Side RP: In the Great Hall

Lunch time, between classes, any generic day

Students filter back and forth out of the Great Hall during the noon hour, some sticking around for lunch, older students ducking back to their common rooms to polish off a homework assignment, other students taking a moment to catch up with friends. Ava walks in to the Great Hall, having just come from Transfiguration, clutching her book bag to her chest and looking as though she's half in shock: wide eyes, a bit of a shake to her hands, no apparent direction in mind.

Caroline is sitting all alone at the end of one of the tables. Phoebe had to talk to some teacher about something - Caroline hadn't really paid attention - and since nobody else is willing to hang out with her, she's just quietly eating by herself while reading in a book she borrowed from the library a few days before.

Ava blinks, shudders herself out of whatever traumatic reverie she was experiencing, and seems surprised to find herself in the Great Hall. She spots Caroline nearby. Twisting her mouth up in thought, chewing a bit on her lower lip, she reaches a decision and nods resolutely.

"Hi Caroline," she says, as she comes to stand next to her train companion. Not too far off, a few other students look from Caroline to Ava and back again, as if confused or even scandalized as to why this Ravenclaw would be talking to the infamous Scrivener the Slytherpuff.

Caroline looks up from her book and smiles when she recognizes Ava. Then she stops, forces herself not to show her happiness at seeing Ava, thinks for a moment and apparently decides that it's okay to be friends with her, since she is a Ravenclaw.
Caroline closes her book and puts it on the table next to her. Once the book is just lying on the table, Ava can read the title: "The Not Quite Complete History of House Slytherin"
"Hey, Ava! Do you want to sit with me? I have some Every Flavour Beans we can share", Caroline offers, indicating the spot next to her on the bench. She doesn't pay attention to the glares from the other students. She is used to them by now.

Ava is taken aback for a moment at the cheerful reception. Maybe she's become a little swayed by the rumors about Caroline's less than welcoming manner. But her reluctance fades fairly quickly, and she offers a shy smile in return. "Actually, I'd love to. Thanks," she says, plopping her bag down with an audible thud. She rests her elbows on the table and her chin in one hand. "You're doing... okay? There's never any time to actually talk in Astronomy," she says, referring to the class the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs share. She reaches out and takes a bean, studies it for a moment, and pops it in her mouth. Must not have been an earwax, given that she's not grossed out.

Or maybe she likes earwax. Ew.

Caroline sighs. "This school is the worst. The other students hate me, the teachers are always watching me, I haven't had time to talk to my sister at all since the year started... And all of that just because that stupid hat is broken and put me in the wrong house."
Ava can see that Caroline's eyes are glistening wet as she says this but she quickly rubs them dry with her sleeves before a tear can form. "What about you? How are things in Ravenclaw?"
Caroline grabs a small handful of beans and throws them into her mouth all at once. She chews them and then makes a disgusted face as she forces herself to swallow. "Eww, that was a bad idea!"

It's clearly hard for Ava to know how to respond, as a number of her own personal issues go to war inside her head.

She pokes at her book bag on the floor with one toe as she swings her feet idly back and forth. She graciously decides to avoid talking about her own personal problems, and says, "Um..."

Ava winces. Eloquent, Richardson. Very eloquent.

"Why do you want to be in Slytherin so badly? I'd hate to be in my brother's hou..." Again, really smooth, considering her brother's house is Hufflepuff. "...se," she finishes lamely.

An enticed group full of excited whispers stops right before the doors of the Great Hall, being led by none other than Rafa. She seems to be explaining how the Headmistress herself was personally worried about her performance in her class, and how much it meant to her that Rafa had decided to take it more seriously. "So yeah, I mean, I guess the Headmistress cares about what I do..." She says, uncaringly shrugging McGonnagal's implied favoritism off. A small, smug smile pops up in her face as she twirls around and faces the group, half-raising both her arms as well. There are a few conspiratorial grins shared between a few of the girls — Rafa's roommates, more precisely. "But hey, it's okay! Not everyone is special enough to draw the attention of someone like McGonagall. And yeah, we're on surnames base already." The students start to excitedly ask Rafa questions, but she simply shakes both her hands. "Now, now, c'mon guys, you know I like to talk, but we have some stuff to do. In fact, a few of you are having Potions next period, right? Me and my roomies would really appreciate if you got us some aconite and dittany." The students immediately start to look uncertain, but Rafa doesn't give any room for doubt. "I mean, making me feel grateful is pretty much the same thing as making McGonagall feel grateful. I can't promise any favors, 'course... Buuuut if old Slughorn doesn't seem to be paying attention and you suddenly realize that your pockets feel really light, well..." The conversation drops a tone, and soon enough the students disperse, leaving giggly Rafa with her roommates. They talk for a minute or so until one of them gives Rafa a book — Her book, she managed to win a bet and now Maddie has to carry Rafa's stuff for her for the rest of the semester — and they too disperse, Rafa walking into the Great Hall with her chin up and her shoulders down.

