A chance to breathe Open Closed

It was a beautiful day, and Marco was spending it with his nose stuffed deep into parchment and books. He knew that he'd have a lot of work to catch up on, having arrived at Hogwarts significantly later than his peers, but he was willing to take on the challenge nonetheless. Regardless, it made getting help from his friends quite a bit harder- nobody wanted to rehash material they had learned at the start of term when they were busy trying to stay focused on current lessons. Marco wasn't deterred, however. He knew that the greatest learning often took place despite the greatest barriers, so he was determined to not only pass this year, but to do so with flying colors. So far, everything seemed to be going well. Dotting his final is and crossing his final ts, Marco held up his finished Transfiguration essay with pride. He was hopeful that it would earn him at least an 'E', if not an 'O'.

Marco gazed up. The sun wasn't beaming down as directly on him as it was 30 minutes ago, but he was still thankful for the shade of the tree he was sitting under. With a heavy thump, Marco put his transfiguration book down next to him and began rifling through his bag and planner filled with other assignments.
Marco thought aloud. Potions? No, better to save the best for last. Astronomy? Far too early for that yet, he couldn't take any readings. Maybe he could practice his charms? Or maybe he had earned a 10 minute break? Yes, thought Marco, that would be nice for now. With that thought, Marco sat back against the tree and rested his head with a hearty thunk and a heavy sigh. It was hard trying to navigate the school when everyone else had settled in already. But Marco had no choice but to lament these thoughts alone for the time being.

@Marco Smythton
Paige had fallen asleep in the peace of the tree. She woke up when she heard a loud thunk of a book hitting the ground. A boy's voice spoke. "what next?" For what? Paige didn't want to seem as though she was stalking, so she slowly climbed to the edge of a branch to look down. She saw a boy leaning against the trunk with books beside him. He must be a Ravenclaw. Paige thought, biting her lip. Or a student doing homework. Or both. Paige didn't want to be seen. What would happen? But... no. Paige wanted a friend, but climbing down from a tree didn't seem like the best way. He might think she was stalking him. Technically I am... no. Just looking. Paige's hand slipped on the branch and cut her arm. She looked and saw blood running from her arm. She inhaled sharply and lost her balance. She fell from the tree banging her other arm on the way down. She landed with a yelp in front of the boy. Her face turned red and she gasped. Why do things like this only seem to happen to shy people? She just fell out of a tree. Nearly broke this kid's leg. Probably got blood on his books. He probably hated her guts. She sat there, horrified, not knowing what to do.

@Paige Chase

Marco barely had a chance to enjoy the tranquility. No sooner had he sat back against the tree and started to think than he was snapped back to reality by a rather large thud and a yelp coming from directly in front of him. A little slower on the uptake than normal, it took Marco a second to realize that the shape that had almost landed on top of him was a person- a student, nevertheless. Staring in bewilderment for a moment, Marco tried to figure out exactly what this person was doing in the tree before he realized there could well be much more pressing matters at hand.

Snapping back to reality, Marco gripped his forehead and sunk into a state of emergency response.
he yelled, moving forwards to see if the girl in front of him was unconscious or worse. Spotting a steady stream of blood coming from the girl's arm, Marco's panic elevated. He was starting to feel he was out of his element. Swallowing his unease at the sight of blood, Marco took a closer look at the girl. She wasn't wearing a uniform, so he didn't recognize her from that, but he thought he remembered her from a few classes and from the Common Room. A fellow Ravenclaw, then? He snapped back to reality as he realized he should ensure the girl was alright before wondering who she was.

Marco tried to give the girl some space, and awaited a response to make sure everything was okay.

Paige was losing blood, fast. Her vision blurred as the boy came close to her asking if she was alright. "I-I'm umm uh" her arm throbed as she started losing consciousness. "Ow". Then she was out. As she was out, she dreamed. She was in with her mom. Her mom was concerned. "Paige, sweety, you need to wake up." But Paige was finally with her mom. She hugged her. She cried. Her mom held her. She heard faint yelling of a boys voice calling for help. "Mom, i don't wanna leave you." Her mom smiled. "Ah, but you need to wake up. Your body can't give up now." Her mom faded away as a blurry image of the boy she nearly fell on came into view. Her mom's voice came back. "Doctor's orders." Then she was gone. She felt her arm sting in pain as she saw herself in the hospital wing. She didn't want to wake up. Her arm hurt. Her head hurt. Her pride hurt, she fell in front of a boy, a bloody mess. She tried to remember her mother's touch, but is was fading away. Ah, help. Mom. Someone. My arm. My head- I- I she was out for good this time.
@Marco Smythton

