Knock Them Down a Peg (Private)

[ToasterLover245]

Jacob dutifully followed Aisling from the hospital wing. His face was calm and collected, not showing his inner turmoil. As soon as the two were out in the hallways, he stopped Aisling from immediately returning to her dorm as Madam Pomfrey instructed.

"I agree, we should lay low for a while." Jacob said to her. "As for the vampire thing...I may not like it, but I'm needed there. I'll go with you when the time comes, just don't expect me to say much."

The two walked into the Entrance Hall, the point where they would split up and leave for their dorm. It was almost early morning and Jacob was happy that it was Saturday. He could sleep in without his dorm-mates noticing anything strange."Take care Aisling and good night." He said and the two split up for their dorms.

xxx

It's been two weeks since Neville and Colin got attacked. September was coming to an end, as was the warm weather still leftover from the summer months. Jacob and Aisling kept true to their words and layed low for the time being. In the first week of October, they would go see the vampires, but that was still some days away.

Neville and Colin got released from the hospital wing a week ago, completely healed. The professors were notified and today Jacob, Aisling and the other two boys were to have a meeting with Professor Dumbledore in order to let the teachers have a clear picture of what exactly happened. Jacob wasn't too fond of having a meeting with the Headmaster, but it was necessary.

At 5 o'clock, he went to meet the others outside of the Headmaster's office.

[Child of the Winged]

While Jacob laid low, Aisling spent her time in the Room of Requirement, whenever she had a free period. She had to become stronger to protect her people. She spent hours upon hours in that room, to the point she passed out in the room and one of the house elves had to move her back to her dorm. They often snuck dreamless sleep potions into her dinner tea, just to make her stop for a night.

The headmaster finally called for them, to discuss the accident. Aisling dreaded and anticipated the day. But it meant that everyone was healthy again. She made sure that when her friends got out of the ward, she was waiting at the door, smiling. She made sure that they were perfectly healed, to their discomfort. She only shook her head and smiled fondly. She had to make sure.

Asling was walking with Colin, laughing at his newest picture of his "idol", Harry Potter. Anyone who truly knew the kid, knew that Harry Potter wasn't the kid's idol. Aisling suspected it was Jacob, seeing as the two could be brothers, in looks. The two were making their way to the Headmaster's office. They had all gotten the story straight in the ward, an event Aisling hated. She spotted the scar on Colin's cheek as he grinned up at her. She ruffled his hair and waved at Jacob.

[ToasterLover245]

"Hey there Aisling." Jacob said as the girl waved at him. He grinned at Colin and waved at Neville who just appeared in the hallway. "You guys ready?"

Jacob turned to the gargoyle and said the password that Professor Sprout told him earlier - "Candyfloss". The gargoyle jumped from his place and the four students made their way up to the Headmaster's office. It wasn't long before they were inside, with Professor Dumbledore offering them tea, lemon drops and a seat.

"Miss Grindelwald," There was an odd look in Dumbledore's eyes when he said the name. "Mr Longbottom, Mr Creevey and Mr Wright. Would you like to explain to me what happened during that unfortunate accident?"

"There isn't much to explain." Jacob started. "We pretty much explained it already to Madam Pomfrey. Two men - werewolves - attacked us and we defended ourselves."

"Yes, yes..." Dumbledore replied. "Poppy did tell me, however I would like to hear it from you. Perphas Miss Grindelwald would like to explain what happened from her perspective?"

[Child of the Winged]

Aisling tensed as he turned the question onto her. The man was the bane of her existence. "Well, sir," she barely concealed the anger in her voice. Her grandfather was dying because of this man after all. "Me and the others decided to help Neville out for class by helping him find the herbs necessary. We all met up and began our search. Once we found the herbs, we decided to head back when they attacked us, for no reason. Like Jacob said earlier, not much to tell." She flipped her braid back behind her head.

"Understandable, now why didn't you notify a teacher about where you were going." Dumbledore ask, leaning forward and trying to make eye contact. He was trying to look into her mind with Legilimens. Aisling would have none of that. She looked at his nose rather than his eyes.

"With all due respect, sir," Once again, the word was spat out. "We thought that your wards would hold out anything that would want to hurt a student and it wasn't a full moon. There was really no need to tell anyone." she said. Dumbledore only nodded and turned to Jacob.

