, light-weight, frail-seeming body. Now that he thought of it, maybe Victor would have benefited from a visit to the staff at the school infirmary. His thoughts on this were abruptly interrupted by a keen sensation of pain as he tensed and strained his muscles while attempting to stand.

"Get you taken care of. Whatever happened, Mr. VanCleaf will make you feel better."

The boy inhaled sharply, clenching his teeth to try to keep from uttering a sound, but couldn't help a small whimper that escaped him. Hopefully no one but Victor had been close enough to hear. Or, more importantly, hopefully no one was curious enough to care. As long as he could keep the scent of blood from reaching the present dhampir's acute sense of smell...and he could make sure his clothing and robes soaked up enough that it didn't drip anywhere...at least until he could get back to his dorm room...

Whether from pain, lack of sleep, blood loss, or any combination of the above, it was getting more difficult to focus. He needed to occupy his mind somehow; to do something. To talk. That always helped...right? Victor had mentioned a name. How did he know it?

"Mr. VanCleaf...?" Jack repeated with a strained smile. "Is that...one of the nurses? Boy...you must visit there often if you know them that well..." But as they were headed to the door, someone else stopped them with a hand on the third-year's cold shoulder.

"You're right, Jack; I don't," Percival Gray confirmed, causing hazel eyes to open and narrow at him. "Whatever happens to him after this is not my business... neither is it yours."

"Yeah, well, I'm making it my business since no one else is," the redhead answered irritably, perspiration causing his bangs to cling to his forehead. "You guys all go off to find Vlad or Athanatos or whatever his name is. We have more important business to deal with right now. Like why his body temperature is so low." He nodded his head indicatively toward Victor.

"If I hear anything about you two doing anything out of the ordinary, you'll be sure to see my face again..."

At what was probably meant as a warning or threat, Jack laughed with some difficulty, already facing forward once again as if he didn't think Percival was worth craning his neck back for anymore while talking to him. "I should think I'd be seeing your face again regardless, Gray. We do live in the same dorm, if you'll recall." He sighed and stifled another pained grunt.

"C'mon, Victor. We don't need to waste any more time than we have already."

Interacting with: @Victor Moore & @Percival Gray
Mentioning: @Nico Shymane

Her attempts on getting the situation under well... mostly her control, were futile. Why was it that no one trusted her? They could rely on her, really! She was helpless during the spiderattack. Vulnerable. No badge could protect one from such danger... It didn't carry a protective charm that made her stronger than the rest of them. But... Atleast she was determined to keep her peers safe. No one deserved to live through such an event. No one... except... maybe...

Nico carefully got up as Victor moved over to Jack, who was still seated on the ground. Was it just her, or was he... looking rather pale? He wasn't... a dhampir was he? Percival refused her offer to stay around with those two. Which of course... she couldn't really force him to stay. Slightly defeated, she nodded at him. Burnett and Moore were already helping each other to walk out of here. They were all probably tired from this much excitement anyway.

Sniff.

Wait. A familiar scent. Here? Her back straight and shoulders slightly rolled back, trying to look confident, Nico didn't want to ... alert anyone. Subconsiously, as if she was trying to not fully take in the smell of iron, the dhampir held her sleeve up to her nose and mouth. The lack of sleep and even the lack of food intake, was still heavy on her. But where did... this come from? As they conversed, her ice blue eyes scanned each individual. Dan: No. He wasn't harmed by the spell from Jack earlier. Opeila: Nah. She's fine too. Percival? He was probably the fittest looking chap in this room. Victor? There was something off about him but... just earlier, squatting so close to him, she didn't smell a thing.

That only left Jack. He was the one in the worst shape. Sleepy? Was he really just sleepy? As he put his arm over Victors shoulder, Nico didn't let her gaze off of him. Would he notice? For a short moment, the dhampir lowered her sleeve, carefully taking a wiff from his direction. Oh, crap... It was faint. But it was there. He was injured... Quickly, the redhead covered her mouth with her sleeve once more. She could not allow them to see her drool, ever so slightly. As soon as everyone was gone, she should run back to her Dorm for some snacks. She could only hope they moved quick. These Slytherins already had too much excitement for one day... Or a lifetime.

The dhampir didn't dare to lower her arm but she couldn't just stay awfully quiet either... 'Jack.. Please get well soon.' Nico nodded softly at him as a greeting. 'Thank you for looking after him, Victor... I'm sure we'll get answers soon...' She meant it. The less injured students, the better...

Interacting with @Percival Gray, @Jack Burnett, @Victor Moore | Mentions @Dan Palmer & @Opeila Seilun

This prefect was getting worsse with every word she said. Opeila would not feel bad about just leaving without another word. Yes, she intended to find more things out. Yes, she would speak with Vlad. But not with this prefect, who had just walked in, scolded everyone for not immediately turning their attention to her and now thought she could order Opeila to help her find a potentially dangerous person.
Not to mention, that Opeila did not want to risk that Vladimir told Nico about meeting Opeila. She had let him into the common room like a naive idiot and it seemed like she started to get the receipt for that. As long as Nico didn't know who Vlad was, great. Opeila would not help her to find out.

Instead she turned to her again, when Nico ordered Dan and Opeila to help her find Vlad. Almost provokingly slow, a neutral expression on her face. "Oh, am I? I am very sorry, I was not aware of that. Actually... let me think about it. No, I think I am not. I think I have had enough of this for now and I will go back to the common room." She almost wanted to see the redhaired girl try to give her detention for this. Surely the professors would find it most interesting to hear about a prefect giving detentions to students, because they decided to not put themselves in danger. No, she would not take a command like that.

