Closed A Bit of Payback

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily walked out of potions that day, feeling worried. She was so concerned for her sister right now. Rose was not adjusting well. She had been sulking terribly and for the first time, Lily didn't know what to do to fix it. She sighed. Why was Rose always so difficult? Ren had adjusted to school just fine. Hugging her books tightly to her chest, she walked down the hall away from class deep in thought. There had to be some way for her to make things right again, she just didn't know what it was. Reaching up a hand, she fiddled a bit with the sunflower pins in her hair that Elliot had given her so long ago. As she grew, she realized they were getting to be a bit small. Still, she cherished them deeply. She had a thought then that if the sunflower pins were getting a bit small for her, then perhaps Elliot's leather bracelet was getting a bit small for him. She would need to write to her father and get Elliot a new one. A soft smile graced her lips. She was so lost in thought over everything that she paid little attention to much else around her.

 

[Tyler Lee]

Tyler was sick of uppity girls thinking they could humiliate him. It was a plague at Hogwarts. First, Maddy had punched Blake in the face after he pulled a harmless prank on Lars, and then he got hit by Lily after she ran into him. He didn't even want to think about Lauren and the slugs anymore, though he was definitely going to pay her back for that. But Lily was an easier target. Her slap had been a strange move for her, and she'd continued to be completely meek and quiet ever since. He'd been thinking of what to do to get back at her. It was important that he didn't get caught, so he had decided a jinx would be best. He wouldn't stick around for the result, which had been the mistake Blake had made. A quick jinx and a quick exit. It would be fun to watch the girl react, but not having detention was even better. Tyler left the potions classroom late and kept a crowd of other students between him and Lily. When a gap in the crowd made him able to get a good aim, he quickly shot off a spell at her. The fur growing spell he had learned for this exact reason. He only made sure to note that it hit before he turned around and walked in a different direction, blending into a crowd of other students as quickly as he could. He then turned his head to see if he could still spot her, unable to completely ignore his curiosity about the effect.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily had just decided to write to her father when she felt an odd tingling in her arms. She slowed. Why were her arms itchy? Maybe a bit of lotion would help. She started to reach into her bag but stopped as she noticed the soft blond fur that had sprouted on her hand and up her arm. She let out a startled yelp, bringing her hand up with wide eyes to study it. "E-Elliot?" She called out to her best friend, hoping he was nearby and not knowing what to do at all. She looked to see the other hand had sprouted fur as well, and with a slight touch, she confirmed that it had spread to her face. What in the world? She was so startled she didn't know what she should do. Elliot would know. He always seemed to know what to do.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot had been worried about third year classes being even more new and difficult, but he was relieved so far that besides maybe transfiguration or DADA, he was feeling a bit more at ease with his school work. He'd noticed Lily had seemed a bit out of it lately, but between things with him and Lars, Elliot hadn't really had a chance to talk to her. They were overdue a catch up. He was just thinking whether they should have lunch in the courtyard and talk today, when he heard Lily's voice softly behind him. "Yeah?" He responded, looking over his shoulder, and nearly walking into a passing student at the sight of Lily covered in tufts of blonde hair.

Rushing over, Elliot tried rather unsuccessfully to brush some of the hair out of Lily's eyes, considering that there was also hair all over her face. "Oh Lils, I think you've been jinxed," He said sympathetically, sounding a lot more calm than he felt looking into Lily's surprised face as he tried to see if he could remember any counter-curse at all. Would finite work on a jinx? What if it made it worse. Elliot was surprised to find he already had his wand out in his hand without realizing he'd drawn it, but the anxiety that he could make Lily's situation worse made him hesitate. "We should get you to the hospital wing, they'll fix you right up." He said with a nod, voice again laced with false confidence as he wrapped an arm around Lily's shoulders, ready to hurry her away up to the third floor.

