Archive BlossomFest Festival Grounds

Kaegen was feeling something he had not felt in a long, long time. Not once since he came to hogwarts and only a few times before that. He was feeling pressure. Pressure to follow through on his promise. There were several girls heckling him about it, telling him to act on his promise now, to get walking and to remember what he had said. The nurse next to tower was looking at him nicely, at least. To say Kaegen wasn't good at normal socializing would be a horrible understatement. The boy thought in terms of promises and oaths and blood and war, he had never learned how to read a face and to him, a nurse would have to be tall and strong, right? Her nurse even had a relaxed look on his face which directly contradicted the ravenclaw boy's eyes, which twitched and jerked and dashed everywhere and anywhere, trying to find a threat or something interesting. The rest of his face was cold, didn't betray anything. And mice wanted him to explain the dark places to her too. How could he do that he had failed to explain them once before, he certainly wasn't going to try with more than one person. It wasn't something to be taken lightly, the first time Kaegen was shown proof of a shadow of their existence he had screamed. It was his first and only long, loud screech. But when he had shown the proof to that other girl, she hadn't seemed scared. She had giggled and brushed it off. If tower wanted to know about them, she could ask him later. He considered the topic dropped. And then the girl who he assumed just wanted to watch them talk joined in, introduced herself as a bee, even though she was clearly human. He brushed that to a far corner of his mind, an interesting tidbit to pursue later. Perhaps Professor lear would know about bees that shape shifted, it was always possible. He logged her name in his memory as 'bee' and left it at that.

The nurse was an idiot.

The realization of his utter stupidity added another ton of bricks to the pressure already weighing on Kaegen's mind. 'I don't think she'll care if you fulfill your promise or not' Who was that utterly, utterly inhuman? Was this boy even a boy? A doppelganger maybe? A chameleon ghoul disguised as tower's nurse? If he made a promise it was kept. End of discussion, end of argument. If he didn't follow through on his word, then his name meant nothing. Nothing at all. His name and his titles would be stripped from him and he would be left a empty husk with no honor or name or pride. A name was a symbol of who you are, and it was tied to every promise you made. Even if she didn't want him to, even if it ended up killing him and every other person going to hogwarts. He was going to fulfill his promise and the fact that nurse didn't understand was shocking. He also said that she didn't want to hear about the dark place, but he had already decided against telling her unless she asked. And besides this nurse was horribly unreliable. He was saying that she would have to stay with him, to make sure she was fine. That was fine, it was his job. He didn't really care what nurse did with tower, or at least he wouldn't care if he wasn't already bound to her. His voice was as calm as ever. Floating and faraway and quiet, but his eyes were still sporadic, his mind was still feeling too much pressure. The girl was even threatening to fulfill his promise for him. That was ungodly. No. No that couldn't happen. That was not going to happen as long as he could still draw breath. But it was only if he couldn't, he reminded himself. Only if he couldn't.
"I'm working on it. I'll get it done."
His eyes settled on the tall nurse, at least they did for almost a second, which was a long time considering how long they normally kept still. They were just quivering now, not doing him any good. Making things look blurry and unclear.
"I don't care if she doesn't care, nurse. It was a promise. You can do whatever you want after I'm done. And don't worry about her safety."
Why? Why shouldn't he worry about her safety? Even to himself, that sounded hollow. The added weight of his self judgement pushed just a bit too far, so he took a deep breath. It was slow, he didn't make a sound as he sucked in the air, breathing in smoothly more out of habit then purpose. He closed his eyes, tried to calm down, and thought. But he didn't think hard enough or well enough. And he made a pretty large mistake.
"I promise to protect her. Please, you have no reason to stop me from fulfilling what I said I would."
He slowly opened his eyes, and found that they had stopped freaking out, which was nice. They still darted from thing to thing looking for danger but that was normal. He shifted the walking umbrella staff to one side, glancing above him to look at the top. The pressure was still there, it hadn't gone away or gotten less strong, but he had pushed it back, just a little. Why were there so many people here anyway, and why had they all piggybacked on the promise he made to tower? They could be her entourage, but it looked like bee and mice had introduced themselves to everyone, including tower. That didn't make any sense unless they didn't know her, which would rule out entourage. But it was still odd that they assumed he bound himself to them too. If they came along there was nothing he would do about it, aside from being forced to work slightly harder. But if they died he wasn't going to save them. It's not like he said that he would. And then it hit him hard with the force of a dragon and his eyes stopped moving, staring straight ahead. They recovered shortly after but the boy didn't. He had just destroyed any hope of an easy school year. Destroyed it and then ground it into dust. And with that, the pressure came back in full, accompanied by it's older brother.
Anxiety.

