closed So We Meet Again PV Reopened

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

Campbell commented on how suspicious the situation was and Ruby bowed her head slightly in acknowledgment. “I understand your apprehension, but I'm sure you can see the benefits of a place such as this. We are far less likely to be interrupted, especially at this time. In an empty classroom during the day, we are more likely to be walked in on, and I don't think that would be ideal.” She spoke calmly and as if her answer was plainly obvious, then quirked an eyebrow at the Hufflepuff's insistence that Procoppio was no threat. “Respectfully, she attacked a close friend of mine, which I view as a threat. As for her hearing my apology, I did not wrong her in the same way that you and I have clashed with each other. This is for you.” She paused and then let out a sigh. “Why did you bring your friends? I'm beginning to doubt your intentions. You've already violated one of my requests in the note I sent you, so I'm a little wary, especially considering that you attacked me first the last time we met.” Ruby's gaze was unwaveringly fixated on Campbell as she spoke, a faint warning in her tone.

Her attention was torn away by a crude "you suck ass" from Procoppio. Eyebrows raised, the girl tilted her head to one side, her chin raising slightly as she examined the fourth year, staring silently for a moment. “Might I remind you that you are speaking to a prefect? You may have forgotten, but there is a school rule saying that students may not disrespect staff, including prefects. As for the "funeral" you were having, I was not aware that that was what I was interrupting. You were out after curfew, you had to have known the risks. I am not in the wrong there. You will not receive an apology from me.” Quinn had finally spoken as well, telling Ruby to drop the act. “The "act"? I'm sure I don't know what you mean. You're intruding on a meeting you weren't invited to, a meeting that was meant to be a quick one of peacemaking, and you're accusing me of... what, exactly?” She rolled her eyes, turned back to Campbell—the only one here who was actually deserving of her attention—and waited for a response.

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

God. Did she mention how much she hated every single time Cazares decided to unhook her jaw to spit verbal venom?

Honestly, it probably would've been fine if Ruby had just bickered with Amadea using normal, average vocabulary that normal, average teenagers were accustomed to hearing. But she used these huge, SAT-worthy words that made Ami want to scream "NERD!" at the top of her lungs at the Slytherin prefect. She was busy daydreaming of a scenario in which she tore up the pages of a book in front of Ruby's face before proceeding to set the shreds on fire when she realized that Cazares was actually addressing her.

While Ruby stared at her coldly with her pale, blue, snake-like eyes, Ami stared right back at her defiantly, her fists and jaw clenched tightly. "You may be a prefect," she said slowly, "But that doesn't mean that you automatically get my respect, you slimy little ass beetle." And then she had the audacity to refuse to apologize? Ami shot a glance towards both Amadea and Cecily, looking for any sign to launch herself at the Slytherin. Because she would, in a heartbeat, without question. She was known for being loyal to a fault, and she was fully prepared to live up to that reputation.

Cazares continued with her high-and-mighty way of speaking, even going as far as to speak down to Cecily (at least, in Ami's eyes). "Read my lips, Cazares," Ami growled, stepping forward slightly. "I'm accusing you of being a pretentious," step, "fucking," step, "asshole."

And with a war cry, the Hufflepuff launched herself at Ruby, preparing to serve the Slytherin the fattest knuckle sandwich she would ever have to eat.

ACTION: Attempt to punch Ruby, preferably in the face.
luv u rubes
stats:

Reducio

STA: 7 | EVA: 8 | STR: 15 | WIS: 6 | ARCP: 3 | ACC: 12
martial artist | prodigal transfig | spell spread

action info:

Reducio

Punch: This is a basic attack that is done at +2 accuracy and the damage done by this attack is [100*(strength)*0.9]/5

@Amadea Campbell @Ami Procoppio @Ruby Cazares @Xailah Alptraum

First of all—" Cecily began as heated words were exchanged in calm voices that didn't betray the scorn behind them. She cut off, though, as it became clear no one was listening to her. After all, this wasn't really her fight. Hell, she didn't even know the whole story. Just something about an attack, some spells, some sort of funeral? But as curious as Cecily was about the truth of the whole ordeal, the details were overwhelmingly irrelevant. Amadea and Ami hated Ruby; ergo, Cecily hated her too, especially as Ruby continued to monologue, dropping accusations and gaslighting Cecily's friends. Damn, she hated to admit it, but this girl was smooth. She was definitely rehearsing this in front of a mirror in her dorm today.

