⫶ corridor

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：reyna corvin。⁰⁴ Liandro tried to hold back a laugh when he felt the Ravenclaws grip on him tighten, her nails feeling as though they would tear his uniform with the force of it. Instead he just looked at her blankly, as if the pain didn't bother him (it did, he's not a masochist) as he knew that her reaction was well deserved. But he did view her as such with the way she's treated him over the years, which is why he found bothering her quite fun.

"Why wouldn't I understand that? You think I don't have thoughts of my own or something?" He was ever-so-careful with how he handled her ankle, especially with the noise she made in response to the tender area being touched. "I get lost in my own sometimes as well, but I try to at least be aware enough to not trip over myself." Once her ankle was secured and her shoe was back on, Lian leaned himself against the windowsill, his eyes not leaving her foot as he tried to figure out if the silky texture of his tie will make it slip. "Mmhm. I'll believe that if I don't see you in this predicament ever again. But if it does...you owe me something. I don't know what exactly but I'll decide that when the time comes around. Deal?" It was meant to be a joke, as Liandro didn't expect himself to run into Reyna once more.

He helped her down once more, allowing her to settle on her feet comfortably, his hands on her hips until she seemed to be alright with just applying some weight on him. "Let's try to walk faster so they don't potentially move again. I have things to do."

They made their ways down the stairs, slowly but surely making it to the hospital wing. The prefect helped Reyna settle onto one of the beds before he walked off to find Madame Promfrey, who let him know that she will only be a moment. Thus, when he returned to Reyna he heaved out a sigh. "She'll be with you in a few. I'm late for my meeting with a Professor, so I have to go. But uh, here," he rummaged through his bag, pulling out a piece of ripped parchment and a quill to write on it, "here's my number. Keep me updated on that foot of yours. And please. Don't give my number out to anyone. I hate people I don't know well messaging me. Bye." With that, he places the parchment onto her lap and left the Hospital Wing just as soon as Madame Pomfrey approached her.

@－ ❛ s ❜：liandro kang。⁰⁴ “Trying to be respectful by using my last name? Most people who do it around the castle despise each other. But I guess that fits us.” Respect had never quite been connected to it, or maybe between a very few. However, she expected anything but respect from the man who enjoyed to put on his most annoying behaviour whenever they were around each other. Quite surprising, thinking back to the past they had almost been friends, Reyna had held him dear in her heart for being the first one who had talked to her on their ride to Hogwarts. However, his whole family’s pride must have been destroyed as he became a Slytherin, so opposite from what he had been supposed to. Clearly, a shame for their friendship too, had he ditched her for those in his house. Now, her view on him was quite different. Even if he helped her now, that meant nothing. 

Anger rose in her chest as the insult was thrown at her. She was furious that he dared to call her that when she had tried to be nice, had tried an actual conversation with him. The anger rushed to her hands and she gripped onto him tighter, so tightly that her strength could have been able to cause a bruise. ing bastard calling her a . And still, she stayed quiet and didn’t pick up on his comment just for the sake to still have him help her get to the infirmary somehow. She could yell at him there when the job was done and when she didn’t need him anymore. “Sure, try that.” She commented upon their conversation having returned back to the quidditch game, not that she had ever quite understood the hype about it.

“I guess I’m just a bit spaced out sometimes, I don’t really focus on my environment when I’m lost in thoughts. You might not understand that.” A low groan left her lips as the male put pressure onto her ankle and removed the shoe. She was in even more pain than she had expected, the aftermath of the fall being worse than what she had thought. “Clumsy and slow, wow, thanks. Just because this happened once is no reason to assume that. I’m just not as crazy about quidditch as everyone else is in Hogwats.”

As the tie was wrapped around her ankle, Reyna put her shoe back on herself. The same was still as bad but the tie offered some sort of stabilization. A loud thump could be heard from the grand staircase indicating that they had moved again. “That was quick!” She was glad about it as she had no idea what else to talk about with the Slytherin. She placed her feet back onto the ground, her hand naturally grabbing onto his shoulder to sustain herself while walking. “Let’s go before they move again.”

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：reyna corvin。⁰⁴ "You'd be amazed just how quickly people assume things without seeing the entire picture." Wouldn't she know? She had made such a harsh statement about his knowing and wanting to perform Dark Magic because of the sole reason of his being a Slytherin. Liandro was also one that was quick to judge and say things that were highly inappropriate at times, but he never assumed a person was inherently evil because of their background. Maybe that someone would be an and selfish. But not evil.

"I've called you Miss Corvin before. I think you are just too busy being pissed off about my presence to actually acknowledge when I'm /trying/ to be respectful." There were many ways that Liandro used the formality, whether it be out of respect or as a way to lace his words with sarcasm. "You're right, you're just undeniably a most of the time, aren't you. Good to know that you aren't fake with your emotions." Why did he point out how she usually treated him once more? What was the point of making the air around them more uncomfortable than it already was. Maybe it was due to the fact that she couldn't walk away from his insults, and he didn't have the heart to just dump her in the hall to fend for herself. "Thanks. I'll have to make sure I give your house the same beating I gave Gryffindor this weekend," He boasted, still quite proud of all the hits that he had landed during the game. It didn't matter that they lost, what mattered if that he did was he was supposed to.

