After a rather short game of chess with Aurora, Vulpes still wasn't feeling one-hundred percent. It wasn't just the fact that he had spilled his guts to her and more or less been rejected. It was what he had said to Huxley. The fact that he managed to say such incredibly cruel things and enjoy them scared Vulpes, along with making him feel incredibly sick inside.

So under the guise that he needed to check on Cytherea (which was partially true, he just hadn't done it yet), Vulpes left Aurora to her of devices while he slowly shuffled up down the train, hoping to catch a glimpse of Cytherea's pink tips and ensure she wasn't in any trouble.

Unfortunately, Vulpes barely made it to the end of the car when the sickness seized him, and he could go no further without stopping to try and sort his thoughts. And so, without much are, he stood in the section where the two train cars connected, and leaned up against the wall; staring out aimlessly as the terrain unfolded in front of him.

His thoughts drowning him, Vulpes barely noticed when one of the car doors opened and someone stepped inside. It probably didn't matter anyways. The likelihood of them stopping to talk to him was very slim. Unless it was Huxley, in which case Vulpes expected to be on the floor any second now.

Liviana had decided there were roughly three types of people in the world; those who wanted to belong, those who didn't, and those unfortunate souls who wanted to but had no idea how to go about it. The house of Slytherin was a good model for this theory. It was easy to see who wanted to belong because they tried just as it was easy to see who didn't because they didn't; and then there were those in between. Up until this point she had been willing to give Vulpes Connor the benefit of the doubt, that maybe he just didn't have the right tools for the job. From what she could tell any which way he was poorly suited for the house in the first place.

Formerly this had made her feel a little sorry for him mixed with a vague sense of annoyance. This feeling changed, not when he insulted Huxley, but when he brought in an innocent bystander like Hux's little sister. Veronica had never done anything to anyone. She was a sweet, if some what boy crazy, third year. She certainly hadn't ever done anything to draw the wrath of the oft overlooked Connor. That was what really bothered Liv about the whole mess. A girl's reputation was about all she had in the world, it was wrong and unfair but it was a fact.

To imply a fourteen year old boy had already lost his virginity would make him a hero among his peers, say the same thing about a girl and she'd be tarnished for the whole of her Hogwartian career. Then that reputation would follow her into the real world. No matter how much you might want escape unless you left the UK the Wizarding World was not so large that there wouldn't always be someone who had heard something about you. The longer she had to think about this the more angry she became. First of all to lack even the most minute sense of humor, or at least brain enough to know nothing Huxley Ward said could be taken seriously was a crime.

As she ducked out of the compartment she had shared with Slant and the aforementioned gadabout Ward, she spotted the exact person she felt a growing need to lash out at. Of course lashing out was not how Livi operated. She was ever the diplomat; and she was not unaware that Huck could and often was a complete tool. Smoothing her skirt and straightening the little black bow at her neck she approached the boy. She lightly snapped the ebony beads at her wrist, breathing deeply she kept her temper from overtaking her better judgment. Her voice smooth and sweet as she stepped in front of him, "I think it's time we have a little chat Vulpes".

Vulpes's eye that could be seen through the fringe of his hair widened for a split second before it narrowed slightly in a confused sort of look. Mentally he went over the list of people Liviana Wiedman was friends with... and with a slight horror saw Huxley on that list. 'Well shit, it was a good sixteen years I guess.'

But... she sounded a little too... nice? That was probably a bad sign. "Well," Vulpes said, turning his attention back out the window. "If you're here to crush my soul, someone beat you to the punch I'm afraid. Not that I don't doubt it could be powdered some more at this stage." A small twitch of a smile played across his mouth.

"Also, when you're done destroying whats left of my soul and decide to kill me, I'd love it if you tried not to get my blood all over the walls. I'd hate to leave a mess for someone to clean up."

