Dancing on the Moving Staircase ((Bee))

[Charles Driscoll H7]

YES!

Charles was grinning like an idiot. He knew that it was a small newspaper; that very few people would probably be interested at looking at the picture, but the fact remained; one of the pictures he had taken was in a newspaper! Charles hadn’t been this happy in a long time. He was glad that somebody thought he was good, and that the past years of trying to get better at taking photos were finally paying off! He wasn't just fooling around! One day he was going to take courses and become a professional, maybe even travel around the world taking photos of exotic places and all kinds of different people! Think of that! The first thought that had come to mind after he had opened the envelope containing a copy of this morning's The Pensieve was "I have to show this to Mary". He knew that she would be as excited as him. She had encouraged him and told him she really liked his photos, and he wanted to show her that she wasn't the only one who thought so. The only problem was where could he find her? He knew she wasn't in the Student Lounge as it was quite early; she might be in her common room. He had no idea where the Slytherin common rooms were except that they were somewhere in the Dungeons, so he ran out of the Owlery excitedly and started running helter-skelter down the stairs to locate his friend.

Soon he came to an empty corridor. There was no-one about so he jumped up and down pumping his fists in the air, the rush of adrenaline in his veins filling him with energy. He knew he would look really stupid if anyone saw him, but at the moment he didn’t really care. He was on cloud nine! Everything was just perfect! Charles did a little twirl and then slid down the length of the next staircase he came to. The next flight of stairs he decided to jump down, taking two stairs at a time. He forgot in his excitement that that was a very unwise thing to do on a staircase that you didn't know at Hogwarts. Just as he was jumping onto the last stair the staircase swerved to the left, increasing Charles' momentum and he was thrown to the ground a short distance from the bottom stair. The newspaper went flying out of his hand and landed on the ground its pages separated from each other. Charles felt a strange sickening sensation in his ankle as he landed on it and sprained it, a sharp pain accompanying the twist causing him to yelp in pain. "Owww!" he moaned as he tried to move and reach for his wand. It had flown out of his robes when he fallen down. The pain sent an electric impulse to his brain and Charles closed his eyes in an attempt to ignore it. Oh, how he hoped someone kind would show up and help him! This would be the perfect chance of a Slytherin to pick on him right now, if one of them showed up he was in for it. He suddenly realised he didn’t even know if he was near their common room. He had no idea what floor he was in or which part of the school, he had taken a few turns right and left as he descended the stairs, and that was all he knew. He was beginning to feel dizzy and he closed his eyes again. He hoped someone would find him soon.

[thieflord84]

Bridget walked down the halls, her feet thudding heavily. She wasn't in the best of moods today. She had just gotten in a terrible fight with one of her friends. Or one of the people she had thought were her friends. Her mind was racing madly, she wasn't sure who she could trust anymore. She turned a corner and then another, letting her feet take her away. I need to get out of here! There must be somewhere I can go where I can relax... Bee's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a strange noise. It sounded like some sort of clattering; wood against wood perhaps. She frowned, what could be making that sound?

She rounded a corner and came to the staircase. She had thought that the odd sound was coming from over here. She looked around in confusion; she couldn't see anything that looked out of the ordinary. She started walking down the staircase, being careful to jump the trick steps. She was about halfway down when she saw a figure on the ground a few floors down. Did someone fall? The thought scared Bee; she picked up her pace. Even if it was a Slytherin she would go see if they were alright. She skipped down the last few steps to the figure and skidded to a halt in front of the boy. It was a Hufflepuff boy at that. She was relieved that it wasn't a Slytherin after all. She hovered above the boy, unsure what to do.

"Are you alright?" She asked with worry. She knelt down near him and looked at him. Nothing seemed to be to bad; he just seemed to be in pain. Bee looked around hopelessly and saw a piece of wood laying a few steps away. She took it to be the boy's wand. She whipped out her own. "Is anything broken?"

[Charles Driscoll H7]

"I don’t think so," mumbled Charles, whose face was as white as a sheet as all the blood had drained from it. He tried to smile at the girl who looked rather concerned and was definitely not a Slytherin, or at least looked too kind to be one. The smile of relief however ended up as a grimace as he looked at his foot. He slipped his shoe off and saw that it was beginning to swell and had gone all black and blue. "No, nothing's broken I think," he said, taking a deep breath between every two words, "don’t know if I can stand on it just yet though."

Charles closed his eyes for a minute until the pain began to subside, then opened them again and looked back at the girl. "Do you have any idea if there's anything we can do? I don’t know the first thing about healing charms really," he said. "But I don’t think its anything serious," he said, trying not to move his foot and edging towards the wall so he could lean against it and look at the girl properly. "Do you know what muggles would do in a case like this? A sprained ankle is a sprained ankle, right?" he said hopefully.

[thieflord84]

Bee smiled in relief as the boy said it was nothing terrible. He looked about her year, but she wasn't sure who he was. By the crest on his robes he was in Hufflepuff; so that explained why she didn't know him. Bee didn't have many acquaintances in Hufflepuff. She closed her eyes when the boy took off his shoe. His ankle looked as if it was swelling and it was black and blue. Not the prettiest sight in the world. She opened her eyes again to make sure what she saw was still there and then looked at the boy's pained face that was chalk white. She found him inching toward the railing, she guessed that he would need support if he was planning on standing up. When he asked what muggles do, she smiled. Bee, of all people, would know since she is a muggle born.

"I don't know much about healing charms either, but I do know muggle tactics. Muggles would usually tie it up tightly in cloth. The only problem is I don't have any cloth. Otherwise, you would just have to avoid putting weight on that ankle." She pulled her bag toward her, which was laying on the ground where she had dropped it, and searched it's contents. She found a hair ribbon that was very thick and long, considering her blonde hair was about waist length. "Maybe this would work out, if we could get it tied on tight enough." She said with a look at the boy. She wasn't sure if he would like her putting it on his ankle.

[Charles Driscoll H7]

"Oh, please go ahead," said Charles. He knew the girl from somewhere… oh yes; she was in his Muggle Studies class! "I'm Charlie by the way," he said. "I forgot that staircase is one of the rotating ones, my mind was on something else and I got carried away. Thanks for helping me," he said, trying to smile. He was still in pain but at least it was bearable, and maybe if Bridget managed to get the bandage around his foot they could get to the Hospital Wing so Madam Pomfrey could take a look at it.