Catch The Snitch

The chatter and laughter echoed through the halls as a batch of sixth years exited their Transfiguration lesson. Some were excitedly discussing the lesson from the day, but most were just excited that the time for a short break had rolled around in their class schedules. Laguna was one of those who was thrilled to have a break whether it was a short one or not. He took the opportunity to strut out toward the courtyard happily among some of his peers. It was just a short walk before he'd arrived at the doorway to the courtyard and he was the first to burst through the doors and breath in the fresh air.

A boyish grin crept onto his face as he recognized that there was a new chill in the air that had crept up on them over the last couple of weeks. He scanned the courtyard and his heart jumped happily. One of his favorite seasons had arrived, winter being the other. It never disappointed and he was beaming as he realized that there was suddenly small traces of fall decor appearing in the courtyard...and that would just lead to more and more as the season progressed. "Finally fall has rolled around..." He said to nobody in particular as he took in the few pumpkins around the corners of the courtyard and the scattered colors of orange, red, and yellow appearing on the trees.

"Imagine that, Lestrange staring off into space, talking to himself," Nautica scoffed as she walked down the hall, "You act like the seasons aren't inevitable and that fall wouldn't come back," she looked him over, "Though I'm surprised you don't like winter more with who your family is," she scoffed, shaking her head, "Close enough. Just like you getting Gryffindor instead of Slytherin right?" She sneered a bit.
"Oh come on, Anderson, better not mess with him in case his parents find out," one of the other students with her snorted, but then another decided to point out something.
"Aren't you the only one of your family in Slytherin?"
Nautica gave them a look that had them quickly walking away to avoid whatever wrathful reaction they knew was coming for calling her out on her own bs. She huffed and crossed her arms, glowering at the other giggling Slyterins that followed the retreating student.
"Whatever," she grouched, "At least my family isn't disappointed," she scoffed, looking back over at Laguna, glaring again, "Why are you just staring out the window talking to yourself? It makes you seem like a lunatic," she muttered, annoyed at the turn of the conversation.

Laguna cringed upon the sound of that voice, cutting through the air like jagged knife. Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. But he was already rolling his eyes as she spoke and it was inevitable that he would not withstand the urge to respond to her taunts. He definitely was never going to let her know that his favorite season was actually winter, not after that remark.

The next bit stung a little more than the comments about the seasons. He felt his cheeks burn as she made the comment about not getting into Slytherin. It was a particularly sore spot for him. It was more a natural reaction than anything, but his next words slipped out before he could help it, "At least my family cares enough about me to be disappointed, yours are too fixated on your sister to be bothered by your house placement."

Even if they were not friends, Laguna spent enough time around Nautica that he could see the thirst to prove herself in comparison with her older sibling. "I am going outside to enjoy the fresh air, thank you. And I really don't care what you think I seem like. Why would I?"

Nautica sucked her teeth at his initial response before giving a scoffing laugh, "Yeah, that's what happens when there's at least one person in the family that's not a disappointment, huh? Oh but you wouldn't know, you're an only child. Must be a really miserable, lonely time at home, huh?" she gave him a look over, "Especially when your parents don't seem to even like you that much?" she scoffed again, though there was some kind of a look of thought as she said it, but she continued, "And if you didn't care what people thought, you wouldn't respond," she said.

"Nautica," a voice cut across the space like a whip and she straightened, turning to see Rhysln a few feet behind them, "Apologize. You are better than these petty comments, stop trying to rise to the stereotypes of your house. Do better," she chided before walking away.

Nautica gave a huff, grumbling about "Ordering around" and "not my mother" before looking at Laguna with a "Whatever." Her usual somewhat biting tongue had worsened since her sister returned as an auror-in-training. Something about it had really set her off. Not that she'd been necessarily polite before, but she hadn't really tried singling people out like she had just now, "What do you even like about this weather? It's frigid and everything's slowly dying," she thrust her hand at the window.

His blood was boiling the longer Nautica went on. Inside his robe pocket he had reached for his wand, his knuckles turning white as she continued on about what a disappointment she was. He was going to teach her a lesson about running her mouth. Lucky for Nautica, and probably Laguna, as he really couldn't afford anymore detentions this week, they were interrupted.