"Is her story true, Mr. Wright?"

[ToasterLover245]

"Are you doubting us, Professor?" Jacob asked smoothly. "We know that it was long past curfew, however this was for academic purposes so we didn't see a problem with that. Of course we know that next time we will tell a teacher first, no one would want a repeat of this."

Jacob's eyes hovered over Neville and Colin. The two remained surprisingly quiet and Jacob was shocked that Dumbledore didn't attack them with questions yet. He felt a sharp pain in his heart when he saw Colin's scar and Neville's leg. The latter has a multiple, long jaggered scars on his leg from where the bone was practically sticking out of it.

"No, of course not Mr Wright." The elderly teacher muttered, popping another lemon drop in his mouth. "I'm glad that you now understand why we put the curfew in place, the school grounds - especially the forest - are a dangerous place to be at night, regardless of the lunar calendar. I will be deducting five points for each of you due to your behaviour. It would have been more if I let my deputy heads decide, however considering the injuries I don't have the heart to make the punishments worse."

Jacob stated at the man intently. He didn't care about the house cup, besides five points were barely anything. The Weasley Twins got hundrends more than that deducted for much smaller things - and let's not forget some of the things that Potter has gotten into. Jacob saw that Aisling was most likely fuming on the inside, as it was almost showing in her outward apperance. He was taking this much more calmly, however he was not surprised. It was Dumbledore that defeated Aisling's grandfather after all.

[Child of the Winged]

Aisling had to restrain herself from jumping over the desk and throttling the man. "Of course, we understand. If that is all, I'm afraid me and Neville have Care of Magical Creatures..." She nodded at him before walking out, the others behind her.

Once they were away for the office, Aisling snarled quietly and punched the wall, leaving her hand bloodied. "Damn that man..." she muttered. Colin was the first to snap out of the stupor her anger caused. He went to heal her hand but she shook her head. "I'm fine, Colin... I'll heal it later..." she whispered.

"I've gotta get to class... I'll see you later, guys..." Colin said before he ran off down the hallway. Aisling sighed and looked at the remaining boys.

"Come on, Neville. We gotta go... We'll see you later Jacob..." She said, hiding her bloody hand in her sleeve and walking down the hallway, Neville hesitantly trailing behind.

[ToasterLover245]

Jacob was left alone in the hallway. He felt useless. Aisling walked off, taking Neville with her to her lesson and Colin had to go to. The two boys didn't seem like in good moods and Aisling was downright fuming - and Jacob couldn't do anything about it. It hurt.

Unlike the others, he had a free period. He had decided to go into the Room of Requirement and vent off. As he was about to turn to go, he felt a presence behind him.

"Mr Wright." Dumbledore said. "Would I be able to speak to you for a moment?"

Jacob had the urge to groan, however he turned to face the Headmaster with a perfectly happy look on his face. "Is something wrong Professor?" He said. "I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"Of course, my boy. I just wanted to ask, is there something wrong with Miss Grindelwald?" The elderly wizard asked.

Jacob was silent for a second, his expression unreadable. "No, of course not Professor. She's just still a bit sad about what happened to Colin and Neville." He said. "Is that all Professor? I really need to get going."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, yes, of course. Have a good day, Mr Wright."

Jacob turned on his heel, leaving Dumbledore in the hallway. As soon as he turned the corner, he ran towards the Room of Requirement and didn't leave until it was time for the next lesson.

[Child of the Winged]

Care of Magical Creatures was uneventful, per usual. Aisling had to think about happier things in order to not snap at everyone. And Neville could tell. Eventually, she was excused from the class. She knew that Jacob had double free period so she'd hunt him down and maybe sneak into the kitchens.

She entered the RoR and saw the room morph a bit, a training dummy in the corner. "Jacob..." she whispered. She walked over to him and ungracefully collapsed into him, leaning quite heavily on him. She seemed to want to say something but her body felt so sluggish and sleepy so she just wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Sorry but I... I just need to make sure that you're still alright..." She pressed her ear to his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was steady and calming. Aisling sighed but did not let go. "J-just a little longer..." she muttered, sleep slurring her words.