With their being by the window and Reyna settled in what may have been a comfortable position for her, Liandro was finally able to properly inspect her ankle. He loosened the emerald green tie from his uniform, the fabric soon tossed next to the Ravenclaw. "So it's not just today that you are a slow walker? This is only my third time being stuck with those stairs. The last time was in my third year as a kid." He spoke to her casually as he took her foot in his hands, applying a slight pressure to her ankle before remove her shoe. The discarded tie was soon being securely wrapped around her foot, the Slytherin's fingers worked carefuly yet quickly, readjusting the smooth cloth that did slip. "Now I know another reason why you're not doing quidditch. Not only are you a huge nerd but you're also clumsy and slow."

@－ ❛ s ❜：liandro kang。⁰⁴ Unexpectedly, the witch had forgotten about her wand not being in her hold anymore due to the Slytherin’s presence having distracted her from all circumstances. Her only focus had been on the embarrassment that she felt due to stumbling and hurting herself. Reyna took her wand from Liandro and placed it back into its position at her clothing. “They’d be quite dumb if they believed that.” She responded to his words. What wizard with the slightest feeling of class would steal the wand of someone else?

Being called stubborn almost had a huff press past her lips, however, she restrained herself and bit back on all the comments that rose in her thoughts. Even with her being rather impulsive and easily to anger, she knew when to shut up and just have whatever it was rain down on her if needed. In this case, she needed his help knowing that it would be better for only him to see her like this. “Miss Corvin? Why so formal?” She inquired, gazing up at him shortly. “I am not trying to be nice, I don’t exactly know how to fake being nice.” Reyna commented with a serious tone underlying her voice. “That might be true. You might still be disappointed. The next game will be better, you did your best.” Her words were genuine even though she knew that the other might misinterpret them.

Reyna held onto the Slytherin tighter as the stairs had decided to move leading them in the completely wrong direction. “Mhm.” She mumbled as an agreement to his suggestion. “How are we going to wrap it? With what?” As they reached a windowsill in the new passageway that the stairs had led, Reyna position herself on top of it with Liandro’s help. Sitting down was less straining for her ankle and the tension that had spread out in her body seemed to ease this way. “Those stairs are annoying. This happened way too often in my time at Hogwarts already.”

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：reyna corvin。⁰⁴ Surprisingly enough the girl seemed to be defeated almost instantly. Maybe it was the pain that she seemed to be experiencing from her fall. Never did he seem to ever see Reyna Corvin with such a look on her face when it came to him. At this point, he had thought that he'd never see any emotions towards him other than anger or annoyance. There were times where she had offered a smile, but that was much more extremely rare. "I can help you, but can you at least take back your wand? I don't really feel like having people believe that I had stolen it." The Slytherin stated whilst holding out her wand for her to take back.

The moment that the girl retrieved her wand, Liandro allowed her to hold onto him once more. "I am surprised. Stubborn ole you actually taking my help without a fight." The situation was extremely awkward, the prefect could not deny that in the slightest. However, it was already happening and he honestly refused to be in complete silence. Of course, it seemed that Reyna had the same idea, making him snort over what seemed like her kissing his . "You know, you don't have to be nice to me just because I am helping you right now, Miss Corvin. If anything, it makes it a bit more awkward and a little fake...besides Gryffindor deserved that win. Slytherin may have a talented team, but they had a better and more experienced seeker." Liandro was never the type to get angry over something that couldn't be helped. Of course, it was mildly disappointing, he was still dealing with a bruised shoulder from the game. It would have been nice to win.

As they were making their way down the stairs, which was painstakingly slow due to Reyna's bummed ankle, they decided to shift. With the jerking of the staircase, Liandro gripped the railing and soon readjusted himself so that they wouldn't simply topple down the stairs. "Of /course/ they always have to move when I need to be somewhere important," Liandro breathed aloud, guiding Reyna to the new passageway that it led them to. "Let's try to wrap your foot and wait for it to shift again. Sound good?"

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：eleazar azorra-shin。⁰²   “Oh, well, I can imagine,” Henri laughed and looked at the other, a gentle expression on his face. Eleazar was speaking with such fondness, it made Henri feel warm and gentle and he wanted to cup his cheeks and tell him how precious he was even though they had just met. “I guess I would have stepped into it to if you hadn’t warmed me so… thank you.” He grinned at the other and nodded as he kept walking up the stairs until they moved. He had never been good with the moving areas of the castle and they always made him a little bit dizzy. Aside from the fact that he always ended up getting lost afterwards.

“S-Sorry,” Henri mumbled when Eleazar helped him keep his balance. He felt a little dizzy and shaky, maybe because it reminded him of how high up they were the moment the stairs before them had moved, opening up the sight downwards. Flying was not a problem but like this he had no broom to hold on, only the railing and the other wizard who he was unbelievably grateful for. There was a small blush on his cheeks too when he realised how close he was to the other. He could feel the other’s breath on his own lips, so very close, and he had the urge to give them a small kiss, just a peck, however he held back and looked to the side, his lips shyly. Flirting was no problem but actually kissing? He couldn’t just go and kiss the other, could he? Instead he knelt down and hurriedly grabbed the books that had fallen.

