Closed Toadstool Trouble

[Eloise Flynn]

Eloise had always enjoyed her time outside. She was usually found in the great outdoors of the castle. She didn't like staying inside the castle for too long. It felt too stuffy or crowded. The girl had put on her goose earrings. It was one of her favourite pairs of earrings. She giggled to herself every time she put them on. Eloise happily skipped around the grounds of the school, happily minding her business. She had explored her usual spots around the castle, like the gardens and the lake. Now she was on the great lawn, keeping to herself, when she spotted a few patches of mushrooms. She gasped as she got a closer look, the pretty and bright colours of each of them. "So pretty" Eloise says to herself with a small smile, as she croched down to get a better look at the patch.

 

[Kanako Kurosawa]

Kanako was in a particularly bad mood that day. She couldn't really articulate why, but the voice of her father telling her she was useless compared to her brother echoed more strongly than usual. Not that Kyousuke was spared during the break this time. It was momentarily pleasant to not be the bearer of the brunt of her father, but she still didn't wish such things on her brother, for what it was worth. She was taking a walk to get some fresh air. An annoying sort of girl was literally skipping around. Kanako gave a look of disgust. Why should anyone be happy? What was there to be happy about? From Kanako's experience, there was baking and hitting bludgers and the rest was misery. Kanako hesitated, but inevitably approached. "Ew, they're just mushrooms," Kanako said with clear disdain. "You seriously think they're pretty? And what the hell do you have in your ears? Geese?" Kanako let out a cruel, forced laugh. "How ridiculous. Can't you have normal earrings like everyone else? Or are you trying to be quirky?"

 

[Eloise Flynn]

Eloise whipped around when she heard a voice. The girl looked older than Eloise was, so she hadn't seen the girl around before. The Hufflepuff frowned at what the girl had said. She understood that mushrooms weren't for everyone. She let out a small gasp when the girl mentioned about her earrings, instantly grabbing her earrings out of nervousness. She felt her eyes start to water, but did her best to blink them away, which she had managed to do so far. "What?" Eloise had managed to let out at first. She wasn't sure why this girl seemed to be angry with her. She had done nothing wrong. "I-I'm not trying to be q-quirky?" Eloise stuttered out a little, trying to defend herself, but it was a poor attempt.

 

[Kanako Kurosawa]

A smirk crept onto Kanako's face. This girl was easy pickings. "Y-you're n-not?" Kanako asked, imitating the Hufflepuff's stuttering in a sickly sweet voice. "Then why have such ridiculous earrings? You're practically crying out for the world to think you're different. You think you're better than everyone else?" Kanako was getting a bit too into it now, getting closer to the other girl. She had the urge to shove the girl to the ground but repressed it for now. She was sick of this, sick of people trying to act like they hadn't a care in the world. Kanako knew the world wasn't fair - no one stood up for her back home, not her brother, not her absent mother. Why should she be fair to this younger girl when the world wasn't fair to her?

 

[Eloise Flynn]

Eloise frowned further, noticing that the older girl following and teasing her stutter. The Hufflepuff was getting upset at this older girl. Eloise was growing confused because she didn't understand why this girl was being so mean and why she decided to pick on her instead. Eloise shook her head quickly as the older girl spoke. "That's not true at all" Eloise says softly, trying to find a way to defend herself, but she had failed miserably. "I just like them" Eloise continues to say softly, her voice wavering a bit, still trying her best to blink her tears away, one of her hands lingering on one of her earrings, fiddling with it a little. A tendency she had when she was nervous.

 

[Kanako Kurosawa]

Kanako saw the tears forming in the younger girl's eyes and had a dual reaction - one, she was pleased, and two, she felt something crack inside of her. Kanako wanted to avoid it, to ignore that cracking feeling. It was like something was wrong. Wrong, of course something's wrong, Kanako thought to herself, the sneer on her face momentarily crumbling into a neutral expression. This girl was being - Kanako didn't even know. She was struggling to keep reasoning that this was worth doing. There was something simple about the way the younger girl just liked the earrings that momentarily reminded Kanako of something else - something distant, buried deep within her. Then she steeled over. "What's so great about geese anyway?" she muttered savagely, her earlier bite almost dissipating as she asked a petty question. "They're vicious, greedy animals."

 

[Eloise Flynn]

Eloise bit her lip out of nervousness at the girl's question, not really knowing how or what to reply to the older girl. The girl shrugged at the question first, quickly rubbing her eyes with her sleeve to get rid of the tears, hoping that the older girl didn't notice her wiping the tears off. "I dunno" Eloise says quietly with a shrug of her shoulders. "I just liked the earrings, thought they were cute" Eloise continues to say quietly. The girl usually didn't have a reason when picking earrings. Some had some sentimental reasons, but most of the time, she usually got them because she had found them cute. She was now avoiding eye contact with the older girl, looking down at the mushrooms and fiddling with the grass instead. If she looked at the girl, she knew she'd be more upset. "Not usually, they're not. Only when they're territorial" Eloise mutters. She wasn't that knowledgeable when it came to animals, but she loved animals and had some decent knowledge about them.