Laguna smirked as suddenly the other Anderson sister appeared and lectured Nautica. This time, it took everything in him not to snicker at her huffy little comments toward Rhysln. "Yes, do better," he mocked as the older of the siblings disappeared from sight. It was wildly entertaining how the dynamics of the family operated. His grip on his wand loosened as she seemed to back down after Rhysln's interruption.

"It's peaceful. Everything quiets down and the air just feels...refreshing?" And he motioned to the trees, "I mean just look outside, the colors. It's inspiring. Besides, there is nothing like a warm drink while you just take it all in. I think the night sky looks more vibrant too." He shrugged. "Why don't you like it?"

When Laguna had made a mock of what Rhysln said, Nautica scowled at him but did as her sister bade and stopped. She had more or less been shamed by the call out. She looked outside as he motioned to the trees, listening to his take on things.

"It's cold...and a reminder of just how fleeting everything is," Nautica muttered, moving closer to the windows to look, focusing on the leaves on the ground, "It doesn't matter how pretty things are...how... vibrant... nothing lasts," she muttered, glancing in the direction her sister had gone, then looked back ahead, "It's more like an omen than anything. I know," she took a deep breath, "An absolutely bleak way to look at things, but am I wrong?" she gave a sort of weak smile as she glanced over at Laguna, "And I know, I know.... even within my own little perspective, I should see it as a means to make the most of life, but-" She sighed, "Whatever, doubt you actually want to hear all this," she muttered before stepping back.

"And she'll ask, so....I'm sorry," she muttered, crossing her arms. Her brows drew down and she moved back to the window, looking to the edge of the woods, "Hey... did you see that?" she murmured, squinting as she tried to look, "I just...saw something out there."

A brow perked as he listened to her. He hadn't expected an answer like that. In fact, that seemed more like an answer most people expected from him. People were full of surprises. "Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at things. Though it's also known as a time of harvest..." He motioned to the piles of pumpkins outside. Then he shrugged. He wasn't going to pretend to be some expert on symbolism of nature and he wasn't here to persuade Nautica Anderson to enjoy the change of the season. However, it was a pleasant surprise that she was actually speaking to him without taunts and mockery. Even if it was only when she was away from her Slytherin buddies.

"Did Nautica Anderson just apologize?" He couldn't hide the little smirk even if he'd wanted to do so. Though the fleeting moment was cut short when Nautica seemed to be looking out to the edge of the forest. "What? I didn't see anything...are you sure?"

Nautica waved off his comment about the apology, "Shut up, Lestrange," she muttered, "There's something there," she pointed and then with a bit more fervor as some bright colors flashed along the edge of the forest, "There's something there," she said again before looking at him, "Up for an adventure, Lestrange? Isn't the whole Gryffindor bit?" she smirked before turning and starting towards the nearest set of stairs, "Don't prove me wrong now, I'd hate to find out you were a coward, Lestrange!" she said with a bit of a taunt as she went, expecting him to follow. She didn't look back, fully expecting him to. She'd glance out the windows as she passed them, checking to see that the lights were still there, continuing once it'd been confirmed.

Outside, she glanced around to make sure there wasn't anyone around to stop her, before glancing back to see if Laguna followed her. Seeing he had, she smirked, "Knew you'd be up for it," she said before casting a disillusionment charm on herself, causing her to blend in with her surroundings, "Let's go!" she said before turning and starting towards the forest, where the colors still seem to dance and flash along the forest's edge. The closer they got, the further back the light seemed to be, like it was trying to goad them in further. She stopped on the forest's edge, dropping the charm, squinting, "Bloody thing, guess you can't expect it to just stay still," she muttered, looking to see where Laguna was.

The snicker escaped as she told him to shut up. "Never, Anderson." His blue eyes skimmed the edge of the woods, unsure what Nautica was talking about. "Sure you aren't seeing things? Maybe you're the luna--hey! Wait!" Of course, as much as she got on his nerves, she knew how to push buttons and get him to do what she wanted him to do. He was scrambling after her as soon as she said 'coward'. That was a challenge on its own. As he followed he could see lights as well now. "Okay fine, you're not completely insane."

Once she'd cast the charm on herself, he followed suit. "I'm coming," he replied. He had to speed up to keep up with her as she made her way toward the forest edge. Again, he'd follow her lead and drop the charm, scanning the woods and searching for a sign of whatever it was they were after. "Well, duh. I thought you were supposed to be smart." Without hesitation he started into the woods. He wanted to know what it was she'd seen and he wanted to prove that he was no coward. "Keep up, would you?"

