Itchy...

[Claire Desrosiers]

Just what the heck was going on? It had been going on for about two weeks and things had been getting worse. First she had been coughing before and now Claire's skin was feeling itchy, not to mention it was starting to really look like some kind of rash. Paul, her older brother, was really starting to worry and started saything things about Dragon Pox. Of course Claire didn't believe she could get something like that, it was just a small cold that would go away in about a week; there was no need to trouble the nurse over something like that. And there was no way the girl was going to take more pepper-up potion for this.

Now, it was lunch time and Claire had completely skipped breakfast due to the lack of appetite. But she had to admit that after stopping by the common room she still wasn't hungry. Also the itching on the girl's arm was really starting to annoy her. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea at this point to go see the nurse but there was no way that it was going to be dragon pox...right? Taking her time , Claire leaned up against the wall and just stood there coughing for a while. Argh...yea she was feeling pretty bad. However the twelve year old did not want to show it so much infront of everyone in the entrance hall right now. "I'll just catch my breath for a moment and then go inside." she muttered.

[Brenton Douglas]

Being stuck at the school was kind of cool in Brenton's opinion. It meant he wasn't at home celebrating the holidays alone. Though his mammee would be at home so he wouldn't technically be alone, she'd be working her tail off day and night, his father may or may not show up again, he did so every so often. But the young boy was perfectly fine being at the school. Some people didn't seem to think of all the possibilities of being at Hogwarts over the winter break. No lessons and they could spend their free time doing whatever most of the time.

He'd caught something the week before and as soon as he started coughing he ran to the nurse to get a check-up. She said it was a good thing he went so soon because he did have the dragon pox, but he took his first and second bout of the treatment already, he had to wait two more days for the third one. Things seemed to be looking better for him, so he was pretty happy. The pale skin didn't look quite so sickly and he was feeling better, his throat didn't ache any which was good. Princes couldn't be ill, otherwise how could they save Princesses?

Walking out of the Great Hall after a great big intake of food, Brent's amber eyes swept over the area and stopped on his friend. "Hiya Claire!" he exclaimed, walking over toward her and noticing she was up against the wall. Probably trying to look cool, yea that was it. "What's up?"

[Claire Desrosiers]

At the sight of Brenton, Claire quickly covered up her arm and stood up straight. She didn't want people to realize it was sick but little did the girl realize any person would be able to tell straight away especially since the rash had spread to other places besides the arm. "Hey Brenton." Claire greeted trying her best to smile. Bother, this was not going well at all. Even just talking now triggered a series of coughs before she could regain some control. The chances of this being dragon pox was becoming more plausible by the second. Oh, what in the world would her mother say? The woman was a Healer at St. Mungos and will kill her daughter if she found out she somehow managed to catch the disease. Then again, Claire bearly kept in touch with her since work always seemed more important than raising or even talking with her own children. At least she wouldn't have to go home this year for Christmas.

Feeling weak all over again, Claire leaned against the wall again. "Nothing much...just kinda er, standing here." Man was that stupid to say but right now the girl was not quite in her own mind.

[Brenton Douglas]

If Brenton hadn't been so caught up in his thoughts about Claire perhaps he would've noticed that slight falter of her smile. However, he was lost in his princely thoughts, unable to not think of how noble like Claire was. Hannah was a princess, Claire a noble lady, Izzy well he hadn't figured her out yet, and then there was Sydney, who he hadn't seen in a while anyway. Taking in all the his thoughts, he didn't even notice the stagger she made to lean against the castle wall, he really thought she was just trying to be nonchalant.

"Anything you expecting to happen?" he asked, wondering if the mastermind was anywhere near. That kid was so cool! If he was nearby, Brent bet he had some trick up his sleeve to show off to either the exiting or the entering students into the Great Hall. Wearily, his eyes searched around, but they held a glint of excitement, hoping to see the kid. It'd been a while since they had a lesson on how to properly prank and he wanted to learn more. After all, he had a few more things, his mammee sent him a bit of money that he was able to get exchanged and he sent away for a few more things to add to his collections.

