A Slap on The Wrist, Newspaper to the Face PV Closed

Interacting with @Nico Shymane

Today was a fine day to take a walk, especially by the peaceful waters of the great lake. He was going on his routine venture around the grounds of Hogwarts, one of which he did on instinct at this point. One of the main reasons was to collect his thoughts on current events, and to go over pieces of information he started studying not so long ago. One of these events was the point celebration party that turned into a disaster... like most parties that happened at Hogwarts. His actions were simply not acceptable, especially what he did to professor Jenson. If his parents found out they were sure ground him to kingdom come.

The young Slytherin made his way down the path in the direction of the pebble beach, where he was looking to chill and take in the beauty the lake had to offer. On his way down, a familiar face came into his view. Nico, the prefect dhampir was perched up against a tree overlooking the lake. Percy didn't speak to her much, mainly due to the "condition" she had. Personally, he thought dhampir's didn't belong in Hogwarts due to their unnatural state and how unpredictable they could be. However, Percy wasn't afraid to be close or talk to one, it was just the fact they could turn psycho after seeing one drop of blood. He stopped and looked over to his fellow house mate, the same one he spoke up to for being wimpy in front of the teachers. With a low sigh and a roll of his sweater sleeves, he began to make his way over to the girl.

Percy slowly came to a halt on the right of her and continued to stare into the distance, not bothering to look down or provide is light blue gaze "What's up Leech..." he said sarcastically before finally shifting his gaze down to the girl, his face expressionless and untelling.

@Percival Gray

There were some pieces of dirt stuck in the creases of her hands. The blackness that had rubbed off from the rock she held earlier, didn't seem to phase her in the slightest. If anything, it intrigued her. Black against her ghostly pale hands. Was she... weird?

From behind her, she heard the faint sound of footsteps. Who was there? As she looked over her shoulder, she saw no one. Until she turned to her right, where someone suddenly stood beside her. She could faintly recognise him from the same 1 am party that she had tried to forget and process at that point. His greeting was just as pleasant as their first conversing of words in the Common Room.

"What's up Leech..."

Ugh. The dhampir turned back infront of her, dusting off the blackness from her hands on her skirt. What was this boys deal now? Was he one of those... Pure bloods? Apparantly they didn't like other people. Or... impure ones. According to their logic, she, a dhampir, was impure. 'I'm not a leech.' Her palm ran over the ground to her left, finding another rock to throw. Wasn't she a leech? She sucked blood and loved water. It was like a reassurance to her. An extra route to escape. A place to hide. Not that she could hide long since she still couldn't hold her breath for long. But one day... one day she'd be able to stay down for a minute. It would be perfect.
'Leeches are black and cling onto someones skin whenever they go in this... murky water. I'm not that. If you'd be smart enough to see that.'

Slowely, she got to her feet and set a few steps closer to the water, again tossing a rock onto its surface. Watching it jump until it eventually sank, Nico let her arms rest against her side before turning her head towards Percival, just barely watching him from out the corner of her eyes.

'Do you have anything else you want to call me or are you done?' She spoke in a cold tone.

Interacting with @Nico Shymane

Truthfully, Percy didn't care for her being a Dhampir nor of her half breed status. Mainly due his family being friends with half breed pure bloods, who acted like any other person when they were around them. It was the fact that she and her parents were muggles, a group of people that truly didn't belong here. Although, even with her obvious disadvantages Percy hated to admit she had done a good job at being a prefect. Throughout her term, the dhampir had a lot of criticism. However, she seemed to stay strong and carry on. That was quite respectable...

Nico soon answered his jokey comment on her being a leech. and straight up reputed the whole thing. She even went through the trouble of describing one to him, even including a smart comment of her own to get back at him. Percy Kept looking out into the vast lake and smirked slightly, before turning to watch her get up "Believe it or not Nico, but I do have the brain capacity to see that..." he replied back, his eyes gazing at the stone being thrown across the water at speed. Percy slowly lowered himself to pick up a slim stone on the ground, before skimming it across the water four times "Yes actually, I do have something else to say..." he said with a small pause while picking up another stone, his eyes looking at her for a few seconds in the corner of his vision"Considering your disadvantages and constant whimpering, I didn't think you'd do very well. " said Percy while throwing another stone, his hand wiping off any muck deciding to stay on his hands "But I've got to say, you've actually done an alright job considering you've come from muggle descent"

Percy rarely if ever gave any positive feedback to muggles, but every now and then they would do something to surprise him. Other than the two incidents that were out of her hands, she actually seemed to be doing well in his eyes. All she had to do was keep it up and not take all the negative feedback seriously, else she was sure to crack at some point and become something she wished not to be.

