Needing A Second Chance

[Scarlett Vittori]

Scarlet knew she was bad at Quidditch. She didn't think that she was this bad though! If she knew she was this horrible at the sport, she would never had tried out. But of course, being the idiot she was, she had hoped this would catch his eye as it had in the last year. It didn't though. In fact, nothing she did wrong, nothing she accomplished, and nothing involving her caught his attention anymore. As if she didn't exist in his world. She never thought she'd miss him the little hugs he'd always give her. She never thought she'd miss the attention. But most of all, she never thought she'd miss him this much. Shaking her head at the though of Jakobe Hitachiin entering her mind again, she tried to concentrate on her flying and catching the snitches she often borrowed for practice. And yet, with the utter stupidity and clumsiness that she was probably the only one who possessed, as she reached for the snitch, her hand holding on to her broom slipped and she lost her balance, causing her to fall of her broom with a thud to the ground. Thankfully, she was flying low enough to not injure herself but definitely high enough to hurt. She sat up with a groan with tears in her eyes before grabbing her broom and making way to the cliffs. She didn't think she was ready for anybody in her team to see her in this state if they ever decided to come to the Pitch.

The Cliffs was at a great place. Mostly because it was one of the places that she least had memories with Jake with. After all, she never had any real reason to go here except to draw by herself. And that used to be a rare occasion, with Jakobe taking her from one class to the next and accompanying her most of the day, there was hardly anytime she had by herself. But now it seems that's all she has: alone time. She could probably talk to Giuls, but she was scared. What if he started ignoring her too? Because she was a bother. Because she was too weird and too much work. Because she was selfish. That's probably why Jake had suddenly left her alone. As soon as she got to the top of the cliffs, that's when she let the tears finally fall. Her frustration, her sadness, her loneliness. Everything burst into drops of saltwater from her eyes. She missed them. She really did. But he missed him more than anyone. And she wanted him back. That's what's probably making her selfish. But she didn't care. She could change. She would change. As long as he'll come back, as long as they could go back. Because that's how much he meant to her right now. If only she just knew what she needed to change to make him come back. And it was as if her silent pleas were answered when she saw a familiar figure, yes, he'll know what she did wrong! He surely would! Quickly wiping the tears from her eyes, she quickly stood and broke into a run, holding her broom in her hand, her quidditch robes flailing wildly as she did. "Giuls!" she called louder than any other time she probably did. "I need to talk to you about Jake, please," she told him quickly, her voice pleading as she stopped right behind him. Waiting for a response, any response. Any sort of indication that he could help her. That she had a chance of being with Jake again.
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[Arturo Raven]

Arturo had failed in his attempt to get his brother to behave seriously. He was, afterall, engaged or something. The Ravenclaw could not quite remember, as he had not thought too much into it. He had been too busy writing to his friend, Ariadne, who was possibly the only reasonable person he knew. In fact, the majority of the people he spoke with these days were actually Giuliano's best friend, Jakobe Hitachiin, a pure blood that had to be the stupidest person walking. Often, their conversations were entirely one-sided and about Scarlet Joussane, a particularly irritating girl that somehow managed to be dumber than his fellow Ravenclaw. The Ravenclaw rolled his eyes and he tucked his Ravenclaw scarf into his plain black jumper, his dark hair mostly obscuring the rich blue. Whenever he went anywhere, he would be stopped by Giuliano's friends. Firstly, they would talk to him as if he were his brother, and when he eventually managed to inform them that, no, he was not the overly friendly Hufflepuff, they didn't seem to care either way, and would continue telling him their problems - as if he actually cared. He did not want to talk to them, let alone hear their problems. And there were plenty of was to tell him and his brother apart - such as the colour of their scarfs, for one. Giuliano was bigger than him, as well, from eating a more meat-inclined diet and actually playing sport and other things that Arturo had no interest in. But most of all, Giuliano clearly looked like a simpleton, while Arturo was much more serious looking, in his opinion.

