Swoosh splat

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

The wind in her hair and cool rain on her face was a good feeling, one Lizzie didn't even realise she had missed so desperately. It was only sprinkling lightly with rain, but it was enough to fill Lizzie with a sense of home and calm every time she closed her eyes, imagining they were snowflakes fluttering down along her cheeks. It was almost enough to transport Lizzie back to the ski fields she missed as she flew calm, lazy laps around above the Quidditch pitch.

When the light shower eased off, Lizzie sighed, supposing she had better get back inside and get to her homework. She pulled the broom around and began to descend, flying a few last loops and circles as she came down, wanting to squeeze every last moment of enjoyment out of this flight that she could. As she finally approached the ground Lizzie picked up speed and lowered her feet, laughing as she skidded and slid along the wet ground, splashing mud all over herself and everything around.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber did not like rain. Rain itself wasn't so bad, though she did not like getting her hair and clothes wet, but on the Hogwarts grounds it also meant there was mud everywhere. Mud was the worst. She was on her way inside after taking a short walk through her favorite parts of the gardens, and she was carefully stepping around puddles as she slowly moved closer to the castle. Thankfully, she had a cute pink umbrella, but it still wasn't pleasant to be outside. She could not wait until she was inside again, and was already picturing herself back in the warm common room wearing cozy slippers.

It disgruntled her even more that the light rain seemed to be stopping right as she started to head back inside. Of course that would happen as soon as she decided to return to the castle. Amber frowned and stepped around a big muddy puddle, hoping not too much got on her shoes. She stopped to look at them, to see if they weren't ruined, and so didn't notice a figure descending rapidly from the air. When she looked up she saw a girl on a broom approach at high speed, both her feet dragging along the ground and splattering mud everywhere. She shrieked and jumped aside, her heart skipping a beat. The girl passed her without hitting her, but the mud wasn't so considerate. Amber hadn't had the presence of mind to protect herself with her umbrella, so her clothes were now covered in splatters of mud. She gasped in dismay as she looked down at herself. Her skirt, her tights, and her shoes! They were ruined! She had loved these shoes. They were a new present from her parents when she started school and they matched this skirt perfectly.

How could this girl be so inconsiderate? It was rude to scare people like that but doing this to someone's clothes was more than simply rude. It was just plain mean. She grit her teeth and stalked over to where the girl came to a stop, an uncharacteristic glare on her normally cheerful face. "Hey! You there!" She called. "Can't you watch where you're landing?"

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie was in a joyful world of her own as she finally dismounted the broom, a satisfied grin on her face. She stretched and grinned, still lost in her own thoughts as she considered going for a swim to wash the mud off instead of heading right back to the castle. She didn't even realise she wasn't alone until she heard another girl's voice, grin still on her face as she turned to face the girl calling out to her.

Lizzie couldn't quite help her grin turning into fullblown laughter as she saw the mud all over the other girl. She wasn't the only one who had been mucking around today, it seemed. It took a few moments for what the girl was saying to even really sink in for Lizzie. She was the one who had gotten mud all over the girl. "Oh, whoops!" Lizzie giggled a little, still cheerful from her flight. "I thought I was alone out here... did you get in my splash zone?"

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

The girl was laughing. Laughing! Like the fact that Amber was now filthy was funny. It was unbelievable. She had thought others at this school would be nice and fun to be around, but so far she had been proven wrong twice. This time, she wouldn't be scared or intimidated, though, she would stand up for herself.

"Yes! I am covered in mud because you're apparently terrible at flying and can't look out for anyone else, I could have gotten hurt!" She huffed. "And now my shoes are RUINED, do you have any idea how much these cost? And it's not just my shoes either." She knew it sounded a little petulant even as she said it, and she had some hope that they could be fixed with magic, but her parents weren't rich. Shoes like these weren't a present she could just get anytime she wanted like someone like Evelyn could, it was something special.

It wasn't just her clothes that were covered in mud, she had some on her face and in her hair too, though she wasn't completely aware of that yet. She glared at the other girl. "You should get detention or something for being so reckless, I might just tell a teacher." She threatened.

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie's face gradually fell more and more as the other girl went on about.... shoes, and mud, and other pointless stuff? How rude, and self obsessed! "Hey!" Lizzie snapped, glaring at her. "You can't just insult someone 'cause you're upset! I saw you in class and I'm much better at flying than you!" She scowled, eyeing the girl angrily. "It's just MUD, if you're that upset about your shoes just WASH them!"

Lizzie glared back at the other muddy first year, furious that her lovely afternoon was ruined now, all in the name of some shoes. "I was just flying, you can't tell on me for flying in the place that's FOR FLYING! If you didn't want to get mud on your precious shoes you shouldn't have gone out in the rain! Shoes don't even matter, that's what shoes are FOR, keeping mud off your feet!"

