Finished Broken Heart

Attire: Usual school day attire: robes, shirt (buttons mismatched), tie (knotted around his left knee), kilt, neck ring, no shoes.

Reducio

It had been a long day and Colin really needed this run after classes! Potions had been particularly bothersome, and of course it was a double today! As he ran up towards the gateway that led into the courtyard, he made a note to find Clair to see if she could help with the problem. Just the thought of his dear Ravenclaw raised his spirits again! And he tore up the slight rise towards the gateway.

"YAAAAAAAAHH!! CORBIECLOOK!!¹"

THAMP! THAMP! THAMP! THAMP!

Colin's bare feet came stamping along the grey stone pavements and he was under the arch! His long pale blond hair was covered by his school robe, which was tied around his head and his satchel and kilts were bouncing along with each stride! "WHOA. WHEW!! That wis a guid rinn!²" he said to no one in particular.

His satchel got tossed onto the stone seat by the gate, and he shook his robes off, which landed on the pavement next to him. Colin sprawled out on the seat and saw that someone was sitting across the way from him. He did up the buttons of white shirt, and pulled the wee thin braid with the raven feathers tucked into the end out of his shirt, along with his wolf fang necklace.

Several of his buttons were mismatched.

He looked closer. There was a girl sitting there and she was crying. Like crying crying. As if someone had punched her and stolen her wand. She was wearing a blue cloak and a load of Ravenclaw pendants and pins and things. Oh crud. Colin recognised her now. He wondered if someone had hurt her.

"Oy. Ye're that lassie from the library the other day!" He nodded towards her. He smiled at her. "At first I thought 'how does she know Clair?' but then I remembered --- she's one of yer Prefects! You were with that screeching girl. Howling like a banshee she was! Anyway. Ye stood for yer house --- more like a Gryffindork than a Ravenclaw! --- and that's what matters. I'm Colin by the way!"

And he wasn't lying in what he said. The other girl just screamed and spluttered. This one, the yellow haired girl, had shouted at first, but she calmed down soon enough! He smiled when he remembered how she tried to trick him about Clair's presence.

"Ye know lassie," he said, leaning back comfortably into the stone seat; "ye can't trick me into thinking Clair is standing behind me. Her I respect, but I have --- ways of knowing --- if she's about! Next time you want to scare me with a Prefect, just say Opeila's name!"

Reducio

1. Corbieclook is Scots for Ravenclaw
2. That was a good run!

@Elizabeth Sunshine || Mentions @Clair Fernandez

Suddenly the crying girl started acting all weird. Well, weirder than Colin presumed she normally acted. She was moping away tears and then she stood up. She mumbled something about keeping Opeila in mind. Colin bit his lower lip. He probably shouldn't have said about Opeila being a prefect. Oh welp! Hopefully this girl had no idea who he was talking about! It was bad enough she knew about Clair being a prefect!

Colin wondered, though. How did little miss sunshine even know to connect Clair with Colin? That was a bit of a poser. He focused again on the girl. She said his name. Colin. She gulped, like she was having difficulty speaking or something. "Are you okay?" he asked. She said his name again. Colin. The girl stepped towards him. She didn't even tell him what her name was! Colin stood up too and waved his hand in front of her eyes. "I said, are you okay lassie? Only you look like you've drunk some kind of cursed potion!"

Colin smirked. He knew all about drinking random potions! While he doubted his own experience with them was actually poisonous, this kid looked pretty out of her usual mind! "I --- I can take to hospital wing? I really don't mind! I've been there loads of times!"

But she didn't answer. No, she all but lurched right at him and began shouting! "I hate you! I hate every part of you! I like nothing of you!"

Without any warning at all, the Ravenclown actually began pulling her wand out of her pocket! What was she up to? Was she mad? Where was she going to aim it? Straight at Colin's chest? Right at his heart? Or somewhere else? Instantly, Colin's reflexes took over. You didn't just pull your wand on someone! That was a direct threat, and there was only one viable response. Visions flashed before his eyes of dreams where he'd had to defend Clair, or himself, from attack. Visions of Regina duelling. And even himself on the piste.