Contrastly, someone who had clearly come unprepared in the linguistics department, Ami was spot on as always with her insults. The redhead looked back towards Cecily and Amadea, as if requesting permission to knock the Slytherin out of this world. Although Cecily didn't say a word, she couldn't say that she would hold Ami back if her temper got the better of her.

Which, shortly, it unsurprisingly and absolutely did. The Hufflepuff lunged towards the antagonising Prefect, just another dumb, impulsive move in the series of dumb, impulsive moves that was Ami Procoppio. Cecily opened her mouth to say something— although she wasn't quite sure what she would say in this situation, as, after all, it wasn't one she had ever imagined herself in— as Ami's fist flew directly past Ruby's face and collided with the wall behind her. Oh, ouch. Ami wasn't usually one to have such poor aim, but at the moment, her reputation likely wasn't doing much good to dispel the humiliation of whiffing a standing, point-blank target.

Logically, it wasn't exactly Ruby's fault that Ami's fist collided with the wall, but it was close enough for Cecily. Look, if Ruby had just let herself get hit, Ami wouldn't be in such a situation. But alas, the snake had self-preservation or something, and now Ami probably had a broken knuckle or two. And, even more important, the Slytherin knew her way around a few spells, as a duellist. Cecily, although uncomfortable at not having a plan of attack before jumping into the fray and very likely to regret following Ami in making the first move against a Prefect, wasn't about to wait around to see how Ruby would retaliate. It was a good thing Ami wasn't the only one who knew how to throw a punch.

ACTION: also punch Ruby!

| sta: 7 | eva: 8 | str: 8 | wis: 8 | arcp: 4 | acc: 11 |

race: metamorphmagus

abilities: sixth sense; skilled transfigurer

This was Disney Channel, teen-drama level conflict right here. Whatever any of that meant. But in a twisted sort of way; it was... reassuring- to see peers fighting each other for once, and not some gnarled eldritch horror. Scarily enough, the latter appeared to be getting more and more frequent. In a different setting, or a world far, far away from this one; Ruby would have made a perfect villain. She had the walk. She had the talk. She even had the lungs and the patience to do the long, tedious (but very villainous) monologues. Bravo, bravo. Xailah had no clue what was going on. Her perspective was akin to a cats- a cat watching a very odd swinging pendulum, that lacked sense no matter which way it swished. No clue. No sense. Only quietly buzzing thoughts. It was a needlessly dramatic game of back-and-forth, the lioness realized. And, might she suggest, a little unfair on all ends. Oh, but how boring things would have been if they were fair.

Xailahs attention wandered this way and that. It followed a rat that scurried by, and then it found a very interesting spot on a nearby wall that looked to be oozing. Very interesting spot. She stared at it for awhile; well, until something Ruby said, rubber banded her back to the reason why she was in the dungeons in the first place. Screeech. Hold on. Lets pop the brakes and go back a bit. Backtrack, backtrack- right there- stop. Respectfully, she attacked a close friend of mine- Who? Which friend? It better have not been a mutual friend. Fists flexed, curling into two angry little balls. Knuckles jutted frosty white, beneath their tight black coverings. Had Xailah known who the person in question had been; she would have entertained the thought of beating miss Ami bloody right then and there. No hesitation. No second thoughts. Man. You had to hand it to Ruby- the snakelet was great at making people irrationally angry. She knew which buttons to push. Or maybe, everyone had a short fuse. Which speaking of-

Oh- oh no. Beanie Brains was getting upset. Naturally, and logically, the only clear response to the rise in tension, was to call Ruby an- what was that? Ass Beetle? Butt bug? Whatever- And throw herself at the small snake. As one does, in this sort of situation. Oh my. How very uncouth. It looks like someone needs a lesson in manners. But at a later time. A much, much later time. Ami had grabbed Rubys hook, allowing herself to be reeled in. For a second- no more, no less- there was a glittering spark of clarity in the dungeons. It was like the parting of clouds after a moment of rain. It was quite clear why Ruby was in Slytherin. She was crafty. She was clever. And most of all, she was a snake. Not in the negative, cliquey sense- in a more complementary... sneaky sense. An absolute snake. The barbarian of a red-head took a step forward. That was when Xailah would make her presence known to the uh... ginger. "Get away from her." A suggestion made a minute too late. Amis fist left her side; seeking Rubys pretty face.

