Questionable Confrontations

[Odette Madison]

Odette was starting to feel pretty good lately. She had her friends that followed her dutifully, she had Margo especially who was... nice to have around, and she had Hayden who was just nice to be around. She was wondering if he liked her, since he had asked her to two dances in a row now. Should she talk to him? Maybe not, wouldn't that look desperate? She had just finished eating lunch by herself, a bit annoyed that the two younger girls she sometimes sat with hadn't been at the table yet. She was on her way to the entrance of the Great Hall when she spotted them. Her two least favorite people in the whole school, Harley Tsuji and Rory Night. She looked around, hoping for any of her friends, Margo or Hayden or even Beaubelle or Jessica. But she didn't spot any of them right away. And the two Gryffindors were coming straight for her. She changed her stance, crossing her arms and glaring at them. If they wanted to come for her now, she would get them back. There was some interesting information about Harley's family she had put together over the holidays, after all. And hey couldn't harm her with the teachers so close.

 

[Aurora Night]

It was with regret that when Rory arrived in the Great Hall with Harley for lunch, she saw Odette Harper rising from the Slytherin table across the hall. She'd been... not exactly avoiding the other girl, but she hadn't been too discouraged about not seeing her anywhere other than during inopportune moments. Rory had meant to give her the letter from Matthew as soon as possible, she really had - she was even carrying it around in her robe pocket everywhere she went. She just wasn't terribly enthused about the actual act of handing it over, was all. However, it seemed the time had finally come and she could be rid of the stupid guilt that liked to creep up on her now and then when she was trying to enjoy herself procrastinating homework, or something.

Nudging Harley's shoulder with her own, Rory indicated Odette coming towards them. "Guess it's now or never. You'll visit my grave, won't you?" she half-heartedly joked before quickening her pace towards the Slytherin. Anything the other girl said surely wouldn't be very welcoming, but all she had to do was stuff the letter in Odette's hand and it would be done with. Besides, everyone was in here eating lunch. Surely Odette wouldn't risk making a scene in front of so many potential sympathisers to her web of lies and deceit. Noticing the other girl had seen her coming, Rory thrust up her chin upon reaching her and held out the slightly crumpled letter she had just dug out of her pocket. "I know what you're thinking, but please, just take it and put us both out of our misery."

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley had been putting in a distinct effort ever since they read the letter, to avoid Odette at all costs. It didn't feel right, to have the kind of information she had about her when Odette hadn't done anything recently to warrant using it. Harley had never been one for making the first strike in their rivalry, and it was uncomfortable having the ammo to do so. There was nothing to do but sit on this knowledge that she shouldn't have, that Odette didn't even have herself, and avoid doing anything with it.

At least it looked like the Odette not knowing part was about to be over though. Spotting her by the Slytherin table, Harley laughed softly at Rory's joke, following her up to a point. She hung back slightly before Rory actually reached Odette, standing close enough to guard her friend, but far enough away that hopefully she wouldn't have to interact with the Slytherin at all. Silently, she watched the two of them talk.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette kept her arms crossed in front of herself, giving Rory and Harley her coldest look. "What do you want?" She snapped at the two girls as they approached. She raised an eyebrow when Rory handed her a letter. "Excuse me? That's cute, are you giving me a love letter Rory?" She teased, uncrossing her arms to flip her hair back. "No thanks."

She had nothing new on Rory, so her eyes focused on Harley. This new information she had figured out made her eager to talk to the other girl. "Hey Harley." She said with a grin. "I saw your brother over the holiday's. I never thought of it before, but he never went to Hogwarts did he?" Her eyes widened innocently. "Why not? He's older than us but he's never been away for long enough to go to any magical school." She paused, her innocent face replaced by a devious grin. "Explains a lot about you, doesn't it? One squib, one almost-squib... must be sad for the family." She smirked, pleased with herself. "I guess we won't be seeing your sister either, you must have stolen the little magical ability there is in your family."

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley Tsuji saw red.