Livi rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Honestly I don't know how you didn't beat Neely out for most Dramatic," there was a vague since of amusement and annoyance to her voice as she leaned rested a well manicured hand against her hip, "You're such a queen sometimes". More and more she was starting to see Vulpes has less a victim of inarticulate social misfortune and more as someone who liked reminding people he was invisible and they were awful for not caring about him - while never actually bothering to give them a reason to care. He wanted to be appreciated for being an individual little snowflake but he was just as guilty as anyone else for judgment based on association and appearances.

"I'll level with you, Huxley? He's a tosser, we all know he's a tosser - he can't keep his mouth shut to save his life. That's what he does," she inspected the ring on her finger while trying not to look too bored at having to partake in this little conversation. It was mostly amusing that Connor thought he was important enough to ruin. This wasn't about him at all, "If you had just kicked his teeth in yourself or made some equally crass joke about his mother I'd have slapped you on the back and said good on ya, but you didn't do that did you? No, you brought in his baby sister to the fight and that's where I get involved," her voice cooled by several degrees changing from sweet to passive to cold as she eyed the blue haired wonder.

"Here's the thing, I know you're working this no-one-understands-me-I-am-so-forlorn angle, and that's fine. Work what you have I guess, but you have no idea what it's like for the rest of us. You are so busy assuming we judge you - when really we can't be bothered, and judging us that you feel it necessary to take pot shots at a 14 year old girl who has probably never even said boo to you," she let her words hang in the air between them for a moment, brown eyes focused intently on his face for the first time. "So here is what needs to happen now; you and Huxley? You're going to kiss and make up, then you're going to apologize to his sister".

There was a note of authority to her voice, as though the deal had already been finalized and Vulpes had no real say in the matter either way. Liv didn't like playing boss, she didn't like pulling rank, but when it came to protecting reputations of innocent bystanders she was willing to do what she had to. "If you refuse to apologize then I can't help you. I've already put Huxley in line and told him to quit fucking about in your life - he's been made aware that his actions are not condoned or approved of. You both were wrong; and while I don't really care what you two do on your own time, dragging some one else's name through the mud will not be tolerated. And if you think I'm the one you should be scared of you have yet to see the other girls in action".

Throughout the entire lecture Vulpes held a stony face, merely letting her words sink in. For the most part he wanted to simply laugh at her. The ideas she came up with were rather hilarious. But then again, assumptions made on ignorance typically were. Fine, whatever, let the princess think whatever she wanted to think; that wasn't the point.

No, the point was that he should apologize to Huxley and his sister. Which Vulpes actually agreed with, for the most part. He agreed that what he had said was way out of line, unacceptable, and uncalled for... but the thought of giving Huxley the satisfaction of an apology, and boosting his already disgustingly high ego, made Vulpes slightly ill.

Alas, there didn't seem to be any way around it. "Sure thing," Vulpes said, finally turning a bored looking face  toLiviana. "Still think he should hit me at least once, don't you?" he asked flatly, keeping himself neutral. "After all, I certainly deserve it."

With a weak smile Vulpes pushed himself off the wall from which he had been leaning and took a few steps towards the door. "I'm guessing we'll go do it now, then?"

Liv just sort of rolled her eyes, "No, I don't think he should get his punches in. It's not like it'd be a fair fight". So, she hadn't exactly said that Vulpes was a noodle armed wussy boy...but that was kind of how she saw him. She wasn't stupid enough to assume that he'd been like sic'um girl with Aurora; but it showed a distinct lack of masculinity that he let her fight his battles for him - physical ones at that. In reality, despite the fact that Liv's older brother was quite possibly the most vicious beater in the history of Quidditch (and her own ability to dole out some nasty hexes) she found violent displays of dominance to be tacky and pointless. She preferred word play to sword play. It was all just one giant pissing contest anyway and therefore pointless. She didn't share these thoughts with Conor because frankly he didn't interest her enough. She just wanted to get these apology bollocks out of the way so she could go back to Witch Weekly and mapping out plans for her birthday.

