Over Reaction

[Felix Warrick]

The comments made about him in the latest edition of rumour has it were outrageous and there was no way he was going to sit in the Great hall while people around him discussed his and many other peoples little sections. Felix wasn't sure what he was more angry about, the portrayal as him as desperate, Lydia as boring or the blatant lie about his intentions towards Alana. He looked at the Slytherin girl as a friend, one of the few he had these days and the last thing he wanted was the article making her think he had been pursuing her.

Felix stormed out of the Great hall having heard enough of the chatter around him. He didn't understand how such a magazine was allowed to exist when he it hurt so many people. Professor being accused of attempted murder, students being accused of leading a boy to his death, the authors clearing taking pleasure of the biggest tragedy to hit the school in years. Not to mention the relationships that would be effected by the revelations that were made in the magazine. Felix pulled out his wand and burned the magazine in his hand, letting the ashes fall to the floor. The prefect needed a moment to clear his head before he decided his next destination.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Everything had been spiralling out of control for Maddie. She had tried to keep her feelings under check but it didn't work out how she had planned. She didn't want to hurt anyone and definitely not the people who were mentioned in the article with her. She felt so angry at what was written about her and Olivia and they had the audacity to bring in Fee, James and Lyra too? She felt humiliated and distraught. Especially since Felix decided to break up with her in front of everybody in the Great Hall because of what he had read in that dreadful magazine. She had to find the people that were mentioned with her, to apologise. She mumbled an apology to Felix but she was too embarrassed to talk to him anymore and was thankful when he left her. She didn't want to say anything more in front of everyone in the Great Hall who would love more than anything to hear more gossip. She needed to find Olivia and talk to her but that would be hard since Maddie never saw her these days and it was so hard to speak to her when they were at the Heta meetings. There were so many things that Maddie wanted to tell her but could never pluck up the courage to say and it was probably worthless now anyway, after what was written in the magazine. It was also going to be hard to find James who seemed to be doing his best to avoid her after their argument not too long ago. Of course what was written about the two of them was false. After all, Maddie had hardly seen James that year, they had both decided to keep out of each others way so why on earth would something about them sneaking off together be in that magazine?

Waves of emotion kept flooding over Maddie as she continuously read over the words written about her. Particularly the part about Felix and Lyra. She knew there was something weird between them and she even felt bad about confronting Lyra that day, but not anymore. She knew she had reason to be suspicious of the two of them and it seemed that others had noticed too. She wondered how quickly Lyra and Felix would get together now that Maddie was out of the picture. Her hands began to shake so she put the magazine down and decided to leave the Great Hall to find somewhere quiet where she could make sense of everything that had just happened. She needed to get away from everyone and their judgemental looks that seemed to follow her around the room.

She couldn't really blame Felix for breaking up with her after what he had just read and the fact that they had spent hardly anytime together this year which is probably why she didn't protest much when he told her. Inside, she was a little glad that he had done it, it was for the best for both of them despite Maddie not wanting to admit that. She was too busy thinking to notice where she was going and before she knew it she had bumped into someone. "Oh... Sorry" she mumbled while stroking her arm not caring or realising who it was that she had banged into.

 

[Felix Warrick]

Felix didn't care much for drama, he got enough of it at home so the last thing he wanted was to be involved in, what had been so eloquently described as a love hexagon. He hated that word being used as a tool to create drama, not to mention of the three girls he had been accused of going after, he hadn't loved any of them. Lydia was tbe only one he had actually dated but he wasn't sure he had actually loved her, there hadn't been enough time for them to really fall that deeply for each other, they had been too busy making out in the library stacks.

The Great hall was still a buzz with the latest juicy gossip that RHI had offered up, his story just one portion of that. He felt for the people mentioned, the secrets revealed, the relationships destroyed, the wounds opened up. It was truly disguisting. Felix wasn't sure where he was heading once he was out of the hall but he wanted to.be away from the gossip, he didn't look where he was going when he turned towards the staircase and didn't spot the girl who collided into him. "Sorry, I didn't spot you, are you ok? He asked, the girl visibly upset.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie looked up and realised that the person she had bumped into was one of the boys that was also mentioned in the magazine. He also looked like he had been affected by what was written about him and Maddie felt a little sorry for him. "I think we must have had the same idea" she said, smiling weakly at him. "That magazine is pretty horrid isn't it?" she said looking at the floor and then shrugged her shoulders. Was she alright? She hadn't had time to process what had happened. She shook her head and nodded towards the Great Hall and hoped the boy would understand.

 

[Felix Warrick]

Felix laughed at the girls comment, clearly they had been thinking the same. "Yeah, clearly. Hanging around while people gossip about you isn't my idea of fun, glad to see I'm not the only one," He smiled thinking back to the magazine. He remembered the article about the girl in front of him. Relationship drama, like his own in some respects, though the article seemed to suggest she had been rather permiscuous in her relationship, something about a boy called James and one of his fellow Ravenclaws Olivia. "Any of yours true?" He asked wondering if she really did sneak off to dark corners with someone who wasn't her boyfriend, amd for some reason he was particularly interested to hear if she really did kiss Olivia at the Valentines ball.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie smiled a little "no... it's not great when you're the subject of the gossip" she replied feeling sick as she thought about what people might be saying. She wondered if she should tell the boy opposite her the truth, about what was true and what was false as reported in the magazine. He seemed like he could be trusted and they were both in the same boat so what did she have to lose? She looked at her feet "some of it is true" she admitted. "Although, I don't sneak around in abandoned classrooms with my housemates. In fact, the one that i'm supposed to do that with is a boy that I really dislike" she rambled. "But the Olivia thing is true" she sighed, feeling her cheeks going red. "And I did have a boyfriend at the time... But he broke up with me after reading that stupid magazine" she spat. Maddie was angry rather than sad at that moment but she was sure that emotion would come to pass soon. "What about yours?" she asked in return wondering how deep the truth ran in his story.