She quickly takes notice of Caroline and Ava, and energetically raise her unoccupied hand from far away. "Hey, dweebs!" She screams with a playful grin, as she starts to trot to the table, nodding and saying hi to more than one person in the way. When she's finally there, she drops her book with a thud and sits on the bench, leaning against Ava and maybe a bit forcefully resting her arm on the curled girl's shoulder. "Hey, Richardson!" She says, cheerfully beaming at her as she fraternally shakes her shoulder with her rested arm. She also stares at Caroline, her expression dissolving into an inquisitive twinkle. "Hey, Scrivener... Been some time, right? I was starting to think that you were avoiding me." Says the blonde girl as she raises one of her eyebrows. But any seeming suspicion fades away as the girl half-giggles at the prospect of someone wanting to avoid her. "But nah, that'd be too lame, even for you. Anyways, what were you two whispering about?" She suddenly rotates her head to stare at Ava. "Was it about me? Or maybe..." She narrows her eyes and slowly turns to Scrivener.

"Well, you wouldn't understand. You're from some random family that doesn't matter. I'm a Scrivener. My family has been in Slytherin for generations. I... And... And after I was such a disappointment for my father as a kid, this..."
She stops talking as Rafa approaches their table.

It's difficult to be around Rafa. On the one hand, she is cool and tough and smart and popular and Caroline wants to be more like her but on the other hand she's mean and called her a wimp. And, most importantly, she's a Gryffindor. That alone already means they can't be friends!
Who has ever heard of a Slytherin being friends with a Gryffindor?
"Why would we... anyone be talking about you?", Caroline replies. "You're boring!"

Was on his way over when he saw Raffa approach. Damn it all if that girl didn't rub him thw wrong way. She was entirely too loud. He sighed, and walked over.
Afternoon His hair is slightly damp, and he runs a hand through it. It had been raining again, and he'd tried to use part of the break for practice. He could study in the dorm later.
Everything alright over here?

Caroline looks at Bex. It's hard to read her face at the moment as there are a bunch of different emotions all mixed together in there. "Everything was okay. Before the Gryffindor had to butt in!"

Gives Rafa a look. How are things going Bold one?

Ava takes in a little gasp at Caroline's reply, and her features tighten with some sort of obscure pain. That particular remark definitely hit home. Thankfully, Rafa's arrival saves her from having to respond. Rafa's ability to instantly become the center of attention is awfully useful sometimes.

Having Rafa seem glad to see her perks Ava's mood up a little, and she offers a small smile, just at one corner of her mouth. "Hi, Rafa. We were..." She pauses, looks across at Caroline and some of that slight cheer fades a little. But she puts on a cheerful tone that sounds a little flat even to her own ears. "We were just talking about how things are going in our new Houses."

Rafaella cocks her head to the side with a clearly bothered expression. "Am not." She counters, a small pout creeping in her face. She shoots Bexley a quick glance of recognition and not much more, though she rolls her eyes at Caroline's sudden answer and chimes in mid-conversation to answer him. "Well, I'm feeling great!" Says the blonde girl, slightly leaning off Ava and to his direction, a predatory expression slowly forming up in her face. "It's not like of lions to be bothered by a badger's fit, anyways. That would be silly!" Her stare slowly starts narrowing on Scrivener.

She clicks her tongue at Ava's response, a relaxed giggle escaping through her lips. "Is that why Scrivener's so cranky?" She asks the group, as she grabs a bunch of her uneven hair and pulls it to one specific her side, so it all falls from there instead of having her face covered around by it. She shrugs Caroline's motive off nonchalantly as if making it not a big deal. "That's super dumb. It's been weeks since then, and you can't possibly still be hung up on that. That's why people don't talk to you, you know?" She sighs, putting her elbow on top of her book and resting her face on her hand. "I dunno why you even care about the snakes so much. They clearly don't care so much about you as you do about them, otherwise, you'd be hanging around with them instead of us. Food for thought, Scrivener." At this point, Rafa is deliberately prodding Scrivener's feelings. Despite seeming to be offended by Caroline's attitude, the whole thing clearly left Rafa with a sour taste on her mouth.

