Open Burden To Bear

[Connor Holland]

Connor didn't know what he had expected Hogwarts to be like, but he hadn't thought there would be quite so many books. He was decently fit, rugby saw to that, but Connor wasn't used to carrying such a big bag of school supplies. He was doing his best, but towards the end of a very long day running up and down stairs all over the castle, Connor was flagging. He could feel himself leaning to the side, his enormous bag dragging him down as he did his best to make his way back up to the Common Room. All Connor really wanted to do was lie down in a nice warm bath and rest his aching muscles. There were two more floors of stairs between him and a rest though, and Connor didn't think he was going to make it. He finally set his bag down, sighing heavily and swallowing back a sniffle. Eric never had trouble with his bag, and his common room was all the way at the top of a tower. If Eric could manage that, it felt even more pathetic that Connor was so tired on his way to his own measly common room. He wiped his eyes quickly, struggling to pick up his bag again, but his muscles had decided that enough was enough, and it was time for a rest.

 

[Alice Holland]

It was great to be back at Hogwarts, even if Alice missed Rose a lot. She was happy to see her friends again, and she had so many ideas of things she wanted to do this year. She was delighted Kauri would let her tag along with the firstie tours, and hoped she could set up her study group again. She had prodded Emily a bit about joining as they walked together, but the conversation had shifted now to a new hairstyle Alice had seen in a teen magazine over the break. She had spent the last five minutes trying to describe the different braids, wishing she had brought the magazine with her. She had hoped Emily could try it on her hair, but it was difficult to describe. She turned a corner and saw a boy who looked very upset. Alice recognized him instantly. She had listened at the sorting as her cousin had been sorted, the brother of the cousin sorted last year. Alice had been very curious about both boys, but last year her dad had told her to give the older one some space, so she hadn't approached him. It occurred to Alice that nothing had been said about this boy, and that meant she could definitely help him out. She headed over to him with a kind smile. "Hi... can I help you? What's making you sad?" She asked him carefully. "You're... Connor, right? Connor Holland?" She added, just to be sure.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor had seen enough pictures of his cousins to recognise them when he saw them, but he hadn't actually been prepared for what would happen when he met one of them for the first time. Connor's eyes widened in fear and he stepped back nervously. Connor knew what Eric would do in this situation - he would try to fight the girl, probably. But she seemed like she was being nice, and Connor didn't want to pick a fight with somebody who was just trying to help. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, before his voice came out in barely more than a whisper. "It's just... my bag is too heavy..." He said quietly, looking down. It felt weak to admit something like that, but his aching shoulder and legs weren't going to get Connor to where he was going, and if even one of his cousins was nice, maybe Connor could tell Eric about that, and Eric might be less angry all the time.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric was looking for Connor and pretty annoyed that he hadn't found him yet. He hated that Connor was in a different house from him. In Gryffindor, Eric could at least keep a better eye on him and make sure no one was giving him a hard time. He also thought Hufflepuff was bad for him, as it was a very soft house and Connor was already way too soft in Eric's opinion. Any boy that cried so easily would be seen as weak, which Eric didn't want for his brother. He headed up to the second floor, frowning as he looked around. After a moment, he spotted his brother and started to head over. Only then did he see who was with him. It was the youngest of the sisters, their cousins. And he could see she was clearly upsetting Connor. Connor looked like he was crying and the girl was reaching over and doing something with his bag. Wasn't it enough that they had abandoned their side of the family for years? Did she have to bug Connor now too? Without stopping to think, Eric ran over and shoved the girl to the side. "Get away from him!" He yelled. "He doesn't want to be your stupid family, and neither do I! Leave us alone!"

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice felt a pang of pity for the younger boy. He looked so sad and helpless, and Alice was glad she had run into him so she could help him. He was in her house, too, so she could definitely help him find his way around. "Oh, that's okay. Are you on your way to the common room? Let me help carry it." She said gently. She reached over to take the bag from him so she could take some of his books out, but before she could even grab it, something shoved her to the side, hard. Alice stumbled and dropped both Connor's bag and her own, looking up in shock as another boy, her other cousin, started yelling at her. Unbidden, mostly from the surprise of it all, tears gathered in Alice's eyes. Though she regained her composure after a few moments. "I was helping him." She said, rubbing her arm where he had shoved her with a frown. Now she understood why she had to stay away from him.

