Always There [Alice]

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He sat in the dimly lit Hufflepuff common room, watching the fire, which was barely more than embers. He ought to build it back up, but the room was still fairly warm, and cold didn't bother Carcer Hagrid as much as it did most people. Besides, not like anyone was around to miss the flames.

It was maybe one in the morning now, and the rest of the house was in bed. He wouldn't be surprised to learn that more than a few were still awake—the attack that had happened in the evening hadn't involved one of their house, but the Head of Ravenclaw being attacked so brazenly was a good enough reason to worry in itself. Add to that the attack on Jayden Longbottom, who was, like his brother, fairly popular among the students for his kindness and his earnestness, and there was plenty of reason to assume half the people in the rooms were still awake. Not as bad as the Gryffindors or the Ravenclaws, but bad enough.

Carcer, concerned about those two as he was, was concerned about another as well. Someone he knew wouldn't go and find people to talk to, stubborn as she was. And so he sat, taking up over half of the thick, squishy couch by himself, and waited, as he'd done all night. He'd long since run out of homework to do, and if he ran through his memory drills anymore it would get so repetitive he'd fall asleep and forget them anyway.

The door opened. Carcer turned, hearing whispered voices down the long hallway to the stack of barrels for a moment, then the wall closed again. A moment later, a figure with long blonde hair slipped into the room, barely visible in the gloom. And Carcer swallowed the question he wanted to ask, so he could ask the question he needed to ask.

“Is Jay alright?”

@alice

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It had been one of the worst nights of Alice Longbottom's life. Just when she thought that the year really couldn't get any worse, the universe just had to prove her wrong.

Jayden had been attacked. Fortunately, it wasn't to the same degree as the past victims but he had still been beaten only inches from his life. Alice had been retrieved by Professor Aguillard. He had begun to explain things on the way to the Hospital Wing but as he got the words out of his mouth, Alice began to take off in front of him - racing toward the Hospital Wing. She had been relieved to see both of her parents there already and the arrival of Philip and even the Lestrange sisters eased the pain both on herself and Jayden. It had been excruciating, watching Jay writhe in the pain from the potion and the spell his parents were using to help him regain conciousness. Alice had felt so helpless in the moment. This attack on Jay had proven that not even purebloods were safe. But these people... they had hit a nerve. And not just for Alice, but her brother too. Alice knew it was foolish to go off seeking for revenge but she was angry. These people had hurt Jayden and they had hit too close to home.

Alice didn't want to walk back to the Common Room by herself. Her mother had agreed to walk her while Jayden stayed behind in the Hospital Wing under the watchful eye of Madame Blacksmith. The portrait slid open and Alice hugged her mother, told her she loved her and said goodnight. Then she stepped into the Common Room. It wasn't until the portrait was sliding shut again that she realized just how late it was. She was exhausted. She didn't even have the energy to yawn or sigh, she felt just enough energy to go and lay down in bed.

The blonde walked through the hallway to the main part of the Common Room and she stopped when she saw one lone person sitting in front of the fire. Alice's tired eyes blinked for a moment. She should have known he would be awake, but as it were: she was surprised.

Alice was thankful the first words out of Carcer Hagrid's mouth were about Jay. Alice gulped. She looked down at her feet and simply nodded. She wanted to be strong, but she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Suddenly she was thankful that the room was darker than usual. Giving up all efforts to save face, Alice let her guard down and slowly crossed over to Carcer. Weakly, she put her arms around what she could reach of the half giant. Right now she wasn't thinking about revenge, or how sad and angry she was. Right now she only wanting someone she could call a friend.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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She nodded, but he could tell she was having problems holding it in. Carcer understood. He remembered the feeling of helplessness at seeing his brother being bullied. He could chase off the offenders—he could frighten them, and if they chose to fight, he could beat them. But he couldn’t undo what they’d said to RJ, or how it affected him. Magnify that feeling of helplessness? Carcer didn’t even want to try to imagine it. There were a number of advantages to being half-giant, but the best was—you never really had to worry about your baby brother getting beaten nearly to death. At least, that was how Carcer felt about it right now.

