"I… o-okay…" Colton replied softly, curling in on himself a bit as he rubbed at his wrist. Can I trust them? He wondered. It didn't seem like too big a deal anyway, and there wasn't much that they could or would do even if they knew. "He… um… didn't like that I was trying to avoid talking to him…" He said softly, avoiding eye contact with both of the girls.
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Celeste sighed at Coltons words "Im Celeste." She said quietly, keeping her hand on Coltons shoulder "may I ask who 'he' is?" she said quietly.
"Um… Kieran…" Colton replied quietly, still avoiding their gaze. "My older brother. I-I don't think he's really trying to hurt me, though, he… probably just doesn't know his own strength. Isn't it normal for brothers to roughhouse a bit?" He asked, sounding nervous and unsure.
Celeste frowned "not rough house as in give each other multiple bruises." she said quietly, grabbing his sleeve and raising it high enough to see the bruises "that's not acceptable, not at all." She whispered, touching her finger tips to the darkest, purple greenish bruise, very softly "does this hurt?" she asked quietly.
Jada had just finished catching the last of breakfast, slightly-but-not-really annoyed that Ancient Runes was before the sun even came up. Professor Levinson was not-exactly-human, after all. She went to Alchemy with Barty, and then Transfiguration with both of her friends, then the trio went for lunch. Reg talked about how Astronomy was set in the middle of the day and how absolutely redundant that was that there were no stars to observe at 10 o'clock in the morning, already complaining about how he had to have a roll of parchment on a constellation of their choice by the next class in two days. The trio had a little bit of time to kill before they went to Charms so they decided to enjoy the nice September afternoon.
The courtyard was nice and peaceful, that is, until a certain Slytherin 6th year decided to harass and humiliate his little brother in front of the whole school. Without a second thought, Jada stood and silently followed Kieran, Barty and Reg right on her heels.
"What are you doing?" Barty hissed.
"I don't like bullies," Jada answered, locating Kieran and slowly drawing her ash wood wand from the deep pockets of her robes.
"No-" Reg grabbed her wrist, staring Jada down with his silver eyes. "We're not going to make a scene because a prefect picked on his little brother." His voice sounded strained.
Jada shook her head and slipped her wand back into her pocket, turning away from the prefect with her head down, slightly embarrassed of what she almost did. "You're right."
Colton winced when Celeste touched the bruises and tried to pull his wrist away, looking uneasy. "Y-Yeah, a bit… it's really not that bad, I swear." He held his arm to his chest and drew up his knees, fidgeting nervously with his sleeves. "He was just mad because I won't listen to him, and mother and father basically said he's allowed to tell me what to do… he doesn't need to remind me all the time, though…"
"Cassiopeia." She turned her attention to Colton and frowned. "That doesn't give him the right to do what he did to you. This is just unfair!" She huffed and looked around the courtyard. "The next time I see that sorry excuse for a perfect, I swear to Merlin I'm going to hex him! He can't just hurt you because he's in charge or some crap."
Celeste rolled her eyes "yes, tell you what to do; not bully you into having PTSD." She stated loudly, agreeing with the other girl. She let go of his arm, letting the sleeve slide back down, she gritted her teeth in anger "I swear, I'll ring his bloody neck." She said angrily, her eyes blazing with anger and sympathy.
Colton paled a bit and cowered at their reactions, hugging himself now that both arms were free. "P-Please don't hurt him… it's really not that big a deal, and… a-and I don't want you to get in trouble for fighting or anything. Or get hurt… he's pretty strong, and good with magic…" He looked away, glancing to Citrine, who was hissing softly in the direction Kieran had vanished in.
The trio returned to their favorite spot underneath a small grove of birch trees. When they sat, Jada zeroed in on Kieran. She made sure that Reg and Barty weren't looking - the two boys were busy talking about the upcoming Quidditch tryouts for their seventh player - and removed her wand from her pocket. She pointed it at Kieran's legs and muttered a nearly-silent "Petrificus Totalus" and watched with grim satisfaction as Kieran seized up and fell to the ground like a statue.
Reg did a double take and then glared at Jada. "Jada."
Her wand was already back in her robes. She shrugged innocently. "Must've been one of those girls fawning over the kid." She pointed in Colton's direction.
"You're an idiot," Regulus sighed and returned to his conversation with a giggling Barty.
"Colton, this is a big deal. Yes, he may be your brother, but that doesn't give him the right to hurt you. And feel free to correct me, but siblings don't do that." Cass paused and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Getting in trouble, and getting hurt is a risk I'm willing to take. I don't care how strong, or how good he is with magic, I'm simply not going to allow him to hurt you any longer." She glanced over at Kieran, and stifled a laugh as she watched how the boy fell to the ground. "I see my friend Karma has struck."
Colton heard a thud and jumped, covering his mouth with one hand when he saw his brother stuck on the ground. He got to his feet, but didn't go over, looking on anxiously from afar. "Is he okay?" He asked nervously, his voice a bit muffled. Just petrified. He'll recover. Citrine whispered in his ear. Colton glanced at her and nodded a bit.