 

[Felix Warrick]

Felix ran his hand through his hair as he listened to the girl talk through the parts of the story that was true and what wasn't. He was quite intrigued to hear that she had in fact kissed the girl in question, she seemed almost sorrowful about it but her mood soon changed when she mentioned that her boyfriend had dumped her. The girl seemed quite angry, which Felix was rather confused by. Surely when the revelation came out that she had kissed someone else while dating him, he would be upset and that breaking up would be a possibility. "Oh right, how do you feel about the break up? I mean you did kiss someone else, wouldn't you rather be with her?" He asked. He didn't understand how someone could do something like kiss someone they weren't dating, then be annoyed they got dumped. In his mind if you wanted to kiss someone else, you didn't want to be with the person you were supposed to be dating. "I'm sorry, its not my place to comment on your relationships, I am sorry though, it wasn't that long ago I got dumped so I know it sucks," He smiled, Felix didn't talk about his break up much but he felt like it was appropriate. "Oh yeah mine, it's true I dated Lydia, and had sort of a thing with Saveli, we went to the Yule ball and such, but I was never pursuing Alana, as for that tool Gabriel, I did punch him and I'd gladly do it again," Felix said getting worked up himself.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie sighed, more angrily than she had intended. How did she feel about the breakup? Distraught obviously. What a stupid question to ask after what had happened. She rolled her eyes "I'm obviously annoyed. He broke up with me because of what he read in that magazine and half of it isn't even true. And Olivia kissed me! And now he's going to go to Lyra and she's going to be so smug about everything and I cant bear it!" she said trying to hold back the tears that were beginning to sting her eyes. She wiped them away angrily "god this is so stupid!" she said to herself more than the boy opposite. "I don't know what I want right now, it's all so confusing!" she said grabbing the roots of her hair while looking at the floor. Maddie really had no idea what she wanted at that moment. She was angry, angry at everyone but she couldn't blame them because it was all of her own making. She was so frustrated that she had no control over the situation. It seemed like she had lost everything in a matter of minutes and having a stranger judge her didn't help the situation.

She was glad when he finally spoke about his own relationship troubles, the more Maddie dwelled on hers the angrier she found herself getting. She had no idea who the people were that he was talking about but it sounded complicated and Maddie was thankful that there was someone else out there who had a confusing situation like hers. She frowned as the boy told his story and mentioned the other guy, Gabriel. She had heard that name before and she didn't think he was that nice. "I've heard he's a nasty piece of work. Probably for the best that you punched him to be honest" she replied, nervously laughing.

 

[Felix Warrick]

Felix felt better for getting everything off his chest, he didn't think he would but he was glad he had been able to let loose on someone. Though he did feel bad for what he said to the girl, she had unloaded on him and he had come across rather judgemental when he didn't know the whole story and the more she explained the worse he felt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to judge, your boyfriend isn't worth your time if he dumped you over a magazine without even giving you a chance to explain, you're better off without him," He siled at her.

The girls comment about Gabriel made Felix laugh, it was refreshing to hear someone talk about him the same way he did. Lydia and Saveli both seemed blind to how he really was. When he was finished talking about his own problems he noticed that the girl had teared up. Ignoring the fact she still seemed a little angry and that she had wiped the tears away, Felix pulled her into a hug. He held her in place for longer than he expected before they slowly pulled apart, their eyes locked onto each others. Felix threw caution to the wind, they were both single what harm could it do. He leaned down towards the younger girl and planted his lips on hers.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie shook her head as if to shake away the boy's apology "it doesn't matter. You were probably right to judge. I wasn't the best girlfriend upon reflection" she said sadly. Third year was a mess and it seemed to have passed so fast that she hadn't realised what she had been doing. She had been incredibly selfish and she had deserved everything that had just happened to her. "I don't know, he was pretty great" she sighed, angry at herself for what she had done.

She was grateful that the older boy pulled her into a hug, she hadn't realised how much she had needed that intimacy until that moment. She closed her eyes and brought her own arms around the boy's middle and savoured the moment. It was a little strange that she had poured her heart out to a complete stranger and for him to respond with such warmness but she was thankful nonetheless. She broke the hug and looked into his eyes and smiled sincerely for the first time in what seemed like ages. Quite unexpectedly, the boy initiated a kiss that Maddie was almost worried to return but in the end she wholeheartedly kissed him back. What did she have to lose now? Nothing. The magazine already painted her out to be a vile person with no consideration or respect for anyone else so what choice did she have but to play that part? One more person couldn't hurt surely? Maybe it would add to the fanciful story that the magazine had made up.

She pulled away and became very aware of how exposed the two of them were in the Entrance Hall and looked around for somewhere for the two of them to go where they would be alone and she saw a door ajar and decided to be as impulsive as the older boy and she grabbed his hand and dragged him into the room which turned out to be a broom closest and she started to laugh. Whoever reported for the magazine would have a field day seeing the two of them together, sneaking off into a cupboard. The whole situation was ridiculous but in that moment Maddie didn't care, the only thing she cared was kissing the boy opposite her. She stood on her tip toes and pulled the older boy into another kiss, wrapping her arms around the boy's neck.