When she started toward the couch, Carcer leaned over sideways so that she could reach his neck. And once her arms were around him, he braced her gently and sat back up, lifting her up as he raised himself back into a sitting position. The tip of her toes just barely reached his lap, but she weighed nothing against his sheer physical strength. Carcer wrapped both arms around Alice, just hugging her in the faint light of the dying fire.

“I know,” he said quietly. He didn’t think there was more to be said right now. He couldn’t make this pain go away. But he could at least be here to help her deal with it.

@alice

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Alice never thought something like this would happen to anyone in her family. Much less innocent, sweet Jayden. It hurt Alice to know how real everything was becoming, how close it was to home now. Things really were beginning to get to a bad place again. Alice was scared. She was not ready to fight in the least bit. She knew in her heart of hearts that if it came down to it, she could but... she didn't want to. Alice was content living in her peaceful world where no one got here like Jayden had. She wanted that world back.

It felt almost natural when Carcer picked her up and held her in his arms, allowing Alice to really relax in his arms and just get her emotions out. He seemed alright with just letting her sit in his arms as quiet sobs overcame her for a few minutes. What was happening? Why now? After a few minutes, Alice was able to calm down enough to speak. "Jayden's going to be okay," she finally said, her voice breaking only slightly. "But... who - who would do this?" She asked, looking up at Carcer, her face ridden with worry. "Why would they go after Jayden?"

@carcerronaldhagrid

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He just sat there quietly, arms around Alice, and let her get it all out. He really didn’t think there was anything he could say to help, but he hoped that just being here would be enough for now. Slowly, she began to calm down, saying that Jayden would be okay. That was—good. Carcer didn’t know Alice’s brothers very well, but in all his time at Hogwarts, he’d never heard a single bad thing about Jayden. He was one of those students who was so fundamentally approachable that even people who didn’t like him really had nothing to say about him.

He really had no answers for her when she asked why they would go after Jayden. “I…don’t know. Professor Eielson was there too, right? Maybe Jayden was trying to help him? Or he was trying to help Jayden?” Carcer had a little more knowledge than most of the students, being a seventh-year prefect, but really, all it amounted to was having the names of the victims sooner than the rest of the students. “I’m sure we’ll find out who did it. And I almost feel bad for the guy that makes you mad…almost.”

@alice

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Alice could feel the tears drying up, her initial crying coming to an end as she sat in Carcer's arms a few moments longer. It was odd how comfortable it was, how safe it made her feel. Carcer was right. Jayden had never given anyone any reason for them to want to hurt him alone, and it made sense that he would have seen Professor Eielson in trouble and tried to help him somehow. That was always the type of person that he had been... selfless and helpful. Alice had a hard time believing someone had found a reason to hurt him.

"You - you're probably right," the blonde nodded, looking down at her feet. She knew he was right but Alice had a hard time telling anyone they were right. Alice nodded again, knowing that eventually they would find who did it. It was inevitable, of course. Somehow, somewhere there was bound to be clues. And she knew her father would not let such a thing go unpunished. And neither would she and Phil. That was why Alice could not help the small smile that crept up onto her face when the half-giant mentioned him "almost feeling bad for whoever made her mad." He had a point... but it was funny and a little uplifting to hear him say. "They'll need someone to sympathize with them when I'm through with them!" She said, sniffing once and trying to sound infinitely more threatening by pounding her right fist into her left palm.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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Carcer continued to hold Alice even while he felt her tears subsiding. Until she wanted him to let go, he would sit right here with her, even if that meant all night. It wasn’t uncomfortable for him, even though it felt very different from other times he had comforted people. But then, he was quite close to Alice. She agreed with him about Jayden maybe being just caught up in something Eielson was involved in, but Carcer didn’t voice his other doubt—what had Eielson done to get targeted, if he was indeed the target?

“They’ll need someone to sympathize with them when I'm through with them!”