Jason was the sorest of sore spots, and she had no idea how Odette had figured out that he was a squib, but no part of her was putting up with it. Harley hadn't even made the conscious decision yet to hit Odette when her fist started flying, punching the blonde full force in the cheek and shoving her to the ground. "At least my family LOVES me!" She yelled, tearing up with fury, hands still clenched in tight fists. "Your dad sent you to another COUNTRY to get rid of you, and your brother won't even talk to you face to face! They did a great job pretending you don't exist, maybe I should go live with them!" Harley was beyond making sense, every instinct in her body directing her to punch Odette again.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory was initially perplexed by Odette's reaction to the letter. Sure, she had been expecting the other girl to be pretty unreceptive, but... a love letter? Where would she get such a dumb idea as that from? Scowling, Rory was beginning to contemplate just stepping forwards to shove the letter down the front of Odette's robes (she'd like to see her try and get away from it then), when the girl's attention suddenly switched to Harley. This instantly put Rory on edge, and though her immediate reaction was to tell Odette to shut up, she became distracted by what the girl was actually saying. Harley had barely said a word about her brother before, beyond random things that he'd said or done - Rory had never given the absence of information much thought. Her surprise at why exactly that might be, however, quickly turned into anger that Odette would even dare say such a horrible thing - even though of course she would, the girl was rotten to the core.

Beyond these thoughts, she had no time to react; Harley was already sailing past her and Odette had suddenly landed on the ground. Rory stared down at her in shock, then dropped the letter as she moved closer towards her friend, ready to protect Harley or hold her back if need be. One punch was... well, it had happened already, and she didn't really think that it hadn't been deserved. There was no holding back the words that were pouring out of Harley's mouth though, and now not only was Rory shocked and angry, but panicking as well. Telling anyone what they had read in the letter had not been the plan, and stupid, stupid Odette just couldn't help herself but mess it all up. Why couldn't she just be the ridiculously smug and mature person she always pretended to be and have just taken the letter? Time had dulled some of the disgust Rory felt at the other girl, but now it was coming back in full force. "You're so pathetic that you think that's something to be ashamed of," she spat. "I didn't realise you were prejudiced garbage as well as a two-faced bully." Turning to look at Harley, Rory didn't really know what to say to her - but at least this time she would be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with her friend against Odette.

 

[Matthew Harper]

Matthew was just on his way to lunch when he noticed Rory Night walking past him. He had been wanting to speak to her about the letter he had given her, since it didn't seem like she had given it to Odette yet. Maybe she didn't understand just how important it was, or worse, maybe she had lost it. But just as he was about to approach her, he noticed who she was approaching. He stopped in his tracks as he walked Rory and another girl walk up to his sister. Was she going to give her the letter here? Now?

Part of him wanted to run away, he had given Rory the letter specifically so he didn't have to be near his sister in the moment she found out the truth. But before he could turn his head away, he noticed the atmosphere change. As soon as the girls locked eyes, it was clear this was going to be a hostile scene, and Matthew knew he had made a horrible mistake. He started pushing past people to stop whatever was happening, but it was too late. The girl with Rory punched his sister in the face and jumped on her, yelling his secret for the whole Great Hall to hear. He acted without thinking. "Get off my SISTER!" He snapped without thinking, pulling the girl off Odette. He turned to Rory. "I trusted you with this."

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette's head was spinning, and not just because Harley had punched her in the face. The words the other girl had been yelling at her after shoving her to the floor made no sense. She sputtered. "I don't have a brother." She spat, though it was weaker than she normally sounded. Her confusion and annoyance only increased when a boy told Harley to get off his sister. This had to be some sort of joke, a prank. She was glad to have Harley pulled away from her, but the boy's words angered her. "I'm not your sister! Leave me alone!" She looked between the faces around her, from Rory to Harley to this strange boy. "That's it, isn't it? This is some sort of prank." She laughed harshly, finally getting to her feet. "That's weak, Harley, like I would fall for this." There was a slightly nervous edge to her voice, especially as she realized there was a small crowd gathering around the commotion. She swallowed, her gaze finally falling on the note. After a moment of hesitation, she snatched it up. She tried to ignore everyone around her and opened it to read.

