Upsetting the Status Quo [Alice]

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He'd found his brother. He'd figured out who all had been kidnapped, and that Professor Eielson was dead along with Ethan Johnson. He knew who was injured, who was okay, and he had just escorted some of the last of the Hufflepuff third years back to the common room so they could go to bed. His patrol time was over, and now he was left with nothing but his thoughts, and what he wanted to do.

He wanted to find the ones who had done this. He wanted to tear them apart.

But he didn't know where they were, so he couldn't do that.

He wanted to go to Ravenclaw House and tell them how sorry he was, be there for them after all the losses they had endured over the year.

But it wouldn't help, so he couldn't do that.

He wanted to find a girl he knew well, and talk to her about something they had both avoided until today. It would not wait any longer. He wouldn't be able to stand the wait, not with their enemies bold enough to walk right up to the castle. Carcer had found out that the masked people were after purebloods of age. Alice had been on the list. He hadn't. And now he wanted her to be around here, where he could see her and protect her.

But she was with her family right now, so he couldn't do that.

Instead, Carcer sat quietly in front of the fire in the common room, and thought, and waited until he could do one of those things.

@alice

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The events of the last twenty-four hours had been more than frightening. Alice had been on a list of students to be kidnapped... she wasn't, thanks to Carcer. Ethan Johnson had been murdered. And several of Hogwart's students were missing after successfully being kidnapped. Casey was one of them. And as Alice made the trek back to Hufflepuff's common room, she realized that several of her own fellow badgers had been taken as well. Including Uncle Carson's nephew Zander. All of this had hit far too close to home and thought the initial attack was over, Alice was still beyond frightened.

Alice had just let the Headmaster's office after being with her family. She walked down to the common room with her mother, while her father had escorted Aurora and the Gryffindors to their respective towers. Alice almost had a hard time letting her mother walk back upstairs alone, but trusted her mother and knew that the attackers were long gone now and that there was nothing to worry about. Alice climbed through the passageway and into the common room, looking rather exhausted and flushed after the long evening's events but the half-giant sitting in front of the fire caught her attention and she seemed to wake suddenly. After all that had happened, she was beyond glad to see him.

Carcer had been there when the hooded attackers initially came to take Alice and because of him, they were unsuccessful. Had Alice been alone, she certainly wouldn't be where she now stood in the common room. It took a moment, but she finally went to cross over to the half-giant and stood just to his left on the other side of the couch. She wasn't sure what to say or where to start. She was obviously beyond thankful he had been there but she felt that that didn't need to be said so blatantly. Instead, she hesitated a moment more before finally speaking up. "Hey," she said, offering up a small half smile. "Is... is your brother okay?" She asked. She knew he had not been on the list of the kidnapped, but she wanted to be sure that he had not been otherwise hurt during all of the chaos as well.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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The flames danced and crackled away, unimpeded by the worries of the world, and Carcer just sat watching them. All he could do now seemed to be to wait for something to happen, but he was strangely accepting of that. It wasn't even like he was being patient at all, more like...he knew his turn had yet to come, and was just prepared for when it did. It was an odd feeling, but kind of a welcome one. So he would sit and wait until— “Hey.”

Carcer turned to see Alice, giving a small smile to him, one that he couldn't quite return just yet. How long had he been sitting here? A glance at his wristwatch told him it had been nearly three hours since he sat down. That wouldn't have been such a long period if he'd been outside, but it was an eternity for the half-giant to zone out indoors without a puzzle or challenge to focus his mind on. “Is...is your brother okay?”[/color]

Oh right, the present. Carcer turned sideways on the couch to face Alice and sighed. “He's...surviving. They didn't hurt him, didn't even touch him as far as I can tell. But he watched someone get kidnapped, and he blames himself for not trying to stop it. I've tried to talk to him, but...I don't think it's helping. When he sees me, he just thinks about how if I had been there, I would have done something.” Which was true, but only because Carcer and RJ were two different people, and that was okay. He just hoped he could help his brother understand that.

“What about your family? I...I saw Ethan. Is your dad okay...?” He didn't know the Headmaster well enough to know how personally he would have taken Elaine Dupree's last message.

@alice

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Alice wondered how long Carcer had been out here in the open, staring at the fire. He had always been much more selfless and kind than she, and she knew he must have been feeling so many emotions over those taken and those hurting because of those taken. As a prefect, he was more connected to the rest of the student body that Alice was herself but seeing him seem so disconnected right now was upsetting. Her eyebrows creased in sadness along with him.

It must have been a Hagrid trait to always want to help others. Perhaps that was why Alice had never heard of anyone disliking them. She felt a tremendous sadness for Carcer's brother, though. She was feeling overwhelmingly sad for Casey being kidnapped, and what James must be feeling, but she couldn't imagine what it must have been like seeing someone taken away and not being able to do anything about it. Alice knew that if she were in the same situation, she would also feel guilty. She looked down at her hands that were folded on her lap in front of her. She wasn't sure what she could possibly say after all that had happened today.

After a moment of silence, Alice finally took in a deep breath. "Let's just say... Elaine Dupree better hope my father never sees her again." Her voice was quiet, but the anger was evident. Her father had not said much about her in his office, but Alice knew that he and Harry were surely already planning a way to find her and bring her to justice. Alice bit her lip when she thought of Ethan. Until moments ago when she had walked into the hall and saw Carcer again, she had not been able to get the picture of Ethan out of her head. "I... I can't believe that happened to him. Of... of all people," she shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper now.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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Alice confirmed something Carcer already suspected: that Mr. Longbottom would kill Elaine Dupree if he got the chance. It wasn’t surprising. His father had cautioned him about three things going to Hogwarts: don’t trust anything Peeves says, always be respectful to the queen of the black lake’s merpeople, and if there was ever a threat, find Neville Longbottom and stay behind him. His father had told stories, and while Carcer knew they were truthful, it had always been hard to envision the professor-turned-headmaster as a ruthless, primal force on the battlefield. That he had killed, there was no doubt; that he would rather avoid it, there was no doubt. But until today, Carcer hadn’t truly understood how quickly he would turn to it when he felt there was no other option.

