Time is Fragile but I am not finished

Mellani gave Opal an irritated look as she glared at the prefect. Did the girl have any manners? You were not supposed to glare at prefects like that! And then, after Mellani was done speaking, Opal spoke.

Damn, that girl was going to try and take her down too, wasn't she? She cocked her head as she heard Opal speak. And then, it was her turn to defend herself. "With all due respect, there is a lot of difference between a book being thrown in frustration and a spell being cast for fun. I threw the book where I knew Opal would be able to catch it and it wouldn't hurt. And people don't just throw things like books for no reason. Opal was the one who came over when I was peacefully reading and started provoking me and throwing rude comments. The library is a place where all students have the right to read in peace without having to hear others throw spoilers at them and try to insult them. And I'm pretty sure that you, being a prefect would understand. Anyone would have done the same thing. I wasn't going to leave the library like a weak person because I know it would do nothing but invite more problems in the future. So I'm really sorry about what I did but I did it for a reason. And I don't think I could have done anything else." she said, calmly, still ignoring Opal. She was surprised Opal actually had the audacity to smirk in front of a prefect.

Interacting with: @Opal Brinkman, @Opeila Winters

Opal wasn't going to give up, was she? Well then, Mellani wasn't going to either. Opal seemed to be holding at strands by the way she was talking. And Mellani was sure that the prefect would understand this very clearly from her body language. And Mellani was still very calm. She didn't sound defensive and made everything seem necessary. Because well, simply put, it was. Standing up for yourself was necessary in a world like the current one where anyone and everyone was looking out for your weakness and was waiting to be able to hurt you. Yes, she couldn't run away from everyone who ever hurt her. But at least, she could make it harder for them.

"Like I stated earlier, I threw the book where I knew Opal could catch it and wouldn't be hurt. I simply don't see how this could cause the book to be destroyed. Because catching a book certainly wouldn't destroy it! And you can't just be rude to random people because it was 'necessary'." Mellani said. She had to control her hands from air-quoting necessary in front of a prefect. "Yes, I do agree that I shouldn't have thrown the book but I had good reason for it. And throwing books is very different from killing someone. I don't know why that comparison would ever be made. I, for one would never murder anyone. I don't know why Opal thinks I would. I wasn't shooting any bad looks either. That is purely lying in its clearest form. I don't know what else I need to prove." she said, not budging from her point. This time Opal really had lied. And Mellani was going to use it against her in the best way possible.

@Mellani Miller @Opal Brinkman

Opeila looked at the dark haired girl who spoke up first, defending herself and involuntarily, the fourth year found herself sympathizing with her situation. There was a still rather vivid memory in the back of her head where Opeila had sent a third year flying with a Flipendo when she was only a second year herself, snapping after he insulted her parents. Her very dead mother and her father who had given up everything to keep her safe. Only that there was this small difference that he had physically threatened her. And insulted her. In every way made the first step except for the violent part.

She shook it off. Today she knew better. It was silly holding on to memories of her second year and excuse the situation with her past mistakes.
The other girl then spoke up, the blonde one, making a rather obvious attempt to gaslight her classmate, as proven by the smile she sent her. Opeila wanted to roll her eyes. What made some kids from her house so determined to be mean and evil? Maybe it was her, but she felt like this year it was particularly bad. Sure she had some idiots in her year and also some in the higher years- one only had to look at Dmitri- but this felt so... forced. Had their parents told them that Slytherins needed to be mean?

"And what did you do to provoke her to throw her book?" Opeila didn't doubt that the part where the girl threw the book was true. But she would have bet all her money- which was a lot, given that she had inherited her grandmother's and mother's wealth- that the blonde girl was not innocent here. Opeila wasn't much of a liar herself- she had gotten quite decent at it, but she hated it like hell- but darn, this was ridiculous. One day she should teach those kids how to play innocent. Or... maybe not, them selling themselves out like that, they really made her life easier. If Mellani was acting innocent, she was doing a damn good job, but somehow Opeila doubted it.

It was when the blonde girl started talking about what she should know as a prefect that Opeila lost her patient. "You know what else I know as a prefect? What someone looks like who is trying to gaslight someone else into trouble. Yes, she shouldn't have thrown a book, but seriously, poking a bear until he bites and then whining about it is a bit pathetic, don't you think?"
What would she do with the two of them? Opeila was inclined to let the dark haired girl go or at least give her a lighter punishment. All of this reeked of someone being bored and taking it out on others.

