#aghprompt

Chloe wringed her hands together as she waited for the blonde outside of the Ravenclaw common room and let out a breath. She was letting her nerves get to her, who she needed to stop doing but knowing her, she wouldn’t. "Come on Dom." She whispered as she paced back and forth to the entrance and checked her bag to see if her wand was in there.  She closed her purse, making a mental note of resting afterwards. She didn’t want another trip to the hospital wing. One thing for sure, she hadn’t had any negative thoughts like she once had and she knew that the minute she was there, she would be relaxed.

Dom: had been hanging out with Louis in the library when she realized the time. "Shit!" She muttered, remembering she'd agreed to meet Chloe outside the Ravenclaw Common Room. She gave Louis a quick goodbye, before grabbing her bag and heading towards the Common Room. As she headed up the stairs the blonde couldn't help but think about how glad she was not to be a Ravenclaw, it must've been a pain in the butt having to climb so many stairs just to get to from dinner to bed and her calves were already beginning ache, Merlin she needed to eat less and exercise more. Finally, Dom reached Ravenclaw Tower, almost instantly spotting Chloe pacing outside. "Sorry I'm a little late!" She gushed, slightly out of breath from the hike to the tower, "How on Earth do you guys climb this many stairs every day?" She asked with a smile, trying to ease Chloe's evident nerves.

Chloe stopped when she heard the girl's voice and let out a breath when she spotted her. "It’s okay," She assured her and smiled at the question before she shrugged. "It’s a gift that we have, plus listening to music helps walking up the stairs and down the stairs every day. Besides, by the end of the term, your legs will look fabulous." She pointed out, feeling her nerves going away some and walked towards the girl before she reached the top of the stair case with a small smile. "Thank you, for doing this with me by the way."

Dom: "Ah so music's the key to ignoring the fire currently burning in my legs. I'll keep that in mind for next time." She said with a wink, "Lucky for me I got the genetics for great legs anyway. Although I've been meaning to start working out more... D'you think Prof X would mind if I ran up and down the stairs to the Ravenclaw Tower a couple of times a day?" She joked again. "Anytime Chlo, as long as you're still sure you want to do it with me? There's no one you think might be maybe more comforting than me?" She asked wanting to ensure the younger girl was certain about her decision.

Chloe laughed softly when she saw her wink and nodded. "Yep, that's the key and good, you better." She retorted and listened to her. "Lucky, I have to work out almost two times a week to keep looking great. Even more so since the holiday is coming up...I’m sure he'd be for it," She agreed and nodded once more. "I’m still sure I want to do it with you and I've asked around, but most of them are already grouped up. I would ask Sammy, but she's on this rampage of joining the dueling club. Besides, I feel comfortable around you enough and I trust you too."

Dom: nodded, "Don't worry I will, anything to stop this burning. You know how sore I'm gonna be tomorrow?" she replied with a mock sigh. "Well at least it's paying off for you. And remember not everything's about looks, so if you want that extra piece of pie on the holidays you have it!" She laughed, as they began heading toward Professor Xavier's office. "Huh interesting. Did you know Sammy and I don't really get along?" The blonde queried. "Thanks Chlo, I'll do my best to make this as comfortable as possible for you." She agreed.

Chloe "It happens to the best of us and if you need any trick to stop the soreness, let me know." Chloe pointed out and nodded. "Why thank you, and that's true. I’m sure I’m going to grab me an extra slice of pie on the holidays." She replied with a laugh as they headed towards Professor Xavier's office and nodded once more. "Really? I didn't know that, since she hardly talks to me anymore." She glanced over at Dom. "You're welcome, and thank you Dom, really."

Dom: "Thanks, I'll probably just spend tomorrow in bed watching movies - one of the few perks of having an inconsistent job." She joked, rolling her eyes. "No doubt we all deserve some extra pie these holidays." Dom agreed it was common knowledge the blonde never turned down food. "Oh." Dom frowned, "But you seem like you'd be a really good friend for her. No offence to Sam, but she isn't the friendliest... or nicest person I've ever met."