He sighed, and slouched his shoulders as he heard the pet name of his brother called by a feminine voice. His brother's friend, Scarlet the Hufflepuff, came running over in her Quidditch gear. Her face seemed a little puffy - probably from tears. He stared at her apathetically. Apparently she needed to speak with his brother about Jake. Maybe there were some issues - which he could understand. She was not a pureblood. Case closed. Her being in front of him was bad enough. "Oh really?" he asked, feigning interest. "What's happened?"he asked, in his most caring and considering voice. Ugh, he wanted to throw up.
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[Scarlett Vittori]

Scarlet couldn't help the little confidence that grew inside her once she found that Giuls was willing to listen to her. That probably meant she still had hope right? After all, if there really was not hope to save her friendship with Jake then Giuls wouldn't ask her side of the story. He probably wouldn't acknowledge her, like how Jake was currently doing. She really just need to know what's wrong. She needed to know what she did wrong. However, now that she was actually standing in front of him, she didn't know what to say. She never really had to say much after all. Giuls and Jake could do enough talking for the three of them and then some so there was really no need for her to utter a sentence. And it's not like she would ask for much from the two anyways, maybe except help with lessons, especially from Jake. But otherwise, she was as silent as she could possibly. So, now that she had actually been the one to approach the Hufflepuff first, she didn't exactly know how to go about what she needed without sounding too selfish and too demanding. Gulping, she tried to quickly form a coherent sentence in her mind.

"Uh. I just, uh-," she stuttered quietly and mentally slapping herself. She wasn't making any sense! It had already been a few seconds and she barely able to utter anything! As if they haven't been friends for more than three years! But that's exactly what she felt right now. He wasn't the usual warm Giuliano she knew, and that's probably why it was making her harder to talk to him than usual. "It's just that... I was wondering... D-did anything happen to Jake?" she bit her lip softly, no longer able to keep eye contact with the boy either as she was afraid that she'd probably break down if she looked into his eyes. "I-is he mad at me? I don't know what I did wrong you see. And this is the first time this happened," she continued to tell him, her tone going softer and softer until it above a whisper. "I just... Need to know what I did wrong. And I thought he'd tell you. I'll apologize and do my best to fix whatever's wrong with me. I can, you know, change, whatever he doesn't want about me," she finished as she waited with bated breath for the Hufflepuff's reply. That was probably the most she had said in a while. But what could she do? She missed him. And if talking a lot meant she could have him back, then she'd gladly do so. Because that's how much she wants him back.
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[Arturo Raven]

Because everyone seemed interested in talking with him, Arturo had a complete (or at least 90 percent) understanding of the situation. Scarlet was not a pureblood, Jakobe was, therefore, they were incomputable. Jakobe was no longer speaker to her because he clearly came to this realisation. Or something, he barely listened to any of them. And now, here they were. Arturo was looking for peace and quiet, while Scarlet was clearly trying to string words together and was failing miserably. He shifted his weight between his feet, waiting impatiently for her to get a move on, as he had more important things to do than stand around all day staring at her. She looked like a partially squished tomato, and the Italian-born boy wanted nothing to do with her. He ran his tongue across his teeth as she finally began speaking. it had taking her long enough and this charade had already began boring him half to death. How his brother could associate with these people - it was impossible for him to understand. As she finally finished, Arturo nodded slightly. Yup, she was pathetic.

Not only was she stupid, but she had the personality of a sponge, and the backbone of a caterpillar. No-wonder she was a blubbering mess - simply managing to speak was clearly a huge accomplishment for her. Regarding her as one might a bug on a windowsill, Arturo hmmed knowingly. "I see," he responded, digging some dirt out from under his nails, as that was far more interesting than the girl in front of him. "Well, I'm sorry Scarlet, but you can't change," he explained, showing his teeth in a very unfriendly grin. "You see, you're issue isn't your ugly face, or awkward walk, or even your pathetic personality." He could have gone on, but he was feeling kind today. "It's the dirty taint running through your veins. How could someone with the breeding of Jakobe - or even myself - be friends with something like you? You're a mess, blubbering about wanting to change. Your kind can't change, and that's why I pity you, Scarlet." He folded his arms across his chest mockingly, and stared her down with dark eyes. "Clearly, Jakobe has grown bored with you. He was only your friend out of pity to begin with, like how sometimes you'll rescue a fly from a spiders web - that's all you are to him, Scarlet. A fly, buzzing around a very sticky web, and today is the day you get caught, and we are not here to pull you free." He was in her personal space now, and smiled once more. "We will just point, and laugh."
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[Scarlett Vittori]