“Thank you for catching me,” he said then and followed Eleazar, rushing after him as he had kept going, trying to keep up with the younger. “I am not good with the moving stairs… and also not with heights unless I have my broom.” He chuckled slightly as he kept going, walking next to the other.

@－ ❛ s ❜：liandro kang。⁰⁴ There was no way to hide herself from the embarrassment as she already saw the other wizard picking up her wand from the spot it had fallen on. “I’m fine.” She mumbled even though she clearly wasn’t. After he helped her sit up, Reyna still tried to hide her face from him as she didn’t want him to make fun of her for stumbling. Liandro’s voice changed as he recognized her. The young witch finally looked up at him, now that she didn’t need to try to hide her face anymore. Reyna couldn’t quite tell how to interpret the tone of his voice. It seemed slightly worried but she didn’t know if he was angry or more so uncomfortable with her presence. After all, they hadn’t run into each other after that issue that they had had in the study area. She was used to bickering with him but his reaction then had more so been extreme.

The Slytherin helped her to stand up from the sitting position. However, Reyna’s ankle hurt too much for her to place her foot on the ground with the weight of her body pressing down on the injury. Thus, she held onto Liandro’s arm. She felt even more embarrassed by this situation. The female tried to study herself on one foot but it was quite the hassle and she knew it that it was impossible to get herself to the infirmary like this. “C-Can you help me?” Her words got almost swallowed. “I don’t think I can walk like this.” She said after clearing . Walking towards the grand staircase while holding onto him was awkward, especially because Reyna had no idea what to talk about with him that wouldn’t lead to some sort of discussion.

“I watched the game. You did an amazing job. I should have bet on you if betting on a single player was possible. Slytherin should have won.”

@－ ❛ ʜ ❜：henri knight。⁰⁴ "It's not; that particular set of stairs just happens to go around the upper floors quite often. It's a little humourous how many cases of sixth & seventh-years, Gryffindors & Ravenclaws I've heard falling for that and getting stuck in that step." The blonde responded, chuckling softly under his breath (though if one were to listen even more closely, they'd be able to pick out hints of fondness and affection(?) underlying his tone). "I won't deny that wven I forget about it sometimes, but I'm rarely if ever on the upper floors on my own so I always get reminders from those I'm with." He laughs, the fondness in his voice unmistakably apparent now (though he didn't realise it.).

As he turned towards the elder, the wink that was sent did not go unnoticed and Eleazar found himself flushing again, but before he could react the elder was suddenly destabilised by the moving staircase. His innocent eyes widened as his cheeks flushed a darker shade of rouge when the elder grabbed onto him to not fall over, not even caring that the elder had unceremoniously dropped two of the volumes he was helping him carry.

"H-Henri, are you okay?" He asked, internally wincing at how he so-obviously stuttered from the physical contact. "I forgot to remind you that these moving stairs can be quite the ride......" he added, almost as an afterthought as he attempted to help the elder get back on his feet proper (though there wasn't much he could do anyway given how full his arms were at the moment). Their close proximity didn't fully hit him until he looked down into the elder's flawlessly handsome visage, and once again he found himself going through another mental implosion. It didn't help that he could feel the elder's warm strawberry-scented breath ghosting dangerously close to his own couplets, but the malfunctioning of his system prevented him from even making an attempt to pull away.

It was only when the staircase arrived at their destination when he was jerked back into reality, finally having the mind to tear his eyes away and employ a little body strength to nudge the elder back up on his feet. Wordlessly he then began to climb up the remaining half of the steps and down the corridor at a slightly hastened pace, knowing that the elder would follow after but also not wanting to face him at the moment from the almost-kiss(?) they shared and the nearly-suffocating warmth that was forming rapidly in his chest.

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：eleazar azorra-shin。⁰²   “O-oh!” Henri said, thankful for Eleazar to warn him before he stepped onto the fake step. He was good with falling into such traps, too headless sometimes to recognize what was there to trick him. But he had the other with him so he was safe and sound and only left a low chuckle as he could notice it himself, walking past the step. “Is that for you Ravenclaws to not fall for or just for all of us to end up stuck?” Because honestly he had never noticed the step before so that was a surprise to him. He shook his head slightly and looked at the other’s pretty frame, walking with him.

“Mh, maybe. Though Atticus and I are chill.” Henri grinned brightly, proud that the Hufflepuff prefect was all good with him. “I never really do harm so don’t worry.” He laughed then and shook his head eagerly though his cheeks were slightly blushing. Easily getting off the hook. Not exactly but somehow they often let him go instead of giving him detention or any other punishment. “Oh, I am all free so I can join you studying. I remember how much of a pain in the it was in the beginning to learn all the stuff for History of Magic.” He groaned and shook his head. “Pretty sure we lost a few students to that.” He had passed well in that subject but not in the beginning. He had to find ways to get it into his brain and he liked history of anything but damn, the professor just big time. “I can help you study any time. I’ve made it into the fourth year pretty well so I am your man.” He winked at the beautiful face right in front of him.