Plus, Caroline definitely couldn't talk to her like that and get a free pass.

Still, she doesn't leave Caroline much space to answer yet. Her stare sways between Bexley and Ava, a small, mischevious smile appearing in her face. "What do my favorite dweebs think?"

Caroline rises from her place. Rafa is so mean. She always keeps digging right where it hurts.
"Well, people are only nice to you, because... because you're... because you're a bully and they're scared of becoming your next target. Nobody actually likes you!"
Caroline has no idea if what she's saying is even remotely true but she had already started the sentence so she needed to finish it somehow and this was the only thing that came to her mind. "At least I have real friends!", she adds, turning to Ava. "Right?" She silently wishes Phoebe was here. She's only a dumb Hufflepuf but she would support her. Although she's way to nice to be mean to Rafa.
Caroline clenches her hands into fists, less from anger and more from frustration. If only she was better with words. Maybe she would be able to shut Rafa up then.

Ava looks back and forth from Caroline to Rafa so often, a tennis match must have broken out. She opens her mouth to answer Rafa, then when Caroline speaks up first, she turns there and opens her mouth to answer Caroline. All that comes out, though, is "Um... real friends. Right."

She starts to sink down at her seat. Being taller than the other girls usually isn't a problem, but suddenly she's not sure she wants to be one of the visible members of this little soiree.

Rafaella frowns annoyedly at Scrivener but lazily smirks after the curled girl's response, turning her face to Ava to check her reaction. She lets a soft giggle out and faces the Hufflepuff once again. "Um... real friends. Right." She repeats her train friend's words while watching the poor badger. She's not mocking Ava, but rather making sure that her words don't sound so certain.

Rafa exaggeratedly rolls her eyes as she leans off the table. "Scrivener, c'mon, what would you know about having friends?" Says the blonde girl, taking a quick pause to predatorily narrow her eyes at the girl. "Wowsers. Here I am, taking time off my busy schedule, mind you, to hang out with little lonely you, and you're lashing out because you didn't get into a dumb house. Why is all of that so important to you? That's super silly" Rafa shakes her hand dismissively, but keep staring inquisitively at Scrivener. She was starting to get under her nerve, but a true heroine wouldn't lose her patience so easily.

... Right? Yeah, 'course, right.

Caroline starts tearing up again. Is she being silly for caring about which house she was in? Maybe...
No, it matters. She had seen Mallory's face when Caroline had been sorted into Hufflepuff. She could only imagine how her Dad would look at her if she came home as a Hufflepuff. She has to switch into Slytherin before the year is over if she ever wants to have his respect! There is nothing silly about this!
Caroline sniffs, trying to hold back her tears. Rafa is right, she really doesn't know what it's like to have friends, she's never had any after all. And now, not even Ava seems to be on her side.
"I'd much rather be lonely forever than be like you! You're just a spoiled brat who needs her stepmommy to watch over her even at school!"

Oh well. Rafa tried. Kind of.

Plus, Scrivener's pretty much asking for it.

Rafa's smile breaks at the mention of her villainous step-mother, her expression dissolving into an angry glare, her eyes full of fire. She immediately gets up the bench and walks through the table, stepping off right in front of Caroline. "You know what, Scrivener? You deserve the cold shoulder everyone's giving you. But unlike that Hufflepuff, I don't take crap. Especially not from you!" Rafa suddenly pushes Scrivener really hard and starts marching toward her again. "I don't know what your problem is..." Rafa pushes Scrivener again, and once again, starts closing in between them. "But everyone has to deal with tough stuff!" Rafa finally gives her one final push, maybe strong enough to send her to the floor. "Richardson, Merlin, and Bexley may pity you, but I don't! You're just a big baby that don't know how to deal with her problems and take it off on the world! Grow up, Scrivener, we're almost teenagers!"

Caroline yelps in shock and pain when she lands on the floor from Rafa's last shove.
She quickly gets up again, tears in her eyes. "What do you know about tough stuff? You've been handed everything in life. You don't even know what it's like to have real problems!" She shoves Rafa back. Caroline is not very strong so Rafa should be able to withstand it without falling, even though she can feel that Caroline is putting all her strength into the push. "You don't care about which house you're in because you don't care about anything. You think that makes you cool but it doesn't. If nothing is important to you, then you are also not important to anyone!"