A lot of things could surprise Scarlet Joussane. She wasn't particularly scared much. One could say she was just a little jumpy most of the time. But when it comes to words, they barely surprised her anymore. After all, she did go through muggle school and while that and magic school were different, they had several things in common. One of them would be bullies. Several years of her life had been trying to either fend them off or just surviving another day while enduring their seemingly endless torment. Someone had eventually put a stop to it though. Jakobe Hitachiin and Giuliano Raven. They never really fended anyone off, but with their constant presence, she had been coming out of her shell, and no one else ever came near her since her attention would be frequently occupied by one of either boys. More of the Raven than the Puff though. As a matter of fact, Jake had been her rock. Especially during Brody's death. He had been with her through those tough times and helped her recover. And so, hearing all this come from Giuliano's mouth, she was beyond shocked. She was frozen.

Why she was frozen, she didn't know. If it was from utter shock. Utter fear. Utter betrayal. She didn't know. All she knew was that every limb, every muscle of hers refused to move as soon as the words and the look on the Hufflepuff's face changed from that of the usual friendly one she knew. She couldn't utter a single word. All her words gone. All her hope, gone. Every bit of confidence, every bit of courage she had gathered in her years in Hogwarts, all but gone. She stood there, trembling at the sight of the person she thought was her friend, her lips quivering, her knees wobbly until it all but gave up on her weight and she slumped to the ground. The realization of what he had told her slowly sinking into the recesses of her mind. "Blood... status... t-that's it?" she whispered all but utter shock as she closed her eyes and wished to just disappear. That was it? She lost both of her friends because of her blood status? Three whole years. They gained their trust. And now that they had all of it... they just... left her? She was in complete shock that nothing could be comprehended in her current state of mind. She didn't notice when she bit her lip too hard to draw blood. She didn't notice when the river of tears fell silently from her eyes. She never noticed who came and who had left. All there was left was the pain in her heart which was just as painful, if not more, than the death of her own brother.
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[Jakobe Vittori]

Jakobe nodded to Giuliano as they walked out of the great hall. They had just finished lunch and were now making their way to the grounds. "Have you spoken to her since?" Even though Jake was no longer allowed to associate with Scarlet, he wanted to know if his friend had seen her, or spoken to her. He had no idea how she would be taking his avoidance. He hoped she would be okay, or that maybe she simply hadn't realised, though that was wishful thinking on his part, mainly because he hadn't been taking her to her classes as he once had done. There were so many things happening right now, he just didn't know which way was up anymore! Correcting his scarf, well, it was Giuliano's scarf, as he walked outside, Jake looked around and pointed to the cliffs. "Why don't we go sit up there? We haven't been there in a while and we can keep an eye out for Scarlet, hopefully duck away before she notices." He hated doing this to her, but it was the only way he knew to keep her safe. If his family ever suspected, who knew what they would do to her. Well, he had seen it with Emiko. One day she was there, the next she was gone, just like that. No one even mentioned her anymore. Jake had to wonder what had happened. Though he had to admit that it was fairly obvious.

Jake lead the pair up the hill and to the cliffs, only when he got there, he was not much inclined to admire the view he was confronted with. Scarlet was on the ground, Jake didn't know why, but he didn't like it. She was being stood over by none other than Giuliano's twin. Jake shot a quick look to Giuliano and ran to Scarlet, dropping to his knees in front of her. She was in tears, shaking, her lip was bleeding. Jake was not happy at all. He whipped his head around to look at Arturo, though he did not move from Scarlet's side. "What did you do, Arturo!" He quickly placed his hands either side of Scarlet's face and looked between her and the other boy. "She's bleeding. Why is she bleeding!? Did you hit her?" He looked at Scarlet again. Merlin, she looked like she was in so much pain. He touched her lip slightly. "Scar, did he hurt you? What happened?" He looked at Giuliano. "Deal with your brother!"
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[Giuliano Raven]

