Twisting burnt hands (Lita, Merry)

[Rister Graas S6]

At least his glare was still working. Light comfort that was, but it was the truth. Ashlyn had protest and pointed out the early time, but under Rister’s stoic glare had finally swallowed the Dreamless Sleep potion and literally fell between Rister’s arms. She obviously hadn’t considered the potency of the potion Damon had brewed. When the Graas family had nightmares, they were impressive, so Damon had made it nearly twice as potent as regular ones. And Ashlyn had probably drank it on an empty stomach, Rister thought with a slight huff as he hoisted Ashlyn into his arms and carried him across the room to the large four-poster bed Morgana usually changed in. It took a bit of manoeuvring and would have been remarkably easier if one of his arms hadn’t felt as if on fire, but Rister managed to settle Ashlyn on the bed and cover her with a thin blanket. For a moment he peered at the blonde girl, who had shown a quite interesting side of herself today. “But you are a Slytherin, Ashlyn,” Rister murmured softly and thoughtfully, “You’ve just chosen your mask as a Gryffindor which is a game on a far higher level than most Slytherins ever play.”

Shaking his head, Rister turned and using all the authority he had, demanded: “House-elf.” One of the creatures appeared before him far slower than an house-elf was usually supposed to report to a demand. But Rister did know that students weren’t usually allowed to boss house-elves around. “Tell Damon that Ashlyn needs him. In the games haven,” Rister ventured and smiled calmly at the hesitant house-elf, “She just took a bit too large a dose of Dreamless Sleep potion. I wouldn’t feel right leaving her unsupervised.” That seemed to convince the house-elf who disappeared again. It was just a couple of minutes later when the door moment and a slightly hazard looking Damon stepped in. Damon spared barely a glance at Rister as he hurried to the bed and let his gaze glide over Ashlyn. “Dreamless Sleep potion. She took it only about a dozen minutes ago or so, so she’ll be out for a while. Hard time with the restless souls and all,” Rister murmured as explanation and Damon nodded slowly. Damon understood that Rister didn’t tell him everything and Rister didn’t think it was his moment to but in right now. Turning to leave, Rister glanced back once at the door, only to see Damon sitting on the bed, resting his back against the head-board and lifting Ashlyn’s head in his lap while Ashlyn instinctively curled towards him.

Slipping out of the room at that, Rister hurried down the hallway, resettling all the wards behind him. It was All Hallows Eve, but it was still early and Lita wasn’t that fond of these festives either so he could probably find her in the library. They had been given a fair share of homework lately anyway. Keeping his stride long enough and his face impassively cold to keep anyone from calling out for him, Rister hurried down hallways and an annoying number of staircases on his way to the library. And when he finally reached the library it took most of his self-control not to sneer at the suspicious look madam Pince sent him. His arm was burning up and even though he had put his heir-ring on his finger as he was headed here because the enchantments on the ring dulled the pain slightly, he still wasn’t feeling that benevolent. Besides it wasn’t his fault girls often attempted to get his attention in the library as well. But it would be quicker not to cause a fuss right now. So Rister kept his face blank and merely hurried on, heading towards the discreet corner in the back of the library that Lita preferred when she wasn’t tutoring anyone. Seemed like he was Lady Luck’s favourite today, Rister decided, once he saw Lita there behind some open tomes.

The girl glanced up as Rister approached and sent him a mild glare, before returning to her work muttering something under her nose about no and food. “Not here about making you come to dinner,” Riser said patiently, pushing one of Lita’s books away calmly and seating him on the edge of the table, “But I will let you take a look at my arm, if you promise to stop being irritated at me after that.” Lita did look up at that being a bit more alert. They got hurt too often to joke or lie about wounds and pain and Lita knew that well enough. Besides Rister didn’t tend to lie to her. Leave some things untold – yes. Lie – no. Rister smirked with amusement as he saw Lita’s fingers flickering down to the heir’s signet ring on his finger. She also knew about the heavy enchantments laid on the old ring by generations and knew that it had protective abilities. Rister knew he had won, when Lita put her quill down and gestured for Rister to go on. Seating himself more comfortably on the table, Rister tugged his shirt out of his pants and pulled it over his head. His arm was burning all the way up to his shoulder and the sleeves of that shirt weren’t meant to be rolled up. Lita hissed and after tossing his shirt on the table next to him, Rister glanced down at his arm as well.

