A Fairytale Prince

[Tristan Collins]

The end of the first semester of his fifth year was nearly here, and Tristan felt confident. There were no exams in his near future, but the boy had been studying as if they were next week. He knew he had to get this information ingrained into his brain so he could remember it at the end of the next semester, it was a lot to take in, but he was up for the challenge.

Besides school, he was also keeping himself updated on the political campaign happening in the wizarding world. In between classes, he fished out a small piece of newspaper he had saved from breakfast with some information about the candidates and the upcoming debate. He navigated the corridor while reading it, keeping half an eye out for anyone else he might come across. He was quite good at multitasking, though he had to glance away from the article once he headed down some stairs to the corridor below. He didn't want to trip and fall on his face, that would be very embarrassing and not at all how in line with how he wanted to compose himself.

 

[Dominique Malone]

School was awesome. Life was awesome. Domi just felt totally awesome today. The only thing missing was a stage, but hopefully that would be sorted out with time. But right now, school and life were awesome, and Domi didn't feel like anything could stop her. That was, until something stopped her.

Domi thought she was getting fairly familiar with the tricks of the Hogwarts staircases recently, but she realised, as she helplessly felt her foot plummet through a fake step, that she had been taking that familiarity entirely for granted. Shrieking as she fell, Domi toppled onto her face, books and notes flying all around her. She didn't think she had injured herself badly, but her pride was certainly bruised as she tried to sit up, groaning softly, her ankle still thoroughly caught in the trick stair. "Can someone help me?"

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan noticed the girl pass him on her way up, but didn't pay her much attention. The students younger than the year below him rarely stood out to him. They were children, mostly annoying. Just as he nearly reached the last step, he heard a shriek behind him. He turned in time to see the girl's books and notes fall all around her as she got herself stuck in one of the fake steps of the stair. Tristan rolled his eyes silently and put the paper into his bag. Leaving her here would be a good lesson in paying attention where one was going, but it would also be a bad thing to do. He climbed the stairs up to where she was. "Are you hurt?" He asked her, hoping that wasn't the case. He really didn't want to be burdened by taking her to the hospital wing. "Let me help." he said as he lifted her up slightly so she could get her foot out. He let go of her once she was on her feet again, looking her over. "You don't seem badly injured, thankfully."

 

[Dominique Malone]

Domi was struggling to free her stuck ankle when she heard someone approach, looking up hopefully. As her eyes locked on the boy standing above her, Domi swore she could hear bells, her heartbeat keeping perfect time. Her handsome saviour reached down to help her out of the stair, and Domi held on to his sleeve a little longer than entirely necessary, giving the older boy her most winning smile as she got her footing and reluctantly let him go. "Oh, thank you so much." She gushed quickly, no longer sure if her head spinning was due to the fall or the beautiful boy in front of her. The Prefect's badge on his uniform shone like the crown of the handsomest prince in a fairytale, and Domi immediately knew she wasn't letting this boy go without finding out everything she could about him. "I'm Dominique. You can call me Domi." She added, smile blinding. "I don't think I'm badly hurt, you saved me..."

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan was glad the girl at least seemed grateful for his help. After flashing her a quick smile, he picked up so me of the books and things she had dropped and held them out to her. "Don't worry about it." He said, already eager to get going again. "Alright Domi, be careful on stairs now, okay?" The girl must have been more scared than he had thought as she mentioned him 'saving' her. He was sure she would have gotten out of it on her own, just maybe not as quickly. Now that her things were no longer scattered around, he felt like he could move on. He had helped her the way he was supposed to. "I'll see you around. Hopefully not in any more trick stairs." He told her, then started to descend the stairs again. He rummaged in his bag for the paper, it really had been an interesting article.

 

[Dominique Malone]

Domi was quick to join the handsome boy in picking her things up, giving him a bright smile as he handed her the rest of her things. "Thank you so much. You're such a gentleman." She said with a brilliant smile, tucking her files into her arms. Just as Domi was planning out her next thing to say, her mystery boy began turning away from her. NO! This was the start of something new, Domi was sure of it. Following after him quickly, Domi gave the boy a bright smile, her previous destination abandoned. "Oh, look, we're going the same way." She said brightly, walking close to his side. "Who'd have ever thought? You never told me your name, by the way." Domi added, determined to keep the conversation going. She felt this in her heart, and she wasn't going to let this boy slip away.

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan was ready to be done with this encounter, leaving the girl with her things to head further up the stairs and out of his life. But to his slight annoyance, the girl seemed to have another idea. He glanced at her as she followed him, raising one eyebrow slightly as she said they were going the same way. "Weren't you heading up those stairs?" He asked her a little pointedly. He had been aware he hadn't told her his name, but hadn't thought it necessary. He took a small step to the side to create a bit more distance between them, his brow furrowing slightly. "I'm Tristan." He said, keeping his answers short in the hope of discouraging this girl from being more of a nuisance. She looked to be a first or second year, and he really didn't have time to entertain her.

 

[Dominique Malone]

Domi laughed lightly at her cute as can be saviour asked where she was going. "Oh, no, I'm going downstairs." She said cheerfully, looking up at him with bright eyes. She wondered how old he was, but surely that wasn't important. He was sweet, surely he wouldn't care about something so silly. If it hadn't been love at first sight, Domi was sure she would have fallen for Tristan upon learning his name. "Oh, that's such a nice name!" Domi beamed, then realised she had run out of things to actually talk to Tristan about. Scrambling for another topic, Domi quickly settled for the one thing she actually knew about Tristan. "So what's it like being a prefect? Do they tell you lots of secrets about the school normal people don't get to know?"

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan had seen the girl head up, it was the entire reason why she got stuck in the first place. But he didn't want to argue with her. In fact, he didn't want to continue this conversation with her at all. He quickened his pace slightly, hoping that perhaps she wouldn't be able to keep up. He wasn't blind to the look she was giving him, but he didn't really want to have kid with a weird crush stalking him. "Thanks." He said quickly as she complimented his name, but then grimaced slightly at her next question. "It's pretty nice, busy though." He said pointedly. "And no to the secrets, unfortunately." He decided to be a bit more practical. "So, where are you going?" He asked her. That way, he could head in a different direction and be rid of her.

 

[Dominique Malone]

Domi bounced down the stairs alongside her prince charming, smiling up at him brightly. "Oh, that's cool! What kind of stuff are you busy with? Just catching people breaking rules? Did you ever give someone detention?" Domi's imagination filled with a vision of Tristan swooping in to save someone being bullied, charmingly sentencing the offender to detention and sweeping the beautiful dark-haired victim off her feet. He probably just went around the school all the time, being debonair and charming and rescuing beautiful girls from the perils of this school. What a guy! Domi beamed, walking a little closer, and laughed softly in response to his question, looking up at him with a bright smile. "Downstairs." She said contentedly, not really having picked a destination anymore. Since her original goal had been abandoned she was now just going wherever this handsome boy was.

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan's patience was wearing thin, but he knew he couldn't snap at the girl. A prefect didn't be have that way, and he was not going to lose his badge even temporarily. He knew that had happened to one of the older girls, and he would not be that stupid. "Patrolling, things like that. I haven't caught anyone yet." He said, keeping his answers short on purpose as he quickened his pace slightly. Before, when someone had had a crush on him, it had at least been someone his own age. He couldn't help feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the attention of this girl, who was really way too young to even like people that way. He grimaced a little when she answered his question vaguely. He needed something concrete to be rid of her. "Well, if you tell me where you're going exactly perhaps I can walk you there." He said after a moment, realizing this was the quickest way to be rid of her. "Or at least partially. Make sure you don't get stuck in any other stairs."