Settling (Mercy & Squid Boy)

Subject: Settling (Mercy & Squid Boy) Sat Apr 11, 2020 2:48 pm

The morning after the New Year's Ball held by the Junior Magizoology Society dawned dreary and overcast. Mimosa Harrington did not come down for breakfast, forgoing the lavish buffet for two arranged by the hotel staff. In fact, the young witch did not emerge from her room until Jacques Clement came to pick her up, upon which the teenager emerged from her quarters with slightly red eyes and wearing a telltale red Gryffindor Jacket with Mercy William's name and number on it. The witch met Squid Boy only in passing, muttering a quick goodbye before she was whisked off to Versailles and the safety of home.

Things were much better at the palace with Grandmere and Grandpere. Everyone even cancelled the evening meal in favor of a picnic out in the rose gardens, citing the needless excuse that they might as well enjoy the roses as come February, they would all be replaced by dahlias. It was nice sitting out in the palace gardens with everyone, and slowly, the open smile and carefree bells of laughter everyone was used to from Mimosa came back. By the time she was due back in school, Mimosa was almost as good as new.

Almost.

Her usual crowd had been waiting for the brunette in the Great Hall, wanting to know everything about her holiday. Mimosa as usual soaked in the attention like a sponge. However, her account of the vacation was devoid of what had happened at the ball. And she kept her eyes averted from Squid Boy the whole time even as he came to stand next to her and held her hand a few times.

Going down to the dungeons felt even stranger, as if the walls were somehow closing in on her and really there shouldn't be places underground? Who had ever thought of such a dumb idea? Grabbing Mercy's jacket and her backpack, the teen model skipped back to the entrance of the common room and informed a worried looking Miss Azalea passing by that she was off to Gryffindor tower. The teenager ran off before her potion mistress could object.

Getting through the portrait hole was easy enough. All Mimosa had to do was order a nearby first year for the password and she was in. A small chorus of "Hi"s and "Hello"s went around at her arrival and but Mercy wasn't there. After spending some time with the Gryffindors, the lone Slytherin went up to the Fifth year girls dormitory and sprang up on Mercy's vacant bed.

The teen witch must have dozed off because the next time she was aware of soemthing, it was a whispered argument between Mercy and Bushrah. Something about "tell her to go back" and "she can stay wherever she likes" and "if she wakes up, you'll be sorry". But perhaps that was a dream. It was a weird one if it was.

The next time Mimosa came around, she could feel Mercy curled up beside her, it was a good feeling. She remembered hoping that it wasn't a dream.

The next morning, Mimosa woke well rested and with her mind made up. "I've decided I'm going to sleep here," she announced to the sleepy room, earning grumbles from all the other curtained beds. Not from Mercy though who seemed more than happy. And so for the rest of the month, a Slytherin slept in the Gryffindor common room every night.

It was surprisingly easy. Mercy and Mimosa had most of their classes together and the ones they didn't, the teen model usually made sure to surround herself with people. Dinners and lunches and breakfasts were had at crowded House tables of her choice and evenings were spent at either crowded Quidditch practices or in the library where the fifth years were going to a little crazy because they weren't quite as clever as Mimosa was.

In short, there was no opportunity for her and Squid Boy to be alone.

And plenty of time for her and Mercy to spend together.

Mimosa had even taken her on another moonlight broom ride at the end of the month, the duo flying in and out through the window of their dormitory much to Bushrah's disdain. Mimosa barely heard the Arab girl's objections, simply crawling into bed beside Mercy when she was tired and cuddling the older girl to sleep. It felt nice up here in the open air. It felt nice to have Mercy close enough to cuddle.

It felt safe knowing the Gryffindor Chaser was nearby, and she would never let anything bad happen to Mimosa.

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Mercy wasn't sure what had changed with Mimosa after New Year's, but she certainly wasn't complaining. Coming back to the dorm that first day back from break to find the younger witch asleep in her bed had been a surprise, but not an unpleasant one. She wasn't sure what had Bushrah so up in arms about it. It wasn't like Mimosa hadn't been in the Gryffindor dorms before - she'd been hanging out with them since her first year, and Bushrah certainly hadn't complained back then.

Any odd looks they got from the other Gryffindors were met with Mercy's challenging stare, and though it looked like some people had things they wanted to say, they wisely bit their tongues. If anyone had issues with Mimosa, they usually weren't willing to go through Mercy to bring them up. If Mimosa wanted to spend her nights by Mercy's side, she was well within her rights to do so in the Chaser's unbiased opinion. It wasn't like she was hurting anyone.

The rest of the month was like a dream come true. It seemed Mimosa had finally realized Squid Boy wasn't worth her time, and Mercy's heart swelled every time Mimosa chose to stick with her, to walk with her, to hold her hand instead of his. Whatever the nature of her and Squid Boy's previous relationship had been, it seemed it was a thing of the past. She had nothing to worry about.

