Of Mandrakes and Archenemies

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob Kingsley was not a happy camper. The brief moments of pleasure he had enjoyed in Charms were swiftly fading away as he moved closer to the Hufflepuff boy. The twelve year old had heard a pretty interesting rumor, and if there was any truth to it, he wasn't going to be happy about it. Jacob moved by another student, barely avoiding banging into them in his haste. He wanted to catch the boy before he made it to the steps and was still a little away. "Hey! Arvel!" he finally called out, taking quick steps to meet him. "I'd like a word with you" he stated, sounding none too pleased. He wasn't really paying attention to whether or not he had anyone around him, so focused he was on getting this off his chest. "Alone" he added as he finally looked around, knowing the rest of their class was walking by.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

As far as Arvel could remember, he'd never talked badly of Jacob to anybody besides Analei - and even then he mostly just agreed with her, nodding along sympathetically while she vented her frustrations (which, admittedly, was fairly often). So when Jacob came up behind him, calling his name, he had no real reason to think he'd done anything that might have angered him. And yet the Gryffindor's tone of voice - the request to talk to Arvel alone - made his stomach sink like a rock in a cold lake. His subconscious knew he'd done something awful before he could remember what it was; he racked his brain quickly, thinking that if he could recall it, he might be able to come up with an excuse before Jacob brought it up. Arvel glanced at Analei, giving her a look that told her to go ahead - he'd catch up with her. "OK," he said to Jacob. Fear jumping around in his stomach, he stepped to the quieter side of the corridor, wondering if this would be private enough. Why was he so nervous? Why couldn't he remember what he'd done?

 

[Analei Westwick]

Hearing Jacob's voice made Analei's skin crawl. She hadn't had anything to do with him since she lost her temper, since she lost control of her magic. It hadn't been bad. No one was hurt. She tried to put him out of her mind, especially when she saw Emilia sitting with him. She was hurt by the betrayal, and all of it was Jacob's fault. Analei looked at Arvel, unsure why Jacob wanted to talk to him, and was about to say that she didn't take orders from Jacob, and she was going to stay with Arvel, but he gave her a look. Frowning at the situation, Analei only took a few steps away from them, but leaned against the wall, watching the situation unfold, close enough to be able to hear if they spoke in normal voices. She hoped they didn't whisper.
​

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Had Jacob not been so annoyed, he might have enjoyed watching Analei listening to him. Sort of. She was still just a few feet away and he rolled his eyes before following behind Arvel so that they were out of the center of the corridor. Now that he was here ready to confront the teen, he nearly got cold feet but he pushed through. "Someone told me...did you really..." he was stumbling over his words, his hands balled into fists at his frustration. "Herbology" he finally hissed. If it was true, he was sure that would get some kind or reaction out of the Hufflepuff. Jacob had thought it was just some silly rumor but the more he thought about it and the more he'd learned about Arvel, the more insulted he'd become. Seeing him with Analei helped make some more sense out of it as well.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Jacob's hands, balled into fists, did not escape Arvel's notice. Something was obviously really bothering him - something Arvel had done. At the word Herbology, the Hufflepuff blanched, his memory finally catching up with the sick feeling in his stomach. His mandrake. He'd called it Jacob. But how could Jacob have found out about that? They didn't share the same class. Arvel suddenly realised he'd been naive to think nobody would see the label on his plant and blab. Just because Jacob wasn't in his class, didn't mean there weren't people in his class who liked Jacob - or at least, who enjoyed spreading gossip and starting drama. "Um," he said, eyes darting everywhere except Jacob's face. "Herbology?" A meek shrug. As if he could get away with this now. He might as well have had the word guilty written on his forehead. Though he didn't turn around to check, he sincerely hoped Analei had gone; this was embarrassing enough without his best friend seeing.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob couldn't believe Arvel was playing dumb. Truth be told, even if he had owned up to it, Jacob wouldn't have reacted well. But seeing his shrug made Jacob even more angry. "Did you or did you not name your stupid mandrake after me?" he asked, getting increasingly loud. He wanted a yes or no answer. Jacob was tired of people in this school being mean to him, talking about his family, talking about him. "Huh?" he added, taking a step closer to Arvel as he waited for a reply. Yes, there was another Jacob in their year and countless others in the school, most likely. It was a common enough name. But, there weren't any Jacobs, to his knowledge, who had an issue with one of Arvel's friends who happened to be standing a few feet away. The Gryffindor felt like he'd put two and two together correctly in spite of the fact that math had never been his strong suit. Jacob hoped Analei was at least smart enough to keep out of this, though he didn't expect that she would be. Where he was concerned, she always seemed to interrupt.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