His left hand quickly reached up into the right sleeve, drawing his own wand. Ten inches of hawthorn and unicorn hair. Recollections of his reading into wand lore came up to him. Hawthorn, it had both a healing and a deathly nature; its wands were both paradoxical and contradictory. Colin's heart had leapt to read that about his wand. He knew instantly that this wand was, quite literally, made for him as much as he was for this wand.

And in this moment, here in the courtyard, the underlying paradoxes of Colin McCoire fought within him as he levelled his wand as Elizabeth's cute yellow mopped face. Which end of the paradox would be victorious? Would he bring searing pain or unrelenting laughter to her angry face? Unlike the Ravenclaw girl, however, Colin had learnt not to hesitate. His left hand began to make a tight knot-like motion with his wand. And just as suddenly as she began to pull her wand out, she shoved it back into her pocket and ran away!

@Elizabeth Sunrise

Mood: angry + sad + horrified
Main action: running away from Colin + sobbing
Interacting with: @Colin McCoire
Mentioning: same as above!
Word count: 213

Broken Heart

Ignoring what Colin said next (Did he even say anything?), Elizabeth ran away from him, far away into a distant part of the courtyard. She hated him more than anything now. It was a mixture of emotions overwhelming her all at once.
As she ran, she tore her cloak and left it behind her. She wished she hadn't done it now. She had nothing to mop her eyes with, and she didn't bother now. She just let the stream of tears fall down onto her lap, without absolutely no control.
Perhaps what she needed now was just a chocolate frog, but they were in the pockets of her cloak, and Elizabeth didn't feel like going to pick it up from the ground any sooner. She just sat there, sobbing like a quiet mouse, not a care about the others, and no particular emotions too.
"I hate Colin McCoire!" she shouted into the silence in the air, "I hate you! I absolutely hate you!"
She gulped, then stood up. Then sat down again. She didn't think she'd make it back to the castle. Sitting there, thoughts swirled in her mind. What if Colin follows her here? What if Claire comes around? What if they kill her? The last part, she knew, was obviously wrong, but Elizabeth wasn't putting it past the happy couples. Now she wanted to scream some more but was exhausted. She stared into nothing.

Colin was terribly confused by the yellow haired girl. Well, there was the whole house pride discussion that a bunch of them had engaged in the other day in the library. None of them behaved perfectly at the time, but really! Was this girl mad about what happened? It wasn't like Yellow Hair even did anything horribly wrong. Well, apart from lying to Clair! But really, that was mostly the other Ravenclown. Cassie. Colin narrowed his eyes at the very thought of that one. She was practically the dictionary definition of a git!

And then when Colin tried to help the yellow haired girl --- he really did need to find out what her name was! --- she pulled her wand on him! And then put it away again! What was up with her? And now, without any more words than "I hate you!", she ran away!! So sudden was her leave taking that she actually ripped her cloak, spilling a load of chocolate frogs all over the flagstones in her rush to get away from him.

Colin wondered. What had he done to be on the receiving end of such a violent turn of emotional outburst! He sighed. He crouched down on the courtyard floor and gently he picked up the girl's cloak. She would surely be wanting it, but he couldn't just dump a torn cloak in her lap could he? Colin's wand was already out. He smirked. The paradox that was Colin and his wand would bring neither searing pain nor laughter, it would seem.

His deft fingers searched for the torn bits. He spread them out on his knee and spoke softly. "Reparo." Keeping the edges together really helped making a nearly invisible repair. He inspected the garment. It was better than some of the attempted repairs on his own shirts and kilts! Thank God the Elves could make short work of it! When he was satisfied that he'd repaired all the torn bits, Colin collected the chocolate frogs. That's when he found the Ravenclaw badge. One of its chains had snapped. He laid out the chain in his right palm, tapped his wand to the broken ends and cast the mending charm again. Colin smiled. Metal was much easier to fix!

He smiled, remembering last spring out on the grounds. The time Sophia had her pockets all jammed full of chocolate frogs! Standing up, Colin looked around. Now he had to find the cloak's owner. Where had she gone anyway? There were plenty of hiding places...