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

The fact that the other girl had apparently remembered her well enough from flying class to remember she hadn't been that good, made Amber feel even more angry. She hadn't been the worst in her class! This girl had no right throwing it in her face. Her solution of washing the shoes was ridiculous too, she clearly didn't get it. "For your information, I was not bad at flying and I can't just wash the mud off these shoes. Washing them normally would ruin the material. But I guess you only wear shoes made of cheap materials." She knew she sounded snobby, but the girl made her feel bad about her flying and a small, mean, part of her wanted to make her feel bad about something too.

She kept making good points, though, to Amber's frustration. Alright, so it hadn't been very smart to go outside when she knew it would rain. And it also hadn't been a great idea to cut across the Quidditch Pitch just because it was a shorter way back to the castle, but she didn't want to admit to either of these things. Amber wasn't the one in the wrong here! The other girl clearly hadn't been looking and she could have hurt someone. "If you're so good at flying, why did you nearly hit me? Are you saying you did that on purpose? Because that is something I will tell a teacher." Sniffing distainfully, Amber tossed her hair back. "And shoes have more than one purpose. Some of us like to look pretty."

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie frowned, frustrated with the trivial girly stuff the Hufflepuff was interested in. Girls like her were always the most difficult to work with at home, worrying the ski helmet would mess up their hair and shrieking at the slightest challenge. "They're just shoes! You can't ruin a shoe 'less you break a hole in it! If it's such a big issue ask your mum for a cleaning charm!" She snapped. "It's not a big deal, shoes don't matter!"

Lizzie scowled, glaring at the smaller girl. "I didn't SEE you there, there usually aren't people on the GROUND in the Quidditch pitch! You can't get me in trouble 'cause you were somewhere you shouldn't be and got splashed! This place is FOR mucking about, if you're so prissy you can't handle a little mud on your shoes you shouldn't go out in the mud!" Lizzie was really starting to get fed up with all these people who cared sooo much about clothes and shoes and makeup... what was the point in anything if all you did was sit around and look pretty and never experience anything?

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

This girl was getting way too angry at Amber, seeing as Amber hadn't actually done anything bad at all. "It matters to me, and you shouldn't be yelling at me because you weren't looking." She said haughtily. "It's not my fault that you can't watch where you are going, but you should really start doing that before you seriously hurt someone." She didn't want to keep going on about the shoes, because she could tell the other girl wasn't taking her seriously because she was so upset about her clothes. It wasn't fair, she was allowed to care about her things. Still, she did sort of have a point about her being on the Quidditch Pitch in the first place, even if she wouldn't admit that.

"You should apologize." She said, looking at the taller girl. "Then I won't tell, but you should say sorry because I could have gotten hurt and you should be looking even if you don't think anyone will be there." She felt very mature for giving the other girl this simple solution. She wouldn't go on about the shoes more, because it was obvious that the other first year wouldn't be able to fix them anyway, but she should at least get an apology. It was only polite. She looked at the Gryffindor girl expectantly, a small smile on her lips.

 

[Zenia Katsaros]

While it wasn't her favorite type of weather, Zenia was thoroughly enjoying splashing through the puddles as she made her way around the school fields. She had been feeling too claustrophobic inside the castle, which was crazy because the castle was so huge, and even though it was a rainy day, Zenia was excited to put her gumboots on and walk around outside; even if no one else wanted to join her. The young Gryffindor quickly found her way to the Quidditch Pitch, although it wasn't something that immediately grabbed her fancy, she imagined it could be quite fun to play, but she didn't think she'd take it as seriously as the others would. Her thoughts of the game were quickly gone when she heard two girls shouting at each other. Zenia recognized one of them straight away, and the other one from classes, though she didn't know her name. Zee couldn't really be one to tell them to stop fighting, having been in quite a few arguments and even a fist fight during the year (though that was hardly her fault), but she was curious as to what was going on. "Lizzie?" She called out as she approached them, standing next to her dorm mate. "What's going on?" She asked.

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie frowned. "I'm not yelling!" She snapped back, folding her arms. "I know what I'm doing, I watch where I'm going, I teach people to SKI at home and I never hurt anybody, but if you go somewhere you shouldn't be it's your own fault if something happens! You didn't even get hurt, it's just a little mud on your stupid shoes!" Lizzie glared at the tiny smug Hufflepuff, wishing she was back home so she had the power to ban the girl from the slopes or something until she calmed down and stopped fussing about unimportant things.

Lizzie's eyes widened when the girl asked her to apologise. "What?!" She exclaimed. "I'm not saying sorry because you got a little dirty walking around in the mud! You're so full of yourself! It's not important, it doesn't even matter, nobody got hurt!" She scowled, glaring at the other girl, trying to resist the urge to let her quiet seething boil over into a full blown yelling fit.

