a helping h a n d {nix}

[prudence]

Prudence awkwardly carried an overlarge stack of books, she had just come from Ancient Runes and had borrowed as many rune translation books as she could carry to study for her exams. They had simply been unable to fit in her already overcrowded book bag, which was weighing down her left shoulder, making her hunch over slightly as she walked. As luck would have it, Prudence didn't get terribly far before the same group of Slytherins that usually terrorized her poked around the corner. She muttered something of a prayer under her breath that they would leave her be just this once, but she knew that she was often a target for their antics. Before she could do anything, one of them cast a spell at her bag, causing the bottom to tear and all her belongings to spill on the floor.

The bottles of ink she had smashed when they hit the floor, bleeding all over her books and papers. Prudence only sighed, hoping that would be enough for them as the ink started pooling around her feet. Their laughter filled her ears, making her eyes sting, but she didn't say anything. The group then made to pass her, the ringleader pausing only to knock the runes books out of her hands and into the puddle of ink. Prudence's lip quivered, but she kept an otherwise straight expression as she knelt down to fish her belongings and the borrowed books out of the ink, not caring that it was staining the knees of her socks and the hem of her robes.

She bit her lip to keep it from trembling as she pulled out her wand, pondering what spell would work the best at removing the ink from her books and schoolwork. Prudence ignored the sound of footsteps as she assessed the damage to her possessions, she just hoped that it wasn't the Slytherins coming back for more.

[nixnight]

Nix had been in a very bad mood all day. One of the slytherins younger years had tried to prank her and ended up with antlers as a punishment but the teacher didn't seem to understand defensive spell work. She shook her head as she carried her detention form down towards the main hall where she was due to sit but she heard foot steps close to her. She hand her wand drawn from her robes in seconds only to see the same slytherin and his sidekicks passing her in the corridor next to her and she couldn't help it, they were laughing and talking about something to do with ink and books so they never noticed the green light that hit their backs until each if them had a tail and paws and rather long teeth. She heard three very feminine screams and then nodded her head and turned to walk towards them.

Upon seeing her with a wand out and her red hair and eyes blazing with anger, the three of them split and scattered and nix saw what they'd been laughing at. A girl was bent over in the corridor with a handful of books and a puddle of ink covering the books and her uniform and nix felt her skin crawl before hearing another scream and a thump and she laughed ,"one more trick stair" she said with a sniggered as she walked towards the other girl

[prudence]

It really was quite the mess those Slytherins had made, her ink-soaked possessions bled blackish-blue onto her hands as she picked them up. She wouldn't be surprised if ink had somehow made it onto her face and hair, although she had made a point of not touching anything but her things to avoid that. To Prudence it looked as if a gruesome murder had taken place in the corridor, only the victim had had ink in place of blood. She attempted a simple spell to clean off one of her books, it worked a little bit, it might have been a bit more effective had her hand not been trembling so much.

Prudence didn't understand why people tormented her so, she never did anything that she thought would make her deserving of having to kneel in a puddle of ink in desperate attempts to salvage the things that she needed for school. Prudence looked up when she heard the commotion, it sounded like screaming, though it was too far down the hall. Only a moment afterwards she saw a redheaded girl walking toward her. She was a Gryffindor, that much was for sure, the red in her uniform was a dead giveaway. Prudence focused her attention back on cleaning off her stuff, she didn't expect the girl to stop and help her, practically nobody did.

[nixnight]

Nix walked down the corridor and then paused beside the other girl and held her wand out next to her head and then flicked it and muttered softly and the edge of the girls robes lost their ink coat. Nix flicked her wand and a bubble of ink lifted away and another flick later, the bubble of ink was vanished.

She looked down at the other girl again and then flicked her wand and switched it to her other hand and then held her right out to the girl ,"want a hand down there?" she asked with a small smile. Nix shifted her other hand and ran it through her hair and then messed it up a little before resting the hand and her wand on her hip while she looked the other girl over once again

[prudence]

Prudence was fairly impressed by the magic that the girl had been able to pull off, she probably could have done in on her own, but she would have needed a moment to calm down first. It always got her a little shaken up when people did things like that. Prudence was just glad that they had yet to go after her physically, she supposed they would get in more trouble if caught if they caused any harm to her- rather than just her stuff. Prudence accepted the hand up, it really was kind of the girl to stop- rather than let her deal with it on her own.

"Thanks," Prudence said quietly, feeling herself blushing. She was now finding herself slightly embarrassed to have been stumbled upon moments after an encounter with a group of bullying Slytherins. Prudence usually kept the teasing she endured quiet, it washer burden, and she didn't feel the need to whine to other people about it. Not even those she would call her friends knew the extent of what she was subjected to.

[nixnight]

Nix looked the other girl over before raising an eyebrow and looking at her closer ,"they were bullying you" she said. It's wasn't a question but more of a statement of shock ,"you were the reason they were laughing and sniggering and the reason they had to leave from getting me in trouble" she said in a voice that grew darker and darker as she spoke. She was so sick of the slytherins thinking they were better than any other house and picking on everyone and anyone weaker than them, she of course made sure to prove that no matter what they threw at her, she'd throw it back with mud.

Nix gave a small but rather feral sounding growl before calming herself with a few breath and looking back at the other girl ,"are you ok? I've paid them back already but that was once for me, I'll save something nasty for them for you next time I see them" she said with a small but evil chuckle before holding her hand out again. "nix night, gryffindor qudditch team captain. I also go by the name of shadow now it seems" she said with a snigger as she tried to hide that other animalistic side of herself

[prudence]

"Erm, yes," said Prudence, now getting very uncomfortable. She wasn't used to people helping her, and on top of that the redheaded girl was bringing up what had happened. Just as long as she wasn't the type to go and report things like that to teachers, then Prudence would never hear the end of it. The bullying was bad enough, but as far as Prudence was concerned it got worse when adults got involved. Then everyone would think of her as a snitch, and that would make everything worse. Though she was relieved when the girl mentioned something along the lines of revenge, she had probably taken justice into her own hands.

