Brutus, Judas, Ileen PV Ileen Closed

Ileen sat alone on the Hufflepuff table this morning, her long brown hair tied up into a ponytail to keep it from her eyes. Again, she had been waiting since 5am to finally be allowed to leave the common room. But in contrast to yesterday she actually was expecting company - although it would still take a while until her sleepy friend had made her way down from the Ravenclaw tower to the Great Hall.
Knowing that, the young Slytherin took her time preparing her food. She had just arranged the fruit in a flower shaped pattern on her plate around her toast as she was surprised by Dee’s morning discipline, though she expressed her opinion about Ileen’s morning habits by exaggerated yawns.
Ileen barely bothered to notice and only rolled her eyes on the brunette Ravenclaw girl, giving her and her rat a crooked grin. Good thing Liv had stayed at the dorm today. “Morning sunshine. Oh, and hi Dee.” She stuck her tongue out and gave her a broad grin. She gladly took advantage of Dee’s morning sleepiness before the Ravenclaw could fight back properly with her sharp mind. But maybe her friend was just pretending to make Ileen feel guilty.

As her friend reached for the apple the Slytherin showed her piece of art and slided a plate to Dee. Ileen had built a house out of waffles and even planted a fruit garden. This was a good way to kill time in the morning.
Then she tilted her head and her smile deepened as she watched Ninkilim. “Good thing you won’t become a delicious breakfast this morning.” With a sigh she turned to her friend and shook her head. “We should make sure Liv and Ninkilim become friends. Then she will probably stop to try eating him.” Liv, Ileen’s cat Liv was not a friendly cat. She didn’t like other cats, animals or people - the only way she forced interaction was when she thought the other part of the interaction could be food.

Lost in thought she had missed Dee’s short soliloquy and was pulled back into reality by the mention of the upcoming blossom ball. Yeah - Ileen had not intended to go until yesterday. First of all, it was a group event and thus doomed. Second and even worse: it was organized by Shimada! After even the perfectly organized ball of Dee, Flash, Pericles and Ileen literally had burst into flames, it could only be a disaster. But now, things were different.
She took a strawberry from her plate and bit on it in the same moment Dee mentioned Shimada. Ileen pulled a face though the strawberry was delicious. “The Blossom Ball organized by Shimada? Don’t remind me of that jerk.” She rolled her eyes, very aware that her friend was teasing her and plucked the roof of Dee’s waffle house to eat it. “Yeah, very interesting invitations. Nothing compared to ours of course, but it’s cute he’s trying, right?” Her smile became a bit more mocking and with a mean grin she shoved a piece of the waffle into her mouth and chewed slowly and thoughtfully. “You know…” She shrugged and looked at her friend with a neutral facial expression. “I decided to go and watch his precious ball go down in flames live. Maybe I can pull some people out alive.” Under the impression that the subject was closed, she looked to the right and left to search for the jam. She spotted it not far from Dee's elbow. "Hey, can you pass me the jam?"

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Ileen's jab earned a huff and a scrunched up nose while Dee tried to fight down the smile tugging on the corner of her mouth, doing her best to remain grumpy. "Excuse you, Ninkilim isn't associated with the sun." Not that Ileen didn't have a point, Dee was hardly a sunny presence during the mornings. Afternoons, yes, evenings, arguably. Mornings, however? Nope.

She threw her friend a glance from the side while pulling the hot water for her tea over. "So how long have you been- woah." Wide-eyed, Dee stared at Ileen's architectural masterpiece. "That long, huh?" Ninkilim seemed to be just as fascinated with the waffle house as she was, flitting up on the table to inspect it more closely. To be fair, it was likely the first time he'd seen a house his size, and it certainly smelled delicious.

Setting her green tea to steep, Dee bent down to look at it from a better angle, then grinned up at Ileen. "Oh please. Ninkilim could take Liv in a fight, and we both know it." She picked up a grape from the carefully decorated garden and popped it into her mouth. "But yeah, they should become friends. Maybe we can find something for them to bond over. And then Nin can put in a good word for me, so Liv will stop trying to eat me."