Colin wondered. He knew he was able to find Clair and his close mates by scent. Most of the time, anyway. He really did want to practice more with Loops and the gang. Plus it would give them a chance to roam about the castle and chat. He wondered if he could do it here. Right now. He didn't know this girl, but she was only just here a few minutes ago. How far away could she have gotten anyway!

Hair was the best. He loved the scent of Clair's hair. Always fresh, like the air in the Highlands. So Colin lifted the cloak's collar up to his nose. He took a deep breath. Colin shrugged. He wasn't sure if he got anything or not from the cloth. So, he stood up, ignored all the curious looks and began walking. Kind of slowly.

He ended up next to a wall a couple times, but reckoned that he wasn't accounting from shifts in the breeze. Colin stepped over a few people's legs and between a couple going in for a snog on one of the benches! And at last he heard it! A soft small sobbing. If he'd caught any scent at all, it was certainly stronger here.

And he turned the corner, and there she was, sitting on the stone floor under one of the arched windows. Sobbing. Colin really began to wonder why. She couldn't possibly be this upset about him calling her and Cassie Ravenclowns the other day, right? It wasn't like he never teased Clair when her house was going up against his in duelling or quidditch!

"Um." Colin crouched down in front of the girl. Gosh! What do you say to a sobbing girl that just tried to jinx you? "Er. I found you. I---I fixed yer gown, lass. It was torn, you see. When you ran away just now. I put all the chocofrogs back in yer pockets too!" He got one out and extended it to her. He well knew of the healing power of a good bite of chocolate! "Here. Eat this. It'll make you feel better. It really will!"

Then Colin remembered that he had no idea what the girl's name was. Nor why she hated him! "What's yer name anyway? I'm Colin!" He'd said that already, but she might have missed his introduction when she was expressing her hatred for every aspect of himself! When he continued, he spoke softly. "Um. Why do you hate me? I mean. Is this about the whole Ravenclown thing? It doesn't mean anything, you know. I know what people call us Slytherins. What they think about us still. Oh! I fixed yer Ravenclaw badge too. That had gotten broken too. It's really cool. I like the little silver eagle pendant."

@Elizabeth Sunrise

Colin came. He came with her cloak and the chocolate frogs.
"Um." he said,"Er. I found you. I---I fixed yer gown, lass. It was torn, you see. When you ran away just now. I put all the chocofrogs back in yer pockets too!" He gave one to Elizabeth, "Here. Eat this. It'll make you feel better. It really will!"
"Thanks," Elizabeth mumbled, grabbing everything.
"What's yer name anyway? I'm Colin!" He told her, "Um. Why do you hate me? I mean. Is this about the whole Ravenclown thing? It doesn't mean anything, you know. I know what people call us Slytherins. What they think about us still. Oh! I fixed yer Ravenclaw badge too. That had gotten broken too. It's really cool. I like the little silver eagle pendant."
"Thanks," Elizabeth mumbled again. She really needed to control herself. She heaved a deep breath. She really needed to get everything straight. "No it isn't because of the Ravenclown thing." she took another deep breath, "Colin. Can we be friends? I hate this mess. I hate you. But will you be my friend?" She saw the ridiculous point in her own words, but didn't bother to change it. Colin would probably think it ridiculous too. But why should she care? She shrugged to herself. Then, wanting this to move on quickly, she made a brave attempt to correct herself, "I'm sorry Colin. I shouldn't have said that stuff. I didn't mean it. I was just upset because of... something. I never meant it, I never did! And I do not hate you... I absolutely do not." She felt herself mumbling the last part. "Forgive me. Just be my friend, please."
She took several long breaths. She hated every moment of this. Once she got Colin's reply, she stuffed her chocolate frogs (several of them) hurriedly into her mouth and threw him some cards.
"For you," she said without glancing back.
Finally she turned towards the forbidsend forest.

@Colin McCoire

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NAME --------T R U N K Rebecca HOUSE------✩ I N P C ✩ Slytherin BLOOD------F R I E N D S Wizard Born SPECIES----T H R E A D S Human

.