Giuliano shrugged his shoulders at his friend, and frowned. He did not wish to tell him how confused Scarlet was at his sudden avoidance, but he could also not lie to him. Jakobe would see right through his lie, and would probably jump to even worse conclusions than the already bad reality. Scarlet was beyond confused of his absence. She was clearly upset, and Giuliano himself had been avoiding tyring to tell her anything. He did not want to hurt her, as he knew that Jakobe's decision to not associate with her would have already done that. Making her fears known would have just made it worse for her to deal with. There would be no way that she would understand where they were coming from. She would just hear the worst of it and probably cry or something. He shrugged once more at his friend, trying to think of something to tell him. "Only a little bit," he replied solemnly. "She... is not taking it so well." He chewed on his lip, and was glad when Jakobe did not seem inclined to press him for a more detailed report on the situation. The hufflepuff had been trying to keep both his friends happy, but it was difficult with one ignoring the other, but still wanting to be friends with them, and the other being completely confused at to why this was all happening. It was not fair on anyone, but the young Hufflepuff also understood that this was how it had to be, and that was that.

He followed Jakobe up to the cliffs, thinking that this would be the perfect vantage point to watch out for Scarlet, and not get caught by her at the same time. With Jakobe's Ravenclaw scarf blowing in the wind behind him, the Hufflepuff followed his Ravenclaw friend up the cliffs, slipping a few times but being pulled up and kept from falling by Jakobe. He gasped, however, when he found that his brother and Scarlet were up there. Scarlet was on the ground, while Arturo was laughing at her, and looking far too pleased with himself. He yelled at him in Italian, before quickly reverting to English out of respect for his friends, and to stop himself from swearing at his brother. He ran to his friends, and tried to glare. "Arturo, what are you doing?" he demanded, stomping his foot slightly. Giuliano's eyes widened as he too came to the realisation that Scarlet was bleeding. "You hit Scarlet?" he roared, storming towards his brother. Everyone said that Arturo had a temper and was hot headed, but Giuliano was far more similar to his brother emotionally than he let on. He shoved his brother away from his friends, towards the cliff edge. "Just. Go away!"
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[Scarlett Vittori]

Scarlet just remained rooted in her place, slumped and unmoving. Her lip still bleeding though she couldn't feel the pain. Her eyes continued to shed tears though she couldn't feel the wetness on her cheeks. It seemed as if all sense of feeling was gone, all of it reverted into a small dull throb. A dull throb that was nothing compared to the pain of her furiously beating heart. The pain residing on the square of her chest. It was a pain as bad if not worse than the one she had two years ago when she lost her brother. She felt numb except for the pain that made it hard for her to swallow. That was making it hard for her to breathe. She knew she was crying, she knew she was bleeding. But she didn't care. She could no longer care. For once she hid inside a shell, now it seemed as if she, herself, was the shell. She didn't think one could hurt this much. She didn't think it would be this hard and this painful alone. She didn't think she'd ever cry this hard again. But this time, he was not there with her.

Scarlet barely noticed the arrival of the her two friends. Or should she say, the two boys that used to be her friends. She should've been confused by the two Giuliano's though. She should have put the pieces together. But all of it, to her, was a passing blur. Even the Jakobe's presence, who no longer seemed intent with ignoring her. He was right there. Calling for her. Though she barely understood a word he said. Or rather, she didn't hear a word he said. She didn't know what was going on. Her mind seemed to have shut down. It was exhausted. She was exhausted. And she could do nothing more than look blankly at him, no longer caring how messed up her appearance was. Her once pinkish hue that would often turn red was devoid from her face, and her once happy eyes was blank of emotion. She looked at him, tears still streaming down her face, remembering his words to her two years ago. "You said we had forever right?" she said, her blank face showing no emotion until her lips curved into a smile that no longer reached her eyes. "Can I have mine back?" was the last thing she could say as if that would take away the pain the betrayal had caused her. As if him telling her straight to her face that their friendship was over would be enough to take away the burning in her chest. Because he promised her forever, and she believed in it.
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[Justin Joussane]

Justin Joussane was having an uneventful day. But he was worried. How could he not be? It had already been a few weeks since the start of the semester and his sister was different from how she usually was at school. Yes, it was normal for her to be quite... unsociable, but he had been seeing great progress in her lately thanks to her two friends to which he had quickly come to know as Jakobe Hitachiin and the Hufflepuff half of the Raven twins, Giuliano. After all, every semester, as the days passed, her mood would become lighter and lighter. This year, however, was an opposite effect, for her moods were getting worse and worse by the day. He didn't know why though, for she avoided him thrice as much as he normally did at home. So he never really got the chance to ask her how things were. Today though, he decided to patrol on the cliffs and let himself be surrounded by the fresh air. Though more than that was what he found and he wasn't exactly pleased by what he saw either as soon as he stepped foot on the steep slope of land.