Chloe nodded. "And I’m jealous of that, by the way." She pointed out and did a hum as she agreed. Well, try to agree anyways. "That, we do." She had a long list of favorite foods, and pie was definitely one of them. She glanced over at Dom, and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Thank you, but I haven’t been lately...Between the attacks, and in the hospital wing for a month. Haven't had the time to talk to her, or she hasn’t seen how I am doing. She’s, definitely rough around the edges but she has the mindset of setting her own rules and she's not but I’m sure if you bring up Qudditch, you're golden."

Dom: gave a small smile, "It sounds fun but my bank account could tell you a whole other story." she admitted, shaking her head. The blonde felt her frown deepen, "Well if anything now seems like a time for Sammy to reciprocate the friendship you've shown to her and be supportive to you." She paused, in thought, "I guess it's hard at the moment though, everyone seems to be so caught up in their own stuff. No one's problem-free at the moment." She sighed. "Well aren't you full of useful tips today, I'll be sure to bring up Quidditch next time I run into her."

Chloe frowned slightly when she heard Dom. "I'm sorry, but I’m sure you'll have a chance of to get some opportunities soon." She encouraged, nodded as in agreement. "I agree, really. It feels like some of us are running around while the other ones aren't." She flattened some of her hair down and shrugged again. "Cool and you caught me on a good day when dealing with tips. Although, you might not want to listen to music while you're climbing the stairs. Good."

Dom: sighed and looked over to Chloe, "Well with everything that's going on I've turned down a couple of jobs. It's not like I'm totally poor or anything - I mean I've got inheritance from Maman and Dad, but it also makes sense to stay close to my family at the moment." She explained. "Maybe that's their coping mechanism? To ignore the problems. Not really a good thing to do but I guess if it's effective." The blonde suggested with a nervous laugh. "Why wouldn't I? In case I get to caught up in my music and end up falling down a flight of stairs?" She suggested, noting they were almost at Professor Xavier's office. "I know I keep asking, but you're sure about this right?"

Chloe nodded as she agreed with her and knew what she meant. "It does, yes and they always said, pick family first." She replied, nodded once more. "Ignoring your problems, is sometimes the way to go. Especially during this when we have finals to focus on." She took note of her nervous laughter, and looked at her. "I’m sure, are you?"

Dom: smiled, "Yeah and that means when I do go broke they have to support me and buy me food." The blonde shrugged, "I don't have finals so I've got all the time in the world to think about my problems, not that I've got too many personal ones at the moment." She shrugged. "Yeah, I'm sure if you are."

Chloe nodded. "Sounds like a really good deal, please tell me that you request a bunch of pizza pies." She knew about the girl's liking to pizza and nodded once more. "Lucky." She let out a breath once they stopped in front of the Professor's Xavier's and looked at her. "I’m sure and I say, I think we should go up now."

Dom: laughed, "Of course! Why would I even consider asking for anything else?" Her smile wavered a little as they reached Professor Xavier's door but she quickly recovered so as not to worry the younger girl. "No time like the present." She agreed under her breath before reaching out to knock on the Professor's door.

Chloe shrugged slightly after she thought about it. "True." She said as she felt her nerves and anxiety levels started raise. She swallowed some when Dom knocked on the Professor's door, let out a breath when she heard 'Come in." She glanced at Dom, before she glanced back at the door before she opened it.

Dom: followed Chloe into the room, "Hey Sir." She greeted Xavier, trying to muster her usual cheery attitude as butterflies arose in her stomach, "Sorry we're a little late, it's my fault."

Chloe waved at Xavier a little bit and adjusted her bag some. "Hi," She said and swallowed some as she didn’t show her nerves show. "But we're here now!" She gave him a smile before she saw his look. "Okay, um. Where do you want us to stand?"

Dom: reached out and gave Chloe's hand a comforting squeeze before moving to the side of the room as Xavier request. The professor was really getting straight to business; he probably had dozens of other students to expose the curse and was emotionally drained by the experience, the blonde thought to herself. Chloe looked tiny and defenseless standing alone in the middle of the room. Dom clenched her fists, unsure of what to expect.

