Watching and Wishing

Outside the slightly ajar doors to the dueling arena, Bri stood with her eyes wide in amazement as she watched some of the older students inside who were participating in a practice duel. She admired the way that they moved and the technique of their spells. She wondered if she could get one of them to tutor her, then maybe she wouldn't be so terrified to go down to Potions whenever they had it. It wasn't that the Slytherins terrified her, just that they were a generally intimidating bunch and she was worried about becoming one of their victims.

"I wish I could do that," she said softly to herself as she watched the older students swerve and spin and dodge spells, unaware that someone was approaching her.

Thomas found himself walking around the castle, armed with his new-found knowledge from Allison. He was walking on the Ground Floor and noticed a girl looking into the Duelling Arena, looking a bit like a dolt, he watched for a second, before realising she was even talking to herself. He walked up behind her quietly. "Don't you think it might be a smarter idea to not be found gaping through doorways and talking to yourself like an idiot?" He sneered at her, wondering why the hell she was even here.

The sudden voice caused Bri to jump. She turned around to see who it was. Green robes meant a Slytherin, oh no. "I was just... I was just watching," she said meekly. She didn't know why she felt the need to explain herself, but she did. It was almost as if she had broken a rule and was being reprimanded by a teacher, though this boy had to be somewhat close in age to herself. "It's not against the rules," she added sheepishly. At least, she didn't think it was against the rules...

Thomas smirked slightly, although it faltered for a moment. He wondered if he acted like that at one point. He shook it off though, absent-mindedly noting her blue robes, which meant she was Ravenclaw. "So you decide to just randomly talk to yourself in a corridor and watch idly? I thought Ravenclaw was meant to be learning and studying and knowledge... Or do you not have any of that?" he asked the girl haughtily.

Bri was taken aback by the boy's behavior. He looked familiar, which meant that the probably had classes together. She thought for a moment that he was Thomas Celare, but that couldn't be right because Andy had said that Thomas was nice. Andy, he was still in the Hospital Wing, she thought sadly.

"That's not all we do," she said defensively. "Sometimes we... And other times we..." she could think of a few examples but she didn't exactly want to share them with this boy. After all, arming someone who didn't seem very nice with the knowledge that you'd nearly gotten someone killed wasn't exactly a good idea.

Thomas kept a smirk planted on his face at how shocked the girl seemed to be, he vaguely remembered a class or two he had with her... Brianna Carter. That was the name, another he didn't need to remember, but she obviously wasn't expecting him to act this way, which made it slightly amusing as well.

"Oh? What else do you do? Library, reading in dorms, any time you do anything not concerning looking idiotic or reading?" He asked, smirk still on his face... He wasn't doing too badly at this thankfully, or so he hoped. "Well? What else do you do that leaves you at such loss for words to tell me?" He asked.

Bri was about to respond but so far everything he had listed were things that a lot of people from her house, including herself, did with frequency. "I don't think it looks idiotic," she said quietly. She wanted to leave, but her sense of politeness wouldn't allow her to just walk away.

She took a deep breath. The best she could do would be to try to make the best of a bad situation, plus it would let her ignore his final question. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Brianna Carter, it's nice to meet you," she tried, putting a smile on her face and holding her hand out for him to shake.

Thomas rolled his eyes at the pitiful girls response. "Then you obviously don't see what you and your housemates are actually doing most of the time, because trust me, it looks stupid." He said coldly, half wondering why the girl hadn't just walked off by now, unless she was part Gryffindor of course, which made it even worse. He quirked an eyebrow at her making some stupid thing about them getting off on the wrong foot. "Thomas Celare, and I beg to differ, I'm pretty certain we got off on the right foot." He sneered, looking at the girls hand as if touching it would poison him. "I suggest you put your hand back where it was before someone sees fit to sever it off." He said.

So this was Thomas Celare? Bri was severely confused; hadn't Andy said that Thomas was nice? Perhaps she'd misheard him. Disheartened, she dropped her hand back to her side. "I'm sorry," she said, not knowing what else to say to him. She had no clue what she'd done to make him act this way, but there had to be a reason for it, right?

"We really do do other things," she insisted quietly. She didn't know why she felt the need to explain herself to him, but she couldn't stop talking. "A lot of Ravenclaws play Quidditch and things like that, and some of us have been in the Forest..."

Thomas found himself still smirking at how meek the girl seemed. He wondered if she would be growing a backbone any time soon, or if she would just always stand down whenever there was conflict. "Sorry is what you should be. Especially for being in such a terrible house." He sneered at her.

He raised an eyebrow at the mention of Quidditch and the Forbidden Forest. "Oh really? Any proof for either of those things, like any decent brooms maybe? Or some sort of momento from the Forest? Or is all just meaningless words? Even with Quidditch, it doesn't take anything special to play it. Play it well maybe, but I doubt any of you can do that." He said.

Bri was starting to feel like she would never win with Thomas. It didn't really matter what she said to him, he always had something to say back to her that just made her feel worse. Still, deeming her entire house terrible cut her deeply; she took great pride in being a Ravenclaw. "At least people in my house don't feel the need to take other people down so they can feel good about themselves," she retorted before clapping her hand over her mouth as though trying to trap the words in there. Even though he was being completely awful to her, she still felt the need to apologize for what she'd said. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

His further questions made her regret her apology. "I don't have any proof, only what I remember. I've been to the Forest, twice, and I know that I was there and I don't have to prove anything to you," she could feel her need to defend herself kicking in, despite the fact that she was dreading whatever he would say next.

Thomas sneered at Brianna's attempt at a comeback. "Oh, I'm sorry, does the little girl get all upset with people calling her bad names? Then maybe you should accept that it happens in life." He said, quirking an eyebrow at how she actually apologized... He probably would have done that at one point really... Or would've he? He didn't know really, but he supposed it didn't matter that much any more. He'd changed so it didn't matter any more, right? Right.

"Oh, so the little Ravenclaw doesn't even have proof? Then how do we not know you're not just a stupid liar then eh?" He asked her. "Or are you such an idiot you didn't even think for a second people might not believe you? Why not just walk back up to your tower and stay up there." He said coldly to her, trying to smother the piece of regret he was feeling.

Bri's breath caught in her throat; there was no way that this was the same person who Andy had said was nice. She had to get out of there before she broke down completely in front of this horrible person. "Maybe I will then," she said, turning her back on him as her eyes started to well up with tears. "It was... interesting meeting you, Thomas." Tears started to fall as she headed not to Ravenclaw tower, but to the Hospital Wing to go see Andy.

Thomas shrugged as the girl went off, she obviously didn't have any backbone what so ever. She had just started to seem like an idiot he could talk to on more than one occasion, but apparently not. He glanced inside for a moment, wondering what she had been gawking at, before going back to walking around the Castle, maybe he could find someone else to talk to, Slytherin or otherwise.