@Paige Chase
The girl in front of him sputtered out a response. . Then just like that, she was out. Marco went into full business mode. Looking in his bag, he found a spare handkerchief he had used as a bandana in the Muggle world during the summer and quickly tied it around the girl's arm. . He immediately called out to a passing Gryffindor boy who looked much older than him, asking for help. The boy rushed over and helped Marco shoulder the unconscious girl (rather, the boy did most of the heavy lifting... standing over a full foot (30cm) above Marco's tiny 4'2" frame (127cm) , the boy moved in strides that Marco had to take 3 full steps to match. Quickly enough they arrived at the hospital wing, where they were greeted by a nurse with a grim look on their face.

After working some healing magic, the nurse told Marco the girl would be fine, if a little disoriented. Still, though, Marco had more questions than he did answers. He was especially curious who this mysterious girl was, and if dropping out of trees in front of people was a habit he should expect from her. Besides that, he wanted to make sure she was alri-

Marco swore he saw movement from the girl, and thought she might be starting to wake up. He leaned in close, ready to welcome her back to consciousness, but with a final toss, the girl was out deeper than before.

He sat back and clasped his hands. Something told him he could be waiting a while. Swinging his satchel from over his shoulder, he began once more rifling through his homework eagerly. Something told him this would be a good time for Potions after all...

What felt like hours later, Paige woke up. Her arm was wrapped up nice and tight. She lay there, staring at the ceiling. What happened? she looked around, careful not to alarm her savior, not yet.The hospital wing? How long have I been out? Paige winced as her arm started stinging. Though she was embarassed, she was thankful for the boy , who she now recognized from the Ravenclaw common room. so I fell in front of a fellow Ravenclaw? I have terrible luck. she glanced down at her arm and winced. She could see some blood coming through a bit. Ouch. Oh! Wait... aw now I ow him big time. She looked over at the boy with her almond eyes that were tired even after she was asleep for so long. The boy was focused on what seemed like hard homework. But she now saw him in a different way.Hes a hero. My hero. If he hadn't been there when she fell... Paige shuddered. She wanted to thank him but she couldn't, she didn't know how to show him how thankful she was. She smiled softly. She decided to speak. She coughed first. "I hope I didn't get any blood on your homework."
@Marco Smythton

@Paige Chase
He swore he jumped almost a foot after he heard the girl speak. He had been enraptured in his Potions assignment, writing about the proper ways to gather and prepare ingredients, and Marco was so caught up in finishing his essay that he had actually forgotten he wasn't alone in the room.
the girl had said. "No, you didn't..." Marco thought to himself as his heartrate slowly began to drop again. "But you did almost give me a heart attack, so I suppose that's the same effect really..."

After taking a moment to get over the shock, Marco looked at the girl in front of him with a kind look on his face. Marco snickered internally at his own unfunny joke before taking on a more serious tone.

Marco leaned forward in his chair, awaiting both answers and peace of mind, hoping that this girl would be okay.

@Paige Chase

Marco noticed that the girl in front of him giggled at his joke, and he blushed a little. She was probably just being nice, jokes that bad did not ever deserve a laugh, unless it was from him- and even then he was mostly laughing at himself anyway.

Marco smiled at Paige, who was currently staring at him, her eyes seeming to pierce his very essence.

Marco stretched and leaned back in his chair slightly, brushing a few of the bangs of his blonde hair out from in front of his eyes.

@Paige Chase @Marco Smythton
Harmony raced through hallway after hallway, trying to find the hospital wing. An older Ravenclaw had just recently told her that Paige was in the hospital wing and had woken up. Harmony didn't know exactly why Paige was in the hospital wing, but she was worried. From what she had been able to find out, Paige had been in a tree, fallen out, cut her arm, and fainted. A boy named Marco of Ravenclaw had brought her to the Hospital wing. Harmony finally found the Hospital wing and burst in. She saw Paige in a bed talking to a blond boy. Maybe that was Marco. "Paige! Oh my god are you ok? I just had an older kid tell me you were in the Hospital Wing and that you just now woke up! What happened? Oh also I'm Harmony Ruth." She directed her introduction to the boy sitting next to Paige's bed. Harmony sat down on another chair on the opposite side of the bed from the boy and waited for an explanation. Her heart was beating fast and she was panting from the constant running that it took to get here. She was still worried, but seeing Paige awake was helping her calm down a bit.