Wrong Turn (Blair)

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Kinsey was wandering around Diagon Alley in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. It was one of the slowest times, since most people were busy at work and so she was taking good advantage of it to get some alone time. Not that she was really alone, but she could be in public like this, when the crowds were minimal. She just needed some time away from her family. She loved them dearly, but she was so worried of annoying them that she couldn't stay home all the time. Sometimes she needed fresh air. 

That was what today was all about. Fresh air while Riley was gone. The whole point was for her to be able to relax a bit, but she had a feeling that wasn't going to happen. As she was walking, she felt a particularly strong negative intention somewhere nearby. She didn't turn to see who it was, didn't care. When she felt intentions like these, the best thing to do was get away as quickly as possible. She turned down a small street, glancing behind her as she went. For some reason, the person was coming the same way as her. Kinsey made another turn down a different alleyway and another, forgetting which direction she turned and when. The aura faded after one or two turns, but Kinsey kept going, nervous that they were still following her.

Eventually she stopped, breathing heavily as she looked from side to side. Where was she? There were a few people here, but they seemed busy and ... maybe a bit shady too. Kinsey didn't sense anything particularly bad, but she didn't want to stop these people. She walked down the street a little, trying to recognize something and then suddenly stopped, not realizing that someone was walking right behind her. She froze for a moment when they bumped into one another and then spun around to see if she recognized the person.

@blair

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As far as most of the world knew, Blair had never visited Knockturn Alley before. Their father had given them a lecture once about how hanging around in Knockturn Alley was bad for their respectability, despite the fact that there were many well-known pureblood families that had shops in that same alley. Their father, Blair thought, was still overly cautious when it came to the darkness in the world. Blair understood why, really, considering their family’s flight from Britain during the Second War, but the times were changing, and soon, Blair knew, it wouldn’t be bad to be interested in the Dark Arts. Soon they wouldn’t have to hide their fascination with death and dying. They just had to be patient.

Despite their own beliefs, out of respect to their father Blair had mostly been keeping to the shadows in Knockturn, though there was hardly anyone with a camera waiting to expose the people in the Alley. Like Blair, many of the inhabitants of Knockturn Alley would have no qualm with disposing of an investigator. Blair slunk down the alley, their posture a strange mixture of confidence and reservation… until someone ran into them. Blair’s wand was out before they even knew what they were doing, pointed at the interloper. It took Blair’s brain a moment to process that the jostling hadn’t been intended as an attack – it was actually accidental, a rarity in Knockturn. They narrowed their eyes at the girl who had run into them. “I didn’t know your kind visited Knockturn Alley, Bainbridge.” The girl was in Blair’s year, but she was a half-blood, and one who had never seemed particularly interested in anything other than sticking her nose in her books, as if she could ever attain the level of superiority that Blair and other purebloods.

@kinsey

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The person's intentions weren't necessarily bad, which was a relief to Kinsey, since she actually ran into them. She was normally a lot more careful about that, but accidents happen. She turned around and paused, looking at the wand pointed straight at her. She felt a small tinge of relief when she recognized Blair. She didn't really know them too well, but they were in her year and house so at least she didn't run into a stranger. She frowned at their words, not really liking the tone, but not saying anything either. She didn't want to get herself into trouble. Then she realized that Blair told her where she was and her eyes widened and she blushed, embarrassed. She wanted to just turn and walk away, but she honestly didn't know how to get back to Diagon Alley. She was going to have to ask for help, which she really didn't want to have to do, but Kinsey didn't really see another way around it. "It wasn't on purpose," she answered, her voice quite soft. "I got lost." Kinsey paused a moment, not wanting to ask them for help, but swallowing her pride. "Is there any way you could point out the way back to Diagon Alley?" She wasn't asking Blair to walk with her, just show her which way she needed to go. That was less of an inconvenience, wasn't it? She wasn't exactly sure, but if they wouldn't help her she'd just figure it out on her own. Somehow.

@blair

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The Bainbridge girl immediately insisted that she hadn’t strayed into Knockturn Alley on purpose, and Blair sniffed slightly at that. As far as they were concerned, it was difficult to accidentally stumble down an alley, especially one that most children were told to avoid from their first visit to Diagon. But if Kinsey wanted to pretend that she was a pillar of morality who would never sully herself with the darkness of Knockturn, then so be it. It seemed stupid to him that a seventeen-year-old could get lost in an alley they had been visiting their whole lives, but Blair was keen to start an argument and draw attention to themself, especially not when they were accompanied by a half-blood. Blair would rather avoid associating with those with lesser blood at all, but… here they were.

