Damsal in Destruction

Her sister...

Piper's day had been going bad enough already. She had gotten two letters from home. One, from her grandmother, basically said to f*ck off and that Piper owed her money. The other was from her little brother Jerris. Jerris was sick... and her white trash grandmother was not doing anything about it. Jerris claimed he was fine, that it was nothing, but his school nurse drove him home one day, saying he had been coughing so bad other class rooms were complaining. Piper had told Renny and Renny had gotten all frazzled and said there was nothing she could do but she would do her best.

"Your best, Renny?! I don't care how hard you try, he just needs to get better."

"Piper... Stop making so dramatic. You're making it about yourself."

Piper was still reeling. She knew she was not making it about herself. She almost cried when she had received that letter. She was being dramatic because Jerris was the one person she had always loved unconditionally. Her one ally. Her best friend. She could not lose Jerris but what could she do? No, Renny could do something... but she wasn't going to.

So she had stuck a lollipop in her mouth and went to the common room. Some slimy sixth year had trapped her on the couch and had been saying some pretty awful things. Now he resembled a boy less and looked more kin to a slug. And his defining male features... they would be sore for some time. Her boot had seen to that.

During her last class, her professor had singled her out when he knew she was having trouble doing the task. She had refused and they had made some quips which led her to throwing the nearest breakable object against the wall. Three weeks of detention with the warthog was going to be splendid.

It was dark and she was done. Outside, she was bent on smoking her way through a few cigarettes. Renny had found her, as she always did. Piper did not let her speak, just turned and began screaming at her sister. "I HATE YOU! LET ME LIVE MY OWN GOD DAMNED LIFE! I'M SICK OF IT! SICK OF EVERYTHING! IF I HAVE TO WATCH MY OWN BACK AND I HAVE TO PROTECT MYSELF YOU CAN'T KEEP ACTING LIKE MY MOM, CAUSE YOUR NOT!"

Piper could still see the pitied look in Renny's eyes as she said, "Piper... One day you'll stop being so selfish."

Someone was going to die.

Piper stomped into the castle, livid. She headed off for the kitchens, because it was the first place she thought of. She looked terrifying, in a black leather jacket, black tights, black boots. The elves gather around her but she stomped over and flipped over a serving tray. Amid terrified squeals from the elves, Piper threw dishes and mugs, flipped chairs and tables, broke stools, stomped on platters. She was sick of being called selfish. If she didn't watch out for herself, no one would. Someone had to pay, and she had decided it was the kitchen.

"One more time, just to confirm, so that I have it on record."
"M-m-master Wake! Please! We need to hurry! "
"Winky, I need you to take a deep breath and explain to me what's happening."
"V-v-very well sir... we was working ever so peacefully when a young lady entered the kitchen. We assumed that she was angry, so we offered her some tea but then she..." the house-elf began to moan and whimper, clutching at a swelling bruise on her crown. Her bat-like ears shook slightly as James stood up, the quill having finished its recording. He set a brisk pace down the corridor, heading over to the portrait with the fruit bowl. He was not a fan of this entrance, but seeing as he was probably dealing with another tantrum driven brat, he would prefer to use the subtle means of entry.

Just as the elf had described, a girl seemed to be wrecking the place. From the look of things, she had used the same entrance as he had. She seemed to be either mad, or deranged. Either way, it was James' job to save the house elves from further torture at her hands. They lived a miserable enough life as it was. James momentarily noted to check in on a few nutcases he did know about before taking a break. He took out his wand as she went wildly around, over turning china and trays.
"Excuse me, Miss. I need to ask you to calm down." If she turned with her wand raised, and a crazed look in her eye, she would be hitting the threshold of James' empathy. A petrificus totalus was already forming at the curl of his tongue.

Piper lost track of time, place, self. The house elves were no more than blurs to her, the only real sounds were sounds of crashing and dishes, but this was all white noise. Above that, she heard her beating heart, beating heavily in her ears. But over that all she could see Renny's pitying look, her words, unfairly calling Piper selfish.

Renny did not know selfish. If she saw her now and called her selfish, now that would be reasonable. But the only crime she had committed was caring for her brother. This was killing her, slowly but surely. Without this release, she would explode.

A voice stopped her and she whipped around, her hand flying for her pocket but at the sight of a boy she stopped. Pfft. No one here could make her do anything. She scoffed and waved a hand. " Do yourself a favor and get out of here." She gave him a dangerous look. "I'm not in the mood to be messed with."

"I am afraid I must insist. If I left now, it would be a little bit unfair to those who rely upon these elves for their daily meals. " James Wake considered attacking now, but this was probably not a great idea. In the rules he had taken care to memorize, there was a certain clause that lead to many a problem. He would need to be attacked first in order to do anything with his magic. This, of course left many options open for him, but none of them would be looked kindly upon by the rest of the school.
Wait- have negotiations broken down yet?
Hope so... if she attacks now, all that needs to be done can be said in two words.