A soft chuckle left his lips and he walked with Eleazar, enjoying his company a lot. He was nice to listen to and his entire person just gave off a comfortable vibe. It made Henri feel good. “Oh, nah, I wont. I like joking around and pranking but I think that would be too much. I do like Potions so yeah. I can show you what I worked on but you need to keep it a secret.” He stopped with the other and the staircase moved towards a different destination, making Henri almost topple over though he managed to hold onto Eleazar just in time.

@－ ❛ ʜ ❜：henri knight。⁰⁴ Oh, how much more endearing could this troublemaking Hufflepuff senior possibly get? As if getting distracted by his rich voice alone wasn't internally embarrassing enough since he wasn't fully paying attention to what the elder had to say, Eleazar just had to let himself be thrown off even more by the blindingly perfect smile that was flashed to him, his own earnest one faltering as his cheeks flushed an obviously bright shade of peach. He was forced to look away again before he could fall any further into his flustered state, immediately making his way up the set of staircases that arrived at their balcony not a moment after. Somehow despite being flustered, he still remembered to take a small leap to avoid the disappearing trick step in the middle of the staircase. "C-Careful Henri, that's a trick step." He voiced out stably enough, turning back to glance at the elder trailing behind him to ensure he didn't get stuck.

"I imagine you're becoming quite the nightmare for some of the Prefects too, though you'd probably never get into any real trouble with them. All you have to do is just smile at them the way you did to me and they'd let you off the hook easily, don't you?" The blonde voiced out, unknowingly coming off more teasing than he meant for it to sound. "Actually, if you're not busy with anything, would you like to join me while I study later? The talking History of Magic books will be a great help, but I'd also appreciate some actual human company and someone to lament about Binns with." He offered as they awaited the next flight of stairs, having regained his calmness enough to face the elder with yet another unsuspectingly beautiful smile and soft chuckle.

"You also sound like you've got the touch for Potions; I'm interested to hear about your recipes and experiments. You'd honestly be a great candidate to take over the Weasleys Emporium when they retire." He laughed in his rich deep baritone as he ascended the flight of stairs that just arrived at their landing, this time pausing in the middle of the staircase so that it'll move to take them to their correct destination - the landing opposite the fifth floor corridor headed towards the Muggle Studies and Arts classrooms.

@－ ❛ ʜ ❜：maya yim。⁰⁴ as baffled as she appeared, silas was more so astonished by the content of her accusation. sleeping with a multitude of girls was out of the question. he rarely made himself known to a handful of studentsㅡalbeit a recent discovery had been made that he was the talk among a few younger years. but this. he was positive that he had nothing to do with whatever she was pressed about. moreover, he had never shared such intimacy with another in his lifetime. sureㅡthere was that one kiss which occurred during his second year, but that was it. and it wasn't with this so-called eleanora. "i have never met an eleanora so...to reiterate, i have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, mayaㅡor miya. i suggest your friend think long and hard about who she had...relations with because it's definitely not me. now if you'll excuse me, i have somewhere to get to."

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：silas ciarán。⁰⁴ okay, sleeping whilst unprotected with her best friend, she can't forgiveㅡbut to not even acknowledge /who/ he supposedly slept with, now she's even more vexed than before. "what do you mean who am i talking about? do you just have a multitude of girls you sleep with that you can't even remember their name?" once more does she press her finger to his sternum, evidently not taking any excuses from him. for onlookers, this demeanor of the hufflepuff prefect is a new change of pace, yet she couldn't bother herself with their low murmurs. "eleanora hwang? third year, slytherin?" at least with this, she slightly whispers, hoping that her friend's name wouldn't be so out in the wind.

@－ ❛ ʜ ❜：maya yim。⁰⁴ he had just made his way out of the library, walking down the corridor in his usual manner with his destination clear in his mind. once he arrived at the ravenclaw tower, he would make home on the floor, surround himself with amass of books, and possibly take a short nap if he was feeling it. he was struck out of his daydreaming when the hufflepuff prefect approached him with her threatening tone. miya? maya, was it? her sudden attack confused him, for he had absolutely no clue what she was talking about--nor did he appreciate her beratement. "uh, do what exactly? i'm sorryㅡi have no idea what you are talking about here," he admitted with a deep furrow of his brows. "who are you talking about?"

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：silas ciarán。⁰⁴ she's practically fuming with each step as she saunters down the third floor corridor, her eyes in search of a particular student. her anger is no secret, heavily evident in the way her usual smile is no longer apparent on her visage, and her fists balled. not to mention that as the ravenclaw comes into view, her voice seethes with rage. "how dare you to that to her," she starts. "she has her whole life ahead of her and you guys should've at least taken precautions to make sure /this/ didn't happen." now, the tip of her pointer presses against his chest.