The lioness didn't want to believe that anyone would actually have the gall to harm Ruby. Maybe that was why she stood back for that one fleeting minute. Or, perhaps, she wanted to bear witness to Ami's failure. The girl had missed. Thank god. The burly childs fist went straight into the wall. Xailah winced; curled her lips inward in a sneer. A quiver was sent jittering through her body, making her hair move in tune. Someone would make a move after Ami. Another suggestion would be given- the same one. Only louder this time, and not to the Jungle Girl. "Get away from her, you chickenshit." Of all the swears Xailah had learned, of all the foul words she had gathered during her time at Hogwarts, chickenshit had slid into first place as a favorite. No reason. One was not needed. It just had a particular sort of charm to it, that most profanities did not have. The Gryffindor slammed her choice word, with an acute viciousness similar to that of an angered mother, onto the blonde girl- Cecily- who was progressing towards Ruby. Xailah did not wait like she had with Ami; and found her dainty hands darting for the closest thing that they could reach- those dancing wefts of pretty, golden hair.

── ❋ ──

𝓐s soon as Amadea stopped speaking, the tension seemed to grow tenfold in the room. It was almost as if she could see the waves of anger rolling from both sides of the dungeons. As much as Amadea considered herself a peacekeeper, her brain was torn between trying to fling herself in the middle and stop anything before it became too late or hexing Ruby into oblivion...again.

Before Amadea could even formulate another thought, Ami was lunging at Ruby, throwing a punch that missed and hit the wall. Ouch, Amadea thought. The next few sequences of events seemed to happen in slow motion; Amadea almost couldn't process what was happening. It almost felt like she was in the middle of some sort of Marvel action scene, as the good and bad guys lunged at each other in slow motion while some 80s rock music played behind it. Of course, Amadea wasn't nearly as conceited as Peter Quill, as fierce as Gamora, as beefy as Drax, as rude as Rocket, or as absolutely amazing and god-like as Groot. Cecily lunged for Ruby as well, perhaps seeing that Ami's punch had missed and wishing for vengeance. Amadea had never seen her Ravenclaw friend throw a punch before and didn't think of her as a particularly violent person, but Cecily's fist collided squarely with Ruby's face. She heard the satisfying crunch as Cecily's knuckles imploded against Ruby's hideous, rude face. That's one way to shut her up, she thought. At the same time, another girl appeared from out of nowhere, lunging toward Cecily and attempting to grab her...hair? Not that Amadea had much time to ponder it, but she wondered what the point of yanking hair would do. Besides a little bit of pain, she wasn't sure that it was very productive, unless the girl really wanted to see Cecily bald. Amadea didn't have time to think about this anymore, though, as she watched Cecily barely leap out of the way, her hair still fully intact.

Amadea wasn't about to let her friends go down without her; unfortunately, she was not the strongest person...She glanced down at her wand that was tucked away, knowing that she could easily whip it out and begin firing off spells at people. We're already going to be in trouble... Amadea thought to herself. Her mind was at war with itself- "Chickenshit." Hold up. Did that girl just have the audacity to lunge toward Cecily and call her a chickenshit? What did that even mean? With a shrug, she brandished her wand in a flurry and pointed it toward the girl who had appeared out of nowhere. "Tarantallegra!" Amadea cried, directing the spell toward the girl. "Don't you dare attack my friend, you blubberbutt." So maybe Amadea needed to work on her insults. That wasn't the most important task at hand, though. She needed to win this fight.

