Archive BlossomFest Festival Grounds

Now it wasn't such a big day for Siege, considering he already had the map, but he had reasons to find himself in the grounds. His quiet footfalls were something that even he couldn't hear, it wasn't the most distracting thing, but he wished it was. What should he do there? I mean...All he really cared about was the joke shop, but that was about it. Other than that, he was here for a certain reason, the reason for his small internal panicking earlier. When he had heard that she went down to the grounds without him, it didn't take long for him to just turn and move quickly towards the grounds. His mind came to an internal panic, why does she always affect him this way? Making the damn boy lose his cool and calm mind sometimes.

What if she's not ready? What if her wounds reopen? What if she gets too tired? I need to be there damnnit. Siege would frantically think before regaining himself. He also thought about how she might just be fine, but he won't take that risk. By the time he'd gotten down to the grounds, he had calmed down a lot more, his carefree and lazy side of himself, thankfully taking over him at the moment. He walked with his hands in his pocket, breathing in the cold air around him, his gaze landing on all of the people and stands that the Grounds Festival Offered. Some upperclassmen seemed to favor the lakeside, some the stalls, some just walking around, it seemed very lively around, despite some of them being already allowed to go to Hogsmeade itself. 

"Damn, this is pretty cool...Argh, never mind that, I came here to see...Let's see." His eyes scanned the grounds, although he had to admit that jokes shop stand distracted him a bit. Look at those things...His eyes specifically were enticed by the Pumpkin and Umbrellas, those would make for some sick entrances or costumes. "Focus damnnit, where could she be..." He would mutter before spotting...
Wait what was happening? Ser-Serena? What was that boy doing so close to her? He didn't really wanna think, but every time his footsteps came closer, he lost focus more. It was as if his heart was speaking to him, rather than the sanity that is his mind. As he walked closer, his speed stayed the same, rather than speeding up or anything like that. 

"Why aren't you carrying a weapon on you?" The boy would inquisitively ask Serena, as she seemed a bit taken aback, Siege getting nearer. He contemplated just decking the boy out of nowhere, but he remembered he was a prefect and doing that in front of Serena would probably hurt her more than anything... "Do you need one?"

"No she doesn't." Siege would abruptly say, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and turning her away from the Ravenclaw boy.  "She has me... I'm here after all."

"What were you thinking? You should've let me know you were heading out." Siege would say with the unexpected tone of concern behind his voice. He would turn to her and try to see if she was fine, if she was okay. "Are you okay? Jeez don't just leave the Wing like that, I worry too much sometimes." Siege would sigh, unexpectedly saying what he just freaking said. He wouldn't really realize what he just said, only several seconds later, prompting him to look away momentarily a bit flushed, embarrassed for the concern he was showing. This totally wasn't him...Why does she now affect him like this? Making the boy worried, then making him embarrassed, it was unnatural to him...But it was a breath of relief from the lone life that he was mostly living...It was nice to have her around...It was nice to have her finally back with him.

The confusion was evident in Serena's face. Who were these people? Why had they all chosen to come up to her? Was there something about her that stood out? Three random strangers had approached her, for no apparent reason, other than to talk to her. In fact, one of them was barely even talking to the others and was just busy focused on her. There was absolutely no reason to talk to her unless perhaps, they were looking for a Prefect. However, so far, none of them seemed to have indicated they wanted a Prefect for anything. They simply acted like they wanted to talk to her. But there was nothing special about her. She was just a girl.

A girl who had failed.

Her eyes widened slightly. Was it that obvious? Perhaps it was really that obvious that she was the girl who had almost died - and put her housemates in danger - by failing to fight. Maybe they all knew about the campout. The news had travelled all over the school, after all. She just kind of hoped no one would know her name or recognise her but perhaps they did. Perhaps there were rumours around...

About that one girl who couldn't save her friends? The one who could not dodge... The one who had almost gotten herself killed. The pureblood who couldn't wield magic properly. The Towers who was weak. The stain on the family reputation.