Abi was getting more and more riled up at how futile the attempts to get the boy to go away were. I mean, the girl, Serena as she now knew her name was, obviously wasn't in the place for Kaegen's "promise", but who says he was trying to do bad? Maybe he was actually trying to do good...in...his own...kinda way. Realizing that this boy wasn't going to give up, and that they probably couldn't stop him without getting physical, she decided to take a different route. Maybe if they understood what he was going on about a bit more they might have more of a chance of resolving the situation.

Hey, there's so many people who don't seem to know each other trying to get involved, who said I can't put my own two cents in?

"I don't care if she doesn't care, nurse. It was a promise. You can do whatever you want after I'm done. And don't worry about her safety."

Kaegen began to get flustered. At this rate it would be him whose safety was at risk, not Serena's.

"Alright, calm down a chara, I'm sure Serena's safety isn't compromised."


"I promise to protect her. Please, you have no reason to stop me from fulfilling what I said I would."

"You do understand that promising to protect a person you have never met out of the blue will make them feel uncomfortable? I'm sure you're trying to do well but, as ucht dé, why don't we all just hang out, have a picnic. What were you intending to do with Serena anyhow?"

Suddenly Kaegen began to look drastically more flustered, and without second thought Abi gently put her hand on his arm, giving him a concerned look. He might have made this whole situation uncomfortable, but he obviously was enjoying it least of all.

The idea of being alone quickly faded from Serena's mind. It was a nice thought, perhaps but one that did not seem to want to come into fruition. If she was honest, being alone was awful. She hated being clogged up alone in her dorm and barely seeing the faces of anyone else. However, she could not really bring herself to face people. She did not want to see the look of disappointment in their eyes. She could picture that look from her parents, despite being hundreds of miles away from them. She could recall every single word they had written on their letters by heart, even if she had only read some of them once. Every single word seethed with it. They had expectations, she had failed to meet them.

Kaegen claimed he had a promise to keep. She blinked, not recalling what promise he was talking about. The... dark places...? Her eyes widened a little. She remembered questioning his words about the 14th dark place but she had not wanted to go. The words had come out of her mouth in a state of confusion. There was no way in hell she was going to go with him. Not now, not ever. The word 'dark' was enough to turn her away. Serena immediately opened her mouth to decline, only to hear the Slytherin girl agree to it.

Wai- Wh- What...?

Serena blinked at the Slytherin who had just spoken. Were they really doing this? She looked at Mia, who was looking at... oh Siege. Wait- what? Glancing between the two, she just wondered what was going on in Mia's head. Mia tucked her hair behind her ear, looking at him. Uhh... Serena automatically tried to shuffle away from Siege a little, attempting to move away from the arm holding her as she remembered how it might look to other people. She kind of just realised close they were and how misunderstandings could arise.

This was being too much. She could feel her heartbeat increasing. Her fingers started to shake a little. There was too much going on. A boy who wanted to show her some sort of dark place, a boy who was holding her way too closely, a whole bunch of girls she had never met trying to just have a normal conversation and people were going to misunderstand her relationship with Siege... Yes, this was all too much for her... Amadea was her saving grace though. The second she heard her fellow Hufflepuff speak about walking around, Serena nodded, "Yes let's-" She started, completely agreeing with Amadea. Going to look at stalls was far better than anything to do with the darkness. She did not blame them, they weren't to know. If she had it her way, no one would know. How weak would she look if people knew she was afraid of the dark? What, was she suddenly the same as five year olds scared of the boogyman?

Serena was so grateful to the girl in that moment. It was the perfect escape from this situation and from the dark places. She would have to apologise to her for this awkward encounter but before she could, she saw a familiar person approach. Hearing a fifth voice - perhaps, she was losing count at this point - she saw Arceus and was about to grab him to leave for the stalls with Amadea. "Hey-", he ran off after a greeting, however, perhaps overwhelmed by the amount of people here already. She did not blame him if he was. She certainly was.

Without realising it, yet another person piped up. Had she been there the whole time? Why did Serena not see her before?! Blinking, Serena smiled, "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there- hi- I'm Serena-" She started, just attempting to get words out as she tried to figure out what was going on. Her heart was doing back flips over here. "Uh, shall we go to the stan-" Serena started, attempting to lead those who wanted to go away from everything else.