Turning around she began retracing her steps, hoping that Gracie had calmed Huxley down enough they could get through this without coming to physical or magical blows. The tail end of Vulpes' comment was not lost on her as she glanced back over her shoulder, "I think as someone's older brother you ought to know better. I also think that you're a twat; but mostly? I don't think about you or what you deserve at all. I am only doing this because I care about Veronica, because it's unfair to say nasty untrue things about people - especially people who would never bother with you in the first place. If you want to fight Huck, have at him but don't drag his sister's name through the mud because you're not strong enough or mentally quick enough to come back with a better insult. Cheap shots are cheap shots and you lowered yourself to the level of someone who would rather get any shot in than a shot worth taking".

Finally they arrived at the compartment doors and she peeked in (just to be sure nothing completely unsavory was happening, she really didn't want to barge in on that). Finding the coast clear she turned back to Vulpes; "Huck only takes the piss with you because you react. If you don't give him the satisfaction of seeing you get defensive and angry he'd get bored and move on. If he tries to bait you I'll take care of it -  but at least have the grace to look sorry when you apologize to Veronica. She's a sweet girl and deserved far better than this whole mess," her tone was sharp but not unkind and she hoped he'd take her advice and just ignore any asshat-ish things Huxley had come up with in the time she was gone. Really, she hoped that Huck understood the importance of just mending fences and not being a jerk for five minutes. She was sure Gracie had talked to him (at least a little), but still. Opening the door she stepped in and swiftly took up her former seat across from Gracie and Ward, brown eyes swinging back toward Vulpes, "Come on then, I've made them promise not to bite".

With a shurg, Vulpes began following her down the train. She was quite right that physically it wouldn't be a fair fight. Magically, however, he doubted Huxley anywhere near as capable a duelist. Sitll, Vulpes kept his comments, which he made many of, to himself as he moved down the train.

"I think as someone's older brother you ought to know better."

'Probably true, although God help me I'm shaking with the thought of how she'll act when she becomes interested in boys.'

"I also think that you're a twat"

'Agreed.'

"But mostly? I don't think about you or what you deserve at all. I am only doing this because I care about Veronica, because it's unfair to say nasty untrue things about people - especially people who would never bother with you in the first place."

'Refer to previous statement.'

"If you want to fight Huck, have at him but don't drag his sister's name through the mud because you're not strong enough or mentally quick enough to come back with a better insult."

Okay, this one made Vulpes sneer slightly. 'Yes, I severely lack mental quickness, which is why my immediately implied that all the women in his family... you know what never mind.' he thought, shaking his head.

"Cheap shots are cheap shots and you lowered yourself to the level of someone who would rather get any shot in than a shot worth taking"

'Only true rule about combat is Play to Win. Plenty of cheap shots and low blows have won wars.'

Finally Liviana stopped, and Vulpes assumed that they were at the compartment in which Huxley was waiting. He gave a slight quirk of the eyebrow as Liviana peeked inside. What, exactly, was she expecting to see? Ah well, Vulpes was sure it couldn't be anything because she quickly turned back to him.

"Huck only takes the piss with you because you react. If you don't give him the satisfaction of seeing you get defensive and angry he'd get bored and move on. If he tries to bait you I'll take care of it -  but at least have the grace to look sorry when you apologize to Veronica. She's a sweet girl and deserved far better than this whole mess."

Vulpes let out a slight sigh. "Well, interestingly enough, Young Miss Wiedman," he said rather formally. "99% of the time I don't give him any reaction. Huxley seems rather content with the 1 out of 100 chance that I will." Again he shrugged. "But yes, I quite agree as far as Veronica goes."

With another slight smile at Liviana, Vulpes muttered; "Still think they should bite some," and stepped inside the compartment. The sudden feeling that he felt could only be described as one being trapped in say, a lions den. The sudden feeling that any minute now he was about to be devoured. Lovely.

