Freezing Closed

It seemed as though in under five minutes half of Hogwarts had come to Starkey’s rescue. Strangely, all of the kids were students he knew. Well, all except for the one who’d warmed him up. Well, there was Opeila Seilun of course. Wyatt’s dormmates girlfriend, though Wyatt wasn’t sure if they were still together. Hanako Tone had spilled water on the girl before, Wyatt barked at Tone about it, but it wasn’t to stick up for Seilun at all. Any excuse to poke fun at the imp.

Then there was the second student on the scene. Cassandra Ironwoods. Known as “Cash” to friends, or so Wyatt picked up. He never really considered the fellow parselmouth a friend. They hadn’t really talked to each other much. The only real conversation between the two that Wyatt could recall was when Cassandra had run out of Alec J. Mason’s house for fresh air after learning the curly-haired Gryffindor would be their groom.

Alec J. Mason. Enemy turned… not enemy? At this point, their relationship wasn't very clear as to… what exactly they were, but apparently they were friendly enough for Alec to care about Wyatt’s well-being. It was sickening. Alec pulls a stupid prank that almost gets Wyatt killed, Alec is there. Wyatt gets beat up, Alec is there. Wyatt gets tossed into a lake, Alec is there. Could Wyatt not catch a break? Could Alec not catch a break? It was just so terribly embarrassing.

Though Wyatt barely recognized the boy who warmed him up with a spell or the girl who’d said something like, “oh gosh,” he recognized May Moonstar. A girl he’d comforted after she learned that her mother was sick. If only Wyatt knew that his own mother was suffering. He should’ve known something was really wrong. It was mostly his fault that he didn’t know. He could’ve done something about it. Told a professor. I should’ve known.

The worst thing about the current situation was that Wyatt knew all of these kids. It was horribly embarrassing to be the damsel in distress. Sickening. Humiliating. Wyatt would argue that this was much worse than actually getting thrown into the lake. He didn’t feel as terrible, and he was grateful that he wasn’t shivering anymore, but it only took one look around at all the familiar faces and he was sick to his stomach once again. All the eyes watching. Waiting?

Wyatt knew he had to say something. Thank you? Sorry? Words didn’t make sense anymore. Nothing did. His vision was blurring out, his head was pounding. His body was freezing cold but his head felt hot like it was a computer that had been on for too long. Before he knew why or to where, he was running. Running away from all of his wannabe saviors. Away from all of the spells and the words and thoughts and people.

It wasn’t long before he was out of breath, having barely caught it before when he had almost drowned. Not knowing where else to go, or where he was at all, he just sat down by a tree and brought his legs up to his chest, wrapping himself in a hug and burying his head in his knees. He was simply hoping he’d disappear. He tried to take deep breaths but he’d just end up coughing, his headache only growing. He’d have to run away from Hogwarts after this, wouldn’t he?

_{@May Moonstar @Opeila Winters @Pericles Dralt
@Paisley Brown @Cassandra Ironwoods @Alec Mason}

@Opeila Winters / @May Moonstar / @Wyatt Starkey

The scene stirred conflicting sensations within the young Ravenclaw. Although three students had seen fit to toss their peer into the icy lake, so many more had been willing to help him. This would serve as a small yet significant takeaway. While he was focused on helping the soaked stranger, Pericles briefly glanced around those gathered, quickly committing what he could to memory. He did not know the majority. Opeila's smile was caught and returned, albeit with a faulty and fleeting one of his own. He looked as though there was more he might like to say, but in that moment, prefecting took precedence. May Moonstar was given a short nod of recognition and appreciation. Pericles didn't consider her to be a troublemaker, instead believing her to be far kinder than she let on, and he overlooked the vague snark with which she'd answered another's question. The lot of them were scanned before he tried to dry and question the victim at hand.

"There you are," he murmured, "good as new. Would you tell me who's done this t'you...?" But it looked as though the stranger was on another world. He hadn't answered any of them, instead appearing to have a momentary existential crisis, and Pericles' eyes went wide when he saw the boy book it instead. For a moment, he looked as though he may call out. Then his mouth closed, lips tilted into an inconvenienced frown, unwilling to chase after someone who wasn't willing to be helped. He supposed there was still time to try and track the three figures he'd seen sprinting back towards the castle. "If any of you glean any more information about this," Peri commented quickly, "please come and find me." Unless stopped, he would stow his wand and take off across the grounds. If he hurried, he might still catch the culprits, or at least find someone that had seen them barreling by.

Exiting.