Unfortunately, Siege had another plan. Serena was very much about to run away from Kaegen, and Mia who seemed keen to find out more about these dark places. And perhaps Abi who was apparently getting impatient to find out too. But Siege's words stopped her. She looked up at him, blinking as his words hit her. He... knew...? How did he- Serena stared at the side of his face, looking up at him. She knew he was protective and caring but perhaps she had never really noticed how much. She couldn't recall telling him she was afraid of the dark... She hadn't told anyone, had she? But... they had spoken about the campout a little, he knew what had happened there, he saw her lifeless body apparently... It made sense for him to know but Serena had no idea he had picked up on it. In that moment, the softest smile appeared on her face and a small blush appeared on her cheeks as she made a mental note she would have to thank him later. In that moment, she felt like someone else might actually understand her... Even if it was just a little, perhaps he understood her.

Until this point, she thought only her fellow Hufflepuffs could relate. Reid, in particular, perhaps knew how she felt better than anyone else. Siege turned to her, putting his warm hand on her cheek. "Wh-" She started. What was wrong with these boys and their need to get very close to or touch her face? Serena just nodded, "I- Yeah- I'm fine- I'll be fine... You don't have to..." The Hufflepuff managed to mumble out in a reply. "Uh-" She started, wondering how to tell him that he can let go off her now. He had a hand on her cheek and an arm around her shoulders. Serena just blinked at him, before averting her gaze so she did not have to look into his emerald eyes any longer.

He continued to answer her question, finally offering her an escape from this. Yes, they could go with Amadea and just leave this entirely weird situation behind them. That was a good idea. In fact, it was the best idea she had heard since Amadea's suggestion of doing the same thing. If it was not clear, Serena really wanted to just leave now. "Oh- Yea-" She started before Mia's words cut over hers, claiming that she was capable to make her own decisions. Was she? Right now she certainly did not feel like she was.

All she wanted to do was go look at the stalls and that was the one thing she seemed to be unable to do.

Kaegen was quick to jump in, claiming that he didn't care what she wanted. He was going to do what he wanted and that was that. Serena blinked, what the hell did he mean not to worry about her safety? There was an internal cry of panic that was so loud that would have matched a banshee's cry if she had been able to vocalise it. Please do worry about her safety. She was entirely worried about that safety. Her safety was very important to her. In fact, it was the second most important thing to her. Second only to the safety of her loved ones. Nothing else mattered to her right now. She didn't care about playing Quidditch, writing the House Newspaper, taking naps by the lake or any of the other things she previously enjoyed... She didn't care about any of those things as much as she did before. She did, however, care about the safety of people. That was her biggest concern and priority. So yes, please do worry about these things. She did. Constantly. It was all she worried about, in fact.

Kaegen's words continued to baffle her. He had no reason to stop him from doing what he wanted? Of course he did. Everyone did. For the mere fact that she did not want to go... She wanted no part in this madness. As her friend, Siege had ever single right to stop him... But they all seemed to be talking over her. About her, without letting her speak up.

Serena right now wanted nothing more than to just turn around and leave. Just to run away from this craziness. It was too hectic for her. She enjoyed the peace and quiet. Too much noise was... scary, if we're a little honest. The screams of her housemates still echoed in her ears. Knock back the darkness...

The Ravenclaw girl jumped in too, attempting to rectify it all. This situation was escalating - and quickly. Before she knew it, there was a tension in the air that was starting to cause a pain in her chest. Her gentle heart could not handle the stress of dealing with this nonsense. Unfortunately, when Siege was involved, she was going to have to get used to situations like this. Serena knew then and there that the first step to rectifying this and calming people down was stopping Siege from doing anything... well, Siege like. She knew first hand what he was capable of. The boy had almost scarred her face with third degree burns on their first meeting, after all.

Everyone had their share of something to say. There was a member of each house here. It was as though their house traits were clashing. Serena just stood there. With people talking about her as though she wasn't there.

Well that was not ok. Serena internally sighed. She had had enough of this nonsense. "That's enough," She muttered in a calm, firm voice. Her voice was low, lacking the usual high pitched tone it had. Perhaps not everyone had heard it... But those closest to her would have. Prefect mode now activated. She looked up at Siege, with a firm stare into his eyes. She knew everything he was doing was out of care and concern. It was appreciated but professionally, she knew he was not handling this situation as well as he could have. He knew her better than they did. He was voicing things so she did not have to. But they weren't to know better. He could not have expected them to accept his words without a better explanation.