── ❋ ──

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

Procoppio said that Ruby’s role as a prefect didn’t mean that she automatically needed to be respected. Ruby shook her head and corrected her, “Actually, if you’ve read the school rules, you’d know that all prefects and professors are supposed to be treated with respect. That is a rule.” She flashed a slight smirk at the redhead, gone before it could be acknowledged. The “slimy little ass beetle” insult bounced right off of her. Petty, crude insults like that from people whose opinion she didn’t value meant nothing to her. Procoppio took several threatening steps forward, and a flicker of fear passed briefly through her when she was confronted by the girl who was so clearly bigger and stronger than her. Yet she regained control over herself and responded tauntingly, “Aw, the poor stupid Hufflepuff can’t understand big words? You think I’m mean because I’m responding with logic?” She laughed.

By now, she had goaded the students into fighting, and Procoppio made the first move, taking the potential blame away from the Slytherin. Satisfaction washed over her not only because of this, but also due to the fact that Procoppio smacked her fist against the wall. “Wow. Truly fearsome. I feel so intimidated,” she drawled sarcastically, a sneer curling her lips as she turned away, deciding Procoppio wasn’t even worth taking up her vision. She turned to Quinn, mocking her. “Cat got your tongue, Quinn? Can’t come up with a “clever” response because you know I’m right?” She chuckled, making the mistake of turning away slightly. She wasn’t paying attention to body language, which would show Quinn shifting to throw a punch.

The blonde’s fist connected perfectly with Ruby’s face. She stumbled back, pale fingers lifting to touch her cheek lightly. Fury was in her eyes and she snarled, “You’ll pay for that, you bitch. Flipendo.” Concentrating, she cast the spell and split it to target both Procoppio and Quinn. There was always a certain satisfaction that arose from successfully splitting a spell to try to hit multiple targets at once. And one of them did hit, clipping Procoppio and knocking her backwards. Quinn, unfortunately, managed to dodge out of the way when the spell was close. Ruby scowled and managed to take in what was simultaneously happening with the others. Xailah tried to aid Ruby, only to be met with a spell from Campbell forcing her to dance. “If you hurt her, I’ll gut you, I swear I will,” she hissed angrily at Campbell.

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

Ami was so caught up in her rage that she failed to factor in the fact that unlike a training dummy, Ruby Cazares could, in fact, move. She cocked her arm back, fully prepared to sock the Slytherin prefect across the face, but instead, her fist made contact with the dungeon wall. A string of expletives exploded from her mouth as the pain shot through her hand and arm, and Ami hopped around while clutching her now severely bruised knuckles. "Stupid... slimy... snake!" Thankfully, Cecily nailed Ruby right in the face with a punch of her own, earning her a howl of encouragement from the Hufflepuff. "Get 'em, Cecily!" she cheered, egging on the blonde Ravenclaw.

It really seemed like Cecily was on fire tonight (thankfully, not literally); although Xailah tried to snatch her wig, the former prefect ducked out of the way just in time. And on top of that, Amadea nailed Xailah with a spell that Ami couldn't identify, which sent Xailah off dancing her feet off. But amidst all of the chaos, Ami forgot to keep an eye on her primary target in the first place. Ruby nailed her with a knockback jinx, which sent Ami into the wall once more. "Oh, that's it," she growled, before launching herself at Ruby once more. Hopefully this time, her fist would actually connect with flesh, not the wall.

ACTION: Attempt to punch Ruby (again), still preferably in the face.
luv u rubes
stats:

Reducio

STA: 7 | EVA: 8 | STR: 15 | WIS: 6 | ARCP: 3 | ACC: 12
martial artist | prodigal transfig | spell spread

action info:

Reducio

Punch: This is a basic attack that is done at +2 accuracy and the damage done by this attack is [100*(strength)*0.9]/5