Admittedly it didn’t look nice. The trails of fire-ants Rister had been feeling were represented by jagged red- lines with burned-black lines that were haphazardly trailing up and down his arm and shoulder. Obviously magical damage, which would also account for Lita’s furious: “What did you do?” Rister took a moment to choose his words, even as Lita picked up his arm to peer at it closer. “Stumbled on someone with a spell going awry. Was too strong for me to risk prodding it with magic and fuel it further, but I should get brownie points for not using my right arm,” Rister responded, shrugging at the glance Lita sent him, “You won’t ask and I won’t tell. Not my story.” Besides he wasn’t sure if Ashlyn wanted anyone else to know about her little ritual. It was foolish and something Rister hadn’t expected of her, but he would give her privacy and discrete silence unless Ashlyn stated otherwise. “It burns, but I can handle the pain. Probably better to try some slow rejuvenation spell and regrowing skin I suppose,” Rister mused absently, even as he reached out his free hand to peer at the cover of one of the books Lita had open. Transfiguration. “We had an essay in transfiguration?” Rister questioned with faint surprise, which only earned with an absent-minded smack at the back of his head from Lita. Rister mock-scowled at the Ravenclaw girl, even though the smack had hardly hurt, even though Lita probably hadn’t planned for it to hurt. “What? You, me and Minnie all know perfectly well I’m one of the very best transfiguration students she has had in her whole teaching-career. I can tell her the theory and show her in reality anyway, so she won't have my head for a missed essay or two,” Rister defended his point.

[Lita Hollows R6]

Lita didn’t like Halloween. It had too many names, represented too many things. Halloween, All Hallows Eve, Samhain, the night of the dead. As little as she liked to admit it, it was a creepy day. It invoked too many restless spirits for her to feel comfortable. The ghosts liked the day though, of course. They were already dead; it was their night. Lita did her duty by her dead relatives though, just as her father had taught her, by lighting a candle at midnight and leaving it (with a spell to ensure that it didn’t topple over and burn the Ravenclaw girls dorms down of course) until the day ended at midnight 24 hours later. It was just a sign of remembrance so that the dead would rest in peace for another year. She didn’t believe in it, just as Adrian and her parents didn’t, but it was a respectful gesture all the same. And, as her brother teasingly reminded her, it was better than being bothered by a relative who wasn’t overly happy at the ideas of being ignored by the living. Lita sighed, shaking her head and forcing herself to focus on the page she was reading. McGonagall would be furious if Lita didn’t hand in the essay before curfew. Especially since it was meant to have been handed in during the lesson earlier. Lita grinned sheepishly, mentally comparing herself to Rister and scolding herself for not doing her homework on time. But...she had been out with Gaenor and he was a lot more interesting than Transfiguration homework. It had been worth it, Lita decided with a smirk as she remembered her time with Gaenor.

Would Rister be annoyed if he realised that she was going to skip the Halloween feast? Probably. It wasn’t normal for Lita to skip dinner as well as breakfast but she hated the Samhain festivities. She could just slip into the kitchens later. The house-elves were always happy to feed her and then she could assure Rister truthfully that she had eaten. But first, the Transfiguration essay and then her Potions homework, maybe her Charms if she felt motivated. Which she should, Lita considered thoughtfully, because Potions was easy for her so she always felt ready for more challenging, though less interesting, work after that homework. Footsteps approached her table and Lita glanced up, glaring mildly at Rister and mumbling before returning to her essay. He wasn’t going to make her go to dinner. She wasn’t hungry. Okay, so maybe she was but she wasn’t going to the Great Hall. Going to the kitchens later would suffice quite nicely. “You’re hurt?” Lita demanded to know with a concerned glance. Rister was more important than some irritating Transfiguration essay. Besides, if she told him that the essay was due for next week then he would help her with it and save her a lot of trouble researching things that Rister probably already knew since he was better than her at Transfiguration. Her eyes reflexively flicked down to Rister’s hand and her worry intensified when she saw the signet ring resting on his finger. The charms on the ring dulled pain so it must be serious since Rister wasn’t a weakling. None of the Graas children were. Sighing resignedly, Lita laid down her quill and flicked a hand at him encouragingly, wordlessly ordering him to explain.

Rister was first greeted by an unimpressed glare when he tugged his shirt off but Lita caught sight of his arm and immediately leaned forward to examine it. “What did you do?” Lita hissed furiously as she identified the magical damage done to him. “Did you finally flirt with the wrong girl and she cursed you or something?” Not probable. Lita dismissed the idea instantly. No one would harm Rister to that extent. A mostly harmless hex or jinx, yes, but nothing as harmful as this. “If you can handle the pain then why did you resort to wearing your ring?” Lita snapped challengingly, eyes flashing with irritation as she forced herself not to press the issue. It was just one more thing that Rister wouldn’t share with her but at least he was seeking help. “Yes, we had an essay from Minnie,” Lita answered, smacking Rister’s head to distract him from the guilty look that she couldn’t quite hide. “It’ll take a while, and it’ll hurt,” Lita warned Rister seriously as she brought the necessary spell to mind and drew her wand. There were potions with the same effect but it would take longer to brew them than it would to heal him with a spell. Maybe the potion would have hurt less but the pain might teach Rister to stop getting in bad situation by himself. “No one else was hurt, right?” Lita asked absent-mindedly, very determinedly ignoring the person approaching them and the feminine voice that asked if Rister was alright. Merry Garwin. She wasn’t being impolite as she ignored the other girl – okay, so maybe she was a bit but she didn’t exactly dislike the Hufflepuff – but the spell demanded most of her concentration. If Rister wanted to play nice with the girl then he would have to do it by himself. Lita was busy fixing whatever mess he had gotten himself into this time.