Kinsey asked if they could point the way back to Diagon Alley, and Blair pondered the question. “I could.” They said crisply. “But I don’t see why I would. You and I aren’t friends. In fact, I rather got the impression that you don’t like me.” It didn’t bother Blair – they didn’t need to be liked to have a sense of self-esteem, but it also didn’t make sense as to why they would help someone who didn’t care about their existence until it was beneficial to her.

@kinsey

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Obviously Blair didn't believe that Kinsey didn't mean to come here. Either that or they were sniffing at her because she was beneath them. Kinsey wouldn't really be surprised either way. Sure, she and Blair were in the same house, but the two never really interacted much with one another. Kinsey didn't really interact with most people, unless they made an attempt to talk with her. Blair never did that, so Kinsey never went out of her way to talk with them. 

Blair still didn't have particularly negative intentions, but they weren't really positive either. Ugh, she hated when she ran into people like this. They could switch from one intention to the other in moments and it really just felt dangerous to her. Still, running away was probably a more dangerous thing to do and maybe Blair would end up helping her. Then they answered, saying they could help, but didn't know why they would. Kinsey sighed internally. She didn't want to go into this, and didn't think Blair would care, but apparently she had no choice. "I don't dislike you, I just prefer to do most things on my own. I'm ... not good at interacting with people or making friends." It was true. It's hard to make friends with people when you can tell every time they lie to you. Kinsey felt her annoyance start to rise. "But if you want to get all offended over that, I'll find my own way out of this place," she said, turning away from Blair and starting to look around her. Shouldn't there be a sign somewhere, pointing to different alleys or something?

@blair

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Kinsey claimed that she didn’t dislike them, and Blair had to resist the urge to make a derisive noise, because that was just… untrue. Pretty much everyone who wasn’t in the Purifiers seemed to dislike them for one reason or another, though the whole necromancy thing seemed to be a sticking point for most. Blair didn’t care – it was their loss if they wanted to keep their minds narrowed and not look beyond what they had been told already was possible – but they didn’t like people who lied to them, especially not people who had nothing to gain by lying to them. Kinsey saying she didn’t dislike them didn’t make them any more inclined to try to help her out of the alley. “If you stopped every time you weren’t good at something, you would be a Hogwarts dropout by now.” Blair deadpanned. Even Ravenclaws, including pureblood Ravenclaws, had a hard time with one thing or another in their classes, and if Kinsey really was willing to give up on things just because they didn’t come easily to her, then she’d never have passed her classes. Kinsey said that if they wanted to get offended over her lack of friendship, then she could just leave the alley on her own, and they didn’t bother trying to hide their derision that time. “I never said I was offended.” Blair just didn’t care about what other people thought, so being offended was pretty difficult for them. “I just asked why I would help you. Which you still haven’t answered.” They pointed out. If anything, Kinsey seemed to be the one who was getting offended, which Blair found oddly funny. She was looking around, trying to find a sign, and Blair just watched. Knockturn didn’t really do signage, but they were curious if Kinsey would try striking off on her own anyways.

@kinsey

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Kinsey glared at Blair at their response. Her not doing much with people had little to do with the fact that she wasn't good at it and almost everything to do with the fact that sensing people's intentions often made her not want to interact with them. Then again, there was no way Blair could know this, so she shouldn't be so offended by it. Still, she didn't like their tone and the insinuation that she gave up on things that were hard for her. "Then I guess since I still attend Hogwarts, you can take that to mean that I don't stop every time I'm bad at something," she retorted. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction of an argument about her not trying to make friends because she was bad at it. Better to just try to let it go, even though they were really getting under her skin. Blair said they didn't say they were offended and she rolled her eyes, getting increasingly annoyed as the conversation went on. They pointed out that Kinsey didn't answer their question, and Kinsey let a little of her frustration out. "Why wouldn't you help me?" she shot back before shaking her head and taking a deep breath. "Couldn't you just help me because we go to the same school and kind of know one another and it's the decent thing to do?" She doubted Blair would help her now, since she was being rude, but that was fine. She'd figure it out on her own. She glared as she realized there weren't any signs anywhere. Why did this stupid place even exist? She took a few determined steps and then paused, turning around and glancing at Blair. She didn't want to owe them anything after the last few minutes, but she also didn't want to get herself into a bad situation because of her pride. Kinsey hesitated, trying to decide what to do.

