An Unexpected Situation ((Zee & Caity))

[Caitlin Collins]

Caitlin could hardly believe it when she had had been called up to the Headmistress’ Office and told she was being given the position of prefect. After all, she had only been at the school for a few months and didn’t think she’d been the most model student, especially considering that incident where she was in the Forbidden Forest after curfew. Although if everyone had done as Keaira asked, the headmistress didn’t know about that. But anyway, she had been given the position of Hufflepuff female prefect. While that on its own would be cause for her to be happy, the circumstances which led to it were less than cheerful. Wysteria, a girl she had met several times and who had been the previous prefect, had apparently been killed. Caity didn't know how, or why, but she was dead. The events taking place at this school seemed to just get worse and worse.

With all her homework done, Caity decided to take a bath in the legendary prefect bathroom on the fifth floor before doing her first nightly patrol to make sure miscreants weren't out of bed. The room was as luxurious as rumours suggested, and it was quite a while past curfew by the time she re-emerged and got dressed. After all, she had to give the students some spare time to get back to bed if they were late or had lost track of time. Stepping out of the bathroom, she looked up and down the corridor before heading to the stairs.

[darko2]

(I know it says Zee and Caity, but as I noticed the date of the post I hope it isn't terribly wrong of me to bump in here...lol I'll delete this if i'm breaching my limits, but i felt it appropriate since Caity is the female Hufflepuff Prefect )

Sebastien Bellefleur was the perfect candidate for one of the Hogwarts prefects positions. After receiving high marks at Beauxbatons, he was a shoo-in for the role. He was very good with responsibility and took it seriously. Yes, he took it very seriously, which is why he was patroling the corridors well after curfew, in search of any signs of insurgence toward the rules.

With his wand out in front of him, he maintained a simple Lumos spell as he navigated the dark corridors, shining his wand over the inanimate suits of armor and sleeping portraits. While he patrolled, he hummed a little french diddy to himself softly, to break the feeling of solitary while perusing the elusive violators of the night.

As he turned the corner, he spied a female student that was at the top of the stairwell just in front of the Prefect Bathroom.

"Stop right there." He said firmly, pointing his wand at her. He was straining his eyes, trying to see past the dull glow of his wand, but the gentle luminescence was preventing him from seeing the girls features. He didn't know what he was going to do with this insubordinate, but was prepared to do something if the student decided to cross wands.

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

((Absolutely thrilled to have you. Welcome back. I'ma keep saying that til you scream at me to stop. ))

Keaira had told him that the upper floors were really the responsibility of the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Prefects, but given that he'd first met Wysteria while she was "patrolling" in the Astronomy tower and she was neither Ravenclaw nor Gryffindor, he didn't think there'd be any harm in heading up to the higher floors. He let Keaira know what he was doing through their mental link and headed up the marble staircase.

While the "shining beacon of justice" idea did appeal to him somewhat, Zee didn't feel it suited him very well and so held his wand by his side as he moved about in the darkness. He'd even gone so far as to cast a disillusionment charm on himself to more fully hide from any miscreant students . . . or worse. Zee was also concerned that traipsing about the castle alone at night with his wand illuminated might make him a prime target were any of Dark Phoenix's forces to infiltrate the castle. Thus he walked carefully and quietly as he made his rounds.

Also he had developed his own spell that aided him greatly in such situations, though of course he had imagined using it while seeking a victim rather than prowling about to ensure the safety of others. The irony was obvious and the spell still quite useful. The atrum charm ("atra visum" being the incantation) gave him the ability to see in the dark as plainly as he could in light, though the color scheme was a bit skewed. This however gave him the ability to differentiate between areas of darkness and light. It was very confusing at first, but Zee had grown accustomed to it.

His strides halted as he noticed a shift in the color of the floor at the entrance to a side passage, indicating a light source from around a corner, and not the shifting light of one of the many torches that hung in sconces along the walls. This was a more regular pool of light, moving as one rather than shifting form. Stepping silently around the corner, Zee saw the source to be a lumos spell coming from the wand of one Sebastien Bellefleur. Zee had seen the boy around before but had never talked to him and knew little about him. A prefect badge was pinned to his chest however so rather than reveal himself and insist the boy return to his dorm, Zee crept along behind him, the soft humming covering the sound of his quieted footsteps.

