Let's Get This Over With PV Lucia Fox Finished

Interacting with @Rose Moon.
Outfit: school robes.
Sorry for the late reply!

Lucia Fox quite liked Potions. She'd always loved cooking and had excitedly regarded Potions in her first year as 'cooking, just with magic', though she was quick to find out how wrong she was. When baking, the most you could go wrong was misreading 'teaspoons' as 'tablespoons' and putting in three times the amount of salt, or asking your mother to do too many 'Incendio!'s and burning the end product. In Potions, however, it was completely possible for you to blow something up, or set yourself on fire, or poison yourself, or any manner of rather painful things which weren't often encountered in cooking.

Today, it was partner work, and Lucia began to make her way towards her usual partner but was stopped by the announcement that partners had been chosen. Lucia redirected herself, and with a sigh plopped herself into a seat next to Rose Moon. Rose. Moon. Lucia had been intentionally avoiding Rose and her dueling partner Eyre ever since their duel last term, where Lucia had set Rose on fire and, with her own partner Logan, had knocked her and Eyre out to win the duel. Of course, that was what happened in duels, and Lucia was sure that Rose knew that and wouldn't hold it against her, but she still felt a bit bad about it. Was this what winning always felt like? Or did most people concentrate on their own wins rather than their opponents' losses?

"Morning," Lucia said in as cheerful a tone as she could muster, and turned away from Rose to unpack her equipment from her bag. When she had done so - why, oh why was there so much equipment for Potions - Lucia turned back to Rose and, following her instincts, held out a hand. "Hi. I'm Lucia, Lucia Fox." Maybe, just maybe, a fresh start would benefit the both of them. Or, maybe, it would be taken the opposite way. Not that Lucia was thinking any of that as she waited, not-so-patiently, for Rose's response.

Rose didn't look at Lucia as she sat next to her, the girl also supplying a generic reply, so happy it almost sounded forced to the redhead, whether it was or not. Rose would usually attempt to make friendly conversation and make a friend out of this new encounter, but she really wasn't feeling it today. She held out her hand, probably offering Rose a handshake, but Rose still wasn't looking at her, pretending she hadn't seen the hand held out at her. She greeted Rose a second time, and then Lucia then proceeded to introduce herself.

Rose rolled her eyes, glancing at Lucia, which perfectly conveyed how annoyed she was with the Hufflepuff, even if it wasn't at all Lucia's fault. "I know who you are," Rose snapped before pushing her own cauldron between the two of them, a non-verbal announcement they were using her cauldron. "We've been in classes together for a year and a half, your name was announced shortly before you knocked me out, and if I didn't know your name, I would not have sat with you when we were put together as partners. I'm not a blithering idiot." For some reason, the light emphasis on the "I'm" made it sound like she was insulting Lucia. Or maybe it was just Lucia's imagination.

Forcing a smile, Rose made eye contact with Lucia. "Let's get started, then." Rose would also place her textbook, open to the right directions for the potion they were brewing, between the two second-years. Rose would start by measuring out some of the ingredients, leaving the rest to Lucia.

Wow, pre-teens sure can be full of angst.

Interacting with @Rose Moon.
Outfit: school robes.
Sorry again for the late reply!

Well, apparently a new start wasn't going to happen. The redhead completely and quite rudely, in Lucia's mind, ignored the Hufflepuff's outstretched hand. Fine. If they needed to, the pair could just delegate tasks and ignore each other the whole lesson. Their potion would likely turn out less than perfect, but at least it wouldn't explode.

But then Rose responded, finally acknowledging her partner's existence, and it wasn't one which would win an award for the most polite reply of all time. In fact, she rolled her eyes as she refused Lucia's unspoken offer of a clean slate, and pushed her cauldron in between the two of them, making it clear who was in charge here. Lucia was fine with using the other girl's cauldron - her own wasn't the best quality, anyway - but there was no way she was going to let Rose order her around, if that was what the Gryffindor was expecting.

"Well!" Lucia said, more than a little taken aback. "If that's how we're going to do this...! However," she added, her tone becoming frosty and almost twice as polite as it should be, that being one of Lucia's habits when she was annoyed with someone, "You should know, seeing as you're apparently not a 'blithering idiot', that one, of course I knocked you out, that's what happens in a duel, or were you expecting it to be all rainbows and sunshine? And two, you didn't sit with me, I sat with you. And three, I think you'll find that I'm not a 'blithering idiot' either. So we're both on the same page."

It was a good thing that the girls were in class, in full view of other students and the Potions professor, or Lucia would likely have exploded by now. As it was, she kept it in, burying her anger beneath her pride and dignity. She could only imagine what Ebony would say if she started shouting in the middle of a class. As it was, though, it wouldn't be all that obvious to anyone who wasn't watching her, but her face seemed to.... change, a little, becoming almost birdlike as it did so.

Lucia took a quick glance at the ingredients Rose was preparing and began preparing the other half, firmly resolving not to talk to the other girl for the rest of the lesson unless it was strictly necessary. One more wrong word or phrase from the Gryffindor, and Lucia Fox would snap.