Carcer couldn’t help the small smile that crept across his face. “I don’t doubt it. You can be scary when you want to be. But it won’t be me. If that were my brother and I found out who did it, I would rip them apart.” And he would, too. Carcer was much slower to anger than his father had been, but he was much quicker to act on his anger. Rubeus Hagrid would get insulted over things, but he rarely responded with force unless someone else was being attacked. Carcer, on the other hand…well. He didn’t trust himself not to solve the problem the way he usually did: in the most effective manner he could think of. And people who were ripped apart generally stopped being a problem permanently.

“How about you? Are you alright? I heard your mother was here…”

@alice

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Alice looked up at Carcer and when she saw a smile form on his face as well, it helped bring out a slightly wider one from her. The circumstances were very unfortunate, and Alice would likely be spending a lot of time around her brothers from here on out to watch over them and protect them but seeing Carcer smile at her just brought out a good feeling from inside. She was glad that he was not quick to anger, much like she often was. It seemed as if he balanced her out in that right.

When Carcer asked how she was, Alice shifted in her seat and shrugged a little. "My mum was worried, you know - like a mum. But she is one of the strongest women I've ever met. I think she would be scarier than my dad, if she ever found out who did it," she let out a little chuckle at the thought. There weren't many people that Neville Longbottom would kowtow to, and Hannah Longbottom was one of the very few exceptions. She looked back up at him. "I'm a little shaken up but... I'm feeling better now." Slowly, another small smile crept up on her face. Alice wasn't sure exactly what was the reason behind it, but... she had a very strong feeling she was feeling better because of Carcer himself. And that was nice.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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Carcer didn’t know much about Alice’s mother, but he did know about mothers in general. It wasn’t hard to think she would be more vicious than the Headmaster, if it came to it. From what his dad told him about Neville, the man didn’t care about revenge, but only about removing a potential threat immediately and permanently. That might be considered a mercy, because he had a feeling Mrs. Longbottom would be happier to have the culprit suffer a bit first, as revenge.

I’m a little shaken up but… I’m feeling better now.”

He was thankful for the fire being the only source of light in the room—he wasn’t blushing, no, but that might change if she kept looking at him like that, especially since he already had his arms around her. “Good. That’s good…” Another thought occurred to him, and he seized on it quickly before he lost his words to those eyes.

“So um…are your parents moving Jay to St. Mungo’s, or…?” He had a feeling the Gryffindor would be staying in the castle, maybe in the Headmaster’s private chambers in his tower, to keep him away from such a public location where he might be easily found, but who knew?

@alice

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Alice found herself relaxing into Carcer's arms the longer they sat upon the couch in front of the fire. It was late, and she could feel herself beginning to get tired though she almost did not want to sleep. After the day's events, she was certain it was normal for anyone to be afraid to go to sleep. She let a yawn escape her lips before she responded to the half giant.

"I think... I think Jay is going to be okay enough to stay here. My parents trust Nurse Blacksmith, and I think she will be able to take care of him," Alice spoke a bit quieter now, feeling the tiredness finally beginning to really set in. "I don't think my mum would want him to be moved away from her at this point, honestly," she let out a chuckle. "Plus, I think Nurse Blacksmith let's her look after him herself. You know how mums are." She managed a small smile at the thought of her mother.

@carcerronaldhagrid
We should wrap this up soon!!

[Deleted]

He listened to Alice’s words, but she was definitely beginning to feel the toll the day had taken on her. Her voice was quieting down and she was starting to relax. And while Carcer certainly didn’t mind, he was almost certain Alice would be embarrassed if she fell asleep here. Not right now, of course, but later.

He nodded and grinned when she pointed out how moms were. “Oh yeah. Mine’s no pushover either. Come on then, I think you could do with some sleep.”He hesitated a minute, before standing up while still holding Alice. He’d have to put her down at her dorm, but he didn’t have the heart to make her walk up the stairs and possibly wake herself up too much to fall asleep quickly. “I’ll be around in the morning if you need me.”

@alice [Thread end then? :3]