February 29th, 1888 — Outside the Hospital Wing
Two days after this shit-show

The past two days had not been good ones for Holly. She'd been admitted to the hospital wing two nights before for a lousy illness, and a magical one at that! Her skin—and then her hair, nails, and any part of her visible body—had begun shifting shades. Peeves had even had the nerve to send her and Seneca in the air, leaving the poor Miss Borgin to get them down (rather roughly, in Holly's case). Though others had been permitted to return to classes, Holly had all but demanded she stay to get better, now suffering from sore knee and shoulder from where Miss Borgin had dropped her!

Grouchy-faced and with her arms crossed against her chest, Holly finally made her venture out into the corridors once more. There didn't seem to be anyone around (it was nearing the curfew), but there did seem to be a few giggles here and there. She walked slowly (her poor knees could barely handle her weight!) and quietly, only looking up to cast unfriendly glances at those who passed.

Upon reaching the staircase, she went to take a step, but... well... she was stuck! Letting out a crackly huff, Holly tried to pick up her foot once more, but it was seemingly attached the floor. Her head whipped around just in time to catch sight of an unidentifiable person darting away. Her face, having just returned to its peachy state, was now red once again—but this time in anger. All she wanted to do was go to her dorm and go to sleep!

"I will murder you!" she screeched, stomping her one good foot loud enough for it to echo. Alone and upset, Holly tried her hardest to keep tears (angry ones, not sad ones, she would insist) from falling.

  

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— set by MJ <3 —

"Miss Scrimgeour?" the badger questioned, keeping her voice soft. She was a bit afraid of upsetting the other girl and what the Slytherin would do if upsetted further. She'd been on her way to fetch something from her room when a high pitched screech had set her off course, concerned someone had been hurt. She hadn't recognized the voice. Maybe in lower, normal voice, spoken words she would have, but not the noise that kinda sounded like what she imagined a mooncalf being strangled would sound like. But with words. WOrds that were threatening to murder someone. Considering it was a castle full of hormonal teenagers, maybe it wasn't the best idea to be teaching them potentially dangerous magic.

"I can... I can find a perfect or a teacher. Maybe they'll be able to reverse the spell, Miss Scrimgeour. I do not know what counter spell to try myself unless you have an idea?" The other girl studied ahead, didn't she? Maybe she had already learned something that would help. Maybe she just didn't have her wand?

  

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Holly was shaking in anger. She didn't want someone to "find a prefect" or "grab a teacher". She just wanted to be out of here and in bed! Why that was difficult for anyone to understand—especially Pippy Potts, who she expected to know what she meant!—was appalling. Why couldn't someone useful have appeared in the first place?

"Just. Get. Me. Out!" she shrilled, legs trashing as she tried to pull them from whatever charm had glued them to the floor. "I just - just - just wanna go to bed! This isn't fair!" she babbled, tears beginning to fall in anger.

  

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— set by MJ <3 —

She flinched at Miss Scrimegour shrieked, shuffling a step backward. She wasn't an frightful girl. Rather she'd been known to have an inability to bite her tongue. She'd had her go at multiple people, adults included. But Holly was frightening. As she noted wet tears slipping down the Slytherin's face she slunk forwards again.

What could she do to get the girl lose? She really wanted to go get someone more knowledgeable but Holly had distinctly said not to. She didn't know what charm it was and she didn't what to spend all day trying reversal spells. Not with curfew coming up. After a second, she looked up. "How attached to this pairs of shoes are you Miss Scrimegour?" she'd ask, slipping her wand out.

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

Trying to compose herself, Holly did the most Unexpected Thing and actually listened to the words coming out of Pippy Potts' mouth. She glanced down at her shoes, trying to wiggle her feet around in them.

"There tight — what did you expect? I'm not so poor that I walk around with loose shoes," she pointed out, returning momentarily to her True Holly Form. Then, with a more somber expression, she glanced back at Pippy. "You don't think that you might be able to - um - wedge them off my feet, though, do you?"

  

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— set by MJ <3 —

She had, in fact, meant mentally attached to her shoes. Her idea had to been to try a charm they had covered in class a while back and that she had seen her mother and sisters use with the flowers to cut through the sole of the shoe. But now that Holly had asked if she thought she could basically wedge them off, that seemed like a far better - and safer - option.

She bit her lip, annoyed at Holly's rudeness but shook it off. "I can try! It would be better than doing nothing," Calla supplied cheerfully, pleased to have some sort of a plan. She was kind of glad that if this happened, she had to help someone her age rather than older as she could imagine that the whole ordeal would be far harder if their dresses actually covered their shoes yet.

She bent down and sat on the ground to better reach Holly's shoes and started on the buttons.

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

This was embarrassing, but he liked to imagine Pippy was like the maid at home who polished her shoes. She tried to watch the Hufflepuff as she began trying to get her out of her shoes, but her massive head was in the way!

"Be careful. My feet are delicate and I don't need any blisters," she warned with a huff.

