Leave Me Alone!

[Lissa Morgan]

Quiet.

The search for the elusive prize of peace and quiet could sometimes seem to be a rare and wonderful creature to the denizens of this accursed prison. The gift of being able to read a book or be with your own thoughts and not have any distractions….

The barracks always had students, the grounds always had students, and all the little hidey holes and nooks anyone found were most likely to be already occupied by students (some in various state of undress and not looking to be interrupted). And most of the good places there weren’t many students, there were marshals looking for human guinea pigs to do their magical experiments totted out as lessons- hence why there weren’t many students there. And since Lissa Morgan had a rule about staying as far from the marshals as possible, she had to think of somewhere new.

So here she was, re visiting the outer edges of the Weeping Woods- not far enough in to get scared with all the creepy stuff it supposedly had in it, but just far enough out of the line of sight on the Marshall cottages and past the greenhouse to feel like you were finally alone. Pretty much the same place she’d been testing a freezing potion a month earlier and accidently turned herself into a stone statue…… but she was better now. Well, only cause a fellow inmate Griffin had turned her back before she’d completely reverted to stone- but Lissa still maintained she would have gotten herself out of that fix somehow.

But here and now, finally, Lissa Morgan was alone. She smiled and sighed in relief and relished the absence of other people bickering and bellowing at each other. This was gonna be great- just Her, a potion book she’d unearthed that looked promising and actually mostly readable (which was a change), and no one in sight to ruin her fun.

Still, Liss knew she could get so involved in a book she forgot where she was, and since this particular potion book looked to have many ideas she might maybe be able to use to achieve blissful forgetfulness from the affairs of reality, Liss knew she’d be daydreaming and scheming and planning a fair bit.
So Lissa Morgan proceeded to climb a tree like she had when she was a kid- before she got ‘too old’ for such things. There, sitting on the low hanging branches and swinging her feet, the brown eyed girl began her avid reading.

Enjoying some quiet time to herself with no distraction whatsoever.

[Athelred Darkholme]

Athelred quietly walked towards the woods, thinking about how glad he was that he had managed to slip away without being seen. He still wasn't quite ready to start talking to the other inmates. The memories of what had happened were still too fresh. And what else would they ask about? In here it seemed that was all they wanted to know. The marshals especially. He had confessed his crimes, but the rest was his own to keep. And lately he had gotten sick of refusing to answer their questions.

But regardless of the reason he had sallied forth to inspect these woods he had heard the others talking about. They were quite beautiful in a dark sort of way. But when looking at them all he could see was secrets waiting to be found. And that thought made him practically salivate. He might have been changed by the crime that lead him to this place, but he was still a ravenclaw at heart. And not all knowledge could be found in books.

And yet, just as he began entering the woods he saw something in a tree. A glimmer of color. Silently, Red approached. After all, he wasn't ready to start a conversation just yet. He considered slipping past unseen, but curiosity got the best of him. He would see who it was and then continue on his way.

And that decision ended up giving him the biggest shock since his arrival. As he reached a clear viewpoint he saw the last person in the world he had expected. Lissa Morgan. Of COURSE she was here. Why wouldn't she be? How could it not have occurred to him that she would be sent the same place. Yet again he was tempted to simply pass on by and head into the woods. But the strange mix of emotions he felt when looking at her wouldn't let him. And then the book she was reading put the nail in the coffin. No doubt on potions or the like.

With a quick movement he drew his new wand. He gave it a glaring look of disgust. It couldn't have been more different from his if it had tried (and sometimes he was convinced it did). Probably couldn't even do this right.

Eyes fixed on the book he gave the wand a swish. "Accio potion book!"

He gave a grin as the book sailed towards him. A grin that changed to a frown as it flew over his head and into a nearby puddle, splashing water everywhere and drenching the book. With a small chuckle he picked it up. Turning back towards the figure in the tree he brandished the book. "Sorry Liss. Looks like I ruined your new book. A shame too. You could have been reading about all sorts of useless crap! Where’s the chapter on escaping reality anyways?"