Where had the mastermind disappeared to?

[Claire Desrosiers]

It looked like Brenton had not noticed anything which was good. That would give Claire a little more time to regain her composer and hopefully an appetite. It did not really concern her that her friend had seemed to be in his own thoughts actually the girl did not really notice as she put another effort into standing up. It actually worked this time but now the itch on the snake's neck was starting to get even worse. Pretending like it was nothing; Claire secretly began to scratch as if there was just a bug on her shoulder. This was really embarrassing

"Expecting to happen?" she answered feebly, “No, why should I be looking for something?” There was hint of excitement in Brenton’s eyes and Claire began to look around for some mysterious thing that may have been around. However the entrance hall looked as it does everyday, nothing new. “I don’t see anything around

[Brenton Douglas]

"You jus' look like you're expectin' somethin' t' happen is all," he answered with a shrug. Now he was kind of disappointed. That kid was really neat, so if he'd met Clarie that would be cool! But if not, that was alright too, it meant the noble girl wasn't getting into trouble. "So I though' maybe something was goin' on."

Letting his amber eyes float around the room as hers did, he didn't see anything either. "I don' see anythin' either." It was a disappointing day, nothing good was happening, well, other than him running into Claire. "So, how's Quiddtich goin'?"

The last match he actually went and saw, and Slytherin hadn't done too well. It was a little sad, but only a little. He just didn't care for sports enough to care about how their House team did.

[Claire Desrosiers]

Surpressing a cough, Claire managed to pull out an answer. Though she still was a little confused over who Brenton was expecting. Probably best to leave that where it was. As for the last match it was brutal. That might have been the worst match in Slytherin history for all she knew. And the worst part of it was that the next game was going to be against the Gryffindors. How could the snake play if she was feeling like rubbish! Oh, things were not turning out well. Also, the Slytherin pride had to be preserved! They couldn't lose to them.

"The team is alright I guess." She answered. "The last game was a real thrashing against the birds. But we've been really practicing to get ready for our match with the lions." At least the topic got the girl a little fired up so she could stand properly but she wouldn't be surprised if she feel down in a few seconds.

[Brenton Douglas]

"Oh yea?" he asked, trying to sound enthused about the game. He had known his House lost, that was apparent when none of them in the stands were cheering after it was all over. Brenton had slid down and hid amongst everyone so he wouldn't be pointed out as being completely lost with what had happened. All he really knew was that they'd lost, and that was it.

"The lions?" he asked, thinking that meant the Gryffindors, he couldn't keep all those animals straight. "But you guys shouldn't have any problems beating them, they don't seem all that tough." If he remembered correctly they'd lost to Hufflepuff last game they played, and he only knew that because he'd heard others talking about it. "And you did really well in the last game, so I doubt you'll have many problems."

[Claire Desrosiers]

Claire gave a feeble smile. The whole concept of the lions not being tough was really tough to grasp. Well, she knew that they lost to hufflepuff but haven't they always been the leading team under the ravenclaws? At least that is what the girl had heard from the upper classmen and it was the case for last year. Hopefully the practices would go well and Slytherin could make up for their loss against ravenclaw. As the team's beater the second year was trying very hard considering she was one of the youngest but the fact the girl was sick might interfer with a few things.

"I don't know about that one. It is never smart to underestimate a team especially if it was Hufflepuff they've been getting better. Also since both teams have new captains we aren't too sure what to expect."

[Brenton Douglas]

As far as Brenton was concerned, his House team had done great the last game. There was a lot of action, a lot of sweat, and the balls kept going back and forth without too much fumble, that was good! If he knew anything about Quididtch, maybe things wouldn't be so difficult to grasp. It was bad enough he didn't understand soccer, but to not understand Quidditch too? Well, that just seemed ridiculous. Brent didn't ever do well in physical education, but he hoped to hide that while being here at Hogwarts since no one really knew him.