It wasn't funny. It wasn't funny, it wasn't funny, it wasn't funny. But the way Jacob phrased it was funny, a little bit. Arvel bit his cheek hard, but the corners of his mouth crept up to spite him. He looked down, scuffing the ground with his shoe, praying Jacob hadn't noticed. Arvel hadn't meant him any harm. It was meant to be a joke between him and Analei; and everybody had inside jokes, right? The fact it had somehow made its way to Jacob wasn't really Arvel's fault. He shrugged again, still fighting down a smile, determined not to own up to it or apologise, because really, Jacob had upset Analei lots of times and Arvel didn't like him very much. The Hufflepuff allowed himself to drift off a bit, picturing himself at Analei's house, playing board games on the living room table, laughing and drinking lemonade and having fun; and in doing this he could just about pretend he wasn't actually stood in the corridor with Jacob, who had taken a step towards him and was obviously not at all pleased.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Eyes widening behind his glasses, Jacob paused for a moment. Was Arvel really almost laughing at him? The twelve year old had pulled that face often enough that he knew what it was doing; it was disguising a laugh. The Gryffindor's disbelief disappeared a moment later and before he had really thought about it, his hands were up and pushing into the Hufflepuff's shoulders, pushing him backwards as he took another step forward. "Don't shrug! Answer me!" his voice cracked on the final words, a combination of hormones and upset hitting him at precisely that moment. His cheeks were already reddening in anger or he might have flushed in embarrassment. "Why would you do that?" he continued to bellow, taking the silence from earlier as his reply. He expected that if he was wrong, Arvel would have been protesting his innocence. He would have anyway. Jacob didn't care if a crowd was gathering. He wanted answers. He wanted to know why people kept picking on him and wanted to know why they couldn't just leave him alone.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Jacob's hands on Arvel's shoulders slammed the Hufflepuff back down to earth. He stumbled backwards a step, horrified, heart suddenly blazing in his chest. The urge to shove Jacob back was strong, but Arvel didn't have the courage to follow through with it. Instead, he cowered under Jacob's wrath, flinching at his demands to know why and wishing he could stand up for himself for a change. "It was a joke," he mumbled pathetically, his face burning up. He knew he should have lied, said something to pacify him, but his powers of invention were weak at the best of times, let alone under pressure, and once he started the truth just kept coming. "Because you're obnoxious sometimes... and you're just proving my point, so..." Arvel's flat delivery - his avoidance of Jacob's gaze - made his remark sound a lot more pompous than he'd meant it. Really, he was just making an accurate observation. Surely somebody in the crowd would realise that, and stick up for him?

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei was feeling anxious about the whole situation, biting her lip as she heard what it was about. Arvel had named his mandrake as a joke, and it was hilarious to Analei. Now, however, it wasn't. She didn't want Arvel to get hurt because of her, and she certainly felt like the whole problem was because of her. When Jacob took a step closer to Arvel, she put her hand around her wand. She didn't know many spells, but she had won her duel, and surely that meant something. Analei took a couple of steps towards the two, knowing that a crowd was forming. She gasped as Jacob shoved Arvel. "Stop it!" Analei yelled, but Arvel continued to talk. She had to admire his courage, telling it as he saw it, but she wished that he would just walk away. Analei still held tightly onto her wand, though she didn't know what she was going to do. Taking another step closer to the two, Analei focused on Arvel. "Let's just go Arvel," She said quietly.
​