Rebecca paused as he passed through the courtyard entrance. Was that the sound of someone yelling? He hesitated at the threshold, torn between two impulses. On one hand, he could easily ignore it and keep walking-- this was certainly none of his business. On the other hand... there was nothing stopping him from listening in...

He didn't have the chance to deliberate on it for too long, as it was only moments later that a small girl stumbled near him with tears streaming down her flushed face. "Erm..." he started to say, still unsure of what exactly was happening.

Seemingly oblivious to his presence, she started to sob. "I hate Colin McCoire! I hate you! I absolutely hate you!" Her face was growing redder and redder from exertion.

Rebecca, for his part, was utterly taken aback by this girl's apparent contempt for his best mate. What the hell could Colin have possibly done? Even without knowing any context, he had to bite back an automatic reply in defense of his friend. Don't go throwing around random accusations! Watch who you're talking about! But he didn't speak any of it aloud, frankly she probably wasn't even coherent enough to have listened.

He frowned as he noticed Colin approaching, taking note of the Ravenclaw robes he was carrying. Did they belong to her? Apparently, seeing how he offered them to the crouched girl like how one would give a treat to a particularly terrifying dog (in an 'eat this, not me, please' sort of way).

'Who the Hell is this,' Rebecca mouthed silently at Colin from over the Ravenclaw girl's trembling shoulder.

'I genuinely haven't the foggiest,' Colin communicated back with a small shrug. Then he addressed the girl. "What's yer name, anyway? I'm Colin!"

Rebecca resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Barely. Colin was a boy of many strengths, but subtlety was not one of them.

He continued talking, cajoling the girl with a gentle voice as he crouched at her level. Rebecca moved so he could stand behind his friend with arms crossed as he kept an eye on the proceedings. He met the girl's watery gaze and offered a small smile. She didn't seem violent anymore, thankfully. Just a little touched in the head.

In spite of Colin's prodding, she hadn't actually answered any of his questions. Instead she'd just grabbed back her belongings and mumbled a couple of quiet thanks.

"No, it isn't because of the Ravenclown thing," she sniffled. "Colin. Can we be friends? I hate this mess. I hate you. But will you be my friend?"

"What sort of question is that?" Rebecca couldn't resist interrupting, perhaps a bit snappishly. "First you make a big fuss about how much you hate him, and now you still hate him but want to be his friend? You haven't even said your name! And what's your problem with Colin supposed to be, anyway? What's he ever done to you?"

He knew that he was sounding a little harsher than he normally preferred to talk, but this was honestly ridiculous. Colin had been nothing but nice to her, and she'd just kept on acting scandalized and rude. If anything, he thought Colin was a bit too nice, all things considered. Rebecca gave the girl an unimpressed look.

"Maybe you ought to go somewhere private to sort yourself out. Or talk to the nurse in the Hospital Wing," he suggested coolly. The amount of red in her cheeks was a bit concerning. "I'll walk you there if you want, or to your common room. But I won't listen to you get shirty with my friend."

@Colin McCoire @Elizabeth Sunrise

Reducio

OOC note: this is IC Rebecca's reaction! not irl scolding also small Colin godmod was with permission from the man himself

Yellow Hair grabbed the chocolate frog and her cloak back, muttering her thanks. Well, that was something. A slight hint of spearmint and books and intrigue on the still air caught Colin's attention as his mate Rebecca showed up. Any time Dr Loops got involved in a case, things always turned --- interesting! Colin looked up from the girl. Rebecca mouthed a question from behind her. That was the question Colin still had no answer for!

He shrugged his narrow shoulders dramatically and his messy hair fell over his shoulder. The wolf fang necklace and the small braid that carried three raven feathers at the end dangled in front of the girl. Still, she would not tell him her name. He wondered why that was. He shoved his hair back over his shoulder, leaving the small braid and its black feathers to dangle over his heart.

So. It wasn't about the whole Ravenclown thing. Colin was about to speak when Rebecca came down rather hard on the girl. "What sort of question is that!?" he asked. Colin's heart immediately jumped. Colin's body winced. Loops kept hammering at her! He sounded like a lawyer at the Ministry hammering some poor sod who'd played a trick on a muggle neighbour and was facing life in Azkaban for a pair of dancing garden gnomes!