She was too mad to notice Zenia approaching until the girl was right by her side. Lizzie didn't know her dormmate well enough to know whether she would side with her or the stuck up Hufflepuff, but hopefully she'd see how silly the girl was being and back Lizzie up. "She's gonna tattle on me 'cause she got muddy hanging out on the Quidditch pitch in the rain." Lizzie snapped, still glaring at the Hufflepuff.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

"Maybe you aren't yelling, but you are raising your voice. "Amber said. "Which is very rude, especially since I didn't do anything bad to you. You shouldn't be so mad. I feel bad for the people you teach if this is how you talk to them. And I did not get hurt but I COULD have. And it was not a little mud and not only on my shoes!" She said, gesturing to the mud splatters all over herself. "It's everywhere!"

She felt herself grow angrier when the other girl refused to apologize. If she had, Amber would have apologized in return for yelling at her and would have told her she had a point about being on the Quidditch Pitch. Well, maybe. But now she definitely wouldn't. "I'm not full of myself! You did something wrong and I am asking you to say sorry. It's not like I'm asking you to pay for new shoes, or clean the mud off them and my other clothes. Neither of those things would be unreasonable requests, considering it is your fault, but I am only asking for you to admit you did something wrong and say sorry." It was unbelievable. She glared right back at the girl, wanting to show her she was not intimidated.

When a third girl approached, Amber watched her warily. It was another Gryffindor, they would probably band together. When the new girl spoke, Amber learned that the other girls' name was Lizzie. Which sounded like a way nicer name than she deserved. She hated that a stranger was seeing her in this state, covered in mud and frowning. She wanted to make a good first impression on everyone she met. When Lizzie told the new girl her side of the story, Amber crossed her arms in front of her. "I did not get muddy because I was hanging out here. I was walking back to the castle and using this as a shortcut and you came down on your broom and splashed mud everywhere on purpose." She looked at the new girl as she spoke. "She even put your feet down just so it would splash! And now she won't apologize for nearly running me over with her broom and also making me all dirty." Amber gave the new girl a pleading look. Hopefully, she would be more reasonable than her housemate.

 

[Zenia Katsaros]

Zenia's eyes widened somewhat, not expecting to have to become the peace keeper between the two. She was impressed at both of their abilities though, to be angry and not jump on each other; if she were in either of their positions, she would have tackled the other down to the ground to get them [more] muddy. Zee tried to think of how a mature and responsible person would handle this situation. She couldn't exactly tell the two to apologize to each other; first she had no say over how they should act, but secondly, there was no way she'd ever apologize to Mowry, so she couldn't really be a hypocrite. Zenia sighed. "I'm sure Lizzie didn't target you out, and do it on purpose. That doesn't sound like something she would do." She said, glancing at Lizzie. Though she didn't know her well, what she did know was that she was a lovely girl. "It's pretty muddy today, I'm sure there's someone in your House that will know how to clean it off?" Zenia tried to speak kindly, but she was still 100% on her housemate's side, whether she was in the wrong or not, Zee wouldn't betray a housemate. Unless it was Evelyn, but she was a different story.

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie smirked in triumph at Zenia's support, tightening her folded arms and eyeing the Hufflepuff smugly. At least one of her roommates was sensible about this. "Yeah, just go wash it, it's not that hard, have you never washed something before?" She snorted, beginning to find the whole thing a little bit funny now that someone had justified her feelings. "Stop making such a fuss about a little bit of mud. I didn't hurt you, and even if I had it wouldn't have been that bad, you're being so stuck up and demanding!"

Lizzie rolled her eyes, wondering how pampered and boring an upbringing the Hufflepuff must have had if this was such a huge issue to her. "Have you never even played in the mud before or gotten mucky? That's sad, your life must be so boring. You can't have real fun if you're afraid of getting messy or hurt. Are you gonna tell on me for knowing how to have fun?"

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber deflated and her hopeful look disappeared. Of course this girl would side with Lizzie. They were in the same house. It wasn't fair, and she wished she had someone here that was on her side too. Still, this girl was more reasonable and nice than the other one so she tried not to react too sulkily to her. "I don't know anyone in my house that can clean them." She said, a little dejected. Ainsley seemed to be the last person that would know a spell like that, mud probably wouldn't really concern her. "Maybe my friend Evelyn would know, I suppose. She's in your house. But even as she said it, she doubted it. Evelyn seemed like the kind of person that would avoid something like this entirely, or buy something new.

The addition of support for Lizzie only seemed to make her more insufferable. Amber was starting to feel really upset, she was outnumbered and her feelings weren't being taken seriously by either of the two girls. "I'm NOT being stuck up or demanding!" She said, stomping her foot in frustration. "All I'm asking is for you to admit you did something bad and to apologize!"

