Gates of Heaven will not Open pv closed

@Aurelia Notresvace

@Howard White @Aurelia Notrésvace

Opeila had expected a quiet afternoon. Yes, there was always the occasional kid who had tripped and skinned their knee, on rarer occasions someone had fallen down the stairs. The young Slytherin had been told that during lesson time there were also quite a few kids who had messed up their spells, but having chosen all the electives, Opeila didn't have free periods like many of her classmates. So far she only had fixed one messed up spell, quickly and quietly before nurse Brumby could notice- fights involving magic were forbidden, Opeila was quite sure of that.

But apart from kids with minor cuts that were often miraculously fine again after a few minutes and some encouraging words, Opeila had little to do today, so she spent some time tidying up the shelfs and beds.
She only looked up when voices got louder and two fifth years- familiar fifth years- came in, one of them shouting for help. Howard White, who had asked her about the curse last year, was carrying Aurelia into the Hospital Wing.

Opeila immediately dropped what she held in her hands in the shelf, ruining the order she had just brought into it. Wiping her hands on her trousers- they were dusty from the shelf- she directed Howard to one of the beds to put Aurelia down and cast a Ferula Charm on the girl's arm. The broken bone had to be mended by a more experienced wizard or witch, that was a bit too high for the third year.

Later, Opeila went to check on Aurelia again. A feeling, perhaps more than that drove her back to the hospital wing. Upon entering, she could already hear voices and hurried over, only in time to hear Aurelia tell Howard to stay away. Only now she saw that wand the older girl pointed at him too.

Opeila didn't know either of the two well. What she did know about Howard though, was that he once worked for the hags. Did he still?
Perhaps she was being a little too brave, but the feeling of being in the right gave her the courage to take her own wand out in spite of the two students in front of her being older and more experienced than her.

"Aurelia. I'm sure that if you want White to leave, he will respect your wishes, considering that you should rest and heal, but you need to put your wand away. Please." Yes, Opeila wished she could have greeted her differently, but being a healer intern, she felt a certain sense of responsibility to at least try and enforce reasonable rules in the hospital wing. Although there was no denying that it made her heart beat faster.

She looked from one fifth year to the other. "I didn't ask earlier, but will anyone tell me how that happened? Where did that scratch come from? Didn't look like a cat's doing." In truth Opeila had a guess she would not yet dare to say out loud. Howard was a dhampir, she knew that.
And hadn't she herself been target of a dhampir's claws before? Months had passed and her face still burned at the memory.

But perhaps it was different. Perhaps Opeila was biased, it was possible. But once a general distrust was built up, it didn't go away again too quickly. And there was of course that fact that whatever attacked Aurelia also managed to break her arm...
Was this why she raised her wand at him now?

Stubbornness could only carry one so far, particularly when it came to their personal health and safety. Nicholas McCowan was stubborn, stupidly so, such a fact was so evident that even strangers seemed to comprehend it in a matter of mere moments. So he’d more often than not refused to admit injury or seek help for those alleged wounds, particularly when they’d resulted from foolish endeavours he’d attempted whilst atop a broom, denying the existence of bruises was masculine after all, was it not? Yet, there were certain times when even he had to admit that it would be best to seek medical attention. An attempt to pull out of a dive at the last moment, resulting in him being thrown from his silver arrow and bracing himself before collision with the ground had made sure of that. He wasn’t all too worse for wear, the fall itself had merely been awkward, his attempts to protect his face resulting in a couple of fingers that ached like the devil. He didn’t know if they were broken or merely sprained, all he knew was that his entire left hand was swollen and sore as sin.

So he’d given up on flying for the day, and instead opted to visit the Hospital Wing, his pride and ego more damaged than his digits. Like a pup with his tail between his legs, the captain made his way into the realm of healing and safety, and immediately regretted it.

“Shite,” The word had entered Nicholas’s vocabulary more and more it had seemed, especially as the school itself seemed to be conspiring to make him patently miserable.