It was kind of funny how Ileen reacted exactly as predicted to the mention of the Blossom Ball. It was almost like she had a big, yellow button labelled "Kazuo" that someone could simply press to evoke a borderline outraged reaction. She blinked innocently, stealing a wall from the house to eat and breaking a piece off for Ninkilim who had curled up comfortably on a napkin next to the plates. "Right, right, Kazuo is on the organising committee this time." Ileen wouldn't buy for a second that she'd forgotten about that fact, but Dee also wasn't trying very hard to pretend.

She giggled, taking a bite of her apple and removing the tea leaves from her cup. "Don't be so harsh on them," she said magnanimously. "Everyone has to start somewhere, right?" Her next words, however, took Dee by surprise, had her staring at Ileen in astonishment, so much she even paused in her chewing. "Wait, what?" She swallowed. "You're going? For real?"

Frowning, Dee tried to remember the last conversation they'd had about this event, but she was pretty sure it had ended in a clear rejection of even the idea that Ileen would attend the ball. Dee had of course been planning to go, but she was always more drawn to social events than Ileen was, and she didn't have an issue with any of the organisers, either. So what had brought this on?

Her eyes keen and narrowed, Dee pointed at Ileen, ignoring her request for jam. "You usually wouldn't be caught dead at an event that Kazuo organised," she accused. "What changed?"

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Dee’s response earned a mocking snort. “He for sure is more than you.” Ileen enjoyed teasing Dee when she was still grumpy in the morning. It was her way to cheer her friend up and make her get over the heartbreak she had when she had to get up early. A crooked smile spread on the young Slytherin’s face. Win win.
The appropriate level of excitement Dee showed at the sight of the waffle house made Ileen's grin grow even wider. Her fingers were itching to pat Ninkilim’s head but he pulled herself together. It was assaultive to pet someone else's pet just like that - but he also looked too cute with his beady eyes.
Ileen snorted again and gave her the Ravenclaw girl a friendly puff with her elbow. “Duh! You are just so slow. I could have built a whole waffle city waiting for you.” Okay, it had not been that bad. Ileen had been here for one hour and earlier hadn't been allowed without crossing the curfew anyway. Dee knew that, but that wouldn’t stop Ileen teasing her. That was her pleasant start in the morning and she would get paid back for that ten times during the day anyway.
“And sure…” She reached for a cup of hot water herself. “It would be great if he could teach Liv some manners. Though people are staying away from my stuff.”
Liv was an excellent guard dog, who would defend her place on Ileen's suitcase with her life. However, it would really not be the worst if she would become a bit more open-minded and friendly towards some people.

As Dee pretended that she had forgotten it was Shimada who was organizing the ball, Ileen sent one of her famous mum-glares her way. That guy made her furious and Dee knew that. “Oh, please.” She sounded as contemptuous as she could with a mouth stuffed with waffles and rolled her eyes meaningfully. The mere mention of the name made her heart beat faster - but not in a pleasant way. More like she would like to throw something. “He will fail miserably. The ball will be a disaster.”

Dee's reaction to her announcement that she was going to the ball surprised her, though. She simply hadn't thought it was particularly important.
A bit confused, she looked up from her plate with raised eyebrows and shrugged again. “Well…” She wrinkled her nose equanimously and looked around to see if perhaps there was a jam near her after all, as Dee simply passed over her request. “Actually, Percival asked me if I wanted to go with him. So, I figured why not? LIke I said, then I can laugh right to Shimada’s face.” The pure imagination gave her grim pleasure. And in fact, she was a bit looking forward to maybe getting to dance this time.

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Straightening up from her inspection of the waffle house, Dee stuck out her tongue at Ileen. "In that case, next time I'll be late on purpose. I want to see that waffle city." With her admiration appropriately expressed, Dee was now free to focus more on eating breakfast than inspecting it - and, of course, tease Ileen about Kazuo and the ball, which always promised great entertainment.

She didn't disappoint today, either. Giggling lightly, Dee fed Ninkilim another piece of waffle and then bit into the rest herself as she listened to Ileen expressing her absolute disdain for the Hufflepuff. "Maybe he'll surprise you," she said innocently, hoping it would be enough to trigger another rant while she chewed on the waffle.

But her amusement came to an abrupt end with Ileen's next, offhand announcement. Dee had just taken a bite of her apple and promptly choked on it, bursting out in a series of violent coughs as her body revolted against the piece of apple stuck in her throat. She missed the end of Ileen's sentence, busy trying not to die, but it hardly mattered.

