closed So We Meet Again PV Reopened

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

Campbell argued that Ruby’s position of power didn’t make her deserving of respect, and she rolled her eyes. “Did you not hear what I just said? It’s the rules. But it’s not like you would know, your comprehension’s clearly so poor I doubt you could understand the rules in the first place.” Her tone was scathing, vicious intent clear in her too-bright eyes to match the dismissive, mocking words she uttered. But before too long, Quinn had hit her. “Get ‘em, Cecily!” Ruby heard as she got hit.

Stupid Procoppio. Neither of them should have been there in the first place—it was supposed to just be Campbell. But Campbell was clearly not an honorable person, completely ignoring everything that had been laid out in that little note Ruby had sent, even if it was clear that the Slytherin’s intentions had been sinister from the start. Luckily for Ruby, her spell hit Procoppio, bringing her some small satisfaction, but it caused the older girl to charge at her, hitting her squarely in the face. “Ow, shit,” she muttered, rubbing her face. For someone who was unaccustomed to Muggle, physical fighting, getting punched twice in the face was… a new sensation. Still, the adrenaline spurred her on, and she would feel worse later than she did now, even though she was starting to feel tired and achey.

While she did get hit, it seemed some good came of it. In all Procoppio’s rage, she had thrown herself in front of a punch from Quinn, and suffered the consequences. A smirk twisted Ruby’s lips, the subtle, smug satisfaction only turning to glee as she watched Xailah land an impressive Flipendo from her dancing position mid-spin. She entirely ignored Campbell’s angry comment, too entertained by the beauty and precision of the Gryffindor’s action. But Ruby couldn’t pause to gloat more until it was over—she had to finish this. Eyeing her three opponents, she aimed to hit Quinn and Procoppio, the successful spell spread taking place as she uttered the incantation. “Flipendo.”

This time, both of her targets were hit, but more noticeably, Campbell’s spell had completely missed and had accidentally hit Procoppio instead. “Oh, this is just too good,” she said, bursting into laughter. In between laughs, she continued, “Wow. Didn’t know you were so incompetent as to both hit your own friend.” She pretended to wipe a tear from her eye, relishing this moment of success at their expense. It was then that she realized Procoppio was fully unconscious, thrown against the wall. Time to go.

She quickly made her way to Xailah, whose dancing came to a halt. “Leave. Now. Before someone comes.” There was so much left unsaid, like thank you and this was an unfair situation to put you in and my loyalty lies with you, as you have proven to be able to stick with me through the bad. And there was a sudden, more desperate thought—please don’t leave me for this. Xailah was probably the only person—with perhaps the exception of Pericles if he had been perceptive enough—to have seen the full range of who Ruby was. She was intelligent, creative, and kind to friends, but she was also angry, with a very dangerous thirst for violence. Was Xailah someone who could see that and still accept her?

It was a question for another day. No further comments were made as Ruby glanced back at Procoppio’s unconscious body, then at Xailah for a final time. With a small nod, she soon disappeared into the shadows, hastily making her way back to her common room, which was not too far from there. She slipped into the room and subsequently her dormitory. Safety. Her body ached, only getting worse as the adrenaline started to wear off, heart pounding, but she wouldn’t go to the hospital wing at least until tomorrow, if at all. Tonight had been a new low, but she didn’t comprehend the implications of what she had done, nor did she care, although it brought on a strange sensation. She would not think on it further, the exhaustion in her body allowing her to fall asleep immediately, entering a dreamless slumber.

Ruby has left the thread.

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

It had been a while since Ami had been hit with a spell in a duelling setting. She was, after all, quite a terrible duellist and liked to dole out one-shot KO blows with her preferred method of “I cast punch” as opposed to any spells taught in the Hogwarts curriculum. But it seemed that she would finally get a taste of her own medicine as Cecily clocked her in the jaw instead of Ruby, feeling the full force of the blonde’s Quidditch training in her face. “Wrong person, Cec,” she muttered, hand immediately going to her jaw to try and preemptively massage out the ache. Since when did Cecily actually have any muscle? Last she checked, that bird nerd was all sticks and bones.

What happened next was still a bit unclear to her, even as she attempted to recall the series of events days or even weeks later. Again, her lack of experience in getting hit with magic made these sensations relatively foreign to her, and the force with which she was thrown back was unlike any bludger or blatch she’d ever stomached before. Her entire body had been thrown against the rough stone wall of the dungeon, her head snapping back with the whiplash and cracking into the wall as well. Or had that crunch been her ribs? Either way, as desperately as she tried, Ami had absolutely no control over her body as she crumpled to the ground, the edges of her vision beginning to darken. The now-familiar sensation of unconsciousness began to claim her, and in true Ami fashion, she was only thinking about one entirely unrelated thing as her eyelids drooped shut:

Wow, Cazares has ugly-ass shoes.

Exeunt Ami via friends to the Hospital Wing.
Story continues here.