The dhampir wasn't sure what to think of Percival. At first she thought he was out to get her. To once again tell her she sucked at everything she did. That she probably just had to stay away from him... But he didn't. Even her snarky, witty remark didn't really phase him. It amused him.

As he picked up a rock himself, she carefully folded her arms, watching the stone elegantly skip across the water. Just like she glanced at him every so often, he did the same. It became more and more clear that he was here for different reasons than she first anticipated.

He complimented her. A peer had complimented her for the job she did. Did... What? Did she actually do anything right? Was she really competent to be a Prefect? She found it hard to believe after all that had happened. The Spider attack... the salty, borderline racist remarks of that one girl,... It all clinged onto her and made her believe she should resign or just... stay away from everything.

'W-Wait, what? You... actually think I'm... doing a good job?' Her pale hand was now resting on her chest, fingers spread as she set a step back. This was odd. There had to be something behind this. Would at any moment a whole bunch of Slytherin students come to give her a taste of her own medicine? What kind of medicine would that be though...?

'You must be joking...' Her expression of disbelief turned back into her cold mask. The one she had been wearing for a while. It made others think she was rude and calm. It was quite the opposite.
'Why would you say something like that...?' Her gaze fixated on the horizon as her grip on her shirt tightened. The same went for the hand on her arm, her grasp sligtly digging her nails in the fabric.

"If you don't believe me I can always change my mind" he said with a small smirk before picking up another stone and throwing it into the vast open lake. He had a feeling the dhampire would be surprised by positive feedback not just from him, but as a whole. She didn't seem to get much feedback from her peers other than snarky remarks. This only proved some of them were either too ignorant or afraid to share their real opinion, a trait that was ripe amongst Slytherin students unfortunately. Percy wiped his hands of any muck once more and looked back down to the stone faced girl, unsure if she thought he was doing it as a joke.

The boy slowly walked next to the girl and carefully sat himself next to her, his gaze soon looking back at the view in front of him "You know, if I was joking it would of been pretty obvious by now" he said with a small sigh before placing his hands on the ground beside him and leaning back. Her next question made him think for a few seconds in thought, almost being careful of how he worded or answered the question "Why? because it's the truth Nico. You see, most people in the great Slytherin house are blinded by jealously that are placed upon them by their parents. They fail to see the goods things and instead pick out the negatives to put down a person. It's just the way it is..." Reflected Percy with a small frown of disappointment.

He turned his head fully to her for the first time, noticing that her hand gripped the fabric of the shirt tightly as a way to possibly hold back something. For now, he chose to dismiss the notion and look back down to her "If you're really going to base your time as a prefect from the strange events that happened then forget about it. Those things were totally out of your hands, and who in the right mind would see them coming?" he questioned reassuringly "I'd really like to see the ones who called you out for that in your shoes during them events, would be curious to see don't you think?"

Saying he could always change his mind kind of scared her as she quickly turned her head towards him. Her slightly widened eyes probably gave that away, even if she tried to hide it. Noticing his smirk, her pale cheeks flushed a soft pink, quickly looking back at the horizon again. The dhampir wasn't used to this kind of straightforwardness... In a negative way, yes. Usually the things that were said to her were not great. They usually stung her like daggers and knives.

Percivals words were... kind. He said it in a strange way. Almost like a bully would. But it was different. Nico could tell. He was genuine and seemed to convince her of something. That there was no need to put her focus on the negative. To look over them and see beyond them. Beyond those dark days. To eventually find the sun.

As the wind blew her hair in her face, the young Prefect glanced towards Percival. His words truly reeled her in. Her mind told her to not listen. To not be deceived by another one of her peers. That she should stick to the path of being solo. You could only trust herself. A sad gloom rested like a fog in her ice blue eyes and yet... There was a warmth inside her. Her heart flooded and filled her body with a surge of emotions. Didn't it always?

Combing the hair from infront of her face, the dhampir started to quietly cry. She didn't sob, but her lip quivered and small streams of tears rolled down her porcelain cheeks. 'Y-You're right...' Hiccing she pressed her palms against the corners of her eyes. She felt embarassed to cry infront of Percival. She was supposed to be strong in his stead. To be a rolemodel. And yet, her heart let her know that it was fine. That this was safe. That Percival would understand. Something told her that.

'T-..' Not daring to watch him with murky red eyes, Nico put her hands on the upper half of her face. 'Th-Thank you, Percival.' Her voice was soft, almost like a whisper. Scared that she'd start to sob loud if she talked any louder. A thin line between her emotions. 'Y-You're very kind...'

