Trouble Gone Wrong PV Finished

Some kind of climber she was if she couldn't get herself out of the Lake. Who knew what lurked in its depths? There was a reason why students weren't allowed in it. Hopping up again, she heaved herself up with her elbows. Feeling herself slip from the rock, her feet instinctively sought purchase on the slippery stone before her. Her right foot found it, her left did not-- she pushed down, rising out of the water to swing one leg onto dry rock, then the other. The sun beat down on her soaked, dizzy form... Kingdom of Ash was still ruined.

Luna -- Luna Aurelius, her dormmate, maybe her friend-- Cel didn't have manny of those, after all. Hazily she recalled that Luna was a prefect as she glimpsed her approaching form and grasped the fact that she was currently suggesting a trip to the Hospital Wing as well as asking for culprits. "Thank you," Cel murmured, not quite caring if her voice was heard or not-- her attention had long shifted its focus from anger and despair to something else.

Embarrassment. It was an unreasonable emotion in itself, Parker often agreed with her. The fall was no fault of her own, but she was shamed nonetheless, for there she was-- dripping wet, bleeding a little, and most of all, her book ruined. The rising red in her cheeks faded; a simmering pool of anger returned.



Detention-- for whomever had dared to harm her reading material. Cel would have to thank Luna later-- not difficult because of location, seeing as they shared a dormitory, but because of the prospect of the words themselves-- when she found the time. Luna seemed to be a good prefect, far better than she'd been in  her opinion-- more assertive, more responsible, probably better at patrolling. What surprised her was one of the two guilty sould who stepped forward.

Amanda Sparrow and a Slytherin girl she hadn't seen-- a First Year, judging from her appearance, perhaps? Then again, if she wasn't so well-known, Eris could probably pass for a seven-year-old. Amanda was the type to jump into trouble, but... well, she, too, was resident in her same Dormitory. Whatever could have prompted them to choose Cel as their target? Perhaps she should have focused less on reading and focusing on... people. Ugh.

Either way, she cursed herself for not seeing it coming-- and condemning the book, the very thing that had drawn her attention away in the first place, to such a fate. How ironic... and what terrible luck she seemed to have. All. The. Time.

Another suggestion raised by Amanda planted a seed of curiosity, shooting past the red smoke of her anger... but for what? "I doubt you could acquire another copy before a month passes and the book is released," she responded rather tonelessly. "The Ravenclaw Bookshelf only obtained it a month before it was published because I begged it to. You'd have to get a copy from another dorm's shelf, and you'd have to want it really, really badly."

Luna blinked rapidly as two students came forward in response to her question. Both admitted guilt, showing remorse, which Luna supposed was a good thing. But it didn't erase their actions. One girl was from her own house. The other hailed from Slytherin. Luna shook her head at the both of them. 

"You both bring shame to your houses. Remember, all four houses are great, and by acting in such a manner you disgrace them. I'll have a detention for you sometime in the next couple weeks. You'll receive an owl with details on your punishment once I get everything organized. For now, I suggest you head to wherever you are needed next. I'll finish up here."

Luna gave no more attention to the girls before her. She had said her piece, and there was no more discussion to be held. Perhaps she would be viewed as cold but the two girls, but that hardly mattered to the white-haired girl. She had more pressing matters. Cel was injured and need to get some medical attention. She had heard everything said, so an idea of her own had sparked.

"Come on Cel, we need to get you healed. Afterward, we can go back to the dorms. I'll ask for permission to get you a replacement from a different dorm. I'm sure we can convince someone to get it, or we can see if we can find a pre-order to owl here. There are options." Luna went to help her walk if she needed it. This entire ordeal would be over with soon enough. 

Still mourning her book, Cel started just slightly as Luna addressed her, blinking open her half-asleep eyes, two spotlights of chocolate and green, lashes still speckles with water droplets. Her eyes hurt-- that she noticed for the first time-- they stung, and her eyelids fluttered a couple of times to clear her fuzzy vision. She'd never really learned how to swim, not completely. She could flail around in the water in some imitation of a freestyle-- or, as she called it, bilateral breathing stroke-- but all the usual grace that the young Ravenclaw usually moved with disappeared into limbo as soon as her body entered the water.

Blood dripped down her cheek just as the other, white-haired Ravenclaw observed it. The cut was not the most threatening, but it was still rather deep. She pressed a few fingers to her temple again, then the sleeve of her robe-- still soaked-- to absorb the drops sliding down her cheek after seeping out of the crimson line.

The hint of a smile allowed itself to grace her features as Cel wondered what Dorian, what Parker, what everyone would say to this. Over the summer, she'd quickly become the child of the family. The only person she could imagine not caring was Svana, and only because Svana would believe in her ability to handle the situation on her own adequately. Dorian, on the other hand... well, she hoped Amaya and Amanda would be all right.

Rocking forward from her half-kneeling position, the ten-year-old allowed her feet to touch the ground, shifting her feet to better support the seventy-something pounds that she placed onto them next. Cel unbent her knees, sleeve still pressed to her temple, stood there for a few moments to gather herself, then turned to Luna for support.

At once she noticed the unnervingly many number of gazes fixed on her curiously. She swallowed the urge to snap at them, but she hated the attention-- people trying to determine her injury, see her, scoff at her, sympathize with her, read her as if she was her sad, floppy novel baking in the sun. Her skin crawled unpleasantly. The eyes turned down to study their shoelaces or the tree beside them were equally disconcerting; although they did not stare, their attention on her was just as strong-- it was almost worse.

Shaking her head to clear her mind of apprehension, Cel took the other Ravenclaw's help gratefully, leaning a little of her weight on Luna's shoulder. The stares began to dissipate, sensing the altercation's end. "Let's go," she murmured softly.