 

[Tyler Lee]

Tyler only looked long enough to see that his spell had hit. The flash of Lily's face sprouting hair was enough, and he hurried along before he could see anything else. He wanted to get away from this quickly. He didn't think either Lily or Elliot had seen him, which would mean neither of them could tell on him. Unless they suspected him, of course, but then it would just be a suspicion. Tyler ducked in front of a group of older students and rounded the corner into a different part of the corridor. He had gotten his revenge and had gotten away with it, and he couldn't wait to hear the gossip about Lily later on. That would almost be as good as seeing it for himself.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily felt embarrassed, and the feeling was worse when she saw the worried look in Elliot's eyes. She took a step back, giving him a small smile. "Oh, t-thank you," She stuttered. He really did always know what to do. "I-i, ah, I can go myself." She knew exactly what had happened, and she didn't want to have Tyler's fury with her extend to Elliot. "This, um, this was my fault." She told him gently. "It might, uh, might be b-better if you avoided me for a little bit. I w-wouldn't want you to be j-jinxed too," She held onto her bag strap tightly, her normal hair falling forward to cover her now furry face. Eyes on her shoes, she tried to step past Elliot, hoping he would let her by.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot's frown deepened when Lily started stuttering. She only did that when she was worried or upset, which, he supposed considering the situation, was totally understandable. He had to double take when Lily said it was her fault, because that part just didn't make sense. "What? Some jerk jinxed you, that's not your fault," He said softly, torn between wanting to give Lily her space and wanting to stay close to her as she stepped back. "Lily, what no," He said, at a complete loss at Lily's reaction right now, stepping back out of confusion as she moved to walk past him. Was she so embarrassed that she didn't want him around? Maybe he could just look the other way or something until the nurse fixed it. His heart sank at the sudden memory of Rose mentioning Lily being bullied before, was someone messing with her again? Had he been so busy with Lars that he hadn't noticed. "Lils.. Please can I help?" He said, shaking himself out of it and stepping after Lily. "I don't want to leave you alone if someone's messing with you.. I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner." He said firmer this time, shrugging his cloak off to offer to her. He had some best friend time to make up, it seemed, and they could start by getting to the hospital wing.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily drew El's cloak in closer, looking worried. She took a small step away, still scared Tyler would jinx him too. "No, Elliot, y-you don't, ah, don't understand." She bit her lip. "I-i... accidentally ran into s-someone, and, ah, he got mad and b-bullied m-me, and, ah, and," She shook her head. "O-one of my cousins showed up a-and told me to, ah, to go get y-you," She bit her lip, taking another step away from him. "I-I wasn't going, um, going to g-get you involved, b-but..." She took a deep breath. "H-he laughed and called you n-names, a-and I... I slapped him." She admitted softly, staring at the ground. "T-this is... most likely because of that." She tried to keep going without him. "I d-don't want him to g-get you too," She would never forgive herself if someone jinxed Elliot because she'd been foolish.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot felt his stomach sink when Lily tried to explain. He knew Lily was trying to make him want to stay away, but it was mostly succeeding in just making him worry more. If someone was bothering Lily why couldn't she just say something. Elliot was sure Professor Carter or Professor Pendleton would help them in a heartbeat. He stilled when Lily said she slapped someone though, Elliot couldn't imagine Lily doing that, ever. "So you know who did it?" He asked cautiously, still gently trying to heard Lily along the corridor despite her reluctance, keeping an eye out for any obvious culprits in the hallway. "If someone's messing with you Lily, you should tell me, or a teacher or something. You don't deserve this," He said, rubbing Lily's shoulder comfortingly. "But I'm not gonna go anywhere except to the hospital wing, come on," Elliot wasn't about to leave his friend when she'd been jinxed, no matter the danger. "Besides, we're ready for it now, I can do a pretty good shield charm, I promise." He added, aiming for levity, anything to make Lily seem less miserable.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily bit her lip as Elliot asked if she knew who did it. "I'm... I'm pretty sure," She admitted softly, though she knew nothing would make her tell Elliot. She finally looked back to him as he rubbed her shoulder, a soft smile gracing her lips. He really was her best friend, wasn't he? She was glad she hadn't listened to Rose, reaching up and taking his hand from her shoulder before intertwining her fingers through his. She giggled as he tried to joke about it, stepping forward and hiding her furry face in his chest. "Alright, alright. Let's go," She conceded. "I'm... maybe sure, maybe, it's... over now?" She offered shyly, starting towards the hospital wing. "I... will probably most definitely never talk to him again, so... he won't get mad at me again." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "L-let's, ah... let's not tell Rose though," She joked, giving him a shaky smile.