Odette,

I'm so sorry for everything I'm about to say. I know this is going to be a lot of news coming at you at once, which is why I put in in a letter so you can process it in your own time. You don't know me, my name is Matthew Harper, and I'm your brother. Well, your half-brother.

My Our father had documents in his office that led me to finding you. I had no idea he had a child with someone other than my mother (who he's still married to) and I couldn't believe that I had another sister. I don't have the best relationship with him, but I still find it hard to believe he hid your existence from me, my our sister and my mother.

I came to New Zealand to find you, I know you must have a ton of questions but I can answer them all. Can we meet in the courtyard in a week? It'll give you some time to think about it. If you'd rather do something else, I'll be at the Hufflepuff table during meals, just ask for Matthew. There's people that know me.

I'm so sorry for how jumbled this letter is, it's very hard to decide how much information to put in this. I didn't want to overwhelm you by just dumping it all on you in a conversation, especially since I'm a stranger to you. Just know that you're not alone, I'm here for you whenever you need me. I'm just sorry for not coming sooner.

-

Matthew Harper

After a few lines, she laughed and folded it again, though her laugh was strained. "This is ridiculous, who would fall for this?" She looked at Harley and then at Rory, her eyes searching their faces for confirmation of her own words. She wasn't conscious of it, but she was avoiding the older boy's gaze. A part of her terrified of what she would see if she looked at him too long.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

"LET ME GO!" Harley yelled, struggling and kicking at the older boy as he pulled her away from Odette. Her blood was still burning with fury, whole body tense with anger, and all she really wanted was to punch Odette again. "I'll kick your ASS! Don't EVER mention Jason again you disgusting ugly harpy, you don't deserve to even know who he is! We'd all be better off if you'd f*** off and die! Nobody likes you, nobody likes having you around, you're evil and you ruin everything! Nobody's ever liked you and nobody's ever gonna like you, we all wish you'd go away and never come back!" She continued her furious tirade, struggling angrily to get away from the older boy. Harley was acting almost on autopilot, guided by nothing but rage and defense of her brother.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory had been so caught up in the mess that had already resulted from her disastrous attempt at delivering the letter (which had both far preceded anything she had imagined and sort of lived up to the images she'd been picturing of the end of the world, actually), that she didn't even notice Matthew's presence until he was right on top of them and pulling Harley away. Rory didn't object so much to that - she'd never seen her friend so angry, and even though it was completely fair it was also sort of scary; something she had no idea how to handle. However, she absolutely snapped at what Matthew chose to say to her. "Yeah, well you shouldn't have!" How dare he act like this was all her fault. Sure, some bits of it were, but - "She's your stupid sister, why didn't you just tell her yourself instead of dragging me into it!" Dragged Harley into it, was what she really meant - but that had been her fault really, hadn't it? Rory squashed that discomforting thought. Odette had been avoiding them all year, they'd been avoiding her, and generally everything had been fine apart from a few poisonous looks here and there. Matthew was the one who had screwed it all up with his stupid letter.

A letter that Odette didn't even believe. How thick was she? Harley was getting progressively louder and upset, and Odette still somehow thought the other girl cared about some stupid prank? It hadn't escaped Rory's notice that Odette wasn't even paying any attention to the whole reason Harley was so upset in the first place. She hadn't known she could get any angrier, but it all just seemed to come bursting out of her. "Yeah, cause that's what everything is to you, isn't it Odette - just some stupid trick to hurt someone! Well, you got what you wanted!" She gestured furiously at Harley and Matthew behind her, the latter whose story she absolutely believed. Deep down some part of her almost felt sorry for the older boy, hearing Odette laugh at the truth like that. "Is it fun, making everyone else feel terrible all the time? Have you even got any real friends that you don't bully and lie to to make them like you?" Rory laughed, but it sort of came out a bit choked, a bit maniacal. "The one person who might possibly like you for you appears, and you don't even believe him." It felt good to yell at Odette. Even though it was really because she had absolutely no idea what else to do about the situation - especially how to get through to Harley right now. She had a feeling just talking to her friend wasn't going to cut it.