Nautica swatted at his arm as he said the comment about being smart, "Shut. Up," she said again, stepping forward, "I wanted to see if I could get a pinpoint on its location, a sense of direction before just charging forward, silly me thinking you'd do the same," she muttered as she looked around, squinting as she tried to see if the light was coming from anywhere else, but it was only in front of them, "While I'm of course all for tracking this thing down, I do say we need to be cautious. There are plenty of things in these woods that would love to eat us for a light snack," she said, shaking her head.

They were a few minutes in before Nautica stopped as the lights seemed to stop as well. She looked around before pulling out her wand, "Lumos," she muttered, the end of her wand lighting up, "Where'd it go....?" she murmured before pointing at a burst of light over a hill, "Oh, that way," she said, going in that direction. When they'd reached the crest, she sighed a little, putting her hand on her waist, "Oh, well this is slightly more disappointing than I'd thought it'd be," she said as she looked around, seeing a collection of fairies and lumosfire, dancing around, light glinting off in every direction, "Interesting nonetheless I suppose, but not quite as interesting as I'd hoped," she sighed again.

She looked around before spotting something that the light was glinting off, "Is that... a mirror?" she murmured, walking down into the clearing, going down towards the mirror, perplexed.

He looked rather pleased to get the reaction out of her. "Better to explore for myself than wait around in a bush to see what's going on. I never really liked to sit around. What's the matter? Are you afraid you can't protect yourself out there?" He asked, continuing to push through the woods as he continued to talk. He chuckled as she talked about the creatures in the woods. "I spend a lot of time out here," he said quietly, the crunch of leaves and sticks light beneath his feet. They continued on, his eyes staying alert. Though he enjoyed it out here, that did not mean that there weren't dangers posed.

Laguna trailed behind her, following the light of her wand until they arrived to the spot. There was a sideways glanced at her and then he couldn't help but laugh a little. "Well, there you have it," he motioned. "We've solved the great mystery." He turned and looked around at where they were. They'd wandered a little deeper into the forest than he'd realized. "What were you hoping for?"

"I don't know," Nautica said, "Something... to get the heart racing I suppose. I'm dreadfully bored of late and feel like I'm sitting on my hands, though I suppose you have plenty of excitement wandering in the woods, eh?" she muttered as she approached the mirror. Her brows drew down as she looked at it, "What is a mirror doing here? It's not like it was just... misplaced," she looked around, trying to see if there was anything around that could explain the wayward mirror, but as she looked back at it, she jumped.

What was in the mirror was not the same reflection she'd seen a moment ago. There were still the glinting lights of fairies and lumosfire behind them, but she didn't look the same. She looked as though she were cast in shadow, her eyes glowing oddly and there was a wicked smile on her face. Something about the reflection was unnerving and she found herself stepping back, "You know what, Lestrange, I think I am going crazy, this mirror's playing tricks on me. Y-You look at it," she looked at him, not liking the cold sweat she felt on the back of her neck. She didn't want to look at it again, though she could swear she still felt the reflection staring at her.

"Well if you wanted that, all you had to do was say so. You can tag along with me one of these nights." He kind of scrunched up his face. Did he just really open the door for Nautica Anderson to join him on one of his adventures. "As a matter of fact, I do. Just last week I saw a herd of mooncalves," he said. He wasn't huge on magical creatures like some of his classmates, but they were still fascinating to see in the wild. "Really? The first mirror in sight and you're checking how you look?" There was a brief moment and then he moved closer in hopes that he could see how his hair looked.

"Don't mind if I do..." He reached moved into her spot and peeked down into the mirror. What he saw made him shudder. It wasn't this current version of himself, but one with dark rings under his eyes, long hair that fell messily to his shoulders, an eerie green light cast over his skin, which had paled considerably. He wore clothing that he thought looked familiar--and then he realized where the clothing was from...Azkaban. The reflection stared at him, his eyes looked to his arm, he shuddered and then stumbled backward, tripping over a tree root.

"Think you're funny, do you?" His fear turned quickly to anger as he turned his head on Nautica. He picked himself up from the ground and turned toward her. "Did you and your little friends think this was entertaining?"

Nautica hadn't had a chance to comment on his invitation before seeing her reflection, though she herself was a bit surprised, considering how awful she'd just been in the halls, "That wasn't why I looked," she said, when he said she'd been checking how she looked, but as he took his turn at it, she looked back at the fairies and lumosfire, trying to see if there was some explanation for why the reflection looked so different.