James watched the girl carefully, following each of her movements, wand aimed at her as her hand wandered over her pocket. From her glare, James found it to be a reasonable assumption that she was not about to give up her tantrum. GREAT.

Cheesecake!

"Ooooh, you're so selfless," she said, sneering at him. She reached over and picked up a huge wooden spoon and began to toss it up in the air, lowering her wand as she turned her eyes to the spinning of the spoon as it hovered over her palm. The elves were slowly but surely inching away, brushing glass and wood and porcelain away as they did, hiding behind various cupboards and stools, desperate to escape the storming, tempestuous blonde.

She chewed her lip and slowly raised her dark gaze to the boy, who came in the name of "goodness". "You don't care about yourself, at all, huh? Just the defenseless little elves. So are you an elf rights activist? Hmm? Here to defend them against big bad evil doers like myself?" She laughed, knowing she was digging a hole for herself, and yet she had no plans to put down the shovel. "Damn, everyone is just the picture of perfection, what ever will I do in this world?" The sarcastic tone had not left.

Oh GREAT. A judger. We know plenty of those kinds, eh?
Wait, where did "caring for elves" come from? We're just trying to keep the food on the tables!
James considered correcting the girl and her selfish assumptions for his reasons. For one thing, it was his JOB to ensure that incidents like this were isolated and contained before it affected the student population as a whole. For another, James truly despised the type of kid who selfishly acts in manners that interfere with the daily lives of others. If one's life truly sucked, perhaps they would know better than to ruin another's life. In the scheme of things, all beings were equal. Life is an equal opportunity hunter, after all.
See, James DOES take after me!

James waited patiently for her to attack. Even if her ideas about "perfection" irked him. If all people were perfect, then what the hell were they doing in here? Nothing is perfect, and this bitter girl, for now it was quite apparent, had only eyes on herself. GREAT.
James would need to get her to snap to attention somehow. Picking a spell that would not harm the girl, James flicked his wand at the spoon, a magical jolt causing the wooden spoon to burst into flames.
"If I may direct your attention to the damage you've caused..." James began...

She began to sneer at the boy when the spoon she was holding burst into flames. She dropped it in surprise and pulled her wand, a stunning spell shooting out of her wand involunatrily. Her particular wand had always been rather sensitive to her emotions.

"What the hell, man?!" She yelled. She doused the spoon and picked it up, brandishing it at him with the other arm. "What are you trying to do? Mind your own damn business, okay? You're messing with the wrong girl on the wrong day."

(sorry about the dreadful word count. Loooooooong day)

"And you are messing with innocent elves on a perfectly fine day. I am sure that they would mind if you went around spasming and cursing for a good while," James replied in kind, watching as a stray stunning spell hit a wayward House Elf. He shook his head and cast a counter curse that caused the little thing to twitch and groan as it struggled to regain sensation in its limbs. He watched, still remaining as calm as the ocean breeze, as she dowsed her wooden spoon. Waste of a spoon, really. But at he had finally attracted her undivided attention.

Perhaps there would be duel. Which would be grand. They would take it out to the courtyard, however.
The elves, unlike this girl, had a role to play in the daily lives of over a thousand others. They would need the kitchen in order to play their part. Their kitchen, and no crazy blonde ruining it all around them. All he would have to do is make the suggestion. But that would be foolhardy.
Perhaps they would manage to get this to work out without resorting to dueling. The girl was clearly in a poor emotional state, and there was no limit to the spells she could cast. And while James was well experienced in combat, he doubted that this girl would limit herself to legal spells in the case of another mental breakdown.
So, thus far, Negotiations were still at the forefront of his assault.

Piper wanted to yell, to take out all her anger and frustration. She wanted to break something, not calmly be talked down and talk things out. Piper did not talk things out. Too long she had let everything stew, pretended to let it all go, pretended she was a normal teen girl and that her family were not monsters and had to deal with living in a shadow of perfection that made her look like she was irrationally screwed up because if Renny was okay she should be too... She was done.

And this boy... Was not... helping.

She started to walk away but his words cut through her reason and she whipped around, drawing her wand and pointing it at the boy while the remaining elves dove for cover. "I said... Leave me ALONE!" she bellowed.

"Expelliarmus" the boy flicked his wand in response. "NEVER point a wand at me," he replied, still calm, still cold, and still calculating the numerous ways she could use the environment around them to attack him. He now stood in a fighting stance. His patience was running short. The elves would only have one hour at this rate to prepare a proper meal. James silently lamented this fact- eating was a pleasure he rarely partook in. Regardless, this girl was a problem. One that would have to be taken care of.
"If you give up and come with me, perhaps I won't need to inform the Headmaster of this... destruction."