First thing first, stop Siege.

Tiptoeing up, putting a hand on his shoulder to help her balance, Serena leaned in close to him so she could whisper into his ear. "Siege, f***ing hell you're a Prefect now, aren't you? Control yourself. Please. For me?" Her whisper was so quiet that no one else could hear her, especially not with the noisy festival taking part in the background. It started off firm before breaking slightly, as though she was begging him to stop this, "Pl-please don't get into a fight. I- I can't see more people get hurt in front of my eyes again... Please?" She continued to whisper, her voice breaking a little at the thought of it. Her face was now incredibly close to his - but it had to be, otherwise he wouldn't have heard her. Her heart was still pounding as the adrenaline had kicked in a little after her panic surged through. Her voice was very quiet the whole time. She used the opportunity to move her arms around his neck and hug him gently, "Please?". She liked hugging him. His body was oddly warmer than the average's person, though she never knew why. But it filled her with warmth that helped to calm her nerves and fear a bit. She needed the hug right now so she took one. It was a short and quick one, that she hoped no one else would even notice but she needed it right now.

With that, she stepped back and turned to face the rest of the group. Sighing softly, she composed herself, feeling a little better following the hug. The blank mask appearing on her face, as she spoke firmly, "I apologise on behalf of my friend here. He, unfortunately, has a very good reason for being protective. I'm sure you've heard already but an event took place recently, not very far from here," She paused, looking over to the lake for a second before continuing, "And a number of students were... badly hurt." She started, putting it a little lighter for them to ease them into the lecture she was about to give to all of them, "If it wasn't for him, and a few others, I would most likely be buried in the forest by now." Serena's voice was firm, gesturing back towards Siege and then to the forest not too far away. She had accepted that she would have died if it was not for the four people who had worked together to save her. "It was the darkness itself that almost killed us." There was no expectation of pity nor was there a hint of sadness. She was just stating these words as facts, presenting them as they were.

"His intentions were good. His words, however-" She continued, shooting him a firm glare, "have perhaps caused some confusion. He should have, at least, attempted to explain the situation better as none of you were to know exactly what happened. I'm so sorry for all of this," Serena's tone softened towards the end, sincerely apologising for dragging everyone into this awkward and uncomfortable mess. It was not her intention to do so, nor did she do much to contribute to it. Yet, they all seemed to have gathered here because of her. Siege had certainly only joined the group because of her, Kaegen seemed interested in removing whatever he saw in her face and the girls had come over to talk to her. She felt bad for Amadea and Abi, who both seemed to have gotten dragged into this without much say in it.

Everyone seemed nice enough on their own. As a group, however, there appeared to be a number of personality clashes. She would have asked Siege to apologise, but she was pretty sure the boy did not know the meaning of the word. This, however, meant he kept receiving her firm stares. Only her sternest glares were reserved for him. But let's be fair, he had seen worse from her. This was nothing compared to the death stares, full of hatred that he had seen before. These were kinder, a lot kinder but just held a bit of firmness in them so he knew she was completely serious and would happily hit him if he stepped out of line. These people were trying to do a nice thing by talking to her, perhaps even attempting to cheer her up if they knew - though she was hoping they did not see through her that easily.

Serena did not feel like justifying her feelings to anyone. She did not need to. The situation alone should have been enough for them to understand. She didn't need to go into details of how it made her feel. No one needed to know that. Hell, she had not even shared her truest feelings with the people closest to her - she was not around to share it with some she had known for less than five minutes. In fact, even telling them all this was not something she planned to do. However, it appeared she had little choice. She just hoped her explanation would be enough to calm them.

As she scanned the faces of everyone in the group, her gaze fell behind them. They hit the Honeydukes stand, which had a huge line. But more than that, they caught sight of one of her closest friends. She frowned slightly, noticing him drop his food before picking it up and eating it again. A sigh escaped her. She had more important things to do than to listen to people bicker for no reason. Turning back to the group, she looked at Siege before gazing at everyone else, "Now, if you're planning to piss people off, can you at least introduce yourself so they know who to hate?" She continued, a smile crossing her lips now as she was half joking. It was aimed at Siege, mostly but it applied to everyone. Serena figured people deserved to know the name of the one annoying them, at the very least, so they could hate on them properly if nothing else. Well, it was her poor attempt at making them at least be a little more civil. They could start by introducing themselves, at the least. She had, somehow, managed to introduce herself to everyone so far - despite the madness.