When the pushing and shoving begins, Ava finds herself suddenly in the middle of two of her only real friends trying to knock each other down. She struggles to get off the bench, and falls awkwardly to her hands and knees. As she scrambles up to her feet, she then finds herself tangled in the strap of her book bag and hops and twirls trying to get loose of it. All the while Rafa and Caroline are sniping and shoving at each other until finally Ava yells, "STOP IT! Stop it stop it stop it both of you!"

She’s crying for real now, her fists balled up and her book bag completely entangling her legs. To be completely honest, she looks utterly ridiculous. Not that either girl is likely to notice, given the venom being spewed back and forth.

Despite Rafa's small size, she's fairly lean and athletic — As athletic as a girl of her age can be, at least. She moves an inch or two when Caroline shoves her, but the intensity in her eyes don't falter. She stays still, glaring at Scrivener with a very nasty frown. She's not paying much attention to what Caroline is saying anymore, being simply mad at the fact that she's still talking back at her.

"You don't know me." Her tone is charged with emotion, an odd mix between angriness and calmness, similar to a brewing storm. She takes one decisive step forward toward Caroline, tries to catch her by the collar, and...

Her clouded stare and mad expression soften at Ava's sudden yell. Contrary to the two girls, she's not teary-eyed but is breathing deeply, in and out. It's only then that she notices how angry she had actually gotten. Assuming that she managed to catch Caroline by the collar, she gives her a final, light shove, barely pushing Scrivener a foot away from her. A barely audible sigh escapes through her mouth and she softly narrows her eyes at the floor.

That is just for a moment. She shakes her head and raises her stare, but this time to Ava. "Why are you crying, you dweeb? You're getting way too worked up for someone like her." There's a certain something in Rafa's voice. Jealousy, worry, it's hard to describe.

She brings her glare to Scrivener once more. "But alright, I'll stop." A small, triumphant smile starts to form in the blonde's face. "Because I'm cool as beans, I'm going to give you a second chance, Scrivener, which is something I don't usually do. So apologize for throwing a fit already, alright?"

What is bloody wrong with you?

Seeing how cool Rafa is staying is making Caroline even more upset. She barely pays any attention to Bex and Ava, although she fels a bit bad for poor Ava who apparently got upset enough by this situation that she not only fell but also got tangled up in her bag while trying to get between them.
Caroline's brain is working full power. There has to be something she can say that will hurt Rafa. At this point, she doesn't care about being right anymore. Rafa was so mean to her. She just wants to pay her back.
She remembers what she said right before Rafa started shoving her. It had been about her stepmom, so maybe that was a sore spot?
Caroline takes a step back, wipes the tears from her eyes and glares at Rafa with anger in her eyes.
"I don't need a second chance from you, Souza!" It annoyed Caroline how Rafa always used everyone's last name, so she decided to copy that. "All your so-called friends will soon get bored of you when they see how lame you are. But at least you'll always have your stepmom here to cry to! You baby!"
Caroline focuses on Rafa's reaction, trying to see if she managed to hit the same sore spot again. She was running out of ideas for what to say so she was hoping she would get through to the blonde girl soon.

Oi! Sticks his broom between the girls as he helps AVA up. You need to cool off. And fast.

Ava stomps her foot, made a little less effective by being tangled in her book bag. "BOTHER!" she yells, and reaches down to yank the bag off her feet.

She gets right up in Rafa's face, looming a little over the shorter girl, and shakes her finger in Rafa's face. "You! Stop poking and prodding at people just to get a rise out of them! Mean does not equal cool!"

Then, she gets right up in Caroline's face, and shakes her finger at her as well. "And you! Stop acting like someone you're not just because you think it's what someone else wants!"

Then, she rounds on Bex, and starts to shake her finger in his face. "And you..."

She comes to a screeching halt, suddenly deflated and sheepish. "You... didn't do anything wrong. Um. Carry on," she says quietly, blushing fiercely as she realizes what a (relative) outburst she's made. She sits back down.

Bex runs a hand through his hair, rather impressed at Ava's outburst. He gives a small smile. 's alright Ava, no harm done.
He narrows his eyes at the other two.
I agree with Ava though. You two need to stop pushing everyone's buttons. he pauses. Odd expression that...picked it up from a Muggle book I read...what do you think it means?

"Oh, mimicking me now?" Rafa smile breaks once more into an angry expression as she curls her fists. "Oh, you know wha-" She's about to close in their distance when, to her surprise, Ava suddenly yells. That makes Rafa startle and she simply stares at her friend dumbfounded as the tall girl gets really close. "H-Hey, Richardson, c'mon..." She says, or squeaks, or whispers, but she doesn't stop at Rafa and berates Scrivener as well.

