Muhe Common Room

Tarragon entered the common room quietly, not really wanting to be noticed. He wanted to go up to his room and relax after doing a lot of flying during the day. He was just about to head straight up when he noticed Alys in the far corner of the room reading a book by herself. He hesitated before creeping up behind her. Bending down just behind her chair he whispered in her ear.

"Boo!"

He moved just as quietly away at the same time, knowing he'd be in trouble for frightening her, but it had been too good an opportunity to pass on.

Alys was so startled, the thick book slipped form her hands and landed on on the floor. The witch gritted her teeth, getting ready to deliver instant death glares to the idiot who had thought it funny to interrupt her. However, when she looked up, she saw Tarragon a safe distance away, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Thanks for that," the witch said annoyed, looking pointedly at the books and silently asking him to retrieve it. Her stomach had been hurting badly lately and she didn't think she would be able to been down to pick it up without at least one painful gasp. So the blonde settled on glaring at him instead.

"My book please."

Tarragon couldn't help but laugh when Alys' book ended up on the floor from her jump.

"My book please."

He quickly picked her book up and handed it back to her.

"There you go m'lady" he said cheekily, "would you like a cup of tea and biscuit with that as well?"

He pulled the arm chair the otherside of the table round, taking a seat next to her, putting his muddy feet up on the table, only just missing her pile of books with it.

"Please tell me the reason I haven't had any cheer leading today is because you've been reading all that?" He asked smugly, leaning back comfortably in his chair.

"There you go m'lady" he said cheekily, "would you like a cup of tea and biscuit with that as well?"

Her stomach turned at the mention of tea, winch was ridiculous as she had never minded tea before. Lately, she had been minding a lot off things so the witch had mostly remained with in her dorm or the common room, afraid to go out in case she might tempt the pain that momentarily disappeared or snap at someone in her bad mood.

"Feet off the table, Tarragon," she said crossly, taking her book back and opening it to the page she had been at before he had decided it would be fun to scare her. Well, at least that was one good thing about being ill, she had read up on a whole lot in the past week even if out of sheer boredom.

"And yes, I was reading, it never hurts to know a little more, you know. I read the newspaper, the book on our house history and now I'm reading up on some Dark Art theories for Prof M's class. Or have you forgotten we have a DA test next class?"

Tarragon waved off the fact they had a test.

"It's only an end of year test, it's not important like our OWLs or NEWTs!" He teased. "Besides, Dark Arts isn't what I'm interested in, Defence, now that is completely different!"

He took his feet off the table to appease her wishes. Debating on what to say next, he sighed, looking at the book she was reading, he'd read over it himself, he just didn't make a public display of everything he did.

"Was there anything interesting in the book on Muhe? Apart from what you read in the Library to me?" He asked, still not completely over what she had said before, nor really understanding.

"Nothing you'd like to hear," the witch replied honestly and then smiled a little as he put his feet down. Alys had been brought up to respect books, meaning feet and books didn't go together.

"It goes along the same lines, basically expanding on how pain should be embraced until it becomes easier. The current chapter is o understanding pain, and how to understand its complexities, one has to be submerged in it." The girl curled up tighter on her armchair, bringing her knees close to her chest. All this talking was indignant her of the cramps she had been having since that morning.

"Do you know, our house founder was the first person who actually started work on the Cruciatus Curse, and laid a lot of the foundation work that went into the curse itself?"

Tarragon shuffled awkwardly at the mention of that spell, he looked out the window afraid to meet Alys' eyes.

"No, I didn't know that." He replied simply. Being part of Muhe house was to be his undoing, he thought. All the history of pain and sufferage, he knew he belonged because it was him all over, but that didn't mean he embraced or encouraged it. "Was it just him?"

He tried to keep his voice flat, and indifferent to the subject, trying not to show the inward struggle he was having.

"Well, one person can't really make a proper curse, you know. The groundwork is laid, the thing tested and tested again and then added and modified according to the response the spell gets. So our founder died before the actual curse was perfected and named. But he was the one who started on it, testing pain thresholds and how much was too much. Remember how I explained that day that some people have a higher threshold than others when it comes to pain? Well, he needed a universal, standardize one that ensured the subject extreme pain but also left him sane and intact enough to be capable of reporting afterwords." The witch spoke knowledgeably, her eyes lighting up a little at the amount of material her research had turned up.

"The book says it was especially to find a medium between mind numbing pain and not killing the subject. It took years of threshold testing and re testing just to reach a point where the subject didn't just die straight away."

