Open Beaten down

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly was looking forward to going home. The end of this term was bittersweet. She’d become the Duelling Champion in her year. While Hufflepuff had come dead last on the Quidditch pitch, she had improved her skills as a beater. And despite her fight with Seraphina, Elliot was giving her another chance to stay on the team. She was determined not to mess it up. So she focused on her classes, kept to the things she enjoyed, and stayed as far away from the Gryffindor girl as she could.

On her way to breakfast, she snatched up a copy of the Hogwarts Monthly. She opened it to the first page, skimming over the section about the Valentine’s Dance, noting that Estella had written it. She was happy to see that Rose’s gorgeous daffodil dress had been called out.

Tilly filled up her plate with plums, hard-boiled eggs, toast with jam, and some cheese. She munched on her food as she read through the paper. Tilly grinned at Sydney’s description of the Duelling Tournament, pleased to see that she’d been recognized a few times. She laughed when she read about Michael Newton throwing the match. The self-care section was also a nice reminder. She snorted out loud when she read the horoscope description for Geminis: "You’re known for talking about others, now don’t be surprised if others are talking about you this time." That was definitely not her.

Tilly’s mood was uplifted by the time she made it to the last page. That was, until she read the gossip section. Her brow furrowed when she read the entry about Connor. As far as she was concerned, her teammate was as sweet as pie. If someone had made him upset, well, they deserved it.

Her cheeks were already flushed hot, and then she read the last entry. There was an abbreviated version of her fight with Seraphina, for all the school to see. The lack of context made Tilly look like an absolute thug. She blinked back angry tears at the last sentence: “...one can only imagine Briar hadn't expected Drage to take her title as Beater quite so literally!”

Tilly crumpled up the Monthly into a ball with one hand, tossed it under the table, and stomped on it, grinding it into the stone floor with her foot. She swore under her breath and stared back down at her plate, trying not to cry.

@Connor Holland

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor had never been quite so relieved for a year of school to be over, even in the early years when he had been so horribly homesick. He was ready to be done with all of this, to pack up and go home and not even think about Nicole Fisk or any of her cronies for months. Maybe by the time they returned to school Nicole would have thought about her behaviour, and everything would be fine. He could hope, at least. Time and distance could be good for healing sometimes.

As it stood, Connor was just trying to get through the last few days at Hogwarts before he could pack his things up and head home for the holidays. He kept his head down at most meals and stuck to himself, only really hanging around his brother, or his small 'local' friend group of Kas, Freya, and Lucas, thankfully all of whom had seen through Nicole's lies. He had almost forgotten it was near time for the next Monthly until the papers appeared on the tables, and he picked one up out of curiosity. It was a relief to barely be mentioned in the Quidditch article, as he hadn't been happy with his play in the most recent match at all. Skimming to the advice section, Connor was surprised and a little embarrassed that his question had been answered, though he couldn't help a small snort at the answer. Sure, it would be great if Nicole or any of her crew were willing to listen, but he didn't live in a fantasy world.

Carrying on towards the end though, Connor's heart sunk as he saw his own name in the gossip column. It was clear that the columnist had only bothered to hear out Nicole's side of the story, and was intent on painting Connor as exactly the thug Nicole wanted to make him out to be. Ugh. Connor was about to throw the paper down in anger when he spotted a familiar name in the next paragraph, heart sinking as he read about his fellow Beater's altercation. Whatever had actually happened, it seemed clear to Connor that this hadn't been very well represented either. He dropped the paper and scanned the table, heart sinking even further as he realised Tilly looked moments from crying. Abandoning his plate Connor made his way over to the second year, giving her a nervous, understanding look. "Are you okay?" He asked gently, touching Tilly lightly on the shoulder. They had played side by side all year, and he wanted to take care of the younger girl, his teammate both on the pitch and off.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly looked up as someone tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up to see Connor, her fellow beater. She sniffed, holding back the flow for now. “No,” she answered honestly. “That paper is hot rubbish,” she said, stomping on her disfigured copy of the Monthly again for good measure. Tilly bit her lip, pushing her plate aside, half-eaten.

“I don’t believe what they wrote about you,” Tilly said, scowling and turning to sit sideways on the bench. She wondered if Connor was as upset by the School Chatter column as she was.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor's heart broke a little more as Tilly admitted she wasn't okay. He didn't especially appreciate the show of destruction, but given the paper's contents it was hard to actually complain. Connor nodded when she commented on the article about him, suppressing a wince. "It's completely wrong. They only talked to people on one side of the argument." He said in frustration, giving Tilly a sympathetic look. "Sounds like they did the same to you too."

 

[Tilly Drage]

“Yeah, something like that,” Tilly replied somberly. She was sad to hear that no one had bothered getting the full story. What kind of journalism was this? It wasn’t untrue that she’d fought Seraphina, or that Elliot had caught them, but the way it was written made her sound like some bully. She was tempted to ask Connor if he wanted to go smash iron, but on second thought, that might not help things at all.

Instead, Tilly asked, “Do you want to go for a walk?” While she hated to waste food, she couldn’t even look at her plate anymore.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor didn't want his presence to be intrusive, but he felt a bit nervous about hanging around Tilly while she was so clearly upset. It was hard to gauge whether she wanted comfort or space, but he perked up a bit when she suggested a walk, nodding in agreement. "That's a good idea." He said, getting up. "Let's get some fresh air." He paused before scrunching up his copy of the Monthly too, abandoning it on the table hopefully never to be read again.