 

[Matthew Harper]

Matthew was surprised when Rory snapped at him, he still held the other girl back from getting at Odette and barely had time to focus on Odette's words. She was clearly still unaware of everything, she hadn't gotten the chance to properly read the letter yet. This was all going the worst possible way, and he was mostly frustrated with himself for allowing this to happen. Rory was right, he should have dealt with this on his own. He looked at the girl he was holding first. "Don't talk to her like that." He snapped. "Leave her alone, go cool off somewhere else." He let go of her, but was still ready to grab her if she tried to go for Odette again. Then he focused on Rory. "All I asked of you was to bring her a letter, how did it go this wrong?! You didn't even have to talk to her, why would you bring this girl if it was just going to turn into a fight?" He was trying to make sense of the situation and realizing these girls probably had a history, something he should have looked into before. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. When Rory started talking to his sister too, he was really done with these two. "Stop it! Let... let me handle the rest." He snapped at her. "Don't you see you're making it worse? This is important to me." He was exhausted, scared, and angry. He had expected more from Rory, and now everything was messed up.

He finally gathered the courage to look at Odette, but words failed him. It was clear she hadn't read the entire letter, and now he wasn't sure what to say. She didn't believe it, it was almost kinder to let her think that. He took a deep breath. "Odette, I'm sorry but it's true... I--"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette's ears were ringing. Harley and Rory were both shouting at her. They were sayin things that normally would sting, hurt her even, but everything else going on was clouding her mind. Her eyes kept going between to the letter in her hand and the older boy standing before her, holding Harley back from punching her again. This couldn't be true. It couldn't. She felt overwhelmed, not sure what to focus on. She wanted to get out of here.

Then the boy started to talk to her and she had enough, she didn't want this. Not here, not now. "NO!" She yelled at him, cutting him off. "Leave me alone, all of you! You're all insane!" She didn't hesitate, turning around and running off, the letter still clutched in her hand. She left the Great Hall without looking back, running blindly to the dungeons, looking for any sort of refuge away from all of this. A part of her wanted to drop the letter and forget about it, but there was a deeper part of her that made sure she kept holding it tightly. The part of her that knew deep down this rang too true to be completely false.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley didn't even realise she had been released at first, all her muscles tense with fury and hatred. As soon as she realised she was free she elbowed the older boy hard, desperate to get away from him. "Your sister's a b****, I hope you both die!" She snapped, storming out of the room before anyone could see the tears threatening to bubble out of her eyes.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory was quickly growing more annoyed with Matthew, acting like Harley had nothing to be upset about after what Odette had said. By the time he was telling her off again, she'd had it with both Harpers and just wanted to focus on Harley. "You don't know anything! Odette started it, but you don't even care!" Scowling, she clenched her fists at her side, fighting the urge to go over and kick Matthew in the shin for how unfair he was being. But if she didn't go after Harley immediately, her friend would soon become impossible to find. "You made it worse first," she retorted under her breath as she also turned to leave the Great Hall. "And you can keep your stupid chocolate." She wished Matthew had just stayed in America for the rest of his life, it sure would have made hers a whole lot easier.

 

[Matthew Harper]

Matthew completely understood Odette's urge to run away, because he was feeling the same thing. The girl that had attacked his sister yelled some profanities and stormed out as well, and Matthew couldn't help but think vaguely that Leah would not approve of this sort of friend for Rory. Rory herself wasn't in a much beter mood, Matthew listened as she told him off, knowing there was a grain of truth to her words. He swallowed thickly, suddenly fighting tears. He felt so far away from home and he didn't know what to do now. He needed someone to guide him, someone to help. He wanted Leah, needed a parent, but neither were here. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked away as well, his head down to avoid anyone's gaze as he left the Great Hall.