The way Lucia Fox listed her response made her sound like a bossy brat. Rose, deep down, considered her options that she had at this moment, in order of decreasing ethical ways to act. First, she could apologize for being rude before and explain she was having a bad day. Lucia might understand, then, and they could just work in peace. Second, she could completely ignore Lucia Fox after that. And third, she could stick with her pride and argue with Fox about pretty much nothing.

Well, she couldn't really apologize, now, could she? Fox was already arguing with her, with that same tone of voice that made Rose feel like she was being irrational and rude like a little kid. Which, she was being irrational and rude. So she couldn't really go for the first one. At least the second option was better than the last, at least. But she couldn't quite go with that one, either. She couldn't just let Fox win the argument and call her an idiot, and a bad duelist in the same breath. She had to defend herself- that wasn't what had really happened.

So, of course, Rose chose the third option.

"That's easy for you to say," she said sourly. "It was sunshine and rainbows for you. I was at least expecting a fair duel." She still wasn't looking in Fox's direction, instead focused on measuring out the ingredients they would need to make the potion. Her voice was only loud enough for Fox to hear. She was not going to be getting detention for simply defending herself. "And if you want to be all technical and obnoxious about it, we sat with each other. Everyone else was excited to have a partner that ranged from good to at least decent." This was a jab at Lucia, yes, but it was also true. Both of them had gotten up out of their seats to sit in a different table together so that they could do their potion in partners as they were instructed. As for the part-veela's last comment, Rose rolled her eyes again. "Good to know. Thanks so much for telling me."

The worst part about all this? Rose knew. She knew that she was just provoking Lucia Fox. She knew that Lucia Fox did not deserve this. She knew that she was bringing another enemy onto herself. She knew that she was acting like a seven year old. She knew that she could help it and that she could stop being obnoxious and mean anytime now, and that she simply wasn't. She had the capacity of self-control to choose either of the other options, but she chose the worst one anyway.

Rose worked quickly measuring out her ingredients, and she hoped Lucia was doing the same. On top of everything else and her moody demeanor, she could not be pulling all the weight on potions today.

Interacting with @Rose Moon.
Outfit: school robes.

Lucia gaped, then realised that her jaw was nearly touching the desk and closed her mouth. Did the Gryffindor just imply that Lucia had... cheated?! Lucia Fox did not cheat. She might have been surprisingly good at duelling , she might have got more than her share of good luck, but she did. Not. Cheat. "For Merlin's sake-" she began, but Rose carried on regardless.

"I'll have you know that I'm actually quite good at potions," Lucia said hotly, "So I'm sure that any major problems will be either your fault or the fault of whatever idiotic deity thought it would be a good idea to make Barlow partner us." Lucia was annoyed, yes, and she was a angry, yes, but she wasn't stupid - or, at least, she liked to think she wasn't. She wasn't going to go blaming Professor Barlow for this, in case he heard. Merlin, that'd be embarrassing. And she didn't want a detention.

"Well, you're frickin' welcome," Lucia hissed in response to the other girl's cold tone, and lapsed into an angry silence. But Rose's words kept re-playing in her head. I was at least expecting a fair duel... Finally, after a minute of chopping up her ingredients so hard that she seemed to have a personal vendetta against them, Lucia couldn't stand it any more. "See here," she said to Rose, though her gaze stayed firmly on the ingredients she was preparing, "Did you or did you not imply that I had- well- cheated- in our duel?"

"Amazing," Rose murmured at the Hufflepuff's responses. She didn't actually care if Lucia thought she was good at potions or not.

They continued making the potion, working quickly. If they hadn't been bickering and fighting for ridiculous reasons, they would have made a good and productive team. Splitting up the work among themselves, both good at potions and hands-on work. They would have definitely made a very good team. But instead, they were fighting over things. Today they would both walk away from an excellent potion feeling absolutely horrible. And it was all because of Rose.

Lucia asked a very ridiculous question. Of course that had been a jab at Lucia cheating? Hadn't she ever fought with anyone before? Did she even have any siblings? If so, she obviously hadn't had any kind of normal relationship with those siblings. She wasn't at all good at defending herself. She had to check that what she heard was what Rose meant before retaliating. Of course Rose had implied that she had cheated. What else was that supposed to mean when she said she was expecting a fair duel.

"Let's see," she rolled her eyes. "One or two of Logan's spells worked. Between Eyre and I, only one of our spells worked. How many of your spells hit?" Rose paused, just enough to be able to spark guilt into the girl, but not long enough for her to really respond. Of course, she probably wouldn't have any guilt about it if she hadn't really cheated. "Every single freaking one. Tell me, Lucia Fox, how many spells did you dodge?" This time, the question was not rhetorical. She wanted Lucia to say it. She wanted Lucia to admit that every single time, she had dodged. If she was being fair, then Logan had, too, but Rose was not being fair, to be honest.