She was trying her best to hide it from people. The tips of her long hair had caught on fire at some point in the night. She was unconscious when it happened but she woke up to find it was several inches shorter than it had been before. The tips were burnt off too. Serena spent three hours the other day, trying to go through every strand and cut it neatly. She tried to hide the evidence of her failure as best as she could.

She had spent countless hours studying - something she had never done before. She was doing her best. She was trying everything to get better. To stop being the failure and the disappointment that she was...

But perhaps they knew. Perhaps everyone knew. It was as though there was a sign on her forehead that just announced how much of a loser she was. Eurgh, her mother was going to kill her. If there were rumours like this going around, she was in big trouble. Her parents had no intention of pulling her out of school for almost dying. But if she were to ruin the family reputation, her mother would not hesitate to drag her back to London by the ear.

Serena blinked at the boy in front of her, who was still a bit too close for her liking. Had he never heard of personal space? Man, there was only one other boy she knew who would get this close to her - and that was still weird, even though they were friends. The Ravenclaw asked her something confusing after she introduced herself. She had no idea what he was talking about. Something about his grandfather. The female blinked, "Uh, what? The what? 14th... Dark place?" She asked him, blinking at him. What was wrong with this boy? What was he on about?

The Hufflepuff stared at him. He stared talking about... weapons. What? She blinked at him. Of course she had a weapon, she had her wand. What else does a witch really need? Of course, it helps when you actually cast the spell before you get attacked mercilessly several times... But you know, at least she managed to destroy the creature that had almost killed her. 

However he did not appear to be talking about the wand. The thought crossed her mind for a moment. The muggle weapons might have- no, they wouldn't have helped. The creature that had attacked her and her friends were creatures from the darkness. There were no muggle weapons that could penetrate the darkness. They were created and attracted by the flashlight. Magic was the only way to disperse them.

She was about to answer him when Mia jumped in to say wands could harm others too. Kaegen proceeded to ask Serena if she needed a weapon. "Wh-What?" She started before opening her mouth to decline the offer. She was pretty sure she did not need a weapon. She just needed to get better at the one that she already had.

However, before her voice could come out of her mouth, her body froze again. Serena felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, pulling her away from the Ravenclaw. "Eh-" She started as she quickly looked up to the owner of the arm. His familiar voice hit her ears before she saw his face. What was going on? Why was Siege here now? 

Was everyone just following here?! Serena blinked in confusion. She was just coming outside to see the lake and the damage that they had done to the campout... To see if she was brave enough to go there again. Because despite knowing it was fully safe to do so now, a part of her was still terrified of the idea. She had to prove she could do it...

But it seemed like there was a big sign on her head that told everyone she couldn't be alone. Four people seemed to have found her, three of whom were strangers and one was potentially a stalker. Serena just blinked as she looked up at the Gryffindor boy. Wait, what was he even saying? Was he going to be her weapon?! 

Serena blinked. She hadn't told him about her dream yet, had she? How did he know? At this point, the Hufflepuff was questioning everything. This whole day was turning bizarre. Who were all of these people? And more importantly why do boys ignore all boundaries of personal space? One was in her face and the other was currently holding her close to him for no apparent reason. Unfortunately for Serena, she was so confused by both of them that she had not stepped away from Kaegen - or pushed him away, even when she should have - nor did she yank Siege's arm off her shoulders. Instead, she just stood there, unsure of what to do in both situations.

"Wh- I was- I-" She started to reply back to Siege. The boy had an unusual sort of worry in his tone of voice. Serena sighed softly, "I'm sorry," She replied, deciding it was best not to argue with him. She did not want to explain her ridiculous fear to him - especially not in front of a bunch of people she had just met - so she just apologised for worrying him. She nodded, "I'm fine," she replied earnestly, "I was just talking to Amadea, Mia and uhh Kaegen," She continued as she gestured to the students standing there.

