A Rivalry of Sorts Closed

Becky barked a shrill laugh, she had little patience and she knew she wasn't going to change this snotty girl's mind. "Well, at least I'm not so full of myself that I'm too caught up in my ego to see people for what they are," Becky snapped, this conversation was going nowhere and she didn't need to be reminded of what she'd given up to be at Hogwarts. She pushed herself up from her leaning position and began to look out of one eye for her book, trying to ignore the irritating girl. As she moved her head around she felt like there was a pool of pressure just behind her eye that was sloshing painfully around inside of her skull. She winced and clenched her jaw so tight that it began to hurt as well. As soon as she got out of the library, she was going to the hospital wing. Becky had a bad feeling that she needed medical attention.

Becky spotted her book under a table that had a green and purple plant dancing on top of it. She started to walk towards it and away from the girl, but as she began to walk a spike of pain shot through her eye. Just one more thing to ignore, she thought, I'm fine.

It was only a dozen steps away, but somehow that felt like a long trek to Becky as she walked. There was no way she was going to ask for help or engage with that awful girl, though, she refused. How embarrassing would that be? She thought. Only a few steps to go, and then she would get her book and go to the hospital wing.

Standing by the table, she bent down to get the book by Rita Skeeter, but as she leaned over her vision began to fill with red and a sharp slice of pain began to throb behind her eye. She thought her brain was going to explode. Becky grabbed her face and fell onto the floor. Her eye seared as she got to her knees, but she made no move to get up. She didn't think she could.

Anastasia rolled her eyes at the girl's words. She wasn't even listening that what Anastasia had said, and this argument was getting rather circular and boring. As much as Anastasia hated to walk away from a fight, she wasn't in the mood to continue what was a completely pointless and annoying argument. She could tell the other girl wasn't paying that much attention to their squabble either, so she figured she might as well walk away from it and not let the other girl have the satisfaction. 

As the girl pushed herself up off the shelf, Anastasia tossed her hair dramatically and began to walk away. Her mother had always said she had a flair for exiting in the most dramatic way possible, and she supposed that was true right about now. She began to walk away without looking back when she heard a loud clatter like something heavy or a person had fallen. Irritated at herself, she glanced over her shoulder and saw the other girl on the ground. Anastasia watched her for a moment, but when she saw the girl wasn't making any effort to get up, she sighed and turned back. Her father had always said she was a bit soft when it came down to it. She liked to think that it wasn't weakness so much as her actually having a heart. Her father was many things, but he was not a kind man. 

Reaching the other girl, she knelt beside her. Ugh, this was why she hadn't been sorted into Slytherin. Even though she still wanted to punch the girl in the face, she wasn't a completely awful person. "Do you need help getting to the hospital wing?" she asked, smiling tightly. If the girl said no, than Anastasia had done all that was expected of her. She rather expected the girl to say no, since, from what Anastasia could tell thus far, her pride was fairly important to her. 

As Becky sat on the floor clutching her eye, the girl came to kneel beside her.

"Do you need help getting to the hospital wing?" she asked, smiling tightly.

Becky never liked accepting help. At home, her and her mother would get into arguments which resulted in a silent fued that went on between them for several days. The longest they'd gone without speaking was a week and a half. The only reason Becky had even approached her mother to end their war was the distress her Grandmother had spun herself into. Pride, although a failing of hers, wouldn't be her fatal flaw. Some things are worth swallowing your pride for. Her Grandmother was one, her friends were another, and excessive pain was apparently something else to add to the list.

Becky barred her teeth, partially in embarrasment but mostly out of pain. The irony felt unreal to her. She hesitated for a second, but then felt ashamed that she'd consider letting this much of a stupid argument get in her way when she obviously needed help. She was surprised that the girl even cared enough to ask her and considering this, she felt like a very small person in comparison to the girl who insulted her.

"Yeah, I think so," Becky said lifting her head to look at the girl in what she hoped was a thankful expression, although it was probably tinged with embarrassment, "Thanks."

"Yeah, I think so," Becky said lifting her head to look at the girl in what she hoped was a thankful expression, although it was probably tinged with embarrassment, "Thanks."

Anastasia groaned inwardly, but managed to keep her tight smile across her lips. She'd been hoping that the girl's pride would get in the way and she wouldn't actually have to be helpful. She wasn't a complete monster who wanted this girl to be injured or anything, but she also wasn't a saint who wanted to help the girl she had been bickering with moments ago. It also messed up her dramatic exit a bit, but the was a moot point. 


The girl had accepted her offer of help, which said a great deal about her. In the same situation, Anastasia would probably have insisted that she was fine and tried to do things on her own, potentially injuring things further. She groaned inwardly again before helping the girl up. "Is it just your eye?" she asked, managing to get her stupid ego to shut up. There was a muggle phrase that her mother quite liked that applied to this situation, about killing people with politeness or something like that. Not that Anastasia had actually listened to her mother during half of her lectures. Anyway, her father hated when her mother used anything muggle ever. Her mother hadn't cared much about purity and muggles when she was younger, but Anastasia's father had always but far too much stock in that.