Students New and Old (Finley)

Guest

Brooke consulted her watch. She had been on duty for almost half an hour, sending a few of the younger years on their way and making sure nobody else was out. There was a while more to go before she was done with her slot, not that she really minded. Something about the (mostly) empty hallways and the silence was almost soothing, and she enjoyed the time alone to walk and think.

It had been almost 2 years since she had transferred to Hogwarts. She never forgot the night she was caught out of bed, way past curfew; the Head Girl, of all people, had been the one to find her, and instead of punishment, she made a new friend. Briefly, Brooke wondered how Scarlett was doing - she was in Auror training the last she remembered. Making a mental note to send her friend a letter the next chance she got, the prefect started her second round of the floor, a habit she developed to ensure she didn't miss anything.

Guest

Finley was a normal enough kid, quiet, but normal enough. His first year had consisted of staying out of the way, because for the most part he hadn't found anyone he really wanted to spend time with. Which did make things very lonely at times in the castle on his own.

Or as alone as you could ever be in a school full of people.

Bullying had come and gone, the bullies got bored when you didn't rise to their bait, so most of the time he was stuck out of the way. The portrait room had become a regular safe place for the Ravenclaw, he loved talking to the people in the portraits and learning from them. Which was just another reason he got bullied often.

That was the reason he was out in the corridors that evening, he'd found a portrait of a really fascinating witch who had been teaching him about the Salem witch hunts and the school that now stood there. It had been intriguing and when Finn had realised the time he'd had to very quickly gather his things and hurry up to his common room.

But of course as he got to the fourth floor and rounded the corner he ran straight in to something and fell on his back side. But it wasn't something, he realised a moment later, it was someone. "I'm so sorry! I didn't s-" Finn's eyes fell to the prefect badge on the girl's robes and cringed. Now he was in trouble. Pushing himself to his feet, Finley gave her an apologetic smile.

"I'm heading to my common room. I'm sorry. I don't mean to break the rules. I got caught up talking to the portraits. We were studying, kind of. I promise I'll head straight there, please don't put me in detention... or... or hurt me." Finley explained rapidly - something he always did when he was nervous which made it very difficult to understand him. But it was better than his old stutter, that had been very annoying, even to Finn.

Now though, all he could do was wait for the telling off.

Guest

Distracted by her own memories and thoughts of classes, she did not hear the approaching footsteps. Only when someone came flying round the corner and straight into her did she realize she was not alone in the corridors. As clumsy as she was, Brooke somehow managed to stay on her feet, stumbling a few steps back and slightly winded, but otherwise perfectly unharmed. Her first concern was for the boy, a much younger Ravenclaw, who was seated on the floor. But before she could say anything, he was already apologizing and getting to his feet.

"No p-" she started to say, but again the boy continued before she had a chance to finish.

He spoke so quickly she hardly understood what he was saying - something about portraits and studying, although, given his house, it wasn't too much of a surprise - until his last sentence. She caught that loud and clear, and for a brief moment, it confused her. Why would a prefect hurt... she started to think, but she didn't have time to finish that thought when the answer provided itself. There was only one prefect and one prefect alone that she knew would willingly hurt someone: the Head Boy.

Quickly giving the Ravenclaw a look over, she didn't see any visible scars or any signs of physical harm. She remembered him from that year's sorting, so she knew he was a first year. Surely Josh wouldn't... But her brother had been a second year...

Merlin, if anything has happened... she thought to herself, just managing to keep from shuddering. It was only now that her brain was offering other solutions, like the possibility that he was just blabbering whatever came to his mind. She of all people should know; after all, when she was his age, that was something she did quite often: talk without thinking. Forcing all negative thoughts away, she offered the boy a smile.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to bite," she said, trying to reassure him. "What makes you think I'll hurt you?" she added in a joking tone, but his answer would hopefully put her to ease and prove her latter theory right, rather than the one her mind had been so quick to jump to.

Guest

Finley had just about righted himself and dusted himself off when the witch before him asked him a question. Well, she slightly teased him first, in a good natured manner, and then asked him a question, but Finley knew he didn't have to answer the first bit, so he concentrated on the question he'd been given.