She was a lot more relaxed now, hoping that people had calmed down a bit. She really could not handle the stress and tension anymore. It was really beginning to hurt her chest. "I think I'm going to try some of that cake you suggested, actually," Serena said after some time, looking over to Amadea, announcing the decision she had made now that she had the time to actually decide. It sounded like it was pretty good cake, "My treat, who wants some?" She continued with a smile on her face, offering to buy them all some cake if they got along. If strictness did not work, perhaps bribery would? Who doesn't love cake, after all? The cauldron cake sounded like a great way to at least walk over to the stalls. That was her decision. She did not want to listen to any terrors of the darkness, nor did she want to do anything that questioned her safety. Personally, it would be far better in her opinion if she did not require the protection in the first place. Cake sounded like a safe bet. 

Serena just hoped she hadn't annoyed everyone with her outburst. It was not her intention to be rude, if she had. Her prefect duties simply kicked in and she wanted to stop a fight long before it happened. With Siege around, that could easily happen. She knew it better than most. It was a lot better for everyone else, if they had to listen to her talk than Siege. Because Siege rarely spoke when it came to dealing with things. He spoke with his fists. And they really did not want to see how his uppercut could knock someone out in one hit. It was not a pleasant sight, you could trust her on that one. She was unfortunate enough to witness it - and have to deal with the injured party afterwards. 

Amadea thought that she had made a terrible mistake. There were simply too many people here that didn't know who she was, and frankly, she thought, didn't care. Clearly they weren't talking to her, and clearly they just wanted to talk to Serena, who looked quite uncomfortable under the arm of the Gryffindor prefect. She stepped away from him, angered. Amadea felt so out of place knowing that everyone else knew each other. Mia seemed to know the strange Ravenclaw who kept spurting weird sentences that made no sense to Amadea. She had no idea where she fit into this dysfunctional group, probably because she didn't. She didn't want to be here anymore, but she had already offered to walk around with Serena. Hopefully not everyone would follow. That would just make things even more awkward.

Amadea's eyes widened. Just as she thought there couldn't be more people joining them, she saw someone approaching. She recognized him as the other prefect of Hufflepuff, Arceus. As he walked over, she wanted to scream at him, "No, don't come over! Too many people!" Apparently her telepathy was better than she thought, or maybe Arceus was just good at judging situations, as he came over, said a quick hello to Serena and walked away. Amadea wished badly that she could walk away with him, but he didn't know her and it would be rude to just strand Serena here.

She began walking, hoping that the others would follow...well, that some of the others would follow. Turning around, she looked at who was walking with her. "Are there any specific places that you guys want to go to? Any cool booths that you want to check out?" Amadea asked.

Arceus watched all the people walking by in their groups, both small and large, he didn't want to eavesdrop but he noticed Serena getting a little annoyed in a large group of people and he particularly at one boy, he wanted to go help his fellow prefect and friend but decided it would be best not to go and join the large group, She sure is popular, he thought to himself.

All his life he had never been a fan of large groups so he decided it wouldn't hurt to go and roam around the festival grounds, but before that, he decided it would be worth the wait to get another cauldron cake from the Honeyduke's stall, as he was walking there though he noticed a boy and girl, as he moved closer he saw it was Reid, who used to be the Head Boy and is part of the Hufflepost, he seemed to have dropped something and after a few seconds pick it up and take a bite.

Now was his chance to make a friend, a fellow Hufflepuff too, he didn't want to interrupt the group but the line was pretty long so it would look natural right? He worried too much about first impressions, but he gathered a little courage and walked on over with a small smile, "Hey, Reid right? I'm Arceus, Arceus Powers, I can't believe we're meeting now since you used to be Head Boy and not to mention you're also in the Hufflepost" he stopped realising he would start to ramble if he continued on, "Well it's nice to meet you." He said putting out his hand to shake with a smile on his face.

The world was hurting. Kaegen's head was throbbing, he couldn't tell if everything was slowing down or speeding up. Only individuals had ever expected anything from him, this was too much too fast, this was horrible, it was hell. He could feel nervous twitches shooting down his arms and his legs, when several things happened at once.