And…heh. He’d done the exact same thing when Alice was attacked. He was certain he’d killed at least two of the masked people in the courtyard, possibly three.

He nodded sadly at Alice’s words about Ethan. Ethan never picked fights, he never made enemies, and he never hurt anyone. “I think that was the point. I think...the message was, blood is all that matters, no matter how harmless you are. But that was a mistake on her part. I can already tell your dad is willing to go along with the take-no-prisoners terms that Dupree set today.”

He turned to Alice then. Her eyes were downcast, she was worrying her lip as she thought, and she was mesmerizing. They were alone in the common room, which helped—not that Carcer cared, but he suspected Alice might. The half-giant reacher out a hand to softly touch Alice’s cheek and tilt her face up to meet his eyes.

And he leaned in to kiss her.

It was just a small kiss, no raging fire in it, but there was passion nonetheless. It didn’t last long, but he closed his eyes anyway, and didn’t open them when it was over. Their faces were still close together, so she would hear the next words no matter how quietly he spoke. “Today, when I saw them trying to sneak up on you—and after everything else, and we learned they were trying to kidnap pureblood children—I understood what almost happened to you. That if we hadn’t been where we were, I might not have gotten there, and they might have hexed you before you noticed them.”

He sighed, pressing his forehead gently into hers. “And when I thought I might never have seen you again, I knew I wouldn’t have forgiven myself for waiting to do that until it was too late. So no more waiting. Alice Longbottom, when the world stops going crazy, would you like to have dinner?”

@alice

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Alice looked down when Carcer spoke about Elaine's message. She couldn't help but think of what would have happened to her if she had been taken.. or worse, what was already happening to her peers. If Carcer hadn't been there... well, then Alice would likely be in a lot of trouble right now or even hurt. But as it were, Carcer had made sure none of that happened. And more surprisingly, Alice had fought back as well. In the moment, the idea of someone casting a harmful spell at Carcer (even though it would like not affect him much,) ignited a sort of fire in her that had caused her to want to defend the person she cared about.

When Alice felt Carcer's hand suddenly touch her cheek, she didn' really move aside from letting his hand lift her face up to look at him. She was meeting his eyes and her own were unblinking; she didn't dare move until... their lips met. She closed her eyes as she let herself get momentarily lost in the brief moments that they kissed. It felt like it had lasted a lot longer than it did. When they pulled apart, faces still close, Alice opened her eyes and could feel the color in her cheeks. She looked right into his eyes as he spoke, every word sinking in perfectly.

Carcer gently pressed his forehead to hers and for the first time in the last few hours, Alice let herself briefly relax; she felt... safe. She couldn't believe what had just happened... the whole day, really, but this moment... The last couple months, she had noticed that her mood always improved around Carcer, that he had such a positive affect on her. She had not realized that all this time, what she had needed... was Carcer. She was realizing now that she cared for him a great deal more than she had realized and she was... happy.

Alice, always a woman of few words, let out a very light chuckle. "Of course, Carcer Hagrid," she responded, unable to hide the smile in her voice.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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Of course, Carcer Hagrid.

Kidnappings be hanged, today was a great day.

Carcer couldn’t help the wide grin that crossed over his face, nor could he resist kissing her once, twice, three more times. The sensation of her lips against his was intoxicating, and he found that all he wanted was more. With an effort, he stopped himself. He didn’t know how much would be too much for her—she was as new to this as he was. That, and they were still in the common room. He doubted either of them wanted to be walked in on. Besides, he could think of a small hot spring on the side of a nearby mountain where they would have all the privacy they wanted…

Oh!

Carcer chuckled. “I can think of someone else who’ll be happy about this,” he whispered, amused. “Diana doesn’t want me to brush her anymore. She fusses, because her mistress isn’t doing it.”

He grinned. “I do believe you stole my horse away. But I’ll forgive you, since I get where she’s coming from. I like you better than me too.”

@alice

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Alice made no effort whatsoever to hide the smile on her face that came with seeing Carcer grin. And then as he kissed her again and again, she kissed him back, giggling only a little between them. She could not remember the last time she felt so... happy. How silly she had been not to be able to see that happiness was in front of her all this time.

At the mention of Diana, Alice's face lit up. She hadn't been down to visit Carcer's Abraxans in quite some time and to know that Diana missed her made her immensely happy. She could feel her cheeks turn slightly pink at Carcer's words. She had never done this before, the whole 'dating' thing, but she thought she could get used to it. She had grown to like Carcer quite a lot as well. It was probably just going to take some time for her to learn how to express those thoughts and feelings. "So, then, does that mean I'll get to come and visit her after school?" Alice asked with a bright, wide smile. And, truth be told, she wasn't just asking about Diana.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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“So, then, does that mean I’ll get to come and visit her after school?”

He didn’t think he’d ever seen Alice smile like this, not since the unicorns so many months back. And she might have asked about the horses, but Carcer thought she was smiling about him. That, at least, was what he would choose to believe. So he grinned at her. “Anytime. All the time. Whenever you like.”

@alice [Should we end this one too since is from last school year? If not lemme know and I’ll edit something in ]