Celeste burst out laughing and cupped her hands around her mouth shouting "looks like lil' ole' Kieran got what he bloody deserved, you bully!" In Kieran's direction, she then flipped him off when he turned to face her, sticking her tongue out at him. She then spun around and put her hand on Coltons upper arm "he wont hurt you anymore, I promise." she paused "as long as i'm around, and I'll follow you like a lost puppy dog, if that means keeping that prat away from you." She said truthfully.
Colton hid behind Celeste when Kieran looked over in their direction, peering around her side to look at him. "Y-You really don't have to… and I don't think you can, since you're not a Slytherin." He sighed shakily. "He and I still share a dormitory." A friend of Kieran's helped him up and they went inside, looking angry.
(Jada, the silent protector of tiny Slytherins)
(Indeed. Gotta love Jada for that, and for how iconic the gal is)
Cassiopeia rolled her eyes at Celeste, but a small smile could be seen on her face. "That's enough Celeste. We don't want to be seen as the bullies, now do we?" She looked at Colton and nodded. "If he dares to even hurt you with us around, then he'll get a bit of my wrath." She paused and looked out to Kieran being helped. "I could, you know, tell Professor Slughorn of what he does…he is the Head of Slytherin… Might give him detention or maybe even take away the power he has as a perfect…"
Celeste smirked "oh how I would love to get my hands on that kid, oh what I would do to him." She said aloud, then looking away blushing "I- mean sorry, forgot hes still your brother." She added quietly, rubbing the back of her next with her hand.
(Kieran: bullies his twelve year old brother
Everyone, pulling out their wands: And I took that personally)
Colton sighed shakily, biting his lip a bit as he considered. "I'm not sure that's a good idea… it would cause more trouble than it's worth, probably. He'd be furious with me, and our parents would be angry at me too… it wouldn't go well, is what I'm saying."
Celeste rolled her eyes once again "whatever, but he wont lay a single finger on you, as long as we're around." She stated, her gaze going back to Kieran and she scowled "pardon me i'm not one to get angry so easily." She said, trying to excuse herself from how she was previously acting "would you guys like to join me for dinner later?" she asked the two of them, smiling kindly.
She looked up at Celeste and nodded. "It would be nice to join you for dinner. That way, I can also find more about you. You seem really cool, and it'd be nice to become your friend, you know." She looked at the sun. Well, not exactly the sun, because if she had, it would have caused her great pain. She looked at the reflection of the sun on the lake. "You're coming too, right Colton?" She said as she looked up, and looked at Colton hopefully.
"Ah… um… y-yeah, sure. If you'd like me to." Colton smiled shyly and ruffled the back of his hair with one hand. "I normally sit alone or with Kieran, so I guess it would be nice to have a change, yeah? Are you wanting to sit anywhere in particular?" He asked curiously, tilting his head slightly to one side.
Celeste shook her head "I usually sit out here" she said using her hand to gesture to the courtyard, "it can be very nice out her during dinnertime." She added, smiling softly "I haven't sat at my houses table for dinner since I was a second year" she said wistfully.
When lunch ended, Jada, Barty, and Reg made their way to Potions with Professor Slughorn. They were with the fourth year Ravenclaw students, which Jada supposed was somewhat tolerable. Thank Merlin it's not with Gryffindor this year. She thought to herself. The scarlet and gold lions were always a topic that lit Jada's nerves on fire.
"Welcome students!" Slughorn greeted with a smile directed mainly at the Slytherins. "Now, before we begin the fourth year curriculum, let's review what we've done the past four years."
Barty groaned, smacking his forehead on the desk, earning an agitated glare from Reg and a well-earned eye roll from Jada.
Celeste then got up quickly, hurrying to Herbology, a class she genuinely enjoyed. She stood waiting for directions from Professor Sprout.
Colt nodded politely in farewell and hurried off to his next class so he wouldn't be late. He didn't mind most of his classes, but he was still distracted and having a lot of trouble focusing. He felt his chest tighten and his breathing hitch, so he headed out of the room to sit in the bathroom and wait it out. Citrine helped him calm down fairly quickly, but he stayed where he was for a while anyway.
Celeste sat down, as Professor Sprout said they'd be taking 'basic notes' she pulled out a piece of parchment and an pre-inked quill and started writing what the floating piece of chalk was writing on the blackboard.
(yo yo yo~)
(Bump)
(bump)
She nodded and smiled. It would be nice to finally take a break from the idiotic Gryffindors that she had the misfortune of knowing. Lily Evans and Remus Lupin were some of the few people she could tolerate, and they were pretty nice. Except, that she had a small grudge against Remus for not doing anything when his friends went to humiliate others. "I guess I'll see you two later then!" She waved at them before she made her way to her next class, looking around for Colton's brother as she made her way through the halls.