Tower started to explain things, and a little part of him that could still think made a note of her more authoritative tone. She wasn't bored any more, he had done a horrible job of it but the promise was technically fulfilled. It wasn't really, wasn't honestly. But his mind was coming up with a reason, with any reason at all to leave the large group of people and find someplace to hide, someplace to sort through his thoughts. But as the little voice finished convincing him that he had fulfilled the letter of his promise, Tower began making something clear to him that he really didn't want made clear. The darkness could attack.

He had never liked the dark, preferring the mists calm grey to the inky black void, but he went into the dark anyway. He lived in the dark in constant fear, trying his level best to suppress the terror that would always threaten to well up. For the most part, he did a astounding job. It was almost miraculous how the little 11 year old was able to block out all thoughts of the fear for so long, hunting and moving about in the dark without so much as a whimper. But the fear was still there, waiting to rise to the surface as soon as his guard was down. With stress and anxiety rallying for control over the last inch of logical mind Kaegen had, that little sentence where she said the darkness had attacked them sent a shiver of fear through the boy. It wasn't a smooth shiver, it was erratic. And it stuck out. Nothing on him ever moved erratically aside from his eyes. Even when he was knocked back, even when he tripped he somehow always managed to do it with fluidity. The shiver was a stark contrast to something people sometimes didn't even notice.

And then the girl touched his arm. It was a light touch, it was a comforting touch. And in a normal situation when the poor boy from the fens wasn't under the stress he was in currently, it would have been fine. In a normal situation it would have helped, it would have grounded him. But the part of his brain the fens had cultivated, the part that screamed for survival and death had taken over. It was the ugly part of the human mind that was ruled by fear and rage and instinct, and it was especially strong in Kaegen, it had been given the ideal conditions to become a driving force behind his personality. He had grown up without anyone but grandfather, and sometimes his father and mother. Everything outside of his house was dangerous, everything seemed to want him dead. If you place a child in an environment of fear, fear is what he learns. What he does not learn is how to recognize a kind touch for a kind one.

The moment her hand touched his arm, his muscled tightened and he leaped sideways, a fluid, fast motion that brought him away from the hand. And with that, the last bit of his logical mind succumbed to the screaming fear. His eyes seemed to become less human. It was a extremely slight change that was hard to see unless you knew what you were looking at, but it was there. The eyes stopped looking for something interesting or threatening and started looking at predators. Started seeing predators in everything. Saw everything as a predator. Saw everyone as something deadly, something bad. The eyes were full of fear, wretched, pure fear. If you ever find a wild baby rabbit, and catch it. And look at it's eyes and feel it's heartbeat, you know of the kind of terror that had seized the young ravenclaw.

His eyes glanced over some of the faces of the people in the group, but he didn't really see them. He didn't recognize their faces, their features or what they were doing. Didn't regard them as even being human. Turning, he took off across the ground as fast as he could possibly go. His scarf waved behind him like a banner signalling the retreat of the boy. His mind had stopped thinking at all, it sounded like a broken record now, playing the same word over and over again. 'survive.' He wasn't even sure where he was running. He didn't think about it, didn't care. Wherever it was, it was away from there.

"Are there any specific places that you guys want to go to? Any cool booths that you want to check out?"

Amadea walked away, and Mia watched. She felt torn. She could either stay in the group with Kaegen and the others, or she could follow Amadea. She decided to stay. The a breeze blew and Mia looked at Abi uncertainty. It was her choice to come over here, and she seemed to be regretting it. Mia didn't blame her. It was getting more awkward as time went on. Mia looked at Kaegen. He seemed to be frantic, his eyes dilating, and body shaking. His scarf blew behind him and he took off, running as fast as he could away from the group. He seemed to be anxious, and Mia knew all about anxiety. Too much about it. Mia sighed and turned back to the group of people, gesturing at Kaegen.

"You can all follow Amadea. Have a nice time. I'll try to comfort him."

Without another word, Mia took off, running as fast as she could towards Kaegen. Her hair whipped behind her and she started to get a cramp. She continued to run. The landscape turned to a blur, and many heads turned. She continued to run. She was a funny sight, a black clothed mass hurtling towards another one, but she didn't care. She was sure that it was her fault. Too sure. She had challenged him, when all she wanted was to say Hi. She should of greeted them, and not dragged Abi into the mess. Mia grimaced. She was short of breath, but Kaegen was only a few feet in front of her. She pushed herself and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him to the ground.