Chloe returned the comforting squeeze and let out a breath as she tossed her bag to the side once she stood in the middle of the room. She relaxed her body, as she tried to tell herself that everything is going to be fine as she prepared herself for a duel. She definitely excelled in Charms, along with DADA and a dueler. She kept an eye on Xavier, wondering whenever he was going to start but she had her answer when she saw a red light came after her and started to feel pain. She fought the urge to let out a scream, even though her head was screaming to her to do so.  She felt her body on fire, but ignored it as she went down onto the floor and placed her hands onto the hardwood floors that Xavier had while she felt tears ran down her cheeks and felt her eyes close on her. She had a moment to catch her breath, wiped the tears before she felt someone pulling her back up, well, in this case. Something. She reopened her eyes to see Xavier in front of her as she started to feel calm and collective and hearing the words, 'Bow down to me.' She felt her body being pushed down to her knees involuntary, but she started to fight it by positioning her feet one in front of the other and letting out a small grunt as she stood up. All of her hard work and training, this was it. She wanted to prove that she was strong instead of leaving an impression on the professor that she was this student who chickened out. She let out a scream as she began to rise up and fought against the spell. All of sudden when she was straight up, Xavier released her and she fall back down onto the floor as she felt exhaustion wash over her.

Dom: felt bile rise from her stomach to her throat as she watched Chloe's body contact in pain. Instinctively, the blonde lunged forward, pulling her wand from her sleeve to help her friend. "Don't!" Professor Xavier warned, barely taking his eyes from the red haired girl. The blonde shook her head, she wasn't at Vic's wedding or the Frog Choir Feast, this was for Chloe's benefit, she tried to remind herself. Dominique couldn't watch as Xavier forced the younger girl to bow. It was intimidating to see such a trusted authority figure in this position, using an unforgivable curse on a mere student. Finally Chloe collapsed to the floor and Dominique lunged forward, enveloping the smaller girl in a hug - she could feel her shaking. "You did it." She whispered, stroking the Ravenclaw's hair, "You did it and you're okay and you're safe." She repetitively whispered, realizing there were tears in her own eyes.

Chloe felt Dom pulled her into a hug and knew that she was shaking when she heard the girl's whispers told her that she had done it and she was safe. She blinked away the tears, as she clung to the girl and tried to control her shaking along with not letting a sob escape. She tightly shut her eyes as she still clung to the other girl and didn’t want to move until she was done shaking. She opened up her eyes minutes later, glanced up at Dom and then at Professor Xavier. "W-what now?" She stuttered out as she felt exhausted more than before and loosen her grip on the girl.

Dom: "You've faced two of the Unforgiveable Curses today Miss Carpenter. I must ask you not to feel weak or ashamed by your response to the curses as most students responded in a similar manor, hence why the curses are Unforgiveable. If you feel you need any more assistance after what you've been exposed to please feel free to see Nurse Prince in the Hospital Wing. I'd like to thank you for being brave enough to participate, you've prepared yourself for the Brotherhood more than most mature wizards, and thank you Miss Weasley for accompanying Miss Carpenter." Xavier concluded. Dominique felt anger bubble inside her, how could he be so calm about this? Did he not see the distraught student on his office floor? Taking a deep breath the Hufflepuff pushed her anger down and put her attention to Chloe. "Are you right to stand? I think it would be good for you to get some fresh air." She told the Ravenclaw as she assisted her feet.

 Ariana:

Ariana was still a little skeptical about this whole thing, especially after being hit with a pretty terrible curse once before but she couldn’t let what she was really feeling show on the outside.

Having Mo as her partner made her feel better, he made her laugh and he always made her feel comfortable and pretty good about herself. The fact that she had a bit of a crush on him also helped. Even though she knew that nothing would probably ever happen between the two of them, he seemed to take his job as a TA seriously and she was understanding of that. 

Walking down the long corridor to make her way to Professor X’s office she saw him standing there and quietly stood next to him. Laughing a bit as she startled him she shrugged “Just long enough to wonder why you’re just standing here like this. You’re not having second thoughts are you?”