Instead she saw Nico sniffing the air and then pressing her sleeve on her face. What... Opeila sniffed the air as well. Nothing. She looked at Nico again, confused, before she remembered. Right. A dhampir. But then, who was- She looked at Jack, who was now helped by Victor. Yeah, getting him to the hospital wing was probably the best idea. Also, what an idiot. When he was that weak, why would he try to pick a fight with an upper classman? Opeila shook her head, irritated.

She turned to the prefect again. "So you want to go and look for a possibly dangerous guy with us?What if one of us gets injured? Doesn't look like you could control yourself that well. So uh... No, thank you. I am done here."
Opeila would walk out of the door, the last thing she said, was "Get well, Burnett."
If no one stopped her, she would leave.

Leaving unless stopped.
Interacting with @Nico Shymane @Jack Burnett
Mentioning @Dan Palmer @Victor Moore

Interacts with: @Percival Gray, @Nico Shymane, @Jack Burnett, @Opeila Seilun

He would help Jack to his feet. It was odd, how fragile the boy seemed but how determined he was all the same. Jack would have had to of put some weight on Victor, he would feel Victor shift. While it was the barest of weight, it was a great burden for the third year. Yet he would lock his legs and give Jack a half smile. "I am as weak as a look, but we will get there," he encouraged with a half laugh that was almost charming. He acted as if the others were not in the room for a moment.

"Mr. VanCleaf...?" Is that...one of the nurses? Boy...you must visit there often if you know them that well..."

"At least weekly," he admitted. "Aint so bad, he will protect you," a strange assurance to make. Victor would feel like an ice cube, it might have been a welcome sensation for the injured first-year as he tried to lower his shoulder under Jack's and serve as an ill-fitting, potentially unstable crutch.

"Whatever happens to him after this is not my business... neither is it yours."

"Yeah, well, I'm making it my business since no one else is."

Jack claimed. Well, that made two of them. In truth one of his friends should be doing this but none of them seemed willing to make the move even if the only cost to them would be a bit of their day. How cheap some people regard others.

"You guys all go off to find Vlad or Athanatos or whatever his name is. We have more important business to deal with right now. Like why his body temperature is so low."

Jack dismissed his company, bringing attention back on Victor's low body temperature. "I'm fine," Victor lied. He was far from fine and he knew it, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was the way he was. There were people that had it way worse than him and Marion.

"If I hear anything about you two doing anything out of the ordinary, you'll be sure to see my face again..."

Percival Gray would threaten Jack one last time. The ominous tone of -- if. However what Percival did not know was, Jack Burnett did not know Victor any better than the rest of the Slytherins he roomed with. To Jack Victor was just another snake. Victor's concern was born from more than self-preservation, the need for an excuse to get out of there. It was born from the simple fact that there was another snake who was hurting, there was something wrong with him. Jack was barely able to stand and for whatever reason his peers were indifferent to this fact. Their callous and casual nature astonished him. Victor was as ambitious as the next snake, but there was nothing to be lost, in fact everything to be gained taking care of your own. Victor nodded his head in acknowledgement. "The most unsavory thing I plan on doing to him is helping him out without indemnity." He did know what that meant? Well, if the meat head could find the library he could look it up or he could beat it out of some Ravenclaw.

"I should think I'd be seeing your face again regardless, Gray. We do live in the same dorm, if you'll recall... C'mon, Victor. We don't need to waste any more time than we have already."

Nico Shymane's attention was piqued by a familiar, potentially delicious scent. Like roasted chicken in the oven, only very... very rare. When her eyes rested on Victor, no she would not smell blood. In fact, he did not smell edible. There was always a bit of that scent, that meaty aroma that people had. That bouquet that every person has that makes their best friends, their lovers, their roommates and their peers an appetizing meal.

'Jack.. Please get well soon... Thank you for looking after him, Victor... I'm sure we'll get answers soon...'

Victor's eyes would widen a bit as her attention was on Jack. He knew what she was, she had not done a great job of hiding it and word gets around. "Y-yeah--," Victor agreed, a gentle tug towards the door. A silent hint to the first year that he needed to get the heck out of there.

There was a bit of tension between Opeila and Nico. Opeila did little to hide that. Of course there was a few facets she failed to consider in her interaction with the dhampir. There was a group of Slytherins cornering another student in the abandoned toilets, she had plenty she could say regarding what happened to give the girl detention. While Opeila could refute it, there was a great deal that the Professors did not know that would likely also have to be divulged. If Nico was corrupt enough, this was an opportune moment to abuse her authority. He did not consider any of them to be paragons of righteousness, it was a real wild card what Nico would do here.

Oh well, not their problem.

"Right," he turned his attention to Jack as he hobbled towards the door. "We'll fix my low body temperature," no they definitely would not but he would go with that for the moment. He let out a sigh as he waddled a bit to nudge the door open. Jack first, then him.

Little did he know -- there was a plan underway. Multiple plans. That Opeila knew Vladimir and had somehow captured his heart or at the very least his interest. That Rafael had concocted his own scheme. That Vladimir was about to betray him and Marion. That everything was about to bubble over and come to a climax he never anticipated. The Auror was back. Soon Finley would be gone. He would have nobody.

Topic Left with Jack B.

Follow-up