Misplaced

[Harley Tsuji]

Once she had had some time to breathe and recover with the girls, Harley knew the next person she needed to see. Although they had hoped for the best, Harley had made up her mind early that if anyone was going to get hurt for Hayley's revolution, it was going to be her. She wasn't articulate enough to convince anyone with words, but she could act as a shield for her friends if things turned ugly. The only problem was that she had assumed her friend would be the target, and hadn't been able to step in in time when people's anger was turned elsewhere. Harley felt terrible. She should have been quicker, should have gotten in the way in time. If anyone was going to get hurt for this, it should have been her.

Composed but still puffy-eyed from their earlier cry-fest, with unnoticed smears of eyeliner still blotching her cheeks, Harley made her way to the hospital wing. She looked around the room and quickly spotted the boy who had been punched, hurrying over to his bed. "Hey... I wanted to check if you were okay." She asked a little shyly, all of the fight and anger from the event now drained from her. "I'm... really sorry. Things got so out of hand."

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

He wasn't one to fight back normally but this time he actually wanted to hit the guy back. He had taken the punch well thanks to his physique but had been fuming with a rage he couldn't let out. He would not have cared if Styx had put in him straight into detention for the whole year had he punched the idiotic Gryffindor back, but unfortunately, the guy had walked back inside of the castle before Asaiah could even look back up at him. He managed to smile at his girlfriend's younger sister and turn down the other girl's offer to use the cream in her hands when Styx told him to go to the hospital wing. It hadn't been the first time Asaiah had to pay a visit to the hospital wing because someone had punched him in the face, so when he arrived noticed one of the nurses giving him a disapproving look. He sat down on one of the beds and waited to aided when one of the girl's who had been a supporter approached his bed. ''Hi,'' he replied. ''I'm fine, it's not the first time I have been punched in the face.'' And it probably wouldn't be the last if it were up to him. There was no way that the Gryffindor was going to get away with what he did back in the courtyard. ''What about you?'' he asked when noticing the make up smudges on the girl's face. ''And your friend, how is she?'' Asaiah added, assuming the two girls were friends by the way she had defended the other girl when the clique spoke against them.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley had to hold back a slight wince at the sight of the boy's face. It looked painful, and she wondered if that cream the older boy had given them did anything. A suspicious part of her didn't entirely trust it not to make things worse somehow. She ignored that though, figuring that at least the Slytherin was in the Hospital Wing now, if anything was really wrong there would be someone around who could see to it. She was relieved when the boy said he was fine, leaning awkwardly on a nearby bed. "Still. I'm really sorry things went that way. It wasn't what we intended at all." She said uncomfortably, looking down. Harley was surprised when the boy asked how she was and shook her head quickly, looking up again. "I'm fine. Nothing actually happened to me." Harley tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice. She paused, thinking back to how hard Hayley had cried as soon as they got a moment alone. "Hayley's... really upset." She said slowly. "She knew people would disagree but she wasn't expecting anything this extreme. I think she got overwhelmed. I know she's grateful you said what you did though, and really sorry you got hurt."

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Through the pain, Asaiah managed to smile at the girl next to his bed when she apologised for the way things had gone. ''No need to apologise,'' he told her. ''You guys didn't do anything wrong.'' he still couldn't believe that Potter had had the nerve to punch him after the comment his sister made. If they actually believed that they were in the same boat as muggle-born children just because a few families hated them as well then they were seriously wrong. He was glad when she told him that she was fine, even if it looked like she had cried not too long ago and continued to listen to her. ''Is there anything I can do?'' the Slytherin offered. He felt bad that the girl who had organised all of it was upset just because some stupid shitheads had to make it all about them as soon as the discussion started.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley nodded, relieved that the boy seemed to understand the intent of Hayley's event. "We really appreciated what you said though. I... think it was especially meaningful for Hayley to hear from someone in her own house. She's had a lot of problems there." Harley couldn't speak for her friend, but the amount of time Hayley spent hanging with the Gryffindor members of their group and avoiding her own common room spoke a lot about how safe she felt there to Harley. When the boy asked if he could help Harley hesitated, then nodded. "Hayley wants to try again, in a safer setting. Just to have a discussion about options. All she wants is to at least try to fix problems. If you've got ideas I'm sure she would appreciate it if you came. We'll be making sure it's in a safer place though. Not so public." Harley knew none of them would blame the boy if this incident had scared him off their cause, but he seemed like the kind of person who would be valuable to have on their side.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

''Yeah, Slytherin's not the best house,'' the sixth year said. He had his own problems with his house, especially after his friend was called something he did not want to repeat again just because of her blood status. He listened as she said that they wanted to try this again and thought that it was brave of the girl to organise another meeting after what went down earlier. If she was really serious about this then he would not have to hesitate in joining her as he too thought that all this prejudice bullshit needed to stop, especially since he sometimes worried about his girlfriend's chances of getting accepted for a job because of the fact that she was a werewolf which he thought was unfair because Marisol was one of the best people that he knew. Asaiah nodded his head, ''All right, just tell me when and where and I will be there,'' he told her.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley nodded. She had heard much the same about Slytherin. "Yeah, Hayley's had a lot of trouble there. I think she's glad you're a Slytherin too though. It's probably nice to know there's at least someone else there she knows has their head on the right way." Rocking from foot to foot a little awkwardly, Harley was relieved when the boy said he would come to their next meeting. "Thanks! I'll put your name on Hayley's list when I get back to her." She paused for a moment. "Actually, what is your name? I'm Harley Tsuji, my friend who was running things is Hayley Elridge. This was all her idea."

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

It saddened the sixth year to hear that the girl had had some trouble in their house. Things in Slytherin House needed to change, and if it were up to him he'd start by getting rid of Professor Styx - the man wasn't doing the students of his house any good by acting as if he didn't care about them. It made him wonder why the Headmistress hadn't sacked the grumpy Professor already. Surely she would know that he wasn't suited for the position of Head of House, right? ''It's Asaiah Murphy,'' he told the girl named Harley when she asked what his name was. ''You can tell Hayley that I won't be making a ruckus during the next meeting then,'' he said jokingly

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley nodded, making a mental note of the older boy's name to put it on Hayley's list as soon as possible. She laughed at his joke, relieved that Asaiah seemed to have a sense of humour about all this. "I think a little ruckus is appreciated, but if there are punches flying, let me take them next time, deal?" She grinned, taking a step back. "I should get back to Hayley anyway. Thanks again for everything you said."

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

He smiled when she told him that she should get back to her friend and nodded. ''Yeah and I should probably have someone look at this,'' he said, pointing at his face. It was starting to hurt a lot more whilst talking so hoped that after the girl would leave, one of the nurses would come and help him. ''Thanks for checking up on me, you didn't have to but it is appreciated,'' he told her with a small smile.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley nodded, looking at the boy's injury again. It definitely didn't look any less painful. "Yeah, someone should look at that. I hope you feel better soon." She gave him a casual wave, stepping back. "Cool to meet you. See you at the next meeting." Harley said in parting, before leaving the hospital wing to go update Hayley on the situation.