She does roll her eyes at Bexley's comment. "Bex, nobody cares." It doesn't come off as taunting as much as it sounds playfully endearing. Her helpless glare does soften at Ava, and Rafa offers her a half-smile. "You scream really hard, Richardson. You're gonna be a great Prefect someday." She bits her lower lip, and she finally stares at Scrivener. She holds her gaze for a second or two, still challengingly, but then simply sighs and shrugs off. "Whatever. I'm not sure what bit you, or if you being nicer on the train was like a day off for you, but I don't care about you anymore." Rafa turns around, grabs her book off the table and starts walking away with resolution. "And next time you mention Professor Murdock, Scrivener, there will be consequences. I'm done forgiving a wimp like you."

"Don't threaten me with consequences! Even if you pretend you're so cool and special, you're still just a child!"
Caroline grabs her book from the table, accidentally knocking over the box of beans and spilling the few remaining ones all over the place she had been sitting with Ava. Caroline doesn't bother to clean them up and just starts walking off, satisfied with the way this conversation ended. She somehow managed to look kind of tough until the end, even when facing off against Rafa. Now she just had to get out of here before she said something stupid.
As she leaves, Caroline turns back one more time and says: "Come, Bex, Ava. Let's go somewhere else where she won't bother us!"
As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she curses herself internally. Why did she do that? If they decide not to come with her now, it'll be really embarrassing.

Bex nods, worried for both of them, but especially for Caroline. So many emotions on this girl!
Alright. Just....it's pouring outside

Ava continues to stay seated, looking from the departing Rafa to Caroline. She seems deflated and small, shoulders slumped. Finally, she says in a small voice, "Is this what you really want, Caroline? I mean, she can be irritating and exasperating and a whole bunch of other -ings too, but..."

She looks over to the Ravenclaw table where her other roommates are sitting, laughing, chatting easily with one another. "Right now... I don't have very many friends." She turns back to Bex and Caroline. "I hate to lose any of you. I mean, I get it... but please don't ask me to choose?" She winces in anticipation of how her request is going to be taken. "Please?" she says in an even tinier voice.

When Caroline sees that neither Bex nor Ava are really following her, she glances at the door that Rafa left through and once she's out of sight, she returns to the place where the other two are.
She sits down on the bench where she and Ava had been eating sweets together, picks up one of the beans that are lying loose on the table and puts it into her mouth. "She is a bad friend, though. She started insulting me even before I became a Hufflepuff." Caroline realizes she might be exaggerating this. Rafa called her a wimp. She probably didn't mean to insult her, just to joke around. Then again, that seems to be the way she deals with everyone. Joking and insulting them and being mean.
"I don't have many friends either." She looks around the room and sees pretty much only strangers. There are some faces she recognizes from her classes or the Hufflepuff common room but with almost none of them has she ever even exchanged a single word. "To be honest, I think you two are my best friends in the whole world. If you still want to be friends with Rafa, I won't stop you but I'm never going to be friends with her again!"

He doesn't understand girls. That's all there is to it. He listens to them talk, and sighs, completely at a loss for words

"Okay," says Ava. "I guess I can understand that. Just... try to remember how much fun we had on the train. And how much of that was because of her.". She smiles sadly as she remembers back herself. She looks over at Bex, including him in the conversation. "You know if it had just been us three and Merlin, we’d have sat there fretting about the lost book the whole trip, not doing a thing about it."

She chuckles quietly. "My heart was in my throat the whole time, but... wasn’t it fun?"

Caroline grumbles. "We could have just done it without Rafa's help." She knows that's probably not true. She herself would have never suggested it without Rafa's energy around. Bex and Ava both also don't seem like the type. Still, she was not going to admit that, especially not after this interaction with Rafa she just had.

Caroline goes silent. Many things go through her head that she wants to say. She wants to be upset that Ava seems to be taking Rafa's side. She wants to tell them that Rafa is mean and just pretends to be nice. She wants to tell them that even if she wanted to, she can't be friends with a Gryffindor.
In the end, all that she says is: "I have to go. My next class is Potions so I have to go all the way to the dungeons."
She gets up and after everyone has said their goodbyes, she leaves the great hall, well aware of all the eyes on her. Her little fight with Rafa gave them even more to gossip about. Just one more reason to avoid her