Chickenshit? Cecily couldn't decide whether to laugh or take offense. Certainly it was a rather ridiculous insult, but the sheer venom with which it was delivered was cutting all on its own, and she had heard much blander from her own team, in fact, so maybe she shouldn't be insulting the opponent's vernacular when the best Ami could come up with appeared to be vaguely distasteful alliteration and Amadea's version of an insult was soon to be revealed as... mild at best. Okay, so maybe Cazares and her sidekick had it locked down a little more on the verbal end of things, but look, Cecily was nailing the physical violence aspect. The Ravenclaw's fist collided solidly before the Slytherin could even have a chance to dodge. Damn, that was satisfying, but even more so was the shock in Ruby's face, and even more so than that was Ruby's spell flying wide. Quick scoreboard check: Cecily, 2, Slimy Snake, 0.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Cecily smirked. Yes, let the monologue continue. Maybe it would keep her distracted enough for even Ami-- poor Ami, who was really having it rough over there-- to land a hit. Amadea, too, although Amadea was keeping herself plenty busy with Ruby's pal, who was meanwhile turning her focus on Cecily. Wow, ganging up on her. That was what she got for landing a hit, she supposed, but if Team Ass Beetle were to have this poor of aim the whole time, it was a bargain that Cecily would buy again. Ami was bouncing back, diving once more for the main perpetrator, and Cecily would return their strategy of two versus one, looking for a one-two of hits on Cazares. But as her arm swung towards the Slytherin's evil little face, a 5'8, very angry, very spiteful redhead would fly between Cecily and her target, and Ami would take the full brunt of Cecily's punch.

"Oh shit-- Ami, what the hell!" Cecily yelled, equal parts concerned, angry, and shocked. How does one manage to accidentally get in the way of friendly fire?

ACTION: punching Ruby giving Ami an inadvertent love tap with her fist

Like all play amongst children, everything was fun and games until somebody got hurt.

Today, that somebody would be Ruby. Slippery as she may have been in Ami's clutches, she was not slick enough to evade the oncoming assault provided by Cecily's fist. So began the first domino, teetering, toppling, rippling; before eventually succumbing to gravity, and starting a chain reaction of misfortune. It was awful- what these girls were doing to each other- but fights were expected from children this age, were they not? Still, Xailah felt a churn in her stomach as she watched in horror as Cecily's golden locks slid right through her fingers, slinking through the shrouded digits like fistfuls of snakes, just as she lunged from her place in the shadows.

So close, but a second too late.

Xailah spouted venom, and poison was what would be reciprocated; this time by the other friend of the assaulting duo. Chickenshit, Blubber butt, they were names summoned by angry children. Laughable on every degree, really. But to these kids, they were thrown about as if they were meant to have weight to them. Take away the angsty disposition the teens had tossed themselves in; the words were really more like getting hit with a pool noodle. It was with Amadea's returned name-calling, Xailah would become aware of this. "These are playground insults." A mutter like a knife across stone, thats what her words were. These were playground games.

But the scene had been set, and the play was in motion, there was no reasoning with these people Ruby had aggravated. What was done was done. All they could do now was finish this mess... somehow. The metamorph had given her Slytherin friend her word- said she would be there for her- and she had every intention to keep said word. This sentiment was immediately deepened upon Ruby's declaration of protection; and while the snakes choice of wording was a bit extreme, Xailah immediately found it touching. She'd gut them to protect me? It was a wonderful sentiment, violence aside. No one had ever staked such a claim before, it made the Gryffindor bloom with fondness for her snake companion. It was decided then: from this day forward Xailah would do whatever she could to keep Ruby safe. Even if there would be regrets later on. And so, even when put in the range of a successful (to her detriment) Tarantellegra from the second of the two gingers, Xailah remained steadfast.

Well. Maybe not immediately. The spell came as a shock, and sent a static ripple down the Gryffindor's spine; cursing her body into a motion completely against her will- a saucy salsa dance by the looks of it. Well, this wasn't going to plan. Not there had been a plan to begin with. Not a good one anyways. Xailah spouted obscenities under her breath, the air that carried them weighed by her often suppressed mother-tongue. It was embarrassing at first- step, step, sway, spin- the involuntary dance. She tried to resist it, her hand fumbling for her wand to counter the jinx.

It was then Ami cocked her (probably battered) hand back for a round two, with her friend Cecily following her lead. Xailah watched as the blonde wound up another fistful of spite, channeling her inner Saitama with plans of going in for the kill...

Ami's kill.

She was suddenly trying to kill Ami.

In an unexpected turn of events, the blonde had turned her attack onto her ally, missing Ruby horribly (much to Xailah's relief). Or had the auburn-haired girl gotten in the way? It was really hard to tell, but by the way they immediately went to bickering, it was possible to assume Ami was just a fist magnet for friends and fiends alike.

It was at that moment Xailah realized that there was no resisting the dance she had been subjected to. To be of any use, she needed to accept her fate. Be one with the unheard music that guided the motion of her body.