[ @Rose Moon ]

Lucia didn't look at Rose as she measured out her ingredients and added to the potion those which needed adding. She didn't see that Rose was actually quite efficient at her own work and the two could probably make a really excellent potion together if they tried - which was unfortunate, because if she had she might have made more of an effort to be friendly. Right now, though, she was not in the kind of mood to be friendly. Oh, and this had been such a good day as well...

To make it worse, Lucia seemed to have interpreted Rose's jab correctly. The other girl really did think the Hufflepuffs had cheated! Lucia's mouth hung open when Miss Moon noted that, between the two Gryffindors, only one spell had worked. She quickly closed it again once she realised that her chin was coming dangerously close to the rim of the couldron. And then Rose asked a question. All of them. That was the answer, and Lucia's tone suddenly made her feel guilty about it, even though she hadn't cheated. Maybe she should've missed some, to be nice to- wait. What was she thinking? Her awesome spellwork (if she did say so herself) was a good thing! It was something to be proud of, not guilty over! Lucia bristled in anger as Rose carried on, now asking how many spells Lucia had dodged. "Not all of them! You hit me with a Knockback Jinx, remember?" Lucia protested, remembering the moment when the spell had hit her. She supposed it wasn't really much compared with what the Gryffindors had gone through, but still. "Or maybe you didn't see," she added coldly, "Because we were all blinded by the Smokescreen Spell which you had also cast correctly, bringing your spell count up to a grand total of two." Lucia scowled at the girl next to her. "But," she hissed, "I don't care about that. However, you have no right to make me feel guilty about my own achievements." If Lucia could see a mirror right now, she would make herself calm down immediately - her facial features definitely resembled a bird. Keeping her secret from exposure was far more important than defending her own honour.

Lucia was right. Rose hadn't known that she had successfully cast the Knockback Jinx on Lucia, because of her Smokescreen Spell. She froze at this new information. After only a second of hesitation, she blurted quietly, "Really?" She hadn't meant to say that, but it had escaped her anyway. It sounded hopeful. It made her feel vulnerable.

But she was supposed to be annoyed at Lucia! She wasn't supposed to be encouraged by her! She was proud of herself for casting another spell, but only for a second. It was just one more spell. Two spells was still pathetic in terms of dueling, even if it was more than one spell. She was still absolutely horrible, and one more successful spell didn't change that at all. One more successful spell didn't change anything. She made an attempt to cover up her mistake. Injecting her former sarcasm into her voice, Rose responded, "Oh Merlin's pants, please forgive me. You can add it to the list of all my other failures. I cast two whole spells correctly! How impressive. Yippee," she said. "And you only managed to not dodge one. Wow, I feel so incredibly sorry for you."

Rose looked at Lucia skeptically. She shrugged. "I don't know, it sure sounds like you care," she said. With narrowed eyes, she added, "And it sure looks like you care." Rose averted her gaze from angry Lucia, continuing to work on the potion. Her potions partner had been far too defensive and looked far too furious to really mean that she didn't care.

Lucia made a point about how Rose didn't have any right to make her feel guilty about her own achievements. Rose scoffed. "I'm not making you do or feel anything. If you want to call the allowed bullying of two other people who obviously aren't good at all at dueling an achievement, be my guest." Who would look at the massacre-like duel that they had both been in and call that an achievement on the Hufflepuffs' side?

[ @Rose Moon ]

Rose's 'really?' annoyed Lucia so much. The girl was obviously putting it on. Who wouldn't remember that sort of thing?! Admittedly, most duelling matches happened in a kind of blur, but Lucia didn't know anyone who was so forgetful as to think they'd only cast one spell when they hadn't. Even if the Gryffindor hadn't seen the spell hit, hadn't she found out afterwards?! Rose must be trying to make Lucia feel sorry for her - and it wasn't happening. Instead, the Hufflepuff scowled in a very un-Hufflepuff-like-way as she turned to her last line of defence, sarcasm.

"I don't want you to feel sorry for me, you-" Lucia caught herself before she swore, sharply reminding herself that she mustn't let her tongue run away from her. Strangely, her inner voice sounded a whole lot like Ebony, which reminded her that she needed to keep her temper under control. If she blew up here, in public, she (and her family) might never live it down.

"Allowed bullying?!" the part-Veela repeated, trying deperately not to shout and instead keep her voice to a whisper as she dumped the rest of her ingredients in the cauldron. It fizzed in a rather satisfying way and Lucia stared at it for a moment, trying to take deep breaths. "I don't believe you. If anyone's bullying right now, it's you."

And then Lucia caught sight of her reflection in the cauldron. Slightly longer nose... more defined cheekbones... slightly smaller eyes... unnoticable, perhaps, to someone untrained at spotting these changes, but to Lucia... "Merlin's beard." She had to get out of there. Now. Ignoring whatever rubbish Moon was spouting, if she was spouting any at all, Lucia shot her hand up in the air. "I need the toilet." The moment that she got permission to leave, she shot up from her seat and practically ran from the room. Don't let them see you.

[ enemy made, thread left in distress ]