Citrus-y (Sterling) -- TW: Self Injury/Creature Abuse

Sterling was hot. And very ready for a shower. And merlin's beard was he exhausted! He had spent the better part of the Saturday flying and practicing, and admittedly having a ton of fun. That wasn't the purpose of the outing, but anything with a broom involved seemed to end up being fun and exciting and entertaining for the boy.

He was opening the doors, heading in for the rest of the day when he noticed a young Slytherin on heading away from the doors. He recognized her as Mimosa, the little girl with the Firebolt Flash. He watched her for a moment as he walked, as they were going in the same direction, the boy remembered her as somewhat of a spoiled, happy-go-lucky brat, but he was willing to admit it was likely due to him being jealous of the younger student's broom.

He was just turning a corner, about to head to get a shower, when he heard a loud noise and rushed back the way he came, drawing his wand just in case. The first and only person he saw was the Slytherin and he eyed her carefully, before speaking. "Are you ok Schätzchen? What noise was that?" He looked around, expecting to see some sort of a mess made by the girl.

Sterling lifted an eyebrow at the girl. Of course, he knew her name was Mimosa, why would she... Ah, of course. She didn't know German. The boy was used to the people he was around picking up most of the German words he exchanged. He thought about the word for a moment, trying to correctly translate it to English.

"Yes, Mimosa. I know your name. "Schätzchen" is a term similar to "Sweetie" in English. It is a word I use for many girls younger than me." He studied her a bit, wondering if she was being sarcastic or if she really actually thought that he had mistaken her name for a German name. He swept that from his mind, however, to focus on the other thing she had said, about the noise coming from down the hall.

Sterling looked in the direction she had pointed, noting what was down the hall. He frowned and looked down the hall he had just been walking down. He chuckled. He must have been heading the wrong way, so in a way, he was glad to have heard the commotion and not had to go too far out of his way. "Shall we go see what all the ruckus is about?" He turned the girl as he asked the question, raising one eyebrow. He wasn't sure whether she would be the type that investigated a strange crash, but he was curious and had nothing better to do other than shower and laze around for the rest of the day.

"Oh," was the child's only reply when he explained that he knew her name an was just calling her an endearment in German. The little witch thought about it for a few seconds before her serious face gave way to a jubilant grin. "I like it," she pronounced and from that moment on, the Hufflepuff was okay in her books.

When Sterling suggested they check out the source of the sound, Mimosa agreed. After all, the boy might need some protection. he had his own wand out but Mimosa could also be a great help. She could almost lift her Beater's Bat by now so she could fight off whatever was making all that noise.

"Sure, let's go," the Slytherin enthused, taking the lead and skipping ahead, her brown ponytail bobbing behind her. As they made their way down the hall and then the stairs which lead down to the cellar, she came to a stop beside the painting of the fruit bowl she had never learned to get past. From her home economics class, she knew where the kitchen was, but the portrait had been open then. Now it closed the entrance firmly.

"I don't know who to get in though," she confessed, looking up at the fruit accusingly. It should know to open for them straight away.

The kid's face looked so serious as she thought about the word he had used. For goodness sakes, it was just a word child, move on. But as she broke into a grin Sterling had to fight to keep an amused smile off his own face. The child would never get anywhere in the world if she remained like she seemed to be in his eyes and he pitied her some but also envied her. He wished for that kind of innocence and joy back, but there was no way that would happen.

The girl agreed to come chase the source of the sound and.... started skipping. She was actually skipping. He stared at the child for a moment but walked after her after a moment with a shake of his head. Mimosa finally stopped her annoying cheeriness when they arrived at the door to the kitchen. If looks could kill, the "mean" look the girl was giving the bowl of fruit would make a tiny mouse giggle. He sighed and reached over her shoulder to tickle the pear.

"Now you know," he said as the door swung open for the two of them.

Sterling apparently knew how to get the kitchen to open. He just reached and touched the green colored fruit and the whole thing swung aside to let them in. Mimosa had too many questions on how it worked. Could she open it by touching the portrait anywhere? Was it only the pear fruit? Why was there a need for this silly routine anyway, what was wrong with normal doors?

And the little brunette opened her mouth to ask ehr half a dozen questions bu before she could say a word, another loud crash came from the kitchen, and this time, they could actually see hat was going on.

Mimosa's mouth promptly closed as she entered the kitchen to see a circle of house elves gathered around one of their fellow elves... who seemed to have jumped from the rafters above. Was she trying to play a game? If so, maybe the other elves didn't know? They looked too concerned to be informed that it was just a game.

"What's going on..." she asked, confusion written clear on her face. Her question though, was directed more at Sterling than anyone else. Older people usually knew more, so it made sense that Sterling having just entered the kitchen with her would know a lot more than the elves who were already in witness to one of their own flinging herself off the kitchen ceiling.

As the door opened there was another crash. Sterling immediately stepped into the room, eyes taking in the sight in front of him quickly. "What in the.." He rushed to the elf who had thrown herself from the rafters. Had it been a suicide attempt? Surely not... He was glad to see as he checked for a pulse that the creature was alive.

She was breathing, and though she was likely very hurt, most important right now was to find out what happened. No. Most important was to tend to the elf. No... His mind ran in circles for a moment before he cursed to himself softly in German, rubbing at the bridge of his nose as he thought. "Go get a nurse or something" he said to one elf before turning to the one on the ground. "What's your name? Are you okay? Stupid question, sorry. Just hang in there, you'll be fine."

He looked at the other elves. "What happened here? Why did she do that, how did she get up there, and why did nobody stop her?" He spoke in a harsh snarl, but it wasn't necessarily directed at the elves. He couldn't help but think of his mama... no. He wouldn't let himself get distracted.

The boy was so busy with the elves he had practically forgotten about Mimosa, hadn't even considered the fact that someone else may have been in the kitchens with them.

Her question went momentarily ignored as Sterling rushed to the elf that was playing the game. He kept talking about nurses and asking questions. Mimosa wanted to tell him it was okay, the elf had jumped herself, she had seen it. The little female elf couldn't be hurt if she had done it herself, if someone had pushed her, Mimosa would understand the concern but this was just a game.

The child waited for the elves to clarify this but there was simply silence. Even the elf Sterling had ordered to get a nurse didn't move. Finally, it hit her that soemthing was wrong when she drew closer and spotted on of the watching elves crying softly.

"Hey... what's wrong.." the girl asked, trying to be as gentle as she could in the face of the weeping elf. The creature however continued looking at Sterling and the female elf the boy was cradling.

"Silky has been ordered, Miss. Silky must jump from the rafters three times. Silky is doing as she is ordered and no one is allowed to be helping her. Pepper would jump in Silky's place but he isn't being allowed, Miss."

None of this made sense to the Slytherin. The jumping sounded like a fun game but then why was everyone upset? 'Who's Silky?" she asked, her eyes sweeping the room. Maybe Sterling understood this better than she did?

The elves wouldn't answer his questions. They just watched. They made no move to help, no move to do anything at all. He glared at the elf he had asked to get a nurse. "What is wrong with you? Do you wish this elf ill health?" He turned towards the two voices, one elf and Mimosa were talking and he listened to what they were saying, blood boiling the more he heard. Someone had ordered the elf... Silky to do this?

He turned back to the other elf. "Fine then, I order you to go get a nurse. Now." He turned back to Silky. Speaking to no one, but expecting an answer from anyone he asked the question that would determine if this elf would live. "How many more times does she have to jump?" He wasn't sure how many times she had already jumped, but any more and she may not make it. A part of him wondered which of the surrounding elves was Pepper, maybe the crying elf? But he couldn't think about that too much at the moment.