[Lissa Morgan]

Bliss.
The bliss of an afternoon to herself reading a book.
Liss was in her happy place, so deeply involved in the subject matter she was reading that a cyclone, a green flamingo and a mariachi band could have paraded through the woods and she would have barely batted an eye.
So her beautiful book being magically yanked out of her hands and sailing through the air into a puddle was the first she knew about someone discovering her hiding place. The splat of the book hitting the water was beautifully counterpointed by LIssa’s wail of surprise and despair.

Now a thing to note about dear LIssa Morgan was that fact that she was usually quiet, polite, and stayed away from fights and most kinds of trouble. If you annoyed Lissa she’d seem to let it go, and maybe might get you back later with an anonymous ‘frog in your throat’ potion. But the point was she usually didn’t do confrontation, or swearwords, or yelling ……. But she did have a thing about people taking and wrecking her stuff- especially here at Furiae where useful and usable things were so hard to come by.

That was why when she leapt to the ground to take revenge for her poor book, she was ranting and seeing red and it took her a second to process just who was talking to her and what they were saying….

“What the HELL is your problem you jerk! Do you have ANY idea how hard readable books are to find around this place…..”
She started the rant before her poor brain actually caught up to and flagged down her raging mentally train to hand her some answers….and some questions.
Her eyes noted the long, ashy blonde hair, the mocking grin, the eyes full of distain….
“Red?.....”
She questioned, spluttering to a stop.
“Red?”
She said again, not quite believing that she was seeing her and her brothers former best friend.
“What are you doing here?
Liss did mention former best friend, because that was an important fact- he was a former friend of her brother Liam cause, well, Liam was dead, and Red was a former friend of hers because he was a self important, superior ass.
…..Which reminded Liss that though she might be surprised to see him she was still so mad at him- and this latest incident was just another in a long list of noted things she was annoyed at him about.

"Sorry Liss. Looks like I ruined your new book. A shame too. You could have been reading about all sorts of useless crap! Where’s the chapter on escaping reality anyways?"

….Yeah, Red didn’t really approve of Lissa’s choice of drugs as a coping mechanism to escape reality.

Liss took a step back to ground her and crossed her arms over her chest for the coming verbal brawl.
“So Red, still a judgemental, hypocritical, self-important, superior asshole I see.”
Liss said with sweet venom.
“What I do doesn’t hurt anyone……..”
She went on with the sound of a familiar counterargument- yep, they’d had this fight before.
“So, hows that dark arts study coming- is that what landed you in here?”
She asked, her tone malicious, and again, tooo syrpuy sweet..

[Athelred Darkholme]

Red crossed his arms at the inevitable verbal barrage from Lissa. His mouth grew into a smirk as he watched the realization of who he was sink in. She hadn't even recognized him at first, being too preoccupied with yelling about her precious book. He hadn't really meant to trash it in the puddle, but since it had happened he wasn't exactly remorseful. Lissa was using drugs to escape reality. Namely the reality of what had happened to her brother. This was something that Red was... less than pleased about.

He simply stood idly by while she lambasted him, defiance written on his face.

“What I do doesn’t hurt anyone……..”

For a second his expression slipped. Was that a hint of guilt on his features? Or maybe it was the look of someone that had done something unpleasant that needed doing. Either way, the expression was only there for a fraction of a second before returning to the smug look he had been giving her.

“So, hows that dark arts study coming- is that what landed you in here?”

"Well, I might be a self-important asshole, but at least I'm not an insufferable prat! I thought hufflepuffs were supposed to be accepting. Whats wrong with knowledge? The dark arts don't make you hurt anybody!"

Uncrossing his arms Red waved the book at her like he was ready to begin a lecture about some very important topic.

"And another thing. When you decided to start avoiding what happened you didn't just abandon me and everybody else in your life. You abandoned Liam's memory and everything he stood for. Self centered? At least I tried to do what was right instead of looking for a feel good time to make me forget. You want to know what I did? Well too bad. Only a person that really cares deserves to know. And all you care about is your stupid drugs. Go ask around, I'm sure someone will fill in the gaps."

Having finished his speech Red wiped the book on his pants, getting most of the mud off of it. Then he held it out for Lissa to take.

