Who: Rebecca Corner and Euan Pamplemoss
What: Limping and stalking in the corridors
Where: Hogwarts
When: Today?
Rebecca sat in a window sill on the first floor, staring blankly down at the book in front of her. Her knees jumped with irritation; could these Gryffindors move
any slower? When they'd finally turned the corner, she wasted no time in scoffing and letting out a few choice words, and carefully slipped down to the floor.
Ow. She winced as her left foot shot up into the air and away from the pressure against the ground. Her ankle had been swollen since the attack on the quidditch pitch, and while she
had been given the potion by Pomfrey to ease the swelling, Rebecca also knew that it would cause her to be sluggish and tired until the week's worth of potion wore off.
So--no. She was not going to take a potion that would cause her to lose any sort of study time. Muggles healed without magic all the
time, there was no need to force some sort of impediment into her study schedule.
She just had to make sure no one saw her limping around, was all.
Just get it over with, she scolded herself silently, and Rebecca gingerly put her foot down again, tongue twisting in pain in her mouth. Augh, she had ten minutes to get to the Transfiguration review, and she was sure it would not be enough.
It wasn't the place that he wanted to be right now, but Euan was stuck at Hogwarts tending to the sick and downtrodden children who didn't want to do their physical therapy exercises. Most people didn't seem to get it through their thick skulls that just because someone was fixed by magic didn't mean they were completely healed.
It was terribly ... irritating, really. He furrowed his brows and glanced around the corner to see a girl who was surely making that exact mistake at the moment and coughed loudly enough that he knew she would hear her.
"Having some trouble?"
Rebecca cringed, knowing without even turning that she was the one being addressed. Of course, she had checked that the corridor was empty before she began her trek, but that was
besides the point. She turned to give her excuse to the professor who had accosted her, and she realized that it was not a professor at all. Oh, it was that
fool from the hospital, the one who refused to reschedule his 'information meeting' because of some ridiculous nonsense. Pimplemouse or something; whoever he was, he had made her hair stick on
end because of the shock jinx on the doorknob for stragglers.
It had taken her
two hours to straighten it again.
"I'm fine," she answered curtly, shifting her bag and continuing on her way.
Well hell, if it had only taken two hours then he needed to get a stronger shock jinx. Unfortunately, charms modification was not his forte. He only cleverly applied the charms.
He would have recognized her from the information session if she'd been there, but as she'd been outside -- well, he was either too pompous to remember her or he'd erased her from his mind. Something like that. Euan arched his brow and laid a hand on her shoulder annoyingly gently - yes, he'd already mastered the 'it's for your own good' touch - before he spoke.
"You really don't look well. Perhaps I should take you back to Pomfrey...?" Which would result in her forcibly making Rebecca take the potion.
"Perhaps you should keep your hands off of me," Rebecca replied cooly, shrugging her shoulder in a fluid motion to remove his hand herself. She'd sent her brother home because of his hovering, and her parents shortly after; there was no need for anyone to take care of her. It was simply a sprain, and since she was spending most of her time studying and in the dorm, it would heal on its own and she would be fine.
It was the embarrassment of hobbling around the hallways that would kill her, for sure.
She sniffed, lifting her chin, "You'd have to carry me to the hospital wing, because I am not going to willing deal with that woman and her
methods." Keeping students in the wing for three days because of a parchment cut,
honestly.
The look that Euan gave her suggested that he had probably had people tell him that they'd need to be carried to their appointments before. He merely arched his brow at her, vaguely amused.
"As that would require me to put my hands on you again, which you seem to find disdainful...I would suggest that you cooperate now. Being carried about like an overlarge child is going to be much more embarrassing than having me escort you back to your Madam."
All right, maybe he was enjoying this just a little too much.
Rebecca flushed at the idea of it; he wouldn't
dare! She would scream bloody murder, she was sure, and she crossed her arms tightly. No, she did
not look like a child ready to throw a tantrum, she was merely making stern gestures that complied with her opinion of the matter. Who did he think he was? He was not a prefect, he was not a professor, he most certainly was not a family member, so what
right did he think he had?
"I don't know what makes you think you'd be able to make me
cooperate," she drawled, mimicking his tone to the best of her abilities. Rebecca scoffed, turning away again with a smirk. People were so outrageous these days. She was surely going to go to Professor Slughorn and let him
know about these Mungo's staff members wandering the corridors with their gigantic egos.
Suggest that she cooperate.
Honestly!
"As a member of the temporary assistant staff here at Hogwarts I am fully licensed to do whatever I deem necessary for your medical well-being," he explained with an unblinking smirk, bringing himself back to a fully standing position. He watched her turn away and waited until her attention was directed elsewhere ... before bending down to pull her into a very practised fireman's carry.