It wasn't long before Mercy grew used to the extra weight on the other side of the mattress, the warmth of Mimosa's constant presence at her side. Taking her hand as they walked to class was as natural as breathing air, and soon, falling asleep with the scent of Mimosa's shampoo in her nose and waking up to the other girl's arm draped around her just felt right - as if this was the way things had always been. And if it took Mercy a little longer to get out of bed in the morning, if she lingered for a few moments every day, smiling softly at Mimosa's peaceful expression and listening to the steady rise and fall of her breath as she slept...well, who could blame her? She was the happiest she'd been in months.

The only problem now was that every time the full moon came around, she was finding it much harder to slip away. She'd managed it once in late January, finding a series of increasingly weak excuses to dash off to the hospital wing by herself to take her potion. But as difficult as it was to convince Mimosa to let her go for the night of her transformation, it was even harder for Mercy to spend the night alone.

Still, the next day she slept soundly, back in Mimosa's arms once again. She just wasn't looking forward to doing it all again this month too.

~~~

It was Valentine's Day. Mercy woke up feeling queasy, but she hoped it would pass. It was still almost a week out from the full moon. With any luck, her health wouldn't interfere with her plans for the day. She glanced down fondly at Mimosa's still sleeping form, then, through a great force of will, carefully extricated herself from the other girl's embrace so as not to wake her. It was early on a Sunday morning, so most of the dorm was still sleeping as she quickly changed into her clothes for the day, tugged on her shoes, and padded quietly out of the room.

The castle was slowly waking up around her as she made her way down to the hospital wing. The nurse greeted her as usual as she stepped into the back room and retrieved her foul-smelling goblet full of Wolfsbane, plugged her nose, and downed the potion as fast as possible. By this point, she could all but suppress her gag reflex, having grown accustomed to the flavour. She wiped her lips on her sleeve and stuck a piece of mint gum in her mouth to combat the lingering aftertaste. After a moment's consideration, she decided to go back up to the dorm and brush her teeth before breakfast. If everything went according to plan today, the last thing she wanted was Wolfsbane breath.

Her heart thudded nervously as she went through the plan in her head. She and Mimosa always spent Valentine's Day together, but this year they were closer than ever, and Mercy wanted to make it special. After a whole month of sleeping in the same bed, spending every free moment together, going on romantic midnight broomrides...well, that had to mean something, right? It wasn't crazy to think maybe Mimosa felt what she was feeling too. Or at least, she hoped it wasn't crazy.

Even if it was, she was feeling brave today. She was a Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake. She could do this. She would do this. There had never been a better time.

Mimosa had left the dorm by the time Mercy got back to brush her teeth, but she figured that was all the better. She could make herself presentable before meeting the other girl at breakfast.

After spending an inordinate amount of time combing her hair and squinting critically at her reflection in the mirror, she finally decided she was stalling, took a deep breath, and forced herself to leave the bathroom. She retrieved her wand, conjured a bouquet of flowers, tucked her shirt in, straightened her tie, and finally left the dorm, rehearsing what she wanted to say as she descended the stairs toward the Great Hall. She was ready.

Subject: Re: Settling (Mercy & Squid Boy) Sun Apr 12, 2020 9:58 am

Being avoided was not something Nikolai took well. Especially when you'd known what you could have and it was taken away from you. Coming back from the winter break had put Nikolai in a good mood, he was starting to understand where Charles was coming from with his ever enthusiastic talking about 'being with a girl' that came after every rendezvous with Constance or Catherine. Nikolai had been more than happy to share his news in the fourth year's dormitory upon his return.

And he'd been hailed a hero.

What he'd not expected was Mimosa to ghost him.

It had been frustrating for the first week, and then Nikolai had lost interest. After all, she was probably just doing girl stuff, or something. It allowed him time to head down to the Black Lake more frequently to work on his Magizoology project without the chirping sound of her voice filling his head. But one week turned in to two, two to three, and soon a month had passed. Mimosa was staying with Mercy, he'd heard, and Nikolai had laughed along with the boy's in his dorm when they'd suggested he was so bad Mimosa had gone gay overnight.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't even be a fun watch, with Williams involved." Had been Nikolai's rhetoric before burying his nose back in his book to avoid the fact he didn't find that funny, and that he was now questioning everything he thought he knew.

February came round with it's usual excitement, and Valentine's Day came in to being. Not wanting to be the only male in his group to not have a date, Nikolai had gotten a heart shaped box of chocolates after one of his shifts at the Quality Quidditch Supplies, and readied himself on the morning of Valentine's Day at the Great Hall. Making a scene, like last year, was not an option.

Which was why Nikolai was so, so glad when Mimosa came down the stairs on her own.