In a way, she was actually kind of glad there was someone she knew there. She would never admit it but it helped her feel a bit more relaxed. Quirking her eyebrow, she looked up at Siege, "More importantly, what are you doing here?" She asked him directly, not thinking a festival was exactly his scene.

One of the girls pointed out Serena's wand, and he supposed that it was true. It was true that she had a wand and that wands were useful but he didn't feel safe without his slingshot. Wouldn't feel safe without it. The other girl proceeded to point out that he had promised to cure her boredom, which was true. He had said that he would, and his word was something he kept. That much was certain, it went without saying. His eyes glanced over the other girl, the one who had challenged him to uphold his promise. He hadn't realized that his promise to alleviate Tower's boredom had extended to the other students. His plan had just been to fix her, she was the one who had those bored eyes. Kaegen's interest was an odd thing and he was curious about the strangest and most random things but once his interest found something it stayed there. It didn't deviate. He had a horrible, horrible stubborn streak and had decided that he liked Tower. Tower was a name given only to someone strong and responsible, brave and unyielding. She hadn't said much of anything, just short little reactions and a few words here and there but none of that mattered. She earned her name, just as he earned his. He felt like he knew the girl, based solely off of that word. The other girl was an unknown, but was there. He could accept that. Quickly giving her a name and settling on 'Mice' he made a mental note that if he started to fix Tower, that mice would probably come along. It would only result in a few minor changes to any plan he came up with. Nothing big enough to matter, anyway.
He was about to act on his promise when a random boy came up and put his arms around tower. He didn't mind, they were probably siblings or something. But sibling love could come another time, he had a promise to keep and this boy was severely hampering his ability to pull through with it. The boy was stupid to boot, saying that tower didn't need a weapon. She did, everyone did. How on earth did this boy expect her to live her life, by just relying on him for everything? Her name was tower. A tower could take care of herself, with her own weapon. It was like he wanted her to be weaker. Why would he do that? The boy was babbling about Tower telling him before she left the hospital. That meant two things. The first thing it meant was that the boy was her nurse, which was kinda cool. Having a personal nurse was something he only read about. The second was that she had been recently hurt. How was she bored if she had just gotten hurt? Whenever he recovered from a fight he usually beat himself over the head for failing, cried a few silent tears although he would never admit to that part and then just pretend like nothing was wrong as he wondered if he deserved to be alive. It was horrible, it felt horrible. People in his experience didn't really follow his train of thought much, although his experience wasn't much to speak of. He would have to ask her later, she could tell him herself if it was boredom or failure. She looked really good considering she was just in a hospital. But he would expect nothing less from tower.
"Excuse me, nurse. I have a promise to keep, with her. And I can explain the dark places while I'm at it."
His eyes glanced over at mice as he said that, acknowledging that he had heard her, and knew that she was coming along. With his free hand, the one not holding the freakishly long wooden walking umbrella, he made a small, smooth motion. Beckoning Tower to come with him. He had to fulfill his promise, after that she could spend time with her nurse. It would be far too difficult for what he was planning if the nurse came along. Two he could cope with. Three and it was a glorified babysitting trip. Nothing interesting there. He glanced at the nurse for a signal of approval. He would understand, promises weren't broken. And a promise made by Kaegen Deathmote was strong enough to bind good and evil by the same rope.

"Excuse me, nurse. I have a promise to keep, with her. And I can explain the dark places while I'm at it."

Kaegen responded to the boy that had just came and wrapped his arms around Serena. He then proceeded to glance over at Mia, acknowledging her presence, and what she had just said. She hoped that he knew that she was no threat. He seemed to be the kind of person that would assassinate someone with not a shred of regret. Kaegen then beckoned Serena and the other girls, and the one boy that had strangely just shown up, to follow along.