Charo made her way to the Festival Grounds with a smile on her face. She hadn't managed to go to the BlossomFest yet, but she was excited to check out the booths that were already set up. Charo could see students from all of the houses, talking and walking around the festival, she even saw some people that she had met in her past time at Hogwarts. Part of Charo's excitement was because of the recent events at the Hufflepuff Campout. They had been frightening and people had gotten hurt, but she couldn't deny the fact that it sounded thrilling. 'You would probably have a whole different opinion if you had been there.' Charo half-hoped nothing like that happened at the BlossomFest, but she was sure that the teachers wouldn't have continued the event if it wasn't safe.

She finally reached the booths and the people. Charo looked around, smiling at the students who were gathered there. Charo wondered what to try first, there was so much there to eat and see, 'Should've come here sooner,' she thought, wondering why she hadn't. Charo dismissed the thought and focused on actually doing something instead of just standing there like a weirdo. She decided to take a look at the Honeydukes stall because there was a small group of people there that she could talk to, and also, Honeydukes meant food, that was always a good thing.

Charo made her way over to the stall and looked at the selection of sweet foods that they had to offer. She was immediately drawn to the Chocolate Cauldrons, probably because of the word 'Chocolate'. She hadn't tried one before because they hadn't sold them on the Honeydukes trolley on the Hogwarts Express and she hadn't had the chance to try any non-muggle foods before that.

Her eyes widened as Reid unintentionally squeezed on his pasty, dropping it. It was her fault, again. She had forgotten the camp out would have hurt him mentally as well as physically, how could she have forgotten? It was the same with Serena. She immediately felt bad again, but it got better as he seemed to calm down. "Sorry." She said with a sad smile, "You should get more sleep, seriously pal." She laughed, trying to desperately calm down her heart, he was lying, she knew he didn't sleep much, but that wasn't why that happened and she could tell. "Studying is for me to do, your health is more important." She mumbled the last part, her cheeks going pink, but he probably heard it anyway, she was looking straight at him, trying to resist the urge too look at the ground.

She laughed as he picked up his pasty off of the ground and ate it, seeing his hand was bandaged, she would have visited him in the hospital wing, she would have in a heartbeat, but she hadn't heard he was in there until he was already out of it, then she couldn't find him when she did look for him afterwards. She seemed to have the worst luck in finding people. She hadn't heard about the campout because she had been hiding in the back of the library, studying as always.

"That could be dirty you know." Delilah smiled again, she could barely keep a smile off of her face when she was talking to him, it was weird, she didn't get it at all, but she felt happy so she didn't question it. "Also I'm pretty sure it's the five second rule but oh well." Then she looked back to his bandaged hand and she felt that pain in her heart again, that was another thing she felt around him, she was always either happy or in pain, and it was almost always her heart, it made no sense to her. 

The young Ravenclaw smiled again, trying desperately to ignore his hand, she couldn't stop thinking about it, about him, about how he was hurt, again. "I'm good, no I haven't kicked anybody recently, only you have that pleasure." She said with another small laugh, remembering how she had kicked him while aiming for Siege, then passing out for a reason she still wasn't completely sure on, but it was probably just exhaustion. 

She couldn't handle thinking about it anymore, he grabbed his bandaged hand, turning it over in her own, inspecting it, trying not to touch his fingers, her face red. His hand was warm, just like it was when he had helped her up the first time they met. Although she didn't know if it was his hand who was warm or hers that were cold but it was probably hers. She kept a gentle hold on his hand as she looked up at him again with a worried look on her face before back down at his hand. That looked painful. Touching his hand made her heart go crazy, even if she was doing it because she was worried about him. 

"Fine, huh?" She said, looking back up at him, repeating the words that he had said to her, "Doesn't look very fine to me. Do bandaged fingers look very fine to you?" Delilah asked in a patronising tone, it sounded like she was lecturing him, and to be honest she was, but she was only doing it because she worried.  "I couldn't find you after I had heard you were in the hospital wing, you weren't there when I checked, I looked all over the school for you, damn were my legs tired after that." She laughed, her face still red as a beetroot as she continued to hold his hand gently, still inspecting it. After a moment she let go of it though, and immediately her hand felt cold again, as if missing the heat from his, but she ignored it. And she had also been so busy thinking about his hand and worrying, that she hadn't even noticed another Hufflepuff boy talking to Reid.