"Mimosa!" Nikolai greeted her happily, the smile on his features almost triumphant when Mercy wasn't by her side. "Glad I could catch you," he continued, doing exactly that as his long arms wrapped around her waist to draw her close to him. "Fancy going to Hogsmeade with me today? Everyone's going. And, don't say no because you're going with Williams, you're my girlfriend, remember?" He insisted, before leaning down to press his lips to hers. One hand came up to find it's way to her cheek, his fingers carefully caressing her hair in the process because he knew she liked that.

And damn it, the whole school needed reminding that Mimosa was his, not Mercy Williams'.

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Subject: Re: Settling (Mercy & Squid Boy) Sun Apr 12, 2020 11:20 am

Mimosa had intended to wake up early on the fourteenth of February, and so she had. But she had not been early enough to catch Mercy which meant the Chaser must have gotten up even earlier. Normally this would be a cause of slight annoyance but today, the teen witch didn't mind. After all, she had a plan. With a bright smile on her face and a skip in her step, Mimosa headed towards the bathroom that now looked more like her private spa then a facility shared by five or six girls. Bushrah's sink had been the first to be emptied in favor of Mimosa's bath salts and bubbles. And then slowly, all the other girls had made way for the young model's dryers, straighteners, curlers, hair accessories, bath accessories, extra towels and suchlike. No one minded though, Mimosa was sure. Or she would have been if the young brunette actually thought about such things.

An hour later, the fourth year Slytherin emerged in Clara's latest pick, a light yellow green, sort of pastel shade adorned with multiple bows. The young model's hair had been pinned up in waves around the crown of her head and small block heels finished her look. It was not just Valentine's Day today but it was also a Sunday and they could go to Hogsmeade. What was more, through her own grapevine, Mimosa had heard there would be a small pop up concert amidst the snow in Hogsmeade tonight and she wanted to ask Mercy to go with her. Not only would they get to watch the show but they could also meet the artists backstage thanks to Mimosa's influence.

Hopefully that would be enough to convince Mercy...

But where was the older witch? She wasn't here and Mercy wasn't the type to go to the library early in the morning. Maybe she had been hungry and gone down to breakfast on her own? Yes, that seemed right. Making up her mind, the brunette flew out of the dormitory and down the stairs, sprinting down the flights of stairs until she realized that sprinting more would end up hurting her feet. The teenager slowed down, took a few deep breaths and continued at a normal pace until she ran into...

"Karan?"

"Oh hi Mimosa, Mer- wait where's Mercy?" The automatic greeting made the younger Slytherin grin. Everyone had really gotten used to seeing them together these past few weeks.

"I'm going to meet her now. What about you, you're going... up?"

"Me?" Karan asked, looking at her as if she had asked him something highly incriminating. Out of the corner of her eye, the witch saw him hide something shiny in his jacket pocket, a square box wrapped with a bow it had seemed like.

"Who's that for?" the witch asked curiously, studying the boy as he shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another. When he didn't reply, the witch crossed her arms across her front, tapping a foot impatiently.

"It's for... No one, I mean, I got it for... you?"

"You got me a box wrapped in bright blue paper tied with a bronze ribbon?"

"Umm... yeah, I thought, you must have plenty of green?"

"And what's inside it..."

Instead of a reply, Karan sighed defeated, pulling her aside and then sitting down on the steps, his head in his hands. Taking a seat beside him, the girl reached to pat his shoulder awkwardly.

"You might as well take it, he won't even like it."

"How do you know if you haven't given it to him yet?"

Karan didn't seem to know what to respond to that so he asked a question of his own.

"Do you think I should give it to him... today of all days?"

"Everybody loves presents," Mimosa explained wisely. "And it's just a Sunday, you can give it to him next week if it makes you feel better."

Oddly enough, her giving him an out was beginning to empower the Desi Slytherin even more. "No, I think I'll go today. Be brave and all."

"Okay, good luck," the brunette encouraged, giving him a small peck on the cheek before bidding him adieu. She had her own date to get to. The grin on her features positively glowed the rest of the way to the Great Hall.

Only to dim slightly when she didn't find Mercy there.

"Mimosa!"

And just like that, Squid Boy's tall, spidery frame was all over her, wrapping her close to him as he kissed her. What was worse, his fingers threaded their way into her hair, messing up the careful curls she had pinned in place just a little while ago.

A suggestive shout came from one of the tables, joined by another hoot and then another until most of the Great Hall was cheering them on, not realizing that Mimosa was trapped against her wishes.

Where were the teachers? Why was no adult stepping in to stop this? How bad was her hair now? How could she get out of here. Almost on reflex, the witch brought her teeth down hard on Squid Boy's lips, making him hiss in pain.

But that didn't make his hands loosen any, leading the witch to close her eyes until...

The male yelped loudly, jumping back as tiny marks appeared on his wrists and palms. A distinct smell of skin and hair being singed permeated her senses.