When stumbled back and tripped, she jumped again and looked at him, "As much as I find the idea that I could manage that," she pointed at the mirror, "Flattering, Laguna, I have nothing to do with it," she said simply, before looking towards the mirror as there was a cracking sound when one of the fairies flew into it, "Why do I get the feeling that's about to be a very bad thing..."

She barely had to wait to see if her prediction would come to fruition. In but a moment, a hand began to reach through the cracks in the glass, one that looked like hers but blackened like the shadow she'd seen in the mirror. She held up her wand, trying to think of what to do, "I don't think I've ever read anything about how to deal with manifested reflections, have you?" she asked, her voice wavering a little at the thought of that thing she'd seen getting out, "Perhaps if we just blow it up before it gets out?" the idea came to her, yet something stayed her hand, "Mind sharing what you saw before it comes crawling out?" she asked as the hand pushed away at the shards, a full arm coming through now, bloody hands smearing along the remaining pieces.

After analyzing her reaction and then seeing for himself what that mirror was showing he couldn't help but be concerned about what they'd stumbled upon. Why was it here? Who left it? Why was it showing him that reflection? None of it made sense and it was odd that the mirror was just randomly in the forest. It couldn't just be a coincidence that they happened across the thing, could it? That aside, he knew that this was no innocent magic at play. He'd been witness to all sorts of dark magic over the years. This definitely had the makings of an object that seemed to be hoarding dark energies within it. She was right. It was silly for him to even suggest she'd had something to do with this.

"It's definitely about to be a very bad thing." About the time he'd said that, his eyes widened in horror. Curses? Yeah, sure, he'd expected a little bad luck or maybe some entity haunting his dreams for a while, but when the hand reached through the mirror that had surpassed any scene he'd run through his head. "Uhh..." He went through about a million scenarios in his head, but nothing he could think of seemed to be a solution to this. "I'm afraid I have absolutely no experience with evil reflections coming out of mirrors."

As the bloody hands smeared on the pieces, Laguna had pulled his wand from his robes and was taking a defensive stance as he combed his memories of Defense Against the Dark Arts, how his family had dealt with cursed objects, some of the dark magic books he'd read from the library. Now his reflection was escaping too. He flicked his wand, sending a bright flash of red in the direction of the reflection. Then another, and another. But it wasn't seeming to stop what was happening. He shot a look in Nautica's direction. "I'm fresh out of ideas about how to deal with evil mirror reflections." Even then, he was still shooting off basic casts in the direction of the two reflections. "I could break the mirror?"

"Breaking it seems to be how they were escaping in the first place," Nautica pointed out, taking a few steps back before noticing that the fairies and lumosfire seemed to have gone out. She swallowed hard as the remaining glass was darkened with the shadows of the Forest, "I'd suggest leaving, but those things are about to come out and I don't think we want them wandering around with our faces," she said before hearing the mirror crack more, seemingly from within. "Her" hand pulled back in and then there was a blast of that same red light from within, sending the glass scattering into the dirt, and Nautica jumped back. From what seemed to be just....darkness... The bloody hand appeared again, this time, gripping the side of the mirror before the second hand gripped the other side.

"Oh Nauticcaaaaaa," the voice that came from the darkness was her own, in a sing-song way, "Why do you look so scared, Nautica?" it sang again before her shadowy self hoisted itself out of the mirror, hair a bloody mess, streaks of it on her as she pulled herself out, the school uniform in tatters, "Is it because you know what I reflect?" the reflection grinned, dirt in its teeth, "Your fear. The Anderson's have a bit of a....history.... don't they? Guess that's something you've got in common, eh, Lestrange?" she laughed wickedly.

"Shut up!" Nautica growled and shot off a stupefy at her reflection, knocking her back over the mirror, though the reflection laughed as it went, indicating it wasn't dead, "Bloody hell," she muttered angrily before looking to Laguna, "Don't let it get to you, whatever it is or says," she said, to try and be encouraging.