Ileen was going to the ball with Percival Rainwood.

"You are what?" she gasped when she finally managed to suck in some air again, teary-eyed from the coughing, her throat burning. Honestly, the gasping was probably a good thing, because it masked any emotion that would be bubbling to the surface otherwise. She wasn't sure which one would have come out on top, considering the confused, swirling mass of feelings in her chest.

It was hard to tell why finding out that Ileen had agreed to go to the Blossom Ball with Percival felt so much like a personal attack on her, a betrayal of their friendship. Perhaps because a big part of what had elevated Percival from something of an amusing plaything in Dee's eyes to someone she well and truly despised was her resentment of him for pushing Ileen down the stairs on Halloween. Granted, he hadn't meant to - he had intended for it to be Dee, not her best friend. But did that really make it any better? Where Dee was holding a grudge the size of the iceberg that had sunk the Titanic on behalf of her friend, Ileen seemed to have forgiven the boy easily. Didn't seem to care that he'd attempted to crack Dee's skull open like an egg. Their friendship alone had been something that was hard to accept. And now she was going to the ball with him.

"Please repeat that," Dee said flatly. Flat was good, too, the best she could manage right now. Better than accusing, or even worse, hurt. Perhaps it was all some misunderstanding. Perhaps Ileen was going with some other Percival, because surely, she wouldn't do this to Dee. Granted, like aforementioned iceberg, Dee had kept most of her resentment for the boy hidden, but surely Ileen knew? She had to.

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And just like that Ileen’s precious and peaceful morning was interrupted by another surprise. Just like yesterday but this time it wasn’t as pleasant as Percivals invite. Her friend tying a suicide thing in the morning was surely something different and not pleasant at all.
“Uhm, are you okay?” Ileen reached out and anxiously patted Dee on the back as her best friend tried to choke herself with an apple. Frowning at her best friend she eyed the fruit garden. “Don’t eat too fast, my mum always yelled at me when I did. Probably she had a point.” Ileen never talked about her mum. This was probably one of the first facts she had revealed to someone.
Not aware that her answer to Dee’S question had caused the near-death experience of the Ravenclaw, she focused on her tea again, pulling the teabag around in it. How could she know? Of course, Ileen was aware that Dee and Percival weren’t friends, but he was the one who was holding grudges. And after he had tried to push Dee down the stairs on Halloween and nearly tackled Ileen to death, he had promised to be nicer and not try to harm her anymore. In Ileen’s world, Dee didn’t take Percival seriously. Why would she mind?

But even with that impression of the relationship of the two of them, Ileen picked up that her reaction to Dee’s sarcastic question had indeed been the reason for her choking. Confused, she looked back at her friend, frowning again. “I’m going with Percival. He asked me and I said yes. Why? Is there a problem?”
Ileen had no idea what she had just started. Yes, she had assumed Percival’s friend or enemy - sometimes it was hard to tell - would have a problem with that. But Dee? Her friend seemed upset. Had she expected Ileen to accompany her at the ball if she was going? Was that it?

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Nothing quite like the feel of someone's hand on your back right after they revealed the worst betrayal to you that you could imagine. Dee pushed Ileen's hand away as soon as she could manage, straightening up and wiping the tears from her face, then reached out to stroke Ninkilim reassuringly who had made an anxious chattering noise when she'd doubled over and now proceeded to poke his head into her sleeve. "I don't care what your mum-" She broke off, pressing her lips together. Anger was clearly winning out in the war of emotions, and it was hard to keep her voice from rising into a yell.

Ileen wasn't making it any better. "'Is there a problem?' Yes, there's a problem!" She hissed back. "He pushed you down the stairs! You-" could have died, was what was left unsaid, Dee biting her tongue instead. There was a suspicious burning in her chest, in her eyes, and she blinked, looking away. No tears, not now.

It was an odd reversal of roles. Usually Dee's temper was quick to rise but just as quick to calm and forget, while Ileen was the one to hold grudges. And yet, she'd forgiven Percival without as much as a second thought. It stung, and Dee was too upset to properly put it into words, instead focusing on the feeling of Ninkilim creeping up her arm to her shoulder below the fabric of her hoodie. It was hard to believe that Ileen could truly be so blind, when she was the reason Dee found herself unable to move on from this in the first place.