She fell into rhythm; embraced the manic energy of the room; danced as if doing so was completely of her own will. This was not a hindrance. This was an advantage- and perhaps a moment of self discovery, where she would accept her place as a dance battler.

"I warned you." What was expected to be said with animosity, came instead with a breath of pity. It was a shame Ami and company had not listened. It was a greater shame they had forced Xailah's hand. Mid spin, the lioness unsheathed her wand from it's resting place. She would only make one command, seeing her attempt at reason and warning wouldn't get anyone anywhere: "Flipendo."

𝓐madea prided herself on her ability to stay calm during moments of pure chaos. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times. She had never considered herself a particularly violent person, nor did she think she was capable of evil activity, but as the rage boiled within her as she watched the events transpire in front of her, she was realizing she might have to rethink her capabilities.

For now, at least, there was one target out of the way. The Gryffindor that had been lurking in the shadows was occupied with the spell Amadea had cast, forcing her into a fit of jigging. Amadea pressed her lips together into a thin line. She wasn’t about to let this small victory from the main task at hand, but she had to admit that it was very amusing to see all of the punching going on around her while this girl stood in the corner dancing. For the second time in a five minute span, Amadea felt as though she was in the same scene of Guardians of the Galaxy, with the squad slaying monsters while Groot danced in the corner. Of course, this was slightly different because the five girls were most definitely not on the same team.

Amadea shook her head, blinking back into the moment as quickly as her thoughts had entered her head. Ruby was droning on and on about respect for prefects and it took all of Amadea’s willpower not to scoff out loud as she heard the Slytherin preaching to her best friend. "Being in a position of power doesn’t automatically make you deserving of respect,” Amadea countered, glaring at Ruby. "How you use your power determines whether you deserve to be treated with respect. Clearly, you don't know anything about that though,” she added. As Ruby opened her mouth to begin taunting Ami, Amadea was about to step in and hex the Slytherin into oblivion. Before she could react, her redheaded lookalike was lunging toward the girl, fury blazing behind her eyes (thankfully not literally, especially with the history Hufflepuffs had with fire). Unfortunately, the rage seemed to throw off Ami’s aim and her fist went crashing into the wall. Amadea cringed as she heard the impact of skin against stone; that must have been incredibly painful. Luckily, Cecily was only a step behind and squarely knocked Ruby right in her slimy, smirking face. Serves her right, Amadea thought.

The Gryffindor girl had embraced the dancing at this point and was slowly regaining her ability to use her wand, and from her peripheral vision, Amadea saw her reaching out to inevitably hex one of her friends. It was as if everything was happening all at once but not at all; Amadea’s brain could only process so many things at a time.

At this moment in time, Ruby’s rage had turned from Amadea’s comrades onto the Hufflepuff herself. The threat had wafted over Amadea with a shivering seriousness, and Amadea knew that she had to take action. It was at this moment that her brain fully processed the words that had just come out of Ruby’s mouth. "Bitch." Blinding fury soared through Amadea, a feeling that was quite new to her. No one called her friends a bitch and got away with it. Fine, she thought to herself. If the Gryffindor wasn’t satisfied with their previous insults, Amadea could certainly step it up a notch.

”You’re the bitch, asshole,” she snarled at Ruby in a tone that she had never heard herself use before. The next few actions seemed to happen, to Amadea’s horror, in slow motion. Cecily was raising her arm for round two of Ruby-beating while Ami’s fury had launched her back in the direction of the Slytherin. Cecily’s fist made impact with the full force of Cecily’s fist, throwing her to the ground. The Gryffindor, realizing she could still participate in the fight despite her current state, sent another knockback jinx flying, somehow hitting Ami squarely as she was down. It was at that second that Amadea had raised her own wand, yelling ”Flipendo!” as she focused her anger into directing the spell at Ruby. Unfortunately, the fates seemed to be laughing down at the trio today because as soon as the spell had left the tip of Amadea’s wand, the Gryffindor’s knockback jinx had sent Ami flying back into the path of fire. Amadea could only watch in horror as her spell meant for Ruby headed straight toward her best friend. Oh no, she thought to herself. What have I done?