potaytoe~

If you were to ask anyone at Hogwarts who knew MC to describe her in one word, the answer would be, with frightening consistency, kind. A trait many students admired her for. She was a nurturing type of witch who excelled at potions and herbology as well as healing charms. The first two being given in the regular curriculum and the latter being taught to her in the medical wing where she volunteered some of her free time in exchange for knowledge and experience. Anyone in need of anything could always count on her to offer her help when she felt she could provide it, causing her to get a small reputation as the mom of their year. Whether it was a snack, a quill or discreet healing of singed eyebrows, everyone who knew her didn't doubt to ask. 

Her amicable reputation however didn't necessarily translate into social prowess.    Even though everyone liked her well enough, there weren't too many people she considered her friends, never mind the seemingly unreachable position of what she imagined having a best friend would be like. This was fine by her seeing as she much rather tended to her plants and studies than chat most days. Still, she'd have the occasional longing stare to those bands of friends who seemed joined at the hip. She could walk up to most classmates and have a lovely conversation but she could never quite reach a level of friendship beyond the 'wave and smile when I pass you in the halls' and 'small talk should we happen to be sitting next to each other' stage of getting acquainted. She blamed this to her aspirations of becoming a skilled healer and just being too infatuated with her work and studying, but deep down she still felt a pang of loneliness books just couldn't rid her of. Still, MC remained kind and studious and mostly in solitude for the first of her Hogwarts years. That was until she, quite literally, ran into a certain group of slytherins during her 4th year. 

It had happened whilst she was a bit distracted walking towards the great hall. Her tendency to finish a chapter before doing anything else had caused her to be a bit late and less careful about where she was going. She rounded a corner right as a boy dramatically extended his arms causing her to stumble and immediately after trip over the legs of someone who was sitting on the floor. She let out a surprised yelp and hit the ground with a thud and a soft 'ow..'. "Merlin Sebastian, look where you're flailing your arms! Are you okay!?" She heard a girl say right beside her. MC nodded her head and gently rubbed her arm which had taken the brunt of her fall. "Don't worry, it was just a bump." MC said sheepishly as she let the girl and the 'arm flailing' boy help her up. 

Upon closer examination she recognised them as the Sallow twins and connected the trip-inducing pair of legs to Ominis Gaunt. "Nonsense, these dimwits should stop blocking the halls and mind their bloody surroundings… and go to dinner because I'm starving." Anne said, looking at boys with visible irritation. "Hey! I was the epitome of elegance, gesturing to make my point even more clear to Ominis. There just happened to be an unfortunate collision." Sebastian quickly retorted, clearly not one to take blame. "Yeah well if you had been the epitome of eloquence you wouldn't have been gesturing in the first place because I'm blind." Ominis shot back, standing up from his seated position. "Well if you hadn't-" Sebastian had started until he heard Anne gasp. The bickering boys turned to the source and quickly shut up as Anne examined the small scrape on  MC's elbow, surrounded by a slightly bigger bruise that produced a miniscule trickle of blood. "She's BLEEDING from her WOUND and you haven't even apologized." Anna chastised whilst MC stood frozen watching the chaos unfold around her. 

That was until she couldn't take it anymore and started laughing due to their antics. The three of them immediately shut up and had to laugh for a moment as well. "Don't worry it's an easy fix." MC said after a moment of collecting herself and nonverbally cast a charm to fully heal the minimal damage on her arm. Sebastian and Anne gawked at her for a moment whilst Ominis was left in the dark, until Anne yelled out. "You just cast a nonverbal and perfectly healed your bloody arm!" She gently took hold of MC's elbow and traced the scrape-free skin with fascination. "You did? That's quite impressive" Ominis said whilst Sebastian was eerily quiet. Anne was just about to comment on MC being the cause of another miracle when Sebastian closed the distance between them and looked at her with stars in his eyes as he burst out: "teach me. Please teach me how to do that." MC was a bit startled by his sudden enthusiasm and nearly stumbled backwards again but Sebastian firmly grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly as he continued. "I've never seen anyone cast a nonverbal with such ease, let alone of our age. I have been trying to figure it out for ages an-" before he could shake her to nausea Anne smacked him up the head and pulled him off. "Back, you Neanderthal. Mind your manners you giddy geek. You haven't even asked her name and you're already harassing her with questions."

 Right as Sebastian tried to interject, Ominis added: "Worst of all, we still haven't apologized to…?" "MC" MC said with a small smile. Anne gestured to Sebastian and with the look of a guilty child he began: "I'm sorry for hitting and effectively pushing you.." " and I'm sorry for accidentally tripping you.." Ominis added "And I'm sorry for not catching you." Anne said to conclude the triple apology. MC couldn't help but feel a bit warm inside from their visibly close relationship and fun personalities. "Each of you is forgiven. How about we walk to the hall now and get Anne that dinner. I was on my way there as well. "A woman after my own heart, let's go!" Anne said, locking their arms and immediately dragging her along before the boys could react.

 MC chuckled at her spontaneity and looked at her side when she felt Sebastian who had caught up, slotting his arm with her free one as he said: "Seriously though, what you did back there was nothing short of incredible. I've heard about you helping out in the hospital wing but I didn't expect this. I'd beg on my knees for even some pointers." He said with a playful smile. A small blush creeped onto her cheeks and MC let herself be guided by the twins. "I could try to teach you. But it may not end up being a healing charm, would that still be okay? It would take some effort from both of us, but with some dedication we could pull it off." "I want to learn too! Please teach us both." Anne interjected, pulling MC a bit closer to show off her puppy eyes. Before she could answer Sebastian spoke up again: "yeah right. First making me beg for it and then reaping the rewards yourself you little sneak" Elle laughed and promised to at least try to  teach both the Twins and Ominis should he want it. (He did). Between the bickering and the hasty goodbye at the entrance of the hall MC caught herself wanting to speak to the slytherins again after today.