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：reyna corvin。⁰⁴ To say that he was pissed was a severe fucling understatement when it came to the Slytherin's reaction to the Ravenclaw. Not only did she insult him by trying to infer that he'd be the type to dapple in the Dark Arts, but she continued to insult him even as he finally got angry with her. Lian...he never knew what the other's problem with him was. It had started with her ignoring him and soon with the /looks/ that she gave him. Over the years he had developed the habit to bother her, , just to get under her skin. He had been bothered by the way she treated him, mostly when it had been of no reason and thus that was his payback for it. But he'd never gotten angry to the point of wishing terrible things upon her until that day in the library. Never once did he call her the names that he did on that day.

Days passed and soon a week, Liandro having ignored her the best that he could. It was easy, honestly. He had so much to do as a prefect, quidditch player and a student that he often found himself rushing from class to class, barely catching a break. And when he did find time to himself, his thoughts wandered elsewhere. Honestly, the prefect had nearly forgotten the whole ordeal by the time he encountered Reyna again.

The clatter of her wand was loud as she fell, if he had been closer to her, he would have tried to catch her fall. But alas, the most that he could do was pick up the cream-colored wand. "Are you okay, miss?" He asked as he made his way closer to her, crouching down to help her at least help her sit up. His voice was soft as he did so, until his eyes caught sight of the face that he was helping. "Oh. It's you." The concern was still clear in his voice but there was something off, possibly the discomfort of just who it was was evident. "Do you need help to the infirmary? If not, I'll be on my way."

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：teddy oxley。⁰³ "are you always this insufferable?" veronica groaned, jaw clenched as she throws him a scanthing look. however she tried, though, it seemed that he just wouldn't shut up with all his pointless, unnecessary inquiries; she doesn't even know if her irritation is for his house or just him being a male. "to the infirmary so i could finally be rid of you and get to do actual work than babysitting. so, for salazar's sake, would you shut up?"

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：eleazar azorra-shin。⁰²   “Well, I do hope so?” Henri chuckled amused. He was not sure if his heart was as beautiful as he was told he was, but he was really trying his best to keep it a good one. He loved jokes and pranks and yes when he had been younger he had done quite a few really chaotic and maybe even mean pranks but nowadays he made sure they meant no harm and that everyone was okay. Safe and sound and just having fun. That was all he wanted. After all every single one of them was busy enough with studying and that was quite a lot of stress on all of them.

A soft chuckle left Henri’s lips and he shook his head, surprised that Eleazar thought so but then again could he blame him? It was their first proper meeting after all though he was sure he had seen the Ravenclaw around before. He smiled while he kept his eyes on him. “I do cause a lot of trouble but not in a disaster way, more in a down to clown way. I love joking around and having fun. But I don’t play with people. I don’t harm them either. You know the words ‘take no , do no harm’? That’s me.” Though he was doing a lot of – however in a soft and gentle way with making people laugh and maybe help them study.

“Thank you, El’s parents, for giving him such an amazing voice,” Henri joked and walked next to the other, trying to remember the way. He was so easily lost when walking through the castle even though he had already been here for four years. It was still hard though he somehow still found his way most times. “A favour?” He blinked surprised and chuckled then. “You being my friend is already a favour,” he said and nudged Ellie gently as they walked and Henri had a horrible hard time not to just fall apart at how beautiful the other’s smile was.

“Same, I am surprised too,” Henri chuckled. “Though I found a way around, creating funky potions and such. Like… I accidentally spilled on your books.” He pointed at what he was holding and smiled amused. “However I’m trying to do no damage. Just smiles and happiness, you know?” He shrugged slightly. “I’m not here to harm. But I get why Pince is annoyed. Doesn’t stop me though:” He grinned even brighter, his perfect teeth showing.

@－ ❛ s ❜：liandro kang。⁰⁴ sorry my writing is super ty, was tired when I wrote this]

By far, Liandro Kang was the most annoying person in Hogwarts. At least that was what Reyna thought as the male Slytherin kept throwing dumb comments her way. She decided to not say anything anymore even with rage boiling inside her chest. “Oh sure, if you think that you can actually perform it.” She ignored the insult that he had thrown at her as she was rather surprised that he finally left her table. Who would have thought that it took nothing but a comment about the dark arts to get rid of him. That knowledge would have helped her out before the Slytherin had even sat down at her table. An hour later, Reyna was done with studying, deciding that her head was filled with enough information about transfiguration. It was tiresome to scan the pages after doing nothing else for hours. 

A week had passed since her encounter with Liandro. They hadn’t given much attention to each other in class and she was glad to not be pestered by him for once. His teasing was quite the hassle for the female who just wanted to study in peace. It was what she had to do and any distraction was troublesome. Plus, she was still quite pissed off by his behaviour in the study area, had it taken her quite a lot to embarrass herself and be the one asking for help. However, she had tried her best to push the memory of that moment far back into her mind. 