Laguna blinked. Duh. Internally he cringed at how stupid his solution had been. If Nautica hadn't said anything he would've already busted what remained of the mirror and then maybe those horrid creatures wouldn't be able to be trapped back inside of the mirror again. Reparo? No that seemed like much too simple of a solution. Besides that, Nautica's reflection seemed to have worked itself all the way out now and was terrorizing her as he frantically tried to come up with a solution. He scanned the perimeter, his eyes searching for anything at all. Ironically, he swore he saw a raven fly overhead in that moment...the family symbol. As the reflection was fully out of the mirror and closing in on Nautica, Laguna glanced over at Nautica to see her reaction to what it said. The Anderson's history wasn't something he was familiar with in all honesty, but he wondered if maybe the two had more in common that they'd previously thought. "We've all got pasts, Nautica. Don't let that thing get to you."

The next bit about turning the topic onto him didn't fully sink in until the second reflection joined Nautica's. The gruesome twist of the face...the black of the eyes, void of any sort of humanity. It spoke, a maniacal laugh accompanying the statements it made. "That's right! Quite the history you have! A full lineup at Azkaban--and you're next!" Laguna felt a sickness in his stomach as if he'd just been punched in the gut. "Terrible, terrible things in your past and soon to be in your future! I wonder then...would mummy and daddy finally love you then?"

Laguna's eyes furrowed and with a mix of fear and rage he held his wand up, pointing it at the reflection. "Not another word or I'll--"

The reflection seemed to be growing in spirits and strength at Laguna's reaction. "Oh, yes. Do tell what you'll do! I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you show everyone who you really are." The reflection looked to Nautica, "And then you won't be stuck in anyone's shadow anymore, unlike others." Another wicked laugh echoed through the trees.

"Oh ho ho," Nautica's reflection chimed in hearing Laguna's, "The only way she'd get out of that shadow is to do it by force," they stepped back around, motioning to itself, "I wonder... If the Andersons in Azkaban have met the Lestranges," it snickered a bit before it seemed to apparate behind Nautica and wrap its arms around her. Nautica shrieked and tried to get out of its grasp, "Why so afraid?! You could take the power for yourself! You just have to take that damned Rhysln down a peg!"

"Get off me!" Nautica elbowed the reflection, causing it to fall back, but it came back and grabbed her hair, leading to Nautica tackling her reflection.

"I'm the you that finally has enough! That does what has to be done!" the reflection laughed manically as it rolled them over and pinned Nautica down, pinning her shoulders to the ground before looking to Laguna, "Why is that so wrong? To take the ones that are in the way out? You know what I mean, don't you? After all, if daddy dearest wasn't around...." it laughed again, grinning its wicked smile, "Then maybe you won't end up wearing those stripes," it looked over towards his reflection then at Laguna again with a look saying 'Not bad, right?'

"Shut up!" Nautica managed again, blasting her reflection off of her, and it rolled around laughing on the ground as Nautica managed to get back to her feet, "This is more than just a boggart," she muttered, panting a bit from the scuffle, getting her wand back at the ready.

The reflection got onto its hands and knees and laughed, "You're getting to be boring. I wonder what would happen if I went back to campus and let everyone see what lurks deep in your little heart," it crooned and Nautica paled.

"We have to somehow get them back in that mirror," Nautica said, a bit frantic now.

"Nautica!"

As the reflections seemed to rotate their taunts, Laguna wasn't sure where to direct his wand anymore. On one hand, his own reflection seemed to be getting stronger and it was boldly moving in on him. On the other hand, Nautica was already in a physical struggle with her reflection. The grip on his wand was so tight he was scared his wand might break in two at this point. 'Come on, Laguna...think.' He listened as her reflection started in on her again. Rhsyln, he knew, was her sister and as much as he made it a point not to interact with Nautica regularly, it was no secret that Rhysln was what anyone would consider to be perfect. He often heard about her from the professors and students around school. Her intelligence, her beauty, and most often he would hear of what potential she had to be someone that made a huge impact on the world. He didn't know how much of it was true, but judging by the way the reflection was tempting Nautica to take her out, he imagined at the very least Nautica could see that others perceived Rhysln that way. Perhaps she was jealous of her sister, but that was really none of his business and even if he dared to ask this was a terrible time to do so.

"I don't know what you mean at all," Laguna said, loud enough to at least give the appearance that he wasn't scared. "My father is a great wizard." It wasn't untrue. Laguna's father was indeed a powerful wizard with plenty of connections that only made him more influential. But deep in his heart, he knew that if he followed in the footsteps of his father there would always be a chance that he could end up in those stripes. His blue eyes scanned over the reflection and for a moment he had thoughts that he wouldn't dare share with anyone else.