Mo:

Mo pulled a face, wrinkling his nose facetiously at the younger girl next to him as she (rightly) called him out on not wanting to take part in the exercise.  "Second thoughts?  Who do you think you're talking to, Ars?  A Puffer?  I just figured I shouldn't have to hang 'round old Prof X and be blinded by his shiny noggin' any longer than you."  He flashed her a smile and a wink before putting out his left (unslinged) arm for her to take.  "Shall we then," the older boy asked, feeling like his earlier parallel to the idea of a twisted proposition of a date was more and more on-target.

The two of them made their way into the office, and Mo nodded cordially to the Headmaster, wondering if Xavier was surprised at all by the TA's appearance.  Not that the man would say it out loud, but just-- Mo didn't usually backtrack on his moral stance when he had one, and yet here he was.  On the other hand, he also would do anything to protect his Slytherin family-- so here he was.  Mo's green eyes blinked hard as he worked to clear his head-- things were getting complicated the older he got.  He was not a fan.

Xavier began his spiel-- a more descriptive version really of his announcement.  That it was just a taste of the Unforgivable Curses, how it was for their protection (Mo managed not to roll his eyes), how it wasn't mandatory (X's own eyes flashed a bit at the boy on that one), but a way to prepare themselves for what could be coming.  That they were in pairs to offer moral support, but wouldn't actually be able to help-- which caused Mo to bite his lip uncomfortably and sneak a glance over at Ari.  And he explained the two curses themselves, although in better detail, how they worked, what they were in for.  The speech really wasn't helping the Alum feel any better, honestly.  Instead, he kept glancing over at the Sixth Year beside him, trying to gauge her mindedness with all this; whether she was really doing it of her own choice or whether (as he'd suggested to the Professor) she felt like she lacked alternatives to protect herself. 

Thank Merlin the Headmaster finally shut it, turning to the two of them.  "If the two of you are ready, then, we can begin.  Which of you would like to start?"  Mo opened his mouth, but hesitated-- he hadn't really been able to suss this out really.  Going first seemed like the protective thing to do, he supposed, but at the same time, he didn't want Ari to watch him and get cold feet if this was what she wanted.  Plus-- damn he hated it, but he was still internally balking at the whole idea.  This wasn't just painful, violating-- it was wrong.

BECCA: 

Becca had hardly eaten during lunch, picking at her food and shuffling it from one side of her plate to the other. She was scared enough of the assignment that lay before her; she didn’t need to add being afraid of throwing up to the list of things weighing her down as she had the Unforgivable Curse cast on her. She and Oliver hadn’t planned much beyond the fact that they’d be working together, so as lunch drew to a close and people started to disperse out of the Great Hall, she went over to meet him at the Gryffindor table, silently slipping her hand into his as they started the long walk to Professor Xavier’s office.

GRACIE: 

Gracie had told Hugo she’d meet him at the spot in front of Professor X’s office, and she’d been pacing the hallways for at least half an hour, waiting for their arranged time. She’d been thinking about the Unforgivable Curses ever since the euphoria of winning the Quidditch cup had worn off -- and even before then, if she was being truly honest. Now, though, it was staring her right in the face, and Gracie knew this was it: she had to prove she had what it took, and that she deserved to be the leader of Umbra once and for all.

GRACIE: 

The last twenty-four hours was a whirlwind, but only one word seemed to matter to Gracie Wood anymore -- love. Love, love love, lovelove love love love love. It was all that was on her mind; she’d even temporarily forgotten about Quidditch, although she didn’t have practice again until Thursday, so she had time to adjust to her newfound feelings before it came time to hit the pitch again. For now, though, she was happy in her whirlwind... and even happier about the fact that she was about to get married to the love of her life, Justin Diamond. Life was short, so why wait? 

BECCA:

Becca had never had transfiguration with the Slytherins before, so she didn’t know if Aubrey was actually good at the subject or not. She was passably good at it, though, and was sure that together, they’d be able to figure out how to cast the vanishing spell. For added incentive, though,  she’d really gone through her scrapbook and dug up that old picture of Will Crumpler to speed up the process.

