Lurking in the Dungeons PV Quinn Healy

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Quinn had been a bit down lately. Mainly due to things that had been happening constantly back home. What could he do though it's not like anyone could really help him, and as long as his friends or family weren't bothered in anyway. That was fine, he could do this he needed to stay strong he couldn't bring anyone into his problems...not again.

So to help clear his mind off of those things he snuck down into the dungeons to start exploring. In a way he considered the dungeons like the Minotaur's labyrinth with its unexpected turns. It was a normal looking dungeon, quite dingy and kind of depressing. It was perfect to describe Quinn's current mood. He wore his sleeves much longer now, he also acted much more timid. Despite trying to hide it as much as he could, he still lacked some of his usual Quinn charm. His loud boisterous personality was now much more reserved, quiet, and he didn't people...much anymore.

The only ones he would let actively touch him were of course his sisters, his friends, and family. Other then that he grew very uncomfortable and now it seemed that aggressive people or people who would get in his face actually scared him. Oh how the mighty had fallen, the curious, unstoppable, and dare he say it infallible Quinn was reduced to such a sorry state. He was so caught up in his thoughts and exploring that he had no awareness of anything outside his currently preoccupied view, thoughts, and noticeable mumbling.

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Amanda continued to make her way deeper into the dungeons, having now moved onto Centuries by Fall Out Boy. She spotted a patch of something that looked like green slime on the wall and poked it with the unlit end of her wand. Some of the oozy substance stuck to her wand as she pulled it away. Amanda made a disgusted face and wiped her wand on her skirt. Great, now I’ve got dungeon snot on my clothes. She cast one last revolted look at the slime and continued on her way, resuming her quiet singing.

Footsteps. They were soft, but the noise echoed throughout the damp corridors. Amanda paused and stopped humming, her mind whirling with possible situations. The wild part of her imagination suggested that the... thing down here with her could be a nasty goblin or a boggart in one of its many terrifying forms, or even the strangely eerie Kaegen Deathmote. Even though the chances of that were somewhat slim, Amanda was still wary. “Nox,” she said softly, straining to listen. More footsteps were headed her way. She started to walk forward cautiously, wand at ready.

As she rounded one of the many corners in this underground maze, Amanda smacked into someone. She jumped and let out a scream. Seeing that it was only another student, she let out a sigh of both frustration and relief. “You scared me!” she berated the brown-haired boy a bit too aggressively. “You should really watch where you’re going, you know.” She frowned at him and crossed her arms. Amanda knew that it was partially her own fault, but she wasn’t about to admit it nor apologize.

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Quinn shook his head coming to a second later. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he had practically run head first into someone. "H-Hey-" He was interrupted by her sudden outburst. It triggered something in him and he quickly shut up immediately looking at the ground. His messy French Crop looked a bit neater now then it had first looked a week prior. No doubt it appeared he had help as the patches of thick hair were gone and it looked much cleaner now. To anyone who knew Quinn it seemed that on his face he had less freckles and they were much lighter than they should be.

To anyone observant it was obvious he was wearing make up to conceal it. "S-Sorry...I wasn't looking...it's my fault." He softly spoke not even looking the girl in the eyes. He hated that this was how he was acting now, but at least he wasn't shaking just more submissive which he bloody hated 'Screw this body and mind I won't let ya have ye bloody way ya here!!'

"B-But um I think you...b-bumped into me..." He stuttered a bit in a weak attempt to try and call her out. He seemed to retreat in on himself a little bit after that though. He even might have looked familiar, though who it was who knew?

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Amanda immediately regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. The boy instantly withdrew, stammering an apology. She winced an scratched the back of her head awkwardly. “No, it’s alright. I didn’t mean to make you upset. I just got a little spooked, that’s all.” She squinted a bit, trying to distinguish the boy’s features now that her light was out.

When he called her out though, a small fire flared in Amanda’s eyes. How she hated being called out, and in most situations, she would’ve let her temper take over and argued back. But this boy was different. She could tell, even in the dim lighting, that he was skittish and a little frightened by her outburst. So she kept her mouth clamped shut, as hard as that was for her. Amanda held her wand up and gave the boy a quick friendly touch on the arm. “You’re a nervous little bugger, aren’t you?” she commented before saying the incantation for the Wand-Lighting Charm.

As the light from her wand illuminated their surroundings, it was Amanda’s turn to become embarrassed as she felt a bright flush creep into her cheeks. God, he was cute. She shoved her free hand deep into her robe pocket, clearing her throat. “Um, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I’m Amanda.”

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"Q-Quinn Healy..." After an awkward moment of silence, "...At ya service Mandee...I-I mean Amanda." He suddenly added smiling meekly now looking into her eyes. "And I'm not nervous just a bit um...uh...aaaaaah..." He sighed, "Okay fine ya i'm a bit nervous...not my fault ya got the boomin voice of a howler monkey." He whined beginning to pout a bit and standing up to look her in the eyes.

