Soft as Steel

[Mervyn Strangewayes]

Mervyn couldn't believe Leda had released Mr. Prickles without him. It wasn't her fault - Professor Layton had made her do it - but he still wished he could have been there to bid the hedgehog a proper farewell. He'd visited the gardens at least once a week since to see if he could spot him, but so far, there wasn't a single spine in sight. He wondered, with horror, if Mr. Prickles might have been eaten or killed. Apparently, he'd only been hibernating when they'd found him, not sick, but Mervyn wasn't convinced he hadn't been sick as well. Who knew what terrible fate had befallen him now that they'd released him back into the wild? The Gryffindor sighed, dragging his wand through a tall shrub as he walked along the garden path. Maybe he ought to go and find Leda. Or maybe he just wanted to be alone for a while.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana was fuming over the fight she'd had with Sapphire. It was clear to her that the other Slytherin had never been a real friend, not like the ones Rose and Phoebe had made within their own dormitories. Sapphire had basically told her she was only putting up with Diana, something that hurt her more than she would want to admit. Sure, Sapphire had denied that she meant it like that, but the message had been clear in Diana's eyes. Maybe she should just stick with Domi as a friend, though she was tiring too. What she really wanted, was to talk to Alice. Now that her younger sister was also attending Hogwarts, in theory this shouldn't be too hard. But apparently, Alice had immediately been embraced by all the other first years because whenever she spotted her sister, she was talking to some first year or another. Diana wasn't jealous of her younger sister. Of course not. Alice was naive and thought everyone was her friend. It was something that was going to get her hurt sooner or later.

Right now, Diana was hoping to run into her sister somewhere. It was the whole reason she was trudging through the stupid gardens. The last time they had talked, Alice had gushed about them as if she had never seen a flower before in her life. But as much as her younger sister had seemed to love the stupid gardens, she didn't appear to be here now. Instead, Diana spotted someone else. Someone who was at the root of her problems with Sapphire. Remembering their fight, she hardly had to think before she approached Mervyn with a sneer on her face. "If you're looking for your girlfriend, she's not here." She said, giving him a challenging look. Sapphire had said some things about Mervyn, and now Diana could use those things as weapons. Assuming the boy would rise to her bait.

 

[Mervyn Strangewayes]

Mervyn saw a figure approaching, but didn't look up to see who it was. Unless it was Leda, or perhaps Sapphire, nobody had any reason to stop and talk to him. So when the figure did stop, and made a snide remark about his non-existent girlfriend, he couldn't disguise his surprise. What did she know, or care? He wondered at first if she meant Leda - everybody seemed to think she was his girlfriend - but then remembered his encounter with Sapphire in the Astronomy tower and wondered if somehow the girl knew about that. But it didn't really make much difference who she was talking about, because he was dating neither of them. He clenched his teeth, feeling hot around the neck. "Wot? Leda ain't me girlfriend," he said, taking a guess. "'Oo do yoo fink you are, anyway? Di'nt no-one never tell you to respect your elders?"

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side as the boy denied understanding whos he meant. Please, as if he didn't know. "No, you already told me Leda isn't your girlfriend. I'm talking about Sapphire. Remember? The girl you were nearly making out with inappropriately in the student lounge? I barely saved some innocent first years from having to witness that." She sighed dramatically. "And I respect people that deserve respect. You being older than me only makes you more pathetic." She paused to look him up and down, frowning slightly. "And short." Diana was short as well, but she figured for a boy it would be more embarrassing. If she hadn't been fighting with Sapphire, perhaps she would have left it at that. But right now, she wanted to hurt the girl who had once been her friend. Her words hadn't seemed to touch her much, but perhaps this boy could upset her more than Diana ever could. Probably because he meant more to her than Diana did. "Sapphire told me all about you, you know. She thinks you're cute, but more like a sweet little puppy dog way than as a crush-worthy boy. She told me all about how soft-hearted you are. Coming from a Slytherin, that usually isn't a compliment."

 

[Mervyn Strangewayes]

The student lounge... of course. Mervyn hadn't recognised the Slytherin at first, but now he remembered everything. This was Sapphire's friend - the girl who'd rudely interrupted them just as they'd been about to kiss and started making all kinds of erroneous allegations against him. Sapphire hadn't seemed too fazed at the time, but now he wondered if she might have spoken to this girl since. Why else would she still have such an issue with him? He'd not spoken to Sapphire once since their evening in the Astronomy tower. And she most certainly wasn't his girlfriend. He flushed deep red as she mocked his stature, his jaw beginning to ache with the clenching. His heart started pounding in his chest. This was just like before - except twice as humiliating, because she was younger than him. He was just thinking that it was a good job nobody was around to see it when Diana finally pushed the wrong button. "You wot?" he said, taking a step forward to emphasise his height. Sapphire wouldn't have said that. Would she? No. No. "You wanna say that again?"

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana saw the recognition in the boy's eyes and realized he hadn't remembered who she was until that moment. It irritated her. She wasn't that easy to forget, was she? But she didn't let this irritation show on her face, her smug smirk unwavering. Her words had been aimed to hurt, and she could tell they had hit their mark. The flush on the boy's face was a promising start, but she wanted to push him more. The boy was older, taller, and stronger than her, but she had gotten to him. Diana felt powerful. "Are you hard of hearing too? I said you're just a soft-hearted little Gryffindor. At least, according to Sapphire." She said, blinking at him innocently for a moment before smirking. "I know her type, and it's not that." In reality, she had no clue what sort of boys Sapphire liked, besides maybe this boy in front of her. The girl had mentioned some names when they first talked, but Diana had gotten the impression they were more friends than anything else. But she wanted to get under this boy's skin, and she thought she was succeeding. He was taller than her, and really stood closer than was strictly comfortable, but Diana stared him down without flinching. If he as much as pointed a wand at her, she would tell on him faster than he could curse her. "I'm not scared of you."