GRACIE: 

Gracie was so not looking forward to this stupid assignment. She’d had a hard enough time with it last year when she’d needed it for O.W.L.s, but she definitely hadn’t practiced it since. At least she’d snagged a smart partner like Lucy to help her just get it over with so she could get back to more important things, like training her new team so that they were ready in time for March’s game against Hufflepuff.

“My condole-”

“Why don’t we just get straight to the point. I can’t be gone for too long.” cut off the blonde boy, seated opposite the powerfully-built man of legend. He bit his tongue afterwards. Bruce Wayne was not someone you spoke like that to. In between the two of them was a small round table, dominated largely by a chessboard. 

There was a grin. Or a smirk. Or a mixture of both. Not jovial enough to be a grin. Not cocky enough to be a smirk. An unknown quantity that wavered uncertainly enough on the line to unnerve Louis enough.

“Very well then.”

There was a significant pause. 

“Let’s see what you can do.”

Cold metal bit into the cushioned back of the armchair he was seated in, the strike having come so fast Louis heard the whistle of the air by his ear being parted. He vaulted himself over the side of the chair, catching the flat of the sword on his side as he tried to put some distance between him and his teacher.

“Slow.”

There was no reprieve as Louis dove for the fireplace despite the growing pain that was starting to numb the right side of his rib cage. A desperate parry with a retrieved poker carrying the momentum of his turning self sent him overcompensating the other side, forcing him to scurry away from the next thrust that came from the hulking man.

And here he was, a moderately fit Ravenclaw in the Sixth Year, forced to go up against a man that, despite being a Squib, carried enough of a reputation to make the hardiest criminals quaver in their boots.

But once he regained his footing, Louis knew that he had a fighting chance, which led to a more than pathetic scramble in the other direction. He got up just in time to strike back, strike before the Batman could get onto him. It was his only chance at regaining any sort of footing in the pace of the fight, to force Bruce Wayne onto the reactionary and stop letting him dictate how things would go.

“Sloppy,” came afterwards, a counter-stroke that left his fingers tingling.

As Batman loomed over him, sword pressed to his and forcing him to backpedal towards the wall, Louis realised that he was looking into the eyes of a madman carrying too many disorders in his head to even function.

Yet somehow he did, and the product was something very close to destiny manifest.

He managed to elicit a grunt of surprise when he forced his poker down into the bladeguard of Batman’s weapon, and using that leverage to pivot around the side, dancing away as years of instinctive footwork came back to him.

But there was hardly any time to be smug about denying the Professor his victory when the next few seconds felt like minutes, his eyes darting from corner to corner, trying to keep himself from being impaled by two feet of steel.

“Weak. How do you expect to defend even yourself?” spat the man, bashing away Louis’ poker so hard it went flying, leaving his fingers unfeeling.

“Pick it up.” His voice was coarse. Venomous. None of the refined gentleman they all saw in class any more. This wasn’t Bruce Wayne, the Potions Professor. This was Batman, the Vigilante of Gotham, the man who had faced down Darkseid when everyone else had fallen. 

A powerful hand grabbed his shoulder and threw him to the floor when he went for his poker.

“No rules in a real fight. No breaking away upon contact like in fencing.”

“You’re soft. Useless.”

“No wonder your family died.”

Then Louis saw red, and next thing he knew, he was on the attack. Strike after strike, blocked and avoided and parried with perfection. None of which was of any use at all. He lashed out with anger, going wide, earning himself another whip of the blade’s flat side across his ribs. 

“You’re angry, but you’re not making good use of it.”

“Slow.”

The taunts kept coming, coming, coming. Bile rose at the back of his throat, a disgust wrought out of his own cowardice, tears invoked by memory blinding him as he took another hit on the shoulder. He swung again, again. Deflected, kicked in the thigh, palmed in the face.

“Be angry. Control it.”

“Let it know that it works on your terms and not the other way around.”

He was thrown to the floor when the shoulder of a man one and a half times his size bashed into his chest.

“It’ll be demanding. You’ll hate me. You’ll hate yourself.”

A hand was extended.

“But you’ll be ready.”