He was still quite nervous and wary around her but something about her told him that at the very least he could relax just a little. Especially since her face seemed quite flushed, "....So um...aren't ya the prefect for Ravenclaw? What are ya doing down here?Looking for ghosts...oh I hope we find some ghosts, or maybe a hidden room!" Despite his awkward stance some of the old Quinn showed through for a brief moment before his eyes widened. He blushed and quickly shut his mouth looking down, "S-Sorry, I um get excited sometimes...you don't have to say anything just ignore my blathering idiocy...."

He looked down waiting to be belligered yet again. It's what would happen before so why should I expect any less. Now especially since he was back at Hogwarts where he knew full well how bad things could get. He still couldn't forgive Lear for the stunt he pulled on the train incident.

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Mandee. Amanda gave an amused grin when the boy, who had introduced himself as Quinn, called her that. “You can call me Mandee if you want. I don’t mind at all.” She laughed when he commented on her loud voice. “Just a fair warning, I have two volumes: loud and louder.”

“Yeah, that’s me,” she said, answering his question. “Well, one of the Ravenclaw Prefects.” Amanda paused and scrutinized Quinn for a few moments. “I thought I recognized you a bit... you’re one of the Hufflepuff Prefects.” She smirked. “Aren’t you a little timid for a Prefect? I mean, no offense. I’m just observing.”

“And to answer your other question, I thought there might be something interesting down here, like ghosts, as you said.” Amanda’s eyes lit up at the mention of a hidden room. “Hey, that would be cool! It could be like a Room of Requirement, but all dark and creepy!” A genuine smile shone through for a moment, but it turned to a frown when Quinn started to stammer again. “Jesus, mate, what’s the matter? You don’t have to apologize for every little thing, you know. You’re acting like I’m going to bite you if you say the wrong thing.” Amanda shook her head. “Does anybody even say ‘blathering’ anymore?” She teased him gently, raising an eyebrow.

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"Oi if ya're literate and know ya language then that's who says it!" He pouted seeming to take quite exceptional offense to her little tease. If it wasn't apparent before then it was definitely glaring now that the boy Quinn seemed to have somewhat heavy makeup on his cheeks and other parts of his face and even neck. It wasn't too hard to spot as it seemed quite poorly put on. It was like he was trying to hide a part of himself and his freckles seemed unnaturally faint like they should be much darker and perhaps more of them.

"And another thing Ms. loud pants ah'm not timid just cautious!" He quickly defended himself despite her saying it was an observation. It was also clearly a lie based off how he was clearly acting. It was quite unusual too as Quinn was quite known for his boisterous and loud personality as well as no regard for personal space. An yet here, he was the exact opposite. Highly defensive, insecure, timid, overly apologetic, and many other things not often associated with the young ginger. Though it appeared he still had his curious streak within him considering where the two were now. "....A-Anyway maybe we will find something cool down here."

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“Didn’t mean to upset you,” Amanda muttered when Quinn defended himself. “You need to loosen up, you know.” As cute as the boy was, he was certainly rather quiet, almost too quiet for Amanda. She began to walk down a corridor, motioning for Quinn to follow. “Well, we’re not going to find anything cool by just standing there, are we?”

“Also,” Amanda said carefully. “You didn’t do a particularly spectacular job with your makeup. It’s much too heavy.” She turned around a corner, eyes wandering about. “I’m not pretending to be an expert or anything, but I do know a thing or two from my sister. Plus,” she turned to look at him. “Your hair’s not exactly top notch either. Now dont get all flustered; I’m not picking on you. I’m just simply stating the apparent.” Amanda shrugged, her gaze returning to the damp hall ahead. “If you ever want help with makeup or whatever, I’d be willing to lend a hand.” She stopped talking, leaving a slightly uncomfortable silence.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Amanda began talking again because she is one hell of a chatterbox. “But I’m getting the impression that you weren’t always this quiet. There’s a certain, I don’t know,” she paused to think. “Lingering outgoing quality about you.” She glanced at Quinn, silently observing.

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"He-..." He sighed and fiddled with his fingers nervously for a very short period of time looking down, a bit embarrassed at her astute observations but also impressed as well. "Look lass...ah mean Manda...You seem very observant and honestly lovely but.." He trailed off for a moment shaking his head. "It's just some things happened and I u-" He began to suddenly shake recollecting the events and then very quickly shaking his head.

God he was making this extremely awkward he needed to fix this now. "...Anyway things happened and I felt I needed a bit of a um change. Ya know though um hehe..." He rubbed the back of his neck blushing softly, "This is my first time really doing make up on ma own...And my hair yeeeeah...I think I could use all the help I can get. Ya think I would know a thing considering I have two baby sisters." He further explained walking next to her. He seemed a bit more open now, it was obvious he was forcing it a bit but it also seemed genuine like he wanted to.

"Makes ya wonder what kind of history either brutal or mysterious these walls have seen don't it? Just a bit of exploring and imagination and ya got a great haunted mystery dungeon!" He explained rather suddenly smiling and laughing before rather quickly blushing more and growing a bit quiet. It was as if his current self and past self were still fighting for control not having yet decided on who would be on top. One wonders how this young boy functions at all?

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