"Whist laddie!" Colin interjected. But it didn't stop Rebecca from suggesting a trip to hospital wing. Yes, that would be very helpful! Colin turned back to Yellow Hair.

"Colin. Can we be friends? I hate this mess. I hate you. But will you be my friend?"

Colin's attention refocused on what the girl had just said. Loops did have a valid point. She wanted to be friends, but still hated him? What? He rested his chin on his knees. Colin didn't dislike her at all. He'd tried to defend her the other day before Clair. Mind you, she followed that prick Cassie Jiang in lying to Clair about what had happened. Still, his heart seemed moved to pity. She was clearly upset by this whole mess and wanted to be friends. She just had a weird way of going about it!

"Er. So. Let me get this right. You want to be friends. But you hate me." Colin scratched his head absently. Colin knew how to use napiers bones, abacus and calculating tables. And in no way was the girl making any sense! "That doesn't really add up, lass!" Colin wiggled his toes a bit. He watched as a butterfly flitted among the herbs by the wall. The fragrance of them was rather strong. His mind told him that getting up and walking away would not be a bad idea. Maybe Loops was right. Get her to hospital and let the nurse sort her out. Maybe she did into some weird mind bending potion!

But Colin's heart spoke contrarywise. Walking away would be too easy. If an enemy wants to become a friend, that motion of the heart should always be hearkened to. His mind flitted back to the dungeons last fall and recently to the lake. That terrifying Gryffindor duellist. Regina. His cousin. There was always a deeper story to everyone, and maybe Yellow Hair was suffering some hurt deep inside?

"Look. Yellow H---" Colin almost called her Yellow Hair! But he caught himself just in time! "Um! I mean." He shook his head. That was dumb! He laughed at himself. "I almost called you Yellow Hair! On account of --- well ---" he pointed towards her head of golden blonde hair. "Er. What I mean to say is: I don't even know yer name, lassie! We can't be friends if I don't even know that much!"

Elizabeth gave Colin an odd look, and then quite suddenly, she apologised profusely to Colin. She was sorry; she didn't hate him. Colin was confused. He knew girls were queer, but this one was the most bizarre! The sudden reversal, her incessant teasing. It slowly dawned on him. All the tears. And now she asked his forgiveness and for them to be friends. She ate the chocolate frog he'd given her. She gave him the card and ran from the courtyard, still crying.

Colin gave Rebecca a confused and curious look. He had the suspicion that his mate had no more understanding what just happened than he did. His lips formed a perfect O of befuddlement. He'd have to ask AngelFyre about this some time. She was a girl. She would know. Colin looked at the card in his hand. There was no choice, really, but to ask if Rebecca was thinking the same thing. "Mate. Do --- do you reckon she likes me or something?"

Colin leaves the thread with Rebecca.

Rebecca watched, utterly baffled, as the girl ran away in tears... again. Colin was staring after the disappearing figure as well, with a comically shocked impression on his face. For a moment they shared a look, mirror images of pure boy obliviousness. She never even said what her goddamn name was, Rebecca realized, and he had to fight in order to stifle an innapropriate laugh. The whole thing was completely absurd, reminding him vaguely of the disastrous fight that had broken out during Irina's party last fall-- though this was far tamer in comparison.

Colin suddenly looked as if he'd been struck by a lightning bolt of clarity. "Mate. Do-- do you reckon she likes me or something?"

Rebecca gave his friend a pitying look. Ah. This explains the insanity. "Mate. I reckon that your 'way with the ladies' is going to be the death of you if this is the type of girl you're attracting." He sighed and shook his head disparagingly.

"I mean, imagine trying to slide in between you and Clair Eyes of Sky," said with airquotes and a fairly spot-on impersonation of a dreamy simper, "Fernandez. Poor kid."

It was pitiable, if 'ill-advised homewrecking' could qualify as such. Rebecca gave Colin a bracing pat on the arm. "Let's get out of here before she changes her mind and decides to put a hex on you."

Thank Merlin I'll never have to bother with crushes like that, he thought as they hurriedly fled the scene. (famous last words).