As Sebastian turned a corner, aimed his wand, and issued his command, Zee took the opportunity to quick step closer and look over the boy's shoulder. Not hindered by the light the way his companion was, Zee immediately recognized Caity and felt a strong protective urge. He did not know her well, but she was a lightfight and, as far as Zee could tell, one of the few who actually seemed to embody the light quite well. Where before it was the kind of thing Zee would have scoffed at, he now desired to keep it pure as long as he could. Perhaps Sebastien was simply being a dutiful prefect, but he had his wand aimed at Caity and Zee couldn't risk that he worked for the Mage.

Reaching out one hand to grab Sebastiens wand wrist, Zee placed the tip of his wand against the boy's temple, still standing directly behind him. His voice came out clear and strong as the disillusionment charm fell from him.

"I suggest you take your own advice Mister Bellefleur."

[Caitlin Collins]

((It's fine Darko, Zee was taking his time in replying. *glares* And I'm presuming that Caity does actually know that Sebastien is the other Hufflepuff prefect))

Caity hadn't gone far before she heard something behind her. Was a student really stupid enough to be walking about past curfew so noisily? She spun with her wand drawn, muttering lumos as she did so.

"Stop right there."

At first Caity was startled into silence at seeing an older boy pointing a wand at her. Her thoughts immediately shifted to Zane Bishop, who she had recently discovered to be the one to have tortured Dylan. D'rorah was convinced that he wouldn't do it again, but the knowledge on its own was enough to put her on edge. A few seconds later, she realised who it was standing in front of her.

"Sebast - Zee! No!"

She had seen the Slytherin prefect appear out of thin air and point his wand at Sebastien's temple, and with her previous thoughts had immediately panicked. Calming herself slightly as she realised she was probably overreacting, she walked down the steps to join the other two.

"Zee..." she started warningly, hoping he would release Sebastien without a fuss. This certainly hadn't been what she'd expected on her first prefect patrol.

[darko2]

No sooner had he given his command, he felt and heard a presence behind him, commanding him to desist. A slight pressure at his left temple alerted him to not make any sudden movements. Sebastien Bellefleur was not usually so ill-prepared for an unexpected subdual, but had found himself trapped. Fortunately, the student he had suspected of breaking curfew was none other than Caitlin Collins, his fellow Hufflepuff prefect. She had seemed to recognize Sebastien as well as his subduer as she dashed forward and shouted for his assailant to stop.

As he heard Caity cry out his name, Sebastien whirled around out of Zee's grasp, now knowing that he would not fire a spell at him since he himself was a Hogwarts prefect.

"What were you thinking?!" Sebastien hissed at him. "I'm a prefect as well." He said eyeing Zane with a frown and then turning to Caity.

"I'm so sorry Caity...I thought you were an insubordinate." He said sincerely with a bow of his head to show respect.

Sebastien stood there looking from Caity to Zee, both of whom he had not really had much interaction with, but yet both of them were his prefect team mates. He felt inclined to strike up a conversation in an attempt to get to know them better.

"So, what brings you two up here so late?" He asked still looking back and forth between the two.

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

Caitlin recognized the boy, but of course she would as they were Prefects in the same house. Either she believed Sebastien to be harmless or suspected Zee of malicious intent given the way she spoke, and Zee assumed both to be the case. It stung Zee distinctly that Caity would think him to simply be attacking another student without cause, though he could hardly blame her. His shoulders slumped slightly as his grip on Sebastien loosened considerably. At that moment Sebastien pulled away from his slackened grip and spun on him, clearly none too pleased. Zee's eyes widened slightly in anger at the utter hypocrisy of the male Hufflepuff's accusation, his wand hand twitching instinctively but remaining down at his side.

"You aim your wand at a friend of mine who also just happens to be a prefect, and of you own house no less, and then dare to grow angry with me for doing the same to you to protect her? Yours is a strange kind of chivalry."