"Why wouldn't you just walk away from her?" Opeila turned her attention to Mellani.

Mateo knew what is was like to be one of the more chaotic kids, always full of energy and running around. He was like that as a child, never understanding why the adults complained about it. Now, as one of those adults, he could now understand the frustration.

He had easily heard a commotion being made, and after hurriedly finishing his prior task, he made his way over there. Luckily, he hadn't been the only one to hear the noise, as a Slytherin prefect had already begun to handle the situation.

"Thank you for handling this matter so far, Ms... Winters," he recognised the senior of them. Then, he regarded the two.

"Listen," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was pretty tired today, and not particularly in the mood to deal with any young trouble-makers. "I heard the both of you perfectly well as I made my way over here, so I would recommend you both save your explanations since I don't need to hear them again."

First, he turned to Opal. His harsher gaze softened a little to see her crying, but that wouldn't lessen any punishment. "You have broken the Library rules by disrupting others, especially through casting a spell with ill intent. I'm sorry, but you will have a detention."

Then he turned to the other girl, Mellani. She seemed less at fault than the other, from what he had heard she had not initiated the fight, however she had thrown a book. Mateo did not appreciate disrespect towards the books. "And you, well you haven't helped your case by throwing a book. I don't appreciate any disrespect or potential damage that could occur to the books, though I think you would be aware of that. And, well, since you were part of this disruption, I think it is only fair you also serve a detention."

Ignoring any potential protesting, Mateo would continue. "You will both return to the Library tomorrow where you will serve your detentions. Together. I am sure Ms Winters will make sure you both attend. Now, to the both of you, and any other spectators," he would add, raising his voice. He knew that there would be likely a few other students lurking and listening. "I would recommend you gather your things together and make yourselves scarce so you can make it back here bright and early for your detention. And I'm sure if any more of this fighting takes place you'll be punished even worse, so I hope you learn your lesson."

With that, he'd let them get their things and watch them leave, before thanking the prefect for her involvement and returning to his desk.

WC: 461| Interaction: @Opal Brinkman @Mellani Miller @Opeila Winters

Mellani knew others were gathering around to see the drama. She knew others were going to judge her after this. She wanted to go from this place. She wanted to be alone for once. She didn't really have any friends at Hogwarts and so far, she'd only managed to survive by being alone and doing what was needed. So why had she even cared when this girl has offended her? Why the hell did she throw a book at her? Maybe because it was getting too much. All the loneliness was getting too much for her. She'd been trying to ignore it but she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to hold on. Phones didn't work here. Her friends wouldn't understand the whole concept of letters. And her brother, well, their conversations were supposed to be private and owls and letters would never be private.

So, she heard what the prefect had to say. She muttered a small sorry when the prefect asked her why she didn't just walk away. She had given her reason earlier. It would just lead to further bullying and more problems. She didn't have enough energy in her to say it again. A person could only stay okay for so long. Mellani had crossed her limit and she was sure that if she spoke or defended herself, she would only sound desperate. She didn't care if she got detention or not anymore. If she did, she would just complete the detention and stay out of trouble next time onwards. If she didn't get it, which she doubted very much when the librarian entered, well, maybe that would make her life a bit better.

She looked at Opal as she spoke. Well, at least Opal had realized she was grasping at strands and had decided to apologize. Although, it was obvious enough that she was doing it only because of the audience. Opal wasn't going to look like a small kid in front of other people. Mellani knew that. And when she apologized to Mellani, Mellani didn't as much as nod or glance at her. So, this whole thing had been about Luci? She just stood still where she was wishing she could change the past. Wishing she could change the fact that she liked books and wanted to go to the library on that particular day. Wishing she'd never played that stupid game of Spin the Bottle. She never thought anyone would think twice of who snogged her. Didn't think that it would ever matter. Because she had take it as a game. But it was clear Opal had not.

And then, the librarian said what he had to. Mellani was getting detention. Why? Because she'd thrown a book and disrespected it. Fine. It made sense. And it was her fault. So, she just nodded and walked out of the library, not trusting herself to speak. She would return the next day and do whatever had to be done. Then, she and Opal were done.

Mellani has now left the library.

Interacting with: @Opal Brinkman, @Opeila Winters, @Mateo Sáez