 

[Emily Madison]

Emily had enjoyed the holidays, but she was glad to be back at school with her friends. She wanted this year to go as fast as possible, so Finn could join her at Hogwarts next year. Emily was disappointed that her entire family would never be at Hogwarts at once, and she missed having Odette around a lot, but next year she would finally get to show her little brother around the school, and she couldn't wait for that. Right now, though, Emily was just enjoying being back at school and catching up with her best friend. She was enjoying their conversation about hairstyles, but it was cut off abruptly when they saw a boy struggling with his bag. Emily would have just continued on her way, but Alice had always liked to help people, so she wasn't surprised when her friend stopped to lend a hand. She had planned to wait while Alice talked to him and see if her own help was needed, but another boy seemingly came out of nowhere, and as soon as he shoved Alice, Emily saw red. She had been doing well controlling her anger and listening to the tips Mum had given her to stay calm, but the one thing that had always sent Emily into a fury was anyone hurting her friends, and she had lost control before she even really knew what was happening. Emily dived for the boy, punching him in the face with all her strength. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!" She shrieked, already winding up to punch the boy again, common sense flying out the window as all of her instincts screamed at her to defend her friend. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric scoffed as the girl said she had been helping him. Sure, but only to manipulate him. He was about to tell her as much, when a force slammed into him and he felt a first connect with his face. He wasn't unfamiliar with the sensation, but it took him by surprise. Eric grunted in pain and stepped back, he immediately knew his lip was bleeding, possibly his nose too. He looked at the blonde who had punched him, then spit some bloody saliva to the side. He hadn't expected this, but this was at least familiar ground. He ducked out of the way of her second punch. "What, you her bodyguard?" He spat at her. "Is that what all the Minister's kids get? You get paid for it? Or are you dumb enough to do it for free?" He was mostly trying to distract her so he could go in for a punch himself. He knew deep down there was some sort of rule against hitting girls, but he was pretty sure it didn't count if they punched first, were older, and pretty strong. Eric lunged at her and tried to punch her in the face in retaliation. He felt a grim satisfaction as his fist connected with her jaw. "Stay out of this!"

 

[Emily Madison]

When Emily was angry, it became impossible to think straight. All she could see was red. Was anger, and fire, and fists and hurting. She barely heard the words the boy was saying, every instinct in her mind screaming 'PROTECT ALICE!' She was winding up for another punch when the boy hit first and Emily yelped, head snapping to the side. It had been years now since she had gotten into a real fistfight but the instincts hadn't faded at all, and she lunged at the boy, howling as she shoved him back towards the wall with all her strength, ready to throw another punch.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor almost didn't realise what was happening until it was much, much too late. He had barely opened his mouth to respond to Eric, still not having decided whether he was going to tell Eric that their cousin was nice, or whether he was going to tell the older girls to back off and ask his brother for help, when it felt like everything happened all at once. Connor stumbled backwards, tripping over the strap of his bag trying to get away from the shrieking monster attacking his brother. He fell backwards and cried out as he hit the ground, quickly scooting backwards from the fight as fast as he could. Was this why Eric hated their cousins?! Their terrifying, violent bodyguards?! It was all too much, and Connor didn't know what to do, curling into himself as he started to sob.

((Thread is open to anyone now!))

 

[Professor Noel Waldgrave]

Noel was just walking around the corridors he was doing his best in the first lessons he got. He didn't liked them all but he wanted to do his best for sure. And he hoped to be accepted at the quidditch team, that was all he wanted. He walked further to the second floor with some books in his hand when he heard some loud noices. People screaming! Noel directly felt something and he needed to help, he needed to be the knight right now. If there was trouble. He pictured himself in a knight suit and walked to the direction of the noice. When he saw a familliar face, ofcourse he was here and in this situation. It was no suprise anymore. Noel saw a girl and Eric fighting eachother and some other people standing beside it. An younger boy he saw sad on the ground. What happend here? Noel runned towards it without thinking it through and dropped his books on the ground. He saw the girl smacking Eric and he kind of wanted to grin about it, because he would never forget this and could tease him with it but first he needed to help. But he was sure Eric had started this. '' STOP! STOP!'' He yelled loudly. He than went standing between them with a lot of force and pushed Eric away.. He tried to stop the two from getting at eachother again. '' WHAT ARE YOU DOING?'' The brown haired boy screamed to Eric. He grabbed Eric by his shoulder and looked at him angry. He was sure he was the one to blame for this. '' What is going on here?! Hitting a girl?! You are unbelievable!!'' Noel than said went standing between the two of them. He hoped he could solve this. He than looked at the girl shortly. '' Are you okay?'' He than asked when sighting heavy. They both seemed really angry, so it cost a lot of energy to went standing in the middle of them.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric was watching the girl warily, his face throbbing from her earlier hit. He was glad he had managed to hit her, but then she shoved him back and he stumbled into the wall. With a growl of anger, he pushed himself forward again, only to duck away from her next punch. He was readying himself to kick her in retaliation, but before he could, he heard someone yelling. To his immense frustration, Noel was suddenly standing in front of him and screaming into his face. Eric shoved him back. "ARE YOU BLIND?! SHE HIT ME!" He screamed back, gesturing to his lip which was still bleeding. Oh this was so unfair, SO unfair. He hadn't even hit the stupid girl first, he had just shoved the other one. Eric's anger reached a boiling point, and he took it out on Noel now instead of the girl. His next punch was to Noel's jaw, and it was immensely satisfying.

