Closed One Fist, Two Fist, Forget me not? PV Astra Norrick

Whispery voices, echoey laughter. The smell of candles and lavender perfume. The worn sofa and the textured hardcover binding of her book resting stop her knees as she curled up on the piece of furniture. Was this heaven? Was this bliss? No deadlines, no assignments hanging over her head. Nothing but the soft rustles of pages and the smell of paper and ink and the cat snuggled in the crook of her arm.

"Astra, please you HAVE to play a game with me. I am begging you. You're the strongest and coolest Slytherin I know!"

Astra blinked. Hermes mewled a complaint, cracking his eyes open. "I- Tommy? What?" She furrowed her brow, slipping a bookmark into the novella before her. "Bring... Forgetfulness Potions?"

The boy dropped to his knees, his icy blue eyes pleasing. She closed her book and set it aside, bundling the groggy Hermes in her arms before sitting normally. "Tommy, what is this game?" What had possessed him to such desperation here at her feet, literally begging for her to play a game? And why Forgetfulness Potions? "And please stand up, or sit here. It feels weird looking down to have a conversation like this." She patted the spot next to her.

Astra typically wouldn't have asked so many questions. Tommy was a good egg, and she liked him well as far as people went. Playing a game would be fun on this lazy afternoon. But since the ball she'd been putting a lot more thought into actions that could harm herself or others, and using Forgetfulness Potions without knowing for what certainly counted as harmful.

Tommy stood up, brushing the dust off his cloak. "Okay, an upper year from Hufflepuff told me of a game and I am DYING to play it! They are the most honest and trustworthy houseweird,may sound weird, but apparently it'll be a blast!" Tommy did truly believe this. There were times he used to want to be a Hufflepuff after all.

Tommy prepared to explain the game to Astra, this would be a lengthy explanation:
"Okay Astra, I know it sounds weird but when we get forgetfulness potions; we go into the grounds, punch each other as hard as we can in the face, then drink the potions. What happens next IS the game. Apparently, it's super fun and funny!" Tommy looked at the girl. He was a little taller than her... maybe this would make her resistant to the concept "But... Since I'm bigger than you, I won't hit you with ALL my strength."

Despite Tommy saying this, he was conflicted. Astra was really kind, and he did not want to hurt someone who stood up for him when he was being bullied, but would it really be doing the game justice if he didn't punch her as hard as he could in the face? An internal debate that could wait until the girl agreed to the game.

"I know it sounds crazy, but you're the strongest person I know. You would be the only one WORTH playing this game with." Flattery was always useful when trying to get what Tommy wanted. He could be charming... Well, as charming as an awkward 12-year-old boy could be... So maybe not very charming, but instead sweet, in a way that makes you think 'awe how can I say no to him?'. Would this be enough, or would Astra say 'no'?

Interacting with @Astra Norrick

Astra placed Hermes in her warm spot, which he resumed his snooze in with hardly a complaint, as she stood to match Tommy's height as best she could with that infuriating two or three inch gap.

I- well, Alyssea is in Hufflepuff and she's amazing and so are the most of the other ones I've met. Astra wasn't quite convinced the puff that had shared the game with Tommy was the categories he described but a game is a game and she felt no desire to dash his opinion of the Badgers.

At the explanation of the game, she blinked up at him as she took a moment to compute. He had barely started his second sentence when she said "I'm in."

The aforementioned game truthfully sounded fun to her. This is coming from a young girl surrounded by adrenaline junkies and older brother figures for all twelve years of life, so it should not be surprising to you that she would agree so readily. A test of strength and a gamble sounded really fun right now. In fact, she would likely propose this game to Roderick later.

And perhaps a part of her hoped that this would be the perfect excuse to drink the Forgetfulness Potion and lose the bad and hurtful memories that hid away from her anyway but left their marks of weakness upon her.

"I think I have potion from a practical review I did recently... Hang on!" She dashed back to her dorm and rummaged around until she found the red phials sitting right on her desk. She ran back, triumphantly holding them above her head. "Success! Where are we going to play?"

Interacting with @Astra Norrick

Tommy did NOT expect the girl to reply so readily. Was today Christmas? No? Odd. Tommy grabbed the girl's hand, dragging her behind him before she could change her mind. "The grounds, of course!" It didn't take long to get to the grounds, although the pair did bulldoze into some students in their rush, well, in Tommy's rush.

They reached the ground, beautiful spring weather beating down on them. Tommy stood in front of the red-headed girl. "Okay, I'll go first, then you punch me and we drink the potion." Tommy looked at the girl. Earlier he was conflicted if he should punch her as hard as he could or hold back since she was smaller.

She seemed so interested in the game, but was it the right choice? Tommy squared up to the girl. She was nice to him. She stood up to him against Justin Shin when he was being bullied by him. He had never hit anyone before. It was a better game the harder you hit, right? Tommy pulled his right arm back and tensed his wrist.

The time for thinking was over. If he couldn't decide what to do, his body would. He let his arm move forward. There was no hesitation. His body decided that not holding back was the right thing to do. He slammed his closed fist into Astra's left cheek. Tommy couldn't quite make out how the girl had reacted due to losing his balance after and stumbling to the left.

Tommy stood in front of the girl. He couldn't see any blood. That was a good sign. Hopefully she couldn't taste it, but it was also possible he missed it, since his focus was on trying to stand as firm and still as he could. Tommy forced his eyes shut tight. Better to not know when it was coming. "Okay Astra, your turn whenever you're ready." He thought to ask if the girl was okay, but he wanted to get to the part of drinking the forgetfulness potion while the pain still lasted.