Mia was hesitant. She looked him over, judging his outfit, his freakishly long walking umbrella, that she had just noticed, surprisingly. A walking umbrella is not something that Mia usually missed. She took in his black hair and his eyes that seemed to almost glow from the angle she was standing at. She decided that she could trust him. After all, he seemed to know Serena a bit, and even if he didn't, would Hogwarts really invite a psychopath to join its ranks? Ignoring the fact that Voldemort was a student at Hogwarts, Mia decided that she should follow him, that it was rude not to follow along, as she had challenged him to a level. She did want to know what the dark places were though.

"Dark places? I'm afraid that you'll have to explain those to me too."

Mia glanced at the boy who had come over to hug Serena. Her brother? Boyfriend? Mia thought, placing a strand of hair behind her ear. He was handsome, she could admit that, with hair that almost glistened in the sun. He was tall, and leaned over Serena in a protective way, almost shielding her. She was injured, so maybe he was more protective of her because of that, but...there was something more to it. Was it Kaegen? Did he feel threatened? Surely not. He was better looking, stereotypically speaking. Mia felt as though she was missing a crucial piece of information, a feeling which she hated. Frustrated, Mia spoke up, trying to make her voice sound calm but uncaring. She didn't want everyone knowing how she felt.

"Let's go. I'm not here to sit around and wait."

Mia looked up at Kaegen with an unnerving stare, hoping he'd amaze her.

Amadea was in shock. So many people had just came over and she had no idea what to do. She thought she could just have a nice walk with Serena and Mia, maybe get to know them a little better and then be on her way.

She was first startled as a Ravenclaw who introduced himself as Kaegan came up behind them. He was clearly only talking to Serena, so Amadea kept her mouth shut and listened as he talked. He seemed quite confusing to Amadea, and she was glad that he hadn't acknowledged her yet.

Suddenly another boy, Gryffindor this time, approached them. The Hufflepuff prefect clearly was startled by his presence, but it seemed as though they knew each other. Amadea didn't want to intrude. She stepped back, mentally chastising herself from coming over here in the first place. Serena was clearly nervous, and the other girl, Mia hadn't really said anything to her. As a matter of fact, no one had really said anything to her besides Serena; everyone was here to see Serena. She could tell the other girl was becoming slightly overwhelmed and wished she could do something to help, but stood helpless next to her.

This whole interaction was confusing Amadea. She wasn't good at reading into body language or interpreting what other people were saying. She glanced over to Mia, who looked just as confused as Amadea, only she voiced these confusions. Amadea just wanted to get out of this.

"Do you guys want to start walking now?" she asked, hoping they would come along. At least if they continued their conversation, Amadea could look at the booths instead of standing around awkwardly listening to conversations that clearly weren't directed toward her.

Ever since Arceus heard about the Blossom Feast he had become super excited and had surprisingly joined quite a lot of activities so far! He then heard about some stalls set up in the grounds and decided to head over there and check out what they had to offer.

As he stepped out of the castle he realised just how many people there were, small clumps of people were everywhere and it took him a long time just to navigate around without ramming into anyone, even though he still had to say "Sorry" and "Excuse me" a few times after accidentally bumping someone.

He had just got into a little clearing in the centre of the of the festival when he spotted a familiar face, it as he fellow Hufflepuff Prefect Serena, it looked like she was talking to someone and he didn't want to interrupt her so he just said a weak "Hey, partner in crime" with a small smile before realising how stupid he sounded and walking off to the Honey Duke's stall, and after a line wait in line, buying himself a cauldron cake.

He looked around once again to find even more people and since he isn't really a fan of big groups he went on over to the nearest tree and sat down under the cool shade. "Summer is close isn't it?" he asked himself as he finished his cauldron cake, lay down on the grass and closed his eyes.

He lay there and let the breeze engulph him in his hands, he would be going back home for the summer holidays soon, he wasn't ready for that but he would just have to go through two months of staying in his room, on his computer with three fans protecting him from the boiling sun until he came back.

Abi was baffled at why Mia would ever want to approach this large chaotic group but followed anyway. What was this mess? One of the girls looked incredibly uncomfortable, like she really could do with just having one close friend, not all of these people, to talk to.