Now, Jakobe and Scarlet kneeling on the floor wasn't so bad. And the twins, or more like, one of the twins, was screaming at the other wasn't so bad either. Or at least, until he saw his sister's blank crying face and bleeding lip and for only a few seconds that he wasn't looking at the twins, they somehow had managed to both fall over, so he didn't know who pushed who and who was screaming at who. Normally he would have felt anger, but now he was just downright confused and it was frustrating him as hell. "ENOUGH!" he bellowed before the twins could get at each other's throats again and he couldn't even determine who was Giuliano and who was Arturo. "Arturo and Giuliano, you are both coming with me to the hospital wing and straight to detention in my office. I don't care who is who so you're both coming with me," he said as he helped both boys up grabbed each of them by the arm and started walking back to the castle. He will get an explanation even if he had to pry it off of their tongues. "Jakobe, you're coming to detention as well so come to my office," he called out before leaving with the two Ravens, entrusting her sister to the Ravenclaw. She was fond of him after all, and that was enough for him to trust the boy with her wellbeing.
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[Arturo Raven]

Arturo found himself being thrown back by his brother, as everyone assumed he hit the stupid girl. Honestly, he had no idea how she managed to cut her lip, but it was not his fist that did it. As soon as his brother began yelling at him, he felt his temper flaring, but was trying to keep it under control out of family loyalty. But as soon as his brother touched him, it was all over from there and the Ravenclaw dragged the Hufflepuff down to the ground with him, receiving a few blows to the face along the way. They rolled several times, sometimes rather close to the edge. Somehow, his nose began bleeding after Giuliano's knee hit it, and from that point on, everything was a blur. He became furious at this response from his brother, and knew that their parents would be furious, but once Professor Joussane was on the scene, Arturo was sitting on Giuliano's back, with his brother in a headlock. As the Professor called for attention, Arturo swore in Italian (several times) and was pulled away from his brother, who had a bruised face and was probably just as covered in scrapes and bruises as he was from the rocks on the ground. He tried to rush at his brother, but both were securely separated by the professor, and instead he settled for a glare, and a promise that this would continue when they got home.
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[Jakobe Vittori]

Jakobe could not believe what was happening around him right now. How could he have let this happen? He wasn't supposed to go near Scarlet, but how was he supposed to stay away if things like this happened? He ignored Giuliano and his brother, his full attention was on Scarlet. She was hurt and he needed to help her. In whatever way that he could. He kept his eyes on her as he checked her for other injuries. She didn't look like she was hurt anywhere else, but he couldn't be sure, he was no healer, his thing was History. Jake was angry at himself for not seeing this sooner. Why hadn't Giuls said she was this bad? He was about to speak again when the sound of her voice stopped him. Forever. She wanted a forever. Had he promised her a forever? Jake wracked his brain, but he was coming up blank. Why couldn't he remember? She meant more to him than that, he should know this. Not wanting her to think he hated her, Jake placed both hands on her cheeks and brought her head towards him to give her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Cry as long as you need to Scar, we can have your forever." He didn't know why she was crying, or why she was here, but this was the least he could do for her.

It was about that time that they were interrupted. Professor Joussane, Scarlet's older brother came walking up the hill towards the cliffs. It was now that Jake also realised that Giuliano was fighting with his brother. "Giuls! Don't kill him!" The Professor broke it up before it got out of hand, thankfully and Jake was left to bring Scarlet along. He was told to go to the Professor's office for a detention, but he figured he would drop Scarlet off at the hospital wing first. She needed to get that cut looked at. After that, then he would show up for his detention, even though he knew he deserved it, he still wasn't happy.
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Fin!​

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