Tarragon took in a big breath to stop himself from being sick. He really didn't like this topic of conversation. The whole idea about the Unforgivable Curses made him feel ill. He looked across at Alys just as she smiled about what she had said. Did she find this funny? He tried not to look too worried about what she was saying.

"So we've been sorted into the house of a maniac then basically." He stated, looking at the other book in Alys' hands, "Do you need a hand with any of that?"

He didn't say the latter in a mocking tone, but he didn't wish to insult Alys either. He'd promised to help her with anything whenever she needed him to.

Alys bit back a smile at Tarragon's comment about being sorted into the house of a maniac, remembering a line from the book that stated 'madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin'. She could see the excerpts were trouble Tarragon more than a little.

"See, what you have to remember when reading this stuff is that it was not only legal back then but highly encouraged. All of the research that went into the curse was fully supported and endorsed by the government. We play a good game now on making them unforgivable and such but if we don't look into them deeper, how do we know what we can be capable of. We live in times of war, victory may only be one discovery away."

"And our founder didn't believe in wasting test subjects, he wouldn't pick anyone off the street to perform curses on them. As soon as he figured out that higher threshold individuals were needed, he started practicing on himself and other such people. No one can tell you how painful it is, only when you feel it you will know. He thought the best way to know was to feel."

Tarragon's right hand grabbed the sofa hard to stop himself from reacting in a bad manner. His knuckles slowly turning ice white from the tension in his fingers. He looked across to Alys with a look of questioning, was she being serious, keeping on with the subject when he'd tried to change it.

"Alys, please." He begged her. He couldn't take much more. He didn't like what he'd seen, and he knew Alys wouldn't interested in it either. He looked back out the window, still clutching the chair in his hand.

Seeing Tarragon's genuine distress, the witch silently snapped at herself for being an idiot. He was getting more and more upset bu this topic of conversation. She should have noticed but she had been so caught in the telling of it... Shaking hr head, she said "Okay, changing topic now." Reaching into her bag, she took out a chocolate cauldron and tossed it his way, knowing he would catch it without any trouble.

"I read about the Potter-Krum... something in the paper, do you think we'll win this year?"

Tarragon caught the cauldron with his free hand, still not trusting himself with his right hand. He laid the cauldron on the arm of the chair, not particually hungry after the conversation. He contemplated her question.

"Now that depends on whether you want an honest or bias opinion. Reality would say the Brits will win again this year, but then you look and we have the three brothers in the German team. Though in saying that, they have never played together competitively. I really don't know, would be my honest answer, but Germany would be my bias one!"

He smiled to her. He knew she'd ask about what had happened one day, but that day needed to wait until he had more control of his emotions. Something he didn't have right now.

"What about you?"

"Are you kidding, the Tregorch triplets have this game won and celebrated," the witch said with a smile. Tarragon might be all analytical about the game but Alys' role in Quidditch was limited to simply that of a fan. "And it's being held in Dresden this year, right? So if we lose on our own turf, the team is going to be pelted with rotten vegetables.... at best."

The blonde made a face at the thought of the rotten vegetables as her stomach churned uneasily once again. Maybe she would have to see the medic one of these days after all. The blonde couldn't take much more of this.

Gazing out the window, the witch noticed that while they had been talking, it had started to snow. Even warm in her common room, the girl shivered. "How do even fly in such weather?" she asked curiously, noting his mud and snow splattered boots.

"I like Quidditch, if I want to make any team I have to learn to play all weather!" He replied simply. "Besides, after a while the snow just makes you feel numb with the cold and you begin not to notice it so much. And then after the first time of this happening you tend to get used to the cold."

He relaxed back into his chair now the conversation had changed.

"I think you should try out next year if we can get a team going. As cute a cheerleader you'd make, you'd look much better walking out on the pitch beside me."

Tarragon knew Alys could be an amazing flyer, and hoped very much she'd join the team, but he also knew she'd more likely be on the side lines cheering.

Not really up to uncurling herself form the armchair to kick him, Alys picked up a cushion and threw it at his face. And, knowing her perfect aim, it missed the boy by a good foot to land safely behind his chair. Oh well, at least the point had been made.

"Just like you would look cute wearing pink dress robes," she retorted with a scowl. Alys knew she would never try out for the team, she just wasn't that good a flyer. And if truth be told, she wasn't even interested in improving her skills enough to be a part of the team. No, watching suited her fine.

"I don't know about the team, though I would be willing to take up ice skating. Seems more stress free, no matches, no competition. I probably wouldn't be able to handle being in a competition, let alone something as big as Quidditch."