((have permission to hit Noel))

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice's heart was racing, she couldn't believe what was unfolding before her. Frozen in place by fear, she watched Emily fight the boy, and the other boy start to cry. She had to stop this. "Emily, stop!" She called to her friend as she moved to hit her cousin again. She reached over for her friend, taking a hold of her arm."Please, stop, it's okay. I'm FINE." She was trying her best to stop this from escalating. Oh, she needed a professor desperately. Alice looked around to see if there was anyone nearby who could help. A young boy jumped into the fray, but Alice didn't think he was actually helping a lot. She winced when he got hit too. Oh no, oh no... this was bad. She scrambled for her wand, though she wasn't sure what she was going to do with it when she grabbed it.

 

[Mitchell North]

Mitchell was horrorstruck at the display in front of him.

His eyes scanned the corridor as he quickly approached the students. One of the boys was huddled up and sobbing, the other two boys appeared to be fighting along with a girl, and then there was another girl reaching for her wand. Ignoring the boy off to the side so he could break this up first, Mitchell placed a hand on the shoulder of the girl who took her wand out and shook his head to indicate that she should put it away again. He then turned to the three Gryffindors and said, ''There better be a good explanation for all of this,'' his voice was reasonably calm, the look on his face, however, stern as ever. ''Or so help me I will put the three of you in detention for the rest of your lives.'' He stepped in between the boy and the other two as he waited for their response. Whatever it'd be, they would be in trouble nonetheless.

 

[Professor Noel Waldgrave]

Noel could not believe Eric! He really was too agressive. And he had to learn his lesson. He would never hit a girl for sure! Noel just could not understand. He didn't even cared he didn't believe Eric. He was always looking for trouble and he was done with it. When he wanted to turn around Eric punched at his jaw. Noel turned away his face and felt at his jaw and than looked angry at Eric. He took Eric with two of his hands at his shoulders and pushed him hard away. '' YOU ARE CRAZY! NO BRAINS ONLY FISTS.'' He than screamed and thought of punching him. But than a professor came and Noel was kind of glad. But perhaps he was now in trouble. He only wanted to help and learn Eric a lesson. Noel felt at his jaw for a moment. He felt it, but he was too mad at Eric. He than turned to the professor for a moment and took some distance from Eric. Sighting heavy. '' This boy is INSANE. He just keeps searching for trouble. I found them two fighting and went standing between them.'' Noel than said and pointed at Eric. He than went silent because he wanted to girl to tell further and the rest. He just wanted Eric to learn his lesson.

 

[Emily Madison]

In her fury, seeing wasn't something Emily did especially well. Her muscles were guiding her forward, and it was hard to really comprehend different people, only her target. So when another kid tried to work his way between them, Emily shoved him away with all her strength without a second thought. "I'LL KILL YOU TOO!" She shrieked, pushing him hard out of the way so she could swing at the first boy again, hitting him hard in the stomach. "I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!" Emily lunged for him, not even hearing the teacher nearby until he was trying to put himself in the middle of the fight. "F*CK OFF!" She screeched, trying to clamber around the teacher, paying no mind whatsoever to anything anyone was saying. She lunged to hit the second boy again, easier to reach than the first one.

((Godmod of shoving Noel approved))

 

[Nova Valtoria]

Usually Nova didn't care too much for what was happening in the school. She usually kept to her own, and wasn't all that nosey. But there was a huge commotion happening, and Nova could swear she heard Eric's voice. An older Gryffindor student seemed to be doing the best she could to kill Eric, and Nova wondered what on earth he had done this time. She rushed over to Eric's side, dropping her bag. She wasn't usually one for violence, but she wasn't going to let Eric get beat up on his own. Nova knew that there was a Professor there, and she hoped that he would sort it out before she got hit, or had to hit anyone else.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric wanted to hit Noel again. He was even worse than the crazy blond girl, because he had seen Eric get punched by an older student and STILL thought Eric had to be the one to blame, just like teachers always did. He wanted to shove him aside and get to the girl again too, her reaction had completely thrown him but he couldn't let her win the fight. But then a professor came to interrupt them, and Eric realized a tiny part of him was relieved, despite the knowledge that he would definitely be blamed for this. At least the girl wouldn't punch him again, he only now realized how much his head was throbbing. But the girl wasn't calming down, not even with the professor here. Eric still felt the anger too, but he knew that when a teacher was here, he had to push it all down so he wouldn't get kicked out of school, which had nearly happened to him before Hogwarts.