For who he saw in addition to Huxley was one Gracie Slant. Whom he recalled had an interesting habit twisting his words into some way that made it seem like he was trying to accuse her of something. Now, how exactly to apologize to someone. Vulpes being Vulpes had never actually done anything that required one in his life. So he had no idea how to approach it.

"Huxley," Vulpes said making eye contact and doing his best not to cross his arms.. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It really was quite uncalled for, and out of line. I'm actually not even sure where it came from..." he trailed off slightly. It was the truth, really. Never in his life had he ever said something quite so... evil. "And I'm sorry that Aurora, well, I guess pinned you is the best word for it. In all honesty I didn't expect her to do that."

Not sure what else to say Vulpes let out a sigh. "And even though Liviana doesn't think you should," he cast her a quick glance before returning his eyes to Huxley. "I think you should at least get one punch in."

Vulpes shrugged slightly and waited for a fist to collide with his face. He was pretty sure it wouldn't hurt any more than having knock back jinx hit you square in the chest.

Huck had cooled down a while ago, but seeing Vulpes's multicolored head poke back into his train car made him grip the seat tightly. White-knuckled. He almost figured that he'd have to sit on his hands to keep them from strangling or punching or eye-poking or some other brutish behavior that would have an owl sent to his parents before he'd be able to say 'disciplinary hearing.'

Livi was behind him. Thank God. It seemed to be more important to Livi than to himself that he work things out with the blue wonder, so it'd be a million times easier to do what he needed to do with her there to keep him focused.

He listened to Vulpes's spiel, his slate-blue eyes steely and gleaming. The 'Ward Temper' was an established reality, although generally it was merely bubbling beneath a sea of goofiness and perverse innuendos. Now, however, it had churned to the surface and was a paralyzing agent through each one of his veins.

Finally, he stood up, a bastion of self-control. "I'm not going to hit you," he said finally. His voice still shook, but he managed to keep himself standing still and he kept his hands occupied by folding his arms tightly. "Y'know, if we were fightin' fair I'd just make up a bunch of shite about your sister. I guarantee you it hurts worse than gettin' slugged in the face. Or..." he indicated Gracie and Liv with outstretched arms. "I've got a couple of ladies here, maybe one of them could sucker punch you while your back is turned?"

He shook his head. "No. Look, I appreciate the apology. Honest. But believe me when I say that I don't need your permission to hit you. And if that Volvo ninja hadn't'a been there, it'd be done. And gone. I couldn't give a rat's arse whether you think I deserve to beat the shite out you, because I know I do. But at the end of the day we're roommates and housemates and I'm gonna hafta be starin' at you for another two bleedin' years and the crippling I'd give your face would only make it that much harder to stare at."

Not actually said but still hinted at was the reality of the matter- Huck didn't care about what Vulpes thought or what Vulpes felt, but he cared immensely about Livi's opinion of him and was really doing his best to live up to her expectations.
 
"So no, Connor, I'm not gonna hit you right now. Consider it a deposit in your arsehole bank account. It'll be waiting for you the next time you fuck with my family."

Eyes narrowing slightly, Gracie let her hands fall to Huck’s shoulders as she watched them both. Trying to calm him now, when his temper was sparked and ready to fire, would be pointless—not to mention useless. Besides, she had yet to decide if she even wanted to, anyway.

In an extremely rare show of support, she inched even closer to the blonde and moved her hands down to his back. Fingers pressed against it, she dug the palms of heels up and down, gently. “He won’t,” she murmured quietly by his shoulder. She hadn’t said it out of Vulpes’ defense, and levelled a flat-eyed look she’d seen her grandfather give her great-aunt many times before. There was absolutely noth~ing challenging or threatening about it, except maybe that calm, stone-cold certainty of the unspoken ‘or else’ it conveyed.

She normally didn’t like playing muscle to anyone but Liv, but in this case she would make an exception. Nothing personal, Connor.