The words had been delivered sharply, but it seemed the effort had wearied Zee badly for his shoulders slumped again, more profoundly this time. His wand was slipped away into its place inside his multitude of wristbands as he placed one hand against the wall for support. A long sigh escaped his lips as he ran the other hand through his severely shortened hair. He still hadn't gotten used to the difference in temperature on his skull.

Zee had been such a social creature before, and yet now he felt immeasurably uncomfortable with these two. Cait knew what he had done and he saw little hope of things ever being anything but strained and tense between them given her general air of innocence. And now this other boy seemed less than fond of him as well, but that bothered Zee far less. Before Zee would have made a point to find Sebastien alone sometime in order to make him regret his insolent tone. Now he simply wished to avoid both the issue and the boy.

"We're patrolling obviously. Or do you believe yourself to be the only prefect worthy of that duty as well? Regardless, it seems I have stepped into rather unwelcoming Hufflepuff waters. Perhaps it would be best if I withdrew to a different part of the castle."

[Caitlin Collins]

Caity was relieved when Sebastien spun out of Zee's grip. It was very unlikely that he would attempt a repeat of Dylan's torture, if only for the simple reason that D'rorah would probably kill him if he did - and she had a feeling that was no exaggeration, as much as she hated to think about killing someone. The discussion about what to do with Gat had been weighing on her mind, and that was what made her certain that the Lightfighters' leader would have no mercy if Zee ever tried anything like that again.

"What were you thinking?! I'm a prefect as well!" Sebastien hissed at Zee. She wasn't sure if the two had ever met, but if they had perhaps it had not been so great of a meeting.

"You aim your wand at a friend of mine who also just happens to be a prefect, and of you own house no less, and then dare to grow angry with me for doing the same to you to protect her? Yours is a strange kind of chivalry."

She blinked in surprise when Zee called her a friend, but guessed that that was true in a way - they were both on the same side of the war after all, even if they did have slightly different ideas of morals and the like. "Zee, leave it, it's fine," she told him, also aiming the last comment at Sebastien.

Caitlin saw an expression of discomfort pass across Zee's face, and wondered if she had misjudged him. He did seem genuinely guilty about the whole situation, although it was right that he should. She lowered her own wand now she was sure that he would not attack either of them, and was going to answer Sebastien's question, but Zee beat her to it.

"We're patrolling obviously. Or do you believe yourself to be the only prefect worthy of that duty as well? Regardless, it seems I have stepped into rather unwelcoming Hufflepuff waters. Perhaps it would be best if I withdrew to a different part of the castle."

"Zee!" she glared at him, unhappy at his insinuation that Sebastien thought he was better than everyone else. People like that really annoyed her, and from what she'd seen so far Sebastien did not seem like that in the slightest. "He's just doing his job, which is what we all should be doing now. And you don't have to leave, Zee," she added, turning to face him and trying to apologise without speaking for assuming he was out to harm Sebastien.

She glanced around but, unsurprisingly, saw nothing suspicious and turned back to her fellow prefects. The commotion would almost certainly have scared away any miscreants, and it was unlikely that many were stupid enough to hang about after curfew anywhere near the Prefect Bathroom.

((Sorry, I modded a bit. I was kinda rushing when I wrote this post before. It shouldn't make any difference to your posts though, Darko & Caira))

[darko2]

Caity's implication of "it's fine." fell on deaf ears. There was no way Zane was going to spin this off on him and make him look to be some deranged, hypocritical, Prefectionist.

Sebastien clenched his jaw tight as he glared at Zee. Not only had he been physically restrained by this cocky boy, but may have been in severe danger depending on what this rogue prefect had thought he was up to. The fact that he had been willing to dismiss his actions and move toward a friendly nature of conversation showed that Sebastien was trying to be civil. This boy obviously had a lot of anger for some reason.