"Make no mistake, miss, that I am quite adept at making people cooperate when it is for their own good. Aurors have been unable to escape me." Which he never stopped reminding them of when he was around them, of course.
She
shrieked.
"Put me
down!" Rebecca let out in a way that made her own ears hurt. How
dare he---she was hanging over his shoulder like a
cavewoman, like some---some, "
Right now! Put me down! HELP!"
Why had she waited until she was absolutely
alone? No one would hear her scream, it was a miracle that
more students were not abducted in such a manner. Rebecca didn't hesitate in slapping his arm as hard as she could, and without much luck, she attempted to knee him, as hard as humanely possible, in the chest. And if her foot managed to slip down and hit him in another very sensitive area, that would only be a plus.
Of course she played dirty, she
was a Slytherin.
(Un)fortunately for Rebecca, Euan was not easily deterred by little girls trying to kick him in the 'private area'. He held on firmly and shifted her up so that he was carrying her more like one would sling a fur stole around one's neck than a person and let out a long-suffering sigh.
"You know, this would have been much easier if you'd just opted to allow me to help in the first place. Much less messy." He fiddled in his pocket for a moment to take a quick swig of numbing potion (yes, he did this frequently enough that he had the foresight to carry a bottle of something that would delay the pain that would no doubt be throbbing through his groin in a few hours).
"Come along, then. If you struggle I'm liable to drop you, and that ankle might just
break. Wouldn't that be a shame?"
She was going to have this man murdered or arrested. Preferably the former. Rebecca let out another loud, high-pitched sound of annoyance, but her fighting ceased. There was no way she was getting down without breaking a bone, he was at least right in that way no matter how infuriating it was to admit that.
Rebecca laid---or,
hung in silence until they reached the hospital wing and she was put down to the ground. She smoothed out her robes, eyes darting this way and that to make sure that there were no witnesses of this thoroughly embarrassing event. She should
sue him, or at least get her brother to intimidate him in some manner because Gabriel was much bigger and---well he was a bit of a sap, Rebecca would just have to leave the intimidating factor to herself.
"You need a lesson in ettiquette, and how to treat a lady, I'll have you know," she said snippily, finally catching his eyes. Rebecca nearly scoffed; he looked like he was younger than her
self! How was Madame Pomfrey allowing him to assist her?
"Etiquette fails to be useful when it comes to stubborn patients, I find." He flashed her another self-satisfied smile and paused a moment to consider. As hard as it was to admit it, she was ... cute. Not particularly patient or able to use common-sense, but cute.
That meant he didn't mind looking at her, if nothing else.
"I could possibly have helped you out without requiring a potion from your Nurse, of course, but I'm not feeling particularly charitable anymore."
"I have the strangest feeling that 'charitable' is a very rarely used part of your vocabulary," Rebecca remarked, already thinking of the report she was going to write up for Professor Slughorn. With all of his connections, she was sure that this Pimple---Pamplemoss, she remembered now, would have one hell of an ordeal once he was finally sent back to St. Mungo's. Thank goodness that she had no desire to work in his areas of expertise, the least she could be assured that she would only run into him in the cafeteria or the lifts. Even
those short moments would be intolerable, but it was the best she'd be able to manage.
Rebecca pushed open the door of the wing, figuring she would confront her fate herself, rather than let him control any more of this annoying detour in her day. "Don't you have more corridors to skulk around in, stalking injured students?"
"I do not in fact stalk students. I simply don't want you injuring your ankle further. What was your name again?" He arched his brow at her, genuinely curious. He'd spoken to a few of the students over the journals and she seemed just as stubborn as the girl who'd insisted he change his time because her study group conflicted with him.
Really. That was incredibly ridiculous.
Maybe he could be persuaded to help her if she was nice to him ... but he had a feeling that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
She smirked, batting her eyes quickly before responding, "I didn't give you my name; I don't think it's wise, passing it out to stalkers---I mean, random
strangers in the corridors."
Rebecca's mood, though she was now going to have to suffer through Madam Pomfrey's lectures and hovering, was lifted. Somewhat. She was very good at getting over embarassing situations, as it was easier to act like it never happened than to obsess over the fact and bring attention to yourself. No, her face was completely void of any blush that may have flushed across her face (save for her red ears, she'd yet to figure out how to get rid of that tell-tale sign), and she was now in control of the situation.
"Maybe if you're a bit more courteous, the next time you attempt to sweep me off my feet," she suggested, pushing further into the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey had spotted her, it was time to prepare for a headache.
