Swords and Shields

[Soren Sedridor]

It had been a short while since Soren had last spent time with his one and arguably only friend in the school. He did have at least two at one point or another, but with Kris in a higher year, the younger Hufflepuff did not get to see much of him, which left Desideratus as the only person he had left. It was difficult to make new friends with such a severe barrier in communication as he had. No one really made the effort to try and befriend him either, but part of it was his fault, he knew, for generally avoiding people. But he had good reason to given his past experience with bullying, it was just the safest course of action for him to take. He'd only met Kris because the boy was running away from a rampant monster book and happened upon his dormitory to hide, and Des had literally run straight into him on the way to the Owlery. There'd been that Gryffindor who'd spoken to him after he was roughed up by some older students, but he was a prefect, it was kind of his job. No one had come to talk to him simply because they wanted to be friends with him. He couldn't help but feel that everyone he'd met only initially spoke to him because they felt they had to, whether it be an apology or an obligation because of their position in the school. Soren often found himself wondering if even Desideratus would have been his friend if it weren't for their unfortunate collision. But, he was grateful that the boy continued to talk to and hang out with him afterwards. Otherwise, Soren would have been completely alone.

Leaning against the castle's stone brick wall exterior, Soren looked across the expanse of green that filled his view, arms crossed tightly in front of his chest. He couldn't relax when he was standing out in the open like this, especially while he stood alone and vulnerable. It was an insecurity thing, an attempt to make himself smaller and less noticeable, as well as a way to protect himself on some level. Following his recent run in with a group of older boys, his torso had been heavily bruised from the flurry of punches he'd received. It was one of the reason's he hadn't spent any time with his friend recently, he didn't want to be seen all bruised and battered. Even with potions, it had taken a while to completely fade away. The marks on his chest, the black and blue ring around his eye, all had returned to his usual pale colouring. Shifting uncomfortably, the boy hoped that Des would arrive soon. He'd mentioned having an idea, another of many in the time they'd been friends. That boy had tried so many ways to escape the school, not all of them particularly bright. It wouldn't have come as a surprise if the Gryffindor had planned to construct a giant paper plane to fly off the top of the tower. After all, he had thought he could sail away in an enclosed body of water. Soren didn't mind going along with some of the more solid ideas. They could be fun, even a little exciting at times, but none of them worked. He'd only just started building up the courage to point out flaws in his friends plans.

As Soren waited, the sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention. The Hufflepuff flinched involuntarily in response, before realising that it was probably just Desideratus finally showing up to discuss his great new idea. Turning to face him, the corners of Sorens mouth twitched up into an embarrassed smile, only to immediately drop as he realised the person in front of him was not in fact his friend at all, but someone else entirely.
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[Jakobe Vittori]

Many things had happened to Jakobe in the small amount of time he had been back at the school. To be honest he was rather a little surprised to even still be concentrating in classes, which was something he was concerned about. He couldn't let his grades slip, his parents wouldn't be happy at all and he had to make sure that he was doing everything he could so that they wouldn't look into his activities at school. It was one thing for him to be friends with Giuliano, that was fine, he was a pureblood. He didn't trust what they might do if they found out about Scarlet. It was hard trying to hide everything from her. She thought this was all because he didn't like her and thought he wished he could tell her the true reason, he knew they she would convince him that it didn't matter, he would go along with it and then he didn't want to see the consequences of what might happen if he did. The thing was, though he knew that he had to keep her safe, he couldn't stop thinking about her and it just turned his mood sour. He didn't know how to be happy anymore and though he knew he used to be, it was like every memory was tainted with the knowledge of what would happen if his family ever found out. He was mostly trusting Giuliano to keep quiet, but he wasn't even entirely sure he could trust his friend and that was a horrible feeling for the young boy. He didn't know where to turn and he didn't know who to trust and it was all culminating into a huge jumble of jealousy, resent and annoyance. Even at the Halloween Party he hadn't been able to stay away. It had done nothing but make him madder at the world and he realised that he needed Scarlet to hate him. She said that she loved him, but that didn't exist, so she was going to have to replace all of her love for him with hate, only then could he move on and not have to worry about her.

Jakobe had no idea how he was going to achieve his goal, not a single inkling of a clue, but he was sure he would be able to come up with something. It was just that kind of day. The Great Lawn was normally filled with people and though he would have rathered be alone, he didn't trust himself. Scarlet was somewhere within the walls and he knew that he would try to talk to her if he saw her. She was rarely outside though, unless for Quidditch so he figured it was a safe enough place for him. In any case it was better than being inside. Rubbing his hands across his forehead to try and calm himself down, Jakobe headed along the corridors until he reached the outside. He was just planning on lazing around really, but his plans changed when he was suddenly faced with a young hufflepuff. Great. This kid probably knew Scarlet. Was she trying to die? Having him followed all over the castle so he would have no reason but to talk to her. He sneered at the boy and stepped back. "What, I'm not who you were expecting?" Jake asked, leaning against the corridor he had been walking down. "That's a pity. I could change if you like? Would you like me to change, grow my hair, change my robes, maybe get on the ground and kiss your shoes?" He was not in a good mood, to be honest he didn't think he would ever be in a good mood again. But this kid was a Hufflepuff, his very existence reminded him of Scarlet and he did not like that at all.
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