"Here. I've already tried to stop you. Just go back to your bloody potions and forget I'm even here."

[Lissa Morgan]

There are some people in the world who just rub you up the wrong way, who just seem to get under your skin- for whatever the reason may be, and make you act just plain crazy. And that’s what Athelred Darkholme was to Lissa. They used to be friends, hell, Red was basically family being as how he was always hanging at their house, always hanging with her and her brother Liam, always the three of them getting into and out of all sorts of fun hijinks and trouble.

Liam always used to joke that Red was gonna be the only man allowed to marry LIssa when they all grew up, since he knew the boy was halfway decent most of the time and could be counted on in a pinch. Liss and Red would just roll their eyes and punch him on the arm until he started talking sense again. But the point was- they were close.

And then Liam died and Red stopped being able to be counted on and started getting all preachy and lecturey about how and just with who Lissa was spending her time, starting to act like a stand in brother in fact- with Lissa did not appreciate at all. And then the arguments started, and since they were both stubborn the arguments got worse until they more enemies than friends.

But because they had been the best of friends once upon a time, it made their fights that much worse, and the things Red taunted Liss with had the power to become barbs of poison that could really hurt.

As like now for example.
Liss tired not to let it get to her, but sometimes she couldn’t help it, and because Red hurt her sometimes…..okay, most times, she usually ended up doing something stupid….

"Well, I might be a self-important asshole, but at least I'm not an insufferable prat! I thought hufflepuffs were supposed to be accepting. Whats wrong with knowledge? The dark arts don't make you hurt anybody!"

Lissa’s expression had turned rough- if she was a cat she might have actually snarled at this point.

“Hufflepuffs value loyalty. They don’t stop being someones friend because they don’t agree with them!”

Lissa spat back. Ignoring the bulk of the dark magic stuff to defend her former house and throw her whole poisonous dart in the process. After all, he had been the one to stop speaking to her.

"And another thing. When you decided to start avoiding what happened you didn't just abandon me and everybody else in your life. You abandoned Liam's memory and everything he stood for. Self centered? At least I tried to do what was right instead of looking for a feel good time to make me forget. You want to know what I did? Well too bad. Only a person that really cares deserves to know. And all you care about is your stupid drugs. Go ask around, I'm sure someone will fill in the gaps."

Lissa was fuming by this point, and the way Red cleaned off her potions book and gave it back to her was just the last straw.

"Here. I've already tried to stop you. Just go back to your bloody potions and forget I'm even here."

LIssa could of agreed with Red’s terms, after all, that was what she wanted, to avoid fighting and trouble and get out of this hell hole as quickly as possible…….. But it was Red, and as aforementioned, he made her crazy…..and stupid.

Before she had made a conscious decision, Lissa had her crappy, second rate wand in hand. She barely used the thing cause it barely worked, but Griffin, a friend of hers had shown her that if she really really concentrated, if her will was strong enough, the magic would work.
“Levicorpus!”
She shouted with a flick of her wrist and the aim of causing her victim to be hoisted into the air have to dangle upside-down until she decided to let him go- which was, after all, what the spell was for.

She advanced on Red slowly, her voice almost shaking with fury.
“YOu smug bastard. You do NOT get to talk about me or my brother any more, is that clear!”
It wasn’t a question.

[Athelred Darkholme]

“Hufflepuffs value loyalty. They don’t stop being someones friend because they don’t agree with them!”

"Loyalty?" Red practically screamed back at her. His face contorted into a sneer. "You mean like trying to help save a friend from themselves? Risking the only close friend you have left? Being honest because it was what you needed even when it wasn't what you wanted? I should've been the bloody hufflepuff. You can't even see when someone is trying to help you."

He had quite a deal more shouting to do, but never got the chance. In a flash she had her wand out and was motioning to use it. "Liss, please..." His words were cut off by her spell. And suddenly he was torn from his feet and left to dangle upside down.

Athelred was normally very composed, even purposeful. Indeed, few things riled him at all. However, there was one serious omission from this trend. Being upside down. Red didn't like heights to start with, but he was absolutely terrified of being upside down. As a child he wouldn't even ride roller coasters. He would always claim that they made him sick, but Lissa knew the truth. He had told her during one summer when she invited him to go with her family to an amusement park. And now she was using that against him.