"Pardon, but I did not physically do anything to Caitlin." He started with a contemptuous breath. "And further more, if you were following me this entire time, I suspect that you knew who I was, Zane, since you called me by name. I on the other hand could not see Caitlin as she was further away from me and my wandlight had impaired my vision." He said with a huff. He stared at Zee hoping to have reached him. He didn't want him to think he had plans on hurting his fellow Hufflepuff, and wanted to make it clear that Zee had definitely over reacted.

"I had made a mistake. You on the other hand seemed to have been stalking prey." Sebastien was furious. It did not equate to him why a prefect would react that way if he knew another prefect was only trying to do his job. It also made Sebastien thoroughly uneasy that Zee had been following him without his knowledge under a disillusionment charm.

"He's just doing his job, which is what we all should be doing now." Caity had implored upon them.

Sebastien raised his eyebrow as he stood there firmly with his arms crossed, still staring at Zee. It appeared that they were about the same height and body type. He'd be a good match against Sebastien in a fight, but realized that it probably wouldn't escalate to that. He doubted that his words had actually reached the Slytherin boy, and sustained a doubt that he would not receive an apology from him as well.

[Caira LaPointe]

Caira made her way downstairs, drawn by voices. She hadn't quite been in her normal pleasant mood lately and the commotion of the prefects had drawn an irritated attention to them. She followed the sound of the voices which had seemed so near, rounding a corner in the fifth floor corridor.

"Par pitié! Could you possibly make any more noise?" she asked, her French accent becoming more apparent, as it usually did when she was irritated. "I can 'ear you all ze way in ze sixth floor corrideur." Her gaze shifted from Caitlin, to Sebastian, to Zane, and back between all three of them. "What in the world is going on here anyway?" she added as an afterthought, aready noting Zane, whom she knew to be the Elemental Master of Metal and Caitlin... who seemed to have a similar aura about her as well. She recalled mention of the girl standing with D'rorah Philosophy during Mordred's dreadful recruiting stunt in Hogsmeade. She wasn't familiar with Sebastien, but if he was socializing... or screaming with any of the Lightfighters, he was of interest to her.

She stood before them, arms crossed, waiting for some sort of explanation as to what the meaning of this exchange was. There was just too much tension in the hallway to simply dismiss.

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

While her exclamation towards him didn't help Zee relax, Caity's other words did. It was true that the entire encounter had been one misunderstanding after another. Sebastien hadn't realized who Caity was. Zee hadn't been sure whether Sebastien was a servant of Dark Phoenix's who would take the opportunity to remove a lightfighter. Caity had thought Zee's actions to be an unprovoked attack rather than the attempted rescue that it was. The last bothered Zee more than either of the other two.

Zee had begun to nod when Sebastien spoke up, drawing Zee's attention and ire once more. Right on the heels of Sebastien's explanation that he hadn't recognized Caity, Zee straightened and took a threatening step toward the boy.

"No you didn't touch her, and I was intent on keeping it that way. And while I may know of your name and your status as a prefect, that says little of who you are, of which I know nothing. When one with an unknown temperament . . ."

Zee's interruption was in turn interrupted by Sebastien's final statement comparing Zee to a hunting predator. This quite effectively halted Zee's angry retort, causing him to wince harshly and take a few faltering steps back. He stood staring at the other boy for a few brief moments, his face having lost all emotion. Then, eyes lowered to the floor, he mumbled out a few last words.

"I'm sorry Cait, Sebastien. I didn't mean to cause such trouble. I'll leave you two to your patrols."

Ignoring any fortcoming protests, Zee turned to head back the way he'd come. He started to anyway, for at that moment the headmistress made her appearance, displeasure evident in her words, tone, and body language.

Oh bloody hell.

Spinning to face the latest addition to their impromptu gathering, Zee's face seemed to light up with a grin that had not been present there since he'd heard about Wysteria's death. His winning smile looked a bit different now that his hair was much shorter and he was completely cleanshaven, but still it was dazzling. His entire posture seemed to shift back into the casual, confident way he'd always carried himself before. Offering a jovial salute in greeting, Zee stepped forward, putting himself between the headmistress and his fellow prefects.