  

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— set by MJ <3 —

Calla wasn't embarrassed, really. She didn't care too much of what anyone thought of her in this sort of regard. She didn't mind helping someone else out. She did care when she was taking time out her day to help someone and they were being nothing but rude to her. So with Holly's last statement, the Hufflepuff sat up, her legs tucked underneath her and her arms crossed over her chest.

"Pardon me, Miss Scrimgeour. I could just leave you here. I'm sure there are plenty of perfects on patrol tonight who'd love to doc off a few house points for being out past curfew. Or maybe I should leave for someone to walk past who you'd actually care to see you like such. You shouldn't be so rude to someone helping you or no one will help you," Calla declared stiffly, moving threateningly to stand up as if she was going to walk away.

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

Holly's face turned red and she gave Calla the Biggest Death Glare.

"Go ahead, then! Leave! When the prefect stumbles across me, I'll tell them Miss Calla Potts left me here without returning with help! I doubt they'd dock points of me for being here because of someone else's irresponsible wand-waving," she responded with her nose in the air. "Perhaps even your irresponsible wand-waving, seeing that you were the only one here."

  

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— set by MJ <3 —

"And when the perfect comes to me, I'll tell them I tried to help but left because Miss Scrimgeour was being rude. I have no issue with being docked points because I refuse to be treated like a lesser being, miss," the badger hissed, now fully up on her two feet. She might have been nice to a fault, but she was no pushover and she refused to be the Slytherin's punching bag and Holly would know that once she left, as there clearly had been some doubt. "As for if it was my wand waving or not, they can test what spells a wand cast, Miss Scrimgeour, and when they do they will find no trace of any spells that cause such effect. I would never dream of doing such a thing to anyone - even someone as rude as you!"

  

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"A lesser being? I've not treated you as such! I don't think telling you to be careful with my feet qualifies as treating you like a lesser being." Though she was one, but Holly wouldn't dare say as such! With her wild habits and quidditch-playing tendencies, Miss Potts would be lucky if she ever found a respectable match one day! Hmph!

  

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— set by MJ <3 —

She froze, cocking her head to the side, blue eyes trained on the upper-class girl. "Telling me to be careful, maybe not, at least not the words. It was the tone and the fact you felt the need to. I wasn't going to just yank your shoes off. That could hurt. I'm not stupid. And not only that, you have a tendency to talk down to people and walk all over them."

She knew that class difference was a thing. She knew she had less money than the girl she was talking to. She knew that the world all but revolved around money and whoever had more tended to be more powerful, but it wasn't her fault she was born with less money. And it didn't make her less than Holly. Frankly, she wouldn't even want to be wealthy. Those families always seemed so cold and distant to each other, bound by suffocating rules.

  

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"I don't need you preaching to me," she huffed, folding her arms across her chest. "It's not my fault that people allow themselves to be walked over. I'm doing them a favor by teaching them how to have a backbone," she returned, straightening her posture.

  

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— set by MJ <3 —

"Teaching them?" she snorted, fingers tightening into fist, her nails digging sharply into her palms, though not enough to draw blood. "As soon as they don't let you walk all over them, Miss Scrimgeour, you tear into them with no mercy. That isn't teaching. That isn't a favor. If that is what you consider a kindness, well, just stay silent and do not bother. Look Miss, Scrimgeor. I don't mean to be rude, but it is true, and I will not lie nor will I allow myself to be treated as such. Its up to you what you do with that."

"Now would you like some help with your shoes - without the commentary or attitude? I do wish to go to bed soon. I had practice today and am quite tired."

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

"It is absolutely possible to express your problems without coming off as preachy, Miss Potts," she said curtly, her nose held high in the air. She would not beg for assistance, nor would she admit her wrongdoings when it was obviously the fault of others for being so meek! It wasn't her fault for knowing her own worth and acting on it.

"Yet I'm afraid you haven't managed such. If you have no desire to assist me — as a true Hufflepuff might do — you may leave me here to freeze in the night," she assured.

  

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— set by MJ <3 —

"Like you are one to speak of not being preachy, Miss Scrimgeour," Calla snorted, lips curling around the words in displeasure. Calla could easily tell this was getting no where but the girl's habit of being cruel and manipulative was really starting to get annoying. She could tolerate it if only it was just towards herself but Holly was like this to everyone and it just wasn't very nice.

"A true Hufflepuff doesn't implies a pushover. It implies someone who values kindness, acceptance, and fair play. None of which I can honestly say I have ever seen you display. Those are the traits I seek in a person. After all, you ought treat others the way you want to be treated, and under that philosophy, I will assist you but it also implies that you wish to be treated as less than human. Treated cruelly. As if you don't have feelings - which I'm sure you do, somewhere in that void of coldness."

She shook her head, bent down, and started to loosen the bindings on the upper class's girls shoes. When they were all the way loose she instructed Holly to try slipping out of the as she yanked them open.

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!