Covert Competition PV Blaire Newton Closed

To say Blaire was upset was an understatement. Another brisk turn of the page, eyes squinted in frustration. Her mind was racing a thousand paces, playing the events that had occurred at dinner that night over and over again in her head. She shouldn’t have blown up like that. But then again, that girl had no right to yell at her that way. Blaire hadn’t meant to step on her, it was a total accident. She had tripped for goodness sakes.

Sighing, Blaire finally glanced up. She could sense the few Slytherins that were loitering around in the common room were talking about her in hushed voices. Slamming the book on her lap closed, she stood up. Not wanting to retire to bed just yet, she ducked out into the corridor. She needed some fresh air. But fresh air was hard to come by down here in the lowest part of Hogwarts. Making her way up to the ground floor, she moved silently, unaware of what time it was. Blaire couldn’t be hundred percent positive as to what time it was, it was raining outside and had been dark out most of the day. Still, she didn’t want to be caught out roaming the halls past curfew.

Blaire listened to the rain pounding down on the castle walls outside. It was soothing, and it masked the echoes of her footfalls on the stone floor. Blaire took another staircase, looking about at the moving portraits surrounding her. Recalling the words the older Slytherin had barked at her, Blaire flinched instinctively. Someone had tripped Blaire as she was leaving the Great Hall after dinner. Her arms had been full, carrying the homework she had worked on during dinner. With nothing to catch her fall or help guide her to the ground she tumbled forward, pushing the other girl in her back on her way down.

”Could you be any more of a spaz?” Blaire looked up to see who was yelling at her, as she was sprawled out on the ground. Her books and loose papers had gone flying. As she frantically tried to gather her stuff, the older girl stepped in front of Blaire, blocking her escape. By now everyone around them was starring, some giggling. Others pointing. Blaire could feel the heat rise to her face, surely her cheeks were bright red now. Standing her ground, the little Slytherin rose from the floor, looking her pier in the eyes. ”It was an accident, no need to spaz out about it.” Blaire had retorted, raising her voice ever so slightly to show she wouldn’t cower down. Even though the other female was twice Blaire’s height, and probably weighed double. ”You aren’t worth the detention, wimp.” As she said this, she gave Blaire a hard shove backwards before taking her seat. Blaire, fuming at this point, exited the Great Hall quickly.

Blaire felt like a chicken; she should have stood up for herself better. The thought brought tears unintentionally to her eyes. Blinking rapidly, she tried to force them back down. But it was too late, she could feel some of them gliding down her cheeks already. Farther down at the other end of the corridor Blaire thought she heard the faintest laugh. Not wanting to be seen crying in a hallway late at night, she slipped into the closest door to her. She had assumed it was a classroom she had just entered. Jumping at the unexpected voice coming from behind her, she glanced around as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. It wasn’t a classroom she had entered, but the old abandoned toilets.

Getting her bearings down, Blaire finally cast an apprehensive look at the other student. What right did she have to scold her for being out of bed so late? She herself was here too, not in her dormitory. Wiping at her tear streaked face quickly with the back of her hand, she felt a slight tinge of warmth in her cheeks. ”I could suggest the same thing to you. I’m assuming there isn’t some special clause in that rule that allows you to be reading after hours in the toilets.” Blaire could hear the brassiness in her voice. Pursing her lips together, she crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly. Who did this girl think she was anyways? Blaire wasn’t in the mood to back down this time.

Marla rolled her eyes. In any normal circumstances she would have disregarded the girl or probably tried to befriend her, even. But she was completely exhausted and overall in a horrid mood. It wasn't wise to take out her anger on somebody, but she was going a bit haywire from being starving and sleepless for hours.
”I could suggest the same thing to you. I’m assuming there isn’t some special clause in that rule that allows you to be reading after hours in the toilets.” The girl returned the coldness that Marla had given her. As she looked up at the student, the small girl felt a twinge in her gut. Was she crying? Her face was slightly pink and her eyes near bloodshot. Marla felt horrible– she didn't mean to make this girl's day even worse, and everything was screaming for her to not say anything rude back, but Marla wasn't letting her pride get in the way of anything.
"I'm sorry– are you crying?" Marla asked in no particular tone, trying to see how things would play out. After all, she didn't exactly want to be enemies with anyone. Especially at a school where they teach you spells that could be disastrous for the victim. She pointed her wand more upwards to get a better look at the girl's face. "And I was just suggesting that you go back, not telling you what to do." She reasoned, crossing her arms with the book she had been reading in her grasp. "I wasn't trying to be a jerk or anything, sorry if you got the wrong idea." Marla mumbled her words so low that it was almost a whisper, she wasn't even sure if the other student could hear her. Even if they got off on the wrong start, it wouldn't hurt to introduce herself.
"I'm Marla. And you?"

Blaire could hear the infliction in her tone. She flinched a little at the sound of it. She hadn't meant to come off so snarky. It had been a long day, and the last thing she wanted to do was have to defend herself again. But that wasn’t this girl’s fault. Looking over her fellow bathroom companion, the other girl couldn’t be much older than Blaire was herself. For all Blaire knew, she could be having a bad day as well. She was reading in the abandoned toilets after all. Blaire was not one to judge, she studied in some odd places herself.

For Hogwarts being such a large castle, it was sometimes quite hard to find an empty place to truly concentrate on one’s studies. Blaire missed having an actual space to call her own. She still wasn’t entirely used to sharing a room with multiple other girls. Back home, she had always had her own bedroom, and basically the whole second floor was her domain. Glancing around the restroom once again, she shrugged inwardly, aside from the slight smell, and constant sound of dripping water this wasn’t a bad place.

Not many kids used this area anymore. At one-point, Blaire thought she had overheard a group of older boys talking about it. One of them had said it was haunted by a child that had been murdered here. But Blaire rolled her eyes at this, refusing to believe much of what anyone said. They were probably just trying to scare one another… Shuffling her feet, she leaned against the wall nearest the door, incase she felt the need to exit suddenly. Her guard was very much so still up. Just because the female sitting on the floor looked harmless, didn’t mean much to Blaire.

Adjusting her gaze, she looked down. "I'm sorry– are you crying?" Opening her mouth, she tried to form a sentence, then closed it again just as quickly. First, she thought she may forget her pride for a second and admit to it. But quickly she changed her mind. ”No… of course not.” Pushing herself off the wall, she crossed the restroom, further into the shadows away from the glow emitting from the girl's wand. She wasn’t sure if her eyes were puffy, or if her cheeks were flushed, giving away her real emotions. Her face always betrayed her, giving away her true feelings.

Blaire listened to the girl’s words carefully, taking it all in. ”I’m just not in the mood to argue tonight, I suppose. Sorry, for being so defensive.” Blaire stepped up to the window, tracing a zig zag in the thick dust that caked the glass. ”My name’s Blaire.” Wiping away at her doodle, she turned back to face Marla. ”So, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing in here so late?” Blaire asked, raising her hands gesturing at their surroundings.