She stood there, silent as everyone who seemed to somewhat know each other or at least recognize each other spoke amongst themselves. At this point Mia had seemingly begun to ignore Abi. It didn't surprise her in the slightest though, as she wasn't the best at conversations, tending to stay inside her own head, even in the presence of others.

A boy named Kaegan appeared with a very dazzling walking umbrella, which Abi looked upon in admiration. She was rather fond of nice umbrellas herself, although this was an unusually long and awkward looking one. The boy himself was quite strange, so she continued to just watch and listen, occasionally dazing off into her mind and only half aware of what was going on.

"I was just talking to Amadea, Mia and uhh Kaegen," Serena said, which brought Abi back to her senses. She raised her eyebrows, aghast.

Well, if I ever needed any more of a hint that I'm not wanted here.

Then she came to her senses.

Oh shush Abi, they most likely haven't noticed you. You are stood almost directly behind Mia and aren't paying as much attention to them as you should be.

Stepping forward, she introduced herself, "Sorry, I haven't introduced myself to you all, I'm Abi, I came over with Mia."

"Do you guys want to start walking now?"

Amedea said, sounding a bit awkward. Mia agreed. She was bored. Plus, she was pretty sure she was suffocating Serena, the last thing that she wanted to do. Suddenly, another person came up to now the rather large group of first years.

"Hey, partner in crime"

It was the other Hufflepuff prefect. He shot Serena a small smile and then walked off, perhaps realizing how stupid he sounded. Or maybe that Serena was about to break down because of all the people surrounding her. Mia felt bad for all of the girls in the circle. Abi was standing awkwardly behind her, Amedea seemed confused, and a little pissed, Serena was being suffocated, and Mia was...well Mia was acting mad. Partially because she was. They were all just standing there waiting for Kaegen, and everyone seemed to be ignoring each other, and it was all just a big mess. Mia sighed and tapped her foot impatiently. HURRY UP KAEGEN, she thought, glancing at him. On second thought, he wasn't really that creepy, just...off putting. A little bit confusing. But a good confusing. The kind of confusing that Mia liked. Suddenly Abi stepped out from behind her and started talking.

"Sorry, I haven't introduced myself to you all, I'm Abi, I came over with Mia."

She must have felt left out. Mia felt ashamed. Here she was, being just as bad as Siege and Kaegen, ignoring the rest of the girls. Mia stepped to the side and raised an eyebrow.

"C'mon Kaegen, even Abi is getting impatient."

Mia gestured towards the nice Ravenclaw. She wanted to say 'Now you've really screwed up', but Mia thought that that would be offensive. To who, she didn't know, but someone would hate her. If they all didn't already.

What was he doing here? What was he doing here, what a question indeed. What WAS he doing here? Or what did he come here to do? He had a hard time trying to think of ways to explain it, he didn't wanna voice his concern, but at the same time he also wanted to. He wasn't really sure as to what he would say to her in response to that, not the most sure about anything anymore really. All he really knew was that he didn't want her out of his sight, at least when she's by herself. He won't, no, he won't let her just go out by herself.

It was pretty damn surprising though, when did Serena gain such the following? Was she like the superstar of Hogwarts or something? It made Siege feel uneasy...It felt like he was being left behind...What? No erm, he totally didn't feel that, anyways...He din't like it that she just left the hospital like this, and questioning him like this also making him feel like this. What a drag indeed. He didn't want her to step out like this again, but then again he didn't want to control her either he just...He just wanted her to be safe and okay. Unfortunately the boy wasn't the most used to caring for someone that much... After all she did make him like this.

"Excuse me, nurse. I have a promise to keep, with her. And I can explain the dark places while I'm at it." The strange Ravenclaw would say beginning to turn around and seemed to be beckoning Serena to follow him. Oh hell now, she sure ain't going to follow him, not while Siege was there. Nurse? Why nurse? He surely looked nothing like a nurse, frankly he looked like he was the opposite of a nurse. With that height of his and the stare that could easily be mistaken for a condescending rather than a bored wan, definitely did not make him look like a nurse.