There were figures, there was conversing, hell there was even what appeared to be the application of medicine. But all of that was lost on Nicholas, for his vision was overtaken by a much more base instinct. There was blood. He wasn’t squeamish, not in a true sense of the word, it was difficult to be involved in any sort of sporting activity at Hogwarts and to retain one’s aversion to the sight of the crimson liquid that provided people with life. But he’d not expected to see it, nor had he expected to see the particularly nasty looking broken arm. At least, not outside of the pitch or arena.

Of course, the girl at the centre of it all just had to be none other than Leia Nolastnamegiven, that same girl who’d seemingly shrugged off the loss of a finger, instead opting to judge Nicholas and to try to speak as to the nature of dhampirs. One of whom was on the dangerous end of her wand. The second year didn’t remember his name, but he could recognise the face, one of the volunteers at the preceding year’s Trial by Fear. It was one of the most peculiar sights he’d ever born witness to, Leia obviously still wounded, threatening the dhampir boy. Given their discussion in the hospital back in London, it certainly wasn’t a surprise. She’d all but told him she’d been attacked by a dhampir, then subsequently denied it unconvincingly. There was something off about the girl, and unease and trepidation seemed the natural reaction to interaction where it concerned her.

It was only after a few moments of standing the doorway, dumbstruck and stupid, that Nicholas came to realise that another student was also present. Opeila Winters, one of the unfortunate few he’d humiliated himself in front of at the Valentine's Day tea. A peacekeeper it would seem, a hospital intern trying to do her job to heal the injured and to prevent further injuries from arising in the course of such healing. It was an unenviable position, and one Nicholas had accidentally stumbled upon. Perhaps it would have been preferable to merely allow his fingers to ache.

Instead, the second year was an observer to chaos and discord, on the precipice of once more being drawn into a situation he’d no desire to be remotely associated with by the older Gryffindor. He could leave. But would he? It would be a retreat, and given the evidence of a preceding fight, it would be cowardly.

Nicholas did not trust Leia, but he also didn’t have any desire to turn tail and flee from the girl and whatever chaos had erupted around her.

So, instead, he spoke, the facade of bravado he’d spent the better part of a year leaning into allowed to come forth, “Christ defend, Leia, easy…” Did he know what he was supposed to say? “Yous know you’re in a hospital, yeah? Is it really the place for causing more injuries?”

God, he’d bitten off more than he could chew, inserted himself blindly into a situation that would have been best left well enough alone. Stupid, stupid, stupid, the word ran on repeat in his mind even as he spoke.

Tags: @Aurelia Notrésvace, @Howard White & @Opeila Winters

@Aurelia Notresvace | @Opelia Winters | @Nicholas McCowan

@Aurelia Notrésvace @Howard White @Nicholas McCowan

When another voice reached her ears, a sense of relief and dread rushed through Opeila. A brief glance to the side allowed her to recognize the boy, Nicholas. The second year had been in her group on Valentine's day and Opeila had received a sort of love letter, signed with his name. Other than that she had nothing to do with him, well, apart from the fact that they were both Broom Racing Captains.

Yes, she was glad, that she wasn't alone in this situation, of course she was glad. Trying to play the peacekeeper between two fifth years was not a desirable role and Opeila couldn't wait to get out of it again. What made her scared for Nicholas and herself was the nature of their talk.
It was too much of a mess and contradicting statements for Opeila to get all of it completely right, but it was enough for her to be sure that this would not be the last talk she would have with either of them.

Howard mentioned an accident, Aurelia something much more disturbing. "What in the world..." The words were barely more than a whisper and for the first time in a while, she allowed her paranoid side to take control, just a little. The talk of human bloodbags, an ominous 'accident' that sounded like a really crappy excuse and Opeila's own memories made the young girl make a subtle step towards Nicholas, holding her wand tightly.

Perhaps Opeila was too paranoid sometimes, yes, she had been scared before that she was an inconvenient witness that would be gotten rid of before and it was that same fear, that made her subconsciously calculate how long it would take her to get to Nicholas and defend both of them if the need arose.