Interacting with @Nico Shymane

Percival listened to the muggle born with his usual uninterested look, even if he was genuinely interested with what they had to say. Compared to other purebloods, they probably would of made a fool out of her by now and mocked her out of attention and entertainment. But, Percival was quite different. He recognised when they deserved recognition, even if deep down he hated doing so. Although, when he was really curious Percy had to force some grit out of them to see if they really had the stubborn drive. Many times he went too far, yet it showed some surprising results that he didn't expect from particular people. Even so, he wouldn't dare call someone a mud blood in any circumstances.

Gray looked back down to the half breed as the sun glittered into the side of his face, his glare catching an embarrassed look from the girl as she began to cry below him "Please, don't look at me like that" he sighed before walking over and lowering himself down into a crouched position by the girl "There's nothing wrong with crying. It's better to do that rather than hold in your emotions and make yourself an emotional wreck..." commented Percy as he studied the girls emotions. Soon after, she made a comment about him being kind, something which was rarely said to him around Hogwarts. She was right about his kindness but it came in particular ways, such as his stern and straight to the point attitude that sometimes got him into trouble. Although, in ways it did strengthen people mentally and not sugar coat things that needed work.

He didn't say anything to the comment at first, but soon slowly nodded his head in recognition of the commendation "Sure..." he said in a lower tone before looking back at the sparkling lake with a small frown across his face "There are more things to worry about than mere prefect performances. Darker times will come, and those will need your emotion more than anything else"

@Percival Gray

Percival was different. Nico had seen alot of Slytherins in the few years she'd been here. She soon came to realise that it was true what they said about the Snake House. They had some odd and spiteful characters. They were hard and quite troubled. They all had their ambitions and ideas of what was right and wrong. Too bad for her she had to encounter the worst of her House. They despised her, found her annoying, ... Even bossy. Even if she was just doing her job.

The dhampir had expected to be bullied. Maybe pushed into the lake, get dirt thrown in her face. But Percival did no such thing. When she least expected it, there was kindness. He had approached her at the right time. She needed this. She needed this so bad. That in fact, she wasn't entirely on her own in this dreadful dark family of serpents. He had crouched down infront of her, meeting her eye to eye. It made her jump a little, her body lightly pulling her back, creating some distance between the two. Her face flushed a little red once more. As if a ray of sunshine had struck her face. However it was in the form of a Slytherin boy called Percival. It kind of overwhelmed her but it slowely started to seep into her entire being.

Her hands had slipped down onto her lap. Percival was no longer watching her which gave her the courage to ... study... his features. It felt abit scary to be this close to a boy. She had gotten used to Quinn, yet other boys... she was having a rough time trusting them. For multiple reasons... 'My... emotions? How would they help others?' With the back of her hand she tried to wipe away some more tears that seemed to increase whenever she thought of what happened and what could happen. 'Aren't they in the way of others? Aren't they... how do I put this... Just ways to fetch someones attention? I-' Her voice showed a sense of panic. 'N- I'm not looking for...for someones a-..attention. Not in the way that... That would bother others... That's...That's the last thing I want...' That last bit she said in a whispery tone. Hesitant if she should say it or not. Nico's fearful First Year stutter had returned. Was she allowing herself to be vulnerable?

Interacting with @Nico Shymane

It was well documented that Percy didn't show much emotion at all, if he did it would be for a few brief seconds where it was barely noticeable. Yet, there was good reason for it. He conveyed emotion when it was truly needed, not for the little things such as getting detention or the fact that most people hated him for the way he acts "The only way you gain attention from emotion is using it in the wrong places, like what you did in the common room. Crying over a small thing like unscheduled parties is pointless and unneeded. The best thing to do is swallow your pride and roll with the punches because you need to realize small things like that never knock you down" the boy explained, before setting his sights on the sun beginning to lower into the great lake

Percy knew everyone had their limits, even he had a boundary. Although, it would take an awful lot of stress to tilt him over the edge. One example was the death of his best friend, something of which happened years before he came to Hogwarts. However, that was something he always put to the back of his mind. Gray slowly looked back to his female counterpart and carefully put a hand on her shoulder, trying not to make her jump like before "You know what Nico, emotions can be a great asset for you when you've figured out how to tame it. Only you can figure that out for yourself, not me" he said while raising his hand from her shoulder and getting to his feet above her.

Choosing to leave the newspaper he had beside her, he indicates for Nico to get up in front of him too "Wipe your eyes and get up..." he said coldly while watching the leech "Now, if you decide to leave your post as prefect promise me you'll come back better than ever. Don't leave a stone unturned and better yourself, you only have one chance at being at Hogwarts don't you?" the boy said with a serious expression, his piercing glare looking into her eyes for the first time.