"Oh, I just... some people aren't always nice. I heard, from another portrait, that the caretaker who used to work here would hang the naughty kids upside down in the dungeons by their ankles. I... wouldn't want that to happen." Finn explained, a nervous smile on his lips. Great, now he'd given the prefect ideas! Was that allowed?

Merlin he hoped not!

"Am I in trouble? Did I hurt you? I'm sorry if I did, I'm a little clumsy, but I don't mean to be. I can make it up to you though, promise! Like a favour, or something, any time you need. Just please don't get me in trouble, my parents would be so disappointed." Finley continued in his stream of overly fast chatter. He really needed to remember to slow down, but it was hard when he was nervous.

Guest

"I heard, from another portrait..."

Despite trying to keep a straight face, she couldn't help it, and at the last few words of the boy, along with his nervous demeanour, she started laughing. Knowing it was rude and not very professional of her, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "Did you ask the portrait when this happened?" she asked after a few moments, her lips still twitching in amusement. The relief that she had upon hearing his fears had only been caused by an over-talkative portrait was undeniably there as she let out another chuckle. Before he could answer, she continued with, "That was way back in history, when Death Eaters still existed and the school was.. Not in a good place."

"But we don-" she started to add, interrupted only when he started into another flurry of words, of which she caught but a few. When he had finished - or at least, she thought he finished - she put up a hand to stop him from going on. "Woah there, slow down!" she joked, shaking her head in mock seriousness. "I didn't catch a thing your were saying." She paused, giving him a smile. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. I mean, you weren't doing anything to break rules on purpose, were you?" She was quite, quite sure that his answer was no; he did not seem the type to do that sort of thing, and the prefect was positive it was an accident that he was out after curfew.

Guest

"Did you ask the portrait when this happened?"

"Umm... no the portrait was speaking as if it happened now..." Finley explained, shaking his head as the prefect explained that it had happened before he was even born. His cheeks were flushed with that information. Of course he would be panicking over something that hadn't happened in decades. "Sorry..." Finley managed to get out the word very sheepishly, looking down at his feet.

Being told to slow down happened a lot to Finley, so he didn't take it personally, simply looking at the witch as she told him she hadn't heard what he said. He was ready to start again, but instead or asking him to repeat himself, the prefect changed route.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble. I mean, you weren't doing anything to break rules on purpose, were you?"

"Oh, no! I was heading back to my common room. Straight back! Promise. And it won't happen again. Promise!" Finley told the witch, giving her a small hopeful smile. A smile that he hoped would really get him out of the way of trouble and back up to the Ravenclaw Tower.

Guest

"Sorry..."

Again she chuckled. His nervousness was slightly amusing to see, but not because she found it funny that he was scared; rather, she remembered when she herself felt nervous to be around prefects. "No need to apologize," she said with a wave of her hand. "Just keep in mind that some of the portraits have been around for a very long time and they don't exactly mention timelines when they speak."

"Oh, no! I was heading back to my common room."

She waited as he explained, smiling at him. "You must be serious to promise me twice," she joked. "Like I said, you're not in trouble. Don't worry about it-" she hesitated, realizing she didn't know what to call him. "Sorry, I don't think I caught your name. I'm Brooke, by the way."

Guest

Finley smiled shyly as the prefect laughed, he didn't really understand why she was laughing, but he wasn't going to ask. "I'll make sure to keep it in mind. I'm still getting used to everything." Finn explained, she would probably understand, all the bigger kids had been in his shoes at some point, after all.

"Oh, I am serious, I don't want trouble." Finn insisted before she explained eh she was. "Sorry, I'm Finley. Finley Allen. It's nice to meet you, Brooke." He told her genuinely. "I should get going though, but hopefully we will meet again, though under more preferable circumstances I hope." He said, giving the witch a small wave before heading off again.

Don't get caught again... don't get caught. He chanted as he hurried through the halls. This school was riddled with prefects though, so he was going to have to pick his way through the halls very carefully.

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