As the realization of what was happening set in, Red began to panic. He dropped the book and struggled with his wand. "Liberacorpus!" He shouted. But the spell misfired. "Liberacorpus!!!" He tried again, with the same dismal result. Magic requires focus, and Red's panic was making that all but impossible. Realizing he couldn't free himself, Red turned his head (was his face turning a bit green?) towards Lissa. "Liss, please!"

[Lissa Morgan]

Mean….
….Mean….Mean….Mean…..
Lissa was a mean hearted bitch.

She’d never thought she was that much of one before now. Oh, she could be bitchy when riled up, and revenge was its own reward (and Liss was very very good as revenge), but she felt she didn’t have the mile wide cruelty streak that some of the other Furiae residents had that turned one into one of the heartless, merciless, vindictive, spiteful, malicious fan club.

But Red, Red just made her so crazy mad she forgot she had a little thing called morals. And so she’d subconsciously gone for the worst spell for a person who hated being upside down and told her that in confidence that she could think of. And truth to tell, seeing the all-powerful, all knowing, super smart Red flailing around and panicking out of his mind because of her simple spell did sooth her sense of avenging justice just a tad.

….. Unfortunately being mad at Red didn’t stop the guilt worming its insidious way into her mind as she watched the formerly arrogant, smugly handsome bastard panic in her spells upside down clutches.

Lissa stood there for a minute.
Thinking.
Indecisive.
She just wanted to walk away. After all, Red DESERVED this. He did. With all the crap he had put her through, he so did.

….But the guilt was well and truly entrenched in her mind now- she couldn’t leave him like that, not with the one thing he hated the most…
Red's desperate plea pushed her into action.

With a harsh sigh, Liss gave in to being ‘good’.
“All right, all right, I’ll get you down.”
She pointed her wand and channelled the counter spell….
Nothing happened.
“Hold still!....and watch your head.”
She snapped before taking a deep breath.
“Liberacorpus!"

[Athelred Darkholme]

“Liberacorpus!"

With that word life had some good news and some bad news for Red. The good knews was that he was no longer held aloft by magic. The bad news was the he was no longer held aloft by magic.

He hit the ground head first, only managing to deflect the ground slightly before crashing into it. He managed an undignified yelp at the impact, and it took him a few seconds to right himself. Even then he remained sitting on the ground, color slowly returning to his face. As he regained his composure he shot Lissa a look that would freeze Phoenix mid-July. Or a real phoenix, come to think of it. The point being it was a pretty cold look.

Feeling something running down his face, he ran his hand across his forehead. It came away red. Looking at the ground to see what he'd managed to hit during his fall his eyes fell on the object that had started this entire escapade. Unable to control how angry he was at the particular object he leveled his wand.

"Incendio!"

And with that the book was finally gone. After wiping his forehead again, Red managed to find his feet. Once he had steadied himself he glared at Lissa.

"Liam was my friend and nothing you can do will change that. Just because YOU want to forget what happened doesn't mean I have to. Oh, and I was YOUR friend as well. If you weren't too busy trying to escape you might remember that."

He didn't bother mentioning how pissed he was at her choice of spells. She already knew how he felt about that little issue.

[Lissa Morgan]

Lissa’s counter spell released Red from being held aloft by an invisible force and he fell down with a yelp into an undignified heap.
Ha.
Where was a camera when Liss needed one? Cause that was hilarious- and you didn’t get much of a chance to laugh in this place.

Liss stood there, grinning smugly at the boy who was shooting her daggers of poisoned ice with his glaze, cause, well, she thought they were done. She had yelled, he had yelled, she’d magically held him upside down till he pleaded for mercy, she had relented and let him down and she had won and it was all sorted.
…. Apparently Red hadn’t gotten that memo though.