"Nurse? A promise? I don't think she'll care if you fulfill your promise or not. I also definitely don't think she wants more information about this...Darkness s**t that you're blabbering on about. Go tell that to someone else, she's not in the mood."  Siege would reply knowing full well she doesn't want to hear anything to do with Darkness at this point...After all she probably felt the worst when she's in the darkness, he felt like it was his job to warm her up when she's cold, to protect her from the darkness she so feared. He never expected to worry this much for her, or anyone really, definitely not just anyone.

Looking back at Serena he'd put his hand on her cheek to make sure if she was fine.  He didn't really think about it, that's why he did it so easily, rather than being a blundering idiot about it. "Are you really fine? I'll have to stay with you to make sure you'll be fine." Siege would sigh with laziness behind it, but also a hint of relief that she wasn't feeling bad or any worse. At least she can enjoy the day and it definitely won't be with Mr. Ravenclaw boy. 

"To answer your question I came down here to check out Zonko's joke shop and to make sure that you were fine...If you want...Wanna go check out the tents with me?" Siege would somewhat uncomfortably ask, as he slowly turned crimson once more, not knowing what he just said or what to do next. What does he do now? He didn't even realize that he still had his shoulder around her. If he still remembered that, I'm sure that he'll have died right there. If his crew from Glasgow could have seen him now, he would definitely want to fight them, because he knew in the backs of their minds, they'd be laughing at him for being caring to someone.

It would only really be funny, because Siege rarely cared for someone from back home. Other than his stepfather and his stepsister, he really only cared for them and himself. Anyone in his way he'd punch in the gut or try to without getting the most serious of injuries. Of course his most serious injury had been him being stabbed by some thief, which was actually the first time his flames actually lost control and completely burned the man. Even then he didn't even feel bad for the suffering man. 

It was unnatural to care, it felt...weird to him.  Sometimes when around her he wouldn't know what to do with that feeling. Should he reassure her? Should he put his arm around her or something? Would his brain bee cool with that? Or would he be panicking for being nice all of a sudden? Especially to her...Especially to Serena. She made him feel things he's never felt before, even some things he can't explain. But even if he didn't know the feeling itself, all he knew was that he wanted to keep her safe and he wanted to treasure what he feels...The treasure that he feels for Serena.

"Nurse? A promise? I don't think she'll care if you fulfill your promise or not. I also definitely don't think she wants more information about this...Darkness s**t that you're blabbering on about. Go tell that to someone else, she's not in the mood... Are you really fine? I'll have to stay with you to make sure you'll be fine. To answer your question I came down here to check out Zonko's joke shop and to make sure that you were fine...If you want...Wanna go check out the tents with me?"

The boy turned slowly crimson from embarrassment. Mia's palms started to sweat, and she glanced at everyone in the circle, her eyes lingering on the boy behind Serena.

"Look.."

She came to a loss of words, staring at the boy. She didn't know his name, or really anything about him except that he was a prefect, and that angered her a little bit. She had no anonymity. None. She looked like an Alexander. Serena looked like a Tower. Why couldn't he be glaringly obvious too? She stared at him, wanting to know who she was. She settled for prefect. She thought that he was, she recognized him from somewhere, and looked back at him.

"...Prefect. Serena can make her own decisions. I do, and she is way more capable than me."

Mia bit her lip to stop from exploding. She knew that she got angry fast, she tried not to, but this prefect was pushing her buttons.

"Another thing. Kaegen may look a bit...unusual, but that doesn't mean you can curse at him."

Mia's anger receded. She knew that the prefect meant no harm, but sometimes she couldn't stop. Especially if someone disrespected her friends. Or acquaintances, as Kaegen was to her. Mia hoped that they could become friends. He seemed interesting, and almost...untouchable. She was still fed up.