"I'm fine, they only made a mess of my things," said Prudence, poking at her bag with her wand to repair the tear in it before beginning to stick her books back inside. With her belongings once more securely in place, she pulled her bag onto her shoulder once more. She accepted the girl's hand again when she introduced herself. "Prudence Church," she said timidly. Nix (or Shadow) was a different sort of person, not different in a bad way, just out of the ordinary, not unlike herself Prudence supposed.

[nixnight]

Nix nodded her head to the girl before raising an eyebrow again ,"it's Still your stuff that paying the price of their boredom and insecurity" she said as she took in the other girls name and then she waved to the rest of the corridor. "want a sixth year troublemaking escort?" she asked with a chuckled as she twisted her wand around in her fingers before flicking it hard and pointing it down the end of the corridor and whispering a spell softly. Her wand remained as it was before and so she nodded before taking a step down the corridor and then dropped the younger girls hand before smiling back at her ,"sorry, forgot I'd been polite" she said in explanation for walking away while still holding onto her hand

[prudence]

"It's erm, not as bad if I don't make a big deal of it," said Prudence, more so to her feet than to Nix directly. Of course, if she could actually stand up for herself once in a while it might not happen nearly as much, but she found it easier to simply keep her head down rather than step far beyond her comfort zone. "Erm, all right," said Prudence, figuring that if Nix had stopped to help her she might make pleasant company. Though she was terribly shy Prudence did like to have company, there was something calming about walking around with someone she knew- even if they weren't making conversation. She was taken a bit by surprise when Nix began walking, still holding her hand so she was being partially dragged down the corridor. "No harm done," said Prudence.

[nixnight]

Nix smiled as the girl seemed to have good heart and sense of humour under her clear layers of shyness and quiet nature. She turned to look around the corridor again and then flicked her wand in her fingers so it sat in the middle if her palm and then nodded her head ,"would you care to lead or shall I?" she asked with a chuckle as a wind blew down the corridor and sent nix's hair all over her face. She laughed again and then lifted a hand up and pulled her hair away from her face and muttered ,"messy free hair will do that" she said to herself before shaking her head to free the last bits of hair and get them away from her eyes

[prudence]

Prudence shrugged her bag around on her shoulder a bit, the strap was beginning to bite into her. She supposed that she ought to try some sort of charm to make her bag not quite so heavy. Or perhaps she could be more proactive about only having the books she absolutely needed with her. The Ravenclaw commons were too out of the way for her to go back during the day and switch out books, at least that was what she had found from her own experiences. "Erm, you can choose," said Prudence, she was never comfortable leading anyone. She definitely wasn't any kind of leader, hence why she hadn't been chosen to be a prefect. She smiled a bit sympathetically as Nix's hair was blown all over her face. "That's why I keep mine short," Prudence said quietly. She had cut it that way at thirteen and hadn't gone back, she didn't need to fuss with it.

[nixnight]

Nix smiled and then tilted her head to one aide before deciding on the kitchens as she felt a little hungry, she then nodded her head at the ravenclaws second comment and shook it afterwards. "I love my hair long. as I'm sure you had no idea, I'm a bit wild but I love that about myself and so my hair just enhances that little mad thing about me" she said in explanation for her long and messy red hair before starting to walk slowly sown the corridor with her wand now tucked under her fingers so people couldn't see she was holding it but she still had it close to hand incase she could or would ever need it. Her school bag was hanging loosely at her side with only a notepad and a few quills and of course her DADA book in it, she nearly never carried any books side her DADA book. She would normally just summon the rest of them as and when she needed them in classes

[prudence]

Prudence adjusted her pace to keep up with Nix, whom she noticed was a bit of a faster walker than herself. Unless she was in a hurry she never saw any reason to go faster than a leisurely walk, what was the point in tiring herself out on the way to her destination? Prudence again found herself nodding along as Nix spoke, struggling to find something to say. That was the price that she paid, she supposed, for being so shy. Prudence could write eloquently, but when it came to talking on the spot words tended to fail her. She had always been awkward, she blamed it on not really being allowed to spend time with other children when she was young. "To each his or her own," said Prudence, she admired long hair on other people, but never cared for it much when it was on herself.

[nixnight]

When she heard nothing from the other girl, nix turned her head to look down at her before tilting it to one side as she finally spoke. Nixs face softened and she gave a small smile before chuckling, she'd been the same as this when she has come to the school but after deciding on spending her time on her animagi work and having fun the the forest, it had of course gone away. She always felt at home in the forest, it always comfoted her like her family should have. "why are you so quiet? What's your reason?" nix asked suddenly and offhandedly, she knew her reason for being quiet as a younger year but found herself worrying about this other girl all the same

[prudence]

Prudence frowned a bit in thought when Nix asked her why she was so quiet, she had never been asked for an explanation before. Those who were her friends accepted her quite demeanour, and nobody else had ever bothered to ask. She wasn't sure what she could pin it on, perhaps it was the near total isolation she had experienced as a child. Prudence hadn't learned social skills to interact with those her own age until she had come to Hogwarts, she had lagged behind and eventually give up. She wasn't going to share this, however, with Nix who was still a stranger to her. "I'm not sure," said Prudence, "I erm, just never was all that outgoing."