This thread takes place right after the Defense class.


As Eirene walked out of Defense class, the usual spring in her step nowhere to be found, she kept touching her face, reminded of that rhyme her nanny sometimes told her. The one about the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead, and how it had something to do with the child's behavior. If that were true, what did a red mark on her forehead say about her? Did it broadcast to the world that Noriko was mean and threw her wand at her, or did the students staring at her face just think 'what a duffer, that girl with the red mark!' Eirene felt horrified that it was likely the latter.

Now she knew exactly how Harry Potter felt!

At a fifth-year's snicker, Eirene clapped one hand over her forehead so no one could see her battle scar. Her only thought was to get to Ayla and ask the older girl if she had some magical concealer that Eirene might borrow. Even though she wasn't allowed to wear makeup, this was an emergency! She'd talk to the third-year about her awful, evil classmates, and Ayla would say something to make her feel better, like she always did.

That goal in mind, Eirene turned suddenly and began walking in the opposite direction, towards the stairs that led to the Hufflepuff common room. She went against the wave of the other firsties leaving Defense, but at the moment, Eirene wanted nothing to do with them, and stuck her nose high in the air as she weaved through the crowd.

Blue-tinted grey eyes had drilled into Eirene and Noriko's backs for the remainder of class.  Hopefully, they hadn't covered anything too important or, if so, they'd go back and cover it again some other time.  Anything the professor might have covered was simply lost on Mairead.  During the remainder of class, she'd cast a few distracted disarming spells in Keegan's general direction but her mind was envisioning over and over again what her fists wanted to do to the two girls.  Those two thought they'd been clever but clearly they'd just demonstrated how pathetic they were.  They were too afraid to come after Mairead individually; they only were willing to do so in their little gaggle. 

Eirene had already left the class by the time Mairead got through the door but as she spared the girl one last, fleeting glower, she noticed the Ravenclaw turn and start heading back.  This wasn't the first time Mairead had ever decided to do something without thinking about it and it was unlikely to be the last.  Without hesitation or a second thought, the Gryffindor turned and slipped into the shadows of a side hallway and waited. 

Waiting for the right moment took more patience than the first year usually possessed but, in the end, it paid off.  With the pompous air of a ruddy goat, Eirene tromped on by the end of the hall.  Without a sound, Mairead reached out to grab the Ravenclaw by the back of the robes and pull her in the hallway to shove her into the wall. 

"Ye stuck up little spoiled cabóg!" Mairead yelled at the girl.  "Ye think yer so special and better than everyone.  And that's why no one likes ye but yer stupid boyfriend."  In the past, goading her on her crush had gotten such fantastic results.  It was proving to be a hard tactic to abandon.

Mai's rage-tinted silence was deafening for the rest of class and it almost frightened Keegan, if he were ever to admit such a thing. Girls were nutters. Keegan was content just beating up the person who upset him and being done with it, but Mai... Mai was a girl... and girls didn't give up so easily. They would sit on their fury for years until they could exact the perfect revenge, often times out of no where. You couldn't be safe around vindictive girls. Which was why, normally, he didn't befriend girls. Mai was a first for him and he was still getting used to the idea that she was a girl after all. Her glowering silence was proof enough of this.

When her silence hadn't abated by the end of class, Keegan was being to get desolate. Perhaps, he thought to himself, a good old prank would liven her up. On the way out of class, he jogged up to her and slapped her lightly on the shoulder "'ow bout we sneak some cockroach's in 'er soup at supper, eh?" He offered with a grin, only to be silenced when Mai suddenly slipped into a dark corridor. Instinctively, he followed, but he was uncertain what they were doing there as he had not been paying any mind to Eirene or where she was going. "Wha.." He started to ask, when Mai darted forward and yanked Eirene into the small space.

"Ye stuck up little spoiled cabóg! Ye think yer so special and better than everyone.  And that's why no one likes ye but yer stupid boyfriend."

Keegan didn't say anything at first. After all, he didn't hit girls or gang up on them. This was Mai's fight and he would only step in if he really needed to. Which seemed unlikely considering the surprising amount of strength she was showing at that moment. He couldn't help but grin with admiration and add "Ye sure that she even 'as 'im? I mean... Does 'e even know she exists?"

Eirene felt a sharp tug on the back of her robes and managed a squeal before her airway was temporarily cut off. Mairead then pushed her into the wall and glared up at her, face furious. Eirene instinctively cringed.

She was in a corridor off of the main one, alone, with two crazy barbarians. Eirene began to regret her Expelliarmus stunt from earlier, which had seemed so clever and funny when she'd first thought of it. Eirene frantically glanced around and tried to catch another student's eye, but it was as if they sensed the first-year drama around the corner and swerved to avoid it. Mairead began yelling at her as Keegan watched, grinning. The insults sunk in and her face flushed to match the red mark on her forehead.