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob certainly didn't find it funny, and he figured Arvel realized that now. But the Hufflepuff didnt have the sense to stop there and as he continued, Jacob felt stung by the words. He frowned deeply, the comparison to a mandrake incredibly insulting. The Gryffindor's eyes narrowed again as Arvel still didn't stop. "I'm obnoxious? No you and your stupid friend Analei are the obnoxious ones" he said. Really, he wanted to punch the Hufflepuff and only the small voice that sounded an awful lot like his dad prevented him from doing so. It was a voice telling him to walk away, but he couldn't do that. Not again. He'd walked away from the revolution meeting in tears. He'd walked away from Diana in tears too. "I wish you all would leave me alone!" he yelled as he reached out and shoved the boy again, this time putting as much of his Beater strength as he could into it.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty was on his way back to his office when he noticed a small crowd had gathered near the end of the second floor corridor. Instinctively, he sped up, years of experience teaching him that crowds were very rarely a good sign - especially when they were accompanied by raised voices. One of these voices - the one that seemed to be raised above all others - struck Monty as familiar in a way that made his heart sink before he even realised to whom it belonged. "Jacob!" he yelled, parting the crowd just as the Gryffindor slammed into Arvel with what looked like his entire strength. As Arvel stumbled backwards, Monty stepped in to fill the space between the boys, preventing Jacob from lunging at him again. "Enough! For goodness' sake, calm down." The Professor looked at Analei and Arvel, trying to piece things together with what small fragments of information he had. I wish you all would leave me alone - that was what Jacob had said. "All three of you, with me - you can explain in my office. Now."

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei scowled when Jacob called Arvel and her obnoxious. He was the one that started all the drama, he was the rude one, and just because two friends had a joke between them, he had to get all angry. The Hufflepuff couldn't believe the nerve of him, and how he was punishing Arvel for something so trivial compared to what he was like. Her hand was still on her wand, and anger flared in her bones when he pushed her best friend again. Analei went to take out her wand, to curse and jinx and hex Jacob, though she was still unsure what she'd use, but a voice called out that made her lower her wand. She was thankful that Professor Pendleton was there. He was reasonable, and would be able to see that Jacob was bullying Arvel. As he stood in between the two boys, Analei moved closer to Arvel, grabbing his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze before looking at the Professor incredulously as he told all of them to go to his office. She sighed, supposing they'd better go, or Jacob would spin up some story about how it's their fault. Still holding onto Arvel's hand, Analei started walking to his office, an angry frown still on her face.
​

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob started as he heard his name yelled out. He'd almost forgotten he was in the school and that there were likely to be professors about because he was so angry. A scowl crossed the twelve year old's face as he realized his luck. Of all the professors who could have shown up, this was the second worst one. Jacob didn't bother to change his face as the man stepped in between him and Arvel, wanting him to see how annoyed he was at the situation and at having been interrupted. And it deepened when the man pointed them to his office. Jacob let Analei and Arvel get a bit ahead of him before he followed them, heading for the professor's office where he expected it would be three against one. He didnt have a great history with the deputy headmaster, so he had no reassurance that the man would listen to his side.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel nearly fell backwards with the force of Jacob's shove, just managing to regain his balance as Professor Pendleton appeared to break them up. The Hufflepuff blushed as Analei caught his hand, but he didn't pull his away. It was comforting, and though he wouldn't have admitted so, he needed it. Still, everything would be all right, now. Jacob wouldn't get away with this. He'd shoved Arvel in the middle of the corridor, clear as day. That was what Arvel thought, anyway - so when the Professor ordered all three of them to his office, his mouth opened, lips moving in silent protest. He glared at the ground as he started with Analei down the corridor, sliding his hand out of hers, not unkindly, but in case Jacob or Professor Pendleton saw. He knew he was going to be in trouble for naming his mandrake Jacob, even if it had only been a private joke. Curse his luck. And what if this spread? Wasn't Arvel unpopular enough already?