"Good Evening Madame LaPointe. My sincerest apologies for disturbing you. I hope you know it is the last thing I would ever willfully do. We all three were on patrol you see and I'm afraid we each mistook the others for impudent students out when they ought not be. Entirely my fault really. Still, no harm done. I do hope you'll allow me to do something to alleviate any distress I've caused you."

Finishing his speech with an apologetic bow, Zee straightened and cocked his head to one side, his grin growing crooked to further emphasize the asymmetry. His eyes never left hers.

[darko2]

Sebastien snorted as he heard Zane's attempts to assuage the Headmistress' temper. How funny it was to see someone display a full set of emotions in such a small amount of time. First there was fear, for he thought Sebastien was going to harm Caity, then there was anger and rage as he felt that Sebastien was being a hypocrite for barking at him, and now he was seeing him put his tail between his legs and give the Headmistress puppy dog eyes.

Sebastien came forward and brushed shoulders with Zane and stood directly next to him.

"Directrice, je suis si désolé pour la rupture. Cet imbécile m'a attaqué parce qu'il cependant j'allait attaquer Caitlin...but he's right, it was all just a misunderstanding and we've forgiven each other" He said respectfully as he turned to catch Zane's eye. He didn't want any bad blood between himself and another prefect, as they were a team, and had to work together. He was hoping that the Headmistress would not punish them as they were supposed to be the elite, the prefects of Hogwarts, under control and dishing out detentions, not serving them.

Sebastien shot a furtive eye toward Caitlin, wondering if she'd too chime in and apologize for the small tiff that they had just resolved. He figured the more apologies, the greater chance they had at escaping an angry Headmistress' sentencing.

[Caitlin Collins]

Caitlin herself had not doubted Sebastien's motives, but he seemed to feel the need to explain himself to Zee. She listened nonetheless, hoping that he would let it go once he was finished, and that Zee would do the statement. However, when Zee answered back to defend his own actions, she realised that would probably not be the case.

"I had made a mistake. You on the other hand seemed to have been stalking prey."

Caity winced slightly along with Zee at Sebastien's astonishingly tactless words, although he wouldn't even know if or why he had been tactless in saying that. Presuming that Zee really was trying for redemption and not just putting on an act, those words would have hit hard. And if you went by his next words, that was exactly what had happened.

"I'm sorry Cait, Sebastien. I didn't mean to cause such trouble. I'll leave you two to your patrols."

As he began to walk away, Caitlin took half a step forward uncertainly. "Wait, Zee..."

Before she had time to tell him that he didn't have to leave, she took a step back in surprise when none other than Headmistress LaPointe emerged. She listened in surprise at the extent to which Zee was able to change his tone and understood why no one had suspected him when it came to Dylan's torture. He was a brilliant actor.

She was taken aback by Sebastien's sudden flow of speech in French, of which she understood nothing. She stepped forward also to offer her own apology.

"Sorry Headmistress. It was just a misunderstanding." Nothing fancy - Sebastien and Zee had taken care of that aspect - but hopefully the Headmistress should leave it at that, if all three of them were agreeing.

[Caira LaPointe]

Caira looked between the three of them, her gaze resting for a long time on each one. She nodded at Sebastien's explanation of the situation, seeming placated. "Alright. Well, finish your rounds and off to bed with all three of you then. It's too late to be up and about, even for prefects. I'm sure you all have classes in the morning anyway."

She paused for a moment, as though thinking about something, and then shook her head slightly. "Bonne nuit."

With that, she turned to head back to the stairs, to her office. She listened, keeping out a keen ear to make sure the prefects were wrapping up their interlude and preparing to head back to their respective common rooms. She paused and turned back. "Zane, I'd like to see you in my office before you turn in for the night," she remarked quietly. "I'll leave the door open for you."

With one last nod to Caitlin and Sebastien, she once again turned to resume her trek back to her office. Zane had had some time to consider everything they had spoken of since their last meeting. She wondered what sort of answer he might have for her, whether or not he had thought more about joining forces with the Mage to fight for Darkness. If nothing else, he was certainly interesting to have around.