With one angry spell word, her precious afternoon’s reading and weeks for potential potions to practice went up in smoke- quite literally actually, as did Liss’s smug demeanour. And while the stunned brown eyed girl was still standing there spluttering, with a totally disbelieving look on her face, Red had the nerve to start yelling at her again, even though it was clearly Liss’s go to be mightily offended.
“Liam was my friend and nothing you can do will change that. Just because YOU want to forget what happened doesn't mean I have to. Oh, and I was YOUR friend as well. If you weren't too busy trying to escape you might remember that."

Liss scoffed in hearty derision;
“Oh blah blah blah…..Yeah, great friend you are- destroying my stuff after I let you down, when I could have left you here all damn day and no one would have noticed or cared.”
She said, nodding to the barely disenable floating ash that had once been a potentially great source of information. She was still way angry with her ex best friend, but with the destruction of her book she’d settled into a more sedate, desolate style of anger than the type of boiling rage from before.
“But that’s you all over, isn’t it Red…. As soon as someone steps outside your vision of what is ‘right and correct’ you go all judgemental on their arse and start messing with their lives. Well I have both been there and done that and I am sick of playing that game with you, so I’m going back to my crappy little existence here. Don’t come near me again, don’t talk to me again…… Else you know I’ll make you regret it.”
And with that she turned to walk away.

[Athelred Darkholme]

Red was still fuming as he followed the retreating Lissa. Still, he had been slightly chastened by her words. Burning the book had probably been a bit much. After all, he hadn't quite gotten used to not having regular access to pretty much any books that he wanted. Not that she hadn't been asking for it, but he had crossed some sort of Lissa line. And you couldn't just cross those without serious fallout.

"Liss."

"LISS!"

"Liss, would you wait a minute?"

She was heading deeper into the woods, probably because it was away from Red. Unfortunately she wasn't paying attention to where she was going while doing so. Red saw what was about to happen before she did. In her attempts to get away from him, Lissa had wandered too close to a nest of giant centipedes. Which, being bugs, was something that Lissa was absolutely terrified of, or at least that was what she had told Red back at school.

"Lissa! Wait!"

Red kept trying to get her attention, but by now nothing he said was even registering. He quickly started running to close the distance. He managed to get a hand on her shoulder just as the nearest centipede crawled out in front of her, raising its head and looking down at her. Its huge fangs were dripping some kind of poison slime. And in fact its entire body appeared to be coated with some kind of gooey substance, making it a most dreadful sight to behold. Especially from such an uncomfortably short distance.

"Uh Liss, I think now is a good time to leave."

[Lissa Morgan]

Lissa stormed off, feeling the familiar cumulative emotions of anger, distress and annoyance of any time she spent around Red since they first started disagreeing about their life choices.
And no one could storm like Liss in a mood.

God damn busy bodied…..
Annoying!
Arrogant!
Conceited!
Pompous!
Jerk face that he was……

She vaguely heard him call out after her as she stomped off into the forest gloom, but she didn’t answer and she certainly didn’t care about where she was going, only that it was away from him. She had been very, very serious- Red had better not try to talk to her, or he’d really experience what she could do with a few special plants that would make the words ‘unpleasant experience’ the understatement of the year.
Grrrrrr……

The normally observant Liss had not been observing her surrounding as she might normally have, this was unfortunate since had she seen the nest of giant centipedes she’d been walking into, she could of easily about turned and avoided getting anywhere near the highly territorial hugely hideous and dangerous beastly.

Liss HATED bugs, they completely freaked her out, and so when the thing that shook her out of her internal grumble about the whole ‘Red’ issue was a giant bug rearing up at her, her corresponding scream could have broken afew windows, and probably scared afew birds out of the trees as well.

Liss HATED bugs, and one was right in front of her, and it looked poisonous and gross and slimy, and she was suddenly so scared she couldn’t even move, let alone try some clever piece of magic that might keep her alive.

Red’s hand on her shoulder seemed to be the magic touch that atleast unfroze her muscles.
"Uh Liss, I think now is a good time to leave."
Liss could not believe old jerk face had actually come after her, but here he was giving some great advice.
“Uh huh.’
Liss agreed.
“Great plan. Lets go!”
She replied, grasping his hand in hers and taking off at a dead run, practically wrenching his arm out of the socket with the strength of her grip, as she ran, adrenaline fuelling her panicked need to be far far away from here.