Foray into the Unknown

Uh oh. Why did the air suddenly scent of uh.......gang-bang?

Because that's how Rika felt right now. Surrounded by entirely unfriendly people, with the leader staring into her face. Like a helpless kitten cornered in an alley. Cornered in an alley.......... Rika shook off the thought, the remembrance. Now was not the time to be sucked into old memories.

The corridor was empty. Why, oh why, was it empty again? Rika resisted the urge to gulp audibly.

But of course she knew what she wanted to do right now. She wanted to raise her bony fist and plow it straight at Henrietta Finch's nose, and then hear the satisfying crack. But that was unfortunately not plausible. So she forced herself to take a deep, somewhat shaky breath and looked at Finch again, "Look, I'm sorry. Really. I don't know what I did to piss you off, but I'm just here to study and then get out of this place as soon as possible. I'll keep out of your way, and you can keep out of mine. Alright?" She turned around and attempted to sidestep the girl in front of her, Belinda, Leslie- whatever. This place was starting to stifle her.

Brenda groaned. And just when I thought you were growing a backbone too.

Belinda and Leslie, while formidable looking, were terrified of Henri, as she was the one in Hogwarts who knew their deepest, most embarrassing and shameful secrets. As long as the Ravenclaw girl looked like she was mad and raring to ruin someone's life, the girls would remain perfectly obedient to her wishes.

"Look, girlie, you've made the first mistake by coming in and trying to draw as much attention to yourself as possible. I sort of rock the whole transfer student thing, and I don't plan on losing it to some schizo, alright?"

With that, she smiled a wide, sweet smile. "But I do hope we can try to become friends."

Rika stared into Henrietta's face. And stared and stared.

God, she didn't believe that she was getting so terrified of some.....some...Wannabe teen-queen?, supplied Brenda. Yes, thank you. She responded inside her head for a change. The girl was getting on her ass, because...because..she wanted to be popular?

Rika started snickering. Aloud. It felt wonderfully freeing, and she could worry about the consequences later.

"Friends....right..." Rika smiled, sort of. The amusement was still leaking out at the corners though. Admission on Henrietta's part that Rika was 'stealing her limelight' -Rika snickered again, she really couldn't help it- had helped to sort of throw Henrietta Finch off the 'Dark Queen' pedestal that Rika had mentally placed her on. She was a witch yes, but at the end of the day, an insecure teen. And that reassured Rika immensely. So she smiled further, "So what say about leading me to the Ravenclaw dorms?

Of course, she automatically placed her hands inside her robe pockets too. Never hurt to be too careful.

The girl giggled but Henri's expression remained unchanged, even if something inside her grated, and her instincts called for blood. The problem with Henri is her meddling looked so without malice that she seemed almost like a sociopath. But there were times her emotions suddenly spiked. Darkness would suddenly consume her soul. Her heart would go black, her vision would go red, and then she would find herself having to rip up inanimate objects to keep those feelings from becoming the cause of real physical harm to someone else.

The girl was now playing her game, even if she had knocked Henri off her footing ever so slightly - Okay. To be honest, this was the worst she had been shaken since she had begun attending Hogwarts, but she was never one to shy from a challenge.

Still, now they were going to fake friends route. Which could work. But Henri always liked to get the last laugh.

She waved off her cronies and looked straight at the new girl, a smile still plastered on her face. And suddenly it slid off, revealing, for a moment, a very dark, very threatening expression. "Walk there yourself."

She smiled and began to flounce away with Belinda and Leslie, calling back to Erika, "See you in class!"

Throughout the course of her life, Rika Dixon had experienced a variety of emotions regarding other people.

Love of course, for her mother and elder sister. Unease, neutrality and mild dislike for most of the people around her. Fear and apprehension, for every magical being that crossed her path. But Rika never experienced strong negative emotions. She was patient, she could endure a lot, and most of all, she knew what it felt like to be judged, to be a target for hate and dislike. So she avoided those emotions as much as possible.

But, as Henrietta Finch stared at her and mouthed those smooth words: "Walk there yourself." Rika waited, for that slight spike of fear to course through her. No, what she felt was an emotion, which simmered and bubbled and made the wand in her pocket vibrate slightly. Anger.

Henrietta Finch had come very, very close to upsetting her twin, Reid Dixon, from the cherished, well-deserved label of 'The person Erika Dixon hates most'. It was a tumultuous achievement.

Please, please tell me we're going to get back at her. Brenda was begging. She didn't beg very often.

Rika watched Finch flounce away, and her normally amiable mouth twisted into a scowl. "Yes Bren. I think we will."