But Lizzie wasn't done. How could she say Amber's life was boring? She didn't know anything about her! At this point, she was just being mean for the sake of being mean. Amber balled her hand into fists. "Not everyone likes playing in mud and being dirty, there's nothing wrong with that! I have lots and lots of fun. You don't even know me!" She raised her chin a little. "And I might actually go tell on you because you're just being mean to me now. I'm sure any Professor would agree and you would get into lots of trouble, so stop being such a jerk."

 

[Zenia Katsaros]

Zee was a bit taken aback at Lizzie's sudden change, she didn't think that she was the type of girl to insult others, but perhaps that was why she seemed to get along with Evelyn so well. It was probably Evelyn that showed Lizzie how to be mean anyway. But then again, Zenia didn't know Lizzie that well, and she couldn't judge, as she could be just as mean if she needed to. On hearing Amber mention the girl's name Zenia groaned out loud, rolling her eyes. "Seriously?! You too? For Merlin's sake-" Zenia moaned. "I highly doubt Evelyn will do anything to help you, unless she's going to get something out of it." She snapped. "Just ask a prefect." The young Gryffindor was so over that girl. With her final comment, she turned on her heel and stormed away, an angry cloud hanging over her head.

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie watched Zenia go, surprised that she was leaving so quickly, but her focus was still on the muddy, frustrating Hufflepuff threatening to get her in trouble for nothing. Her boldness waned slightly without the backup of her housemate, but she wasn't going to back down from the other girl now. "You're being nothing BUT demanding! You're demanding that I apologise for something that wasn't on purpose and didn't hurt you! I was having a really nice day and you're ruining it for the sake of your precious shoes!" She snapped, scowling at the smaller girl.

"I'm not being mean!" Lizzie snapped, outraged. "You're the one ruining a perfectly good day for the sake of your shoes!" Sure she had been a little petty, and it certainly wasn't the nicest thing she had ever said, but Lizzie refused to feel bad because of someone who was making such a huge fuss over nothing at all.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber wasn't sure if Zenia leaving was a good sign or not. It could mean that Lizzie would back off, but it could also mean she would be even meaner without anyone else around. Her words seemed to indicate the second, which made Amber snap back at her. "It's not just about the shoes!" Amber said, her voice rising as she started to get really angry. "It's about you being rude and mean to me because you think what is important to me isn't important! But that doesn't mean you get to be rude to me!"

This wasn't going anywhere, Amber could see that, even as she felt the desire to keep shouting at the other girl. Maybe Zenia had the right idea, leaving was probably smart. Lizzie wasn't going to do anything for her, and she was starting to get cold. Still, she couldn't think Lizzie had won. "I'm going inside, and I'm going to tell the first teacher I see you were so rude." She said. She knew the threat was starting to lose it's power, but hopefully the other girl would still worry that she would actually do it. Amber turned on her heel and started to walk away in the direction of the castle.

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie glowered at the Hufflepuff, wishing this whole stupid thing would be over and done with already. Her whole afternoon was ruined now, and the girl just kept going on and on and dragging it out. "It is too about the shoes!" Lizzie snapped back. "You were going on about me apologising before I started teasing you, when I didn't even do anything wrong, just because you got muddy going out in the mud."

Lizzie tensed, panicked as the girl began to turn back to the castle. She didn't want a detention, there were only a few scraps of nice weather left and she wanted to take full advantage of them before winter hit and there was nothing left worth doing outdoors here. She hurried after the girl, grabbing her shoulder. "Wait, don't tell, you can't tell!"

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber almost felt bad about what she was about to do, but it was too little too late. Lizzie was clearly desperate for her not to tell a teacher but she still wasn't saying sorry. It wasn't about the shoes anymore, not by a long shot. It was now about the principle of it. Amber might be a Hufflepuff and she might be nice and friendly but she wasn't going to let this girl walk all over her. She would not be that person. She jerked herself out of Lizzie's grasp with an irritated huff.

"It's too late, you should just have said sorry." She said, not looking back. "I will be fair, I'll say I was walking somewhere I wasn't supposed to as well. But I will also be honest about how you treated me." She stuck her nose in the air slightly as she walked on towards the castle, not bothering any longer to avoid muddy puddles. Her shoes were ruined anyway, and she was going to make sure the other girl would pay. Or at least get a stern talking to, she hoped.

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie yelped, chasing after the Hufflepuff. "Wait! You can't tattle, don't be mean! You KNOW it was an accident, don't make such a huge deal out of this!" She protested, following the shorter girl up to the castle. The prospect of boring detention was the worst thing she could imagine in a school that already had so little to do, and she was determined not to let this snobby Hufflepuff ruin her free time.