Ignoring all thoughts, Reyna was on her way to the library to look for a book about astronomy as she wanted to learn more about something that she had picked up in class. Maybe it were the thoughts about the type of book she looked for, or it was her mind still thinking back to the rage she had felt after her encounter with Liandro, whatever it was, it had distracted her. She tripped over something in the corridor and stumbled until her side hit the stone ground. Reyna groaned in pain as she tried to get back up, her ankle hurt with every tiny movement that she tried and she couldn’t steady herself on it to get back up. Her wand had fallen out of her hand and she couldn’t reach for it either. Calling for her help was too awkward but the Ravenclaw female had no idea what to do. However, right then someone came around the corner. Liandro.

@－ ❛ ʜ ❜：henri knight。⁰⁴ "I can understand how others might mean it maliciously; at least to me you don't look the part. I can only hope your heart is as beautiful as you." The blonde responded as he allowed the other male to relieve him of some of the volumes in his arms, completely missing just how flirtatious his response could've sounded to someone if they wished to take it in another light. Turning to grab his book bag, he then began to lead the elder down the corridor towards the direction of the grand staircase, his flushed cheeks not letting up from the shameless flirting, the playful nudge and even the light poke the elder gave him.

"Gosh, do you always tease the people you bump into like this?" He let out in an even quieter voice, attempting to force his body to get used to the affectionate attention. "People usually say that the gorgeous, popular, sociable and funny ones having golden tongues like you are nothing but trouble. I won't pass any early judgment, but I sincerely hope you don't fall into that stereotype." He continued, sparing the slightest of glances to the male falling into step easily next to him as they rounded the corner by one of the classrooms and past the locked door leading into a part of the fabled out-of-bounds section.

"Ah, thank you, Henri. You can thank my parents for that." He laughed lightly, a deep but melodious laugh. "Thank you too for helping me, I really appreciate it. Consider yourself having earned a favour from me as part of our blooming friendship." He came to a halt just as they arrived at the Great Staircase, awaiting for the correct set of stairs to arrive at their landing and turning to the elder to give him an earnest (and unknowingly heart-melting) smile.

"Pince was telling me about a few unfortunate incidents in the past when former students tried to Charm some of their library books for various reasons, from waterproofing them for reference purposes while conducting field work out at the Black Lake to turning them into practical prank items for the next student unfortunate enough to open them. I'm honestly surprised that the Headmaster hasn't placed an Anti-Spellcasting Charm on every book yet, given these incidents."

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：eleazar azorra-shin。⁰²   “I am! I have been told I have quite a way with words though most times I am sure it was not something positive.” There was a small laugh leaving Henri’s lips and he shook his head a bit. It was amusing to him, definitely, because he knew he meant no harm but he often did not take any either. Usually he was the one doing some , unfortunately as most people thought it was, but he was really trying to make people laugh and amuse them. Not always were his pranks perfect for that but he was trying out new things so sometimes that went wrong. But for now it had definitely gone right. Because the man right in front of him was gorgeous.

“You look really adorable or flustered,” the Hufflepuff said and winked at him, slightly nudging him in a friendly way. It was cute to watch the other react and he was glad he was seeing it right now. He slightly poked Eleazor’s cheek and then chuckled. “Suits you, the red on your starry cheek.” He winked at the other.

A soft hum left Henri’s lips as he heard the middle name, not telling the other his. He knew most people did not really care but Henri just did not like his yet. And he was planning to keep it from everybody until his wedding day when someone would have to say his entire full name. A shame. But that was how the world worked. “Zaene sounds cool. But I like Ellie. It fits.” He grinned and nodded, gently petting the other’s back slightly. “Your name sounds pretty cool.” He liked it, it was a lot more interesting than Henri.

The next question surprised Henri but it put a beautiful smile on his cheeks. “I am very free, after all I already did my deed.” He gestured at the books and then nodded a bit. “I’ll help you carry them. I get that, sometimes things are to precious to work some magic on them. I once lost one of my favourite books in a Capacious Extremis bag and have yet to find it.” He laughed a bit and then nodded. “Yep, you rambled, but I like it. Keep talking.” He had not expected Eleazor to have such a deep voice but it was nice. It was a good surprise. “Give some to me,” he said and took a few books from the other, nodding. “Show me the way to your dorm?”

@－ ❛ ʜ ❜：henri knight。⁰⁴ Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have trained his gaze on the other male's visage, because the more Eleazar stared the warmer his face felt. He knew a little about Henri of course; old Madam Pince was never exactly quiet about her daily trials and tribulations, and Henri was often mentioned amongst them. He really wasn't one to judge, but given how often Pince griped about Henri he had slowly formed the assumption that the other was perhaps a mean-spirited student with absolutely no respect for the library or all the precious knowledge it housed whatsoever. Eleazar had never gone as far as try to imagine a face to go with the assumption, and maybe it was a blessing to not have done as such because he was sure that he'd end up utterly disappointed.

Henri was no mean-spirited rebellious anarchist, at least not from what Eleazar could gather right here and now. No, he was actually funny, kind, playful, definitely sociable and not to mention /unfairly/ gorgeous.