"Do it," hissed the reflection, closing in on Laguna. "Do it, coward."

Nautica would not understand, but Laguna didn't need the reflection to say anything else for him to know what it meant. "Im--!" He must have hesitated too long because the reflection suddenly let out a deafening screamed, launching itself toward Laguna, though unlike her reflection, his disintegrated into millions of tiny particles and shot straight through him. It felt like he was being sliced by millions of shards of glass, the pain so unbearable that he fell to the ground.

Whatever happened with his reflection, whether it was somehow inside of him or had vanished into the air, he had no idea how or what any of it was.

Nautica turned as she heard the scream and then saw Laguna fall, "Laguna!" she gasped and started to hurry over toward him. Her reflection let out another laugh as it blasted her hard in the back sending her skidding across the clearing they were in. As Nautica managed to get up, her head and ears ringing, about to fall back over, feeling nausea roll through her, she couldn't see her own reflection anymore, "Damn it," she panted before stumbling over to Laguna and hitting her knees on the ground next to him, "Laguna, what happened? Are you alright?!" she asked, looking him over to see if he had any physical injuries from whatever his reflection had done, "I'm so sorry," she managed as panic started to set in. This was her fault... she'd brought them out here, she'd looked in that damned mirror- he wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for her.

She looked around, wondering if there was any chance any of the Aurors would have any way to sense that something was happening this far out in the woods. If he needed help getting back inside, she would only be so helpful. Her own head still felt like a bell tower itself, "We need to get back... let someone know what's happened," she said, looking back to Laguna, seeing if he was still in pain. She knew a spell that might help if he was, though it was more like a bandaid than an actual cure, "Please be okay...." she murmured over and over while she waited to see some sort of reaction from him. What had she done?!

Though it was a short moment that he was out of consciousness, in his mind the moment of darkness seemed like it lasted an eternity. Whatever happened when the reflection passed through him was unlike any pain he’d ever experience before. It wasn’t just a physical pain, but an aching deep in his soul as if he lost a piece of himself and was aching for it to return. A dark abyss. There was really no other way to describe it. Would this feeling last forever? He just continued on, wandering through the darkness, the eerie laughs of the reflection all around him as he stumbled on to find an escape. Lucky for him the escape would come in the form of Nautica. He could hear muffled screams and the hint of a familiarity to the owner of the voice as it spoke.

Finally his eyes blinked open, fighting the blur in his vision. When it cleared up he saw Nautica there and suddenly searched all around them as he shot up into a sitting position, “What happened?! Where are they?!” He didn’t see any trace of the reflections, which made him sigh with relief. Still there was a new heaviness about him that was unfamiliar to him. “Did you get rid of them?”

It took him a few seconds before he really caught up to the scene and what Nautica was saying, but when he did he shook his head. “Tell someone? Who would you tell?” He thought about it and ran it through his head, “Are you sure we need to tell someone?” There were many factors he was considering: lost house points, strict curfews, detentions, howlers from home, even being prevented from playing quidditch.

When Laguna woke, she sighed and nearly cried in relief, putting her hand to her chest, but his voice was causing her head to pound. She shook her head to the initial barrage of questions, "I don't know where they went, that's why I'm saying we have to tell someone," she said, trying to get back to her feet, "We can't have those two psycho things walking around with our faces, Laguna," she said, then thought about, "I could...I could tell Rhysln," she said, "She's an Auror-in-training, she knows how to handle these kinds of things, even if she isn't officially sanctioned... maybe she could help sweep this under the rug for us," she said, though she was clearly wondering if her sister would do such a thing, "If we don't tell someone who can stop them, who knows what those two may end up doing and having people thinking it's us," she bent over, putting her hands on her knees as her vision slowly corrected, "Either way... we need to go back, last thing we need is to run into something not so nice stirred up by all the noise we just made," she said as she righted herself.

She took a slow, deep breath, "I'll take all the blame," she muttered, "This was my fault after all. You were simply following to make sure I didn't get into something like this on my own, a true Gryffindor," she said, rubbing her forehead once more before starting back the way they came, "I need a shower...."