He felt a little dizzy and still like this entire thing was extremely unfair, frustrated, he felt tears prick at his eyes and he willed them to stay there. But then Nova was by his side, and Eric almost hugged her, though he wouldn't actually do that because that was embarrassing. But it was so nice to have someone here who he knew would be on his side. He stepped slightly in front of her, before the angry girl's flailing fists could accidentally connect with his friend. "SEE?!" He shouted, gesturing at the older girl who was still fighting. "She's CRAZY." He then tried to explain, even though he knew it wouldn't matter. "That girl," he pointed at his cousin, "was bothering my brother so I pushed her away and then SHE started to PUNCH me in the face." He said, gesturing at Emily wildly. He could hear Connor crying and felt both guilt and irritation. He wanted to comfort his brother, but he couldn't tune out of the situation now. He know how quickly his word and actions could be twisted and used against him. Tears of anger started appearing in his eyes and he angrily wiped at his face with his sleeve. Ugh.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha was minding her own business walking towards her own common room when she had heard yelling. Samantha was both confused and intrigued, so she thought to investigate. She noticed about seven to eight figures standing in the wall way. As she came closer she saw one crying, she recognised that about three of them were in her year level and she also recognized Alice. Samantha was a little worried for the boy that was sobbing. So she decided to go towards him instead. She kneels down in front of him, but in the process, she falls slightly due to her clumsiness. She taps the crying boy gently on the shoulder. "Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to help?" Samantha says quietly to the young boy. Samantha hoped that she wasn't making the situation any worse than it probably already was.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

The shouting was audible from the staircase below. Monty exchanged a worried glance with Hezekiah before hurrying up the stairs. They swept onto the second floor corridor, guided by their ears, and turned the corner.

Monty had never seen anything like it. The students were attacking one another. Punching and screeching and shoving. They'd gone completely wild. Professor North had just stepped in, and was subsequently cursed at, viciously, by one of the girls. Monty burned with fury. "THAT IS ENOUGH!" he bellowed, withdrawing his wand. With a sharp gesture he forced Emily and Noel apart, and was ready to do so again on very short notice if either of them so much as moved towards one another. "Who the hell do you think you are? Don't you dare speak to a professor like that!" He glanced between the assembled students, one of whom seemed to be spectating, and another of whom was being tended to by a Hufflepuff on the floor. There were clearly going to be several sides to this story. "If you're not involved in this, get out of here now! The rest of you will explain yourselves immediately!"

Godmod to say Hezekiah is present approved

 

[Alice Holland]

Alice had tried to keep Emily back by her arm, but Emily didnt' even seem to notice as she wrenched out of her grip to hit the other boy too. Alice had never seen her friend like this, and it was horrible. She had been upset by Eric pushing her, but this was a total overreaction. Emily was like a machine, just fighting and not listening to anyone, not even her best friend. "EMILY." She yelled. "STOP!" Alice was relieved when a professor showed up, but horrified when his presence didn't seem to calm Emily down at all. She put her wand away as the professor had suggested, but then her hand flew to her mouth, in horror. How had this gone bad so quickly? She could hear her little cousin still crying, and vaguely noticed Samantha helping him which was very nice of her. Somehow, Professor Pendleton appearing and sounding angry was enough to make tears flow, and Alice burst into tears. She leaned against the wall and covered her face with her hands. She knew she probably should explain, pull herself together and tell the whole story, but could she? Eric hadn't been wrong, Emily had punched first. How could she tell what had happened if it got her friend in trouble? But Alice had a sinking feeling Emily would be in a lot of trouble no matter what, she had cursed at a professor and was still trying to fight, it was a horrible situation and it felt like a nightmare.

 

[Uno Bear]

If there was anything Uno loved more than herself, it was other people's drama. Hearing a huge commotion and lots of yelling, Uno grabbed Finn's arm and dragged him to see what was happening. The Slytherin didn't recognize many of the students there, but she did know Alice and was delighted to see her involved in such a huge fight. The Deputy told everyone to shove off, but there was no way she was going to do that, there was too much excitement happening. To make everything better, Alice started crying. Even more delighted, she nudged Finn and pointed it out, hoping the girl would be expelled for fighting. "Alice Holland started it!" Uno piped in. Well, Pendleton did tell them to explain themselves.