"Get your grubby hands off me!" Eirene shrilled, wiping off her outfit. "I am not a... a c-word! And I'm not allowed to have a boyfriend until I'm sixteen! So there!"

Sasha was a friend. A special friend, she thought, since he was an older Prefect, and one of the few nice boys she knew. The idea of a Boyfriend made her nervous. Eirene still thought French kissing meant a peck on each cheek, like the fancy greetings she sometimes saw adults give.

She glared back at Mairead, trying not to think about the accusation that she had no friends. Professor Storm's warning came back to her in a rush: 'Those too unpopular to find a partner will have one assigned to them...'. She'd picked Noriko, and Noriko hadn't even wanted to duel with her!

"And he does so know I exist," she continued hotly. "He talks to me. He tried to explain a muggle subject to me once." Another c-word. Chemystery or something like that. "He even knows my name," Eirene held her chin up high, hoping that if she babbled long enough, they'd get bored and go away, or a professor would find them and make them go away!

No, this had gone beyond cockroaches in soup.  That would cheer her up but Mairead wasn't ready to be cheered up.  She was ready to extract that apology the Professor never got out of her. 

By now, Mairead had grown accustomed to Keegan's reluctance to fight girls even if she didn't understand it.  None of her friends back home had any problem with fighting with her though, granted, she'd never seen any of them fight with other girls. Tito certainly didn't.  In fact, he'd always insisted Mairead be perfectly able and willing to fight back, despite being a girl, younger and, usually, quite a bit shorter than the boys.  There was no doubt Mairead could hold a grudge like a girl but she could hold her own against any of the boys. 

At least, he could stand guard and watch for professors or other meddlers.  Or, it seemed, he could offer some moral support in the form of jabbing at Rene's stupid crush.  "He probably doesn't know.  I bet he's too busy hanging out with people who are actually cool."  Unlike Rene. 

So there?  Mairead blinked in confusion then laughed.  "That's lame," she said.  Whether it was about the stupid comeback or the 'no boyfriend until she's sixteen' was impossible to tell.  Probably both.  "Well, it's a good thing yer starting to look now since it'll take ye that long to find someone who'll put up with ye.  Or, perhaps, by then we'll have covered love potions in class."

With an exaggerated feigned look of excitement that would have made Macaulay Culkin proud, Mairead turned towards Keegan.  "He even knows her name." 

Before she forgot the matter at hand.  "What did ye think ye were playing at?  Ganging up on me?  Too afraid to come after me yerself?"  Which was, probably, smart.

Eirene got mighty offended when Mairead said that she wasn't cool, and that she needed the time to find a boyfriend until they covered love potions in class. She opened her mouth and shut it again, looking like a teapot about to boil over. Her fingers tensed, as if itching for her wand.

It was... important that Sasha knew her name! So many students called her 'Irene' or sometimes 'Eggplant' when they thought she wasn't listening, and prefects and even professors mispronounced her last name, which was horribly embarrassing! When she said Sasha knew her name, she meant that it was just one of the many things that Sasha did to make her feel like a cool person.

Eirene swallowed. "I don't even want a boyfriend! I'm not allowed," her voice rose. "But I don't need love potions!" She sniffed, trying not to think about the enchanted cookies Ayla had made once, and how she had been so, so tempted to sneak the cookies onto Sasha's breakfast plate in the morning. She'd gone so far as to sneak one into her backpack, but she'd been too scared to go through with it. It was one thing to steal a textbook, and another to... she wasn't even sure what she was doing.

Eirene had left the cookie in the Ravenclaw common room and then acted completely surprised when third-year Savannah Kerflumple had suddenly started acting googly-eyed over a fourth-year boy with a bad case of acne and an aversion to bathing.

Mairead accused her of ganging up on her, and Eirene shook her head, denying it through and through. Eirene Antonopoulos never picked on others, according to her mother, at least. Teasing and making fun was something that bad children did, and she wasn't a bad child, oh no.

"I was not!" She scoffed, crossing her arms. "I'm sorry that you're too... you to figure it out, but I was merely practicing Expelliarmus like we were supposed to, and it's not my fault you were too busy whispering in Keegan's ear to notice."

Glancing between the two of them, her expression turned smug and knowing. Mairead and Keegan. They were always together.

Standing at the entrance of the alleyway, glancing this way and that lest any passing upper years or prefects tried to cut in, Keegan mostly ignored the conversation. He would nod and utter little sounds of agreement if he thought they were the right thing, but he didn't do much else. It just wasn't his style to beat up girls, especially stupid defenseless ones like Eirene. This idiot probably couldn't fight her way out of a wet paper bag if given a detailed map and steroid injections. Despite being shorter, Mai was more then enough for Eirene and Keegan just ignored them... at least until something Eirene said caught his attention.

"I'm sorry that you're too... you to figure it out, but I was merely practicing Expelliarmus like we were supposed to, and it's not my fault you were too busy whispering in Keegan's ear to notice."