@blair

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Blair was mildly amused by this whole situation. They were always a little amused when people got emotional over things that didn’t matter. Didn’t Kinsey realize that she was making a scene? That wasn’t a good thing to do in Knockturn Alley, especially not when you were a half-blood like Kinsey was. “You stopped trying to be with people, though. You’re a quitter, whether you like to admit it or not.” Maybe the comment was meant to be goading – maybe it wasn’t. Blair didn’t think much about their intentions, just the words that were being said. Kinsey had admitted herself that she wasn’t good at talking to people, but also that she didn’t stop at something every time she was bad at it – ergo, she could have continued talking to people, instead of using that as an excuse as to why Blair didn’t know her. The fact that Blair would have ignored her regardless was irrelevant; Kinsey had quit, and Blair couldn’t abide by quitters.

“That wasn’t the question I asked.” Blair replied silkily, a bit unbelieving of the fact that a Ravenclaw would use as lazy of a retort as ‘why not’ when faced with an argument. They were supposed to be the house of intellectuals, not petulant toddlers. Kinsey was not helping herself with her continued argument, which only amused Blair further – she didn’t even see the hole that she was digging. “Maybe if you had answered that without whining, I would have.” Blair said fairly. If Kinsey had presented her argument as one of mutual benefit (they did have to deal with her for their final year of school, after all), Blair could have been persuaded. But now she was throwing a tantrum – complete with the storming off. “Careful.” Blair warned, ambling over to where Kinsey was standing, frozen. “They can smell fear.”

@kinsey

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There was no point in arguing with Blair. They were obviously going to push their point and call her a quitter and she couldn't really fight that. She hadn't tried to get to know many people. She didn't want to when it was easy to tell when they were lying or trying to manipulate her or whatever. Sure, most people had fairly positive intentions most of the time, but she honestly just didn't know how to deal with her ability. Whenever things got hard, she pulled away from everyone. Maybe that was something she should work on. 

Kinsey just rolled her eyes when they told her- once again- that she hadn't answered their question. To heck with this. She glared at Blair, "Fine. I don't have a reason why you'd help me. We don't know one another well at all and I doubt there's anything you would want me to do for you in return for your assistance." That was honest enough and hopefully they would take it as an answer, though by now she really just didn't care if they did or not. She just wanted to get out of here. 

When she paused, not knowing which way to go, she heard Blair approach her slowly, telling her to be careful and that they could smell fear. She didn't turn to look at them. "I didn't stop because I'm scared," she informed them shortly. "I'm trying to decide which way I should go." Why did Blair follow her over here anyway? Weren't they annoyed by her already? She thought they would have gladly taken the opportunity to leave her on her own. Not that Kinsey was going to say that.

@blair

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Kinsey finally admitted that she didn’t have a reason that Blair would help her, and they offered a slow, creeping smile. It had taken her long enough to reach that realization; if she had had it earlier they might have even offered their assistance as a reward for her self-awareness. It seemed that despite acknowledging that her lack of connections in the world wasn’t beneficial for her, Kinsey still wasn’t going to do anything about it. What a shame. Then again, it wasn’t all that shameful – she was just quitting again, before she had even started. Blair was all for people with potential striving to reach that potential, but Kinsey was showing that she had no potential at all.

The girl didn’t turn to look at Blair when they approached her, which was just as well – she probably would have thrown a hissy fit if she saw the amused smile on their face. Ickle Kinsey, trying to pretend to be a big girl when she was obviously out of her depth. She said she didn’t stop because she was scared, but Blair was almost certain that wasn’t true. They had said that everyone else in Knockturn could smell fear, but the Ravenclaw could, too, and Kinsey practically reeked of it. She said she was trying to decide which way to go, and Blair shrugged – not that Kinsey could see it. “Don’t let me stop you, then.” If she wanted to go, it was obvious that their presence didn’t mean anything to her, but her insolence would cost her if she ended up picking the wrong path. Blair wasn’t going to right any mistakes Kinsey made; she’d just have to live with them.

@kinsey

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Kinsey was ... well, she was done with this conversation. Obviously, she and Blair didn't have a good relationship and she was certain that there was no way they were going to change their mind or try to do anything to help her. It didn't matter that they followed her when she walked away, she wasn't going to let them annoy her any more. They told her to not let them stop her and she shook her head slightly, not bothering to look back. What was the point? She made a decision, walking away from them and turning down an Alley. Once she was out of Blair's line of vision, she turned and apparated back to Diagon Alley. Idiot. She should have done that from the start. At least she didn't need to worry about running into the people over in Knockturn Alley, with their questionable intentions. She relaxed a little and made her way over to Flourish and Blott's, deciding that she'd rather spend a bit of time reading before she went home. That'd help her calm down.

@blair
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