Liviana guardedly eyed the situation, not bothering to reply or give any indication she noticed Vulpes' condescending 'young Miss Wiedman'. He wasn't worth the effort it would take to be indignant. She already felt that she had expelled too much effort in the whole mess and had to remind herself the entire reason she got involved was based in principle and not because she actually gave a flying fuck. The posturing on Conor's part was beyond ridiculous and for a fraction of a second she wanted to punch him just so he'd shut the hell up about deserving it. It wasn't about what he deserved, it was the fact that Huck was, in fact, better than that. Taking shots at someone unable to actually defend themselves was scores beneath everyone she knew but Kitty Li. If Vulpes had mattered more she might have told him that was what he had reduced himself to.

Crossing her legs, she leaned forward as Huck stood up, frown etching into her features. For a fraction of a second she thought he might really take a swing and then she'd have to be pissed at him - which she really didn't want. Clearing her throat she almost visibly relaxed as the blonde started his own posturing. A part of her knew he was only refraining from mopping the compartment with Conor's face because she'd told him not to. It mattered to her that her opinion mattered to him; and she couldn't quite smother the smirk that twitched on her lips as Gracie protectively hoovered next to him with her hand on his back. If Liv wasn't forcing herself to be the objective mediator it could have been a three on one fight and however well Vulpes thought he could handle himself magically he'd be the one limping away. That wasn't how Liv fought though, it wasn't how she thought a Slytherin should fight.

Whatever the rest of Hogwarts thought of the Snake Pit; Liviana prided herself on being better than that, being better than the sort of simpering idiot who would take weak shots at someone's family because they couldn't think of anything better to say. Snapping her bracelet she glanced toward the compartment door. She really did not want to have to go hunt the blonde third year down. Expendable effort better spent on birthday planning was quickly being engulfed by her playing peacemaker. It was mildly aggravating. Digging in her bag she bypassed the cigarettes (though the longer she had to look at Vulpes the more she wanted one), settling on a sherbet ball and relaxing back into her seat, "Huck why don't you go get Roni? I think she's just a couple compartments back, she followed me onto this car". She could have asked Gracie but...sending Huxley off to cool down a bit more seemed like a better idea. His hands looked a little twitchy.

Huck found himself rubbing his knuckles with the other hand. He hadn't realized he'd been doing it, but he realized somewhere in the back of his muddle and confused head that it must have looked a little... brutish. He nodded to Livi and gave Gracie's hand a little squeeze to say thanks before slipping out of the train car. When he got into the hall he immediately felt better. Squeezed in the compartment with all its stifling diplomatic pressure he had felt like he was liable to pass out at any moment. A chance to breathe was well appreciated.

He realized quickly that he had no idea where Veronica was, though if what Livi said was true she'd at least be on the same car. "Ronnie!" he hollered, cupping his hands around his mouth. He poked his head into one compartment to find a bunch of first years and... a bunch of...........trees? "Sorry," he said quickly, ducking back out. "Where the fuck are you?" he growled.

Finally, as he reached the back of the car, he found her asleep in an empty compartment. He tilted his head and  squinted at her, nudging her with his foot. "Oy," he called, nudging again. "The fuck ye doin'?"

The girl jolted, and stirring uncomfortably, she let out a groan. "Whaaat?" she drawled, propping herself up on one arm, her eyes struggling to open properly. "Wh... 're we here?" She finally managed to take in her surroundings and she was able to make out the blurry form of her brother. "....Green bean?" she slurred.

Huck was confused for a moment, and then his face melted into a state of disbelief. "Are you smashed?!" he asked in a furious hiss.

Veronica giggled and rubbed her face with the butt of her hand. "Don't be... a idiot, Gree'bean," she replied, making a 'pssh' noise. "I'm havin'... lady problems," she added, hissing the last part and then bursting into another giggle.

"God! Ew! Look, I know smashed when I see it. Could you have picked a worse time?" Huck groaned. "I need you to come accept an apology."

"...Assept a... huh? For what?"