The way she said it, and the look on her smug little face, was enough to tell Keegan that she was trying to turn the tables on them. He felt a blush spread across his face, a blush so vibrant that his ears turned a bright pink. "W...Wh...what are ye tryin' to imply?" He sputtered, embarrassed, and then angrily "Me an' Mai are just mates... and unlike ye, she doesn't whisper stupid... girly...fluffy shite. She ain't a bloody scanger..." He ranted, oblivious to the fact that he was more then likely making things worse for the both of them.

The red blossoming on Eirene's face was like a well-balanced painting and Mairead regarded it with the disgruntled mixture of pride and criticism of a struggling artist.  Making Rene cry was, really, far too easy to be considered a real accomplishment but, it was a fun sport anyway. 

"Yer not allowed?" Mairead snorted.  "I already know who me boyfriend's gonna be," she gloated without a second thought.  She assumed, of course, that helped make her sound cooler - more mature. 

Eirene had been practicing?  That was her explanation for that little stunt in class?  Even the Professor had seen what it was and Mairead's case had to be solid, undeniable fact for a Professor to take Mairead's side on something.  "Too me?  What's that mean?"  Mairead growled, defensively, her fists clenching.  "Ye weren't practicing with me and the whole lot of ye hit me at the same time!  It was -" 

Color flooded Mairead's face and a quick glance in Keegan's direction proved he was blushing as well.  The hesitation was only momentary; after only a beat, Mairead turned back to face Rene, already gearing up to use the other girl's own words to her advantage.  But, before she could, Keegan jumped in with a hasty denial.  Again, Mairead glanced towards Keegan, her brewing retort fading as she stared at him. 

The "ye owe me an apology!" Mairead demanded when she turned back towards Rene was far less spectacular than the insults that had brewed prior to Keegan's denial.  She took a threatening step towards Rene, entirely oblivious to the two-headed, two-foot snake that slipped free from her pocket.

((So sorry guys, I missed this earlier!))


Eirene frowned at Mairead's smug proclamation that she already knew who her boyfriend would be, and opened her mouth, aghast. Who?! It didn't make sense!

Mairead's angry reaction when Eirene explained that she was 'just practicing' worried her enough to try to take another step back, but she was up against a wall and there was no room. But still! She had an excuse! Mairead was just acting like a - Eirene stifled a gasp - Mairead was the one acting like a baby, this time!

A triumphant look flitted across Eirene's face at Keegan's bashful and incoherent response to her teasing. Both he and Mairead turned the color of their red Gryffindor ties!

 The girl recovered well enough to demand an apology, but Eirene saw a rare victory in her future, and didn't want to back down just yet.

"I do not!" Eirene protested, about to say that since the Professor hadn't asked for an apology, then she certainly wouldn't give one voluntarily and out of his hearing range. However, Eirene never got a chance to make that argument. She was suddenly very distracted!

A small snake peeked out of Mairead's pocket, waving its heads - heads, plural! - in every direction until they both paused and focused on Eirene. Her eyes went very wide and she flattened herself against the wall. She raised her arm to point, but her righteous point ended up looking like a lame chicken leg, dangling half-heartedly at her side.

"Runespoor!" Eirene squeaked, having seen them illustrated in magical texts at home. "SNAKE!' That was the more important detail at the moment. "Stay away, stay away!" She shrilled, too frightened to consider why this creature was in Mairead's pocket, though she'd much rather the thing bit Mairead if it was going to bite anyone!

Mairead grinned smugly at the confusion on the other girl's face.  The sense of satisfaction had little to do with the actual argument - this wasn't about boyfriends.  It was all about the points won - the awkwardness of boys was just a convenient medium for winning those points. 

If conversations about pumpkin juice could ruffle Rene's feathers, Mairead would be talking about pumpkin juice. 

The Ravenclaw refused to apologize.  Of course, there was no way Mairead was going to let Rene get off that quickly - Mairead simply wasn't that easy to deter.  "Yes you will!" Mairead insisted, her fists clenching at her sides.  A real apology was, of course, ideal though an extracted apology was, of course, better than a nothing. 

Distracted as she was by the task at hand, Mairead didn't notice the movement in her pocket nor the Ravenclaw's distraction.  It wasn't until the girl pointed and squeaked that Mairead became aware the commotion had piqued Macha's curiosity.  She glanced down at her pocket just in time to see the serpent start to slither out of her pocket. 

This was bad.  Potentially very bad.  Dazmond had warned Mairead of what they'd do if anyone learned of Macha's presence and Rene was an obnoxious Grade A squealer.  Quickly, the Gryffindor grabbed the snake and closed her fingers protectively around the serpent.  "Shut up!" Mairead snapped at Eirene as she took a step back.  "Just shut it!" 

"She's not gonna do anything if ye just shut it and calm down!"  Mairead whispered, agitatedly, at Eirene.  "But, Macha gets antsy when people get annoying so stop being annoying!"