"I- You're really quite the smooth talker. Gosh, I'm so flustered right now, I- Ah." He really didn't know how to react to the blatant flirtatious energy the other was unleashing on him; he definitely did not mind it but boy, was it affecting him so much and setting off multiple foreign reactions in his system that he's never felt before. Unable to function coherently enough to say anything else, he settled for burying his face momentarily against the stack of volumes still in his arms, tuning out the continued muffled cries and yelps still emanating from the topmost book.

"I uh- It's a pleasure to finally get to meet the face behind Pince's daily trials. I- You can call me those, or you can also call me Zaene. That's my middle name." The blonde spoke after a moment, albeit more shyly and in a tone softer than the one he used barely moments ago. He was sure he looked comparable to a strawberry by this point, or at the very least looked like he'd just down a single dosage of Pepperup Potion. He wasn't going to bother trying to conceal it though.

"Would you.... would you be free at the moment, by any chance? I'd need to bring these books back to my dorm but they're admittedly a little too much for me, and I don't want to cast Reducio on them in case I accidentally end up obliterating them instead. At the same time, I haven't quite mastered Capacious Extremis yet and I also don't want to accidentally turn my bag into a pitfall, and- I just rambled didn't I." He stopped himself with an embarrassed chuckle, needing to turn away and take a quiet deep breath to attempt and stabilise his thought processes again before continuing. "Do you mind helping me carry some of these back to my dorm?"

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：eleazar azorra-shin。⁰²   The soft red appearing on the young man right in front of him was beautiful and Henri smiled warmly, charmingly, trying to hide how adorable he found the expression on the other’s beautiful face. The freckles on the man in front of him looked like they had been handpicked from the nightsky, choosing the most beautiful stars to put on the other’s face and it made Henri stare at him just a few seconds longer than necessary.

A soft chuckle left Henri’s lips as the other said his name and he hummed. “That is me, yes.”

The words that came out from the other the next moment surprised him, feeling a little bit flattered by his words. It had been a while since someone had actually complimented his looks and he had not expected to hear it now yet. “Well, no, but I am trying to keep up with you when it comes to beauty so I’m taking care of myself.” He winked at him. He let the other take his book back into his soft, small hands that had a few freckles here and there as well, before he hummed. “Eleazar? I’m gonna call you El or Ellie, I hope that’s okay, beauty.” He grinned at him, excited to finally meet a person he had yet not met before. “It’s fine, I did not look where I was going either.”

Sighing slightly Henri realised the potion was already working, making the books call out and try to be opened by someone, anyone, as the world wanted to be out. It was probably the book that had up most of the potion so there was that. He wanted to talk to the man in front of him and not to the books. He huffed and then saw the other’s smile as he opened the book, surprised that he did complete his mission. He made someone smile. And it was a beautiful one. “Yeah, that was my plan. I wanted to get the people to smile and make some noise.” He rubbed his neck and then blinked surprised, a soft chuckle leaving his lips. “I guess it was intuition to make the sweetest person happy. I definitely succeeded.” Now he was glad it had happened exactly the way it had.

@－ ❛ ʜ ❜：henri knight。⁰⁴ "No need to fall for me right away." The simple comment had sounded so pleasant in his ears despite its teasing nature, and Eleazar was quick to discern that this individual clearly meant him no harm. Moving to get back on his feet, he turned to gather the remainder of his b- oh. Oh. Well this was something he didn't expect.

Eleazar acknowledged that some students were more visually blessed than others so to speak, but standing before him was what was probably the most charmingly handsome student he'd come across. It didn't help that he also happened to have a way with words, which added to his already overflowing charm.

Eleazar pretended not to take notice of the way his cheeks suddenly felt slightly warm despite the cool air of the corridor.

"Henri.... Henri Knight, the one occasionally getting under old Pince's skin. I- did you take a Beautification Potion?" The younger blonde blurted out before he could catch himself, the weight of his question only sinking in hard a minute after causing him to mentally slap himself. Great, it hasn't even been five minutes and he was already scrambling on his usually iron grip on his rationality. "I apologise, that was a rather inappropriate question to ask. I'm Eleazar, and I also apologise for not watching where I was going earlier." The blonde quickly continued before any more awkwardness could set in, easily taking the books the other had helped gather for him.

The awkwardness thankfully didn't last long, as small cries and yelps could be heard from at least one of the books now in his arms, drawing his attention to it. Out of curiosity, he reached for the topmost book and opened it to a random page, being surprised when the words on said page appeared to narrate themselves in a dramatic low voice accompanied by flashes of the scenes being narrated. "You- this was your planned prank?" He asked with a widening bright smile as he turned his attention back to the other male. "Henri, this is perfect! Just what I needed to ensure I don't end up failing History of Magic! You might have just saved my grades."

@－ ❛ ʀ ❜：eleazar azorra-shin。⁰²   It was still considered rather early and it was just the perfect time for Henri L. Knight to plan some chaos. No bad chaos, of course, just some jokes to get the people some laughter in the library as he considered the quiet place a little too down on the mood from time to time. Hushed whispers and depressed sighs were all that filled the room and Henri thought that it really needed some happiness at least for a day. Some smiles drawn on places when they would open the books, soft things coming out of the books. Like a field of flowers for a few moments, a meow from a cat, maybe even some clouds that covered one and made one just really happy. Small things to make the day.

