Open Have your say, round #2

[Felix Layton]

After the success of last years Have your say stand, and the follow up in the Hogwarts Monthly that semester, Felix had vowed to make it a yearly thing. He wanted to offer the students, no matter their year or house, the chance to bridge a gap that was missing between them and the professors. He'd set the stand up in the same place as last year outside the Great Hall, although this time the sign for the stall was larger in the hopes of attracting more people to share their experiences.

On the table, Felix had a cardboard box, a small slit cut in the top of it for those that wanted to submit comments anonymously. He knew he needed to do more than last year to get people involved, because how could he help them if no one knew what he was doing? "Got something you want fixing? Stick it in the box," Felix was telling the students as they came out the hall from their breakfasts. "Being bullied but don't want anyone to know? Stick it in the box, although maybe don't sign your name." Felix wasn't going to call people out, that wasn't the idea. He wanted to know what the problems were around the school, and maybe if there was a recurring pattern, or someone or something that cropped up on multiple occasions, that would be the focus of his report to the Headmaster. He would go straight to the top, just as he had when he'd approached the Minister that day at the career's fair. There was no point beating around the bush if the person who could actually change things was the one who ran the institutions. "We've all been there," Felix shrugged, recalling his first year, "doesn't mean things have to stay as they are."

 

[Morrie Ayre]

It caught her interest so Morrie slowed by the stand just outside the Great Hall. She had an apple in one hand, her other tucked away to hide her injury, something she did want fixing but what the hell was Felix bloody Layton going to do about it? Her eyes narrowed as she read the sign, taking a crunchy bite and saying through a mouthful of apple, “You do realise you're wasting your time with all of this, right?” She gestured at it with the apple and said matter of factly. "Just thought you should know."

 

[Felix Layton]

Felix was aware that if he responded to Morrie in the way he wanted to, he was no better than she was. The whole reason he'd made this stall was so that people wouldn't have to feel threatened by people like the Slytherin, or they could feel like they had someone to talk to when they didn't know to whom they could turn. Morrie hanging around was only going to draw people away.

The Gryffindor had paused, knowing that if he were to simply say nothing, it was unlikely Morrie would leave them alone. "Thanks so much," he forced a smile onto his face, "for your opinion." Not that he'd asked, but he wasn't going to say that part out loud. "I guess you're just not the target audience," he shrugged. He didn't know why Morrie always seemed to be walking about with a stick up her butt but he wasn't in the mood to bother figuring out why. He was more focused on the students she was making the lives of more difficult. "Lucky you." His tone was flat and sarcastic, but in truth he just wanted the redhead to buzz off.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Being bullied but don't want anyone to know? Freddie stopped. He'd told himself over and over: it wasn't bullying. No-one ever shoved him in a closet or stole his money or put his head down the toilet. But if Ares wasn't a bully, then why was Freddie so scared of him? Why did he turn around and fast-walk the other way whenever he saw Ares down a corridor? Why did his heart beat super-fast every time they sat near each other in class? Freddie was getting better at staying calm on the outside, but on the inside he was fidgety and tight and hot, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep it all in there before he got mad again. What should he do about that?

He looked up at Felix. "Can I do one?" he asked quietly. It was awkward, 'cause he knew Felix. He was Ten's sister. And Ten ran the Brew Crew club, which Ares was also in, which definitely wasn't a coincidence. Wherever Freddie went, Ares showed up. "I need a pen."​

 

[Felix Layton]

Felix turned to see Freddie lingering around the stall. For a moment Felix thought he was joking, that he was going to put something like a drawing of something unpleasant in the box instead of an actual report. Surely Freddie of all people wasn't being bullied? Felix remembered when he was a shy first year who felt invisible to everyone, but Freddie? Wasn't he like one of the most well known and well liked of his year?

The notes were anonymous, so unless Freddie was the only person to write a note in the first place then he wouldn't know which was his. If Freddie was being bullied, then Felix wanted to know about it because he was a Lagowski. Layton's and Lagowski's were meant to stick up for each other, not to mention if he did nothing, Susie would probably never let him live it down.

The Gryffindor wandered a little closer to the Ravenclaw, trying to ignore Morrie still lingering in the corner. "Here," he passed the first year something to write with. "Is.. everything okay?"

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie looked down and uncapped the pen. "Yep," he said. He couldn't do it. Not if Felix was gonna watch him like that - all worried-looking. What if he went through the box after? What if he knew Freddie's handwriting? "The pipes in, um, the Ravenclaw bathrooms are... noisy." Leaning on the table, he took a slip of paper and started to write neatly. "And one of the faucets is broke. Is broken." He snapped the lid back on the pen and stuffed the slip into the box.

 

[Felix Layton]

Felix raised his eyebrows suspiciously at the first year. "Why would that need to go into the box?" He asked out loud before he could stop himself. "I mean, this is to help you, rather than the school." He could feel himself pushing too hard. It was the same with Jonah, the more he asked his friend the more he seemed to close up. It was better to let him come to Felix more often than not. "Don't worry, I'll let them know the taps broke," He grinned, taking a few steps away and resuming his pitching to nearby students.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie frowned. But Felix said, if anything needed fixing... The tap needed fixing. And it would help him, 'cause sometimes he could hear the pipes from his bed and it kept him awake. Why did Felix ask if anything needed fixing if he didn't mean it? Feeling hot in the face, and extra-glad now he hadn't said anything about Ares, Freddie headed outside.​