[Zane Lucifer Bishop]

It took considerable will on Zee's part not to curse Sebastien on the spot. Acting as if physically touching someone without permission were a grave insult and then doing just that. Thinking back to his torture of Dylan, Zee would have liked nothing better at that moment than to revisit that scene with this pompous prefect in the place of Mr. Cooper. He after all was no lightfighter, was possibly even an agent of the Mage's. Surely it wouldn't be so wicked to set this boy aflame . . .

Again Zee understood little of what Sebastien said to the headmistress. The modern languages didn't interest him in the slightest and thus he was not terribly proficient with any but english. Still he managed to piece together the general insult the words conveyed and that Sebastien claimed to have been attacked, which seemed an exaggeration since no curses were ever discharged. Still Zee's cocky grin remained. It would not do to behave poorly in front of Caira. Zee contented himself with the belief that if Sebastien was not involved in the Shadow War then he was insignificant next to an Elemental Master in the headmistress' eyes, and if he secretly worked for Dark Phoenix then he had not done well to invoke enmity in that same Elemental Master.

Pointedly ignoring the sidelong glance Sebastien threw him Zee nodded along with Caity's words. She clearly wished to avoid any further conflict, and this more than anything else calmed Zee. Again that innocence that he so blatantly lacked. Remembering that such should be protected, Zee did his best to swallow his pride. With a gracious nod to Caira's request Zee turned to the two Hufflepuffs, his expression losing its unnervingly convincing cheeriness and reacquiring the somberness it'd held before. He spoke first to Caity.

"Forgive me. I did not come here to cause more pain. Please believe that."

His face turned to Sebastien but he kept Caitlin in his periphery. Without the present reminder he may end up expressing his solidifying dislike for the boy, which would currently be counterproductive.

"I meant you no harm beyond ensuring you didn't harm her. I'm sorry Sebastien."

Glancing to the stairs that would lead him up to Caira, Zee took a deep breath.

"It's been too long since I shared tea with Caira anyway. I suppose I'll see you two sometime tomorrow. Good luck with your patrols."

[darko2]

Thankfully the Headmistress's mood seemed to abate and she instructed her three prefects to finish their rounds and then they were to head of to sleep themselves. Sebastien nodded as she gave the instruction as he was a man of duty. He noticed that Zane kept smiling at her as if he shared some secret with the headmistress that no one knew about. To Sebastien's shock, she invited Zee back to her office for tea. Sebastien never knew a headmistress to invite a student into their quarters after hours to take tea, where he came from the headmistress was a force to be reckoned with and respected at a distance. Yet, he was still learning how the british went about their schooling, as it was, very different from Beauxbatons.

As the Headmistress took her leave and swept from the hall, Zane turned to face Caity and himself, obviously losing the deranged facade he had kept for the Headmistress. He first spoke to Caity, explaining that he had wished to cause no harm, and when he turned to speak with Sebastien, he could tell that Zee must be harboring some resentment toward him, for he felt that his apology was somewhat forced.

Regardless, Sebastien appreciated the notion and nodded sincerely as he accepted Zee's apology. He decided that it would be prudent to express that he as well was sorry for the misunderstanding.

"I am sorry too, Zane." Sebastien said with a frown. "I didn't mean for you to think I would cause Caitlin harm..." as he said her name, he cast her a glance as if to say it to her as well. "...and I'm sorry for over-reacting. Where I come from, we take our duties very strictly and perhaps I did make you think I aimed to fire a jinx or a curse. It's a completely different world here." Sebastien explained with candor.

Sebastien noted that Zee mentioned he had taken tea with Caira prior to this invitation. Everyone here is so different...they drink tea with their Headmistress, they sneak up on you disillusioned in the night...will I ever adjust? He thought to himself as he looked at the ground in front of him.

"Alright, farewell Zane." Sebastien waved to him. He should really get on with his patrol as well. Even though the fifth floor wasn't his territroy he took it upon himself to go above and beyond, but perhaps next time he'd stick to his assigned levels so as to avoid another altercation such as the one he had endured tonight.