Just that Henri’s plants were doomed when he was too deep in thought and crashed right into a young male with bright blond hair. Cursing quietly when the other’s forehead collided with his nose he managed to catch his balance just in time so he would not fall just like the other. It took Henri a moment to realise what had happened and he rubbed the skin of his nose before he saw the broke veil and the liquid disappear in the books. Well, at least the other had a little happiness even though it would be quite the difference now. Hongjoong saw that it must be history of magic and now the other would probably have the entire history book like a movie right in front of him. Woops.

“No need to fall for me right away,” Henri said, winking at the young man in front of him while he helped him collect the books on the ground, handing them back to the other. “What’s your name, book lover boy?” he asked and tilted his head a bit. “I’m Henri and I was just on the way to prank the library but oh well, I guess all that’s left of it is now us crushing on and into each other.” He winked at the young male in front of him.

@－ ❛ ʜ ❜：henri knight。⁰⁴ History of Magic. The most boring subject, or rather the subject taught by, quite literally, the only professor in spirit. As enthusiatic and attentive as he tried to be, Eleazar himself had to admit that the first two weeks aitting through Professor Binns' lessons were more than enough to drain him entirely, and that was /just/ in his first year. He'd barely managed to scrape a B (though it was well above the passing grade, anything lower than a B is considered a fail by his personal standards) in the year-end exams too, and he definitely wasn't going to fall into the same trap again. Which is why one early Saturday morning, he made time to head down to the library to loan and check out every single relevant title they had according to school's History of Magic syllabus. He was also planning on fitting some time into his already-packed daily schedules to wander the castle and talk to the paintings and ghosts, asking them about their experiences over their years.

Of course, Madam Pince, as aged as she was now, peered at him all suspiciously due to the sheer number of volumes he was checking out. She looked like she was about to say something, but decided against it and allowed the blonde to take the books back under the premise that they be returned in exactly a month. Eleazar only serenely smiled and nodded in understanding and thanks; deep down he knew he'd be holding on to those books for probably the rest of the year until just before the year-end exam period.

He fitted whatever volumes he could fit into his book bag and took the rest by hand (he unfortunately did not know how to properly cast Capacious Extremis just yet, and he'd rather not accidentally increase his book bag's internal capacity too much he could literally fall into it), making to leave the library. Barely a few steps out into the corridor he felt a strong physical force slam into him, causing him to drop all his volumes and knocking him backwards onto the ground followed by a small crash of breaking glass. "Ow- what in Merlin's beard...."

@－ ❛ s ❜：veronica nott。⁰³ "I definitely deserve a few cookie points after that blow you know, also i'll be sure to keep a note of this event woman." he rolled his eyes at her, slipping both hands into his trouser pockets after taking a step back to get a better look at the girl, he wanted to get mad at her but now it's just all about the tease with him, although he felt kinda bad for what he done, a part of him didn't regret it one bit just because she is a slytherin. "Where are you going now?"

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：paris oxley。⁰³ and she'd do it again, just to make a statement. but in spite of herself, veronica lets out an unlady-like snort; expect a gryffindor to throw that word in her face. "didn't you get the memo? i'm slytherin, of course i'm supposed to be evil." flipping her shoulder length hair, she resumes walking towards the infirmary, determined to send him there just so she could finish at least of her homework. "now, stop with the small talk, red. your pout doesn't give you any cookie points at all."

@－ ❛ s ❜：veronica nott。⁰³ "I was just being nice, yet you continued the aggression also. Weren't you the one who caused this?" Pointing towards his nose that had been dripping of blood every now and then before tilting his head back, reaching his right hand into his trouser pocket to fish out the handkerchief and holding it against his nose. "Kinda evil don't you think?" Paris furrowed his brows at the female with his doe eyes gazing into her dark orbs followed by a small pout.

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：paris oxley。⁰³ "stop. touching. me." veronica had to breathe the words out as she utters them, knuckles turning white, balling her hands into tight fists. she could really hex him again for even doing it, taking up her personal space, but seeing as how pushy he was, he really might even find it all the more... alluring. any boy who'd do this would find themselves at the end of her uncle's wand. he's been good at defending her honor; perhaps, she could ask him to do that. it'd be fun to watch. "but, sure," she finally says, smirk back on her lips, "if that's what you really want."

@－ ❛ s ❜：veronica nott。⁰³ His brows creased for a moment as he viewed her reaction to be unnecessary and a little bit extra causing the male to scoff right at her, he places both hands on her shoulders to keep her at her spot and lets out a soft sigh. "No, not at all Notts. What grinds my gears right now is that, for a Slimy Slytherin like you. I find rather pleasing to the eye. Say, text me maybe?" He tried his utmost best to present himself a tad bit better despite knowing he was already in her bad books, but it doesn't mean he would give up so easily, otherwise that would be no fun at all since Paris is very fond of a challenge.