"Have they?" he asked, wondering how she knew they'd been getting better. The boy didn't know the scores of the other games and hadn't ventured to ever look either. But, he thought to himself, if he wanted to get closer to Claire, the most noble of all, he needed to learn more about things that interested her too.

[Claire Desrosiers]

"Well, we sometimes sneak over to their practices to watch them. But most of the time we watch them during their matches if we are not playing." Yet again, the disappointment of the last game came back but she wasn't willing to talk about that. "It is always a good idea to know the other teams playing style if you can figure it out. I'm still working on that so i know what to expect on the pitch, but it never is that simple unfortunatly." At that moment, Claire's legs gave way and she stumbled onto the ground. Panting, the girl tried to pick herself up again but for some reason the itch on her neck seemed to be getting worse as well as the temperature of the room. Great! Not in front of Brenton, I don't want him to worry or anything... she thought furiously.

[Brenton Douglas]

Nodding his head, trying to look interested as well as try to be interested, he wondered what was really so great about Quidditch? He supposed watching everyone else play would give them a leg up in any competition, this sport being no different. It would give them insight into playing style and everything. Crossing his arms across his chest, he tried to look cool, calm, and relaxed. He wanted to talk to Claire about a few things, get to know her so much better, but he never seemed to be able to accomplish doing such a short task.

As soon as she went down though, the amber eyes of Brenton widened in fright. Maybe her knees just gave out though, he told himself. That would be great if that was all it was. But she looked... strange.

"Claire?" he said tentatively, taking a step forward. Why hadn't she gotten up just yet, he wondered why since she was struggling to get up. "Claire? Alrigh'?"

[Claire Desrosiers]

She tried to say something but all that came out was a loud couch that sounded more like a seal than a human. Urgh, Claire was really feeling sick now even her face felt burning red but she wasn't quite sure whether that was the fever or the embarassment. The snake tried to speak again but the same cough errupted from her throat. Now what was worse the rash was really starting to show itself in small blotches around the twelve year old's face.

Claire could not hide it anymore, it was just too obvious at this rate. To answer Brenton's question wether or not she was alright or not she just shook her head and did not try to rise from the floor. Oh, hopefully the students around weren't watching or else most would probably figure out that she was one of those who caught dragon pox.

[Brenton Douglas]

Concern filled the amber eyes as Brenton took a few steps closer to see what was wrong with the girl. The cough concerned him even more and he reached out to touch her arm, but hesitated in actually touching the noble girl. When he took a closer look at her, his jaw dropped. Claire suddenly looked like something had taken over her...face! She shook her head and he took that to mean she wasn't feeling well at all, and he didn't know what to do. Was she ill or was she ill?

Reaching a hand up to the back of his head, he scratched, trying to decide what to do. He already had a run in with the pox, but he'd heard you could catch it a second time too. But if he was already treated could he catch it already, so soon? He hoped not as he reached down to touch her arm, trying his best not to shrink away. A prince with a second case couldn't be good at all so he would just hope he didn't catch it, and that his good deed to come would outweigh the decision of getting him ill once more.

"Come on Claire, le's ge' ya t' the nurse."

[Claire Desrosiers]

Claire tried to protest going to the nurse by shaking her head again. No really, she could make it. It wasn't like she really need the nurse right now let alone have the trouble of Brenton carrying her. Oh the embarassment, could she bare it? It was pretty obvious now that the dragon pox had been getting worse and the fact that she delayed getting treatment was not going to look well at all. For one, since her mother was a St. Mungos nurse she would explode the moment she recived the news that her only daughter was ill. The woman would not be uspet that Claire was ill so much as the delay in going to the hospital wing.

Again, Claire tried to protest be it was fruitless the snake could barely move at this point and had no choice but to give in. However since her weak body could not stand the girl had to reach out a hand in order to recieve some assistance.