"I'm not your girlfriend," the young witch called out. "Not unless I want to be and right now, I don't want to be."

"Now now, what's going on here?" the bubbly voice of the Charm's Professor rang through the hall, her surprise evident in the tone.

No one replied and a minute later, everyone returned to their meals, albeit now among more whispers than outright conversation. Mimosa didn't hang around to see Squid Boy's fate, dashing out of the hall and towards the library to see if Mercy had gone there instead.

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Mercy hurried down the final staircase, picking up her pace to keep time with her racing heart as she resolved to finally, finally get this over with. The faster she did it, the less time she'd have to lose her nerve. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she paused, exhaled slowly, and ran a hand through her hair one last time. Her stomach did a funny little somersault as she approached the double doors leading to the Great Hall. Mimosa, she ran through it one last time under her breath, fiddling with the stems of the flowers in her hand. I know we've been friends for a really long time. You're the best friend I've ever had. Every moment I spend with you makes me feel like I'll be happy forever. I really, really like you. I mean, I like like you. And so, I was wondering, if there's any chance at all that you might like to be my girl-

"-friend..." Mercy froze, trailing off as she reached the Great Hall and finally caught sight of the object of her affections...wrapped in Squid Boy's tentacles and pressed up close to his side as he bent his head to kiss her. Mercy's stomach lurched and the air left her lungs as if she'd just been punched in the gut. The flowers slipped numbly from her grip as the whoops and cheers of the other students met her ears like a dissonant chord and she found herself turning swiftly on her heel and dashing back the way she came. Her legs felt like jelly and she tripped over herself on the stairs as her vision blurred with tears. She quickly picked herself back up, taking the steps two at a time as she climbed up and up and up, three, four, five flights of stairs. She only stopped running when she started struggling for air, doubling over and gasping for breath as the nausea from earlier that morning suddenly returned at full force. She retched, slapping a hand over her mouth as she leaned on the railing at the top of the stairs and tried to get her breathing under control.

"Fuc-hnnngh..." She staggered unsteadily towards the nearest bathroom, tightly pressing her lips together as her gut heaved again. She barely managed to reach the toilets, slamming open the door to the first stall and dropping to her knees as she violently expelled the contents of her stomach, then dry-heaved two or three more times for good measure. She sat hunched over the bowl for a long moment, breathing heavily as her whole body trembled and she choked on a sudden sob, closing her eyes and pounding weakly on the toilet seat with her fist. She felt absolutely awful in every conceivable way.

She finally leaned back, shivering uncontrollably as sweat rolled down her forehead and mixed with the tears that she just now noticed were streaming down her cheeks. She leaned her head against the side of the stall, suddenly drained of energy, and allowed herself to indulge in a good long cry. Of course this whole thing had been too good to last. Of course. She'd been stupid to believe otherwise.

She saw it clearly now. Mimosa couldn't possibly like her back. And, as she sat curled up on the bathroom floor, hugging herself and hiccoughing violently, she thought bitterly that it was probably for the best. After all, even Squid Boy would be better than a werewolf like her.

Subject: Re: Settling (Mercy & Squid Boy) Wed Apr 22, 2020 8:55 am

Mimosa's lips had come down upon his lower lip harder than they had before, making Nikolai let out a small hiss of pain as he moved back slightly, about to ask her what was up. The Great Hall had become noisy around them, but Nikolai wasn't really paying them much attention. Instead, the boy had readied himself to lean back down and kiss the witch, misinterpreting Mimosa's actions for playfulness that had just been a little too heavy handed.

Before he could get there, though, the witch's lips were moving to deny the fact she was his girlfriend, and the unpleasant feeling of being scolded emerged on his wrists and palms. The boy instinctively let the witch go to try to work out what was happening, the smell of singed hair and flesh assaulting his nostrils as he saw the beginnings of the angry marks that were making themselves known on his skin.

"Now now, what's going on here?"

Nikolai's attention shifted at the sound of the Charms professor, a small smile touching his lips as he brought his hands down away from view. Mimosa was already hightailing it out of there in that moment, leaving him to deal with the aftermath.

"Nothing, professor. Mimosa just forgot something for our date." Nikolai explained before excusing himself from her presence. Not to head to the tables for food, but back out of the Great Hall. The smile faded upon his lips after he'd left the professor, looking up the stairs where Mimosa had disappeared to.

What had changed since New Year? He had asked himself when he found no trace of the witch.

Nothing...

Except she was spending more time with Mercy.

Mercy...

Nikolai considered for a moment. Had the short haired witch managed to twist Mimosa around?

Frowning to himself, the boy contemplated for a moment. If Mercy wanted to play dirty...

Well, two could play at that game.

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