"You could have all the guys you wanted as well though Alys, it makes a person more attractive, or so I've been told anyway." He paused, deciding whether to tell Alys what had happened to him that day. "When I was practicing earlier by myself I heard a couple of girls giggling down below. I didn't think anything of it, assuming it was yourself and Zara just come to pester me whilst I was trying to work. I continued with my drills, deciding I'd talk to who I thought was you, later. When I'd finished everything I came back down from the flying and headed to the box to put the Snitch away. I planned to say hi, and put the box back where... i found it. When I looked up from the box, there were the two girls, giggling yet again. They told me I was an 'amazing flyer' and then told me there names. All the while I was stood there frowning at them, which lead to more giggles!"

Tarragon paused for a moment. He was confused with what had happened.

"Why do girls do that?"

"Girls don't," Alys shot back in an annoyed tone. "Only empty headed fairies do. Don't go around thinking all girls swoon at the sight of a boy on a broomstick Tarragon. And from all the giggling, I can't imagine they'd be great conversationalists." Pushing her fringe out of her eyes the girl gazed darkly out the window to the Quidditch pitch she couldn't see. If she found out who those two were, she and Zara would have to teach them some self respect.

"Care to tell me their names?" she asked, looking back at her housemate.

Tarragon was quite taken aback from Alys' reaction, had he said something wrong? He frowned at Alys.

"So they were fairies, transformed into people?" He asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "I didn't know they could do that" Where did you find that out?"

He watched Alys rearrange her hair unnecessarily, but thought better than to comment on it. She was looking out towards the Quidditch pitch.

"I think one of them said their name was Emily, and the other one... Grace? I might be wrong, but I think they were from Geshick as well. I really don't know, why does that matter?"

He felt Alys was annoyed at him, maybe it would have been better not to ask after all!

"Geschik huh," the witch nodded thoughtfully before taking in the rest of this statement. Turning to face him, the girl tried to explain without the annoyance in her voice.

"No, they weren't real fairies, you know, we just call stupid people fairies because fairies are simple and only used for decoration. What I meant was, those girls were just being silly. Think on it, if they have time to hang around the pitch in freezing weather all the time just to watch someone practice drills, they mustn't have had a lot to do. " Alys stopped, unsure how to put it.

"Some girls are just silly, just like some guys are stupid. Its not a girl or boy thing, its just a people ting."

Tarragon didn't like the way Alys was talking about the other girls, she'd never met them for and was making assumptions about them already. He bit his tongue though, Alys' tone had very much changed since he mentioned, but he couldn't put a finger on why.

"Okay, okay!" He held up his hands mockingly, "No Quidditch for Alys!"

He eyed her suspicious, whilst unwrapping his nearly forgotten chocolate cauldron and eating it all at once.

"I don't mind Quiddittch," Alys explained exasperatedly. Why did boys never understand anything? If Zara was here, she would instantly understand what Alys meant. "Its good fun and I rather like some of our teams and feel passionately about them. Its just the playing part I'm not so comfortable with. I'd gladly attend all the matches but I won't get on a broom only to be bludgeoned by a Bludger."

Noticing him eat the candy she had tossed him earlier, the witch reached into her bag again to get one for herself. Only chocolate and some of the fruits Zara nabbed from the kitchen for her helped her cramps nowadays. Taking a bit of the chocolate, the witch closed her eyes, enjoying the taste of it.

"I get it, I get it! You'll come watch me when I play, that's fine!" He smiled at her. "Though minus the giggling because it's really off putting when I am flying."

He looked across as Alys ate her chocolate, her body relaxing from her tension. He put it down to the conversation agitating her and didn't say anything more.

"I take it this means you won't accompany me one night then? But you'll accompany me to the frozen lake as much as it pleases me, if not more?" He asked, already knowing the answer. "You enjoyed the other night, down at the lake right, and the flowers, that was all alright? It was enough, for someone's birthday? I'm not really any good at these things!"

A soft smile appeared on the witch's face at the mention of ice skating on the lake. She had been meaning to go back and practice some more but had been too unwell too. The first chance she got, she would be back on the ice, skating to her heart's content. And hopefully not breaking her bones on the hard ice.

"Now ice skating, we can go whenever we want," the witch grinned. "But not this week," she added hastily. Unwilling to tell him about her health, she said ""We have too much to study for the finals."

"Study, study, study! How many times must I tell you that they aren't important exams? Years five and seven is when you should worry!" He couldn't help telling her she was potentially wasting her time, but she probably wanted to ace the exams anyway.

"Though saying that, I should probably look through DA again, I don't think I have totally got the concept of the subject. I don't like being in the room, and I don't like reading about it." He sighed, reliving the last lesson, before shaking his head. "Have you practiced defence yet?"