occupying time//OPEN

Studying wasn’t the only reason that Vincent tended to be off by himself a lot. He really wasn’t a very sociable person. In fact, it would be correct to assume that he was just downright awkward. He really didn’t know how to act in most social situations and he was just so much more comfortable by himself, where he wouldn’t have to worry about how to act or what to say. And most of all, he didn’t really have to worry about someone judging him and what they were thinking about him. This was something that occupied Vincent’s thoughts quite a lot. He had grown to be quite paranoid after he had been bitten – always worrying about if he was accidentally giving himself away and wondering if someone had caught on.

Vincent was finished with classes, but he didn’t really feel like walking all the way back up to the Ravenclaw common room, so he opted to just take a sit on one of the wooden benches that were scattered around the hallways at Hogwarts. He was on the second floor, in a small alcove leading to where a lot of the classrooms were located. People were gradually starting to clear out of the hallways since most of the day’s classes were pretty much over.

He scooted his bag full of books closer to him and opened the flap, trying to decide on a book to start studying. Vincent had to magically expand the bag because he could never decide on just a few books to carry around with him – yep, Ravenclaw was definitely right house for him. He slipped back a potions book that specialized in healing potions and flipped it open. Leaning his head against the stone wall, he gradually began flipping through it.

Rachel was running down the hall. She had to get to the bathroom. Sadly, she did not know where the closest one was. As she ran she had her hand over her mouth. She didn’t want anyone to see. Not very many people knew the truth about her and she didn’t want anyone to see. As she ran she was being rather clumsy, as most people are when they are in a hurry, and dropped her bag. This created a sad series of events that caused her to slip on the bag, fly through the air and crash in front of some poor soul on a bench. She didn’t scream, it wasn’t like Rachel to scream, but she gasped loudly and her hands flew immediately to her left knee.

Why had this happened? Rachel wasn’t really one about flaunting it, but she had a taste for blood. Sadly, being a vampire, it was the only thing she really enjoyed consuming. She had been simply sitting in transfiguration when some stupid student had cut themselves on the glass mirror they were creating. The blood started to poor from the finger of the student and, luckily, the teacher gave Rachel a startled look. Rachel took this as permission to leave and began running down the hall. She had only been a vampire for a little over a year; simple pricks of the finger still affected her.

As she clutched her knee on the hallway floor she looked up and the guy on the bench. “I am so sorry!” She said to him. Her voice was strained and pain flickered in her eyes.

As Vincent flipped through this particular potions book, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was a future in the field for him. He felt skeptical in even trying. It had been driven into his brain by certain members of his family ever since he got his Hogwarts letter that he wasn’t good enough. It didn’t even depend on what it was. He just wasn’t good enough when it came to…anything. It didn’t matter how many supportive people he had around him currently; he just couldn’t help but still believe what his family believed about him. He chewed on his lip as he continued to ponder about his future. Vincent was a seventh year and the term was coming to an end. He needed to make a decision about a career quickly. Who would hire him, though? Who in their right mind would hire him?

He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts about the future that he almost didn’t notice a girl tumble right in front of him. He had just enough time to pull his legs out of her way. Immediately feeling bad that he didn’t even try to catch her, he put his book to the side. “Ah…no, no, it’s alright,” he said, somewhat taken aback that she had apologized for falling. He moved forward and snatched up her bag before running to her side. “Um…are you okay?” he asked, even though it was quite obvious that she wasn’t. He cringed at his own foolishness. “I mean…sorry,” he said, lowering his head as he glanced at her knee that she was holding,”Is it bad?”

Rachel reached a hand up to her lip, it was bleeding, and she frowned even more. She shook her head, "It actually hurts really bad, I must have knocked it into the ground or something..." she tried to form a small smile and her eyes pleaded, "Could you possibly help me up?" Was there anything more embarrassing than asking a boy for help? She always wanted to be seen as strong an independent. Now she finds someone she has never met before and reveals herself in a sickeningly vulnerable position. A part of her wanted to throw up, another part couldn't stop licking her own lip.

She was disgusted with herself as she adjusted in order to have better leverage. As soon as her leg stopped hurting she wouldn't make a be-line for the restroom and hopefully never run into this boy again. It was embarrassing enough that she had tripped, but it'd be even more embarrassing if she vomited on the floor.

Vincent’s eyes followed the girl’s hand as she brought it to her lip. He cringed slightly when he noticed the blood. Wow, she must have fallen pretty hard. It was then that her scent really hit him. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly, distracted by the strange scent. It smelled somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. All he knew for sure was that it definitely wasn’t human. His face jerked up to look her in the eyes when she spoke up once again, though. “O – oh, right, sorry,” he said, running a hand through his hair as he stood up. He hesitated, but extended his hand to her. Vincent absolutely hated any sort of physical contact, even if it was something as small as the touch of a hand, but he wasn’t about to just abandon the girl.

He tilted his head to the side. Vincent wanted to release her, but she looked a little wobbly, so he was afraid to. “Er…you should probably go to the nurse… can you walk?” he asked, eyeing her carefully.

He was a nice looking guy. But he kept making a face at her, something like disgust but not quite. He looked distracted more than anything. It was a little confusing when he suddenly came back to the present and stood up to extend a hand to her. She raised her hand up and clasped his, and that's when she realized that something was weird about him as well. Something was different.

"Thanks." She muttered as he lifted her to her feet. Searing pain went through her leg and she wobbled a little on the spot. He seemed to notice because he didn't let go of her hand just yet. She felt sick still and hoped she wouldn't reveal herself in this hallway. There was blood on her mind, blood on her lip and hopefully there wasn't any on her knee as well. She looked up into his eyes, he was about a foot taller than her. "

Yeah... well," She didn't want to make this boy walk her all the way to the Hospital Wing. She put a big smile on her face, a fake one obviously, "yeah. I think I can make it!" She tried to sound optimistic.