Off they went, Astra with the phials in one hand and the other in Tommy's, dragged along into the corridor then from the corridor to the great outdoors until they were in the middle of the grounds somewhere. Sunlight beamed down in warm waves and a gentle breeze swirled around everything, playing with the ends of Astra's hair.

"Ok. Uh, here take this. Go for it," Astra answered Tommy, pressing his phial into his hand and stepping back to brace herself.

What happened next was in no way what she had braced herself for. She expected a stomach punch, or a shoulder punch, or really anything but five knuckles straight to the jaw. Tommy in no way meant the sort of "punching" game your brother and his friends play at recess during primary school. No, Tommy meant war.

A metallic taste filled her mouth, an image of the Spring Ball flashing before her eyes before a bright spark of pain commanded all her attention.

Astra's head whipped to the side and she stumbled. She had bit her tongue, the source of the blood. H- was that a tooth? Astra spat, a glob of dark red with a white mass inside of it landed on the grass. It was one of her baby molars. Her hand covered her cheek and she stared in both awe and slight anxiety at the small tooth which had just popped out of her mouth.

"That was a good one."

He gave her the all clear. Astra loaded and sent her fist flying straight into his nose. On impact, she felt the cartilage of his nose and had a slight feeling of regret because nose punches were totally the worst but on the other hand her tongue was still bleeding and revenge is the name of the game baby. She staggered forward a step with the follow through of the punch, and looked up to see Tommy's nose bleeding quite profusely [agreed upon beforehand by Tommy's writer].

Astra spat again to the side. "Oh- oh wow," she muttered. "So just... drink it now, I guess?" She uncorked the phial, then raised it to Tommy before tipping it back. "Bottoms up."

Interacting with @Astra Norrick

Tommy felt and heard a large pop. His face felt warm and wet. There was no time to focus on the pain he had to chug his drink. H uncorked his phial mimicking Astra, tipping it back and chugging it as tears flowed from his eyes.

His thoughts felt muddy, unclear, jumbled. What was he doing again? He recognized the area. It was the grounds of Hogwarts. Why was he here? His head hurt, his face hurt. He felt... wet? He looked straight ahead of him. It was Asta Norrick; he knew the red-headed girl; she was kind to him and had stood up for him before. He then noticed his heart was racing.

The rapid pulse.. The feeling of pain and heat from his face. Was this- was this love?

'No Tommy.' he thought to himself. He may be an immature child, but even he knew this was not love. Besides, was Astra bleeding?

"Astra, are you okay? You're bleeding!" Tommy was beyond confused. He followed the trail of blood to the ground. Was that a tooth? Tommy took a moment to use his tongue to double check all his teeth. It wasn't his. What happened?

When looking at the trail of blood, Tommy noticed another puddle of blood beneath him. His shirt was covered in blood. His ears began to ring a high-pitched screech. He touched his face and looked at his hand. Blood. Clearly his blood. His vision began to blur, the ringing increased in volume, his vision almost a blinding light. He lost his balance and fell on his butt.

"What happened?"

Tommy looked at the girl in shock, confusion on the verge of fainting. Who's bright idea would put them into a situation that would leave them so bloody and hurt? Tommy was not one to get angry, but whoever it was would be getting a firm talking to from Tommy when the source of this calamity was discovered.

Why would someone want to hurt Astra? I mean hurting Tommy... It could easily have been someone who he lied to, but Astra was a nice girl. Why would anyone want to hurt her? It's not like she was a murderer or had stabbed someone or anything. Maybe Astra would have a better handle on what was happening or how they got there. All he could do for now was listen to the girl's reply..

The potion was cold as it slid down her burning throat, mixing with the thick coppery blood oozing from her gum and tongue to provide a taste somewhere between a nine volt battery and a necklace chain. Her head, already fuzzy, seemed to ascend as it spun, her thoughts flung to the edges by centrifugal motion and mixing together into incomprehensible word salads irreplicable and unwanted. The phial dropped from her hand, its thud loud to her ears. Colors, colors in HD, colors never before seen danced in the corners of her vision as she began to feel physically dizzy.

Words echoey and bouncy like soap bubbles floated by. Astra found herself swaying on her feet stumbling forward to the humanoid shape nearby.

You're bleeding! She looked down, the action bringing her completely off balance as she fell, heavily, too her knees, the dexterous limbs she possessed practically useless in the Feeling. Her mouth felt like it was coated in something and she spat, tainting more grass red. I am bleeding.

She blinked, blue eyes skating over to the other person. Rod... Tommy, Tommy, why is Tommy bleeding? The boy, also on the ground, looked like the victim of a stab-

Oh, God. Screams, shouts, her own heavy breathing, the wand practically vibrating in her hand-

She shook her head, squinting to see where the blood originated from on Tommy's body. His nose. "Tommy, what happened to your nose? Is it broken?" she asked, shuffling closer. If he would allow, she would adjust his face to see the injury better, and if not simply kneel almost perched nearby, ready to spring into action.

Either way, she would notice the blood on her knuckles. And she would gasp, horrified, and wondering if the blood was hers, Tommy's, or someone else's. Someone else who had decided to beat both of them up. Someone who was mysteriously missing.

"Tommy, did we... Did we get attacked?" she asked, furrowing her brow. She looked toward the nearby woods. Perhaps whoever- or whatever- it was had escaped that way.