 

[Phineas Ellis]

Finn was happy to be dragged along towards the sounds of fighting - until he realised who was involved. Alice. He didn't care about her - not after the way she'd humiliated him on the train. But she was crying, really crying, and Professor Pendleton was shouting, and all of a sudden this really wasn't Finn's scene. He wasn't involved, and he didn't want a detention for sticking around. He tugged a bit on Uno's arm. She was having far too much fun, however, telling the professors that Alice had started it. They hadn't even been there when it started! "Um, yeah, I'm pretty sure she did," he agreed, only because he owed Uno one for sticking up for him on the train. He really wasn't comfortable with this.

 

[Mitchell North]

There was really no way Mitchell could've prepared himself for what happened next, and blinked a few times out of sheer surprise of it. Before he could do something about it, however, the Deputy and professor Mowry joined him, the former being quite furious at what he had just seen. As Monty separated two of the three, Mitchell gently pushed the other one a few steps back to make sure that there would be enough distance between all three of them. He looked down at the angry Gryffindor and waited for one of them to start explaining it properly this time around. Then, however, more students joined in, students who hadn't been here when he arrived moments earlier. Growing tired of the whole situation, Mitchell turned to look at the two Slytherins and said, ''You heard Professor Pendleton, scram or you'll receive detention!'' Urgh.

 

[Liam Waldgrave]

Liam was just walked down the halls doing his usual stuff. But some part about him missed Nixon. He could hang out with girls all he wanted and felt happy with being succesfull here around the school due titles, but he needed a new wingman. But than he heard some loud noices and a big group standing. As a prefect he felt it as his duty to see what was going on and when he got closer he saw Professor Pendleton and some new Professor that he didn't knew the name of standing. And later when he looked further he noticed his little brother Noel. He had some blood at his lip it seemed. He and Noel were very different but Liam took his role as oldest now on the school seriously now Beaubelle was gone. He heard Professor Pendleton speaking and he seemed really strict and that was neccesary it seemed. Liam listened as there was spoken. He didn't want to walk into the way so he went standing next to Professor Pendleton. He than looked at Noel with a frown and back to Professor Pendleton. '' Professors is there something I can help here with?'' He than asked to see if there was something he would do. Some girls were standing there too but they seemed all younger and not for his interest. Though he showed his white teeth for a moment ofcourse. He didn't want to get in the proffesors way but perhaps there was something he could do to help Noel. He didn't thought Noel would be a person to fight with someone.

 

[Professor Noel Waldgrave]

Noel was in the middle of it all now. But he had no regret. The group around him only seemed to be getting larger. And just when he thought he was doing the right thing. That other gryffindor older girl seemed to be more crazy than Eric was. She was mad at him too? Why? What did she want to do? Hit Eric until he could not stand up again? He really needed to be the knight, people needed one he now knew. He figured Eric wasn't the only bad person here.. There were still two other persons in this story. He just saw Eric and the girl fighting eachother and he was there for the rescue, at least he thought. But than the girl seemed to be wanting to hit him and succeeded. He was now hit two times, by Eric and that girl! But a knight needed to take some damage, he knew. But he was not gonna hit the girl and Professor Pendleton came at the right moment exactly and the other too, from who he the name didn't knew. But now he was getting in trouble maybe too. Noel didn't cared if he would be, he just wanted to help. And if that was a crime, than they sucked. Noel just looked angry at Eric, he was just screaming and Noel didn't even cared what he said. '' Chill! I just wanted to help.' He than said to the Gryffindor girl and took some distance as Professor Pendleton came between.

Two Slytherins suddenly wanted to mess it seemed they had nothing to do with this and Noel frowned. He figured it would be wise to shut his mouth, but the girl Alice didn't seemed to be doing anything bad. He looked at her for a moment she was crying. He walked over to her but felt his pain in his face from the two hits. '' She didn't do anything! It was just me and Eric and her that got physical.'' He than said as he stood protective as some kind of knight (inside his mind) next to Alice and pointed at the Gryffindor girl since he did not knew what her name was. He could not stand injustice so he had to make this right and than he smiled shortly to Alice. He didn't even mind of putting himself in this, he could explain for sure later he figured. The truth was important. And the fact that Eric would learn his lesson, and the girl too it seemed. He didn't hit anyone, he just pushed. That was different. Noel looked at Professor Pendleton as he explained himself. And suddenly saw Liam joined them. Noel looked shortly at his brother and than remembered he was a prefect. Noel hoped Liam would do the right thing.