"Are you sure?" He started to push back, clearly not on board with saying anything to anyone with any real authority. Not yet, anyway. The suggestion of Rhysln got his mind considering that as a viable solution, however. "She IS an auror in training, isn't she?" As he considered that there may be some option that he could accept, he winced in pain. With a quick glance, he noticed a red tint on his school shirt and lifted the side to reveal where part of the reflection passed through. Tiny little droplets of blood leaked out. "Great, I've stained my shirt. My mother is going to kill me if I have to order another one. That'll be the third one this month." After a slight pause he shrugged and mumbled something about not asking how or why he was going through so many uniforms.

Thought she seemed to be still thinking through it all, Laguna was only really responding again when she said it was time to head back. "That," he said, "Is an excellent idea. I would prefer not to be mauled by a wild beast after all of....that." He motioned to where the mirror had been discovered. "Should we take what's left?" His eyes scanned over the pieces, part of him tempted to scrape the little shards up and stuff them into his pockets. Then, without waiting for an answer, he did exactly that. "Nothing like carrying around some cursed glass in your pockets," he commented, working until the last bits were in his pockets.

"Anderson." He then stood up from his spot, marched over to her, bent down and tilted his head as he looked her over, then spoke, "You're alright, right?" When he was sure that she was alright, he continued on. "Shut up. You won't be taking all of the glory for this." And then he flashed a little grin, a hint of mischief there. "I've been looking for a way to shake things up. Did I think it would be a damn creepy version of you...."

"And me?" he added. "But thank you," his tall frame towered over her as he stood back up, "For admitting how brave I am." Then he extended his hand out to her to help her up. "There we go. Now lets get you back down to the dungeons where you belong."

As she navigated the way back toward the castle, he followed just a little way behind her. It was only once they were out of the woods that he got a chill and had an eerie feeling that they were being watched. Laguna reached up and touched the back of his neck, rubbing it as if that would rub away the creepy feeling he had. "Seriously though, are you okay? We can meet back up later if you need to?"

"If you've got somewhere to keep those shards, I'd tuck them far and away," Nautica managed when he'd picked up all the pieces of the glass, "We don't know if it'll make more things come out of the frame if it sees other people," she tried to explain her thoughts, though she had to stop for a moment or two as her head spun.

"And if you go blabbing about that or anything that happened tonight, Lestrange, I'll test the unforgivable curses on you," she muttered, pointing... in his general direction, "Frickin' May Pole," she muttered. She'd realized when he stood there helping her to her feet just how much taller than her he was, "I'll be fine... I'm sure I'll sleep this off. I just don't know what she hit me with. But if we don't tell someone about this, you and I are gonna get a lot of questions, and if they're willing to do this to us, what are they going to do to other people?" she turned to go forward again then swayed and went down on one knee, "Bloody hell," she grumbled before forcing herself back onto her feet.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked once she was stable and able to start moving again, "I won't ask what kind of malarkey you're getting into that's getting your clothes tattered but see if that Puff Harte will help you. I hear she's good at that stuff," she managed.

"Of course I will. Do you think I'm careless?" The truth was that he hadn't considered that it was possible for anything else to use those glass pieces to cause further problems. As far as he was concerned, they were just on the hunt for the two reflections that they'd met in the forest. "I'll er..lock them up in my trunk or something." Did he have a more secure way to store them? It wouldn't be a bad idea. Then he considered that it may be wise to visit the library later and look up some charms or something to protect whatever he locked it in. I mean who wanted to wake up in the middle of the night to some psycho version of their self?

He smirked, though he didn't give her the satisfaction of looking in her direction at her empty warnings. "I'd like to see you try," her comment on his height only amusing him further. "Don't worry, you might hit a final growth spurt," he said, looking down at her, actually not having realized that she was considerably short compared to him. "Y'know for being so small you sure have a big bark." Laguna thought over her reasoning behind telling someone else that something happened and though she was, logically, making sense he decided he still didn't want to risk it.

"Okay, how about we not tell anyone instead and just wait it out? How bad could it be? I know plenty about--" Bad way to present this. He cleared his throat. "We're two perfectly capable sixth years and your sister is going to be an auror. You think we can't handle this on our own?" The truth of the matter was that this was already over their heads, but he never backed away from a challenge and the idea that they couldn't figure it out was only fueling his desire to take care of it on his own.

In the middle of his inner dialogue, he noticed Nautica fall to her knee and looked her over carefully. "Are you sure you're alright? Did you need help the rest of the way?" He asked.

"I'll be fine," he replied, watching over her carefully as the two continued. The castle was now in view again, "Puff Harte?"