Huck put his hands on her shoulders. "Ac-cept. An apology. From someone who made some comments about you. And he feels like a huge tool and he wants to make it up to you. But look, for this to not make the both of us look like idiots, I need you to sober up a little. Can you do that?"

"UGH," she scoffed. "Why d'you hafta turn everything into such a drag? It's the train ride home. I can have fun if I want."

He threw his hands in the air near his head for a moment, somewhat blinded by panic. If he brought his sister back like this... well, he knew it wouldn't help his case. "Okay, ah..." he grabbed a picther of water and a glass lingering on the table of the compartment and poured her some. "Drink this. C'mon. Down the hatch, admiral. Attagirl." He watched with only slight relief as she downed the glass and sat there gathering herself.

Huck knew there wouldn't be nearly enough time for Veronica to sober up entirely. But he'd seen the girl put on an act for her parents many times, and she probably wouldn't have to say too much. "Better?"

"I guess so," she said, still surly. Well, fine, he thought to himself. Be surly. He'd be surly too if he were a fourteen year old girl.

"Okay. Come on, then. Little steps. Just... please, really do try your best," he begged. "C'mon." He took her arm and led her like a stately old gentleman on a date down the hallway and back to the compartment in question. The panic lingered at the back of his mind that Veronica might vomit on him at any second. Our Father, who art in heaven...

The pair shuffed back into the train car and he set her down gingerly on a seat before sitting next to her. She reeked of firewhiskey and he only hoped Vulpes wouldn't come close enough to smell her. "Right, let's be having it," he said coolly, motioning to Veronica. He really was impressed by her. Her face was calm and passive, and her posture was perfect. He had to hand it to her. The girl was a natural born actress.

It was a rather awkward silence as the three Slytherins sat waiting for the fourth and the fifth. Time seemed to drag on, and Vulpes was fairly sure he felt glaring eyes. He shifted nervously as the anxiety mounted. Finally, Huxley returned with his sister, whom Vulpes noticed he was helping her sit.

Along with a slight whiff of fire whiskey. Interesting.

Not that Vulpes cared one way or the other. Underage drinking was never something that bothered him. He was sure plenty of people at school had had a drink at least once. In fact, even Cytherea had had a sip of fire whiskey before. Not that she knew what it was. And it was actually kind of cute watching her stumble around due to how low her tolerance was.

Right, he was supposed apologizing wasn't he? "Veronica," Vulpes started, hoping words would come to him. "Uh... earlier today Huxley and I exchanged words, and I made a rather rude comment about you," he said, trying to speak at a normal speed. "And I wanted to apologize; it really was uncalled for and low. Especially considering I don't actually know you."

Vulpes opened his mouth a few more times, trying to think of something else to say. Nothing useful seemed to come to him.

There was no helping that small half-smile, really, when Huck squeezed her hand. Nor was there any helping that flat, disinterested look she turned on Vulpes that fairly bordered on rude, either. When Huck left the compartment it was just so much easier to focus on the more. . . distasteful things in the room.

Strictly speaking she might not be an official member of the Monarchy, but there was a reason why at least one player—Liv—considered her one.

At least as far as apologies went, Vulpes’ hadn’t been too shoddy—and he hadn’t made a comment about that scent of fire whiskey Veronica had brought with her, too. Still, a soft snort escaped anyway; damn right he didn’t know her. And it wasn’t just age that separated them (seeing how Gracie herself was known to associate those younger than her), but personality as well. The fifth year wouldn’t be surprised if the younger girl hadn’t even known he existed.

Eugh, that complete and utter shite he’d spouted to her those two weeks ago still pissed her off. The sooner he removed his tit little self out of her compartment—the sooner this stupid mess was resolved—wouldn’t be soon enough.

Gracie stood up and went to the door, stopping briefly to press a light kiss to Liv’s cheek and offer Huck a small, crooked smile. “I need to step out for a bit,” she told them. “Gonna use the loo. See you, Veronica.”

And then she stepped out of the compartment and into the narrow passage of the car, letting he compartment door slide shut behind her.