She took a deep breath, and with her next attempt, her voice turned out almost pleading, the words feeling as if they were stuck in her throat, scratching and biting. "Do you really not get it?"

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It took Ileen, who was normally pretty good with picking up moods if she wanted to forever to realize that something was seriously wrong with this whole situation. When Dee pushed her hand away her frown deepened and she pulled her eyebrows together, giving her a serious and thoughtful expression. She didn’t know why, but this reaction caused an unpleasant pain in her stomach and suddenly she didn’t feel like eating breakfast anymore. Dee was not only upset. She was angry. And Ileen instantly felt treated unfairly and thus her reaction would not be too cooperative or deescalating.

“Oh, so the problem is Percival? I thought you don’t care about him when you guys are not trying to drive me crazy.” Her voice was calm and quiet, still fighting the confusion and mixed irrational feelings that crashed over her like a wave.
Maybe it was because she actually knew that Dee had a point and she felt kind of guilty or it was because Ileen never had been happy that her best friend and one of the few Slytherins that stood by her side in danger were not getting along. It was just very frustrating and blocked her rational reflection of the situation.
Realizing that she hadn’t said anything in a while and just stared at Dee, Ileen wrinkled her nose and tried to fight down the weird wave of anger caused by her friend's reaction. Trying to hold it together, she placed the cutlery back on the table and looked up at her friend. “No. I don’t get it. I know he pushed me down the stairs, but nothing really bad happened. And it’s been over 6 months in the past.” The words were there, not spoken but there. Also he had aimed for you and not me. It had been impulsive and stupid and Ileen had ended up in the Hospital Wing with the Slytherin boy. There she had lectured him and he had apologized and promised to be nicer to Dee.

Of course, Dee didn’t know that. Ileen never had told anyone about that. She had forgiven him because she knew he meant it. Suddenly, she felt upset that her friend couldn’t let it go. Why couldn’t she just be happy for her that someone showed some interest to become friends with her?

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There was a distant thrumming in Dee's ears, drowning out the background chatter that was always present in the Great Hall at mealtimes. Her vision seemed to be slightly graying at the edges, centered on Ileen with enough focus that she suddenly looked slightly surreal, like she was directly in front of her and meters away at the same time.

"Yes, the problem is Percival," Dealla said quietly. It was all she could do not to yell. She wanted to. Letting her temper explode was the easy option, having everything out in the open, getting it over with. But there was this sense of betrayal in her stomach, burning, biting, that wouldn't let her. That demanded retribution deeper than a single outburst of anger would provide. Her face felt tight, lips thin, as she replied. "Oh, I care." It likely would have been obvious, if there had been another meeting like last Halloween, the three of them together, but there hadn't been. Could she truly blame Ileen for not noticing that things had changed? But oh, she did.

She let out a long breath, trying to stay calm, attempting to gain a sense of control. That always seemed to be the main problem for her, not being in control. The reason she hated flying, the reason she avoided her grandparents, the reason that a few backfired spells in her duels had driven her to practise until she collapsed from exhaustion. The reason the incident on Halloween had scared her so much, because it had been out of her control. Of course, Dealla wasn't aware of this, she only knew that those things scared her, not why, but it didn't make it any less true.

And truth was, this was nothing she could control, either. Ileen was going with Percival.

She could, however, control her reaction, and that was the best she could do. So at Ileen's next words, she actually managed something resembling a smile. Yeah, nothing really bad had happened, but that had been luck, and not a redeeming factor in his favour. And she, too, could feel the words in the air, and it they seemed to lodge in her chest, making it hard to breathe around.

They both knew Percival had been trying to push Dee, consciously, with intent and purpose. And Ileen just didn't care.

Dee pushed her plate away, the waffle house still consisting of three walls and half a garden. Ninkilim was already safely hidden away in her hoodie, nothing was keeping her here. She certainly didn't have any appetite anymore. "You know what?" she said, her stiff smile feeling unnatural on her face. "Forget it, don't mind me. Do whatever. It's okay." A lie, a lie. She stood up, deliberately slow. Her steps would only speed up once she'd left Ileen's field of sight, would fill with purpose and righteous outrage. Thankfully, she already knew what she had to do. "I have to go."

She didn't bother glancing back.

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