Hot Chocolate Incident PV Ruby Cazares Reopened

~ * ~

Ruby was settling down to dinner after a long day. She was not planning to eat with anyone or get involved in a conversation—just be in and out of there as quickly as possible and then go relax by herself. She would keep an eye out for troublemakers, but otherwise, she wasn't particularly engaged. She was still in her uniform, not having bothered to change out of her clothes after class yet.

A sigh and a glance around the room was followed by the Slytherin gently blowing on her food to cool it down slightly. Popping a bite into her mouth, she realised she was dissatisfied. Not with the food, of course—no, that was always delicious. The glance had provided her with a snapshot of the students' lives, people who were laughing and whispering with their friends or attempting to call to them across the room. The buzz of life that the constant noise of conversations happening all around her and blending together provided was a normality, yes, but it was also a constant reminder that she wasn't like them, wasn't a part of that. A scowl appeared on her face and she aggressively turned her attention to the plate of food in front of her, finishing it off.

She ate the last bite and was looking for another distraction when she felt someone knock into her, bumping her on the back. It was followed by the sensation of burning as a scalding hot liquid was poured over her. Don't scream, don't scream, she repeated to herself silently. Don't show weakness. But it was painful, it hurt. She spun around in a flash, glaring at the girl, eyes like shards of ice blazing with a fury that had to be dealt with—and it would be, via an explosion. “Sorry doesn't quite cut it,” she hissed. This girl had earned herself an enemy in the blink of an eye—for an accident, true, but one that had impacted the young prefect and could have possibly been avoided if the Gryffindor had been a little bit more cautious.

“Scourgify,” she cast on her robes, successfully cleaning the mess up. The burns still hurt like hell though, and while she could go to the Hospital Wing to get them healed, she wasn't finished with this girl yet. “Maybe if you paid more attention, you would have avoided this or actually remembered the spell. Or are you so stupid that even when you're handed the information, you can't take it in? The cleaning spell is so basic,” she commented scornfully, the distaste plain in her tone. “It doesn't heal the burns you gave me, though, so you'd better have a damn good reason why I shouldn't hex you right here and now to make you feel the same way.”

~ * ~

As the Slytherin turned around, Lizzie was surprised to see the sheer anger in her eyes. The look on the dark-haired girl's face would've been enough to make the redhead cower away, had she not been Fearless. It was funny, how she was both Fearless and a Gryffindor, yet she rarely showed either traits. The heavy weight of dread settled in her stomach as her instincts told her something bad was about to happen. Clearly, this girl was not going to be her friend.

Then the girl spoke, her harsh words like daggers, each one cutting deeper and deeper into Lizzie's carefully constructed pride. By the end, she was near tears, yet angrier than she'd ever been. It was like she'd been challenged, and everyone knows Lions don't back down from a fight. Blinking the tears back, she took a deep breath and her expression hardened.

It was showti- what was she supposed to say? Despite how much the other girl's words had hurt her, Lizzie wasn't sure what to say back. She didn't even have a good excuse as to why she hadn't been paying attention when she was walking with the hot chocolate. She hadn't realized her drink was so hot and felt really bad that it had burned the Slytherin, but she had a feeling the girl wouldn't want more apologies.

Suddenly, she noticed a badge on the other girl's robes. Was that a... prefect badge?! As usual, the redhead was easily distracted and it seemed like all of her anger had dissipated after noticing that small metal pin. "You're a prefect?!" she exclaimed before she could stop herself. "I thought prefects were supposed to..." Shoot! She'd forgotten what she was going to say. That was embarrassing. "Uhh... not threaten other students?" she finished lamely, her cheeks flushing.

"And the cleaning spell isn't basic when you only learned for the first time a little while ago..." she added, under her breath. She didn't mean for the other girl to hear her, but she always had a tendency to speak louder than she thought she was. She never realized it either and was always surprised when someone replied to her "mumbling".