"Right.", she spoke up again, taking a slightly shaky breath, "Just about all of that sounds um... very concerning." She then looked at Howard again. "You mind explaining that accident?" If she didn't like the answer, she would ask Nicholas to look for Nurse Brumby. This whole situation made the third year incredibly uneasy.

God-fucking-dammit, he’d just wanted to have his finger looked at. Not become a spectator to whatever the hell all of this was. The scene was absolutely, utterly, and entirely foreign to him. Bloodied students pointing wands at one another, but conversing with the sort of relaxed timbre that betrayed it as a not entirely out of the ordinary occurrence. He’d sooner turn around and allow his finger to continue to throb for however long it took the scene to play out, the pain wasn’t unbearable, far from pleasant, yes, but he wasn’t about to break into tears anytime soon.

The glares from both of the older students only caused the broom racing captain’s own brow to furrow. They’d the nerve to act as if they weren’t the cause of whatever nonsense this was, to treat him as if he were some unwanted interloper in the very public hospital wing. Whatever had occurred between them, Nicholas hardly cared, he’d missed their conversation, only their tone and emotion betraying the nature of confrontation as that, a confrontation. The boy had probably botched a spell or something, or there’d been a fight, Nicholas could not bring himself to bother with casting his mind to what may have occurred, all he knew was that their quarrel didn’t give them the right to monopolise the attention of the healing interns nor the hospital staff.

“Christ, the pair of ya…” He muttered under his breath, not bothering to ensure the words weren’t audible.

It wasn’t his place to interfere, and he didn’t particularly care to involve himself further with the two of them. No, he could wait for Opeila to finish up, or for another healer to arrive. It would just be a very, very painful wait.

Tags: @Aurelia Notrésvace, @Howard White & @Opeila Winters

@Aurelia Notresvace | @Opeila Winters | @Nicholas McCowan

Few things could break Howard's stoic demeanor, but Aurelia's next words would just about leave his jaw on the floor. In LOVE! With her?! His mind rejected the the thought immediately, but it would stir an emotion within him that could hardly be denied. The two of them were bonded in a way that was perhaps more unique than any other relationship within Hogwarts castle. She would say it herself. Aurelia had been the first feed of his life as a Dhampir. Back before the daily feedings had calmed his predatory nature. Back when he was new, almost feral and starving. Although Howard would look back on that moment with guilt and shame there would always be a part of him that reveled in the memory. A small flame that would flicker every time he saw her or felt her presence. Many young men or women may look upon her and admire her beauty, but for him it was what's on the inside that counts. Once taken and then freely given her very essence would forever be catalogued in his mind. His humanity would call her a rival, perhaps ally when the need arose, but that undead part of him would perhaps forever crave her in a way that was most inhuman. But when the two combine? Was it possible that his human nature would create feelings of love fueled by his undead cravings? Was it possible that she did actually know him better than he knew himself? No...Howard shook away the thought.

Aurelia herself would further drive this thought from his mind as she brought up Falentra. That had been love. Not some twisted bond fueled undead desires. "No, I don't think of it that way. I could never feel for you the way I did for her." His feelings for Falentra had faded, but he would always remember how strong and hot those emotions had been. "And no, just because that part of my nature exists doesn't mean I just look at you as just a source of food. You claim to know me and you know it's not that simple. You've also offered it up freely I'll remind you. Surely that meant more than just a way to calming a monster." It was uncommon for Howard to be so open around people who may as well have been strangers, but her words had pushed him way outside his comfort zone.

Speaking of the other two. Howard's eyes would swing around to Opeila as she muttered under her breath. "It may be concerning, but I'm not sure how it concerns you." He said with a bit of a bite. He didn't like all of his dirty laundry being aired so openly, but it wasn't the Slytherin's fault now was it. "Sorry." Howard spoke more gently. "Just a bit flustered. No need to get overly concerned. We were doing a bit of training for our upcoming OWLs and she caught me by surprise. I threw my arms up in defense and caught her with these." Howard held up his claws to indicate what he was speaking about. "They get caught on things." A slight grin to hopefully ease some of the tension, but Nicholas seemed to have run out of patience.

"Look, she's her herself, but looks like he needs a hand. Or new fingers perhaps."